Update :)

We'll I'm off the weightloss journey for now. I'm pregnant :) So Ella or Ian will be joining us in late Feb. or early March. So the journey is a different one. The cool thing is that I'm entering this pregnancy without being on any type of medication. My bloodpressure has been under control for the last year from working out (medication free) so it's been well worth the time and effort to be as healthy as I can be. We ran the Chicago Shuffle in March and that was amazing. Then we ran a local race in May, which was another amazing feat. I love running. Life is good. Working out is good.

Chris and I just got back from Quebec City from a music festival. We got to see some major bands and had a blast. We saw Black Eye Peas on Friday and Rammstein on Sunday. Quebec City is just an amazing place. Sorry I missed you Anji...did I tell you how much I love Canadians? It was great to see concerts without the fist fighting that we usually see hear in the states.

Next challenge is a biking trip in September. We are going with a group of friends at Boyne Mountain to complete a 46 mile trip. Chris and I have been training for it and he's getting a new road bike in August. I love hanging with a group of friends that challenge you to be better people. We have a great circle going right now, spread across the state. In fact, we haven't had an available weekend, in, well, forever. Life is a lot of fun...and it's only bound to get better, isn't it?

It's always good to check things out...

Lately, I've been focusing on two things. Making it through the 8K in March and then our trip out west in May. It struck Chris the other day that he should check on his vacation time because he assumed he was getting 3 weeks this year. Well, thank goodness he did because he found out that he will not be getting 3 until next year. Bummer! So needless to say, going to California, Washington, and Oregon are out this year. That threw us both for a loop. After some brainstorming, we decided that we are going to go to Germany for Oktoberfest. We have been wanting to go abroad but haven't so we figured this is the time in our life to do this before we settle down and actually try to have kids. It is a little bit of a bummer because the training has been good but hey, I like the back up plan. Meine Duetsch ist nicht so gut but maybe it can get better...lol...Germany here we come :)

Feeling good...

I'm up to 4 miles running, nonstop! My pace averages between 9.33-11 for a mile, which is awesome for me. I'm seeing a ton of changes in my body since adding in the running and just feel good. I look forward to my running days. We're at the gym six days a week, which is amazing for us. Though, we don't have hard bodies yet changes are occurring. I just took some measurements and they are looking good. I'm still attending WW meetings for my "therapy" though I'm carb cycling and the results are great. Energy level is good and I'm never hungry.

Life continues to be awesome but busy. Finding a balance is hard when you are having as much fun as we are. We kind of need to slow down but it's winter so it's nice to hang out with people when we would normally hibernate. I can't imagine what summer is going to look like with our schedule. I'm sure we will find a balance because one could never have too much fun, right?

Congrats to Chris, he is a Godfather! Isn't that awesome? We're excited to see our friends new baby next month but what an honor for him. He'll make an awesome godfather. Chris is also enjoying his new job and 12 minute commute. It's amazing because I get to come home to a home cooked meal every night. Like I said, life is good :)

I think I have it right now...

It is funny that losing weight is more mental game for me than anything. It's like all of a sudden things that I learned during the last year has finally clicked for me. I am having my "ah ah" moment which is amazing. It's all coming together. I can put together a full body workout, I can run, I can set my day up for success by packing a breakfast and a lunch, and I can say "no" and not be tempted to go off course because I know my goal now. It's clear and simple. I am going to lose the weight, I am going to run 5 miles but starting out slow and increasing my mileage. This week I did something that I have never done before, I ran two miles straight without stopping. By no means was I fast but my goodness, the feeling of utter success after running 14 laps is AMAZING! The funny thing that I do at the end of my lap is I put my hands in the air and do a little shout of "woo hooo" at the end, like I am running through a finish line and that is funny probably to watch but it so completes how I feel at the moment. It's working and I'm loving every minute of it. I'm also a lot happier in life right now. It's just a great spot in my life and I'm not taking anything for granted. Life is good!

Resolutions!!!

Okay, we are loving this new year. Really, we are. People should not be having this much enjoyment in their life like we are. We are having fun, major fun so with the new year, here are my resolutions...

1. Finish the 8K that we signed up for with our friends. We're going to do the 8K Shamrock Shuffle in Chicago so we would like to train and complete it.
2. Continue to have as much fun as we are having now! Enjoy life!
3. Save at least $8K for home repairs.
4. Hit Yosemite this Spring and not get eaten by a bear.
5. Hit goal weight, which is 155.

The new lifestyle is working out. I'm down 9lbs. It's rocking and I'm looking great as you can see :) Yup, it feels good to have a structured plan again. This is what I have been missing for a long time. Chris just found out that he is getting transfer to the office that is 10 minutes from our house and it's a promotion so life is AMAZING right now!

Resolutions Review

Year end goal review:

Okay so I made some resolutions on January 1st so now it's December 30th so lets review how well I did. Resolution 1: Take another Move it to Lose It course in the spring. Keep on getting in shape so that when I get pregnant I will be a healthy mom. Review: I didn't take another move it to lose it class but we personally trained with Ryan at least 3 times a month plus I took the woman's workout class that was amazing! With working out so much I was able to get off my blood pressure medication. As for losing weight for a potential pregnancy, I'm not too focused on that right now. Having too much fun...way too much fun....to buckle down just yet.

2. Make it to Colorado or Utah for a back packing trip Review: We did it! Hiked some challenging trails and had a blast.

3. Balance healthy work hours so that we have family time Review: Doing better, at least 75% better. It just depends on the time of year but my priority is Chris.

4. Have a spending freeze so we can have major $$$ in our savings Review: Yeah, we need to work on this.

5. Replace the remaining windows in our home, thin some of the trees in the back yard so we can have a pergola on our hill (that is a picture of a possible one at Costco. Review: Nope, didn't happen but we are schedule to get 5 new windows in February.

6. Maybe getting established in a church. Review: Nope. I don't know if we will do this either.

7. Reconnecting with old friends/Making new friends. Narrative: Reconnected with some old friends which was awesome. Got rid of some unhealthy friends too! Bye Bye emotionally exhausting people, there is no room in our lives for you. We are totally making some new friends, which is awesome. It's nice to have people in your life who are just good people. We're having a blast and our social life has increased by 100%. Infact, we're spending the new years when some new friends so it's going great in this area.

So overall, pretty darn good! Stay turned for next years resolutions!!!!

Getting back the motivation!

Okay, I was in denial for a while there...maybe even a couple of years but things are working again and the motivation is there to eat right again. The motivation has been there for the last year for the working out but eating healthy is the other key to success. No matter how much excercising you may do, eating like crap is not going to balance it out. My new motivation is like saying hello to an old friend and I'm welcoming it back with open arms. I'm feeling terrific on the new plan and it's fitting well into our lifestyle. We're both seeing some super results. That rocks!

So one thing that I always found motivating is posting a picture of an outfit that I want to fit into. Last year, I picked out a pair of shorts. Okay, so I didn't have a good plan last year but this year, it is crystal clear. I have the tools to do what I want and need right now. I'm doing well at creating my workouts in the morning. I'm doing a run/walk right now for the HIIT part of the workouts and I'm going to step it up a bit after the new years. So here's the new outfit, a size 10 patagonia capris and a tank. Watch out...I'm getting things in gear again. The eating well and working out will help a ton because we have a major trip planned next year for back packing and we want to be in the best shape ever. If I keep this motivation, we will be there!

It's working for me...

Down 5lbs from three weeks ago! Nice! I'm still holding strong with the new eating plan. There has only been a few times when I have been hungry but so far so good. I'm still attending WW meetings for the support though because I need to keep focused with my goals.

On a positive note, my dad is cancer free! That is the best wish that anyone in my family could ask for. His PSA test came back normal. Yeah for dad!

Took a snow day...

Snow days are terrific. Especially in December when the first snow hits. I'm just lounging today which is a terrific thing because I don't usually do that. I've been decorating the tree here and there today but mostly fooling around and doing nothing (yeah, that's terrific!). The carb cyclingis doing awesome! My body is really responding well to it. I'll keep you posted on the weight.

I'm back...

Fourth day in and I'm loving it. Eating every 3-4 hours is really working and the scale is heading down. The only bummer is that I don't get to weigh in on Saturday but I will have to wait a week because I can't attend the meeting :( things are back in a routine and it feels great. It also feels good to be losing again. Nothing is worse than being in denial about your weight. I've been in denial since May. Hopefully this is a step in the right direction.

Not tearing anyones head off...

Usually when I switch things up my body hollers @ me "like what are you doing to me?". It hasn't happened yet. I had a killer workout today too. I'm doing full body 3x per week w/ 15 minutes of cardio and the other days just cardio using the HIIT method where you are doing more of an interval training. The food is going good, I'm eating 5 small mini meals throughout the day. Tonight I made a killer turkey burger with spinach, feta, and red onion. It was delicious! Chris did great on the plan today because he had a big luncheon with some senators today and ge opted to ear healthy! Way to go Chris :) here's to another strong day.

Does this fall into the category of fad dieting?

We've been having so much fun lately that the weightloss side of me got pushed aside so it took a while to get back on plan. After a lot of thinking about switching things up, Chris and I decided to try out carb cycling. Our friends have been doing it for four weeks with a ton of success and it seems like it is up our alley. We are doing the workouts but the nutrition has been so sloppy lately that we are begginng for some structure nutrition wise in our life. So would this count as a fad diet? Looking back, I lost a lot of my weight when I was making the egg white omelets in the morning. I haven't done that in years so maybe this system will help. I'm open to new ideas at this point. We eat every 3 hours, this is the 1sy day, no hunger pains, and I'm not tearing anyone a new one yet...I'll let you know how it goes!

Schedule...

Okay, lately it seems like our structure is somewhat out the window lately and we are looking to firm it up. Getting to the gym earlier for my power/strength class is really wearing on me. Who would have thought adjusting my schedule by 45 minutes would make such a difference but it does. I'm still learning to adjust but man it's been a rough week. We're also having our schedules vary of when we get home. There are days that we are getting home on time and then there are days we are getting home late. So it's all about firming things up this week :) we can do it, we just need a plan. As for eating healthier we our new sets of friends, we did! We hit the symphony on Friday and went out for one drink afterward :) which is better than getting more to drink or ordering appetizers. Yup, we can make healthier choices around new friends.

How to be healthier when socializing???

So all of a sudden we are totally busy. We have been extremely social lately so the nutrition needs to really get firmed up. We are eating out a bit much and our old rule of eating out once per week has fallen by the wayside. So how do you create a balance? Any ideas especially when you are meeting new people? We need to work on this :)
With meeting new people I got hooked up with a new weightloss buddy too. It's kind of nice to have someone at the meeting you know that will be there so there's no excuse to skip. On another weightloss front, I joined a strength training class at the YMCA. I'll let you all know how it goes. The only downfall is that it starts at 5:00 am. Eek!

My old website is going...

I almost forgot that my old weightloss page is going offline in two days. When I started to write it was 1999. I was in my second year of grad school, poor, overweight, dating sluggy, miserable with some parts of myself, and determined to meet my goal. Look at me now, 10 years later, I got an awesome life. Great husband, my parents are stll alive, I have a job, and I'm healthier now more than ever plus I'm comfortable in my own skin. The web was exploding with journals and I thought what the heck why not put one out there myself. I lovEd that page. My enteries were inspiring, I really put my all into it. I got to meet cool people like my girl Anji who I hope to meet in real life one day, made amends with someone I did wrong in high school, and basic got awesome support from others. Though there were a few downfalls like a former client finding my page and eventually stalker but I learned some important lessons like "don't assume you are anonymous on the web" because people can find you and "don't put anything out there you wouldn't want your enemy to know out there". But it's been worth it. I hope oneday this page could but half as good as the old site. Geocities my hosting site is shutting down on the 26th of October. I hope I get time to back it up but if not at least it leaves me with some great memories and a sense of accomplishment on who I have become. So here's to the next 10 blogspot and I hope we are both around!

Now I understand why I didn't wear that sweater...

Have you ever had a top that you haven't worn in forever just to wear it to then get the aha moment of "so that's why I stopped wearing that"? That was me today. It's been about two years since wearing that top and it totally made me semigrumpy because I know that it wasn't the most flattering top. I've been encountering that a lot lately since bringing out the fall clothes. I started a small box of clothes that I need to drop off at goodwill or Salvation Army. The stuff needs to go! The old me would just hold onto the item but lately I have been somewhat mindful of getting the clutter out if my life. It feels good so goodbye icky sweater that makes look like a total pear :)

Did I mention how fab the IPhone is?

Okay, I cannot stress how much I love the weight watchers application. It is simply AMAZING! I logged my points all week so I had a super week last week. It's quick and easy. I should have had this phone a long time ago! Oh well, I have it now.

Chris and I celebrated our five year wedding anniversary. Chris is an amazing husband and our relationship keeps on growing. He's a terrific guy and I love him dearly. I'm very fortunate to have such a man in my life. So here's to many more years of happiness :) We went to Frankenmuth for the anniversary and it was terrific. We had a great room, hit a brewery, and then hit Zehnders for their "famous chicken dinner". They had free drinks at the hotel and I had two beers so it knocked me off my butt! I'm not a drinker, I usually eat my calories so I was surprised to see how smashed I got on 2 beers. Yeah, that was something. I'm a lightweight now. Then on Saturday we got together with our wild friends and hung out with them. We ended up going to a charity basketball with them which was awesome because some college kids were playing against all the local coaches. All I can say is that the college kids were amazing. We were supposed to go to a party with them but we got to the party and the house was all dark so we found out the get together was cancelled. The company is always good so that didn't matter.

My dad finished his radiation treatment last week so everyone send him some positive thoughts. He did well during the treatment so hopefully the cancer is gone. We'll find out more in January so we'll take it day by day. My dad is amazing man so hopefully everything will be good. I believe it will.

Felt spot on today...

So maybe I am getting back into the swing of things. Day 2 of logging all the food. One thing I've noticed about tracking is that it keeps me so accountable with what I put in my mouth. Like today I was so tempted to stop at Jimmy Johns to pick up a Turkey Tom sub but I weighed my pros/cons and opted for an apple, protein bar, and some butternut squash soup. That was a much better choice not only financially but health wise too.

I finally broke down and got my own iPhone. I love it! The weight watchers application is amazing. It's helped me a great deal this week so far. When I eat, I log...no excuses so far. What put ne over the edge about getting my own phone is that my favorite radio stations got switched over to sport talk radio and there's only so much NPR I can put up with because it tends to repeat itself in the morning and evening. Pandora is amazing. Goodbye regular radio!

Nice...

Awesome day today. Not only did I count all my points but my attitude is back in the weightloss mode. The icing on the cake today is that professionally I got asked to be the regional coach of the therapy technique that I specialize in. Which is totally awesome because it's a huge state thing! So I'm not a big fish in a little pond but a good sized fish in the big pond. I've been working really hard at being the best I can be in this therapy and it's really shown in my work. So here's to a good day! Let's keep them coming :)

Having trouble coming up with a snazzy title...

Very unoriginal, I know but I'm having trouble with coming up with a title. I think the running theme in my life for the past year is getting back on track. How do you do that when you go off slightly? It's like, how do you veer back over to get into the right path? My old friend noted that she thinks that I've been lost for a few years. Maybe I am...I don't know. But are you lost when you are happy with the majority of things in your life? I know it sounds strange but when one is lost, I tend to think that they are confused, unhappy, but I tend to think that I just don't have a path right now. Maybe I just don't know what I want with things. It's not like I am in limbo but my goals are unclear. I used to be a type of person that would have this type of goals like "I want to save money to pay off..." (did that), "I want to go back to the gym" (did that/doing that), and "I want to lose weight" (got partial of it off). But what are my goals now? I don't know. It seems lately my goals is "make it to the weekend" mentality. Trying to keep in the moment but looking forward to that down time so I can enjoy my husband, family, cats, home, and new friends. Having 3.5 hours a night before bed time just stinks. The other night, I got home at 5:15 and I thought it was the most wonderful thing. I got to cook from scratch, organize my pantry, and relax. I haven't done that in months. I want to do that more. Maybe that's a goal to have. Maybe I just need to target things more realistically, get specific but it's like I can't right now because I don't exactly know where to go. Things are good but they can be better but then there are always those forces that we can't control.

Things are going excellent for us. We did our yearly pilgrimage to Amana. It was awesome as usual where Chris and I rested and relaxed. We sprung for the condo and it was well worth the money. It was so nice to just chill out, sit on the couch, and hit the festival whenever we wanted. Our social life is continuing to pick up. It's nice to be hanging out with decent people again. We're hitting a museum today and lunch, then tonight we're going out to a barbecue with the other friends. We call our one friends our "Frasier friends" because they are highly intelligent, love to travel, and cultured. Then we have our "wild friends" and oh, are they wild. Which is awesome because I don't think I've ever hung out with people like them but they are a hoot. We're constantly laughing around them. So we're doing better in the social department. Now, we just have to tackle the personal goals...yeah, it will happen but I just need to get back on the right path. I'm patient.