Happy New Year!

Hello to the brand new year of 2014!  It has been about 2 months since I've made a blog post here!  This has been a very challenging time for me, and yet coming through it all without totally letting go of all of my fitness initiatives makes me feel victorious.  I have been very busy at work and very busy keeping up with my daughter's marching band schedule.  (This was officially the longest marching band season of my life because her high school football team made it to the play-offs and wasn't finished until December 11th!)

Here I am with my kids one year ago.  I was feeling pretty good about myself, and that is interesting to me because for once my desire to get back into shape did not stem from me being frustrated with my figure or anything like that.

December 9, 2012.  This is a few weeks prior to my beginning my weight loss adventure.  Size 14.
Photography by Amy Bell

Now as I begin a new year, I am very excited.  I do not have a New Year's Resolution that many people have where they are beginning a desire to lose weight or be more active from Square 1.  I am already down the road many, many squares!  In fact, I keep finding new things to keep me going.  In August, as I've written before, my friend Amy introduced me to the Gym-Pact app, and that little app all by itself kept me working out at least 3 times per week every week since I found out about it except one where I wasn't feeling well.  At some point a few weeks ago, I decided to up my work-outs to 4 times per week, and just last week I decided to increase it to FIVE times per week!!!  WHOOOOOO!!!  Remember, each week I fulfill my pact, I earn a teensy-weensy bit of money, but hey!  It's money!

I have new little technological toy to help me with my fitness goals.  I have fancy-schmancey pedometer called a FitBit Zip.  I have only had this for a couple of days, but this little pedometer will wirelessly sync up with my phone which in turns syncs up to GymPact.  If I log 10,000 steps in a day, it will count as a work-out with GymPact.  This will help when I 'm back to work again after vacation.  If I have a tough day where I log 10,000 steps just in the course of my work-day, I won't have to come home and do a separate work-out to count on GymPact.  There are a few days where my steps at work will go as high as 10,000!

Additionally, I've been keeping track of my work-outs on another cool app called RunKeeper.  Initially, I just used it to track runs or walks, but I've since realized it can track any work-out that you're doing.  I now place an entry in the log even for when I go to the gym.

Speaking of the gym, I do still try to go to Curves to work out, and I do still recognize that gym and its eating regimen to the center of what I'm doing.  Everything I'm doing could appear to be haphazard or random, but it really all centers around Curves.  I tell everyone I can, "If I could do a commercial for Curves, I would.")  I am thankful for Curves' travel pass procedure.  Because of my daughter's band schedule, I had to work out quite a few times at a different Curves location.

And so now here we are about 10 months from where I started.  One of my next blog posts will definitely be on my one-year anniversary of joining Curves, but in the meantime I felt it appropriate to mark today with a new photo.  I am feeling so good and fit these days; I really feel more like the Real Me.  I have always felt that I was a sporty, athletic person, and now that person is starting to really come back.  Maybe 2014 will even see me running a few races!

Still hanging in there!

Hello, everyone!  It's been a while since I've written.  I feel like I've come through a very risky time.  We've had a lot going on, and if there was a time my efforts could have been derailed, this has been it.  (Well, with the holidays coming up, that will be real test, won't it?)

Last time I posted, I mentioned the app called GymPact that a friend told me about.  Frankly, it was THAT app that kept me going.  I'm not a person who has ANY wiggle room in her budget where money is concerned, and if I've got an app that's going to bill me $5 if I don't work out, you'd better believe I won't let that happen.  I've successfully logged 10 weeks of working out with that app on my heels, and I've never let it bill me for not working out.  Instead, it's paying me a little over a dollar a week.  I've earned $13.05 so far.  I figure in a year, it'll pay over $65 minimum, and I'll be able to buy a guilt-free pair of shoes or a new outfit.  Although, I'm thinking of upping my ante to pledging to work out 4 times per week instead of 3.  Maybe I can do that at least up until Thanksgiving.  Hmmmm.  You can change what your pledge is, but it has to be at least 3.

I sync my GymPact with the app called RunKeeper.  Start your RunKeep, go out running OR WALKING for at least 30 minutes, and you're golden.  Easy money.  :)

Physically I'm feeling better than I think I ever have.  I look back to last year's marching band season when I had so little energy for that schedule, that I would go sleep in my car during the 2nd half of football games or sleep in the car while my daughter was at her after-game parties.  I've not even felt the need for that this year!  In fact, there's one band dad who is repeatedly asking me where I get all my energy.  I attribute it to a reversed metabolism, and I attribute THAT to the training and advice I got from Curves Complete.  Seriously, if I could do a commercial for them, I would.

I haven't been able to go to Curves but once a week during this marching band season, but I expect I'll be able to get back in there again more often now that my daughter's competition season is over for marching band.  Their schedule is cutting way down.  Hallelujah!  Fortunately, I was able to go to the Curves over by where I work from time to time.  It's really my running and walking that's what kept me going.

Speaking of running, I've also been working with the Couch to 5K app offered through RunDouble.  My next run will be Week 6 Day 2.  It will have me run for 22 minutes straight which I can tell you right now seems impossible to me.  I'll be trying it this evening.  Wish me luck!

Me with one of my second graders.

Tough Month!

Well, I know the month isn't over yet, but this has been a tough month!

For most of this month, I have played nursemaid to my daughter who's trying to get over mono and to my dear dog, Daytona, who's been very sick with what we've determined to be stomach ulcers (she's better now....happy dance!),  Through all of this, I have managed to get to the gym from time-to-time, kept walking, and kept eating well.  None of it met my typical high goals for myself, but I'm glad that every time I fell off the band wagon, I was able to trot a little bit and hop back on.  Now that I'm pretty much through all of that, I'm realizing that it was a pretty challenging time, and I'm grateful that I have my goals in my view, that they're important to me, and that I managed to hang on.

Another thing I have begun to do is the Couch to 5K process.  So far, I've only had one opportunity to go running with that app, but it went pretty well.  Other apps that I sometimes use are RunKeeper.com and My Fitness Pal, in case you're interested.

Oh, and yesterday, a friend of mine told me about an app that will PAY YOU for working out.  It's called GymPact.  You tell the App how many time per week you pledge to work out, and it will pay you 30-40 cents per workout.  If you fail to hit your pledge, then you have to shell out $5.  I signed up for it and will give it a try.  I will NOT want to lose $5 by missing my mark!  In the education world, we call that a "level of concern" LOL.  I logged my first work-out on that app today and only have to exercise 2 more times this week to get a reward.  Of course, I plan to work out a lot more than that.

Anyway, today started what I hope is a new routine tied to being back to work.  At the close of work today, I went to the bathroom to change into work-out clothes.  Then I went to the Curves near where I work.  You see, my daughter is at marching band practice, and it won't be possible for me to go to my home gym on any weekday as I have to stay in the area of our schools until she's done with practice!  I'm glad Cuves has what they call a "travel pass" so that I can work out at other gyms.

After I exercised there, I had a half-hour to spare and only 6,000 or so steps on my pedometer, so I stopped by the Hershey Hike and Bike Trail and alternately walked and ran for that time.  How did I fill this time last year?  Hmmm, well, I would stay at work longer, but often I found myself hanging out in my car eating and playing on Facebook.  Kinda looked a little like this guy.

Instead, today, I looked just like this lady. 

If I do THAT routine at least 3 times per week and then go to my home gym on Saturdays, I'll be golden.  And really fit.  :>)

WalkLog 7-31-13, Doldrums?

Well, it's Wednesday.  I've missed my goal of posting every Friday.  I'm contending with a doggie who's pretty sick right now, so I imagine that's thrown me off.

It's still a little disheartening to walk here after having such glorious walks in Pennsylvania.  It's just dang hot.  It reminds me of some quotes from "Good Morning, Vietnam", but they're a little too crass to post here.  You movie buffs will know what I'm talking about.

Last Sunday, the 21st, I took a nice walk at the walking trails next to CrossPoint Community Church.  I had actually gone to church and then changed afterwards specifically to go walking.  My son was kind enough to go with me.
Sunday, brought clothes to church, change clothes after church, took a walk with my son

Last week I went to the gym 4 times, I think.  Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.  I nearly took the whole weekend off from physical activity because by that time, I was pretty sore.  You see, on Thursday, I went to 2 dance classes back-to-back....a Zumba class and a kick-boxing class...and then on Friday I still did my regular workout.  On Saturday, my calf muscles felt like they had a baseball tucked inside.

Walking last week was decent although I've gotten a little distracted and have sometime forgotten to wear my pedometer.  (Which my son sweetly calls a walk-o-meter...cuteness.)  On most of my walks, my son graciously accompanied me.  I love walking with that boy!  I'm sad that my dog is sick; she's usually my walking partner, and I pray we can help her get well soon.

I realized the other day that I should fight the heat by walking at Katy Mills mall, so I did that on Thursday and Monday and will certainly do it again.  It is about 1 mile to go around the interior of that mall if you hug the outside of each walkway.  Huge place!

On Thursday, I made a decision to walk around the mall 5 times.  I did it!  There were LOTS of other people there for the same purpose.  That was encouraging.  There was even a group of moms with babies in strollers who were working out in the carpeted area next to the cinema.  Go moms! 

On Monday, Fox and I actually walked there late.  I was about ready to hang it up for the day on Monday when I realized I hadn't even walked 2000 steps in the whole day.  (Laundry is a chore that doesn't get you stepping very much!)  So, after 6 pm, Fox and I headed to the mall.  He came with me, bonus for him!  He got to stop at Gamestop and trade in a game. I also discovered that if you're dressed like a walker and you're walking fast, the kiosk employees seem to recognize you're not a shopper and tend to leave you alone.

I challenged myself at the gym last week, too.  I had very tough work-outs on Tuesday and Thursday.  On Tuesday, my coach had me get as many reps as I possibly could in on each machine within the 30 second timeframe.  Yowzers!  Pushing myself like was really tough!  Then, on the second go 'round, I was asked to either meet that previous number or up it.  I did really well, but that work-out totally kicked my butt.

Then, as I said, on Thursday I did 2 dance classes back-to-back.  The instructor offered challenge moves for the people wanting a challenge, and I took her up on most of those.  That's what made my calves so sore by Saturday.

This week I'm feeling just slightly less motivated, but I'm recognizing it and fighting it.  I did walk on Monday, and yesterday I went to the gym.  Today I WILL walk AND go to the gym.  I'm expecting new shoes to come in the mail today, so I will do housework until after the mail comes, and then I'll hit the gym and the mall.

Oh, and good news!  I just found out that there is an incentive program through my husband's health insurance which will actually give us money for doing certain wellness things.  For example, I will get $50 when I send them documentation that I have joined the Curves weight loss program.  There is also money for doing 30 min. of physical activity per day over a certain time period, and the same incentives for eating fruits and vegetables.  (Will this finally get my husband eating multiple servings of fruits and vegetables?)  This is very exciting because my husband and I will benefit so much!  He has begun riding his bike every day on his lunch break, and he's working to cut down on his caffeinated beverages like Dr. Pepper and Amp. 

Hey!  I began this post feeling a little unmotivated, but now that I've written it, I realized we have a lot to celebrate and a lot to keep us going.  Let's go!

WalkLog, 7-19-13, Vacation is Over

I can definitely see how vacations can be a killer for weightloss and fitness efforts.  This was my hardest week; ending vacation and transitioning to home.  Once getting home, I had to get a little more assertive with myself to get back in the saddle.

Since leaving Pennsylvania, I had the privilege of getting to visit with 2 of my greatest friends, and though they are both eating pretty healthy in their own homes, I got to experiment with their local restaurants and the amazing "birthday cake on top" ice cream cone.  Also, it was hard to get in all the walking I am determined to do in these new environments.  

At the first friend's house (Suzanne), I was lucky in that Suzanne wanted to walk with me.  Both days I was at her house, we walked 2 miles around her subdivision.  (She will tell you that she had to jog to keep up with my "mean stride".)  I didn't get in all of my steps, but again, I'm not going to beat myself up about it.  Just the fact that I got out and walked is still worth a celebration to me.  After all, I WAS on vacation!

Friday, 8925 steps

Saturday, walk with Suzanne, 2031 steps

Sunday, walk with Suzanne, 6013 steps

At the next friend's house (Tracie), I dove into making good use of her treadmill.  I actually was on it so long the first day, I have no idea how far I went!  I intended to go on it until a certain time, but after quite a long while on there, I realized the clock I was basing my time on hadn't moved!  I looked at my phone and saw that I had been on there about 15 minutes longer than I had intended to...which was about a total of 75 minutes!  Whew, I had to get off of there and get a shower; we were supposed to leave for the movies at 11:30.

Monday, Tracie's treadmill, 8549 steps

Tuesday Tracy's treadmill, 11,367 steps

Before the movies, I gotta tell ya, we went to a restaurant that is so far only in the Columbus area.  If you see THIS restaurant come into your area, go check it out, it was great.  It's called Piada.  Very much yummy.

On Wednesday, I left my friend's house and headed home to TX.  My stop for the night was in Jackson, TN.  I was looking forward to it because I was staying at the Howard Johnson hotel where I had stayed on the way up to Pennsylvania, and I already knew they had a great fitness room.  So, here I am pretty much driving all day and looking forward to spending time on a treadmill.  Me!  Can you believe that?

I got to the hotel, very tired, and decided to rest for an hour before going on the treadmill.  My plan was to go on the treadmill for a whole hour.  Every bit of accomplishment like this is still huge for me, I was excited that I knew that I could even handle a whole hour on the treadmill.  And then get this!  I set it up for a "rolling hills" program that made me jog at 4.5-5.0 miles per hour at an incline of 6.0.

I was so excited that I had my daughter come down and talk a video.  After being a person who has said to all kinds of folks "I can't run" (because I have had historically bad knees), I was just as excited as a little kid who's figured out how to ride a bike.

Wednesday, hotel treadmill, steps 12,367, lots of jogging, incline 6.0, video

The next two days were a wash.  Thursday was my hardest day of driving.  My daughter and I left Jackson early that morning and were like a horse going back to the barn heading to Houston.  We only stopped a couple of times.  I forced myself to stop for a whole hour for lunch.  By the time I got home, I was done for.  That day I only walked about 1200 steps.

Friday, too.  Recuperation.  I did walk a little over 3,000 steps, but that was just incidental walking.

I did think of going to the gym on Friday, but I was able to say to myself "I need a day to recover" and actually let that voice win.

The problem is, on Saturday I tried to tell myself the same thing.  How about this:  "I'll just take the weekend to recover and go back on Monday."  Luckily, that's one little conversation with myself where I didn't listen to that voice.  I slept late, much later than I wanted to, and when I woke up I had that short little argument with myself and then got dressed and headed off to the gym.

The gym was great.  It was the first time I had been in there for a month, and my coach was glad to see me.  I had been keeping up with her via text messages, but it was nice to show up in person and show that I had not backslid while on vacation.  She updated my measurements, and they were all still great!  I'm still getting slim and trim!  I weighed in at 138.2 pounds.

I'm officially over 20 pounds down now.  I thought I was, but I'm only going by the scales at that gym for my official numbers.  While at the gym I took notice of the 20 pound bag of rice that they keep there as a visual and decided it would make a good photo op, so I asked my coach to take a picture of me with the rice.  That bag was heavy!  It's so unbelievable that I used to carry that around....no wonder my knees used to hurt!  Feeling this great, I'm really determined to make this lifestyle change stick.

So, Monday, it....is....ON!!!  My next update next week will show that I went to the gym at least 4 times AND will have accomplished my walks.  They won't be as interesting as the Pennsylvania walks, but I'll see what I can do.  

Stay tuned!

It's Worth the Walk, Intro

Four days ago, I completed walking 80 miles while on vacation in my home state of Pennsylvania.  I started that blog just because I enjoyed myself so much on the first day of walking and took so many pictures that I wanted to save the experience for myself and share the experience with others. 

Many people enjoyed that blog, and I found they enjoyed it for about 3 different reasons.

• People who are from "back home" and liked seeing those scenes from the old stomping grounds.
• People who are from Houston (where I now live) and enjoyed seeing pictures from the glorious Pennsylvania countryside.
• People who feel motivated or inspired by just the fact that I'm getting out and walking.

It's for that last group of people (as well as for myself) that I've decided to continue blogging.  I mean, really, if I hadn't made a blog that said I was going to walk 80 miles in 20 days, I'm sorry, but it probably wouldn't have happened!  Making that blog, setting that goal and sharing it with the world helped in a big way to keep me striving toward that goal.  I was focused!  Maybe almost annoying to some, but I was tenacious in hanging onto my determination to finish that 80 miles.  I am really happy with myself that I pulled it off.

My hope is that making THIS blog and setting goals and sharing them with you will continue to motivate me, and if it also inspired YOU, then that is fantastic.  Keeping fit in our world, ladies, is not an easy task.  We are all very, very busy people.



How busy am I?  Well, I may look now like I've got oodles of time on my hands, but come August 15th, Time for this girl is going to be a rare, hot commodity.  School.

In case you haven't heard, I teach elementary music.  My school is in Houston, I report to work by 7:30 and I'm there until at least 3:30.  I also teach 3 after-school clubs; a trumpet group, a choir, and a drumming club.  Additionally, I'm the Fine Arts Team Leader which requires some extra obligations during the month such as meetings after school.  Oh, and I'm also what they call the Campus Technology Rep....I help troubleshoot computers and I attend meetings once per month. 

At work, I am busy.

In case you haven't heard, I am the mother of 2 children.  I have a daughter who is in the marching band.  She has practice every day after school until 5:30, and then she has football games on Fridays.  If she's at band, I am either with her, or I'm in the area.  Because of the school's location in relation to our home, I don't go home until she goes home with me.  In other words, I can't leave for home any sooner than 5:30.  Also for the band, I am the Assistant Uniform Mom, so I'm getting active as a band parent as well. 

My husband and son are waiting for us to come home.  Somehow we have to get dinner.  Somehow homework has to get done.  Somehow laundry has to get done.  Somehow I have to exercise?  Really?

At home, I am busy.

Last Spring when I joined Curves, I was frustrated with fitting my schedule into the gym's schedule.  There were times that I went to the gym, and the gym was closed.  In order to make this less frustrating for me, I put their whole schedule onto a Google calendar and then loaded this calendar onto my phone.  (The calendar is linked on the left if you attend the same Curves and would like to use it.)  That worked out much better for me.  I could easily see when the gym was open in comparison to my availability.

This fall will be interesting.  When I started going to Curves, I didn't have this wicked schedule.  Marching band is only in the Fall.  There will be times that the gym will closed before I can get there. 

My plan is to go work out at a different Curves this is not far from my daughter's school.  I could go there while she is at practice.  I could walk after I get home....somehow...sometime....after dinner is eaten and homework is looked after.  It makes me tired just thinking about it, but it's really important to me, so I will work hard to make it happen, and the point of this blog is to help with the accountability factor. 

Once school starts, I will be victorious if I work out at minimum 3 times per week and meet my 12,000 steps each day.  I would love to work out 4 times per week, but I think those weeks will not be the rule, and I will not be beating myself up if I don't make 4 times.

I plan to create a blog post each Friday at least (perhaps more) and let you know how my week went with my efforts, and how my meeting with my Curves coach went.  I have a few weeks left until school starts, and I'll be letting you know how I'm doing before I go back.  I will be working my butt off until then, getting in all the walking and exercising that I can.  I'll also be able to give you an update on Friday and what weight and inches I lost since I left Texas (if any....sure praying I have!). 

So, until Friday then!