Drop Dead Gorgeous by December -Weekly Report 6

1. A picture of you holding up a positive sign for yourself.

I honestly didn't want to write a DDGbD update today,but my husband encouraged me to do it this morning. He reminded me that I had worked to hard to give up on the challenge. This is a horrible picture that he took first thing this morning. He brought the paper, marker, and camera,and said"Come on, we are going to do this." I am so lucky to have him!

2. Your current week’s weight as well as your challenge start weight. *optional

Challenge Start Weight : 193.5
Current Weight: 193.5
Next Weigh In : October 2

* Working so hard and not seeing a scale change is really tough for me. Prior to this challenge, I only weighed once or twice a month. Since the weigh-in is optional,I think I will only post my weight once a month through the rest of the challenge.



3. Your goal(s) from now, or whenever you decide to join, until December.

Goal 1: 200 tracked workout miles...(treadmill, street runs,biking,elliptical,swimming,etc) I am currently at 100/200.
Goal 2: 5k in under 40 mins  I successfully completed 3 sessions of Week 4.I will do one more week of week 4 before moving on.
Goal 3: Journal food 5days a week  I only journaled 2 days. The rest of the week was just too busy...the last 2 days have consisted of Way too much emotional eating.

Goal 4: Do something for myself to make me feel gorgeous. My MIL gave me a ten dollar gift card to kohls. It was going to expire yesterday, so after the gym I went and bought a dressy blouse for the fall. I will post pictures later.

4. ONE thing that you are proud of for the week.
I am proud that I am a friend,that my friends can count on.

5. ONE thing that you can improve upon for the following week.   
I am so behind on doing the Shred. My "want to" has disappeared and I need to find it again. This challenge ends in 6 days...I have some catching up to do.

Updates: My friend's son,Will, had another surgery  on Friday. The staph is in the elbow joint and bone. They cleaned out as much infection as the could. He will stay in the hospital a while longer, and was told he won't be able to go back to school for 8 weeks. Please continue prayers for them. Another friend's Dad is not responding to chemo the way they had hoped. The cancer is growing rapidly and  surgery is being scheduled. Yesterday, my 1 year old nephew took a fall down some stairs when he was visiting his grandparents. He fractured a bone in his head, and has a concussion. He was sent to children's in Bham. And the cherry on top was my husband breaking a tooth Friday night, compared to everything else, this is minor, but still an expense we didn't need. Thank you all for the care and concern you have shown to me in regards to my friends and family that are going through difficult times. I truly appreciate it.

Three Things Thursday

1. Thanks for your prayers for my Aunt and Will. Both are doing much better. Will actually got to come home from the hospital this morning which shocked us! My aunt has had one surgery and another one is scheduled for tomorrow morning. Both are so lucky and I am so thankful.

2.  Tommy and I had already planned to go to Chattanooga, Tn this weekend for baseball. Since both are doing so well, we are going to keep our plans. I enjoy Chattanooga and look forward to the weekend. We are planning to visit the zoo and some caverns while there so I am sure I will get my two hours of activity in no problem.

3. Three days in, and I am really enjoying my new workout schedule. I will be participating in the 30 day shred challenge over at livesmilerun. I completed the 30 day shred in March and loved the way it made me feel. STRONG! But after I finished the original 30 days I stopped and haven't been motivated until now to do it again. I am really hoping between the Drop Dead Gorgeous by December and 30 Day Shred  Challenges I will finally bust through this lower 190s plateau I have been dealing with for months...and month! My fitness goals have kept me motivated with my journey, but seeing the scale move would be AMAZING!

Working toward DDGbD Goals and Fall Workout Schedule

Tommy brought these flowers home for me this weekend. I thought they were just beautiful  (and reminded me of fall) and wanted to share them with you guys. I really have a wonderfully thoughtful husband. He is always full of little surprises for me...we have been married for three years and together for over five, and I hope that I never take him for granted, though I know I do.

I have decided to use SparkPeople to journal my food for the challenge. I have used various online food journals,but I think Spark's community atmosphere will be good for me.

I have created a fall workout schedule that I hope I can keep for the next few months. There will always be little unexpected surprises during the week, when I may have to work late or visit a different library, but I am hoping that I can keep up this new schedule. Following this schedule, I will earn 20 miles per week and be able to make my DDGbD goal of 200 miles by December.

I have decided to use the Couch to 5k program again this fall to hopefully help me work on my speed. This program prepared me for my first few 5ks and I hope it will help me to improve my time this go around. I will work to complete all the run intervals at a 5.3mph speed so that I will be able to accomplish my DDGbD goal of a 5k in under 40 minutes.

This is my Fall Workout Schedule

Mondays- Couch to 5k Day 1 + walking to complete 2miles, 3miles on Bike
Tuesdays- 5miles Elliptical
Wednesdays- Couch to 5k Day 2 + walking to complete 2 miles, 3miles on Bike
Thursdays- Rest Day
Friday- Couch to 5k Day 3 + walking to complete 2miles, 3miles on Bike

Saturdays/Sundays- 2 hours of physical activity... This will vary depending on the weekend,but will hopefully include some outdoor activities when the weather cools down a bit. A new dance studio has opened that will be offering Zumba, depending on the price I may check into doing a class on Saturday.

I will also throw in some strength training during the week, I hate it, but I know I need it.

Today I completed the Monday workout and everything went well, except for a boob that was trying to escape my sports bra the entire evening. I believe its time to retire that bra :)

Three Things Thursday

I have noticed many blogs feature a Three Things Thursday and thought I would join in the fun this week.

1.  I have enjoyed a few days off work this week. I needed the break and have had a nice time not having a schedule. Yesterday, Tommy was off too, and we enjoyed a great day just hanging out.  These days are good for the soul.

2.  Today I did a 4.5 mile walk. I am really starting to enjoy and value these longer walks and know I am going to incorporate them into my new workout plan when I finish the Labor Day Challenge.

3. Speaking of the Labor Day Challenge, I "should" finish my 100 miles at the end of next week. I have had a great time working to complete this challenge.  I know that next week I will reward myself when I finish the challenge, but not sure what the reward will be. I have thought about a small piece of jewelry. Or the Nike iPod sensor so that I can better track my runs when I start road running again next month. I will let you guys know what I decide. :)

Conference Lunch and Gym Update!

My speaking engagement went great today. Thanks to everyone who left comments yesterday wishing me good luck with it.  Everyone at the conference seemed very interested and I had many positive comments afterwords. I spoke during the lunch session and was able to enjoy an amazing chef salad with balsamic dressing. For dessert we were given a huge piece of carrot cake with cream cheese icing. I remembered 266's advise that the first and last bite of anything is the best and decided to have only two small bites.  As I was getting dressed this morning, my husband was wonderful with helping to sooth my last minute nerves. He is the best!  After I left the conference, I hit the gym. I was able to get in 4 slow miles, but miles none the less. I had planned to go yesterday after work, but Tommy encouraged me to take one more day off to rest my knee.Tomorrow, I am going to do a gentle jog for my last 2 miles of the week.
Last night I picked up some mahi mahi and broiled it with a bit of dill, cracked sea salt,and cracked pepper. It was so good, that I am thinking of going by and picking more up for my dinner tonight. My husband hates fish, but it is one of my favorites.Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Early AM workout!

With the weather getting warmer, I have decided to try to change up my outside runs to the mornings. This will help with both the weather and getting in my evening meal before 7 *I hope*. Currently, I am off on Mondays and always do my Monday run between 8 and 10 AM. So far, all of my Monday runs have been great. Maybe it is because I don't feel rushed like I do after work. I don't get off until 5 most days, so when I run after work and drive home, it is usually 7 or later...then I have to cook and it makes my evening meal later than I would like.

Today I tried out the early morning run and really liked it. I got up at 4:45, did my few morning chores, had breakfast, changed into my gym clothes, packed my work clothes and toiletries and was out the door by 5:30. It takes about half an hour to get to the town I work in, where I plan to do the morning runs, so I got to the park a little after six. I had a great hour long workout that included a 2.5 mile run plus a walking warm up and cool down. My mom lives close to the park so I stopped by her house to jump in the shower and get ready for work, and made it to the library 10 minutes early! Whew! Initially I think this plan will take a little getting used to, but I think overall I will like it and my evening won't feel as rushed. I think it will also keep me from making excuses as the temps go up*they are saying 90s by next week..UGH! I will keep my cross training at the gym 2 days a week, and will probably do my speed intervals on the treadmill, too.
I'm getting really nervous about this weekend's 5k! I think I am more nervous about this one than I was the first one. I will probably be running alone, which is fine. But I am just really nervous. My hubby says I shouldn't be nervous because it is just for fun, but I really wanna beat my other time :)

Weekend Run Recap!

My weekend runs were crazy! Friday I did a short/fast run. My total run was 1.25 miles. I had planned to walk the rest of the 5k but the winds were so bad I just called it a day.
Saturday morning I planned to do my full 5k "Roadkill Run" behind the house. The weatherman had called for storms that morning, but when I left the house all was clear. About 1.5miles in to the run, it started to rain. I just kept of pushing. I really wanted to finish. At mile 2, it started to pour. I stopped to call Tommy to ask him to come pick me up, and told him I would keep running until he got there. I was at about 2.5 when he made it to me. He brought a towel...I was soaked. I was a little upset with myself for not finishing, but about the time I walked in the house the tornado sirens were sounding, so I was glad I stopped when I did! Luckily, a tornado never hit down in my community. A town about an hour away got the brunt of the damage. A blessing that no one was killed in that area.