Take Two

Literally the night that I started this blog I got a call from my soon-to-be ex and a drama-filled couple of days and stress-filled month followed.  Needless to say, blogging was not a priority at the time.

The good news is that things have settled down and seem to be going in the right direction now.  I have finished my summer semester classes and have 3 weeks until I go back to class.  And my weight loss has finally started moving in the right direction again too, albeit slowly.

I've turned my musings about training for a 5K into action and have signed up for my first race on October 19th!  I'm in week two of loosely following this training plan. I'm such a slow runner jogger.  My goal is to try to work up to being able to run entirely at 5.0 mph on the treadmill.  My goal for the 5K is to try to finish the race in under 40 minutes without walking at all.  I'm not entirely sure that's a realistic goal but I think it is.  A few days ago I actually jogged my first 5K distance ever and did it outside! But it took me 50 minutes.

So today marks 8 months since the beginning of my weight loss efforts and my total loss so far, as of this morning, is 71.4 lbs.  I've come to accept that the days of losing 10 lbs per month are definitely over.  I knew it had to slow down at some point and I think I'm okay with it now.  I've gotten out of the 200's and am slowly making my way through the 190's.

Weight loss stats:
Starting weight 12/11: 266 lbs
8 Month weigh in: 194.6 lbs
Pounds lost: 71.4 lbs
Goal weight: 152 lbs
Pounds to goal: 42.6 lbs

Only 10 more pounds and I will be back at my pre-pregnancy weight, which is also my lowest adult weight ever! So I can't wait to get past 185!

I've also become a dedicated MyFitnessPal user so if you want to follow me on there feel free to look me up.  My MFP name is VDRsMom.

Gym Rat

Yesterday I returned to the YMCA for my first workout after about 8 days of excuses and not making the time for exercise.  Lately I've been finding it very difficult to convince myself, or to actually be able to work out at home.  And honestly, I just prefer going to the gym.  I need a group class to really get me going.  If I could do one group class every day I'd be golden!  But that's not realistic either.

Yesterday I did an afternoon Step class and about 20 minutes of the Core class after.  This evening I did Muscle Definition and a 30 minute Quick Spin.  Tomorrow I'm planning on going to Cardio Blast in the morning - provided I'm able to move in the morning.  Muscle Def was a killer and I hadn't done much strength in a while so I'm dreading/looking forward to the impending soreness.

I'm ready to get the numbers on the scale moving again - and in the right direction.  My starting weight for this round of weight loss was 266.  I was able to consistently lose about 10 lbs per month for the first 6 months but several things have thrown me off in the past month and a half - my divorce and money stuff, a girls weekend trip to Chicago, a family reunion, etc. etc.  So I've only lost 2-3 lbs in the last few weeks.  I'm hovering around 204 and really itching to make it to ONE-derland!

So I've started tracking my food online again.   I've started focusing on eating real whole foods, local and organic when possible.  And I'm rededicating myself to exercise.  Even thinking about another attempt at a Couch to 5K.  I'm a wannabe runner.  The best I can do so far is a slow jog for one or two miles on a good day.  Maybe taking up running will add a new excitement and new goals to my weight loss efforts.