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)

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)

I’ve decided to join the Weekend Warriors Challenge being offered by Brandon.

Weekends are my weakness when it comes to exercise. Don’t get me wrong, I’m active and I get out and do stuff, but I rarely go to the gym on the weekends or purposefully exercise -that’s always been reserved for the workweek. So this challenge will be good for me and might also prove to be beneficial to my weigh-ins, which are always on Mondays, right at the close of the weekend.

The rules are simple; Set 2-3 health/fitness related goals each weekend and report our progress on Monday. Here are the three things I want to accomplish this weekend so I can be a warrior!

1. Work out Friday night (something I never do) for at least 30 minutes.
2. Map out and walk/run 3 miles on Sunday. If any of my local friends read this and want to do this together, let me know!
3. Limit myself to 1 glass of tea each day. (I’ve noticed that I’ve been drinking way too much tea on the weekends and not enough water.)

So those are my goals. I should also point out that I should be getting a fair amount of exercise in on Saturday as well. I’ll be doing the Hope, Love, & Faith MS 5K Run/Walk first thing Saturday morning. By the way, my goal for this one is to complete it in less than 50 minutes. I think/hope this is reachable since I’ve been increasing my pace lately. Then, Saturday night, we’ll be in yet another parade:

This will be the Celebrate Cape Coral parade, and I’ll again be walking (as a snowflake) along with my daughter’s float. The route is about 2 miles long, I think, so that’ll be a total of about 5 miles for Saturday alone.

Now for an update on my mom; thank you to everyone for all the well wishes and prayers you sent our way. The surgery went well and she’s recovering. There were some issues yesterday with her blood pressure. It was at 72/38 when she came out of surgery and they couldn’t get it to go up until around 6:30 last night, but at least it did finally go up. When I called her this morning, she informed me that she had ran a fever all night, so hopefully they’re able to stop the fever and she doesn’t run into any more issues. There was a rather emotional moment yesterday. After surgery, the three of us were just sitting in her room and she was talking her weight and she said she was so proud of me and my sister for losing the weight we have to be healthy so that we won’t end up with a lot of the health issues she has. She said she only wished someone would have told her years ago how it would have affected her life because she would have made changes a long time ago, not only for herself, but she also said she would have fed us differently as children. I don’t blame my mother in the least and I told her she had nothing to apologize for. It was just the kind of moment that sticks with you though and makes me even more committed to this new lifestyle of mine, not just for me, but for MY children. Ya know?

72.5 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)

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)

Image by Pippa!

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 13.25 miles this week. This brings my total for the year to 54.85 miles.

I am on right on target. I’ll be walking 3 miles with Lynne tomorrow and another 4 on Sunday for the parade my daughter’s in.

• Continue the C25K program, doing it at least 3 days per week until completed.Success – and I have finally completed Day 1. I’ve been working on this for a while and could never actually complete it the way it’s written. I successfully did Day 1 on Wednesday, so now I’m working on doing day 2.
• 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 137 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. 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. So, I need to find a third.
• 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. 4 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! I went 5 times 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’m still am behind, but slowly catching up.

I also wanted to mention that I beat my fastest time again. The other night I posted the picture from the treadmill that I did a mile in 16:25, remember? Well, I went back the next night and did a mile in 15:15. This was also the night that I successfully completed day 1 of C25K. I’d walk at 3.2 mph for 90 seconds and then jog/run at 4.5 mph for 90 seconds and kept alternating. I turned it up to 5.0 mph for the last 45 seconds or so and was so incredibly happy when I saw that I had done a mile in 15:15. My great accomplishment of the week!

The other part of this challenge is to post something that others may not have known about me. We moved around A LOT when I was a kid. Up until my junior year of high school I had never went to the same school for an entire year. I think we counted them up one time and I lived in almost 30 different places by the time I was 15. People think I was a Military kid when I tell them this, but I wasn’t. Between us being poor and my step-father being a wanted man for a lot of years, moving was just a way of life for us. This did not bode well for my social life. I got to where I didn’t want to make any friends at all for fear I would just have to say goodbye. I think that’s why I’m so reserved as an adult and have a hard time putting myself out there to make friends.This is probably one of the reasons why the social networking aspect of the internet has been a Godsend for me.

P.S. My home computer crashed, so I apologize for not being able to read and comment on everyone’s blogs. Surfing the net from my phone is great for email and quick tweets and such, but not really for in-depth reading. Hopefully, I’ll be back up and running soon.

54.85 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)

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)

Image by Pippa!

Wow, it’s that time again for another Perfect 10 Update…can you believe we’re already done with Week 4??

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 SIXTEEN miles this week! That’s the most for me so far in one week. So I really did some catching up this week. This brings my total for the year to 30.5 miles.
• Continue the C25K program, doing it at least 3 days per week until completed.MAJOR 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 123 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 last weekend and am registered for the Walk for Wishes on Feb. 6th. I still need to find a 3rd.
• 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. Succeeded 5 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.I went FOUR times this week, two of which were in the same day.
• 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.

Had a GREAT week fitness wise. WOW, probably the most intense so far. I have really been trying to push myself to go farther and faster on the treadmill. I am so determined to become a runner…someday. I just realized tonight that I don’t really have any foodie goals in the Perfect 10. Surprisingly, I’ve been doing rather well with my eating, and I hope that continues. I do want to start trying new foods, and eat more whole/organic foods, maybe I’ll work on those things in the next challenge.

The other part of this challenge is to post something that others may not have known about you. I already let the cat out of the bag to Pippa, so I told her this would be my next Perfect 10 secret so I could give more details. I have a tattoo! The tattoo is of a black cat sitting tall, with bright green eyes and a pretty pink bow. The reason I chose this design is too personal to share, however I will say that this cat completely represented me and my life at the time I got it at the ripe old age of 20. I’m no longer the same person I was 15 years ago (who is?) but I don’t regret getting it at all. Every time I look at it, I’m reminded of who I was then, who I am now, and the journey between the two. The other day when I was talking about rewards I mentioned that I already knew how I wanted to reward myself when I reach my final goal weight…well, I want another tattoo. I’ve wanted another one for years now, but have resisted because I didn’t want to get it while I was fat. I have told myself for the last decade that if I ever lost weight I’d get another one, so that’s what I intend to do! While I don’t have a specific design yet for my future tat, I’d love to get one of my girls’ faces. I have another 88 pounds to lose before I reach my goal, so I have lots of time to figure it out.

So now you know! Do you have any tattoos?

30.5 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)

Well, the good news is that I went back to the gym last night which was a first for me to go twice in one day! Another first was my total mileage for the day – 6.4 miles! This brings my total so far for the year to 25.

The bad news is that am plum pooped today! And a bit sore. My left hip, especially. I haven’t mentioned this before, but my left hip has been getting sore after I jog. At first I thought it was just a normal soreness to be expected after a workout or for someone my size trying to jog…but it’s ONLY my left hip. Wouldn’t they both be sore if it were just normal soreness? It has me a little concerned that there’s something else going on with my left hip, but there’s really nothing I can do about it right now, so I’ll just try to listen to my body the best I can.

Now for the fun stuff! I’ve been reading many of your blogs and one thing I see quite frequently is that you all reward yourself once you reach certain milestones. Certainly this would do wonders for your motivation having something else to look forward to, would it not? So, I’ve decided to join in and start rewarding myself! You may recall when I reached my first milestone of losing 25 lbs back in December. Well, I’ve decided to retroactively reward myself for that with this Camelbak water bottle:

It should be here tomorrow

Here are my milestones I have listed in my right sidebar:

231: 25 Pounds lost (Reached 12/14/2009)
199: Will be my first time under 200 lbs in 14 yrs
160: Lowest weight I can remember being as an adult
156: 100 Pounds lost
135: Final Goal Weight

My next one will be when I hit what’s popularly known as “onederland”. I’m going to have to ponder what my reward will be for that and the other milestones. I will say this. I already know (have known for a while, actually) what I’d like to have once I reach my final goal weight. Stay tuned for details.

American Idol tonight, I’ll sure be glad when auditions are over and we get to the good stuff! Have a great day everyone.

25.0 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)