Once upon a time, I was sitting on my sofa at 455 pounds watching a workout DVD I had put in. It was labeled “beginner” so I thought that I could do it. I didn’t even make it past the warm-up before flopping down on the sofa out of breath with tears running down my face. The next day, I was sore and my feet ached. This is what the reality is for many severely obese people who try to do exercise after months, or years, of being sedentary.

I’m so thankful that not everyone will know what it’s like to feel that desperation. How do you even start when you can’t even do the “beginners” workouts? What gives you the motivation to begin something that seems so physically impossible? It still makes me tear up just thinking about it.

Whether you have 20 pounds to lose or 200 pounds to lose, these are my tips for starting and exercise program:

• Start small. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you have to enroll in a 30 day boot camp in order to consider yourself a success. I actually started by watching workout DVDs, but not doing them. I wanted to wrap my mind around knowing that I could do the moves. It was like psyching myself up for it. One day I did 10 minutes and was worn out. A few days later I did it again. Rinse and repeat.
• Don’t get discouraged. You are your own measuring stick, so don’t get discouraged if you can’t do what you think others can do. Focus on doing your best for the day, and then trying for your best again next time. Everyone wishes they could do more, lift more, run faster – it’s not just you.
• If you mess up, try again. Just because you skip a workout or only do half of it doesn’t mean you’re doomed to a life of being sedentary! You have an entire lifetime to keep trying.
• Listen to the doctor. Always consult your physician before starting a new program. Think about it- if you’re doing something to start improving your health, shouldn’t you make sure it’s okay with the other person (besides yourself) who looks after your health?
• Start in a place of comfort. Not everyone wants to roll into the gym on day 1 and get started with a bang. We’re afraid of being seen or of using equipment incorrectly. For me, I had to start working out with workout videos (as posted earlier today) because I didn’t want anyone to see me work out. I wouldn’t even let my husband in the same room while I did them. After I felt comfortable at home, I went to the pool at my gym. Since I used to be a swimmer, I felt comfortable in the water and knew it would be easy on my joints. From there, I started working out with a trainer and it’s amazing how natural going to the gym feels.
• Focus on the end goal. You are trying to change your life. Changing your life isn’t easy. You have to pick yourself up more times than you fall down in order to be successful.

 Anyone else have advice to share? Any specific questions?

I am someone who MUST have music to really get me going. This could be for a workout, or just for a dance party in my pajamas (what? You don’t do that?). As shown before, I have an affinity for Mashups, and each year, Bootie releases the “Best of Bootie” mix for the year. I have had this on non-stop for 2 days now, and my bum hasn’t stopped shaking in my seat (since I can’t dance on my cast).

Listen for just a few minutes, and I know you’ll be hooked also.

Best of Bootie 2011 by bootie

Amazing, right? You can get the individual tracks or full collection at the Best of Bootie site. Let me know which one is your fave! Mine right now is Lobsterdust – Whole Lotta Extra Dougie (Cali Swag District vs. Led Zeppelin vs. Katy Perry).

I have blogged MANY times about the lack of stylish, well-fitting plus size workout clothes. Yes, there is the stand-by of Junonia, whose style frankly is a little too “old-school” for my taste, in addition to being hella expensive. I must admit though, they’re the only place I’ll buy my workout swimsuits – SO worth the money.

I’ve talked about Target and their C9 by Champion line (as with many things, plus sizes only available online), however their offerings haven’t changed in months, and seem to be fewer than before.

I also mentioned in this same post about the Danskin NOW line at Wal-Mart, which had a couple hits and a few misses when I last tried them.

Seeing as it’s hot as hades already this year and I don’t have any weather-appropriate clothes that fit (and I desperately need them for Bikram yoga), I searched online again at these places, and was really just pissed. I want the cute Athleta, lululemon and Fila Toning offerings to come in plus sizes *stomps feet*! And by “plus size” I mean at LEAST to a 22/24, if not a 26/28.

I set out on the hunt last week for some sleeveless shirts and new capris or workout shorts that would be appropriate for Bikram (since it’s hot as BALLS in there). I used to have major hangups with my arms (there is a LOT of skin), but there are some muscles forming under there so I shouldn’t be ashamed. Plus, sleeveless is more comfortable. Cut a MAJOR win from the now-redeemed Danskin NOW line at Wal-Mart. I ordered online because this girl does not do the madness of Wal-Mart in person.

Women’s Plus Antimicrobial Bra Tennis Tank: $13
Women’s Plus SlimTech Secret Tummy Shaping Capri: (don’t pay attention to the “shaping” that’s malarkey) $17

Women’s Plus Reversible Yoga Capri: $13
Women’s Plus Jersey Tank: $6

I also bought the same “tennis tank” in a royal purple color, and it’s awesome. For all of these, I’m wearing a 3x, which is a 22/24. The tops are a little tight, but that’s how they’re designed. I was really happy with the length of the tops also – I’m 5’10 with a long torso, and these had plenty of coverage over my belly. If you want something a little larger, size up. I found the pants were very true to size.

I ended up with 3 tanks and 2 pair of pants for less than the 1 yoga tank from Junonia I was looking at. I’m all for paying for quality and fit, but these Danskin NOW finds FAR EXCEEDED my expectations.

(and to the FTC: I was not compensated in any way to gush about these finds. That being said, Danskin, if you want to talk, holla at your girl. I’ll give you a LOAD of feedback!)

While I head back to the Wal-Mart site to buy more, tell me: have you found any great plus size workout clothes lately?

This week has been draining, so I took a vacation day today to re-adjust my sleep and decompress. It’s my own fault- I put lots of extra projects on my plate and they all seem to hit at once. I’m trying to get better with prioritizing.

Since I didn’t have to go to work today, I was able to meet up with my half-marathon partner Holli to ride bikes! I haven’t ridden a bike since I was 15 – so 15 years – and I was terrified. What if I couldn’t keep my balance? What if I fell? What if I broke my bike?

A few years ago, I won this bike at a company picnic. Can you imagine how awkward it was to be the 400+ pound person from the entire company who won a bike? I tried to look excited, but inside I was mortified.

Look at my fake excitement for winning the bike - haha!

In the back of my mind the past few months, I’ve thought about doing a triathlon. With Mary and Millie loving them so much, I really wanted to do one! I used to be a competitive swimmer, and know I can do the distance easily. I have done multiple 5Ks, so know I can do that distance as well. The cycling part? Oy.

The one thing that has surprised me about this journey is that I haven’t died yet from being a complete klutz or failing miserably at whatever I’ve tried. Between Zumba, jet skiing, bikram Yoga and running a half marathon, my confidence in my body is slowly growing.

While on our LONG training walk/jogs for the half marathon, Holli talked about the American Lung Association Bike Trek to Shakertown, a 3 day bike ride. Instead of “girl, that’s crazy,” my mind said “ooh, I want to do that!” Talk about a non-scale victory!

One of the local bike shops told me the bike frame was too large for me, which made me hesitant to ride it. Thankfully I did it anyway, because it really feels completely fine.

I finally had another excuse to wear my maxi-pad-lined-bike-skirt-thingy that I wear to spin class.

Holli coached me through shifting gears (and then fixing the chain as it came off during a couple of shifts) and braking. We went through a portion of the Legacy Trail.

Safety First!

I was seriously worried about popping the tires or a spoke or something on the bike. The local bike shop said they filled the tires, however when I ride it, they nearly flatten out. Not sure yet if it’s due to air pressure, or just my weight (it feels like the latter as they’re firm to the touch). Thankfully, the bike and I survived.

For whatever reason, Holli’s Runkeeper said we went 6.53 miles, while mine said 5.82… no idea why they were so different! We certainly didn’t break any speed records, but we stopped a couple times to fix my chain, and there were some monster hills (in my amateur opinion, LOL)

Anyway, so is there a triathlon in my future? Maybe the Bike Trek to Shakertown? In any case, it’s great to know they’re possibilities

Have you pushed yourself out of your comfort zone? What fitness activity do you want to try?

Did you know that today is National Running Day? Neither did I, until the Twitter world let me know.

I struggle with the term “runner.” I don’t feel like a runner. My “run” is about as slow as some peoples walks, yet it’s more vigorous for me to “run” than to walk. Dare I say I “jog?” (I know a lot of people hate that word) Today, however, I thought I would run for National Running Day. I didn’t have time to commit to 90 minutes of Bikram yoga tonight as planned, so as soon as I got home from work, I threw on some workout clothes and my iPod and headed towards my neighborhood park.

My Runkeeper says “Walking” but I in fact, was running- I just didn’t set it properly.

This is my fastest “run” so far! By a good bit! When I did my first 5K last year, my average was 20 minutes/mile. My half-marathon pace hovered around 19 minutes. Even though this was just over 2 miles, in the 90 degree sun, hitting a just-over 16 minute per mile average made me feel great. My motto behind this blog is “Run your own race” and it’s all because you only have to go at your own pace. Screw everyone else. For me, it was a mental and physical victory. I was a fist-pumping, sweaty mess. My husband looked at me like I was nuts (and then got me some water).

So tonight, I’m declaring I’m a runner. A 343 pound runner. Here’s some video proof, which was taken during FitBloggin’:

The verdict is still out if I actually ENJOY running or not as a regular workout activity, but today I sure did! Are you a runner?

Last week, Bikram Yoga Lexington had a Groupon. They had a different Groupon about 3 months ago and I was kicking myself for not getting it. Needless to say, I snatched 2 of these up. I am now the owner of 20 Bikram yoga classes. Guess I should use them, right?

For those who aren’t familiar with it:

Bikram Yoga is a system of yoga that Bikram Choudhury synthesized from traditional yoga techniques and popularized beginning in the early 1970s.^[1][2] Bikram’s classes run exactly 90 minutes and consist of a set series of 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises. Bikram Yoga is ideally practiced in a room heated to 105°F (≈ 40.6°C) with a humidity of 40%, causing it to be categorized as a form of hot yoga. (via Wikipedia)

I was scared. Would I pass out? Get dizzy?  Thankfully, Krissie has been doing Bikram for a little bit and she was there as a security blanket for me on my first session, which was earlier today.

Holy balls it is hot!

I mean, I knew it would be hot, but WOW. At first, it wasn’t that bad – I do live in the south with heat and humidity. Once we got into the poses, however, WOW. Sweat everywhere. Dripping from every inch of my body. At first, it felt good. When my clothes, mat towel and hand towel were completely drenched, it started to feel icky.

For the most part, the poses aren’t difficult, and you can always modify or lay down if you can’t do it or get dizzy. It isn’t looked down upon at all to just lay down throughout some of the poses if needed. You are told to look at yourself in the mirror the whole time, and to focus on yourself. The instruction through all of the poses is the same for every class, so once you get over the hurdle of the first one, you know what to expect for all the others. I was told upon sign-in that as long as I stay in the room the entire 90 minutes, it would be a success. Thankfully, I made it through and didn’t get dizzy during it. I did lay down for several of the poses, and it was totally fine.

When you go to the studio, take a yoga mat, large towel (to put on top of your mat), hand towel (to wipe your hands/body) and water. I thought it was just silly that people in yoga classes don’t seem to wear any clothes, but I quickly learned this is for function – not vanity. My tank top and capris were soaked in no time, and they got heavy and sticky. I’ll need to look for shorts and poly-blend tanks so I am not quite so uncomfortable. Everyone there was really friendly, and I wasn’t self consious at all once the class started.

Here’s me after the class:

I’m heading to another Bikram class tomorrow morning. It feels good to try new things, and to put my body in situations it hasn’t been in before. 340-something-pound fat-but-fit girl doing Bikram yoga? That’s me!

Have you ever tried Bikram or any other form of hot yoga? What were your thoughts? Is this something you think you would want to try?

The past week has been a mixed bag. I’m super busy at work, have a million things I want to write, projects I want to do, outside commitments to fulfill, and FitBloggin‘ preparations for this upcoming week. Don’t get me wrong – I LOVE being busy, however it doesn’t always mean great things for my weight loss.

2 weeks ago, I only made it to the gym 3 out of my 5 scheduled days. This past week, I didn’t make it at all. The good news? Holli and I did a 5K on Saturday. More good news? My food has been in-control, although my first time eating out for dinner in 2 months had me bloated the next day. As I mentioned last week, all of my socks and shoes suddenly are too large. So are my *um* undergarments and many of my pants. It seriously was all of a sudden, and I have actually been able to physically see a difference in my body this week. But still, not nearly enough sleep or exercise to satisfy me right now.

I know my body. After 20 years of dieting, I know that when my body makes these changes, I’m not going to see it on the scale. I’m going to have a plateau, and not working out as much as I should won’t help. It’s times like these when having a weight loss blog is a little hard because you want to show progress every week. I did, however, have a great mental “aha moment” that I wanted to share.

Tuesday, someone asked if I wanted to do a 5K on Saturday (hi Kristi!). Without hesitation, I said “sure!” As soon as I said it, I realized how different this was for me. When in my past have I ever just said “why not?” to doing a 5K in a few days. No training, no fretting… just doing. Saturday, I met my half-marathon partner-in-crime, Holli, out in the rain to do a 5K for a local elementary school. It felt so short compared to the half-marathon, and it felt great to accomplish something that early on a Saturday. Last July for my first 5K, it seemed like it was so long and so hard. I feel like I barely exerted a small fraction of that effort and still beat my July time by 8 minutes. Who am I?!?

This week: lots and lots of work, trying to make my house somewhat less messy so I don’t come home Sunday night to a disaster, lots of FitBloggin’ things to wrap up, and then FitBloggin’ Thurs-Sun!!! There will be a 5k there on Friday (2 5Ks in 2 weeks!) and lots of other fitness activities like Zumba, Trampoline, an Ugi demonstration and more. I will go ahead and apologize in advance for the massive amount of FitBloggin’ talk between now and a couple of weeks after the conference.

If you want a laugh, check out the most awful photo of me ever. A wet Emmie finishing the race:

Yep, I totally rocked a poncho over my Skinny Emmie shirt.

And if you are good at “Where’s Waldo?” you can see Holli and I in this starting line video:

One of my worst fears from early on in my weight loss journey happened to me today. After losing 112 pounds, I popped a stability ball!

Um, no, that is not me. But it is similar to the exercise I was doing- a medicine ball twist on the stability ball.

Picture this: I drag my groggy self into the gym around 5:45am. I go straight into my weight circuits, and things are fine. I’m in a groove, the machines I need are all available, and I’m bobbing along with the bass pumping through my earbuds. One minute I’m doing my medicine ball twists on the stability ball, and the next minute, I’m on the ground.

What’s so ironic is that I haven’t worried about this possibly happening in a long time – probably 50 pounds ago. The balls at the gym have a 550 pound weight rating, so once I got out of the 400s, I stopped worrying about the potential for poppage. In the seconds after I hit the ground, my mind was really confused. It was kind of funny. Yet kind of a shock- Was I still big enough to pop the ball? I wasn’t mortified, just mildly discombobulated.  Do I laugh? Do I cry? I think I managed an audible grunt-chuckle-scoff. Within a few seconds, the sole witness, a trainer who is always there in the mornings (and gives me regular kudos which are greatly appreciated), came over and grabbed the flaccid mass of vinyl from the ground and offered a hand to help me up. He knew what I was thinking:

“Don’t worry about it, sister – these things happen. Are you okay? This isn’t the first time it’s happened and it won’t be the last. <pointing at the tear> Look, there was a weak spot in the vinyl. I’ll tell management about this and make sure they know about the defect. Don’t worry about it.”

I got up, brushed myself off, thanked him, and went and grabbed another stability ball. And I finished my set.

On the way home, I literally laughed out loud. It wasn’t embarrassing. It was funny. Who loses 112 pounds and pops a 550 pound-rated ball? This might sound odd, but it made me realize that I’ve taken a big leap forward in my self-confidence. Instead of blaming myself for being too big, I blamed the ball. I am strong, and there is nothing to be embarrassed about. And contrary to my former fears about the ball popping, it actually doesn’t make a POP! noise. It just lets out a rush of air and gently, but quickly, dumps you on the ground. Who knew?!

Here’s me after my workout, sporting a new Skinny Emmie shirt I am going to wear at FitBloggin’

it says "over 110 pounds lost, a lifetime to go"

So, I hope everyone is laughing with me about my little ride on a ball today. Sometimes you just need to find the humor in the situation and move on.

This weekend, I’ve seen some wonderful Twitter and Facebook updates from friends who have competed in various 10K’s, half marathons and full marathons either yesterday or today. People excited for personal records (PRs), excited for finishing a new distance, etc.

Since my half-marathon, I’ve tried to reshape the accomplishment in my mind. The way that I think tends to be very self-negative in a way that I downplay things or find reasons to discount achievements. One key example:

Nice person: Wow, that’s awesome you ran a half-marathon!

Me: Thanks, I walked part of it though, and my jogging – not running – is so slow it’s like I was walking anyway.

Nice person: That’s still amazing that you finished!

Me: Yeah. <then insert quick change of subject>

Uncomfortable, right?

I read a lot of blogs and quite frequently seeing people say how their goal is not to walk at all during the race. People mention to me that they can’t wait until they’re XXX weight to start doing races. Or people hoping they’re not the last person to finish (I have been in this camp before).

The question on my mind right now is: What’s wrong with walking? The answer is, NOTHING!

Whether you walk or jog or run any distance is an accomplishment. You’ve gotten off the sofa and have done something healthy. You put your effort behind reaching a goal, and no matter what the speed it is that you make it, you did it. If you haven’t checked it out yet, see my guest post over at Katie’s blog with my tips on walking.

My challenge to you, and to myself, is to accept that you are the only person you should measure yourself against. Most of us won’t be competitive runners, so the time shouldn’t weigh so heavy on us. Don’t wait until you feel you’re at a good weight to start running. Start with a walk. Then walk a little faster. Then jog. Then run.

No matter what speed you go, remember:
it’s just one foot in front of the other.

It’s perfectly fine if you want to jog or run or go for personal records- I’m completely for whatever goal you want to reach. My point is: don’t let anything hold you back from starting.

Does this make sense? Have you held yourself back because you thought you wouldn’t be good enough or fast enough?

This is the last week I’m going to be begging you for money towards my half-marathon fundraising! Here’s a quick video update and last plea:

If you were hoping to be randomly chosen for the bracelet giveaway, I notified winners early this morning (Sunday), so check your email.

I am completely overwhelmed with the support – it’s come from those I know and those I don’t, and from all over the world (literally: US, Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, India, United Kingdom, Ireland, and more!) We only have a couple hundred more dollars to go for fundraising, so please help spread the word and help me push past my $2,500 goal!

DONATE HERE

It’s been a long road training for this. I wanted to share with you some photos of my training, taken by my friends at Rideout Photography:

This half marathon training has been kind of bonkers. I’ve run the gamut of emotions and physical pain. When I took the adventure on, it was rooted in the sentimental without much thought to practicality.

I spent my 20′s with my weight literally going up and down hundreds of pounds. I wanted to enter my 30′s in April with something to show for all my work, and as a way to help heal those feelings that I didn’t do enough to help my mom when she was rapidly deteriorating with Parkinson’s Disease. This half marathon fit the bill. Gave me a reason to raise money to help others with Parkinson’s, and a way to feel physically accomplished days before my 30th birthday. It felt serendipitous that it fell on the anniversary of my mom’s death.

I’ve got 1 more week to push away my self doubt, and to continue working on mental and physical toughness. I’m not a runner. I am walking this half. There might be a wee-bit of jogging. I need to tell  myself that it is okay. That 13.1 miles is still 13.1 miles no matter what the final time is.

DONATE HERE

Thank you for your emotional and monetary support. Words can’t express my gratitude.

I can’t believe it. The RunTheBluegrass half marathon is next Sunday. Yikes!

This morning, Holli and I met up to tackle 8 miles. She and I were both dragging due to late nights watching UK make it to the Elite 8. We set off, and thankfully she and I were both of the opinion that speed wasn’t the concern today. We just wanted to get through the distance.

I was pleasantly surprised to see we kept a sub-19 minute per mile pace considering it really went by quickly (in my mind) and I felt we were going really slowly (more along the lines of 20 minute/miles. It was about 20 degrees colder than last week, and WINDY!

My feet are really giving me hell tonight. I think they would be much better had I not worn those stupid high wedges for 2 days while traveling. They did a deal on my arches. This week I’m going to spend as much time as possible in my shoes with my orthotic insoles so make sure this pain goes away. I know that the adrenaline of race day will probably help me out as well, so fingers crossed.

Hooray! Long training walks are over!

Any advice on how to best prepare throughout this week for the adventure next Sunday?

Phew. After last weeks 8.4 mile disaster, I knew I needed to figure something out for this week. Cue even DIFFERENT orthotic insoles (different size than what the podiatrist gave me), moleskin, compression socks and company.

The always-lovely Amber headed out with me early this morning to try to tackle 11 miles, even though she only got a few hours of sleep. My other training buddy had other commitments today, but ended up doing 12 miles yesterday!

We walked the entire thing on The Legacy Trail, which was interesting! I didn’t know how it connected from the Kentucky Horse Park under I-75, to the UK Coldstream facility and beyond. Now I do! What a great resource for the community. Amber always wants me to go faster. Thus she walks a few paces ahead of me and I go through the motions of trying to catch her.

The weather was beautiful- sunny and a breezy 50 degrees. I think that, plus Amber’s pace plus the varied scenery of the trail versus last weeks’ loop was really beneficial for my mental sanity.

Dealing with the feet, I brought my training shoes in addition to my running shoes, and wondered if I would need to switch them out part way through the walk. Thankfully, I didn’t need to as my feet felt much better in my shoes with the new Powerstep insoles I have in them. Arches were WAY more supported. Just in case, I had layered some moleskin on my tender spots to try to let my feet go a little longer pain-free.

A couple of days ago, I bit the bullet and shelled out the money for some compression socks. This is what they look like:

Seksi, I know.

Can I just say I LOVE them? I thought they’d be hot, and my legs would just swell above the knees where they ended. Quite the contrary. My legs and felt cool (and even a little tingly when a breeze came by) and I didn’t swell above my knee. I could definitley tell a difference with how my legs and feet felt, and even how they feel now, 5 hours later (I haven’t taken them off yet!)

Amber kept us at a good sub-17:30 pace for the first half, but I started having issues around mile 7. My hip flexors just were not cooperating. I also had a lot of tension in my shoulders, and my hands were swelled up like crazy. My mind went to crazy-negative places.

• Why the hell am I doing this?
• What if I can’t finish the half?
• How am I going to give back the money people have donated?

Thankfully it’s been a few hours and my mind has stopped the negative talk for now. Is it hard? Yes. Could I have gone another 1.6 miles today if I HAD to? Yes. It might be very slow, but yes. I MUST remember I’m not completing it for anyone but myself. I will finish in my own time.

Here’s the progress from today:

2 weeks until the Run The Bluegrass half marathon. I might need some hand holding, but I’ll do it. Please be patient with me these next couple of weeks as I continue my fundraising push to benefit Parkinson’s Disease research at the Kentucky Neuroscience Center. We’re currently sitting at $1,640 raised, or 65.6% to goal.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend so far!

So, my usual half-marathon training buddies are both occupied with other things tomorrow, so it looks like I’m going to attempt 11 miles on my own! I’m going to train close to my house in case my husband needs to come pick my ass off the ground if needed.

In preparation for the LONG solitude, I have gone through a workout playlist mania tonight. I posted before how much I love to work out to mashups, where DJs take various songs and mash them up into a new song. Here are some that I just added to my training list for tomorrow. I’ve estimated the beats per minute for each song in case you use that to pace yourself.

• Norwegian Recycling – Close Your Eyes [Katy Perry vs. Flo Rida ft. Akon vs. BEP vs. Snow Patrol vs. Mike Posner vs. Jason Derulo vs. others] (about 124 bpm)
• Marc Johnce – Report On The Floor (The Way You Are) [Josh Strickland vs. Jennifer Lopez ft. Pitbull vs. Bruno Mars] (about 130 bpm)
• Divide & Kreate – Crazy in the deep [Gnarles Barkley vs. Adele] (120 bpm) I LOVE Adele, and any Rolling in the Deep remix I can find has made it on my playlist. My other current favorite is the remix by Jamie xx
• Bass Down Low (Dubstep minimix): 14 minutes of mashups including some dubstep (wrote about here) from DJ Schmolli (about 140-142 bpm)

I’ve also added these tracks to my playlist (not mashups). Links are for iTunes.

• Jennifer Lopez (feat. Pitbull)- Dance the Night Away (128-130 bpm)
• Britney Spears- Till the World Ends (132 bpm)
• Lil’ Wayne- 6 Foot 7 Foot (84 bpm, but you can easily go double time)
• P!nk- F**kin’ Perfect
• Jessie J (feat B.o.B)- Price Tag (87-88 bpm, again- easily done double time)

And just for fun, here is one of my all time favorite mashups, from Party Ben. Enjoy

This morning I taped my feet and headed out to meet Holli (The Great Askini) and Lisa (a “regular” at the Saturday morning striders group) for half marathon training. My feet didn’t quite hurt as bad as they did yesterday, but they still didn’t feel right.

After about 1.5 miles, I decided I would stop when we reached the start of the trail again, where my car was. In addition to the pain in my foot, the tape created some GNARLY blisters on the bottoms of my feet. Awesome.

Despite the pain, I think our pace was good. Lisa and Holli went on to do 10 miles at a really good clip!

I need to remember that not everything goes according to plan, and that if I made it 10 miles, I can probably make it the full 13.1. I need to stop worrying about getting more and more miles in and get my feet straightened out. Appointment with the podiatrist is tomorrow late afternoon, so I’ll keep you posted with what he says. If he tells me I need to lose weight, I may punch him.

Fundraising Update: So far, I’m at $1315/$2500. Please help me keep the momentum going these last few weeks as I try to hit or exceed my goal!

This morning, Holli (aka The Great Askini) was out of town for work, so my friend Amber joined me for my long walk training today for the half marathon. This was the third long training session. If you want to see previous recaps, see 7.2 miles and 8.0 miles.

Since Holli and I did 8 miles last week, I was planning on 9 miles this week. That 8 miles last week was a physical and mental struggle. This week, I felt much better, and the ever-optimistic Amber set our goal at 10 miles.

The weather was a little gray, but the temperature was great once we got going. While on the road portion of our trek, we had to scurry past some dead roadkill on the side of the road. Gross. Other than that, the scenery was lovely:

Hello pretty horse!

We went part of the half-marathon route from the Kentucky Horse Park to Fasig-Tipton, then back towards the Horse Park and onto The Legacy Trail as Holli and I have done in previous weeks. Fasig-Tipton (a very large horse farm and Thoroughbred race horse auction center), looked very pretty from outside the gate:

Here’s our training summary (via Runkeeper)

Despite adding 2 miles, this is 28 seconds per mile faster than last week! I think my mind was in a better spot this week. Unfortunately, it was my feet giving me most of the problems today, instead of my legs and mind. It felt like my feet were bleeding from some spots that keep rubbing. I really think it’s my feet trying to get used to carrying my weight for this long, and of course, my feet weren’t bleeding. The spots that hurt the worst aren’t really that blistered, just tender, like they’re trying to toughen up. I just hope they toughen up in time for the race, because it really is painful. The bones in my feet don’t really like me much right now.

So, 5 weeks left! This morning, I woke up to seeing that I’ve hit over $1000 in my $2500 fundraising goal! I am so, so thankful. Beyond thankful, really. Tuesday, I get to meet with someone from the University of Kentucky to discuss their progress in Parkinson’s Disease research and to talk about how this money raised can be used. So excited.

Ow.

That about summarizes the 8 mile training with Holli (aka The Great Askini) today for the RunTheBluegrass half marathon.

For some reason, I was really having some mental roadblocks- telling myself I was tired or too slow. For some reason last week’s 7.2 seemed so much easier. Today it didn’t help that my legs felt like lead and I formed a couple lovely blisters on both feet. Despite that, it was a beautiful day here in Kentucky.

As mentioned last week, we walk out in the “country” near the Kentucky Horse Park on a dedicated mixed use trail that spans 9+ miles towards the city.

Art like this can be found throughout The Legacy Trail

Seriously, it was so pretty and serene out there.

There are horses in the background, but we didn't get up close and personal with them like last week.

Our pace started out good, but once I started having the foot discomfort, we slowed down quite a bit. Not that I’m trying to set any records or anything – I just want to finish!

Me and Holli afterwards.This is my "oh god, it hurts but I should smile anyway" face.

After I got home, I laid in bed with my pup while my feet and legs ached and wondered why the heck I’m doing this. After about 30 minutes, I remembered… because I can.

I picked myself up and went to the local running store to get some more BodyGlide and some different “no blister” socks. Hoping tomorrow I’ll be able to survive my 5K running 101 class at the gym without my legs giving out on me.

So, pushing on. 6 weeks left to train. Hoping that since I’m up to 8 miles, 6 weeks will be plenty of time to get to 13.1 without so much pain. I definitely need to integrate more short walks during the week in addition to my normal workouts. As the sun stays out longer and the days are warming up, I’m hoping to eliminate my usual excuses for going on a walk after work.

Anyone have advice on how to recover my legs more quickly? They just feel stiff and achy. No acute pain. Just sore. I’m drinking lots of water and am going to use my foam roller. What else can I do?

Today, I woke up bright eyed and not-so bushytailed and headed out to meet great new friend Holli (aka The Great Askini) for some half-marathon training. Not only has she been a great encourager, she is training with me, doing the half, and has donated to the cause. Talk about awesome!

We met at The Legacy Trail near the Kentucky Horse Park. Per their website, “The Legacy Trail is a 12 mile walking, biking, interpretive trail and public art venue. The Trail begins in the East End of downtown Lexington at the Isaac Murphy Memorial Art Garden and runs to the Kentucky Horse Park. Over eight miles of the trail are off-street and are fully paved to accommodate every type of non-motorized user.” Is that not an amazing resource for a city to have? It just opened last year and this was the first time I used it.

We met a group there called John’s Striders which is a running group that originally started through John’s Run Walk Shop, a great running store here in Lexington. They were all geared up with their fuel belts, reflective vests, wind breakers, ear covers and such. Everyone goes at their own pace and distance. Can I just say how nice everyone was? I felt like a complete impostor there, but every person who passed by smiled and offered a “hello.” Before we started on our trek, a lady approached us and said she had lost 140+ pounds by doing her running, and that was great. So freakin’ nice. When am I going to learn that not all people are judgmental? Really.

We started by going through the Kentucky Horse Park. We ended up doing a similar loop to when I did the Southern Lights Stroll 5K.

Awesome thing about going through the horse park? These guys!

Look! A mini one!

Although it was cold (about 30 degrees), it was still great to be in the SUN! Although this hill at about mile 3 seemed a little daunting (it wasn’t).

As Holli wrote on her blog, we originally were going 5 miles. Then it turned to 6. Then to 7. The time just flew by. I seriously felt like my 4 miler on the treadmill earlier this week took twice as long and was twice as hard.

When we finished our 7 (really, 7.22) miles, we were happy, as evidenced below:

Holli and I

Here are the final stats from the training:

So hooray! The half seems so much less daunting after this first long walk. I have a irritated spot on the outside of my right foot, but think that won’t be an issue. First time wearing some new kicks, so they are now on their way to being broken in.

When I got home, hubs asked how far we went. I told him, and the first words out of his mouth were:  “I’m proud of you.” It kind of made my heart swell. I’m proud of me (and Holli) too.

Have the desire to do a half marathon? What about a 5K? Join me for the RunTheBluegrass Half Marathon and 5K, 2 days before my dirty 30 birthday, Sunday April 3, 2011 at the beautiful Kentucky Horse Park and Fasig-Tipton (amazeballs horse farm).

I am happy to announce I’m an Official RunTheBluegrass Blogger. What does this mean? I will be posting some training resources and other blogger stories of half marathons or 5K’s leading up to the event.

Why am I promoting this?

1. Because I’ll be there and want as many friends as possible there!
2. I want to do my part to encourage the overall health and fitness of Kentuckians plus those in the surrounding states. This means I want to help spread the word to as many people as possible. It’s not about winning a race, it’s about taking the steps towards improving yourself.
3. This years event is being organized by local non-profit The LeXenomics Group and I have zero doubt it will be an amazing event. So, I’m playing cheerleader Rah rah!

So does this mean I’m doing the half marathon? I don’t know yet, but am seriously considering it (especially after watching awesome blogger Stephen talk about his upcoming half). I know for sure I’m going to do the 5K, trying to beat my previous time from the Southern  Lights 5K which was also at the Kentucky Horse Park.   I pushed myself this week with my 1 mile swim and with my fastest neighborhood walk/jog ever. A half marathon would be a major push, and one I want to make sure I’m fully ready for.

Today is the last day for early registration ($50) for the half, so register today!

Want more information? Check  out the RunTheBluegrass website, follow them on Twitter, or “Like” them on Facebook. Or feel free to leave messages in the comments or email me: emmie (at) skinnyemmie (dot) com. And if you register, be sure to let me know!

Who’s with me!?

As I wrote yesterday, I’ve had the winter blues a little this week. I had a couple of good workouts this week, but this morning I just couldn’t make myself get out of bed. I chose the extra sleep.

All day, this bugged me. I didn’t feel like I’ve done my absolute best this week. I want to keep the 100 pound momentum going. So for some reason I got an itch to swim 1 mile tonight at the gym. Why 1 mile? No idea. Last time I swam was about 50 pounds ago, and I made a video of it here. I had JUST started exercising and it was probably my 3rd day at the gym. I was a competitive swimmer growing up, so I always felt good in the water. But my endurance last time was really poor. I put 2 swimming-related items on my 101 in 1001 list: swim 1/2 mile and swim 1 mile.

So all day at work, I was psyching myself up for a date with the pool. Hubs had to work tonight and I didn’t have any other plans, so there was really no excuse for me NOT to go. I remembered again how I have never regretted a workout, and made myself go.

The gym pool is 25 meters (not 25 yards as some are). This means that it is a little under 65 lengths of the pool for 1 mile. Considering I wanted to start and end on the same end, I decided to do 66 lengths. I figured I’d take it slowly and just go as far as I felt comfortable.

The pool at Lexington Athletic Club

My biggest concern was remembering which lap I was on. I decided since it was 33 laps (2 lengths per lap) I would just count down from 33. So 2 lengths for 33, 2 lengths for 32, and so on.

I did a combination of freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke, one armed butterfly and kicking with the kickboard. I wore my heart rate monitor and tried to do intervals as best I could, and actually think I did okay!

52 minutes and 25 seconds. That’s how long it took me to swim 1 mile.

I was really happy!

It’s incredible to be 354 pounds and have this kind of endurance. To some, this might sound braggy, but I honestly don’t care. I am damn proud of the work I’ve put in, and this is a non-scale victory that reminds me even after a crummy-feeling week that I have achieved something.

Wrinkly fingers!

In just over 52 minutes I turned the entire perspective about the past week around.
Don’t ever accept yourself for less than what you are. Ever.

Tell me about a non scale victory this week. Having a bad week? Tell me something that you will do to make yourself feel better.

This morning started off with a fizzle when I woke up late, having missed my 5:30am spin + yoga class, and an appointment with my therapist (everyone needs a healthy mind). Bah.

The day could only go up from there! I got some good things accomplished at work, although the confidence issue came back up again. I think I’ll take the advice some of you mentioned in that post: fake it till you make it. That plus the therapy will hopefully help me figure out why I’m holding back. It’s frustrating, because (without sounding egotistical) I am well educated, have good ideas, work hard, volunteer, love life, etc. I don’t have anything to hide. Yet my voice is being silenced by my mind for whatever reason.

After getting home from work, I decided to try The Biggest Loser yoga DVD again since I missed my morning workout. If you remember, I had some trouble with it last time. So, I tried again. I tried to get video again, but there just isn’t a good place to put the camera where you can see my workout when I’m standing up. Instead, here are some stills from it:

My downward dog doesn't look too bad.

And my plank was okay too, although I can't tell if my butt really is too high or if that's just the "padding" I have LOL. It certainly didn't feel like I could go lower without back strain.

Lilly was really confused what the device was on the stairs leading to the basement. She checked it out, while I showed the camera my butt.

I attempted the previously failed side plank and kind of got there, but not for long.

When I was doing this stretch I thought "huh! I am pretty flexible"

But then I realized at the next stretch I can touch my toes with my legs straight out! I wish you could see my feet, but my hands are on my toes. Haven't been able to do this in a LONG time- my stomach was in the way.

My point behind the photos is to show that anyone can do something. Get a DVD, try something new, do something you didn’t think you can do. And if you don’t do well the first time, keep trying. And then try some more. Don’t ever, ever, ever give up! I’ve lost 95 pounds, but I’m still a 360 pound morbidly obese gal. No excuses.

What are some things you want to try, but haven’t because of past failures or setbacks? Have you actually done something that you never thought you could do? Please share in the comments.

Lately I’ve been thinking about ways to try to increase my activity during the day. Typically, I will work out before work, then when I get to work, I’m in front of my computer for 8+ hours. I go home, and then don’t do much physical activity until the next morning when I work out again. Trainer Rob encouraged me to start taking nightly walks with my pup, which was good until it turned freakin’ freezing and dark before I even leave work.

So, here were some alternatives I came up with:

• Add an evening workout at the gym: Even if it’s just walking around the track or swimming, it would be a good evening activity. The time investment in that though is a lot after the commuting back and forth and fighting the evening gym crowd.
• Get a treadmill desk: If you haven’t seen a treadmill desk, you should check them out (video below). Basically, it’s a tall desk that is designed to hold your computer and it mounts around your treadmill. You just walk while you work (even at just 1MPH). I think this is brilliant. Really. I would LOVE to try it. But for now, it’s cost prohibitive for me. I don’t have a treadmill, nor do I have the desk element. I have a great employer who I’m sure would ALLOW this, but the personal investment is out of my reach right now.
• Exercise at lunchtime: This would be good to start bringing my lunch and do a shorter walk around the office neighborhood. But the cold weather leaves me completely unmotivated to do this right now. Also, I’m the worst about packing lunches. Pre-planning and me don’t go well, so I usually run home at lunch and try to scrounge something to eat. Still leaving this as an option for the spring though, even though I’d have to pre-plan by bringing different clothes and shoes to change in to.

I was spending time on Amazon looking for Christmas ideas. My husband asks for a list, and I had no idea what I really wanted this year. I stumbled upon a pedal exerciser. I’d seen these before in nursing homes or physical therapy places. I started seeing how inexpensive some of them were and reading the reviews. I decided I would add a less expensive one to my Christmas list and then take it to work to try out. What could it really hurt to have it under my desk to use periodically throughout the day?

It arrived way early, and in a labeled box (so I knew exactly what it was). The box was damaged pretty badly, so I asked hubs if I could go ahead and open it to make sure it wasn’t damaged, and he agreed. I already knew I was getting it anyway. Thankfully, no damage. I took it to work yesterday and tried it out. Here’s a short, wobbly video I took with my phone:

This particular pedal exerciser is a pretty inexpensive one. It has a single manual resistance knob. There are other devices that have magnetic resistance (like on your gym’s bikes) and digital tracking devices.

Initial Impressions:

• Fit: My biggest concern was that my knees would hit the desk. I’m 5’10 and my desk height isn’t adjustable. Unfortunately my legs are a wee bit too long for them to be able to pedal quickly and easily under my desk all the way. I could scoot myself and my chair out like I did in the video where my knees come to the desk edge. I had to bring my computer to the front edge of my desk, but it was fine.
• Chair: I have a swivel desk chair with wheels. The wheels weren’t an issue and I didn’t slide back too much (if I do, I hit a wall), however when I am pedaling, the swivel of the chair has my hips moving a little much to go too fast.
• Noise: the noises on the video are of the chair swiveling, not of the exerciser. The thing is very, very quiet. Being all manual, I had hoped this was the case, and it is. I have a door I can close if I’m worried about the noise (or about looking goofy), so I’m lucky in that respect. If you work in a cubicle, this might be a little awkward.
• Heat: I had read on several reviews that the metal-on-metal action of this device generated a lot of warmth near the center of the device. I wouldn’t have noticed (considering the boots I had on), but I did feel it just to see if those reviews were accurate, and WOWZA you could cook an egg on it! As long as you have pants and shoes on, I think you’d be fine, but it could be a concern for some.
• Shoes: Speaking of the boots I was wearing- not a good choice for the bike. The spiky heels kept knocking the metal base, making it pretty awkward to pedal mindlessly while doing anything else. I’m sure it would be fine with flats, or if I had an alternate pair of shoes in my desk to wear while pedaling.
• Typing: In the short time I tested it out so far, I haven’t mastered the typing and pedaling thing. I did manage to read some reports, take some hand written notes on them, and chat with coworkers while pedaling! Like any device, it’s only as good as long as you use it. I’m going to use it more next week trying to find the best way to use it and hopefully be able to type while pedaling. I’m not planning on pedaling all day, but if I can get an extra hour of physical activity in during the day (even if it is super light and slow), it can’t hurt, right?

Do any of you work at a desk all day? Any tips on how to get some activity in? Or have you tried one of these pedal exercisers before? How did you like it?

With all my anxiety and moodiness lately, I’ve had a hard time feeling really great about my progress. Year end retrospection doesn’t help make me feel amazeballs about my weight loss. Don’t get me wrong – I know I’m on the right track. I just feel as if my wheels are a little wobbly lately.

Last week’s 5K (hard to believe it was actually OVER a week ago- results STILL aren’t up) gave me a moment where I realized my progress – 8 full minutes of awesome progress. This week, however, my elation has gone away and I’m left feeling like a stick in the mud.

This morning, it was ridiculously hard to get up. It’s so cold outside and I am already OVER it. I hate getting up in the pitch dark freezing weather to waddle to the gym. In my mind though I know I’d hate doing the same waddle in the dark after work. So with a big *le sigh* I got up and moved my ass.

I got to the gym late, so only had 45 minutes to do cardio. I did 30 minutes on the Arc trainer, and the whole time I was talking to myself, pumping me up to try something that would make me see how I’ve progressed.

my nemesis

Oh the Stairmaster. AKA “the crazy people machine” (that’s what I call them at least). When I started working with Trainer Rob, I could barely do 60 seconds on it without feeling like I was going to die. I avoid the Stairmaster at all costs. My bad knees plus that feeling of crazy wheeziness from before has scared me away. But today? I needed a kick in the rear.

My goal? 5 minutes. That’s all I need and then I can go on the recumbent bike.

I hop on, and start going. I’m going at the slowest pace, which is 23 steps per minute. 3 minutes pass and no wheeziness. Feels kind of good. Heart rate is in a good spot. I get to 5 minutes and decide to do 7 minutes. I make it to 7 minutes and think, “OMG, I can do 10!” And hot damn, I made it to 10 and thought- 12! I can do 12! At this point, the sweat was dripping off of me. I felt like a hard core Biggest Loser contestant dripping sweat on the machines (and yes, I cleaned it up after- gross!). I hit 12 minutes and realized I could make it to 15. At 15, I was feeling fatigued but am sure I could have gone longer. Instead, I hopped off and did a 5 minute walk to cool down and then jetted out of there so I could get ready for work on time.

15 minutes on the Stairmaster? I did 22 flights of stairs! I don’t care if I was going the slowest the machine would go, I couldn’t believe my body did it. And I didn’t feel like I was dying! I must be progressing after all!

The mind chuckle came at around minute 5. I was watching where I was stepping, so my head was down. I was reading the “caution, don’t start any exercise routine without physician guidance” and “don’t use this machine without the siderails attached” labels. The last bullet point I saw on the label was:

Maximum User Weight: 350 pounds

I had a panic. “OMG, I’m 100 pounds over the weight limit. I’m going to tear this sucker up. Damn I hate that half these machines aren’t made for FAT people!”

After a few seconds of panicking, my mind kicked in. “Silly Emmie. You are only 18 pounds above the maximum. Not 100! YOU BETTA RECOGNIZE, you crazy lady!”

So woot! Suck it Stairmaster!

As I wrote last night, I was having some mental barriers to doing a 5K tonight without a swarm of supportive people to finish it with me like during my first 5K. I was also slightly worried about the new medicine I am on for my edema in my legs, as it can cause muscle cramps. It was really cold (in the mid to high 30′s) all day and rainy. At one point, there was some sleet! Hubs called me around 3pm asking if I still wanted to do it. Uh, of course!!!

I got home from work and threw on some layers, including a Bondi Band, which conveniently not only holds the hair back, but provided some protection to my ears.

Bad self portrait, but you get the idea.

Hubs threw on some layers also and after looking at the weather radar, he decided it would be dry enough to bring the pup. We dressed her up too.

I think hubs was a bit resistant, but he didn’t show it. I admit, if I didn’t set this as a goal for myself, I wouldn’t want to go out in the rainy, cold night before Thanksgiving and walk. I love my pup, but she gets distracted, especially with other dogs and people wanting to pet her. He agreed he’d start in the back of the pack and walk her, while I could try to jump off closer to the front.

I left my camera in the car as I didn’t want to haul it, plus didn’t want to stop to take pictures. My favorite part of the lights was in the first mile of the course- the 12 days of Christmas in lights. After the 2 mile marker was another favorite, the lit animated horse jumping a fence. It was just fun to be in the dark running (um, walking) past the lights. It was calming in a weird way. Got to clear my head and just focus on getting to the end.

We were running a little late to the race, so we got to the starting line right as it was going off. I didn’t even have a second to check my watch for what time it was. There weren’t any race clocks, and I really thought I was going to be over 60 minutes. I started off strong for the first mile or so, which was uphill. I started slowing down around mile 1.5 and then tried to pick it up with a little jogging around mile 2. But mile 2-3 just felt so slow. I was moving as fast as I could, but some walkers from behind me started to catch up.

There was this one girl, probably about 12, that looked like my niece. We started at the same time (her mom was behind us) and she would RUN to get ahead and then walk. I would then catch up. Then she would RUN again, and then I would pass her. I wasn’t doing it intentionally, but after a while thought she was like the rabbit I was chasing.

At around 2.5 miles, my legs were cramping as I had feared. Out of nowhere, this lady with 3 scotties powerwalked right past me. I used her pace to try to make it to the end of the course. I just wanted to finish by now and go ahead and get upset over my 60+ minute time I was sure I had. (official time from my first 5K was 59:20). Unlike the first 5K, I had a pumping playlist that I tried to keep the pace with. I think it helped.

When scottie-lady and I turned the corner into the parking lot, I finally saw the finish line. The clock was blurry, and I swore I thought I saw a 6 at the beginning of the number. As in slow Emmie 60+ minute pace before I even hit the last tenth of a mile. I decided to go ahead and just jog to the end. As I got closer and closer, I saw *gasp* it wasn’t a 6! It was a 4! There was a 4 at the beginning!!!

As I got closer, I saw the 4 change to a 5, but I was still excited. I jogged on through the timer and told the guys “Wow! That’s over 8 minutes off my last time! I’ve lost 88 pounds!” I just blurted it out. No filter, just pure proud. They each gave me a high 5 and I turned in my chip. I don’t remember the exact time, but it was somewhere like 50:30. I’ll check to see if the official times are up Friday. But still, at least 8 minutes off my first time on July 17!!! When I did a 5K on the treadmill at the gym with Trainer Rob on October 9, my time was 57:20, and that included a complete mental breakdown, tears included.

This is why I do it.

I know a 50 minute plus 5k is super slow, but for me, it’s amazing. 455 pounds of Emmie could never even finish a 60+ minute 5K, nor would her mind allow her to even consider it!

Hubs ended up unknowingly taking a shortcut when he was following the crowd of walkers in the back. They cut through at about mile 2.5. He wasn’t too happy to hear that he didn’t complete the course! It was kind of funny. He decided he wants to do our own 5K once a month in the park that backs up to our house. I really appreciated his gusto!

after we got home from the race. Yes, that is a teddy bear on our chest of drawers. He's sentimental, not decoration

We came home and assembled the Christmas tree. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving tomorrow! We’re not celebrating with the family until Friday (hubs has to work 2nd shift tomorrow- boo!), so I will spend the day decorating the tree and the house. Maybe will do some reading.

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Disclaimer: I’m not a doctor, nutritionist, trainer, exercise physiologist or astrophysicist. I’m just a fat and fit girl typing away. I don’t care when you exercise, just sharing my personal experience!

A few people have asked me how I can possibly drag myself out of bed before work to exercise in the morning. Is it insanity? Am I a morning bird? Am I one of those freaks who can thrive without sleep?

Uh, no, no and no.

The first few times I heard my alarm go off during the 5am hour, I felt like I wanted to DIE. I know it sounds melodramatic, but really – my entire body was revolting against getting up so early in the morning. But I did it. One morning, then the next, then an off day, then the next. Per my psychologist bestie, according to research, “it takes as little as 10 days and as many 4 weeks to establish a new habit. It has to do with the amount of repetition. It’s all about establishing neuronal connections, the more reinforcement the faster it develops.”

I simply established a habit. Do I hate the habit in theory most mornings? Yep. Do I do it anyway? Yep. (For more on transitioning into forming a habit, take a look at this great post over on the Zenhabits blog). The good news? It does get easier.

Why I work out in the morning:

1. It’s the only time it would fit in my schedule. I think I worked out twice at night before realizing that I couldn’t get everything done in the day that I needed or wanted to. My schedule: 7am: Wake up, shower, eat breakfast; 8:30am-5:30pm Work; 6pm Get home, make dinner; 7pm any consulting work, emails, bills, tv, etc; 9pm write blog post; 10:30pm bed (hopefully).  This is on a good day. Other days there are volunteer commitments, working late, social functions, etc. The best way for me to have my workouts uninterrupted by these “extras” was to get the workout done first thing in the morning. Even still, this means going to sleep earlier so I can wake up earlier, which in turn means I’ve cut WAY back on TV. Shows axed so far this year from my DVR: American Idol, Dancing With the Stars, Gray’s Anatomy, Real Housewives (of Anywhere), Millionaire Matchmaker. Yes, I have a reality TV addiction.
2. Less crowded at the gym=more machines available and less to feel self-consious about: Peak hours at the gym are between 4pm-8pm at night. Lots of people, lots of machines in use, and lots of self-consciousness at first if it’s a new environment. Working out in the morning, I see the regulars every day, there are always plenty of machines and weights available, and there is simply no fashion show. Even though you shouldn’t be self-conscious at the gym, I know it’s something many of us struggle with. Remove that obstacle by going earlier in the day.
3. Skip the late-night endorphins: When I work out at night (doing the Just Dance 2 game, for example) I get hyped up with energy. My muscles are warm, the blood is flowing and I’m feeling good. Personally, I don’t want that feeling right before I try to go to sleep- I have enough trouble with insomnia already.
4. Get the blood flowing before work: Because of said point above about endorphins and blood flow, I can jump right into work without having to “wake up” first. I’m sure my boss appreciates that, and I feel much more productive in those first couple of hours in the morning.
5. Accomplish something awesome before 7am: Seriously- the feeling when  you get back in your car and realize that before many of your co-workers or friends have even gotten out of bed, you did 1 selfish and awesome thing for yourself. It’s an addictive feeling.

Today started a week of recovery for me with my exercise. I can do low or medium intensity cardio, but no weights. I have wanted to try my Biggest Loser yoga DVD again after really enjoying the Spin + Yoga (Spoga?) class I’ve done the past couple weeks at the gym. I reviewed the DVD WAY BACK when no one read this blog, and really loved it.

My legs were kind of sore from a really great spin class yesterday (still praising the heck out of my gel seat and padded bike shorts), so I thought I might enjoy something less speed oriented. I popped in the yoga DVD and ran the video camera.

I get a lot of questions about how to stay motivated with exercise or how not to get frustrated. I wish I knew the answer. There are always suggestions like:

• try new things
• vary your activities
• work out with friends or family

While I haven’t had any recent moments of disliking exercise, I will admit that today doing yoga I got frustrated. My body wouldn’t move how I wanted it to. I felt strong from all my other workouts, but things just weren’t clicking today. My muscles were on fire, and there were some moves I just physically couldn’t do. You’ll see that in the video below.

Instead of getting frustrated, I have to look at this moment as a starting point. So what if I’ve already lost 80 pounds? I want my body to be able to do this stuff and right now, it just can’t. So I keep pushing forward. What’s the alternative? If I stop now, I’ll never get there.

So, here is the video, in all its imperfection. Just remember that none of us are perfect, and that you have to start somewhere.

When I was in kindergarten, I was a teachers pet. My mom said it was because I had such a high reading proficiency that the teacher took special interest in me. I was the only kindergartner chosen to read the pledge of allegiance over the PA.

via shandchem on Flickr

I’m not sure if it’s because I was chubby or a teachers pet, but one day during recess, I was standing near a tree. A boy decided to pull back one of the branches when I wasn’t paying attention and it snapped back and hit me in the eye. He laughed at me. I cried and ran to the teacher. I still have that scar today.

Is this when it started? The feelings of inadequacy, being un-cool, feeling unattractive? I’m sure others have had incidents of teasing and ridicule when you were younger, right?

Today, I just felt gross. I’m not saying I actually AM gross, I just FELT gross. My body was kind of sore from the gym yesterday, I overslept and my hyper pup was driving me crazy. I felt like a slug, and the last thing I wanted to do was go to the gym. I stayed in my pajamas for a while, and loafed around, read some, cleaned out the laundry room. Basically, I just had a lazy day. I felt as though if I went outside, some jerkwad with a tree limb would slap me in the eye again. You know, just one of those days!

Around 3pm, I decided I had to get out of the house. To defend me from the hypothetical jerkwad with the tree limb, I brought my pup, who likes to jump on people. We set off on a walk.

I know, what’s the big deal, right? Walking my dog? As I made my way through the neighborhood and to the park that backs up to it, I realized how long it’s been since I’ve just taken her around the park in the neighborhood. Hubs usually takes her daily out of habit, because at my former unfit self, I would be too lazy or physically unable to make it around the 2.18 mile path.

Today, I walked her and enjoyed the sunshine and cooler weather. We even jogged 4 spurts throughout our 44 minute journey. Me, jogging through the neighborhood park? Who am I?!?

So if you’re in a funk, and letting old baggage keep you down, combat it by doing something you don’t think you want to do. You’ll enjoy it, I promise

Can I just say, I’m totally feeling great today. I feel in control and on a great path. Hopefully this optimism and energy continues!

I brought my video camera to the gym today to catch some moves with Trainer Rob. Each set was done 3 times with a warmup, cardio (as mentioned at the end of the video) and cooldown. I like the videos because I’m seeing progress in them. I can see strength in some places (legs and calves) and smaller parts (hips and arms). Of course, we’re always our worst critics, so I saw flaws too, but it’s all part of the journey.

Today I had a session with Trainer Rob. Since I haven’t been on the scale in nearly a month (a daily exercise in personal restraint) and I’m up for weighing in on Monday, Rob joked it was my “Last Chance Workout” ala The Biggest Loser. I actually brought my Flip Video camera so he could capture it if I puked. He laughed at that and said I wouldn’t. His plan for me today? A 5K on the treadmill.

My reaction: “Say what?!”

My first 5K was on July 17th. I had been toying around with the idea of doing a 5K this month, but decided against it. I’m not a runner, nor do I pretend to be! I haven’t been doing the Couch-to-5K program or working on speed. I thought that if I did another 5K, mentally, I would be upset if I didn’t really improve my time from the first one. In the end, I know that the time doesn’t matter, it’s the action of completing that is the achievement, but my emotions are a little raw right now (a topic of which I need to write about more) and I didn’t want to do something and then not feel great after it.

So imagine my surprise when Rob wanted me to do a 5K on the treadmill, heart rate based. This just means more intervals- bring my heart rate up to a point, then bring it back down, then back up – rinse and repeat.

I started out okay. Powerwalking, around 3.7. Some short spurts of jogging at 4.7. Some walking slower like a 3.4 but at a 4% incline.

I don’t know what happened, but I had a mental breakdown in the middle somewhere. I’ve had some allergy issues this week and my head was stuffy. I probably didn’t eat as much before the workout as I should have. I started feeling a little lightheaded and dizzy. But my heart rate was fine – just pressure in my head. I started to doubt myself that I could finish. What was  the point anyway? I wasn’t on a pace to really beat my first time and I was struggling to keep up the pace. Rob kept pushing me – he knows what I can do. Even thought it’s MY mind and MY body, it plays evil tricks on me.

Then the tears came. I begged to slow down, and I just broke down. Rob slowed me down, and I had a moment. I was still walking super slow, making progress, but having a moment. I wanted to finish. I had a headache. My legs were fatigued from spinning yesterday. I was tired. Every excuse I could think of came in my head to stop. If I could have plopped down on the treadmill and had a massive, ugly cry without making a scene, I would have. Truly- that is what my mind was telling me to do.

Then I felt stupid. I could do it. I’ve done it before. Why am I crying here? So what if I have a headache, all I have to do is FINISH.

When I got to 1/10 mile left, Rob had me run it like I did with Shay from the first 5K. About .02 in I had another mental fart and hopped off the treadmill for a few seconds. I can’t run a 5.0, even for 1/10 of a mile. Ugh. But I hopped back on and finished.

My time was 57:20, including my tears. My chip time from the first 5K was 59:20, so I took 2 minutes off. According to my BodyMedia FIT, I burned about 700 calories.

I know I should be proud, and I am. I need to get my comparisons to others out of my head and just accept it as a victory. I’m trying to let this sink in right now.

The most positive thing I took from today was how freaking hard it was for me to get my heart rate up. It’s amazing because I was going so much faster than when I started training, yet I couldn’t get my heart rate up to go as high! And when I needed my heart rate to “recover” or lower, it responded like a champ. It’s kind of amazing really to see that kind of improvement INSTEAD of simply relying on the time on the treadmill.

So, even though it wasn’t an official race, my 2nd 5K is in the books.

Oh, and sweaty, kind of happy picture here

Last Saturday, I took my first spinning class. It took about 4 days, but my donkey walk finally went away. While me and my nether-regions were waiting for the pain to subside, I did some research on some suggestions by readers and by twitter-folk. I really liked the actual ACTIVITY of spinning, and wanted to give it another shot.

The first suggestion was a bike seat cover. They are about $11-19 and have a gel cushioning. I ordered one and when it came, I was skeptical that it could do much.

On to donkey-butt defense #2, padded garments. I had no idea there were so many options for padding in the nether-regions. Underwear, bike shorts, skirts, pants, whatever.

I ended up getting this thing:

It’s a skort/capri thingy, but the “seat” is padded. The place I bought it (Always for Me – not a sponsor, just a place I shop!)  is where I buy the mac daddy of all sports bras and my super cute blue swimsuit from the cruise, so I figured it would be worth a try. It was pricey, but if it would enable me to start doing spinning without donkey butt, I would gladly pay it.

I was worried that the padding would be too narrow or not cover all my surface area. Not trying to be self depricating, just sayin’! But then I got it and flipped it inside out to reveal the padding. ZOMG.

Let’s just say that this thing is like the size of a maxi pad that you dreamed of having when you first got your period in your earlier years. It felt like one too. Like a huge super maxi pad from the early 80s , before dri-weave or whatever super absorbing technology came out (guessing here, I didn’t wear maxi pads in the 80′s). Needless to say, I felt completely covered.

This morning I wanted to go to a new class at the gym which is 40 minutes of spinning and 20 minutes of yoga. I suited up and prayed that these weapons would be enough to hold off any numbness, pain and future bruises in inappropriate places.

I wanted to make sure the back wasn’t too short. The picture is awful of me, but I cracked up looking at my dog. She likes to show off her honches.

I order to relieve some pressure from the front part of the nether regions, I raised the handle bars a little higher so I didn’t feel as strained when using them. As we warmed up, I felt quite comfortable! 10 minutes in? The thought of pain hadn’t crossed my mind! 30 minutes? Still going strong! At the end of 40 minutes? Very, very little pain at all, just more discomfort. Completely went away when we transitioned to the yoga studio.

I know some of you commented on my first spinning experience that you were scared to try it, and I really hope you’ll reconsider. I got a great workout and honestly, I have zero pain right now. I wouldn’t hesitate to jump back on a bike right now, as long as I had my seat cover and super-padded skort/capri thingy (I have no idea what to call it).

As far as the yoga goes, we ended up going over time and doing about 30 minutes yoga. I hadn’t ever really done yoga, other than The Biggest Loser yoga DVD. I actually really liked it, and wished I could do it longer. It was calming and energizing at the same time, if that is possible. I guess “refreshing” is a better word? I know there are many yoga faithfuls out there, so I’ll start looking into this a little more to see how I can integrate it into my training regimen.

Do you take exercise classes or do special DVD’s? What kind of classes are your favorite, and why?

Yep, you read the title right- this fat (but fit) girl went spinning today. Taking a spin class has been on my 101 in 1001 list, and I’ve really wanted to mark it off. So this morning, I went to my first spin class.

Sweaty spin face

I have to admit, I was scared. I have heard about how it’s hardcore and tough, and everyone who ever comes out of a spin class is covered in sweat. I still have trouble with doubting myself and my body’s abilities, but I went for it anyway.

I showed up a little early, and I was lucky that there were still a couple of bikes left – I didn’t get the memo that you need to get there early to reserve the bike. Thankfully, I got a bike in the back corner, where I wouldn’t feel too intimidated. I asked the instructor to help make sure the bike adjustments were okay for me.

There are 3 adustments you can make to the spin bike:

1. Seat height: you want this to be high-hip level
2. Handle bar: you want this to be pretty equal to the seat, or if you’re a beginner like me, slightly higher
3. Seat-to-handle distance: The seat can move forward or backwards- you want it to be where the knees don’t go over your toes when you pedal, and you want to be able to reach the handles without strain.

After I got the adjustments made, class started. About 2 minutes in, I knew I was in trouble.

But not because it was too hard for me! It was because my *ahem* nether-regions *ahem* were in PAIN! Holy hell, it was bad!

You know when you hurt yourself and joke “Oy! That’s going to leave a mark!”

Uh, yeah.

I have marks. Down there *points down.* Not just a single mark. Multiple marks.

I went to the grocery store after the class and I was walking like I had just gotten back from a two week donkey riding excursion.

I realize this may be crossing the line of TMI, but I’m considering this as a public service announcement.

Things I liked about spinning:

• The class was dark. You could just concentrate on what you were doing, and if you had to change your pace, you could without worrying what others would think
• The music was pumping. I love working out to good music, and it was loud and had great beats. Tempo varied so you would switch from sprints (fast speed and lower resistance) and hills (slower speed and higher resistance)
• It was challenging. Nothing better than getting a body-drenched sweat, and this achieved that for-sure
• Calories: I wore my BodyMedia FIT and for the hour I was in the class, I burned around 500 calories!

From my BodyMedia FIT- about 500 calories burned in the class!

Things I didn’t like about spinning:

• Feeling like I was taking a ride on a 2×4 steel beam
• The marks.
• The post-workout donkey walk

Here’s a video I made explaining the spin class, in case you were too lazy to read what I just wrote I am looking ROUGH, so just disregard that. I’m working on catching up on sleep.

Do any of you take spin classes? If so, how long does it take for the pain to go away so it feels “normal?” Also, how long will it take for my marks (and inflammation!?) to go away?! There is another spin class on Friday mornings I want to try that is 40 minutes spinning and 20 minutes yoga, but I seriously feel like my *ahem* nether-regions won’t ever recover!