So excited!

Just a quickie post at lunch to announce that life is great here in GISrunner-land!

I'm losing weight. In fact, I've lost 7.5 pounds in a little over two weeks and 5 inches overall. My pants have gotten quite baggy! I feel absolutely wonderful, too. I'm finally making good nutritional choices, have cut the crap out of my diet and it's paying off big time. This Body by Vi 90 Day Challenge is working like a charm!

Since I've been feeling so much better and am not lugging around quite as much blubber, my runs have improved, too. I'm still slow but I'm increasing the running intervals and reducing the walk portions. My last 2 long runs have been 6 miles and I finished both feeling that I could have kept on going. I even managed to do a 5-mile midweek run. That is huge for me!

And just to share one thing today that really made me smile - here's the end of an IM this morning between my husband Taylor and me ("love you so much in the world" is our little saying that our daughter started when just learning to string words together into sentences)

My "A-Ha!" Moment

Taylor and I directed Vacation Bible School at our church this summer. It was a wonderfully uplifting spiritual experience and I have no doubt God was working in the lives of both the children and adults.

But ...

looking back at the pictures afterwards so I could compile a slideshow for worship service, I had an "A-Ha" moment.

I. AM. FAT.

Wonderful ... even worse from the back ...

I'm almost never in any pictures we take of family events. I'm always the one behind the camera.The only pictures of myself on this blog are the tiny profile picture from a trip to Disney World in 2007 and a head and shoulders shot of Kate and me at the Patriots 5k in April 2009.

I look at myself in the mirror daily and think "sure, I need to lose some weight, but I really don't look that bad."

I've been lying to myself without even knowing it. The extra 40 pounds I've slowly been gaining these last years is taking a toll on my body. I look awful. I don't feel as good as I should every day. I firmly believe it's the main reason I'm still run:walking my way through training workouts 2 years after I first laced up a pair of running shoes.

I'm sick and tired of it and it's going to change RIGHT NOW.

We all know the only key to losing weight is making permanent changes and incorporating a healthy lifestyle into your routine. It's simple but oh, so difficult: calories in (and quality calories at that) through smart nutrition choices and calories out through some form of movement (as you know from reading this blog that's primarily walking/running for me).

I've always enjoyed being active. I played basketball, softball and any other type of "ball" sport I could find in our small, rural community. Although I definitely have my share of lazy bones, in general, I enjoy getting out and staying on the move. It's more of a challenge now that I have to schedule workouts among everything else as a wife and mom who works full-time, but it's still doable.

My problem has always been making good nutritional choices and portion control. I'm now on Day 2 of the "Body by Vi" 90 day challenge. So far, so good and I'm 1.5 pounds lighter today than yesterday although I typically fluctuate 1 to 2 pounds every day. So, we'll see what my weight is next Friday morning for the true results.

This morning's breakfast was a strawberry-banana shake with the Visalus nutritional shake mix. It's delicious and I've almost finished it and am very full. I'm not sure what type of fruit I'll add to my lunch shake yet. (Ignore the camera date - I would never have the time to take a picture on a weekday morning!)


Wish me luck - hopefully this blog (which I'm also copying to my Body by Vi challenge site - will be a major part of accountability for me. I hope so. I am ready to CHANGE!

Three Things Thursday

1. I'm still dealing with vertigo. This is the longest it's ever lasted and obviously, it's impacting my workouts. I did manage 2.9 miles this past Sunday evening, but dizziness and running just don't go together. I can only take the medication at night before bedtime because it makes me so sleepy and my busy schedule doesn't have any other time that I can take it and then lie down. I've started doing some specific movements/exercises that are supposed to help, so we'll see.

2. I won a giveaway at MCM Mama's blog! I'm looking forward to trying the Nuun, Shot Blocks & Gu! Thanks to Alma for commenting on my last post to let me know. I'm behind on reading blogs and didn't even know about it!

3. I'm considering posting a picture taken of me a few weeks ago at Bible School. It was a "whoa!" moment for me when I saw the picture. Good grief, I don't think I look *that huge* when I see myself in the mirror ... sigh ...

"Mama Goes Masters" Virtual Race

So, I have 4 miles on the training plan for tomorrow. And MCM Mama just happens to be hosting a virtual race that includes that distance. That's a little bit of extra motivation to make sure I don't blow off tomorrow morning's run ...

UPDATE

Well, I did it but it wasn't pretty. I woke up early this morning, turned over in bed and was so dizzy I felt like I was falling while lying down. It's another bout with inner ear problems. My first thought revolved around trying to run 4 miles while dizzy. I slept late and didn't get up until 8:30. I was a little dizzy but nothing like the early a.m. After eating a bowl of cereal and preparing my homemade electrolyte drink, I decided to get started. I'm not going to lie about it. It was a tough, slow 4 miles due to the heat, humidity and occasional dizziness. I tried to take it extra slow - well, no, it wasn't a decision to take it slow, my body refused to do any more. But the good news is that I did it. That's the longest I've gone since the half-marathon in March, so I'll consider it a win even if some people could have walked it faster than I run:walked it.

4 miles in 1:01:48 (15:12/mile)

Three Things Thursday

1. My daughter started 5th grade yesterday. I am still amazed that she's just a couple of weeks away from being a 10-year-old. She's such a joy and is growing up so quickly. My husband Taylor and I have made it a tradition to take a day off from work for the first day of school (a half-day). So, after picking her up, we all went to eat lunch together and then went bowling. Will begins kindergarten next year. How does time fly by so quickly? My mama always told me to enjoy the moments because they're gone in a blink of any eye. I didn't believe that as a know-it-all teenager and young adult, but she was definitely right (about that and oh so many more things).

2. I won Teamarcia's Yurbuds giveaway! I am so excited. I've entered several giveaways but this is my first win. I'll definitely write a review once I give them a try.

3. Training for the Medoc 10 Miler is still going well although I'm a day behind this week. I'm logging the miles even though it's still slow-going. The good news is that my heel pain has not flared up again. Four miles are on the plan for Saturday. Next week I plan on increasing the running portions of my run:walk as long as my heel doesn't start bothering me again.

Knowin' Jack Sh*t

This post says it all.

I'm somewhere between depression and acceptance, hopefully leaning more on the acceptance side of the fence.

Take the time to click over to the May 18, 2010 post at Jack Sh*t, Gettin' Fit.

Why is it so hard to take the last step when you're thisclose to making the healthy lifestyle commitment?

~when you know what to do, but just aren't doing it~

~because you've failed so many times before~

To be continued ... I hope.

Three Things Thursday

We had the annual health screening at my employer's wellness program kick-off event today. No real surprises although I expected my cholesterol to be higher, so that's good news at least. Total cholesterol measured at 190; years ago it was 270, so that's a huge improvement. My HDL (the "good" cholesterol) was 67 so that's in the good range. Triglycerides and LDL were normal but at the higher end, although they're not entirely accurate because I ate breakfast this morning (see below for the reason). My blood sugar and blood pressure were both normal (never have had a problem with either thankfully). Weight, BMI, waist ... well, let's not discuss that. I don't have a place on my card where the nurse recorded my BS level, although I'm sure that's higher some days than others. Surely I wasn't the only one there who thought it odd that they abbreviated blood sugar that way, although I'm probably the only one who took a picture of the sign (sorry about the glare).
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I had planned to fast this morning so I would have accurate lipid panel results, but I had to eat a banana and a bowl of cheerios. And why, did I have to eat, you might ask?

I woke up early enough to run this morning, that's why!

Yeah, I'm still amazed. To say I'm not a morning person is a huge understatement. I loathe mornings and sleep until the last possible minute. I did stay in bed a little too long and got up at 6:20 instead of 5:45, but at least I did that. My plan's two slow run:walk miles are in the books and I'm super excited. My heel is still feeling good, too. Hopefully the worst of the PF is over. Once school starts next week with the busier evenings of homework, music lessons and softball practice, the morning will be the best time to run. Wish me luck on sticking to that!
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I'm curious as to whether anyone reading this uses runkeeper for tracking runs. I've been using it for the past month on my droid phone. I like it and I think it's fairly accurate at measuring my routes. I used the google mytracks app prior to that, and the nike + system when I started running. I'd still love a Garmin, but that purchase is not going to happen anytime soon. The phone apps seem to be an acceptable replacement at this point, though.