My Personal Weight Loss Challenge

Okay, this is a risky, scary, put it all out there blog post, and I'm excited and scared to post it!! A lot of you know that I'm a Beachbody Coach, but a lot of you may not know that I struggle with my own weight. I, like a lot of you, struggle with emotional eating, and it's been an emotional semester for me. I have had a lot going on, and have been the busiest that I've been in awhile, not to mention emotional struggles that have been through the roof. That has reflected in my weight, gulp, gain over the last semester especially. But I know that for my health, as an example to my children, as a leader and a health and fitness Coach, that it's time for a change. It's time for me to publicly commit myself to what I want to help others do - get healthy. I have the tools for success. I have the Challenge groups, the most amazing meal replacement shake, phenomenal workout programs from Beachbody trainers, and now it's time for me to put that all together for my own success story. I do best with a high level of accountability, and this is going to be it. This blog. You all.
 I am going to post weekly how I did, my results, and my weight loss. Maybe eventually I will feel comfortable posting before pictures and weight amount, but for now, we'll just stick to weight loss amounts. Yes, it's scary having this kind of public accountability, but it's what I need. I need to get healthy and treat my body the way it is meant to be treated. As the temple of God. I need to run the race in such a way that I take care of myself so I can be the best mom, wife, homeschooling mom, Coach, Director, friend, and most importantly, the daughter of the King.
So, who's with me? Does anyone want to commit themselves to this scary Challenge? Whether or not you want a Beachbody Challenge Pack and Facebook Challenge group or you just want to publicly declare that you, too want a change and are committed to putting it out there for accountability sake!! This is my big moment to commit. Are you there?

I am going to be doing the 21 Day Fix container system for my nutrition and T25 for my workouts. I plan to follow the T25 schedule for the next 10 weeks and then pick another program. I want to be more active, so if that means sneaking in a run, a Zumba class, playing at the park with my kids, or just adding in some extra squats or push-ups throughout the day, I want to strive for excellence!
What's your plan?

Turkey Trot

On Thanksgiving day, Tad and I ran a 5k in our town called the Turkey Trot. I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to plan to run a race on the day that I do tons of cooking, but I decided I really wanted to, and that it would be good to get a workout in on the day where I would stuff myself with food! The weather was forecasted to be very cold that morning, but I was still in. It was kind of weird, because the night before, I was in cooking mode, up late finishing my pecan pie and pumpkin cinnamon rolls. Then I was up early making crockpot stuffing and getting other things together. Then I had to switch gears and get in my race clothes and get ready to go.
I haven't been running very much, because Tad is gone so much and it is just easier to get my workout in at home during the day. So the Monday night before the race (the race was on Thursday), I went to the Y and ran a 5k on the treadmill, just to practice and run since I hadn't in awhile. I did a 5k in about 35 minutes, and I wasn't happy with that time. It's hard to gauge it on a treadmill, and how fast/slow to start running. I always get nervous and don't want to start too fast because I don't want to burn out and have to stop. I was happy to get through it without stopping though. So my goal for the 5k was just to finish without stopping (which is always my goal for a 5k; I have run them enough to know I can do this) and to run it in under 35 minutes. I think my first 5k that I remember I ran in 36 minutes, the next one was 34 minutes, and I don't remember my time for my next one.
It was freezing cold the morning of the race. We wore layers, and didn't want to shed them until right before the race. Tad's brother spent the night so that he could watch the kids for us; it was too cold to have them out. So it was a nice, fun time to get out together! I have always run better in the cold, so it felt good, but I was struggling mentally. Tad and I talk about how running is so mental, as well as physical. You really have to push yourself through, and talk to yourself while running, because your body tries to tell you it's tired, or to walk. Tad was having the same struggle, though we weren't running together. He is much faster!
I have realized that I have to evaluate if I feel like stopping because my legs are tired, because it's hard to breath (always a struggle when I workout or run, maybe exercise induced asthma?), or just because I am feeling lazy and want to walk. But even if I can pinpoint which one it is, I still have to push through it, and keep running.
When I hit the halfway mark, I looked at my watch and was at about 15:30, and thought "oh my gosh, if I keep this same pace I could finish in 30 minutes? What???" But it actually made me feel tired thinking about that, but I kept pushing through and trying to keep a good pace. It felt good to pass people, and to keep going even though I felt like walking. To keep talking to myself and get myself through, knowing that I was getting closer to the finish line. Tad finished in about 20 minutes, which is really good for him. He was hoping to get close to one of his first place times from a long time ago, which was 19:45 or something like that. He got really close, and finished 9th overall, out of over 200 people. So proud of him!
When Tad and I run the same race, he comes back to find me and to help me finish the race. He just kind of paces me at the end, when I'm tired, and to remind me how close the finish line is! I look forward to this towards the end of the race! I finished in 31:07, and I was completely floored to set a new personal best!! I know this isn't a super fast time, but for me, it was my fastest, and I was so pleased with it! Especially since I hadn't really trained for the race, per say, though I workout 6 times a week so maybe that helped with the stamina to keep up a faster pace. I was so happy with my time!! And glad I had decided to do the race on such a busy day!! So we finished, went home, and packed up all our Thanksgiving food and went over to Tad's parents house to finish cooking and to spend our Thanksgiving day. It was a good day, and that race pretty much made my day!! I am so glad we could do it together!

 

Workout Regimen

Well, I thought I would share some of the workout routines that I do, just if anyone was curious as to what I do for my 6 day/week workouts. When I first started working out after I signed up for my weight loss accountability group, I was using the workout dvds that I already had, i.e., Tae Bo, P90X, Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred, and maybe some others. Naptime became my personal time that I loved! I was always a napper, and always felt like I needed a nap daily. But once I realized that naptime was really the best time for me to workout, I came to really enjoy my time to myself and doing something that was fun! I also would throw in the occasional Zumba workout at the Y or just going to the Y to run on the treadmill or do the elliptical. I also love running and would get out there more often to run 3-4 miles on the trail behind our house.
After about 2 months of our weight loss group (originally, it was suppose to be a 60 day program, but we all were enjoying it and benefitting from it so much, we decided to keep it going!), I was so excited to order a Challenge Pack through Beachbody.com, which is the company that our Coach in our group works for. They have products such as Insanity, P90X, Combat, and TurboFire. My birthday was coming up, and for my birthday I wanted to get a Challenge Pack that included Shakeology (an amazing, super healthy chocolate shake with superfoods and vitamins) and a workout series called Combat. It is a Les Mills program who is also the creator of Body Pump if anyone is familiar with that. It was an amazing 60 Day program that really shaped and toned my body. It was pretty hardcore, but the results were worth it. I still love it; it is really fun and the variety kept me wanting to keep doing it, since it comes with 7 different workouts.
 A little bit after that was done, I ordered another Challenge Pack that is called TurboFire and that one hasn't been my favorite, just because it is more "dancy" and fast paced, and I'm used to more hardcore boxing and "manlier" type stuff. I know that sounds weird, because I'm not a tomboy in any way, shape, or form, but I just got used to the other types of workouts with P90X, Tae Bo, and Combat, so that's what I was used to. But it is still a very high intensity workout and leaves you dripping and having burned a lot of calories. And a lot of people really like it.
I have been longing to get out on the trail and run, but it is hard to squeeze that in with the hours that Tad works and now with it getting dark so early and being so busy!!!
As of now, I mix up my daily workouts with the dvds that I have. I will mix them up depending on what kind of workout I want for that day, focusing on cardio, arms, abs, super hard cardio, HIIT, or the days where I just don't have much time but want to get a good workout in. This week I was very sore from a hard workout, so I tried to do some cardio without much strength in it, to rest my muscles. I recently tried a new workout class at the Y called RIPPED which is awesome, and I have been trying to get back to that class. Lots of intervals, strength, endurance, high intensity cardio...right up my alley!! And my friend who teaches it does an awesome job!! So for anyone in Enid, go take RIPPED with Autumn!!
I have taken before and "after" pictures. I wouldn't consider right now my after, just my "mid-point" where I can see huge change in pictures, but I'm definitely not where I want to be. But I have been amazed with the results of the definition in my arms, legs, and even in my stomach (the flab in my stomach, ha ha). I can even see a difference in my face from last year! And I love putting away my "fat clothes" and digging through old clothes that I never thought I would wear again. Love that. So overall, I am quite happy to see the results that working so hard for months has created. But I am disappointed in myself that I haven't had the same kind of discipline with eating as I did at first, which is a huge reason that I lost the weight. Also, I have a friend (Lori, see below for a link) who dropped 60 pounds in 6 months without working out, so I truly believe that eating healthy is like 95% the key to losing weight. But I also love to workout, know it's super good for my body, and love the toning I have gotten from doing it. And maybe I would have lost more weight but the muscle I have gained has prevented me from losing the weight, but I am happy with the muscle! So I will leave you with some links for some different things I have mentioned here if you are interested in anything that has helped me on my weight loss journey! And feel free to comment below if you have used anything that has worked for you regarding weight loss/exercise/getting healthy!!

 

 

Beachbody.com

 

Lori's Blog (the one who lost 60 pounds in 6 months, and she blogs about weight loss every Wednesday)

 

Links to Tae Bo products

 

TurboFire

 

Eatingwell.com (for great healthy, family recipes)

 

Recent Weight Loss

Tad and I after finishing a 4th of July 5k

I have struggled with my weight for years, but especially since having Madelynn 7 years ago. For years, I lived in a state of disappointment with myself for keeping that weight on, and I was quick to complain about how I felt about how I looked, but slow to do anything about it. How much time and energy I wasted just complaining about it when I could have just done something about it! But it is and always has been a battle of the mind. It is always harder to choose those healthy options and to sacrifice than to just reach for the bag of chips and go to town. But I needed something to change.
The huge (God-send) thing I needed to start my change was an online support group through Facebook. I reached out to a friend who had a Facebook page about being healthy and fit. She is a Beachbody consultant and I didn't have the money to get one of their programs but she decided to start a free accountability group as long as we committed to logging our food through My Fitness Pal, working out (15 minute minimum) 5 times a week, and we held each other accountable through our Facebook page and commented on at least one post for that day. Well, let me just tell you that that accountability was just what I needed! I was hesitant and scared that I had just committed to those things, but the results were so worth it. Since April, I have been working out 6 days a week, logging my food (not as regularly, but that is the goal), part of my accountability group, and to date have lost about 15 pounds. I still have about 15 pounds to go, and the process is slow because my eating hasn't always been the best, but it is progress. And it feels so good to accomplish that.
The feel after a workout. Carving out that time to do something good for your body. The amazing toning I am starting to see all over my body that is paying off visibly! Having to find new, smaller clothes that I haven't fit into for years, and putting away the big clothes. Something I didn't think would happen. The support of our group; and this group of ladies has become like family. They are believers in a big God and we encourage each other and it has become about way more than even our weight loss. We have become a group that can share anything that is going on in our lives and we can have instant prayer warriors at our fingertips! It is truly of God!

This past summer, I also had a chance to read "Made to Crave: Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, Not Food" by Lysa Terkeurst. I had never heard of her before, but apparently she has written other great books and has a radio ministry. Her book was really good! I had never read a book about food before, especially one having to do with God. It really made me think, and I had the privilege of finishing it on our family vacation and passing it on to my aunt! I love passing on books that I have read and love to other people! Here are some quotes from the book:

"It is good for God's people to be put in a place of slight desperation. Only then can we be empty enough and open enough to discover the holiness we were made for."

"When we are stuffed...we don't recognize the deeper spiritual battle going on."

"Satan wants to keep us distracted by chasing one temporary filling after another. God wants us to step back and let the emptying process have its way until we start desiring a holier approach to life."

"The gap between our frail discipline and God's available strength is bridged with nothing but a simple choice on our part to pursue this holiness."

"Moment by moment we have the choice to live in our own strength and risk failure or to reach across the gap and grab hold of God's unwavering strength."

"When we're defeated and stuck in issues of the flesh, it's really hard to fully and passionately follow hard after God."

"I can make the choice to identify my shortcomings and, instead of using them against myself, hand them over to Jesus and let Him chisel my rough places. The grace-filled way Jesus chisels is so vastly different than the way I beat on myself. My beatings are full of exaggerated lies that defeat. His chiseling is full of truth that sets me free."

Sorry there were so many! They are just all so good, and I didn't want to leave any out!!

I am not saying that it isn't a battle. Or it isn't hard. I have to choose daily which path I will take - one of discipline or one of mindlessly eating without tracking calories or caring how much I eat. And if I was more disciplined, it would have been more than 15 pounds by now. But without my accountability group, I think I would have given up several times by now. But they keep me going. They remind me to keep going, that we can be disciplined. That it is worth the fight. That we can see results, and make better choices, and focus on Wellness instead of Dieting. It is a lifestyle choice that needs to continue, not a few months of agony to lose the weight and then go back to how I used to eat. And I love to eat! And bake! And pig out! And I still eat bad or binge or have bad moments, but I hope to have more good moments than bad, and to know when to stop.
So it is a constant battle. But having people behind you is a huge encouragement, and I am still in the fight!! Maybe in the future I will share a blog post about what kinds of workouts I do and how I got great results! Here's to a healthier holiday season!!

The Ultra-Marathon Adventure

Ruthie living it up and being fed breakfast in the big hotel chair!!

 Well, we had quite the adventurous trip to Arizona for Tad's first ultra marathon, which was a 50 mile trail race in the mountains! He was going to go by himself since he was running it with some good friends from college, but then we decided to make it into a family vacation! And it was a crazy one at that! In the last 2 months, we have been on 4 trips! They all happened kind of randomly, but each one was fun in its own way! So, the kids have really learned to be more flexible and sleep in different places. Which is a far cry from Maddy when she was little who could hardly sleep anywhere but her own crib!!

The kids having fun in their hotel bed!

 This trip in particular was a little hard for the kids, because we were in the car everyday, almost all day for about 5 days. I thought the day of the race we would watch Tad start, and then go back to the hotel or hang out in town. But our plans quickly changed when I realized we didn't have the official race map with checkpoints written out. We had friends who had the map and we could follow them to the next spots. We were 45 minutes away from the hotel and I didn't want to get lost and not be able to find Tad on the mountain when we returned! So the kids spent that day mostly in the car as we raced around trying to see Tad at different checkpoints!!

 We took 2 days to drive to Arizona, staying the first night in the infamous Roswell, New Mexico. Alien town!! It was pretty comical. Tad said he didn't want to tell Maddy anything about it because he wanted everyone to be able to sleep that night! But they got a kick out of the aliens that were around!!

 Fast forward to the race. We left the hotel about 4:30 am. The kids were not happy to be up that early, especially Ruth. I felt horrible! We ended up running a little late, and Tad had to book it to the starting line to get his things there by 5:30. The race started at 6 and the parking was about a quarter mile from the starting line, so I hoisted Ruth on my back into the hiking backpack and started down the trail in the dark. The beginning to an absolutely crazy day I will never forget! The crazy ultra-racers started with their headlamps since it was still dark!

 Mind you, this race was in the mountains! Not just an average marathon, or ultra marathon! Hiking! Elevation! Craziness!

 Our dear friends from college were there, Ian and Ruthie. Ian ran the race with Tad and Ruthie and Ian's brother hung out with us for a little bit. It was so good to see them!

 It was freezing in the morning, but it quickly warmed up to crazy warm temperatures for the day!!

 Tad at mile 7. Feelin' good!!

 Coming down the path to the first checkpoint where we could see them!

 Still feeling really good! So good to see them together!

 The narrow mountain drive to the next checkpoint where we could see them! Beautiful views! The next checkpoint is mile 25. We waited awhile there to see them! 

 And it started to get hot! We went from our winter apparel to rolling up our pants and taking off our coats, and I got sunburned really bad!!

 But the kids had fun playing in the dirt!! At least that! Had a little lunch on the side of the road!

 Finally, we went for a walk hoping to see Tad on the trail! Judah, at this point, and it was not a long walk, said "I just can't do this!" Poor guy!

 Ian had to drop out at mile 22 because of his knee and Ruthie and Eric had to go rescue him by car. Tad had to keep going by himself but he was still feeling good at this point! We saw him at the checkpoint, he ate and drank, and changed his shoes, and he was off! And this is where the story starts to get interesting.

We saw him 4 miles later at mile 29. Since Ian and Ruthie had other friends running the race, they drove ahead and watched them. So me and the 3 kids were on our own. I asked some workers at mile 29 how to get to the next checkpoint, since we had no map or directions. He gave me some sketchy directions and said it was mile 33. I said, "I don't think we are suppose to go to mile 33." He said, "I'm not gonna tell you you can't go." So, I thought to myself, "Tad would be really happy if he saw us at an extra checkpoint. We could encourage him. And I already have the directions."

So we started off. But once we made a turn and ended up on a super narrow mountain road, I started getting nervous. The roads ended up being pretty rough, and there was no way I could turn around. We finally got to mile 33, and waited for awhile to see Tad.

 One of the workers gave the kids a book to read. It was pretty warm. I was getting worried about Tad, as he was alone and it was almost time for the checkpoint to close. We hiked up the hill a little and waited for him. Finally, we saw him. He was close to the cutoff point for the checkpoint, so he needed to get through fast. He ate some and was on his way. We got directions to the next checkpoint, mile 40. 7 miles that way. That sounded easy enough. Oh my word. The 7 miles weren't marked well. And the mountain terrain was not meant for my Pacifica. It was treacherous. Judah and Ruth fell asleep. And I'm surprised they didn't get whiplash. I made a couple of wrong turns. I didn't think the car was gonna make it through these rough roads that had deep spots, high ridges, super narrow paths with a cliff on the other side. I was lost. I had no service on my phone. I was responsible for 3 small children by myself. And I was scared to death. I was shaking while driving. I couldn't just stop the car and get out. There was no one around. There were a few people at the checkpoint a few miles away. A motorbike passed me and did a double take. That was before I realized how dangerous the path was. The second motorbike I saw I tried to flag down, and he didn't stop. I was about in tears and I was telling Maddy she had to pray.
We finally made it back to the familiar checkpoint we had been at and just kept backtracking until we were off the mountain.
By this point I just wanted to go somewhere familiar and to find the people I knew. I tried to remember what the camp was called that we had started at that morning. I remembered, "Kentucky Camp" and started seeing signs for it. Phew! Time for the next adventure. There were flashing lights at the entrance. When I stopped, the policeman told me that there had been an accident (of course, right at the entrance to the camp) and that the camp was closed. No one could go in or out. I told him my husband was doing a race and that it was on that mountain. He said I could go hang out in the town up ahead. So we hung out at a gas station where I called my parents and tried to figure out what to do. I passed by the accident several times and they finally opened up the camp. There had been some motorcyle road rage and a truck had creamed someone on a motorcycle. We passed by the mangled motorcycle, the body wrapped up and a pool of blood, and the cop car. I just wanted to know Tad was okay.
We finally hiked down to the camp, we hadn't had dinner. The car was a disaster from things flying all over the place while we were driving through the treacherous mountain. This mommy was spent.
We got down to the camp, and by God's grace, they were serving dinner, frying up hamburgers individually on the back grill, and there were picnic tables to sit at. For free. And our friends were there. What a relief. They said that all the racers had passed mile 46 and it was getting dark. I got the kids their dinner as we all waited for the racers to finish. At one point, as we were waiting, Tad walked up behind us, not where the racers were finishing.
His knee had given out. He couldn't make it past mile 40. He tore his ACL and knew that he couldn't safely finish. He waited over an hour to get a ride back. He was okay. He was exhausted. He was worried about us. But we were all safe and sound and back together. And ready for our beds!! We drove back to the hotel and told stories of the day. And we were thankful that we were all safe!!!

 So, that was kind of the long version. But I am documenting that adventure so I can go back and read about it in the future!! I hope to never have such an "adventure" again!! I am so proud that Tad completed 40 miles! He was bummed that he couldn't finish, but it was 14 more miles than he had ever done! And he is a winner in my heart!!!!!

Red Dirt Run 5k

At the veteran's memorial

I haven't posted about running since last summer! My running has changed quite a bit since moving down to Oklahoma. In Chicago, I would run on the lakefront path and see a pack of other runners who were also out running, and I would soak in the city skyline and the lake next to me. Then, we moved down to OK and I started going out for some morning country runs around my in-law's neighborhood. It was quiet, peaceful, and a nice change from a city run.
It wasn't long before I met another mom at library's story time, and saw her again at MOPS (Mother's of Pre-Schoolers). She was looking for a gym partner; someone to run with her at 5:30 in the morning at least twice a week. It seemed daunting, but I was up for the challenge!! We started running at 4 minutes on, 1 minute off. We had another friend with us until her membership expired. After that, we got pretty serious. We started on the treadmills and got up to running about 4 miles. So we decided we should find a 5k to run together. We found one on Memorial Day Weekend, so we ran and trained about 3 months before we ran it. About 2 weeks before the race, we ran several times outside the YMCA and my friend, Kirsten, clocked the 3.1 miles we needed to run in town.

Kirsten's daughter, Alexis, and Maddy

The morning of the race, it was a little chilly, but it soon warmed up and was pretty humid. It wasn't bad, though. Kirsten did good and was ahead of me the whole time, but I had to keep my slow and steady pace to finish without stopping! Kirsten actually finished 3rd in her age group, and I finished 17th in my age group. I got 2 minutes faster than last year, and was glad I ran the whole thing without stopping!

At the finish line!!

So we are still running together in the mornings. We will still workout and continue running and maybe, who knows, run a race with a further distance!!
Not only are Kirsten and I running partners, but we have become good friends. We ended up moving a couple blocks away from them shortly after we started running. I didn't even know where they lived and then we figured out how close we were! It has been nice to get to know someone who lives close, has a daughter the same age as Maddy, and who loves God. We have gotten to know each other pretty fast during our workouts together, and it has been nice to have the accountability!!

Some spectators: Kirsten's kids, my kids, and my sis-in-law, Lydia, who so graciously got up that early to watch my run!!

Thanks, Lydia!!

My supportive family!!

We'll see if I will be able to run outside in this Oklahoma summer heat!!