March Goals- Update

New Years Goals that will be included monthly:

1. Write in a journal every day-as was mentioned in my mid-month review, I skipped a few too many days and started over. I am back on track with journaling and am rather enjoying the nightly ritual. Hopefully I continue to keep it up because it really has been good for me.
2. Take at least one picture a day- going strong with this one. I have been enjoying seeing the pictures at the end of the month. It's been difficult some days to pick just one and other days I only take one picture in order to continue the streak.
3. Run and/or walk 105 miles- I passed the 105 mile mark. As of today I am at 109.81 for the month but I still have my run to complete tonight. It was a low mileage month, but still over my goal, so I am happy.
4. Run at least one mile every day to continue running streak- There is not much that will stop me from continuing my running streak. I do wish that I had made my goals a little smaller so that I could celebrate the small successes. Going from 100 days to 250 days in a row as a goal is a lot. Obviously it doesn't prevent me from reaching a milestone and celebrating that on my own. Today is day 162 in a row.
5. Track on MFP- I am on day 11 of my streak. And out of those 11 days I have tracked every single thing all 11 days. Woot Woot! If that's not the right way to start a streak then I don't know what is. I mean, yeah I could have stayed within my calories, but I'm not being picky right now. Getting in the habit of tracking is priority numero uno.
6. Read two books- I am still halfway through my second book for the month. It took me entirely too long to get into this book. Now that I'm about halfway through it is finally starting to hold my attention. I'm not really one to stop reading a book once I've started (except once, but that was just awful). I'm trying to get through it and can only hope that the next book I choose for my first book of April is an easy one (like Nicholas Sparks).

March Goals:

1. Have at least one child free date night with Patrick- We ended up going out last week on a "date". Isabel had Spring Break and since both Patrick and I were working early my parents agreed to let her spend the night. We had dinner with them at their house and then did a quick workout at the gym before it closed and then headed to the driving range to hit a bucket of balls. It was fun, spontaneous and all around a learning experience that 1. Tracy does not do well with golf and 2. Patrick should not bring Tracy to the driving range if he is looking for time to concentrate on his form.
2. Take Isabel to Paint-A-Dream (as a family)- We did not all end up going to Paint a Dream together as a family, however I did take Isabel and my niece to the Princess Party yesterday and they got to see Anna and Elsa again. They painted a crown, sang songs, ate a cupcake and listened to the sisters read a story. I think they had a good time.
3. Have a great 5K race with Isabel- We definitely had a great time (as explained at the halfway point update). She went for a quick run with me on Saturday since Patrick was out of town for the day and wouldn't be home until later. She didn't complain and we had fun going together. Maybe she'll be asking to run another race again sooner than I thought.

4. Throw Isabel the best birthday party EVER- Still what I would consider a success. My boss even told me that I could be a party planner in my next life. Although I loved planning our wedding and Isabel's birthday parties and think that they turned out well, I highly doubt I could ever do it for anyone else that I am not extremely close with and already know their style.  

5. Update budget and track- I will be updating our budget sheet tonight for the month of March. As of yesterday our net worth had fallen slightly (nothing significant) and I was highly impressed with how everything else fell. I knew that March was going to be a tough month to budget for and feel like we managed well. Could have been better, could have been a lot worse. I think April is going to be a very telling month for us and our budget as to how things will be for the majority of the year and I am actually looking forward to focusing on it.
6. Complete NMTZ Challenge- Failed.
7. Make progress on blanket- I briefly worked on the blanket for about 10 minutes a few days ago and it has since been sitting on the coffee table staring at me, feeling neglected. I am still on the purple color that I was on a month ago. I have a tendency to get in these craft moods and start these projects that I late regret and never finish. I can't begin to tell you how many cross stitch kits I have started and ended up getting rid of because they just sat there collecting dust. Hence why one of my goals on my bucket list is to actually finish one.
8. Do not go overboard (food wise) celebrating birthdays- I believe overall I did well. I really can't think of anything that I ordered that was too awful. I did soup and salad for my dinner, ordered what I wanted for my lunch at work and ate half and I tracked everything for my sisters birthday and ended up only going over by like 25 calories. I felt generally satisfied overall and can't recall a celebration this past month where I felt I overindulged (except maybe the day of Isabel's birthday party.

Dopey Challenge Accepted! Sort Of..

The runDisney website has finally updated the dates of race weekend for 2015.

It is starting to get real. Unfortunately, so is the decision that I had to make.

I want to put out there that this decision was made solely on my own, however I had the support from my husband, my mom, my sister and my best friend. Throughout the course of the past few months I have been having an internal debate as to whether or not I should do the Dopey Challenge at Disney World. The pro and con list has gone back and forth and it's taken a very long time to make the final decision.

As much as it pains me right now, I know that the mature/adult decision would be to not participate in the Dopey Challenge and so that is what I have decided.

It was difficult, and I'm allowing myself to take a day or two to be sad about the idea of not actually running the race and then I'm going to get over it. In fact, I'm still going to train for it and I still plan on running all four days, all four distances. I'll just be in California running by myself instead of in Florida running with thousands of other runners.

It's not the same, but I know that in the long run it is the smartest decision for myself and for my family. And I know that with the support of my friends and my family I will be able to make it through the mileage with or without a medal at the end.

I've been looking into a training plan and the Jeff Galloway training plan on the runDisney website is the one I am leaning towards. For the most part, the training plan is three days a week. It's manageable and I'm fairly certain I can adjust it slightly in order to fit in my scheduled half marathon races that I'm already signed up for and still be able to run the same weekend as the real race.

I was also able to use mapmyrun to plan out a course for all four races. I tried to make them all a little different so that I won't be running the same course each time, but it's a little difficult when you're running in the same city four days in a row. I think it's going to be okay though. I also like the fact that I am able to be in control of where I'll be running and I know the hills that are a part of the course. In all honesty, now that I know that I am still going to run the distance and I have a visual of where I will be running I'm getting excited about it and less disappointed.

It's going to be a test of my mental and physical abilities. I'm sure I'm going to have to continue to tell myself over and over that this was the correct decision. I know that it is though..

Let the training continue!

March Goals- Update

New Years Goals that will be included monthly:

1. Write in a journal every day- This is not happening anymore. I'm a little disappointed that I missed a few days, but I do plan on picking it back up. Writing in a journal for a year means a year straight, not necessarily January 1st- December 31st. It can be March 16th - March 15th.
2. Take at least one picture a day- Still going strong. I was better about using my actual camera for a while, but started relying on my phone again. It's time to start carrying the actual camera around again.
3. Run and/or walk 105 miles- Going strong and slightly ahead of schedule. This month has not been as high mileage as the last two, but I am still anticipating reaching (and maybe even slightly exceeding) my goal.
4. Run at least one mile every day to continue running streak- Check! I am doing really well with my streak and am trying to go out for more than one mile at a time. I was falling back and doing the bare minimum for running and so now my goal is to do two miles a day with the occasional days of only doing one to reach my goal. Life happens sometimes and you only can make time to get out for a short run, but you're still doing it...
5. Track on MFP- As I mentioned on Saturday, I missed a day of tracking so I am starting my streak over. I was hoping to use it as motivation to track everything, however I already failed that task by only tracking breakfast for the past few days. I think the anxiety of planning and throwing Isabel's birthday party was covered up by eating. A lot.. I'm thinking of taking a quick break from tracking for the rest of the month and getting back in it full force on April 1st. I will still be very conscious of what I am eating, but mentally I need the break through at least my birthday.
6. Read two books- One down one to go! Although I've started the first chapter twice already because I can't seem to stay interested before falling asleep. I may need to start it during the day so that I'm not lying down while reading which makes me more tired.

March Goals:

1. Have at least one child free date night with Patrick- Not yet, and I'm not sure if we will this month..
2. Take Isabel to Paint-A-Dream (as a family)- Not yet. She's going to be going up on the 30th for the princess party with the Frozen sisters, so this may not happen either. I will probably try to think of another date idea for us to do as a family, although we have done dinner out twice with just the three of us and that has been really nice.
3. Have a great 5K race with Isabel- Success! She did a fantastic job on the run and I am so proud of her. Her little legs worked hard to run with me the whole time and she only had one mini meltdown where she wanted to stop. We were at the halfway point and I distracted her by playing "I'm going on a picnic.." It worked and she finished in 41:31!

4. Throw Isabel the best birthday party EVER- I'm going to call this a success.. 

5. Update budget and track- still going strong with the budget and doing our best to get out of debt and build up our savings. Some days it feels like a challenge and like we will never be able to buy a house, but other days I feel like we're making huge strides.
6. Complete NMTZ Challenge- 3 on/1 off- Fail. Complete and utter fail.
7. Make progress on blanket- I think I've added a total of one row in the past two weeks. Need to spend some time focusing on that.
8. Do not go overboard (food wise) celebrating birthdays- So far I've done okay except for Isabel's birthday party. I felt good after Patrick's and Isabel's actual birthday dinners though, so that's a plus!

Weigh In #13

Starting Weight: 189.2
Last Weeks Weight: 180.6
This Weeks Weight: 181.4

+/-: +0.8
Total +/-:  -7.8

Last Weeks Goals:

1. Track. Everything. Everyday. (hey, it will happen one of these weeks): I did really well tracking most of this week. But I fell off the wagon a little in the middle of the week and didn't even try to get back on. I let myself have a free for all and now I feel horrible about it both physically and mentally. I'm frustrated with myself for reaching a milestone two weeks ago and then letting it slip away because I did not have enough self control to eat healthy and use portion control. I know I will get back there and I'm now done focusing on the could have, should have, would have. This is where I'm at now and it's up to me to find a way to get back to where I want to be.
2. Find a better way to track water. Start small, 6 glasses a day: I did well with tracking up until the same time that I stopped focusing on tracking food. I was getting at least 6 glasses of water a day with some days being closer to and/or over 10 glasses. I stopped tracking though, so I don't actually know if I made it the whole week. Does anyone have a system they use that works?
3. Stick to workout schedule: I didn't quit stick to the schedule and have already stopped the NMTZ Challenge. What is wrong with me??? It's like I set myself up for failure when all I want is success.. I didn't get in the full 5 miles this weekend in one day because I had too many excuses not to. But I did get 2.04 miles on Saturday and 3.51 miles on Sunday. That counts, right?
4. Be self confident and own it: I have seen a tremendous difference in my self-confidence since starting to lose weight this time around. I have been focusing so much more on how I am feeling and less on what I weigh. I am also focusing on measuring success in different ways and not just based on the number on the scale. I have read too many articles (and experienced myself) about the scale being a liar and not the best tool to measure success or even progress. There are so many factors that can affect the scale one way or the other, and although it is a tool and can be helpful to reach certain goals, it's not the only tool and it doesn't tell the whole story.

The last few times I tried to lose weight I became obsessed with the scale and with seeing that number go down. It affected me to the point of questioning my self worth based on what the scale said. If I lost then I was able to do a happy dance and my whole life was validated because I saw success. If I gained then I would look at myself in the mirror and question everything. I honestly don't believe I saw the real me in the mirror, but a version of myself that was unacceptable in every possible way.

I decided for a while to put the scale away. To not care what I weighed and instead focus on how I feel. If I was hungry, I ate. Simple as that. I listened to my body and stopped eating when I was satisfied. Not full, not stuffed, satisfied. Unfortunately, this brought on more weight and although I was feeling better about myself for the first month or so it was showing that I was gaining weight and by the second month I was becoming frustrated with myself. My clothes wouldn't fit and it was affecting my marriage.

I don't know what happened or why it happened when it did, but in the middle of December I decided that I wanted to start the habit of tracking, portion control and making healthy choices overall. I was already in the middle of my running streak and had the daily exercise taken care of. At that point I was mainly focused on the eating. I had gained a lot of weight when I was training for my first marathon and since I had huge goals for 2014 and 2015, I wanted to get down to a healthier weight to make it easier to achieve these goals. The holiday's seem like the worst time to start trying to lose weight, but I viewed it as a challenge and ended up losing close to 6 pounds before the new year. The losing streak continued for 5 weeks before I saw my first gain and the yo-yoing of my weight began again.

 

I may not be where I want to be weight-wise. I may not be where I want to be measurement-wise. But I'm making progress and I'm trying my best to focus on that instead of where I want to be. I need to stop looking at what I have left and look at what I've already done. I'm becoming a better version of myself and not because I weigh less or have smaller measurements but because I am seeing who I really am in the mirror and because I am holding my head up higher with each passing day. I am who I am, whether I weigh 181.4 or 160 (my current "goal weight") has no bearing on who I am as a person.

 

 

 

Workout Schedule:
March 2nd - March 8th
Sunday: long distance run- 5 miles did not complete (I did get in 3.5 miles though to make a total of 5.5 for the weekend), NMTZ challenge completed
Monday: streak completed, NMTZ challenge completed
Tuesday: streak completed
Wednesday: streak completed, NMTZ challenge completed
Thursday: streak completed, NMTZ challenge completed, gym completed
Friday: streak completed, NMTZ challenge did not complete
Saturday: streak completed

This weeks goals:
1. Track
2. Follow workout schedule
3. Do not go overboard at birthdays

Workout schedule:
March 9th - March 15th
Sunday: San Diego Half Marathon
Monday: streak
Tuesday: streak
Wednesday: streak
Thursday (Patrick's birthday): streak
Friday (Isabel's birthday): streak
Saturday (Isabel's birthday party): Hope4Kids 5K

Get in two strength training sessions (using any DVD I choose) and one cross training session at the gym of a minimum of 30 minutes.

Measurements

Original measurements taken October 15th:

Chest: 41

Waist: 37.5

Hips: 45.5

L thigh: 26.5

L arm: 13

L calf: 14.5

 

Measurements taken February 22nd:

Chest: 39.25 (-1.75)

Waist: 33.25 (-4.25)

Hips: 43.25 (-2.25)

L thigh: 24 (-2.5)
L arm: 12.25 (-.75)

Current measurements taken March 8th:

Chest: 40 (-1)

Waist: 33 (-4.5)

Hips: 43.5 (-2)

L thigh: 24 (-2.5)

L arm: 12.25 (-.75)

My measurements are pretty close to the same with the exception of gaining in my chest (what the heck is that all about?!) and losing in my waist. I knew they were going to plateau at some point and this may be a good time to switch to taking measurements monthly along with my progress picture and body fat %. I will probably take them again in two weeks and then start taking them monthly starting April 1st.

 

 

Womp Womp

Well, my 30 day challenge lasted a total of 10 days.. And ended a while ago. I just haven't had the courage to write about my failing of this challenge. Whoops!

I knew by the end of the first week that this challenge was not something I could maintain. I know that 30 days is nothing in the grand scheme of things, however it became something that was not enjoyable and not just because it was a workout.

I'm the type of person that believes a workout should be hard work, make you push yourself past limits and be something you enjoy. Running does that for me.

But I can't lose fat and gain muscle by cardio alone. That's where strength training comes in. Strength training is where I'm going to lose inches and gain muscle. Strength training is where I'm going to become stronger, leaner, healthier and happier. And, for the most part, strength training is something I enjoy.

So, once I realized that the strength training routine I had planned out was over the top I knew I needed to stop being stubborn and just call it what it was. A failed challenge. To be honest, I'm not that sad about it. I wasn't enjoying it and I know that pushing myself would have made things worse. I wouldn't have put my all into it and my form would have suffered. Bad form = bad news.

I could sit here and give excuses as to why I stopped. Good excuses too. Knee pain type of excuses. Knee pain is not a good thing when you enjoy running and are signed up for a ton of races for the coming year.

So... What now?

Well, I actually really enjoyed the majority of the exercises in this workout, but felt burnt out by the second set of each. The 40+ minutes a day was a lot to commit to, however going through the workout once seemed to work well. It was quick enough to add in at any point of the day, but intense enough to be a good workout.

So the change is simple. Instead of repeating each circuit I will only go through each one once. I don't want to put too much pressure on myself, however the idea of a 30 day challenge is enticing and I know deep down that I can accomplish it. It just isn't the right time to do 30 days in a row.

The plan is to make it through the month of March doing the workout as follows- three days on one day off. Meaning I will be strength training three days in a row, taking a rest day and repeating throughout the rest of the month. I will be strength training a total of 24 days out of the month. I think that's a good trade off and should be easy to maintain for the whole month. It may not seem like much, especially with the number of repetitions for each workout, but it is something I can maintain and right now I need that "win".

Of course we now probably all know how well I maintain a training schedule, however here is my hopes for the month of March:

March 2014

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
						1
						Training Run- 5 miles NMTZ Challenge
2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Streak NMTZ Challenge	Streak NMTZ Challenge	Streak	Streak NMTZ Challenge	Streak NMTZ Challenge Cross Training	Streak NMTZ Challenge	Streak
9	10	11	12	13	14	15
San Diego Half Marathon NMTZ Challenge	Streak NMTZ Challenge	Streak NMTZ Challenge	Streak	Streak NMTZ Challenge Cross Training	Streak NMTZ Challenge	Hope4Kids 5K NMTZ Challenge
16	17	18	19	20	21	22
Streak	Streak NMTZ Challenge	Streak NMTZ Challenge	Streak NMTZ Challenge	Streak Cross Training	Streak NMTZ Challenge	Training Run- 8 miles
23	24	25	26	27	28	29
Streak NMTZ Challenge	Streak	Streak NMTZ Challenge	Streak NMTZ Challenge	Streak NMTZ Challenge Cross Training	Streak	Training Run- 5 miles NMTZ Challenge
30	31
Streak NMTZ Challenge	Streak NMTZ Challenge

The challenge will be the following exercises:
Squat with shoulder press- 10
Backward lunge with shoulder raise- 10 each side
Chair squat with anterior raise- 10
Press outs- 10
Chest press with crunch- 15
Chest fly/reverse crunch- 10
Bicycle crunch- 15
Squirms- 10
Push ups- 10
Dead lifts with hammer curl- 10
Static squat with concentration curl- 10 each side
Alternating lunges with wide grip curl- 10 each side
Side lunge with bicep curl- 5 each side
Chair pose tricep kickbacks- 15
Sumo squat- 10
Crescent tricep kickbacks- 15 each side
Double crunch- 15
Twisting plank- 10
Toe taps- 10 each side
Windshield wipers- 10
Plank rows- 10
Superman- 10
Hollow man scissor kicks- 10
Pelvic thrust- 15 each side
Side plank left- 10
Foot raises left- 15
Inner thigh raises left- 15
Side plank right- 10
Foot raises right- 15
Inner thigh raises right- 15
Donkey kick- 15 each side
Fire hydrant with side kick- 15 each side

I added cross training once a week for now. I need to get back to the gym that I am paying for and not using. Thursday is a great day for me to get to the gym for a quick session after work and I can easily get in a solid 30-40 minutes on the bike. What's nice is that I am able to read while on the stationary bike while still keeping the RPMs up in the 90s and sometimes over 100. Meaning, I'm still working hard even though I am doing two things at once.

After March is over and I finish this challenge of 24/31 days strength training I plan on continuing the 3 on/1 off idea doing strength training, cross training, strength training, rest and repeat. While, of course running every day.

March is going to be my month. I can feel it. I'm getting a solid start now in regards to eating and continuing my streak so that when March comes I will be prepared. I need to be prepared for March because we have seven birthdays to celebrate. Pretty close together as well. 13th, 14th, 15th, 19th, 25th, 27th and 28th. That's a lot of yummy food and delicious cake. But I will be ready!