Week in Review: 12/12

December 12th: We had signed Little Man up for a SF event.  To see The Princess and the Frog at the movie theater.  Hubby didn’t have anything else going on that day, so I took him and then went to the gym for some treadmilling.  I set the clock for 45 minutes and walked the first 5 minutes for warm-up.  I slowed down several times to drink my water, but I did pause it once for a long drink of water.  Stupidity set in.  Instead of hitting “Quick Start” to resume the workout, I hit “pause/reset” instead.  Sigh…

I did notice that I had gone 2 miles and had about 17ish minutes left, so I reset the clock for 15 minutes.   I managed to go another 1.1 miles in the 15 minutes and 0.29 miles during cool down.  I managed to keep the incline set at 1 and my speed varied between 4.8 & 5.2 mph.

December 14th: It was “warm” enough to actually run outside during lunch.  It was in the mid 40’s, over cast and just a little windy.  I ran 3.1 miles (5K) in 36:40.  Not too bad.

December 16th: I hauled the Stationary bike upstairs before work.  I DVR’ed the show Hoarders and watched while I pedaled.   I tend to keep an eye on mileage rather than time and I think I went approximately 0.67 miles before it reset.  grrrrr…  That’s getting old.  Went along with no problems, then the doorbell rang.  I wasn’t expecting anyone for half an hour!  He was early picking up the boxes of files for work.  I did glance and the mileage was 5.47 miles.  When I was ready to get back on the stationary, it had reset back to zero.  At least I keep track of it all on my notes on my phone!  Anyway. I watch the last of the show and finish with 4.26 miles for a total of 10.41 miles on the bike.

December 17th: Today was another nice enough dat to run outside.  Mid 40’s and sunny, with just a little breeze.  I did run 4.5 miles in 52:31 with minimal walking.  It was a there and back route, rather than a circuit route.  I walked for 30 seconds at the turn and then another 30 seconds heading up hill #2 (right around mile 3).  the last bit of walking was for about 10 seconds just after mile 4 on what I call the Poltergeist hallway hill.

Next week is winter break, so I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to do.  Hopefully more than I think. 

New to This

Hi. My name is Andrea, @Shutterbitch, or even Hey You, if it’s in a nice enough tone of voice.  I’m new here, in case you weren’t sure.  I also am new to working out.  Well, I guess technically that’s not true.  I’ve been working out since I knew what the word ‘fat’ meant, probably since I was ten or so.  But I’m new to losing weight.  I’ve never been successful at that.  I’ve also never been a runner before.  I always had a video to do, Cindy Crawford’s secret to her mole nice lean figure that earned her a spot as Americas Next Top Model before there was a show of the same name.  From Tae Bo to Power 90, gym memberships, walking around my neighborhood, the purchase of a jogging stroller after the birth of my second child… I’ve been there.  You wanna talk about diets, I can spout about all of them, South Beach, The Zone, Atkins, Eat to Live, Oprah’s… Oh, Oprah doesn’t have a diet? That surprises me, since she’s spent her career telling us what to like/do/eat/watch.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have much against (or for) Oprah, but I figured she has her fingers in all kinds of pies, why not that?

But this isn’t a diet blog.  It’s a fitness blog.  And I’m new at one thing: sticking with a plan.  I’ve never successfully done one to reach a predetermined goal.  I’ve always quit, petered out, flaked, or any other quitting euphemism you can think of. 

Here’s some information about me: I weigh 221 pounds. That’s a freakin’ lot.  I’m only 5′3″.  Yeah, I bring the sexay.  I’m an apple shape, meaning I carry all my weight in my middle, as opposed to a pear shape with a big butt/hips.  I actually look pregnant, though my daughter is going to be 2 years old in 19 days.  Yeah, I still haven’t lost the pregnancy weight, but if I’m being truthful, which is key to success, I was this weight or only slightly less before I got pregnant the first time, let alone the second time.

But I’m done. I’m sick of being too tired for my kids, too snappy because I am unhappy with myself so I bring my misery down on everything around me.  My weight affects more than my health, but also my mood, my self-image, my opinion of life around me.  Snarky is one thing; that can actually be funny.  Bitchy is not something I aspire to be.  It’s begun to cost me; my kids shrink from me when they see a look cross my face because I have such a short temper; my husband cringes, gauges my reaction to things he says, and walks on eggshells around me. 

I’ve had enough.  Among the things I would like to change about myself, my weight, health, and eating habits are front and center.  But I know it’s a process, one I have to eek out as I go along.  No one can come in and fix me.  I have to fix this myself.  So I’m journaling my process here, focusing on the fitness aspect of it more than diet.  Some of it will be talking aloud, asking for help, imparting ideas.  I’d like to join in the community here, get a conversation going, motivate someone if possible, and I’d like to be able to look back on this as the beginning of the end of my misery with how I feel, look, and behave.

To keep myself motivated,  I’ve got several goals.  The big one is to lose 100 pounds.

Holy hell, 100 pounds! That’s almost a full grown adult!  That’s really freakin’ daunting.  But I know Rome wasn’t built in a day; books are written a page at a time, and so I’ll be taking this a step at a time, a goal at a time, if you will.

Long term, ultimate goal: lose 100 pounds. Show my kids the meaning and importance of being healthy.  Be happy with myself, prove that I CAN do this.

Intermediate goal: regain health enough to run in a 5K or 10K or even a 1/2 marathon or *gulp* full marathon.  Keep up with my kids.

Monthly goal: lose more than 10 pounds in the first month. Prove to my mind that it’s possible to go further than the pain says I can go.

Weekly goal: run/work out every day, get some form of exercise every day.

Daily: The name of this url is accountability.wordpress.com.  Daily I want to take responsibility for my choices, both dietary and fitness ones.  I am the one who got myself in this condition, and I need to take responsibility for that and change those choices.  Change is the only way this can be done.  Trying to change my whole life is too daunting.  But one choice at a time, well hell.  That I can change.

I’ll get there.  One little goal at a time.  So what do you say, wanna come along for the ride?

*updated to add if you’re on www.dailymile.com and wish to friend me, here is my profile.

Week In Review 12/7

It’s a Craptacular week weather-wise.

December 7th: I joined a gym so I could use the treadmill or elliptical and then I promptly went to McDonald’s for a McRib sandwich.  YUM!!

December 9th: I intended to go to the gym this afternoon for a run on the treadmill, but the weather outside is frightful.  So I hauled the stationary bike (This is close, but the display is different) upstairs and watched an episode of Cold Case.  I managed to go approximately  0.75 miles before the display reset itself  (GRRRR) and I didn’t see the time.  I went 9 miles in 43 minutes and some odd seconds.  I can say for sure that I went 9.75 miles, but the time I’m not sure of, so I’ll say 45 minutes.

December 10th: I did make it to the gym and ran onthe treadmill.  I ran for 30 minutes and ran for 2.42 miles.  I did have to pause the belt a few times to take a drink of water.  I only had a water bottle that I had to twist the lid off   I pretty much kept the speed right around 5 mph, but I did go up to 5.2 and towards the end 4.8.  I had the incline for the most part set at 1 with the occasional 2.  During the 5 minute cooldown, I managed to go another 0.28 miles.

Late post

I’m kind of late posting this, but I did get out and run again while we were at the in-laws over Thanksgiving.  I went out Saturday November 28th.  It was a beautiful day.  the sun was shining and it was kind of warm, but breezy.  I did three more “laps” for a total of 3.27 miles.  Not quite sure on the time, as I had a user error with my watch.  I had thought about doing a 4th lap, but my iPod ran out of juice when I was nearing my starting point, so I decided to just stop.

The week after hasn’t been so nice for getting out to run, so I’ve stayed indoors.  I am hoping that it’ll at least be sunny enough that I can get out once or twice next week, so stay tuned.

Thanksgiving Run

Thanksgiving morning, I decided to run.  The subdivision at the in-laws house is small, it’s a short street and a cul-de-sac.  There is a small historic cemetary behind the house with a paved road.  All in all, the route is 1.09 miles round trip.  I ended up doing three laps for a total of 3.27 miles.  My own Turkey Trot 5K!  I did run the whole thing and might have been able to go for one more lap, but my shin and ankle was starting to hurt a little, so I called it a day. 

I’m hoping to get out again on Saturday before we leave…  We’ll see!

Week in Review: Nov 23

November 24: We got outside, but no formal walk today.  Just up the road (maybe 0.75 miles).   Hubby brought K’s bike up, so we went around the little block twice (she went around 3 times).  We walked/ran around the block one more time for a grand total of 1.26 miles.  It’s amazing on how those little things add up. 

November 23: I ended up going out for a run today instead of Tuesday like I had planned.  It was a much nicer day and I wanted to take advantage of the better weather.  I went on the same 2.5 mile loop that we did Saturday.  It was a much better run.  29:01.55.  I remembered to drink before and I had my music too.

I am going to pack my running shoes, but the subdivision that they live in isn’t very big and it’s a bit secluded.  The route up and down the street is only 1 mile, so I guess I’ll be doing a couple of laps.    They also have a treadmill that I can run on too.  We’ll see…

another day, another run

Today, I finally got out to run again.  With my friend, D.  I should have gone out Thursday, but I didn’t.

We went for a 2.5 mile run/walk.  We failed to drink enough water beforehand, so we cramped up and ended up walking quite a bit.  It was only 2.5 miles, and our time was 33:30 (3 minutes shy of my 5K time).   ~sigh~  Live and learn.

Afterward, I ate lunch and went out for a short walk around the neighborhood with Baby Girl.  Even though she’s 4, she’ll always be my baby girl…  That was about 0.65 miles.  She was alternating walking and galloping.  I was alternating walking and jogging to catch up with her.  It was good.  When we got back home, we did 6 block laps.  Each lap is 0.17 miles for a total of 1.02 miles.  Little Man came with us.  The kids ran in one direction, then ran in the other direction.  We did that again and then walked twice.  So Baby Girl walked, galloped & ran 1.67 miles and Little Man ran/walked 1.02 miles and my total mileage is 4.17 miles.

I’m going to get out for a run on Tuesday and I think I’m going to bring my running shoes so I might get in a short run or two over the holiday’s.  I’m also hoping to get out and run at least once or twice a week, as long as the weather holds out.

Oh.  One of my Twitter/Dailymile friend’s found this article, about proper running form.

Jingle Bell Run!

The Jingle Bell run was yesterday (11/15). It was drizzly and chilly. I could have done without the drizzles.

My friend and I started out near the middle front of the pack.  My unofficial time was 36:02.  My chip time was 36:01.7.  I shave about 30 seconds off of my first 5K time.

• out of 861 individual runners, I placed 716
• out of 468 individual women, I placed 357
• out of 69 women ages 30-34, I placed 62
• out of 7 runners with my first name, I placed 5th

at mile posts 1 & 2, someone was out calling out splits.  My 1 mile time was 11 something.  As I was crossing over the creek, I happened to look across to my left, The Trail was the return back to the starting point and just past the 2 mile mark.  I saw people already PAST the 2 mile mark!!  My 2 mile time was 22 something, so I was doing as well as I wanted to.  I did have a few moments of walking, but all in all, I was happy.

I’m glad that I didn’t have my sweatshirt on.  I ended up taking off my gloves, ear thingy’s and my santa hat between mile 1 & 2.   I did bring a change of clothes to drive home in, but I ended up only changeing my shirt.  I was going to change my pants, but decided not to because my underpants would still have been wet…

It’s been a while…

It’s been a while since I’ve posted any running and such.  I’ve had good reason!  the week of October 26 I was sick with THE flu.    Fever in the PM and lots of naps.

Wednesday, November 4th: 1.83 mile run.  I did walk about a minute and a half, but all things considered, it was a good run.

Saturday, November 7th: I ran with a friend.  It was a 2 mile run, about a minute slower than what I usually did.  We walked for 3 minutes after the mile (we did run the first mile completely) and another 30 second or so walk towards the end of the run.

Monday, November 9th:  I ran the 1.83 mile route again today and walked maybe 20 seconds of it.  The loop part I ran reverse of what I normally run it.  It was good.  I’ll run again Thursday with my friend.  She’s doing the Jingle Bell run with me.  Remember, you can Sponsor me too!!

Jingle Bell Run

I’ve signed up for the Jingle Bell Run 5K race.  Please sponser me!!!