Patience Is A Virture

I have a confession to make. I am not the most patient person. I know that my weight is not just going to drop over night, but I still find myself expecting to see results in the first week. I was getting super excited about weighing in, so I got impatient and decided to weigh last night. I was so crushed when I saw 220, I had gained a pound. I started rationalizing to myself that I had just eaten and that I had drank lots of water that day. I was so anxious to prove the scale wrong that when I woke up this morning, I immediately went to the scale. The scale read 217.6, and my first thought was "Woo Hoo!" down 2 lbs! After a little while I started to feel depressed. I had become a slave to the scale again. This happens to me every time that I set out to lose weight. I end up weighing every single day and I beat myself up over every ounce. I tell myself that the weight should be coming off faster, and I eventually end up quitting. I am not going to let that happen this time. I have decided that I am only going to weigh once every 3 weeks. I have put the scale in the closet because I am not going to let this over take me. I will be weighing again on April 20, and not at all until April 20. I realize that this might make my blog a little less interesting, but the whole point of this blog is to aid in my weight loss by forcing me to be accountable. I have to do what is best for me.

I am excited to update you on today's interval, because I am so proud of myself. I use the app GymBoss to time my intervals. The app wasn't working today (I later found out that this was because you can't lock your phone while the app is running), so I had to improvise. I was afraid that I wouldn't run a full 30 seconds without a timer, so I ran half of each lap and walked half of each lap. I finished in 14 minutes and 30 seconds. The gym I run at has a huge timer on one of the walls, so for one lap I figured out how long it took me to run half the lap. I calculated the rest to figure out that my walking time was 9 minutes and 45 seconds, and that my running time was 4 minutes and 45 seconds. That means that I ran half of the mile! In addition to my 5 minute walking warm up, I stretched and that made a HUGE difference. My shins did not even hurt this time. I was having an inner battle with myself. Each time that I finished a running portion I would tell myself I am just going to walk the whole lap next time, but each time I made it to the half lap I made myself do it. I can tell that it is getting easier and easier for me every time. My interval for next week will be 1 minute of running and 1 minute and 30 seconds of walking. I feel confident that this will push me, but that I will be able to complete it. If you have any doubt that you can do something like this, trust me you can! I feel better than I have in a long time, and I have so much energy. Let's keep this up!

Thanks for reading,
Sarah

On My Own

Today I want to discuss something that I feel most over weight people experience when working out.  Being uncomfortable working out with others (especially skinny people) is something that I have struggled with for a long time. Working out in a group can be uncomfortable for a person of any size. Insecurities plague us all, skinny and big alike. I do however feel like this is especially prevalent among heavier people. When you are a bigger person working out you have to worry about things such as: wearing multiple sports bras, your thighs rubbing together, things jiggling that shouldn't, getting winded quickly, not being able to keep up, and other embarrassing things. These issues over time have made me prefer working out on my own. When I workout by myself I don't have to worry if I jiggle. I don't have to worry about holding a friend back. This is an insecurity that I have to work on. My two best friends are athletic and workout together a couple of times a week. I miss out on a lot because I am always worried about holding them back. I am sure that they would not mind taking a workout at a slower pace for me, but it would embarrass me if they had to. I am going to start making myself exercise with them at least once a month so that I can get over this hurdle. As I get stronger and faster, I won't be as much of a burden. In October we did the Susan Komen Race for a Cure. They could have easily run the 5k, but they didn't. They walked it with me. When I am ready for my first 5k, they will be doing it with me, but this time we won't be walking. This time, I will be running every step of the way with them.

Now for the update on today's interval. I finished my mile in just under 15 minutes, so I did shave a little bit of time off of Tuesday's interval. I tried really hard to push myself on the running segments. I experienced my first side stitch, so that was fun. My blisters are pretty much gone, so that was not an issue. I am still having some pain in my shins, but I am sure that is due to the fact that I am carrying so much weight. Overall I feel like today's interval went pretty well, minus the side stitch because that sucked. I have been eating really well this week so I am hoping that I will be down a pound or two when I weigh on Saturday. Either way I am proud of myself!

Thanks for reading!
Sarah

Blisters And All

Today's blog is actually going to start on Sunday. It was really pretty outside, so my husband Brandon suggested that we go for a walk. I had over indulged a bit at lunch so I jumped at the opportunity. We were enjoying the weather and the conversation, and before we knew it we were at a mile and a half. Realizing that we had to walk the same distance to get back to our vehicle, we decided to turn around and head back. Everything was going great until about mile two when my feet started to hurt. I pushed through and we made it to three miles! My body was so proud of my accomplishment that it decided to give me a reward. The reward however was a nickel sized blister on the ball of each foot. My running shoes are less than a month old, so I decided that my socks had to be the culprit. We decided to head to Dick's Sporting Goods to buy some good socks. Now, anyone who knows me can tell you that I am extremely cheap. The idea of spending $22.00 on six pairs of socks makes me want to cringe, but Brandon was my voice of reason. He explained to me that if I was going to be running 3 times a week, I would need good socks that wouldn't be leaving me with blisters. So I bit the bullet and purchased some Nike Dri-Fit Cushioned Socks. I have posted a picture of the socks, just in case you are interested. I will let you know what I think after running in them a few times.

Enough about blisters and socks though, let's get to the update on running day one. If you thought that a couple of blisters were going to make me skip this first run, you thought wrong. I successfully made it through my first interval! My total time for the mile was 15 minutes. (12 walking and 3 running) After my 5 minute warm-up when it was time to run for the first time, I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't too difficult to run for 30 seconds. Fast forward to the third time I had to run though, and it was a different story. At this point I was telling myself that I was not going to make it to a mile, but something happened the fourth time that I had to run. A woman was jogging beside me and I just had this competitive urge to pass her. All I was thinking for that 30 seconds was that I had to get past this woman, which I did! The point is, the pain was gone from my mind and all of my energy was focused on something else. I got a new burst of determination and finished with no problem. I was so proud of myself! As far as aches and pains go, I did experience some pain in my shins as well as my feet (due to the blisters.) Overall though I am very pleased with tonights interval. I look forward to updating you on Thursday's run!

Thanks for reading!
Sarah

This Time Is Different

If you have stumbled upon this blog, you are either really bored or you are like me and you are trying to lose weight. Whoever you are and whatever reason you are here, welcome! Let me just start out by saying that if I sat down and counted the number of times that I set out on a weight loss journey and told myself, "this time is different" it would probably add up to the number of pounds that I need to lose. However, at the risk of failing myself one more time, here it goes. I am going to lose weight, and this time is going to be different! Why am I so sure that this time is going to be different? This time I have you (that is, if anyone is actually reading this.) I am starting this blog to document my weight loss journey and to hopefully help a few people out in the process.

Now that you know why I am here, let's get to the plan. It is simple really, I am going to run! You might ask yourself how is a 220lb girl (yes, that is what I weigh) going to run? .....very slowly! I am going to interval train alternating between walking and running. Each week I am going to decrease the walking and increase the running until I reach my goal. I am going to be modifying my own plan based on my fitness level. My first week of interval training is going to consist of a 5 minute walking warm up, 30 seconds of running alternated with 2 minutes of walking until I reach one mile. That will be followed by a five minute walking cool down. That sounds low right? Well, so is my fitness level. I want my first week to push me, but I still want to be able to successfully complete the week. Each week, in addition to increasing my running I will be increasing my distance. My eventual goal is to be able to run a 5k in under 40 minutes, with no walking.

I am not going to put a time limit on my goal of reaching a 5k. If there is a week that I am struggling with, I will repeat it before I move on to the next one. I will be running 3 times a week, and I will be blogging 3 times a week as well. I will blog after each run, and tell you if it sucked or if it got easier (or if I fell on my butt.) On Saturdays, in addition to blogging about my run I will be posting my weight and measurements for the week. If my numbers went down you will know, and if my numbers went up you will know. I want you to get a real picture of what is going on every step of the way. I hope that you will follow me on this journey, and maybe start a journey of your own.

Thanks for reading!
Sarah