So, here’s my final tally for tomorrow’s workout pledge:

13.5 minutes of running at 4.5 mph
1 minute walking at 3.5 mph
8 minutes on elliptical
40 crunches
80 squats
20 reps on weight machine
6 minutes on exercise bike
9 minutes on stairmaster

I will also do a circuit of all of them (a minute of each) at Jody’s recommendation.

Thanks to everyone for helping me build this awesome workout, which will begin bright and early tomorrow morning. Wish me luck

102.75 miles walked/jogged/ran since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 500)
14.9 miles biked since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 300)
(3) 5K finished since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 12)

If you missed my workout pledge, you can participate by clicking here. You can help determine my workout on Wednesday! So far, if I’ve tallied correctly, my routine is as follows:

100 squats
3 minutes stairmaster
40 crunches
4.5 minutes running (4.5 mph)
1 minute walking (3.5 mph)
1 minute elliptical
20 reps on weight machines
3 minutes on the exercise bike
1 Circuit of all of the above (for Jody!)

Don’t you want to add to that? There were also 7 comments where the exercise wasn’t specified, so I’ll choose those on Wednesday. You have until tomorrow at 10:00 PM.

Now, onto today’s weigh-in:

I weighed in this morning at 211.8 lbs which is a .8 lb loss for the week. This brings my total weight loss so far to 44.2 pounds.

Still trending downward, which is a victory in my book.

I also wanted to mention that a good friend of mine, Kat, received an incredible honor and was named one of the 7 Best Dieting and Wellness Blogs! This was much deserved, Kat, and I’m happy for you! Congrats.

102.75 miles walked/jogged/ran since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 500)
14.9 miles biked since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 300)
(3) 5K finished since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 12)

This Wednesday (March 17th), I have the day off so I’m making it GYM day – “Biggest Loser last chance workout” style…but here’s the catch, the workouts I do will be chosen by YOU! This is called a Workout Pledge and I got the idea from Tyler over at 344 Pounds. They seem like a great way to get in a killer workout, which is exactly what I want to accomplish on Wednesday.

Here is the list of exercises you can choose from:

1. 30 seconds running (4.5 mph)
2. 1 minute walking (3.5 mph)
3. 1 minute elliptical (level 1)
4. 20 crunches
5. 20 squats
6. 5 reps on weight machine
7. 3 minutes exercise bike (level 1)
8. 3 minutes stairmaster

Here’s how it will work. Between now and Tuesday at 10:00 PM (EST), you can do any or all seven of the following:

Comment: Post a comment right here on this post. You don’t have to say a lot, any ole comment will do, just be sure to let me know which number exercise you want me to do for that comment.

Twitter: Click here to follow me on Twitter; come back here and leave me a comment letting me know that you did (and also let me know which number exercise you want me to do for it)

Facebook: Click here to follow my facebook page; come back here and leave me a comment letting me know that you did (and also let me know which number exercise you want me to do for it).

Link Love: Add this link to my blog onto your blogroll; come back here and leave me a comment letting me know that you did (and also let me know which number exercise you want me to do for it).

Tell your Friends: Post a blurb on Twitter encouraging your followers to come add to my workout and come back here and comment letting me know you did (and also let me know which number exercise you want me to do for it).

You can make up your own, or something like this will do:

@josielphelps is doing a workout pledge on her blog and you can add to her workout just by leaving a comment! Check it out: http://bit.ly/aMxsnd

Tell your readers: Post a blurb on your blog letting your readers know about the pledge and then come back here and let me know you did (and also let me know which number exercise you want me to do for it).

Dailymile: Click here to add me as a friend on DailyMile and then comment here letting me know that you did (and also let me know which number exercise you want me to do for it).

So there are seven ways you can add to my workout! Don’t forget to specify which exercise you want me to do.

So that’s it. I’ll be tallying everything by the comments, so be sure to comment here if you add me on facebook or twitter or link to your blog so that I know you did.

Oh, and if you’re already following my facebook or twitter or dailymile, comment letting me know and that will count as an entry too.

Don’t forget to say which exercise you want me to do (by number). Sorry for being so redundant!

Thank you all so much. I am really excited about this and can’t wait to see what you have in store for me! You have until Tuesday night, but what are you waiting for??

101.0 miles walked/jogged/ran since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 500)
14.9 miles biked since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 300)
(3) 5K finished since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 12)

Image by Pippa!

Today marks the 100th day of the year, and as such the Perfect 10 challenge has come to an end. Here is my final Perfect 10 Update:

• Walk 100 miles over the course of the 10 weeks. This will help keep me on track to reach 500 for the year.

You might recall that as of last Friday I was 26.5 miles away from reaching goal – just over marathon distance. Well, in the last 7 days I walked and/or jogged 25.11 miles. This brings my total for the year to 98.61 miles. So, I didn’t quite make the 100 I was shooting for, but man I came awful close…and I’m SUPER proud of myself for last night’s 6 mile escapade (and shall do a repeat of it soon). The lesson I learned this week? That I needed to step up my workouts more. I was sore today from last night’s workout and if I’m being honest, it’s the first time in weeks that I’ve been sore the next day. So it was a GOOD thing…and I realized that I need to change my routine, push myself more, and sweat more if I want to make progress here.

• Continue the C25K program, doing it at least 3 days per week until completed.

I am now through with Week 3 and will be starting Week 4 tomorrow. Major success here!

• Start riding my bike. No time or distance restraints for this. This one is purely just to get over my fear and DO it…at least once and I’ll be happy

Success! See this post.

• Not drink ANY soda. This is also a goal for the year.

So far so good! It’s been 165 days since I’ve had ANY soda.

• Participate in (3) 5k races. This will help keep me on track to do 12 for the year.

I did the Calusa Bug Chase 5K and the Walk for Wishes and the Hope, Love, and Faith 5K for MS. SUCCESS!

• Start a garden.

Bah! I’m not sure why I kept procrastinating on this, but I still plan to start one.

• Go to bed by 11:00 on work nights, but preferably 10:00.

3 out of 5 nights

• Sign up for Karate (or another martial art if Karate isn’t available)

I had to put this on hold for a little while due to finances and time restraints.

• Go to the gym at least 3 times per week.

SUCCESS!

• Stay within my budget every month (using YNAB) This is a yearly goal as well.

I am doing very well here.

• Read the Bible each day using this plan. Another yearly goal.

Not so much a success here. I started off good, but just got real behind.

The other part of this challenge is to post something that others may not know about me. As you could imagine with me being from Florida and I also lived in North Carolina for 5 years, that I’m quite familiar with hurricanes. I’ve been through some of the strongest hurricanes to ever hit, including Andrew (92), Floyd (99), and Charley (04).

For hurricane Floyd, I was pregnant and about three weeks overdue. They had me scheduled to be induced a few days prior to Floyd hitting, but the hospital had to cancel me so they could save their beds “just in case” they needed them. They told me I’d have to go into labor naturally. The night Floyd came was one of the scariest of my life. I was at my sister’s house and we were all up sitting in the hallway, hoping for the best. It was a category 4 storm. All of a sudden we looked out the window and saw a tree falling, but not just any tree. THIS tree:

Yes, that’s our HOUSE behind it…That’s a hughjass tree, huh??? Yeah, I was skeered after we saw that fall. Remember, I could have gone into labor at any moment and would have had no way out. What you can’t see in that picture was that the tree actually fell on all of our vehicles! We had them all parked in the yard and the tree fell perfectly on all four of them:

Thank God we were all OK, but wow. The guys spent all the next day chainsawing their way through it, so we could at least have a vehicle in case I went into labor.

We also had a tree fall during hurricane Charley in 04, but at least I wasn’t pregnant then

Obviously Charley didn’t heed our signs…BOO! This is what that same area looked like the next day:

We were left without power for weeks, in the dead heat of Florida summer. It was brutal, but it could have been so much worse.

So there’s something you didn’t know about me, but probably could have guessed! LOL

Thanks Steve, for such an AWESOME challenge!

98.61 miles walked/jogged/ran since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 500)
14.9 miles biked since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 300)
(3) 5K finished since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 12)

Calories burned? 532
Time spent on treadmill? 1 Hour, 45 minutes
Total distance? 6.01 miles (Farthest EVER for me at once!)

Leaving the gym looking like this:

and this:

PRICELESS!!!

Oh hell yes! What an awesome workout! My face gets SOOO red, doesn’t it? So, now I’m less than 5 miles from reaching my perfect 10 goal, which I shall try to get tomorrow morning before work.

I’m SO motivated!!!

95.11 miles walked/jogged/ran since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 500)
14.9 miles biked since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 300)
(3) 5K finished since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 12)

Before I get to today’s post, if you haven’t read Craig’s latest blog yet, you should. Really, it’s refreshingly honest and touching. I know I can relate and I’m sure most of you can too. At first, he debated even posting it and several readers encouraged him to, including me. I was reminded of the House episode from the other night about a blogger who fell ill. You can read a synopsis of this episode here. When learning that she needed a heart valve transplant, her first response was to ask her readers for advice. Her boyfriend discouraged her from doing it because he was tired of their lives being so exposed on her blog. She said “If I start to pick and choose now, then I’m not being honest”. That really hit home for me and caused me to really think not just about how much I share here but also all the things I don’t share. So when I read that Craig wasn’t sure if he should post what he had in mind because it was so personal and revealing, it made me think of the series of posts that I had been considering that were also personal and revealing. So, I made a deal with him. I told him if he posted his, I would start mine. Well, he posted his, and I’m a woman of my word, so I’ll be starting a new blog series in the next week or so. I’m still working on a title, but the content is almost done. I can tell you this. It totally fits in with today’s post below.

Now onto today’s post!

On my Progress Pictures page, you’ll notice that I have always posted a picture of me wearing a white tank top and black shorts, while looking straight to the camera. (Boring, huh?) What that page doesn’t show is that I have also been taking a variety of other pictures all along as well. Pictures from the side, pictures from the rear, pictures of my bare belly, close-ups of my arms, legs, and face. I haven’t been posting these other views for a few reasons. Part of it is OCD and the fact that I didn’t want my pictures page to become too overcrowded. Another reason is modesty. I had considered sharing the bare belly photos of me a while back during the “Exposed” craze, but didn’t because I realized I was far too modest to be that exposed yet. I guess the biggest reason I hadn’t posted these other views was because up until now, there wasn’t really a major difference in the before and after, so I thought “What’s the point?”

Well, here is a side view of me as I was on September 28, 2009 (Day 1 of this journey) and me as I was on March 8, 2010 (Day 161 of this journey):

I can see a difference, can you? It’s weird, because when I look at my current photo by itself, I see a fat girl with belly rolls and cellulite. But something funny happens when I put the two together…I see a much healthier girl. A girl with a little bit of muscle definition just starting to appear. A girl whose collarbones are now visible for the first time in over a decade. A girl whose double chin has all but disappeared. (Score!) My face is starting to look different, more defined. My posture is better.

This realization is a pretty awesome feeling – one I’m NOT used to and one that’s hard to put into words – but that’s what I intend to do over the next few weeks. I hope to benefit greatly from this new series I’m starting and hopefully some of you will too.

Edited to add:

Check out the $50 shopping spree giveaway on Mary’s Weight Loss Blog! I can win a $50 Shopping Spree Giveaway from iHerb.com and so can you! Click here for contest details! I hope I win because their pancake mix looks delicious!

85.6 miles walked/jogged/ran since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 500)
14.9 miles biked since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 300)
(3) 5K finished since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 12)

I weighed in this morning at 212.6 lbs which is a .4 lb loss for the week. This brings my total weight loss so far to 43.4 pounds.

Nothing to write home about, eh? I’m still trending downwards, though, which is awesomely awesome. I’ll take a .4 loss over a gain any day!

It’s time for my first Weekend Warrior update. Thanks to Brandon for hosting this challenge!

Anyway, here are the three goals I set for myself this weekend and how I fared on each:

1. Work out Friday night for at least 30 minutes.

I did not do this. My mom got out of the hospital Friday, so after work we ate dinner and then immediately went to her house to visit and didn’t get home till late. I know that’s no excuse, I still could have done SOMEthing once I got home, but I didn’t. So I told myself I’d make up for it on Sunday. Which I didn’t do either.

2. Map out and walk/run 3 miles on Sunday.

Success. Felt good too!

3. Limit myself to 1 glass of tea each day.

Success. I actually only had one glass all weekend long. It’s a good thing not feeling weighed down by all that sugar.

I really want to thank Brandon for starting this challenge. It’s such a GREAT idea. I never really acknowledged the fact that weekends were my weakness prior to this. It’s also pretty dang cool reading the blogs of my fellow warriors, some of which I’d never been to before. I love meeting new people!

Another thing…As of Friday I was 26.5 miles (more than a marathon) away from reaching my Perfect 10 goal of 100. Since I got another 7.1 miles in this weekend, that leaves me with 19.4 miles left to do before Friday. (eek!) Even though this goal seemed so far out of reach, I said I was going to try and I meant it.

Lori had a good idea in my comments. She said:

For the walking, maybe tack on an extra 1.5 mile walk at the opposite end of the day where you do your usual one to get those miles in without getting too tired (or burnt out).

So here’s my plan:

Tonight: 3 miles
Tuesday morning: 3 miles
Tuesday Evening: 1.5 miles
Wednesday Morning: 3 miles
Wednesday Evening: 1.5 miles
Thursday Morning: 3 miles
Thursday Evening: 1.5 miles
Friday morning: 3 miles

for a total of 20.5 miles; just over my goal. Thanks Lori for the suggestion! Now I just have to stick to it. This is far more than I do on an average week, so wish me luck!

Edited to add: Check out this great giveaway over at Stellar Path, where you can win Jillian’s 30 Day Shred! I’ve read so many great things about this program; it’d be super cool to win it.

80.6 miles walked/jogged/ran since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 500)
13.9 miles biked since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 300)
(3) 5K finished since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 12)

I’ve been meaning to tell this story now for a few days, but have been otherwise preoccupied, so here goes.

Thursday night we went to the fair. Now, I have to tell you I was SO looking forward to going to the fair this year being 43 lbs lighter. In years past, there were a lot of rides that I just wouldn’t fit on, namely any ride that locks you in over your head/chest. So in past years I’d just settle for rides that didn’t have the over-the-head locking mechanism. It was just always kinda sad for me because I love roller coasters and scary thriller rides. So, needless to say, I was super excited to go this year 43 lbs lighter in anticipation of riding some of those rides, and one in particular: The “Speed” ride.

I’ve seen this ride in action before and it looked spectacularly scary. My kind of ride! It takes its passengers about 121 feet in the air while spinning them around and the entire arm also spins an entire 360 degrees.

It’s considered a ’specialty’ ride at our fair, which meant that you couldn’t use your armband to ride it. (We purchased armbands for unlimited rides). This ride only took tickets…ten of them for $11. I paid my $11 and waited patiently in line until the attendant told me ‘hop on up’. So I did. Here he is ‘locking me in’ my seat:

I fit! I really fit! So, I asked him to be sure, “I’m locked in, right?” and he said “yes” and came over and gave it another push to be sure.

Whew.

Ok, here we go.

The ride starts and awaaaaay we go! It was AWESOME. When we got all the way to the top, I was literally hanging there, looking down at my husband and kids and just thinking about how incredibly awesome that moment was. Here’s a picture my hubby snapped of me in that moment:

It didn’t last long.

We did two whole spins and then felt the ride slow down. The girl behind me said she didn’t know why we were slowing down, the ride was much longer than that. When we came to stop, the attendant came right up to me, pointed, and said “you gotta come off, you’re not locked in all the way”.

WHAT?!?!

He said, “yea, and I don’t want to get sued.”

I said “Well, I don’t want to DIE!”

So, that was it for my “Speed” ride experience. I mean, I heard it click in, but I guess it wasn’t ” locked”? I think I’m lucky it didn’t come undone while I was 121 ft in the air?!

After I got off the ride I quickly walked to my family and went on to finish our fair experience. I was trying not to be upset or embarrassed, but truthfully I was both. How could I not have been? I didn’t even think to ask for a refund or anything either, I was in such a hurry to move along, ya know?

Well, I can tell you one thing. I WILL lose the rest of this weight so that I never have this problem again…and you can take that to the bank!

Here’s the video of me going around in it and quickly coming to stop. You can even hear my husband say “that’s it?” He didn’t know why it was stopping so soon either.

80.6 miles walked/jogged/ran since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 500)
13.9 miles biked since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 300)
(3) 5K finished since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 12)

Well, I completed my third 5k of the year today. It’s the Hope, Love, and Faith 5K which benefited the Heil Luthringer Foundation which provieds education for those suffering with Multiple Sclerosis and other diseases. The race was at the Naples Philharmonic which is about an hour drive for us. My plan was to get up extra early so that we could get there with enough time for me to walk a good mile before the race started. I have found that if I don’t do this ‘warm up’ prior to any jogging or running that I get the worst shin splints ever. Unfortunately, I overslept, which threw my plan all the hell. I did get there in time for the race, but just barely. As such I had to go to Plan B and just walk the first 10 minutes or so of the race and hope that was enough to prevent shin splints. Luckily it was.

Something else to mention is that it was COLD this morning. Ok, it was in the 40’s, but for Florida, that is COLD. It was also the first time I’ve ever done any type of exercise in cold weather. I was nervous about how my breathing would be, but I managed OK. It was definitely harder to catch my breath than in the air controlled gym, but it wasn’t as horrible as I was imagining it being either. I will say though that all day my chest/lungs have felt “harsh” as a result. I’m hoping that I don’t get sick.

As I said above, I started off just walking fast and then after about 10 minutes or so I started doing running intervals. I’d walk for a minute and then run for a minute (or two). I bought a new watch a couple of weeks ago, this Nike Fury:

Wow, it was incredibly helpful to have! I’d recommend it (or a similar watch) to anyone. It really helped me to stay on track and I don’t think I’d have finished in the time I did without it.

There was a point in the race where I was almost in tears. My goal today was to finish in less than 50 minutes. I didn’t care if I was last as long as I could get under 50. So I passed mile marker 1 and felt like I was making good time, even though I had to walk the first half mile or so. So I kept on going, and going, and going. I was getting anxious because I’d look at my watch and see that I had been going for 40 minutes yet hadn’t passed the second mile marker yet. I was so scared I wasn’t going to make it in under 50 and really had to keep myself from tearing up over it. So at around 45 minutes or so, I turned a corner and saw mile marker 3 and the finish line not too far in the distance. Whew! There must not have been a marker for mile 2! Hehe! I felt silly then for getting so worked up over it. Anyway, I finished the race in 46:29 as you can see from the picture:

All things considered, I must say this was my favorite race so far. I felt the gamut of all sorts of emotions from being disappointed in myself when I thought I wasn’t going to break my record, to feeling so very proud of myself when I did. I also didn’t let the cold weather or me oversleeping prevent me from doing it. Well, I’ve gotta go get ready for the parade tonight. Hope you’re all having a great weekend so far – mine’s started out pretty damned good!

76.6 miles walked/jogged/ran since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 500)
13.9 miles biked since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 300)
(3) 5K finished since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 12)

Image by Pippa!

Time again for another Perfect 10 Update. Only one more week left people! Here were my Perfect 10 Goals and how I faired on each of them this week:

• Walk 100 miles over the course of the 10 weeks. This will help keep me on track to reach 500 for the year.

I walked and/or jogged 6.65 miles this week bringing my total for the year to 73.5 miles.

I need to walk 26.5 miles (a little more than a marathon!) over the next week in order to reach my goal of 100 miles. I think the most I’ve ever done in one week was 15 or 16, so I’m not so sure I can reach this, BUT I’M GOING TO TRY. I was doing so good on this, but got behind in the last couple weeks.

• Continue the C25K program, doing it at least 3 days per week until completed.

I made progress and am now up to Week 3, Day 1. I upped my pace too this week, doing my fastest mile yet: 13:39.

• Start riding my bike. No time or distance restraints for this. This one is purely just to get over my fear and DO it…at least once and I’ll be happy

Success! See this post.

• Not drink ANY soda. This is also a goal for the year.

So far so good! It’s been 158 days since I’ve had ANY soda. (Though I am STILL dreaming about it)

• Participate in (3) 5k races. This will help keep me on track to do 12 for the year.

I did the Calusa Bug Chase 5K and the Walk for Wishes already. I am signed up for the Hope, Love, and Faith 5K for MS which is tomorrow morning…So by tomorrow afternoon I’ll be able to say that I successfully achieved this goal!

• Start a garden.

I still haven’t started yet, but I do have a plan!
I wanted to get this going last weekend, but just didn’t. I am *hoping* to at least get all my materials this Sunday.

• Go to bed by 11:00 on work nights, but preferably 10:00.

5 out of 5 nights.

• Sign up for Karate (or another martial art if Karate isn’t available)

I had to put this on hold for a little while due to finances and time restraints.

• Go to the gym at least 3 times per week.

I only went twice this week.

• Stay within my budget every month (using YNAB) This is a yearly goal as well.

I am doing very well here.

• Read the Bible each day using this plan. Another yearly goal.

I’m still am behind, but slowly catching up.

The other part of this challenge is to post something that others may not have known about me. I was in JROTC for all four years of high school and for the longest time my goal was to be a Pilot for either the US Air Force or the Navy. As much teasing as I endured for being in ROTC in highschool, it taught me SO many valuable traits that I carry with me to this day. I never did join the military, but came very close. I had the opportunity to take a scholarship for college through ROTC and would have gone to OCS to become an officer. In full disclosure, I should mention that I’ve become quite a pacifist the older I’ve gotten. Please don’t misconstrue that to mean that I am against our troops because that couldn’t be farther from the truth. I have nothing but respect for the men and women who serve our country in such an honorable way…and yes, even though I consider myself a pacifist, I also think serving in the military is honorable. I’m weird, I know! Me being a ‘pacifist’ just means that the Josie today wouldn’t even consider joining the military, yet that was the primary goal of the Josie 20 years ago and the idea of being a soldier pretty much consumed me back then. I still want to get my pilot’s license, though…that hasn’t changed.

Me, circa 1990:

73.5 miles walked/jogged/ran since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 500)
13.9 miles biked since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 300)
(2) 5K finished since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 12)