MIA

Oh, hi there. Remember me? I know, I know it has been a long time. In my defense I have been super busy! With what you ask? Well summer, and work and life and everything everyone else is busy with as well. But we did spend half of July in the U.P. on Drummond Island. Then there was trips to our cabin and we attended several weddings. Oh and we had a ton of graduation party's this year, one being our own. Our oldest son is officially a high school graduate! We couldn't be more proud. He graduated in May and bought a house in June! He is doing training at work as a mechanic and he is thinking about taking classes next year. Bill is just one of those kids that needs to figure things out for himself and he is learning a lot this summer.
Anyway, as busy as the summer has been I have been trying to keep up with my blog reading and keeping tabs on everyone else. This has been a super tough task though, since my promotion earlier this year I have been working tons of hours and the time I am not working I am spending with family and friends. But summer is over. Work has settled into a good routine and school for the little one is back in sesson.
I now have a little bit of time. It helps that I finally have my family trained to do their chores before I get home, and I have implemented a menu plan for each week. Gary is great about at least getting dinner started before I get home and Kris is a great helper. It gives me almost an extra hour each night if I don't have to cook, all I have to do is dishes when we are done (that's my chore, lol).
So what am I planning on doing with this extra time? Hopefully blog more! and I am getting back to my sewing and crafting, I am volunteering at school, and as always getting a work out done as often as I can. I am anxious to get back to running, which I just have not had time for lately. But have no fear, even without running I am still getting the workouts in and I have lost 17 pounds over the summer! Can't beat that with all the parties we have been too!
So look for me to be on here more often. Look for some of my new craftng projects and of course to see how much more weight I can lose! I am looking forward to being back and catching up! What have you been up to? Do you find you have more or less time now that kids are back in school?

Monthly Project

Over at the Sisterhood they have a monthly project. Obviously it is something that changes every month and honestly I usually don't get too involved in it. But this month I was super excited about it. The project this month is to grow something. A herb or a veggie, inside or out. Just to try to grow something, and then use it in your cooking. With Spring in the air I thought this would be a perfect time to jump on board and grow something, well to try to grow something. I love, love, love to cook and to can, so I thought growing some herbs that I use in both would be great. One it is something that K and I can do together and also it is wonderful to grow something I would normally have to buy and it would save me money in the long run. I actually started my plants before I even knew about the monthly project but I thought I would join in and show everyone how green my thumb is. (Actually is it dark brown, lol)
I decided to try and grow some chives, dill, basil and peppers. I am having a little trouble. I am not sure if it is the light I have them in, the soil, the seeds or how much I water them, but they are not growing as well as I had been hoping for. I wanted to start them inside because in my neck of Michigan it is still pretty cold outside. I do plan on transplanting them outside when the risk of frost has pasted, but for now they sit in a sunny spot in my dining room and on nice afternoons I am putting them outside to soak in the direct sun and fresh air. Today it is beautiful out and I have them on the back porch. I am hoping it helps to perk them up a bit. The peppers and chives are doing the best. The dill started out great and now has kinda died off. I started the basil last week so it is still too early to tell how it will do. Once I can plant outside I want to start some green onions and cucumbers. I can't wait for Spring to finally get here and move into summer so that I can watch them all take off. Have you gotten into the project? How does your garden grow?

Shreding It

I started the 30 day shred (again) last week. I am on my fifth day in a row now and I am still really liking it. I think I like most that it is only 20ish minutes from start to finish and it fits into my busy life really well that way. I'm just wondering if it is doing as much good doing it everyday or if I should be giving my muscles a break once in awhile? I have combined it with a walking routine every other day or so, just to add to the work out. I am trying to lose 10 pounds by my anniversary in mid-May. That will have me about half way to my goal weight. So I am very concerned with doing what it takes to get the best results. I am eating much better and logging all my food and workouts at myfitnesspal.com. I know that writting down what I eat is a huge help. I like to look up my options before I make a decision and seeing how many calories something is often helps me to make better choices. For years I have been "dieting" to help control my weight. I feel like I have literally tried everything, Weight Watchers, adkins, you name it, I tried it. I had a few years where I was really successful and was at my lowest weight ever and stayed there for about 2 years and then it slowly started to climb. I kept an eye on it, and thought ok, time to stop this, but I just couldn't get back on track. Finally after 2 years of struggling I am starting to see some results. Some changes in my lifestyle that I can live with. I am just afraid of burn out. Of getting so close to the end result and then relaxing too much. I guess I need to not worry so much (easier said than done) and just move slowly and keep working at it. I am trying to see the end goal by meeting small goals along the way. 10 pounds at a time. Eventually everything will click together.

Just Checking In

It is weigh in/check in Wednesday over at the Sisterhood and although I have been absent for awhile I think a check in is in order.
I took some time off, mostly due to laziness, from eating right and working out. I came back from a little R&R in Vegas and hopped back on board.
For the past 4 weeks I have been watching what I eat and working out. I started back kinda slow, mostly just watching my food intake, then I slowly progressed to working out. I started taking a walk everyday, then I added miles and toning. I am now either shredding or walking or both most days of the week. I try to get at least a mile in everyday and most days I get well more than that in. I used to have this horrible anxiety about putting on my 30 day shred video, I knew it was going to hurt. But now, I am excited to turn it on because although I know it is still going to hurt, I know that it is working. I am seeing results. I can wear clothes I had long since stopped wearing, I can see that number on the scale going in the right direction. I feel strong and confident. I feel like my goals are achievable. It is a really nice feeling. I feel empowered and energized.
I have a plan and I am sticking with it. I am making better choices for myself and in turn my family. I am eating more veggies and drinking more water. There are certain foods that no longer come into our home. We don't have pop, diet or otherwise, in our house. No chips, no junk food. We are finding healthier options. I have cut out all sweets from my diet, no more french fries and no pop. It is now easier to pack a lunch than to go out because I am cooking better meals. I have leftovers of healtier options than anything I can get at a restaurant. I am counting calories in and calories burned. I am getting healthy and sleeping better. I have a lunch date today with my mom and although I am super excited to see her, I was bummed this morning that I couldn't bring my leftovers in for lunch! That is a huge switch, I used to love to eat out, now I am thinking of how long and hard I will need to work out to burn off the extra calories.
The changes that I have started are truly amazing. I love where I see things heading. I see a healthier lifestyle for me and my family. I am looking at the long term payoffs instead of the instant successes. I am looking forward to where I will be in one month and then six months instead of what can I lose this week. It is a change in attitude and I feel like it is the change I needed to be successful.
For Easter I am getting K a new bike. The kid has outgrown the last one, he is 8 years old and 4 foot 9 inches! And I am thinking that maybe the Easter bunny will bring me a new bike too. Mine is old (like 30 years old) and I would love to have something a little sleeker to ride around on. I think that would be a great reward for all the hard work I am putting in, don't you? Now I just need to convince Gary!
How did you do this week?

True Confession Tuesday

It has been a really long time since I have made any confessions. I have been on a little hiatus, which I have returned from with a venengence. I have taken my health and my life into my own hands. Lately I have put my needs and wants on the back burner. I had so much going on in my life that eating right and working out just weren't happening. I was so tired when I got home that I didn't een make an effort. But now I am trying to take stock of my needs and wants and putting those things higher up on the priority list. So here are the things I have discovered about myself and how I am trying to overcome them. Confessions: 1) I am a plate cleaner. For as long as I can remember I have eaten everything on my plate whether I was still hungry or not. Plan for overcoming: Putting less on my plate in the first place. As I work on stopping eating when I am not hungry I am not putting as much on my plate, so the temptation to overeat is lessened. I know that I need to read my bodies signals on when to stop, but until I get a good handle on that, having to think before I take another serving will help. 2) I am really tired after work and don't want to work out. Plan for overcoming: Do it anyway. I am pushing myself to work out even when I am tired and don't want to. I am trying to push myself to do something, even if it is just some squats or pushups. I have found that once I get started doing more of a work out is easier and I want to do it. I am really trying to give myself realitic goals that I can achieve and that will help me to make the next goal. It is a process. Steps that need to be made before you can take the next step. But I am learning to walk.

Advice

I am in need of some advice. I have been working out pretty regularly for the past several weeks. Mostly I have been doing a lot of walking, 3 miles everyday followed by a lower body toning video. Last week I switched things up a little due to time constraints and I did the 30 day shred. So my question is this, do you think that the hard work out for a shorter time is more or less beneficial than the longer workout at a more moderate pace? I want to do what ever will be better in the long run. I really enjoy the long walk with the legs, but I don't always have an hour to dedicate to working out in a day. The 30 day shred kicks my butt, but then I feel like I wimped out because it only takes 20 minutes. Is one better than the other? Should I continue to do a combination of the 2?
I have been working really hard on eating less and making better food choices. This is not an easy task considering I am feeding my entire family which is made up of two very picky eaters, so having better meals is not always welcome. Not that I allow my family to eat total crap, but there are days when nothing but comfort food will make them happy. I try to make things with more veggies and less red meat, but like I said, some days they aren't happy until they get meat and potatoes. I don't have the time or the money to cook two separate meals, one for me and one for them. So the workouts are super important to burn off some of the excess calories. So far what I have been doing seems to be working, I have lost 10 pounds in around a month, but I don't want to switch to a shorter workout and not get the same results, and at the same time who wants to spend a ton of time working out when you can do 20 minutes?
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. What do you do to burn off the meatloaf and baked potatoes?

Ready, Set......Goal

At the start of every month I like to set goals for myself. I always figure that I can stick with something or accomplish something for one month. It makes for some fun projects and helps to keep me focused on the small goals. I like to change things up every month and try something new. I am a chronic list maker, so at the begining of the month I make a list and then at the end of the month I can look back and see what I got done. April is no exception to this plan. My goals for April are some of the goals I try for every month and some new ones. I try to set a goal for different areas of my life, financial, organizational, household, and personal. For April my financial goal is a little game I love to play, every couple of months I challenge myself to a spend no money month. Obviously I have to spend money every month, but I challenge myself to not spend any unnecessary money. No eating out, no coffee on the way to work, no little splurges. Just to see how much money I can save by the end of the month. I have given myself an allowance at the begining of every week, for things like gas and any mad money, at the end of eash week I take what is left and put it away in my secret hiding place. At the end of my spend no money month I take that money and put it on a bill or something else that is useful instead of the little daily splurges. You would be surprised how much you spend and don't even realize it. I have paid an extra payment on bills or paid the cell phone or electric bill, just by not getting that coffee or even a bottle of water on the road. It is a really fun thing to do. For organization, I am working on some spring cleaning. I figure that April is a great time for this since it is actaully starting to look and feel like spring. I like to start in one room a week and clean it and organize it that week, by the end of the month my house is in good order. I still do the general cleaning, I just clean out an extra closet or cupboard each week. Mostly the seasonal cupboards, taking care of the heavy jackets and boots and replacing them with lighter jackets and our mud boots. I pack up the stuff that we didn't use this season or doesn't fit anymore and I donate it. It is a great way to organize my house and to give to charity. My personal goals are always the hardest for me to stick with. I like to set goals for how much exercise I want to get in for the month, how long I want to walk/run or how many minutes minimum I want to work out a day/week. As hard as I try to get my time in, I have a hard time because I tend to get pulled in many different directions.So part of my personal goals this month is to make time for myself. Everyday I want to take some time for myself be it for working out, reading or whatever, I need some me time. I need to set some boundaries for my family on how much of my time they can demand from me. I acually started this one last week and so far it is going pretty well, there have been a few tears from Gary when he didn't get his way, lol, but he is dealing with it pretty good. K has been great about it, he might knock on my door and ask me for somehing but once I tell him he will have to wait he is fine with it. My other personal goal is to get out and be with my friends more. I live in one town and work 30 miles away so it is really hard to do things with the people from work, mostly because they all live in a different town in the opposite direction from work. We do try to get together every couple of months, but it is hard. I do have some friends in my own town, but it has been really hard to make them. I am a transplant to this area and extremely shy, so most of the ladies that I met when I move where the wives of my husbands friends and although they were all really nice to me, we just didn't have anything in common, so it was hard to find things to do together that we would all enjoy. Since I have moved Gary and I have started making new friends together, where as a couple we can do things together and I am thrilled with the people we have met. So my goal is to really work on those friendships to call them a little more and make plans a little more. One of our new friends lives right down the road and I think it would be really nice to have a walking partner and I know she would love it too. Those are my goals for April, I will check back at the end of the month and let you all know how I did. Do you set goals for the month? If so what are they? I would love to get some new ideas for next month.

So Good Pasta!

I am sure that this picture does not do this justice, but OMGosh, this is the best dish I think I have ever made. I found it in a Campbell's Kitchen cook book, its called Broccoli and Pasta Bianco. I made it for my family a couple days ago and this is the left overs with a broccoli stuffed chicken breast thrown in for good measure. (Originally we did not have these two things together, this is two different days of leftovers.)
My husband says he hates pasta, so therefore I never cook it, but I saw this recipe and thought it looked so good I just had to try it. It was better than I could have imagined. You have got to try it. Super creamy and super easy and if eaten in moderation not super bad for you. Of course it is carbs covered in cheese and cream of mushroom soup, but seriously you have got to live sometimes. Besides, at least for me, I have cut out so much "bad" stuff from my diet that this didn't kill me. In fact I am slowly losing. So if you love pasta and cheese like I do, you HAVE GOT TO give this a try. You will thank me for it. Even my husband loved it, and that is really saying something.
Oh, and just an FYI, I was in no way compensated for this post. Well unless you count the fact that I got a great meal out of it. Campbell's has no idea I wrote this.

Revamp

I have been thinking about my blog a lot lately, or maybe I should say my lack of blogging. Is my blog what I want, is it what I envisioned when I first started out? No, not really. I wanted a fun, catchy, spunky kind of blog. I don't have that. I feel like my blog moved so far into the weight loss efforts that I even got somewhat bored of it. So I stopped writing, I let it fall by the wayside and I rarely visited. I even got to a point where not only was I not taking time on my own blog, but I was neglecting reading some of my favorites too. Blame it on the winter blues or whatever but I was just not here, or there, or anywhere really.
Lately though I have been thinking about my blog and what it is and what I want it to be. The last few months have brought some changes my way and I think that in the spirit of change my blog needs to change and expand too. I still want to jump up and down and tell everyone when I have lost a pound or two, or ten! but I also want to share the cute thing my son said, or the awesome dinner I made last night or tell you how my garden grows. So from here on out, you never know what you will find here, who or what I will talk about. But I think it is high time I made some changes, got back into the game and had fun. I mean after all isn't that what I was going for in the first place. Somewhere to talk and write and vent and have fun along the way sharing my one of a kind story? Exactly. So check out what I have up my sleeve and come back often, bring friends. Lets have a good time.

Changes

In my little part of the boondocks, all that we have had available for internet has been dial up. Until now, finally this weekend we are getting high speed internet! I am so excited. I will finally be able to get online at home without the frustration of the lag time of dial up. I just had to share my excitement. This is wonderful.
Good things seem to be happening these days and I am looking forward to what the future holds. It has been a long time since I have felt this good about things. A couple years ago both my husband and I had job changes, one by choice the other by chance. It set us back, further than we has anticipated and we are finally getting back to where we were. It has been a long hard struggle but this feeling of freedom is so empowering.
The weight that I put on during all the stress is slowly melting off too. I am getting closer and closer to where I was before my world fell apart and I am excited to get into my regular clothes and have my energy back. It really surprised me how the stress affected every aspect of my life. My mood, my weight, my outlook everything was so turn upside down. Now I feel better, more optimistic, and lighter. I look forward to the day. Maybe part of that is the sunshine, but I know a lot of it is the relief of getting back on track. Being able to take care of obligations and being happy with what we have.
I know that over the past 2 years I have learned a lot. I have made new friends and have found myself in a completely different place than I had expected my life to take me. I was the youngest child in a moderately well to do family. I had everything I needed and then some, and money really wasn't an issue. I didn't get everything I wanted but it was very comfortable. The past couple years have taken me out of that comfort zone, and what I have learned is invaluable. I know now it is not what you have, but who you have. It is not what you get but what you give. It is the people you surround yourself with that make all the difference. We are no longer keeping up with the Jones' and we are happier for it. We have a beautiful home, wonderful healthy children, good vehicles, a small savings account and a love for each other that we would not have had without the struggles.
Finally my life is where I want to be.

Spring Fever

I have a confession, I am suffering from Spring fever. In my neck of Michigan we are finally getting some nicer weather, we hit 50 degrees today. I realize for some people that is freezing, but for us Michiganders, it is practically a heat wave. I even drove with the window down in my truck for a few miles today on my way home. I have to admit it wasn't exactly warm, but the fresh air was invigorating. I am more than a little ready to open windows and air out the house after being cooped up for the last 6 months.
The sun is shining and the temperatures are rising. I am in heaven, but I am ready for the good weather to come just a little faster. The bright sunshine on my drive home is a great switch, even tonight when I stayed at work an hour past my normal time, it was still bright outside. I needed sunglasses! It was wonderful.
With all this sunshine, I am getting Spring fever. I am ready to start my garden, ok well it isn't really my garden. It is my inlaws garden that we help with. Mostly because they have a better yard for a garden and they have more time to tend to it. I went to the store yesterday and picked up a few seed packets and I will actaully be starting them inside this week.
I canned jam and jelly all weekend and I am excited to can some more. I love to can. Which is oddly strange since I hate a messy kitchen and it tends to make my counters feel messy because they are covered in cooling jars, but I can overlook that when I see those beautiful colorful jars shining back at me.
I am looking forward to canning alot this year. Last year we canned homemade v-8 juice, dilly beans, jam and potatoes. This year I want to try a few new things, maybe beets and pickles and relish. Luckily for me my mother in law is literally an old farmers wife and she is amazing at canning and she is so wonderful to help me with whatever project I am working on. Besides that she likes to do a lot of the prep work for me.
The nicer days are even making getting outside for walks and bike rides easier. Kris and I are getting our bikes out of storage this week and getting them checked over to make sure they are road ready, so that we can spend the weekend riding bikes.
Our first trip to the upper penisula is planned for 3 weeks to go to our cabin. We are taking the quad and hopefully the snow will be gone so we can get some nice rides in.
Can you see how excited I am? I have so much planned for this year. Come on Michigan bring on Spring!! So what do you have a fever for these days?

A Month to the Day

It is hard for me to believe that is was a month ago today since my last blog post. Sad really, when you think about it that for an entire month I have let things slid. Not completely of course, but somethings slid off the radar. My blog for example. I have been busy, if that accounts for anything. I was promoted at work and that has filled my days with long, hard, stressful hours in the office, only to get home and find my family in dire need of mothering. 2 kids and 1 husband who seem to be incapable of seeing how tired and stressed out I am and are looking only for someone to come and make dinner. I did take a small vacation to Las Vegas last week and I think it finally hit my family then how much I do for them. When I returned from my trip I had to go into the repair shop and pick up my truck from having the front window replaced due to a stone chip last month by a lovely road blow, anyway, when I was in there even the sweet lady that works the desk said, "Oh, honey, your family missed you." Apparently my husband was so lonely that he parked his behind at the repair shop and visited with them for something to do. Thankfully they are friends of ours so it wasn't completely bizarre behavior, but it also isn't the norm for us to stop in there just to say hello.
But like I said somethings have really fallen off the grid. Good eating habits and exercise for example seem to be no where in my life at the moment. I haven't had a free moment to stop over at the sisterhood and catch up or take part in any new challenges. I don't know how all my blog buddies are doing and I feel just disconnected and out of touch. It is time to prioritize and get back on track. With spring in the air and the sun staying in the sky longer it is giving me some renewed bounce in my step and I am ready to take on the challenge of weight loss and win. I am ready to start over and get back on the wagon and start running and working out again. Watching what I eat and hopefully losing some of this very unwanted bulge in my backside! I made a packed with my sister while on vacation that 1) we are definitely coming back to Vegas some day and 2) when we do we will both be smaller. So I figure now is as good a time as any to start.
Besides that Lent starts this week and that is always a good time to look at your life and reassess. I know that a lot of people give things up for lent, that was a traditional thought process we had growing up but I also remember learning that it wasn't just giving up things, but also taking up new things that was part of lent. (sorry if you aren't familiar with the idea of lent, just know that it is the 40 days leading to Easter that Catholics use to prepare for the resurrection) Anyway, so I figured this would be a great time to not only give up some very bad habits but also put into place some really good habits. I plan on getting back into running and my smaller jeans and get out of the all day snacking and junk food binges that have been plaguing me as of late.
I am ready to restart my journey in healthy ways and who knows I just might lose a few unwanted pounds in the process. Either way, I am back in action!

You didn't really think I was gone did you?

OK, so I admit it has been awhile since I have written. Too long in fact. Life just gets busy sometimes. So lets catch up. January ended with a bang of Birthday's, first mine then K's, then my sister and a good friend of mine. It was party after party after party! All of which I behaved very well at, considering I would rather not drink at all than have a hangover the next day.
My little K is not so little anymore. He turned 8 on January 27th and I am still amazed everyday that God gave me such a perfect little miracle all my own. We had a great birthday with cake and ice cream and lots of grandma's and grandpa's which are his favorite people outside of his Dad and me.
When I thought things had settled down I got a call from my sister to please please please go to Las Vegas with her for a belated birthday. So at the end of the month I am flying from snow covered Michigan to sunny Las Vegas for 5 fun filled days! I am so excited. My sister and I are great traveling companions and it has been years since we pulled off a trip together.
I have been working out and watching what I eat. I found a new walking video that I am really liking and I am doing some strength training 2-3 days a week. Winter blues are getting to everyone in my house, so it is nice to escape to my workout space and forget that everyone is crabby and tired of all the snow.
I have had a lot of major changes at work in the last 2 weeks and I am pretty excited for what the future holds for me there. I am thinking lots of good changes are starting to happen and I can't wait. Gary had some major changes in his work too. He used to work nights every other week and I can not even begin to explain to you how messed up his sleep schedule was. He was nearly impossible to deal with every other week because he was tired and just when he got used to things, he would switch back to days. Finally he is working days all the time. It does require a few over night trips occasionally, but he is for the most part home and sleeping well.
Well I guess that about gets up caught up. I will really make an effort to post more often. I considered taking down my blog for awhile while I wasn't posting but I have since decided not too. I think I just need to get on more and write about everything that is going on with life and not just the number on the scale!

Wednesday Check In: The Power of One!

Another week done in the Power of One challenge over at the sisterhood. And although I had a good week and made good decisions and got some good minutes of running in the scale didn't show a victory. I am not surprised. Lets get the numbers over with and then I can explain.

Starting weight: 206.8
Week 1: 205.6
Week 2: 206.2
Change this week: up .6
Change for Challenge: down .6
Goal Weight: Anything in One-derland!

This has been a highly stressful week for me. More so than usual and I think all the stress has had an impact on the scale this week. I really have made good choices, actually much better than usual and I ran a lot in the last week, it just didn't want to come off this week I guess. But I know that this is just a temporary thing and than next week will be much better. I know that the stress will be gone after Friday and then hopefully all my good behavior will show up next week. I have to admit though I am glad that I got back on the treadmill and didn't give up after taking time off for the holidays. Running seems to have a somewhat therapeutic quality to it. Maybe it is just that it takes your mind of your worries but it makes me feel refreshed (sweaty and tired) when I am done and that goes a long way. It also helps me sleep better at night, and these days I will take all the help I can get!
How did you all do this week? Was the scale your friend? Good luck to you all.

Virtual Success

Today over at the Sisterhood they were having a virtual 5k. I signed up way back in November and I was more than a little excited, it was just what I needed to kick me back in gear with my training. My goal had been to run the entire 3.1 miles, and then the holidays hit. Things around here got super busy and things at work got even busier, holidays, work, vacation, kids and school. Everything got crazy, and I still tried to keep up, but as it usually does, something had to give and unfortunatly it was the running. I was just beat everyday, I wasn't doing a good job of taking care of myself. Eating quick meals when I could and more than not forgetting to take my Iron supplements. My iron levels sank, my energy drained and I was tired. I know these are all just excuses, but the end result is the same, I was not training and I was not prepared for this 5k run.
Then the new year came and I knew that I could not keep living like this. I could not continue to skip my workouts and still reach my goals for the year. I needed to take care of myself and my first priority was getting back into running. So even though I didn't have alot of time I knew that I was still committed to running this race. I started getting back in the treadmill and running. It felt like I had started all over with my c25k training. The first day it was 2 minute runs, but I was thrilled at how quickly it all came back. There was no way I was going to make my goal of running this entire race, but there was also no way that I was going to not complete it.
I got up this morning and fueled up. Then I headed to the treadmill for my warm up and run. I started running. It felt good, really good and I just kept putting one foot in front of the other. No, I didnt run the whole thing, but I did push myself. I took over three minutes off my personal 3.1 mile treadmill time. It felt wonderful. It made me feel powerful and successful and exactly the moral boost I needed to keep up with my training. I knew months ago that this 5k was exactly what I needed to get back into training and today it was exactly what I needed to keep with it.
I can't wait to see what the rest of the year holds for running and personal goals in general. Yesterday I got online to search for some local races and I found a few that caught my interest. I am not ready to sign up for anything yet, but I have a great idea of what is out there and what I am training for. And as another bonus, my goal of running 20 miles a month is going to get blown out of the water this month, I am already at 13 miles one week in.
So did you run with the Sisterhood today? How did you do?How are your goals going so far this year?

Letter to Me

Dear 2011 Carrie,
Hello dear, well you have a big year ahead of you. 2011 is going to be a hugely successful year for you. You have a lot of goals set for yourself and it is high time you spent a little more time and energy and making yourself a priority. There are a lot of things on your bucket list for the year and I know that you can accomplish anything that you set your mind too.
You want to complete 3k races this year. Of course you will run the Lansing River Run again since you had such a blast there last year, and it goes without saying that with a year of running under your belt by then you will blow your last years time out of the water. You also want to run a few races that are yet to be determined, make sure you do your research and find some good runs to complete in this year because you know that once you start it is so addicting.
You also have some pretty solid weight loss goals to accomplish. Getting down to wedding size will take a lot of hard work and dedication but I know you have to tools and ability to get it done. Man, I am jealous of how great you are going to look by the end of the year. Long gone will be the days I "I don't have anything that fits right." You have the determination and drive to stick with it and succeed.
Don't forget your financial goals as well. It will be such a great reward when you get to take Kris to Universal Studios next Christmas and have it all paid for in advance. Now that is something to really look forward to.
With getting your health and weight on track you are also going to need to work on your organizational skills, with a potential promotion in the near future you are going to have to make sure all your ducks are in a row to keep your family and your career in order. I know that it will all fall into place once you get the ball rolling. This is the year to step out of your comfort zone, face your fears head on and overcome them all and prove to everyone, mostly yourself, that you deserve to have good things come your way. This is the year that you finally stand up and say "hey, look at me, look what I can do!" and everyone listens.
Don't down play yourself, you have major talents and ambitions and you can do totally awesome things. I have complete faith in everything you are setting out to do this year, and hey maybe when you read this next year you will giggle at the three races you had planned when you look back and see that it has been more than that, and that little 5k Lansing River Run turned into a half marathon.
You go girl! I have all the confidence in the world that you are going to take on 2011 and win big!
I am so proud of you!
Love,
Carrie

The Power of ONE- Check In

Hey remember me? I know it has been awhile. Life has been crazy (and fun) lately and I have been away, but I am back now and ready for the new year. Which is perfect because this is the beginning of a new challenge over at the Sisterhood, well actually it started last week but I was off the grid so to speak, soaking in the sun in Florida and I didn't have the chance to check in. I was following along in my no cell phone, no internet world. I am really excited for this challenge, it is all about ME. And I can tell you, all about ME doesn't happen very often around these parts. I am a nurturer by nature and so I am the one taking care of everyone else which leaves very little time to take care of me. But I have made it a priority for this challenge and really for this year to make time for me, to take better care of myself so that I can take better care of my family. And I am happy to report that so far so good.
I am, like a lot of people, reluctant to make New Years Resolutions. Sticking with something for an entire year is tough and I tend to shoot for the stars, fall short and then quit. This year I am taking it in smaller doses, starting small so that falling short is not an option. I started running last year and although I am not very fast I am really enjoying it. I find that I can't get on my treadmill anymore just to walk. I get my 5 minute warm up in and then I am ready to up the pace and run. I never thought that would happen to me, but I love it. So part of my NYR is to get a run in at least 5 days a week. It doesn't have to be long or far, my goal is 20 minutes a day and at least 20 miles a month. That would be 240 miles ran at the end of the year. That just sounds impressive to me, but at the same time obtainable. So far I am sticking to it too. Of course it is only 5 days into the new year, but you have to count the small victories as well as the big.
When my husband and I meet several years ago we were both thinner. This year we have both made the commitment of getting back to those sizes. It is nice to have him working with me on this goal and striving for it himself. With that being said, it is time to get down to the nitty gritty with the numbers.

Starting weight: 206.8
Week 1: 205.6
Change: Down 1.2
Goal Weight: Anything in One-derland!

So how did you do this week? Did the New Year celebrations throw you off track? I am happy to report that New Years was good to me, probably because I slept through it. I had a 3am wake up call the next day to get back to cold Michigan from Florida and toasting in the New Year was not an option, but on the plus side either was eating in the new year.
I hope this year finds you happy, healthy and conquering all your challenges for the New Year and a New YOU!.