Accountability

Well, the C25k program has been successful at kicking my ass. I have been able to keep my motivation thus far. Monday was just, like, wow... yesterday wasn't as bad. I remembered to STRETCH before I started my trek. I walked 2.6 miles in less than an hour and that made me happy. I wasn't trying to kill myself but was trying to complete my route in less than 60 minutes. I found this great app for my phone called Endomondo. You turn it on and it tracks your time, speed and distance... by GPS. How cool is that? According to them, I burned an ass ton of calories which also made me happy.

I've decided that 3 times per week is good enough for now. On www.myfitnesspal.com, My weekly exercise goals are as follows:

Minutes of exercise: 180 - I've completed 144 already this week. So another 36 and I'm done for the week!!
Calories burned: 1710 - I've burned 1562. Another 148 calories and I've completed that. I'm going to blow it out of the water!!

My calorie consumption can be no greater than 1840 per day and that's to lose around a pound per week. Again, between coming in under calorie consumption and exercise, I will blow this weight out of the water. I love this tool. Helps me stay accountable for everything I consume, food and drink.

Off to work to burn some more calories!!

C25k - Week 1, Day 1

8:00 am - headed out with LeeOnna to start Week 1 of the Couch25k program.

Warm up - 5 minute brisk walk, check!
Jog 60 seconds, check!
Walk 90 seconds, check!
Alternate for 20 minutes - Wait, what?!

I think we got to the 3 jogging section and couldn't handle it anymore. Continued with brisk walking for the remaining 10 minutes. Haha.

The point here is that I completed a total of 3.1 miles in an hour. Back to logging my food and all exercise and doing Wii Zumba and pilates at home. :)

I'm glad I have a walking buddy in the neighborhood!

Couch25k! Week 1

Couch25k is a 9 week training program designed to get anyone from being a couch potato to running a 5k.
The best part about it is that it's a slow introduction to get you moving. It alternates between walking and running slow distances. Each week is a little more intense. By the 9th week, I should be ready to run either 5 kilometers or at least 30 minutes non-stop. I am excited to do this and will be doing so with the help of a couple of friends in my neighborhood. We're doing it together. 


All that is required is 3 days per week and 20-30 minutes per session.


Here is what's in store for week 1:
Workout 1 - Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.
Workout 2 - Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.
Workout 3 - Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.


Here we go!!

Wake up, I'm Fat!

Yes, I stole my title from a book written by one of the women I idolize, Camryn Manheim.

Be that as it may...

I've been heavy for as long as I can remember. I was always the biggest and tallest in each class. The weight just kept piling on. Now that I am pushing 30 years old and have two very active children, I want to do something about it. I have a gym membership, which I am hardly using right now... stupid, I know. I figure if I use my blog to record my progress, I will have to hold myself accountable for what I do (or don't do). I started taking HealtheTrim and working out back in February when I tipped the scales at 286 pounds. YIKES!!! As of today, I am 26 pounds lighter. 260 pounds and I am proud of my progress. My ultimate goal is 180 pounds, another 80 to go. I know I can do it. It's hard without a) proper motivation and b) a workout buddy.

**I'm back into wearing the jeans I was wearing before I regained all the weight that I lost 2 years ago. They are still a little snug, but I get into them! That's motivation!***

Working out is not the issue. I know what I have to do and how to do it. It becomes difficult when I have to drag my butt to the gym and do it with no one to talk to. The iPod gets old quickly. I guess that means I need new music. I <3 Zumba and pilates classes. My schedule doesn't allow for them regularly. Using the Wii and the watching DVD's just isn't the same as a live class with people you can talk to and have fun with. I also have a hard time with these programs that require you to do certain things each day. i.e. Insanity and P90X. They may be effective, but they aren't for me. I can't count how many times I say I want to get up at 4:30 am and go to the gym as a way to start my day. My alarm goes off and I just can't get out of bed. I guess I just need to do it and it will come easier with each passing day.

Diet - the first three letters being DIE!
I'm not one for counting calories, but I have become more aware of portion sizes and have come A LONG way from what I use to consume. I have become more knowledgeable. I read labels and make smarter choices. However, if I have a craving (for chocolate, mostly), I don't deny myself what I'm craving. If I don't give into it, I will end up going CRAZY on it when I do get my hands on it. I have to watch myself with temptations. It's easy to break.

My short-term work out goal (for the next month or so): Go to the gym 3 times per week with cardio each day, upper body one day, abs/pilates one day and lower body one day. I will start keeping track on Monday and reporting Sunday evening. Lord, help me. I'm going to try!

Oh, I forgot to mention... I want to RUN a 5k before the year is over!

***Thanks to everyone who reads and follows my blog and thank you in advance for your support!***

What is a friend?

The word friend is defined at a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard. I personally take it one step further. A true friend is someone you can trust, who won't lie cheat or deceive you,  who is there for you through thick and thin, the good and the bad. They are a person you can talk to or a person you listen to. I believe that I am a really good friend. I may not be the best of friends, but I am always reachable.

Recently, I was forced to discontinue a friendship and I am not sorry. This person was going through a rough time and I was ALWAYS there to listen and to give advice. Some things went down that had NOTHING to do with me as an individual, however, I felt like a victim that was stabbed in the back. I was lied to several times during the whole ordeal. 

What really pissed me off about the whole situation is that this "friend" continued to call and text me as if nothing had changed. I kept listening to her and her absolutely ridiculous bologna and when I never got an apology, I finally told her I had enough and was done with everything. Was I wrong? I don't think so. 

I try soooo hard to be a good friend to all of my friends and think I do a pretty good job. I love and appreciate the friends I do have considering most of them disappeared when I had my first child. Like everyone else, I don't appreciate being lied to and stabbed in the back. I also don't appreciate not receiving an apology when it's due. 

To the "friend" this is referring to, should she read it: Good luck to you with your drama-filled life. You have lost a good friend and, not to be a bitch, but I hope you realize it and it bothers the hell out of you. Karma is a bitch and what goes around, comes around. Always remember that. When you see my face, I hope it gives you hell. 

People are like tea bags...

Let's just start by saying today was a looooonnnnngggg day! I got to work at 9:00 am and didn't leave until 8:15 pm, with nothing more than a potty break. I'm tired. I pick the kids up from my parent's house and now trying to get home in a hurry, of course I get stopped by each and every red light on the way. I stop at one light and happen to look over at the sign of a church on the corner and it says "People are like tea bags. You have to put them in hot water to see how strong they are". This spoke to me and made me think. 

You hear a lot of people say things like "God only gives you what you can handle", and "What doesn't kill you will only make you stronger"... These are true statements. But after hearing someone say something like that, I can't help but wonder how much should one person have to endure in their life time. I'll use myself as an example. I've had failed relationships, children out of wedlock, battled addiction, dealt with DCF, performed CPR on a loved one who didn't survive, lost the father of my children, and had other miscellaneous trials in my time. I've had to push a car off the road each time I was pregnant and we've had dumb issues with ALL of the houses we've rented. There's a lot more. It's the big stuff and the silly little stuff that all add up and leaves me wondering when I get my break and when enough is enough. 

I guess it's never enough and I'll continue to be tested as long as I live. I just wish I could get a break every now and then. I feel picked on. I see people I went to school with living these fairy tale lives and look like nothing could break their perfect existence. It could be jealousy but at the same time, why me? 

I don't know. Just some random thoughts for the day.

Ranting about renting.

We moved into this house about a month ago. So far, we've had the air conditioner serviced once and they are coming back next week to take it apart and clean it since the previous tenant didn't use a filter. Today, I walk into the master bathroom to a flood, just to find that the toilet tank is leaking from a bolt. It's obvious to us that it's been leaking for a while because the baseboard behind the toilet it warped and rust colored from the well water.

We tighten it and it gets no better. I go to Home Depot, ask someone about it and they give me a kit to replace the bolts and the gaskets.  So, being the Ms. Fix-It that I am, change out the gaskets and bolts where the leak was. It was still leaking and leaked MORE when we tightened it. Kris' brother-in-law is now here and the two of them are in the bathroom, trying to fix the stupid thing while I sit and supervise the children, my 2 and Kris' nephew. I thought they were driving me nuts before but holy crap... it's gotten a little crazier. I need my straight jacket and padded room.

Anyhow - when you are trying to rent out a house, don't you think there should be a thorough inspection done to ensure that the new tenants aren't going to have to deal with a multitude of issues, and on a weekend to boot? If the guys can't fix it, we have to sit around and wait for a response from the property manager about what to do... especially since our lease says tenant is responsible for plumbing, we just don't know to what extent. Whether you rent or own, needed repairs cause nothing but headaches. Time and money don't come easy anymore.

Now, a half hour later, the toilet is fixed!!! YAY! And it cost me $7.00. One less thing to worry about!


******EDIT/UPDATE******
About 20 minutes after his brother-in-law left, Kris went to turn the water back on and put the bathroom back together to find it was leaking again... so there's something else! UGH! FML!

My Feature on Mama Speaks!!!

As I said before, I was excited and honored to be asked to write for Mama Speaks as part of her "Phenomenal Mom Fridays". I was her first guest author! I'm looking forward to sharing more of my trials and tribulations faced as a mother that has been through what I have. Here's a link to the piece I wrote for her blog: Life After Death - Parenting doesn't stop when you lose one parent. Please, check it out. :)

A sigh of relief...

Dominic had his neurological evaluation for Autism this morning. Dr. Gadia at the Dan Marino Center is an amazing pediatric neurologist. The way he performed the tests was suited perfectly for my little man. Fortunately, the doctor said that there are NO neurological signs of the autism spectrum at all. Yes, it is a sigh of relief for me... but the question still remains. What's going on with my kid?? We discussed mood disorders and if there wasn't a family history, it wouldn't even be considered... but thanks to mommy dearest and her bipolar disorder, it appears he may be suffering from a mood disorder. Luckily, medication and therapy can control mood disorders and there shouldn't be too much of a life change involved.

Of course, when we are out of town and don't have his entire wardrobe at our disposal, he gets a case of massive diarrhea as soon as I get him out of the shower and into his clothes and then again as we get to the doctor's office. I am overjoyed that I was prepared with a hotel laundry bag, PullUp and wet wipes. This has definitely been an experience that I am happy to share with all my readers.

We now sit here in the hotel room, banana and Gatorade (me with my coffee) in hand and cartoons on the television. I can begin to write the piece that I promised to Mama Speaks for her series on amazing moms. If this doesn't make me amazing, I don't know what does!

Until next time!

Preparation

Dominic's appointment for neurological evaluation for Autism/Aspergers is 15 hours away. I can't help but let my mind race. I am the "expect the worst, but hope for the best" types where I feel like we will received the worst possible outcome while still holding on to the hope that all will be fine.

Flattered and Honored!

Ladies and Gents,
I am pleased to say that I have been asked to write a piece for Mama Speaks, a fantastic blog written by a mom! She is doing a series on amazing moms and wants my input on raising children after the death of their father. I am greatly honored to do so! Be on the look out for that soon! :)