Sunday, April 29, 2012

Doing it for...myself (and the bikini)


Since I got back from Costa Rica I have been really focusing on losing weight. Yes, again. A couple years ago I got on the scale at....I can't believe I am going to type this....152. Yep. It was painful. That was the biggest I ever got. But it was a turning point for me. I signed up for Weight Watchers and dropped 17 pounds. The smallest I got was 135. I felt like a million bucks. Then the holidays came (that's my story and I am sticking to it). I used it as my excuse to fall off the weight loss bandwagon. Little by little the weight came back. At some point I actually saw 152 on the scale again. Running helped a lot but without eating right I still wasn't seeing much progress. When I got back from Costa Rica I was motivated. That Thursday, April 29th, I got on the scale at 145.5. Since then I have gotten to about 138. Weekends are hard and as I type this I know the scale will not be my friend in the morning. All I am doing this time is counting calories. It is what works for me. It's really an easy concept....burn more calories than you consume and the weight will come off. I have a slight addiction to my scale but the only day I actually record is Thursday. So my plan is to write a post every Thursday to record my weekly weight loss and comments on how the week went.

Here is my progress so far:
Starting weight: 145.5
April 5, 2012: 141.5
April 12, 2012: 140.5
April 19, 2012: 139
April 26, 2012: 138

I have this dream that I will be at 135 by my birthday. It's not looking likely at this point but you never know.

Playing Catch Up!

Yet again, I am horrible with this whole posting thing. I don't even know where I left off so I will try and do a quick recap of the year so far.

January - After the Red Nose Run 5k Dad and I headed to New Orleans for the National Championship. It was a wonderful trip. We ate, drank, shopped, and went to the best football game of my life! From the start Bama dominated the field. LSU only managed to cross the 50 yard line one time the whole game. The final score was 21-0. RTR

MLK weekend I went to Washington DC to visit Laura and Haigh. We ate in Chinatown, shopped in Alexandria and Georgetown, and went the museum of American History. I love going to visit them. Somehow we always manage to cram tons of good shopping, good eating and good times into our short weekends together. I also got to meet their new puppy, Thompson. He loves me. I like to think that I am his favorite aunt.

February - At the beginning of the month Dave and I went to Keystone, CO for a conference. We flew in on a Wednesday. That night they had a welcome reception, dinner, and casino night. The next day I sat through a small meeting where I won a Kindle. Then it was on to our activity: snowmobiling. It was actually a blast. I was a little nervous about getting my snowmobile stuck in the snow or falling of a ledge. Once I got comfortable I really did enjoy it. I would highly recommend it. We saw some beautiful scenery and froze our butts off. Friday Dave skiied and I got a pedicure. We met for lunch in the village and relaxed all afternoon. That night we took a gondola to the top of the mountain (11,000 feet) and had a Swiss fondue dinner, complete with singers and a roaring fire. It was a great experience. Saturday we both enjoyed massages and facials at the spa. I am sucker for a great spa and Keystone's is wonderful. Sunday we headed back to Birmingham.

On the 12th I participated in the relay portion of the Mercedes Marathon. There were 5 people on our team: SWATT (Sprinters, Walkers, and Trash Talkers). I ran the first leg which was a 10k. The race started at 7:00am and it was about 23 degrees. I finished in 1:06:12. I was very happy with my time. Our overall team time was 4:33. I was hoping to finish in under 4:30 but I think we did an awesome job and it was a great time.

After the Mercedes Relay I decided I was ready to try a half marathon. I signed up for the Nashville Half Marthon on April 28th. Unfortunately about a week later I hurt my ankle running 7 miles at Lakeshore park. The doctor has told me it is a stress fracture. So for the last 8+ weeks I have not been able to run. :( My next doctor's appointment is May 8th so hopefully the doctor has some very happy birthday news for me.

About the middle of the month I moved out of my townhouse. After trying to sell it for months I decided to rent it out to a friend. His plan is to buy it at the end of his year lease. I am really happy with my decision. While living with Mom and Jim has its drawbacks, saving money and having constant people around is always nice. Charlie is in heaven. He is always the center of attention, so I think if he had it his way we would never leave.

March - Dad and I went to Costa Rica from the 20th to the 28th. This trip should have its own post and at some point I will sit down and write all about it with pictures to describe just how amazing the trip was. We stayed at three beautiful resorts. We zip lined, repelled into water falls, tanned, ate, and just enjoyed all that the country had to offer.