Did you miss me?

I know, I've been doing a rotten job of keeping touch this month. I went a little blog crazy, and burned myself out. But now I've cleared the cobwebs. So, did you miss me? Well, here's what I've been up to.


I officially reached my first mini-goal of 20 lbs lost!! I'm so excited. I've also noticed some changes. There is the saggyness in my once tight clothes. The reduction in pain in my knees. The fact that people keep asking me if I've lost weight (isn't that a great feeling?) And today, I was standing at my desk, waiting for our IT gal to install a new program, and I had my hand on my waist. As I was standing there, I realized suddenly that my waist felt smaller. There was just less of it there to grab on to. Now, seeing myself every day, I haven't really noticed a change in the way I look, but my body feels smaller. Love it. 


Now, here's the biggie. I haven't mentioned it before, but a few years ago I was told that my weight had caused a hormonal imbalance (too much Estrogen), and it was suggested I go on the Pill to correct it. Well, I don't do pills unless absolutely necessary (I hate pharmaceuticals and all their nasty side effects), so I told the doctor "No". What I didn't say to her way, why treat a symptom, and not the underlying problem? Well, a couple weeks ago, I was delighted to find that the weight I have lost so far was enough to bring my imbalance back in line. It just goes to show you, that living a healthier lifestyle can most definitely make an internal difference, in addition to the external. 


But wait, there's more! Yep, I've been gone a while, so I've got more to catch up on. This past weekend, I participated in the American Heart Association's "Start! Heart Walk". It was a 5k walk, and I accomplished it in my best time for a 5k. Not a fabulous time mind you, it took me an hour, but that beats my last time for sure. I noticed during & after the walk that my calves didn't hurt at all. When I started back up walking, I would get cramps and stabbing pains in the side of my calves. The doctor said I was doing too much too soon and I had to back off and slow down. Well, I'm officially over that hurdle. 


One more change in me that makes me eager to see what I can accomplish next! 

Healthy and Happy Living

Better Late than Never

OK, so my weekly update is a little late. I'm rather surprised at myself, you'd think I would have jumped to share the good news. I'm down another 2 pounds!! That makes a total of 18 pounds. Only 2 away from my first mini goal. Haven't decided what my reward is for hitting that, guess I had better figure that out pretty quickly. Any suggestions.

We're getting close to the end of the company Biggest Loser contest, and while I'm pretty sure I'm not on par to win it, I'm going to give it my best shot. I just started testing out a cool new product, and will share more on that after I've had a chance to give it a thorough testing.

I realized recently that I have been totally slacking on my afternoon walks - seems whenever I'm not blogging & Tweeting daily, I slack off. Well, I'm changing that now. I signed up for a new walking site called BeeWell Miles. You enroll for your free account, set mileage goals, track activities, you can track your food, get reminders to put in your miles and more. Now, I know there are a bunch of sites like this, here's the difference that got me loving this site - your miles equal donations to Breast Cancer Network of Strength®. How much better does it get? You get active, you feel better. You log your miles, they donate money for Breast Cancer, you feel good about yourself. There aren't many situations I can think of where everyone wins, but this is definitely one of them. I'm excited to make my miles count. I think with the motivation of knowing that the more miles I can put in, the more money gets donated, will help get me off my . . . rear. Try it out & let me know what you think.

Healthy and Happy Living

And it's Monday Again

I was so happy this morning when I stepped on the scale and discovered that I had made it to 15 pounds lost! Woo Hoo! I'm starting to feel it, and my husband is noticing too, which is really great. Because as the saying goes, you want him to hate to see you go, but love to watch you leave.

I think my trainer is trying to kill me though. I'm quite sure he's plotting all week figuring out just how much weight and reps I am able to do and then adding 10. Here it is almost 2 days after my last session and my abs are still sore. But I guess it's working, so I can't complain too much (well I could, but what good would it do me).

Yesterday I went for a nice walk later in the evening, so it wasn't as hot. An unexpected benefit of that was getting to see the sun set as I walked, which was amazing. I decided to see if I could beat my time, so I threw in a little jogging here and there, and cut 3 minutes off my best time for the 2 miles.

Healthy and Happy Living

Weekly Recap

Here we are, another Monday. So here's my week at a glance.

On the 1st, my first official Get Moving Challenge began (if you didn't get in on this one, don't sweat it, I'll have more!) With 13 challengers participating, I'm happy with the turnout for the first run. Today I'm announcing the prize for the winner (which will be determined by a random drawing from everyone who reaches their goal). The prize is...{imagine drum roll here}... a Personalized Pocket Workout Towel (details and photo coming shortly). Good luck to all the participants.

This week, I made a lot of changes, mostly mental, that I think will really start to reflect come my next recap. Thanks to some words of wisdom from my trainer (you can read about it here), I've made some really positive changes & feel great about myself!

This week I started a new journey as well. I have challenged myself (a self proclaimed master pack rat) to get rid of 30 things in 30 days. I'm starting with my wardrobe, which I'm pretty sure now that I've started I will be removing more than 30 things from. Not sure what I'll work on next, but I'm taking baby steps. Even getting rid of a dress I haven't won in years, that is totally out of style, and that doesn't fit my personality anymore, is proving to be difficult. But I'm determined.

As of today I am officially at 13 pounds lost! Woo Hoo! 2.1 lbs to get below 260 again. It's been a few years since I've been below 260, of course it's been a few years since I've been as low as I am. Today, I excitedly had to put on a belt to hold up my favorite jeans!! OK, it is a bittersweet moment, I really like these jeans, but I LOVE shrinking out of my clothes.

Now that we're half way through the year, what are your goals for the back half of 2009?

Healthy and Happy Living