Thinking of Running a Marathon

I am sorry it has been so long since I have blogged but I have to find time to exercise and it has to come from somewhere. I am just not online as much as I used to be. So far I am maintaining my goal weight just fine. TOPS gives me a 10 pound leeway (3 pounds over and 7 pounds under) and I have been in it each week. I have yet to go over my goal weight as I have been staying 1 to 2 pounds under each weigh in. I am really excited about it.
Well, I am thinking about training for a marathon. I don't know if I really want to do it. Every time I saw them do one on the Biggest Loser or anywhere else I would tell my husband, you know, running a marathon is not appealing to me at all. But now that I am walking about 3 to 4 miles I am thinking of giving it a try. I will start a with a 5 K this fall I think, but then I would like to train to run a half marathon next year. I am not really sure how to train for that, but I am thinking of doing it. Has anyone out there run a marathon, half marathon or anything like it? If so please share you experiences, training tips, etc. Let's see if you can give me that final shove to say yes, I will do it!

I reached my weight loss goal!!

I am excited to announce that at my last weigh in, I reached my weight loss goal! I am now what TOPS refers to as a KOP which stands for Kept Off Pounds Sensibly, and I intend to do just that. At 159.75 pounds and a height of 5'7" at the age of 42 I think I look and feel great. I really haven't felt this good in a very long time, both physically and emotionally.
I am proud to say that having lost the weight I did not celebrate at all with food. I ate my usual grilled chicken sandwich when we ate out that evening, instead of going ahead and getting a fatty burger. I am also still enjoying the fresh fruits and veggies with each meal. I am not changing how I eat, I will just increase my portions slightly to maintain my weight, rather than lose it. I must confess I did have one slice of dessert on Mother's Day, but I truly have learned that the "sometimes" foods are much more enjoyable when you only eat them "sometimes!"
I just realized that my picture was not taken the day I reached my goal, so I will hopefully have an "after" photo taken this coming Thursday.
I am sorry I have not been blogging lately, this time of year is really hectic for us, and I just haven't had the chance to keep up with much of anything online. I will continue to share my tips and tricks on both losing weight and how to maintain it as things around here slow down.

Weigh In: March 18, 2010

I had another good week and lost 2 3/4 pounds leaving only 3 pounds to go to reach my goal! I will not be weighing in the next week though, as I will be out of town and have really struggled getting exercise in this week. I am working more on maintenance this week and hope to get back to losing again next. I am close enough that I am not sweating it and am using this time to try and figure out how to live life staying at a healthy weight rather than constantly thinking about losing some! It will be an interesting transition as it has been 10 years since I have done that.
However I was successful in the past and maintained a healthy weight for over 5 years. The lack of exercise was the biggest factor in starting to gain the weight but poor food choices have ultimately been my downfall. For the first time in my life I actually enjoy eating healthy. I find fresh veggies so much better than fattening side items! Granted they still have to be cooked, I am not a raw veggie eater, though I can tolerate the occasional carrot and celery stick if need be.
Anyway, I will have no weigh in to report until April 1st. I hope to be at my goal by the end of that month if not before!

Weekly Weigh In: March 11, 2010

As I suspected, I had a slight gain this week. I gained 3/4 of a pound. Since I had such an off week my goal was to see if could maintain my weight this week, but I did not. I think it boils down to the fact that I did not get in ANY exercise all week long. I know that I could have eaten those portions had I exercised.
Well, this week I am cracking down and I will get all my exercise in and not eat over 1400 calories each day. I will get that 3/4 pounds back and then some.
I also hope to get back to the blog more this week and share some things other than my weekly weigh in. I have been a bit preoccupied with personal problems but I am staying focused. I think it was a good test for me to have some trouble come. So, while I gained 3/4 of a pounds and did not get in my exercise, what I did not do was let my stress lead me to turn to my old friend of comfort...chocolate cake (and other fattening "comfort" foods). So even with the slight gain I still feel I had a successful week because while I did eat more calories, I still made wise food choices.

Weigh In: March 2, 2010

Well, I lost another 1 1/2 pounds leaving me with only 5 pounds left to go to my goal! I can not believe I am so close. Of course I weigh in again tomorrow. This post is so late because I have had a horrible week. I have been down physically so my exercise has been almost non-existent. I have eaten a bit more than I had been as well. I am hoping to come through with a turtle tomorrow (staying the same weight) but fear there might be a small gain. (Especially since I have a special luncheon that will not allow me to really regulate my caloric intake that afternoon.) Regardless of how it turns out, I hope to be up and around and back to my usual self by the end of the week and working out enough to make up for lost time.
I also hope to be able to put up a few more blogs soon about some other foods, tips and programs I want to share. I hope all you fellow bloggers have a great week!

Weekly Weigh In: Feb 25, 2010

I had a really great weigh in this week but it sure did not come by accident. After my silly 1/4 pound gain last week, I made sure I hit the exercise extra hard this week. I exercised 5 days for an average of 30 minutes each time and most of them were pretty high intensity. I bought another Biggest Loser workout tape (Cardio Max) which helped keep me motivated because I was trying something new. Anyway, all the hard work paid off and I lost 3 1/2 pounds. That means I only have 6 1/2 pounds to reach my goal! I am so excited!
I am still eating 1400 calories a week, which is another reason I really vamped up the exercise. I just can't seem to eat less than that. I have tried cutting back even another 100 calories a day but I still don't seem to be able to do it. If I cut it at one meal, I make up for it at the next. Oh well, I am still losing, so it does not matter. I hope to have another heavy workout week and another great weigh in next week, but we shall see. I just can't wait to finally be there!

Weigh In: February 18, 2010

I had a lousy weigh in yesterday. Ok, so it wasn't lousy, but I did gain...a whole 1/4 of a pound. Still, it was discouraging since I still only ate 1400 calories a day. The problem, I believe, was the lack of exercise. I had some spring cleaning to do, both at my mom's and here at my house. That sort of kept me from exercising and unfortunately all the cleaning and moving furniture obviously did not do much for burning fat. That's alright though, I am hitting the exercise hard again this week and we will make it all up. It's not really about how fast I get there anyway, it's about getting there and then STAYING there. I am just so close that I am getting a bit anxious to finally see it through. Instead I need to continue to be patient. I have exactly 10 pounds to go to reach my goal!
Sorry I didn't get any posts up this week. With the spring cleaning and other catch up things I had to do coming off my cold from the week before, I just have not had the time. I hope to post some more entries this week.

Weigh In: February 11, 2010

Well, even with the week I had I managed to lose another pound and a half! This makes it official, I now have less than 10 pounds to go to reach my goal. I can't believe I will soon be able to say that I am not overweight anymore! At least I am not classified as "obese" anymore. I think that the title "obese" is applied way before it's necessary, but that is just me.
I was also proud of my mother yesterday. She hit an important weight loss milestone as well. She hit a number that she has not seen in 27 years! Way to go mom! I am doing all that I can to encourage her to keep up the good work!.
So here is to another week. I finally managed to get some exercise in, which is probably what helped me on the scale. My muscles sure are feeling it. I really want to start to work on toning the trouble areas now. I want my belly flat again, if that is even possible! Well, I hope you fellow bloggers have a great and successful week!

Weigh In: February 4, 2010

I am very excited to report that I had another good weigh in yesterday! I lost 2 1/4 pounds. This was really amazing since I had a couple of days where I know I did not stay within my calorie range (especially on Mom's Night Out) and was not able to exercise much due to my cold. I am sort of afraid that I might have it show up the following week. My plan is to make sure that does not happen by really sticking to my calorie limits and getting in some vigorous workouts this week.
I am now only 11 1/2 pounds from my goal. I am so close I can almost taste it!! (Ok, taste is probably not an appropriate word to use in this context! How about FEEL it? That would be an accurate statement because I sure am feeling better than I have in years!) As you can see, I am very excited. There was talk at the TOPS meeting about me becoming a KOP because I will be the only one in our little group that is. I hope I can do a good job at motivating others to join me there. I would love to see us all reach our goals. I hope you all have a successful week as well. Just remember to face it little by little, day by day and choice by choice! We can do this!

Weigh In: January 28, 2010

I lost another 1.75 pounds this week! That leaves 13.5 pounds until I reach my goal! I am really excited. I keep thinking this will be the week that I start hitting that plateau but so far I just keep losing.
I have been on a 1400 calorie diet but lately I have been trying to eat 1300 calories a day. I tried scaling back to 1200 but that was a bit tough for me. However, I did find that I could easily skim 50 calories off of lunch and 50 calories off of dinner and still stay full and satisfied for the day. Of course the important thing is to make those calories count. Lots of lower fat protein like chicken and fish along with a good helping of veggies.
Well, today is the start of another week. We shall see how it goes. We have a date night tomorrow which means eating out at yet another restaurant that I can't figure out calories for. And this time it's not one that I am familiar enough with to plan ahead. Hopefully there will be something I can eat and still do alright. I may have to really hit the exercise extra hard too. Well I hope to be posting next week with yet another loss.

Weekly Weigh In: Jan 21, 2010

Well my husband certainly got in his "I told you so's" yesterday. It definitely was my cycle that kept me from showing the true loss that I had. I did make up for it at this week's weigh in. I lost 6 1/2 pounds! (That was actually a combination of 4 weeks, I just had a fluke day last week where during my cycle I suddenly gained and then lost it the very next day.)
Anyway, that puts me at 175 1/4 pounds. I have not been this small since my daughter was born 8 years ago! I was so excited that I screamed when I saw the number. I freaked everyone in my TOPS club out, but when I explained it they understood and congratulated me. They are a great bunch of girls!
So now I am 15 1/4 pounds away from my goal. I am so excited! I can actually see it happening this time. The greatest part is that I seemed to bypass any plateaus this time around. I usually hit them about this point. I think that is due to the fact that I am exercising regularly, and I mean vigorously exercising. Anyway, I hope next week I have some more good news and will be just a little bit closer to my goal!

Weekly Weigh In: Jan 14, 2010

My weigh ins are on Thursday nights, so my Friday blogs will probably be about my results. I have had no official weigh in for the past 2 weeks due to the weather. After 3 weeks it turned out that I turtled (stayed the same). That was really discouraging because I felt that I did really well over the holidays. I did not over-eat and I continued to exercise. Of course, this is my cycle week. (Sorry guys, it's a fact us women have to deal with and it does effect our weigh ins!) My scale at home is already showing an improvement today. Why did we have to weigh in yesterday?

I should really stop beating myself up. My husband reminded me that I go through this every month. I have a bad weigh in or just a slight loss but the next week I have a really good one. So I will wait and see. I just thought I was down about 4 more pounds more than I showed, so I guess I do still have over 20 pounds to reach my goal. The good news was that our end of the year report revealed that I am 16 pounds lighter this year then I was last! This will be the year that I reach my final goal. I am not giving up!

To keep track of my progress I am posting my Tracker from The Ticker Factory. You will see that I have a permanent link to this on my side bar and it should always be updated with my current weight. Here is where I currently stand. I'm about halfway there!