The Nifty Foodie's Life

Since I started counting calories almost two weeks ago, I decided to add physical activity to this whole lifestyle change. The simple concept of “Eat Less, Move More” has been on my mind, and I figured heck, if I can lose almost 10 lbs. just changing my eating habits, just IMAGINE what adding exercise in will do.

Back in the ol’ wedding planning days, my workouts were a mix of kickboxing, strength training and couch to 5k workouts. I was dropping weight so fast, the seamstress told me I needed to drink milkshakes or my weight loss would lead to her having to mess with the beadwork on my dress to take it all in.

So, I drank milkshakes. And…gained a lot of weight back when I couldn’t get back on track. (womp wah)

Anywho, I decided since we no longer have a YMCA near us, I’d take advantage of our quiet neighborhood and start Couch to 5K again.

Back when I did Couch to 5K, iPhones weren’t all the rage. I think the 1st generation was out, but I was still using an iPod Nano for my workouts. There used to be a podcast of the C25K program, where it played annoying techno music, but heck, there was someone telling me when to run, walk, etc. so I used it.

Now, there are apps for the C25K program. The app I use was $2.99, but well worth it. I can run/walk to whatever music I want, and the app just fades in every minute or so to remind me what’s coming up, when to start running/walking/etc. I love it. It also tweets for me when I’m done with my workout, so I can be an attention w***e about this stuff. Y’all, it takes a lot of energy to move this 300 pound body, (well currently 289, but close enough) so I want to brag!

This is my favorite part of the whole workout…COOL DOWN. AKA done! Finished. Go home.  

Now, here’s how my three runs went for week one.

First run – I took Millie with me. Hello stupid. Don’t take your dog with you unless they know how to run at a decent pace. My dog’s speeds are walk and sniff or RUN RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN. It wore me out and wore her out 2/3rds of the way into the workout. At one point, she stopped in front of the house and wouldn’t move (she knows where home is…smart dog). She was done. So, I brought her inside and finished the last two runs on my own. At that point, I was just dragging my feet and just struggling to get through to the end. The next day I was super sore in my left arm (where I had her leash) and my legs. I learned an important lesson that stretching needs to happen. Has to…or my thighs will feel terrible the next day.

Second run – Millie did the warm-up with me (I extended it to 10 minutes so she can get a good pulling/walking workout in), then I brought her inside. These runs seemed to drag, but I tried to challenge myself to run a little faster and walk with a little more pep in my step. My neighbors saw me mid-run #7, and I’m sure I looked like death. I stretched more that evening, and discovered that Millie likes to lick sweaty arms and legs (ugh). The next day, the soreness I had from run 1 was gone.

Third run – Millie did the warm-up with me again for 10 minutes, and back inside she went to lay that belly on the cold floor. This time, the runs weren’t so bad, but I had to slow down my between-run walks because I was just gasping for air for some reason. I was a little embarrassed that people in my neighborhood who were outside could probably hear me trying to catch my breath. Oh well. At the end of the third run, I had this pretty scenery to stare at.

Gorgeous sunset, no?

So, my thoughts. I knew this week would be hard, and whoa….it was. I also know that I’m running very slow at the moment, but I know I’m taking baby steps in the right direction. I’m a little unsure if I should move on to week 2, or do week 1 again, but I’m so excited that this is the beginning of something great. I know I can do this!

I feel like I write about weight loss a lot. It’s a big goal of mine to live a healthier lifestyle, since I’ve been a larger gal most of my life. I’m at that age where it’s time to start thinking about starting a family, and it sort of hit me.

I can’t keep living like this.

This time, I can’t keep living like this, because one day, I might get blessed with a kid. And that kid doesn’t need to learn from Mom’s unhealthy habits. That kid needs to learn healthy habits, and the best way to do that? You learn from your parents.

Now, this isn’t a jab at my parents. In fact, I was eating fairly healthy under their watch. I love almost every fruit and vegetable, because of them. I CAN eat healthy, y’all! (They totally did things right!)

So what happened? Well, independence happened. Once I got the freedom to eat on my own, I made mistakes. Mistake after mistake formed unhealthy habits, and those habits led me to my current overweight/unhealthy status. Some of those mistakes included eating unhealthy every day, eating WAY too much food, and no longer exercising as much as I used to.

So, now that I’m at the stage where my husband and I have a TTC date in our heads, it’s gotten more real. I have to change for our kids. I must. I’m really good at deadlines, because if you remember, I lost a good chunk of weight before the wedding. That dress HAD to fit, and I made darn sure it fit comfortably.

Then, the bad habits reared their ugly head, and I gained back a lot of that weight plus some! So, I’m back. I’m calorie counting. I will be exercising soon, and I will make a healthy lifestyle my new habit.

Since the New Year, I’ve lost 9.5 lbs. (what??!) Yup. 9.5 lbs. So, I’m doing this. I really am.

Of course, I can’t do this without some motivation. I offered myself rewards last time I lost weight, and this time will be no different.

Once I lose:

• 5% of my weight (or 15 lbs.), I’ll treat myself to a pedicure.
• 10% of my weight (or 30 lbs.), I’ll treat myself to a mini $50 fabric buying spree.
• 50 lbs., I’ll treat myself to a pair of fun, fancy shoes.
• 20% (60 lbs.), I’ll treat myself to a mini-makeover at Sephora or MAC. Once I lose 60 lbs., I’ll be back to my wedding weight.
•  75 lbs., I’ll treat myself to some new workout clothes. I figure at this point, I SHOULD fit in XL/XXL in regular sized workout clothes, so BYE BYE plus sized workout clothes!
• 30% (or 90 lbs.), I’ll treat myself to a fun Victoria’s Secret trip. I’ve never fit in VS before, but hopefully once I”m 90 lbs. down, I can get a few fun things there.
• ONEDERLAND (or 99 lbs.), I’ll treat myself to my first designer handbag.
• 110 lbs., I’ll treat myself to my first pair of fancy designer jeans.
• GOAL, which is 40% (or 120 lbs.), WE’RE (my husband and I, obviously) GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!! 

Lots of fun things to work for, right? I’m a measly 5.5 lbs. away from my first reward, and my toes CANNOT wait!

This is a hard post to write. Really hard. Not to mention, embarrassing too.

A couple of weeks ago, I told myself that this was it. No looking back. I need to get healthy. I know I’ve said this multiple times, but now that I’m dangerously teetering towards 300 lbs., I feel that this needs to happen soon.

At my weight, life is different. Much much different.

• I get stared at. At first I thought that my zipper was down or something, but I realized people are probably staring at me. And people stare HARD. I’m not a looker, so I can only assume they’re looking at me because of my weight.

• I used to be able to walk briskly and talk at the same time. I can still do this, but I’m starting to notice that I feel winded when I try. Seriously…

• I wake up with back pain. I’ve never had this happen before. I’m 27…I shouldn’t be dealing with back pain every morning when I never had this problem before.

• I’m always tired. ALWAYS. I could take a nap at the drop of a hat. My energy is absolutely drained.

• My belly sticks out more than my boobs. And I’m not pregnant.

• Constant acid reflux. Again, this is something I’ve never had before, but now I experience it nearly every day. It sucks.

I know some of these are ridiculous, but to me, I feel like my health is at its worst. I’m only 27 years old. I can do this. I can change. I’m ready for everything on that list to change for the better.

I’ve been actively working out for the past 3 weeks. I know I haven’t lost much weight, but I know things are changing in my body with each week that I work out.

Kickboxing. Oh man, I remember the first class. (If you’ve been reading this blog a while, you might remember that I went to kickboxing a bunch before the wedding, so I’m familiar to how the classes work, and oh boy, do they work!!) Our Y hired a new instructor, who I just really didn’t like. Her teaching style was much different, and I’m just not a person for change. There were some moves I couldn’t do (due to terrible balance) and some moves I couldn’t do with the pace of the music (kicking way too fast). It was way more advanced than I was used to, and I wanted to quit. I remember walking out of the first class feeling that I didn’t get a good workout in, because I couldn’t do some of the moves, so I’d march in place or do knee lifts. However, in my class this week, I noticed that I was able to do a couple of sets of the moves that required better balance, and my kicks are getting faster and more intense. WIN! I walked out of class feeling sweaty, which is SUPER awesome!

I’ve also started taking Millie on her long walks again (which, for now, is only 0.6 miles) since it’s warming up outside. The first walk, my thighs were absolutely sore (since Millie pulls like crazy…this is why she’s in training), and I was way out of breath! A couple of days ago, though, the hubs offered to come with me, and I noticed I was able to talk the whole time with him and came home feeling refreshed, rather than tired. Another WIN!

I’m also noticing some changes in my legs. I don’t notice their size going down or anything, but a few months ago, I started getting this weird pain in my legs when I’d try to fall asleep, which would only feel better if I moved my legs around or something. I was pretty worried that I was getting restless leg syndrome or something, thanks to Dr. Google. I have no idea if working out contributes to this, but the pain doesn’t really happen anymore. Maybe it’s all in my head, but I really think something with the work-out routine did wonders to nipping this pain in the bud!

I’m just so glad that I’m already feeling some changes! It definitely encourages me to keep going with the work-outs, and even find time to work-out more frequently. This is good stuff, y’all. Good stuff.

I’m going to spice things up for next week. I’m getting my cardio in pretty well, but I really need to get back to weights. Weights + cardio literally melted weight off of me in the wedding planning days, so this week’s challenge is about focusing on weights!

For every comment you guys leave until Monday night, I will lift 40 lbs. of weights in some form next week. Whether it’s a leg machine, arm machine or chest machine, I’m going to lift it.

I appreciate y’all’s support in advance! You guys are awesome at pushing me further in this weight loss journey of mine!

Last week, y’all challenged me to over 100 minutes of working out!! I am so excited to say that I’m only a few short minutes away from meeting y’all’s challenge!!

Here’s how I split it up so far:

60 minutes – Kickboxing
30 minutes – Brisk walking (in a pretty hill-y area)

All I have left to do is 18 minutes, which I plan on doing either on the Wii Just Dance game or the 30 day Shred! Thanks everyone for helping to challenge me to actually get moving!

Do y’all want to challenge me again? I think I’m going to up it this time.

I will work out FOUR minutes for every comment on this blog post. Four minutes.

All you need to do is leave a comment. I really dig comments, obviously! I’ll close the comments on Monday evening, and get to working out right away! Thanks for your support everyone!