Week 1

This week wasn't too bad. Ran five days for a total of 16.2 miles. Toward the end of the week the running got tough...legs were tired ect. But overall I was proud I kept with it.

As far as eating habits were concerned the weekends are always a challenge but this weekend has been better than past. I talked myself out of fried chicken strips and Jack in the box to settle for soup and salad.

Goals for next week include more running and maybe a class. Along with good eating :-)

Goals this year

Last year I ran two 5k races, the starlight run and the color run.  The starlight was my first ever race, and I prepared for weeks, and the work paid off.  I ran it at a 9:45 pace, way better than I had run in training, and I was on cloud 9!  So I signed up for another run, the color run.  Every kilometer of this run they throw a different "color" on you and you end up with these crazy colors all mixed up.  It was fun, but I wasn't as prepared and ran it at a 12:15 pace.

Already this year I've already completed my first race, the Shamrock run.  My first 8k which is just under five miles.  I tried to train for this race, but the week prior was on vacation in LA so didn't train as hard as I could.  My goal was to run it in under an hour and came in at 56 mins.  I was super stoked.

I'm signed up for the Doggie Dash (05/11) a 2.5 mile run/walk with my dogs, which I'll probably walk since my puppy will only be 4 months old.  I'm also signed up for the starlight run again (06/01) so I'm excited to do that run again.  My ultimate goal for races this year is Pints to Pasta which is a 10k (09/08).  Although I don't really want to run more than a 10k I just want to reach my goals and go from there.

Meet Me

Hello!  I'm a 29 year old female, this year I will turn the big 3-0!  My story begins the way most do, I've been heavy my whole life.  Grew up in a family of 6, with wonderful parents who bought us what we wanted.          I was wearing adult sizes by the time I was in middle school.  As I went through high school it got worse.  I believe I was a size 18 at my graduation in 2001.

Also in 2001 I started working at McDonald's   You know what the perk is of working there?  You get a free meal.  Not having ate a lot of McDonald's growing up I ate it all the time, addicted to the taste.  When you become a manager you can eat as much as you want, whenever you want.  I moved out of my parents house the winter of 2001 so we lived off the food I got there.  It was astounding when I think of it how much shit I ate, and how much weight I gained.  Went up to a size 22/24.

When it didn't work out with the apartment I moved back into my parents house, and my eating habits got worse.  I remember ordering a large pizza from Pizza Hut and eating the whole thing.  Stopping at Taco Bell on the way home and getting those grade meals with a mixture of 12 tacos or burritos, I would consume them all.  This is on top of still eating at McDonald's.  Remembering these facts is embarrassing and I cannot believe how self indulgent I was.

One day my friend and I were talking about her mom wanting her to loose weight, and about this group called T.O.P.S. Stands for "take of pounds sensibly".  I was in this group with old ladies 50 and above, we were the youngest ones there at 20.  That group saved my life.  I lost 75lbs, joined a gym and was super motivated.  It was after I thought I was ok to leave the group I stopped working so hard.  Starting partying and going out.  Drinking and smoking, I went back to my bad habits, and it only took me a matter of years to regain all the weight I lost.

Looking back at pictures I couldn't believe what I had become.  I thought, yeah I'm fat, but I'm also pretty so it doesn't matter.  I hated taking pictures, but couldn't avoid all pictures.  Finally I had another opportunity, in 2010 we had a "biggest loser" contact at my work.  Fourteen people entered and $20/person the person with the highest percentage of weight loss wins the whole pot.  Dedication was my name!

Within 3 months I lost 30lbs, and by the end of that year I was down 75lbs, the lowest I've ever been at 200lbs.  My goal set by the doctor was 180 since I'm 5'8".  I started running and felt amazing.  Even after gallbladder surgery I recovered and continued running through 2011.  I tried to start another "biggest loser" in 2012 but it never worked out, everyone ended up dropping out.  Over the last year and a half I've gained 20lbs and am determined to loose that and the additional 20 to put me at my goal weight.  The purpose of this blog is to make me check in and finally take responsibility for my daily actions.  I want to talk about my motivations, mood, exercise habits  and most important food habits.  I want my dedication and motivation back!