Muddy Buddy Here We Come!!

Darlene and I have signed up for the Muddy Buddy. This is the first event that I have signed up for in 2009. Check it out at www.muddybuddy.com grab a partner and sign up. Our team name is THE VITAMEATAVEGAMIN GIRLS. Darlene is a HUGE I Love Lucy fan so our team name is from one of her famous episodes. If anyone signs up let me know so I can look for you. Come out, have fun, and get dirty.

Here is my event schedule for 2009:

April-5K
May-5k and Bike the Drive (30 miles)
June-Sprint Triathlon (Naperville)
July-Sprint Triathlon (Glenview)
Aug-Muddy Buddy
Sept-Apple Cider Century (50 miles) and volunteer at Ironman Wisconsin (Yipee)

This video made me ill. It's for real.

Watch CBS Videos Online

I mean what do you say after something like this. I'm not even sure. I've been really busy with student teaching and being sick. I'll get back to blogging soon. Hope all is well.

Love this video

Weight Watchers Update!!

As you all know I could not make it to weight watchers last week. This week I was able to make it and boy am I glad I did. All I can say is Good-bye to the 280's and hello 270's. I lost 6.6 pounds over the last 2 weeks. I now weigh 279.4. Its been a long time since I've seen the 270's, so this has been a great day. I have lost 26.8 pounds total and 18 of that is since getting my trainer on November 8th. I'm so proud of my hard work.

Thanks for all your support and encouragement. Keep it coming.

NO SCHOOL-It's a cold day

Well, I was very excited to get to my second day of student teaching and school is cancelled. I just checked weather.com and it says that it is -13 and it feels like -33. Oh man that's cold. The bummer is that my daughter goes to a private school and even though the schools in that district are closed she still has to go to. My son doesn't have to go, so she was kinda bummed. Oh well, he'll just have more days added on at the end of the year. The bummer is I will have to go out in the cold and pick her up later. I just got a chill thinking about it. Brrrrr!!

Later

PS. Commodore, I thought of you when I saw the above cartoon. :-) Also, I am sure people in Minnesota or other places probably feel that Chicagoans don't know what cold is, so I know it's all relative, but got a good chuckle out of this one.

First day of Student Teaching

I had a great day. The 3rd graders are awesome. I love my cooperating teacher. I love the kids. I learned all their names today. :-) I just hope I do not forget a few of them. I am tired, sore feet, miss my kids (sitter has them at church), but I cannot wait to do it all over again.

I cannot wait to have my own classroom.

Write more when I'm not so pooped.

Good night.

It's not always fun working out at the

I headed to the YMCA and worked out tonight. It was a weight training day. Here are my gripes and yes I do plan on talking to the Y about some of them.

1. People of the Foglia YMCA, is it so hard to pick up the wipes that you use to wipe up your sweat, really? I probably picked up 7 tonight, 12 the other day. Also, is it that hard to clean up after yourselves in the stretching area. I had to dodge bosu balls, excercise balls, foam rollers, mats, and other items just to get to the mat to workout. It was like a mine field. It took me a whole 5 minutes to clean it all up. Come on people, I'm not your Mama and neither are the employees.

2. To all the MEATHEADS on the big boy side of the gym. You may enjoying looking at your muscles in the mirror and grunting while lifting weights and really I'm ok with that, but when you lift all those weights and grunt, could you please grunt and return the weights to the rack. Some of us are just starting out on our little weightlifting journey and we cannot even lift the weights that you are leaving on the machines and we don't really want to ask any of you to lift them for us because we really don't know how to speak grunt to convey our message, so let me just try and ask nicely here in a language you might understand. "You, move weight when done? Grunt, Grunt, Moan, Grunt.DO YOU UNDERSTAND? Thank you." I had to not use a couple of machines because moving almost 200 pounds was not worth it to me.

3. To the maintenance man, when you were telling us it was 10:00, it really wasn't. We still had 3 minutes. When you told us it was 10:00 even the Y's clocks did not say it was 10:00. Also, I'm not sure if it was you or someone else, but seriously do you need to start turing off the lights before 10:00pm? I do not like working out in the dark. Maybe that's a hint to those of us that were still there that you would like us to be working out in the dark, but we don't think we are that hideous. Please keep the lights on. I mean really how long does it take to turn off the lights. A whole minute maybe and I'm being generous here.

4. To the maintenance man (same one) and the YMCA lady. When someone comes down the stairs at only 2 minutes after 10:00 and tells you that they are really sick do you think you might want to ask them what was wrong, maybe ask them to sit down for a minute before they drive home? I do have to give the maintenance man credit. He did tell me I might want to put my coat on since it was so cold out, but not one of them asked me if I was ok. I told them I was really not doing well and I believe they told me to have a nice night. I was the last one leaving he Y at 10:03pm. I'm so sorry that I made you stay after for 3 whole minutes.

With all of these gripes I must say it is one of the best weight training workouts I have had in a long time. I uped my weights on two of the exercises that Matt (my trainer) taught me. I cannot wait to get there on Saturday and tell him that I don't need the 10 pounders anymore. I moved up to 12. GO ME!!. I really challenged myself. When I was ready to quit Matt would come in my mind and tell me to do one more or give it all I had and I was able to finish my reps, even with the new weight. There have been several times after working out with Matt I have felt sick to my stomach and like I was going to throw up because he pushes me so hard. Tonight I pushed myself so hard I felt like I was going to throw up. I felt like crap, but happy at the same time.

Off to bed, so I can get plenty of rest before I student teach tomorrow.

Emotional Stuff is HARD

Today I moved the sumo wrestler (see last post for reference). I got somewhere today. I have been having a few hard days and like I said in my last post I felt like the little sumo wrestler in the picture not getting anywhere. Today I got somewhere. Today things started looking up. I got an email I needed to get. I got a midterm test done that I needed to take, I made it to the gym, and I have everything almost lined up for student teaching to begin on Wednesday.

When you start to lose weight and get healthy you do what you need to do. You eat right, maybe hire a personal trainer, start working out, and things start to click. You're rolling along and then all the sudden BAM, you hit a wall. It has nothing to do with what you are eating. It has nothing to do with how much you are working out. It is the realization that you have a lot of emotional stuff that you haven't worked on in years. Why did I become fat? How did I become fat? What happened to me? I realized in the last few days about a lot of my shortcomings. These are things that I have not really dealt with head on. These last few days I have dealt with them. When you are fat you really get good at the excuses. You really get good at justifying things. Making excuses and justifying things are just nice ways of lying to yourself. I have been lying to myself about a lot of things in my life and it really hit me in the last few days. I did not like what I saw and already am making changes so I will never be that person again. Man, has it been hard. They do not tell you this when you sign up for Weight Watchers. They do not tell you this when you hire a personal trainer.

If you are on a weight loss journey please allow yourself time to personally reflect on what got you to where you are today. What has kept you overweight? Figure it out and then make a plan to keep yourself from going there. I'll give you one example. I realized just how much TV I was watching, which often led to overeating, not doing things I needed to do, and just being lazy. I realized that TIVO is a horrible invention for people like me. Before I had to make it a point to watch my show at 7pm. Now I can just TIVO as many shows as I want and watch them whenever. Not a good thing. I was telling my friend that I felt like deleting all my season passes on TIVO and she asked me this simple question, "Why don't you?" Well, I am proud to say that last night I called my husband while I was doing homework for school and asked him to delete all but two of my season passes. For those of you who know me, I even deleted my Dr. Phil season pass. This was a huge deal for me. It was hard. I know to some of you that it might not seem like a big deal, but I realized that TV was the cause of some of my other problems, so taking this step was the first step in my plan. You can do this too. Figure out something that is holding you back from whatever you want to do, whether it is weight loss or skydiving, and make a plan to get you there. It may take some soul searching, it may be painful in the process, but you can do it.

One thing that really helped me through all this is my relationship with Jesus Christ. I have dedicated this year to really growing in my faith with God. I have been a Christian since I was a small child, but I haven't truly relied on Him in a long time. I have put Christ at the center of my life now. I have been praying my way through all of this soul searching and giving everything to Him. I told him that I know that I could not do this without Him. I called out to Him the most yesterday asking for Him to help me. I have been focusing on Him all day and then received an email with the good news that I needed to hear. This is the first time in a long time that I have given my whole situation to Him and not worried about it and He heard me and answered my prayers. It's been amazing.

Another cool thing that I noticed the last few days is that I have really wanted to emotionally eat. I really was frustrated about something on Saturday, didn't make it to Weight Watchers and really didn't care at that point and was going to go to the nearest fast food place and get the worst thing on the menu. I tried calling a friend, so I wouldn't stop somewhere and she couldn't talk. I prayed and drove by the fast food place to a grocery store. I bought Sushi, pretzels, an apple, and headed to Caribou Coffee to do homework. I was very proud of myself for not giving into the emotional eating. I made it through the hardest days without emotionally eating. The Lord was really with me.

I need to get to bed. I have a busy day before me tomorrow as it is my last day before Student Teaching. YIPEEEEE!! Thanks for reading. This has all been swimming around in my head and I needed to get it out before going to bed. Thanks for all your support. Please feel free to comment on what you do to deal with all the emotional stuff during weight loss and what you do to help you not to emotionally eat. I would love to hear from you all. Good night!

One of those days!!

Today has been one of those days. I feel like the little sumo wrestler in this picture. I am up against a lot right now and getting no where.

I didn't get to weight watchers today and I'm bummed. I need a TB test so I can student teach. My doctor was out of them, so I found a walk in clinic. I checked with them on Wednesday, talked to them on Thursday, went today and sat for 3 hours and 10 minutes just to have the doctor walk in and say they were out of it. I had sat there through all three of my weight watchers meetings and was very upset. In my past I would not have minded missing Weight Watchers, but today I really missed it. I felt like crying. I need the support and am sad that I did not get to check in. At least I tried to get there. This was the first meeting I have missed since November 8th. UGH!! I did homework the whole time that I was at the clinic, so my time wasn't wasted, but it affected my whole day and I had to find another place to get it done. Just so you guys know a lot of Walgreen's have clinics now. They were my life saver. I wish I would have found them sooner. So my weight watchers update is you will have to wait until next week.

I have other things that I am dealing with right now that I don't want to blog about, but I am feeling hit from all sides right now. It's been a rough couple of weeks. Like I said I feel like that little sumo wrestler in the picture. It will get better. Today I just prayed and said, "Lord, I do not know what you want me to learn through all this, but I give everything to you. I cannot do this alone." One thing that I wrote about it my new years resolution post is that I need to not worry about things that I cannot control. I'm focusing on that today because some of the things I cannot control, so I am trying not to worry about them. Me worrying and getting headaches is not going to help. Me praying and relying on God will calm me down and will help me release these things I cannot control.

I'm at Caribou coffee and have a couple papers to write. Have a great Saturday night.

How Weight Watchers Should Weigh People

I think this is how I am going to ask to be weighed in today. I bet it will take a couple pounds off. :-) I'm heading to weight watchers soon. I'll let you know how it goes. Later.

My before pics

These pictures were taken on 11/8/08 before heading to weight watchers and my first meeting with my personal trainer. In these pictures I weighed 297.4. I was 306.2 at my biggest and am happy to say that now I weigh 286. Tomorrow I weigh in. Not sure what to expect. I feel thinner for the first time and the scale at home says I should weigh at least a pound lighter if not more. We'll see first thing tomorrow morning and I'll post how I did later in the day.

In this picture I made sure not to smile. You know you never smile in the before pic right and then you smile all cheesey big in the after picture. Periodically I will be posting updates of these pics so you can see my transformation.

Inspiration found me

I was checking my email today and it showed that I had a comment on my blog, so I clicked it and was very encouraged. It was from someone I had never met or whose blog I had never read. It is Jason's blog and he has lost 130 pounds on Weight Watchers. He was 307 when he started his journey. I was 306. He lost 130 pounds and my goal is to lose 130 pounds. Do you think this is a coincidence? I think not. God knew we were meant to meet. I just find it amazing how when I need it most inspiration comes knocking on my door without me even trying. God is good that way. I look forward to being inspired by his blog more and encourage you to check it out sometime.

Please check out his blog at MY ANGLE. I think you will like his angle on things.

Check out these before and after pics. They are so motivating to me. AWESOME job Jason. You Rock.

News Year Resolutions

Has anyone asked you what your New Years Resolutions are? People have asked me and I told them that I started in November. I have made it a habit the last couple of years to not wait until January 1st to start my New Years Resolutions. This year I want to drop 100 pounds, I want to be healthy, I want to be able to run a 5k, I want to stop biting my nails, I want to be happy, I want to finish college, I want to have the best relationship with the Lord. I don't want to take things in my life for granted. I want to make a difference in the world I live in. These are just a few of the things I want to do.

Here is how I am doing.

I have quit biting my nails. I have already lost 20.2 pounds. I have a personal trainer and we started talking about me and running this week. I am not taking things for granted. I am a lot happier than I have been in a long time. It's only January 7th and I am well on my way to a great New Year and I can tell this is the year that I will make things happen because I didn't wait until Jan. 1st to start. I started making changes in November and they are sticking. It is Wednesday and you may think that you have messed up already on your resolutions. That's ok. Start over today, right now. Do not wait till Monday. Monday never comes.

Dr. Phil had a show on 5 ways to keep your New Years Resolutions. They were very helpful to me.
Here they are:

1. You have to name it to claim it. Don't just say I want to lose weight. Say how much, how you are going to do it and when. You need to state as much detail as possible.

2. You have to keep score. Your goal has to be measurable. Apply a timeline to your goal. Don't just say SOMEDAY. SOMEDAY doesn't exist.

3. You can't control what you can't control. If you can remember this you will go far. Focus only on what you can control.
4. Program yourself for success. Willpower is a myth. Program my goal. If I want to lose weight I will not make it if the junk is in the house. If it is not there I will not eat it. If I only have healthy choices in the house then I will have success. I will have programmed myself to eat healthy.

5. Steps and consequences. Create Accountability. Not only with others, but yourself. Tell yourself if I don't do what I'm supposed to do then I don't get to do something that I like to do. For example, I like to watch TV. Tivo was the worst invention for someone like me. So, I have been telling myself, "If I don't exercise I don't get to watch TV. If I don't do my homework, I don't get to check facebook." It has to be something that means something to you. If you cannot walk out of the house without make up on then tell yourself. "If I don't prepare my food before going to work then I will go to work with no make up on." I think you get the idea.

I hope that you all do make New Years Resolutions. It's a great time of the year to rethink goals and hit the reset button. There's not looking to the past, only the present and the future. You can do it and I am here for you for support just like you have all been here for me.

Have a blessed day.

Jeremiah Parker Shelby

This is Beth and Aaron Shelby. I have been following their family journey. I have been checking their blog multiple times a day for the last few days as they were expecting their first baby and she was starting to labor. I have been praying for them as baby Jeremy was diagnosed with Trisomy 13. As you all know this is a topic close to my heart. Well, today baby Jeremy was born and went home to be with the Lord shortly after. Please uplift this family in your prayers. I first met Laura, Beth's sister through our blogs. You can check out her blog at GO MOM GO and leave her a message. I have lost a baby niece and know that she is going through a hard time as an Auntie and as sister to Beth right now. If you would like to leave a message for Beth and Aaron you can at SHELBY FAMILY JOURNEY.

If you would like more information on TEAM TRISOMY you can go to IRONMAN FOR KIDS for more info. I will be raising awareness for Trisomy kids, their families, and all Trisomy angels through all my athletic events. My next race will be in remembrance of Jeremiah Parker Shelby.

Below is Beth and Aaron's Blog entry from today:




Jeremiah Parker Shelby
born 11:17 am
6lbs14 oz , 21 inches
passed 12:28 pm
surrounded by his loving family, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and Dear Friends.

Arrangements to follow.

Please pray for strength, healing and understanding.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

Wahoooo!! Great Weight Watchers update!!

I weighed in today at Weight Watchers and lost 4.6 pounds. Last week I had gained 2, but now I lost it and then some. I'm so proud of myself.

I'm done 20.2 since my whole journey began.

I now weight 286.

Thanks again for all your support.

Here's to a new year!! I'm going to look fine in 2009!!