Thrive Day 3

So with today being the last day of my Thrive sampler, I have to admit that I'm kind of bummed that I don't have anymore to take in the morning. While no, I haven't had loads of endless energy that some have, I definitely feel like it gave me a little extra bounce in my step!

I'll be completely honest in that I'm running on only about 12 - 13 hours of sleep all weekend, and I can't say I've really felt tired once so far. Friday, I was easily up to 2:00 am after waking up at 6:30. Saturday, I woke up at 8:00-ish and didn't get to bed until after 1:00 even though I felt horrible all day. Today, I woke up around 8:00 am again and am still awake at 12:18.

Today was definitely a much better day as I felt about 75% better. Not quite fully normal as of yer, but a definite improvement over Saturday. I believe tomorrow I'm going to order my first full month of Thrive and see how that goes. I intend to complete the 8 week challenge before completely passing judgement of the Thrive system, but so far I'm pretty pleased even though I haven't seen anything drastic changes from it.

Thanks for reading!

Thrive Day 2

Today, I still haven't seen the energy gain that others have claimed, but I was quite surprised by the amount that my appetite has been suppressed. I don't think it's a placebo effect, because I cam into this with a conservative mindset and not high hopes that it would be a miracle routine to make me skinny.

I will admit that I've been under the weather a bit today, but I contribute that the the spike in pollen that occurred here. Seasonal allergies are a nightmare for me and I usually get flu-like symptoms when pollen suddenly spikes. It's miserable. My hears have been stopped up, I've had the chills, and am pretty sure I have run a slight fever once or twice today. Just a bunch of sinus congestion really, but it's no fun anyway.

Hopefully it'll ease up a bit tomorrow as my allergy medicine starts really working to full effect. I'll post my review of day 3 tomorrow, but so far I do believe I'm going to try the 8 week challenge just because I'm enjoying the appetite suppression and craving control. I can't say I've really wanted cokes or sweets of any kind.

See you tomorrow!

Curiosity Killed the Cat.. Thrive Day 1

I've done better this week so far.  I didn't work out Monday or Tuesday, but yesterday afternoon (thank God for the cooler weather!), I went out for a run.  I came in a half mile early, though, because Harley started dragging behind.  I didn't want him to overheat, so we called it quits.  Today, I worked out on the Wii for a few minutes, but had to quit because Ava was tired and fussy.  Hopefully the cool weather continues and I'll be able to start Insanity again!!

Anyway, recently, my energy pill that I've been taking has caused me to be a little jittery, which I don't like.  I remembered seeing my friends on Facebook advertise Le-Vel's product Thrive.  I contacted someone and they provided me with a 3-day sampler later.  Maybe not the smartest move, but I have also signed up to become a promoter as well, because I could not find the information I was looking for online and was hoping to find some more (I still didn't really find what I wanted to know, however).  Don't worry, I will be giving an honest review of my Thrive experience both of the 3-day sampler, and the 8 week experience if I order it.

So, the first day of taking Thrive has been interesting.  I can't say I've had the boundless energy that some claim they have from the get-go, but I haven't been exhausted either (yay!).  I feel like I have been detoxing.  I've been using the restroom much more today than usual, and have been thirstier as well.  I haven't had any cravings, in fact, I've barely been hungry at all!

This morning, I took my two pills first thing.  After a few minutes, I was truely impressed that I felt fully awake because I am in no way a morning person.  I got dressed and cooked breakfast for Jacob and the kids.  By the time I was finished with all that, it was time to drink my shake.

Let me tell you, I immediately learned why it's recommended to blend the shake in a blender.  I simply shook the powder with a glass of milk and the resulting mixture was extremely gritty.  Tomorrow, I plan to blend it all together in my Nutribullet, as well as perhaps add in a Carnation breakfast shake mix to add more flavor.

After making my shake, I applied my DFT patch over my ribcage because I wanted it in a place that I could hide it.  You're supposed to apply it to a different spot each time, so tomorrow morning I'll place one on the other side.

I haven't noticed any adverse reactions thus far, other than random spurts
of energy and detox symptoms, but that's probably just my body adjusting to the products. I'll post tomorrow about day 2!

Thanks for following along!

Better Week, But Not Great

I've decided to start posting only a few times a week instead of every day since not much changes from day to day.

This week was a little better than last week.  I didn't get out to run Monday morning because Jacob and Harley had been sick the night before and I really didn't want to go out by myself.  Tuesday, I worked out with the Wii Fit and Wii Active games.  Wednesday, I went out for an early morning run with Harley.  Thursday and Friday I didn't get a workout done.

Since Emma has started school, it's really thrown off my routine.  I would love to be able to go run after dropping her off at school, but I can't leave Ava, who is usually awake until about 11:00.  After that, it's too hot to be out running.  I'm aiming to make this week better.

I am pretty proud of myself though, as I've lost almost 5 pounds in the two weeks since cleaning up my diet!  I feel better about myself.  My jeans that used to fit well are now a little looser and slightly baggy.  A few of my shirts are looser as well.  I'm definitely pretty pleased with myself :)

Not a Great Week So Far

This weeks has been quite a bust so far.  My oldest daughter just started school, so I haven't been able to get up and do my running in the morning like I had been.  For a time, I tried to get up even earlier at 5:00 and go, but after just two runs, I quickly realized I was sleep deprived since I wasn't getting in bed until 12:00 most nights.  I've been trying to get in bed by 10:00, but it doesn't always happen.

I would love to be able to go running during the middle of the day, but with a heat index over 110* F each day, I don't think it would be wise.  I'm hoping to be able to start running at night once my kids are in bed at 8:00.

Tuesday and today, I haven't been able to go to my parents's house to work out either, unfortunately.  I've been busy with my business.

I'm gonna make next week better!

Changing Up My Diet

Since I've been running pretty steadily for about a month now and have been fluctuating between gaining and losing the same 3-4 pounds, I've started focusing a little more on my diet. Honestly, it hasn't been the best for a while now. I've been eating the same junk food my kids eat (because they boycott anything that looks even remotely healthy..), and it hasn't been good for my journey. Skimpy breakfast, hotdogs and corn dogs for lunch, hamburger helper for supper.. It sucked.

So this week, I picked up some tilapia, brown rice, and broccoli to cook for lunch. So far, I'm enjoying it a lot. I know I'm not blowing off all of my efforts by eating junk all day.

Anyway, yesterday's run was nice. My pace was a little slower than usual because I wasn't quite feeling it until a little while into it as I'd stayed up too late the night before.

Today, I played Wii for about two hours. I started with Wii Active for an hour, and finished with Wii Fit for another hour. I even added in some weight lifting with the 3 pound weights I picked up from Walmart earlier today. I can imagine I'm going to be quite sore in the morning.

Thanks for reading!

Friday's Run

Don't laugh at me, but that Wii workout kicked my butt yesterday. I was sooo sore when I work up this morning. I wanted to use it as an excuse to not go running this morning, but I gave myself a mental kick in the rear and went out anyway. I increased my route distance from a quarter of a mile to just over a half mile one way.

And this isn't even mentioning the supposed to be 3 minute jog that turned into 4.5 minutes (covered about half a mile!!) because a car passed me and I didn't hear the timer go off to tell me to start walking. I was completely amazed with myself. So I may be finally moving on to Week Five!

My buzzard friends were also back now that it's cooled off some. There were a few circling overhead, but I couldn't get good pictures of them. When I stopped to get a picture, one of them even looked at me like he was checking to see if I had keeled over yet!

Warming up in the morning sun.

Can you tell that the one on the bottom
is looking right at me??

Just finished my run!
My hair is WILD!!

Stats:
Distance - 2.18 miles

Time - 33:12
Average Pace - 15:15 per mile
Fastest - 10:35 per mile
Slowest - 29:04 per mile
Calories Burned - 230 k/cal

Thanks for reading!

Thursday - Wii Active Workout

I normally don't work out other than my running, but my kids and I spent the day at my parents house today because my air went out and the heat index is 112°F.

It all started with me trying to get Emma Grace, my four year old, to play Mario Cart. She played a race or two, but lost interest because Ava, my two year old, was amassing a huge pile of toys that Emma wanted to play with.

While they were playing, I played a few Wii games, but none were really holding my interest. Then, I remembered that my parents have Wii Fit, so I wanted to play it. My Dad and I spent a good 30 minutes looking for the Balance Board, but couldn't find it. So I decided to play Wii Active instead.

I picked a pretty high intensity 30 minute work out and started sweating it out. After 40 minutes, I was finally finished with the workout.. and I burned about 220 calories!

I think I may have to start coming by to bug my parents on my non-running days to come use the Wii because it really kicked my butt! Plus, it would balance out the cardio of running with a bit of strength training.

Monday's Run

Beautiful sunrise this morning!

Monday morning was an early one! Jacob, my husband, decided he wanted to start running with me again, so we were up at 5:30 to get a run in before he had to be at work.

While we were out, I was having a really difficult time finding my pace and was having a hard time catching my breath. I chalked it up to the humidity levels in the air, but I still wasn't pleased with my run as I felt like it was a flop. That is, until I got back..

Apparently, I was subconsciously pushing myself to run faster to keep up with Jacob, who naturally runs faster than I do. I figured this out when I ended my run on the Nike+ Running app and was informed that I had set a new personal 1K record of 6:47!

Unfortunately, pushing myself like that also re-irritated my shins, so I decided not to run this morning to let them rest.

Monday's Stats:

Distance - 2.20 miles

Time - 32:04 minutes

Average Pace - 14:35 per mile

Fastest - ???

Slowest - ???

Calories Burned - 237 k/cals

Records - 6:47 1K

Ever since the most recent update, Nike+ Running hasn't been syncing data or loading properly, so I can't access all of my info..

C25K: Week 3 Day 1

I promise I'm still here!! I forgot to post last Wednesday, but I did run. Last Friday I was out of town for work and didn't get back until Sunday. Monday I was recovering from my long weekend, and Wednesday, for reasons unknown to me, my children work up at 6:45. So today has been my first chance to go running this week.

I skipped ahead to pick up where I had left off months ago at Week 3 as Week 1 and Week 2 didn't challenge me. Week 3 is definitely more of a challenge to run the 3 minutes.

Today, and I have no clue how I did it, but I actually out ran Harley! He's usually dragging me around and has plenty of energy to play with Kimber when we get back. Today, halfway through the second 3 minute jog, he laid down and refused to run another step. I took the cue and we walked back home.

Stats
Distance - 1.95 miles
Time - 30:34
Average Pace - 15:33/mile
Fastest - 10:04/mile
Slowest - 29:07/mile
Calories Burned - 201

My husband has informed me that he would like to try running with me again, so next week I'll be getting up earlier, and hopefully it'll be cooler!

I'm Baaaack!!

I know, I know.. I disappeared for quite a while, but I'm back now. I'm not sure why, but I lost my drive to get out and run - or do any exercise for that matter. For about a week now, I've been wanting to get back into it, so I finally got my butt in gear this morning.

Harley and I both felt the effects of not running for almost two months, and that wasn't helped by me accidentally starting from Week 3 Day 3 of the C25K app. Running 90 seconds, and 3 minute intervals were not the beat place to start when you're starting from pretty much the beginning!

And as much as I would love to give you my stats, apparently Nike+ Running had a glitch and didn't save my run even though it said it did.. Ah well, hopefully it saves the next one!

C25K: Week 3

Good morning! I was very tired this morning, I didn't feel good, and I didn't feel like going out...but I did it anyway! And I'm one step closer to my goal because of it!

Friday, I didn't go out because my shins had started giving me problems again. £ decided to take a long weekend to rest up and give them a break.  I thought they were better, but the moment I started running this morning, the aches came right back. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to do my run and would be walking the entire time, but at the end of my first 90 second jog, the ache had lessened, so I pushed through and did all four running sessions.

I fid, however, cut my 2.5 miles back to 2. This morning was extremely humid. Both Harley and I were struggling to catch our breath and couldn't cool off, so I called it quits after I finished the C25K workout and didn't finish my half mile walk do we could both go get some water.

Here are my stats today:

Distance - 2.03 miles
Time - 30:19 minutes
Average Pace - 14:54/mile
Fastest - 10:09
Slowest - 23:03
Calories Burned - 213

The humidity and traffic slowed my time down by a full second. The thickness of the air made it feel like I was running through a wall of water! And I probably slowed my pace slightly because of my shins.

Thanks so much for reading!

Weekly Weigh In

As promised, here are my updated stats:

Arms - 12.25
Chest - 37.5
Waist - 41
Hips - 42.75
Thighs - 21.5
Weight - 172.2
BMI - 27.4

I am dissappointed, but I also understand why I gained it back. This week, my goal is to do all three of my runs and drink at least 54 ounces of water every day.

Why I Want to Lose Weight

I've had a few people ask me why I started running and the simple answer is to lose weight. But there's so much more to it that that. I want to be able to fit my dobok and be a certified bad ass again. I want to be more active so I can keep up with my kids. I want to be a role model to my kids. But most importantly, I want to feel better about myself.

I dream of the day that I can look in the mirror and not hate what I see. Many days, I simply avoid looking in the mirror so I don't have to see myself. I know that when I see myself, my mood sours for the rest of the day. I pick myself apart and tell myself how much I hate this or that, how I wish I had just a little less fat here, a little more muscle there.. My inner Mean Girl comes out against my own body.

My mind still sees me as I once was - a fit, lean martial artist. When I see myself in the mirror, the reality sinks in and I realize I no longer have that body and I hate myself for it.

Not too long ago, my husband made me go though all of my clothes and give away anything from my previous body size. Why? Because every time I looked at them or tried to wear them, I started crying. I wanted so bad to be able to fit them again and when I couldn't,  it was like my soul was crushed.

It's been hard for me to adjust to the realization that I'm no longer a slim 7 to 9, but a little chunkier 14. There were even times when I really needed to go up to a 16. For over four years now I've been struggling with this. For over four years now, I've hated the person in the mirror. For over four years now, I've hated myself.

This weekend, I'm going to post my updated body measurements and pictures. I know I've gained a few pounds. I know I've lost some of my progress. I know I'm going to be discouraged and disappointed with myself. But I'm not going to let myself quit. I'm not going to give up. I'm going to keep pushing and keep working until I can look in the mirror and be proud of who I see reflected back to me. I'm going to keep working until I reach my goals.

C25K: Week 3 Day 2

I know I said I was going to post yesterday, but ad I was getting up and getting ready I noticed the house was awfully hot. Turned out, there was something wrong with our A/C system that we spent most of the day fixing.

I went out for a run today instead. Maybe it's a good thing this week is going to be a 3 day week instead of a 4 day. My shins are really sore from Monday's run, so I may have a few weeks of "recovery" 3 day runs instead of jumping back into the 4 day weeks like I was planning.

Anyway, here are today's stats:
Distance - 2.62 miles
Time - 37:36 minutes
Average Pace - 14:19/mile
Fastest - 9:03/mile
Slowest - 96:33/mile ??
Calories Burned - 281

I must have walked faster than usual today, as my average pace is almost a minute faster than usual, even though my running was a little slower. I will admit, I have been trying to speed it up because I want to keep my heart rate up in the "calorie burn" zone.

I changed up my route slightly today as Harley has been getting stickers in his feet in one particular area. I considered trying to put socks or something on his feet to try to try to repel them, but I know he would absolutely refuse to go outside if I did. If he did decide to put up with the sicks, hoeever, it would be quite comical to watch him trot along beside me!

It's been quite humid here the past few days, so any little breeze is much appreciated. However, on my last 3 minute round, I was running against the wind and it literally felt like I was trying to move a mountain. And it wasn't even a strong breeze!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go soak my shins an some Epsom salt bath. I'll see you guys Friday!

C25K: Week 3 Day 1 (Again)

This week, I'm repeating Week 3 again, and probably will for a few more weeks. I still have trouble running the full three minutes without stopping early because I can't catch my breath.

Last week, there was only one buzzard sitting on the tree watching me. Today, there were six! A few times, one of them would even fly over about 10 feet over my head and hover for a split second. I can only imagine he was checking to see how close I was to passing out.

Buzzards aside, however, I'm running some of my fastest times the past few outings. Here's today's stats:

Distance - 2.75 miles
Time - 35:40 minutes
Average Pace - 13:51/mi
Fastest - 8:59/mi
Slowest - 33:43/mi
Calories Burned - 248

I'll see you tomorrow!

C25K: Week 3 Day 1 Repeat

I know, I know.. I've been very lazy and unmotivated for the past few weeks. My husband was out of town and I was staying up too late to want to get up and go running at 7:00 am. Bad Hunter...

But I'm back into it now! Just got back in from a 2.5 mile run and I feel great! I was quite impressed with my stamina as I was able to still run for the 3 minutes that are in Week 3. Here's my times:

Time - 34:42
Average Pace - 15:13/mile
Fastest - 9:35/mile
Slowest - 33:12/mile
Calorie Burn - 244

I also had this critter watching me the entire time.. I was beginning to feel like Simba passed out in the desert!

C25K: Week 3 Day 3

Today was rough!  According to the weather, it was 132 degrees Fahrenheit when I went out!  Now, we all know it wasn't actually (more like 70 degrees), but it sure felt like it!  The weight of the humidity in the air felt like I was running with an extra ten pounds strapped to my middle.

And if that wasn't bad enough, there were birds everywhere this morning.  And Harley is a Catahoula Cur mix, which means he was bred to be a hunting dog..  So he was trying to chase all of the birds.  One time, he actually darted in front of me and halfway across the road to chase a bird that had swooped past.  Thankfully there wasn't a car coming.

Today's stats are:
Time - 37:07 minutes
Distance - 2.44 miles
Fastest - 10:17/mile
Slowest - 34:48/mile
Avg. Pace - 15:12/mile
Calories Burned - 260

I believe that I'm going to bump up my mileage next week from 7.5 miles to 10 by adding in an extra running day.  So my new running schedule will be Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday.  I'll be adding in repeat day for my C25K program instead of advancing to the next week.  I may even be repeating Week 3 next week as it's pretty tough and Week 4 will be even tougher.  Week 4's workout is run 3 minutes, walk 90 seconds, run 5 minutes, walk 2.5 minutes, run 3 minutes, walk 90 seconds, run 5 minutes.  I'll give it a try Monday before I make my final decision, however.

I'll see you tomorrow for my weight in!

New Name, Same Blog

Hi guys!  What do you think of the new name?  I'm pretty excited about it!  I decided to rename the blog as I no longer use it as it was originally intended (as a food diary to keep me more accountable).  I now also have a personal Instagram account that I will post updates on and be a little more visual with my daily life than on here.  Pop on over to IG and follow me if you'd like!

Easter Break Catch Up

Hi guys!

I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday weekend!  I had an extremely busy (yet wonderful!) Easter break, so I'm just now catching up on my posts.  My last weigh in results (which I actually took Monday morning) are:

• Arms - 12 (down 0.5")
• Chest - 36.75 (down 1.25")
• Waist - 41.25 (down 1.25")
• Hips - 41.75 (down 1.25")
• Thighs - 21.25 (down 1.25")
• Weight - 168.6 (down 3 lbs)
• BMI - 26.8 (down 0.5)

I know last post I stated that I was going to repeat my C25K program's Week 2 again until I felt more comfortable running as long as Week 3, but I think part of my inability to keep up was the fact that I went at the hottest point of the day.  The heat just sapped all of my energy.

So this week, I've been doing Week 3.  I did Day 1 yesterday and Day 2 today, as I'm trying to get my running back to my Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule.  Friday, I will be completing Day 3.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to repeat Week 3 a few times.  Running for a  solid three minutes is extremely tough!

Week 3's course is running 90 seconds, walking 90 seconds, running 3 minutes, walking 3 minutes and repeating.  Yesterday, I was unable to run the first 3 minutes.  I found a better pace and was able to go the full 3 minutes the second time, however.  Today, I was able to do both 3 minute times.

Week 3 Day 1 Stats:

Distance - 2.57 miles

Time - 35:40 minutes
Fastest - 8:33/mile
Slowest - 33:43/mile

Avg. Pace - 13.51/mile

I ran my fastest 1K by running it in 6:56.  I ran my fastest mile at 12:48.

Week 3 Day 2 Stats:

Distance - 2.46 miles

Time - 38.05 minutes
Fastest - 9:50/mile
Slowest - 27:28/mile

Avg. Pace - 15.27/mile

Today's average pace should have been faster, but I had to chase down my dog and walk her back to the house in the middle of my run.  Emma Grace, my oldest, let her out of the house.

I love seeing my records update on Nike+ Running.  I can't believe I've come so far!  Here are my beginning times:

1K - 16:53

1 mile - 17.25

I can't wait to see how much faster I get and how much further I can go!

Thanks for reading!