Finally seeing Results again

So, it's been a little while. I was blogging pretty regularly for a while and then, as usual, life got in the way. I think I got really burnt out at work and was starting to get sick. Whether or not I was actually sick or just feeling under the weather from being stressed out doesn't really matter. I took a few days off from running and went into maintenance mode. On Wednesday we had a really good staff meeting and I have started to get back on track at work. It's like a little switch got switched back to where it was supposed to be, because the job doesn't have to be that hard. I just have to do the work. I got a little bit of my confidence back. So the last part of my week went really well.
Nate has been asking to go hiking for the past few weekends which is awesome. It's fun to go hiking with him, he's a riot. Last weekend I twisted my ankle a little, so I walked with Helen on Tuesday evening instead of running and then ran on Thursday. I was the only one who showed up on Thursday, so it felt really difficult. I ran three miles. On Saturday morning Ananda suggested 6 miles and I said okay, we ran the first three and then I needed to walk for a little while. We walked for a little bit, and then ran the rest. I hurt bad. I think it's because I took some time off and haven't really been cross training. Anyway, I got cramps in my stomach and kept having to slow down a lot. Ananda was great, she slowed down with me, and I ended up doing all of the rest of it at a run instead of walking like I wanted to. We ended up finishing in 1:02, so it wasn't bad at all even though we walked some and I felt like I was running really slowly. Hopefully the next time I run it won't be so hard. Then we went to Pilates today, I nice stretching Pilates class.
Of all of the running, hiking and other stuff I've been doing, of course I would hurt myself walking the dog. Last night I was walking Titus, who wanted to walk fast and then we started running. I was wearing my slippers and jeans and tripped over a root and almost faceplanted. Luckily I was wearing those jeans, so I just lightly scraped my right knee. I also somehow ended up hurting both of my pinkies. I guess I must have landed weird on my hands. I had huge smears of black dirt all across my pants and on my feet and hands. Luckily Nate was there so I could laugh it off and I don't think anyone else saw me.
One of the reasons I may be seeing results on the scale this week is because it is one of those months when Nate and I have spent every penny and can't even go to the grocery store. We have food, but we have to really plan it out so we have something to eat until Friday, which is payday. We're broke because I finally paid off my car (Yay!) and we paid off the wedding loan. With those extra payments we went into our savings accounts and had to use our credit cards for Christmas. We didn't spend a whole lot, but still more than we really could afford at the time. Luckily we two less payments this upcoming months which will go toward Nate's car, the credit cards and building our savings back up. We're also going to switch banks so we don't get charged for having not enough money. The reason this has helped me see results is that I don't have the option of over eating or splurging on McDonald's or going out to eat. We have enough to eat and not much more than that.
Ananda was really cute this morning, I was telling her that I didn't have any eggs, so I had skipped breakfast (meaning I just didn't want the waffles or bagels we had) and she offered her own eggs. I assured her that Nate and I are not, in fact, going to die of starvation this week, we just don't get to eat everything we want to eat. It was very nice of her though, to try to save our lives by offering us her own food.
Ultimately this has given Nate and I the opportunity to really decide what food is important to have around and to take a look at what we eat. We planned out two entire weeks of dinner meals ahead of time and have surprisingly wonderful dinners recently. We had tomatoes with basil and mozzarella cheese with olive oil and balsamic vinagrette, and we had some salad and pasta with a pancetta sauce. So we're definitely not starving. We did make the mistake of not having enough food for Titus, but a bag of that can go on my credit card. It's not that expensive. We are really down to the wire, but it's cool how much we planned and are still in control even though it was so close. Anyway, can't wait til payday and am looking forward to see the scale drop one more pound! I was at 134 today!

January Goals

Well, this week I'm still weighing in at 135. I've been partially working on losing weight. Especially in the mornings. The issue this week has been my evenings. I've been doing well, eating breakfast, packing lunch, I've thrown in some push ups and even some situps. I hiked with Nate on Sunday, and ran yesterday. You'd think a little weight would want to come off. However, my dinner's have gone back to larger portion sizes. And yesterday, I went to McDonald's, got a salad, but then put the dressing on and ate the whole thing. Still better than any one of the hamburger meals because there's less of the saturated fats, but still a hell of a lot of calories.
The challenge has made me look at some of the little spaces of time that I could throw in some exercise during the day. I made myself do squats in the kitchen last night while dinner was cooking. It wasn't so bad. It was a pretty good way to get in some of the leg workout I've been missing out on. And it involves no preparation. I was barefoot in my pajamas with no weights. You just have to do more squats to get the workout. If I had weights I would have felt the burn sooner. I also tried out some "stand up pushups" which are just like regular pushups- straight back and tight stomach, but your pushing against the counter instead of being down on the ground. Obviously less of a workout. I had to do a lot more of those to feel any burn, but was surprised that it did get my blood pumping a little. I might do some wall sits tonight. I usually already have the timer going for whatever it is I'm making. Maybe some calf raises tonight as well. And you can always do kicks.
I wish Titus hadn't hurt his leg again (he jumped off of Nate's desk at work and hurt his leg again) because that takes away from our walks. Poor guy is always going to be hurting his legs the way he climbs up on everything and jumps down like he's a freaking mountain goat. But, he just needs rest and it'll get better. It doesn't help that he goes nuts every time Bobby walks in the door, I don't know why, but he goes completely crazy and runs around and jumps on the couches and on the beds and shakes his whole body instead of his tail. So that didn't help the healing process last night.
Anyway, my goal to weigh 134 as of Monday worked, but I only weighed 134 that morning. The scale has otherwise stayed at 135. So I don't think it counts. Of course I'll hold off on that judgment until next Monday, when the schedule was to weigh in at 133. I can still do it if I work hard starting right now. It's only Wednesday and it's not unheard of to lose 2 pounds in a week. Okay, I guess that means I should get off my rear and go do something.

The All American One Week Exercise Off

I'm starting a challenge on my Google Groups page. Here's the link:

http://groups.google.com/group/the-challenge-group

Here's the basics, but check out the site and join in!

The Center for Disease Control recommends that adults participate in moderate-intensity physical activity for 30 minutes or more on 5 or more days of the week. The American Heart Association recommends "For health benefits to the heart, lungs and circulation, perform any moderate-to-vigorous-intensity aerobic activity for at least 30 minutes on most days of the week at 50–85 percent of your maximum heart rate."

Now, seriously, how does anyone actually do all that exercise? I mean it was kind of easy when we were paddling and they basically forced you to do exercise 4 out of 5 days a week, but in real life, how do we make sure we're getting enough exercise? My biggest excuse (and probably one of yours as well) is that you don't have the time to exercise. So my challenge for this upcoming week is to find out exactly how much exercise you can fit into one week.

They say that you can break up your expected 30 minutes of exercise into 10 minute walks or you can add exercise by parking your car farther away and walking to your destination. Let's see how much that all adds up.

Details:

The challenge will start on Monday, January 14th (whenever your morning begins) and end on Sunday January 20th. You can count any exercise you can fit in until midnight your time zone.

All you have to do is keep track of how much exercise you've done for the day and BE HONEST about it. Sign in and let the group know what your daily tally is. When you sign in on Sunday to input your tally, put your daily tally and then go back and add all of them up for a total.

The winner of this challenge...... Gets their name on my Blog! At the very top! And can feel a sense of self-satisfaction! And will be the winner!

For this challenge you can count anything, but we're adding time, not exertion. You can count your trek up the stairs to work and the walk up the hill to your car. You can count the walk to the top of the hill on the way to smoke your cigarette. You can count any time you spend on pushups or squats or at the gym. Washing the dishes? Do some squats in between. Even cleaning the house can be counted as exercise if your moving your body around. The point is to challenge yourself to see if you really don't have the time, or if you're just using it as an excuse.

Good luck!

Running and Tennis

This morning Ananda and I woke up at 7am and did a good 6 mile run. I ran a little ahead and finished it in 57:53, which according to the pace calculator it was a little less than a 9:40 pace. That's good for me. Ananda did just about a 10 minute mile. Towards the end knowing she was right behind me kept me going faster. My mind kept playing tricks on me, telling me to go slower, but I told myself not to underestimate Ananda, she'll be right on my ass or passing me in a few seconds, so I had to go faster. And of course, she came in right behind me. It felt pretty good though. Let's not kid ourselves, it felt good after it was done. The beginning of the Lanikai loop felt pretty difficult. The wind has really picked up recently and you have to fight your way up the hill towards the Lanikai stone post or whatever that thing is. And then you think to yourself that the hardest part is over, but the wind tries to push you backwards on your way down the other side of the hill into Lanikai. That part was really hard for me. And the last hill was trying to take me down as well, but I kicked it's ass.
After we ran we pretended to stretch for a couple of minutes and then grabbed our new (New to us!) tennis rackets and headed out to the tennis courts with images of tennis stars in our heads. Unfortunately a lot of older people get out and play tennis early on Saturday so no courts were open. Well, maybe it was fortunate, because it gave us some time to practice our swings at the wall ball court. We did some competition on who could hit the ball more times in a row. I actually really enjoyed it. If my legs hadn't still felt like Jello I might have stayed for a while longer. We do need some work on the rackets, maybe some electrical tape or something for the handles. Although they are new (new to us!) they are from the Salvation Army and have probably been used a lot. The handle grips were disintegrating in our palms. It was kind of gross. We'll have to tape them up for the next time. I'm actually happy that I accidentally bought Junior rackets, because they weren't too heavy. I guess later when you get stronger and better you want to have a big, professional racket. Anyway, it was fun and I will have to get back out there. We've decided that once we can hit the ball back and forth a little we're going to challenge Joanna and Denby. I know Joanna has played before, and for some reason I feel like maybe Denby has to. If not, I'll have to pick her up a 3 dollar racket at Salvation Army and she can come practice with us.
The rest of the week was pretty good. I ate semi-healthy. I hit 135, but was back at 136 yesterday. If tomorrow and Monday I weigh in at 135 then I've met my goal. Otherwise I have to push back all my other weight goals. I have to get serious. I have been drinking a ton of water, and that has been good for me. It helps you sleep better, keeps you full, and definitely helps for the long runs. I've been drinking a lot of tea again. I think we'll be drinking a ton of it since Nate's New Year's Resolution is to not buy any beer. If I can keep the fridge stocked with other drinks it should help him out. I love making a big pitcher of tea for Nate, he actually drinks it unsweetened, which is strange to me, but it's cheap and you can make a ton of it. There is a Japanese green tea that is really inexpensive, so it's a great alternative. Plus you can't beat the antioxidant piece. Tea is really good for you. I have bought a whole ton of decaffeinated tea as well for the evening time. Thanks to Aunt Pat and Aunt Sara for my teapot. I use it all the time.

Weigh-in

Weighed in this morning at 135. That's my pre-holiday weight. I'm gonna see if I can keep it there and below for the next couple of days, but it wasn't very hard to get back to that weight. Ananda and I went to the gym last night with all the New Year Resolution people at the gym. We did 20 min on the treadmill and then 15 on the bike. Man, I hate the bike. It hurts my ass. After the cardio we did some pull-ups and some abs. It helped me get down to 135.
Nate and I are eating a little healthier, and it feels so much better. Eating high fat, high sugar diet makes me feel so gross. I am more awake, and I sleep better when I eat better. Plus I've been drinking more water again.

That was then, this is now

I already did a very long blog on myspace but I wanted to also post something here. It's been a long year with a lot of changes. I learned a lot about food and being healthy through hours and hours of research and reading. I went through a lot of clothes because I was so excited to lose weight that I kept buying them and kept losing more weight and buying more. Which benefited Mary for a little while then they didn't fit her because she lost so much weight.

Today is Jan 1, 2008 and it's been exactly a year since I started eating differently and I feel and look great. I am pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to run the numerous miles I ran without Mary. One, because I hate doing things alone and two she always showed up even when she didn't feel like it. There were many days we didn't feel like it. We pushed ourselves and it paid off. We have made it to a point that we would never look back. We changed physically and I know I changed who I was and who I want to be.

Last year at this time I weighted 147 pounds and today I weight 118.5. During 2008 I plan to run harder and faster, I plan to keep eating well and working out. I want to start toning my body some more and challenging myself more. I want to find a way to balance work, school and exercise. I want to run a half marathon.

I also want everyone to know that they too can reach their goals. Even though 28 pounds may be a lot for some to lose, for others it's not. I think everyone can take the steps to become who they want and look the way they want. Hold yourself to your goals and they will be accomplished.

Today Jan 1 2008

2007, a recap

First, a weigh-in. Last night's partying put me up to 137.5. That sucks, but was foreseeable. Now I need to get down to 135 by Monday. For me "getting down" to a weight means I've been there for a day or two and usually have dropped below briefly. So the scale should read below 134 briefly sometime this week for me to have really reached that goal.

Now, a look back at 2007. A great, stressful, terrifying, and rewarding year.

January, Nate's mom had been in and out of the hospital needing a liver transplant. Nate's sister provided her with a liver and for a while we weren't totally sure about either of their health. It's a dangerous surgery because both parties have to completely change how they eat and drink and live.

Also in January I went down to Boston to visit with my sister Angela, see her new baby, Akiva, and got to see all of my sisters and brothers for a full week. We drank a lot of tea, walked all around Boston, bought the bridesmaids gowns and went to a science museum. It was a great week. Also a trying week. My mother told me she wasn't coming to the wedding when she was angry to know that we all got together in Boston. Don't ask, long story. But in the end, we had an awesome time, and my mother did indeed come to the wedding.

January 1st of 2007 Myia and I made the best New Year's Resolutions I've ever made. It was the first time I made a serious decision to lose weight and get healthy. And knew that I was going to make my goals because Myia was going to kick my ass into shape.

February of 2007 I finally hit the 150 mark for my weight, ran the Great Aloha Run (that time I actually ran the whole thing), and Myia and I went on a Dead-head on the Makani Olu. A good month of hiking, and being really focused on eating and living healthy.

In March the paddling season began again, 4 practices a week. Basically when paddling season is on, you stop having a life other than paddling. But, it was a really competitive season. I had made a commitment to continue to run, but it was hard for me. Myia did a great job of keeping in running shape, but I began to slack off on running. I did start to drop a lot of weight when paddling started though. At the end of March was Nate's birthday and I bought him a huge fish-tank to house his now huge snowflake eel. He loves that thing, so it was a good investment. And the eel is still alive even to this day.

I don't know if anything happened in April and May other than paddling, running, working and wedding planning. That part of the year is a little bit of a blur.

In June the paddling races began. I was lucky enough to be a part of the racing crew and raced consistently through regatta season. Unfortunately I didn't do the half-marathon because it was on the morning of a race. I'm sad about that, I really wanted to see how we had improved from the year before. We were so much more in shape and healthy this year's paddling season! The cross-training kept me in really good condition. And of course, in June, more wedding planning. Figuring out the last details, getting my dress fitting, doing everything last minute because for some reason that is always how it works for me. I am so grateful for Myia, Ananda and Joanna for getting me through June without cracking completely. Just knowing that the wedding was coming was an incredible stress.

In July, of course, was my wedding. What an incredible month. I somehow managed to get everything together before the actual ceremony began. My family came out, unfortunately Nate's family wasn't able to make it out here for the wedding. But my family really did their best to fill in for his family. They love him. I had the OHCRA championship races a few days before the wedding and my family got to come to a race. We also won, which was really cool. Nate and I got into a huge fight the night before the race. It is the first huge fight I can remember having with him in years. Weddings are a huge stress. But in the end the wedding turned out perfect. The beach and the weather were perfect for the ceremony. The bridesmaids looked gorgeous. Nobody was too stressed out or sick. Aunt Nancy took care of Titus. The pictures came out absolutely gorgeous. And Nate and I finally got married. The ceremony was so much fun, Katrina and Andrea put together music for the ceremony, Aunt Barb and Uncle Nick got the cake (since I forgot), and Boardrider's threw together a hell of a meal with very little input from us. It was fantastic and I'll never forget that day, that week, that month.

And then, at the beginning of August, Myia finally took the biggest challenge there is and moved to a cold-assed state to finish her degree. It takes a hell of a lot of guts to move from Hawaii to where you can't even go outside cause it's so cold. And I'm incredibly proud that she's gonna finish getting her diploma because so many people just give it up after time goes by. We had a hell of a party for her, we drank a lot (well, Myia drank a lot), we had the longest Aloha Circle I've ever been a part of that included shots of Tequila and a karaoke microphone, and then Myia had the best after drinking vomiting party. She was puking, there was ukuleles and singing, we were all chatting. And then Josh had to put her in the car with a, I forgot what Kara called it, a vomet helmet or something like that. Basically a plastic bag with the handles over her ears so she wouldn't puke all over herself. I'm gonna seriously miss that girl.

So, it is left to Ananda, Denby, Joanna and I to continue to the path to healthiness on our own, without Myia telling us what to do. It has taken 6 months for us to pull our shit together on that.
Anyway, August was State races for paddling on Kauai, and we came in third, which is pretty darn cool if you ask me. We were up against some incredible teams.

I'm sure more happened in August, but I think paddling, again took most of my time. After states we immediately started training for distance season. I continued to hear that it is all training for Molokai. So we trained hard as hell, I lost some more weight, we did some awesome long-distance races. I finally found out what it's like to do a water change. Scary as hell at first, but it really pumps you up. It's so hard to pull yourself into the boat. The scenery in those races is something that I will cherish forever. You don't usually get to see that part of the island from that close in the ocean.

In the beginning of September Nathan and I switched therapist positions. I moved from Hale Huli`au to a the voyaging house, Hale Ho`ohua. It was a good move, since I was so stressed out from this very challenging family I was working with.
Also in September there were a few more distance races and then finally the long awaited Na Wahine O Ke Kai. I did a blog on it in September. It was awesome, challenging, and so worth it. I don't think I'll ever do it again.

October and November were pretty routine, we did the Halloween thing, and we did the Thanksgiving thing. Mostly we just got back to work, paid off our wedding loan, shopped at Macy's with our wedding gift cards and relaxed. I think I probably continued to run through both of those months, but I most certainly didn't do anything spectacular. I did rejoin the YMCA finally so I can go to the classes and workout when it's raining. It's worth it.

December has been a fun month, preparing for the New Year. I decided on some goals to beat before New Year and was able to run 8 miles last Saturday. I tried to maintain my weight and did for the most part until last night when I ate a million pigs in a blanket trying to stay up for the fireworks. Christmas was excellent, Nate got 9 video games with the gift card I gave him, and he gave me scuba diving lessons. He got scuba diving lessons from his parents. I can't wait. We dogsat for two dogs and although three dogs is too many, Nate and I have decided we do want another small dog this year. We're gonna keep a watch for the right puppy.

All in all it was a great year, but I'm ready for 2008. I'd love to get our finances in better check, lose another 10 pounds, get a puppy, and find another job. This year was stressful, fun but stressful, especially since Nate's mom was in and out of the hospital so many times and couldn't fly out here. Mom Sullivan will be coming to visit in March. Hopefully we'll have the Preston parents out here this summer. I want to learn how to play tennis. I'm going to learn how to scuba dive. I want to paddle regatta season, but not distance. I want to run another half-marathon. I want to visit the east coast. I want to start working on getting my license for marriage and family therapy. I want to eat tofu.

I am sure there are so many things left out, like Andrew and Cristina getting engaged and Angela getting pregnant again.
2008 is a New Year, a new start. A time to get even healthier and more in shape. Here's to 2007, a wonderful year, and to a new start today!