The Nelson Narrative

I'm totally skipping my weigh-in this week since I've been horrible with diet and exercise, what with our little weekend trip/Mother's Day/Anniversary and all.  I was going to be super good this week and through the weekend on up until next Wednesday and then hope my weight was as least the same if not a little less than my last weigh-in, but I have yet to really get back on track, although I haven't been that bad.  I restarted C25K week 3 on Monday since I only did it once last week and will do day 2 tonight. I've been looking through our wedding and honeymoon photos the last few days, like I always do around our anniversary, and it makes me so sad to see how I used to look compared to now.  I'm up about 23, 24, 25 (depending on the day) pounds since then.  And I swore I wasn't going to be one of those women who let themselves go once they got married.  Sigh.  I have got to do this.  I want to get back there again.  An...

I'm finally getting things moving in the right direction.  I'm down 1.8 pounds as of yesterday (I weighed a day early because I knew we were having pizza for dinner and didn't want to weigh the day after that ). Last Saturday I had my best run ever.  I ran 3.5 miles!  Including a long hill at the end.  It felt amazing.  I set out to run again on Monday, but I was still a bit sore and I just couldn't do it again.  I think I ran about a mile give or take before I had to stop and walk, then I tried to run a few more times but not very far.  Tonight will be my first run since Monday, so hopefully I can do ~3 miles again.  Meanwhile, I did the 30 Day Shred on Tuesday, Zumba on Wednesday, and the Shred again yesterday.  I hadn't done Zumba in forever, so that was really fun, but I really can't wait to run again.  I never thought I'd say this but I actually kind of like it.

So, Saturday I finished week 7 of C25K with a 25-minute run.  It was harder than usual because I ran with a friend in her neighborhood and there were more hills, plus we were trying to converse.  But I did it without too much problem.  Then, it was time for week 8 day 1 on Monday, a 28-minute run.  I was debating just sticking to the program and running for 28 minutes, or going for 30.  Well, I did 32!  I was going along, approaching the 30-minute mark and just decided to go for an even 2.5 miles, which ended up being about 32 minutes.  Then on Wednesday, I set out to do just another 32, or maybe 35.  But I was feeling so good that I just kept going until the end of my playlist, which was 41 minutes!  I was outside so I don't know how far I ended up going, but it must've been about 3 miles, give or take.  So, screw weeks 8 and 9 of C25K.  I think I've officially graduated.  AND, I signed up for my first 5K!  Eek. It's...

I'm down 1.4 pounds.  I was kind of surprised because once again, I didn't try very hard.  I finally got my act together just yesterday (as far as diet).  I also need to increase my workouts.  I've pretty much just been doing the 3 C25K workouts/week and that's it.  I need to add in some more walking or the 30 Day Shred DVD or something.  Here's what I did this week: Saturday:  C25K week 6 day 3.  Turns out I was supposed to run 25 minutes, which is what I had always thought since I first learned about the program, but then I thought I read somewhere recently that said it was 22 minutes, which would make sense, since the run before was 20 and week 7 is 25 all week.  Anyway, I ran for almost 24 because I wanted to finish the song and I thought I was awesome for making it past the required time but turns out I cheated a tiny bit.  Oh well.  But this was the day that I realized that if I really wanted to, I could proba...

I didn't lose any weight this week (well, 0.2 but that hardly counts) but I didn't really try, either.  I was still working on getting rid of the last of the Easter candy and just not very motivated.  It's so weird.  Sometimes I am SO motivated and eat perfectly and exercise most days and can resist candy and chocolate and cookies and you name it for several days in a row, sometimes 2 or 3 weeks, but it never lasts more than a few weeks (even if I allow for the occasional treat), and usually not more than 4 or 5 days.  I don't know why.  Well, yes I do.  I'm a sugar addict.  Pure and simple. Anyway, I didn't eat that great but I rocked on C25K.  Last Friday I did week 5 day 3, which is the "big" 20 minute run, and I did it with relative ease and even did an extra 3 minutes just 'cause I wanted to finish the song.  Monday I did week 6 day 1 plus some strength and Wednesday I did week 6 day 2 plus some strength. ...

Damn Easter candy.  I'm up 3 pounds.  I was so good about staying out of the candy last Friday, Saturday, Easter Sunday, Monday and most of Tuesday, but Tuesday evening I finally gave in and had a mini binge.  Then Wednesday the floodgates were opened and I all-out binged, and kept it up yesterday in an effort to just get rid of it.  Sigh.  Oh well, it's almost gone and I'm feeling a little more motivated after today's weigh-in, so hopefully I can turn things around this week. As for workouts, I did C25K week 5 day 1 plus extra walking on Monday, week 5 day 2 plus extra walking and weights on Wednesday. and tonight I will do "the big run" that is week 5 day 3:  5 minute warm-up walk and then 20 minutes straight of running.  Hope I can make it.

I had a great week.  I'm down 3.8 pounds.  I said I was going to really limit bread/potatoes/rice/pasta and sweets, but I ate left-over turkey spinach lasagna (at least it was whole grain lasagna) one night and some ravioli another night.  Oops. I started back up with the Couch to 5K program, in week 4, doing week 4 day 1 on Monday and week 4 day 2 on Wednesday (plus extra walking both days to total at least 30 minutes of cardio).  I also did some strength training those days, went for a walk Tuesday and did the 30 Day Shred today.  I'm planning on doing week 4 day 3 of C25K tomorrow. My focus this upcoming week?  Break the cycle and don't gain anything back!

I haven't talked weight loss in awhile, mainly because there's none to talk about!  After having an awesome May, losing 9.2 pounds, including 2 while on vacation in Hawaii, I have since gained most of it back.  Last I knew, anyway, I had gained back around 6, and I'm not sure if I've gained any more or not because I'm too scared to weigh myself.  For some reason I have just been horrible since early June and I can't seem to get back on track.  So today I'm hoping to make a fresh start.  I'm just so disgusted, once again, that I let this happen.  Before the 9 pound loss I was struggling for the longest time with just losing and regaining the same 3 or 4 pounds over and over.  I never gained 6, just 3 or 4, every time.  Why couldn't I have only gained 3 or 4 this time, instead of 6?  Then I would still be down 5 or 6 instead of only 3 or less.  Grrr. Also, while I've still been exercising fairly regularly, I haven't really ...

We had such a busy weekend and I'm really behind.  First, on Friday we had a mom's group Meetup at the Cougar Mountain Zoo.  The weather was great for once and we had a great time.  It's a very small zoo so it's perfect for babies/toddlers/preschoolers.  And I had a Groupon voucher so it was pretty cheap for the three of us.  After the zoo we went to McDonald's for lunch which was a huge mistake because Olivia didn't want to leave the play area, but it was such a nice day I really wanted to be outside.  She had a total meltdown and I had to literally drag (well, carry) her out of there kicking and screaming.  It was really embarrassing.  But then we went to a park to enjoy the rest of the afternoon and all was well. On Saturday we went to the community egg hunt.  We got there a bit late because I thought it was going to be held somewhere else, so it had already started as the girls and I were frantically running across the baseball f...

I'll start with the bad.  Turns out the Easter season is a really bad time to try and lose weight, at least for me, being a raging chocoholic and all.  I curse the Cadbury Corporation and their insanely delicious and addicting Creme Eggs and Mini Eggs.  Anyway, I started off April very well, losing 2.5 pounds by the 6th.  Then I went out with a girlfriend that evening for a $25, 90-minute facial (!) at the Aveda Institute (beauty school) and we went for drinks/apps first, of course.  Then, like usual, instead of getting right back on track (not that we ate that bad, but still worse than I otherwise would have) the next day it's taking forever (I have yet to get back on track and it's now the 18th!).  And I've gained back those 2.5 pounds plus another pound or so. Now for the good.  So while my diet sucks lately, I'm totally kickin' butt on the C25K front.  I'd been stuck in week 6 forever, because one day I would maybe be able to do the 25...

I missed last week's post, but there's nothing to report.  Just like always, whatever few pounds I lost the first half of the month have come right back on, and I'm starting a new month weighing roughly the same as the first of last month.  I'm seriously considering employing a new strategy:  wait until the middle of the month to start working on losing, so that by the first of May I'll actually be down a few.  Of course I'll just gain them back by the middle of May but at least for once I will start off a month weighing less than the month before. Anyway, on a good note I went retro this week and went to a step aerobics class on Wednesday.  I hadn't done step since the late 90s.  It was awesome.  I sweated like crazy and it was so fun!  I hope to start going most Wednesdays but I still have to run 3 days a week, so if I incorporate a weekly step class that makes 4 total gym visits a week which may be difficult.  Espec...

This week was not quite as good as last week, but my best week 2 in a long time.  I managed to lose 0.6.  Eh.  I'm just happy to have lost anything at all.  Last Saturday was kind of a "freebie" day, with the birthday party and then the get-together with friends, where I ended up eating more cake, and instead of just one glass of wine I accidently had a margarita, too.  Oops.  But I got right back on track the next few days and then Tuesday and Wednesday weren't that great, but not nearly as bad as they could have been.  So I'll take the 0.6 and hope to do better next week. Monday I did C25K week 6 day 1, Tuesday I did the 30 Day Shred and Wednesday I did C25K week 6 day 2 plus an extra 15 minutes of brisk walking.  Tonight I will do C25K week 6 day 3, which is a 25-minute run.  Better make sure my iPod is charged.

I'm going to start posting every Friday or Saturday again about my weight loss efforts and progress (or lack thereof).  I've had a terrible time so far this year getting anything going, losing 2, 3, 4 pounds and instantly regaining them, over and over and over.  But I made a fresh start on Monday the 28th and I have had a great week so far.  I weighed on Monday, re-weighed on Tuesday and was down 1.2 pounds already (probably just water).  Then I weighed again yesterday and was down another 1.2.  With just under 10 weeks until we leave for Hawaii, I'm hoping to lose 10.2 more pounds. I've decided to restart C25K.  Not from the very beginning, but from week 5.  So on Monday I did week 5 day 1, plus I did the 30 Day Shred.  Wednesday I did week 5 day 2, Thursday I did the Shred and today I did the Shred plus C25K week 5 day 3.  If I stay on schedule this time, I will finally finish the darn thing on April 1. Today wi...

Every year I make a New Year's Resolution to lose weight, and most years I start off pretty well, but this year I just can't get anything going at all.  So I'm hoping to turn that all around starting tomorrow.  These are my goals for the month of March: lose 5 pounds record everything that I eat every day for the entire month (either here or just on paper) backtrack to week 5 of C25K and do it 3 days a week, consistently be more consistent with healthy eating (which I'm hoping #2 will help me with) blog about my efforts at least once a week, maybe more, for accountability. As for C25K, I had worked back up to week 7 (running for 25 minutes) after falling off the wagon around the holidays but then I got really inconsistent and for the last few weeks I've just been alternating like 5-10 minutes of running with 5 minutes of walking or so, excpet I did run for 20 minutes once last Monday or Tuesday but then I haven't been to the gym since because of snow....

A week or two before Christmas I was only one workout away from completing C25K .  But with the craziness of the holidays and all, I never finished it, because on the occasions that I did make it to the gym I wasn't able or motivated enough to run the whole 30 minutes, what with all the cookie consumption and weight gain and all.  So at the beginning of the year, I picked up in week 6 and re-started from there.  It took me until earlier this week to work back up to the 25 minutes required at the end of week 6 and now I am in week 7 (out of 9).  With any luck I will finally complete the program sometime in early February. As usual, I started off the new year all gung-ho and motivated to lose weight but I've only managed to lose 2 pounds (that includes the usual re-gain of a pound or so and subsequent re-loss).  Pretty disappointing, given that January is usually my best month and I'm usually good for 5 or 6 pounds.  Oh well....

I kind of took an unintentional break from C25 over Thanksgiving and the week before.  I didn't even exercise at all between the 17th and the 27th.  So starting on the 27th I couldn't just pick up on Week 8 Day 3 (the final 28-minute run before increasing to 30 minutes in week 9) where I left off, because I had to build back up to it.  I think I ran for 10, walked 5 and ran for 10 more, then the next time I ran 1 mile (12+ minutes), walked for 3 or so, and then ran for 8 more or something, then the next time I ran for 20.  So I wasn't expecting to be in week 9 this week because I still hadn't completed Week 8 (I figured I'd have a few more days of 20- to 25-minute runs before doing Week 8 Day 3's 28-minute run), but as I was running last night, just hoping to last at least 20 minutes, I just kept going--for 30 whole minutes!  So Week 9 Day 1 was suddenly complete!  Yay!  I still can't believe I ran for a full 30 minutes!  That's hug...

On Wednesday I was finally able to run the full 25-minutes.  And then some.  I decided as the 25-minute mark was approaching that I felt like I could do a measly 3 more minutes and thus complete week 8 day 1, so I did!  Then, I noticed that I was really close to the 2.25 mile mark so I kept going an additional almost minute I think.  I can't believe I ran for almost a half hour staight!  I totally could have, I just decided to stick to the program and take my time working up to it.  Man, it felt great! Today is Week 8 Day 2.  Hope I can do it again.

I finally lost another pound the week before Halloween.  Since then, however, I'm quite certain that I've gained it back and then some, what with all the Halloween candy and cookies, etc.  Today I am making a fresh start (how many times have I said that in the last few months?  Sigh.).  When I started blogging about my weight loss efforts back in August, I thought that doing so would hold me accountable and help me be more successful.  That SO hasn't been the case!  Oh well. As for C25K , I'm still trying to finish week 7 (I should be starting week 9 today if I would have stayed on schedule).  I was so proud of myself for managing 3 25-minute runs in a row (week 6 day 3 and week 7 days 1 and 2) but when I got to week 7 day 3 I just couldn't run the whole 25 minutes.  I ran 15, walked 5, ran 5, walked 5 and ran 5.  Then I tried again a few days later and did the same thing.  So I'm still trying to finish week 7 with a full 25...

First of all, I did the 20-minute run at the end of week 5 without too much trouble!  Yay!  The worst part was that my iPod's headphones crapped out on me so I had to do the last half or so with no motivating music.  Then it finally happened.  I choked in week 6.  Every single workout since I started (except maybe the first week) I was worried that I wouldn't make it through but I always did.  Then Wednesday, day 2 of week 6, I broke.  I was supposed to run 10, walk 3, run 10.  I got through the first 10 but was really struggling.  I was very worried about the next 10 and sure enough, I fell apart after about 3 mintues.  I just couldn't go on.  BUT, I really think it was just that I was running too soon after eating dinner (chicken stir-fy with lots of veggies, including gas-inducing broccoli (a-ha!) and felt really bloated and blah--I'm almost certain that was my problem and I would have been fine if I waited longer to work ou...

I'm still going strong in week 5 of C25K.  It definitely has gotten harder, but I continue to amaze myself with every workout.  Wednesday I had to run for 8 minutes, walk for 5, then run for 8 more.  I was really worried about that last 8, but I did it!  Today I have to run for 20 whole minutes without stopping.  Yikes.  I haven't done that in about 8 years and I've only ever done it once (I once ran 2 whole miles and I think it took 26 minutes--very slow)!  So, we'll see!  If I absolutely can't do it, I'll just keep working up to it and once I can I'll pick up the program from there. I STILL haven't got back on track diet-wise.  It's frustrating, because I was totally geared up to be good this week, but social plans had us eating out a lot, plus I "had" to finish off the salt water taffy that a friend gave me from a trip to Atlantic City, plus my mom brought a chocolate cake to us when she visited...Sigh.  I'll try again N...