I fell off the Wagon and Bounced!

I will admit that I have not been very good at tracking my calories for a couple of weeks. I will also admit that I ate about half a batch of cookie dough and a quarter of the cookies that made it into the oven. (If I bother to do the math that would be about three quarters of the entire batches calories) SO I shouldn't be surprised that my scale hated me this morning. I didn't bother actually saving my weight on the scale today. The first time I stepped on the scale it told me that I had gained 3 pounds. So I said..."Maybe if I sit on the potty for a bit...." and so I did and I hopped back on the scale and apparently I gained 1/2 a pound while sitting- I don't understand how that works, but it was enough to get me to give up on Today's weigh in.

So I haven't had the best morning. I didn't have the best night either- I tried to tell myself that my weigh in was affected by the fact that I only had 5 hours of sleep last night (my sleep deprived brain really believed that), then I started to tell myself that I was too tired to run today, and that it was too late in the morning to run (since nap time for the baby would be starting soon and hopefully nap time would last until noon). Then I decided that if I really had gained 3 pounds I should drown my sorrows in some Oatmeal Butterscotch Coconut Cookies- I was just about to see if Oatmeal Butterscotch Coconut Cookies were real things......then make and eat them.....when I had a thought. A happy thought. All is not lost. I can have my cookies and eat them too, I just need to have them as Celebratory Cookies rather than Drown my Sorrows Cookies. SO- once I break through the 150 wall, I will make some Oatmeal Butterscotch Coconut Cookies! And until then I will be better at tracking my food and I will run on the treadmill on days like today when outside runs are not really an option.

South Valley Half Marathon- Only Half Crazy

And it was only half crazy- well, a 1/4 crazy, the 3 miles of uphills was crazy the rest was wonderful~ I finished my first Half Marathon in 2 hours 34 minutes. I figured I could do it in around 2:30, and I was around there so I am pretty happy. It was hard, but I did it!

I neither lost or gained weight this week. Still 151.0. I am okay with that. For the past couple of weeks I have done well tracking my calories at breakfast time, but the rest of the day kind of goes by the wayside. I think I will have to get better at tracking so that I can lose my final 10 or so pounds. But I am feeling pretty good about the fact that I didn't gain several pounds. I think I have figured out how to maintain, and I am pretty happy with that.

I'm not losing weight.....

I saw this posted on a friends Facebook account- she and her husband recently had medical weight loss surgery and they are both doing great. She posted a little sign that said "I am not losing weight. I am getting rid of it. I have no intention of finding it again" and I agree. So with that, here is today's weigh in!

Last Week-  151.6
This Week-  151.0
_______________
Good Riddance- .6 pounds

 As I get closer to my goal weight, the weight is going to come of slower, that is what I am telling myself at least. I am happy with a half a pound. I know that it is probably possible for me to lose more weight, faster, but I am pretty happy with what I am accomplishing. Yes, I am anticipating having a 4 in the middle of my weight and I wouldn't mind if that happened in the next couple of weeks, but whenever it happens, I know I will be happy. I am healthy, and I am not starving and I eat a goodly amount of chocolate. I am not losing weight, I am winning a battle for my health!

Week 53

Last Week-  153.0
This Week-  151.6
_______________
Total Loss-       1.4

Yep, I was pretty darn happy with that! Today I ran 12 miles too,  my very first ever half marathon is in 9 days, I am excited!

Week 52

Two weeks ago-  152.8
This week-           153.0
_______________________
Total Change     +    0.2

So last week I didn't weigh myself until after I had run and eaten breakfast, and since the scale told me I had gained 2 pounds I decided to take a week off from blogging...hehehehe.

So here we are, we went on vacation and I didn't pay too much attention to my calories, and then I got strep throat and took a few days off running. But as you can see, I pretty much maintained. So I am okay with the past two week. If you can't lose, maintain, that is what I say!

Week 50

Last week- 152.8
This week- 151.8 or 153.4 or 152.8....those weights were all within 3 minutes ....I am going to say I maintained.

Maintaining is good, especially on this the most special week of the month, when I would have bathed in chocolate if I had had a tub full of it....well no, I would have just eaten the chocolate in the tub. I did eat an entire medium size bag of peanut M&M's as well as a regular size bag of regular M&M's and any other chocolate I could get my hands on. SO- Maintaining this week is really a triumph.

I also ran 10 miles this week. It felt good. 4 weeks until my first 1/2 Marathon. My sister- who has run several Marathons, told me yesterday that If I keep the pace I had on my 10 mile, I will beat her on the 1/2 Marathon. Hmmmm, I just might try that.

Week 49

Last Week-    154.8
This Week-    152.8
________________
Total Lost-       -2.0

It is with great pleasure that I announce that I lost 2 pounds this week! Yep, I did.

Week 48

Last Week- 155.8
This Week- 154.8
__________________
Total Lost-      1 pound

I am quite pleased with this. I did run a 10k on Monday, it was really hard. The previous day I had fasted most of the day....I am pretty sure I want to avoid that in the future- fasting before a long run. I actually ran 8 miles on Monday, the 6.2 of the 10k and an extra 1.8 to get me up to 8- because 8 was on my training schedule for that day. I need to do some research and start carbo loading before my long runs/races. Live and Learn, right?

Week 47 (1/3rd Maintenance, 2/3rd Weight Loss)

I wrote this on 6/30- but my Internet went out and I forgot to post it! Silly, I know.

Last Week- 157.8
This Week- 155.8
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Total Lost-       2 Pounds!

Well, I decided to try cutting calories again, since I totally rocked at maintaining! Anyway, since I was losing a good amount while eating over 2000 calories per day, I decided to tell livestrong.com that I only wanted to lose 1 pound per week instead of 1.5 as I had previously been doing. I have this theory. I think I will lose more than a pound per week....So lets see. I started out this week with 3 days of maintenance- and I started cutting calories again on Sunday or Monday (can't remember and the web page isn't working right now, ugh) so for at least 3 day I ate 2000+ calories and the other 4 days I ate 1600 and I lost 2 pounds!!!! I think my theory was correct. I will admit that I am running close to 15 miles a week, so that burns calories and helps with the weight loss too.

I am feeling great, gaining strength and endurance. Its great. I hope this keeps up. Next major weight goal- to have a 4 in the middle of my weight. Next race- Monday! A 10k! Next major race goal- 1/2 marathon in August! YEAH!

Maintenance Week 4

Last week- 158.2
This week- 157.8
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Total lost-      0.4

Well, Maintenance is over, though I may wait until Monday to lower my calories again. I am thinking of telling Livestrong that I only want to lose 1 pound per week.

Maintenance Week 3

Last Week- 158.2
This Week- 158.2
________________
Total Change-  0

I will admit that I usually weigh myself in the morning, after certain criteria have been met. Today I didn't do that, today's weight was while I was fully dressed in my day time clothes. I had actually ran this morning before I weighed myself so I figured a regular weight would have been skewed anyway. So there you go- I maintained! YEAH!

Maintenance Week 2

Last Week- 158.4
This Week- 158.2
______________
Total Change- 0.2

I had to laugh- I weigh myself twice before I allow the scale to save the weight, so the first two times the weight came up as 157.4 and I was like "fine, I can handle losing a pound" and so I set it up to save the next weight and  stepped back on the scale- I hadn't eaten or had anything to drink in the 10 seconds in between the last time I had stepped on the scale and this one. What did it say? 158.2. If this we a normal week and I was trying to lose I would have continued to weigh myself until the 157.4 came back but hey, I am maintaining! And look- I maintained! Even though I ate ice cream bars covered in melted chocolate and peanut butter- twice- I MAINTAINED!

Maintenance- Week 1

Last Week- 159.8
This Week- 158.4
_______________
Total Lost-      1.4

Wow- What's up with that!?! I have been eating up to 2080 calories per day and I still lost 1.4 pounds- that is the same amount I lost last week and I was on a 1350 diet (net 1200 on work out days). I guess I don't really mind so much, but if it continues this way for the next 3 weeks I might have a hard time going back onto the restricted calorie diet.

Maintain!

So I made a decision. I am going to try to maintain, for at least 2 weeks but possibly a month. I decided that I wanted to know what would happen. I am continuing to train for my half marathon, and I will be running about the same amount each week that I have been running for the past couple of weeks, I will also be continuing my cross training on non running days, BUT I am going to up my caloric intake. When you want to lose weight you cut back on your calories, create a deficit, it works. I have also been paying attention to my net calories, never letting them fall too far below 1200. I have been trying to lose about 1.5 pounds per week, and so my calorie goal has been 1350 per day, since most days I burn 300-500 calories (sometimes more) I have actually been eating around 1600 per day to keep my net calories up (like I said, not letting it fall too far below 1200). I told my calorie counter that I wanted to maintain, and my new calorie goal is 2080 per day- WOW. I decided that I would not keep my net calories around 2000, but rather I will eat to my goal and if I happen to go out and run 13 miles and burn 1000 or more calories I will eat my way back to 1200 net.

I must admit, I am a little scared. I feel like I have been very good to my body, I have been kind, but my fear is that my body will say "What is this? We are getting more food than normal, we should store some energy, STORE STORE STORE!" I don't want to gain, I want to maintain. So like I said I will give it a try for at least 2 weeks, if at the end of those two weeks I have been gaining I will go back to trying to lose 1.5 pounds per week and I will worry about figuring out maintenance when I reach my goal. But, if maintenance seems to be working I might give my self two more weeks, a month off from dieting, wouldn't that be nice? So, wish me luck.

Week 42

Last Week- 161.2

This Week- 159.8

________________

Total Lost- 1.4 Pounds!

See that? 159.8......I am so pleased with that. Below 160- I know it is only .2 pounds below but hey, it's below! Now I have some decisions to make. Should I take a few weeks and see what happens when I try to maintain my weight loss. Maintenance kind of scares me. What happens if I start eating the "Normal" amount of calories and I start gaining weight? That would be completely UNFAIR! So here is my dilemma. I have read that you should lose 10% of your body weight and then maintain, then 10% then maintain, then 10% etc, until you reach your goal weight. But I also know that there are plenty of people who do weight watchers, and that kind of thing, who just go for the goal, you have to keep paying until you reach your goal so you don't stop until you get there. I am not sure what I should do. I am doing well, so I am a little worried that if I stop I won't be able to get started again. But I also think that giving myself an opportunity to practice maintenance would be a good thing. I will think about that on my run today.

Speaking of running, I have races for the rest of the year all planned out. In June I am going to run in the Blood Run, it is a race that benefits the Utah Hemophilia Foundation. Then in August I am going to run the South Valley Half Marathon. In October I am going to run the Love Your Body 10k- it's an all Women's race and on Thanksgiving I want to run the Human Race again- I am not sure if that one will be the 10k or the 5k. I am excited to have all these races to keep me going.

Week 41

Last Week 160.8

This Week 161.2

______________

Total Gained- 0.4

I was thinking I wouldn't post anything this week, after all, I wasn't to happy to have gained, even if it is only 1/2 a pound. There are plenty of things that can cause teeny tiny weight gain, like water retention, or eating 5- 10 deserts at a family party, I enjoyed those deserts, the brownies with marshmallow and melted chocolate topping, the yummy fruity and white chocolate cake bars, the Pumpkin Cake, the strawberry short cake, and some other random cookies. I enjoyed them all, and I apparently paid for that enjoyment.....So Next Week, Next Week I will be under 160! Unless I come across another dessert bar....and then who knows.

Week 40

Last Week 163.0

This Week 160.8

________________

Total Loss- 2.2

Happy! Maybe next week I will be in the 150's~that just feels weird.

39 Weeks

Last Week- 163.0

This Week- 163.0

_______________

Total Change- 0 pounds

SO, no change, other than the fact that I am currently wearing smaller pants. hehehehe. Last week was an interesting week, food wise. I spent 2 days on the campus of Brigham Young University, I was away from my calorie counter AND my kitchen. I ate at a Buffet Style Cafeteria. It cost $10 and I very much felt the need to get my moneys worth, and I did- I ate 5 deserts that night. I also ran a 10k and on the day of the day of the 10k I did track my calories all 2500 of them (WHAT? 2500? Yes running 6 miles burns a lot of calories and I kind of ate 2 breakfasts, and a lunch and a dinner and some snacks. I was very hungry)

But anyway, I will take no change, especially since I figured I was going to gain a little, how do you eat 5 desserts and not gain weight? Run 6 miles!

So I am going to try to get back into the habit of counting weeks, and as of today it has been 39 weeks since I had my baby. I think I am doing very well on my quest for better health. I am pleased. I am starting a new training schedule. My 1/2 marathon is in September, I believe I have plenty of time to get ready, the 1/2 marathon training program I have picked is only 12 weeks long, so I am starting with an 8 week "Intermediate" 10k program, it focuses on increasing speed and endurance. Maybe by September I will be running a 10 minute mile rather than a 10:45 minute mile.

That's it for today.

The Shrink

I was starting to get a little frustrated. I have lost weight. Lots of weight. From my highest, non-pregnant weight (202) I have lost 39 pounds, from my last, lowest, pre-pregnancy weight I have lost 20 pounds. Yet I still fit into the same pants. How is that? Well, the truth is, that is just how it felt.

I had regular pants, mostly size 14 and one pair of magic size 12's, and I had fat pants, mostly size 16 AND one magical pair of 14's. I have owned most of those pants for 7 or 8 years.

Last week I decided to try on a pair of button fly jeans that never really fit right. Well, they still didn't fit right. They were way too big, they were falling off. I was quite surprised. I almost put them back in the drawer, but then I thought to myself "I am never going to wear these jeans again" and I happily tossed them into the donation box.

I then tried on my other pants, for months they had been fitting better, then getting looser, now I realized that I needed to wear belts with most of them. YEAH! I tried on some of my skirts and I discovered that I had the same problem. I needed a new skirt, and possibly a new pair of pants.

Yesterday I went to Target, I had a gift card and I figured they might have a skirt. I found some very simple black skirts and picked up a large to try on. It didn't fit right. It frustrated me a little, I needed a new skirt. Then it struck me, it didn't fit right because it was TOO BIG, a large was too big! I hustled out and grabbed a medium. It fit, and I wasn't even making it fit, it was a perfect fit. I could have cried. Then I saw some cute tops and cardigans. I wondered if I fit well into Medium Bottoms, why not try Medium Tops- once again, perfect fit! I don't know when I have ever been so excited to get to the check out and buy my clothes. I kind of felt like I needed to buy them before they shrank and didn't fit anymore, those clothes were like a ticking time bomb, I had to make them mine IMMEDIATELY, and I did!

Today I was at the store with my boys and I remembered that for Christmas my boys had given me some workout clothes- They are smart boys, they let me pick out the clothes- and one of the items they had given me were a pair of Medium exercise pants. Medium- according to those pants equated to size 8 and 10. I haven't tried those pants on, I was saving them for when I knew they would fit, I figured that would be in September around the time I will run my 1/2 Marathon. But I had just purchased a Medium skirt. My mind went back and forth, Skirts are different from pants, just because you can wear a Medium Skirt doesn't mean you can wear Medium Pants. But I wanted to try. I found some cute Size 10 Capri pants. I was just trying them on. Even if I could just get them over my hips I would be happy. If I could zip them up I would be ecstatic. If they actually fit and looked and felt good I would buy them.

Well, I have a new pair of size 10 pants! The first pair of size 10 anything I have ever purchased, in my life. It is odd. I don't feel very different. I feel healthier, I think I look skinnier but not 2 or 3 sizes skinnier. I am amazed. I am happy. I decided that I would just buy the one pair of pants and the one skirt and the shirts. I want to see what happens next. After all, I have 25 or so more pounds to lose before I reach my goal weight. So how much more will I shrink?

In the end, I just want to be healthy. I want to nourish and strengthen my body. I want to be happy with my healthy body- whatever size, however I look. I think I have a pretty good chance to be happy.

Hope For Sarah 5k- 2011

I did it, I ran a 10k! I won! Basically because I ran a 5k (which I didn't win) and then at the finish line I turned around and ran the course again, finishing 6.2 miles in 67:25! I'm a winner!

The Wonders of Wednesday

Last Week- 164.6

This Week- 163.0

_______________

Total Loss- 1.6 pounds

I am going to be pretty busy tomorrow morning, so I decided to see what the scale had to say today. I have to tell you, I am pretty happy with what it said. Did you know that I ate WAY TOO MUCH CANDY this week? Yep. But I kept pretty good track of that candy (except for Sunday, I decided to keep Sunday's calorie count a secret from myself, for my own joy and happiness) and when you follow the rules associated with weight-loss, mainly calories in vs. calories out, you lose weight, and I did!

This weekend I am running my first official 10k, I am quite excited about it. I feel prepared, I feel a personal best coming on! YEAH!

The Most Wonderful Time....

Last Week- 164.0

This Week- 164.6

_____________

Gained- 0.6

I can handle around half a pound, that is basically maintaining. I can handle maintaining on a week where I have had my period (and the cravings it seems to bring...hello cookies and chocolate and fruit smoothies!) I have also had a little added stress this week in anticipation of a surgery my Baby was having. Now that those things are over/soon to be over I am hoping for a great weight loss next week.

Vacations Over

Previous Weight- 167.4

Current Weight- 164.0

__________________

Total Loss- 3.4!

That is over 2 weeks- and one of those weeks was a vacation! YEAH! I feel very good about today's weigh in.

Right on Track

Last Week- 169.6

This Week- 167.4

______________

Total Lost- 2.2 pounds!

I am very, very happy with 2.2 pounds. It seems to me that keeping my net calories around 1200 is working for me and my body, this has meant that on some days I have eaten 1800 calories, which is really really nice.

It is getting warm outside, I am very happy about this because it means I can run outside more often. YEAH! it is much more fun to run outside, I think.

I am taking a vacation, so next week I will not weigh in- for two reasons, 1, I will not be taking my scale with me on vacation and 2, I figure I might gain a little and I want to give myself another week to get past that. Hey, I believe in being honest, and I honestly think it is hard to lose weight while on vacation. I even have reasons for that belief, 1, you are not making your own food. (I do plan on continuing to log my food and in this way I hope not to over eat.) 2, There is something about car trips that makes me want to eat CONSTANTLY. I have taken my treats and split them up into 100 calorie snacks, now I just need to keep myself from eating 10 snack bags in one leg of the trip. 3, when you are away from home it can be harder to keep up with your regular exercise routine. To help keep myself on track I mapped out the 3 runs I will be doing while we are gone AND I am going to be bringing my hand weights. SO HOPEFULLY in two weeks I will be able to say that I weigh 165 or less! YEAH!

Stinking Scales

Last Week- 170.0

This Week- 169.6

______________

Total Loss- 0.4

For a week that included 3 birthdays and a little too much cake, I will take a loss of around 1/2 a pound. Also I had an insane scale this morning. It is one of those scales that can track weight. I stepped on the scale today and weighted 169.2. I was very happy. I double checked. 169.2. I got ready to "Track" my weight, 170.2 WHAT? How did I gain 1 pound in less than a minute? I checked again and again and again.....170.2. I gave up. Took a shower, weighed myself sopping wet. 169.8, Okay, maybe I was really dirty. I dried my hair, and weighed again- thinking that dry hair would weigh less than wet hair. 170.2 WHAT? I told the scale I thought it was mean and a stinky poopoohead. I weighed myself again 169.6. I accepted it and tracked it (luckily I didn't gain a pound while waiting to track my weight this time). Hopefully this next week will be a good week. If not I might through the scale off the roof.

Happy, Happy Weigh-in!

Last week- 173.2

This week- 170.0

______________

Total Lost- 3.2 Pounds!

WHAT? I am a little uneasy about losing more than 2 pounds per week, BUT I ate more this week so I know that starvation wasn't the reason for such a big loss. I have been trying to keep my net calories around 1200. Some days this meant that I had to eat an extra 350 calories, those days had me worried, I didn't understand how it could work but I was hoping that my thoughts and the advice I had gotten were right. What were my thoughts? That if I feed my body sufficiently while I am working out, my body will say "Wow, she is trying her best to take care of me, maybe I should reward her!" I had worried that if I was only eating 1400 calories and burning 600 that my body would start to protect itself and it would hold onto the fat stores. I still don't know if my thoughts are right, but I do know I ate more this week and lost TWICE as much weight. I will continue with my experiment....Hopefully this weight loss is enough to help me achieve my goal of weighing less than Ken by my birthday.

Not to Shabby

Last Week- 174.2

This Week- 173.2

_____________

Total Lost- 1 pound

I'll take it! I have 2 weeks left to meet my goal of passing my husband and finally weighing LESS than him and I am pretty sure I can do it, especially if he doesn't lose anymore weight(.....pssst, Ken, don't lose anymore weight over the next two weeks Okay......maybe I should go find some girl scout cookies and leave them laying randomly around the house......)

I am going to be starting my experiment this week. I am going to watch my net calories and try to keep them around 1200. On days that I don't exercise I will eat my normal 1400, on days that I exercise and burn more than 200 calories I will eat some more (good foods) to bring my net calories up to 1200. My hope is that my body will say "Thank You" and more easily get rid of the fat. Wouldn't that be nice.

I finished my 5k training and even got to run outside! It was beautiful, I ran my personal 5k on Saturday in under 35 minutes and it was easy, I loved it! I started my 10k training which includes strength training, I have been enjoying that. Today I am taking the boys along on my 2.5 mile run. I asked my oldest if he wanted to run by the river or just in our neighborhood, he choose the river- which is what I wanted too.

My clothes are fitting differently, they are loose but not loose enough that I need new clothes. I did have to pull my jeans up several times yesterday, that made me happy. All in all, I think I am doing pretty good.

Net Calories

Calories confuse me. I understand that I ate more calories than my body needed to sustain itself and so those extra calories were stored as fat. I understand that if I eat less calories than my body needs to sustain itself I will burn stored energy and I will weight. What I don't understand is the best way to decide how many calories to eat.

I love using Livestrong.com and their calorie counting tool- my plate. It even sets goals for you. I have success when I use it. BUT I am wondering if I am still doing something wrong. Right now my Caloric Goal is 1423 calories per day. That is based on my desire to lose 1.5 pounds per week. So when I do not exceed 1423 I have an automatic caloric debt of 4200 calories per week. But I am also training for a 10k and I am exercising 5-6 times per week, burning between 300 and 500 calories with each workout. So most days I have net calories of 923-1123. Is my body going to rebel against this? Do I need to eat those calories that I burned to get back up to the 1423? Should I at least say that I will always maintain a net caloric intake of at least 1200? I don't know and I have been reading on the Internet and no one says exactly what to do.

So I am toying with the idea of experimenting. Going for a week or two NOT re-eating the calories I burned and seeing what happens. Then taking a week or two and trying to always re-eat the calories burned, still never exceeding a net caloric intake of my current calorie goal. Who knows maybe I will discover that my body burns fat better one way or the other. I will definitely be telling you how it is going.

Patience

I gave the scale an hour long time out this morning. It was lying to me, I told the little piece of plastic and electronics that if it didn't start telling the truth it was going to be in big trouble! After it's time out it told the truth.

Last week- 175.8

This week- 174.2

______________

Total Lost- 1.6 pounds!!!!

Wooowhooo! I don't understand the scale/my body. I woke up, got out of bed, spent some time in the bathroom and then weighed myself and it told me I had gained 1/2 a pound, I figured the scale was wrong, I tried again and again it told me that I gained. 1/2 pound. Not horrible but I tried HARD this week to be good, I tracked my food, I worked out and pushed myself. I should have lost. So I said, give it an hour, it will take more than an hour to get the boys up and fed, right before breakfast (which I still ate at the normal time) I weighed myself again. 3 times. Just to make sure. 174.2 !!!!!! YEAH!!!!! I will take it! So why does that happen, I didn't lose 2 pounds in an hour, that is not possible, so why did the scale tell me that?

Good Week, Good Maintenance!

Last Week- 175.8

This Week- 175.8

_____________

Total lost- 0.0

At first I was sad. I considered skipping breakfast and weighing myself again later in the morning. But quickly I realized that that was a really dumb idea. So I didn't lose any weight this week, that is Okay. I had a great week. I ate apple pie, I ate starchy vegetables, I ate stir fry, twice, once with yummy, yummy, yummy, peanut sauce. I made it through another menstrual cycle and I didn't drink chocolate syrup strait from the bottle, I thought about it, more than once, but I didn't do it! I ran a 5k and I ate green eggs and ham. I ate pancakes- twice! And I maintained! I think that is pretty good. I have learned a few things from watching the Biggest Loser- one of them is that you can't expect to have great results every week, even when you put in the same effort, sometimes you have an off week. A great off week is one where you don't gain. I had a great off week. I also gave myself until my birthday to weigh less than Ken and I have plenty of time. So, I am not sad anymore. I own my maintenance!

Wonder of Wonders!

Last Week- 177.6

This Week- 175.8

_______________

Total Lost- -1.8

Wonder of Wonder, Miracle of Miracles! Why you ask, am I so excited about 1.8 pounds lost? Well you see I went to the 4th annual Wang Family Chinese New Year party on Saturday and I kind of ate enough food to feed my family for a couple of days. So I was a little worried, but I also knew that I intended to continue my workouts and eat just a little bit better (I had anti cancer soup for lunch for a few days) and look what happened! I am SO HAPPY with this! We are getting close to 170, maybe by my birthday I will have smashed that wall down too.

Egg Whites

Last week- 178.6

This week- 177.6

________________

Total Lost- 1 Pound!

I guess those Egg White Omelets I have been eating for breakfast are working. I am happy with this weeks weight loss. Yes it would be nice to loose 4 or 5 or 10 pounds a week, but I think slow steady weight-loss is what is going to be the most beneficial for me. Slow and steady wins the race!

Hooray!

Last week- 180.2

This week- 178.6

_____________

Total Lost- 1.6 pounds

That is right, 180+ is a thing of the past. I may visit it for brief periods of time during future pregnancies, but it will not be a constant companion on my scale. I am pretty darn happy about that. Next goal- discover what the 160's feel like! I bet they feel good.

The Wall

Last Week- 181.6

This Week- 180.2

________________

Total Lost- 1.4 Pounds!

I am pretty pleased with this, I must admit that several times over this past week I ate small handfuls of chocolate chips.......sometimes several times a day......and I ate a dozen cookies. It was one of those weeks that reminds you that you are a woman, and you need chocolate. I was afraid to weigh in, because of all the chocolate, but I bit the bullet this morning and to my surprise I lost weight. YEAH! I may have tried to kill myself with chocolate but I also followed my training schedule and did a good amount of both running and walking.

NOW- to The Wall. It has been years since I have been below 180. I want to see something below that on my scale so badly. I get close, so close, but I never seem to break through that wall. I am predicting that next week- that wall will be gone! Hopefully that goal, that prediction, will keep my hand out of the chocolate chip bag.

Sept 30th? What?

Slacker! Slacker, Slacker, Slacker!

Well the good news is- I have lost 0.4 pounds since September 30th!!! Truth is I lost 2 pounds, then gained 5, then lost 3, then gained 4 and then lost 5. So basically, over the extended Holiday Season, from October to January, I managed to maintain my weight. I also ran a 5k on Thanksgiving day. That was pretty fun. I think I will do it every year.

NOW- back to work. I must get healthy, I must run! See Kate Run is about how I run, right? So I have set some goals for myself, for this year, and possibly even next year too.

This year I am going to run a 10k and a half Marathon. While I was looking for races I noticed that South Jordan UT puts on several every year, a whole series in fact, and I had decided to run their Earth Day 10k on Earth Day- April 22nd. Now, oddly enough, that day is a Friday and so the race is in the afternoon. I was OK with this. But plans changed pretty fast when I heard about a different race the next day.

Hope for Sarah 2011 is a 5k and breakfast fundraiser to help Sarah who has been battling cancer for 4 years. Sarah is a wonderful woman. She is a wife, a mother and a friend. She and her young family live in my neighborhood and when I saw that there was a 5k, with 100% of the proceeds going to help her and her family I decided that I would much rather support her than South Jordan. Not that South Jordan is a bad place, it is just not Sarah. So I am going to run the 5k twice! (As I have been typing this and looking up the information again I noticed that it now says 5k/10k) If you live in Utah, you should come support Sarah. The race cost $15 and for non racers they are asking for a minimum $10 donation for the breakfast- this donation would cover your whole family. So come and race or come and donate $10, $20, $50 and cheer for the racers and then eat! YEAH!

Okay, so that is my 10k. In September I am going to run in the 3rd annual Temple to Temple Half Marathon. More about that later.

So how am I going to achieve these lofty goals? Well. I know I can run 6+ miles because I did it several times last year. I am not ready to go out and do it right now, not by a long shot. So I got online and googled 10k and half marathon training programs. and Hal Higdon had some. I printed out 3. The 5k intermediate, 10k novice and half Marathon novice training programs and I have already started. I figured I would start with the 5k to work my self up to the amount of running you have to do for the 10k program and time wise, with a little tweaking, I will be ready for the 10k right on time, and then I have plenty of time to prepare for the Half Marathon. I may be insane, but I am really excited about this year. It is going to be a good year!

Now, back to South Jordan and their Race Series, They have 7 races this year and you can sign up for each individually for $20-$45 a pop, or you can do 6 of them for $120 (I think) or all 7 for a little more. They have 5k's, 10k's, Challenge Course races, Trail Runs and a Marathon. IF I can (meaning If I am pregnant and get doctors permission) I am going to sign up for the 6 out of 7 series. NEXT YEAR.

So those are my goals.

Oh, and today's weight was 181.6. Have a fantastic week!