My Love/Hate Relationship with The Scale.

Not that this is healthy, but possibly obsessive... I weigh myself every morning when I wake up. Literally, every single morning. I have been around the same weight for a couple of months now give or take a pound or two, but lately the scale has not been my friend. I really didn't intend on losing much more weight, but my "ultimate" goal is to get back down to my pre-pregnancy weight of 143. I decided when I got to my goal of 50lbs loss, I would keep doing what I am doing and my body would eventually get there. I haven't been overly concerned about it, but it seems like no matter what I change up I am stuck at the same weight, 148/149.

I started tracking again, and have been very good about it for the last several weeks. I was training hard for my marathon, and now I have started back at the gym with my freed up time. And still, the scale won't budge.

Maybe this is the weight I am supposed to stay at? I really don't think so, I think my body can get down another 5lbs. I am not a big girl, I am 5'4" (barely) but yet for months, I am still here. Some days I am way down, and then the very next day I am up 2lbs. SOOOO frustrating.

But instead of throwing in the towel, I am going to keep trucking. Continue working out, eating right, and most importantly tracking. This just goes to show, that even after you have lost the weight it is still a struggle. Nothing comes easy, at goal, you still have to work to stay there.

Let's hope for some scale movement next week :)

I did it!!!! Marathon - done, done, and DONE! :)

I did it, I did it, I did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not only did I finish my first Inline Marathon (26.2 miles), I knocked it out of the park! It was the absolute most amazing thing I have ever done since starting this process, and I can't wait to do it again! My dear friend Sarah and I have been training for this together, and I can't imagine doing it without her. She was a great partner, we started together, finished together, and kept each other motivated along the way.

Leading up to this past weekend, I was having some anxiety about the race. I was scared, nervous, anxious, excited, and just the fear of the unknown was eating at me! We have been training hard, so the distance was not my concern, I am not sure why I was so anxious. When we arrived to Duluth on Friday, we went to the DECC to pick up our racer packets. Once we got to the arena, I saw the finish line, and was surrounded by the atmosphere of the race - I WAS READY! I just wanted to get started and do it already :) Sarah and I agreed that we were not going to push for a certain "time" to finish, but just wanted to finish. We have been pacing at apprx. 2hrs and 30 min while we have been training, and thought as long as we did our best and stayed near our training time we would be happy. THEN, once we got around everyone, we decided it would be even more awesome if we finished around 2hrs 15 minutes. Hey, what can I say, we are competitive :) Saturday morning, we woke up, ate a nice protein filled breakfast and headed down to the race! My nerves faded, and I felt more ready than ever to get this under my belt. Team "Pink" was ready to dominate!

Once we got moving, and started the race we felt strong, and confident :) The view was amazing, it was along the North Shore of Duluth, and was truly breathtaking. Each time we passed another mile marker, we were getting closer and closer to our victory, and making GREAT time at that! Our husbands were our biggest fans, and stopped along the 26 miles to cheer us on, and take pictures of us in action. It was such a great feeling to have them there pushing us along the way. The support of the local residents was so incredible. It was very emotional to see the people lined up, just to support all of us. This is nothing like I have ever experienced before!

The last three miles, we pushed it hard, and wanted to finish strong! Crossing that finish line was the best feeling ever, hearing the crowds, I get chills just thinking about it. We both killed our time and finished 2hrs 7 minutes! Woot woot! Cannot wait for next year :) So awesome! Here are my official stats: Time: 2 Hours 7 Minutes 41.8 Seconds Paced: 4:53 per mile (view kilometer pace) Placed:1005 out of 1586 Placed: 240 out of 603 Females Placed: 32 out of 108 Females in the F2529 Age Group

Update - I've been tracking!!!!!! Yay!

Since my last post was setting the goal to start tracking regularly again, I am proud to say - I am sticking to it and have tracked every single day!

It's been a rather eye opening experience to see how relaxed I was getting... But is making me more aware again, and it feels great to be "on track" :)

It's been sort of crazy lately, getting super excited for my first Inline Marathon on Saturday (YIKES!)

More to come, wish me luck and pray for decent weather!

Goal for this week: Continue tracking, and make the best choices I can!

My new goal... to track.

From the beginning of my journey, I was very good about tracking my food/beverage intake each day. Anything I put in my mouth, I wrote it down. This is something that is absolutely crucial to WW weight loss (or any weight loss really), it keeps you on track and is an eye opening tool that makes you more aware of the choices you are making. Just by writing something down, you WANT to make better choices :)

Since spring my tracking has been basically not existant. I don't know how I got out of it, but I just felt like I could handle not tracking and continue being successful. I have managed to continue making decent choices most days, my portions have started to creep up on me, and my compulsive "grab" snacks seem to be happening more and more. I absolutely NEED to get back on the tracking wagon. I bought a new tracker, and started it again. And boy, just that alone has already made a difference. I didn't realize how powerful writing everything down was, it had been so long that I almost forgot the impact it has. Just keeping track "in my head" wasn't good enough. You can writing things down in a little notebook, buy a WW tracker, use ETools, by a WW points clicker - whatever you need to do, I cannot stress the importance of this.

So my new goal for right now, is to rebuild tracking into my daily routine.

Have a great, and safe Labor Day everyone :)

I have an annoucement to make!

I am pleased to share that I officially became an employee of Weight Watcher's :) I am currently training to be the newest Leader in the WW family! I was hired a couple of weeks ago, and have started the training process...

I am excited, nervous, anxious, and many many more emotions for the process to begin. I feel like the tools that I will learn to lead an amazing group of people and support I can help provide are things I can use for a lifetime and apply in my everyday life. I am so honored to be given the opportunity to provide the support that I needed when I started my journey to the WW community. It is hard to believe that a little over a year ago I was walking into my first meeting looking for help, and now I can/will be that person at the door helping members through their very own journeys :)What an amazing feeling!

More to come on the training process, I have no idea what meeting I will be taking over and it is a lengthy training process. I will share when I know more :) Yay! So exciting!

My workout companion... Emma :)

Back in June we suddenly lost our family dog, Jack. After he died I couldn't bring myself to go for a walk without him. There is just something about the companionship of a loyal pet that is unexplainable.

A short time after Jack passed, we welcomed Emma into our family, a beautiful yellow lab. A yellow lab has been my FAVORITE breed for years, but I didn't feel I could offer the level of exercise they require so we waited. Though it felt very soon to get a new dog, I was willing to open our home and hearts again to a loving puppy :) She has been the best thing to come into our home, I cannot say enough about her! She is the absolute best!

About 5-6 times per week since the day we brought her home at 8 weeks old, I have brought her for a walk. I am training her to be my loyal walking/jogging companion. In the beginning it was as expected, she pulled on the leash, stopped all the time, was easily distracted, and just your normal puppy. In just seven short weeks since she has came into our home, she has transformed into my partner! She now jogs with me, walks beautifully, doesn't pull as much, is focused, and knows exactly where to position herself :) I know this sounds cheesy, but I truly believe that she was brought to me on purpose. She is completely loyal to me, and I cannot imagine our home without her in it.

There are a million reasons why dogs make great workout companions, here are a few:

1. They are always ready to go, and never make excuses why they can't.

2. They need the exercise too, so you're killing two birds with one stone.

3. You are socializing them everytime and exposing them to the world, which ultimately, makes them better dogs.

4. They enjoy it, they just want to be with you!

5. Have you ever watched Cesar Milan (aka The Dog Whisperer)?? lol... He says that walks are the most important training tool you can do with your dog. It teaches them who the pack leader is :)

6. They keep you motivated, even when you don't feel like going seeing that look on their face or excitement in their body when you talk out the leash is absolutely worth it!

7. They can push you to keep jogging, even when you want to stop and walk the rest of the way.

8. Giving your dog the exercise they need gets all of that extra energy out, which helps their behavior.

These are just a few, but I cannot stress how important exercise is for your pet. If you are unable to walk/run them regularly, simple activities like frisbie or fetch can also help get them moving :) Nothing is better than the love and loyalty of a family dog!

I have started to research races that include your dog, my goal is for next spring is to do a few 5k's with Emma!

Recipe - Garlic Hummus

I love love love hummus, and buying it premade meant I had no clue what was in it! We talked about it at my latest WW meeting, and one of the members was saying how easy it was to make. I gave it a shot, and not only was is SUPER good but it literally took like five minutes to make (not to mention it is about $1.50 per batch!). As an excellent source of fiber, hummus makes for a nice filling snack :)

Garlic Hummus

2 Cans of Garbanzo Beans (aka Chick Peas)
4-5oz of Chicken Broth
1-2 TBSP of Lemon Juice
Minced Garlic or Garlic Powder to taste
**You WILL need an electric chopper or food processor of some sort**

1. Open can and drain garbanzo beans completely

2. Add about 1/2 can of beans into chopper (do NOT chop yet)

3. Pour about 4-5 tbsp of chicken broth, a splash of lemon juice, and garlic to taste into chopper w/ beans.

4. Chop until beans have turned into a thicker paste, add more garlic/chicken broth if needed

5. Once completed, add hummus into container and refridgerate.

6. Repeat all steps until you have used all of the garbanzo beans

Serving Size 1/4 cup (4 WW PointsPlus per serving)

Other Ideas:
Add roasted red peppers instead of garlic
Use as a veggie dip
Serve w/ reduced fat crackers