February – love is in the air, and this month is going to be all about loving myself enough to continue making 2014 my year to shine. I’m vowing here and now that I will reach my goal weight in 2014. What an amazing accomplishment it will be! To achieve my goals, I’m going to focus on the basics – eating well, drinking lots of water, taking my vitamins and getting in 5 cardio workouts a week. I’ve started strength training with #ToneItUp and their #LoveYourBody series is helping see just how strong I am as I change my body. Sunday weigh-ins will keep me accountable through the weekend. This month is going to be all about loving all the little things that make life special. My Sunday progress updates will be called Fabulous February Weigh-Ins.
Week 37 was wonderful! Throughout the week, I felt lighter and smaller, and my clothes were showing all the hard work I’d been putting into my workouts. I made some really delicious meals that made me feel like I was nourishing my body in a really creative way. This week a lot of new people complimented me on my weight loss, the sweetest of which was one of the custodians at school who is so shy and meek – when he told me that I look great and to “keep it up,” it really made me smile. And I topped it all off with a fantastic shopping trip that became a milestone.
When I weighed in this morning, I was 194.6, which is a loss of 2.8 pounds this week, and a loss of 82.4 lbs since surgery! I’ve lost a total of 120.4 pounds from my highest weight!! I have 44.6 pounds to go to my ultimate goal weight of 150 pounds. This week’s weight big loss was so important for me, because all of my hard work is paying off. Finally my body has relaxed into the strength training exercises I’ve been doing with #ToneItUp, and I think I’m really getting the metabolic benefits of toning. I worked hard with my cardio, as well. I had tons of variety this week: elliptical, bike, walking, and I also went to the gym twice to get back into the run/walk intervals. (More on that in a minute). I kept my meals really interesting and delicious with dinners like grilled salmon, sauteed scallops, grilled sirloin tips, and a breakfast-for-dinner scramble. Lunches were just as good: I turned the leftover grilled salmon and sirloin into amazing salads with arugula. All in all, it was such a great week, and I love that it all showed up on the scale, too.
As I mentioned, I got back to the run/walks this week, and I have to say, they’ve been a lot more difficult for me than they were before my cold. The main reason is that I’ve been pushing myself with the speed, and I think I need to ease up on that a bit. I’ve been trying to keep the running at a 5.0 pace, but right now, that’s just a bit too fast for me to maintain for an entire 3-minute cycle, so I’ve been cutting it down to 2 minutes, which is less than ideal. I’m meeting my friend Di to do another run/walk session a bit later this morning, and my plan is to take my pace down to 4.5 and maintain that for 3 minutes so I can get back to a strong 3/1 pace. (3 minutes running, 1 minute walking).
This week I’m looking forward to keeping lots of variety in my cardio workouts – run/walk intervals, recumbent bike, elliptical, flow yoga (since I had such a great experience on Saturday), and of course walking Sofi. I’ll also continue the ToneItUp strength training, which I’m really enjoying. I’ve loved being active for a long time now, but I’m finding that my workouts are actually becoming my hobby, and I miss doing them on my rest days. I can see a future where fitness moves into more than just a hobby for me, and becomes a profession.
Until next Sunday, my friends. I hope the scale treats you well, and that you have a wonderful week!
This post just makes me happy. Sounds like a great plan for your run/walk.
Carina, I did it and it was great today! I don’t know why I was pushing myself to go faster before I was ready. Well, yes I do, I’m competitive, and I want to be there NOW, but today I realized that I will get there in my own time.
Long term view is key with running and I think the most important think for new runners is a slow and gradual build — otherwise you’ll get hurt and that will derail you. Even people who have been running for years and take time off for a pregnancy, an injury, a vacation, whatever, the rule is to start back more slowly than you were and do a gradual build back up. Your intuition was perfect. So glad you had a great and longer run.
I would recommend keeping below 5.0 mph pace. I started running 7 months ago. In the early days before I was able to run 30 mins non stop my pace was definitely under 5.0 mph. Even now on a good day I’m only in the early 5’s. Best of luck on your next run
Thanks so much. I kept it to 4.5 today and it was great. I was able to stick with the 3/1 pace with no problem, and did it for 35 minutes, which is longer than I normally do.
Well done! You’ll be running for 30 mins non stop in no time if you stick with the slower pace 🙂
Congratulations. I love the quote too.
Your approach is wonderful, so positive and healthy. I love that you take it day to day, but continue to look towards achieving future goals. You continue to inspire Bella!
Congrats! Sounds like a good plan for your run/walk! You are an awesome inspiration! 🙂
I love it. You are such an inspiration. I have 38 days until my cruise and really working hard to eat clean and workout right so I look FABULOUS with my shirt off. Keep rockin’ girl. You GOT THIS!!! The journey of a thousand miles begins with a step…look how far you’ve come, not how far you have to go!!