Week 7: A Photo That Makes You Happy

*Note: I realize Week 6 isn't up. It's turning into a rather in-depth post, so it's going to be late. This one was easy.

Nike & Jason, Baker City, OR - photo copyrighted Carly Carlson Photography

 The photo above is our "sneak peak" from our photo shoot this weekend with my dear friend Carly, of Carly Carlson Photography. (Go give her some blog love and "like" her on Facebook!) The girl is a whiz with the camera and I am so excited to see how the rest of the shots turned out. Thanks Carly!

This photo makes me happy for a couple reasons...

One, that guy next me? I'm pretty much in love with him. Like, crazy in love. I'm very much enjoying forever with him.

Two, this is the first picture taken since our wedding that looks like "us." If you'll allow me to dive into the shallow for a moment, we both gained a lot of weight after marrying. We were both unhappy about it, but introducing change to our lives took awhile. We've worked hard and it's great to have tangible evidence that it's paying off. (To see the picture that started the revolution click here. Ugh.)

Lastly, the colors of this picture are awesome. Carly said, "Go down the stairwell, just trust me," and we did. Even if this is the only frame of the 500 she shot that turned out, it is well worth the investment.

Pinch Me, I Must be Dreaming!

12,000 runners. World's largest relay race.
1,000 teams accepted and more than 850 teams turned away.
197 miles - from majestic Mt. Hood to the sandy beach of Seaside.

Guess who was not turned away for the 29th Annual Hood to Coast Relay? That's right - ME! My check was cashed in October, but I waited nearly a month for the official acceptance letter. When I found it in my inbox Monday morning I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Because, here's the thing: I am not much of a runner. In fact, I haven't ran consistently in more than three years. One thing I've always known, however, is that one day I wanted to participate in the Hood to Coast. Last year the bug hit me hard and I called my dad and said, "Daddy, I bet you want to run the Hood to Coast for your 50th birthday." Much to my surprise (and delight) he confessed he too had always dreamed of running in this epic relay.

(Of course, this was a little more exciting when NIKE was the lead sponsor. I enjoyed the irony of seeing banners proclaiming "Nike's Hood to Coast Relay" everywhere and was looking forward to having a shirt that boasted the same, but, alas, OfficeMax stepped up as the headliner sponsor this year. So our shirts will scream "OfficeMax's Hood to Coast Relay," which doesn't quite have the same appeal.)

I have been wanting - but not bad enough to actually do anything about it - to start running again and with an August 27th deadline and 9.5 minute mile requirement my motivation has arrived. Team Speedy Turtles is ready to take on the challenge!

Day 2: Hanging in There

The picture to the left is what Gus looks like after a bath. I think this must be what I looked like during the Circuit 3 Strength exercise because he felt the need to lick the sweat off my forehead and chew on my hair.

The exercises are still painful, but I can feel muscle developing my shoulders. That's probably because my upper body is the weakest. I want - I NEED - to stay committed to this, so I'm trying to focus on the positives. I've heard multiple accounts that Day 8 of Level 1 is the easiest, so it is my goal to get there and see if it's true. And even if it isn't, to keep pushing until even the advanced moves of Level 1 are easy. Then I will move on to Level 2.

So, everyone that is just starting, contemplating starting, or is kicking the 30 Day Shred's hiney (or having their hiney kicked): Keep it up! The results are worth it.

In other news, someone called me at 5:15 a.m. NOT COOL. But, I was able to get up at 6:20 to go workout this morning, so all things work for good. Have a great day everyone!

Starting Over: Day 1

I have no upper body strength. I never have, really, so I am not at all surprised by this. I am currently lifting 3 lb weights for the strength training portions of 30DS and feel like my arms are going to fall off. Which is pathetic, but I'm too stubborn to move down to the 2 lb weights. On the upside, I did more push-ups than I did before. Still not for the full count, but more. Again, upper body has taking a beating over the last year and I'm doing "girly push-ups". I used to do beautiful, proper push-ups. =P I'll get there!

On a bright note, I was able to get into and out of the shower after my workout. Yay, no legs cramping up and freezing! =) (See, "What Idiot Designs a Raised Tub?" for background.)

My mini-goal is to lose enough weight I can get my wedding ring off. It's been stuck on my finger for almost a year now. (I think the last time I took it off was when I made meatloaf for "the fam" - not my biological one - which was around October of last year and it was quite traumatic getting it back on.) It doesn't look pretty and my skin is pretty dry under the ring. It would be nice if my finger didn't suffer anymore. ;-) I intend to lose enough weight in four weeks to be able to comfortably take my ring on and off. Cause I think losing ten-ish pounds would do the trick, especially since I tend to lose weight in my face and hands before I lose it anywhere else.

My long term goal is to fit back into my skinny jeans. Yes, I have a pair. I heart them and even though they haven't fit since my freshman year of college (that would be nearly five years ago) they were the best pants ever so I've never thrown them out in hopes that one day I could wear them again. Also never mind they are pale bluish-white and really don't go with many of my shirts. They are the softest jeans ever! And, jeans are expensive after all so it would be nice if the ones I have fit.

Tomorrow is another day and this chica needs some rest.

Starting Over: The Picture

Love affair with the gigantic cupcake. September 2008

I have always had crazy high self-esteem, but in the last year that has started to dwindle. I feel fat and sluggish and ugly most of the time and that's not me. I started a week or two ago to commit to change, but I'm lazy.

I'm determined to have clothes that fit and to recognize myself in the mirror. So I'm taking a new approach. I still want to do the 30 Day Shred because I do enjoy it (as much as it causes me pain, but it's a good pain). My new approach is to continue tracking my workouts via blogs, but every Sunday/Monday to have a weigh-in, measure, and post a new picture. I took my measurements and such yesterday, but I don't have a current picture. So instead I have posted the picture that made me realize how huge I've gotten. (I should not have consumed that cupcake, it was deceptively small looking, but it was not.)

So, as of the week of November 16th, 2008 I am:

• 5' 3"
• 168.0 lbs (which is ten pounds less than I thought I was, yahoo)
• 40" chest
• 32.75" natural waist
• 36" belly at the widest point (this is for my own amusement)
• 43" hips
• 24.75" thighs (each)
• 13" biceps (each)

And on that note, I am off to pick up my husband from the MAX station and then I shall do my workout. I'm already dressed for it, and man will I look awesome at the train station (cold, too). ;-)

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Day 4: This should have been day 7

I got lazy this week. I put in three days and then got "busy". This workout is 25 minutes from start to finish. There is NO REASON to throw out the "I'm too busy line." I spent more than 25 minutes playing Text Twirl on Facebook every day this week.

So, because I missed three days this week, today was REALLY hard. Like, felt harder than the first day. And I wanted to quit during the first circuit. And seriously considered shutting off the DVD during the first circuit. But I reminded myself that I have to work for the body I want and that I brought the weight and loss of muscle on myself and now I have to fight to get rid of it. (Not having to tell Jason I didn't work out when he came home from his meeting was good motivation to keep going as well, cause he's really supportive of my endeavors.)

As difficult as today was and as much as I DID NOT want to do it, I did notice that my form has improved and I am repping out more push ups. Not a lot, but more. I still hate the first circuit more than most, but it always gets better after that I just need to keep working at it.

Today, I should buy a scale. That may help (or totally depress me) as well. Good luck to you Shredders out there!

Day 3: What idiot designs a raised bathtub?

Today's workout made me groan, grunt, and nearly cry. But I stuck with it. I even did a few more push ups than normal. (My upper body strength needs some serious help.) I was so sore walking up the stairs to my bathroom, but was really encouraged by my husband when he told me how proud he was of me for sticking with this. I have to keep telling myself, "It's only twenty minutes, there's no excuse not to do it, and it HELPS."

Unfortunately, my bathtub is raised about six inches off the floor. Why? I do not know. My thighs are screaming from three days of squats, lunges, and butt kicks and I've been having trouble sitting and standing back up. I had to steady myself against the wall to get INTO the bathtub for my post-workout shower, but I was seriously perplexed as to how get OUT of it when I was done. This is how Jason found me: shower curtain open, towel in my head, dripping wet, with a stunned expression on my face. He asked if I was okay and I replied, "I can't move my legs and am not sure how to get down." Fortunately he's a good guy and held my hand to steady me so I could dry off and go to bed.

Note to self: drink more water and eat a banana post-workout to prevent legs from freezing up and getting yourself stuck in the shower.

Day 2: Oh the pain!

I can't move. And that sucks. I knew my arms and legs were weak, but come on!

As I was limping through church today, which required an explanation which was stated as simply as, "I started the 30 Day Shred yesterday and Jillian Michaels - the mean Biggest Loser trainer - is going to kill me." One of my friends, who is trying to gain weight (jerk), asked how I stay motivated, cause, let's face it, Jillian can be a real beyatch. Basically, I stay motivated (yahoo, day two!) by realizing that I'm in pain because I am weak and the only way to lose the pain is to lose the weakness, ie, "Pain is weakness leaving the body."
So, I can barely move, but I stuck with the exercises and made it through another 20 minutes of torture. I will be strong and I will be fit, but it's going to take dedication and effort on my part.

Day1: Gonna get my butt kicked by Jillian Michaels

After hitting a point of being completely disgusted with my weight, I went to Target after work and bought Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. It was recommended by my awesome friend, Leslie, who has been sticking to her healthy-living goal for a little over a year and has been a great source of inspiration for me.

I was a little skeptical at first because exercise DVDs and I have a history of incompatibility. So I read the reviews on Amazon and was totally inspired by a lady in her mid-30s who had been overweight her entire life and has some health problems, but is completely committed to this workout plan and has been sticking with it. I decided if she could do it and not want to kill Jillian, I could do.

Yesterday morning I woke up, threw on some workout clothes, opened the case of weights I've had for a year and had never opened, said goodbye to friends on Facebook just in case, and popped in the DVD.

Let me tell you, that was the LONGEST twenty-minutes of my life. I felt like I had run six miles, but it took me only a quarter of the time. Jillian appeared to be reading my mind, because every time I thought about slowing down or all out quitting, she would say something like, "I have 400 lb people doing jumping jacks, you can too!" or "Four, three, two...." and kept me motivated.

Did I want to punch her in the face at the end of the work out? No. Did I hurt? Oh yeah. But you know what? She said something that really struck me. Her two assistants have amazing abs and she said, "If you want abs like this, you have to fight for them." I think I'm finally ready to fight to be the person I want to be.