Healthier Chelle

Check Up

2010-06-17T22:12:00.002-04:00

So, I was called out by a family member for not updating this page.

I know I have been slacking. I was hoping that by blogging again that desire to do things as I did them a few years ago would return. The truth is that desire has not returned and I am not going to force it right now.

I did want to let you all know that I have been regularly running again. I am getting in 2.5-3.0 miles Monday through Saturday. I took last weekend off when I went to Missouri but I am back on track.

The more I do it the easier it gets. Thinking of looking up a 5k soon. We shall see...

Any updates on you? Anyone out there? Bueller...

Count down

2010-05-13T12:09:00.003-04:00

3... oz oven roasted chicken breast

2... cups chopped, fresh romaine lettuce

1... quarter cup each chopped pecans and croutons

mmmmmm

Add two tablespoons reduced fat ranch and let's pray I keep it all off my keyboard while I type this!

The morning after I returned from Haiti I weighed myself. I think I am the only person who can go to a poverty stricken country and come back heavier. When I left I was at 206, when I returned I was over 210! Really? Really!? I guess that's what happens when you have a week of stress, beans, rice, Clif bars, and Haitian spaghetti.

I vowed to begin using Sparkpeople.com to track my calories and fitness on Monday morning. It has definitely helped me keep stay on track. Those who followed me a few years ago know that counting calories is not my thang. I am so thankful for free programs like Sparkpeople that do pretty much ALL the work for you.

I am feeling better than I have in months and the majority of the credit goes to the Holy Spirit for interceding on my behalf, and my husband for all his support and encouragement.

I did have a minor setback though. On Tuesday night at softball I re injured my right ankle. Praise God it wasn't anything like when I wrecked it in November! It is already doing fine and I will probably start my cardio back up tomorrow.

So, what about my weigh goals and my weigh in?

Well, I think I need to re-evaluate my short term goal. I am probably going to need another month to get back under 190. My new short term goal is to get to 195 By June 3rd.

Maybe this is God's way of letting me enjoy the day I get under 200 again. Last time I hit that milestone I was in the middle of post partum depression and really could have cared less. This time there will be at least a celebratory dance!

I weighed in this morning at 202.0! Yay!

Actual results. Feels good.

How is everyone else doing?

A Psalm of Lament

2010-05-10T12:39:00.002-04:00

My heart is broken for an entire nation.

Rather than feel guilty for feeling sorrow, I choose to make Psalm 6 my prayer.

"O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath.

Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am faint;
O LORD, heal me, for my bones are in agony.

My soul is in anguish.
How long, O LORD, how long?

Turn, O LORD, and deliver me;
save me because of your unfailing love.

No one remembers you when he is dead.
Who praises you from the grave?

I am worn out from groaning;
all night long I flood my bed with weeping
and drench my couch with tears.

My eyes grow weak with sorrow;
they fail because of all my foes.

Away from me, all you who do evil,
for the LORD has heard my weeping.

The LORD has heard my cry for mercy;
the LORD accepts my prayer.

All my enemies will be ashamed and dismayed;
they will turn back in sudden disgrace."

I am still processing my experience in Haiti. I asked God to break my heart. A word to the wise...

...be careful what you pray for.

More to come.

The Key and The Cross (and a little weight lost)

2010-04-29T13:32:00.008-04:00

So, got a ham cookin' in the oven. Going to have a nice dinner with the family tonight before I head out to Haiti and their should be enough meat for Octavio and the girls to live off of for a week.

As far as my weigh in goes, I weighed in this morning at 206.2. Not much but at least I am finally heading in the right direction.

A cool story, then I am off to finish getting ready for my trip -

Right before Easter I headed up to Michigan with my family to celebrate the life of Gigi, my great grandpa, the girls' great-great grandpa.

Included in my luggage was my favorite earrings, beautiful little dangly keys given to me by a dear, dear friend. When I returned from Michigan and unpacked, it seemed that I had left one of the earrings somewhere in Michigan, as I could only find one in my little box of jewelry.

Fast-forward to this morning...

I decided to go through my big jewelry box and pick out special items to give to women I meet in Haiti. My plan was to lay them out on my bed and pray over them before I packed them up.

Before I even opened my jewelry box I thought of the beautiful little white gold cross and chain my husband gave to me for Christmas in 2004.

Immediately I knew I was supposed find it, take it and give it away. For some reason in my mind I was having a hard time. I sat there with my hand on the door to my jewelry box arguing why I didn't have to give THAT necklace away.

First, kind of selfishly, I thought of the verse that says, "Give and it WILL come back to you." This is a promise. God says give and it WILL come back to you. Not "may" or "might" or "possibly".

Then I thought of Ephesians 5:1-2

"Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

Christ gave His LIFE. I can sacrafice a necklace.

So, I carefully pulled the necklace off its hanger and wouldn't you know it...

my long lost earring was hanging right next to the cross.

That is how quick My God works and just a small taste of how much He loves me.

More awesome stories to come upon my return.

Love you all!

Insert Title Here

2010-04-22T08:25:00.003-04:00

I am too frustrated to come up with a witty title.

Here goes...

Last week's weight - 204.4

This week's weight - 207.8

Awesome! I have gained over five pounds since I started this blog. 25 or so more weeks of this and I will be at 260 in no time!

WAIT! I am continuing to head in the wrong direction.

Don't really have much to talk about as far as that (or anything else) goes, really.

I am doing my interval training. Yesterday I did 15 intervals on the elliptical. Started out doing 1 minute hard 1 minute moderate, then about halfway through I went to 1 minute hard 30 seconds moderate.

I am having a hard time getting my heart rate up. The highest I got yesterday was 168 which is about 86%. I am pushing as hard as I can. Not sure I can do much more.

Octavio sensed my frustration (and my PMS) yesterday and sent me the most precious prayer, in which he wrote...

"Lord I pray you will give Michelle all the STRENGTH that she needs to meet all her personal goals, including her Health and Spiritual development."

I don't have a game plan yet. For now, I am just going to cling to this prayer that The High Priest of our household prayed over me.

More to come, hopefully not weight-wise though!

Cha-Cha-Changes

2010-04-19T10:11:00.002-04:00

So, I am not even two full weeks in and I am already changing my fitness goals up. Why?

I talked with lovely Trainer Tara.

* Notice I took out the "Torture" and replaced it with "Trainer"? Funny how your perception changes after a few weeks away! *

Probably should have consulted her to begin with. Anyhoo, I talked with her about what area I am having the most problem with right now and she suggested a switch in my training. Below is some of our email conversation.

ME: So, I feel like I am carrying all my extra weight in the area between my belly button up to right under my boobs. What is the deal with that? What can I do, exercise wise, to attack that?

TT: With all fat & specifically belly fat, the best exercise is cardio...and I would suggest doing interval cardio. I also will tell you that it has to be combined with your diet (healthy eating). Most of the articles I have read & from what I have experienced/seen in others, the key is to get your heart rate up!!! Doing ab exercises are great for the abdominal muscles, however if those muscles are buried under fat it is not going to matter.

This is what I would suggest. Interval cardio is simply sprinting. You can complete running sprints, biking sprints or swimming sprints depending on your preference. The key is to push yourself as hard as you can for 30-60 seconds & then rest for 60-90 seconds, until you have mostly caught your breath & your heart rate has slowed to an aerobic rate. Do you know your Maximum Heart Rate? It is 220-your age. I think you are 28, so your Maximum Heart Rate is 192. This is the top of your heart rate chart if you are exerting maximum effort. If you can hit this in that 30-60 second window you will see the best results. I would suggest starting with 10 to 15 sprints per day depending on how you feel afterwards. If you can do more, than add additional sprints until you reach 20 to 30. If you find you still have energy after that, increase the duration.

Sorry to tell you that doing 1000 sit ups for the next 3 days or holding a plank for the next week are not the answer. Sprinting is!! The key is to go as fast as you possible can for the duration...BUT keep in mind...you must warm up sufficiently before pushing yourself this hard as you don't want to injure yourself.

ME: Thanks for the fabulous advice. Funny, I saw Jillian Michaels making a girl do sprints and I was thinking that I needed to try it. Maybe I will try that the rest of this week and see. I am glad it's not sit ups and planks...I know you are surprised to know they are not my favorite. They rank right up there with squat thrusts. What kind of warming up should I do before hand? I heart you.

TT: You are welcome. Your warm up can just be 5-10 minutes of whatever you are going to be doing your sprints on/with. You just want to get your heart rate up a bit & warm up your muscles. You can also use a stepper, elliptical or stationery bike too. Michelle, you are amazing. I pray every night that the Lord would turn me into you.

OK, OK, I added those last two sentences. :)

Today was day three of my interval training. It is kicking my butt, in a good way.

Saturday my brother and I trained together. We picked the only flat stretch of road in my parent's subdivision. We did 10 intervals, probably about 40 seconds sprinting, 75 seconds recovering. It was rough.

Sunday, my dad joined my brother and I. We did 10 intervals again in the same place as Saturday. Dad kicked boo-tay.

Today, I trained on the treadmill. I think I did 13 intervals. Found it easier to push myself since I was setting the pace on the treadmill and not turning it down. By the end of it I was doing 9MPH for 35 second stretches.

The problem with the treadmill is the recovery time. Thankfully no one was in the weight room with me this morning. I looked kind of silly doing high knee marches next to a treadmill that was going 9MPH.

We shall see how it goes...

How are you all doing?

Time for My Waaah In!

2010-04-15T08:23:00.003-04:00

I will not get whiny the first week. I WILL not get whiny the first week. I will NOT get whiny the first week.

Waaaaaaaaaaaah!

Here is deal -

Last week's weight - 202.6

This week's weight - 204.4 !

As soon as I looked down at the scale and this number popped up I got that look on my face that Bob gets on The Biggest Loser when someone has been working their butt off and the scale doesn't reflect their efforts.

Don't want to hear any of the normal "encouragements" that are usually handed out in the situation like this. You know the ones I am talking about...

"Could just be water weight"

"Your body needs time to adjust to the new routine"

and my personal favorite...

"Muscle weighs more than fat!"

Here is the deal people - a pound weighs a pound! A pound of muscle is a pound. A pound of fat is a pound. True, a pound of muscle is more dense than a pound of fat, but they both weigh a pound.

But I digress.

I do not have a clue why I am up 1.8 lbs. I let out my big waaaaaaaaah after I weighed in and now I am over it. I am moving on.

Why?

Because regardless of what the scale says this week I know that the change in my fitness habits, just from one week, have had an impact on my health, both mentally and physically.

I had such a great week. I felt good. I had energy. I could focus and complete tasks. I could relax. Impatience and anxiety were virtually non-existent.

So the fruit of my labor didn't show up on the scale. If I keep going it will. It has no choice. That's just how it works.

You hear me scale!? I said that is just how it works!

As far as my fitness goals go, I accomplished most of what I set out to do. I was one day shy on my push up/sit up goal. But here is what I did do...

160 regular sit ups
160 regular push ups
6 miles on the Elliptical
3 miles running on the treadmill
3 miles (mostly) running outside
4 miles walking on the treadmill
3 miles walking outside

How are you all doing on your goals???

The Short, The Long, and The Sweaty

2010-04-09T15:29:00.003-04:00

A quick recap for those just joining us -

I am up 16.8 lbs since Sept 2008. I am not happy about it.

Told you it would be quick. I keep my promises.

So, what am I going to do about it? Glad you asked!

I am going to weigh myself in every Thursday morning and blog about my week.
I am going to blog one day other than Thursday every week, whichever day I feel like it.
I am going to post a short and long term weight goal before my next weigh in.
I am going to post my exercise plan before my next weigh in.

This blog's purpose is to fulfill promises 3 and 4 of my action list above.

SHORT TERM WEIGHT GOAL - Lose 16.8 lbs by June 3rd

LONG TERM WEIGHT GOAL - Lose 20.8 additional pounds by September 22nd

EXERCISE PLAN -

Get at least 3 miles in 6 days a week any way I choose as long as I work and sweat(elliptical, treadmill, outside, walking, jogging, running, incline, etc.)
Get 1 mile straight run for time in 4 days a week
Do 40 push ups and 40 full sit ups 5 days a week

Since I know you all are extremely concerned with every aspect of my life, I am sure you are wondering what I am going to do about my eating habits.

The truth - not a whole lot. I have been doing pretty good in this area. It is definitely the exercise that I have been slacking on.

I have been getting my butt kicked by Torture Tara for an hour a day, two days a week, but I haven't done anything else. Now, Torture Tara is one heck of a trainer, but she ain't no miracle worker. Two hours a week leaves 166 hours to play around with and lately I have dedicated ZERO of those 166 to exercise.

Some people, when they are in a slump, need to be around others for motivation. Me, being the type of girl who's dream weekend would be one where I stay home and everyone else goes on a trip, needs to take a time out from group fitness to refocus.

So, tell me folks, what kind of goals, short and/or long term have you set to improve health?

*If you are in the Louisville area and need that motivation that only comes from being around other fun women, you need to hook up with Torture Tara. Email me at michelle.l.castano@gmail.com and I will gladly hook you up with the torture.*

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaack

2010-04-08T08:36:00.004-04:00

OK, so I am not back, back.

I am not going to blog 5 days a week like I did before. To be honest, when I think about it, I am not even sure how in the world that was possible.

Seriously.

Five days a week? Right now I consider it a miracle if I can get my teeth brushed 5 days a week.

Aren't you glad you are miles away from me reading this and not sitting directly across from me smelling, er, um, I mean hearing this?

OK, enough about my stank breath. Let's get to it.

If you are here reading this then I assume you read my Facebook update and know that I am up 16.8 lbs since my last official online weigh in.

16.8 lbs?? That is the average weight of a 4 month old baby boy!

OK, I am going to turn around and I want you to tell me if their is a small child clinging to my back. Ready?

No? NO?! Really? No infant on my rear?

Then I guess I need to own up to it...

I have been slacking. Obviously.

I have not been doing horrible. I have not gone back to my old eating habits. I have not stopped exercising.

I have a billion and one fairly legitimate reasons for putting the weight on. AND I definitely can say that a big chunk of my weight gain has happened in the last month or so. But that doesn't change the number on the scale. So I will move on.

I need that accountability that I had when I did this blog a few years ago. I need to set a goal. I need to make some rules.

And most importantly, I need you to kick my rear into gear.

So, here is the deal -

I am going to weigh myself in every Thursday morning and blog about my week.

I am going to blog one day other than Thursday every week, whichever day I feel like it.

I am going to post a short and long term weight goal before my next weigh in.

I am going to post my exercise plan before my next weigh in.

Who's with me?

If you answered "I AM!" then here is the challenge for you -

Get some goals ready - both short and long term. They can be weight loss goals, healthy eating habit goals, fitness goals, etc. Be ready to add them as a comment on here when I get mine posted.

And just to warn you, mine will be posted before the start of next week.

Hot N Healthy

2008-10-21T14:36:00.004-04:00

Well, I worked my tail off for three weeks and didn't get much recognition on the scale.

Here's what I did in 19 days -

50 miles of biking, walking, running
2550 Crunches
2350 Wall Push Ups
260 Regular Push Ups
360 Pull Ups on the Total Gym
Drank 1216 oz of water

And I lost TWO freakin' pounds!

But I ain't mad - cause a SIZE 12 now goes on like butter now - or shall I say Smart Balance Buttery Spread and my arms/neck/shoulders are looking pretty hot - right honey?

*ON TO THE WEEKEND*

The Spree was AWESOME! Right, Ma?

Here are some pics of my new threads!

The Big Push

2008-09-29T15:28:00.002-04:00

The date has been set - October 17th.

*Background Info*

A long, loooooooooooong time ago, my mom told me that when I got to my goal weight she would take me on a $hopping $pree.

*OK, now you are updated*

Well, I have spent the last 6 weeks or so just living life and having a good time. Now that healthy living comes naturally it is a breeze! I haven't been keeping track of what I eat or how much I exercise. I eat well and get my train on because that is just how I am now! :)

BUT -

I have decided to spend the next three weeks in high gear with my training. It would be nice to be close to my 100 lbs weight loss when I go on my $hopping $pree, since that is most likely where I'll be spending the rest of my life at, scale-wise.

I am on a strict bike, run, walk rotation...

Bike 5 miles one day
Run 3 the next day
Walk 2 the next

I am also doing the following 2 out of every three days (or three out of three if I feel like it) -

100 crunches
100 wall push ups
10 regular push ups
20 pull ups on my total gym

As I get closer to the date, the numbers slowly increase until I am up to

Biking 6
Running 4
Walking 3
200 crunches
200 wall pu's
25 reg pu's
30 pull ups

Please pray that I am smart with my stretching, water intake, etc. so that I don't injure myself!

Can't wait to fill up all in on my successes on the 17th!

and more importantly -

Can't wait to show you all my new wardrobe after that!

One Month Later...

2008-09-12T08:29:00.003-04:00

OLD Goal: Lose baby weight + 30 lbs - MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

NEW Goal: Achieve Total Weight Loss of 100 lbs

Weight August 2005 (when I slowly began my journey): 270.2

Weight One Month Ago: 189.0

Current weight: 185.8

Weight loss/gain since last month: -3.2

TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS: -84.4

So, my weight loss has slowed down a bit, but hey, the more I lose the less I have to lose!

I am happy that I have not been keeping tabs on myself like I was before and I am still registering a loss. That means I can live my life, have a little fun, eat a little junk, skip a day of exercising here and there, and still be successful! To me, that is the ultimate accomplishment.

A great friend sent me this quote just this morning -

“People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing-that's why we recommend it daily.” - Zig Ziglar

Ain't that the truth!?!?

For those of you interested in an awesome health tracking website, please, PLEASE check out traineo.com. I thought sparkpeople was good but I really LOVE this one! It's like facebook meets sparkpeople!

Well friends, see you next month!

PS I got a new favorite outfit. I am hoping to post a pic on here later today!

Family Photo Update

2008-09-11T08:51:00.005-04:00

Hey friends! I'll post a One Month Update sometime tomorrow. Until then, enjoy these pics and clips from the last month!

Check out trouble...

Adios Healthy Amigos !

2008-08-12T05:45:00.001-04:00

Welcome to Healthy Chelle's final installment!

Can you believe it? My goal was to lose my baby weight plus 30 lbs by the end of the year. I still have almost five months left!

Where in the world should I start? I guess the beginning is a good place...

Here is a flashback to Healthy Chelle's Blog Debut -

Before I go and weigh myself, I want to list what my intentions are with this blog/weight loss process...

I am keeping this blog to help me...

- Keep myself on track
- Keep myself honest
- Provide a healthy home with healthy habits for my girls
- Inspire the people I care about to get or stay healthy

Well...Check, check, check, and DOUBLE CHECK!

I am so, so, so proud of myself. I know I have a million and one people to thank for supporting me on this journey and I love every one of them, but I am proud of ME!

Let's do a couple more flashbacks, shall we?

Feb 18, 2004

I have done well this past year and a half keeping the junk out of my cart at the grocery store and therefore out of my cabinets and fridge but my biggest downfall and biggest addiction has always been fast food, including pizza, and restaurants. I can't control myself. My mind tells me to eat as much as I can. Even when I order I am trying to figure out how to get the most food. There is a struggle in my mind everytime I go through the drive-thru as to whether or not I should supersize, biggiesize, kingsize, etc. my meal. The struggle continues even in sit down establishments. I might want a steak but if the menu tells me that I can have two sides instead of one if I order a chicken dish, I'll order that instead.

I don't know what to do. I don't think cutting something out all together is a good idea when trying to lose weight. For me, it seems like the better thing to do is to retrain yourself on how to deal with the "problems". That being said, I haven't figured out how to do that when it comes to eating out. Hey, I am a work in progress...

So, Octavio and I went to our favorite Mexican place twice this weekend. Both times we shared an entree. Neither one of us felt deprived. I think my gluttony syndrome is cured and that sense of "my food territory" is (almost) gone. YAY!

March 5, 2008

It is like I idolize food. I put it before most other things. It is OK to enjoy food once in a while but it shouldn't consume as much of my time, or should I say I shouldn't consume it so much of the time. I am trying to retrain myself to not think so highly of it.

I have little food rituals I am trying to stop.

We have stopped eating dinner on the couch in front of the tv. We eat at the table now. I have had a few nights where I have asked it I could sit in front of the TV alone on stressful days. It's happened a handful of times and I feel guilty afterwards.

Lunch time is still something I am working on. Before, I would get Ori her lunch, put her to bed, and then get my own lunch ready. Again, I would sit in front of the tv, alone. I still do this but more often than not I eat lunch with Oriana at the table.

I guess I really just have one food ritual I am struggling with - I prefer to eat alone, on the couch, in front of the tv. None of that is healthy for me.

I have learned to LOVE dinner time at the table. My Judge Judy addiction is pretty much cured. I still enjoy eating lunch alone. I think I need to keep it that way.

I am not obsessed with food anymore. I eat to live, not live to eat.

March 7, 2008

I am beginning to realize that you really can retrain your brain and taste buds. I was having a really, really bad craving last night to the point I was salivating just thinking about a certain food. What food? Peppers...I wanted to grill up some red, green, and yellow bell peppers with some onions so bad last night. If we owned a grill I just might have done it!

Thanks again Dad for the grill! We have eaten SO MANY peppers this summer it isn't even funny. Our next house will have enough room in the yard for a garden! Peppers are expensive! Even at Sam's!

March 10, 2008

I don't feel like I am in the right state of mind to 100% commit to a vasectomy one way or the other. But at the same time, I don't want to be put back on birth control, don't want to deal with the changes that will come because of it.

Octavio's appointment is Friday! Bring it on already!

A few times I had to remind myself of how far I've come by checking out old pics. Remember this? And this?

And who could forget my Goal Jean Announcement on May 1st? I am more than pleased to say that my goal jeans have been too big for the last month and a half!

OK, I could go on and on with my flashbacks but I'll spare you all the pain. I mean you have read all of them already anyway, right?

Now on to some fun stuff...let's review some numbers -

Weight August 2005 - 270.2 lbs

Weight August 2008 - 189.0 lbs!

BMI August 2005 - 46.4

BMI August 2008 - 32.4 (So close to being "Overweight" instead of "Obese"!)

Pant size August 2005 - 22

Pant size August 2008 - 14!

Waist August 2005 - 50.5 inches

Waist August 2008 - 39.5 inches!

Real Age August 2005 - 33.6

Real Age August 2008 - 24.9!

Pace of my first race in January 2007 - 12 minute 10 second mile

Pace of my race in June 2009 - 9 minute 9 second mile!

What's Next?

I have one more goal to accomplish. It has two parts to it -

Get my total weight loss to 100 lbs (only 19 lbs to go)

Do it on my own, living life, without putting pressure on myself (no weigh ins, no blogs, no documenting my work out numbers)

I am pretty confident that I can achieve this goal before 2009. Watch out 10 year reunion!

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU my faithful readers. I really could NOT have accomplished this goal if I didn't have someone who checked up on me. I had a bunch of someones checking in on me and that really helped me to keep my focus and stay determined.

Keep a look out on my MySpace page. I'll still be blogging on there when the bug bites me. I am working on one right now about dealing with anxiety. I hope to have it posted soon.

In closing, although my readers are fabulous, here are a few pics of my True Motivations...

The End!

Weigh Day Week 27 Is this it???

2008-08-11T00:39:00.007-04:00

Goal: Lose baby weight + 30 lbs

Pre-pregnancy weight: 221.0

Weight last week: 194.4

Current weight: 189.0

Weight loss/gain since last week: -5.4

*drum roll*

TOTAL WEIGHT LOST (not including baby weight): -32.0

I DID IT!

Apparently I can't jump with my mouth closed :)

My hard work really paid off this week!

I went above and beyond what I promised to do last week. Here's what it looked like -

Monday - 40 intense minutes on the treadmill, as planned
Tuesday - 6 hard miles on the bike, as I thought was planned (turns out I only promised 5)
Wednesday - 45 intense minutes on the treadmill because Monday's felt sooooo good
Thursday - 6 more hard miles on the bike
Friday - 50 intense minutes on the treadmill and family soccer time at the park
Saturday - Opted to go to a Louisville Bats game instead of ride my bike
Sunday - 55 more intense minutes on the treadmill

I burned close to 3000 calories last week and logged in over 4 hours of exercise. You think I'd be beat but really, I feel better than ever!

What I love is that I didn't starve myself at all! I had quite a few healthy lunches and dinners and tried hard to get my breakfast in every morning, but I also had Dairy Queen, Fiesta Time (twice!), hot dogs and Kizito cookies at a Bats game, and mashed potatoes.

The key - ?

Moderation. Cliche, I know, but it's true. I haven't deprived myself of anything during my journey except McDonald's (for which my body thanks me). I knew I needed to live life and learn when to indulge and how much to indulge. I think I finally got it!

Tune in tomorrow for Healthy Chelle's Final Blog!

Weigh Day Week 26

2008-08-04T08:25:00.003-04:00

Goal: Lose baby weight + 30 lbs

Achieved so far: Baby weight is gone!

Pre-pregnancy weight: 221.0

Weight last week: 191.4

Current weight: 194.4

Weight loss/gain since last week: +3.0

TOTAL WEIGHT LOST (not including baby weight): -26.6

Well, just goes to show you that no matter what you do, Aunt Flo can come and reek havoc on your plans.

Seriously - here's what my workout week looked like -

MONDAY - 3 miles on the bike in the AM and 3 miles on the bike in the PM
TUESDAY - 4 miles on the bike in the AM
WEDNESDAY - 4 miles on the bike in the PM
THURSDAY - 2 miles on the bike in the PM
FRIDAY - Softball double header and 3 miles on the bike in the PM
SATURDAY - 2 miles run/walking with a friend
SUNDAY - 5 miles on the bike in the PM

I misbehaved a bit on Saturday night. I am pretty sure that played into this weight gain as well.

Can anyone say "Self Sabotage"?

No, but for real, since having Jocie, Aunt F has been pretty unbearable. One cool thing about it though, is that I am finally small enough that I can actually tell when I'm bloated! Before, I was bloated 100% of the time so I guess I never noticed. It is not a great feeling to be bloated. It is, however, a great feeling to think you have put on weight and then REALIZE you are just bloated! :)

I am going to get off my behind this week and really try to accomplish my goal. Now that I know I am comfortable on the bike I think I'll alternate between the bike and running this week.

The hard part is that it's so stinkin' hot outside but I just don't feel like I can push myself on the treadmill. I think I need to make myself run for longer periods of time. My problem is that anything over 30 minutes does not sound appealing to me.

Funny. After I typed that last paragraph I went over to my email to see if I had any inspiring emails to pass along to my readers.

The first one I opened was from sparkpeople.com and said -

Most experts recommend that you exercise up to 90 minutes most days of the week, emphasizing that you gradually work your way up to that duration. However, a recent study conducted at Boston Sports Clubs found that participants who exercised for 20-30 minutes did so more consistently than those involved in 45-60 minute workout sessions. This study shows that you're more likely to stick to a shorter duration workout than a longer one.

Action Sparked: If you're having trouble staying consistent with exercise, try a shorter workout session. Tell yourself that you'll exercise for 10 or 15 minutes, and follow through with it. Of course 10 minutes of exercise is better than totally skipping a workout. But, once you've hit that small goal (whether it's 5, 10, or 20 minutes), ask yourself if you could keep going. You may find that planning on a short workout is enough to get you to the gym, and once you're there, you can do a lot more than you thought.

Hmmmm. Coincidence? Me thinks not.

I am not sure what this means for me though. I am just being lazy. I think I need to get over my laziness and get my train on.

My plan for this week -

40 intense minutes on the treadmill Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun
5 hard miles on the bike Tues, Thurs, Sat

The last few weeks I have contemplated publicly declaring that my goal would be accomplished. I have avoided it so far but I think this has GOT to be the week.

I'm-a-gonn-a-do-it.

Weigh Day Week 25

2008-07-28T09:27:00.000-04:00

So, this blog will probably be pretty long. Also, for some reason the spaces are all screwed up again. I hate that but oh well. ENJOY!

Goal: Lose baby weight + 30 lbs

Achieved so far: Baby weight is gone!

Pre-pregnancy weight: 221.0

Weight last week: 196.0

Current weight: 191.4

Weight loss/gain since last week: -4.6

TOTAL WEIGHT LOST (not including baby weight): -29.6

Woot! Woot!

Back on track and then some! I was so focused this week. Even the times when I was faced with the opportunity to stuff my face, I prevailed! This is probably my happiest weigh in so far!

*Astonishing News Alert*

I actually got up before 6 a.m. and got a bike ride in this morning! Can you believe it? It still seems like a dream to me but I rode 3 miles in 19:36 and had an average heart rate of 131. I am feeling extra good this morning and I will probably catch myself smiling every time I remember that my exercise is out of the way.

I think I may focus on cycling this week, assuming that I don't feel the effects of this mornings ride too badly later on today. I just want to try something different and see what my weight has to say about it :)

*Major Milestone Alert*

OK, it may not be major to some of you, but it absolutely is major to me.

6 months McDonald's free!

The longer I go without it, the easier it gets. I can drive by one and not think twice about it. I know I am not completely over it though. I definitely would not be able TO DO THIS! While Octavio was in Michigan he had it a few times and I found myself getting a little jealous about it. Not jealous enough to go and buy some though!

*Hubby's Home*

As much as I totally missed my hubby while he was in Michigan last week, it was nice to take some of the pressure off. Not really pressure he puts on me, but pressure I put on myself to make him happy.

As a little taste of how much the pressure was off...

On Wednesday morning Oriana asked me "Mommy, are you gonna wear them clothes a long, long time?"

*Confession Time*

I have been seeing a therapist. It is going very, very well. I encourage anyone who would like to explore more about themselves to seek out some good, professional help, even if you don't think anything "major" has happened to you. That's really all I have to say about that right now.

*Training Talk*

I had fun training this week. I never wore my heart rate monitor and for some reason that made me enjoy it more.

*Training Talk to Challenge Talk*

Anyone do last weeks challenge?? Andrew???

Well, I did! I ran 3.82 miles and walked 3 miles.

I'm not sure if the challenges are helpful to anyone or not. There wasn't a whole lot of action on here last week. I'm sure some of it has to do with my switching to a weekly blog instead of a daily blog. I think I'll hold off a week or so and maybe give myself a little more time to think of a good challenge. I'm sure a bribe or two will have to be involved to get some of you motivated.

:)

*Way Off Topic*

I actually got some scrapbooking done. Well, it was only one page but it felt good. How does this apply to health? Well, for me, it was something I really enjoyed doing before my PPD set in. Since then I haven't really had the desire to do it. I am glad I am enjoying it again. It really is fun! Expensive, but fun!

*Speaking of Depression*

While snooping around on the Internet last night, I found THIS ARTICLE.
I particularly found this excerpt interesting...

"If hunger made us walk around in a funk, we’d likely become someone else’s dinner. Instead, ghrelin motivates and focuses us on getting some F-O-O-D! Stat! "

Not sure where I was going with that... :)

Here are a few more articles you might like to take a look at -

10 Easy Ways to Cut 100 Calories I was reminded that I need to start drinking tea again. My problem is that I prefer it hot, and hot tea and hot weather don't really mix. I may try iced tea with a splash of 100% fruit juice, like the article suggests. I am not sure I can trust myself with juice in the house though. Maybe cranberry juice ?

Writing Down Every Morsel Doubles Weight Loss Hmmm. I was just thinking to myself I need to start journaling. I am pretty sure I wasn't talking about my food intake. We'll see.

*Race Talk*

So, I ran a 5k on Saturday. I talked my dad and my hubby into doing it with me. Nothing says "Let's go running" like the promise of a nice free breakfast afterwards (provided by the event coordinators).

Last year I ran the same race and got a trophy for second place in my age division. This year I took third place and got another trophy. I was bummed about getting third and about running 13 seconds slower than my PR until I realized that I beat my time from last year by about 5 minutes!

Race fee - $24

Cutting off 5 minutes in one year - Priceless!!!

Octavio came in second in his age division. He was so cute when he found out he was going to get a trophy. He stood up to walk up to the front before they even called his name!

My dad really pushed himself. He set a new personal record with a time of 35:58!

Go DAD!

Who woulda' thunk we'd be a bunch of racing fools?

Show me some love, friends. I'll get back on here throughout the week to comment with you all!

Weigh Day Week 24

2008-07-21T08:35:00.000-04:00

*Remember, I am now only blogging once a week. I am going to post my blog here and on Myspace!*

Goal: Lose baby weight + 30 lbs
Achieved so far: Baby weight is gone!
Pre-pregnancy weight: 221.0
Weight before trip to Michigan: 193.4
Current weight: 196.0

Weight loss/gain since last week: +2.6

TOTAL WEIGHT LOST (not including baby weight): -25.0

So, I was hoping to come back from MI and not have gained any weight.

So much for that!

It is totally my fault though. I did really well keeping up with my work outs the first week of the trip. The second week was not so productive. I ran once, cross trained on a bike once, and then ran on Sunday morning back in KY. It is not because I didn't want to get a run or two in. I was on the road a lot visiting great friends and got home late pretty much every night.

I ate a lot of junk (Oh, Bennigan's, how I miss you) while I was in Michigan but I have to say, I did not do nearly as bad as I could have done! I think the only time I overate was at The Golden Moon - darn chinese buffet!

I am happy to be back in my own home, with my own food, and my own rules. I feel comfort in it. Kind of like I used to feel comfort in McDonald's.

The time away is actually just what I needed. I am proud of myself. I think I did really well. I love the fact that I was craving my healthy lifestyle while I was on vacation. I wanted it back. I couldn't wait to get it back.

Octavio headed back to Michigan early this morning. He will be there until Friday. This poses a bit of a challenge for me. I am going to have to tweak my meal planning and prep to make sure I only make enough for Ori and I so that I won't be tempted to eat Octavio's portion too! I am promising myself that I am going to definitely stick to my healthy eating this week.

Funny, normally if Octavio was going out of town I would look at it as a "Food Free For All". This time I am really going to focus the next five days on getting back to the basics. I am going to eat breakfast every morning and do some type of exercise each morning and night this week to kind of shock myself back into gear.

190 here I come!

*Softball Update*

When we got home Friday night I had a message on my machine saying we had a make up game on Saturday morning. I was excited to be able to play and...

We WON!

I only had one good hit (I need to get to the cages) but I made a few good plays from second base. I am really starting to like that position. Up until this season that is the only position I was uncomfortable playing (besides pitcher). I have to remind myself before each pitch what my job is depending on where the ball is hit. I think it's fun!

There were a few girls playing on our team this week that don't normally play. Since the game was called on short notice our coach asked a few of her co-workers to fill in so we wouldn't have to forfeit. Two of them were definitely softball buffs. They were really good hitters but as I watched them run the bases I could tell that physically, I was in better shape than they were.

I'll take health over hitting any day!

*Weekly Challenges*

Alrighty Andrew - I'll try posting some challenges again. I am going to start with stuff that is fairly plain and easy but I hope ideas for fun and exciting new things start coming to me soon!

This Week's Challenge -

Log in FIVE MILES worth of exercise by doing TWO of the following -

Walking
Running
Hiking
Biking
Swimming
Climbing stairs

I have created a spot HERE to document and discuss your progress. Let's encourage each other and try something new!

*Side Note*

I really enjoyed riding my cousin's bike while I was in Michigan. I think I'll have to get ours up and running. That might be just what I need to get these last few pounds off!

Hope to hear from you on here and on the Weekly Challenge Log and see you all next week!

Lastly, here are a few of my favorite pics of the girlies from our trip to MI! You can see more on Myspace later on today!

Weekly Challenge Log 7/21/08

2008-07-21T08:31:00.001-04:00

Use this post to log in your progress, chat with each other, and encourage each other!

This Week's Challenge -

Log in FIVE MILES worth of exercise by doing TWO of the following -

Walking
Running
Hiking
Biking
Swimming
Climbing stairs

Weigh Day Week 23

2008-07-14T18:45:00.003-04:00

Sorry for the late post! The Internet has been down for a few days. I thought I was going to go nuts!

As far as my weigh in goes -

Just like last week, I don't have my scale so I am not weighing in. I want to be consistent and weigh on my scale so that I know the results are accurate, well, accurate as far as my scale is concerned.

*Catch Your Breath 5k News*

We did it!

I had such a blast hanging out with you guys! Thanks for the pic Kate!

Way to go Andrew, Corey, Kate, Leigh, Michele, and Mom for finishing the 5k and to Rena for doing the 10K. (I thought for sure the official results would be posted by now...bummer!)

For those who trained but didn't get to run - I am proud of you too!

My favorite part of the race was when Michele, Mom and I busted out in a parody of Annie's "Tomorrow" I like to call "Two Miles".

"Two Miles, Two Miles, I love ya, Two Miles, Your only a cone away!"

We went to Subway for our post run lunch and had a great time catching our breath and enjoying some good eats. Thanks to Mom for picking up the tab!

During the lunch I let my friends know that I will no longer be blogging every day. I am only going to blog on Monday mornings for my weigh in from now on.

It is actually pretty neat that I don't feel the need to blog every day anymore. I really feel like I have worked through the majority of my weight and health issues and I am happy with where I am at. I don't have as much to "work through" anymore and feel like most days I am struggling to find something to say.

I am sure blogging only once a week will allow me to have a little more time to collect and research my material. I will probably go back to blogging on myspace instead of on here...we'll see...

I am hoping to hit 190 soon and then I'll have to reevaluate my goal.

I appreciated the support and the commitment of my readers very much and am thankful that you all have been there to encourage and support me.

I'll see you next Monday. I'll be back in KY and back on the scale. I am hoping that I can at least break even after spending all this time away from my safe zone.

Just because the training is over doesn't mean you can slack off!

GET YOUR TRAIN ON!

The Big Day

2008-07-11T06:00:00.001-04:00

Can you believe tomorrow is The Day? Race Day?

I can't believe 8 weeks of training has already passed!

How did you all do? Did any of you surprise yourselves? Are you feeling a little bit healthier than you did two months ago?

I, for one, am so proud of you guys. Everyone had a different reason for training, a different goal to acheive, and you guys gave it your all. It was great for me to hear your training highs and lows. It helped me to remember I am not alone on The Highway to Health.

*Race Day Info*

I sent out an email to everyone who I know for sure is participating or thinking of participating in the race. I included details for those who are riding with me and some other info. If I missed someone, let me know.

The 5k run starts at 9:30 a.m. and the 5K walk starts at 9:35 a.m.

Lastly, here are some really great articles to check out to help you prepare for tomorrow!

See you at the starting line!

Calm Your Pre-race Jitters

Running in the Heat

Basic Gear

Race Pacing and Strategy

Race Recovery

I Go Out Typing, After Midnight

2008-07-10T00:14:00.002-04:00

So, it's 12:14 a.m.

I just got home from going out with some old work buddies and I am tired.

I don't have anything to blog about really, but didn't want you all to think I forgot about you :)

I won't have a computer to blog on tomorrow until well after 8 p.m. so I figured I better at least put something on here so you don't come checking every 5 minutes.

Sorry I don't have more to say...

I'll do better on Friday - I promise!

Get your train on!

Like Riding a Bike

2008-07-09T06:53:00.002-04:00

There are a million and one reasons why it is really hard to ride a bike when you are overweight...

...the seats are way too small

...your legs can't pedal your weight

...your back hurts from being hunched over

...etc

I can remember back when Octavio, Ori, and I lived at my parents house and I was at my heaviest weight, 270 lbs, and I thought it would be a good idea to ride my bike around their yard for exercise. In all honesty I thought it would be easier than going for a walk. Man, I was way wrong.

I struggled to get around the yard one time and had a breakdown over the fact that I couldn't even ride a stinkin' bike. I'm pretty sure I didn't say "stinkin". Octavio can attest to that.

Ever since that day I have been scared to try to ride a bike. I have tried one other time and although I didn't struggle as much, I didn't really go that far. Thankfully it started snowing that day and since I was in KY I took it as a sign that I didn't have to do it :)

Where am I going with this?

I spent the day with my cousin Kristol and her family yesterday. I spent quite a bit of time running around with the kids, swimming with the kids, fooling around on the kids little bikes. Then, I spotted Kristol's bike. She told me she had been riding her bike a lot and was really seeing results.

I decided to get back on the saddle, er, the bike seat.

I rode up and down her dirt road a few times. There is a little bit of an incline on the way back and I was totally intimidated at first.

How did I do?

So, the seat was still uncomfortable but my legs could totally pedal my weight and my back didn't hurt. I actually had a really good time and I am sure I will be trying to get my bike up and running when we get back to KY.

WooHoo!

I am going over to a friends house this morning to let the kids play and get some mommy time in too. We've decided to trade off for 30 minutes so that each of us can get our exercise in and over with fairly early.

Tonight I am going to meet up with some old coworkers. That should be a blast!

*Race Info*

I know I talked about us all matching in some way but just wear what you want to the race. If you are joining us let me know so I can have Rena pick your race packet up for you. I am still trying to figure out where to meet but I think I have an idea. If you're not already getting little updates from me via email and you are planning on participating in the race, let me know.

Testing 1..2..3..

2008-07-08T08:00:00.002-04:00

Man, I am having a hard time behaving here in Michigan. Funny how getting out of your normal routine allows you to fall off track.

I guess it's not so much that I am misbehaving as it is I am not sure how well I am/am not doing.

Let's take a look at my progress:

I haven't been drinking nearly as much water as I normally do.
I had Bennigan's. Nothing good ever happens when I go to Bennigan's. :)
I got an hour of run/walking in with my friends on Saturday.
I got some water aerobic and swim sprints in with Michele on Saturday.
I ran 1.6 miles on Sunday.
I ran 1.6 miles on Monday.
I have enough food to make healthy meals for the next three nights.

This trip is a good test for me though.

We'll see how it goes folks. We'll see :)

PS If you are in MI and you want to get together, give me a shout!

Weigh Day WEEK 22

2008-07-07T17:44:00.002-04:00

Sorry about the delay friends. I had to wait until my man came home from work to get my hands on a computer. I was going to do my blog last night but the wireless internet was not working.

*Notice I made a new blog entry for you to enter your training for Week EIGHT*

Goal: Lose baby weight + 30 lbs

Achieved so far: Baby weight is gone!

Pre-pregnancy weight: 221.0

Weight last week: 193.4

Current weight: 190.0

Weight loss/gain since last week: -3.4

TOTAL WEIGHT LOST (not including baby weight): -30.0

ALRIGHTY!

Here's the deal...

I forgot to bring my scale with me to Michigan :(

I used my friend Tracy's scale but I am not confident that it weighs me the same as my scale does. Mine is digital, hers is not. So, although her scale clearly puts me at 190, I will not believe it until I get on my scale at home.

I mean, I had Bennigan's (first time in 2 years!) and pizza on Sunday so I am sure on my scale I would probably be UP 3 lbs, not down 3 lbs.

I am not sure how often I will be able to blog for the rest of the week. I will try to get it down the night before, but no promises!

Get your train on!

Getting Your Train On WEEK 8

2008-07-07T17:42:00.002-04:00

Hola friends!

It's your last week! Can you believe it?

This is the post you should use to enter any training you do this week. Instead of me searching through each of my daily posts, I will come here and ONLY HERE to see where you all are at with your training!

Please include the date that you trained in your comment.

Make it look something like this..."Hey Chelle! On 6/23/08 I got my train on!"

This week I will count only from today to Friday since I'd like to be able to give the winner thier prize on race day if they are there!

This week will be the most challenging week yet! You guys have already stuck to it for 7 whole weeks though, and I know you will continue to succeed!

This week the training schedule calls for EIGHT INTERVALS of one minutes of walking and four minutes of jogging for a total of 40 minutes.

Good luck!

You guys are doing great!

Quick!

2008-07-03T09:06:00.003-04:00

Sorry it is so late friends!

I have so much on my mind and so many things to do today to get ready for the Big Trip. I have to catch up on laundry, clean up the house, pack, give the girlies a bath, go to the store, and of course, exercise.

I am gonna skip Comments of the Week and make this short and sweet...

I am SUPER EXCITED !

I love to plan and organize so getting ready for this trip and packing is all actually fun for me. My last trip to MI was for Kel's wedding in October 2007 and it didn't leave me much time to catch up with anyone.

Some time away is exactly what I need right now. I look forward to catching up with a lot of my friends. My itinerary is getting pretty full! I love that we are going to be there long enough for me to fit all my plans in.

*MOCK RACE INFO*

Anyone interested in running a trial race with Leigh, Michele, Rena and I on Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. needs to email me for more details! It is going to be 79 and partly cloudy - a great morning for a run!

I am not sure if I will be posting tomorrow or not. We are getting on the road fairly early I think.

If I don't get a chance to say it tomorrow -

Happy Fourth of July!

Paying Attention to Our Intentions

2008-07-02T06:32:00.001-04:00

Remember back when I posted about Bringing Intention to Your Motivation ? I asked you all to write down what you intend to accomplish by training for this 5K.

Did anyone happen to notice that I met one of the goals I set for myself during this training period?

My first intention was to lose 10 lbs. My weigh in on Monday put me at 11 lbs lost since training began! The other half of that goal was to keep it off. Time will tell :)

My second intention was to feel a closer connection to those who have taken the time to care about what I am doing by participating in the race. I definitely feel like I have. I can't wait to see y'all in person though!

NOW-

I am going to pick on Leigh and Cheri, since they were the only ones brave enough to let the public know what their intentions were -

Leigh -

Is exercise becoming fun for your family?
Is Michael still getting his train on?
Does Jakob notice you are exercising?
I am sure your heart is getting stronger!

Cheri -

How is your pace doing?
Have you noticed improvements?

What about those of you who didn't post intentions. Do you have any now?

If you do, post 'em already!

*Mock Race Info*

We are heading to MI on Friday. I was thinking we could do a Mock Race on Saturday, July 5th. I'm not sure where yet. If anyone has any ideas, let me know via email. I don't want to post anything too public just in case weirdos are checking this site out.

Also, if you want to know where/when we decide to do it and I don't have your email address, send it to me!

If the Shoe Fits

2008-07-01T06:00:00.004-04:00

A happy runner has happy feet.

An unhappy runner has an injury, side stitches, or horrible shoes.

I wish I would have kept the shoes I wore when I started running back in late 2006. Seriously, you would laugh. The were heavy and ugly. The pinky toe portion was blown out. The first real race I ever ran was in January 2007 and my pinky toes are still upset with me. They had no shelter from the cold.

The biggest problem was that they were WALKING shoes, not RUNNING shoes.

Yes, there is a difference. A big difference. Trust me.

Walking shoes are usually stiffer and heavier than running shoes. This is because the walking motion does not require as much flexibility as the running motion. Also heavier shoes provide more cushioning for the foot. Although it may seem as though runners would need more cushioning because of the greater impact, runners typically choose lighter shoes because heavier shoes can make striding more difficult.

When I finally put enough miles on my walking shoes to prove to myself I was committed to the process, I went to a local store that specializes in running shoes. They measured my feet and determined I needed a wide shoe (*gasp* NO! Really?) They put me on a treadmill and video taped my feet from behind to see how I run, then determined which shoes would help improve my running.

The first time I went out in my new shoes I felt like the Roadrunner. The difference was amazing! Unlike most other shoes, you should never have to rely on a break in period - running shoes should feel good the day you buy them.

For my friends joining me on July 12th -

I promise you don't want to be worrying about your feet during the race. You don't have to buy a $100 pair of running shoes (I saw a nice pair of Reebok's at Sam's for $17 last week), but if you're shoes aren't comfortable you will be miserable.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when shopping for running shoes:

Shop in the later part of the afternoon - feet get bigger during the day and they will get bigger when running
Wear the socks that you would normally wear during running
A number of other factors should be taken into account when deciding which shoe is best for you - such as how much you run; how heavy you are; presence of any specific foot problems
It often can help to bring an old pair of shoes with you, so the sales person can see where your shoes tend to wear the most

Are your feet happy?

Weigh Day Week 21

2008-06-30T08:09:00.003-04:00

*Notice I made a new blog entry for you to enter your training for Week SEVEN*

Goal: Lose baby weight + 30 lbs

Achieved so far: Baby weight is gone!

Pre-pregnancy weight: 221.0

Weight last week: 195.6

Current weight: 193.4

Weight loss/gain since last week: -2.2

TOTAL WEIGHT LOST (not including baby weight): -27.6

I totally pumped my fist in the air a la Tiger Woods when I saw the number on the scale this morning.

Why?

I feel like I am really coming into my own with this whole health kick thing. I just lived life this week - no real stressing about food or exercise - just having a good time day to day.

We had a cook out at church on Friday night to celebrate another successful year of VBS and I definitely over did it on the German potato salad and baked beans! Cook out food is so wonderful though! And I must say, I did a fantastic job of avoiding the dinners the church provided each night last week to the VBS workers. No pizza, BBQ, fried chicken, etc. for me! We ate dinner at home instead.

Then, Saturday we had Taco Bell. I had a Crunchwrap Supreme and a bean burrito. I felt pretty full after the Crunchwrap but I ate the burrito anyway. Instead of obsessing over it all night, I chalked it up as a lesson learned and next time I know I only need to order a Crunchwrap to be satisfied :)

My medication has really been able to help clear up my depression. I am feeling more like myself every day. I am happy and energetic again. I have had multiple opportunities to encourage others and it felt natural, not forced. I am feeling really good.

*Let's talk training*

Some of you are really, really coming along with getting your train on!

I got a sense that a few of you thought I was picking on you about slacking off...

(for everyone BUT Cheri - girl, you just had a fairly major surgery!)

I was!

And might I add, I noticed that it worked!

Way to go to Mechele and Rena for taking the initiative and walk/running a 5K Saturday. I know it was tough but you did it!

Way to go Leigh for getting 3 days in this week!

Way to go Kate for pushing extra hard and running 20 minutes without stopping!

Way to go Andrew for keeping it up week after week and being consistent!

*From training to Race talk*

I get the feeling some of you will want to venture off on your own during the race on the 12th. To the rest of you, don't worry!

I still plan on ONE MINUTE jogging, TWO MINUTES walking.

Some have asked about the pace -

I want to push you all a little bit but I also want you to be able to do it. Some are more advanced physically than others. We'll figure out a pace once the race starts!

If it happens to be too slow for some - I'll encourage you until you get far enough ahead that you can't hear me! :)

I can't wait!

Also -

I am not 100% sure if/when but I'll be in MI sooner than I originally planned so I am trying to figure out if I can get a day where we can get together and do a "mock race".

What do you all think about that?

Getting Your Train On Week SEVEN!

2008-06-30T07:59:00.001-04:00

Hola friends!

This is the post you should use to enter any training you do this week. Instead of me searching through each of my daily posts, I will come here and ONLY HERE to see where you all are at with your training!Please include the date that you trained in your comment.

Make it look something like this..."Hey Chelle! On 6/23/08 I got my train on!"

On Sunday night I will review this post and update the results for the contest.Please keep in mind that to keep things fair I am only giving credit for THREE training days per week. I am counting Monday to Sunday as one week. So if you got two days in one week and four days in the next, I will only be able to give you credit for five days.

I don't want to discourage anyone from exercising more than that but I got to keep it fair somehow!!This week will be the most challenging week yet! You guys have already stuck to it for 6 whole weeks though, and I know you will continue to succeed!

This week the training schedule calls for SEVEN INTERVALS of one minutes of walking and four minutes of jogging for a total of 35 minutes.

Good luck!

You guys are doing great!

100th Blog!

2008-06-27T08:14:00.003-04:00

Whew!

Just got back from getting my train on!

It was a nice, cool, cloudy morning - my favorite kind of summer morning to run.

Special thanks to my hubby, who did a great job of motivating my lazy behind and getting me out the door. I sounded like a whiny high school kid..."Just five more minutes!!!"

A few of you seem to be slacking a little when it comes to getting your train on. You had a lot of momentum at the beginning and a few are tapering off a little.

Don't come this far and give up!

There are only about 2.5 weeks left of the training. I KNOW you can DO IT!

I'd like to give a quick shout out to Anne who started getting her train on two weeks ago. She says she is amazed at how it really does get easier to run if you just stick with it. YAY ANNE!

Take a moment to review the goals set for yourself. How are you doing with them?

*Pause for a Milestone Moment*

Can you believe this is my 100th blog?????

WOWZER!

We've talked about so many things in the last 20 weeks!

Weight loss
Weight gain
Fast food addiction
Coke addiction
Cereal addiction
Sex (anyone at 200? LaVonda??)
Depression
Motivation
Bras
Kids
Self confidence
The Bible
The Neighborhood Jerk
Obesity and the Media
ME!

Anyone have a favorite entry or a story about how a specific blog helped them or enlightened them?

*Update on Race Stats*

So, they finally posted to official results for last Saturday's race. I ended up ranking 20 out of 121 for females age 24-29! Overall I was 211 out of 1226!

Way to go LaVonda for finished 13th in her age group!

To my faithful readers -

You rock my world!

Have a great weekend!

Comments of the Week

2008-06-26T08:05:00.002-04:00

Time for another weekly installment of Healthy Chelle's Comments of the Week!

Cheri said...
Hello, your less than 5 pounds from goal!!!!! Congrats on the weight loss and the new time! I'm still at about 11 minutes a mile walking in the mall. Now with school out and the teenagers walking around in there, its more like 15 minutes. Did we used to be that young?

Girl, if you can make an 11 minute mile while walking then you are well on your way to a great running pace! When I started training I couldn't even get an 11 minute mile while RUNNING!

And just in case someone didn't see my response to this comment -

Not only were we that young once, I assure you I was that obnoxious as well!

Susan said...
I have been doing the limited sugar thing still, since eating at your house and I tell you what, it is a miracle! I am so thankful to God that I was able to see the way you eat and hear what you eat and find out what was wrong with me. I have lost weight and inches since starting that after being at your house. Your diet inspired me!

I am so glad you are finally seeing the results you deserve to see. Like I told you that night, I don't struggle with sweets so for me sugar isn't hard to avoid.

Now that pizza last night at VBS - that was SHOUTING my name!

I totally noticed your cheeks and neck looked slimmer when I saw you on Monday at VBS! And in case I need to clarify, I am talking about the cheeks on your face! :)

p.s. Leigh, VBS is Vacation Bible School :)

Ashleigh said...
Great Job!It's crazy how long you have been doing this blog. And all the people you've encouraged!Amazing, you're just amazing.

Awwww. *tear* *sniff* *tear*

I am sooooo looking forward to seeing you guys! It's gonna be so much fun!

Nobody But Me

2008-06-25T08:01:00.002-04:00

What to blog, oh what to blog?

I have been lazy.

I have not exercised since my race on Saturday morning. Nobody can make me but me.

I have not done my strength training in almost two weeks. Nobody can make me but me.

I think my reason for not running is fairly justifiable. I don't want to run on the treadmill anymore. I think part of the reason I got tendinitis is because the treadmill only goes up to 5.2 mph. So I am running, but running slower than I want to and I think my knees take added stress because of it. SO - I need to run outside. But with VBS this week there is no time for me to run outside.

That being said - I totally could be, and should be, incline training on the treadmill. The last two days I have opted for a cuddly nap on the couch with Baby J. I don't feel bad. It was time well spent. Today I am making incline training a priority. I WILL DO IT.

As far as strength training goes, I am not sure why I haven't been doing it. I am going to make that a priority today too. I WILL DO IT.

*Other news*

I found out last night that we'll be in Michigan for a week longer than originally planned. Octavio's plant here in KY is shut down for the entire month of July. The company is requiring all employees to use all their vacation time, then get unemployment.

Of course, Jehovah Jireh, the Lord is our Provider. Listen to how cool He is -

Octavio has been asked to help out in the plant in Michigan for two weeks. He won't have to use any vacation time but we'll be on vacation. We were already planning on going to Michigan during that time.

Our gas for the trip there and back will probably be paid for by his company.

Octavio's aunt and uncle just purchased a second home. No one is staying there but it has some furniture, electricity, and running water. A place to stay that is bigger than a hotel room and although I can't really stand him, we can bring the dog.

I am ready to get out of dodge for a few weeks.

Yes, I do have an itinerary in the works in the form of an Excel spreadsheet.

You know me too well! :)

Banning the Tube

2008-06-24T07:46:00.003-04:00

I was already considering unplugging the TV's for a week when I received this email from sparkpeople.com -

TV Found Guilty

TV is bad for kids, according the researchers at the Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Centre in Seattle, along with scores of other doctors and researchers. They found that for each hour of TV a child watches, there is an increase in the risk of attention deficit disorder (ADD).

Why? Possibly because TV gets kids accustomed to a level of stimulation that is much higher than they would experience in life. Combine this with the rapid changing of images characteristic of children's programming, and you've set kids up to be ill-suited to deal with school, homework, concentration, reading, and real life in general. Three recent studies show that as TV viewing increases, academic performance decreases.

Before formal schooling even begins, however, the damage of TV viewing is well underway. A 1996 study found that exposure to television causes delayed acquisition in toddlers. That's why the American Academy of Pediatrics advises that children under the age of two be kept away from TV altogether.

TV turnoff week will be observed during April of each year. The challenge is to abstain from any TV viewing for an entire week. Mark your calendars! Are you up for the challenge?

This sparked me to do a little research and I found an article published on usatoday.com that says the average home has more TV sets than people.

For once, I am proud that we are below average :)

What do you guys think?

*Off topic, but important nonetheless*

Ever read something first thing in the morning, when you are still tired and thinking about going back to bed, that makes you instantly have energy and confidence?

It happened to me this morning -

"I told you these things so that you can have peace in me. In this world you will have trouble, but be brave! I have defeated the world." - John 16:33

Man, awesome! I love it when there is an exclamation point after something Jesus says. Most times I picture Him calm and peaceful. When He says here "but be brave" I picture him with His fist pumping in the air.

*Another type of 10 Commandments*

Lastly, here is yet another great help I received from sparkpeople.com. I love that site!

Number 9 is my favorite!

The 10 Commandments of Healthy Eating for Parents

It's as simple as counting to ten!

Thou shalt not force, bribe or coerce thy child to eat.
Thou shalt set a good example by eating at least five fruits and vegetables, three whole grain products, and three dairy servings per day thyself.
Thou shalt make mealtimes pleasant.
Thou shalt encourage thy child to help in meal planning, preparation, and cleanup.
Thou shalt back off when mealtime becomes a power struggle.
Thou shalt accept food "binges" as phases that will
Thou shalt accept the fact that thy child is an individual and thus will dislike certain foods (and there may be many!).
Thou shalt not give up on introducing thy child to new foods. Thou shalt realize it sometimes takes ten tries to get a child to accept a food.
Thou shalt use this division of responsibility for eating: As the parent, thou art responsible for deciding when and what to serve. Thy child is responsible for deciding how much (if any) will be eaten.
Thou shalt give thy child a multivitamin-mineral supplement if he is a picky eater.

Weigh Day Week 20

2008-06-23T07:54:00.003-04:00

*Notice I made a new blog entry for you to enter your training for Week SIX*

Goal: Lose baby weight + 30 lbs

Achieved so far: Baby weight is gone!

Pre-pregnancy weight: 221.0

Weight last week: 199.6

Current weight: 195.6

Weight loss/gain since last week: -4.0

TOTAL WEIGHT LOST (not including baby weight): -25.4

I can't believe I am at WEEK 20! That means this Friday will be my 100th blog!

Wow! 20 weeks of me going up and down with both my weight and my emotions. I am so thankful to my friends for faithfully reading and encouraging me for 20 weeks!

Did you guys have a good weekend?

I had a fantastic weekend, thanks for asking!

Where to begin???

Friday I went to Fashion Bug because I had a $10 coupon to spend. I am officially out of the plus size side of their store. I bought a size 14 - and it was a 14 in the misses department, not a 14w!

Woot! Woot!

Also, Octavio and I went to JcPenney and found a great deal on some new running clothes. I got two sports bras, a pair of spandex (for under my shorts of course), a pair of running shorts, and a shirt for under $40! The bras alone should have been $22 a piece!

Saturday I ran the Champions 4 Her 5K with LaVonda. Well, I ran the first two miles of it with her anyway! Then she took off like a bat out of you-know-where.

The course for this race took us over the Clark Memorial Bridge which connects Louisville to Indiana. It was really pretty.

So, how did I do?

Well, you might remember my race back in April, where I raced my way to a new personal record of 31:25. I was hoping to do better than that this time but was a little concerned. I haven't had much outside training because of my tendinitis. In the last two weeks I had only ran outside three times and the last time I struggled a little.

I knew LaVonda would push me, but I also knew I wouldn't be able to hang with her for the entire race. I had a little bit of a tough time during that last 1.1 mile but I won the mental battle. I kept telling myself I could do it!

And boy did I do it...

My new PR is...

28:23!

I found this awesome calculator that allows you to easily figure out your pace time. My pace for this race was a 9 minute 8 second mile. That is 6.6 mph!

Watch out Andrew! Pretty soon you won't be able to keep up with you sister!

You all are already at WEEK SIX of your training for our 5k! In only a few short weeks we'll all be sweating together!

I can't wait to get all stinky with you!

Well, we spent Saturday afternoon and a lot of Sunday lounging around at my mom and dad's in Clarksville, TN. My mind and body are still in "lazy mode" but today is going to be a busy day. Grocery shopping, cleaning, exercising and VBS are on the agenda so I'd better scoot.

P.S. Please pray for a healthy, speedy delivery for my great friend, Karrie, who is being induced as I type. I can't wait to meet you Elliott!

Getting Your Train On WEEK SIX

2008-06-23T07:48:00.002-04:00

Hola friends!

This is the post you should use to enter any training you do this week. Instead of me searching through each of my daily posts, I will come here and ONLY HERE to see where you all are at with your training!Please include the date that you trained in your comment.

Make it look something like this..."Hey Chelle! On 6/23/08 I got my train on!"

On Sunday night I will review this post and update the results for the contest.Please keep in mind that to keep things fair I am only giving credit for THREE training days per week. I am counting Monday to Sunday as one week. So if you got two days in one week and four days in the next, I will only be able to give you credit for five days.

I don't want to discourage anyone from exercising more than that but I got to keep it fair somehow!!

This week will be the most challenging week yet! You guys have already stuck to it for 5 whole weeks though, and I know you will continue to succeed!

This week the training schedule calls for EIGHT INTERVALS of one minutes of walking and three minutes of jogging for a total of 32 minutes.

Good luck!

You guys are doing great!

A Week's Worth of Thanksgiving Prayers

2008-06-20T07:00:00.001-04:00

I thank you Lord for Monday.

I woke up calm. I was not anxious or worried. I was not (too) sad that Octavio had to go to work. I did not feel lonely. I felt Your Peace.

You allowed me time in the afternoon, quiet time, to read Your Word. You let me get almost a whole chapter in before You allowed me an almost 30 minute nap.

I thank you Lord for Tuesday.

You placed me in a friend's mind and she called and invited Ori and I to the zoo. Your sun shined bright and the kids had fun. I got to chat with a girlfriend for a few hours and we talked about everything but the "recent drama". It was a fantastic break.

You made sure Octavio and Ori made it to tball practice safely and gave Jocie and I time to cuddle and giggle alone.

I thank you Lord for Wednesday.

For the first time in a long time I had playgroup, and not because I felt I should have it, but because I really wanted to have it. You gave me time to talk with other Godly women. You gave us the perfect amount of shade in the backyard in the perfect spot, so we could be cool AND have a good view of the kids. You gave me the idea to build the kids a little obstacle course and gave them the focus to want to do it. You filled my backyard with laughter and my heart with joy.

You allowed me to get to my evening appointment safe and on time. You allowed me to discover things about myself, about my character, about my personality, that I didn't really think about before. You are beginning to help me make a major transformation.

I thank you Lord for Thursday.

You allowed Ori and I to actually find a lizard on our lizard hunt. You gave me the opportunity to talk with her about your creatures and a little about The Circle of Life ("Lizards eat spiders. Spiders eat flies. Flies eat garbage. Right mama?")

You let me realize right away that I left my diaper bag and wallet in the cart in the parking lot of Hobby Lobby and protected it until I returned. :)

You brought my husband home safely and early enough for me to get a run in. You gave me strength in my legs and when you moved a cloud in front of Your glorious sun it gave me the break from the heat I needed to get in my fastest mile to date (8:51).

I thank you Lord for Today.

I got a good night's rest. You have blessed me with a husband who ALWAYS wakes up happy. You have given me two girls who wake up with the same demeanor as their daddy.

You have allowed money to come to us at just the right time, so that we can take a trip to visit my mom without feeling the "gas price pinch".

I can feel that You are slowly filling my mind and heart up with contentment where unsettled energy and anxiety has lived for so long. (I am sure the slowly part is me, not You).

I know once I evict the nervousness from Your Temple that I will truly be on The Highway to Health. I know You will get me there.

For all these things and so much more Lord, I am thankful.

Amen.

Comment of the Week

2008-06-19T08:14:00.002-04:00

This week I want to focus briefly on one comment.

Leigh Ann said...
I have a love/hate relationship with training. The hate part is that 6am comes way too soon for me. ha! Yet it's the only time I really have to run. Also, I have weak ankles and if I run for too long, they kill me. Blah blah. The love part is that I finally have ME time and instead of timing myself on the run (one minute, two minutes) I've been "talking" with God instead. I also love how energized I am throughout the day because of my run in the morning. I usually feel pretty good about myself on the days I run. I've only been going, at most, two miles. My ankles, not wanting to get up sooner than 6am, and not knowing what route to take all factor into that reason. Lame, I know. I'm interested to hear about how training is going with your other readers.

The same day I read this comment I received an email that was on the same subject.

Coincidence?

Of course, me thinks not, so I have to pass the info along!

I know some of you have probably heard one or two of these before, but take the time to read them all and carefully consider whether exercising in the AM might be right for you.

Taken from Learn to Love A.M. Exercise by Rebecca Pratt on sparkpeople.com

...I’ll share with you my “Top Ten Reasons” for getting up with the early birds to get moving:

Exercising early in the morning "jump starts" your metabolism, keeping it elevated for hours, sometimes for up to 24 hours! As a result, you’ll be burning more calories all day long—just because you exercised in the morning.
Exercising in the morning energizes you for the day—not to mention that gratifying feeling of virtue you have knowing you’ve done something disciplined and good for you. (Much better than a worm!)
Studies have shown that exercise significantly increases mental acuity—a benefit that lasts four to ten hours after your workout ends. Exercising in the a.m. means you get to harness that brainpower, instead of wasting it while you’re snoozing.
Assuming you make exercise a true priority, it shouldn’t be a major problem to get up 30 to 60 minutes earlier—especially since regular exercise generally means a higher quality of sleep, which in turn means you’ll probably require less sleep. (If getting up 30 to 60 minutes earlier each day seems too daunting, you can ease into it with 10 to 20 minutes at first.)
When you exercise at about the same time every morning—especially if you wake up regularly at about the same time—you’re regulating your body's endocrine system and circadian rhythms. Your body learns that you do the same thing just about every day, and it begins to prepare for waking and exercise several hours before you actually open your eyes. That’s beneficial because your body’s not “confused” by wildly changing wake-up times, which means waking up is much less painful. (You may even find that you don’t need an alarm clock most days.)Hormones prepare your body for exercise by regulating blood pressure, heart rate, blood flow to muscles, etc. Also, your metabolism, along with all the hormones involved in activity and exercise, begin to elevate while you're sleeping. As a result, you’ll feel more alert, energized, and ready to exercise when you do wake up.
Many people find that morning exercise has a tendency to regulate their appetite for the rest of the day. Not only do they eat less (since activity causes the release of endorphins, which in turn diminishes appetite), they also choose healthier portions of healthier foods.
People who consistently exercise find, sometimes to their great surprise, that the appointed time every morning evolves into something they look forward to. Besides the satisfaction of taking care of themselves, they find it’s a great time to plan their day, pray, or just think more clearly—things most of us often don’t get to do otherwise.
Exercising first thing in the morning is the most foolproof way to ensure that other things don’t overtake your fitness commitment, particularly if you have a hectic family life. (It’s so easy to wimp out in the evening, when we’re tired or faced with such tasks as rustling up dinner and helping with homework.)
More than 90% of those who exercise consistently have a morning fitness routine. If you want to exercise on a regular basis, the odds are in your favor if you squeeze your workout into the a.m.
Non-morning people can always trick themselves in the a.m. Having trouble psyching yourself up for a sunrise jog? Do what I did—tell yourself that you’ll still be so fast asleep that you won’t even remember—much less mind!

So, I know Leigh has gotten some of the benefits of AM exercise. Anyone else out there want to share their experience?

*In closing and off topic*

I had an appointment last night so Daddy had the girls. This picture was taken about 30 seconds after I walked in the door. He's such a good daddy!

It's Hot to be Healthy

2008-06-18T07:00:00.000-04:00

I GOT MY TRAIN ON LAST NIGHT!

I got sweaty and sticky and stinky and out of breath and I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT!

I have only ran outside maybe twice since my injury. I am running a 5K on Saturday morning and I knew I needed to get out and see what the old legs could do on the pavement. I struggled a little bit with side stitches (proper hydration is key, people!) but no knee pain!

Of course, this makes me very, VERY happy!

I am beginning to feel like hot stuff when I run. I actually wore shorts yesterday. Man, what a difference it makes as far as keeping me feeling cool. I need to get myself some spandex style shorts to wear under them though. I think I smelled a little bacon while running!

*I crack myself up!*

I wish I could get up at 6 a.m. and get it over with before the heat of the day like some people *points vigorously at Leigh* but my hubby leaves before 5 a.m. Even if he was home I can probably bet I would not get up and do it.

*In closing and on another note*

Found another old pic of myself. Man, what in the world was I thinking?????

Healthy is so much hotter!

Bomb Diggity

2008-06-17T07:48:00.001-04:00

Last night was the first night in about four days that I had a nice, healthy dinner.

It tasted SOOOOOOO good!

What was it?

Simply grilled chicken breast, brown rice, fresh green beans, and a salad.

Funny how something I would have turned my nose up to and been extremely disappointed in two years ago can be so mouth watering now.

*Train Talk*

The weather is cooling down a bit for the next couple of days. Cool as in high 70s, low 80s. I am going to try to get outside tonight and get a run in. It has been a loooong while since I tried to go full speed. I think my knee is ready for it.

I am running a race on Saturday with my speedy friend, LaVonda, and although I probably won't finish with her, I am hoping to keep up for a while at least.

How are you all doing with your training? Are you enjoying it or finding it a chore?

I remember when I first started running it was solely because it was the only thing that seemed to help me drop weight. I found though, that the more I did it, the more I actually found myself enjoying it. I don't know how many times in my life I have made smart aleck comments about running but I totally take them all back.

Running is the bomb diggity and I love it!

Weigh Day Week 19

2008-06-16T08:18:00.003-04:00

*Notice I made a new blog entry for you to enter your training for Week Five*

Goal: Lose baby weight + 30 lbs

Achieved so far: Baby weight is gone!

Pre-pregnancy weight: 221.0

Weight last week: 197.2

Current weight: 199.6

Weight loss/gain since last week: +2.4

TOTAL WEIGHT LOST (not including baby weight): -21.4

The weight loss streak is over :(

I had a good run but I knew a gain was in the forecast.

Alrighty, so I ate really, REALLY bad this weekend. I'm talking Taco Bell on Saturday night, Fiesta Time on Sunday afternoon, Pizza Hut on Sunday night - BAD.

The thing is, I am OK with it - almost happy about it. I am taking it as a good sign because it means my appetite is returning. I haven't had one in the last month or so.

Another good sign -

I caught myself looking at scrapbook stuff at a yard sale this weekend. A few weeks back I packed all my scrapping stuff in a box and put it out of sight. I didn't want to see it or have anything to do with it. It appears my interest may be returning. That makes me happy.

Speaking of yard sales -

I came up with a new term this weekend. "Run"age sale-ing.

I went by myself to some neighborhood sales this weekend. As I was walking around and sweating I decided that I was going to maximize my time and make it my workout time as well. So, even though I wasn't really dressed for the occasion, and people were looking at me a little funny, I started running from sale to sale. I didn't find any CD's but I definitely got a great workout in!

*Speaking of working out, let's talk about you all*

You are HALF WAY through your training! Can you believe it??? Four weeks of training under your belt!

It appears that some of you are already noticing a difference in your running abilities after just four short weeks! Isn't that cool?!?

Keep up the good work!

And for those of you who still haven't registered for the race (ANDREW) CLICK HERE!

Here's a pic from last week I meant to share :)

Getting Your Train On WEEK FIVE

2008-06-16T08:15:00.001-04:00

Hola friends!

This is the post you should use to enter any training you do this week. Instead of me searching through each of my daily posts, I will come here and ONLY HERE to see where you all are at with your training!Please include the date that you trained in your comment.

Make it look something like this...

"Hey Chelle! On 6/15/08 I got my train on!"

On Sunday night I will review this post and update the results for the contest.

Please keep in mind that to keep things fair I am only giving credit for THREE training days per week. I am counting Monday to Sunday as one week. So if you got two days in one week and four days in the next, I will only be able to give you credit for five days.

I don't want to discourage anyone from exercising more than that but I got to keep it fair somehow!!

This week the training schedule calls for SIX INTERVALS of two minutes of walking and three minutes of jogging for a total of 30 minutes.

Good luck!

You guys are doing great!

Bra Talk

2008-06-13T08:32:00.003-04:00

*First, a funny Ori story (there is a level of grossness involved)*

My daughter is infatuated with flatuation right now. Every conversation turns into one about farts.

I know some people out there think fart is a bad word and prefer "toot", "breaking wind", or "passing gas", but the Castaños say "fart". Sorry if it offends you.

Anyhoo - a couple of mornings ago she came into my bedroom and got in bed with Jocie and I. She said she wanted to tell me something she did last night in bed and started giggling so hard that she had tears coming out of her eyes. Finally, she calmed down enough to get the words out -

"I farted on my hand and smelled it."

And I was sure I would bypass grossology by having daughters instead of sons...

*back on track*

I am having a good morning. Octavio is home and that always makes me smile. I love having three day weekends with him every weekend. He is my man and I love him.

Yesterday afternoon we went to Lane Bryant. I know, I know, I already wrote her a Dear John letter, but like I said, I still fit into their bras and man, oh man, did I need some new ones.

I thought the ones I currently have were too big around and that I just needed to get a size smaller in the length around. I have really been putting it off because all of my bras are in great shape, some are like brand new.

*side note*

Washing your bras by hand really helps them to keep much longer!

*back to bra talk*

I was having trouble finding the right fit so I decided to get measured. Man, I was WAY OFF!

I thought I was a 42B and I was a 40C!

Seriously, the difference in the shape of my curves under my shirt when I have the right size on is AMAZING. I am much, much, MUCH more pleased with my looks!

AND I am a C! :)

*Yet another side note*

Some of my friends from my past are probably thinking "didn't Michelle used to have really big knockers back in the day?"

Yes, my friends, I did. And in 2002 I had a reduction. :)

*Enough boob talk*

My mom sent me an IM this morning that I'd like to share -

Mom: This morning I was reading the bible and praying....in my bible (that pam gave me) there are prayers with blanks in it to put someones name in. I usually flip through and put all my family's names somewhere. This morning I am behind schedule a little bit so I shut the bible before I did that. Then I thought...well I at least want to pray for Michelle. So I flipped open and this is what GOD gave me to pray for you (and Octavio) Father of mercies and God of all comfort, please comfort Michelle and Octavio in all their tribulations, that they may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which they themselves are comforted by You. 2Cor 1:3-4. I thought that was PERFECT

God really does care about every little hair on our heads

Love you all and also praying you will have a great Friday and safe ball games

by the way...you really can smell a fart on your hand

Gotta love mommy!

Oh yeah, and NO TERMITES!

Weekend Challenge:

Go get fitted for a bra and see if you are wearing the right size!

Comments of the Week

2008-06-12T08:35:00.000-04:00

*before I begin*

This may be a little silly but would you all please pray that we don't have termites. Long story short, holes are popping up in our drywall and they are driving me absolutely insane (close to literally). I haven't seen any actual buggies but I scheduled an inspection for this morning and I am hoping it turns out all right.

Gracias Pals!

*back to bloggin'*

Let's get to 'em -

Cheri said...
You definitely make me feel like no matter what shape my life is in, I've got friends and family who care about me and there isn't anything that God can't get me through.

I felt really guilty after reading this comment. Not because you said anything wrong Cheri, but because you are absolutely right. I am not sure what it is about depression, but I feel like even though I know God is in control, I just don't feel like He is.

I know, I know, that doesn't make much sense to me either. I am actually working on a blog about depression and my faith, so stay tuned.

Anne said...
I'm sorry you'll have to find a new place to shop, but what a great reason! This thought may help comfort you as you find new stores you like: you will soon be able to pick something you like off the rack and not have to try it on and inspect the fit from every angle before you can purchase it.Keep up the hard work!

Oh, how I am looking forward to that day! I am really scared though. What will happen to my budget when I start to enjoy shopping for clothes????!!!

Leigh Ann said...
Your blog this week already sounds more like you. Congrats on another loss AND keeping the weight off. You rock!It's hot and there's been problems with my a/c. With that said, I didn't get my last day of training in yesterday and I'm pretty sure I won't be doing my first day of training for this week today. I need a cold house to come home too! lol.Love you!

This is going to sound funny, but I chose this comment because of it's honesty. I mean, no one would really know whether or not any of you all are getting your train on but I KNOW I can trust you all to be honest. That makes me very, very happy.

If I can maintain my focus while trying to create it, I think tomorrow's blog is going to be a good one for me.

Here's to hoping it comes out in the blogosphere as clear as it sounds in my mind :)

Clarify and Recommit

2008-06-11T08:14:00.004-04:00

First off, thanks for all the great comments yesterday!

Second, I feel the need to clarify a few things...

There are probably still things at Lane Bryant that I can fit into. I am sure I will still be buying my bras there for a while. The smallest shirts there are too big for me though so I know I need to move on.

Also, there were quite a few comments yesterday telling me that I was back. I felt that way too...

Then the rest of the day happened. :(

I don't know if the drama of the past week had my adrenaline pumping or what but I really thought I was starting to come over the hump.

No matter how many times I hear "take it one day at a time" I still can't seem to take it one day at a time. I get excited and hopeful. Then I get sad.

I needed to look back this morning and remind myself (again) why I am doing this...

I am keeping this blog to help me...

Keep myself on track
Keep myself honest
Provide a healthy home with healthy habits for my girls
Inspire the people I care about to get or stay healthy

I don't know that I have been inspiring lately. I am still looking for my Blog Mojo to return. The ideas just don't seem to come like they used to.

I will tell you one thing though - I am amazed at how many of you are getting your train on and committing yourself to health! To go from not doing a whole lot to being dedicated to a training guide, and being AS dedicated as you guys are, is just phenomenal!

ANYHOO -

I got my train on yesterday. There was some slight discomfort near the end, so I had to decrease my speed. It felt good to train though. Real good.

I also ate breakfast yesterday. I literally had to choke it down because my stomach just didn't want it. But I ate it.

Oh, it would be great to be back.

I'll get there...eventually.

Goodbye My Love

2008-06-10T07:33:00.002-04:00

My Dearest Lane Bryant,

It saddens me to have to write this letter to you. How do you say goodbye to the one who stood by you at your fattest hour? How do you leave the only one who continued to wrap their stylish, loving threads around you when no other store would?

I guess I'll just have to say 'thanks'.

Thanks for employing women who looked like me and always made me feel comfortable.

Thanks for knowing and embracing that style is not about size.

Thanks for all the coupons, sales, and discounts you provided when I didn't really have the money.

Thanks for catering not only to the plus size girl, but the petite plus size girl.

Thanks for making under garments that made me feel sexy, no matter what size I was.

My departure from you is bittersweet. I know good things are waiting for me outside of your world. I only hope others are as kind to me as you were.

I will still see you from time to time in passing and will always remember our good times. I know it will be hard but please, don't call out to me as I walk by. I am afraid I will not be returning to you ever again.

I'll miss you, my friend.

Love,

Me

Weigh Day Week 18

2008-06-09T07:58:00.002-04:00

*Notice I made a new blog entry for you to enter your training for Week Four*

Goal: Lose baby weight + 30 lbs

Achieved so far: Baby weight is gone!

Pre-pregnancy weight: 221.0

Weight last week: 202.8

Current weight: 197.2

Weight loss/gain since last week: -0.8

TOTAL WEIGHT LOST (not including baby weight): -23.8

Another loss! If you knew how much I ate at a birthday party on Saturday, you'd be amazed at the fact I lost 0.8 lbs. Seriously.

This morning I made a little list of my Weigh Day post results for the past 18 weeks. Here is what I found.

13 out of 18 weeks I posted a weight loss = 72% of the time

Out of the 5 weeks that I gained weight, only once was it more than the amount I lost the week before

If you don't count my very first weigh in (-24.4 lbs from the last day I was pregnant) I am averaging losing about 1.4 lbs a week.

I am currently on a FOUR week losing streak!

Last week I posted the highest weight loss since I started = -4.8

That last bullet point is actually what got me to go back and look at all the data to begin with...

When I was copying the little format I use for my Weigh Day blogs from last weeks post, I noticed that I lost 4.8 lbs last week. I know I am the one that weighed in and created the post, but I think that is the first time I actually realized I lost that much weight last week. I was in such a funk that morning, and stressed about revealing my "secret" that it just didn't register.

I lost almost 5 lbs last week! WOW! How cool is that?!?!

And even better than that...

I've kept it off for a week!

We had a really nice weekend. I did exactly what I said I was going to do on Friday - chill out!

We didn't clean the house Friday (or Saturday or Sunday). We hung out with the kiddos and then went to my softball game. We lost pretty bad but I had fun. I really enjoy the people I play with and am starting to feel pretty comfortable on the team.

Ori had her game on Saturday morning. She has a hard time paying attention to the game when she is in the field but she is really coming along in her batting. I think we need to buy her a tee ball bat though. The one we have for her to practice at home with is really light weight and I think that throws her off when game day comes.

Yesterday Susan and her hubby watched the girls so Octavio and I could go see the new Narnia movie. The movie didn't quite meet my expectations but it was nice to get out of the house alone! Our friends stayed for dinner and it was nice to relax and visit with them.

I got outside and ran 2 miles yesterday morning. It was hot but it felt SO GOOD! My knee is getting stronger! I am going to train on the treadmill this week and hopefully get outside to run again this weekend. It feels good to be back.

I need to get back to my crunches and push ups this week. I also really, REALLY need to force myself to eat breakfast.

I think I'll go get some right now...

Get your train on folks! You're already on WEEK FOUR!

Getting Your Train On - WEEK FOUR

2008-06-09T06:00:00.000-04:00

Hola friends!

This is the post you should use to enter any training you do this week. Instead of me searching through each of my daily posts, I will come here and ONLY HERE to see where you all are at with your training!

Please include the date that you trained in your comment.

Make it look something like this...

"Hey Chelle! On 6/9/08 I got my train on!"

On Sunday night I will review this post and update the results for the contest.

Please keep in mind that to keep things fair I am only giving credit for THREE training days per week. I am counting Monday to Sunday as one week. So if you got two days in one week and four days in the next, I will only be able to give you credit for five days.

I don't want to discourage anyone from exercising more than that but I got to keep it fair somehow!!

This week the training schedule calls for FIVE INTERVALS of two minutes of walking and three minutes of jogging for a total of 25 minutes.

Good luck!

You guys are doing great!

R & R

2008-06-06T09:24:00.002-04:00

Man, I need a little downtime. It has been one crazy week.

I couldn't even put an exclamation point at the end of that last statement even though it probably deserved one - that's how fried I am.

I got a chance to get on the treadmill yesterday and I am proud of myself. I took my time and slowly worked up to a jog. I jogged the last 10 minutes, and again felt no pain. I think I will continue doing this every other day until my race on June 21st. I am content with that.

I got to treat my man and my girlies to dinner last night. For the last month or so I have been doing a product study. I've had to use a name brand shampoo and keep a diary. I got $100 yesterday for completing the study.

After giving a girlfriend her cut for watching my kiddos I had enough to take us to our favorite mexican place. I behaved myself and only ate half of my meal. I was actually full, so it wasn't hard. We also had chips left over in our basket. That is pretty amazing!

Thankfully, the place is very reasonably priced and I still have some $$ left. I am hoping to use what I have left to get myself some much needed bras! Of all the places I want to see get smaller, why does it have to start there???? :)

I have a softball game tonight. It is supposed to be over 90 today so I am sure to sweat off a pound or two. Last week I pulled something in my leg when running to first base and it really messed me up for the rest of the game. I am going to stretch a little before hand and hope that doesn't happen again.

Ori's got a game tomorrow morning. I am in charge of bringing snacks. The last three games/practices the snack has been Cheetos. I hope the kids aren't disappointed with my choice. I am not sure what it's going to be yet, but I can guarantee you it won't be Cheetos.

Normally Octavio and I clean house today. I think we are just going to c-h-i-l-l-o-u-t. I'm gonna fill up the kiddie pool for Ori and sit in the sun.

Get some R & R in yourself.

Again, don't forget to post your training in the appropriate blog for this week or it won't count. Don't worry. I'll get to updating the standings this weekend.

Comments of the Week

2008-06-05T07:50:00.003-04:00

Before I begin -

Don't forget that the only way to get credit for your training is to add a comment to the post I created on Monday entitled "Getting Your Train On - Week Three".

*Comments of the Week*

It has been a wild week here. I feel like I have been on a roller coaster, and not in a fun way. Lots of things have kept me from focusing on my health and my exercise. I am thankful that I have friends who care and encourage me.

Most of this week's showcased comments are not in their entirety. I picked three to focus on this week.

Leigh Ann said...
Perhaps God is working something in you that can only come in the form of this depression.

There is no "perhaps" about it. I am sure of this Leigh. Thanks for taking the time to point it out to me. I look forward to being able to post some time in the future about all the things God taught me during this time.

ashleigh said...
Love you and keep your chin up, it will get better!

I chose this comment because this was one of the first times in a LOOONG time that someone said something about chins I didn't feel the need to insert a double chin joke. What double chin? I have no double chin!!

ME-chele said...
Also what a day to talk about fast food addiction. I myself was sitting here this morning trying to think of some way I could possibly go to a restaurant and order something. I had all kinds of ideas in my head about what I might be able to order from some restaurant. Your post, of course, knocked me back into reality. Thanks.

Here's the deal...up until I read that comment I was feeling really lazy about that day's post. I had no motivation to blog and couldn't think of anything good, so I decided to go back and look at some past entries and do a follow up. I almost didn't choose that blog to discuss. God used your comment, Michele, as a confirmation to me. Even on the days that I am not feeling it, I can make an impact. Thanks.

I am getting on the treadmill today. I think the treadmill is going to be my best friend for a while. The weather guy showed 90's for the next seven days. I just can't handle that kind of heat. It is a little disappointing because I have really been craving an outside run. I think it is best for me to be on the treadmill for now though. I need to pay attention to my speed and the intensity of my run to make sure I am allowing my knee to strengthen and heal.

I think I will be running a 5k on June 21 downtown and I'm really hoping the be at 100% by then.

If not, you all will have to be carrying me in July.

Funny thing, I think some of you would actually consider it if I asked!

:)

Insert Clever Title Here

2008-06-04T07:35:00.004-04:00

I hate Writer's Block.

Not only do I have a bad case of that, I also have "Wit Block" right now, too. I hate not being able to come up with a clever title.

For me, the clever titles seem to come first, then the content of the blog. Lately I haven't been able to come up with a single clever title.

I'll just go with yesterday's health events I suppose...

I still can't seem to even force myself to eat breakfast. My stomach is pretty upset first thing in the morning lately. I am pretty sure it is due to the new medicine.

I did eat lunch, dinner, and even a bedtime snack though. It has been a few weeks since I've eaten that much in one day.

I did get on the treadmill. I took a little of my brother's advice from yesterday. I took it slow. I did a lot of walking at an incline just trying to strengthen my knee. After about 20 minutes, I decided to try to jog a little. Again, I went slow. It felt great. I went for about 10 minutes without pain, then gave it a rest.

I'll probably do some resistance training on the Total Gym 1000 today and try the treadmill out again tomorrow. I'd like to get outside but running in 90 degree weather doesn't sound that great to me.

I read something interesting this morning in an email that I'd like to share -

"If "putting yourself first" (a common admonition) sounds too selfish or too hard, try something simpler: Put yourself on an equal footing with those you love and tend to."

Interesting.

Keep getting your train on!

Am I Back?

2008-06-03T08:41:00.002-04:00

Hmmmmm...

I have asked myself that quite a few times over the last few weeks.

Is my medicine working? Am I back to being me?

I am not sure what the answer is yet. I woke up this morning refreshed and with hope, and if you only knew the events my weekend and Monday you would be amazed to hear that.

I haven't had any inkling of knee or leg pain in a few days so I am going to get on the treadmill at some point today and see what happens. I am going to stretch before hand, take it slow, and stretch afterwards.

I am still struggling with eating. Funny how I went from not being able to control myself around food to not being able to make myself eat food.

This morning I re-read yesterday's post and tried to get excited about my achievement. I'm still not there. BUT it did make me realize that I am only 8 lbs away from achieving my goal. That is something to be excited about.

I am starting to feel my desire to blog returning. I hope my blog mojo returns in full soon.

That's about it for today.

How are you all doing? How is the training going? How are you?

Love you all!

Weigh Day Week 17

2008-06-02T07:35:00.001-04:00

*Before I weigh in*

You probably noticed that I posted a new little entry entitled "Getting Your Train On WEEK THREE". I will make a new entry like that each week. From now on, when you want to let me know that you have gotten a training day in, leave me a comment there and let me know the date the training occurred as well.

I spent some time going back through the training from the last two weeks and I double checked each entry and the standings are up to date.

*Back to weigh in*

Goal: Lose baby weight + 30 lbs

Achieved so far: Baby weight is gone!

Pre-pregnancy weight: 221.0

Weight last week: 202.8

Current weight: 198.0

Weight loss/gain since last week: -4.8

TOTAL WEIGHT LOST (not including baby weight): -23.0

*honesty alert (this may be all over the place)*

Here's the deal - I am depressed. Literally. I went to the doctor about two weeks ago after a rush of panic, anxiety, and helplessness left me drained physically, mentally, and emotionally. He told me that my PPD has come back with a vengeance. He said I was getting by thanks in large part to running, but when that got taken away it all returned.

I have been put on an anti-depressant. This will be the start of my third week. I am hoping to start seeing positive effects soon. It could take up to a month.

I should be shouting and jumping and celebrating about finally being under 200, but I know that my depression and my body's response to my medication are what is causing my current weight loss. Doesn't really make it all that great.

It has been very hard for me to blog and not tell you all about my depression. At first, it just wasn't the right time for me to open up. Then, I didn't want anyone to lose focus in their training. The longer I have blogged without talking about this, the more I feel like I am going back on my word about being honest. I hope you all understand that this situation is a little different.

I hinted last week that I have been struggling. That is especially true with this blog. I am torn. I want to be the great motivator I know that I am, but right now my mind and body don't seem to be in agreement with each other.

I feel like some of my entries lately are empty. That I am doing them because I feel I have to more than because I want to. I think part of that reason is because I didn't want to burden my readers with my struggles, especially after I spent all that time trying to gear everyone up for the training. I think now that I am back to 100% honesty blogging will come a bit easier. I hope anyway.

I am so happy that many of you have taken the challenge and are training for the 5k. I look forward to seeing you all and completing the race with you all. I guess I am just asking that you bear with me for a few more weeks until I get out of this funk. My entries may be short, or really, really long and unorganized. Either way, I care about you all and really want us all to succeed in July.

I know I will be OK eventually. I just need some time...

...and all of your continued support of course :)

I love you all.

*On another note*

I think I may hold of on the end of the blog challenges for a while. I would like the training to be the main focus for my readers for now. I hope that those of you who haven't started training yet would get off your bum! :)

Getting Your Train On - WEEK THREE

2008-06-02T06:50:00.001-04:00

Hola friends!

From now on I will make a post similar to this one at the beginning of each training week. This is where you will come to post that you have completed a day of training. Instead of me searching through each of my daily posts, I will come here and ONLY HERE to see where you all are at with your training!

Please include the date that you trained in your comment. Make it look something like this...

"Hey Chelle! On 6/2/08 I got my train on!"

To help keep myself on track, as I update the standings on my blog I will delete your entries. So, don't freak out if you come back later and a previous entry is gone.

Please keep in mind that to keep things fair I am only giving credit for THREE training days per week. I am counting Monday to Sunday as one week. So if you got two days in one week and four days in the next, I will only be able to give you credit for five days.

I don't want to discourage anyone from exercising more than that but I got to keep it fair somehow!!

This week the training schedule calls for SIX INTERVALS of three minutes of walking and two minutes of jogging.

Good luck!

Then VS Now

2008-05-30T07:00:00.000-04:00

I am going to try something a little different today. I am going to look back on some posts I have done in the past and reflect.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Ah, breakfast. The most important meal of the day, and the hardest meal of the day if you are a cereal addict in recovery.

I have a hard time with cereal.

First off, the choices drive me nuts. What other item, besides chips and soda, has a whole aisle all to itself? It is overwhelming! And don't get me started on taking a child down that aisle!

Cereal makes me itch. Literally, my neck starts itching like crazy! I believe I have some kind of allergy, although I have been tested for celiac disease and it came back negative.

The itching doesn't seem to stop me from overindulging though. I could probably sit and eat a whole box of cereal if I wanted to. Thankfully, I never have, but if I had I probably would have rationalized that it was OK because I was getting calcium from all that extra milk I wouldn't normally drink.

In an effort to use this time of getting healthy to face the chunky skeletons in my closet I have decided to tackle issues such as this one head on.

I have been scared of cereal for the past year and a half. I am no longer going to avoid cereal.

In order for me to actually eat breakfast it needs to be something quick. I know I am a stay at home mom, so I should have the time to make a nice hot breakfast, right? Well, the problem with that is that I am not a morning person. I do cook a nice meal of eggs or pancakes often, but it's usually for dinner. Seriously, we have breakfast for dinner at least once a week!

So, what am I doing about all of this?

The health quality of the cereal and the quantity of the cereal are my two issues. I often buy generic everything but am allowing myself a few extra $$ in the grocery budget for cereal that is high in protein and fiber.

I purchased Kashi's Autumn Harvest cereal last week. It is like a healthier version of Miniwheats. I have decided that every day after I drink my cup of coffee I will use my coffee cup to eat my cereal as well. This will allow me to get the suggested 1 cup serving and nothing more. I bought the cereal last Friday and have been enjoying my cup every morning.

I do still notice a little itchy neck syndrome but not as bad as when I would eat a mixing bowl of cereal

I know the old "if I eat breakfast then I am hungry all day" excuse gets a lot of us...

An article I found on cnn.com said that a study done last year by the ADA they found that people who eat breakfast are "less likely to be overweight -- and more likely to exercise -- than non-breakfast eaters."

Take a moment to check out that article and another one with some helpful tips.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/diet.fitness/10/16/cl.power.breakfast/index.html

http://www.nutrio.com/servlet/nutrio?page=18&cat=4&rec=1620

This is kind of sad but I had an issue at first with sharing my healthy cereal. I wanted Oriana to eat the generic cornflakes. Thankfully it only took about a half a second for me to compare the nutritional values on the side of the box and realize it is just as important, if not more important, for her to have the protein and fiber! She likes sharing mommy's cereal and she thinks it's fun to eat hers out of a coffee cup too!

Ori and daddy really, REALLY like Kashi cereal! I like it too, but am not so happy to admit I have NOT been doing well when it comes to making myself eat breakfast, especially these last few weeks. I have done a good job of not over doing it on the days that I do actually feel like eating cereal though. I think I may actually be over the addiction! When I think about the sugary cereals I used to over indulge in before it just doesn't sound good at all.

Since we're on the subject of my addictions...

Friday, March 28, 2008

Confessions of a Recovering Fast Food Junkie

My name is Chelle and I'm a McDonald's -aholic

That's the first step right? Admitting you have a problem.Now, I am going to skip to Step 5 of The 12 Steps

STEP 5:Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

Of all the fast food places out there, McDonald's seems to be the one that my former self could not get enough of. Some of my most embarrassing confessions have to do with that particular establishment.

Some of them make me sick to my stomach just thinking about.In the name of honesty, here are a couple of my worst offenses...

I have often ordered two combo meals from the drive thru and ate them both. The only reason I would order two whole meals is so people would see two drinks and think I was ordering for myself and someone else. I probably super-sized them both too.
I would always hide the evidence. I once hid the wrapper from a fast food restaurant in one of Ori's diapers so my husband wouldn't find it. (Funny thing, he wouldn't have cared)
I have eaten breakfast, lunch, and dinner from McDonald's in the same day more times than I can count.
Almost every time I had four quarters in my possession I bought a double cheeseburger.

I have sat here for a few minutes looking at those bullet points. I started about 4 or 5 times to type justifications for my behavior, to some how make my actions seem reasonable to my readers. The truth is, there is no excuse and that behavior is not normal.

I am happy to say that I am 2 months clean!

I have said many times that my goal in all this is to be able to assert self control and live a normal life while learning how to eat and behave again. I don't want to completely exclude certain foods, I want to retrain myself to be normal.

That being said, I know that I am still not ready when it comes to McD's.

Funny thing, I really don't miss it (that much).

It has been almost exactly two months since that post and still NO MCDONALDS! It gets easier and easier to leave it alone. I really haven't had much fast food of any kind since Jocie has been born. We've had Chick-fil-a a few times and Taco Bell once. We aren't even close to eating out as much as we used to. In the past it was a Friday, Saturday, Sunday thing. Not so much anymore! I mean, come on, my grilled chicken with peppers, onions, and brown rice is MUCH TASTIER!

*I know I said this already but I am stressed out about keeping track of every one's training. Please, don't hesitate to tell me if I don't have it right. I am not sure if there is an easier way for me to keep track or what but geesh! If you all weren't so motivated it would be a lot easier :)*

I got a softball game tonight at 6 p.m. I am super excited and have been thinking about it all week. I wish I could play every night!

Challenge:

I want 30 wall push ups right now! Get those arm pits sweating :)

Comment of the Week

2008-05-29T07:00:00.001-04:00

This week was a little bit shorter since I took Monday off but there was definitely no shortage of comments! I know normally I pick five comments to showcase but there was one that really, REALLY hit home with me and I'd like to focus on that today...

Angie said...

Michelle I am so proud of you! Sometimes I feel like I have no motivation, and when I read your blogs I feel someone understands me. I am joining curves next week to see how that pans out. (I am waiting for furniture delivery this week). TTYLAngie

First off Ang, KUDOS to you for looking into Curves. It is an excellent program! A lot of women use Curves as a platform for weight loss and end up really getting motivated to take control of their lives all the way around! I am praying that the women at your local facility would be kind and knowledgeable, but most of all sincere in their efforts to help get you going on the Highway to Health!

It really made me feel special when you said "I feel someone understands me". That is exactly the reaction I was hoping to get out of people when I started this whole thing.

I was hoping when people read some of my stories they would think to themselves, "I am not alone".

I am also hoping that as time goes by, people will also say to themselves, "If she can do it so can I."

I want people to want to get healthy.

You made me smile, Angie :)

Challenge:

As a shout out to good times with KELLIE - do the Cha Cha Slide :)

*Quick blurb *

I don't know if it has been obvious on my posts or not but I have been struggling with some things in my personal life. I have been trying to keep my focus here on the blog but it has been tough. I apologize if I'm not responding to comments like I have in the past. I really need to get back on that! I defintely read all the comments and totally appreciate the time you all take to leave them!

Tighten Up

2008-05-28T07:37:00.004-04:00

I am pleased to announce I have another round of changes to talk about...

MY SHOES

When I bought my shoes over a year ago I had to buy a size 9.5 wide. Right now I am having problems with my toes hurting after running because they are hitting the front of the shoe. My mom made a good point - she said that maybe my feet aren't as wide and now they are sliding to the front when I run. I haven't had much opportunity to check out that theory as I was sidelined from running a few days after she made the comment. I think she may be right though. I have tightened up the laces and I do notice a difference just in walking around.

MY BELT

I am officially on the last belt notch. And even that doesn't quite feel tight enough. LOVE IT!

MY HR MONITOR

It took three or four times of my hear rate not registering right before I realized that it was because I needed to tighten up my chest strap. This was probably the most exciting for me out of all the areas that are changing because it seems like that spot is the hardest to see any results.

MY BRAS

All my bras are too big. If only I had more money! Most are as tight as they can be but still, I don't think I have even one bra right now that fits me nicely. I am kind of a "bra snob" and can't just buy any bra from any store. I think I need to go to Lane Bryant and be fit again by one of their bra experts. I am a little worried that I'm not gonna have much left up top when I get to my goal weight!

MY SUNGLASSES

I know this one sounds funny, but it's true. I bought some shades from Lane Bryant last year. They used to hurt the sides of my head and the back of my ears. Now I can't hardly keep them on my face. I even checked the screws to see if they have been loosened up that way. They are as tight as ever. I need some new shades.

Challenge:

REFLECT!

List an example of something that has changed on you or in you since this blog began.

Weigh Day Week 16

2008-05-27T07:39:00.005-04:00

*Before I begin, a BIG THANKS to Angie's husband, Mike, for adding a few things to this blog for me. Among other things, you can now subscribe to the blog using the button found on the right. THANKS MIKE!*

Goal: Lose baby weight + 30 lbs

Achieved so far: Baby weight is gone!

Pre-pregnancy weight: 221.0

Weight last week: 204.4

Current weight: 202.8

Weight loss/gain since last week: -1.6

TOTAL WEIGHT LOST (not including baby weight): -18.2

I am pleasantly surprised with this weeks weigh in, considering how bad I ate this weekend. I am talking a burger, onion rings, ice cream, AND pizza, and that was just SATURDAY!

Will my weight EVER start with a 1 ??????? I am really going to work hard this week to get there!

Even though I pigged out on Saturday, I have started taking some medication that makes me not really feel like eating so I am struggling a bit lately with making myself eat. I had a few days last week where it was dinner time before I felt like I could eat. I need to do breakfast, lunch, and dinner this week!

*SOFTBALL NEWS*

Softball was fantastic on Friday. My new teammates are really nice. The coach is nice, too. I was 2 for 3. Two singles, one pop fly, 2 RBI's. I could definitely feel a major improvement in my swing and I know it is because I have been working out my arms. I played left, first, and catcher. We lost in the last inning 7-6.

I had a huge cheering section thanks to my honey, the Carders, and Stacy. It was so nice to look out and see friendly faces. I am excited about this weeks game already.

*RUNNING UPDATE*

After sprinting around the bases Friday and feeling no discomfort whatsoever, I decided to try the ol' legs out yesterday afternoon. I took a few moments to warm up and stretch before hand. They felt really good for the first 10-15 minutes or so and then it was all downhill. Instead of just my left leg it is now both legs, although the pain isn't as bad. I had to walk the last mile or so. I stretched when I got home, iced them and took some ibuprofen. I am going to have to rest another week I think. Good thing I got, and enjoy, the Total Gym 1000. Thanks again Court and Allen!

*From Running to Training*

Way to go on completing Week One of your training! Anyone who hasn't started yet is STRONGLY ENCOURAGED to get off you bum and GET YOUR TRAIN ON!! :)

Remember, I update the results at the beginning of the following day and only three days a week count. Feel free to correct me if I don't have your progress right!

Week Two calls for FIVE REPS of three minutes of walking, two minutes of jogging. Get THREE DAYS in this week!

I just want to remind you that for our race in July we will be doing one minute jogging, two minutes walking. SO, if you follow this training you will be a PRO by race day!

Challenge:

The Pendulum

Lie on back, arms in a T, legs straight up (I have to bend my knees), feet together, toes pointed or flexed.

Slowly lower legs (or knees) several inches to the left without touching the floor.

Return to start.

Repeat to right for one rep

Do Work and Get Your Train On!

2008-05-23T08:14:00.006-04:00

Anyone out there ever watch Rob and Big? The only reason I am lucky enough to watch it is because for some reason we get MTV2. Funny, considering we don't have cable.

Anyway, I crack up every time Big Black says, "Do work, son!"

You all are definitely getting some work done and getting your train on! Six of you are already well on your way, walking from The Ville to Flint Town!

I am proud of you all!

A special KUDOS to Rena, who already has her three days in!!

You still have THREE days left in this week. I encourage those of you who haven't started to get up and DO WORK! Don't let this opportunity to get healthy pass you by!

*other news*

I have a softball game tonight. I am super nervous. I have thought about backing out a few times. I don't know anyone on the team. I'm not even sure who I am supposed to look for when I get there. But my love of the game is stronger than my insecurities I guess. Wish me luck!

*quick side note*

I have a three day weekend on the brain so I think I am going to take Monday off as a holiday.

Be sure to check out the schedule for Week Two! CLICK HERE

SEE YOU ALL ON TUESDAY!

Challenge:

I can't do this one but do work and feel the burn!

Stand with your feet wider than shoulder width apart and your toes pointed forward.

Slowly lower your body and remember to bend slightly at your hips. Keep your weight back on your heels and your back as upright as possible. Make sure your knees don’t cross the plane of your toes.

Straighten legs and come up to the starting position to complete one rep.

Weekend Challenge:

Act like a kid this weekend!

Comments of the Week - Family Edition

2008-05-22T07:28:00.005-04:00

Good morning!

I didn't really realize it until I was getting ready to post this, but all the Comments of the Week this week come from my family :)

Enjoy!

Dad said...
I love ya, you are perfect in so many ways and you are allowed to be imperfect in just as many ways.

This one actually came from an e-mail I got from him yesterday. That is a great quote and I thought I'd share it with you all.

Rena said...
Hello. I am lucky enough that my church has a indoor running track so I went and did 3 miles of walking /running. (about 30 seconds running 30 seconds walking) on Monday night. NOT EASY!!!! I am struggling and not doing the 30 seconds running at each lap but I can see myself getting stronger each time, but boy it is hard.

Way to go Rena! I am so glad you are in on this and I think it will be awesome completing the race with you and your sister! When I hear someone say that they can see they are getting stronger as they train, it takes me back to when I first started running. It is amazing how quick your body figures itself out once you start training, isn't it?

Andrew said...
Hey Sis, I'm going to try to get out today to do at least three miles of jogging, but I am not sure how well my knee is going to hold up. If it feels okay, Ill end up doing six miles, but having played softball last night, I don't know how reasonable that is. Also, kudos to you for getting Ashleigh to do crunches. Seeing her do them actually got me on a regimen of my own. Since last Tuesday, I have done 1000 every morning when I get up. Its funny how inspiration trickles down like that.

First off, 100 crunches???? BLAH to you! No, I'm just kidding. I wish I could do 1000 crunches! Thanks for letting me know how you came to start doing 1000 crunches a day. It's cool how I challenged Ash and then you started doing it. Funny thing, it is kind of like a circle. Because then I hear that you are doing it because of Ash who is doing it because I me and that inspires me to keep it up.

MEchele said...
Well I am officially registered for the July 12 th race also. My training is gonna start out pretty slow as my recent surgery prevents anything too crazy but I have started walking this week, every night with my dog Porter. I figured he needs to get in shape with me. I am looking forward to the race it is what I am gonna focus on for the next couple months to help me with my food addiction.

It seems like this training came at the perfect time. AND we know I don't believe in coincidences! I wish I could be there to walk with you. I miss you. I am very, VERY proud of what you have already accomplished! I can't wait to see you in July!

Ashleigh said...
I think you are doing amazing and maybe a couple weeks of something new will be good for you.I've been doing crunches everyday (100-200 depending on how I feel) and I was getting down on myself because I haven't noticed a difference, but Andrew reminded me that they are getting a lot easier for me to do. So I guess that is something, I'll just have to keep it up to SEE more results.I'm sorry to hear about your knees, I had tendinitis in my wrist so I had to stop going to yoga, I wore a brace for a couple weeks and it got better. It has been hurting me again lately though. So I know what you're going through somewhat.Don't let it get you down, you've come so far you can't let this stop you!

Thanks for sharing that your tendinitis got better :) It makes me feel a little more hopeful. Have you measured your waist at all? Are you pants fitting better? Have you tried to tighten and feel your abs? I will probably never see a 6 pack but I definitely can feel my abs now! I notice that they are getting easier for me to do, too. Keep it up girlie!

Challenge:

Close-Arm Wall Push-up - 25!

Start facing wall, arms-length away, feet slightly apart, legs straight with weight on toes. Place hands on wall with pointer fingers and thumbs forming a triangle. Keep arms in line with shoulders/chest.

Bend elbows about 90 degrees and lower body toward the wall without touching it.

Straighten arms and return to starting position to complete one rep.

The further your feet are away from the wall, the more difficult this exercise will be. Also be sure not to lock knees or elbows

What's in YOUR cupboard?

2008-05-21T08:04:00.005-04:00

First, before I forget, I have a new instruction as far as The Race to the Starting Line goes...

When you get your training in, post a comment that only says "I got my training in".

I still want you all to post regular comments, too! I am just afraid I will miss giving someone credit and if I have you all leave a short comment like that it might be easier for me to keep track. Also, I will update the standings on my blog at the beginning of the next day.

FIVE PEOPLE so far have began their way from Louisville to Flint!

*back to post*

Read the title like those old Capital One commercials - you know, "What's in YOUR wallet?"

Back when I wanted to want to be healthier, articles about what kind of food should be in your house used to stress the heck out of me. Every time I read something about the healthy things I should be eating on a daily basis it would drive me to eat - bad food, of course.

So, when I got my monthly Parents magazine this month and saw an article entitled, "The Healthy Kitchen" I couldn't decide whether to read it, throw up, or cancel my subscription.

The article listed 36 food items that should be stocked in your "Healthy Kitchen".

I actually have 27 of those items in my kitchen right now!!!!

AND the things I don't have don't stress me out because I don't think we'd eat them anyway.

I am not going to list all the things it says you should have. I don't think these articles are a good idea. Instead of an article that throws 36 items at you they should do an item or two an issue.

I mean, come on, it always made me feel like I needed to throw all my food away and go spend a bunch of money at the store. It felt hopeless and impossible.

I did it one item at a time. And you all can too!

Challenge:

You may not get a chance to do this one today but maybe you can do it sometime this week...

In keeping with today's topic - try to do one of these -

Try a meal with brown rice instead of white - OR -

Try a meal with whole grain pasta - OR -

Try adding ground turkey to a meal instead of ground beef.

How We Doin'?

2008-05-20T07:12:00.003-04:00

Day One of training is over!

If you trained yesterday, how do you feel? I would LOVE to hear about your first day, especially since I couldn't join in with you!

(Susan, thanks for the update! Go YOU!)

I know some of you may have opted for a Tues, Thurs, Sat training schedule. For those of you who did, be sure to let me know how it went when you log back in here tomorrow!

Also, if you are the type to start something and not finish it, REGISTER FOR THE RACE NOW! You'll be less likely to quit when you know you've already ponied up the dough!

A few things to remember when starting any new exercise regimen -

Drink lots (AND LOTS) of water! If you notice while jogging that your side is bothering you, chances are you didn't drink enough water. Click here for 10 reasons you should drink water.
Warm up / Cool Down ! I know part of the reason I am injured is because I don't take the time to do either of those. If you go outside to train, at minimum you should do something like walk around your house once at the beginning of your training and once at the end.
STRETCH! Another thing I need to spend more time on. Recent studies seem to show that stretching does NOT help prevent injury. Still, there are some major benefits to stretching. This article was really interesting to me!
Don't do more than your body can handle! You don't have to follow the training guide exactly how it is written. It is just a guide. If your feel sick, exhausted, dizzy, etc then you need to really sit down and modify the training plan so that you can get some training without hurting yourself. Better yet, go to your doctor and figure out a plan that works for you.

I know you all have heard all those before, probably a million times. That's because they are IMPORTANT! :)

Keep getting your train on, folks! Y'all are doing great!

Challenge:

Stretch that groin :)

Begin by sitting on the floor and bringing the heels as close to the groin as possible. You should not feel pain in this position, if you do feel discomfort create more space between you heels and groin.

Make a butterfly pattern with your legs in this starting position.

Use your arms to slowly push your legs and knees towards the ground. Stop if you feel any pain performing this stretch.

Be sure NOT to bounce the "butterfly wings," as this would cause damage to hips, groin, and knees. When you first begin, your heels may be a foot or two away but you will be bringing your heels in as you become more flexible

Weigh Day - Week 15 - Training Begins!

2008-05-19T08:12:00.010-04:00

Goal: Lose baby weight + 30 lbs

Achieved so far: Baby weight is gone!

Pre-pregnancy weight: 221.0

Weight last week: 207.0

Current weight: 204.4

Weight loss/gain since last week: -2.6

TOTAL WEIGHT LOST (not including baby weight): -16.6

WHEW! I was really worried I was going to have my first ever two-week-in-a-row weight gain! That makes me feel good, especially considering that I didn't run from Wednesday on.

Honestly, I didn't really do much from Wednesday on. I tried to do some different things to get my heart rate up on Thursday and nothing really seemed to make me sweat. It's hard to get your hard rate up when your not supposed to use your legs!

Yesterday all that changed though. I got the Total Gym 1000 from some good friends and I spent 45 minutes playing with it. I also did an upper body and core routine I created on Sparkpeople.com. Both felt good and I am happy to have something in the house I can use. My heart rate doesn't even come close to what it reaches when I run but I am building lean muscle and that counts for something apparently :)

On to the topic of the day...

Training time is finally here!

I am super, SUPER excited to announce that 3 readers have already registered for the race. That's a good start towards my vision for a "sea of blue"!

We're a puddle :oD

Anyone who still needs to check out the training schedule or wants to register needs to CLICK HERE

This weeks training commitment is only 1 HOUR for the WHOLE WEEK!

You can totally do it folks!

Don't forget about my Race to the Starting Line Challenge!

Be sure to update me on your progress...if you don't, I'll hunt you down!

*Softball / Tball Update*

My update for softball is easy...

The game was cancelled because the fields were yucky :( *tear*

Ori still got to play though!!

Her and Elena did so good. They listened to the coach, hit the ball, chased the ball, had a ball. I am so proud of them.

Ori was the first up to bat for her team. The first time she went up she hit the ball and then kind of freaked out. I don't blame her though. The coach for the other team has a kind of different strategy - everyone goes for the ball. So she hit it and it landed a few feet in front of her, and the whole opposing team came charging at the ball.

Her next at bat was much more successful!

Here are some more pics from the game!

I cut Coach Troy's head off. She told me she thought he was handsome!

Had to get a pic of her tail :)

I call this the Second Inning Stretch :)

Sportsmanship is key!

Teammates for life!

Jocie can't wait until it's her turn to play!

Challenge:

I got an email from Sparkpeople that said "Whittle away those love handles!" Of course, that got my attention.

Here is the exercise they were talking about...

Love Handle Exercise

Have a great day, and get your train on!

Are You Ready Y'all?

2008-05-16T07:00:00.004-04:00

First, thanks to all of you for bearing with me yesterday.

I was a whiny baby and somebody should have called a waaaaahmbulance. So, I can't run for two weeks. It's not like I lost a foot and can never walk again.

I appreciate every one's encouragement. I felt like if I would have been around some of you in person yesterday you would have smacked me across the face and told me to snap out of it (and rightly so). I was definitely not out fishing for compliments but they came and made me feel better.

I did some weight training, stretching, and ab/core training as well as about 15 minutes of Tae Bo (upper body only). I learned a few new variations of crunches and I know I'll be hurting at work today (cleaning with my friend again).

My heart rate never got over 85 but my arms and abs felt the burn and I'll take it.

OK, OK, I agree - enough about yesterday...

ANNOUNCEMENT TIME...

Training starts on Monday!

Who's doing it?

I need names people! I need to know!

Since I am not allowed to run for the next two weeks I need to live through you all. Will someone please run for me? Please????????

For those of you who need a little incentive ($$$$) I am happy to announce a new contest ...

THE RACE TO THE STARTING LINE!

The distance between my house and the starting line of the Flint Journal Catch Your Breath 5K is a little over 430 miles.

Let's see who can walk/jog their way!

Participants will start out in Louisville, Kentucky. For every day that you train, you will move 18 miles closer to the starting line in Flint, Michigan.

(Why 18 miles? 430 miles / 24 potential training days = almost 18)

The training guide calls for you to get in three days a week for eight weeks.

You are encouraged to exercise more than three days a week, but I will only count three days.

The person closest to the starting line on the Friday before the race will be the winner. The winner will receive a Subway gift card!

If more than one person makes it all the way to the finish line then more than one person will receive a gift card!

As a reminder...

Week One requires you to pick three days in which you will train for twenty minutes. On those days you will walk for FOUR minutes and jog for ONE minutes. You will repeat that FOUR TIMES.

*short side story*

Ori started t-ball last night!! Her and her BFF Elena were so cute. There was one point Coach Troy was trying to explain to them how to get down and be ready for the ball and Ori totally looked like she was doing the Cha Cha Slide -

"Hands on your knees! Hands on your knees!"

Their first game is Saturday!

My first co-ed league game is tonight! I am tres tres nervous!

Daily and Weekend Challenge:

Register for the race! CLICK HERE TO REGISTER NOW!

If you can't make it - find a race on Active.com and register!

Bad News, Good News

2008-05-15T07:00:00.000-04:00

Comments of the Week will return next week. I've got issues to work through today. Sorry, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

I went to the doctor yesterday afternoon.

For a few weeks now I have had an annoying sensation in the back of my left knee. While running on Saturday I realized that it has gone from annoying to pretty uncomfortable. I also noticed while attempting to run this morning that it is starting up behind my right knee also.

After five days of trying to "run through it" I decided I needed to get it checked out.

The diagnosis - tendinitis.

WebMD defines tendinitis as "an inflammation or irritation of the tendon, a thick cord that attaches bone to muscle."

There are many causes for tendinitis but I am sure the reason for mine is a combination of lack of stretching and overuse.

It's not a huge deal,right? It's nothing some ice, anti-inflammatory medication, and two weeks off running can't fix.

WHAT????????????

Yep, you read it right. No running, biking, or even aggressively walking, for two weeks.

I acted like it was no big deal while in the doctor's office but after I left I immediately when into "depressed mode" (no, not Depeche Mode). I cried on the way home. I sat on the couch and did nothing until Octavio called and said he was on his way home. I asked him to pick up something for dinner because I didn't feel like cooking. BLAH!

Thankfully, my husband had enough sense to get me a grilled chicken sandwich from Chick-Fil-A. If I had went out on my own to get dinner it would have been either-

Pizza and bread sticks
Chinese
McDonald's

Most likely it would have been option number 3 and I haven't had McDonald's since January 28th.

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, honey, for stopping on the way home and saving me from myself!

My mind is really having a hard time accepting this restriction. I would like to say that the pity party won't last but I don't know if it will or not. The only thing keeping my weight off is running. Nothing else has ever gotten my heart rate up high enough.

What am I going to do without it for two weeks?????

Dr. S did suggest a few other activities to help keep me doing cardio. He said I should try a row machine or swimming. Swimming would be great, but since I don't really have access to a pool, I put an e-mail plea out to my friends here in Louisville last night asking if anyone had a row machine that I could borrow.

Court e-mailed me back pretty quickly to let me know they'd be happy to loan me their Total Gym 1000 for a few weeks. I can't wait for Octavio to go get it!

I also found this Tae Bo DVD with 30 intense 1-minute Workouts. I'll focus on the upper body workouts of course.

My gut might grow in the next few weeks but my arms will be HUGE, too! :)

The good thing is that tendinitis is curable. I don't have to deal with it forever. I have to listen to the doctor and behave. If I don't, I'll be out even longer.

I now have two weeks to implement some new things into my workout routine. I need to focus on stretching before I work out. I need to do a few jumping jacks, get my legs warmed up a little, then stretch my legs before I pound the pavement. I also need to find some things to do on my off days to get cardio in every day without running every day.

I'll be on the look out for a stationary bike while hustlin' this weekend.

Enough about that...

Now for my good news...

I got my lab results back and I am SO SO proud of myself.

My good cholesterol stayed the same. It is about 10 points lower than they'd like to see it but the doctor says I am doing all I can and he's happy with that.

My bad cholesterol was alright in 2006 but I still decreased it by 30 points!

My total cholesterol was in range in 2006 but close to being high. It decreased 70 points!

My biggest change was in my triglycerides -

2006 - 281

Doc wanted them below 150

2008 - 76 !!!!!!!

TWO SNAPS!

I should be hearing from my financial guy regarding reapplying for my life insurance tomorrow.

Bring it on!

Challenge:

An upper body challenge of course :)

Begin lying face down on a mat, arms at your sides, palms facing the ceiling.

Make sure your neck is in a neutral position.

Keeping body stationary and arms straight (but not locked) lift the palms up toward the ceiling as high as comfortably possible. Hold for 2-3 counts.

Lower to starting position to complete one rep. Make sure your arms stay in line with the shoulder.

Life's Race

2008-05-14T07:00:00.002-04:00

What started out as me searching this week to find out what the Bible says about exercising, turned into a whole different thing.

Here's how I started...

Everyone always goes back to 1 Corinthians 6:19, so I began there.

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;"

We should take great care of our body as it is the place where God's Holy Spirit dwells within us. We should take great care of the place in which God lives! I know this but I wanted to go a little deeper, to get a little more specific.

Here's what I found:

1 Timothy 4:8 -

“For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”

Clearly this verse tells us that godliness takes priority over physical training. Note that it doesn't tell us that physical training has no value; in fact, it tells us there is some value to it. I kind of knew that already :) but it was nice to be reaffirmed.

Another passage I found interesting is 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. It was after reading this verse that this post became more about "Running Life's Race" and less about exercise.

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”

That particular scripture reminded me of a video we watched during bible study last year...

The teacher was talking about the zeal of Elijah and while he was talking the screen showed a pair of bare feet, running fast, pounding in the dirt. I don't remember everything he said but the point was that we should be running life's race in such a way that when we reach the end we have absolutely nothing left to give.

This got me thinking...

Remember the race I ran in April? My goal was to feel physically spent at the end and I achieved that goal. I had to go over to a bush and puke once I was done.

I have also ran races and felt so good at the end that I couldn't help but wonder if I gave it my all.

Paul is calling us to "run in such a way as to get the prize". To me that means giving it all you have and then pushing yourself further.

I am SO not doing that right now. That disappoints me.

When I meet Jesus in Heaven I want to collapse in front of Him not only because of His Might, but because I have used all my life, all my power to glorify Him. I want to bow my head to Him not only because His Beauty is more than my eyes can handle, but because I have used all my strength serving Him in my life and am too weak to lift my head.

Man, I got nothing else to say on that...

Here are a few other verses I found regarding exercise for those who haven't tuned me out completely :)

Ephesians 5:29 tells us to take care of our bodies -

"After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it..."

2 Peter 1:5-7 reminds us to assert self control - that was a big thing for me. I never really used self control when eating.

"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love"

As a side note, we are warned quite a bit about vanity -

1 Samuel 16:7 -

"But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

Proverbs 31:30 -

"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised."

MORE ON THOSE LAST VERSES LATER.

Thanks for reading!

Challenge:

Be a Genie :)

Kneel on a mat or rolled-up towel with feet together, knees slightly apart.

Cross arms over chest.

Keep your abs tight and back straight as you lean backward. Pause.

Lean forward to return to start.

If your back hurts, do not lean back as far. You can also have a partner hold your feet for support.

Focus Week

2008-05-13T07:39:00.000-04:00

Alrighty y'all, it's Focus Week.

Training for the July 12th 5K race in Flint, Michigan begins on Monday, May 19th. That is one week from yesterday.

Are you all geared up? Is your mind right?

For me, preparing for a race is just as much mental as it is physical. I have to get my mind in it in order to succeed.

The best way for me to do that is to visualize the race in my mind. I look up the course and check to see if there are any hills. I look to see how many people are going to be there. I paint a picture in my brain of me running at full speed towards the end. All these things pump me up and get me focused and ready for success.

Here is an excerpt from a previous post, where I discussed my vision for this race -

Here is my vision for this race:

My readers and I all meet at a specified location at 7 a.m. for a little pre-race pep rally. We are all sporting blue t-shirts of some kind, not necessarily matching but somewhat uniformed. We register for the race, and take a place at the start line. We are all smiling and probably sweating already since it is July.

We all know that at no point will we feel alone, ashamed, or embarrassed. Since we have all made a pre-race pact to "Finish Together and Finish Strong" there is no anxiety from those who have never done this before. There is strength in numbers so we will be strong!

We will have all agreed to some sort of goal before hand, something like two minutes walking, one minute jogging (subject to change:) so we all know what to expect and what is expected of us. Again, since we are going to "Finish Together and Finish Strong" we will know that every time that one minute of jogging comes up we can do it!

The one minute of jogging will be a very slow and steady pace. Since the true goal is to "Finish Together and Finish Strong" their isn't competition amongst this group. We are one!

The two minutes off will not only be a time to get our heart rates in check but to celebrate the fact that we all just ran together for one whole minute! Every one minute of jogging will be filled with determination. Each two minutes of walking will be full of celebration.

Our eyes will be on the prize as the finish line approaches. The sea of blue (or lake or pond or puddle, depending on the number of participants) will pick up the pace a little and crash against the shoreline as one and the race will be complete! (sorry for the water metaphors but we are sure to be sweaty)

We break out into loud cheers at our accomplishments and head off to Subway to continue our celebration! After lunch everyone heads home for a shower and probably a nap!

I got an e-mail from the event coordinator over the weekend and guess what??

Online registration is now available HERE!

You should begin WEEK ONE of the training on Monday, May 19th.

You will be following the 5k Walk/Jog schedule FOUND HERE.

WEEK ONE will require just one hour of your time, split up throughout the week into three twenty minute sessions. Not so bad, right? If you are a list maker or a schedule oriented person, I encourage you to pencil the time in NOW so that you already have it planned.

I encourage you to find a partner to train with. It could be a co-worker, a spouse, a sibling, whatever. I would love to meet old and new friends on race day morning. You could also find a virtual training partner on here.

What do I mean?

Say Cheri says she is going to train on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. Those days just happen to work for you, too. Swap numbers and check on each other.

For those of you who really want the accountability, feel free to e-mail me and give ME your number. I won't hound you but I will definitely commit to checking up on you!

On Friday I will be announcing another contest! ARE YOU READY????

Challenge:

Do some light stretching right now. Don't be agressive. Touch your toes. Reach both arms in the air. Feel your body getting ready to train!

Weigh Day Week 14 Boo! Hiss! Boo!

2008-05-12T08:01:00.000-04:00

Goal: Lose baby weight + 30 lbs

Achieved so far: Baby weight is gone!

Pre-pregnancy weight: 221.0

Weight last week: 204.6

Current weight: 207.0

Weight loss/gain since last week: +2.4

TOTAL WEIGHT LOST (not including baby weight): -14.0

Funny how just two weeks ago I was happy to see that number on the scale. This week, not so happy.

Honestly, I can still feel the culprit for this weight gain in my tummy...

...Good ol' Chuckwagon Chili Mac n Cheese :)

Yesterday was a cold, blustery day and I just had to make something hearty for dinner. Every time I took I bite I knew I was not going to be happy in the morning.

Why,do you ask, did I cook dinner at all considering yesterday was Mother's Day?

Because I got one heck of a Mother's Day gift!!!

Glass top and self cleaning - what more could a girl ask for?

What a great gift!

My man is the greatest! There was quite a bit of hassle that went into what was supposed to be a fairly easy swap out. My old stove was a drop in stove built into the cabinetry. The new one was definitely a MAJOR UPGRADE, don't you think?

Thanks to papa for helping him tear out the old stove, for going to Lowe's to get the new stove, for taking the stove from Lowe's back because it was damaged, for trying to cut a deal with the Lowe's manager for the hassle, for going to Home Depot and getting another stove, and for talking the manager into another 10% off the floor model!

The pans on top were a special gift from Nana and Papa and just make the whole thing that much cooler!

The best present I got though, was a hand made card from Ori (with Nana's assistance). She lists the reasons why she loves me and then draws pictures.

Here are her reasons -

I love my girlies!

*Zoo Race Update*

Mom, dad, Octavio and I all ran the Norton Healthcare Throo the Zoo 5k on Saturday morning. This was both my Mother's and Father's Day gift to my parents. It was fun running with my parents.

My mom asked at one point during the race if we ever thought we'd all be running a race together (thought I was gonna talk about "where, where???!!??!!! didn't ya ma?). The answer - NO!

But I am so thankful that that is the place we are all at right now. It is cool to all be on the same wagon!

My dad finished just under 37 minutes and mom and I crossed right at 37! Way to go us!

As if the morning wasn't perfect enough already, my mom and I both won prizes during the post race drawing! Mom won some Asics running shorts which she so kindly gave to me, and I won some Asics socks and two tickets to a Louisville Bats game!

Dad took this picture of mom and I after the race -

Octavio didn't stick with us slow pokes :) He did AMAZING!! He finished 5th in his age group and his mile pace was 6:57!!!!!!!!! That is like running over 8.5 miles per hour! My man! ;)

I need to get my mind re-focused this week. There were quite a few reasons (besides the chili mac) for the weight gain this week, including:

pms
major lack of motivation due to pms
major snacking due to pms
pms

This week I am going to due lots of incline training on the treadmill and lots of light weight training for my arms. I think I am going to do more than my schedule requires. I really need a boost and I think uping my activity is just the thing to do it.

I say that and then I say this...

Running has been a little difficult on my legs these past few days, specifically behind my knees and my right hip. It's not so much pain as it is tightness. I'm not sure what the deal is but I am in tune with the issue and will keep a close eye on it!

Challenge :

Strengthen those hips, people!

Stand with your feet slightly apart, toes forward, hands on hips or one hand on a wall/chair for support. Shift your weight to right leg, keeping your knee slightly bent and your spine straight.

Exhale and gradually lift the left leg, keeping it bent at 90 degrees. Lift your knee as high as possible, trying to get your thigh parallel to floor or higher. Hold here for 2 counts.

Inhale and slowly lower your leg to ground without letting foot rest on the floor. Complete all reps and switch sides. Make sure you don't lean back when lifting your leg.

Blood and Races

2008-05-09T09:34:00.000-04:00

*The following paragraph has nothing to do with health and was added after this post was originally published*

Did anyone see Survivor last night??? Erik, Erik, Erik...poor naive boy!! I can not believe that you gave up your necklace! James was right, he no longer is the Dumbest Survivor in History. You hold that title now, all by yourself!

*back to original posting*

Sorry for the kind of late post. This one's gonna be kind of short and all over the place.

Octavio is upstairs waiting for me to finish this so we can clean the house together. Since he is off every Friday now we have decided to make a habit of doing the deep cleaning together. He gets the floors and the tub, I do the rest :)

I went to the doctor this morning to have blood drawn and to get a physical.

He was very happy with my progress over the past to years. He kept flipping through his chart and saying "Between the beginning of 2006 and now things are looking great."

My weight in January of 2006 was 256 - today on their scale it was 207!

(I weigh myself naked for my weekly weigh in's y'all - what a picture you all must be having)

I am hoping that the labs come back much better than they did two years ago so that I can reapply for my life insurance and get a better premium. I should get the results sometime in the next week or so.

*to the zoo*

Octavio, my parents, and I are all running the 5k Throo the Zoo tomorrow. My parents are I are going to run together as a Mother's Day / Father's Day thing. I am excited to run with both of them and I know it will be fun...

BUT I AM STRESSING A LITTLE...

I have a great friend from church scheduled to watch the girlies. Last night however, Oriana decided to get a runny nose. She is pretty stuffy. She doesn't have a fever and the snot is all clear. It only seems to bother her when she is trying to sleep (we all know that feeling).

Octavio says if he has to not run then he won't run but I already paid $28 for him to run!! :)

I am hoping I can think of someone who will maybe meet us up at the zoo and just sit with the girls there for the 20ish minutes it will take Octavio to finish the race.

ANY TAKERS???

Challenge:

50 Jumping Jacks! (sorry, I'm not creative this morning)

Weekend Challenge:

50 Jumping Jacks Saturday and Sunday, too!

Comments of the Week

2008-05-08T08:12:00.000-04:00

Good morning friends!

Before I go into the Comments of the Week I wanted to let you all know that I was thinking of you all yesterday while I was running.

My treadmill cuts off somewhere around 5.4 mph, so I have been increasing the incline during treadmill workouts to maximize my calorie burning ability. Yesterday I burned the most calories I have ever burned in 30 minutes!!

We went to Applebee's last night to celebrate Octavio's 32nd birthday. All day long all I could think about was steak and riblets :) I had the turkey bacon ciabatta instead!! The (kinda) good thing was that the bread was not that great, so I ended up just eating the turkey and bacon. I did much better than I planned on doing and am happy for myself.

Now, for the Comments of the Week...

It was exciting this week to have so many comments to choose from! Thanks so much to all my readers for continuing to ride along with me on this journey!

Lynea said...
when i read your blog today i actually had a tear run down my cheek. i'm such a sap. :) maybe its because i totally have that pair of jeans collecting dust and being so happy that you dusted yours off. all the while listening to that beautiful song by third day! keep up the great work michelle. :)

Oh, Lynea, you are a sap! Don't let those jeans collect dust any longer! I know you have ventured to the gym a few times recently. Don't forget about how good you feel after you go! You'll feel that good x's 100 when those jeans are ready to be dusted off! Notice I say WHEN! I was also happy to read that you listened to the Third Day clip I posted. That song is amazing and I was glad to read that it stirred up the same type of emotion in you that it does in me! Thanks for reading, Lynea!

Terri said...
Just read your blog. I also use to worry if people would like me, and if they didn't I could come up with all kinds of reasons why they didn't, beating myself up. ( In my eyes if they didn't pursue me as a friend I took it that they didn't like me)

It took me a long time to realize that it wasn't if people liked me or not, most of the time people are just self absorbed and just trying to do things in there life for them self's. Also everyone is so different not every body likes everybody not because anything is wrong with them they just have different interest.

If some one is so shallow to judge someone without even knowing them do you really want them as a friend anyways.

(Repeat this to yourself) I am a wonderful person and if some one doesn't like me than it is there loss, and mean it!!!!!.

Also instead of thinking do they like me, think do I like them.

Once you can do this it will help with the panic feelings, I know this because I was you.

I know you are a wonderful person!!!!

I love you,
Terri

I loved all the advice in this e-mail, especially the part where Terri tells me to think "Do I like them". Also, it was a great point stating that not all people like all people. That is definitely something I need to start realizing!

LaVonda said...
You are doing awesome!!!! I'm so jealous of your progress, I"m not seeing much of it...except that I'm not trying hard enough. So, your progress let's me know I need to do more. Thanks for the challenges and encouragement! Love ya!!

I absolutely appreciate knowing that I am pushing you but you should not be jealous of my progress LaVonda! Think of all the progress you have made this year. Don't sell yourself short. You killed your previous times in both the 10K and the 10 mile. Continue letting the injury heal!

(One of the reasons I chose your comment as one of the comments this week is so that if I ever get to a point where I am injured I can look back on my own advice and hopefully take it!)

Samantha said...
I actually had the opposite problem when I got to Thinville ... some old friends (that had moved away) became jealous when I got out of my shell and made new local friends. When I started dating Stephen, two of them blew up separately at me because I wasn't as available to them, and both felt the need to point out that "I was your friend when you were fat" – insinuating that being my friend when I was fat was an awful ordeal, and that I owed them somehow for it.

This comment sparked so many different thoughts in my head I don't know where to begin.

First, I wanted to say that I am so happy I asked your mother for your e-mail address a few years back even though I was worried that you could care less to hear from me. I appreciate our friendship! I love knowing that even though you are busy with your life and I am busy with mine, in a short e-mail or quick blog comment we can reconnect, even if it's just for a brief moment.

Second, it made me realize how glad I am that I rid myself of selfish, shallow friends a long time ago and am surrounded by people who are happy for me and for my progress. It is nice for me to know that no matter what new people think of me I have a gazillion friends who have already accepted me for who I am.

Thanks for sharing, Sam !

MEchele said...
Boy your post has really hit home with me. You are so right on some points you made about hiding behind the fat. Thanks for bringing this to my attention now so that I too can begin to work on this before the problem may start. As always your post are so inspiring !!! love ya MEchele

A week after surgery and already back on here showing me some love and leaving me some comments! You are amazing, Michele. I look forward to reading your blog and getting insights from you as you continue to grow by losing :)

Thanks for ALL of the comments this week and don't forget to show me some love!

Challenge:

Do the Banana!

Lie on floor with legs together, arms extended overhead, belly button pulled in toward spine.

Keeping head between arms, slowly raise upper body and legs off floor to form a gentle bananalike curve.

Hold for a slow 30 counts

A Continuation...

2008-05-07T07:27:00.000-04:00

First things first...

Happy, happy birthday BABY!

You're getting old but I still love you!

So what happened after I worried all night about whether the girls I would be working with would like me or not?

I was really nervous when I got to the first job Friday morning. My friend, the boss, wasn't going to be there right at 8 a.m. so I had to go on in and meet the girls alone.

They were kids!

One was 20, the other 22. (The third girl showed up with the boss and was a little older than me).

OK, so I am not much older than that, but seriously, no matter how insecure I am I really don't care what any kids but my own kids think of me :)

Of course, I was my usually funny self and it only took about an hour for me to come out of my shell. The "kids" were sweet, young and cocky, but sweet.

I actually called the younger one out on an insecurity of her own. She is pretty loud and I jokingly told her she uses her mouth as a front. She laughed for a sec and then told me that actually I was right. She said she was scared to meet me this morning because the boss had talked highly of me and when she gets nervous she gets loud :) Funny, huh?

*completely different subject*

I got a call last night from the organizer of the coed softball team I signed up for. She didn't seem all that friendly but we'll see. I love the game and hope some crab apple doesn't ruin it for me.

I am kind of excited to see how my lifestyle change has affected my game. I wonder if the weight training has improve my arm and my batting skillz. I know it will be easier for me to run the bases! I used to joke and say that if I wasn't so slow I would actually have a lot of home runs under my belt. Like I said, we'll see.

*topic change*

I hit the health food jackpot last night. Ori and I were on our way to Walmart to get some groceries and I decided to check out a local salvage store that's on the way. The store owner hooks up with companies and buys dented cans, crushed boxes, etc. I found my Pria bars for .10 a piece! I also got a couple of South Beach products to try since they were like 75% less than the normal price.

*another completely different subject*

I watched Hell's Kitchen last night. I really, really got annoyed at one of the girls. She was saying that one of the other contestants was slow during food prep and that the reason she was slow is because she was overweight. I could tell by the way the girl said it that she has an issue with overweight people.

First off, I didn't really think the girl was that overweight. There is another girl in the kitchen who I think is comparable to her size-wise. She probably was the biggest of the girls but not by much and she definitely wasn't what I would call morbidly obese.

Secondly, I'm not 100% sure how some one's weight would make them slow at food prep. Did her chubby fingers impair her chopping abilities? Did her fat rolls knock food off of the counter and onto the floor on numerous occasions? Give me a break already!!

AND this same girl who doesn't care for fat people gets into a hot tub in her bra and undies on national television to seduce one of the guys so that she can blind and distract him and win the contest.

I'll take fat over skanky any day.

SNAP!

Challenge:

Put em up, put em UP!

Shadow box!

Try to imagine a stressor while you are punching.

Give me two minutes and show them no mercy!

I'll be beating the crap out of GAS PRICES, or maybe Ms. Thang from Hell's Kitchen!

My Big Fat Security Blanket

2008-05-06T08:30:00.000-04:00

Somewhere along the road on the Highway to Health I must have missed the road sign that warns "Caution: Major Self Doubt Ahead".

As this new person emerges so does a whole new set of insecurities.

It's like Healthy Me is driving the car ahead of me and I notice that her trunk is stuffed with just as much baggage as mine is. (The trunk of her car...not her "trunk"!)

I have reminded myself a million times that losing weight doesn't make life easier yet I still get disappointed when losing weight doesn't make like easier.

The latest example...

I told you all yesterday that I worked with a friend on Friday. She owns her own cleaning business and cleans both commercial and residential properties. I have worked with her in the past on occasion and have always enjoyed myself. After all, cleaning is one of my favorite things to do!!

When I called her on Thursday to find out when/where to meet she told me that I would be working with her and three other girls. I immediately started to panic.

My stomach hurt. I felt a little light-headed. I wanted to puke.

I was so nervous about meeting these girls. It was like the first day at a new school or starting a new job. Not only was I nervous but I was mad at myself for being nervous. I mean, seriously, I can clean the heck out of some house y'all, so what's the big freakin' deal?

Octavio was at the Third Day concert and the girls were both in bed by 8 p.m. so I had ALL of Thursday night so sit and think about what the problem really was. Once it hit me I was pretty surprised...

I was nervous because I wasn't fat.

WHAT???

I know that sounds a little silly, but hear me out -

Before, that was my thing, my shtick. I was the fat girl.

And if you didn't like me, it was because I was fat and that's your fault, not mine.

The problem was always someone else's fault, the way they saw me, them discriminating against me just because of my weight. That was my security blanket. I had fat to fall back on. My being fat may have been the cause of a lot of hardships but it was also my excuse to escape reality sometimes.

So what happens if someone doesn't like me now? What's my excuse?

It's a scary world over there in Thinville. I am still on the outskirts of the city, kind of peeking through a whole in the fence. It seems like every 10 or 15 minutes there is a tractor driving by heading back to the Fat Farm and it takes a lot of talking to myself to keep me from climbing aboard and heading back.

*on to something else*

I love it when I read something that confirms my own advice or approach. I got the information below in an e-mail from Sparkpeople.com. Just yesterday I updated my layout to include five simple ways to get your heart rate up. Almost all of them are listed in the article below :)

Another Fitness Myth Debunked

Somewhere along your journey to fitness, whether in the gym, reading the latest books, or talking with your friends, you'll hear a lot of advice about exercise--not all of which is true.

Fitness Myth
If you can't exercise hard and often, there's really no point.

Truth
Even moderate activity is shown to reduce your risk for heart disease and stroke. If you don't have 30 minutes in your day to exercise, try splitting it up into 10-minute segments instead.

Everyone can find 10 minutes to spare sometime during the day! There are simple things you can do to increase your activity without having to go to the gym: take the stairs instead of the elevator, jump rope or do body weight exercises (push ups, crunches) at commercial breaks, take a short walk after lunch. Remember that any exercise is better than none!

Love it!

For all my Crunch Companions out there here's an excerpt from another e-mail I received -

SparkPeople Experts Answer Your Fitness Questions

Question:

What can I do to lose weight in my stomach? I've been doing lots of crunches but they don't seem to help.

Expert Answer:

There is no way to target weight loss to a specific area of the body because your body decides where it wants to put on weight and where it wants to take it off. The midsection is a common "problem" area for many people. The best way to lose fat is through cardiovascular exercise. It is important to do a variety of abdominal exercises (including crunches) to keep your core strong, but until that excess fat is gone, you will not see the muscle definition. So if you're not doing cardio, crunches are not going to help get the 6-pack you've been hoping for. Regular cardio exercise at a level that's challenging for you is your best bet.

Exercise Extra:

"Apple" shapes (fat storage around the belly) have been shown to have a higher risk of certain cardiovascular diseases, whereas storing fat in your lower half, known as a "Pear" shape, is actually a healthier site for fat accumulation.

*Final Note of the Day*

Don't forget to check out Susan and MEchele's blogs!

Susan has began a challenge contest of her own and MEchele has posted her first post after gastric bypass surgery!!

Challenge:

Here is a new core exercise for you! Do the DOLPHIN!

ER ER ER ER CLICK CLICK CLICK :)

Weigh Day Week 13 - Unlucky??

2008-05-05T07:55:00.000-04:00

Goal: Lose baby weight + 30 lbs

Achieved so far: Baby weight is gone!

Pre-pregnancy weight: 221.0

Weight last week: 207.0

Current weight: 204.6

Weight loss/gain since last week: -2.4

TOTAL WEIGHT LOST (not including baby weight): -16.4

Oh yeah! Celebrate with me y'all!

I have passed the halfway point! I have less than 15 lbs to lose! WOOHOO!

Considering my big time struggles earlier this week AND the fact that I still have my monthly friend visiting, I am one happy gal!

*jealous alert - don't hate when you hear how spoiled I am*

I was really stressed about the weigh in last night. My weekly Sunday night foot rub was just what I needed to melt all the stress away. My man in DA MAN!

I actually did really well on Friday and throughout the entire weekend.

I went and worked for a friend on Friday. She has her own cleaning business and cleans some (HUGE) houses here in Louisville (one of the houses was for the Border family, as in Border's bookstore).

I packed a nice healthy lunch - a turkey sandwich on whole grain with mustard and provolone, an apple, carrots, a cheese stick, and some gum and mints. Five of us were piled into a Volvo and around noon they decided to "get some grease" as they put it. Where did they want to stop??? You guessed it, my "Golden Arch" nemesis.

Did I partake???

Hecks-to-the-NAAAAAAAW!

I have worked too hard to sabotage myself this late in the game!

I took my own advice - I started reciting my goals to myself -

What am I doing this for?

To have a healthy life for myself

To promote healthy living for my kiddos

To inspire others to live a healthy life

I want me and my family to continue to look this good!

When I got home Friday afternoon I was starving. We had some yummy citrus chipotle turkey fajitas and a nice relaxing evening at home. It was raining and stormy and it felt good just to be home and chill.

Saturday was rough for me. I was suffering from the worst PMS symptoms I have ever had. We attempted to go shop for a few home decor items on our list but of course nothing was good enough for HELLthy Chelle :)

Saturday was a running day and I SO was not feeling it...until I remembered that my awesome cousin Kristol sent me a new toy in the mail...

I finally own an MP3 player!

So much cooler than the Walkman I have been using!

She even got me one of those carrying cases that goes on your arm. I have been stuffing that bulky Walkman in my bra for almost two years now. I can't believe it still works.

So, I used my new MP3 player on Saturday and hit a new PR on my route. Coincidence? Me thinks not!

We went to the Derby Part at church on Saturday. I did a good job of not pigging out. They key was not to get there until about an hour before the actual Derby, then you don't spend the whole afternoon snacking. Susan taught me how to play DDR and although I still stink at it (my best grade was a D) I got my heart rate up for a second or two. I look forward to being invited over to her house to practice (hint, hint Susan).

Yesterday was just a plain ol' good day. We did church, had a nice lunch, and spent some time on the couch reading the paper. Leslie called at about 3:30 p.m. and although it was an off day I chose to go run with her.

I impressed myself with my physical activity last week -

12 miles in 2 hours and 14 minutes

1800 calories burned

700 crunches

50 push ups
1 jump rope workout

resistance band training

ball training

I am proud of me!

So close to the 100's ... will it ever get here?????

Just give me a few more weeks!!

Challenge:

Try these and FLY!

I Heart Crunches !

2008-05-01T23:33:00.000-04:00

First off - a few adorable random pics from our zoo trip yesterday -

And now for a quick reminder -

The 19th of May is fast approaching.

Do you have your goals written down? Are you reminding yourself of them daily?

I received an email from the event coordinator for the race in July. The site should be updated soon and registration should be available online next week.

*a quick story not related to anything health wise*

My hubby talked to a celebrity on the phone yesterday!

Octavio called our friend Chris to find out about going to the Third Day concert and Chris tells him to hold on. He hands the phone to someone else and Mac Powell gets on the phone and invites Octavio to last night's concert.

Mac Powell is the lead singer of Third Day. Their songs ROCK!

You probably know this one!

After the concert Octavio got to meet the band!

Here's a pic of him with Third Day

(and Chris, Leslie, and Scott, too)!

*back to health and on to my new achievement*

Any of you readers out there have a pair of "goal jeans"?

You know, the ones that don't fit but you can't seem to get rid of them. They are either brand new and you bought them too small on purpose or you used to be able to wear them way back when.

No matter where you got them, now they are sitting in your closet collecting dust.

Guess what?

MINE AREN'T COLLECTING DUST ANYMORE!!

So, I have been able to put them on a couple of times in the past few years but earlier this week was the first time in FIVE YEARS that I can put them on without having a muffin top!

And I am so NOT SUCKING IN!

They are a size 16 and I have been in a size 16 for a while, but these jeans are pre "stretch era" jeans.

Oh yeah, these babies are 100% cotton, no spandex, no stretch!

I HEART CRUNCHES!

Challenge:

Do 50 crunches. You read that right - 5 to the 0 - 50!

Weekend Challenge:

Do 50 crunches Saturday and Sunday too!

I am mean! Muahahahahahahaha!

Comments of the Week

2008-05-01T07:59:00.000-04:00

Here is the second installment of this new weekly post...

I am having fun going back and reading through my blogs to find my top five comments of the week. It gives me an opportunity to reflect and also a chance to re-boost my ego by reading all your kind comments :)

I have noticed that I have some very, VERY faithful readers who comment on here daily! I appreciate your commitment to me and to my blog. I am humbled by it as well.

Here goes -

*drum roll*

MJL said...
Hey Chelle, Your Pops' is absolutely right. Other people will notice how good you look, but you will not. It's crazy. I have been so frustrated with my workouts (however your blog does help with motivation - Thanks). This past weekend I went home to visit my family in New Jersey and everyone was like, "Oh my god, you look so thin". My mom thought I was sick. I'm thinking the whole time how chunky I am. It's crazy, but good at the same time. I think it's always a good thing when you are your worst critic. for the record I always think you look great! That father of yours is a pretty smart guy.

Thanks for the compliment MJL. You're right, my pops' is smart and I am my worst critic. I tried hard this week to not dissect myself every time I passed a mirror. I still need to work on graciously taking compliments. I tend to shy away or shoot them down. I need to be thankful that other people notice my hard work. I need to stand confidently when someone says something about my progress, look them straight in the eyes, and tell them I am blessed to have people around me who care enough to tell me that I'm doing a good job getting healthy. So glad you're back to blogging MJL!

Heather said...
First off congrats on keeping your pounds off for an entire week! That's great! I love the picture of the hot air balloons outside your window, that is absolutely beautiful. Keep up the good work Michelle!

Heather, I appreciate you taking the time to congratulate me and encouraging me. FYI - I got an email from the event planner for the race in Michigan and he says active.com should be updated sometime this week. I'll be sure to pass the link on when registration is open! Thanks again Heather!

Leigh Ann said...
"Leave being perfect to the people that believe the lies they tell other people about themselves." I love this quote! Thanks for your encouragement that I'm making progress in my healthy living. I'm not failing by any means, but taking baby steps. Thanks for reminding me of that as well as the fact that I'm normal and we all have bad days!Many kudos to you for not giving in to a slump after your Thin Mints snack. You fell off the wagon, and then you chased the stinkin' wagon and climbed back aboard! You ROCK!

I love the quote, too! It is partly stolen, then modified to show my style :) When I first say the quote a few years ago it said "Don't believe the lies you tell other people about yourself". When I was writing my blog yesterday that quote popped into my mind and I knew I could spice it up for the blog. I loved it when you said I "chased the stinkin' wagon". I did do that, didn't I?

Cheri said...
WTG Michelle, Keep up all the good work! You made me feel like it was OK to drink my Monster this morning :) LOL Now I'll be chasing that wagon for the next week.Sorry to be short today, I hope your cousin is doing great!

Cheri, I noticed you left a comment on my cousin's site. I appreciate that and it makes me happy to call you 'friend'. You have a kind heart and a great spirit. I map quested the city you'll be at. Looks like it's a little over two hours away. We should find a place to meet up half way :)

As far as the Monster goes, it seemed like yesterday's blog sparked confessions from just about everyone who read it, even my friends who have to email me comments because they can't get on the site.

Peter said...
Now I don’t feel so bad about digging into that box of Cheez-Its at 3 am this morning, haha!

Case in point :)

Thanks for the comment Peter! It makes me feel good to know that even you skinny people snack in the middle of the night once in a while!

:)

I hit a pretty neat goal this week and am excited to share it with you all tomorrow!

I am getting up early tomorrow to work with a friend for the day so the post will either come late this evening or very early in the morning. Either way, my early birds will be happy to be able to wake up and not have to wait to read me!

Challenge:

Rock them calves!

Click here

You Know You're Changing Your Life For Real...

2008-04-30T07:49:00.000-04:00

...when old habits creep up on you and you stomp the tar out of 'em!

The last couple of days have been rough. My "friend" is coming to visit any day now and I want to eat everything is sight. Monday afternoon was bad. I had no energy, the weather turned blah, and all I wanted to do was curl up on the couch and do nothing. I made a cappuccino for Octavio and I and we ate through a half a box of Thin Mints at like 6:00 p.m.

I am a no-coffee-after-9 a.m. kind of girl and the Girl Scout cookies have been hiding in the basement waiting for a day just like the day I was having.

It was an off running day and I hadn't done anything all day long as far as strength training or stretching goes and to be honest I really, really, really didn't want to.

It felt good to be bad at first, then it just felt bad.

I knew I needed to do something about it, that anything would be better than doing nothing all day.

Thankfully Ori was hyper :)

She was like my own little Jillian Michaels :)

Tuesday I woke up at 6:30 a.m. (way too early for me) and I was in a fog for most of the morning. The first thing I thought about was the fact that it was a running day. I was disappointed and dreading it. I don't think I have had a day so far that I didn't want to run as bad as I didn't want to run yesterday.

Did I take the day off?

Did I skip it?

Heck no! I punished myself for even thinking of not doing it by pushing myself extra hard on the treadmill. Since the ol' tready likes to cut out somewhere around 5.3 mph I decided to do 5.2 mph and slowly increase the incline for 40 minutes until I was at 9. My legs burned and sweat was dripping in my eyes.

It felt good and I am glad I didn't miss it.

In the past, when I would attempt to be "healthy" and screw it up I would do one of two things -

Punishing myself by cutting out food (sometimes altogether)

Give up completely and binge

I seriously thought that if I had McDonald's one day and then didn't eat until dinner time the following day I was doing a service to my health...

...OR...

...that if I ate McDonald's one day that it was all over, that I couldn't be healthy.

How stupid was I? I am glad to say that I am a much smarter person health-wise.

When you mess up, don't punish yourself. Instead ask yourself this -

Do I continue making bad decisions or do I start anew?

Notice I say "when" and not "if".

That's the other thing - you really can't expect yourself to never fall down, to always be perfect.

Leave being perfect to the people that believe the lies they tell other people about themselves :)

Challenge:

Swimming on dry land!

Lie face down, arms and legs outstretched a few inches above floor, head in line with spine.

Raise left arm and right leg off floor.

Lower and repeat with right arm/left leg. Return to start and repeat the series.

Don't lower arms or legs completely until the end of the set. Don't hold your breath

Jump on in, the dry land is fine :)

Two Blog Debuts and an Oldie Too!

2008-04-29T08:51:00.000-04:00

*I am doing my challenge up here because for some reason at the end of the blog the enter key does not want to work correctly*

Challenge:

Since I know you all are clicking away on here...

DO SOME WRIST CURLS!

Think bicep curls but only work out your wrists...use a soup can or paperweight if you don't have a dumbell!

Good morning friends!

Today is an exciting day for a few people I know so I thought I'd start talking a bit about them. Both have decided to start blogs of their own, for very different reasons. Most of you who enjoy reading me would also enjoy reading them.

Both are linked right here in the blog and also in my blog list to the right.

Instead of worrying about coming back to find the link, why not just add them to your favs now...I'd better already be in your favs!

First we have My Cousin Michele.

My cousin Michele has been my cousin my whole life but we've been really good friends for the past four years or so. When my parents moved to Australia and we moved into their house her and I really hit it off. We spent a lot of time talking about getting healthy, usually over Chinese (right Michele), and were even known to do an exercise tape together on occasion.

As I type this Michele is getting bariatric surgery. Like me, she has struggled with her weight the majority of her life. During recovery and thereafter she will be blogging her way to a healthier, more confident HER. I am very excited for her and can't wait to see what happens!

I would ask you all, my faithful readers, to check her blog out today, to read her story. At the end she posted a link so that you can send her a note in the hospital. I know some of you don't know her but if you wanted to send her a e-card of encouragement I know she would love it, no matter who it was from! Shoot me an email so I can give you her last name if you are interested in doing that.

Next, we have My Friend Susan.

Susan is the wife of the youth pastor at my church. She is funny and sweet and always seems to have a smile on her face. She has a love for Christ that is amazing.

Her blog will focus "living a healthy walk with God". Listen up folks, she has already written a book so I know she has talent and I'm sure her blog is gonna be good!

Be sure to show them both some love and tell them Healthier Chelle sent ya!

The Kentucky Derby Festival Mini Marathon was this past weekend. I took a moment yesterday to look back at the blog I posted following my completion of the Mini last year -

*How funny that I didn't realize til this morning that it was exactly one year ago today that I posted this - coincidence? Me thinks not!*

Sunday, April 29, 2007

My Mini Moment

Current mood: tired
This is gonna be a long one. Grab a glass of milk and make yourself comfy

I ran the Kentucky Derby Mini Marathon yesterday!

It was 13.1 miles (out of which about 11 were fun) and my finish time was 02:50:07. I was about 8 minutes slower than my finish goal but I am happy I did it. My other goal was to be able to run through all the hills of Iroquois Park. That one I actually accomplished thanks to both LaVonda's encouragement and finally running a race with some MUSIC! Although she probably won't be reading this...THANKS ANNE for letting me use your MP3 player!

LaVonda and I stuck together most of the way but I made her leave me in her dust near the end because my knees just weren't keeping up with what the rest of my body wanted to do. The sound of my pace went from a slow and steady "THUMP THUMP" to a slower and less steady "THUMP DRAG" as my left knee got more and more tired :)

After LaVonda and I reunited at the finish line we headed to the car. I was feeling accomplished and in high spirits. We weren't even out of the parking garage and LaVonda was talking about doing a mini in Indiana that is coming up. I told LaVonda that I would be sticking to 5Ks for the rest of the year (I MEANT IT LAVONDA!).

We were stuck in traffic downtown for about 45 minutes and once we made it to the expressway I felt like I was getting car sick. When we were about two miles away from where I parked my car I started feeling really bad and thought I was gonna puke. I was getting stressed because I was afraid I was gonna throw up all over her van! We made it to the parking lot, I puked out her window, got out and sat on the curb for a minute, thought I was gonna be OK, got back in her car then passed out in her front seat!

She had trouble getting me to open my eyes back up and I was as white as people get when they pass out so she had to call 911. It took me a few minutes and to get back to reality.

I was finally starting to feel better and 6 firefighters show up...SIX! I was sooooo embarrassed. First of all, they were the kind of firefighters you would find in a sexy calendar. Second of all I felt like I was wasting there time. Third of all, I still had my bib number on from the race and I went from feeling accomplished to feeling like a wuss!

The ambulance got there about the same time (more nice looking men) and I was very worried they were gonna be jerks and treat me like a wimpy girl who couldn't run a race. They were SOOOOO NICE. They were concerned about my blood pressure being too low (79/47) so they took me to the hospital. Thankfully LaVonda took care of calling Octavio and giving him directions to the hospital. She also took Oriana for the afternoon so we could figure out what was going on.
At first they told me I was dehydrated, gave me some fluids through an IV. Every time a nurse came in they would ask how far along I was in the race when I passed out. I felt like writing "I FINISHED THE STINKIN RACE" on my shirt. The doctor came in and told me they were going to do an EKG and that I would be able to do home in an hour.

Twenty minutes later he told me that I had to stay the night . My EKG came back looking weird and they wanted to look into it. I met with the cardiologist (Also HOT...I felt like I was on Grey's or ER) and he wanted to make sure that I didn't have a heart attack. I was asked a million times if I was sure I didn't have any chest or jaw pain or any shortness of breath during the race. That still makes me laugh because my KNEES are what holds me back when I run. My breathing is always fine and I haven't ever experienced chest pains during a race.

I had to have a nuclear stress test this morning. They put some stuff in my IV to make my heart act like I was running. I felt gross and I hated every minute of it but everything turned out fine. They also did some time of ultrasound on my heart. That was fine too.

I got to go home at about noon today. I hated staying at the hospital and getting all that stuff done but I am happy to know I have a very healthy heart. I had actually just been talking to a friend about that. I was telling her that although I am working my butt off to get on the right track health wise I wonder what type of damage has already been done.

I was poked in 5 different spots to draw blood and "find" a vein for my IV. I think I am allergic to the tape they use to keep the IV on and to keep the cotton ball in place after they draw blood (I thought I was peeling off the sticky gunk from the tape and it was my skin!). I have blisters on my feet from the race. I also have blisters on the back of my knees from my knee brace and around my waist from my running pants.

Although I look like a mess I feel pretty good considering I ran 13.1 miles yesterday and spent the night not sleeping in the hospital.

My upcoming 5Ks are gonna be a breeze!

Thanks again LaVonda for all your help both during and after! Thanks to Nikki and Mr. Buzz for coming to see me last night in the hospital! Thanks also to Nikki and Alan for taking Oriana to church this morning and bringing us dinner, then coming back again to bring Ori her doggy.

We are so lucky to have the friends we have here!

I forgot to talk about the hottest man I saw in the hospital. He was the one who brought my daughter to see me, brought me clean undies and a toothbrush, communicated my condition to everyone, fixed me lunch, had a banner hung for me congratulating me on the race (before he knew I was sick), let me take a long afternoon nap today and just gave me the best footrub ever!

My how time flies...about two nanoseconds later I was pregnant with Jocie!

Weigh Day Week 12

2008-04-28T08:19:00.000-04:00

Goal: Lose baby weight + 30 lbs

Achieved so far: Baby weight is gone!

Pre-pregnancy weight: 221.0

Weight last week: 206.8

Current weight: 207.0

Weight loss/gain since last week: +0.2

TOTAL WEIGHT LOST (not including baby weight): -14.0

Funny thing, I am relieved. I was worried that last weeks weight loss was a fluke, that maybe I was dehydrated or the scale was wrong or something. But I've managed to pretty much keep that four pounds off for a week and that makes me H to the A to the P-P-Y!

We had a glorious weekend!

Friday was daddy's first official three day weekend. He has been put on a Monday through Thursday schedule now and will be home on Friday's.

We took Jocie to the dermatologist to get her birth mark checked out, then ended up going to Fiesta Time for dinner. I pigged out. I ate both of my Quesadilla Fajitas, all of my rice, tons of chips and salsa, and a few scoops of Ori's beans. But hey, I passed on the margarita(s).

In my defense I did work up an appetite on the treadmill doing the 15 incline for 40 minutes at 2.7 miles an hour. My ankle was hurting a little so I didn't want to run and man, cranking that incline up sure gets the sweat pouring!

Octavio got out and ran too. He was pretty bummed about not running the Mini Marathon but it was definitely for the best as far as his knee is concerned. There's always next year baby! By then I'll be able to keep up with you (yeah right!)

Saturday Octavio was my garage sale chauffeur. We drove around quite a bit and of course hit the jackpot at the last place we decided to stop at. Seriously among my first seven sales on Amazon I sold a video game for $39.00 (paid 2.57) and a DVD for $29.99 (paid $1.87). I'm back!

We spent Saturday afternoon doing one of my favorite workout routines - cleaning the house. Octavio took off the storms and put the screens in and I fixed up my office and organized all my "new-to-me" merchandise.

When we sat down to our healthy dinner (chicken/spinach brats with peppers and onions) I asked my husband if he knew whether or not the Kentucky Derby Festival Balloon Race ever happened. It was postponed Saturday morning due to the weather. A couple minutes later I opened the blinds in the dining room and WOW what a sight!

The pic is a view from our front porch!

Since we were already outside we decided to go for a walk...

I got up early Sunday and was running outside by 7:20 a.m.! Go me and thanks babe for waking me up!

I got 650 crunches in this week and really worked out my arms too!

It is amazing what a difference crunches and weight lifting make in my running! I feel like I am much more balanced and I definitely can tell that my posture is improving. My arms really get pumping at the end of my run and carry me to the finish.

*pause for funny story*

Sometimes Ori gets a little heat rash after playing outside. It seems to be worse with certain sunscreens. When she came inside the other day her arm started itching and I told her it was a little heat rash. Almost immediately she started crying. Once I got her to calm down a bit I asked her what was wrong...

She thought I said she was a hot mess and for some reason that freaked her out! :)

Challenge:

Reflect -

Spend a moment or two thinking about how far you've come on your own journey on the Highway to Health. Post a little comment telling the rest of us about it...

...and don't forget to show me some love!

Why this challenge? Thinking about the Mini Marathon got me thinking...I am going to spend some time tonight going through some blogs from the past year or so. Ill post more tomorrow!

"The More You Lose...

2008-04-25T08:51:00.000-04:00

...the fatter you feel."

My dad said this to me last weekend.

As someone how lost quite a bit of weight (and has done a good job of keeping it off) I know he understands the ups and downs of weight loss. He knows it's a struggle. He knows the benefits outweigh the sucky parts.

When I first heard him say that I immediately agreed with him. It was kind of like one of those "a-ha" moments because I knew I was feeling something but couldn't put it to words.

However, the more I have thought about that statement this week, the more I realize that statement is close to what I am feeling, but not right on.

I guess I would say it more like this...

"The more I lose, the more I expect myself to look thinner than I actually do."

Does that make sense at all?

I see the weight drop on the scale and I feel it in some of my clothes but when I look in the mirror I still seem to see the old me.

I am sure there are some body image issues that come with losing weight. I have made my appointment to see my doctor in a few weeks to get my blood drawn and to talk with him about my weight loss. I will probably then take the next step and find someone to talk to professionally.

I don't have an eating disorder or major issues or anything like that but getting healthy is as much of a tough experience as it is a rewarding experience. I am losing a person I have known almost my whole life and sometimes I miss her.

I don't miss her enough to invite her for dinner though :)

Challenge:

Stole this from an email I got this morning from Sparkpeople.com

Bridge-Ups

Lie with arms at sides, feet on floor, knees bent. Press into heels.

EXHALE: Slowly lift hips off of floor toward ceiling, squeezing the glutes.

INHALE: Return to starting position.

Special Instructions: Squeeze glutes through entire rep. Try not to let butt touch ground when lowering between reps.

Body Benefit: Look good coming and going

Weekend Challenge:

Spring is here y'all - get your butt outside and PLAY!

Something New for Thursdays

2008-04-24T07:29:00.000-04:00

First off, how'd you all do on the challenge?

Octavio actually came home and reminded me I had a challenge to complete!

All I got to say is one down, 199 to go :)

For some time now I have been trying to think of something new to add to the mix throughout the week. I toyed around with the idea of having a "Dear Healthy Chelle" day or a "Guest Blogger" day but neither seemed right.

After much thought I have decided Thursday will be...

* DRUM ROLL *

Comments of the Week !!

From now on I will use Thursdays as the day I showcase and respond to some of my favorite comments from the four days prior (Friday of the week before and Monday through Wednesday).

I will choose five comments each week. Kind of a Letterman's Top 10 meets World News Tonight's Person of the Week. Don't get upset if I didn't choose your comment this week. There's always next week so keep on showing me love!

(Some are just excerpts from a longer comment.)

Here goes y'all -

Ashleigh said...
You're incredible, I'm so happy for you and proud of how commited you are. I would have quit a long time ago, but thats the laziness in me! Ori's outfit is....cute! haha. She is getting so big! We need to come and see you all again soon. I'm looking forward to another week of blogs, I don't know what to do with myself on the weekends! :-D

This comment brought a little tear to my eye. Ashleigh, I really have felt a true connection with you the last few times we have been together. I think you are an amazing aunt to the girlies and I love the direction of relationship is going. It made me feel nice to know that you are excited when Monday rolls around and you can "read me" again.

Cheri said...
Wow. I don't know what to say, I'm so impressed by your will power, it makes me want to throw on some workout clothes and run down Miller Rd.

I enjoy reading your encouraging words, Cheri. You do a great job of making me feel special by always letting me know how something I said impacted you. I mean who in their right mind would even consider running down Miller Road? :) I am really hoping you can make it to the run in July. If not, I'll just have to figure out another race to do with you! P.S. I am hoping to figure out a way to meet up when you come this way!

Susan said...
That is fantastic! I can't wait to tell Michael our challenge. I think he will be very excited! I bet the Horrar couple surpasses 200 every couple of months. LOL. You go girl!

Susan, you crack me up. Hope you and Michael got the opportunity to do the challenge! I appreciate your comments both on and off of this blog. I look forward to getting a chance to meet for coffee and discuss plans for the next Healthy Chelle Giveaway! You're on to something! P.S. LaVonda, who you kiddin'? You know you guys do it like 200 times a week!

Leigh Ann said...
So glad you and the hubby got to run together! The couple who runs together, stays together!

Ain't that the truth, Leigh? It doesn't have to be running but it's got to be something! I love how you are always doing something with Michael. Taking a walk together, playing with Jakob, going to Karate. Your strong sense of love for your husband reminds me of me!

Leslie said...
GREAT JOB!!! OH MY 4.4 lbs!! WHOOOOO HOOO! AYE CARAMBA! (I don't know how to spell it, sound it out and see if you know what I am saying) haha. YOU ARE INCREDIBLE!! I'm so glad this week really paid off for you. I think you worked really hard this week, especially to be sick.

So Leslie can't actually comment on here because she reads these from work and only actually gets to read my blogs because I email them to her directly. The comment above was never posted on the actual blog but was sent to me privately. The cool thing about reading Leslie's comments is that I can hear her voice when I read them. Les, you always have such enthusiasm and are so quick to compliment and encourage me. I cherish our friendship!

This was fun! Not only did I get to go back through and re-read a weeks worth of encouraging comments, I also read each blog. It felt good to reflect on my feelings even if they were from just a few days ago.

I look forward to doing it again next week!

A few other things...

Ori is signed up for T-ball! (I feel bad posting this, Leigh, because I know you want Jakob to play!!) The baptist church in our neighborhood had a sign out front, so I inquired. I believe Ori's BFF Elena is going to be signed up to play too and they'll be on the same team. How cute!

In the process of signing Ori up for T-ball I found out that the church has a coed adult team and they were still looking for players! I guess they have one team formed already and about half of a second team. I am so excited and hope they get enough people so that the second team is a go. Our church used to have a team but couldn't get enough girls to commit last year so they stopped playing.

I also found out they play indoor volleyball somewhere. I am dying to play that to and am waiting to hear a word back!

AND

My friend Nikki sent an email about a mom's soccer class where they teach you the fundamentals of the game. Although I can only pick one sport right now and softball is at the top of my list I look forward to pursuing this opportunity in the future. Then, maybe my husband won't feel like all he is doing is chasing my bad kicks!

Anyone out there got a summer sport?

Challenge:

Reverse Crunches - these were tough!

Lie on your back, bend your knees, and lift your feet until your thighs are perpendicular to the floor.
Cross your ankles and keep your arms at your sides and your palms on the floor.
Relax your shoulders and, keeping your head and back on the floor, contract your ab muscles as you slowly lift two to four inches off the floor.
Hold for a count of two. Lower and repeat 10 times! WOWZA!

I'm SO Going There

2008-04-23T09:03:00.000-04:00

According to Dr. Oz, how often should you have sex?

a) Once a week
b) Twice a week
c) 10 times a month
d) 200 or more times a year

The answer...D!!

That means having sex every 1.825 days! Any of you doing this?

This article I found on Forbes.com lists many benefits to a healthy sex life, including:

Improved sense of smell
Reduced risk of heart disease
Weight loss
Overall fitness
Reduced risk of depression
Pain relief
Less frequent colds and flu
Better bladder control
Healthy teeth
A happy prostate

Take the time to read both articles. They are very interesting!

What brought this up for me today?

We moved Jocie into her own crib last night. No more sleeping in our bedroom! It makes me both happy and sad but mostly happy :)

We are going to spend some money over the next month or so turning our bedroom into a place that we desire to be. Right now it is very boring, very plain, very stale, and very much not getting used :)

Taking this quiz helped us to figure out what kind of bedroom we need and reading this article helped us to identify some key MUST HAVES for our new room.

Can't wait until I can show you all a different sort of before and after pic, that of our bedroom!

Challenge:

Take a guess :)

If you are in a monogamous relationship, work on getting to 200!

If not, 25 jumping jacks (sorry) :)

Chasing Shadows

2008-04-22T09:08:00.000-04:00

* I had every intention of getting this blog posted before 9 a.m. but for some reason my daughter seems to want to catch up on all the hissy fits she thinks she missed out on in her third year on earth. Pray for me...actually, you might want to pray for her. *

Man, yesterday I had 5 friends leave comments who have never left one before! That really feels great! I have said it before and I'll say it again - it is reader support that keeps me consistent and honest. I need you so that I can get healthy! Thanks friends!

If you are a new reader and are interested in finding out more about the race in Michigan on July 12th and the training for that race, which begins May 19th, READ THIS!

Now, to bloggin' -

I was on fire yesterday after my weigh in. I mean seriously, 4.4 pounds! Ali who?

Every moment that wasn't consumed with a child or housework was used to burn some calories or tone some muscle.

Here's what I did -

150 crunches (25 during every commercial while watching Dr. Phil) :) I know, I know
25 push ups (not in a row)
About 20 minutes of training with my 5 lb weights
2.8 miles of running

My dad left a comment yesterday saying that when my mom got down under 200 lbs that's when she really started to pick it up. I can't wait to get there!

I love that it seems like everyone around me is catching the fever!

My cousin Kristol is only 1/2 lb away from being under 200!
Kellie and Dave began training last night!
When I called my parents they had just finished running a practice 5k, that hilly one I showed you all yesterday!

I am not saying that I made them all do this but I just feel like I might be encouraging others. That feels better than any 4.4 loss week.

Today I am going to work out on the ball with some training on www.youtube.com/sparkpeople

I'll be sure to fill you in on that tomorrow!

When I began my run yesterday I was right behind this other runner. I admit I was checking her out and comparing myself to her. She was fairly thin, looked pretty athletic, and had a cute bouncy ponytail.

The sun was to my back - the other runner was my shadow.

I used to hate that part of my run - the beginning - when my shadow is right in front of me, magnifying my shape and reminding me of what I look like.

Yesterday I fell in love with her.

Funny, on the run back to the house the sun was in my face and that other runner was behind ME, chasing ME.

She wishes :)

Challenge :

Lunges!

Stand with your arms at your sides and step forward with your right leg. Bend your knees and lower your back knee towards the floor until your right thigh is parallel to the floor. Keep your right heel down and your right knee directly over your ankle. Tighten your abs and push through the front heel back to the starting position. Repeat with the opposite leg.

Do 10 reps on each side!

Baby J says YOU CAN DO IT!