Family Fitness spreads...

Good morning,
Yesterday was my rest day, and I thoroughly enjoyed a night off running! I still did Emma's mile with her though. Since we set out to do a mile a day; she has not missed one. Yesterday, I drove Emma up to Kentucky where we met my mom and aunt. Emma is spending the week with my family. Because of the drive, Emma had to run in the morning yesterday. I took Abbi out to Jon's car to put her in her car seat and give her some loving. When I came back in the house, I couldn't find Emma. She had taken it upon herself to go change her clothes and get ready for her run. She had to wait on me to get ready; I am so happy she is taking the initiative on her own!

With Emma spending the week in Ohio, we had to make sure everyone was on board with her exercise plan. Aunt Jess will be running with her and mammaw and pappaw will be walking with her as well! Its a multi-generational plan for Emma :)

I received a message from a reader asking about what happens if Jon and I are not on the same page with diet/exercise. I think this is a common problem. Right now, Jon and I are totally on plan together but there are times when we aren't. Its much more difficult to be successful, but its not impossible.

If I look back over the last several months of Weight Loss, I can tell you exactly when Jon and I were not on the same page. In November, Jon gained the entire month and I lost the entire month. I was clearly on plan; Jon was not. Through out the last couple of months there have been weeks where I was frustrated and wanted to give up or just got tired of counting points (those weeks were either gains or no losses). It is much more difficult to stay on plan when your significant other is enjoying a greasy cheeseburger or a large ice cream. However, keeping your goal insight is key. Ultimately, this journey is an individual journey. Is it better to have someone working with you--absolutely--but you can't let your partners choices deter your goal. I am so grateful that Jon and I are both dedicated at this point. When one of us is having a crisis (not wanting to exercise, eating a gallon of ice cream) we can talk to each other about it and know that the other person can talk us off that ledge. Prior to our journey, if I wanted ice cream, Jon would go to Kroger and buy it. If Jon wanted ice cream, I'd yell "get me some too" as he headed out the door!

Communication is key in this situation. I have asked Jon to support my goals and he has asked the same as me. If I am about to binge, he will ask in a non-threatening, non-mean tone :"how many points is that?" There was a time when I would have been angry at him ("you're saying I'm fat and can't eat this???") but now I appreciate the support. I know he is only doing what I have asked. My advice for the person that is struggling to stay on plan because your partner is not dedicated to being healthy is to communicate your goals and ask for support, but keep your individual focus. Ultimately, you will feel better and perhaps your healthy eating and exercise will be contagious and your partner will join you!
Best of luck and thank you for the message!!!
Working our way to fit as a family,
Kati

Umm, excuse me? Come again? Did you say a GAIN???

Hello friends!
Today, I was driving to my WW meeting envisioning a post that I had been waiting to write. There is a benchmark that I want to hit, and I am was 1.6 away from hitting it. It was one of those days when I could not wait to get to my weigh in so I could text Jon and some friends/family that I always update to share my excitement about this milestone. So, what happens??? I GAINED 0.6. WTF??? A Gain??? Seriously? My goal this week was to lose two, but I pep-talked myself that if I lost 1.6 I would be excited and not disappointed. When the lovely receptionist said, "you're up, but only 0.6. Not a problem at all; you'll have that off next week," I literally wanted to cry. Yes, 0.6 is a small gain but I had goals to not gain for this entire 16 week cycle. I also was on a streak of several weeks in a row with no gain. I also did not expect the gain. Am I over reacting? Probably. Will acknowledging that I am over reacting change my reaction? Definitely not!  And, if I am going to have a gain, I want to be able to eat some crappy food, dang it, and earn that gain!!!

Okay, to focus on some positive things. I have a couple of non-scale victories to share. First of all, this week my girls and I worked hard to give Jon a very clean house for Father's day. We still have a couple of things to do, but overall the house looks great. I was carrying cleaning supplies up the stairs, and my "house-cleaning-shorts-that-shall-not-be-seen-in-public" started falling down. Emma grabbed my shorts and held them up and we walked up the stairs together giggling the whole way. She said, "mom, if you are going to keep getting healthy we might want to buy you some new house cleaning shorts!" It was a cute moment and those shorts are ones from my college days; one of two pairs of WC shorts that I still have! I don't want to let them go (but I am feeling pretty proud that my college shorts are too big!!!)

Today we went to a yard sale of a friend of mine. I bought a 3 piece suit (skirt w/jacket and undershirt),

a dressy tank top, a cute date-night dress, and several workout tanks all in a smaller size than I have worn in years!!! The suite is too tight right now, but I will get into it! The other items fit great. I also scored some brand new Kate Spade sun glasses! (See pic!) My jaw line is still pretty swollen (thank you dry socket!) so ignore my chipmunk cheeks!!! It was a successful trip, and really the first new (or new to me)clothes I have bought myself since I started losing weight!

My final non-scale victory is all the love and support I have. Today, before 7 am, I heard from two friends/family members that are also working on getting and maintaining fitness levels. I am so proud of them and to hear from them so early in relation to working out made me smile (thanks to my girls, I was awake!) During the later morning, I also heard from another friend who hit a great personal mile-stone with her running level. I have gotten several pinterest hits, facebook messages, emails, etc. from other friends and family. For the first time in many weight loss attempts, I feel like this is the time that I am not stopping. I've gone public with my goals and with all of our circles of communication, you all are not going to let me forget it!!!

All in all, I feel pretty good about today and pretty good about this week. I am definitely disappointed in my weight in, but weight watchers posted this picture on FB today  and I feel like it hit home.  Really, in the grand scheme of my weight loss, this small gain this week does not deter from the progress I have made. In thinking of my week, I definitely did not get the fresh fruit and veggies in that I usually get. I had more carbs than usual (I ate toast, rice, chicken noodle soup. Popsicles, fudge bars, and smoothies) in order to accommodate my very sore mouth. Though I counted points, my body is used to much more protein and no so many carbs. I also got in less high intensity miles than I am used to this week. I will chalk this up to a focus on non-scale victories and be ready to celebrate on the scale next week.

As a side note, I bought some Peanut Butter & Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter. I learned about this from another blogger and I found it delicious! (I get no endorsements or anything for blogging about this product). I just wanted to share this with my Weight loss friends because this fudge like PB is only 5 points plus per serving (our regular PB is 6) and it has enough chocolate in it that it will curve a sweet craving for me. Now to see if I can control myself with this in the house...chocolate and PB lovers should give this a try!!! I think it will be great with apple slices. I am excited to give it a try on toast this week.

Holy Hills and Humidity

You know I was all revved up to go run yesterday; I had my mental muscle ready to fight my own negativity. I was ready to tell my self to shut-the-eff-up, I had running to do. Well, in all my insight I decided to run (dramatic pause) OUTSIDE (dramatic pause) because I wanted to prove my own progress. Running outside isn't really a big deal; I love to run outside. However, I chose to run outside for the first time since I had my wisdom teeth taken out (and my pain problem was/is a dry socket), in 100% humidity, in 88 degree weather, and through my exceptionally hilly neighborhood. There was a whole lot of genius happening when I made those plans.

So, the run was not as terrible as I make it sound, though I was not pleased with my time on my mile splits:

My overall time was 44:41 for 3.14 miles. That's not entirely accurate since I stopped to stretch and did not turn off the GPS--so my real time was like 42:00 or so.  I learned a few things about myself and running with this trip. First off, Running in the air conditioned Planet Fitness with a steady treadmill (even at an incline) is a lot easier that the heat and humidity and hills. However, I like running outside so I plan on mixing my treadmill and outside running.

I also learned that last year when I started running, I had little mental milestones that I hoped to hit (I hope I can run to the end of this street before I walk). I was "running a 14 minute mile and walking a 17 minute mile). Last night, I found myself hoping to hit the same length benchmarks in my intervals; however, I had trouble pacing myself. I found myself looking at my running ap and realizing I was running at a 9 min/mile. So those distances were reachable, but they were more challenging than I anticipated. My most consistent pace right now is between a 10:30 and 11 min/mile. I need to practice running outside more and get myself use to pacing what I know feels good. Obviously, I was pushing to fast and then not able to keep up the endurance to go beyond my little benchmarks.

I can say that I broke through some of my mental barrios using some of the techniques in Runner's World, but in all fairness I need a trip to Planet Fitness where I can pace myself more accurately and beat my own mental roadblocks that I have stopping me. I think on less humid days, I will do my running outside, it was a nice change. I also have some new baseline times to beat--you know me, I am all about competition with myself ;)

Until next time,
Working my way to fit,
Kati

Mental Muscle: Now I get it

One of my favorite magazines has become Runner's World. This months issue has a lot of dedication to Boston, which I very much appreciate. However, tucked in between there is an article entitled Mental Muscle. It was literally like this article was written directly to me.

As positive as I try to be, I am the WORST at negative self-talk during a run. I start telling myself its okay to walk, I negotiate my goals, I remind myself of my progress (which could be positive, but I use it as a crutch). There is no earth shattering advice in this article; in fact, most of it is common sense that once I read I though 'Duh, I DO that!" It is the simple matter of bringing the problem to the forefront of my mind and addressing it.

Reading this article has me inspired for tonight's run. I am going to employ a few of their techniques to get over my own mental road blocks and just make it through my goals. I am pretty excited about it actually. All it took was someone calling me out on something that I do quite frequently, and now I know to watch for it.

Have you ever had something like that?  A road block that was seemingly simple, yet it just took someone calling you out to make you confront the issue?

Wish me luck tonight on my run; I am going to beat my mental negativity.

Working my way to fit,

Kati

That really HURTS!

So I am not typically one to complain about pain; I have a high pain tolerance and when I do finally complain about pain, its usually bad (as in I need medical intervention quickly). I was nervous about having my wisdom teeth taken out because I had heard all kinds of horror stories. I also heard from several people that they were "fine the next day."  I SO VERY BADLY wanted to be in the "fine the next day" category. Alas, I was/am not.

On Saturday, I was feeling okay so we did a 2.2 mile walk with the kiddos. When I woke up Sunday, the swelling on my face was worse than the day before. I ended up needing more pain pills, so my goal of working out was thwarted. Yesterday, Emma and I did lots of organization and cleaning. Between Ibuprofen and ice, I was able to tolerate my mouth pain most of the day. When Jon arrived home though, I took another pain pill and went to sleep with ice on my face.

Today, 3/4 of my mouth feels fine. I feel like I could go easily run if it were just those three teeth that were extracted...and then there's the bottom left  that is KILLING me! I go back to the doctor tomorrow; I feel like something has to be not right about the way its healing. It is significantly more painful than the rest. Honestly, the others are still a little sore and a little bruised, but my goodness it feels like he left a scalpel down in my jaw on the left side.

My plan for the rest of the day is to finish organizing the spare bedroom with E and then go through E's drawers to clear out some of the clothes she has out grown. I am trying to keep myself active during the day so as to get some activity points.

Walking is a great exercise and I am going to try  do a bit of a walk today with E; its better than nothing!

Here's hoping my next post is done without mention of pain!

Working my way to fit,
Kati

Party Recap: Cupcakes, Icecream, and Krispy Kreme Donuts

I shared with you on Friday that we were heading to Ohio for the kid's birthday party and that being in Ohio was always a struggle for me. Going home to comfort food and snacks; it CAN be a weight watcher's nightmare...but this time, it was not. I am really proud of the choices I made while at home this trip. And, of course, traveling can always be difficult because of the lure of snack food. A trip with no snacking was not only healthier, but it was also cheaper. :)

To recap the weekend, our counseling crew went to lunch on Friday to a place that we had never been. The food was fresh and it was delicious. I definitely ate more points than I planned on, but the food was so fresh that I enjoyed it and did not regret it. On Friday night, as we were traveling, we stopped at a restaurant of Abbi's choosing (for her birthday). I went for the tilapia and steamed rice with a caesar salad. All in all, I ended up using some of my "weekly allowable 49 points" but I was pretty happy with my food choices. I ate out twice in the same day without going crazy.

On Saturday, (party day) I knew it was going to be a high point day. I started the day with a run; I did

between 3.1 and 3.5 miles total. Its hard to know exactly because we were running on a loop at a park and there was no good mile marker. We were told the loop was right at a mile, but based on my pace, I think its a little less than actual mile. I went 4 loops; Jon went 5. We warmed up together, ran one entire loop at my pace and then cooled down together. It felt great exercising with him. It also felt great being able to completely run the loop 2 times with no walking. I did interval walking on the 3rd loop. (The 4th loop was our warm up/cool down and a little running to finish out the time). Overall, it was a great 40 minute workout.

In anticipation for the party, I only ate a protein bar after my run. At the party, I kept portions small (or normal) and stayed within my points range. I ate one cupcake and one scoop of ice cream. For "dinner" i had one serving of veggie chips. I ended party day with only using 1 "weekly allowable."

Sunday was travel day; traveling as a weight watcher is much cheaper than traveling as a snacker! My big problem came when we got home. Allowing myself a cupcake on Saturday, and a cupcake on

Sunday with lunch, my body was craving sugar. Little sister had a box of krispy kreme donuts at my house when I got home and I gave in and ate 1. Just 1. But on top of the cupcake from earlier, my "not used to sugar" body rejected that donut! I was sick during my run Sunday night. I still made it 3.3 miles, but it was not a happy 3.3 miles.

Overall, the weekend went very well. The party was a success; I got to see and vist with lots of family that I had not seen in a while. I also got to meet my life-long friend's new baby :) She is such a sweet sweet baby.

I am going to weigh in this week on Wednesday morning, but then its back to Sundays. My weekends have been a little crazy lately, but I see things settling soon. I was able earn 49 activity points last week, so I am hoping to hit 50 this week.

Hope you all had an enjoyable weekend.
Working my way to fit,

Kati

Early morning #3..

Quick post today because I am in a bit of a hurry. This morning was #3 of going to PF prior to starting my day. The last two mornings, I have arrived by 4:45 (EEEEEEK). For some reason, today was rough and I did not get a full run in. I did my normal warm up, started to run at a 5.5 pace and EXCRUCIATING pain radiated from my middle two toes. I hopped off the treadmill, stretched, jumped on my toes, and decided to try again. It was still hurting, though not as bad. I decided to just do a fast walk instead. I walked a 4+ pace. I ended up doing 2.6 miles in 40 minutes. After walking all day on my foot, it feels much better. I am not sure what the problem was this morning.

I will say that I learned that three mornings of working out equals a day of feeling HUNGRY all day. I emailed Jon to tell him I was ready to eat my arm! I stayed on point though; I snacked with two apples and an orange. (Normally, I only need one snack during the day and its usually an apple!). 

Tonight is Emma's final soccer party so we are going to a pizza place. I have enough points for two pieces of cheese pizza and a shared Caesar salad. I'm planning ahead so I keep true to my program.

Have a great night! Thanks for reading--I enjoy all of the messages I have gotten :)

As always, working my way to fit,

Kati

Weekly Weigh in and Addition of Progress Pics

Today was the last day of school for teachers! It feels great to be ending another school year. I have one full week of work and then its SUMMER TIME for me! Honestly, in ten years of being in education, I have never just taken a summer off. Usually, I am going to work shops, lesson planning, doing committee work, etc. This summer, I am truly taking OFF! And, I am looking forward to it. I am going to focus on my health and my family so that when I go back to school I will be revitalized and rejuvenated, and hopefully several pounds lighter.

Speaking of pounds, I went to Weight Watchers today to weigh-in since I missed on Sunday. I lost 2.6 this week :) I earned my 25 pound trinket (26.6 total, 46 grand total!). I am feeling pretty satisfied about this loss.

I realize that for many many weight loss blogs, there is always a section of progress pics. I decided to add mine here: Progress Pictures. I don't notice a huge difference yet in my pics, but I can see my face starting to slim down. It will be fun to look back at these pics as I continue to lose.

Today was the big 4:30 am date with Planet Fitness and it actually felt pretty great. I did a 5k in 36 minutes, my lowest time yet. I actually ran at a 11 minute mile pace for 18 solid minutes and then walked at a 4mph for 4 minutes and then resumed running. On work days, I am going to stick to around 3.1-3.5 miles and then plan for longer runs on non-work days.

 I have 6 points plus left so I am ready to see what kind of yummy snack I can find and then I'm off to watch "So You Think You Can Dance" with the hubs.  An odd show for us to like since we are both non-dancers, but after watching this show for so many seasons I really do "think I can dance" just not to be seen by anyone over the age of 5 :)

Happy Tuesday to you all!
Working my way to fit,
Kati

Another one bites the dust

I can not believe the end is here. Today is our last school day for students; while I still have to work, there is a different pressure once students are gone! I have been thinking a lot about my goals for this summer; I really want to boost my weight loss efforts with more increased exercises.

I was reading a weight loss blog post about doing a 3 days on, 1 day off workout routine. Jon and I discussed it and that was the routine we were to start following. Jon has done AWESOME! He is slimming down and he has really embraced the 3on1off. I, however, have not. It seems like there is always something stopping me. This week, it has been recovery from my surgery. Last week, it was an insane schedule of soccer games and practices.

Starting this weekend, our lives seem to settle down a bit. My goal is to hit PF tonight, Saturday and Sunday for my 3 on. I will take Monday off. Then, I hope to be able to go to PF before work on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of next week. Since students are not in school, I won't need to be as early as I have been.

Working out in the evening is a challenge because more appealing opportunities arise. I am really hoping that by trying to incorporate morning workouts, I will get in a nice rhythm by the time next school year starts.

As a fun side note: I started the C25K program last June and struggled to "run" two miles in 35 minutes. In fact, I remember thinking "running" 3 minutes in a row was HARD. Now, I am doing interval training runs for 50 minutes and am hitting over 4 miles. I am pretty proud of the progress I have made in a year. I still have a long way to go, but isn't that the point of the weight loss journey? There is always room to do better!

Have a happy Friday!

Working my way to fit!

Kati

Long time, no post!

I was shocked to check back at my blog and realize that it has been since February since my last post! Life got busy and blogging got put on the back-burner. I follow so many wonderful blogs that I found I would rather spend my time reading what those authors were writing than taking the time to write my own post. However, now that summer is approaching and life is settling down, my goal is to get back to writing. Since it has been so long since my last post, I am going to post a few updates.

Weight loss: I have been going strong and faithfully following the weight watchers program. I am currently at a total loss of 46 lbs. We have a new leader that I like a lot and I have found that tracking is key. As long as I am tracking, I am losing!

Exercise: Exercise has been more sporadic than I would like, but I have reached some new personal records. I did interval training with Jon for 4.56 miles; my goal was to hit 4 miles, I never dreamed to him 4.56. Now, my next goal is 5 miles.

Other health: I had my first of two surgeries this week. Because of this week's surgery, I have not been to Planet Fitness this week at all. All went well with the surgery and I am feeling much better.  I hope to be back at PF by this weekend! My oral surgery (wisdom tooth extraction) is scheduled for June 7th.

I am hoping to be more diligent about journaling my weight loss journey. I have been so inspired by the weight loss blogs and running blogs that I follow; I want to keep this blog as a documentation of my journey.

Until next time,
Working my way to fit,
Kati

Habits/Routines and Challenges

Weight Watcher's new 360 program is all about routines--so I am trying to be very reflective of healthy routines that I have established, and unhealthy routines that I have continued with. One habit that I am going to work to change in to a more healthy routine is that "after school snack."

I am sure this habit goes back to kindergarten--when we get home from school, we have a snack. Unfortunately, lately, as I get the girls' snacks together, I end up making unhealthy snack choices for myself. Its frustrating--yet I still find myself doing it! I count the points, so I know I am okay with my daily allowance, but I would like to make better choices at this snack time.

Here is my plan for my new routine:
1. Take everything in the house, as per usual, and get the girl's milk and snack.
2. Get myself a healthy snack
3. Stay the "H" out of the KITCHEN until time to make dinner.

Its #3 that I have a problem with so I am going to try some things to overcome #3. On nice days, I am going to take the kids outside so that we can play and I can stay away from temptation. On not-so-nice days, I am going to go upstairs and start working on scrap booking and schoolwork binders for the girls. I have found that staying on the same level as the kitchen is just too tempting! I know that if I start a new routine for a couple weeks, it will become a habit. Here's to developing a new routine!

Anyone else have this struggle? What do you do to overcome the "after school snack" temptation?

Working my way to fit,
Kati

I survived...and so did my weight loss

So, I made it through the toughest part of the year for me. The combination of mine and Hailey's birthdays are usually quite rough. Its usually about a two week period that I am just NOT myself.  I love to celebrate my own birthday, but its been hard since Hailey; those days are just so close together.

I approached these days with a plan:

1. Do not turn to food for grief
2. Maintain my excerice
3. Allow myself 2 pounds gain without being upset

Sounds like a great plan--here is what actually happened.

1. There were days that I did make unhealthy food choices, but I did not go "crazy" as I would have in the past. I did not just sit and eat chips and feel sorry for myself, but I did indulge in some unclean food that I have not allowed myself to have (because I don't trust myself to stop once I start).  I ate the meal, but counted the points. I went over on my points, and used my weekly allowable, plus some. But I was still conscious of what I ate instead of just blindly eating crap.

2. I did not maintain my excerice like I would have wanted too. Instead of hitting the gym, I did lot of play time with the kids, spent some time on my treadmill (not as much as I like), but mainly focused on positive energy with the family.

3.  Weight gain without being upset... So I tried to use the plan that our leader talked about over Holidays. Give yourself a limit and do not be mad if you gain within that limit. I decided two pounds would be it.

Week 1: Gain 4.6 (GASP) okay, I can be mad because I certaininly went over that two pound limit. I got myself a little more under control. Concentrated a little more on tracking...

Week 2:  Loss 4.4. Overall, I had a gain of 0.2, which is well within my two pound allowance.

So, I made it through my "dark" month with only a minimal gain, a few days of tears, and lots of successes. I am beyond blessed with great friends and a great family. I am so excited that spring is approaching and am looking forward to being "me" again.

So, long February!
Working my way to fit,
Kati

Weigh In Day

Routines and habits: the new focus of WW 360 program. Sunday is a day filled with routines for me. I wake up, do laundry, feed the girls and Jon a breakfast of waffles (because its Sunday breakfast) while I enjoy my egg beaters because eating a heavy Sunday breakfast before weighing in seems CRAZY to me :) Then, I head off to weight watchers where I happily step on the scale and my favorite WW leader, Jon, encourages me to keep up the good work. Jon is an awesome leader--the best leader I have ever had. In fact, when I rejoined WW I actually switched meeting days because I enjoyed his meetings so much.

Cue dramatic music: duh duh duh...

Today, JON WAS NOT THERE! And, to make matter's worse, Jon is not coming back to Sunday meetings!!! WHAT??? I liked our leader today; she was great, but she was not Jon! She is just a sub for this month, our new Sunday meeting leader starts in March. As I have learned recently, a change in leadership can be good. But, through all of my weight watcher leaders (and I have had many), Jon has been my favorite. I am sad to see him go. Regardless, I will keep on trucking through this weight loss and I will keep going to my Sunday meetings because I like the routine I am in. I am hoping that my new leader will be fantastic, but if she's not, I am going to keep working hard to earn those stickers!!!

Today's results: -3.6 for a WW total of -20.8 or a grand total of -38.2 :) I am a pretty happy camper! My goal for the next 5 weeks is to lose 2 per week. That will put by 16 week total at WW at 30.8.

The bad news (not really bad) is that with my new weight, I lose a point. I am okay with that--I actually usually have to find a snack at the end of the night to finish my points anyway.

I am off to go finish watching the Superbowl. Went to a Superbowl party this evening and ate relatively healthy. One small desert, but I am positive that I did not veer over my weekly 49.

Have a great week!
Working my way to fit,
Kati