Take it Off Monday: Getting Physical

This past week has been one of my best weeks, physically, that is! On Tuesday morning, I overslept a bit for my 5:30am start time.. as in, I woke up at about 5:45am which is when I'd normally be heading out the door! I tried to use my lateness as an accelerant to get my 2.5 miler done in 30 minutes, it sort of worked as I came in with a time of 35:20. Not too shabby!

On Wednesday, I was going to meet a friend at the gym, but decided to spend the evening with my little family and then got in some beginner's Pilates and did some strength training with weights after the little ones went to bed. Gotta love fitness On Demand!

On Thursday, I repeated the same route and felt pretty great as I did it, but my time was about 2 minutes slower. Thursday runs are always a little slow for me. I think it's because it's the end of a work week and my body is tired.

With this in mind, I tried a little experiment as my Saturday runs have seemed to suffer from the same "end of week exhaustion" as the Thursday runs. My experiment was to go to bed earlier (more rest) and increase my water intake throughout the week. I was hoping it could boost my endurance. I'd say it was successful because come Saturday, and the challenge of my 3.6 mile group run, I was able to run the entire distance without walking! I didn't even walk up the ginormous hill between mile 1 and 2! I took a picture of that damn hill, but my phone forgot to save it...it's better this way!

Anyway, I was on a pretty big high from all of this physical fitness, that I was sure the scale would be looking nice too.... not so much... stuck on the same number. At first I was just plain mad, but then I thought to myself "Do not let this machine diminish your achievements!" and then I threw it at the wall... not really, but I thought about it!

So anyhow, there's not anything exciting to post! Still down 10lbs, still running, and feeling great! I even braved trying on some old jeans and an old top I found in the back of my closet and...

They fit! Yay! Take that scale!

So, this week I have 3 miles on Tuesday, 3.5 on Thursday, and then I'll attempt 4 miles on Saturday! Yikes!!!

Have a fit week, friends!

Wordless Wednesday: Freezer Stash

Some of my friends came up with the awesome idea of having a soup swap...

Everyone made a huge vat of soup...

Divided it into freezer bags...

...and traded!

The result...

A yummy freezer stash!

Take it Off Monday - Entry 1

As many of you know, I'm training for a 10k race at the end of March. I decided to enter the race, not to win any medals, but to keep me accountable! I can't very well slack on my fitness plan if I know I'm going to have to complete a 10k in a couple of months!

Anyhow... I've embraced this challenge 110%! I'm getting up at the crack of dawn on Tuesday and Thursdays (read about my attempt at being a morning person here) to run per the training guide and on Saturdays I meet up with a group at the local YMCA to venture out on the longest runs I have ever attempted...ever! This week was a little over 3 miles!

This Saturday, I awoke at the ungodly hour of 6:30am and stepped on the scale. I try to only weigh myself once a week to keep me from being discouraged by weight fluctuations, but something told me to get on the scale and see how much weight I'd be toting around on our 3 miler. To my relief, the number was lower! And then I realized that I had lost 10lbs since starting the training! That's 10 less pounds I'd have to take with me on the run! How exciting! It's a small victory, but a victory none-the-less!

It was indeed followed by Superbowl Sunday where Jillian Michaels claims the the average person consumes about 4,200 calories, but I tried somewhat successfully to not overindulge... meaning I did not eat any of the cute mini Valentine's Day cupcakes that I purchased to bring to our Super Bowl gathering...

Here are some of my stats!

Weight Loss this Week: -3lbs

Total Weight Loss in 2012: -10lbs

Places I've Noticed a change: wedding rings are looser, hooking my bra (oddly enough) is easier, the upper part of my thighs right below my butt, my pants are a lot looser there!!

Pictures:

Here I am the day after Thanksgiving trying to hide behind my poor child!

Here I am on Sunday Morning, 10lbs lighter and ready for the Super Bowl! Even though 10lbs isn't drastic, I think the pictures are a testament that sometimes it's not what the scale says that matters!

Anyhow, I'll try to document my progress or lack thereof each week! This week I have 2- 2.5 milers lined up for Tuesday and Thursday am and then a 3.4 miler with the Y group on Saturday! I'm also trying to find some time and energy to get in some weight training and ab exercises!

Have a fit week, friends!