I got this idea from the lovely Mary over at A Merry Life and thought I would join in on the food love/hate fest.

FIVE FOODS I USED TO LOVE:

Burger King Whoppers I had these nearly everyday for lunch during the work week. MmmmMMm. I’d scarf two down, along with fries and/or onion rings literally almost every day. I am happy to say I haven’t had a BK burger since September.

Ice Cream I’ve been known to eat a whole quart of cookies ‘n cream ice cream before. This is something else I haven’t indulged in since I started this back in September.

Pasta made from white flour Pasta is a huge weakness of mine, I just love the stuff. Now when I have it I eat whole wheat pasta which is so much better than the white stuff. I don’t ever want to eat the white flour stuff again.

Cheese I was always a HUGE cheese lover and would eat cheese on lots of stuff. The more the better. I still like cheese, but since September, I’ve been real careful about having less. Like when we have chicken tacos, I eat mine without cheese now and honestly, I DON’T MISS IT AT ALL.

Pepsi Drinks count, right? Hi, my name is Josie and I’m a recovering soda addict. I had a long sordid affair with the stuff and am SO glad it’s finally over. Yes, I still crave it from time to time, but with each passing day it gets better.

FIVE FOODS I LOVE:

Fruit Parfait This has become my new favorite treat. I’ll take some plain greek yogurt (something I never had prior to September!) and add some fruit, either fresh or frozen. MMMmmmm. I love this stuff and it’s so good for you.

Whole Grain Pasta See above list. I just love this stuff and wish I had tried it a lot sooner in life. I don’t eat near the amount of pasta I used to, but when I do, at least I know I have a healthier option.

BLT I love BLT sandwiches and take one for lunch a lot of days now.

Strawberries My favorite fruit! I eat strawberries as a side dish with dinner a lot of nights…so yummy! I also love foods made with strawberries like strawberry pie (Perkins is the BEST), strawberry muffins, etc.

Mashed Potatoes Oh, how I love thee! I haven’t had any since I started in September. None, at all. Not even for Thanksgiving and Christmas…but I still want them SO bad. Potatoes are truly a weakness of mine. I was telling Lynne the other day that it was nothing for us to get up on a Saturday morning and fry up a whole 10 lb bag of taters. Talk about portion control!

FIVE FOODS I HATE:

Mayo I’m lucky in this regard because I see a lot of dieters struggle with trying to eat less/no mayo. I have always hated the stuff!

Greens Turnip greens, collard greens, etc…YUCK. I may be a southern girl, but not when it comes to greens! blech!

Sour Cream Ew. Just Ew.

Rye Bread Just something about the aftertaste it leaves, I can’t stand it.

Oats I really wished I liked these because I could always use more fiber in my diet and some of the dishes I see made with oats ‘look’ so good. But, something about the texture I just can’t stomach them.

Feel free to join in on the food love/hate fest! It was neat to sorta jog my brain and ponder how my eating habits have changed over the last five months!

I don’t know if I ever mentioned this before, but my mom had the Lap Band surgery a couple years ago. Well, she’s had a lot of complications since then and now her gall bladder has stopped working altogether. So, tomorrow morning she’s having surgery to have her gall bladder removed. Hopefully all goes well. In the past I would have just gone up to the hospital after work, but in light of all the loss this past month (my uncle, Steve’s dad, beej’s uncle, and Karyn’s dad) I don’t want to take any chances, so I’ve taken the day off tomorrow to be with her. If you feel led to pray or send good thoughts, I’d sure appreciate it on her behalf.

In other news, if all goes well with her tomorrow, I will be doing something very exciting with my family tomorrow evening. Stay tuned for more details!

71.5 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)

Image by Pippa!

Time again for another Perfect 10 Update. I can’t believe there are only two weeks left to this challenge! Wow, time sure does fly. 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 6.5 miles this week bringing my total for the year to 66.85 miles.

This means I need to walk another 33 miles over the next two weeks since I let myself get a little behind. I can do this.

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

I am happy to report that I am now working on
Week 3, day 1.

I’m very thrilled with the progress I’ve made in this. Getting below a 16 minute mile, and then 15 was a major accomplishment for me and now it’s become a real game for me to do a quicker mile each time I try. The night before last I completed a mile in just over 14 minutes. I’m amazed at how quickly my endurance has improved in such a short time since I’ve started jogging.

• 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 151 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 already.

I need to do one more. I was planning on doing the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure, but can’t because my daughter will be in another parade that day. (I’m sad I have to wait another year to participate, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles ) So, I signed up for the Hope, Love, and Faith 5K for MS, which will take place on March 6. Technically, that’s one day after the Perfect 10 challenge ends, but close enough for me!

• Start a garden.

I still haven’t started yet, but I do have a plan!
I really, really need to get this started…SOON.

• 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.

I only went once this week, not for lack of motivation, but just had an incredibly busy week with lots of stuff scheduled.

• 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 once on the Sally Jesse Raphael show. Crazy, huh? It was for family drama I’d rather not go into. I was 18 at the time and it was my first and only time ever to New York. We were so rushed though that we didn’t get to sightsee at all, so going back to NYC and experiencing all it has to offer has always been a dream of mine (and of course, without the family drama )

Those of you on my facebook may have seen this last night, but I was/am super stoked, so it bears repeating here. Lookie what I can do now!

66.85 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)

Let me warn you right now – this is going to be a very long post. I am still computer-less at home for the moment. We are having a local PC shop build us a new one, which is new experience for us, I am excited about getting our new system just the way we want it at a lower price than the box stores could’ve given us. Hopefully it’ll be ready to pick up tomorrow or Thursday, so until then I’m stuck blogging from my phone or from my work computer as I’m doing now…don’t worry, though, I’m on my lunch hour

First things first, yesterday’s weigh-in results:

I weighed in yesterday at 215.4 lbs which is a 2.6 lb loss for the week. This brings my total weight loss so far to 40.6 pounds!

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t stoked about this. I’m SO close to being out of the 200s now, I can hardly believe it. By the way, I’ve decided how I’m going to reward myself once I do hit the elusive “Onederland”…DAVE MATTHEWS BAND tickets! They’ve been my favorite band for 18 years, yet somehow I’ve managed to go all this time without ever once seeing them live. (oh the shame of it all!) Every summer my sister goes and every summer it’s another excuse as to why I can’t, but not this year. I’ve got the money put aside so the day I step on the scale and the number staring back at me begins with a 1 instead of a 2, I’m ordering tickets. OH YEAH! If that isn’t motivation enough to stay on track, then I don’t know what is.

Now onto some fun stuff. You may recall this post back in November when we first started working on the float for my daughter’s clogging team. Here’s what it looked like back then, before we started:

and here’s what it looked like the day of the Edison Junior Parade on Valentines Day:

Pretty awesome, huh? Our theme was “Winter Wonderland” and we have been working on it almost every weekend for the past few months along with several other clogger parents. Here is a picture of it all lit up during the Edison Grand Parade this past Saturday night (see all the cloggers in there dancing?):

And a few more pictures to share…we had SO much fun.

Here I am with Madelyn, my little clogger, right before the Junior parade on Valentines Day. Please note, I live in Florida where heavy coats are not usually required, I’m wearing it to coordinate with our winter theme. (I walked alongside the float, so I had to be in theme). I bought the coat and scarf specifically for the parade…Note: The coat is an XL and was way too small for me…I couldn’t close it any more than what you see in the picture, but I bought it that way on purpose…maybe by next winter it will be too large!

Here’s a closeup of the ‘igloo’ portion of the float:

Can you believe there’s a truck in there?

And here is our title “Clogging on thin ice for Mr. Edison”:

For those unfamiliar, the Edison Festival of Lights is a 3 week celebration of Thomas Edison who resided in Ft. Myers during the winter months. The festival is our way of honoring his innovative legacy and includes many events including the junior parade, the Grand parade, a Day of Discovery, and a 5K run.

For the Grand Parade, a couple of the moms made these really cute lighted snowflakes for the walkers to wear…here I am sporting mine:

And now a video, that is so incredibly embarrassing, but we had a lot of fun. Click here to watch the youtube video, you’ll get a kick out of it, I’m sure! (I’m the one in the white/black coat with hot pink scarf). Sorry, I couldn’t get it to embed for some reason, so please watch it from youtube.

Laughing yet? See, I told you you’d get a kick out of it! I’m pretty good at the air guitar, aren’t I?

The parades were a blast! It was a totally new experience for us because it was my daughter’s first year on the team. Being in the parades also helped me realize just how far I’d come in the last five months. Five months ago, there was no way I could have walked in those parades. NO WAY. Especially the grand parade which was rather long and we were moving FAST…jogging speed. The route itself was about 3 miles long, but you have to remember I was jumping all around, dancing, and working the crowd along the streets. It wasn’t just a casual walk. We got home that night and my feet had blisters because of the shoes I had on, but I was so thankful for the positive changes I’ve made in my life over the past 5 months, because had it not been for that, I wouldn’t have been able to have enjoyed that experience with my daughter. How’s that for a non-scale victory? We’ll be in yet another parade in 2 weeks!

Gosh, I told ya this was gonna be a long post…and truth be known, there’s so much more I want to write…it’s been really hectic around here the past few weeks. Please forgive me for not coming by your blogs, but without a home PC and as busy as we’ve been, it’s really difficult to do. Just a couple more days and things should be back to normal around here.

Edited to add: I can’t believe I forgot to post this part, but we won “Most Outstanding” float in both parades!

64.35 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)

Today was the Walk for Wishes 5K that I was doing with my friend Lynne and my sister Christina. I must say that this event was pretty badly organized. They were still marking the route just a few minutes before the race began and it was very confusing. There were several places where flags were marked in two directions and we pretty much had to guess whether or not we were going the right way. My sister and Lynne were pretty sure that they went the wrong way for about 5 minutes before getting back on the right track. To top it all off, when we finished the time was 36 minutes. As much as I wish that were my time for 3.1 miles, there’s NO WAY it was accurate. So, we’re all pretty sure that the route wasn’t actually 3.1 miles, but probably around 2.5. I felt bad for Lynne since this was her first one and all, but we still had a great time and I know it was a great experience for her anyway.

You can click on each picture for a full size view.

Here’s me and Lynne just before the race:

Me and my sister:

The three of us (I really like this shot of us):

Here we are crossing the finish line – yay!

The three of us after the race posing at the start/finish line:

And these last three were just us having fun before the race started:

I’m glad they did it with me because in all honesty, I might not have finished had they not been there. I started off jogging and did great for the first .25 mile but then I got the worst.shin.splints.ever. My legs were on fire and every step I took just hurt worse and worse. I really wasn’t sure I was going to be able to finish, but I kept seeing Lynne and my sister ahead of me and that helped motivate me to press on. After the race, we all three went to the gym together and worked out for like an hour I think? I did about 5 miles on the exercise bike and then got on the treadmill. While on the treadmill, my time at .8 of a mile was 15 minutes and I just thought I would try to beat my fastest time…so I upped my speed and jogged my heart out. Then I upped my speed some more, the fastest I’ve ever gone – 5.5 mph. I wasn’t sure my legs could keep up but they did. Of course, I had Christina and Lynne there to cheer me on! I finished in 17:23.

Overall it was an AWESOME day with two AWESOME women! My legs are hating me right now, but it was all worth it! ♥ If you have time, won’t you stop by Lynne’s blog and congratulate her on her first 5K? She rocks! ♥

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

Image by Pippa!

Can’t believe we’re already through Week 5…it’s time again for another Perfect 10 Update.

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 11 miles this week. This brings my total for the year to 41.6 miles.
• Continue the C25K program, doing it at least 3 days per week until completed.Success
• 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 130 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 in January and am participitating tin the Walk for Wishes TOMORROW! I found a third I want to do, but I still need to register.
• Start a garden. Still haven’t started yet, but I do havea plan!
• Go to bed by 11:00 on work nights, but preferably 10:00. Only made it 2 out of 5 nights!
• Sign up for Karate (or another martial art if Karate isn’t available) 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. Doing well here.
• Read the Bible each day using this plan. Another yearly goal. I’ve caught up on a lot this week, but still am behind.

Another productive week behind me. I had some great workouts, the best being kickboxing last night. My eating was on target all week with the exception of Wednesday, but I’ve moved on, so I won’t dwell on it here. Tomorrow is the Walk for Wishes and I’m super excited about it! I’m also super excited for Lynne because she’ll be doing it with me and it’ll be her first. She’s a little nervous, but I know she’ll do great! My sister has also decided to join us.

The other part of this challenge is to post something that others may not have known about me.

When I was 23 I was a waitress and a single mom of a toddler. I decided to move from Florida to North Carolina to be near my sister and to go back to school and (finally) get the engineering degree I had always wanted. Well, I had to wait a year until I’d be a ‘resident’ so that I could get in-state tuition and I guess you can say that a lot happened in that year. I met Darren (who is now my husband) and I was soon pregnant with my second child. For most people, that would have meant putting any college dreams on hold (again). Not me – I had put it off for too long as it was and didn’t want to wait anymore. So I signed up for fall classes anyway, pregnant and all. I’ll never forget it because the first day of classes was August 13th and my original due date was a week later, August 20th! I got all kinds of weird looks thrown at me So, that’s something most people don’t know about me…and it was one of the best decisions I’d ever made in my life – EXTREMELY hard to be a mom, student, and full time waitress, but SO worth it when I walked that stage 3 years later. Of course, the decision to lose weight and get healthy is up there too!

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

Today was the Calusa Bug Chase 5k that I walked/jogged in with my two daughters. Here are the three of us just before the race:

Our shoe time chip tags:

A quick picture before the start:

The beginning of the walk was along part of the trail that goes through Calusa Nature Center. It was SO beautiful.

And here was the view to our side:

Here’s my youngest daughter, Madelyn, running toward the finish line:

Here’s my oldest daughter, Marisa, right after the race:

And here’s me, running toward the finish line. Yes, running!

That may not be the most flattering picture, but I was so friggen proud of myself today that I don’t care! I walked for the first two miles and alternated between jogging and walking for the last mile, with a RUN toward the finish. I finished in just over 50 minutes, so that means I was about 7 minutes quicker today than I was for the Turkey Trot back in November. Oh, you may recall from yesterday that my biggest concern was going to be that I would be the slowest one out there. I was also concerned that there would be a time limit on the race and they would disqualify me (or us) if we didn’t finish under a certain time. Well, they didn’t disqualify us, but Marisa and I were the last ones to finish, and you know what? It didn’t bother me at all! I’m stoked that I am now able to jog as much as I am (and run at the end!) considering back in November I had doubts as to whether or not I could even WALK that far. See, it’s little improvements like this that gives me the confidence to believe that someday I will be able to run an entire 5k. I’ve still a long way to go, but if I just keep progressing, I will get there! (By the way, Madelyn ran ahead of us early on and finished in 35 minutes! I was so proud of them both!)

After the race we went to eat breakfast at Bob Evans…oh boy at all the unhealthy choices there! I did good though. I had their ‘lite eggs’ scrambled, dry wheat toast, a 1/2 slice of ham, and lowfat yogurt with fresh strawberries and bananas….mmmm was it good!

One last note. I updated yesterday’s post with a new goal for the year (and Perfect 10). Now that I’m bike riding, I’d like to bike at least 300 miles this year. So, I’ll be logging that at the bottom of my posts along with the walking and 5Ks. It will help me to keep track of it all.

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

I can’t believe we’re already into Week 3 of the year! As such, it’s time for my Perfect 10 Update.

Image by Pippa!

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 have walked 14.5 miles so far. I’m a little behind on this, but not not too far that I can’t catch up.
• Continue the C25K program, doing it at least 3 days per week until completed.I only did this once this week.
• 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. MAJOR success here – See this post
• Not drink ANY soda. This is also a goal for the year. So far so good! It’s been 116 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 am now registered for 2 – The Calusa Bug Chase which is tomorrow and the Walk for Wishes on Feb. 6th. I still need to find a 3rd.
• Start a garden. Not yet, but I have decided to go with Square Foot Gardening at the recommendation of Steve and Karyn . (Thanks!) So at least now, I have a plan.
• Go to bed by 11:00 on work nights, but preferably 10:00. Succeeded 4 out of 5 nights.
• Sign up for Karate (or another martial art if Karate isn’t available) All signed up for my first session next Monday! See this post for more info.
• Go to the gym at least 3 times per week. Did not make it to the gym at all this week.
• Stay within my budget every month (using YNAB) This is a yearly goal as well. Doing well here.
• Read the Bible each day using this plan. Another yearly goal. I have a lot of catching up to do on this.

Overall, I’m content with where I am. As I posted yesterday and the day before, my week hadn’t really gone as planned and as a result my workouts suffered. I had good intentions, but in the end I had to find the balance between family and this new lifestyle of mine, and family will always be my first priority. I did get a lot accomplished though between walking the bridge, fitting into size 20 jeans, and riding a bike finally.

Also, in case you missed it above, I am participating in my first 5k of the year tomorrow at the Calusa Nature Center. It’s called the Calusa Bug Chase and it’s sponsored by the Kiwanis. The reason it’s called “Bug Chase” is because the proceeds go to help their “Bug” program which stands for Bringing Up Grades. It also coincides with the Nature Center’s “Creepy Crawlie Day” tomorrow. (Looks like fun, eh? ) However, when I signed up, there was no option to sign up as a walker; only as a runner. So I am kinda sorta (okay, maybe A LOT) nervous about being the slowest one out there. I am not letting that stop me from going though. The good part is that both of my daughters wanted to do it with me, so I will not be alone. At least if I’m last, we’ll all be last together.

The other part of this challenge is to post something that others may not have known about you. I’ll keep it simple and just share another of my fears – escalators. I saw a movie a long time ago that showed a woman dying a gruesome death in one and ever since then I’ve feared them. I will get on one, but I have to remain completely still, staring down at one spot, holding on to the side the entire time. It freaks me out even more to see people walking up or down them.

Update: I have decided to add a new goal for the year and for the Perfect 10 as well. I’d like to bike 300 miles for the year. I hope to have ridden 50 miles by the end of the Perfect 10.

14.5 miles walked/jogged/ran since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 500)
6.4 miles biked since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 300)

My day started out with just taking some random pictures of one of our cats, LuLu, while she sat outside. Hey, Kat, here is our Lu Lu! (I recently learned that Kat also has a cat named Lu Lu.)

After that, me and the girls headed over a birthday party. My friend Lynne’s daughter was having her 5th birthday at this awesome little pottery painting place. I wish I had known about this place sooner, it was SO COOL. The kids picked out a pottery piece and then they each got to paint their piece. Here are my girls painting theirs. Marisa picked a cat and Madelyn picked a ladybug:

After the party, I decided to go to the mall because the Borders is closing shop and they have all their books on sale for up to 80% off!!!. I scored! Got a couple great books I have been wanting for a while, plus a few gifts for some upcoming birthdays. While in the mall, I thought I would stop in the women’s department, just to SEE what they had and how new clothes would fit me now. This morning at the party, my friend Lynne was sporting some new capris she had just gotten, that fit her great, so I was curious to see what I could find. Since all my 24s are pretty loose now, I was thinking I’d fit into a 22 pretty good. Boy was I WRONG…

look at me…

…sporting a size 20 jeans! TWENTY! I was just “window shopping” so I didn’t buy them, but HOLY COW was I stoked. No wonder I have to keep pulling my pants up…I’m two sizes smaller now! (Speaking of pants, this song is my new ringtone, haha, LOVE that song)

So, later in the day I decided to go walk the Edison Bridge. (You may recall my previous post regarding this bridge) Anyway, here’s the view as I was just starting out:

And here is the part I TOTALLY underestimated; the INCLINE. Killer. My legs were on fire after I got done climbing this sucker and then back up the other side.

Here’s a nice little picture of a sailboat I saw during the walk:

And here is the view from the very top of the bridge looking down:

Overall, it was a great walk and I’m glad I finally did it – not to mention it allowed me to add 3 more miles to my total for the year:

14.5/500

Week 2 of the new year has come to and end, so that means it’s also time for my Perfect 10 Update, which is hosted by Steve.

Image by Pippa!

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 have walked 11.5 miles so far. I’m a little behind on this. As you know I incorporated Zumba and kickboxing into my schedule this week, so that unfortunately took time away from my walking.
• Continue the C25K program, doing it at least 3 days per week until completed. Success. Each time I try I’m able to jog farther without having to stop. I will not give up on this.
• 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. Not yet.
• Not drink ANY soda. This is also a goal for the year. So far so good! I’m on day 109 of not having ANY soda.
• Participate in (3) 5k races. This will help keep me on track to do 12 for the year. I am now registered for 2 – The Calusa Bug Chase on Jan 23rd and the Walk for Wishes on Feb. 6th. I still need to find a 3rd.
• Start a garden. Not yet, but I am still doing research for it. I know nothing about gardening, so this is a real learning experience for me.
• Go to bed by 11:00 on work nights, but preferably 10:00. Succeeded 3 out of 5 nights.
• Sign up for Karate (or another martial art if Karate isn’t available) Not yet.
• Go to the gym at least 3 times per week.Success. I went four times this week after work and plan on going tomorrow morning. (Today is my rest day)
• Stay within my budget every month (using YNAB) This is a yearly goal as well. Eh, not so much. I had a couple purchases this week that got me a little off track. Nothing that can’t be rectified by next week though.
• Read the Bible each day using this plan. Another yearly goal. Epic FAIL on this. Did no reading at all this week.

Overall I’m happy with where I’m at, especially in the area of fitness. I’ve increased the intensity of my workouts big time and I’m hoping for a much better result on the scale come Monday’s weigh-in.

The other part of this challenge is to post something that others may not have known about me. I was on the Crew team during my two semesters at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. I know, shocking, huh? I often think back and wonder how different my life might have been had I just stayed with it. We met almost daily at about 4 AM where we ran FOUR miles on the beach (Daytona), and do other exercises such as squats and jumping jacks. After the workout, we’d carry the boat into the water and just row our hearts out. It was such an amazing experience, one that I’d love to do again. Coach Quinn was our coach that year and he was such a great mentor to me. I was the heaviest person on our team, but he accepted me anyway under the premise that I wouldn’t want to take short cuts and that I would work as hard as everyone else. He gave me a chance, ya know? Things like that you just don’t forget.

11.5/500

Well, so far, so good on my goals. I’m starting the year off in the right direction! I’ve never accomplished any of my past resolutions, but knowing I already have a head start with my weight loss, gives me a whole new confidence that I will reach this year’s goals! 28 pounds lost, 93 to go!

One of my goals is to walk (12) 5Ks for the year; one a month. My friend, Lynne, told me she was walking in the Walk for Wishes 5K for the Make a Wish Foundation on Feb. 6 and she invited me to walk with her. I am now officially registered for it and if you’d like to support this great cause, you can make a donation on my page here or Lynne’s page here. She is walking in memory of her friend’s daughter, Amelia Engram, who died on July 1, 2009 at the tender age of 2. ♥