Beyond the half mile

Another new milestone! I hit the track yesterday morning, and instead of making the first session of running half a mile, I managed to make it three quarters of a mile! At that point I walked a lap and did 2 1/2 to 3 laps between walking laps to hit my two miles. The most exciting thing about this, though, is that now I know when the next breast cancer run/walk comes in April, I will be able to sign up for the one mile and do it as a run. I have walked the 5 km versions before and wished that I could run them. Well, there's still plenty of time between now and April, so who knows. But for this moment, I am dwelling on the fact that I can run the one mile version. R..U..N. I know others do that in a blink, but for me using that word in such a way is an amazing thing. I know I can commit to it and do it, a very new way of thinking.

I paid attention and have an official number

Weigh-in last night. Down 1.2 pounds. I paid attention this time and my official weight at biggest loser this week is 183.2. Yeah....that means I get to keep up my 35 pounds lost sign. It's funny. I work for a school district, and I work 12 months. But most of the people I work with work 9.5 months, so just got back to work last week. I am getting so many people asking me if I have lost weight. It amazes me because I haven't lost any really over the summer, it was mostly between January and June, while they were still here. I appreciate the compliments but feel a bit like a phony because I haven't done any real loss in months now. So, just have to make sure each week has a loss so I can catch up to the compliments already received.

Another half mile

Okay, not so many days between blogs this time. So, let's see. Since my blog last Saturday, what have I done? Since Friday and Sundays are usually my days off from exercising, didn't do any of that. My guy wanted to make spaghetti Sunday, so yes, I had pasta. I figure if I am in this for the long haul, then I will relax a bit on weekends with the diet. If I want something, I'll have it, I'll just keep it in control portion-wise. Monday I didn't make it to the track.....let myself think something else was more important...turned out it definitely was not....lesson learned. Yesterday I was literally on my way out the door, half way through the front door actually, when my phone rang and it was someone wanting to come pick up something they had bought from me. Well, they live far enough away that I couldn't put them off till later, but they were going to be there a bit too soon for me to have time to get to the track and do my thing and get home. So, since I couldn't go, I decided to get out and do some yardwork instead. Not as intense, but at least I was doing something instead of sitting while I was waiting on them to show up. Today I finally made it back to the track. And, yeah!, I did a half mile again. I walked my two laps, ran my 6 laps (1/2 mile), and then upped the number of laps I ran between walking a lap for the rest of the two miles. I am feeling the progress and it inspires me. I can see being able to run the whole mile without stopping to walk just around the corner. I WILL get there!

Tomorrow is my biggest loser class. I will try to pay better attention at weigh-in and get a definite number so I can update my stats here.

A Personal Best......So Far

Here it is two and a half weeks since my last blog. Shame on me!

Well, my next session of biggest loser is underway. I cannot share the exact numbers from weigh-ins as I don't remember them. What I can say is that the first weigh-in was less than two pounds more than my final weigh-in last session (which was first week in June). Considering the travels and hit-and-miss with my diet and exercise, not too shabby. I know that the second week I was down....I think just a little less than two pounds. Last week I was down, but was chatting and didn't pay attention to the numbers to get an exact number, but Vera made the comment that I was down two pounds....so about that. So...I am losing again. The problem with the numbers is I now have a good scale at home and get on it often and then get the numbers mixed with the one at my official weigh-in. It seems their scale is almost two pounds more than mine. Anyway....downward progress is always good. I just need to pay better attention next time to get a real number to start working with.

Meanwhile, I acheived a personal best this weekend. Anyone that has read my blogs knows I hit the indoor track and walk/run. I am now up to doing 2 laps of running for every one lap of walking. However, I try to do more than two the first time around. I have done as many as four laps at one time on my first round. But getting back on track this week I was doing three laps for my first round. Well, Saturday morning I don't know what possessed me, but once I started my first round, I kept going and made six laps.....that is half a mile. Now I know for everyone else that is running, half a mile is nothing. But for me, running half a mile without stopping to walk is a personal best since I was 25 years old (23 years ago). It definitely helped in the motivation department! When I first started adding running to my walks, my thought was would I ever be able to run a mile without stopping to walk. Well.....I am half way there! Now I don't expect to necessarily be able to do it again tomorrow, but we'll see. Some days just seem to work better than others, while some days it takes everything I have to make it around the next corner of that darn track.

Okay, new start. Tomorrow starts the next session of Biggest Loser at the fitness center. Tomorrow night I weigh in for my starting weight and then have our first class. So I will report my weight according to their scale and use it as my springboard to get back at it all.

Yeah, it's been awhile again between posts. I really need to get better at this.

I still haven't gotten back into full routine yet for losing weight. I have been hitting the track, just not as often as I should be. I also haven't gotten myself back on track with my eating. I'll use my birthday as part of an excuse. No one should have to diet around their birthday when people are suprising them with cakes and ice creams, after all. And then this past weekend I was out-of-town. (My sweetie is visiting family in Ohio for two weeks...had a high school reunion this past weekend and a wedding next weekend. Unfortunately, work prevented me from being able to go the two weeks with him, so I went up this past weekend for the reunion and had a great time!) Okay, so the excuses aren't so great.

For my birthday, my daughter got me a really nice scale. So now I'm on the scale all the time and it is amazing how quickly my weight can change in just hours. I know I need to back off from it, but it's still a new toy...lol. I've also been on it a lot to be sure I am not gaining a lot back during this "bad" time of mine. The next biggest loser session at the fitness center starts next week, and I have paid my registration. Guess that means I'm committed to another 10 weeks of real effort to get some more pounds off. Got a week and two days till the first weigh-in, but I'm going to try to start getting back on track this week. Going to be a crazy week with work....I'm sure starting Wednesday I'll be putting in some long hours and working through the weekend. But hopefully it will only be a week of the long extra hours for now. More will come in a couple weeks, and then more in September. It is all too easy to not exercise and to eat poorly in those conditions with the people I will have around me, but I have to make a promise to myself to not let it get in my way.

Back at it again

Okay, it's time to get things back on track here, including my blogging. First, I have to say, I had a FABULOUS vacation visiting my son and his wife in Germany. I don't have the words to share what I felt. I have lived in Germany myself, twice when my dad was stationed there, and once when my ex-husband was stationed there. The first time I was too young to remember much. The second time I was in high school and graduated while there. Because I was in the band, I got to travel a lot, but didn't realize just how lucky I was, because, afterall, it was how I spent my high school years. The last time I lived there as an adult, but in our early years of marriage and therefore, money was tight most of the time and/or he could never get time away from work, so we simply lived there rather than take advantage of our opportunities. I must say, however, that there is difference that I think is quite huge. The last time I lived there was 1982-1985. My son was born there and we experienced our first VCR while there. There was so much around me that I wasn't even aware of. However, times are SO very different now! With computers and gps systems, there's no excuse to not know what is nearby or how to get there. Just as a "for instance", we drove by one of the places I had once lived, and in route, Steve pointed out a building and asked what it was. I didn't know. When we got home that night I looked on the internet and discovered it was a summer palace for past royalty. I had no idea! Thanks to the internet, my daughter-in-law was able to do searches to find things for us to get out to explore that were near enough to not cost a lot of travel money. What a whole new way to discover your surroundings!

The other thing that really struck me was odd. I grew up a military brat, then was a military wife, so until recent years, have spent my whole life on the move. Until moving to Tucson, I had never lived more than 3 1/2 years in one place, averaging about 2 1/2 years per location. Home for me has always been where ever I was. My family refers to Florida as "home" because it is where both my parents come from (my dad originally from NY). But Florida has never called to me. Actually, no PLACE ever has. Tucson was my ex's last duty assignment, this is where we were when the divorce took place, my son was in high school and I had a good job, so wasn't emotionally prepared to uproot, so this is where I am now. Well, for the first time in my life, a place called out to me. While in Germany I felt a calling like I have never felt before. I felt that I should be there, NEED to be there, just for a year or two. I stood outside and looked around and felt safer, healthier, greener, and that it was calling to me, whispering in my ear. I have NEVER felt anything like that before. When it was time to go, I felt a real resolve that I would find my way back.

Now, back to reality. I did some checking on NAF jobs and they are only available to family members stationed in the area. I checked on Civil Service jobs, and in order to transfer you have to already be on "career track", which I believe means you have to already be at least three years employed. That would involved getting a new job, relocating, and hoping that in three years I could transfer. Sad thing of that is I don't know that I would still feel the urge to be there in three years. I am starting to sense other obligations coming my way that may not allow it at that time. I know it's now or never. So I started checking some other employment routes. I find job postings if I am willing to go back to my pre-kindergarten teaching. But to do the kind of work I do now would require me to be fluent in the German language. I know enough to get me around, but certainly nothing even close to enough to work in. I have one other thing I want to check on, but I am not holding my breath. I think with each day that passes, I realize it is simply a wishlist dream. If it doesn't happen now, it won't be able to happen later. But I guess that is how life goes.

Beyond all that, the reason I have this blog, the weight issue. Well, when I first arrived at my son's home, I got on their scale. And while I was there, the most I was ever up was three pounds, but that didn't stay. We were there for almost three weeks. I had given myself permission to enjoy food. I took my running shoes, but in truth never did any running. However, we walked ALOT! On days we didn't go anywhere, Steve and I took a half hour walk. But at least every other day we went somewhere, and on those days we walked for hours. One of the great joys of the country. We would usually park somewhere in the altstadt (old city) and then just set out on foot. I had in my mind three foods I definitely wanted while I was there. And, I found all three...lol. One of them was a cake, and I was afraid I wouldn't find it and was afraid to use the word I remembered it being called as I wasn't confident it was correct. But anytime we passed a bakery, I walked in to see, and found it.....in the little town next to where the kids live! When I asked her to say it for me, I was pretty darn close on what it was called, only had one letter in the long word wrong. Not too bad....lol. After all, we do remember the important things, right?

Since being back, I have tried to get back on track. The first week I hit the track a couple times to do my running/walking. Considering I hadn't run in a month, I was pleased with how I did. This past week, I didn't go but twice. I picked up a summer cold and was just miserable with sinus pain and trying to breathe. But got back there yesterday. I'm still not back on routine, but hopefully this week will be. I haven't been great with my food. I have to get my mind back in the game and get control of myself again. The last session of the biggest loser contest ended the week I left and the next session doesn't start until August. So I haven't had accountablity for weigh-ins. And not having a great scale at home, I'm not sure exactly where I stand. The home scale doesn't show much difference, but it has never been very accurate compared to my weigh-ins. I guess I should go stop by the fitness center and weigh in on that scale.