Some pretty exciting milestones!!

Well, I am doing everything that I can to beat this plateau.  So far, the weight loss is slow, but I am going to beat this.  I am working really hard on my running right now.  I was so excited on Sunday when I got on the treadmill at the gym and actually ran (without stopping) a mile in 13 minutes!! I know to the avid runner that time is pretty slow, but for me it was great.  So last night I decided to try again and ran it in 12:45!  So, now that I know I can do it, I am going to keep working on getting the time down.  I also tried Zumba for the first time last weekend.  Now I am absolutely addicted!! I found a pretty cool game for the Wii that I can do at home, so I now try to Zumba as much as possible. 

I find that I am still struggling with food.  Part of the problem is that I hate to cook.  So, one of my goals for the summer, is to learn to love cooking.  I figure the more I cook for Matt and myself at home, the more I will like it.  I also think that the lack of routine has really made it hard.  I am trying to get into a routine daily with my workouts and walking.

At my last session with the trainer we measured my body fat percentage again.  When I began the gym in April it was 49%.  Last week it had gone down to 41%!!!!!!!!!! Woo hoo!!!!!!!!!!! So, even though I am not seeing pounds come off, I know I am burning tons of fat. 

As of today, I am down a total of 52 lbs.  I bought a hot new dress ;) to celebrate.  So I think Matt and I are going to be enjoying a date night this weekend!! For those of you who are following along and working on your own weight loss, keep up the good work!!! If I can do it, anyone can do it!!

hitting a wall

I am officially 5 months into my weight loss journey.  So far I have lost 50 lbs, but it seems I have plateaued.  I can't seem to get over the 50lb hump. Summer has been a little rough for me, for the fact that I totally cannot stick to a good eating regiment. Exercising in no problem, but with such a laid back schedule, I am struggling to eat the right foods.  With Matt's family being here for a few days I also found us eating out A LOT! yuck!! Wish me luck as I try to get myself back on some sort of schedule with my eating!!

I have found in the last week or so that I have a new love of running.  When I started the gym, I was terrified to run on the treadmill.  So I began with little jog intervals. I would jog 30 seconds and walk 2 mins, continuing this for 30 mins.  I am so happy to report that last week I was jogging 4-5 minute intervals and walking for about 1 minute in between.  So, being that I am really wanting to try new things, I tell Matt and his friend that I will do the Manitou incline with them.  I had no idea what I was getting myself into.  The incline has over 4,000 stairs and goes straight up the side of a mountain.  I did okay and made it about half way before I freaked out at the height, and turned around to come down. I think I will attempt in at least one more time before summers end. I did discover that hiking just isn't for me.  Monday morning I wanted to see if I could keep up my jogging, only out around the neighborhood.  I don't know why, but I found that jogging the neighborhood was much harder than the treadmill.  I am not determined that I am going to become a runner.  I never thought I would like doing it, but I think it an outlet for me. It allows me to get out of reality and spend some time with God.  I am going to sign up for a 2K run at the end of June!  I will keep you all posted on how it goes!! Moral of today's blog: if I (the former couch potato) can become a runner, ANYTHING is possible!!

Summer, Summer, Summertime!

Well, I officially kicked of summer on the 25th of May! Woo hoo!! My weight loss goal was to be down 50 lbs by the last day of school. Luckily, I hit my goal on my birthday (the 17th), but it was all down hill from there.  On May 16th we had to make the worst decision ever.  Apparently Sophie found some more nails in the yard, and we had to put her to sleep on the 16th.  Being that I am one of the most emotional people ever, I cried for like 2 days straight.  She was my baby girl and I was devistated.  This totally threw my eating and workout plans all over the place and in the last week I hit a plateau.  I am not sure how to get over the 50 lb. hump, but I now have a whole summer to figure it out. 

My two goals for the summer are these: 1. lose about 30 more pounds before the first day of school and 2. be able to run (not walk), actually run a mile.  So far I am doing well on my running goal.  I get on the treadmill at the gym every morning and do running intervals.  So, I walk 3 mins. then jog 4 mins.  When I started I only jogged a total of 5 mins and felt like I was gonna die! Today I jogged a total of 15 out of my 30 mins on the treadmill!! It felt great and I actually like running for the first time EVER!! I even go my friend Nicole to start jogging intervals.  We are both learning that it just takes baby steps and that you cannot get too far ahead of yourself. 

Matt's parents are coming in on Sunday, so I am going to be challenged to maintain healthy eating habits and making sure I get to the gym as much as possible.  I know I can do this.  I know I can hit my goals and look amazing in no time. 

I went with my sister shopping yesterday, it was the first time in a long time that I actually liked buying clothes.  I am a size now that I haven't been in over 7 years.  Feels AMAZING!!