2 ounces? No how about 6 ounces!!!! Really?!

Being particular with portion size is really important for weight loss i have had a scale for quite some time but it is small and not digital and really quite useless. 

So we purchased the Biggest Loser digital scale at Bed Bath & Beyond last week (it's cheap) and I love it. You can use any bowl, plate, container, papertowel, or whatever else you can think of to set food on to measure. You place the bowl (or whatever) on the scale then press the "on/tare" button and it zeros it back out. Then you place your food in the container and it weighs it to the tenth of an ounce from .1 ounce all the way to 6.6 pounds. I have measured spaghetti, veggie chips, almonds, lunch meat, cooked ground beef, chicken. It works for everything!  Now let me tell you about measuring. 

So my Terra veggie chips have a serving size listed. It's "2 oz - about 17 chips" so I always counted out 17 but was left puzzled by the fact that the sweet potato chips are small but the taro root chips are large an there are three others in between. So how could a number be right. So when I measured my chips it was a different number of chips for each serving depending upon which veggies I grabbed. So now I eat 2oz of terra chips. 

About Spaghetti. If you have never seen 2 oz of whole wheat Spaghetti prepare yourself for disappointment. Previously I have been eating 4-6 oz thinking I was eating 1 serving. Yikes! A serving is 180 calories so three servings by accident would be 540!!! That's a big mistake. The way I prepared my Spaghetti was I placed my bowl on the scale, zeroed it, measured 2 oz of pasta, zeroed, measured 4 oz of meat, then sauce. So it didn't take but like 30 seconds longer to fix my food and I knew exactly how many calories I was eating. 

So, I'm hoping this scale will help me a lot with my nutrition.  

I ran the ENTIRE 5K!!!!!

So, I ran my 5K on Saturday night and it was great.  The morning of  the race I woke and and hopped on the scales hoping to see a decrease in weight.  I had purchased a new running skirt as my 10 lb goal reward and had yet to meet that goal.  I was so excited to see 181.4 on my scales at home which is 10 lbs down from my start weight.  Now, I'm not recording that weight on my blog because it was not an official weigh in on the gym scales, but I went on and went by that weight to allow myself my 10 lb reward.  So i got to wear my new running skirt for the race and I loved it.  I saw several people at the race that we know.... that was fun.  One of which was my first trainer, Greg.  I was happy to update him on my progress since he left and I began with Chad.  He congratulated me on the success.  It was nice to get to update him.  Below are pictures and the story of the night and how things went.  I'm sorry that I've been slow to blog.  I haven't been slow to work or train though, Band camp has started and made time management a bit of a struggle.... but I HAD to make this post and I hope to get posting back into my routine more often.  Thanks for reading.  Read below for the race story:

We arrived plenty early to register and get ready.  I am like soooo excited in this picture.  I couldn't believe that I was there.  I love my New Balance running skirt in this picture.  It has the compression shorts built in but you don't have to worry about the bulk of a second pair of shorts on top of the compression shorts.  I loved it.

All registered!!!! I'm getting more excited.  We were quite nervous though.

Stretching next to the car.... we were observing all of the very interesting pre-run routines that people go through.  Very interesting and somewhat imtimidating!

One last picture just before the race started.

Starting the race- that's me there in teal, I wish my physical therapist could see that posture! Whitney is directly to my right, you can see her forhead and shoes...

Brandon headed down the road to take some action shots, here I'm about .5 miles out.  At this time about 3 people were left behind me. I was definitely holding a steady pace.

He had me look for a picture... a bit blurred.  I was feeling good but a bit overwhelmed at this point in time.  This was on the way out.... we went out to the 1.55 mark and turned around and went back.... you'll see me in this spot in a minute.. or like 20...

You know what I loved.... the people along the edges of the course (you can't see them in my pictures) They cheer for you like you just hit a grand slam.  Also, when the race turns around everyone that is in from of you runs back past you and a lot of them cheer you on.  Especially people you know.  When Greg passed it was something like this "yeah... Bethney! You got this girl! Do it! lol. He made me laugh. Then people you don't know that run back past you cheer you on. It is so motivating. 

This is me headed back.  Not long before this two of the people behind me picked up their pace for the second half.  One of the guys was older (about Dad's age.. LOL, just kidding dad!!!) and when he got to me he was actually power walking at the same speed that I was running. OH MY! anyhow, he stayed with me for a few minutes, he complimented my steady pace and form.  He told me that he had been behind me and watching me the whole time.  He complimented me that I hadn't walked at all, not even for water.  He was a really nice guy, not long before this picture he told me good luck and ran ahead.  (Whitney ran with an older guy that was running his first race since getting a pace maker, yikes!)  I think this picture is funny because there is only one lady left behind me and you can see her in her white shirt just in front of the police that were pushing up the end.  It looks like I'm running from the police in this picture and it just makes me laugh. 
At this point I was tired but had hit the runners high pretty good where I couldn't feel anything much, I was in a rhythm and I was running and that was it.  After I passed back by Brandon here he headed back to the finish line with Mom and Whitney to watch me finish.

going.... going.... running.... running.... breathing.... breathing

Just after I passed the finish line... I was really scooting.  I sprinted harder that I had ever sprinted for the last leg, about as far back as the police lights are... I really pulled away from that other lady.  Now let me tell you about this last leg.  As I rounded the corner all alone knowing that I was next to last I saw two guys running toward me.  It was Greg, my old trainer, and Matt another trainer at the gym that I know.  They came and got on either side of me.  I was already picking up me speed... I said "Did y'all come to get me!, I just want y'all to know that I ran the whole time, I never walked".... Greg told me "when you get to that tree you are going to sprint as hard as you can".... I got to the tree and they sent me on my way.  I ran as hard as I could.  People cheered as I crossed the finish line.  It was crazy how amazing it felt. 

Did I care that I was next to last? HECK NO!!!! I finished!!!!!! I did NOT walk!

I MET MY GOAL!!!!! (take that fibromyalgia!)

I have to give God the glory for this accomplishment.  He goes on every run with me and gives me the strength.  I praise him daily for the accomplishments and abilities in my life. 

There is my time 42'48"

After crossing the line I could not slow down... I had to walk circles forever.  They handed me a time card... I had to fill it out, I was barely able to write, I was so wound of and shakey.... then I was off to find the water and fruit, I ate an apple, then a banana, a water, then half a gatorade.  I had a bit of an asthma feel in my lungs right after I stopped, but I did some good slow deep breathing and it got better soon.

Here is Greg and I . I was glad to see him, you may remember him from my picture on the left side of my blog from Jan.  Notice the apple here.

Whitney and I afterward.  Her time was great, like 36'58" (I think)

I've gained a banana here.  We were so proud of our accomplishment.

That night:  I was so tired, we ate dinner at about 9:30 when we left the race.  I got home, hit the whirpool, then went right to bed. 

The next day: I woke up and rolled over to Brandon and said "I feel like I got hit by a bus", I got up, took some ibuprofen and headed to church.  I can't lie, I had a little trouble focusing on the sermon because my body hurt.  I have never had knee pain in all my life but yesterday my knees were sore. yuck.

Today: I'm back to normal and ready to run again. 

My next race I am planning to sign up for is Sept 10th and I think Brandon (my biggest fan at my race) might just run with me.

 

100 Days of Oatmeal Challenge

So, I purchaed a 9lb box of Quaker Oats.... see picture below (gallon of milk shows you how big the box is)
There are 100 servings in the box.  So its a challenge for myself.  Oatmeal for breakfast 100 days in a row beginning tomorrow (7-8-11).  On the quaker site Bob Harper from Biggest Loser has challenged people for one week of oatmeal. I might just see how many different ways I can eat oatmeal.  I'm thinking that fresh fruit in the oatmeal is something good that I haven't tried yet.  I have a few purposes for this challenge... One of my toughest meals to get right is breakfast and oatmeal is one of the best breakfast staples you can eat... So I'm thinking that if I challenge myself for 100 days I'll surely make a habit of a good breakfast. Also, the benefits of oatmeal are great and will be sure to have a positive impact on how I feel.  So, here goes....

Vacation

Well vacation went well. I haven't  posted on vacation so I'm a little behind. On my last weigh in before vacation I had gained a pound. I get pretty stinkin sick of gaining!  Anyhow... Moving on...

I ate fairly well during vacation. I didn't snack at all. My family eats pretty healthy so that helped. I treated myself a few times to ice cream but it was vacation so I treated myself. 

I tried Larabars for the first time and they were amazing!!! They are all natural bars with no preservatives. No sodium  The ingredients list has like 3 fruits and 2 nuts and that's all!! They are great!

As far as exercise goes I did mostly running ( I did some weights with my dads dumbbells one evening ). I ran 3 times in the 5 days I was there. A total of 5 miles. I ran once with my brother and sister in law. They helped me a lot. They ran some hills that I wouldn't have done on my own and they helped push my pace. I did an 11.5 minute mile with them. That is a bit slower than their normal but faster than my normal. Like 2 minutes faster! It felt great. I also got to run with Whitney ( my 5K buddy). We will do well in our 5K if we can keep from laughing. When the deer ran across the road in front of us we laughed so hard (I'm afraid of deer). 

One of my other cousins was telling me at home that he started Couch to 5K. So that is another of the cousins running. I think we are 5 for 6 now. Lol. 

Brandon and I purchased our new running shoes on our trip. After much shopping and trying on over the past few weeks I purchased Asics. Brandon also purchased Asics. 

We also purchased a new kitchen scale today for measuring portions. We had one but this one is digital and will be much more accurate. I'm excited about this. Mostly for measuring meat. Meat is one of those portion trouble foods. It's not as straight forward as a 100 calorie pack. So this will help with that a lot. 

We are planing to start cooking and portioning our food ahead of time especially with band starting up soon. I'm excited for this change in our kitchen. 

Overall I feel great about this week and I'm looking forward to training and weighing in on Tuesday. 

I also got my Murray State Tervis Tumbler this week. That was my 5 pound goal reward that I earned a while back some time ago but you can't find Murray state things in western country. Lol. I have purchased my 10 pound reward but can't use it until I reach my goal. Soon hopefully!

Thanks for reading. There will be lots of posts this week. 

LDL? HDL? what the......?

On Monday evening  I went to an Aqua Zumba party at the gym.  I took my mom and my cousin Whitney with me.  We all had a blast but by the end of two hours we were so exhausted! We did win some prizes... We all won zumba bracelets and I won a free spray tan! Whitney won a CD as well.  Fun times! I think mom and Whit enjoyed it.

So, we had physicals today.... It went well.

The only bloodwork I had was a cholesterol break down and it went great.

Cholesterol:

Total Number 173 (down from 199 a year ago, but total number is rather uninformative)
HDL 53
LDL 104
Triglycerides 115

These are all in the normal/ideal range. 
HDL is the good cholesterol (above 60 is the very best, so i would like to see that move up a little)
LDL is the bad cholesterol (ideal for me is below 130, if one has a high risk for heart disease their "ideal" would be 100 or below)
Triglycerides are in relation to sugar (they should be below 150, so I'm golden there)

HDL and LDL what the.....?
Dr. Oz explained HDL and LDL in such a simple manner on one of his shows.  I'll see if I can share his explination.  Imagine an icecream scoop and a melon baller....one is scooping butter into your arteries the other is scooping it out... which one do you want to do each job.  Well of course! The icream scoop scooping it out and the melon baller putting it in right? Well that is the idea of having a high HDL and a low LDL which is good.  If you had a low HDL and a high LDL that would be the ice cream scoop putting in the butter and the melon baller working as hard as possible to scoop the butter out but it would never be able to keep up.  I hope that wasn't too confusing... maybe it even helped (esp, for people my age that are just now thinking about these things).  My doctor explained that all of my numbers were great but I also looked up ranges on the mayoclinic website.  So I'm good, I would like to increase my HDL though.

I will tell you a quick story, when the nurse first went over my bloodwork she told me that my fasting glucose was 108 (i could have died).  She began going over my eating habits, no soda (check), no whites (check), use Olive Oil (double check), whole grain pasta (check)..... so what on earth could I do better!  So, she said the doctor would likely check me again at the end of July and I started to cry.  I freaked out, ME???? the one who tries so hard to be healthy and encourage others to do the same? the one whose Mom and Dad swapped me to whole grain everything 10 years ago? What in the world.  Brandon was looking at me kinda funny cuz I was crying...the nurse felt all bad for me.. then all of a sudden i hear these words from the nurse, "oh, i am SOOOO sorry, I have made a mistake.... that glucose was from your April bloodwork and was not fasting, so it is perfectly fine" WHEW!!!! I got a big ol' smile and was so excited.  The nurse apologized like 100 times and I said "well, dont focus on scaring me, focus on the fact that you go to give me really good new afterward!"

So my glucose is NORMAL, he had tested it one afternoon when I had a bit of a panic attack just to make sure it wasn't off because I was rather shaky.... it was fine then to.

The only other thing that he told me was that he does think that I have exercise induced asthma and I now have an inhaler to take before each run.  Thank goodness, because the tightness after my runs was getting worse and worse the longer my runs got.  I will be trying out the inhaler for the first time tonigh.

I asked him about my slow weight loss (even with the loss of lots of inches). He told me to stop fearing a rapid heart rate and push my intensity up.  He said that it will help and that I also have to realize that I AM building muscle, so I am still losing fat, I'm just replacing it.  So I texted my trainer this afternoon and told him to plan something hard for tomorrow.  I told him what the doctor said.  His text back "cool, will do". Should I be scared!??? I think so.....

Below is a picture that I recently posted on facebook.... Left side is about two weeks ago, right side is in Jan. with my old trainer.  Not a lot of pounds lost but the inches are pretty great! I am so thankful that my new trainer has pushed me and helped me find results.  Thanks Chad!

FACEPLANT

Well I gained today. Welcome to Bethney's weight loss roller coaster. Just throw your hands up and say Woohoo though because I lost lots of inches!!!!

Waist - down 1" (total -7.5")
Hips - down 1" (total -4")
Thigh - down .5" (total -1.5")
Calf - down .5" (total -1.5")
Forearm down .25" (total -.75")
Upper arm down .5" (total -1.5")

We didn't check my body fat % today...
The gain was not a huge deal. I'm actually planning to talk with my doctor about my plateau in regards to my underactive thyroid. I'm not beating myself up. 

I was thrilled to have lost inches. You know what's crazy though. I'm just going to go on and share this. Women know where the first place we lose inches is (chest) well. I never post that measurement because it hasn't changed even a tenth of an inch. Crazy huh? But I'm not complaining.... Lol

So my workout was great today. I'm starting to sweat better. I love sweating!   I did have a funny moment though. I was doing plyometrics by jumping (both feet together) onto a big huge truck tire (the same one in the plank picture.  Anyhow. This is my second time doing these and I have been pausing between each jump and doing 10 jumps for 3 sets. So on my second set today my trainer had me do 5 single jumps then 5 with no pauses. It was really tough (mentally and physically). I failed a few times but then I got going ... 1,2,3,4, FACEPLANT!!! I jumped short and hugged the tire!!! Chad asked if I was fine. I said oh yeah my shins hurt an my pride went down the drain. He said it's ok to fall sometimes. I guess it just means I'm pushing really hard. Those of you that know me know that I thought it was hilarious. You have to laugh at life for sure. Anyhow I got up and did another 5 successfully!!! Yay! So aside from brushed shins (those tires are HARD) I'm good and I got better. 

I hope my post made you laugh today. 

So I continue doing what I do....

Workouts, swimming, running

Workouts are so different from day to day. Yesterday I was going like the energizer bunny. I ran my C25K run, did a few upper body exercises, Had an amazing stretch session ( found the aerobics room empty, yay for summer daytime workouts! ) then spent 90 minutes in the pool and made some progress toward swimming laps.

Speaking of swimming.... Swimming laps is on a level all it's own. I can swim well. I can swim with a variety of strokes, I can tread water for ages, I can even turn the flip and push off! All of that thanks to my parents who had me in swimming lessons with amazing teachers for like 6 or 7 years!  Now back to swimming laps... I stink at it. The technique of the breath stroke is one that takes practice. To me it's been a use it or lose it type thing. I've lost it.  Now. Swimming underwater is great. I can go 3/4 the length of the pool underwater on one breath. Back to the breath stroke.... It's a constant rhythm and timing struggle. I started out breathing on every right arm. That was terrible!!! I felt like I could pass out! So I'm breathing on every other right arm now.  That is better. I'm getting better at turning my head enough that I don't get water in my mouth, YUCK! But all in all I still stink at it. I have to stop about halfway down the pool (full size pull at the gym) and start my whole rhythm over again. Now. I'm no where near in shape to be swimming laps. It takes work. It's totally separate from running or circuit training. Its really tough. For me I think it's all about fitting into a rhythm and relaxing. Like I said before I know the stroke I just have to get better at it in the context of swimming laps. I really admire the people that get in the pool and swim 100 laps a day! Wow. My goal right now is to swim a half lap (baby steps) I hope by the end of summer to be able to swim 2 laps without a stop. I think I can do that!

So today was a whole other story... I was tired, exhausted, unmotivated, had a sinus headache all day that started in my eyes. Ya know just one of THOSE days. Brandon was ready to hit the gym and I sent him without me. But I didn't allow myself to do nothing. I still paid attention to my nutrition and while he was at the gym I took some time out for yoga. I knew I had to do something to help pep myself up a bit. So I popped in Bob's Weightloss Yoga and did a workout and it felt great. I felt much better afterward.



Gracie seemed to want to join me for yoga... or maybe just make mine more difficult!

 I think it is so hard to work out on blah days but also so important. I think I actually wore myself out yesterday. The fibromyalgia kicks in sometimes and screams at me for overdoing.  Yesterday during my run I got a throbbing pain between my accelis tendon and my calf muscle. I decided not to run today for that reason and it seems better. I'm hoping it doesn't show back up on my run tomorrow. I don't have too much time for rest. My 5K is coming up soon! 23 days!!!

About the 5K. I'm so excited. My cousin , Whitney, that is training and running with me is doing really well. My cousin, Lindsey that has started running about the same time we did is also doing really well. I'm trying to convince her to join Whit and I in July (Lindsey I hope you read this) Whit and I are excite that we have some days coming up where we will be able to run together for the first time! My next run is 25 minutes. Woah!!!!

Lots of random thoughts in this blog post huh?

I have a weigh in and measurements tomorrow and I'm training with Chad AND my hubby!!! Can't wait.

I'm also having my cholesterol checked in the am. Doctor will give me results Tuesday. He didn't think I needed it checked but I wanted it checked because last time it (my total number which is nit the end all be all) was leaning toward high (my thyroid was still of balance then) so I'm looking for an improvement. Hoping for good LDL/HDL ratio. I'll post all about that on Tuesday.

I'll post some results tomorrow! (also, I editted the recipe section)



It was so nice yesterday to find the aerobics room open and available for some good stretches!  This room is so motivating to me.  I think its the openess, the motivating sayings on the mirror that change each week and the overall feeling of the room.  So relaxing for stretching! (somehow, I managed a picture with my iphone while I streched)