The squeaky wheel....

Lost another pound......that is 2 pounds down in 3 days.  I guess the squeaky (whining) wheel gets the weight loss.....

I am 33 pounds away from a total of 100 pound weigh loss.  That sounds surreal!

Feeling Lucky......

Look up at my weight loss ticker.  I moved DOWN one pound today!  First move down in a while.  I'll take it!  Been racking my brain all morning trying to figure out what in the world I ate yesterday to help lose some weight. I didn't work out or run yesterday. No clue??  But I'll take a pound down.

My stomach has felt achy for the past 24 hours so I haven't been wanting to "eat" much.  I woke up this morning craving a protein shake.  I had seen a lot of posts on other bariatric pages for a Mint Shamrock Shake so that I what I made!

2 cups of Silk Soymilk
2 scoops of vanilla protein powder
1 cup of ice
2 cups of spinach salad leaves
Sugar Free vanilla syrup (Starbucks)
Sugar Free peppermint syrup (Torani)

Mix in blender and yum!!! (had to borrow this pic....but mine looked just as yummy)

Caboose......

I have stated 100 times in this blog that I am not a "runner", don't want to be a good runner and acutally just really suck at running. I compare myself to a caboose.  Heavy, slow and always pulling up the rear in a race.  Even when I was much younger and athletic, I was a bad runner.  My soccer coach in high school gave me the nickname Prancer because he said I ran like a deer, bouncing on my toes down the field.  He tried to "teach" me how to run correctly.  He said I would waste more energy bouncing up and down than any sort of rhythmic motion forward.  There was no hope so my nickname was Prancer and running was not my talent.

Even stranger about my lack of ability to run is that my father and my brother were both excellent runners.  Long distant runners in high school and college.  Both of them can just go out and run whenever they want to and it doesn't matter how long it has been since they last ran.  It is a special gene I didn't inherit.  Since I didn't inherit their skinny legs, I also didn't inherit their ability to run like the wind. 

Now that I am on this mission to live healthier, I am running.  But stand firm that I am not trying to be a runner.  I think I keep saying that just in case I continue to suck at running.  But I have really begun to LOVE the fact that I am healthy enough to run if  I want to.  It is motivating and rewarding.  The first few 5k races I entered were completed by walking.  Then I eased into a little light jog here and there.  Now, I am determined to complete a 5k by running the entire time.  I am so competitive with myself.  So even though I keep saying I am NOT a runner......I am accidently becoming one. It is easy and feels good no matter how much I am able to run.  I remind myself constantly that I should be so thankful to be blessed with the ability to use my leg and I need to take care of them. 

This week I began running in my neighborhood.  My neighborhood is perfect for running.  Mostly flat with a few mild hills.  I love it because I am sitting A LOT at home right now wrapping up the last moments of my dissertation for my PhD.  I haven't been to Boot Camp in 2 weeks.  I put myself on restriction in the afternoons after work so I can just focus on finishing school.  But I am trying to get a run in at home when I can. I like that I can just jump up, go run for a bit then come back and start writing again without missing too much time.  So I go for my first run the other nite in the hood and like Forrest Gump.....I just ran and ran and ran.  I didn't stop running.  I ran one mile without stopping.  This was HUGE progress and not even sure why it just happened that nite but it did.  I ran the mile in a little about 14 and a  half minutes.  Did it again the next day.  Pretty cool considering I haven't been able to run for more than a minute or two without stopping.  I am now running a whole mile without feeling like I am going to die.  Not even winded.  Heartrate is up, sweating but controlled.  Fabulous!

I also have a cool app on my phone called "Runtastic" which logs in my run using GPS.  I turn it on before I start to run.  It tells me every time I reach a mile.  When I am finished it will tell me how far I ran, how long it took me to run, and my pace.  It will do a lot of other cool stuff like heartrate etc but I don't use that.  Then it will post a pic of the map of the course I ran and info about my run  on my Facebook.  It stores the info so I can see progress etc.  Free app...very cool.

I am still a caboose.  I run slow and heavy like my legs are weights pulling me down.  I guess I'll work on technique before I try out for the Olympics but until then....I can run like the wind without getting winded! 

Dirty Girl.......

I am all about some fun, themed races now.  I am still NOT a runner.  Well, not a good runner.  But each and every time I do a "fun run" I get faster at finishing.  Last Saturday I participated in another Mud Run!!  This one was called Dirty Girl Mud Run.  This was a 5k obstacle race like the Warrior Dash I did back in October.  The "Dirty Girl" was for girls only....no boys allowed.  It had a pink theme and lots of dirty girls!

I joined a team of ladies and we called ourselves the "MUDonnas".  We had shirts made (that I didn't love because of the fit but otherwise were very cute).

One of the girls on my team for Dirty Girl also did Warrior Dash in October.  Warrior was HARD.  Super intense and for those on the more athletic side of the curve. We survived just fine at Warrior and were prepared for another intense challenge.  Dirty Girl was more......girly.  It was fun but the course was a lot more running and not so many obstacles. We were a little disappointed after surviving the Warrior Dash.  The obstacles for Dirty Girl were fun and experiencing this with a fun group of ladies was even better. One thing I noticed more than anything is that my strength and stamina was so much better during this race than Warrior Dash.  I rocked the obstacles, didn't get winded or tired or weak.  I just suck at running.  I run really heavy bottomed like my legs are too heavy to pick up.  I think I'll get better at it the more I build my cardio system up but I really do still suck at running and stayed behind the group for Dirty Girl but never too far away.

 However......in case you didn't notice the date of this post, the race was on March 9th. March in Alabama can be a little tricky.  Not quite winter but not yet spring. So this particular Saturday was COLD!!  Had been in the high 30's overnite and was in the 40's the morning of the race.  This girl does NOT do cold anything, more less crawl through freezing mud.  But  I did.  Was a fun time!

The very second obstacle almost killed us all.  It was a large pit of WATER with mud in the bottom.  A heavy rope net laid over the top of the pit.  There was enough space between the water and the net for your face to stick up.  Barely!  The pit had been filled with water the nite before.....how do I know this?  Because it was FREEZING!!  As I stepped into the pit, I knew how cold it would be.  Then being the Gulf Coast, raised on the water girl that I am, I knew if I just went ahead and went under the water that I would get over the water being so cold.  Well let me just say for the record, this theory doesn't work when the water has reached a certain degree that I am positive was below ZERO.  The second I hit the water and went under the net I immediately lost my ability to breath like a human.  I panted like a dog the entire trek down the pit.  For those of you who are claustrophobic I am sure you are already on the verge of passing out thinking of this experience.  It was seriously a little uncomfortable.  If I had not pushed the rope net up using my head, I would have drowned.  Passed out for sure.  I could not breath!! The best part about this experience is that is was over and the second best part was that it made me run like the wind when I got out.  I ran and ran and ran so I wouldn't die of hypothermia.  It was the worst part of the course in my opinion.

One of the best moments of the run was captured on camera so I will share and explain when we get there (at the end of the race).  For now.....Here are our pics to prove that even the cutest girls can get a little dirty sometimes!! I'm not in all the pics but want you all to enjoy this day as much as I did!  (Thanks to one of our MUDonna team mates' husband for chasing us the whole course and taking pics)

Prerace: I'm the one still wearing a jacket because I don't do cold (as I waited anxiously to crawl through icy water)

The Starting Line......let's get ready to rumble

Obstacle #1:

This obstacle was fun and easy.  Bumpy climb up and a little bumpy ride down but all smiles both ways.  This is before we hit the water!

What goes up......

Must come down.....

The rest of the dirty story......the other obstacles

To the finish line......all together! 

For the final obstacle Alisha and I held hands and went down the big wet slide together.....

and had a huge crash into each other.  I went down and under hard and fast. I had used both elbows as brakes into the pit of mud and pebbles below. Needless to say I came up bleeding and bruised but laughing so hard that I swallowed a mouthful of mud and loved every bit of it.  Alisha tried desperately to pull me out but I was laughing too hard. The look on my face in the pic below says it all.  LOVE THIS!!!

Post-race moments......

That is me  in the back (twirling my hair) walking off the finish line.  Love the look on my face.  It says "mission complete.....and satisfied"

It is all Greek to me.....

Greek style food has always been one of my most favorite ethnic dishes.  I love the taste of feta, red onion, and cucumber together.  My most favorite pizza is the Greek Pizza at California Pizza Kitchen (minus the chicken).  I was thrilled to find a fun recipe for a low carb Greek Pizza on a bariatric website last summer after I had surgery.  Then.....I discovered an even better deal!  Greek Nachos!!  This is actually almost the same as the Greek Pizza I love but with a nice spread of hummus as the "sauce" this is a winner in my sleeved tummy and my body which needs as much protein as it can get.  It is seriously freezing cold here in Alabama right now (for us southern people who die when it is below 50 degrees) so this hit the spot for my comfort food craving as well.

Greek Nachos
1 low carb tortilla or small super thin pizza crust
hummus (I used the plain Sabra brand and it was delish)
diced cucumber, red onion, kalamata olives, tomato and artichoke hearts
feta cheese

Warm your tortilla/crust until crispy
spread hummus on the crispy crust
sprinkle topping on the hummus (fabulous protein and healthy carb)
cut into triangles
Enjoy!!

It's the small things that count.....

In my journey, the biggest frustration has been the scale.  I want to see it move down constantly.  As I have whined about on here too many times, I haven't really moved down too much on the scale since October.  Basically when I started working out so hard.   I preach to my followers that the scale does not measure your success but I have always been better at giving great advice and not taking it.  I don't get discouraged but I do get ggggrrrrrrrrr about that scale a lot.  MOVE down more that the 2 or 3 pounds I had already moved up anyway.  But I work out harder and stronger than ever have.  My insides are so much happier and the hard work shows on my outside as I continue to melt away into something super. But I do get frustrated about the weight.

Then something magical happens.  Small things happen.  Those small things that others wouldn't even notice or think are a big deal  However, it is the small things that count.  So, I really try to celebrate the small things that mean more to me than anyone could understand.

Here are my latest small things:

-I gave myself a Valentine treat of a day at the spa on February 16th.  I had a super duper Groupon deal for an express massage, facial and pedi.  This also included  a "snack".  It was a really wonderful relaxing day. My "small thing that counted" was when I had to put on a robe after my massage.  Big girls....you aleady know where I am going with this.  In my former body,  that robe never fit.  Was always anxiety and stress putting it on because it wasn't big enough to wrap around my body more less close.  It certainly was tight to tie around the waist.  Well not this time.  That robe just melted onto my body like chocolate syrup over ice cream.  Smooth and flowing and it wrapped around me beautifully.  I also had a  free nite in an old historical beautiful hotel that I had won so took off and piled up in the bed there and ate room service and wrote on my dissertation for the nite.

-Same thing happen at the doc office.  I have a non-bad skin cancer that was removed from my shoulder 2 years ago.  Have to get my chest, shoulders and back checked yearly to make sure I am spot free.  This requires me to strip down with my top down.  Also means I have that paper hospital "vest" over me.  This thing is always too small.  I used to end up ripping it as I alternated it from side to side to find the best coverage.  Almost as bad as getting Saran Wrap to actually stick to something beside itself.  Small things moment.....not only did it fit but it overlapped in the front without effort.  My doc was also super supportive and celebratory about my weight loss.

-I have had 3 more people message me to tell me they think they saw me somewhere but wasn't sure it was me only to find out after they messaged me that it WAS me!!  I see the same person in the mirror so I am glad other people see someone else.  Someone better!!

-I recently posted this silly pic on Facebook of me during our Dr. Seuss dress up week.  Was really posted to show me being silly however I had so many people message me, post or even text and call me to tell me how great I was looking. I am hearing words like tiny, skinny and awesome.  That is just fun yall!!  Here are my pics I posted (dressed up for Wacky Wednesday.....I was in neon overload)!  The pics do no justice to the insane amount of brightness coming off of my body!

 


-Doesn't matter what I buy or want to wear, it fits!!  That is surreal!!  Seriously don't know if anyone can relate to this feeling.  Ohhhhhhh the anxiety of shopping.  Not only was I limited on where I could shop because I needed big sizes but even the big sizes were too tight sometimes. I never knew and that causes so much anxiety.  I can wear the cutest clothes now and it makes me happy!  Here is a dress I just bought from a swanky boutique ONLINE with no idea of the brand or how the size fit.  This is SERIOUSLY my fav dress purchase EVER!! The fit is PERFECT!!

Where's Waldo??

Oh my goodness......seems like a week or two since I posted.  I knew I was terribly behind but didn't realize it had been well over a MONTH.

I'm good, I'm great really but very very busy.  I teach children all day, come home, snack, change clothes and go to my Bootcamp class at 5:30 or Zumba at 6, back home, cook dinner, eat, take care of things for the college course I teach, work on PhD, make lunch and coffee for next day and bed.  It is seriously crazy busy and doesn't leave a lot of time for much else.  In fact,  my PhD stuff has been the red-headed stop-child lately as I leave it for last and last place it where it stays.  My health is first place then in a close first is my life and job responsibilities.  I really think most people have lives like this.  I think??  I also think I have no idea what life without the busy chaos is like.  So I do function very well in it.

Last week and so  far this week (Tuesday) I haven't worked out at all!!  I really miss it.  Feel sick and blah without my intensive workouts but I HAD to come home and go into hiding and work on my dissertation if I want to finish. I also had a little knee strain from doing Zumba in my living room on carpet in new tennis shoes (too much traction for the sassy moves).  Nursed that back to health quickly.  I will go back to Bootcamp tomorrow because I miss it badly and feel like crap not working out.  I never thought I'd get to a point in life where I felt sick, blah and fat NOT working out.  But I really do and it is a wonderful feeling.  On a side note,  I lost the 3 pounds I had gained.  Lost this 3 pounds at the end of last week when I didn't work out.  That is weird but pretty annoying too.  I go up and down in the 3 pound range constantly but to lose that much and not work out really does support the claim that I am building muscle.

I have a lot of cool things to tell you all about me and what has been going on in my healthy little world lately so will share those in some other posts.  I need to catch up so be sure to check for several posts back to back.  Until then.....