Thursday, April 26, 2012

An Act of Defiance {Inspiration of the Week}

Confession: I have never seen Wicked. I desperately want to, but just haven't had the chance. I've heard some of the music, and somehow I know I will love the show whenever I finally see it!

Luckily, I don't have to wait until then to be inspired. Thanks to Glee, I've become familiar with "Defying Gravity," an incredibly uplifting song (oh yeah...pun totally intended!).

The lyrics can be applied to many different sorts of "leaps" you may take in your life, but tonight they proved especially motivational when I was on the treadmill. Right now, while I still weigh so much, it often feels like gravity is purposely working against me. Lifting my feet off the ground takes so much effort...sometimes I feel like I'd have just as much success trying to fly. Tonight this song helped me through my run and even helped me push myself to add an extra minute. As far as I'm concerned, I defied gravity!

Here is just a small sample of the awesome lyrics:

"I'm through accepting limits
'cause someone says they're so.
Some things I cannot change
But till I try, I'll never know"


You can buy the Glee version of the song here, or the Wicked version here.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

{Wordless Wednesday}


Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Motivation Continues to Build {Weekly Summary}

Weight: 217 lbs.
Weekly Change: N/A
Overall Change: -2 from "starting weight" of 219
Next goal weight: 214
BMI: 31.1 (obese) (using this calculator)
Waist Circumference: Forgot to measure but probably still 38.5 inches
Disease Risk: Very High (according to this chart)
Jeans Size: 18/20 (depends on the day)
Total Workouts: 2
Total Running Time: 3 minutes
Total Running Distance: .25 mile
Longest Single Run: 3 min/.25 mile
Progress on Training Plan(s): I am in Week 4 of this Couch to 5K program .
Status of Busted Toe: Still sore off and on. Did some research and realized it's probably going to take a really long time to heal completely. If the pain ever gets bad enough, I might consider getting it lanced to relieve the pressure. *shudder*
Last Week's Goal(s): Totally failed on all of my goals. I thought I might have a shot at getting three workouts in, but after hiking with a baby on my back on Saturday, my left ankle was really sore on Sunday and I decided to skip my run. I'm still not at the point yet where I'm tough enough to run through pain. And I'm still having lots of trouble remembering to do my crunches and push ups every day. Also you may have noticed that I've been slacking off big time on this blog.
Next Event Goal: I'm not officially saying I'm definitely aiming for this race, but my friend Jack and I are discussing maybe reprising the fun the we had in the inaugural Semper Fi 5K. This year's event is June 30th. I'd love to be able to complete a 5K by then, but I'll probably wait another month before determining whether this is a realistic goal. Update: I REALLY need to get my butt in gear if this is going to be possible!!
Next Week's Goals: Okay, THIS is the week when I will finally complete three runs! And I will remember my crunches and push ups nearly every day! And I will blog more than once!!! I probably ought to leave it at those three as-yet-unrealized goals, but there's one more thing I really want to do. We have a couple of bicycles in our shed that the previous owners of our home left behind. This week, I'd like to get one of those bikes out and do whatever needs to be done to get it functional, so I can start riding on the weekends as early as next week!

Analysis: It was a disappointing and frustrating week, but at least it further fueled my motivation. Getting so worn out from hiking reminded me of one of the big reasons I want to get fit. I love hiking, and I want our family to do active things together on the weekends. Once upon a time, I could survive an all-day hike, but now I end up exhausted and sore after about an hour. That's just not acceptable to me, not what I want for my life. Even if my progress continues to be slow, I WILL keep working toward my goals so I can have the energy and strength to enjoy an active lifestyle for many years to come!

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Object in Motion {Weekly Summary}

Weight: 217 lbs.
Weekly Change: +1
Overall Change: -2 from "starting weight" of 219
Next goal weight: 214
BMI: 31.1 (obese) (using this calculator)
Waist Circumference: 38.5 inches
Disease Risk: Very High (according to this chart)
Jeans Size: 18/20 (depends on the day)
Total Workouts: 2
Total Running Time: 12 minutes
Total Running Distance: 1 mile
Longest Single Run: 6 min/.5 mile (broken up with some walking)
Progress on Training Plan(s): I finished Week 3 of this Couch to 5K program .
Status of Busted Toe: It's been hurting kind of a lot. I'm not sure whether to be concerned. I'll do a little research on that and then possibly write a post about it later this week.
Last Week's Goal(s): For the second week in a row, I successfully completed two walk/run workouts. Yay! But I did not manage to maintain my daily crunches and push ups. It's not laziness -- I just keep forgetting. I think I need to come up with a particular time to do it or set up some sort of reminder, because I forget as often as I remember. And once again, I did not devote any time to working ahead on blog posts, other than just thinking of the topics I'd like to cover this week.
Next Event Goal: I'm not officially saying I'm definitely aiming for this race, but my friend Jack and I are discussing maybe reprising the fun the we had in the inaugural Semper Fi 5K. This year's event is June 30th. I'd love to be able to complete a 5K by then, but I'll probably wait another month before determining whether this is a realistic goal.
Next Week's Goals: I really wanted to kick it up a notch and try for 3 runs this week, but looking ahead at our family's schedule, I don't know if that will be possible unless I run on consecutive days (which I generally try not to do). I haven't decided what to do about that yet. At the very least, I will still aim for 3 workouts, but one of them might be yoga or a fitness DVD or something instead of a run. I'm also going to take another stab at the goal of not missing more than one day in a row of my crunches and push ups (and part of that goal will be coming up with a strategy for not forgetting!!). My blog goal will be to post at least 3 new entries, including this one.

Analysis: As predicted, my weight went up this week, but only by one pound! I'm pretty pleased with that. The next step is making sure that extra pound disappears again quickly. I'm enjoying my runs, but getting frustrated at how difficult it is just to complete such a short time/distance. I miss being able to run 2 or more miles no problem. I know I'll get back there, and running will start to feel easier at some point, but I also know I need to be running 3 days a week to really build up my fitness and stop struggling. One positive note: the stair climbing challenge at work ended, but I think it served its purpose in my life. I'm definitely up and moving more both at work and at home, and being more active in small ways is making me want to be more active in bigger ways too! I think I'm starting to turn inertia in my favor!!

Thursday, April 12, 2012

A Little Behind {Weekly Summary}

This is for last week, April 2-8. I was out of town through Tuesday night and I'm still playing catch up and trying to get back to normal!

Weight: 216 lbs.*
Weekly Change: -1
Overall Change: -3 from "starting weight" of 219
Next goal weight: 214
BMI: 31.0 (obese) (using this calculator)
Waist Circumference: Forgot to measure, but probably still 39 inches
Disease Risk: Very High (according to this chart)
Jeans Size: 18/20 (depends on the day)
Total Workouts: 2
Total Running Time: 9 minutes
Total Running Distance: 3/4 mile
Longest Single Run: 6 min/.5 mile (broken up with some walking)
Progress on Training Plan(s): I'm in Week 3 of this Couch to 5K program .
Total Flights of Stairs: 60
Status of Busted Toe: Not much change from last week. Still healing slowly. Feels sore sometimes.
Last Week's Goal(s): Success!! Since I managed to get in a workout while I was on vacation, I completed 2 workouts last week! Yay!! However, I did not do any push ups or crunches once I was on vacation, so my goal success rate for the week was 50%.
Next Event Goal: Starting to get anxious to choose an event, so I REALLY need to get my butt in gear!!
Next Week's Goals: Okay the week is already half over, so I'm not going to get too ambitious. I want to repeat two workouts, and ideally they'll both be runs so I can complete week 3 of my training program. Today is the last day of the stair climbing challenge, so I won't be setting any goals with that other than just generally to continue taking the stairs more often than I did before the challenge started. I'd like to resume my push ups and crunches and not miss any more days this week. And I'd like to work ahead on some blog posts for next week.

Analysis: First of all, I have to confess that I weighed myself a day earlier than usual, before I left for my trip. After vacationing down South and celebrating a holiday, I fully expect the scale to show a much larger number tomorrow. I'm not worried about it, as long as the number goes back down next week. As for exercise, I'm proud of myself for going for a run on vacation. I wish I'd done it twice, but once is better than not at all! I discovered that running on country roads is a little scarier than suburban sidewalks, but the clean air was so refreshing to breathe! Man, I've missed running outside. I hope I get more chances to do that soon! I guess I don't have much else to say by way of analysis. Like I said, I'm still trying to get caught up on regular life. My next weekly summary will probably not have much to analyze either, though I'll at least do some more planning and goal-setting then. For now I'm just going to focus on getting my butt back on the treadmill tonight!

Monday, April 2, 2012

Still Here {Weekly Summary}

Weight: 217 lbs.
Weekly Change: None
Overall Change: -2 from "starting weight" of 219
Next goal weight: 214
BMI: 31.1 (obese) (using this calculator)
Waist Circumference: Forgot to measure, but probably still 39 inches
Disease Risk: Very High (according to this chart)
Jeans Size: 18/20 (depends on the day)
Total Workouts: 1
Total Running Time: 3 minutes
Total Running Distance: 1/4 mile
Longest Single Run: 3 min/.25 mile
Progress on Training Plan(s): I'm still in Week 2 of this Couch to 5K program .
Total Flights of Stairs: 76
Status of Busted Toe: Not much change from last week. Still healing slowly.
Last Week's Goal(s): Failure all around. One workout. Only 2 more flights of stairs than last week. Missed two days of crunches and push ups right at the beginning of the week. I didn't even work on the blog like I'd hoped to do.
Next Event Goal: Starting to get anxious to choose an event, so I REALLY need to get my butt in gear!!
Next Week's Goals: It's hard to set goals for this week because I'll be going on a trip. I feel like I have to keep shooting for two workouts until I actually achieve that, so I guess that again will be my goal. I have no idea how many stairs I'll be climbing so I'm not setting a goal for that. I'll repeat my goal of not skipping more than one day at a time of crunches and pushups. I'm not setting a blog goal because I have no idea how much time I'll be spending on or near my computer.

Analysis: I'm getting increasingly frustrated with myself, but still I refuse to give up. I mean, what else can I do? I'm not going to throw in the towel and just embrace being obese and out of shape. That's not the life that I want. I want my active life back, no matter how difficult it is to change all my bad habits (again). I'm not going to spend a bunch of negative energy beating myself up. I'm just going to keep.on.trying. Every day. Every week. As long as it takes.