well, i'm back from a long vacation of slothfullness....

178.18 down / 186.82 to go... (this is somewhat of an estimation cuz i really haven't logged my workouts all summer...until this week.)

i have been feeling very lethargic here lately. tired. exhausted. and mostly, fat. my "muffin top" as camille calls it is back. a.k.a. fat roll above the top of my pants. so i rejoined the ymca this week. i worked out tues and fri. and i felt a LOT better. i really think that exercise makes a difference.

i cancelled my ymca membership in april to save $. i worked out consistently with julia till she moved and then it all went downhill from there. i got very busy with the 2nd job and then extra hours at work. and it was so humid. i promised myself early on that i'd work out at home. i'd run/bike down the road, etc. but that rarely happened. i think for me, i need a gym membership. it's an accountability thing. it's more structured so i stick with it better. plus, it's not humid on the treadmill....so i can't use that excuse. anyways, as of last weekend i realized that i'd reached a low point. i haven't really gained any weight back, but it has all reproportioned itself from muscle back to fat. i look like i've gained 10 lbs, in my opinion. and david's too, apparently, cuz he made several comments about how i ought to go to the ymca again....

anyways, it feels good to be back on track.

and i think i just broke my printer....so i better go work on that....

147.68 down, 217.32 to go

145.68 miles down, 219.32 to go. Woohoo!!

We went a whopping 10.5 miles on our bikes tonight. It was amazing!!

update

135.18 / 229.82 to go

my bike is back in working order, pretty much, thx to my david.

Bike rack

oh yeah...interesting story. turns out this new bike rack that we acquired is not all it's cracked up to be. on the way to ohio last weekend, my bike "blew" off of it onto I-70. it got caught on dave's bike (fortunately it didn't hit any other vehicles or cause any accidents) and we drug it a little ways until dave got the car stopped. the seat and gears were ground off. the back wheel is bent. i guess i won't be getting as many bike rides in for a while now until dave can fix it. bummer...

129.18 /235.82 ...

124.68 miles down, 240.32 to go - dave & i rode bikes together this evening. we had a really nice time.

Consistency and focus

Over time, I am learning that the key to weight loss is consistency and focus.

We acquired a bike rack this week that we can use on either one of our cars, so lots of bike rides at different locations should be in our "Neer" future.

118.68 miles down, 246.32 to go (we went on a short 2 mile ride Monday night right before sunset, did nothing last night, and tonight - i almost didn't do anything, i'd had a long day and camille & dave were busy - but i forced myself to get out there and i ended up riding 6 miles all by myself. i took my cell phone just in case something happened, but nothing did and now that it's all over - i feel awesome!! yes!!)

went on another bike ride tonight - 110.68 miles down, 254.32 to go

dave is making homemade peanut butter right now with the food processor. has anyone ever done this? we definitely recommend wearing ear protection. it is soooooo loud.

Over 100!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

105.18 miles down, 259.82 to go.

i can't believe i've walked/ran/biked over 100 miles already this year. i think that my legs are beginning to become more defined from all this activity.

yesterday we went on a 7.5 mile bike ride all over the boone county countryside. it was so fun and we both got some sun. :)

Update

I walked 2 miles with Camille Tues then walked, ran, and biked 3.5 miles last night with Dave. That brings me to 97.68 miles, so only 267.32 to go!

I have done a good job this week of maintaining a good level of physical activity and I only had chocolate on 2 occasions - on Thursday. I went Mon- Wed with no chocolate. I'm so proud of myself for that.

Update

92.18 miles down, 272.82 to go

I've lost 2 lbs since last Wed.

After talking to Jill and hearing her awesome weight loss success story, I have recommited myself. I decided to not have any chocolate this week as that has been my main downfall the past couple months. I resisted it all day at work! And I tracked my points... So I was pretty pleased with myself.

And I've decided that even if I can't get a full workout in every day I will try to do something. I walked 1 mile with Camille after work today and then rode bikes for a 1/2 mile with Dave tonight. (And yesterday we rode our bikes 4.5 miles...)

I really feel like I'm back to the healthy Katie now.

Although I did eat a half loaf of homemade bread yesterday with David. Maybe he shouldn't make that stuff!

Ok. In trying to lose weight I have somehow gained 7 lbs back. Not good. Not happy. Very sad. Camille & I are doing a fairly good job of working out together 86.18 miles down, 278.82 to go

80.18 miles down, 284.82 to go.

i didn't walk a ton this week but i did start working out with camille officially. we didn't do any cardio thursday night but we did an awesome strength training workout. we were very sore on friday. we set a goal to work out mon, wed and thurs next week with hopefully more cardio.

Drinking Pop

Check out this awesome site about soft drinks. David made me read it last Sunday. This article says that soft drinks should be called "Osteoporosis, Diabetes or Cancer In a Can."

It states that carbonated beverages are 100,000 times more acidic than water. Your stomach takes calcium from your blood to cure the irritation from all this acid, then your blood takes the calcium to replace what it has been robbed of from your bones. If the blood didn't do this, muscular and brain function would be impaired. The result - weak bones, or osteoporosis.

Knowing all this makes it 1,000 times easier to pass up a can of pop. (I just need to remember it every time I think that Sprite might "settle" my stomach - an excuse I've been using lately....)

Update for the rest of March

So I haven't updated for a while. I have worked out quite a bit though. Had some bad weeks this month where work took over my entire life but for the most part I did pretty well. I'll try to summarize here: Some of these are estimates but oh well...

Mar 12 - 2 mi walk
Mar 13 - 2 mi walk
Mar 14 - 2 mi walk
Mar 18 - 1.5 mi walk
Mar 23 - 1 mi walk
Mar 25 - 7 mi bike ride
Mar 26 - 1 mi walk/run, 10 min weight lift/abs
Mar 28 - 2.11 mi walk/run, 30 min weight lift
Mar 29 - 5 mile bike ride

78.68 miles down, 286.32 miles to go

Mainly I have been enjoying the fantastic spring weather, walking or riding my bike outside whenever I can. Yesterday it was rainy so I went to the YMCA for the first time in a while. I will miss it (my membership expires Mar 31st...cuz we're on lockdown)

I went on some fun walks with Julia (my coworker) right before she had her baby Luke (Monday...). She showed me this really cool park in Zionsville. Dave & I have been back there 2 times already. I am so thankful to have met Julia. I miss her so much already (she's on maternity leave now and then moving to California for her husband's new job). She taught me to be very good and consistent with exercising and eating healthy. She always told me I needed to work out most in the times I'm most stressed out. Which is true...and also the opposite of what I want to do. She was also an excellent example to me of how to stay fit and healthy throughout a pregnancy. Maybe someday when I have a baby I'll be as good as Julia. :) Anyways, talk to ya later!

55.07 miles down, 309.93 to go

i'm in a diet RUT

need to get motivated

the chiropractor recommended the book "Fit for Life", which is all about healthy eating. will probably read it

49.07 miles down, 315.93 to go

life's gotten in the way of working out this week. i feel fat :(

46.95 miles down, 318.05 to go

i had trouble with long distances today. got stomach cramps. i suppose that's cuz i've already worked out like 5 times in the past 6 days. so i still ran 1.25 miles, just not all at once

44.7 miles down, 320.3 to go

i ran 1.5 miles tonight (not non-stop though. 1 mile at first then 1/2 mile later)

Update

41.45 miles down, 323.55 to go.

i don't think that i'm right on track anymore of doing on average a mile a day but that is no reason for me to give up on this goal. i'm gonna keep at it.

i ran 1.30 miles tonight (up from 1.25 on saturday) ...even after all the sledding/climbing i did yesterday. i also did a bunch of crunches and 40 pushups. i feel good. i'm on a post-exercising high :) it is just so wonderful how i feel after working out. yes! that's reason enough to keep going.

on the downside - i ate way too much chocolate tonight. i made a pact in front of david and now...in front of the www that i won't eat any chocolate at all tomorrow. i always tell myself i'll just have one piece but then once i get that taste in my mouth, it's all over for the day. i crave it and can't think about anything else.

well, now i'm off to a nice evening with my david :)

Update

37.7 miles down, 327.3 to go

i am so excited. 2 weeks ago i increased my running distance to 1.1 miles. this morning i got up early and went to the gym. i ended up running 1.25 miles out of 2.28. when i first started running this morning i thought i'd be lucky to run 0.25 miles cuz i hadn't been to the gym at all for over 10 days. i was feeling really out of shape. but i pushed myself. i kept thinking positive thoughts and i made it to a new record.

i also weighed in this morning (i missed my weigh-in wed.) i had gained 2 lbs since feb 7. i was a bit disappointed but i kind of knew that was going to happen. i have been eating a lot of bad stuff here lately. i at least know what i did wrong and what i need to change to make next week better.

35.42 miles down, 329.58 to go

Update

33.92 miles down, 331.08 to go

and i did 40 push-ups again.

then i had pizza....but not as much as i usually would have on a friday night!

Fitness Update

30.25 miles down, only 334.75 to go

the treadmills, stairsteppers and ellipticals were full tonight so we did the bikes for about half of our time - that's how I hit 6.25 miles tonight...consequently, i decided to change my goal for the year - to "bike, run, or walk 365 miles" not just "walk or run 365 miles". david and i were actually talking about that too, over the weekend, i believe. cuz we like to go biking when it's nice out and i decided i wanted that to count towards my goal too.

I also did 40 pushups. My workout partner (who is 8 months pregnant) always does 40. I started out with 10, then 15, then 20, then 25. Tonight I did 40 right alongside her. I was so excited to reach yet another fitness goal! I guess I felt lame that my expecting friend was whooping me so I had to push myself.

I'm BACK

Ok. So I officially re-joined WW last Wednesday. And in my first week back of being really strict with my eating - I lost *drumroll please* 3 lbs. YES! I'm so excited. I have my weight-loss confidence back.

How's everyone else doing with their New Years' resolutions, diets, etc.? Huh? I believe in you guys and I want to hear about it. Email me or comment or something. Bye for now!

24 miles down, 341 to go :)

i lifted weights too tonight.

and i avoided snacking all afternoon. I am so proud of myself for that one. Even when there was a platter of cinnamon rolls in the office kitchen. I'm not even tempted!

21.5 miles down / 343.5 to go :)

Daily Log, etc.

• 19 miles down, 346 to go!!

• i am also proud of myself b/c tonight at the Y i participated in a class - core conditioning or something like that...i have always wanted to join in a class since i've been working out at gyms but tonight was the first time i actually did it. i was a bit uncoordinated compared to the others there but oh well....at least i did it!

• i joined back up with WW today. i was excited to find that i weigh right about what i did the last time i officially weighed in there in october. so, while i was not successful at losing any more weight, i was successful at maintaining a weight. and that's a lot better than the way i used to be (i gained 5-10 lbs a year all through college until the day that my former personal trainer pointed that out and i realized if i didn't change that i would weigh at least 300 lbs in 10 years...)

• anyways, i am really looking forward to shedding the last 10-20 lbs. if i lose 15 more then i will be at the weight i was when i was in state fair band right before my junior year of high school. that's pretty much the skinniest i've ever known myself to be. i hardly look like "me" in the pics from back then. dave asked me the other day if i could even visualize myself skinnier than that. i said "no" - and i think maybe that's part of what has held me back since august... anyways, it's time now to go to the next level!

• i'm feeling very hungry after my first day of not cheating on the WW plan at all in probably 6 months. but not too hungry. i think i have to get back in the mindset that i had last spring - being a little hungry is a good thing cuz it means i'm probably going to lose weight. YES!

Weight Watchers re-visited

I'm re-joining WW on Wed. I want to lose about 20 more lbs. I want to stop eating junk. I want to feel the way I did last spring when I would watch 2, 3, and 4 lbs melt away each week... I'm joining with a friend from work. We are going to keep each other accountable in the midst of all the pizza, fun-sized candy bars, cookies, donuts, pretzels, and other various snacks that wind up sitting out in the office kitchen!

Daily Log

17 miles down, 348 to go

Daily Log

13.5 miles down / 351.5 to go

lifted weights too

Daily Log of Activity

10 miles down / 355 to go

And I lifted weights for the first time in a while this evening!!

6.5 miles down / 358.5 to go :)

Daily Log of Activity

3.5 miles down /361.5 miles to go

...and now i'm thinking i might need new tennis shoes. my toes hurt!!!!

2007, here I come!!

So I was browsing thru this one girls' blog this evening. http://miralas.blogspot.com/2007/01/happy-new-year.html I found her site a while back.... I've never actually commented on it or anything. I just think it's cool cuz she often puts on neat Western US pics and Dave & I once dreamt of moving to Wyoming, so...I guess I'm living vicariously thru her. So, anyhow, I did not know that she'd lost 30 lbs last year. Or that she read the whole Bible.

I was also checking out Chris & Jenni's site (they're the ones who had the house fire earlier this year) http://www.chrisandjenni.com/2007/01/02/follow-the-leader/ I decided that I should set a New Years Resolution so that I will stay more on track but do like Jenni said her pastor suggested and state what I'm not going to do and what I will do instead, since the Bible does that.

I want to set a goal of running/walking 365 miles this year. I know I won't be able to run 500 miles like the girl in Wyoming but I will start logging the miles that I run/walk at the gym or outside from now on so that I know what kind of progress I'm making. This goal should ensure that I never can take much time off exercising this year :) And that should lead me to lose more weight...YES!