Lessons learned...

Weigh in today.

Did really bad.

I know exactly why, too.

I gained two whole pounds.

Remember my goals last week were to work on my TEDs (Tracking my food, Exercise every day, Drink all my water every day)? Well, I did all three of them, but only half way. I didn't track EVERYTHING, EVERY DAY. I didn't exercise until Thursday night (ran/walked 3 miles Thurs night, then ran 1 mile Fri morning then ran 3 miles Friday night).

So you know what happens when you do something half way. Yea, you don't get the results you're looking for.

I'm hoping my hubby's new-found enthusiasm for WW will rub off on me and I'll be able to get passionate about it again. My head has really been messing with me lately.

Like right now, I just want to cry because I gained 2 WHOLE POUNDS!!

That's a whole MONTH'S worth of weight loss GONE. I'm now back at the weight I was on January 31st. Ugh!! I just want to scream!!!

Do you know how hard it was for me to lose those two pounds???

Oh my gosh! I worked so hard at it!!

Okay, deep breath, Cara. Deep breath.

...

What have I learned?

I can't have a splurge day ANY MORE.

I have to track, exercise AND drink 80 oz of water. Every day. No matter what. All three or nothing!

I splurged last Saturday and gained 5 pounds in one day. I had a cheeseburger (21pts) with broccoli (1pt) for lunch and a Bob Evans Border Scramble Burrito (27pts) with fried potatoes (4pts) and cherry bread (9.5pts) and fried mush (5pts) for dinner. Then a piece of coconut cream pie (13pts) for dessert. Oh, and a block of 1/3 less fat Philly cream cheese (15pts) and a half a bag of reduced fat Ruffles (20pts).

Can you find any reason in last paragraph why I gained 5 pounds in one day??!!

Can you say 115 points???!!!

In one Day!!!

Ahhhhhh!!

What was I thinking!!???

At the time, I really didn't think all those things were that bad when I was eating them. I mean, I knew they'd be more points, but I had no idea they'd add up to more than a hundred points.

Man!

So, I think I know why I gained 5 pounds in one day. And I think I know why I wasn't able to lose all 5 of those points over the course of the week.

OK. So I'm human. I'm weak when it comes to food. I love food.

But most importantly, I learned from those 100+ points.

I can't do that any more.

I could have done any ONE of those things and been okay. But I can not do all of them like that again.

My indulgences need to be smaller. Still indulgences. I can't live without my indulgences. But I HAVE to make them small ones.

I'll get used to it. It might take a few years. But soon I'll be used to it and it'll be okay. For now, one day at a time.

Today, I had four 1-point pancakes for breakfast, and for lunch I'm planning on some sort of chicken with veggies. Will probably have a light sandwich for dinner (we always swap out lunch and dinner on Saturdays).

By the way, this recipe for pancakes makes the best pancakes I've ever had in my life! I'm a HUGE fan of pancakes! I thought I'd share it with you. You won't need syrup on them. They're perfect the way they are. I changed the recipe just slightly from her original version. Just a slight improvement on perfection. And here's a link to a video made by the lady who I got the recipe from. It's absolutely priceless. It's her and her toddler making the recipe together. It's long, but well worth the watch:

1/2 cup quick oats (40g)
1 cup skim milk (8oz) (I used Almond Milk, made it sweeter, less calories and more protein)
2 tsp lemon juice
3/4 whole wheat flour (90g) (there's no difference in points whether you use white all purpose flour or whole wheat, it's just healthier for you if you use wheat)
2 tsp cinnamon (if you're not crazy about cinnamon, you can reduce this to 1 tsp. I'm CRAZY about cinnamon so I like 2 tsp)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 egg (I used a 1/4 cup egg beaters for slightly less fat and calories, still the same points for each pancake, though)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
1 tbsp honey

In a medium bowl, combine oatmeal, milk and lemon juice. Let mixture sit at least 2 minutes while preparing dry ingredients.

In large bowl, combine all dry ingredients: flour, cinnamon, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.

Milk/oatmeal mixture will look slightly curdled after 2 minutes. Whisk the egg [beaters], vanilla, applesauce and honey into mixture.

Warm griddle to 350 degrees until water drops dance on surface. Spray surface with non-stick oil.

Just before you're ready to pour the batter onto the griddle, add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until just combined.

Pour with a ladle onto griddle. Cook about 1-2 minutes a side, until light brown on both sides.

Enjoy!

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Chip fiasco to glorious victory...

Okay, first, I want to thank you guys for your wonderfully encouraging comments to my blog post yesterday. They were very encouraging!

You are right, I did stop. And the old me would definitely not have stopped at all! I think I have to consider yesterday's challenge a win for me. I was so ashamed yesterday after it happened. I felt like I'd totally lost it—my will to continue dieting. Almost like I didn't deserve the right to diet any more. But now, upon reflecting on the situation and your comments, I have to say I did pretty good. In fact, I'm going to count yesterday as a total victory.

Gold star for Cara!

So, today I came home for lunch, and just like yesterday I got the shakes on the way down the stairs at work. I think I'm getting hungry but not noticing it.

I've been so screaming busy at work lately, taking on a lot of new projects (which are all very fun, but extremely time consuming) and I think I'm just getting so busy in the morning that I'm not listening to my body when it gets hungry.

Usually, I'll have a mid-morning snack of some sort and yesterday & today I didn't. I think I'm going to have to set some sort of reminder for me to stop and eat my morning snack.

I mean, it's a good thing to be so busy that you don't even notice that you're hungry, but this can be—and has proven to be—bad for me. Case in point, yesterday.

So today, I realized it before I got home and I had a hearty lunch. Low in points, but high in fiber and protein to make up for the lack of snack this morning.

Whew! I did it. I turned that fiasco from yesterday into a complete victory!

Woo hoo!!

Now, secondly, you guys have got to go read my hubby's blog from this morning. He's such a sweetie! And I'm so proud of him! He just started his blog the other day and he's already using it just like I do—it is (well, you guys are) my confessional, my event planner and my accountability partner(s).

He jumped over a HUGE hurdle today. And he didn't even tip the board. You guys just don't know how hard it was for him. If you think I have a hard time resisting, he is 1,000 times worse at it. He's the worst at resisting snacks. At least he has been lately. And so for him to resist this divine creation I made, is truly amazing.

I'm proud of you, David!

P.S. Update on my TED's (tracking, exercising and drinking water): I'm doing great on the water and tracking part but I only ran on Sunday (but only for 40 minutes) and didn't run yesterday or today. I'm hoping I can get inspired to run tonight. I had such a great run last Friday night. Maybe night running might work better for me.

Oh, and for Trish85, the chips were Ruffles (reduced fat) and the dip was Philadelphia Cream Cheese (1/3 less fat). It's a combination that I've eaten my entire life. Don't knock it until you try it. It's truly heavenly the way the two textures and tastes marry up together so perfectly. :]

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Attack of the chips...

I just had a momentary laps into my days-of-fat and I had to come in here and confess it. I feel just awful!

I just had a mad eating frenzy of chips and dip!

I had just eaten my on-point lunch of almond butter and sf blackberry jam sandwich and I was doing okay. Wasn't hungry. And all of the sudden, I ran to the pantry and pulled out the chips and hurried to the fridge and got the dip and stood there at the kitchen counter cramming chip & dip after chip & dip into my mouth like someone had told me that I wasn't going to be able to eat anything for the rest of my life and I had to scarf down as much as possible to help me live.

Oh my goodness!

I couldn't stop.

My finger tips were getting covered with dip as I went from bag to tub feverishly.

All the while, I kept saying "Cara, what are you doing!?" But I couldn't stop. "Cara, stop!". But I wouldn't stop. "Cara, I can't believe you're doing this! STOP!". But I kept going.

Finally after about 5 minutes of non-stop gorging, I finally said "OK, last bite" and I put them away. Deep breath.

Afterwards, I felt so dirty. I'm so ashamed I did that. I don't know why I did that.

I used to do that whenever I was alone at home, but I wouldn't stop until every last chip and ounce of dip was gone. I'd only do that when no one was home. And I'd throw away the evidence that I'd done it in the bottom of the trash can so no one would ever know.

I just went and brushed my teeth trying to get the greasy taste of the chips out of my mouth. I think I might have to go do that again because I can still taste the aftertaste a bit.

The only thing I can think of that might have caused me to do that was that I was a little shaky before lunch. When I was walking down the stairs at work to leave to come home, I remember thinking, "Wow, I'm starving". I was kind of surprised. I didn't feel hungry a minute ago. I was even a little shaky in my legs. I sometimes get that way—shaky for no reason. It doesn't happen often. In fact, it's happened very few times since I've been on WW. I've tested my blood sugar during several different episodes and each time my levels are normal. But in the past, the only way I could get the shaking to stop was to gorge myself on sweets. I guess because there were no sweets in the house, I gorged on chips.

Looking back, that's probably what it was. My instinct to get rid of the shakes. But while I was going through it, it's like I was a crazed animal. Chip crumbs were flying everywhere.

Well, I'm glad it's over. I sure hope I don't do that again. Luckily I was able to stop after only 5 minutes. I don't even know how many chips I consumed. I probably ate half the tub of dip. No idea how to count those points.

Listen to me, here I've just had a very traumatic eating experience and I'm trying to track my points.

I guess that's a good thing, huh?

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Another week, another set of goals...

Man, I can't believe it's been a WHOLE week since my last post.

Bad Cara!!

Well, weigh in was this morning and I managed to maintain. Actually, I'm so relieved. I was so afraid I was going to gain. I did track my points every day and I only used 15 of my flex points (including last Saturday and Sunday) but I did not exercise enough or drink enough water. I'm finding that it's a whole package deal with me. In order for me to lose, I have to track my points AND exercise AND drink my water. If I don't do one or two of those things, I simply will not lose, or I'll gain.

So my goals for this week are simple: Track, Exercise and Drink—TED:

Exercise at least 4 days—hard exercise, not just walking. I did a Last Chance Workout Friday night. I ran my butt off. I'm convinced that was why I broke even because Friday morning when I weighed myself at home, I was still up 1.8 pounds from last Saturday's WI. I ran so fast and so hard like I've never done before. My heart rate was up in the low- to mid-170s for most of my run. But I kept running because I felt fine. I told myself if I started feeling bad, tired or in pain, I'd stop. And I did. I burned almost 1,000 calories in only 40 minutes of running. Was kind of like my own version of a spinning class only I was running. Was wonderful. I'm going to have to try that again.

Track my points. I've been doing good with this, so I'll just keep doing what I've been doing. Although I bought a new gadget to help me. It's called a Points Clicker key chain. It's really cool. All it does is count down the number of points you have left for the day. When you reach zero, I'll start tracking in the negative so you'll know how many Flex Points you used. It's really cool and it was only $5. I'd put a link to it on the Weight Watchers website, but I can't find it on there, yet.

Drink my allotted water. I'm not sure if I told you how I'm making sure I drink my water or not so if I did, please forgive me and skip over this section. I figured out that I need to drink between 80 and 100 ounces of water a day (based on my weight divided in half then that number is how many ounces I need to drink). So what I did was buy four 700ml (24 ounce) sports bottles (with the pop tops) and I wrote a #1, #2, #3 & #4 on each bottle, in permanent marker. Then each morning, I fill all four of them up with fresh water and set them on my kitchen counter (I don't like cold water, but cold water will help you lose weight faster—scientifically proven). Then as the day goes on, I can see how much I've drank and how much I still need to drink. Last week, I only drank about half the water I should have each day.

I learned something new about exercise. I did my Last Chance Workout in the evening and I had so much more energy. I didn't get tired as quickly and I felt so much more enthusiastic about the whole thing. I felt more empowered. I felt like I could go forever.

I had a really good WW meeting this morning. They talked about my favorite subject: managing your thoughts. My thoughts are what has held me back from losing more weight and exercising more. But that's an entirely different blog post altogether. :) I told everyone how I ran 10K last weekend and they all cheered for me. Then the sweetest thing happened at the end of the meeting when the leader asked if anything had ever happened in a meeting that was encouraging or helped them out. A lady, who I don't even know, said out loud how I inspired her with what I said about my running. Was really sweet.

P.S. My hubby just started his own blog. I'm so excited. We've been losing weight together since we started this whole thing in 2007. He's been having problems with his weight loss lately, though, and that's why I'm so glad he started his own blog. I know how much my blog has helped me. So stop by, if you wouldn't mind, and tell him hi: David's Weight Loss Journal.

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Nothing can stop me now...

I did it.

I ran 10k (6.2 miles) yesterday!! NON-STOP!

What an accomplishment!! I think I can do just about anything, now!

I Twittered while I ran. I don't think I could have read anything on my phone, but I wanted to try Tweeting to see if I could do it and I did. Here's the log of what I Twitted:

1. running my first 10k, unofficially, practice. never ran this far b4 7:12 AM Feb 15th
2. am getting tired, just passed half way 7:16 AM Feb 15th
3. need strength . am pushing on! 7:20 AM Feb 15th
4. doing a littlle better, getting stronger 7:24 AM Feb 15th
5. got my 2nd wind, going strong now 7:33 AM Feb 15th
6. doing great! i think i'll make it! 7:42 AM Feb 15th
7. i feel like Forrest Gump ... run Forrest run! 7:50 AM Feb 15th
8. run Cara run! 7:51 AM Feb 15th
9. still going, getting tired 8:01 AM Feb 15th
10. starting 2 get a headache, am i pushing 2 hard? 8:07 AM Feb 15th
11. i eased up, headache gone, getting close to home 8:13 AM Feb 15th
12. I'm really gonna do this! i see home! 8:17 AM Feb 15th
13. i did it! i ran 10k, non stop! i did it!!! 8:21 AM Feb 15th

After I got home, I was just fine. My legs were very tight but I felt fine. I walked around the house for about 10 or 15 minutes before I sat down. I didn't want my legs to cramp up because they were soooo tight.

I burned over 1,900 calories—earned 16 activity points! Wow! That's like a whole week's worth of activity points! Sweet!

I was a little sore when I got up this morning, but not much. I was able to go up and down the stairs at work today without any problems.

I didn't run this morning. I didn't want to push my luck. But I'll run again tomorrow morning. I've got some great podcasts lined up. And a new CD I want to listen to, too.

I read something real cool in my Week 10 WW book. It was surprisingly refreshing and very insightful and I wanted to share a little bit if it with you guys.

"Why Weight Loss Always Slows Down

There are some predictable patterns in everyone's weight-loss efforts. In the first few weeks, it's normal to see quick losses. People talk about this as water weight.

But what's happening to cause this loss of water weight? When you reduce your calorie intake, your body responds by releasing it's stores of glycogen, a stored form of carbohydrate found in the muscles and the liver. Glycogen holds water, so when it's burned for energy, it releases water.

Since you're eating fewer calories, your body starts burning up its glycogen stores, and then, after they're gone, your body starts burning fat for energy—which is exactly what you want to have happen. But because fat does not hold water and it takes twice as much energy to burn fat, you'll see slower losses on the scales."

Amazing, huh?

I never knew that. I always love finding out about the science behind things.

Here's a link to their website that has more info (much more scientific) about this whole thing.

P.S. I tried something new this weekend. I normally overindulge the day I weigh in and then a little the next day too. So Saturdays and Sundays are usually gain days for me (usually 2 to 4 pounds) then I spend the next few days trying to lose what I gained from my overindulgences. Well, this weekend, I decided to only indulge very little—almost none. And I only gained 4/10ths of a pound. Woo hoo! I'm already ahead of the game. My goal for next week's weigh in is to lose 6/10ths. I don't want to set the bar too high. I put it way too high last week and barely made it (though I did meet it!). :)

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THREE WEEKS IN A ROW!!!!!

Well, I did it! Three weeks in a row I've pulled a loss!

I was down one whole pound this week!

I'm so glad my brain and my body are starting to work together again.

I'm now at 171.8 lbs.

The first time I hit 171.8 was on Sept. 13 of last year. That's FIVE MONTHS down the crapper. Five months of trying to get back to that point. The lowest I've ever been was 167.8 back on Dec. 13th. So I was able to make it lower than I am now, but now I have to lose those pounds all over again.

So I've got 4 pounds to go to get back down to the lowest I've ever been and I've got 6.6 pounds to go to reach my ominous goal of 100 pounds lost. I can't believe I was only 2.6 pounds away from 100. Ugh! Total sabotage!

Can you believe I've been trying to reach my 100 pound goal since July 19th last year? I started my 18 Pounds in 18 Weeks challenge back then because I was only 18 pounds away from 100 pounds. Then all heck broke loose just before Thanksgiving and I've been trying to regain my weigh loss ever since.

A friend at work, Wendy, told me a cool thing she does with her weight loss log. She'll highlight her losses with a green highlighter and her gains with a red one. The idea is to see more greens than reds, obviously, but it's a great graphical representation of how you're doing on an on-going basis.

So I sat down and did that today. (I don't have a red highlighter so I used orange.) Since I started the challenge, I've had a loss 18 times and a gain 13 times. So at least I'm losing more times than I'm gaining, but not by much. Really, it looks like there's just as many green as there is orange.

Well, at least there are 3 greens in a row for now. I'm going to try for 4 in a row. I'm taking this one day at a time, one week at a time.

I thought I'd try something different this weekend and try to stick to my 22 points each day. Usually, I've used my 22 points for Saturday and Sunday plus all 35 flex point by Sunday night. So far so good. I'll let you know how it works out.

Oh, and I think my next running challenge is going to be a 10K. Okay, I know what you're thinking, 'Good grief, Cara, you just ran your first 5K, isn't a 10K a little ambitious?' Well, yes, it is. But I still want to try it. I truly think I can do it. There's one coming up on March 14th—4 weeks away.

I figured my first step towards seeing if I can do this is to try and run the distance around the neighborhood. So I just finished mapping my route. I think I'll try it tomorrow morning. I suspect it'll take me an hour and a half to do being as the 5K took me 45 minutes. But we'll see.

I'll let you know if I do it or not. Tomorrow morning would really be my only chance until next weekend. I could get up early and try it one morning this week, but I'm still not 100% comfortable running around the neighborhood in the dark. I know I used to do it all the time. Heck, I've been running and walking outside in the dark since I started Weight Watchers almost 2 years ago. But I've been spooked lately. So better go with my gut, right?

So here's to another week of weight loss. Whew! I still can't believe—3 weeks in a row. Hopefully 4 weeks will be in the near future.

P.S. if you have a minute, you should go check out my sister-in-law's new blog. She just started it a couple of weeks ago. Stop by and tell her hi for me, would you? http://lauri-hereigo.blogspot.com.

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Die you horrible treadmill, die!!!

So, in keeping with my week of firsts, I did something this week that I've never done before that I'm a little proud of, though not nearly as proud as I am of my FIRST 5K EVER. I ran on the treadmill for a solid hour.

You know I've been having problems lately with this thing called a treadmill (though I like to affectionately call it "my hamster wheel"). It's all in my head, but I just have the darnedest time running on that thing for more than 20 or 30 minutes at a time. I hate it. But Monday I ran for a solid hour (plus 5 minutes walking warm up and 5 minutes walking cool down).

I've had the treadmill for probably 10 or 12 years and in all the times I've used it, I've never ran for more than 20 minutes straight on it until just recently when I ran a solid half hour. So this was a good step forward for me, being able to stick with it for an hour.

Tuesday, I didn't get on the treadmill then today I had problems with it again. I could only run for a half hour and then I had to stop and walk. I ran/walked the last 30 minutes—5 or 10 minutes running then 5 or 10 minutes walking.

I know it's a mental block with me, but I don't know how to get past it. I've been discovering lately that this whole weight loss and exercise thing is all in my head. I can lose weight, if I let myself do it. I'm way past the point of being hungry because I'm not eating as much as I used to. And I can exercise, if I just convince myself I can do it. My body knows how to diet. And my body knows how to exercise. I'm way past the point of feeling exhausted from minor exercising. I remember when I first started how hard it was for me to just walk for 10 minutes. Walk! Not run! It was hard. I was so out of breath and I felt like my chest was going to explode from my heart beating so hard.

Now, I know I can run for more than an hour—non-stop—and know that I will feel just fine afterwards. But my mind keeps telling me that I can't do it on the treadmill.

I suppose this is all a process. My mind used to tell me I couldn't run for more than a minute or two. Now look at me. I suppose it's just something I'm going to have to keep at until my mind finally relents and lets me have my way.

Man, sometimes my mind drives me crazy!

Wait, did I just say that out loud??

One thing that's been helping me stay on the treadmill (when I really want to be in bed or behind the computer blogging) is podcasts. I have found the be-all and end-all of the world's absolute best podcasts—NPR: http://www.npr.org/podcast. They have got hundreds of podcasts to subscribe to. All FREE! (except you really should support public radio, so don't forget to donate) I've found some wonderful podcasts on there.

I like All Things Music, which is a fresh mix of up and coming musicians. Of course my favorite is This American Life by Ira Glass—great simple stories and everyday people. I also like Story Corps which is interviews of everyday people (interviewed by their friend or family member) in a traveling sound booth. NPR Movies is another one that's cool. I LOVE movies, so this one is right up my alley. There's even one that's formatted in the old radio theatre style, called Radio Dramas. Well, I won't keep going on. They're all wonderful. If you have a favorite, leave me a note in the comments about it. I'm always on the look out for another great podcast. Like, I hear Jillian Michaels has a podcast. Has anyone heard it?

P.S. did I mention I lost 6/10ths of a pound this past Saturday? I can't believe I actually lost TWO WEEKS IN A ROW! It's been a while since that has happened. I'm on my way to making it 3 weeks. Look at me go!!

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My 1st 5K... EVER!

I did it!!

I ran my first ever 5K!!!

This day was so huge for me. Look how far I've come!! If you would have told me a year and a half ago that I'd be running a 5K, I would have told you that you were out of your ever lovin mind! But here I am. I actually did it!! I still can't believe I did it.

I ran the whole way. Never stopped once to walk. I placed 142nd in my age division and 1076th over all. There were over 1800 runners. My time was 45:01 and my pace was 14:29. Now that I'm a competitive runner, I know its important to know your pace. :) (listen to me ... lol)

We had to line up at the start line according to our pace. I had no idea even what that meant. But I figured it out that it was how fast I could run a mile. I figured I'd be around 15 minutes. When I got there, they had a 6 minute mile pace marker, a 7 minute and an 8 minute. I figured I was WAY out of my league when I saw that. But it ended up that they were still setting up the markers and soon they added 9 and "10 minute and up" markers. Then I was the "walkers" marker and figured I was okay. Now I knew they wouldn't start putting out the cones if it took me too long to finish. :)

I actually teared up a little and got a big lump in my throat as I crossed the start line. I was so proud of myself for being there and doing this. Then I took a big swallow and said "Cara, stop that! You're not gonna let these runners see you cry." Then I took a deep breath and started down the track/road.

I did great. I was so extremely nervous, though. I was afraid I'd over do it and then have to stop and catch my breath or maybe even drop out. I did get a little ahead of myself during the first half mile. I started breathing so heavy. I kept looking at my heart rate monitor but for some reason it was stuck on 118. I wonder if there's something wrong with it. For the first maybe three-quarters of a mile it kept saying 118. Then finally I looked down and it said 174. That was more like it. I knew my heart was racing! So I took a deep breath and slowed my pace down some.

After the half way point, I started panicking thinking I wasn't going to be able to finish. I wasn't getting tired or anything, but I was just scared that I would have to stop. I don't know why I do this to myself. But I kept remembering Audrey from my WW meeting saying "slow and steady wins the race". So I kept saying that over and over to myself.

I kept passing walkers. Never passed a runner. But a few walkers did pass me. My pace is slow as you can tell (14-minute mile). It was a little intimidating but I just moved over and let the walkers go past me. I felt so proud, though, when I could pass the walkers. I'd see them running and then walking and then running again. And these were girls that were much younger than me and looked to be in much better shape that I was. But they were huffing and puffing. I just kept pushing on.

Then after the 2 mile marker, I started feeling in my muscles the effects of the panic and it started wearing me down. I reached deep inside me and then said "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". That verse took on a whole new meaning today. The word "strength" was literally just what it meant. I needed strength to finish. So I kept saying it over and over.

I'd never been to this neighborhood before so I had no idea when the finish line was coming up. And that last mile seemed so long. I finally started seeing some of the runners who finished before me walking back towards us on the sidewalks so I knew I must be getting close. Then I finally saw the 3 mile marker and new the finish line was coming up soon so I kicked it up a notch and started running real hard and fast for the last 1/10th of a mile.

I was so excited to see the finish line. I was looking for my daughter who was waiting for me at the finish line. I wanted her to take pictures of me crossing the finish line but I couldn't find her anywhere. As I crossed the finish line I started crying again. I spotted her about 5 feet after I crossed the line. Whew! I did it! Then I swallowed the tears again. I ran to her and gave her a big hug and was so happy. Nothing could touch me then.

Wow, I still can't believe I did it.

Here are some memories:























This was me just before the race started (above). Can you tell I was excited!! :D

















Here's a glimps of how many women were there this morning. I couldn't see the end of the line.























This was me just after the race. Walking on cloud 9!























This was another one of me just after I crossed the finish line and spotted my daughter.

What a day!!!

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Getting ready for my 5K on Saturday...

I didn't run on Tuesday, but I ran yesterday and today. I can't run outside right now because it's been below freezing outside in the mornings. Go figure! Florida??!! So I'm having to resort to the treadmill. You know, I think that's my problem. I really hate the treadmill. It doesn't feel like exercise. It feels like slow death.

Both days, I only ran for a half hour and then walked for a half hour. Still burned over a thousand calories each day, too. Woot!

But I think the reason I'm not able to run for an hour like I used to is because of my hatred for running on a treadmill. I think it's more of a mental block for me.

Yesterday I started out saying to myself, "okay, there's no way I can do this for an hour... I'll shoot for 45 minutes." ... Then 15 minutes later, I'm saying "oh my goodness, there's no way I can do this for another half hour, ugh!" ... Then like 5 minutes later, I'm about do die and know there's no way on God's green Earth that I'll be able to make it 45 minutes. So I negotiated with myself to run for only a half hour.

I did the same thing today except the negotiations started about 5 minutes into my run. But the weird thing was that while I was arguing and negotiating with myself, I noticed I wasn't getting tired. I truly think my body would have allowed me to run the full half hour.

There's just something about running in place. I feel like a hamster on a wheel.

I have the treadmill between the living room and dining room and the scenery is so boring. There's nothing particularly pretty out any of my windows for me to look out of. And I don't want to watch TV. I'd have to move the treadmill into the family room to watch TV because I don't want to have to move any of the other TVs into the living room. Besides, I really love listening to my iPod while I'm walking.

I was listening to my pastor yesterday morning. I missed the sermon week before last and was just getting caught up on it. It was really good. He told a story at the end of the sermon about how he had been invited to participate in the inaugural Church service, the one that Obama went to just before he was inaugurated. And how he sat next to Mohamad Ali and had to help him (with Ali's wife on the other side) stand. The story was so poignant because of how he'd come to the Lord. It was on the day that Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated. Here's a link to it if you want to watch it.

Then this morning I was listening to This American Life and it was an episode from the week before Obama was inaugurated so he was going across the country listening to what everyone had to say about this momentous occasion. And would you believe one of the people he interviews was my pastor? What a coincidence, huh?! (I'd give you a link to that podcast, but it's no longer available online for free.) He was on there because he was the one who prayed at the event where Obama was officially nominated by his party (can't remember what that was called) and they were talking about the similarities between him and Rick Warren who prayed at the inauguration.

But anyway... The good news is that I don't think I'll have any problems running the 5K on Saturday. On Monday, I was afraid I was totally out of shape and there was no way I could do the 5k, but now, I know I can make it. I just hope the weather cooperates. It's been so cold lately. Weather.com says its supposed to be sunny and 45 Saturday morning. That should be fine. I've run plenty of times when it was 45 degrees. No problem at all.

I'm weighing in tomorrow morning (Friday) rather than Saturday morning because of the 5K. So I'm going to be one day short so I know I'm not going to lose very much, if anything. I was so hoping to lose a whole pound this week. I just don't think its gonna happen. I might be able to squeak out a smaller loss though. I sure hope so. Any loss would be tremendous at this point! I just want a loss two weeks in a row!

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Starting the week off right...

Well, I started the week off right. I went running this morning.

I usually have the hardest time getting out of bed on Mondays to exercise, but I have extra motivation this week because of the 5K on Saturday. I want to run every day this week so I won't get my butt whipped on Saturday. I don't expect to win the race or even finish in the top whatever, but I don't want to be the one that they have to go behind and pick up the cones after. Or worse yet, they pick up the cones before I'm even finished. Ugh.

Actually, my first statement is a bit misleading. I did TRY to run this morning but for some reason I couldn't run the whole hour. I only ended up running a total of about a half hour. I did my usual 5-minute warm up and then I started out running (very slow). After 15 minutes of running, I started getting shaky. Like I was completely out of fuel. I had eaten a protein bar about 15 minutes before I started and I had a bottle of water in my hand that I sipped on every few minutes. So I know my body had fuel. But I just couldn't keep running. I had to walk. So I did. I tried another couple of times to run, but could only run for about 5 minutes each time before I'd have to stop and walk.

Who knows what that was all about.

But at least I kept at it for an hour solid.

I'll try again tomorrow morning and hopefully will be back to my old self.

I ate real well over the weekend. I usually have a free-for-all indulgence at least once after weigh in and maybe again (but smaller) on Sunday. This time I only indulged once. On Saturday we went to Moe's Southwest Grill. This used to be my absolute favorite place to get a burrito before I started Weight Watchers. I haven't been since before May '07. I decided that would be a fun treat. I had the burrito and a small basket of chips with queso. The burrito as it turns out was 18 points! I had it with sour cream AND guacamole so I figured I was in for a big amount of points. But what really shocked me was the chips. This can't possibly be right. According to their online nutritional calculator, a side of tortilla chips is 18 points. JUST FOR THE CHIPS. Holy cow!! What the heck do they pack in those chips??!!! That seriously can't be right. The side of queso was only 4 points. I can see where the chips could be maybe 8 or 10 points, but 18??!!

Man!

I was good the rest of the day. Same thing on Sunday. I stayed within my 22 points on Sunday. For the game, I only had a small bowl of tortilla chips (Tostitos) and some salsa. Only 3 points. And they totally satisfied my game day snacking needs. I drank 2 bottles of water during the game, too.

Oh my gosh, the game was amazing!!

Probably one of the best Super Bowls—EVER! That 100 intercept/touchdown by James Harrison was spectacular! Man, we needed that! Then come to find out the guys has been cut from the Steelers team 4 times. Ouch! I think we know why because after his amazing TD he was caught fighting a couple of more times—once resulted in a penalty. But what a run!

And then that beautiful play, or rather series of plays, between Rothlesberger and Holmes—8 plays, 78 yards. How amazing was that.

One of the most spectacular plays of the game, though, I have to concede to the Cards. Was towards the middle of the 4th quarter when Fitzgerald scored their last touch down of the game. This play was beautifully choreographed. Both of the Steelers safeties were pulled to the outside when Warner passes this dead on pass to Larry Fitzgerald, like the skies had just opened up and God himself handed Fitzgerald the ball. He scoops the ball under his arm and head for the goal. Piece of cake considering nearly ALL of the Steelers defense had just been duped into moving away from the receiver. What a play!

The story behind it was even more meaningful considering Fitzgerald lost his mom before he could tell her he was sorry for arguing with her and not speaking to her for months before her sudden death. He was so proud that she'd be looking down from Heaven watching him in the game. And he sure made his mom proud with that play. It was beautiful!

Well, I could go on and on with that game. There were so many great plays and don't even get me started with that debacle during the first drive of the game when Rothlesberger made a touch down and then it was called back. The call was fair, but man that would have been awesome if the quarterback could have scored the first touch down.

Okay, okay, I'll stop now.

Go Steelers!

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Superbowl here we come...

GO STEELERS!!!!