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)

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)

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)

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 was scanning some old photos tonight and came across a couple gems I wanted to share, I hope you don’t mind.

As you can see, my love of pasta began at a very early age!

Of course there was also this picture:

Yes, that’s me sitting on my dad’s weight bench (those are my sisters standing on either side of me). Seeing this picture tonight sparked something in me. I’d really like to start doing some strength training soon. Maybe the next picture you see of me on a weight bench, I will actually be using the weights.

I just wanted to share those pictures because I think each one depicts something relevant to my weight loss…one is a reflection of my past habits and the other a reflection of my future habits (hopefully).

Today was awesome. I met up with Lynne and we both got a great workout on the treadmill. Having her there really motivated me and made me push myself harder than I ever have before. I reached two milestones today…I ran a whole half mile before having to stop to walk AND I completed a mile in under 14 minutes. (13:39 to be exact) Thank you SO much Lynne for being such a source of inspiration!

While in the car, Lynne and I were talking about our journeys and how we’re trying to inspire our children to live healthier. She brought up this article about a guy who’s doing the same, by allowing his son to run with him, he’s teaching his son that running is ‘normal’. I LOVE that concept and that’s a lot of what I’m trying to accomplish here too. I grew up on good ole’ southern fried food and surrounded by overweight family members. Seriously, just about everyone in my family has weight issues. THAT was my normal. So, here I am now trying to break that cycle of obesity that has plagued my family, if not for me, then for my children. Introducing them to new healthy foods and trying to encourage them to be more active. Madelyn really enjoyed doing the 5k with me. Marisa is in P.E. in school and is really liking it. This is what I’m trying to foster in them…to teach them that being active is normal. Eating healthy is normal. Being fit is normal.

69.85 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!

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)

My home computer crashed last week so between that and the death of my uncle and just the overall busy-ness of life, I haven’t been able to blog as usual this week. I did, however, weigh myself on Monday though, so here’s that result. As of Monday morning I weighed 218.0 lbs which is a loss of 1.8 lbs from the Monday before. This brings my total loss so far to 38 pounds.

I’ll take it. Some of you might remember that I’m in a fitness challenge that ends on April 1st. Several weeks ago I set a goal for myself to be under 200 lbs by the end of that challenge. It’s starting to look like I won’t make that goal and I’m OK with that, however I don’t think I’ll ever set a weight goal like that for myself ever again. It causes way too much frustration when the weight doesn’t come off fast enough. And the scale can be so wonky at times, like showing a zero loss during a week where I’ve really, really pushed myself and then showing a huge loss when I’ve veered off track some. I can’t predict what the scale’s going to do, so yeah, no more timed weight goals for me! I’m just gonna keep on doing what I know works and concentrate on the big picture…the end goal…I’m not in a race and it won’t be the end of the world if I don’t win the fitness challenge.

One quick milestone that I’d like to share is that I completed a mile last night in under 15 minutes. 14:44 to be exact.

Thank you all for your well wishes and condolences for my family. I sincerely appreciate you all! ♥ And if any of my local friends are reading this, we will be celebrating my uncle’s life at LJ’s (his home away from home) this Saturday at noon if you’d like to come.

59.85 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)