Let's Do This!

So as I'm sure you can tell by my silence, I've fallen off the wagon. I've gained everything back, plus a few pounds, so I'm now at my heaviest nonpregnancy weight ever. Not only that, but I'm only a few pounds shy of my heaviest pregnancy weight! Ugh! To help me get motivated, I've signed up for the "Biggest Blogging Loser." I need all the help I can get!

I weighed in last night at 192.4, but I'm using this morning's weight as my starting weight: 189. I also took measurements because they keep me going when the scale doesn't move. This is my plan:

1. 1,200-1500 calories a day
2. NO SODA
3. Alternate between running and shredding
4. Eat more fruits/veggies
5. 100 oz. of water a day

I have a big 64oz water bottle I'm going to keep full of ice water and will drink 3 of those a day. Since there's a lot of ice in there, I don't know exactly how much water I'm drinking, but 3 a day should get me where I need to be. I also already did the 30-Day Shred for the first time in forever this morning. I can't believe I've actually missed Jillian and her quirky motivational sayings!

To further motivate me, I'm posting pics. My "real life" friends and I decided to start up a weightloss group in our private message board and we posted pics in our underwear (or tank top and panties in my case). I'd planned on posting those here, but I just can't do it. I'll take some in a tank top and PANTS later today and add those here. :) In the meantime, this is the full frontal shot I sent to Jennie at She Likes Purple for the Biggest Blogging Loser challenge.

Hello Again

Man, it's been awhile! The good news is that I didn't regain more than a few pounds from my Weight Watchers days last summer. I lost just under 15lbs. with WW, and have managed to mantain without trying too hard. I've been stuck around 170-173 pretty much this whole time. The bad news is I haven't lost anything since I haven't really been trying. We had a really tough couple months here thanks to illnesses, so the scale started moving up recently. It was the wakeup call I needed to get serious again. I'm down the 5lbs I put on, so I'm back to my fluctuating window again. This time, I'm going to break through and lose more weight!

I've been doing really well with exercise the last week. I'm back to running, and I also picked up Jillian Michaels' new yoga dvd, Yoga Meltdown. I'm running a St. Patrick's Day 5K Saturday morning, and have already signed up for a couple more races to keep me in check. Finally, I've started tracking everything on an iphone app called, MyFitnessPal. I'm a math geek, so I need to see the numbers to keep me in line. Particularly, if there are pretty charts and graphs involved! :) If you use the site or app, look me up. I'm brandi_b. You'll also find me on DailyMile as (surprise!) brandi_b. I could use all the support/motivation/encouragement I can get!

I’m a Real Runner now

I swallowed a bug on my run last night! And I got hit by several sprinklers in the common areas in my neighborhood.  I had to run through them in the path right in front of my house. It was either that or go all the way around and run up one last hill. I was so done by then that the sprinklers were a nice way to cool me down. I’ve never felt more like a runner than I did last night!

It was a great run too. My longest, and fastest, outside run yet. 3.4 miles in 39:27!  I even had to walk a good chunk of the second big hill I came across. I mistakenly decided to around the huge pre-k to 12 school down the street from me thinking the first ginormous hill would be the only one and I’d coast the rest of the way. Yeah. It leveled off for a bit once I got past that first hill, but there was another, even longer, hill waiting for me just up ahead. Once I got past those two, however, it was mostly downhill or fairly level the rest of the way home. 

Am I the only one who doesn’t like running downhill? That’s when my knees start to hurt. I’m just waiting for the day when I go too fast and fall on my face. I’m such a klutz I’m amazed it hasn’t happened yet!

Weigh in this morning was successful. I was down .9lbs, bringing my total weight-loss to 13.5.  I didn’t achieve my goal of losing another point, but I’m so close! I’m now at 170.7.

This week will not be pretty. An old friend is coming to visit us for the week and tomorrow is Damon’s birthday. I’ve already made him banana chocolate chip bars, and will be making caramel bars and a malted milk chocolate cake. Tomorrow’s dinner will be grilled NY steaks, mashed potatoes, and fresh baked bread. Too. Much. Temptation. 

The Plan

I’ve been trying to figure out how to run and shred in a week. My original plan was to run 3 days and shred 3 days, with one off day during the week sometime. Is that enough shredding though? I feel like I should be shredding more often, but I also don’t want to stop running altogether. Last week was a no-brainer since I didn’t run at all; I shredded every day but Tuesday. This week, I’m going to shred every weekday but Tuesday again, and will double up today. I’ve already shredded today, so I’ll go for a run this evening. If all goes well, I’ll do it again every Wednesday. Then, I’ll be shredding Mondays and Wednesdays-Fridays, and running on Wednesdays and weekends.

A bonus to having such great runs this weekend is that I have no desire to eat junk right now.  I busted ass, so I don’t want to spoil it with bad food.  The last couple weeks I’ve just been going through the motions, diet-wise, but now I feel like I’m ready to really work for it again.  It was the kick in the ass I needed!

Unfortunately, it all went out the window on my rest day yesterday.  Yesterday was probably the worst food day I’ve had in a long time. Today, I feel sluggish and out of sorts. I shredded, but it definitely wasn’t my best effort thanks to yesterday’s food choices. When will I learn? !

In Weight Watchers, the first two numbers of your weight make up the bulk of your points allowed, then you add points for your age, lifestyle, and a couple other factors. When you lose enough weight to get into a lower set of “tens” in weight, you lose a point. My goal for this week is to get into the 160’s and lose that point!

I’ve had some great incentives recently. I was looking in the mirror after my shower this morning and realized I could actually see changes in my body. When I got dressed, I realized I’d buckled my belt on the second-to-last hole. And it was loose! I tried the last hole and was able to buckle it easily. It was a little tight there, but it didn’t give me a muffin-top from being too tight.  I also dug out a pair of  jeans I bought a couple months ago that were my size, but fit too tight. They’re also loose now!  Finally, I was stretching in what I call the “girl corner” of the gym Saturday after my run and could see muscles in my legs when looking in the mirror! I call it the girl corner because it’s a corner filled with mats, bozu balls, and those big balls for abs and such. I only ever see high school/college aged girls in too short shorts in that corner.  And they’re typically working their vocal cords more than their muscles.

Speaking of stretching, does anyone have advice on good quad stretches? I think that part of my problem is that I don’t properly stretch that part of my legs, but I can only think of a couple stretches for it. Thanks!

Playing Outside

Bill reminded me that I can go faster outside because I have to rely on my own ability instead of the set speed on the treadmill. It was a perfect evening, so off I went! The hills here are going to kill me, but it did feel so good to be outside again. I’m not as obsessed with the time outside like on the treadmill. When I’m on the treadmill, I’m constantly checking my running time to see how much longer I have to run since it’s RIGHT THERE. Outside, I just go. The time tends to fly by when I’m not checking it every few seconds, and before I know it my run is over.

I went a different route yesterday because I get bored easily. The hills! I ran an entire mile uphill, and climbed 200ft. The worst of it was definitely the last half-mile. That’s where it got really steep! Again, I ended up running just shy of a 5K, but I wasn’t paying attention to my distance so it’s ok. 

As an incentive to continue running, I signed up for the Race for the Cure 5K next month. It was my first ever 5K a few years back, so I’m looking forward to it being my first 5K again. It has even more meaning to me this year since I had cancer this past spring. I was very fortunate that all I needed was surgery and no chemo or radiation. If you’d like to sponsor me (no pressure!), you can do so here or click the link in my sidebar. Thank you so much for your support and encouragement!

I Ran!

And it was good. It was my best run since I started again! I started a little slower than I should’ve, so I only averaged 5.12 mph on the treadmill. I ran for at least 1.5 miles at 5.4 though! And even threw in a 5.5 for a minute or two at a time. My original plan was to run for 35 minutes, but I felt so great as I approached it I decided to go for a 5k. I was too close not to at the 35 minute mark. I even pushed it up to 5.7 for the last 1/10th of a mile.

Then my hand accidentally hit the stop button at 3.08 miles.

I was so close I could taste it! I’m proud of me for having such a great run, but it was frustrating to not quite get to my goal. I stopped mere feet from the finish line!

My leg also felt great during my run. I think it really helped relieve whatever was going on in my quad because it feels great now!  My legs and my lungs felt like I could’ve run the entire thing at 5.4. I was in the zone. After a few minutes at 5.4, everything eased up and I was breathing easily instead of huffing and puffing. If it wasn’t for a stitch in my gut I wouldn’t have had to slow down periodically. The weird thing about the stitch was that it wasn’t in my side, but more right in the middle in my diaphragm.

Taking a couple weeks off from running was really good for me. I thought I’d lose some speed, but I actually had my fastest run yet! The break also renewed my love affair with running. While I can’t say I love to run while I’m actually doing it, there’s nothing better than that endorphin high when the run is over.  Especially when I’ve had a great run.

Week 6

My Weight Watchers meetings are Saturday mornings.  I was up just under half a pound this morning (.4 to be exact), but that’s ok because I lost another 1/2 inch in my waist! I didn’t expect a big loss this week since I’ve only been shredding and with a house full of sick people (Damon is now sick too!), I haven’t been eating the best.  Now, it’s time to buckle down and get back to it!  Past experience with the Shred showed that I won’t lose much weight doing it, but I’ll definitely lose inches. And really, I don’t care much about the number on the scale as long as I look good in my clothes!

I had every intention of running this morning, but Emma woke up at 4:30 (and woke Cora too) so I didn’t get back to sleep until almost 5:30. And I was going to get up at 6:15 to run. I must’ve turned the alarm off because I don’t remember hearing it! I will run today, but now it’ll have to wait until I can get to the gym this evening. 

I did shred yesterday as well, so my only off day this week was Tuesday. I noticed some pain in my hamstring during the lunges, and for the rest of the day after. It’s still a little sensitive, so I’m hoping a couple days off from shredding will help.  It’s not muscle soreness, but actual pain on the outside of my thigh a couple inches above my knee. It feels like it’s bruised when I touch it.  If it gives me trouble while running today, I’ll take the weekend off completely and start again Monday.