Progress not perfection!

I have been struggling with my weight for the last year.  I had been doing really well at maintaining it right where I wanted it to be.  Last year right before Christmas, a lot of stuff happened in my personal life that led me right back to old habits.  I found myself eating for all the wrong reasons; comfort, entertainment, stress relief--you name it.  I also found it easy to convince myself I didn't need to exercise.  I would exercise but not at the regularity or intensity that I had been.  This would affect my mood which would increase my eating.  It kind of just went around and around in a bad cycle.  I spent this last month working really hard to get back to the good eating habits I know I need to follow and have recommitted to the kind of exercise I know I need.  It is starting to pay off.  The stresses in my personal life have not really gone away but I am dealing with them in a much healthier way.  Exercise has been the biggest key!  By regularly exercising I find myself being able to make healthier choices in my eating.  Even after 6 years of somewhat maintaing my weight loss I still struggle with falling back on old habits.  Weight loss can be more of a mental game than just watching what you eat.  The hard part can be coming to terms that I will almost always have to work at this on some level--it will probably never become VERY easy!  As long as I make progress it is all good!

On another note, I mentioned in my last post that I might do another half marathon in 2012.  I am considering one in March!!!  I haven't decided to do it for sure but I am going to start the training program and see where it goes.  It is kind of hard to know if I should run it or not since I live where the weather can hamper my ability to get outside and run.  I will keep you posted as to whether I run it or not.

I DID IT!!

Well, I did it!!  I ran my first half marathon!!  I can't believe I did it and within the time I wanted to!  My overall goal was just to complete the distance but I also had the goal of 2:30:00.  I did it in 2:25:41!  

 I know the clock says 2:29:04 but that didn't take into account the delays for a potty stop and to exchange my water bottles.  I had a timer on my arm and I paused it for the "stops" so the time on that one read 2:25:41!!

With my medal!!

It didn't go quite the way I wanted it to--I walked more than I had hoped.  I am not quite sure what happened that I ended up walking but I walked most of mile 10 and part of mile 13.  I still feel really good about how I did.  I wasn't very sore the next day or the day after either!  I did my training program.  I had a plan on how I was going to run the race and I worked my plan (for the most part).

Like I mentioned before, people told me I would want to do another one.  Mostly, I want to do another one to prove to myself that I can run the whole distance and not walk any more than needed to rehydrate and refuel.  So I guess that means I will do another one next year!!

I had an interesting thought as I was running this half marathon.  I was kind of wishing I could go back and do high school, knowing that I could run.  I spent my whole high school career thinking I was NOT an athlete of any kind.  Maybe it would have been fun to be on the cross country team.  Oh well, that would be the only thing I would want to try in high school--otherwise I would not want to redo any part of high school!

I am kind of excited about doing another one next year!  I haven't decided if I will do this one again or pick another one.  Time will tell!!

It has been WAAAAAY too long!

I have been so busy since my last post!  Blogging has been at the VERY back of my mind!  I can't believe how fast time as gone!  I graduated in June with my Associates degree.  Still not sure what I am going to do with it but I know it is what I was supposed to do.  I have actually even bought my business license and am technically a small business owner!  Hopefully, I will make it pay off somehow.

The biggest thing that I have done since my last post is start training for a half marathon.  I committed to myself last year that I would run one this year.  I found a nice flat, out and back marathon in a city not too far from here.  I found a training program and have been working it for the last 8 weeks.  Last week I ran 10 miles--the longest I have EVER run in my life.  This week I get to log a 12 mile run!  My youngest daughter has been a great training partner but it is time to run by myself.  She will not be running the half marathon with me since she is now in her Senior year of Cross Country.  For some reason I am feeling a little unmotivated this week.  Just sitting here thinking about the 6 mile run I have to do tomorrow makes me tired!  I know I will feel good once the run is done but.........  I think I have the eating/refueling/drinking thing figured out on my runs!  The real test will come on Thursday when I do my 12 mile run.  I am not sure I would have finished the 10 mile run if my daughter wasn't with me but this week it is ALL me!!  I did find out that my husband is going to be a nice guy and take time out of his hunting season to support me when I actually run the half.  I am really going to need encouragement to finish!!  I have had friends tell me that once I do one half I will be hooked and want to keep doing them--right now that doesn't seem possible.  But then, a few years ago running a half marathon didn't seem possible!  It is a good feeling to have a goal and be working towards it!  I guess the rest will just have to wait and see in a few weeks!

A Little History

I thought I'd give you a little history......on me!  When I was a young girl, someone referred to me as being "husky".  I have never been small all my life.  There were times where I was more trim than others but never small.  I avoided exercise more than I embraced it.  I didn't play sports in school.  I only took as much PE as I had to in high school to graduate.  There were brief flashes of trying to get in shape but for the most part I played a better couch potato than athlete.

 This is me and my husband about 7 years ago.  I didn't realize I had gotten so big.  When I first got up in the morning I had to walk very slowly because everything hurt.  After sitting for a long time, I would have to stand and stay standing for a few seconds before I started walking to make sure my knees weren't going to buckle on me.  All my joints ached almost all the time.  I was ALWAYS tired.  I had very little motivation to do much of anything.  The year after this picture was taken I took my oldest daughter to college.  It was an exciting time for her, and for us.  About a month and a half after returning home from delivering her to college something clicked (or maybe snapped).  I joined Weight Watchers.  I had tried a few other diets in my lifetime and they worked but I never really changed my eating habits.  I had resisted Weight Watchers for years.  My thinking was "I am NOT going to pay someone to stand on a stupid scale and be told I am fat!".   I am not really sure why at this point I had decided that Weight Watchers was the route to go but I am sure grateful I did.  As I attended meetings I was taught life skills to help me eat healthy for the rest of my life.  I learned to think about why I was eating--was I truly hungry or was I bored, depressed, angry, stressed, or you name it.  I learned that a reasonable portion was enough, I don't have to eat the whole bag of chips or carton of ice cream.

This is me now.  I lost 68 pounds.  It took me 7 months to do it.  I was a rare Weight Watchers member in that I always lost at every weigh-in.  I did it without exercising--just following the Weight Watchers program.  I did pretty well at keeping it off for about 9 months then the weight slowly started creeping back on.  Before I knew it I had put 29 pounds back on.  I was angry and frustrated with myself but not enough to really do something about it.  Finally when I had to buy clothes in a bigger size I realized this was nuts.  I went back to attending my meetings.  At one of those meetings I learned about a "training" program that takes you from couch potato to running a 5K in 9 weeks.  Someone had made podcasts putting the training program to music.  The podcast told you when to walk and when to run.  How much more simple could you get.  I figured running is cheap--all it takes is a good pair of shoes.  I already take my kids to school early in the morning so I can run on the school track when I drop them off.   So away I went!  Between returning to everything Weight Watchers had taught me and adding exercise to my life I was able to loose 20 of the 29 pounds I had put back on.  I participated in my first 5K fun run that fall.  I have been running ever since.  

Flash forward a couple of years.  My youngest daughter told me she wanted to be a personal trainer.  She has the opportunity to attend college classes for her junior and senior years of high school.  I started investigating programs offered by the local community college and found they had a great program.  As I looked at the classes required for the program I realized all of them interested me!  I had been wanting to return to college and here was something that actually sounded fun and interesting.  I started the program two years ago and I will graduate in June.  I have already taken my certification exam and passed.  I have added resistance training to my routine.  This has helped me be able to run better as well as trim off some of the excess fat still hanging around.  I am still not sure what I will do with this education but I know I want to help other people realize that being fit and healthy is attainable.  It is NOT easy by any stretch of the imagination.  Some days you have to make minute by minute decisions to help you stay healthy and fit.   It can be a real battle at times but it is SOOOOOOOO worth it!!  The alternative is just not an option for me!  I don't want to hurt all over.  I want to be able to get down on the ground and play with my grandkids.  I want to enjoy activities with my husband WELL into my "golden years".  

Anyway, that's my story up to this point.  Weight loss and a fit life are not easy but I have learned that NOTHING worth having in life is easy.  The harder we have to work for something the more satisfying it is.

A Week of Being a Slug

It was Spring break this week.  I had high hopes of good long runs.  It rained and was cloudy ALL week long!  I did go to Zumba twice this week--which is better than nothing.  I know I would have not felt so sluggish I had got outside to run early in the week but it was TOO dang wet!  Tomorrow is supposed to be a good day so I will plan on a good run!  I ran in a local 5K a couple of weeks ago and ended up not doing too poorly.  I finished 16 out of 101 women and 2nd in my age category.  I need to keep up the good work since I have committed to myself to run a half marathon in the fall!  So......no April Fool's I will run tomorrow!  I need to be logging some MILES!!!

A Good Workout Day

This winter quarter has been a tough one!  I have some pretty heavy classes.  There has been a lot of emotional things going on at home and with family.  The sun has been hidden more than it has been out.  It has made for a long trying winter.  I have been anxious to get outside and exercise.  I have made it outside for a couple of runs.  Today we had "workouts" for one of our classes.  They had me breathing pretty hard.   It felt so good to really get the blood moving.  Exercise really can help lift your mood!  The weather is starting to get better all the time so hopefully this outside exercising can keep going!

Not sure what I am doing, but here goes!

 I have resisted doing a blog for a long time.  I feel like I don't have anything to share that would be of benefit to anyone.  The thought of starting this blog has been rolling around in my head for a few days now.  I am not really sure why I feel the urge to do this but I hope it will become more clear as I move forward.

I am a 47 year-old woman who is about to graduate from college as a Health/Fitness Technician (Certified Personal Trainer).  I have made a lot of changes in my life in the last 6 years that have brought me to this point.  If you had told me when I was in high school (or anytime since then) that I would make teaching fitness to others my life's work, I would have laughed you off the planet!!!

I am not totally sure what the purpose of this blog is but I will share with you my weight loss and fitness journey.  I will share with you what I have learned for the past two years at school about being health fit.  As I grow as a personal trainer, I will share what I am learning and experiencing.

I hope that what I share will be of benefit to someone.  I know loosing weight is not easy!  I know being physically fit is not easy!  The alternatives to both seem so much easier but in the long run they are NOT!  I hope to share tips and encouragement along the way.

It is possible to be healthy and fit and enjoy the effort it takes to do so!  Together we can make it happen for you and it will be SOOOOO worth it!