Promise Kept

To keep my promise of writing in my blog everyday, I am posting a short message letting you know that I am having a problem with my Internet connection, so I really can't write tonight. I'll post twice tomorrow. :-)

New Enthusiasm

I want to start off by thanking everyone for their words of encouragement since my last post. It's really nice to see that people are actually reading my blog.

One thing I have come to realize is this blog is a source of inspiration for me. I think my enthusiasm was beginning to fade because I wasn't as diligent as I should have been about keeping my blog updated. Writing like this is almost therapeutic for me. It forces me to focus on what I am doing and helps me stay on track.

So, I am going to make a promise. Starting today, at the beginning of each week, I am going to pick a goal and spend the entire week accomplishing that one goal and then report back to you.

This weeks goal will be: Writing in my blog every day.

Keep checking back to check my progress.

Thanks again for all your kind words. You all mean the world to me.

Set Backs

I want to apologize for not keeping up with my posts over the past couple of weeks. I have been working a lot of hours lately and have not taken the time to keep my blog up to date. Moreover, I have not been taking time for myself either and the scale has shown it. I haven't lost any weight in over a month. I'm not getting enough sleep, I've been a bit grumpy, and I sure as heck haven't felt like exercising the way I should. That, on top of a few set backs physically, I haven't been eating right either.

Recently, I went to the doctor because I have been experiencing pain in my shoulder and knee. After several x-rays, my diagnosis was bursitis in my shoulder and a torn meniscus in my knee. Because of this, I have not been able to train the way I need to in order to get ready for the triathlon in August.

It seems that lately I am having a difficult time getting my self back on track. Everyday, I start out with a fresh attitude. I get up, pack my breakfast and lunch, and off to work I go. I do pretty well for most of the day; however, when I get home, I seem to run out of gas physically and mentally.

Don't fret folks, I'm not beaten yet. I'm hoping that if I can keeping my posting up to date I just my get my encouragement back. I would love to hear how some of you folks out there handle similar situations.

Stay tuned, more to come.

Here We Go Again

Well call me crazy, but I'm signing up for another triathlon. This event is exactly one week after my 46th birthday. I cannot think of a better way to celebrate or to honor the beginning of my 46th year of life.

Sometimes it saddens me that I waited until my mid forties to take my health seriously. Even after watching both parents die an early death it still didn't motivate me to do anything about it.

After watching my mother loose her battle with diabetes, and now working in a medical practice that cares for several hundred diabetes patients, I am forced to face the fact that these patients I see walking in everyday could very well be me if I don't do anything about my health.

After completing my first triathlon (2 hours, 15 minutes, and 44 seconds :-) ) and seeing what I can do with just a little bit of effort, I am committed to living a healthier life. I guess there is no better day than the present to take my health more seriously and give my body the respect it deserves

The Tri Of My Life

Well it wasn't pretty, but I did it in 2 hours, 15 minutes, and 44 seconds. I finished 799 place out of 857 participants and 31st out of 38 in my age group. All I can say is, I was NOT last!!!

Starting with the 400 meter swim, they started the race by splitting us up by our age groups. By the time my group hit the water, several other groups had already taken off. The swimming event was much different than I practiced for. First of all, I was swimming with 37 other women and trying not to get kicked in the face was a real challenge. The other challenge was with all those women in the water with you kicking and splashing, the water became quite choppy. I hit the shore in 13 minutes, but the swim portion wasn't over yet. My swim time didn't end until I hit the transition area. To get to that area, I had to run approximately another 400 meters barefoot and uphill on a concrete path. Luckily, I wore socks in the water and that helped protect my feet during the run up to the transition area. My total swim time was 16:12.

Once in the transition area, I had to quickly dry off and change into my cycling gear. Still in my swim suite, I put on my shoes, helmet, riding gloves, and sunglasses and off I went on my 12 mile ride. I was off to a great start and felt that I could gain a lot of time during what I think is my strongest event of the triathlon. About 5 miles out, I felt my back tire begin to wobble and then start rubbing on the break. I immediately knew that I had broken a spoke. I can't tell you how upset this made me. I thought for sure I was out of the race. I could not ride on a broken wheel and there was no support around to help me.

Determined not to give up, I twisted my spoke around one of the other spokes so it wouldn't caught in the other spokes. Then, I disengaged the brakes so the wheel would not rub so hard on the break. I climbed back on the bike, switched my bike into the lowest gear I could and took off. With my tire wobbling and rubbing on on the break I peddled as hard as I could and completed the ride in what I think was still a pretty good time of 59:17

Exhausted and a bit overheated, I entered the transition area to start my final event of the 5K run. With no regard for the people around me, I ripped off my swim top and put on a lighter t-shirt, slipped my shoes on over my drenched socks, grabbed my iPod and walked quickly out and across the starting line of the 5k.

At this point, my legs were a really tired from the ride and the temperature was starting sore. Instead of running, I chose to walk at a fast pace through most of the 5K. About a quarter of the way out, I past Deena on her way back to the finish line, we slapped hands, yelled some words of encouragement to each other and kept on going. About 5 minutes later, Cat and I crossed past, and about few minutes after that, along came Cortney sporting her Short Fat Girl shirt.

Making the final turn, I started making my strides towards the finish line. At this time I have picked up the pace to a slow jog and can feel my excitement growing as I hear the crowds at the finish line. I picked up the pace even more and ran as hard as I could the last 1/4 mile and after 52 minutes and 37 seconds of run/walking, I heard the announcement "Here's Lisa Getzinger from Decatur, GA crossing the finish line"

After 2 hours, 15 minutes and 44 seconds of my life had past, I had become a triathlete!

I want to end this posting by giving my love and thanks to my partner Kristy who stood and trained by me from the very moment I decided to do this. If it wasn't for her love and support, I probably never would have completed this. My thanks also go out to my fellow triathletes, Deena, Cat, and Courtney for believing in me and seeing me through this journey. Thanks you to Noelle and Kristy for helping out with the training support and raced day photography you guys are the bomb. One more thank you to Susan; thanks for your motivation and support through our training

The Results Are In

Race results in order of completion

1. Courtney: 1:40:12


2. Cat: 1:41:51


3. Deena: 1:43:07


4. Lisa: 2:15:44

Click on table below for detailed results

Welcome To Moe's!!!!

Today, I had a hankering for a burrito from Moe's Southwest Grill. Unfortunately, I can never get out of there without blowing my calorie limit for the day; until now. Thankfully, Moe's has come out with a smaller version of their burritos. I'm not talking about a kids burrito; I'm talking about a sensible size burrito.

With the help of Moe's nutrition calculator, I can go online ahead of time to plan what I am going eat. I usually order the Joey Bag of Donuts and on it I have the following ingredients: 12" flour tortilla, black beans, no rice, chicken, lettuce, olives, onions, jalapenos, and salsa. Using the Moe's nutrition calculator, the nutrition information reads like this: 635 calories, 23 grams of fat, 2173 mgs of sodium,17 grams of fiber, 49 carbs, 29 grams of protein.

Now, switch the Joey Bag of Donuts with the Joey Junior with all of the same ingredients, this is what you get: 335 calories, 13 grams of fat, 1152 mg sodium, 7 grams of fiber, 42 carbs, 15 grams of protein.

Now, the size of the junior was about half the size of the regular, but I have to say, instead of feeling all bloated and tired, I feel satisfied and ready to get back to work. Thanks Moe's

13 Minutes Flat Baby

Today Kristy and I went to the gym so I could get some more time in the pool. With only a week left before the triathlon, I am starting to feel a little stressed about the swimming part.

We started off with our Saturday morning water aerobics class which lasted an hour. After class was over, we started swimming laps. My best time to date is 25 minutes which I accomplished last week during the practice tri. Today, we kicked it off in high gear trying not to stop unless absolutely necessary.

To be totally honest, I have never ever completed one lap (there and back) without stopping; until today. Today, I did a lap and a half before having to take a break. Even though I stopped to catch my breath, my break only lasted a few seconds before I was back at it.

What I realized today is when I slowed down, and paid attention to what I was doing, I was able to focus on form rather than speed. Doing that, I made less mistakes and was able to go further. By the end of the swim, my confidence level increased dramatically.

Kristy and I completed our 400 meters in 13 minutes flat today. A very proud moment indeed. The funny part of all of this is, I am starting to really enjoy swimming to the point I look forward to going now. Who would have thought.

There's An App For That

For all you I phone users out there, I have found a great app for counting calories called Tap & Track.








With this app, not only can you count your nutritional intake, you can track your weight and exercise too.

What I like best about this app is that its pretty user friendly and customizable to a certain point. You can enter in your desired weight loss goal, though it picks a calorie goal for you, you can easily adjust it to the calories you want to consume per day.

It tracks the amount of calories consumed and what you have left for the day.













At a glance, you can see your entire food log for any given day.














The only part of the app I do not like is the exercise section. It auto-calculates the amount of calories burned for each exercise and I am finding that isn't very accurate. When I compare the calories burned to my heart rate monitor, it's not even close; however, you can enter your own, but it's not as nice and easy.

If you like, you can send reports of your weigh loss to yourself by email or anyone else for that matter. Over all it's a great time saving app.

Grilled Broccoli

After being introduced to this by my friend Deena, I have a new favorite side dish; grilled broccoli. If you ever thought that broccoli is boring, I promise you this will change your mind. I'm not sure why or how, but the flavor of broccoli after it has been grilled is amazing. Even better, its very easy to prepare.

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch fresh broccoli spears
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

1. Slice the broccoli stalk lengthwise cutting it into three or four stalks.
2. Add olive oil, kosher salt, and black pepper to a one gallon zip lock baggie and mix well
3. Add broccoli to bag and thoroughly coat with oil mixture
4. Place coated broccoli on grill rack and cook over medium heat for 8-10 minutes on each side or until crisp and tender

That's it. Server and enjoy

Tri Suits For Short Fat Girls

To my surprise, there are more choices of active wear for plus size women than I thought. Not to say, that if it's plus size, then it's OK to wear. That much is true for the tri-suit I purchased at an active wear online clothing store I found. This website, Junonia has quite a large selection of plus size clothing. You can only imagine how excited I was to find a tri suit that would fit me.

At $110 bucks, I thought for sure this tri-suit would be the answer to my problems. I had Kristy order it for me and pay the extra money for express shipping. Three days later, the suit was here. When I came home from work, I ran upstairs to try it on. To my surprise, I did not look at all like the girl in the picture. (can you say air brush) Kristy came upstairs to see me in my suite. She saw the expression on my face and said, would you like me to return it for you in the morning? I was horrified I felt like the Michelin Man was staring back at me in the mirror.

Not to worry, I found another store that sold plus size tri-shorts. At this website, Areotech Designs you can buy plus size shorts all the way to 5 XL. Again I had Kristy order these for me and after returning the first pair for a smaller size, I have solved my triathlon apparel problems. Together with the shorts, I went to Sports Authority and bought a men's swimming shirt. Now, don't have to wear my swimsuit with my sports bra under it. All is good.

Practice Triathlon

This morning, Cat, Deena, Susan, and I along with our support team, Kristy and Noelle headed out for a practice triathlon. With only 13 days to go, we all wanted to make sure we knew what we were getting into. We started off at the gym and swam 400 meters in the pool. After that, we went back out to the parking lot where Kristy and Noelle were waiting. When we got out there, Kristy and Noelle had our bikes and gear all set up ready for us to jump on our bikes and go.

With Kristy and Noelle riding along with us, off we went for our 12 mile ride. Cat chose a really good route that simulated most riding conditions we may encounter. 51 minutes and 45 seconds later, we were back at the gym jumping off our bikes and heading out for our 5k run while Kristy and Noelle packed everything up.

Quickly, Susan pulled out and never looked back. There after, Cat and Deena spanked my ass as they ran by me. Unfortunately, I was having severe leg cramps and was forced to walk most of the route. Every time I tried to run, my legs would just knot up to the point you could see it happening. Instead of taking the chance of hurting myself, I chose to walk the route instead of run.

All alone, I turned up the music and picked up the pace. About a quarter mile down the road I saw Kristy pulled off on the side of the road waiting for me with a bottle of water. I took several sips and headed off again. Another quarter mile or so, there she was again waiting for me with water. She had taken on the role as our support vehicle while Noelle went off to buy and prepare lunch for us when finished. Kristy road up and down the route tending to all the runners and when they had all finished she continued to meet me every quarter mile or so with water. When I reached the last half mile, I sent her to Cat's house and said I would meet her there.

About 5 minutes later, I looked down the road and saw Susan and Deena walking towards me. Deena and Susan came to finish the rest of the route with me. Still walking, we made the final turn and Cat's house came into view. There, Kristy, Cat, and Noelle were waiting for us clapping in the drive way. With less then a half of a block to go, Deena suggested that we run the rest of the way. 2 hours and 27 minutes after starting, we arrived at the end of the route. I actually did my own triathlon!!!!

With less than two weeks before the race, I feel confident that I can actual do this. Thanks to Kristy and Noelle for all the support and thanks to Deena, Susan, and Cat for participating in the race with me. I don't think I would have come this far without every one's support

Weigh In May 22, 2010

Today the scale has been a bit unfaithful to me. I weighed in at 222.3 pounds. I really don't understand how this could have happened, because I have been on point with my calories most of the week. One possibility could be that I didn't workout as much as I have been the past few weeks, but I am still working out all the same. I'm concerned that my calorie intake may need to be adjusted. I'll have to talk to the dietitians at work to get this straightened out.

Tour de Cure Revisited

Today Kristy and I took on the America Diabetes Association's annual Tour de Cure bike ride. Last year, we chose this ride to be our very first group ride. In fact, at 16 miles, it was the longest we have ever ridden before. This year we stepped it up a bit and signed up for the 32 mile route.

To begin with, the ride started out with Kristy getting a flat tire as soon as we took her bike off the truck. Not sure what happened, but as soon as she sat her bike down, the back tire blew. Luckily, we had an extra tube with us and a bike mechanic changed the tire for us. With our team all lined at the starting line, we took off. Kristy and I were very excited about conquering the infamous hill that got the best of us last year. At mile six, we saw the hill ahead of us. We both sped up to get some momentum for the monstrous hill. About half way up the hill, Kristy took off and pulled ahead of me while I started to slow down a bit. Determined to make it up this damn hill, I down shifted as low as I could go so I could make it up the hill without stopping. Finally, I had no choice but to dismount my bike and start walking up the hill. I was so upset that I could not make it up the hill. I could not understand what why it was so difficult.

When I got to the top of the hill, where Kristy was waiting for me, I stopped and looked at my bike. What I discovered was my tire kept getting hug up on the break. I thought I was having problems with my breaks sticking. At that time, a rider stopped to see if we needed any help. I told him what was happening and he took a look. He informed me that the problem wasn't with my breaks it was my wheel. Apparently, I broke a spoke which made my wheel out of balance. There was nothing he could do to help us.

After waiting about 45 minutes, a support vehicle stopped to pick me up and take me to the next rest area where a bike mechanic was on duty. Kristy decided to ride on and just me at the rest stop.

James from Roswell Bicycles assisted me with my broken spoke. Apparently it wasn't an easy job because it took him almost an hour to fix it. After taking my entire wheel apart, he was able to get the bike fixed and get me on the road again.

Unfortunately, we were so far behind, we had no choice but to just turn around and head back to the starting line. If we whould tried to finish the ride, it would have taken us at least 2 more hours and by that time, all the rest areas would have been closed and we would be riding in the heat of the day. Not a good combination.

By the time we got back to the start/finish line, we were crossing the line at the same time as most of the people we started with. I was at least able to log 17 miles and Kristy was able to get to 22 miles. Not a bad ride but still disappointing.

Better luck next year

20 Days

After winning our softball game last night, Kristy and I came home and went straight to bed. We had to because we had our water aerobics class at 9:00 in the morning. Class was a bit more difficult than it was last week, but we muddled through. After class, we were both pretty tired, but that could not slow us down; the Triathlon is only 20 days away.

After class, Kristy and I started swimming laps. Today, I felt much more comfortable than I have been in the past. I focused mostly on my form rather than speed. My confidence is building to a point that I am actually beginning to like swimming which a first for me. Out of all three events in the triathlon, the swimming is what freaking me out the most.

In 25 minutes we completed our 40o meters. Another personal best.

Weigh In May 15 2010

Today I weighed in at 221.4. That is a total of 37.4 pounds. Looks like I recovered from our Vegas trip faster than trips in the past.

Personal Best

This morning at 5:10 AM I crawled out of bed and headed to the gym. I was lucky enough to grab one of the better treadmills so; I jumped on and started running.

Over the past few months, I have been doing interval training on the treadmill as well as on the roads. When I started, I was only able to run for 1 minute then walk two or three minutes. Today, I ran for 30 minutes which I began with a 5 minute brisk walk and then I took off running for 3 minutes and then walked for 1 minute. I was able to do that for the entire workout. With only 1 minute left, I increased the speed to 5.5 mph and took off for the entire 60 seconds.

By the end of the workout, I was soaking wet with sweat, but I sure felt great. I have a softball game tonight. We’ll see how well I can move by then.

What Happens In Vegas Stays In Vegas

Just got back from a wonderful Vegas vacation and like they say, "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas".

Seriously, Kristy and I had a great time. We went there for Kristy's mother's (Ginny) 65th birthday. Along with Ginny, she brought, her boyfriend, Don, her best friend from high school, Joan and her husband, Joe. So here were were, Kristy and I hanging out in Vegas with who we fondly call the seniors. Unfortunately for us, the "Seniors" did not live up to their name. They kicked our butts almost every night. Seemed like every time we wanted to take a break or turn in for the night, they were just getting their second wind.

As for the dieting part, that did not go so well. It was almost impossible to make any healthy choices in Vegas. Kristy and I did the best we could do under the circumstances, but it was not easy. The one thing that saved us was we walked everywhere. One of the days we decided to walk to the Vegas sign. We thought it would be a nice bit of exercise and it was, but by the time we got back to our hotel, 5 miles later, we were exhausted.

I'm not going to go into all the details of the trip, but it was well worth the visit and I'm happy with the results of the scale.

Glad That One Is Over

Well, the first big ride of the year has come and gone. Let me tell you I’m glad that one is behind me. It wasn’t that the ride was hard, but the people who put it on did not do a very good job.

First, we did the 32 mile option and there were rest areas about every about every 12 – 15 miles. Well for the ride we did, that meant we only had two. At the rest areas they usually provide a bathroom and some food and drinks. Nothing extravagant just water, Gatorade, and usually some fruit and sometimes sandwiches. By the time we got to the first rest area, they were totally out of food. All they on the table were a half of a jar of peanut butter with a knife sticking out of it and a half loaf of white bread. I felt bad because Courtney, one of the girls who rode with us was planning on packing some things to eat, but I assured her that the rest areas would have plenty of food. It was like that at the next stop as well.

Then, with only 2 miles left in the ride, there was a road block with two police officers directing people to a designated detour. Apparently, there was a parade starting and we had to go a different route. Kristy got to the road block before me and stopped me before I got there. It’s a good thing she did get to me first, because when I heard that we had to tack on another mile, I wanted to jump off my bike and tackle that cop. My feet were hurting so bad, I was blind with pain.

All in all, the ride was very nice just organized poorly. I will probably never ride with that organization again

Saddle Up!

It's official! Tomorrow we head out for our first organized ride of the year. Kristy, Courtney, and I will be getting up at 5:00 AM and heading out with our friends, Deena, Susan, Noelle and Cat for a 33 mile ride. Kristy and I have decided not to weigh in this week until Sunday.

Wish us luck!

Running With Someone

Courtney and I hit the road again yesterday after work and ran the same route we did the night before. Kristy is down with a bad back so she wasn't able to join us on our run. She did, however, joined us for a nice .9 mile warm up walk around the the neighborhood with all the pups. After the warm up, Courtney, KC and I took off for another walk/run.

Even though the route was the same, it was much harder this time. Since we did the nice warm up walk, we were able to start the route off running. Unfortunately, the first part we ran is all up hill so I was already out of breath before leaving my own street.

By the time we hit the dreaded hill, I was pretty wiped out. Under normal circumstances, I would have walked the rest of the way home, but having Courtney beside me helped me push through the pain. We walked up the hill at a fast pace and when we reached the top, we ran the rest of the way home which is approximately a block long. We completed everything, including the warm up walk in 51:39. I'm thinking that's a record time for me.

At the end of the run, I was breathing heavy, sweating like a pig, but I felt great. Thanks Courtney for pushing me the way you did.

Tri-Run

Yesterday, I hit the road running on a 2.15 mile walk/run my faithful dog KC and house guest Courtney. We did what is called interval training which is walk the first five minute (warm-up) run 1 minute, walk 2 minutes and repeat the run walk routine until complete. I would have been able to do the entire 2.15 miles like that if it weren't for this humongous hill on the last block. So I called the last block my "cool down" even though it was harder to walk up than the rest of the run.

With only 52 days until the triathlon, I feel that I am running out of time. I am still not able to run a complete 5K and I am no where close to swimming 400 meters. The bike riding part I'm not worried about since we have been riding round trips to Stone Mountain on a regular basis and that's almost 20 miles alone.

My strategy is to get through the swimming the best I can then really make up some time on the bike by riding as hard as I can and leave enough energy for the 5K run. My biggest goal right now is to run the entire 5k without having to walk any of it.

Wish me luck

Well That Didn't Work

Another experiment failed. I weighed in today and 224.3. I gained 1.3 pounds. There could be several reason for my weight gain this week. They are as follow but in no particular order except for the first.

• I ate dinner late last night - After our game, which we won 16-5 by the way, we went to The Corner Pub for dinner and a drink. I was so hungry because I didn't eat anything before the game. In fact, I hadn't eaten anything since lunch. For dinner I had 2 sliders, one chicken and one black bean, a side salad and two beers.
• I did not journal this week - I tried to see how well I would do without writing everything down. I just get so tired of logging everything I eat. Well this week weigh in as making me re-think that.
• Fewer trips to the gym - We only went to the gym once last week. We did other things like jogging and walking the dogs, but the intensity of the workouts was way less than we have normally done.
• Easter egg hunt - last weekend we had our annual neighborhood Easter egg hunt. We had a great time but there was a tons of food drinks to be had. Even though I tried to keep my alcohol consumption to a minimum, I did do some mindless eating. It wasn't difficult to just walk through the house and grab something off the table as I walked by.

Well there you go. It looks like I did everything wrong this week. To my defence, I didn't do a bad job eating, I was just bad at everything else.

Hitting The Pavement

After are hard but quick thunderstorm yesterday, the sky cleared and sun came out so, Kristy, Courtney, and I decide Io hit the pavement for a run instead of going to the gym. We took a route that had a distance of 3.15 miles-almost the distance of the running part of the triathlon. This was our first run without a treadmill. Let me begin by saying that there is a huge difference running on the street than running on the treadmill.


We started off by walking for about a half mile and then started our running routine. We ran for 60 seconds and then walked for 2 minutes. We continued at that pace for about 2 miles before we had to start walking a little longer. We completed the run in 55 minutes which is a average of 17 minutes per mile. In my opinion that's not too shabby.


Its hard to say how many calories we burned because my heart rate monitor really wasn't working most of the time, and every website I checked gave me a different number. The range was anywhere between 375 to 1300 calories. It also depends on what activity you put it to calculate it. I could not find one calculator that offered a walk/run scenario.

Tonight, its softball. Let's hope we can keep our winning streak alive.

Someday Is Today

Today, I was able to fit in a shirt that hasn't fit since I got it about 5 years or so ago. A friend gave me this shirt to wear to an event and it didn't fit. I've saved this shirt knowing that someday, I would be able to wear it. Someday is today!!!

I know this has been slow going for me, but I have to tell you when you have little things like this to celebrate about, the pride you feel motivates you to keep sticking with it.

35 Pounds!!!!

Today I weighed in at 223.0 that's a loss of 1.2 pounds this week and a grand total of 35.8 pounds!!!

I have been experimenting with different things that would help me not get frustrated or bored with dieting. This past week, I have decided not to log my calorie intake in my journal. I am just trying to be mindful of what I eat. During the week, I write everything down, but on the weekends I try to give myself a break and just take it easy. The result is a slower weight loss but a happier more motivated person.

I'll keep you up to date on my future experiments.

Good Week

Well it looks like I had good week this past week. Today I weighed in at 224.2, that's a loss of 3.4 pounds this week. WAHOO!!!!! To tell you the truth, I was kind of worried this week because I ate out 3 times and even though I made the best choices I could have, there weren't as great I would have hoped. On the up side, I went to the gym 3 times this week and had three really strong workouts. that is probably way I had a good week.

I'll take it anyway I can.

Bad Turns Into Good

Yesterday was a day in hell. I had a terrible day at work and my stress level was at a all time high. At one point, around lunch time, I went looking for a snack, and when I could not find one that thought would make me happy, I started plotting my lunch. What should I eat? Chinese? Mexican? Fast food? Thankfully, I noticed what I was doing and tried talking myself down. Instead of going out to eat, I went to the break room, and grabbed my lunch; a turkey sandwich, and a salad. After lunch was over, I was still having a bad day, but I made it better by making a better choice.

Normally, after a day like I had, I would have probably gone out to eat and had a couple of beers. Instead, I came home, Kristy made us a power smoothie and we went to the gym. We spent 30 minutes on the treadmill and then 30 minutes on the bike. At the end of the workout, I was soaked in sweat and out of breath and had burned a total of 1000 calories. That's what I call stress relief.

All and all, it was a great day. I know I had a horrible day at work, but instead of falling back on my old bad habits, I paid attention to what was going on and made the best choice I could not to sabotage my diet.

Life Happens

One thing I am realizing is that when the going gets tough, I start eating badly. This past weekend Kristy and I spent the entire day Saturday and part of Sunday working. I brought home several work projects and Kristy had her usual pile up of exhibit designs to work on.

Neither one of us had time to do anything, even cook. That being said, we ended up ordering Pizza out. I know I know, it takes effort, but in our defense we were both at our wits end and overwhelmed. What I see we are going to have to do is make some meals ahead of time that we can freeze so the next time this happens, and it will happen again, we will be better prepared.

HIt The Road

I forgot to meantion; Kristy and I went on our first big bike ride of the season. Thinking the day would be warmer and sunnier, we pulled out the bikes, pumped the tires and headed to Stone Mountain for a twenty mile round trip.

The weather channel said it was going to be in the 60's and sunny. They are such liars. It was windy, overcast and cold!!!! I think when they are that wrong, they should be fined or something. Come on now!!!

Even though we were cold, we still had a great ride. It took us a little longer and seemed a bit harder than it did last year, but it was our first ride after all. I were both happy to see that it wasn't like starting over again. Weather aside, we had a great time.

Weigh In Results

Well it's not what I was hoping for but it's still a loss. Today's I weighed in at 228.6 which is a loss of 1.2 lbs. No worries, I will keep chugging along.

Last Chance Workout

Tonight, Kristy and I along with our friend Sally are going to the gym. Kristy and I are going to try and repeat the workout we had the other night. At some point, we need to throw 30 minutes of swimming to the mix, but I don't think we are quite there yet.

Last night we went the the Corner Pub (my favorite place) to meet a friend for dinner. I went with the intentions of eating a salad and having just one beer. Well one beer turned into two pitchers (share between Kristy and I) and I did have a salad along with my cheese steak sandwich (no fries :-)) I am getting to the point of believing that there is something wrong with my brain. Can I really be that addicted to food that I cannot make healthy choices in public? Something has got to give; I can't spend the rest of my life only eating at home.

This is why it is so important to work out. At least, I can fix some of the damage I did to myself by really burning some calories tonight. To fix it all, I'm going to have to workout all night.

Tune in tomorrow for my weekly weigh in results.

Back in the Saddle Again

Just in case you haven't noticed, I haven't been online in quite some time. I guess you can say it's been hard getting back in the saddle again. Before my vacation, I was very strict about writing down everything I put in my mouth and I was working out several times a week. That pretty much all came to a halt we went on vacation.

Since we've been back from vacation, I have fallen back into my old eating habits again and have been pretty slack about going to the gym. If we did go to the gym, we would stop and get something to eat and drink on the way home; however, that has come to an end. This week, I have resumed my healthy eating habits and have started back to the gym again.

Last night, Kristy and I went to the gym and worked out side-by-side on the treadmill for 30 minutes and then on to the stationary bikes for additional 30 minutes. By the end of our workout, we were very pleased with what we accomplished even though we were totally exhausted. I think I got my motivation is back. I've been very good about writing everything down which is the key, if you really do want to lose weight.

If you haven't guessed by now, I have put on a few pounds back on. The last time I weighed myself was last Saturday. Unfortunately, I am back up to 229 pounds. Its very disheartening when I worked so hard to get somewhere only to sabotage myself by eating burgers and drinking beer.

Now that I am back online, I promise to keep you all posted of my ups as well as my downs. Only 86 more days to the triathlon.

A Wonderful Experience

Even though I didn't do well on the eating side last week, I do not regret my trip for one second. I had one of the most memorable experiences of my life. I was a part of what only 1% of the world can say they were a part of.

Not only was it a beautiful visual experience, but an emotional one as well. When Endeavor lifted off, the force was so strong that it shook your entire body all the way through your soul.

The icing on the cake (mmm cake) was that my friend Becky's sister, Kay Hire, was aboard. What was a thrilling experience was also scary one too. You wanted to see a great show, but you were worried that everything was going to go off ok.

Words can't even begin to describe this experience. It becomes a part of you.

Post Vacation Failures

I weighed in yesterday and I now weigh 229.1. That is almost a 5 pound gain. That really sucks. The worst part is I didn't really pig out or anything. True, I ate out every meal and true, I did not count any calories, true, I did not work out at all, and true, I had several drinks through the week.

Making healthy choices while traveling is very difficult especially, when you are traveling by car. We spent a lot of time in the car and most meals were eaten at fast foods restaurants. At first, we attempted to try and find healthier places to eat, but that was a very difficult task. After a while, we just gave in and ate what we could find and make the healthiest choices we could make. For example, one of the meals we ate was at Arby's. We figured a roast beef sandwich was healthier than a cheeseburger.

Overall, I am glad we are back home and back into our healthy eating.

Pre-Vacation Jitters

Kristy and I are leaving tomorrow for Florida to watch the space shuttle launch. My friend, Becky, has a sister who is an astronaut and is going up on the next space shuttle mission. Cool huh?

Anyway, this will be my first time eating away from home in over a month. I'm hoping that the temptation wont be to great for me and I slip back into the same old bad habits. I just have to remember that I have a goal to meat in 5 months.

Wish me luck everyone

Wellness is Catchy

Getting healthy is like a virus. Once you start telling people about it and actually doing something about it, they in turn become motivated to join you. I guess you can say it's like not wanting to do something alone. It's a lot more fun when you friends are participating in their own wellness while you are.

Last night, Kristy and I went to the gym. I was scheduled to meet with a trainer for my first physical assessment. Come to find out, I am 48% body fat. You can probably guess that I was not happy with that number. The trainer said that they would like to see me bring that number down to the mid 20's. He wrote up an exercise routine for me consisting of mostly weights. Says that the amount of cardio I am getting is plenty and I should focus on lifting weights. It will speed up my metabolism and and burn more fat. Today we worked only on my back muscles. We did a series of 4 exercises, 4 reps of 12 at 60 pounds each. Man I felt so butch!!!! I never grunted so much in my life. By the time we were finished, I was totally spent. I could barely lift my arms over my head and I was soaking wet in sweat.

After we worked out, I went to the racquetball courts to meet my friends. We had court reservations at 8:00. There were 5 of in all and we had a great time together. That's what I mean by being catchy. We all had a great workout, a lot of fun, and left feeling good that we actually did something. We have already scheduled our workout for next weeks racquetball session.

The Best Blueberry Pancakes

Kristy made me the best blueberry pancakes I've ever had. The best part is they're healthy. I thought that it would be nice to post a few of my favorite recipes that we come across from time to time.






Ingredients:
2 cups frozen wild blueberries
1 cup cottage cheese
1 cup Fage 0% Yogurt (Greek)
1 cup King Arthur Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt.

Directions:
Combine the blueberries, water, and sugar in a saucepan and cook over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring often, until the blueberries break apart. (This will server as the syrup)

Beat together the cottage cheese, yogurt, eggs, and lemon juice. Mix the baking soda, flour, and salt. Stir the flour mixture into the dairy and mix just enough to blend.

Heat skillet over medium-low heat. Coat with a nonstick spray and add batter in large spoonfuls (about 1/4 cup). Flip when the tops begin to bubble, 3 to 5 minutes, and cook the second side until browned. Serve with the warm compote (blueberry mixture)

Makes 4 servings

Nutritional information:
310 calories
8g fat
3.5g saturated)
500 mg sodium
47g carbs
20g protein
6g fiber

Spin Class From Hell

OMG!!! That spin class whipped my butt big time. It was 60 minutes of pure torture. For those of you who have not had the pleasure to participate in a spin class before, It starts out with a five minute warm up and then you go all out full force for the next 50 minutes. Several times through out the work out, you are instructed to turn the resistance up to 95% and stand up while you ride. At this rate, you are simulating going up hill or a freaking mountain.

For several minutes, I was able to keep up with the rest of the class, but my stamina did not last for long. I was forced to sit on my seat and just peddle my heart out. Several times through out the workout, I was tempted to quit and walk out of the room. I really felt like I was way out of my league, but when I looked down at my watch, I realized I only had 15 more minutes to go. I was determined not to quit. 15 minutes? I can do anything for 15 minutes. I just did everything I could to keep up. I was drenched in sweat and breathing very hard, but the minutes went by one by one. Then came the cool down. THANK GOD!!!!

I did it. My first spin class and I made it all the way through. You can't imagine how happy I was. I am looking forward to the next class.

On The Scale

Today's weight was 226.5. I had a feeling it wasn't going to be a good week for me. I had sporadic workouts and after 3 weeks of great weigh ins, I knew it was going to slow down eventually. Still a pound lost is a pound in the right direction. That's a grand total of 32.3 pounds. I just have to keep focused and my eye on the prize. I have only a little over 5 months before the triathlon; a long way to go in a very short time.

This morning, I am going to go to my first spin class. I hear it's pretty tough and I am a little intimidated by it, but this week has been filled with many firsts. Why not one more?

28 Laps

Who would have thought that a Friday night would be a popular night at the gym. We planned our swimming around the fact that hardly anyone would be there. I guess it's safe to say that we're not the only ones without much of a night life.

Anyway, it wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be. To my surprise, I wasn't as big a spectacle as I thought I would be; nobody seemed to care that there was an overweight, 45 year old woman in a swimsuit splashing around in the pool.

Kristy, I started off by walking a few laps while Deena dove right in to a full freestyle swim. As I said yesterday, I haven't really swam in several years so just walking the first few laps had my breathing a bit labored. After about 5 minutes or so, we started swimming our laps. Though I couldn't do a single lap without stopping for a second to catch my breath, I was able to complete 28 laps within 45 minutes.

By the time I got home that evening, I could barely move my arms and I was so exhausted I had to go directly to bed. I never slept so well in my entire life.

In To The Deep End

Well, tonight's the big night. To start preparing for the swimming portion of the upcoming triathlon, I am going swimming, in public, in a swim suit, for the first time in about 20 years or longer.

Kristy and I joined LA Fitness this week so we could work out together with our friends. I already have a gym membership at work, but I really wanted to get Kristy to start going to the gym with me. Now, instead of going out, we are going to the gym.

Acting as my swim coach, Kristy will be teaching me the fine art of swimming laps. One of my co-workers informed me that 400 meters (the distance of the swim portion of the triathlon), is equivalent to 28 laps in the pool. Ouch! I don't think I've ever done more than 2 consecutive laps before. This is really going to hurt.

To be honest, I am not as worried about the swimming as I am about the swim suit. The pool is in the very front of the gym and is surrounded by glass. Not only is it visible to the people in the gym, but people driving by can see me as well. My fat legs, belly and ass will all be hanging out there for the entire world to see. What the hell was I thinking?

Wish me luck, I'll give a full report of my humiliation tomorrow after weigh in.

By the way, if any of my co-workers or my employers are reading this, I am writing this during my lunch. :-)

Yeah Baby!!!!!

I got on the scale today and I weighed in at 227.5. That's 16 pounds in 3 weeks!!!!

If I had to point out one thing that I think contributed the most to my weight loss this week would be keeping my food journal. I have been told probably a thousand times that if I kept a journal I would loose more weight. Well, I guess it took some time for that to really kick in, but it did work.

In my opinion, keeping a food journal is something that should be taught at a younger age. Heck, they will teach you to take care of an engine in school, why not teach the kids to treat there bodies like an engine. If you put a ton of cheeseburgers in your gas tank, your engine is going to quit. Same holds true for your body and heart. I'm just sorry I waited until I was 45 to get it through my thick head.

I can only imagine the amount of calories, fat and sodium I was putting in my body on a daily basis. No wonder I'm a short fat girl.