Wow, has life ever caught up with me.

I'm still whittling away pound by pound, mile by mile. I just finished week six of C25K today. Never in a million YEARS did I think I'd be able to run for 25 minutes straight! I'm running comfortably at 4.3 mph, which puts me just slightly under a 14 minute mile, my fastest pace thus far. I'm also maintaining my weight at 195.

I've started seeing a guy who takes fitness and a healthy lifestyle very seriously and having him in my life has been incredibly instrumental in keeping me on track. We are usually active when we're together.. either on the trail, walking Lucy, or something else. Yesterday we went to a Zumbathon for two hours. Kicked my butt, but I LOVED it. :) He was such a trooper.

The only thing I'm really struggling with is bumping up my workouts and weight training. I do an hour of Zumba on Mondays and Thursdays, then Sundays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays are usually running days. I get in a short walk on Friday and fill in wherever on Saturday if I have time. Since I'm typically with Boy on Fridays and Saturdays, it's difficult for me to fit actual gym time in. I need to start pushing myself to do an hour at the gym three days a week, especially if I want to see more weight come off.

I feel very good about how my fitness level is increasing though. I went for my first outside run a few weeks ago and ran for about 20 minutes through my apartment complex. I laughed because I remember walking that path not that long ago and being upset because of how far I'd have to walk to get home, and now I'm RUNNING it. :) I still have a month left before the 5k I signed up for. I'm able to run 2 miles without really struggling, so I'm confident that I can do the whole 5K, especially with the time I have left to train. As long as I can bump up my weight training, especially my legs, to add some force behind my run, I should be good. :)

C25K

I've been working on the Couch to 5K. Today I started week three, two cycles of 90/90 and 3 min./3 mins. It wasn't bad! I actually felt like I easily could have kept running after the three minute intervals. However, my quad/knee/hip is a little messed up. I'm not sure what I did, but it's been bothering me since last week. Like, when I move, it gets sore, but once I hold that position for awhile, I'm okay. It's weird.. I'm hoping it's nothing serious. I'm taking tomorrow night off from any workout. I have dinner plans and I REALLY could use a night off I think. I have a really hard time saying that I can take a night off. With the 5k, Megatransect, and Biggest Loser at stake, I can't stop myself from hitting the gym, lol.

#15

Starting weight: 222
Last week's weight: 199

This week's weight: 195

This week's loss: -4
Total loss: -27

Not bad for only going to the gym once this week! I really regulated what I ate. I made sure to eat just like I was at school because that's what works best for me. I did some good indoor workouts and made sure to get Lucy out in the snow as much as I could. I kicked my BUTT yesterday once I finally ventured out to the gym. I had myself convinced that I wasn't going because I had spent over an hour shoveling myself out. Around 2, I was going stir crazy, so I decided to bundle up and make the trek to the gym. Roads were clear! So I did 45 minutes on the eliptical (burned a good 500 calories), and then I did the 30-minute circuit. Felt SO good.

I'm home for the weekend. This is the first time I've been home since Christmas.. I've lost 25 pounds since then. Isn't that insane? I'm taking a Zumba class tomorrow with my sister and I'll be able to get out a lot because my family's really active. I'll be checking the scale the morning after I get home to see how I fared!

Working out inside.

So, I scratched the stairs and WATP plan. I found a fitness walk On Demand that I thought I'd give a shot. It's a 45-minute workout and it kicked my butt! Granted, I can't do it as intensely as I'd like to since I'm on the 2nd floor, but it still was a good workout. I'm sweaty and tired and my arms are shaking from the resistance part. It breaks down into 5-minute intervals. Five minutes of walking, then five minutes of strength training and so on. Really good workout!

I may still do another workout later, just because I'm going stir crazy, but I do need to clean up around here before I do anything else.

Snow.

I'm tired of the snow. This weekend, we got around 20 inches. I live on top of a hill and drive a little sedan. If it snows, I'm snowed in. If I had a treadmill, I wouldn't complain, but I live in a 2nd floor apartment and can't really workout the way I'd like to when I'm home. So, Saturday consisted of three miles of Walk away the Pounds and Sunday I was out of comission from the cold, but I did get Lucy out for two walks in the snow.

I did a mile walk yesterday morning, Zumba, and two Lucy walks. I didn't have time to make it to the gym on top of that, but I didn't think I would need it. Plus, when I left Zumba, my right knee was really messed up. Tonight, I planned on going to the gym after a 4 PM meeting thinking that the snow wasn't supposed to get heavy until dark. Wrong. Luckily, I walked laps around the lower level of the building for about 40 minutes with two of my coworkers so I did get some activity in.. but once again, not as intense as I'd like.

I'm assuming tomorrow will be a snow day and I'm not going to be able to get out of the apartment because we're looking at close to another 20" of snow. I'm planning on doing half an hour of stairclimbing on my own stairs. Plus either yoga or strength training and the three-mile walk. AND I need to do some serious cleaning, which will also keep me off my butt.

I just hate working out inside.

I'm frustrated because I want to work on training for the 5K, the Mega, and the school's Biggest Loser contest. I need to work on keeping my eating under control while I'm snowed in because I usually just want to eat. I REALLY want to win the Biggest Loser contest, but with losses like this week, it's not going to happen.

#14

Starting weight: 222
Last week's weight: 200

This week's weight: 199

This week's loss: -1
Total loss: -23

Okay. It's a loss and it puts me out of the 200's, but really? ONE pound? Ugh.

Positives:
1. Completed first week of Couch to 5K.
2. Got in a 3 mile indoor walk yesterday during the crazy snowstorm (Leslie Sansone)
3. I'm OUT of the 200's!
4. It was a loss.

Negatives:
1. Having a hard time keeping myself from snacking.
2. Did not have STRONG workouts like I should have.
3. Small loss.

I need to bump up my workouts this week. I have an easy week as far as school goes, so I'm going to try to stick with 45 minute workouts each night this week. We have a two-hour delay tomorrow morning, so I'm planning on doing the two mile WATP workout when I get up, plus a walk with Lucy. Unless we're closed, I'll have Zumba at 3:30 as well. I'm going to do strength training when I get home from Zumba, plus another Lucy walk.

I will be weighing in on Friday this week because I'm going home to my parents' right after school Friday afternoon. I'm planning on getting some hikes in and some runs with Mom. I haven't been home since I got serious about losing and getting fit after Christmas, so I'm hoping I can control myself with the food and the laziness.

Sick.

I started feeling sort of crummy on Tuesday, but I forced myself to go to the gym and start day 1 of the Couch to 5k. Yesterday we had a two-hour delay at school and I had to run a bunch of errands afterwards, which really messed up my eating. Not because of WHAT I ate, but because of the time. I ate breakfast at 9 and then ate lunch at 12:30 and wasn't hungry. I wasn't really hungry for dinner either so I ended up having a bowl of Special K. I forced myself through a 30-minute eliptical workout, but I didn't feel like really putting any effort in.

I took a sick day today and part of me wants to just sit here and do nothing. My nose is stuffy and my head hurts. (Granted, that might be from not having my morning coffee).. but the Couch to 5K schedule on the wall and the $25 check I just wrote out for the Biggest Loser are telling me otherwise. I think I'm going to take a dose of Dayquil, drink some Fruit 2 Day, and then head off to the gym.

5k.

I am going to do a 5K.

I met up with a few of my girlfriends after the gym today and one of them told me that next month, she's taking me out on the Rail Trail and we're going to run 3 miles. That started this whole conversation about running a 5K and we decided that we're all going to run the Race for Racism on April 24th.

That gives me three months to train for a 5K. Is that feasible?

I plan on following the Couch to 5K for the most part, then add on some speed training at the end since at my current pace, 30 minutes of running is only 2 miles.

I'm thinking that this will give me a mini-goal in training for the Megatransect in October. By the time I conquer the 5K, it should be warm enough to start conquering the mountains.

I'm just nervous about devoting three days a week to solely training for the 5K. Monday nights are Zumba, as well as Saturday mornings. I love my elliptical, so I need to find a good balance between resistance training for the Mega and training for the 5K. I can do this.

In other news, I made a very bad decision today. Tomorrow is the first day of the Biggest Loser at my school. I decided that today, I was going to eat whatever I wanted in hopes that the result of one day of damage would be a higher weight tomorrow on the first weigh-in and a catch up the rest of the week. I had a crab pretzel for lunch and have felt like I need to be within a 5 foot radius of the bathroom since 3 PM. Bad call, Heather, bad call.

#13

Starting weight: 222
Last week's weight: 205

This week's weight: 200

This week's loss: -5
Total loss: -22

OHHHHHHHHHHHH YEA! I've lost 10% of my starting weight! That's insanely exciting.

I can't wait for next week.. unless something goes mighty wrong, even ONE POUND would take me out of the 200's. I can't wait!

I had three great successes this week:
1. Running a mile without stopping
2. Losing 5 pounds even through the whole breakup aftermath
3. One of my students actually PICKED ME UP. I never thought the day would come when one of my ltitle 8th graders could lift this big ass off the ground, hahaha.

I'm feeling REALLY motivated. :) And to celebrate, I'm going to go do laundry and clean, haha.

1 mile.

Today, the girl who quit soccer because her coach was going to make her run, who took 20 minutes to "run" the mile in middle school, who always made excuses why she WOULDN'T run (waiting to lose weight, waiting for summer, chest hurts), RAN A MILE without stopping. And she did it in 15 minutes.

If that isn't the success of all successes so far. :)

I have never felt more proud of myself. I wanted to tell every single person at the gym on my way out that I, Heather Frank, had just run a mile. My first mile EVER. A mile 25 years in the making. It didn't HURT, it just sucked. Like, I knew I could do it, but I would rather have been doing anything else in the world for those 15 minutes. I put "Shake It" by Metro Station on repeat and let my feet fall into the beat.

I ran it while I was there with my friend Jenn. Every time I hit a good marker, 1/4 mile, 1/3 mile, 1/2 mile, I'd look at her and yell it. People probably thought I was nuts. What a damn good feeling.

By the way, this makes my NEW mile time 15 minutes. That's 50 seconds faster than 2 weeks ago.

I can't wipe the smile off my face. :)

I had a Diet Pepsi at lunch and about a 300-calorie meal. Since then, all I've wanted to do is eat. Lesson learned.. amp up the lunchtime calories and nix the soda.

The school's Zumba instructor tried to kill me, I swear. But, she did tell me that I'm good at pelvic thrusting, hahaha.

#12

Starting weight: 222
Last week's weight: 208

This week's weight: 205

This week's loss: -3
Total loss: -17

Not as much as I had hoped, but it's good! :) I'd love to see a 5 lb. loss this week, or to even bust through the 200's.. even if it's not possible, it's good to know it's only about two weeks away. :)

In the grand scheme of curveballs, I've had a huge one thrown at me this weekend. Matt, my boyfriend of nearly 1 1/2 years, broke up with me last night. It was all I could do to NOT go to every fast food restaurant between my house and one of my girlfriend's last night. But, I didn't. The only "bad" thing I got was a 16 oz. bottle of Diet Crush. I didn't eat dinner until nearly 10:30 last night because of the timing of everything, so I had a bowl of cereal when I got home and that was it.

I really want to pull it together this week because I'd love to see a big number. I have gym plans for 9:30 w/ Keri to do the circuit at the gym with some cardio thrown in. I need to make myself go the rest of this week and bust my butt everyday. I need to sit down and make a meal plan for dinners because THAT is where I'm losing myself everyday. I think I'm cooking healthy dinners, but I know darn well deep down that they're not what they could be.

I love gorgeous Saturdays.. Zumba & a 5-mile walk on the Rail Trail w/ Miss Lucy.

I LOVED Zumba. I'm signing up for the 5-week class at school and I'm going to go to this one on Saturdays whenever I can. I signed up for a morning hike next Saturday at one of our county parks, so this weekend is out, but I'll definitely be going the week before I go home. I had such a blast.. to the point where I might consider becoming a certified instructor at some point.

Something new.

I'm going to start taking Zumba classes at the school I work at on Monday afternoons. They're offering a 5-week session for $15. I really need to start mixing up my workouts because I'm getting bored with going to the gym every night! I need to start increasing my fitness level so I can start running come springtime.

I also wish I had a first floor apartment so I could do cardio at home. I feel rude doing cardio in my 2nd floor apartment.. especially because I have the ambition to really, REALLY workout at the weirdest times.

Mix up.

Soooo.. I was supposed to have my follow-up about my leg with my doctor today at 4 PM. Appointment card says, "Fri Jan 22 4 PM." I get there, check-in, and they're like, "You're scheduled for Tuesday." So, why does my card say Friday? I'm so irritated. I decided to take tonight off from the gym and working out to give my legs a rest, thinking it made sense since I had an appointment at 4 PM anyway. I was planning on Zumba and a long walk with Lucy or on the treadmill depending on the weather. Now, I feel like I have wasted my night. So mad. :(

I have an appointment on Tuesday night, which really throws me off now. I'm hoping I'm in and out so I can walk Lucy, hit the gym, and then head home for dinner.

Part of my love of working out and eating right is that it's methodical. It's a plan. It's a pattern. I hate when that schedule is thrown off. My girlfriends invited me to go to the ESPN Zone in Baltimore on Sunday and I'm torn about whether I want to go or not because I don't want to sabotage my diet and it's not in the schedule.

I feel so OCD, lol.

I need a day off. When I started down the street for my 6:30 walk with Lucy this morning, I noticed my quads were crying and my ankles were whining more than usual. I just got back from the gym and my quads are still unhappy. I'm going to go tomorrow night and kill it, then take Friday night off and maybe do some yoga or pilates at home.

I have anxiety about taking a day off, though. I've done so well with making myself go that I'm worried that NOT going will set me into a tailspin of bad decisions.

In other news, I'm ordering dinner out tonight because I'm craving Wendy's chili. I'm getting it WITHOUT the tortilla strips and ranch dressing and replacing those with low-fat sour cream, a few baked tortilla chips, and LOADS of fresh pico de gallo that's sitting in my refrigerator. I'm calculating it at around 550 calories, which, considering what I've eaten today, is PERFECT. The salad itself is 440 with sour cream and chili included.

I've never been so excited about eating Wendy's, lol.

Getting there is half the fun.

I have a knot in my calf.
My faculty meeting ran over 15 minutes, not getting me home until close to 5.
I have a project due on Friday.
I have two classes worth of autobiographies to review.
I have to create a pop quiz for tomorrow and notebook checklists for Thursday.
I've got a lot on my plate with the end of the marking period.
I was quite content with the idea of coming home, walking Lucy, and packing it in.

Then I remembered that The Biggest Loser is on tonight and I couldn't live with myself if I watched it without going to the gym.

So, I went, and I did the "foot hills" on the eliptical at level 15 for 30 minutes, burning 430 calories in the process. Thank god for my addiction to The Biggest Loser and my nasty guilt if I watch it without having worked out that day.

What motivates you to get yourself to the gym when you can think of every excuse not to?

Mile.

Today, I walked a comfortable 3.8 mph mile. That translates to a 15:50 minute mile.

Less than 3 months ago, I clocked in at a 16:11 minute mile, including a .10 mile sprint. :)

That feels DAMN good.

I also found a good link on Women's Health online for people as anal retentive as I am about grocery shopping: 125 Best Packaged Items.

#11

Starting weight: 222.
Last week's weight: 213.

This week's weight: 208.

This week's loss: -5
Total loss: -14

Yay!! This is the weight I saw last night before bed, but I wasn't sure it would stick. I had a 100-calorie bag of popcorn before bed last night, so I was praying it wouldn't mess it up. I can't wait to drop 6 more so I can see that "-20"! :)

Cowpoke Casserole

Mm.. right now, I'm making Cowpoke Casserole for me & the boy. It's pretty much like baking chili in the oven with cornbread on top of it. However, I've tricked him and I made it with ground chicken instead of ground beef, and skim milk. I sat here and figured out the calorie count for the entire dish while I'm waiting for it to bake.. in the entire pan, there are about 1,811 calories. So, if we each eat 1/4 of it, it's only about 453 calories/serving. (I burned more than that at the gym today!) For me, that's not too bad for a yummy homecooked meal! Especially comfort food.

If anyone would like the recipe, let me know & I'll post it! :)

I did well today with the Chuck e Cheese's birthday party & the beer tour. I had two thin pieces of cheese pizza this morning, but I did drink a few cups of diet Coke. I don't crave Diet Coke like I used to, so it's like a treat when I do drink it. (But it doesn't really taste as good as I thought it used to..) I did have a lick of Brooke's icing from her cake, just for the sweetness of it. (I'm not a cake fan, so turning that cake down meant nothing to me.) I didn't have ANY beer at Troeg's, but Matt and I did buy a "beer brownie" to split for dessert tonight.

I weigh-in tomorrow. I stepped on the scale after the gym today and was pretty pleased. If I see a loss of at least 3 tomorrow, I'll be happy. 4 would make me even happier... good-bye 210s!

It's official!

"Congratulations, This email confirms that you have been successfully registered for the 2010 Megatransect set for Oct. 02 at 7:00 a.m. Please visit the webiste for updates at www.ultrahike.com."

Good thing I busted my behind on Kilimanjaro at the gym this morning before coming home and reading that. :)

Today, 3.5 mph on the treadmill didn't seem as bad as last week. :)

I'm going grocery shopping here in a few minutes. Matt (my boyfriend) is coming down for the weekend and I have planned out three healthy dinners that are "meat and potatoes"-ish for him, but still healthy for me. I'll share the recipes and how I've tweaked them to make them healthy here in a little bit. I'm hoping I can make myself behave around food and continue going to the gym (though I've promised him I would take Friday night off so I can spend time with him) while he is here. I've got a hike on part of the Appalachian Trail (a dream of mine) penciled in for Sunday with him. That leaves tomorrow and Saturday where I've got to buckle down and make myself go.

Things I need to get in the right mindset for this week..
1. Dinner out on Saturday afternoon after touring Troegs Brewing (I think we're going to Arooga's, a local sports bar chain.. nervous about that because it looks like there is NOTHING healthy on the menu.. grr.)
2. Chuck e Cheese birthday party for my friend's daughter Saturday morning
3. Making myself go go the gym
4. Not drinking Friday night since I'll be tasting beer on Saturday
5. GROCERY SHOPPING. :)

Hunger.

Today, I just want to eat.

I thawed out chicken to make dinner. I didn't want it. I was craving a bowl of cereal instead. So I had cereal. Now, I want to eat even more. I told myself I'd let myself eat a 100-calorie bag of Kettlecorn at 8 if I'm still hungry.

Please let me stick to that.

Kilimanjaro.

Today I did the "Kilimanjaro" course on the eliptical at the gym. I set it at level 15 (out of 25) because with 25 miles of mountain looming in front of me in October, I can't afford to be sissy. I thought I might die, haha. I could feel my heart beating in my neck even!

During my cool down, I was just kind of moseying along, enjoying the ease of those 5 minutes when I noticed the machine changing levels. I was only down to level 5! I had to laugh because just last Sunday when I made my return to the gym after 3 weeks, I set the eliptical to level 5 and couldn't take it for half an hour.

My, how quickly things change. :)

#10

Weight: 213.

This week's loss: -6
Total loss: -9

15% incline: 1.8 mph

HEEEEECK YES!!!

I've been working my TAIL off. I signed up for the Megatransect in October and that has been an eye-opener. I tried it two years ago and made it 8 miles and was at a pace too slow to finish. This year, I want to hit the 2nd checkpoint by 1 PM and finish it. I want to be fit enough to take my time on the inclines, but to bust my ass on the flat sections. 9 months from today! :)

Regressing.

OH. MY. GOD. My workouts have been kicking my ass. In a good way, of course, but also in that.. "Self, don't you DARE ever go that long without working out again!" kind of way. I've been doing the eliptical every night this week because I feel like I get a better workout and more variety on it... every night, it's been a struggle to stay on. I want to give up about midway through my workout and the last five minutes are unbearable. Dare I even mention the horror of the cooldown?

Went to the doctor yesterday about the lump on my leg. It's either a fatty tumor or a blood clot, so I have to have an ultrasound on Friday. I'm hoping whatever it is, it doesn't mean I'm off my feet. It actually makes me more motivated to workout and eat well because it's possible that my weight caused either one of them.. :\ My first health problem related to weight. Great.

I'm weighing myself in on Sundays now. I think this will keep me motivated over the weekend. If the weather is decent, I'm planning on taking Lucy to the Rail Trail for a long walk.. but we'll see. It's been about 30-degrees out and WINDY as all get out all week, so it's not looking good.

#9

219.

Up 4 from the last weigh-in a month ago.

Gross.. :(

-1 total

Well, I guess at least it's not back to 220.

Nothing like not posting for a month, eh?

I hate my lack of self control at the holidays. Of course we had some marathon (I'm talking 8, 10 hour) shopping days and I, in all honesty, wasn't a complete vegetable. I couldn't control my eating. Three peanut butter blossom cookies in one sitting without a thought? Gross.

The cookies have all been thrown out, and the junk food as well. I just went on a massive grocery store trip to replenish my fruits & veggies supply. They're all cut up and sitting in green containers. I didn't buy any junk food, my only "snacky" type food was two boxes of those new Special K Crisps because they were on sale for 2/$4 and I had a coupon for $1 off. I bought Lean Cuisines for lunches because I'm working on getting rid of my anxiety over not having enough to eat. I'm planning on packing a Lean Cuisine and a piece of fruit for lunch each day. I bought Crazy Richard's peanut butter and Eggo NutriGrain whole wheat, low fat waffles for breakfast.

I need to make myself do this.