I made my GOAL...

....as in my GOAL WEIGHT.

Yes, I am officially starting the maintanence stage during my Weight Watchers journey. I started my weight journey in late-August and hoping to get to my goal weight before my birthday in November. Well, my body had other plans and took its time to lose the last 5 pounds.

Becoming a vegetarian has really helped, I have a lot of water weight gone and made a difference. Plus the best part is that I LOOK SMOKING HOT! I can not wait for bikini season this summer and encouraged to keep it during the rest of the winter into the spring. The half-marathon and marathon training will really, really help during this time.

I am so proud of myself and can not wait to continue to succeed. I know that I can also get faster and faster this spring and smoke it on the race circuit. It is going to be my year. I can feel it.

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Day two of vacation

And I feel SO relaxed. I am enjoying this feeling. I have not felt this way in a while. It feels great!

I slept in again for another morning - not much, but still counts. Josh and I finished cleaning up our apartment for our guests. He's heading to his own guy's only party while tonight I will heading off to my girl's only birthday celebration. My birthday is only 5 days away.

As you see on my Traineo widget, I took off another 2 lbs and getting closer to my goal weight. I don't think I will make it before my birthday, but I will be close. I will be happy when I get there. I feel great with the less weight. I feel it when I am running. I feel lighter and faster. I feel sexy and toned. I love the way I look in my new clothes. Look out, H &M! Here I come!

I plan to get a little cardio in. Mostly walking, but will head to the gym for 30 minutes or so of high intensity cardio too.



Plus it's NaBloPoMo TIME!

Please also pray for Ryan Shay's family as they deal with their loss.

One great day of things going well....

First, I ran 4 miles with Josh today in a little colder weather compared to Thursday. I dressed a little bit warmer and did very well. I had to make sure Josh was pacing me instead of running ahead of me since he still has his 20 mile attempt tomorrow.

Second, remember these shorts from a previous post?

Well, I can FINALLY fit into them perfectly.

It feels SO damn good. I lost another 1.6 lbs on WW and feel great. 13 lbs to go! I even can fit into my "skinny" work pants again after 2 months. Whoohoo!

Lastly, I receive a semi-promotion this week at work. I will be one of the MEB Baton Master Instructors who will shape new officers' minds as they learn to use one. I will receiving official training on October 4th and teaching my first class on October 16th.

4 mile run
40:29
10:06/mile pace - Great pace considering I added one more mile to my usual run!

Mile 1 - 10:09
Mile 2 - 10:07
Mile 3 - 9:53
Mile 4 - 10:16

Day off.. (Well sort of!)

Well, my extra day off started off on a bad note - woken up instead of SLEEPING by an employee who had a very stupid question that should have been taken care of on their own. This caused me to stay awake and inspired me to get my ASS in the gym for 3 miles on the treadmill.

But the chiropractor came first. He fixed me up - well sort of. The right shin still is a little too tender to massage the scar tissue. He used ultrasound to help with the healing until I have to come back next Monday for some torture. I broke out in a cold sweat just looking at what I will face next week. It's a lot smaller than the tool he usually uses, but it's still very scary.

After the chiropractor visit, it was OFF TO THE GYM! I cranked out a great 3 miles to start my 10K training. Then it was off to the weights where all of the magic has helped to be as strong as I have been. Plus it has helped me to lose another pound since today's my weigh-in day. Down 2 pounds - 15 nasty pounds to go!

After I finished my workout and showered (I did not want to SMELL - eeewww!), I met Josh where we went for lunch and then off to the Chicago History Museum for 2 hours (leaving right when they close). It looked like it was about to rain so we took the bus and then train back toward home with a stop at the grocery store first.

Now it's relaxation time. Tomorrow starts a short work week.

Today's run
3 miles
34:57
11:39/mile

This is why sunburns SUCK!

I had to give up holiday pay to stay home and nurse this. I had trouble sleeping last night. Note to self: bring extra sunscreen with you and wear a hat. I learned a very valuable lesson with this.

But on the positive side, I lost 1.2 lbs on my 1st week on Weight Watchers. I feel good about that. I am so glad that there's something positive to say about that.

I feel SO good

....because I just finished my third 3-mile run on the treadmill. I did it! I felt SO good and the time just FLEW by. I did not struggle at all. My legs were so loose. I have no pain in my legs or feet at all. It is SO great. I have not felt this good in a long time. My last two runs have been terrific!

Wednesday's run
3 miles
37:16
12:25/mile

TODAY's run
3 miles
36:44
12:14/mile

I can not believe it. On top of that, I have lost THREE POUNDS in the last 9 days. A majority of the weight loss was due to the end of the witch's monthly visit, but I still feel GREAT because I am running again. I have a motivation to get into these new pair of H&M shorts that I bought two weeks ago. They were much easier to button and zip up today, but they still tight in most places. I know that I have a few more pounds to lose in order to wear them. I know that I can do it!

Running does not just need motivation

It's my dieting that A LOT of motivation too. In fact, since I have not running (and moved in with Josh too), I have gained (GULP!) UGLY, NASTY 15 lbs. I have ballooned to 159 lbs. I had to go to my "fat work pants" on Friday - as pair of size 14 pants (normally 10-12 size). I fought myself to get out of it, but I had to. I could not take the pain and discomfort anymore. (I am known as the "lightweight" at work.) It has been YEARS since I have been this heavy. In fact, I lost 50 lbs over 4 1/2 years ago when I was on Weight Watchers after the birth of my daughter (and diabetes threatening me too!)

I used to look like this! (SO sorry for the poor photo quality!)

I know look like this. I can totally see the weight in my face.

I am determined more than ever to get rid of this weight once and for all. After my mom's wedding, I will be going back on Weight Watchers with Josh. We have to motivate ourselves together. My goal weight is 140 lbs - the weight I was in the first picture, but I will hopefully have more muscle tone since I am a runner. I need the speed as well. I know that I am an emotional/boredom eater. I need to find something else to take that time to prevent me from making the same mistakes again.

I feel great after being in the gym 5 days this past week. I am determined to do that again this week too. I am happy with how the running is going. My legs feel great afterwards. My feet still need to slightly adjust to the orthodics, but I know I am feeling the results to effort. I just wish it would COOL DOWN so I can run outside safety without overheating or having to run BEFORE work (4 am - HELL NO!).

My goal is to take the weight off (or most of it) before my 33rd birthday on November 8th. I want to make it happen!

Good luck all of the CDC runners tomorrow. I will be out there with a BIG sign cheering you on....somewhere!