A Change In Plans

It's racing week!  Yes!  The Pumpkin Pie 5K/10K is only six days away (five if you count today).

Yet in some ways, I'm bummed.  My original plan and goal in signing up for this race was to run my first 10K (or 6.2 miles).  However, the last month has been horrible on any training I've been waiting to due.  Two weeks of a nasty cold that I've just started feeling finally over (my family is STILL battling it - and it's the beginning of week three).  And then there was the ingrown toenails.  Yes, toenails.  A double one on my right big toe after having my nail smashed during a difficult transfer at work (I swear, I'm about to start adding steel-toed boots to my scrubs; this is the 2nd time in eight months that has happened).  Even walking was challenging for over a week!  So I emailed the race coordinators and transferred by 10K entry to a 5K entry.  I'm a little bit sad, but exciting about the winter, as I've put in PTO requests at work to be able to run the Colorado Runner's Winter Distance Series... and two of these three runs are taking place while I am NOT in school.  So while I am not achieving my original New Year's Resolution to run a 10K this year, I am well on my way to tackling it early next year.

A new fun development to my running is that Emily is going to start running with me more.  It's something she's been wanting to do for a while and after her mile race this past September, she's determined to be able to run the whole mile next year.  And for an added bonus, we were introduced by my sister to a non-profit organization called I Run 4 Michael, in which "athletes of all levels and kinds are paired with children and adults with physical, mental, and developmental special-needs ranging from Down Syndrome and Cerebral Palsy to Autism Spectrum disorders, to physical deformities and disorders, to lesser-known disorders."  Emily and I have applied to be a running pair for a child who can't run themselves, which we are doing in order to create awareness for special needs and building a new relationship/support network!  It's a long wait list for a runner to be matched to a buddy (about fifteen weeks) so in the meantime, we are running in honor of my nephew and those kiddos who aren't matched yet while we pray for the very special someone God is going to put in our lives.  To learn more about them, or to apply to be a runner or a buddy, click on their link above or visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/groups/irunformichael.

I promise to post race pictures this weekend!  Emily and Ethan are going to run the fun run (as well as their cousin, who hopefully will be joining us) and then we are going to spend the afternoon after the zoo to celebrate Ethan's 5th birthday (how on earth did my little man get so old?!?) so it should be a fun-filled day.  Check back on Saturday or Sunday for an update!  But in the meantime, we're trucking in the fun and miles.  :)

Embracing the good times,

Debbie

A New Regime

Today I shall discuss what is sometimes the most dreaded word in my vocabulary:  exercise

*shudder*

Now if you knew me at all during high-school, sports were not my thing.  First of all, I was totally uncool.  Second, I have no coordination.  None.  Zip.  Nada.  Where I did okay playing volleyball in middle school, I knew there was no way on earth that I was going to do sports in highschool, with the exception of our forced freshman PE class.  I was glad to see that go!!

Yet if you know me now, you would know that I started running about four years ago.  Well, running may be a stretch - more of a jog/plod but I soon found that I enjoyed it!  I still remember the evening I ran my first mile WITHOUT stopping; I hadn't even been able to do that as a kid.  Now in those fours years, I have stopped and started the Couch to 5K (C25K) about five times, but since the beginning of this year, I've been following Jeff Galloway's Run/Walk/Run training method.  That high ankle sprain I always battled with C25K?  Gone.  Totally absent.  And I'm running more than ever, including a fairly consistent three days a week, and running longer.  Today I knocked out 4 miles.  Four MILES.  There was a day when I could barely manage two, and now 3 is my average mid-week run.   And even with 30 second walking breaks throughout my run today, it is still a better time than I did my first two 5K's using C25K.  Want to check out Jeff Galloway's method?  Go visit his website at www.jeffgalloway.com.  In the meantime, I am entered for my very first 10K (for those not used to the metric system, that is 6.2 miles) on November 21st, only 25 short days away.  I'm not quite ready yet but do or die, I will be there!!

In the midst of increasing my cardio endurance, however, I have learned that I have no muscles.  None.  Especially in my arms.  I think Ethan (my almost five year-old) can do more push-ups than I can, and that is with me doing a modified push-up with my knees on the floor!  So I've pulled out a workout CD that I have had for ages, but never really did consistently.  But with an online Facebook group, I've committed to going through all of Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred.  This new daily regime may take me a bit longer than 30 days (I do need a rest day after long runs), but I'm going to get through all 3 levels this time and hopefully, gain some muscle in the meantime!  Today was Day 1 and trust me, I think I would take 30 minute run over her workouts most days.  But I finished it (needed a few breaks, especially on the arm strength movements) but by now I feel good and am looking forward to Day 2 tomorrow.

So there is this word called exercise that I used to shudder at.  But I'm warming up to it.  I still don't like calling it exercise; I've recently started calling it training.  Training to be better.  Training to work harder.  Training my body to be disciplined.

And truthfully?

I'm starting to enjoy it again.

Looking forward to good things,

Debbie

Monthly Weigh-In

I decided last month after my doctor's appointment that I wanted to only weigh-in once a month.  Why, you ask?  In a nutshell, I have a tendency to obsess.  Weekly weighing often turns into daily weighing which turns into an unhealthy balance for me.  So once a month it is. 

For October, while I was happy in losing 6 3/4 inches all over my body, I was initially a bit disappointed in my weight loss.  Only 3 pounds from last month to this month and I've made a lot of food changes for the better.  However, after cleaning out my closet this week of clothes I don't wear anymore, I found a pair of jeans from when I was at my heaviest two years ago.  Of course, I will provide you with a visual comparison:

Please ignore the lack of make-up and a decent hair style

My children had to give their own silly comparison:

Oh my word!  Both my kids could fit into those old jeans!

So while I was initially a bit bummed this morning, this visual reminder made me smile.  I have taken steps to regain control over my health and no longer wear a Women's Size 20.  These jeans are now in a hanger with my "Wear Again" item, my favorite little black dress that I have never worn out on a date with Jonathan first, as a visually tell me of how far I've come and second, to remind me to NEVER go back there again.

As I look back over the last month, I am also looking ahead.  Starting on November 1st, I am going on a 21 Day Sugar Detox with two ladies near and dear to my heart to help fight my natural draw towards all things sweet! (If you want to to join us, please do!  We are using this book as our guide:  www.amazon.com/The-21-Day-Sugar-Detox)  Also, Lord willing, by this time next month I will have run a 10K (yay!), and would like to lose another 2-4 pounds, as well as about 5 more inches, and continue becoming stronger and more disciplined.  I hope my November weigh-in post is a positive one as well!

Trusting in the good things that are happening,

Debbie

Where Did The Time Go?

Today is my 34th Birthday.

That's right.  34 years old.  12,410 days.  That is a lot of time I've spent on this blue and green cosmic ball circling around a bright yellow star.  And for the last 2,920 days (or the last eight years, give or take a few days), I have weighted over 200 pounds.

Just writing that sentence brought tears to my eyes.  *sigh*

The week we found out I had conceived with our now 7 year-old daughter, I went to the local YMCA for my morning workout and in the ladies' locker room, weighed in at 198 pounds.  That number has stayed in my head for a long time.  That is my pre-pregnancy weight and I've come within 15 pounds of it two different times over the past two years but then, life happens.  Illness.  Job change.  A move.  And I gain it back.

It's an ugly cycle.

It's been a year since I last posted.  A lot has happened in that time.  For starters, our family completely uprooted and moved halfway across the country to a rural town in Colorado, just a couple of hours from where I grew up.  We are homeschooling.  Emily is seven and Ethan is nearly five.  My husband no longer works in a formal ministry capacity, but instead enriches the lives of high-school and college-aged students from his office at our local college as the Distance Education Technology Coordinator.  I'm back in school, this time pursing a degree in nursing and working the night shift as a nurses aide in a local nursing home.  We stay incredibly busy but LOVE being right smack in the middle of family - grandparents, great-grandparents, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins... it is quite a list!  We are praying over a burden God placed on our hearts almost three years ago to work with pregnant single mothers and wonder/struggle with wanting to see that come fully to fruition.  But most of all, we are blessed.  In love, in life, in friends, and in family.

But...

This is one area of my life I am still struggling in.  The past month or so has been difficult for me as I examine my health.  I'm facing a surgery in the next few months to repair a small issue that's been progressively nagging me since my appendectomy/cholecystectomy in 2013.  I have develop some severe food allergies, including an anaphylactic reaction to soy products.  And since I work nights, my normal body rhythms are completely out of wack ALL THE TIME, but at this point I would not trade the time I get to spend with my kiddos during the day.

So now what?  I've been making strides towards better health.  I saw the doctor two weeks ago and I was down nine pounds since my last visit.  Learning to say no to foods that contain 1) soy, 2) gluten, and 3) nuts has been a trial for me and has really made me see my addiction to food.  Do you want to know what contains soy?  EVERYTHING.  If it comes in a box, can, jar, bottle or is in the deli or freezer section of the grocery store, it probably has soy.  And in a small town, it is a challenge finding simple items such as salsa or coffee creamer or a salad dressing that doesn't contain soy is hard.  Fast food is out of the question, unless it is oatmeal from McDonalds or Potato Ole's from Taco Johns.  So a LOT of freshly prepared foods is what we do now.  But this isn't a blog about my food allergies - I will post more on that on another day.  Where I meant to go with that rabbit trail was that this journey with food allergies has made me see my emotional and even spiritual connection with food and God is working on my heart.

Today I want not to say "New Year, New Me" like a broken recording January 1st recording, but a time to look forward to the next 365 days.  God is doing a new thing and I look forward to sharing that with you.  There will be ups-and-downs on this journey to better health, but I am excited to see what I will be posting on October 16, 2017.  Will you join me?  There may be days of joy and victory and days of tears and defeat, but it is my goal to regularly chronicle this year as I journey around the sun towards the age of 35.

Good things ARE happening,

Debbie