Wedding Wednesday Woes

Time is seriously ticking away to the big day and I'm totally stressing out.  I felt like I had all the time in the world to get things done until we hit that three month mark.  Ever since then, I feel like time is slipping away much too quickly.  Alex has been an angel in helping me with all my wedding endeavors.  He personally bedazzled each of our invitations.

oh cell phone....

Over the weekend, I went for a trail run with my dad at Bull Run Marina.  I don't do much trail running and to be honest, my idea of a great trail run is Burke Lake with it's gentle rolling hills.  This was not Burke Lake.  This was hiking at a running pace.  My calves and quads were burning.  We ran just shy of four miles and I was exhausted.  I will never bad mouth running on a treadmill ever again. 

There was no weight loss this week.  I'm still holding steady at 176 pounds.  In an attempt to keep myself motivated in my efforts, I decided to see if there were any changes in my measurements.

June 13, 2012     August 1, 2012

187 lbs                176 lbs

39.5" bust           40.5" bust

41" waist            39.5" waist

45.5" hips           43.5" hips

Slow progress is still progress, right?

The Bean Diet

Dieting ain't just for me anymore...

My poor Leo went to the vet to get his shots updated and to add insult to injury, came home with orders to lose fifteen pounds.  I'm so glad that the vet didn't try to convince me that I would need some special diet dog food because that stuff is expensive!  Instead he told me that I can continue to feed him his regular food in the morning and for his evening meal, just give him a can of beans.  As I'm sure you can guess, he's really, really excited about it.

But I love this stuff...

Yesterday morning, I wanted to get a workout in and since Leo has some extra pounds to shed too, I decided to take him for a long walk.  We went around our neighborhood and he seemed like he still had energy so I decided to keep walking.  I think I may have overdone it a little because at the end of the walk, he had really, really slowed down.  Our walk ended up being 3.75 miles and while I didn't feel like I had a great workout, Leo was exhausted.



Why me?

I did weigh myself yesterday and was very pleased with the results.  I have lost another two pounds woo!  I may need a new belt soon :)

Happy Friday!

87 days!

It's official!  Alex and I have less than three months until we get married.  I felt like I had all the time in the world to plan the wedding but now it's definitely crunch time.  I have waaaaay too many ideas of things that I am going make or do for the wedding that I may need to start prioritizing and nixing some things.

Anyway, thank goodness it has finally cooled off a bit.  I actually went out for a run this morning and the weather was absolutely glorious!  I can't say my actual run went as well as I had hoped but that's what I get for not running more often.  My good friend Jenny gave me a visor for my birthday and I finally tried it out.  Perhaps it's the placebo effect but I felt cooler running with the visor than with my normal hat. 

I look cool, right?  ;)

The past week was good in terms of healthy eating.  I always do so much better in the summer because of all the delicious fruits that are available.  Currently, I'm in love with peaches.  Just about every night, I cut up a peach, put some cinnamon and sugar on it and pop it in the microwave for thirty seconds.  So good!  Another jewel of the summer that I discovered at the local farmer's market:  yellow watermelon!

It really doesn't taste much different than the regular red stuff but it's still kind of cool.  So with the healthy eating and getting my lazy butt out and running, it's no surprise that I lost some weight.  Currently, I'm weighing in at 176 :)

What's your favorite summer treat?

I suck at Blogging

Clearly this blog has not even come close to being on my priority list.  Clearly.  I have still been trying to be more active and have been tracking what I eat so yay for at least something.  I have actually made the switch to tracking my food on My Fitness Pal (MFP) and have really liked it. 

I like that I know people on MFP.  It definitely makes logging in every day more interesting.  You can check out what other people are eating on a daily basis and they can check yours and let you know when I am being a fat cow. 

I have been running a few times but mostly on a treadmill.  I should at least throw some incline on while I run because I went out with the Lake Ridge Ridge Runners and even the smallest hills were feeling like mountains.  I'm just a baby when it comes to the heat and humidity.  I don't like running in it.

So just a quick update, I am officially down to 178 pounds!  I got down to 178 before the Fourth of July and over-indulged to the tune of 182 but now I'm back down.  I'm trying to be wise in my food choices and logging some more miles so hopefully I will have more of a loss to report on Wednesday!

What quickly gets pushed off of your priority list?

I'm late!

It's not surprising that I am late on this post.  Only three posts into Wedding Wednesdays and I'm late.  I have had lots going on and I've also been under the weather.  Wah-wah-wah. 

This past weekend was full of parties and lots and lots of eating.  I did not exercise AT ALL and quite frankly, gave myself a free pass to eat whatever I wanted.  On Saturday, I threw a hula party for my daughter and her friends.  Clearly it was a ton of fun...

Hula Dancing is exercise, right?

There was pizza, macaroons, fruit and chocolate cake and I made sure to sample everything (several times).  Plus, that evening, Alex and I headed up to National Harbor to celebrate my 30th birthday with some of my friends.  We went to a dueling piano bar and ate bar food and indulged in some liquid calories.

I wonder why Julia never smiles normally in pics...

On Sunday, we went to the pool and went to the movies and saw Brave.  I am not afraid to admit that I had an entire box of mozzarella sticks while at the movies and did not share with anyone.  They were delicious.  It has been nearly a million years since I had mozzarella sticks and I forgot how delightful they are.

Anyway, despite the indulgences of the weekend, I am down to 182.0 lbs!  Now I just need to get over this nasty cold and start running again :)  Five pounds down!  The goal for this week is to exercise three times and hopefully break the 180 barrier.

I'm Afraid of Commitment

For days now, I have been reading on Facebook and blogs about the New Year's Resolutions of others.  There is one goal that I most definitely want to accomplish this year but it's going to be a challenge for me so I'm afraid to officially declare it.  If I don't officially commit, then I can't officially fail, right?

When I first started blogging, part of the motivation behind it was to put my goals in writing and hold myself more accountable for my actions.  So here it goes:

• Run, walk, and/or crawl 1000 miles (approximately 20 miles a week)
• Walk 100 miles with Julia (approximately 2 miles a week)
• Get married!
• Run a half marathon under 2:22:00
• Bring my bowling average up to 120 (haha, baby steps)
• Prepare meatless dinners on Mondays
• Continue to decrease body fat (down to 22%)
• Stay positive by writing in five things I am thankful for every day

There you have it!  I hope you are as excited as I am for this new year!

(FYI:  6 miles on Sunday---994 to go!)

What are your goals?

Is there a goal you would like to suggest for me?

Gobble until you Wobble

That has been my activity for the past weekend and the scale laughed at my this morning.  I'm not sure how I thought eating my weight in turkey and pie wasn't going to negatively impact my health but it has. I'm pretty confident that the Hot Chocolate 15k will not be any easier carrying an extra five pounds on me either.

After my disappointing meeting with the scale, I hopped on the treadmill for some much needed exercise.  I didn't feel like running so I decided to bust out the HIIT.  It felt really good to move something other than my fork to my mouth.  Really, really good.  It felt so good that I even treated myself to a post-workout Max ARM (Anabolic Recovery Matrix) from Max Muscle Sports Nutrition.

I tried the watermelon flavor.  It wasn't terrible but I will NEVER crave that flavor.  Ever.  I actually went to a Max Muscle store right before Thanksgiving.  The woman I met with was wonderful.  She talked to me about putting together meal plans for me and sent me home with a TON of free samples.  I have been looking for something to drink after my workouts to help me recover faster and the ARM was what she recommended.  I really don't feel any different than I normally would so I am not sure how well it worked.  The true test will be after a longer workout.  Don't worry, I still have lemon-lime and strawberry to try out so stay tuned for that ;)

Do you have something you drink after a workout?

I should spank you!

Yeah, that's what she said!  Really!

Patrice was in a bit of shock at my measurements today.  She literally said she should spank me.  On more than one occasion, I have been disappointed with my progress and Patrice and I have talked about not being so focused on the scale.  I must have given her the wrong impression about my progress and she was borderline mad when she saw the progress I made. 

There was only time enough to take my body circumference and body fat measurements.  We are planning on meeting on Saturday for the other metrics.  Let's get down to the interesting stuff:

	June 22, 2011	November 10, 2011
Weight	200.6 lbs	171.8 lbs
Calf	15.5”	15”
Thigh	24.75”	22.75”
Gluteal Fold	28.5”	26.5”
Hips	47”	42.75”
Smallest part of Waist	37.5”	33.375”
Navel	44.75”	39”
Biceps	13.5”	12.5”

I have lost a total of 28.8 pounds and 19.625" in under five months.  It's not Biggest Loser style but I also don't have twelve hours a day to devote to working out so I will take it!  The best part of it all was the body fat percentage....dun dun dun dun.....I started at 36.9% and am now 27.1% !!!  I have now moved from "very poor" to "poor."  Woo!  In all seriousness, my goal was 32% and I killed it. 

The three things that I am thankful for today?  Patrice, goals, and killing goals.

Tell me about a goal that you killed :)

Rumble Rumble

Today's post will be about food because I am starving and can't stop thinking about everything I want to eat :)  So here are some foods that I am thankful for:

Don't get me wrong, this will NEVER replace peanut butter for me but it's very delicious as well.  I have been mixing it in with my oatmeal in the morning.  I am almost out and will be getting some more soon!  I actually want to do some baking experiments with it so look forward to posts about that! 

I guess I have a thing for nuts because I also love these:

These guys have actually been my breakfast for the past couple days or so.  I have been running late in the mornings and this is all I have to grab for breakfast before catching the bus.  They keep my stomach from eating a hole through me and then I usually have my fiber one cereal once I get to work.  Seriously, they are unlike anything I have ever had before.  If you get a chance, try them out!

Finally, I am thankful for celebrations at work.  My coworker Erica is getting married this weekend and so we had a mini-shower for her.  Of course, there was cake!

This was the most phenomenal cake I have ever tasted.  It was moist and light and...and....delicious!  There is just nothing more to say.  It was a Wegman's Ultimate Vanilla cake and from what I understand, there is an ultimate chocolate cake too.  Guess what I am doing this weekend???  It is taking every ounce of will power that I have to not grab another slice from the kitchen.  Is it too early to start carbo loading for the Hot Chocolate 15k?  I was super excited that I had lost another couple pounds after being stagnant for a couple weeks but after this cake, I doubt that loss is here to stay!  I am planning on running three miles tonight :)

What do you like more:  nuts or cake? 

Belts are Non-Negotiable

So I'm starting to feel a little sloppy when I go to work....

I think it's time to invest in a few outfits for work.  It's a great thing that I get $10 coupons for Fashion Bug all the time and that my Banana Republic card gives me rewards too!  I won't be investing too much (I have a wedding to save for after all) since I still have great lengths to go to before I will be in a healthy range for my height.

Rockin' the Maymont 8-miler shirt

I still have four sessions with Patrice left.  I do not think that I will renew my personal training with her.  It's been tough to find time that works for both of us and let's face it, it's a lot of money!  I have decided that I might be better off continuing to train for different runs and investing in some weights for my home.  Tonight I did three miles on the treadmill and tomorrow I have another five scheduled!
In other news, I was super-excited when I went shopping at Bloom yesterday.  They were having double coupons up to $1.99 and I did pretty well!

My favorite purchase was the People Style Watch magazine.  I had a coupon for $1.00 for People from the Sunday coupons and then the magazine itself had a $1.00 coupon on my next issue.  F that, I'm using it now.  So double the first coupon and double the second, that makes four dollars off a $3.99 magazine!  Yay!  I finally feel 1/100 of the joy extreme couponers must feel :)

So a little off topic and just for fun, I thought I would pose a question to my readers to get some feedback on an issue that my friend is dealing with. The little girl is very rough and tumble and loves Spiderman.  Should the little girl wear the classic Spiderman costume for Halloween?  Or should the four year old girl wear a "spider girl" adaptation of the costume?  Does it matter what the girl prefers?

What costume would you let your own child wear?

~Andrea