Running thoughts

Running is going well. Tuesday will start my Couch 2 5K week 3.... I think I'm ready. I'm really enjoying this process with my husband and my cousin Whitney. It's nice to have people to learn with, run with, talk with, and be accountable to. Week 3 marks the farthest I've ever gone in the C25K program. Wooohoo.

 Did I post about the fact that Whit and I have decided to run a 5K the same weekend that we are scheduled to finish C25K?  I keep reminding myself that it's not about speed but about endurance. 

Saturday's run was INTENSE. It was our first mid-day run. Lots of sun, humidity, and heat. I pushed harder than ever and hit a distance goal of 2 miles on a week 2 run, but I was so tired and exhausted afterward.  I was still sore in my calves and quads today. So my run tonight was a bit slower. 

My other big problem from yesterday was that it was my first time that I ran in shorts in humid and hot weather. I got quite a bad rash on my legs. So, I went out and bought some Under Armour compression gear shorts that go under my regular shorts. I used them today and they were perfect as far as I could tell today.  So, that's one problem solved. 

I also started having blister trouble on one of my ankles.... Not sure what to do about that beyond bandaids. 

My next solution I'm in search for... The perfect sports bra... Is it out there? If you have suggestions PLEASE comment or talk to me for those that know me. I currently have some Under Armour ones that I purchased a little over a year ago.  I'm not sure if they are just stretching out or what but they just aren't getting the job done as well anymore. When I find a good one I'll share my knowledge. Lol. Sorry for the extra info. Lol

I'm loving the feeling of a goal (July 16) and I really love how it feels to finish a run. It feels great. It I could get pollen out of the air it would be better than great!

Brandon is working a lot on form. He's doing well. My form right now is ok for me, but I'm sure could use some tweaking. 

I will be back to my Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday schedule this week for running. 

Everyone have a wonderful and blessed Monday!

Weigh in update

Here's a quick post while I wait for Brandon to get his haircut. I should have posted on Thursday night but I was so tired. I'm sorry

So thursday when I weighed had lost 2 pounds back down to 183.6. When I gained on Monday I feel like that confirms that it was water weight. I was very strict on my cardio and water drinking and I feel like thats what got the water off in 3 days.  

So my next training appointment and weigh in is Wed. So I'm expecting to lose another pound, but aiming to lose 3 pounds. My trainer and I discussed the difference in expecting and aiming. Expecting is huge and there are lots of variables that can affect weightloss. So if you expect more than your body can handle then your motivation begins to decrease. So I'm being careful not to have high expectations necessarily but to aim high and be realistic with expectations. 

Anyhow. We also did a spontaneous measurement check. Because I told Chad that I noticed a difference in my waist and sure enough I have lost another 1.5 inches off my waist. 

I went running this morning about 10:00 and it was HOT!  Well at least hotter than my normal evening runs! I'll post more about running later when I have time. 

Goodbye Pants!!!!!!!!!

So this morning I was getting ready in a hurray (as usual). I threw my gym clothes into my bag and headed out the door. So I wasn't paying attention to what clothes I packed. So after school and iPad training (I'm still excited about that) I headed to change before going to Zumba. Aw yes.... navy blue Capri length Lucky Brand sweat pants. I've had them since high school. I put them on and cinched up the draw string a good bit so they wouldn't fall off. Lol. Then I headed to Zumba. 

I got to Zumba early (super exciting) I got to be on the second row. I like it up there. Anyhow I glanced in the mirror and thought "Oh my goodness I look huge!". Well I took another look. My pants were cinched up more than ever and made my pants pooch out around my hips and yet the butt of my pants was still sagging. So it was my pants being too big that made me look so big! Well let me give that a loud Woooooooohoooooooooo!  

So I samba-ed,  sizzled, shook, dipped, crazy hand-ed, scissored, speed bagged, jumped, twisted, waved, "I dream of jeanie"-ed, went to the right and left more times than I can count - the hardest I could.! I think it was my best ever effort in Zumba class! All while thinking about retiring my new "fat pants". It was so motivating. 

*** I also was told by one of the girls at Zumba that she always stands on the front row because she read once in a fitness magazine that if you get on the front row you won't wimp out. You'll try even harder because people can see you. I believe the second row did the same for me ***

Anyhow, we always hear that it's not all about the number and the scales. That is and isn't true for me. My weight needs to decrease but when I get frustrated that it's going slow it's nice to have reminders about how much my body is toning and slimming down.  As I tone and slim I know my number will continue to decrease!  

I was just happy to notice a good change today. Goodbye Lucky sweatpants......

...... So hello to shorts?  Really.?? It's getting warmer and I was thinking that maybe I ought to get out some shorts for working out. So I went to one of the guest rooms and opened up a drawer full. I pulled out about 5 pair and put them in the wash to get them freshened up. I'm just worried about shorts. I have ZERO tan at this point. And I'm worried about putting on some of my favorite shorts.... Why you ask? Because they say Murray across the butt. Now I love Murray and all but any time there is a word across the butt you have to make sure the clothing fits. So I'll try them on and see just how big "Murray" is. Lol. I'm sure it will be just fine. These are just the type of thoughts that scroll across my mind. I hope I'm not the only one with funny thoughts like these. 

I train and weigh tomorrow. Goodbye 2.4 pounds that I gained over the weekend. !!!

Stay tuned for tomorrows post!

4!!!!!!! Days? Pounds? Donuts? All of the above???

Well.... I weighed yesterday.... And... I gained :/ (2.4 lbs) since Thursday (4 days)

I was MAD. I worked out so hard with Chad afterward. I was just ticked off. Mostly because it was my fault. It was my nutrition. The pendulum still swings. Cardio was great..... Nutrition was not. 

We went out with friends over the weekend to dinner and a ballgame. Dinner was at one of my favorites (Samurai) that is really not good for me at all due to the excessive sodium content. At the ballgame I had some vanilla ice cream.  That wasn't too bad beyond the sugar content.  So after the game it was the Great American Donut shop with all of our friends. I simply sat down, didn't stand at the counter to look and only ate two little donut holes of Brandon's. So I felt good there. What got me in trouble was the dozen donuts that Brandon bought to spend enough to use his debit card. They were fine until I met up with them on Sunday morning. I ate 4 of them!!!!! FOUR!!!!!!  It was like I lost all control for 10 minutes. 

Apparently my body just held on to all of these bad weekend decisions. From now on I can't let weekends get in my way!!!

I have goals to reach. I have to improve these trends. Im working on planning ahead again. I've updated my LoseIt app (does anyone use the online Lose It site.  Let me know if you do. ) and know that it will help pull me back to where I need to be. I know Christie... Consistency. I need to be crazy consistent. 

C25K update: Brandon and I both ran tonight. I completed Week 2 Day 1 and it felt GREAT!!!! I train and weigh again on Thursday. Stay tuned!!!

I finally got caught up with Biggest Loser and watched in real time for the first time in a year tonight. I was as always inspired and super excited to watch next week. 

Below are the lyrics to a song that was played on Biggest Loser tonight. I heard it in the back ground and googled the lyrics. Read and enjoy. Look
It up on iTunes. It's a great song. 

"This is my Now"
Jordin Sparks

There was a time I packed my dreams away.
Living in a shell, hiding from myself.

There was a time when I was so afraid.
I thought I'd reached the end,
But baby that was then
I am made of more than my yesterdays.

This is my now, and I am breathing in the moment.
As I look around
I can't believe the love I see.
My fears behind me, gone are the shadows and doubt
That was then, this is my now.

I have to decide,
Was I gonna play it safe.
Or look somewhere deep in side,
Try to turn the tide,
And find the strength to take that step of faith.

This is my now, and I am breathing in the moment.
As I look around
I can't believe the love I see.
My fears behind me, gone are the shadows and doubt
That was then, this is my now.

And I have the courage like never before, yeah.
I've settled for less now I'm ready for more,
Ready for more.

This is my now, and I am breathing in the moment.
As I look around I can't believe the love I see.
My fears behind me, gone are the shadows and doubt
That was then, this is my now.

I'm living in the moment
As look around I can't believe the love I see.
My fears behind me, gone are the shadows and doubt
That was then, this is my now.
This is my now.

Alabama Tornado Relief

My blog is all about helping me improve my health, but often times there is a need to help others.  Below is information about a thirty one party that my cousin is holding.  All proceeds from this thirty one party will be going directly to Alabama Tornado Relief.  My brother, Jason Terry, is a youth minister.  He recently returned from a clean up trip to Alabama.  He will be going back on May 26th and two other times during the summer and taking his youth group kids with him to help with clean up.  The money raised with this party will go directly toward the supplies the youth group will take to Alabama, the travel expenses they will have to get down there, and the items they will be delivering to family that have been left with nothing.  Please check out the site, even the smallest purchase can help.  Thirty one products are cute, durable, and practical.  If you are goal setting for your weight loss journey like I am, order a fun new bag, put it away until you meet a goal and use it to reward yourself. So anyhow, help out if you can and pass the word along as well.

Thanks in advance!

ps.  I'm planning to go on the July relief trip with my brother and his youth group.  (Brandon is too)

So, go to her website.... mythirtyone.com/lkterry
click on place an order
choose the alabama relief party.

*** I weigh in and work out with my trainer tonight ***
*** Look for another post soon! ***

No Girl Pushups!!!

I lost 1 pound!!!! That is exciting to me after beings nervous about how my week went. I guess it proves that increased cardio pays off even on weeks you retain water!

 I find one pound to be quite a success. I mean I'm not on the biggest loser here. I get frustrated when I see the contestants on Biggest Loser frustrated because they "only pulled a 3". I know that a 3 doesn't cut it there but a 1 pound loss cuts it here!!!!

Anyhow. So Chad and I discussed my plan to train for a 5K and run a 5K. I will be running that 5K with my two cousins Whitney Williams and Lindsey Terry *** shout out to those ladies***
then I will continue training and plan to do the Bowling Green Half Marathon next March (flat course) followed by the Country Music Half Marathon in April (not a flat course) I'm taking in two training schedules to Chad and he will help me decide the best way for me to train properly for these events. I'm currently sticking with C25K (Couch to 5K) until I finish it. That will have me at the 3 mile starting point for the half training!

So here is what I determined yesterday. I'm like one of those science things with 3 balls where the right one swings, hits the middle one and transfers energy to the left ball. Then back to the right. So on and so forth. The left and right ball never move at the same time. Well. I'm the center ball, the right ball is my nutrition, and the left ball is my cardio!  They are never moving at the same time!!!! This must stop.  (picture below has 3 balls in the middle.. I guess ball 2 and 3 could be labeled "sweets" and "chicken wings" for me... ya know, two more things that keep my nutrition and cardio from moving together)

I talked about this with Chad yesterday. He agreed and talked about how each time I focus on one of the two I'm making it better. Now it's time to get better at both at the same time. I told him, "This is the week!". He replied "put it on your blog so you have accountability". He is amazed, as am I, at how many readers I have. I'm still wondering who some of my readers are.... Follow me!!!!

My workout was intense last night I did LOTS of squats and upperbody work. I said to Chad when I got there "I'm ready for my arms to not be fat!". So we focused on them a bit. I had a specific spot bothering me on my upper arms, the very top and back of my triceps, like right where your arm connects to your body.  I was doing my tricep dips with the kettle bell when I asked about that spot. He had me lower the kettle bell even further before raising it back up. It really isolated that spot. The problem spot is officially sore today!!! Wooohooo. Don't worry. My legs hurt too because I did squats with weight in every circuit I did last night!

In all my upperbody circuits last night I did a total of 45 pushups on the tire. I did the full pushups. No knees on the ground. Mixed with planks in between. I'm getting stronger!!!

Anyhow, so that is where I stand. 1.8 lbs from my new yoga pants that I get at 10 lbs!

Woohooo!!!!

If any of you are on journeys yourself I want to hear from you either on here or facebook.

Still needing summer healthy recipe ideas!

Have a wonderful Friday evening everyone!

Random thoughts the night before weighing in.

So I have been rocking out on my cardio pretty good this week. 

Thursday -C25K and training
Friday - off
Saturday - yard work (see last post)
Sunday - dog park (light day)
Monday - Zumba and C25K
Tuesday - walked
Wednesday - Zumba and Walking (I don't feel well. I got the allergy sinus stuff going on, but I pushed and went and was glad I did)

Tomorrow I weigh in and train and I'm looking forward to it but fearing the weigh in. I don't weigh at home to have any idea where I stand but my pants aren't feeling so comfy this week. I don't know if I'm retaining water (maybe too much Sodium) or what. Maybe it's all the humidity? I just don't know. It makes me want to stay on a diet of fresh pineapple and water tomorrow before I weigh in. Lol. Just kidding.   

I'm also wondering about these two things and their affect on my weight loss: stress and lack of sleep. A guy at work always says "just say it's fat free before you eat it.... You don't lose weight because you stress over every little thing". Well I agree with half of that. The first half would be nice to be true but isn't. You can't just call it fat free an eat anything. But he does have a point about stressing. Is counting calories a good thing.?Yes it is! Is stressing over this that and the other throughout the workday a good thing? NO it's not. 

Sleep. I don't know much about it but I know these two things:

I prefer 8 hours of sleep but rarely succeed in getting it. 

I've heard that lack of sleep will interrupt weight loss. 

I'm just worried about the weigh in tomorrow and thought that I would type out all my thoughts before going to sleep. I plan on 8 hours tonight. Wooohoooo

working out and getting stuff done!

So, this weekend I found a really good workout..... YARD WORK.... and I don't mean riding the riding mower. I mean weeding the garden for an hour and half and trimming hedges with a very heavy gas powered hedge trimmer for another hour and a half. It felt really good to be “working out” and getting things done all at the same time. Weeding the garden led to more squats than I thought possible because I don't like dirt and what not so I don't rest my knees on the ground. (I also stained my fingers with dirt because I couldn't find my gardening gloves, yuck) The heavy hedge trimmers were a great workout for my arms and upper back.

On Sunday morning I was actually sore from all of this.

Sunday's “workout” consisted of taking the dogs to the dog park and running and playing with them. Not like the yard work for sure, but I got some cardio and had fun and relaxed. Now the dogs on the other had (particularly Gracie) got quite the workout. Gracie found a 13 week old Bull Mastif that was bigger than her that she just loved!

Monday is back to traditional workouts, Zumba, Yoga, Couch to 5K. I'm going for a good loss this week! I'm starting to feel different both endurance wise and how my clothes fit. It's pretty excited. I am ready for the number on the scales to move down a bit. So, here goes.

Bringin' Back the Jelly Rolls

Well, last week I weighed in on Thursday. I gained 0.8 lbs. This may be too much info for some of my male readers but it is a reality for ladies for sure. It was that time of the month for me. BLAH! So, with that comes the following (I think you will agree) : “unexplained” weight gain, fatigue, cramps, cravings for all thing NOT good for you, headaches, etc. So working out with the trainer doesn't exactly parallel with these “symptoms”.

The first thing I did was tell myself the following “I AM going to work out and not let this hold me back” I did just that. Thursday I went to the gym to meet with my trainer. When I got their there was a mix up with scheduling and I could either wait about an hour to train or reschedule. My trainer suggested getting in some cardio for the hour. So, I had a choice... stay and fight the fatigue and work out or leave and reschedule.

So, the easy decision would be to leave. When I say easy I mean physically easy. To me on Thursday the easy decision mentally was to stay..... so I did.

I walked on the treadmill for 10 minutes and then did a 30 minute Couch to 5K run. The C25K run was surprisingly easy! I was thrilled with that. I did a week 1 run. Just as I was finishing my run Chad arrived. I weighed. I explained to him my situation with my weight gain. He told me that 0.8 lbs was not bad considering my situation. Of course no gain is good, but it could have been pounds instead of tenths of pounds. I found it important to tell him my situation because we would be doing circuit training outside and I just wasn't sure how my body would hold up. (I only go through “this” 4 times a year)

So how did the circuit training go after 40 minutes of interval running (C25K)??.... it went GREAT! It feels so good to be getting into shape where workouts feel good even though they are tough and hurt. I requested that we bring back the “jelly rolls” Do y'all remember those? Well I wanted to know if I was any better at them than I was before. So I asked Chad if we could see. Last time I did 15 seconds going each directions and couldn't make it through either set of 15 seconds. This time he had me go 20 seconds on each side and I did it all the way through, BOTH SETS. I felt very proud.

I'm looking forward to my weigh in this week. I am expecting a loss!

Speaking of Couch to 5K and wanting to run the half in Nashville next year.  Check out this cute little fella (my nephew, Everett) at the half last weekend sporting his own race bib onesie!!! He was so proud and excited for his Mommy and Daddy.  Next year he can cheer on his Aunt Bethney.

Inspiration and celebration!

"don't let what you cannot do interrupt what you CAN do"

This was written in the front of the aerobics room on the mirrored wall tonight at Zumba. I really liked it. I feel like I really lived by this throughout my back injury. I did what I could instead of focusing on what I couldn't do. For that reason I found myself taking the last step back to normal tonight when I walked into Zumba.

I've been going to Zumba since September. When I fell in January I had to stop going and it was my last thing to add back in to be back to my normal routine. 

I was scared to go back if I'm honest about it. Zumba is a tough cardio workout!  I was mortified that I'd be just huffin and puffin. I thought they might have to peel me up off the floor. But you know what?..... I felt more in shape for this Zumba class than ever before. Running and working out with Chad had me MORE than ready to get back to Zumba. It felt GREAT!!!

I was worried that all of the twisting motions would activate my symptoms and I wouldn't make it through the whole hour (I have to stop when my symptoms get activated) but we went an hour and 5 minutes and I had NO symptoms!!!! So, WooHoo!

We Salsad (is that a word) to Billy Jean tonight! How fun is THAT!?!

I was just so excited! I stayed after and told the instructor how glad I was to be back in her class. I shared with her and another lady that I see everytime I'm at the gym that Zumba tonight was my last step back to normal. They high fived me and I continued my discussion with the Zumba instructor about running. 
She is running a full marathon in June. 

As I mentioned, I went to watch Jason and Jamie run the half in Nashville last weekend.  I watched them in the full last year. Quite frankly I'm tired of watching. That doesn't mean I'm staying home next year it means I'm going to be running!

I tried training for it once before when I lived in TN, but I trained too fast for my Fibro and had a major flare up. It kinda scared me off. 

My Zumba instructor (who is also a trainer) suggested to me a training program that can be found free online, www.halhigdon.com,  she said it was an 18 week program and that I should try doing each week twice to keep from going too fast again. She also suggested training for the half in Bowling Green in march because it is a flat course where Nashville is hilly. Then do the Country Music half in April. 

So, here goes.... 

Step 1 - tell my brother and sister so they can get excited

Step 2 - talk to Chad tomorrow and show him the Hal Higdon plan and get his input as my trainer

Step 3 - get to it

Step 4 - BELIEVE!!!

"If you can dream it you can do it"
- Walt Disney

One last thing.... I have a friend who started a weight loss blog/ journey this week. I read it today and it inspired me all over again to keep on keepin on! Go Stephen!!! You got this. Brandon and I are rooting for you and are proud of you!

Weigh in TOMORROW!!!

Midweek

So this week has flown by so far... I made the comment on facebook this morning that I feel like I haven't had the time lately to write my posts. It is "that time of year" for us teachers. Concerts approaching, testing right around the corner, all the kids are a bit more .... Well.... Crazy! Lol. I'm honestly counting down the days too summer. I looked at my wall calendar behind my desk yesterday where I originally marked May 20th for closing day. I did enjoy the snow days but My oh My June 4th seems years away!  Anyhow, so I'm trying my best to keep up with my workouts and blog posts until June 4th and at that time working out can happen whenever I want it to. Can't wait!!!!

So I had huge successes on Thursday when I weighed an measured. I appreciate all of the kind words. I had another HUGE success.... I was discharged from physical therapy on Monday!!!!! Like for real this time! 

Wooooohoooooo!!!!!

I even got a t shirt, hahaha. 

The therapist told me that I can expect skin sensitivity (feeling like a sunburn) and numbness for 10-12 months still. Nerve irritation takes time to heal. That's for sure. But it's been over 3 months since I feel. My goal that I wrote down my first day of therapy was "to be able to get back to my regular exercise routine". So I met my goal. I'm going to finish out my goal with Zumba class tonight. That's the only thing I haven't done since I fell. I was steering clear because of all the twisting. So I'm going to try it out. 

Nutrition. My nutrition has not been so great this week. I think it goes along with the busy schedule we've got going on. I have fallin off the wagon or anything. I've still been watching but I haven't been journaling my food. 

I am resuming that today. I'm going to set reminders on my phone to record what I'm eating. I thunk that will help. 

I will have a post soon about the Country Music marathon and 1/2 marathon. Stay tuned. 

Thanks for reading.