NEW BLOG!

For like the 4 people that actually read my blog, you already know that triathlon training came to a hault when I found out I was knocked up. Hehehe. So instead of losing weight and running a triathlon....priorities have switched over to trying to be healthy and grow a human! :)

New blog:
http://stephanieandadambaby.blogspot.com

See ya there!

Week 9, Day 36

Kirstie Alley, Oprah....Stephanie O'Neill....

On the wagon, off the wagon, on the wagon, off the wagon.....

Fatty-bo-batty has taken over for the last few days. Still been making it to the gym for the most part but stuffing my face every chance I get with the worst kind of garbage....will power weak....not exactly the life adjustment I was hoping for. So shame on me....

On a positive note - been working out still, even though I haven't been writing:

Week 8, Day 32 - 1500 yd swim and indoor soccer on 2/23/10
Week 8, Day 33 - TurboKick class on 2/23/10
Week 8, Day 34 - RPM spin class on 2/24/10
Week 8, Day 35 - Body Attack class on 2/27/10

Since my shin splints are preventing me from running - I have decided to break up the routine with some classes - they are super high energy and help me with motivation and prevent me from getting bored with only swimming, biking and running.....and I walk out of them with my rear being kicked!!

Also on a positive side - caffeine free for 9 days!! Only been drinking water - and not a drop of alcohol....

Because I am a little discouraged by my continued bad habits, I have decided to not hand myself another poo sandwich by weighing and measuring myself this week....

We are now starting over with week 1 from the schedule we have been following - with more intensity and speed this time around!! Soccer tonight for workout #36.

53 days until triathlon!!!!! Yikes!!!

Week 8, Day 31

Ok....so I've made the plan to start improving my eating and make working out part of my weekly routine. It's going on two months since we started these changes and I'm still learning and figuring out what works and how to balance. I've discovered another change that is needed to ensure I'm successful...........cut out binge drinking. Not only does the extra 2000 calories from my friend, beer, hurt me, but the next day (and that night), I make horrible food choices and eat enough for a small army to help my hungover body recover. I can be crazy enough for sure and have tons of fun without getting drunk so I can try to sacrifice that next - baby steps.

Biked today - little less than 10 miles. Then headed to the track and was able to run 2 laps (little more than .25 miles) before shin splints about made me cry and unable to walk - no fun. Got home and since Adam and I would probably just keep driving on our snow covered driveway until the snow melted, I figured I would go ahead and shovel - and heck, burn some extra calories....my forearms are so tight, I can barely write or type....oh well.

Week 7, Day 30

Body Attack today - love love love that workout! I think I'm still set on making that my Saturday morning workout! I have felt great this morning and afternoon after doing it!

Patrick & Ariana's wedding reception tonight!!

Week 7, Day 29

Another early post today because I don't want to wait until later because I'm too excited! We swam yesterday - only about 1000 yards, but I was consistent and strong for about all of it! It felt great and I can definitely see an improvement in my swimming. After a week off from a routine workout schedule, I was quite proud of myself! I've been trying to get more comfortable on breathing on both sides, and it's kind of like dribbling a basketball for me - I can do both, but one side is more comfortable. Still working on that dang flip at the end of the lap - getting closer, but the amount of water that goes up my nose could quench the thirst of a small village....so still trying......

ALSO!!! Even though it hasn't been 4 weeks since my last weigh-in, I was curious to see how I had done, especially over vacation with the yummy Dominican food! So HAPPY!!! New weight - 173.2 lbs! That's down 2.4 lbs from my last weigh-in 2 and a half weeks ago and a total loss of 8 lbs! I didn't do all my measurements, but got a little curious and measured my waist too. New waist measurement - 31.5"! That's down another 1.5" from my last weigh-in with a total loss of 3.5" in my waist alone! My next weigh-in and measurement will be March 1st and I can't wait for the results of that.

Little less than 2 weeks ago, I was definitely having some motivation problems and eating and going to the gym were about the last things on my mind (haha, let me correct that....eating is always on my mind - I mean eating healthy wasn't on my mind) A loss of 8 lbs and getting closer to be in the 160s has definitely given my motivation a boost! Being down a dress size sure didn't hurt either!

Ok, ok...enough of the weight loss portion of this journey.....triathlon in 64 days!!! Lots of work to do!

Week 7, Day 28

Regular workouts will resume today, but I was too excited to wait and wanted to write an entry now!

Stef's wedding is in June and I'm so excited to be a bridesmaid for it. Since it's getting closer, I needed to order my dress and went last night to David's Bridal. I tried on dresses a few months ago to narrow down which one I wanted (Stef's letting us pick our own!) and had been trying on size 14......but I fit perfectly in a size 12 yesterday!!! Woohoo!!! If I lose even more weight before the wedding, alterations will be something I'll be very happy to pay for!!!

Week 6

Ok...just got back from Domincan Republic - life was rough for those few days...beach, sand, pool, sun, 80 degrees, swim-up bar......I'm talking ROUGH....

I did end up working out on 2/4 and 2/6 and twice during vacation on 2/12 and 2/13. I tried not to be a huge pig on vacation and there was a lot of walking and swimming so that helped to keep my butt moving some of the time. Now it's back to the swing of things. Before vacation, you can definitely call the path I was on - Fatty-bo-batty RELAPSE! I can blame it on being busy packing and getting ready to be gone for a week and the face we didn't have groceries or I didn't have time to work out....I could probably make a list of 100 things I told myself to justify why I was "behaving" before we left. So, back to training schedule and eating better. Being a fatty-bo-batty American in a one piece bathing on the beach with my thunder thighs and belly with gorgeous people all around - it helped motivate me a teensy bit. How many more months until summer?? Bring on the two pieces....I'll be ready!!

Week 7 will begin this week with workout #28.

67 days until trithatlon!!! EEEEEK!!!

Adam and I have already signed up. Jimmy is now signed up and friends, Tim and Meghan also signed up!!! So more like 3 guys, 2 girls and a triathlon!! Woot!

Week 5, Day 24

I'm being weak today....some serious eye situation going on - almost lead me to the ER in the middle of the night. So I'm on minimal sleep, went to doctor this morning and didn't end up getting to work until 10:45am. Ate a horrible breakfast and lunch (I'll spare the details b/c it's shameful!! but delicious) and I'm really not up for working out....and all I want to do at this moment is go to the vending machine with the single $1 I have in my wallet and buy a pack of plain M&Ms....I'm saving myself by typing this up now, rather than later tonight. I need to think - Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels. And those last 5.6 lbs sure did feel good, especially since I'm slowly starting to notice it. I also need to think....bathing suit in less than one week!! Eeek!!!! Not that skipping one bag of M&Ms will make me look like Gisele Bundchen, rather than those bodies on the cover of tabloids with the face blurred out with the text "Guess who let themselves go?" But with my bad choice in food yesterday and bad choices today so far....another bad choice might lead me to another and another and another....I'm sure you can't relate. HA!

I promise I will run with Adam and the puppy tonight in the neighborhood! I promise I will let someone else buy that delicious, wonderful, happy bag of M&Ms....and not let them near my mouth.....haha

Week 5, Day 23

I had a fatty-bo-batty kinda day. Co-worker brought homemade biscuits and sausage gravy...and who am I to offend by turning that done? Had to run an errand during lunch and I"m pretty sure Jimmy John himself was calling to me...and who can turn down good ol' Jimmy?

Ok....bad food day. Good workout though. Swam 2100 yards today (~1.2 miles). Did much better than Monday and I am feeling comfortable breathing on both sides. I can swim several laps with only taking about 4 breaths per 25 yards so it's definitely getting easier! So the workout may half cancel out my fatty-bo-battyish ways today??

I also did something that I have never done before in my entire life!!!!.....it's a secret....and NO, I didn't pee in the pool.....

Week 5, Day 22

Quote of the day: "Inside me lives a skinny woman crying to get out. But I can usually shut her up with cookies...."

Today was a good day. Encouraged by my 4 week results, I was motivated to eat a good breakfast and lunch. No 'official' workout today but I do have indoor soccer tonight - and that is definitely a high energy workout.

On a different note, I dreamt about the triathlon last night. I don't usually remember my dreams, but this one I could remember some vague details. The swim in the dream was at Riverplex, the gym I belong to now. The bike was indoor and it was an inflatable arena so everyone was moving very slow. There were food carts at different points of the race and I remember I stopped at one, put my bike on the back of someone's car (and just quit??) and helped myself to sliced roast beef at one of the carts?? I haven't asked the folks organizing the Sullivan Civic Center Triathlon if we will have the option of roast beef during the race.....

I'd also like to give a shout out to Jimmy! (guy #2 in the 2 guys, a girl and a triathlon) Jimmy is officially registered for the race and has been smoke free for over a week!! Wohoo!

Week 5, Day 21

THE NUMBERS ARE IN!!!! Not too shabby either!! Swam today and knowing I was going to weigh myself, I made sure to dry every drop of water out of my hair just to make sure I didn't have a single ounce more than I needed. I am happy with the numbers - weight isn't exactly dripping off me, but at least I know I'm doing it the right way!! Wohoo!!

• Weight - 175.6 lbs *down 5.6 lbs!
• Hips - 38.5" *down 1.0"
• Waist - 33" *down 2.0"
• Belly - 36.25" *down 2.25"
• Chest - 37.5" *down 1.5"
• Arm - 12.75" *down 0.5" each - so 1.0" total
• Thigh - 26.5" *down 0.5" each - so 1.0" total

So a total of 5.6 pounds and a total of 8.75 inches in only 4 weeks! Celebrate!! Lots more to go, but I'm happy with my 4 week success. I need to learn how to reward myself that doesn't involve food either - because naturally I step on the scale, see the loss, and my first thought? McDonalds for dinner??! I need someone around in times like that to just knock some sense into me. Hehe.......I didn't get McDonalds :)

83 day till Triathlon!!

Only 8 more days until I'm wearing a bathing suit in Dominican Republic!! Wohoo!

Week 4, Day 20

Worked out yesterday (biked for about 40 minutes) and also decided to go to the gym today. Today is supposed to be biking also, but since I missed running Thursday and I've been taking it pretty easy on the runs, I decided to give it a chance. Shin splints are still pretty bad but tried to run 2 laps, walk 1 lap for about 2 miles - took about 30 minutes. Since only swimming, biking and running is getting pretty much routine, I figured I'd mix it up and try Body Attack. It's a high impact, high cardio workout. It was amazing!! I have felt great all day! I'm still nervous at the thought of running a 5k though. I still can't consistently run one mile straight, much less run/walk 3.1 miles after an almost 14 mile swim/bike during the race!! Eeeek!!

Weighing myself Monday - I hope whatever happens or whatever the numbers are, I realize that I've alraedy made progress with working out and eating better and being overall healthier....we'll see....

Week 4, Rest Day

I will not be working out today - I am donating blood!

I am a fairly regular donor because I definitely see the importance of it. You can donate every 56 days, and I stick pretty close to that when I can. Here are just a few facts taken from the Red Cross website on why you should too!

• Every two seconds someone in the US needs blood - in 2006, 5 million patients received blood in the US alone
• More than 1 million new people are diagnosed with cancer every year. Many of them will need blood, sometimes daily, during their chemotherapy treatment
• A single car accident victim can require as many as 100 pints of blood
• Two most common reasons cited by people who don't give blood are: "Never thought about it" and "I don't like needles"
• One donation can help save the lives of up to three people
• Share of the US population eligible to give blood: Less than 38 percent

For more interesting statistics: http://www.redcrossblood.org/learn-about-blood/blood-facts-and-statistics

Of course it's not necessarily an 'enjoyable' process (I don't like needles either!), but when you think of what you are doing or the fact that millions of people require blood each year, it should help motivate you (And usually they give out free food or snacks wherever you donate!). If less than 38 percent of the population is eligible, what fraction of that actually donates?

Go DONATE! Workouts can wait until tomorrow!

Week 4, Day 18

Fatty-bo-batty random thought of the day: So, you know when you wear a pair of pants and they feel lose and you think how happy you are that you must be losing weight! Then to find out that the only reason they were lose is because you have stretched them out by wearing them previously......yeah....that's a bummer. HA!

Swam almost a mile today. It's getting a lot easier. I tried to focus on breathing on both sides and I am getting to the point where I don't need to breath every stroke either. I, once again, tried to do the flip thing....oh dear. I need to google how to learn that because my method is obviously not working. HA!

Weigh-in and measurements are coming in only 4 days! I'm nervous and hoping this work is paying off!

Week 4, Day 17

Adam and I are officially registered for the triathlon! I was watching the registration list and it was about a third full so I wanted to make sure we got our spot! I figured that it wasn't the end of the world to get the "most accurate" swim time when people were leaving it blank....and one woman, literally put "slow" as her swim time!! HA! That makes me feel more comfortable thinking that there are plenty of other beginners doing this race. I entered 9:30 minutes for mine! Also, I decided to do the Athena division - for females 150lbs+. I figured it would be those that are a little heavier and a little slower - perfect for me! My goal is to finish the almost 17 mile race!!! Eeek! That's a scary number....

See!! We are registered!!!
http://www.sullivanil.us/triathlon/2010Entries.html

As far as training goes, this week, my body doesn't like me as much because of last week. My muscles aren't necessarily sore still, but other things are - my shin splints are almost unbearable and my knees are tired. There is definitely a reason that this is considered a recovery week ad we will gradually increase again.

89 days till the race!!

Week 4, Day 16

Instead of waiting another few months and being unhappy with my results, I've made a decision today - I will begin tracking what I eat and following Weight Watchers points system.....



I've never been a huge believer (or user) of 'positive thinking' or affirmations but I will give it a try - Adam is always trying to convince me of the positive effect it can have on attitude and achievements!

Also, I pretty much know what has NOT worked in the past with Weight Watchers so I want to make sure I address them this time around. Here are also some of my wonderful 'excuses' that have not helped me to be successful in the past:



1) If 1 serving is 4 points, that does NOT mean that 2 servings minus one bite is still only 4 points - seriously?? this is the kind of "reasoning" I use

2) If I eat out at a restaurant - I do NOT have to eat french fries with my meal - a meal can be just as complete with a salad or veggies!

3) If a food item does not have nutritional information on it, it does not mean there are no points

4) If no on actually sees you eat the food, it doesn't count - no one will know, hehe

5) If you eat the food standing up, the standing up part counts as exercise points so it cancels out whatever food you are eating - I usually use this one as a joke....unless......

OK, OK, so most of those I'm just kidding....sorta....HA!

I could go on for days at some of the ridiculous things that come up in my head - excuses that I make and I just hurt myself when I'm trying to meet my goals. Hopefully this time around I have the right 'formula' to make it work. Thanks for everyone that has been supporting me so far! - specifically Adam and Jimmy.....they help to keep me 'in line'.

Week 3, Day 15

Light workout today - ran with the puppy thru the neighborhood - he seemed to want to run faster than I did for sure. My endurance for running isn't where I'd like it to be, so I will have to push myself a little harder (with a little help from Adam and Jimmy) - even though I hate it at the time when they encourage me on the track "Come on, Steph....another minute...another lap...keep on going....don't stop!" When I'm done, I do feel better about it....just don't get me close enough to have the opportunity to knock one of them out when they are actually helping me....hehe love you guys! :)

Week 3, Rest Day

Today is a much needed day of rest. This week has kicked my butt and I will take full advantage of relaxing.

I am getting a little discouraged after 3 weeks. I have been working my little rear off in training almost everyday and for sometimes hours at a time and I feel although I have seen improvements in my abilities in swimming, running and biking, I am not getting closer to my goal of losing weight. I sneaked a measurement last night and don't see much of a difference anywhere....I will definitely stick with weighing and measuring myself in another week and posting my progress.....

WEEKEND!

Week 3, Day 14

Day 14 of training. This week we've worked hard. There are some muscles on my body that hurt...that I didn't even know I had. I know that is an expression people use when they are sore....but literally....muscles I didn't even know existed. HA! Today was a run day - what I think will be my weakest leg of the triathlon - it's the last one and I've never been much of a runner. Sometimes when I sprint by myself, I feel like I can be super fast, but then when you put me next to someone who CAN actually run? - Laugh out Loud entertaining, I'm sure. For example, today Jimmy and I were going to race half a lap around the track. He was literally jogging about halfway thru and I was putting every piece of energy into running - take years off my life, energy....and I didn't come close to beating him. So slow and steady will be motto. :-)

94 days until race day....

I'm eyeing the pants in my closet....

Week 3, Day 13

As I mentioned previously, to register for the triathlon - we need to submit a swim time. The slots were filling up so I decided today was the day to give it a try. My goal was under 10 minutes to swim 400 m. That's terribly slow but for a beginner, I'd imagine it's fairly normal. 9 minutes 35 seconds! I will still work to improve on that time, but that's what I can submit now. I'd love to be able to do it in 8 minutes, but we'll see how the next few months goes.

During the workout we continued to swim 2100m (1.3 miles)! Because we are overachievers, we also went to do the optional bike after the swim - our first transition workout from swim to bike. After over a mile of swimming, I couldn't get more than 20 minutes of biking - I was worn out.

We went home, sore......

Week 3, Day 12

If ever there was a workout that would make me utter the words "I can't feel my legs," today's was that kind. "I can't feel my legs" turned quickly into "ouch, ouch, i don't want to feel my legs." We biked for about an hour and then ran for 15 minutes. I made it about a half mile before I had to walk for a break. Then.....this is where I got perhaps overly ambitious.....Back to Abs class? Sure! It's a 25 minute ab/back class at the gym. I was only able to do about 30% of what they did and even then I had to do the "modified" versions of everything.....and afterwards, you would have thought I just gained the use of my legs by the way I "gracefully" stood up. So now, it's "ouch ouch" over my whole body. But I know that just means I did something good for myself and when I weigh and measure myself in 2 weeks, I'll hopefully see results because of it!

So besides running a sprint and losing weight (used generally, I guess I don't have a set goal for weight loss)....I want to tack on another goal to this journey. There are 2 pairs of pants in my closet that currently have a purpose of gathering dust, rather than covering my rear end. One is a pair of jeans that I love and I would love to fit in again (I haven't fit in them in 3 years....am I asking too much here??). The other is a pair of dress pants that I bought and they fit EXACTLY. I wouldn't have been able to fit a penny in the pocket - I'm talking, exactly fit. I wore them once about a year and a half ago and then I ate an apple (ok ok....it was probably a candy bar) and never fit in them again. That one day I wore them I looked good though! HA! I can currently fit in them and practically button and zip them - it's just NOT a pretty site. I'm setting myself to try these on April 24th - the day before the traithlon and we'll see how it works!

Week 3, Day 11

So if I had to give myself a grade for this weekend: D-

I didn't completely fail with an F because I didn't do EVERYTHING wrong. We had Subway for dinner Friday and lunch Saturday and with those meals alone, I would have given myself a B-. Saturday night and Sunday........ not as good. Buffet for dinner and of course every option looked good.....except of course the vegetables, so I passed on those. A million choices of wedding cake.....yes, please - had to have a piece. At least I had Diet Coke in my rum instead of the regular cola, right? HA!

Sunday breakfast in the hotel: C-. Lunch Sunday, drive-thru Wendy's: F for food, B- for effort. I should have followed what I said I would do - let Adam order for me. I got a grilled chicken club...meal with fries. Adam blurted out "Cheater!" and my own guilt got to me, so as I pulled away from the drivethru, I dumped about 75% of the fries out in the garbage. OK.....let's get back to a regular schedule and go get some groceries so I can get back on track!

I did workout today though - swam 1500 yards...and I'm tired. Tomorrow will be another transitional workout - bike then run.

Getting back on track TODAY will be the key! Not wait until next week or next month or a date that's an even number or a day of the week that starts with M.....NOW! I can't beat myself up for my D- that I gave myself - that does not do me any good and this is a principle I've failed to pay attention to in the past. My pattern seems to be that once I do poorly for a weekend or day or even one meal, I seem to think that I've blown it and have a hard time continuing with what possibly was wonderful progress for weeks before that. I refuse to let myself fail and struggle for a lifetime that could be filled with so much more instead of being unhappy with myself or the way that I eat. NOW! TODAY!

Week 2, Day 10

I did NOT like Adam very much last night. There was event going on at the gym so there was absolutely no way to actually get into it....so I came home after work instead. Adam wants to run outside......OUTSIDE...It's January.....and although, some might call the weather a "heat wave" for Illinois in the middle of winter, a "heat wave" is 34 degrees instead of 10 degrees. Swell....so we ran outside (our puppy joined us!) through the neighborhood. I stopped walking after about a quarter mile and Adam's response?: "Come on, you just ran a mile straight the other day, we haven't gone far at all!" Grrrrrrrrrr.......is that supposed to motivate me? And then I thought to myself: "Ummm, Steph? You did just run a mile straight the other day...stop being lazy," and then I ran ahead. As Adam said, once we started running, it felt great - not cold at all.

So now we are heading out of town to Ohio for the weekend for the wedding. I'm optimistically packing workout clothes, this will be a true test of determination if I actually USE said clothes. :) Have a great weekend!!!

Week 2, Day 9

So a week ago, I wrote about how hard swimming was. Today we swam again - our 4th swim. I have already made significant progress. Today we swam 1500 meters - that's almost a mile!!! (.9320568 miles to be exact) It felt great. I didn't need as much recovery time between exercises and worked on consistency. There's 2 things I want to work on, as a personal goal. I want to be able to breath on both sides (right now it's only to the right) and I want to be able to do the flippy thingy at the end of a lap like the REAL swimmers do. If anyone needs a bit of entertainment or a laugh for a day, please come watch. I tried to flip today and the only way to put in perspective how sad it was - I'm probably sure that the lifeguard stood up thinking "Oh, my! That girl over there must be having a seizure in the pool and is rolling around.....Oh wait, no she's fine..." It was that bad. Maybe I'll wait until a day when the pool isn't as crowded to work on that to save some of dignity.

One more workout this week (Thursday) since we will be out of town for a wedding this weekend. Hopefully we will get home Sunday (after a 7 hr drive) and something will motivate me to workout.....not sure if that will work, but I'll try. Since I am usually fairly successful with meals and workouts when I have a set schedule to follow, this weekend will be my first challenge by breaking that routine. I will try....I keep telling myself I can DO IT! "Only one piece of wedding cake, only one piece of wedding cake, only one piece of wedding cake." :)

Week 2, Day 8 - First Transition

Today was a short but tough day - the workout that is. It was our first transition/combined workout, where we went from biking to running. I first arrived late because I was held up at work and Jimmy and Adam were about done with the bike portion. After a 5 minute workout, I did 3x 3 minutes with high resistance - I did resistance 7....to give you an idea of how pathetic that is, if there was a significant hill on a course, I would have been rolling backwards. HA! I grabbed a 15 second drink and then went straight to the track - ran 3 laps straight and then I had to walk. My legs were tight and sore after only 20 minutes/4 miles on the bike. That's only about 30% of what I will actually bike during the event. Eeek! Just trying to tell myself it's only the 2nd week.

I came home to a home-cooked meal from Adam - still staying on track with the food. Have only eaten out once in the last week and a half - Saturday for Ariana and Patrick's shower. This weekend will be the next test with food. We will be traveling to Ohio for Chris and Lauren's wedding. That means about 4 meals on the road that I'll have to do my best to behave. :)

Tomorrow is going to be a tough workout - 1500 m swim. Can't wait!

Week 2, Day 7 (Day = Workout)

I was excited all day to get off work, especially since I knew today was a swim day! I feel extra good after we are done swimming - my heart rate is up for almost the whole workout and nothing hurts afterwards!

I know I said I wouldn't look...but I couldn't resist. I was drying my hair after the pool and the scale was just looking at me, just asking me to jump on it......so....I did - 178.2 lbs! That's a loss of 2.9 lbs in one week! That definitely helps with motivation. And I didn't do it by starving myself either, which is also promising. I tried to make good decisions on what food I ate and tried to eat less, but I would not say at all that I deprived myself. When I went to Weight Watchers meetings, one of my favorite phrase that I took away was "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels." Although the person who came up with that obviously had not tried the chili-cheese fries I ate Saturday night while I was drinking, it does make sense. Even the thought of losing 20 lbs makes me so excited. To be able to fit in half of the things that are in my closet again would feel amazing!

102 days until the triathlon!!

Oh yeah....so last week I said we'd sign up right away to race...however, to sign up you need to know your 400 m swim time. Since I've just started, I want to wait at least a few weeks before I submit a time. I know there is still plenty of room for improvement!

Week 1, Day 6

So...after a night of drinking last night (celebrating Ariana & Patrick's soon to be wedding!), when the dog woke me up at around 7:00am, I figured the only thing I would be capable of doing today was going back to sleep. Adam had a flag football game at the gym and then was heading to The Fieldhouse (where my car still was) to bar tend. So logistically, if I didn't want to be confined to the house today, I had to go with him.

I ran a mile straight!!! I know this doesn't seem like a very interesting accomplishment for most people, but for someone that couldn't run two laps straight a week ago, I was very happy!! I made it almost a mind game with myself - "just one more lap, just a half a lap more....just one more" until I had run a mile! I continued to run/walk for another 2 miles and then walked to finish out about an hour and a half workout! Feels good (without hardly any signs of a hangover!).

One week and six workouts down.....

Week 1, Day 5

Only four days in to working out and eating "healthy". Healthy I use as a relative term. I haven't been pigging out on junk food and Adam and I have made all of our meals this week - no eating out! I quite enjoy the Weight Watchers method of tracking food, but it seems that I never stick with it and I starve myself and then I splurge and drop the ball. So until I can get a good balance, I might just work to eat BETTER instead of PERFECT while I continue training regularly. I've never been a huge fan of the gym, but I feel like once I actually get off my bum and get there, it's not all that bad. I'm actually looking forward to swimming after work today - and again hoping I don't die of a heart attack while doing it (today is supposed to be 1000 meters! YIKES!).

Even after only four and a half days of improvements, I feel better. I would almost consider myself hyper today! I feel great - motivated, energy is up, looking forward to getting off work and going to the gym (and read more of the book that I'm reading that I almost didn't want to put down after lunch today!) - and I swear it's not caffeine either!

I will say that I'm so thankful for Adam helping me. He's on board with eating healthy with me (and for himself) and working out with me. He gives me the right amount of support to get me to do what I know is right. For example - with ~8 inches of snow on the ground yesterday (and it was still snowing!), we were heading out of the gym and we both knew we had no groceries or anything to make for dinner. He suggested we hit the grocery on the way home. In this weather!??! Wouldn't drive-thru be easier.....and warmer? We detoured to the grocery and had a much better dinner last night and meals for the next few days rather than a #1 with no pickle.
Soooo...........Week 1, Day 6 is tomorrow.....Saturday....a weekend.....sleep in day and be lazy.....workout??? Definitely turning over a new leaf.....

Week 1, Day 4

Today's Excuse to Why I Shouldn't Workout - It's snowing outside and the roads are bad, so I probably should come straight home after work instead of going to the gym.

Even as those words were coming out of my mouth this morning to Adam, I chuckled to myself. I definitely hear some of my mother in that comment (no offense, Mom). I definitely know that if somebody was giving away free food on the other side of the city, come rain or shine or 8 inches of snow, I'd find some way to make it there. But to the other side of the river to the gym? That just doesn't sound safe :) This is just the kind of example of the types of excuses that I have told myself for years! "I can't go to the gym because I'd get sweaty and then I'd have to shower and I don't feel like showering twice in one day because it'll dry out my hair. But I have to be showered, because I have plnas with friends for dinner. I just won't go to the gym then." Don't judge...I can't be the only one that does that! Back to the rules - No Excuses. If those ridiculous explanations aren't the world's worst excuses, I don't know what is. I'll have to forget those! (or get better at making up good ones! Haha)

Workout #4 complete.

Week 1, Day 3

Swimming......is......hard......

There is a reason Michael Phelps has the back and shoulders of the hood of a small SUV! Today was my first swimming workout. Even before the workout, I asked Adam to buy me a workout worthy swimsuit...my drawers are full of ones that are beach worthy, but might not hold up to me flailing around in the pool for exercise purposes. Ok, so thanks to my wonderful hubby, I now have a swimsuit...CHECK. Goggles...CHECK.

Adam says the idea of this workout is to keep moving in the pool during the laps. Speed is not the goal, the point is to get used to the water, work on form and keep your heart rate up...and my own personal goal - trying not to drown or lose consciousness because I'm so out of breath after only 1 lap. :)

I had this idea in my head that I would be a great swimmer and it would be a piece of cake....oh dear heavens almighty, was I wrong! Workout complete. I will definitely have to work on that one.

3 days down....15 1/2 weeks to go....

Week 1, Day 2

So I don't believe I fully explained what we will be doing for this training. We will be following a 6 day-a-week (internal monologue - "6 DAYS A WEEK!?!?!! &*^$###&($*!!!") training schedule from a book Adam is reading (Starting Out: Triathlon, Training for Your First Competition by Paul Huddle and Roch Frey) that will alternate workouts with combinations of running, biking, swimming and strength training. Today was biking - biked 10 minutes as a steady pace and then at high intensity in 2 minute increments with a short 30-60 second recovery. We did this for about 30 minutes (biked about 6.7 miles in 30 minutes) and then I hustled my sore butt to my indoor soccer game where I ran my little tush off...tired and hungry, I went home...

Another breakthrough today - I was reading an article on CNN.com about new year's resolutions that people tend to break and it gave a few pointers if losing weight and working out were one of yours - lightbulb!
"Set specific goals...Avoid thinking that you want to run a race somday. Sign up for a 5K during your first session." http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/01/05/trainers.new.year/index.html?iref=allsearch

Duh! I will sign up now for a triathlon sprint! [A triathlon sprint is a shorter version of a true triathlon. It's still swim, bike, run, just with shorter distances]

I researched a few in Illinois and I think we will decide this week which one we want to sign up for. No excuse will get me out of that one - my name will be on the race list (and the check will be cashed). One of the races we are leaning towards is April 24th!! EEEK! That's only 16 weeks away! Right now, I probably can't do an individual leg of the event, much less the entire thing. I hope there will be CPR certified volunteers at this event.....

Week 1, Day 1 - The Beginning

I didn't realize it when I went to the gym today that I would be making a resolution to start a journey towards weight loss via training for a triathlon sprint.

Adam convinced me, and I sort of guilted myself into going to the gym today - sadly, I hadn't gone since before the wedding...over 5 months ago!! So the additional 10+ pounds since then nor the $30 per month seemed to motivate me to get in there...but with a little help from my hubby, I finally decided to go.

I regularly complain that I'm unhappy being overweight - I complain about not feeling good, I complain about my appearance, I complain about not being able to fit in clothes I may have fit into less than a year ago. Seems like enough motivation to me to work out and eat healthy, right? I know this...

I know HOW to lose weight and remain healthy, but because of my love affair with fast food, chocolate, binge eating, ice cream, eating, drinking and being lazy on the couch...I have not actually been successful at the actual losing of the weight and remaining healthy part of that equation.

So while walking around the Riverplex track with my hubby, we discussed the motivation that should be at the front of my complaints - myself. During this walk, I began to make excuses on why I haven't regularly worked out or eaten healthy and blah blah blah. I was convinced that I would join him and Jimmy in their training for a triathlon sprint with my goal being to race one with them this year. Adam gave me three rules he uses when he coaches (taken from John Wooden) - No excuses, No complaining, No pointing fingers. If I was going to train with him and Jimmy, I would have to be there to work hard and not be the girl whining that it's too hard or that she was tired. I accepted the challenge.

I'm not a writer and definitely never been a blogger, but I figured that this might be a way to keep myself motivated - the thought of someone reading about my progress or lack of...

Against the little voice in my head telling me not to, I've also decided to include my progress with weight and measurements with my progress of the workouts and diet. I figured if I met my goals to get healthy, these numbers should follow and I would then not be embarrassed, right? Since I'm trying not to be a believer of obsessing over the numbers everyday, I will only plan to weigh and measure myself every 4 weeks.

• Weight - 181.2 lbs
• Hips - 39.5"
• Waist - 35"
• Belly - 38.5"
• Chest - 39"
• Arm - 13.25"
• Thigh - 27"

Let the work begin...