Just a few more days to go...

Well, I have not blogged much over the past couple of months. My plan at the beginning was to blog at least once/week but honestly, after a while, I didn't feel like I had anything to say. Plus, the summer was so busy and so fun and I just didn't take the time away from those fun things to blog.

I had a goal at the beginning of this challenge to develop a pattern that I feel like I could stick with. This means not too extreme or too lax. I will not ever be able to stick with a plan that includes hours per day every day of exercise. It just isn't realistic for me. Although I know that this is a competition with a set beginning and a set end, during which time you should accomplish as much as possible, I had a different goal...to establish that which I could stick with. Some days, I had planned to exercise and it just didn't happen. Some days, I had all my food planned and it all fell apart at some point. But...most days, I did exercise and most days I did eat what I had planned.

My family has been immensely supportive and I appreciate my husband so much for being supportive when I would leave the house so many times each week at night to go exercise. I also appreciate my son being pretty much the coolest kid on earth, though he can't understand, at his age, how much it means to me when he says, "It's okay Mom, I know you need to go work out".

I also appreciate my trainer, Heidi, who has been so supportive even when I've been in a really foul mood! Heidi is an amazing girl who has a great career and life ahead of her. I'm thankful she has been my trainer. She is not only a great trainer, she is also a very kind and caring person. I have enjoyed our conversations during my workouts and I have enjoyed learning more about fitness and how to use the workout equipment at the gym!

We have nine more days before the anticipated/dreaded weigh out. I am determined to give it my all during those days. To keep myself on track, I have also, at the urging of my friend Stacy, signed up for a 1/2 marathon in November. I think it will be good for me to have another goal on the horizon once this 100 days ends.

I am thankful to have been chosen to participate in this challenge and would like to thank Intermountain Heart for sponsoring it. As corny as it sounds, it has been a life changing experience. The task of establishing a balance between my marriage/being a mom/working out/working/nurturing friendships is a hard task. Some of these areas have suffered during the past 90 days but that is part of determining what is the right balance for me.

Slow and Steady

I've been on this weight loss journey for longer than 49 days. I started last August and even though I haven't lost some ridiculous amount of weight in that time, I can see changes. I went back and looked at some photos from last year and made this composite...it's pretty inspiring to see that changes are happening, even if I can't see them every day. Over time, the changes are becoming more dramatic.

Not much blogging going on lately...here's why

In absolutely no order because who has time for that? But, they are all from July 4 to present.

My Bike!

On Friday, my husband and I both got our bikes! It was so exciting! As I post this, it's Saturday night and we have been on three long rides; two yesterday and one today. We live close to the Provo River Trail, so we have been going over there. My husband estimates we've ridden between 15-20 miles! Here are some photos:

Week 5

Happy Monday! Here we are at the beginning of week 5!

This past week was crazy busy and I dont like that! Everybody has to run errands and such but last week was out of control! I'm looking forward to a much calmer week and only four days of work this week. My husband is also off on Friday and I am looking forward to spending time with him and our son that day and on the 4th!

I had a couple of challenges this weekend. My brother Joel, his fiance Julie and Julie's daughter Katie are here visiting from Houston. So, of course, we got together to eat! My dad's wife is an amazing cook and it's hard to not overeat when she cooks because everything is so good! But, I am happy and proud to report that I did very well, TWO nights in a row of getting together with them. The hardest part was on Saturday night, after we ate and then visited for a while, we went to get handmade milkshakes at the Wildflower Grill in Payson. Ooohhh...I wanted one so bad! But, I said no and instead appeased myself with a VERY LARGE Diet Coke (and a couple of bites of my son's milkshake!!).

This week is my Dad's birthday and I'd like to wish him a very happy birthday! He, his wife, her daughters and my brother, Julie and Katie are all going on a road trip starting today to Mt. Rushmore for my Dad's birthday. My Dad has always wanted to go to Mt. Rushmore for his birthday, since it's on July 4th, and see them shoot fireworks off of the President's heads, lol.

Probably the most exciting thing happening this week is that I am getting a bike on Friday! I'm so excited! I've been looking for one for a while and finally have found one that fits my needs/wants and price range...a hard combo to find. Here's a link:

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/bikes/women/2298/32104/

It says it comes with a Giant seat, but I'm just going to tell myself that is because that's the brand, not anything to do with my rear end!

Hope everybody has a great week!

Week 4

Here I am at the beginning of week 4 and although I am having success and can see and feel changes in my body, I am feeling pretty down today. I had a great weekend and maybe it's just the downer of being back at my desk when there are a hundred things I want to do at home! Or maybe it's that I never see my family because by the time my husband gets home around 6:15 and we have dinner, put our son to bed, I'm off to work out and then it's time for bed so we can get up and do it all again! I don't know...maybe it's just the rain!!

I have my meals planned for this week and feel good about that. The exercise is a different story, though. I feel like I am doing really well with my exercise, I have worked out 6 days/week for all three weeks of this challenge, but I'm not exactly doing it the way my trainer says to. I'm going to strive for five days of cardio this week with at least 2 interval days. I explained to my trainer that I prefer to work out at home or at my friends house who has a gym set up in her garage. So, she (trainer) suggested I get a stability ball and some 10 lb weights and showed me how to do all of my weight exercises on the ball. I got those things this weekend and am going to use them tonight, along with a cardio workout.

Thursday, June 18

I'm having a great week except for that my little boy was sick yesterday. He called from the summer program that he goes to on Tuesday afternoon saying he wasn't feeling well. Luckily, my Dad had stopped by my work and offered to go pick him up and keep him for the afternoon!
He still wasn't feeling well on Wednesday and so I missed our nutrition class, which is a bummer, but priorities, ya know?!

It's amazing how one little thing like your kid not feeling so hot can make everything more complicated. But, I have managed to stay on track with my food and my exercise so I am proud of that.

My friend Crystal and I made a pact to not weigh until next Monday and it's so hard! I'm terrible about getting on the scale every morning. So, I put the scale under the bathroom sink and even though I've been tempted to get it out every morning, I haven't done it!