Where I’m At & Where I’m Going

This post is long overdue. And it’s going to be a long one.

It’s no secret that I struggled pretty bad last month. Thankfully, I’m making strides now to “come back” and re-lose what I gained. I’m getting my mojo back and I sure don’t want to lose it again…so that’s where this post comes in. I want to give a complete status update on where I am currently in my journey as well as share my plans going forward.

This is me wiping my hands clean of the last month and starting anew.

WHERE I’M AT:

Mondays are my ‘official’ weigh-in days and as of Monday of this week I weighed 200.5 lbs. I’ve lost a total of 55.5 pounds since the beginning of my journey 9 months ago, which is 21.6% of my starting weight.

When I started this journey, my BMI was 44.1, which meant that I fell into the “morbidly obese” category. At 5′-3″ and 200.5 lbs, my BMI is now at 35.5, which means I’m just “obese” now without the “morbidly”.

My measurements as of today are as follows:

Waist: 44 1/4″ (3″ smaller than it was on 1/25/10 and 5 1/4″ smaller than it was on 7/27/07.)
Chest: 45 1/2 (3″ smaller than it was on 1/25/10 and 8 1/2″ smaller than it was on 7/27/07.)
Hips: 49″ (3 3/4″ smaller than it was on 1/25/10 and 5″ smaller than it was on 7/27/07.)
Thigh: 23 1/2″ (1 3/4″ smaller than it was on 1/25/10 and 3″ smaller than it was on 7/27/07.)

So, OVERALL, I’ve lost 5 1/4″ in my waist, 8 1/2″ in my chest, 5″” in my hips, and 3″ in my thigh.

So that’s where I am in the numbers. Now let’s see where I am in pictures.

WHERE I’M GOING:

One of my good friends, Steve, recently wrote about his struggle and his PLAN to overcome it. His posts on that really inspired me to regain my footing and part of that process is to instill some new goals (and maybe resurrect some new ones).

That’s the one thing this journey has made me — very goal oriented. I LOVED being part of the various challenges that have been out there, especially the ones that required a weekly check-in on our goals. I attribute a lot of the success I’ve had to those challenges! It’s been months though, since I’ve last been a part of one…and although I said I was going to continue weekly goal tracking anyway, I didn’t. That changes now.

NEW WEEKLY GOALS:

• Run at least 10 miles this week.

Many of you know that my goal for the year is to run/walk/jog 500 miles. So far, I’m at 179.8 miles logged. I’ve fallen behind. I’m still confident that I’ll reach my goal, especially as my miles increase in my half-marathon training, but I need to at least get 10 in per week to stay on track.

• Ride my bike at least once this week.

You may recall that I was actually scared to ride one for a long time, but finally did several months back. I really don’t enjoy bike riding, but that may be just because I never do it and haven’t given it a chance to grow on me.

• Not drink ANY soda.

So far, it’s been 277 days since I last had a drink of soda and I’d like to make it a year.

• Eat breakfast everyday.

I’ve struggled with this since the beginning, but there is a clear difference in my energy levels on the days I have breakfast and the days I don’t. I perform better with it!

• Go to bed by 11:00 on work nights, and by 8:00 PM on Friday nights.

I meet with Caleb’s Crusade at 5:30 on Saturday mornings, so that’s why I need to be in bed so early on Fridays.

• Do one exercise class this week (Yoga, kickboxing, bootcamp, etc)

I was doing SO well when I was attending the kickboxing class every week, so I’d like to start going again. I’m really looking forward to incorporating this back into my routine.

• Keep my training log updated.

I need to keep up with this, even on the days I can’t get online…so I have a paper journal that I will use for those times.

• Do 5 days of training per Caleb’s Crusade schedule.

Well, I obviously couldn’t discuss my goals and the future of my journey without talking about Caleb’s Crusade! They are the group that I am running the Disney Half-Marathon in January with/for and what an amazing group of people! I feel so blessed to have met them. My training consists of 2 days of running through the week (usually Monday and Wednesday) and 2 days of cross training through the week (usually Tuesday and Thursday) and then our “long run” on Saturdays with the group. For my cross training, I want to ride my bike one of the days, and then whatever class I join (see above) will be my second day of cross.

For our long run this week (tomorrow) we are on schedule to run 5.5 miles. The longest I have ran thus far without stopping to walk is 4.5 miles, so we will see how I do. I’m not going to over-push myself, but I really would like to see if I can run the whole way. I am also planning on getting my new running shoes tomorrow that I won! I wish I could have gotten them already so that I could wear them for tomorrow’s run, but my schedule just didn’t allow for it.

So that’s it. Those are my new weekly goals, some of which may look familiar to you. I’ll check in every Friday** with an update. Speaking of goals, I’ve updated my goals pages here and here if you want to take a look.

**You may recall from my last post that I don’t have internet at home right now. This was a hard decision for us to make as a family, but it was necessary. So, for the next few months, my internet access will be limited to my lunch hour at work or whenever I can go to the library or use a friend’s computer. When I can get on, I’m going to try to keep my blog updated as much as I can…if nothing else, I’ll at least post my weekly weigh-ins (Mondays) and weekly goal updates (Fridays). I need to do that for me. For my journey. The worst part about this is that I won’t be as connected to you all as I once was. I have really thrived on the accountability and encouragement I get from you guys and am not sure how successful I can be without it. Obviously, I won’t be able to read your blogs and comment like I used to. However, I can encourage you on facebook or through email (both of which I can access on my phone). So I’d love for you to add me on facebook or email me (josiephelps @ inbox .com) if you want to stay connected that way. ♥

I warned you this was going to be a long post! Congrats if you read the whole thing…hehe.

179.8 miles walked/jogged/ran since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 500)
49.5 miles biked since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 300)
(6) 5Ks finished since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 12)

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!