Time to Get Back to Me!

On the way home I was thinking my most common train of thought lately, I need to lose some weight. For quite a while I was down to 124 which is low enough that I don’t feel the need to change when I pull on a snug t-shirt but I still felt like I’d like to get down to 118. Why? I don’t know; that just is the number that is always in my head to aim for and I would have liked to lose a couple inches.

Then I crept up to 128 and was not thrilled but ignored it, four pounds didn’t make a huge difference in my opinion of me. Now I have been consistent 135 for a couple of weeks and I think I have finally had enough. When I got pregnant with my first son I only weighed 96 pounds, and I went up to 140 something. That was a huge weight gain, and here I am almost to that weight for absolutely no reason.

Changing jobs from unloading trucks and stocking shelves to sitting at a desk made a huge difference. But that change happened 8 or 9 years ago, I think by now my body’s used to it. I have no more excuse except that I’m eating too much and moving too little.

There are lots of things I am not thrilled about in my life that I can’t change so I look on the bright side and deal. But this is not one of those things. This is all me, my daily choices got me here and now I chose to go back to not feeling the need to wear baggy clothes all the time and not feeling bad about myself but ignoring it.

So Monday I’m going to start my first ever real diet, planning all my meals and the whole 9 yards. There are a couple of things that always get me when I try and eat better.

• I don’t want to think about what to have so I just grab a cheese crisp or even a donut on the way to work

• No accountability. I always try this on my own and since no one will even know if I cheat it makes it awfully easy

• I decide to change something and to start NOW. Yes, at midnight or 5 am or whenever the thought crosses my mind

So how am I going to avoid these pit falls? Planning!

1) For a couple of weeks I’m making food painfully easy for myself.


• Every morning I will have a whole grain cereal. If it’s a work day I’m going to have Bob’s Red Mill 10 grain cereal with just a touch of honey. It’s really good, healthy, filling and its 140 calories a serving, plus the honey.

• For lunches I’m going to make a big pot of cabbage soup just because it’s nothing but vegetables and for some reason I’ve been craving it lately.

• For dinner I’m going to have a smoothie. I always have to wait for my dinner to digest before I go running and a smoothie is few calories and not too heavy to run after drinking.

• I’m a big snacker at work so I’ll bring bags of veggies to snack on. I love grape tomatoes and sugar snap peas so that will be my staple.

2) I still have no real life accountability, but I’m going to use this blog and the online communities to post how I’m doing- good AND bad

3) Instead of jumping into this I have been planning to start Monday. Between a birthday party and Easter this weekend I know I’d be off to a bad start, so I’ll try and be smart about things and start on Monday. Plus, I’m giving myself a pass for a weekly night out. I may make up for them by fasting a day until I get down to my ideal weight, but either way I’m taking them.

Wish me luck – I’m at a place where this HAS to happen, I am just tired of me letting myself become this other person who I just do not like. I can even tell a difference in my energy level and mood from before I gained this weight.

I’m 5’2”and small boned. Starting at 135 pounds and a pregnant looking 35 inch waist, but on my way to where I want to be. Anyone else starting a get-fit, back to yourself journey? I’d love to hear from you!

Vacation day!

I took Tuesday off work to go kayaking. Why don't I do that more often?

Monday it poured and Wednesday it was windy and wet out but on Tuesday the water was smooth as glass and the weather was perfect.

We set out from the pier in Philippe Park and instead of going towards the bay we went left under the 580.  I've never gone over there before just because we tend to head towards the bay hoping to see wildlife.  Kayaking under the road while cars are breezing overhead is pretty neat.  Whenever I kayak near a bridge it makes me think of driving to work and looking over to see someone boating.   Always a wish I was there moment.

On the other side of the road is a train track you could go under and just a large peaceful area to drift in. We didn't go as far as the tracks though, I definitely want to go explore over there another time. We saw a bald eagle fly right over us; I'm always amazed to see one. 

When we headed back we had to wait to go in because a boat was being put in the water.  While waiting we saw a dolphin a ways away, so of course decided to head back out.  They never go too close but there were a few of them jumping and playing pretty close to the park. I knew we'd see dolphins since I forgot my camera!

I think that makes it officially kayaking season again, I am so glad winters are short and mild here!

After that we stopped in for lunch at the Bar and Grill we usually go to.  It's so nice to be able to stop in a restaurant still wet from the bay and no one says a word, they just point you to a table and bring coffee.  Just another positive about living in vacation land!

I'm already planning my next outing, looking for new places to set out from in the area.

Starting Where I Am

I started the 100 pushup challenge on the 4th. Tomorrow I’ll be doing the last day of week 2. I have to say, it’s do-able but brutal. It went from intervals that added up to 24 to doing 71 last night! The most in a row was 17 though. May I just say 17 is a LOT? My form kind of went to hell on the last 2 or 3. I’m going to try and do W3D3 tomorrow, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be re-doing this week.

That’s not a bad thing though. The bad thing would be to give up. Which, actually, I’ve done before. This time I decided to start easier and I am going through the plan using modified pushups. My plan is to get to the end of the program and then start over from the beginning doing regular (real?) pushups.

I always say that people should start from where they are, but the idea of actually doing it myself seems to have completely slipped my grasp until lately.

Starting from the beginning really worked for me running barefoot. I’ve skipped from the walk/run program to the run/walk program (confusing much?) in the book I bought, Running for Mortals. I have to admit I also skipped a few days here and there. But overall I have been following the plan and when I am sore I take days off until I’m not and that is really working for me.

I’m already running as far as I was before I hurt my hip and started running barefoot. I am progressing as slowly as I need to to get used to the barefoot thing and I am finding that the simple act of adding a minute of walking here and there makes running not only less intimidating, but also easier to progress.

So far the only aches I’ve had since running barefoot are my actual feet and sometimes ankles. But it’s not an I hurt myself ache, it’s an I’m using muscles that didn’t know they were there ache.

Hmm. Turns out my advice isn’t half bad. Maybe I should start taking it more often.

Pirate Booty Hunt

Went and did the Pirate Booty Hunt at Varn Ranch in Plant City last weekend. It was definitely different than any other run I’ve done yet. Three and a half miles, but I don’t think anyone ran the whole thing. The trick was you had to look for little pirate chests that could be traded in for booty.

It started on a narrow path – we had to walk because everyone in front of us was and there wasn’t any way around without being a bit pushy. But soon enough the dirt road opened up and everyone was able to space out a bit.

They put little orange flags all along the path to follow, and pirate signs that meant time to start searching! Around those everyone spread out off the path looking for the booty. My friend’s daughter found one that got her a entry to another Beach Beast run, can’t beat that!

What made it fun is the flags led us completely off the path quite a bit, through the trees and close enough to the swamp that the water was coming in my shoes. I kept my eyes open for alligators or snakes but all I saw was ample evidence of cattle that had been there. I had asked if it was barefoot friendly and was told there were no rules against it but they’d prefer no one ran barefoot. Gotta respect the people putting on the race and due to the frequent cattle bombs I’m kind of glad I did!