Strength in Numbers-Couch to 5K

This past week I have joined an internet weight loss group on Facebook. Our challenge is to lose 50 pounds by October! I think this group will be a great thing for me. My personal goal is to be under 200 pounds by the end of our groups challenge. So I have an extra 10 pounds, that will be no problem. It excites me so much thinking of going into the Holidays looking and feeling good. Fall is my favorite time of year and the best time to exercise outside. When I think of next summer and the possibility that I will be at my goal is even more exciting. It is a lot of hard work, but I know all of the work will reap huge rewards. I get so much love and support from friends and family, it is really a great thing that people would care enough about me to reach out and show their support. It will always be appreciated now and when I reach my goals. This past week/weekend was huge and filled with special occasions. We had graduation parties, celebrated Mother's Day, and my daughter turned 8 months old.  Support from family and friends is a huge key to weight loss, and I am so thankful to have this new Facebook group, my friends, and my amazing supportive husband and extended family. I can't wait to be at my goal and thank these people and give them the credit that has contributed to my success.

It's not that I didn't have time to work out this weekend, I didn't make time to work out. I am back on track today, with plan to continue with my Couch to 5K App and tomorrow start Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. I really enjoyed my first time doing Couch to 5K. I was nervous and was not sure what to expect, or worried that other people in the gym might think I am crazy and wonder what the heck I was doing. It was actually a blast! I have not felt so strong and so confident in a long time. It was a great feeling, after I was done I was dripping with sweat but I felt so accomplished. It was harder than I thought it would be, but it is what I need. If I am not being challenged and working hard and sweating hard and wonder if I will live to the end of the work out, than it is just not worth it!
*Couch to 5K is an iPhone app that helps beginners become able to run or run for longer periods of time. It gives voice commands that tell you when to run and when to walk. For example day number one was 60 seconds of jogging and 90 second of walking. The app alternates walking and running for 20 minutes with a 5 minute walk to warm up and a 5 minute walk to cool down.*

This is the exact app that I am using in case anyone is wondering.

Weekend Sucess and Temptation!

I am going to call the weekend a complete success! I got out and exercised both yesterday and today. Yesterday we went on a hike! It was so fun, I took my little man and my husband and we had so much fun. It was a crazy hard workout, we had to climb an extremely steep hill and by the time we got to the top I was breathing so hard. I have never gotten that much of a workout at the gym, and it was so much more enjoyable than going no where on a treadmill! Here is a photo of my husband and I on the hike.

That night we went to my in laws to eat and I was extremely hungry! They had my weakness....Taco Pizza..duh duh duhnnn. I did have 2 slices but it was my "cheat meal" for the whole week. The thing is I am not on a diet, I am changing my life. My life needs to be flexible and I refuse to feel limited or like I am being punished or can't take part in eating at family meals. My plan is to make healthy choices every meal possible, and if I feel like having a slice of pizza once I am going to have it but I am going to have the right portion of it and not the whole pizza. Moderation and watching portion size is the key here! I want to be realistic with this and I want this to be a long term thing! I know when I weigh in on Friday I am going to see results. I am proud of my actions and my eating this weekend, even with a little pizza in the mix.

Tonight I went on a walk around our neighborhood and it was the strangest turn of events. I ran into my high school Chemistry teacher (which also happens to be my brothers girlfriends mother), and after I said goodbye to her and turned onto the next street over from mine I had the most beautiful Siamese cat follow me all the way down the street (at least 3 blocks). After I got two houses away from my in laws house (they live on the same block as us) the cat got scared up into a tree by a neighbors dog! So the next 30 minutes of my workout time was spent trying to get the cat out of the tree and find its owner. Out of complete luck or circumstance the owner of the dog that ran the cat into the tree actually had an idea of who the owner might be. She made a call and soon enough the owner of the cat showed up shaken that she had lost her pretty kitty and thankful we took the time to get the cat safely out of the tree and find her owner. I think my good deed for the day was done! In all the years that I have walked my neighborhood I have never had a walk more eventful than that! Now I am going to go have a warm cup of green tea and call it a night. I promise the "cauliflower popcorn" recipe is soon to come! Here is a photo of my friend that followed me tonight-

May Challege-Yes it's ambitious! ;)

My husband and I are participating in a little bit of healthy competition. We are currently in a weight loss battle that will go on the entire month of May to see who can lose the most weight. Our goal is to lose 20lbs by the end of the month. It is ambitious I know, but if we don't reach 20lbs that is okay! We might as well strive for it, and aim for a high goal! We are also doing the squat challenge posted by shrinkingjeans.net. I really could use some toning in the booty section. I am hoping this will give us both a jump start for the summer and little extra confidence at the pool and the lake. Wish us luck and feel free to join along in either the squat challenge, or the 20lbs gone by the end of May challenge. Cheer me on so that I can win, I am not sure what the prize is besides bragging rights, but I am excited to kill it in the month of May, I hope I can inspire someone else to do the same.

We Got This!

Staying Motivated-Facebook Pages

-After my 40lb loss, I felt amazing-

Just recently I have come to realize that this weight loss goal is not a fail or succeed thing. It is a journey that I am on, it is constant and ever changing. I have been struggling with my weight since my Junior year of high school (seven years ago) when I got a little chunky, and after my pregnancy with my son when I become "obese." At that time I would yoyo diet and try fad diets and really get down on myself if I failed-meaning got off track, or not being able to achieve the unrealistic restraints of a fad or starvation diet. Fast forward to last year, I was pregnant with my daughter and had just lost 40 pounds through small diet changes and walking a few times a week. It was this time when I started following some fitness blog pages on Facebook and started to look at my weight loss goals as a journey. I started to see if I feel off track one day or even one week I could simply pick back up and do better the next day. I lost that mentality that if I was off track one day or even one meal that I was a big, fat, failure. The fitness pages gave me new suggestions, new ideas, new foods to try, and hope and inspiration that it can happen. If all these people can do it so can I! I was pregnant so I didn't feel comfortable starting anything drastic at that point but my new found inspiration did light a fire in me, and made me look forward to starting a new fitness routine and new eating habits. I was determined!
"It doesn't matter how slowly you go, as long as you do not stop"
-Confucius
I should add, follow my page on Facebook; look up Liz Losing It and like my page!