Weekend Recap with pics!

I pretty much had the best weekend ever! :D Saturday morning was SacFit and my group did a little over 3 miles. It was a nice day on the parkway despite the mist that kept getting on my glasses. I seriously needed windshield wipers!

After SacFit, Matt and I took Jenny to the dog park to wear her out before we took her for boarding. She met a gigantic mastiff puppy and they played for about an hour. Mission accomplished!

We dropped Jenny off at the vet and then headed to Santa Rosa to see an awesome band play at a brewery there. It was such a great time! We had beer bites and lots of beer and pizza! The band was super awesome as always and I danced the night away! We stayed the night at our friend Mateo's house and headed back to Sac the next day.

On the way home we stopped at the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield to get some sport bean flops. Pretty much belly flops except they are the sport beans, which makes them super cheap! Yay!

Once we got home we had a few hours to ourselves and then we headed to Roseville and went shopping for a bit with my parents and brother and his girlfriend and then we went to BJ's for dinner! So good! I did not have any beer though as I had WAY too much the night before! I got a birthday pazookie and it was all in all an awesome pre-birthday weekend.

One thing I want to try to do more of on my blog is post pictures, so...here are a few from my fun weekend!


Matt and I at Russian River Brewery!


Beer bites! So good!


Matt and Rejection...delicious beer!

I was going to do a 100 day challenge update as well, but I will save that for tomorrow! It's my birthday tomorrow! Yay!

Early morning musings

I didn't post my weigh-in last week (-.2lbs)and I forgot to weigh-in yesterday. I am a dork. I did weigh-in this morning though and I lost .8 lbs putting me at 173. I am pretty stoked about that.

I have been doing a challenge put forth by John Bingham that I discovered through a friend on facebook. The challenge is 100 days of movement. I am 29 days in and going strong! The goal is to intentionally move for 30 minutes a day for 100 days straight. It can be the gym, running, walking your dog, pretty much anything that has you moving for 30 minutes total everyday. I am really proud of myself for going this long without quitting! 29 days! That's a day shy of a whole month of moving every single day!

Is it helping my weigh-loss efforts? Possibly. But really all I care about is that I am doing it and I am going to make it to that 100 days a happier, healthier me! I am pretty happy about my loss this week, which I possibly wouldn't have had if I hadn't have been getting out there every day to do some form of exercise. Having a new doggie (pics coming as soon as I can find my camera) is a really great motivator to get outside for a walk. She is full of energy and taking her on long walks tired her out :D

This morning I am headed to SacFit for 46 minutes of walking/running. Day 29 accomplished! After that we plan to take Jenny to the dog park to wear her out before we take her to the boarding kennel to stay while we are in Santa Rosa for my early b-day present! We are headed to the Russian River Brewery for a show by my favorite band, Five AM. I am so excited! My parents are taking me to an early bday dinner on Sunday at Bj's too. I am so spoiled this weekend! My bday is Tuesday and I will be 26. I am over a quarter century old. Geez.

Signing off for now. Hopefully I can find my camera before tonight so I can take some pics at the show and of my little Jenny :D Have an awesome weekend everyone!

Whoohoo!

Last night I cheated and stepped on the scale and was dissapointed at the number...but this morning I was ecstatic! It is amazing that morning vs evening weigh-ins can be so different! My morning weigh-in today was 173.4lbs! Woo! I am down 2.2lbs from Sunday. I am so happy! The 100 days of movement challenge is really helping me to be more active and not make excuses and I am sure it has helped with this loss. As long as I can keep seeing smaller and smaller numbers week after week I will be a happy girl!

I hope everyone has an awesome weekend! Tomorrow is the season opener for SacFit which is the running group I belong to. I am going to be a pace assistant for the magenta group this season and I am looking forward to Saturdays at the Pond!

SacFit Saturday and a late weigh-in wake-up call!

Today was another fun SacFit Saturday! We did 8.5 miles today and it felt pretty good. The weather was awesome and everyone in my pace group (14:30's) finished strong! I am happy being a coach and watching people succeed and reach goals and go farther than they have ever been! It is quite exciting!

Matt and I had a fun time camping for a couple days this week. The place we went was kinda dry and hot, but we had a shady campsite so it wasn't too bad. We had a couple of run ins with some superbugs that were pretty scary! One was a flying beetle thingy that was probably 5-6 inches long and attached itself to the outside of our tent one night. I was freaking out! Other than that the trip went off without a hitch. I was happy to be able to sit and relax and read for hours on end! I finished a book I had been reading and then started a new one and finished it too! Such luxuries will not be possible after this weekend is over because starting Monday I am officially a working girl again! I have students starting on Tuesday! I cannot believe the summer went by so fast!

Now for the weigh-in wake-up call. I have been trying hard to follow this plan of intuitive eating and losing weight without going crazy counting points or calories for about a month now. As I am sure you can tell from my posts this last month, things haven't been going too well with it. I seem to keep gaining and losing the same 2 or 3 pounds over and over again. It is getting so frustrating! I weighed myself this morning since I couldn't on Friday and the scale said 172.6lbs. That is a 3lb gain from last week. Things aren't working. Granted I went camping and snacked all day for 2 days, but 3lbs doesn't happen in just 2 days. So, I have come to the decision that starting today I will be back to counting points and keeping track of what I am eating. Every meal, every snack, everything. I need to keep myself accountable and I need to start losing these last 10lbs or so!

I think I have the exercise and water down pretty good, now it is time to focus on food and making sure that I am doing what needs to be done to be successful. This is my time and I will lose these last 10lbs by the holidays, I will!

Thanks for listening to my ramblings. I hope everyone's weekend is awesome!

Back to Reality

Yesterday afternoon Matt and I got back from our 2 week adventure on the East Coast! We had such a great time and I will post pics soon. We spent a week in Pennsylvania in a mountain resort and then drove to Washington DC where we spent 4 days exploring the city. It was so hot and humid in DC! I am thankful to have come home to "dry heat" here in Sac! I still have about another month off before I start back teaching at my new school. I was involuntarily transferred from Woodcreek and will now be teaching at Roseville High. I was very upset about the change, but I have accepted it now and am just thankful for a job!

I had my usual weigh-in this morning and I am 171.4lbs. I have back-slid quite a bit since the wedding for all of the obvious reasons; good food and lack of exercise. I don't think I have exercised on purpose in almost 3 weeks! Ahhhh! Not to mention that tomorrow is my 1st Saturday workout of the season with SacFit (I missed the last 3 weeks) and we are doing 6 miles! I am going from zero to 6 in 2.5 seconds! I am so anxious about the run tomorrow! I am a coach and I am supposed to be confident and be a leader, but it might be tough tomorrow. I will do my best and hopefully not die!

Since I am back and have no more excuses, I need to get back to my weight loss journey. I have a few friends on facebook that I am joining forces with to be my weight loss buddies. We are going to weigh-in every Friday and share our goals and report back to each other weekly. I think this will help me keep more accountable. I am going to try something called "intuitive eating" for a few weeks and see how it goes. Basically you eat when you're hungry and stop when you are full. Sounds easy, but I know it will be rough. I am just tired of counting points. It makes me crazy! Of course if this IE thing doesn't seem to be working I can always go back to it because I know it works. I will watch what I eat and exercise regularly.

Here are my goals for this week:

1. Drink water! Lots of it! Everyday! (at least 3 Camelback bottles a day)
2. Keep a daily food journal. Record food eaten and hungry/full feelings.
3. Exercise 5 days out of the 7.

I will report every Friday with a weigh-in and a goal update. Wish me luck!

Friday WI-The argh edition

170lbs. There is yet again a 7 in the 10's place. That is why this is the argh edition. So much for maintaining. I have been exercising pretty well, but the eating has been out of control! I don't really think about what I am eating I just eat. I mean, I am not eating a bag of chips and a whole cake everyday, but I am not making the best choices either. 170lbs means a gain of 2.6lbs! That is a lot! I am so disappointed in myself. I knew the maintaining I have been doing couldn't last forever. Now I need to get back to paying attention to what I am eating and doing more exercise.

I am a member of CalFit now and the other day I had my first swim lesson with my friend Yvonne. It is great to be a member of the same gym as a friend. It really motivates me to get there when we are going to be working out together. Yvonne is teaching me how to swim so that someday I can do a triathlon! I am pretty excited! I have no clue when this someday is, but the day will come. I need much more swimming practice before I can even think about signing up for one! Swimming is hard!

The fall/summer season of SacFit starts tomorrow! Yvonne has signed up which makes me super happy. It will be great to have another friendly face out there! I am going to be coaching the 14:30 group along with Tracy who was my coach last season in the 14:00's. I am pretty stoked to be coaching along with Tracy and ready for the season to start. Of course I will only be there this week and then gone for 3 weeks after that because I am getting married and going on a 2 week honeymoon! :D The wedding is only 8 days away!!!!! AHHHHHHH! Tomorrow is a week and I am sure I will be freaking out!

That's all for now. I was supposed to be at the gym at 9:15 for a class, but I slept in :C Not a good start after an almost 3lb gain! Luckily there is a class at noon I want to try, so I will make it to that one for sure! Happy Friday!

My first half marathon!

Saturday was the day. My first ever half marathon! It was the American River Parkway half that ran along the beautiful American River bike trail from William Pond park, down past Sac State and back. The weather was better than I could have even hoped for considering the forecast the week before had predicted rain that day! It was even a little warm near the end, so much so that a few people passed out due to heat exhaustion. Luckily I came prepared with water and fuel so the aid stations that ran out near the end didn't even effect me. SacFit taught me well!

For the first half of the race I stayed with some great magentas and we had a great time, but at about mile 7ish I decided to pick up the pace and ended up getting pretty far ahead of them. I had pain in my leg around mile 9, but I made it to the end and that's what matters! I saw that finish line and I sprinted to the end and finished strong! Adrenaline really does wonders at making pain disappear! Sabrina was there at the end waiting for me and ran me in some of the way before I sprinted ahead. I was so ready to be done and so glad I made it to the end! My garmin time was 3:12 and my official time was 3:15. I am pretty happy with that time considering my only goal was to finish. Matt was waiting for me at the finish too with some beautiful flowers!

All in all it was a great race and I can now say I am a half marathoner! My next race is a 5k on June 6th and I am possibly doing the Urban Cow 1/2 in October as well. We shall see if this leg pain can get better with some new shoes and foam rolling. The next SacFit season starts June 12th and I plan on being out there for sure! Possibly as a pace coach, depending on if Ken lets me considering I will miss 3 weeks because of my wedding and honeymoon!

Here are some pics of the race.

SacFit Saturday-tapering edition

Next Saturday at this time I will be getting near the end (hopefully) of my 1st ever half marathon! I am excited, but also really nervous! I have been keeping up with my training and last week I did 12.5 miles so I know I can do the miles, I am just not sure about my pain level. My IT band is the bane of my existence at this point and sometimes even just walking is uncomfortable. My only goal for next week is to finish, so as long as I cross that finish line I will be a happy girl! Running/walking are definitely mental sports when you get past the first few miles! It is all about telling yourself that you can do it and then doing it!

Today we did a taper workout of 5 miles, which felt so short compared to last week's 12.5 miler! I had a great time and even found someone to start the race with so I am not alone at the beginning of the race! :D I mentioned on facebook the other day the phenomenon of me saying that 5 miles is a "short run" and how in January those words would have never passed my lips! I have come a long way! I feel great, I look great and I am going to be a 1/2 marathon finisher!!

WI a day late

I weighed in this morning because of yesterdays unfortunate events and I was up 0.2lbs to 170lbs. I am not too disappointed by this as it could be way worse. Now I am off to do my last run before the 1/2 marathon next Saturday. We are going out 5 miles today so it should be an easy day for me. I am feeling much better than I was yesterday, thank goodness!!!

Friday WI :D and other things too...

Drum roll please...I weighed myself this morning and the scale said...169.8lbs! That is a 0.8lb loss from last week and it officially puts me out of the 170's! I cannot remember the last time I was below the 170's, but probably in elementary school. I was always a really big girl; tall and chubby. I was beyond excited this morning when I saw that 6 in the 10's place! Now I only have 9.8lbs left until my goal of 160lbs! That is less than 10lbs left to lose which makes my goal seem even more do-able. I know I can do it and I will do it!

On Monday I am going to create a post about things I plan on doing and goals I want to reach between now and my wedding (2 months from Monday). The post will be a way for me to be held accountable and be reminded of my goals everyday. If my followers, all 6 of you, could keep me honest about my goals I would appreciate it very much!

Tomorrow is my last long run with SacFit this season before the Parkway Half Marathon on May 1st. I am planning on going out with the magentas again because my IT band is still giving me problems, but they are still doing 12 miles which is nothing to shake a stick at! I am nervous, but excited to see how I do in this race rehearsal! I will post details tomorrow after my run!

One more thing before I sign off...Matt and I have been thinking about looking for a house to buy. I talked to my mom and she gave me the number to the loan lady at her bank. I sent her some paperwork, talked to her on the phone a few times and she called me today and told me that I am pre-approved for up to $120,000! This means that Matt and I can start seriously searching for a house because we have a letter that states we are pre-approved! I am so excited about this! I am ready to start paying for something that I own!

Disneyland!!!

Matt and I got back from our 3 day trip to Disneyland yesterday afternoon! It was such an awesome trip! I love spending time with my love in his favorite place, which is quickly becoming mine too! :D We drove down there on Saturday afternoon and went to the park on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and drove back yesterday. As usual we did 12+ hours in the park everyday. The 1st day was 15 hours, then 14 and another 14 on Tuesday. I was so exhausted, but so happy to be there enjoying myself on my Spring Break!

Only a few hours before we left on Saturday I did a 10 mile run with SacFit. 10 miles! I went out with the magenta group and was set to do 9 1/2 miles, but I decided to tack on that extra 1/2 mile so I could say that I have done double-digit mileage! I was so proud of myself. However, I am never running 10 miles before a trip to Disneyland ever again! My IT band hurt so bad, I had a blister on the bottom of my foot and my Achilles started acting up after about 10 hours of walking around. I was hobbling around like a grandma almost our whole trip! I am pretty sure I walked around enough to have done a marathon!

I didn't track a single point while I was gone, but I stepped on the scale this morning (cheating, I know) and I was down about 0.5lbs, which is awesome! I just hope it says that when I get on tomorrow morning! I am amazed that I managed to lose considering all of the ice cream and pretzels and food in general that I ate, but I guess all of that hobbling around did me some good!

I will post some pics of our trip later today when I figure out how to get them off of Matt's camera!

A beautiful day to walk!

So today was my usual SacFit Saturday, except today instead of going out with the red group I went with the magentas. I saw the doctor yesterday about my IT band and she said no running. I have a PT appointment in 2 weeks, so until then I am a walker. Of course, the magentas are super walkers, so I still did 7.33 miles and I had an average pace of 14:14/mile which is faster than I go with my red group! Craziness! The magentas do 5 minute walking intervals followed by 1 minute running, so technically I ran today, but not as much as I would have with the reds. My IT band is a little sore right now, but nothing like it was Tuesday after my run. Plus I got to spend time with Matt's dad, Jeff, who is a magenta coach. It was fun to hang out with him and chat. I really enjoyed myself, and to top it off the weather was perfect! :D All in all I had a great day! I was disappointed yesterday when I was told I couldn't run, but I made it through today and I had a really great time!

On another note, I plugged my weight into my WW excel chart tracker today and it says my BMI is healthy! I was so happy to see that! I can only hope that next Friday's WI is as awesome as this one was and that next Saturday is as awesome as this one was! I am glad I made it out there and got the mileage in because that's what counts! Only 48 more days until my 1st 1/2 marathon! Woo!

SacFit Saturday

Today I ran....drum roll please....wait for it....7 1/2 miles! OMG! I am so ridiculously proud of myself right now! I did it in a little under 2 hours. The average pace was a 14:51, which is a little slow, but we made it and that's what matters! I am going to go shower now and then eat something. I am hungry!

Friday WI and re-commitment AGAIN!

I vowed to myself last week that today was the day. I would weigh myself in the morning and begin tracking my points again. This time I have the help of a WW 3-month journal (Thanks Sabrina!) in which I can write everything down and keep track throughout the day. I have been running regularly, which is great, but I realized I was using it as an excuse to eat too much. My weigh-in this morning was better than expected (174.8lbs) which was a great start to my re-commitment. I can do this! I am ready to be a healthier me, plus if I shave off a few pounds maybe I will run faster! :D

Speaking of running...tomorrow is a 7 mile run with SacFit. 7 miles! I am a little scared, but after doing 6.2 miles in the pouring rain last week I think I can handle it! I am enjoying SacFit a lot and have met some really great people so far!

Matt and I are also re-committing to weekly meal planning and grocery shopping. If I am going to do this I need healthy food in the house and a plan for every day. I also need to find some 0-1 point snacks I can have during the day as snacks. Much to my chagrin I am sure this means more vegetables...I guess we all have to grow up sometime!

That's all for now. There will be a wedding update post coming soon, so keep your eyes peeled for it!

10k in the rain!

I did it!!! I did a 6.2 mile run (AKA a 10k) this morning with SacFit! :D I am so proud of myself! I finished in 1 1/2 hours, which was an average pace of 14:30/mile. Did I mention it rained the whole time? It was quite the adventure! Now I can say that I have done a 10k and I will be ready for the one with Vonner in April. Woo!

Cooper Test!

I survived! I did pretty well too! 1.06 miles in 12 minutes which is an average pace of 11:19/mile. To me that seems pretty amazing considering I am in the 14:00/mile group on a regular basis. I pushed myself pretty hard, but I think I could have pushed harder. Oh well, there is always next time!

Yet another Friday WI dissapointment

I could not have gained another pound! No way in H-E double hockey sticks! The scale said 177.4lbs. That is such crap! I guess I need to do something differently...my guess would be my food intake. I am exercising a lot more than I used to and I think I am convincing myself it is okay to eat a lot more than I should be because of the exercise. Argh. I don't want to have to count my points. I hate doing that! I like to eat what I want to eat and when I want to eat it! Moderation is key I guess. Hopefully next week brings better news as far as my WI.

Tomorrow is the Cooper Test for SacFit. I am scared! I have to run 12 minutes straight without stopping! I am going to die!

Valentine Run!

Yvonne and I rocked our run! We did 4 miles in under an hour, which was our goal! Our average pace was a 14/min mile, which is awesome! Once we saw the finish line we pushed through and sprinted to the end. It was a great feeling! I am so glad to have such an awesome running buddy! We are hoping to do the ZooZoom 10K in April together as well! :D I did a mile less than my SacFit group today, but I ran and that's what matters! Now it is time for shower, food, then a little nap!

I ran 4 miles!

That is all I wanted to say! That, and I am still alive! :D

Friday WI

Much to my non-surprise I had a gain this week. I am up 0.6lbs to 175.8lbs. Not too much, but enough to count as a gain. I totally ate like crap, but I did exercise a bunch which is probably why it isn't a 2lb gain! When you are prepared for a gain it makes it much easier to stomach!

Tonight is my "girl's night" with some other new teachers that I worked with in Elk Grove. I am pretty stoked to see them and just chat and have some food and drinks and just be able to not think about work! I love hanging out with them, they are fun girls!

Tomorrow is my 4 mile run with SacFit! Yes, that's right...4 MILES!!! I am so incredibly scared, but I know I have prepared myself for it by following the training schedule and if the professionals say 4 miles, then by God I will make it 4 miles! Lord knows how I will feel after the 4 miles, but I will make it! Si se puede! :D

Sunday is RENT!!!! I am so excited to get to see the original actors in this musical right here in Sacramento! I know this is going to be the best show ever! I <3 Rent!

Monday is a holiday! Yes, that's right, NO WORK! I love being a teacher! I am probably going to meet my mom somewhere and go shopping! Yay! This weekend is going to be a great one!