I CAN fit in my pants!

You know you wanna.

http://adiosfatpants.blogspot.com/

After 1) Having my post eaten in the midst of writing it and 2) not being able to get into the blogs all day, I’ve finally moved.

http://adiosfatpants.blogspot.com/

Still tweaking things, but it should be working (crossing fingers).

I did my second to last circuit last night - definitely am needing to step up the weights. I am happy to say though that now I can do four push ups on my toes before having to go to my knees to complete the set. When I started I couldn’t even do ONE push up! So that’s a huge NSV for me. I hope by the end of the 12 weeks I can do at least 10-12 push ups.

I have a friend who is having a boob job tomorrow. I went with her to the pre-op appointment to give her feedback on which size she should go with. I’m biased against larger chests having lived with one my entire life, and she wanted it to be tasteful and non-Dolly Parton-like, so I think she figured I would be a good resource. The size she picked out looks pretty natural and now that I’ve seen it, I agree it makes her look proportionate to the rest of her body. It got me thinking about my own body - my bras are starting to get loose again which surprises me, but hey I’m not going to complain. I’m down to a 34″ chest (unsure about the cup size now) - when I started, I was a 42! Of course there are things that I still want to change - I’ve got a lot of some baggage on my hips, and a fluffy tummy and a pooch that could probably double as a fanny pack, but over all, when I step out of the shower and catch a glimpse of myself in the nude, I’m really liking what I’m seeing. I’m curvy, and not in the “curvy’s a polite way of saying fat” way. I’m starting to really appreciate the body I have - not sure I’ll ever have a washboard stomach or even the coveted runner’s legs. I’m an endomorph and will probably always carry some fat on me. But holy smokes am I happy what exercise has done to my body. I can see the natural shape that I was meant to be - curvy. I have hips! I have boobs! And according to my husband last night while we were, ahem, spending some “quality” time together, curvy is apparently a very good thing.

I’m feeling a lot less sore today - yesterday was ROUGH! I was worried I was beginning to develop Runner’s Knee as I had some serious pain at the bottom of my patella, but I ran 3 miles at the gym anyway (I never claimed to be smart) and today it feels fine - no pain. It’s the last week of the Burn Phase for ChaLEAN Extreme… I am happy to move on. Supposedly the biggest results happen in the next phase - the Push phase. I’ll have to move to heavier weights but that’s ok.. I’m ready! I am already seeing a lot of definition in my shoulders which is fantastic!

So last week I about drove myself  nuts trying to find some shoes to go with my dress. I was eying some on 6pm.com but couldn’t bring myself to pay $50 for shoes that I hadn’t seen in person, and of course I am so indecisive that one minute I would like them, and another minute I would decide against them. Anyway, last night I checked the website again and they had all of their rsvp brand shoes on sale for $7!!! So I got these:

and these:

By the way - the entire brand is still on sale for $7 this morning! I might buy some more if I see any other ones I like. The least frustrating way is to search by your shoe size, otherwise you’ll find some that you like only to find out they are out of your size. Also, all Nine West shoes are on sale for $14!

I love shoes.

Soooo I start vacation in less than 4 days! Next week I have nine glorious days off. I think I’m going to kick it off by running in the Turkey Trot Predict 5k on Saturday morning down at the park. It should be a really fun race - you predict your 5k time, and the top 6 who come in closest win a turkey (no watches/HRMs/iPods allowed). If you come in farthest, you win a game hen LOL. It’s only $5 to register so I think I will do it while DH and my nephew sand/stain our floors.

That’s it for me today! Have a wonderful Tuesday!

So things seem to be working OK now, but I tried to log in earlier this morning (around 6:15) and neither the blogs nor the forum were working. I’ve been on blogspot for a while so I have a backup blog just in case. I’m kind of tired of being limited to these layouts, too. So if I get the time to set things up over there, look for a move to blogger sometime this week.

OK, on to the race. This is really long…sorry!!

Friday after work, I went home and quickly packed and DH and I headed to Denver around 3:15 or so. The wind was really picking up and neither of us really felt like racing (DH kept “hinting” that he wouldn’t mind cheering me on from the sidelines… lol) but a part of me really just wanted to get a 10k under my belt, no matter how unprepared I felt for it. Anyway, it took us 3 HOURS to get to north Denver when it usually takes us around 1.5 hours. The weather was terrible - it was alternating between freezing rain and snow, and basically all major highways/roads were stop and go. At this point I really was thinking that if it was like this tomorrow morning I was just going to lose the $20 and stay in bed. No way I was going to race in this crappy weather. We met my in laws, including my BIL and SIL, my FIL’s brother and wife (so, my aunt and uncle in law? lol) and their daughter/son in law and two boys (so my cousins in law? lol) for dinner. Huge group. We went to an Italian restaurant and I ordered the chicken parmesan. It was *heavenly* and just the right amount of food. Man I love taper days LOL. DH and I headed back to my IL’s house and went to bed around 10pm. I’m starting to get really nervous about running 6.2 miles the next morning but I keep reminding myself not to have any expectations (easier said than done!!) In my mind I wanted to finish under 1hr 25 minutes since I figured I would have to walk a bit. I just kept telling myself that the important thing would be to finish no matter how long it took.

Saturday/race day - We got up around 6 am and DH showered while I bundled up. I had half of a Clif bar for breakfast. I don’t care if you call it “chocolate brownie,” energy bars always taste like something you dug out of the garbage disposal. We left a little after 7 and stopped at the gas station to pick up some Gatorade (a really good idea in hindsight). My  in laws live about 45 minutes from Longmont so we made it there right around 8:00 and quickly got a parking spot. The race began/ended at a middle school so we found our way to the pre-registration tables and picked up our race packets/numbers. The race t-shirt is SUPER nice..it’s a moisture wicking shirt (love these!) with an orange turkey on it lol. So much fun. We also got some luna bars and some ads for really expensive running gear. It wasn’t raining, snowing or windy so I was pretty happy, although it was chilly out. We hung out in the car until about 10 minutes before race start and then headed to the starting line. I didn’t think there were that many people but apparently almost 500 folks participated in the 10k. We settled ourselves somewhere around the middle of the pack and got comfortable.

We were off at approximately 9:00… the first mile is through a neighborhood which consisted of a very small hill, nothing too serious. DH kept me at a good pace and for once, I didn’t start out too fast! I knew from checking out the elevation profile that the first 2.5 miles were downhill, the next 2.5 miles were uphill, and then the last mile was downhill again. We turned south to begin mile 2 and this is where people started struggling (which I found odd because it’s still downhill, but whatever). We turned west and hit the second aid station at 2.5 miles. At this point I figured the next aid station would be around 4 miles so I told myself that I could at least make it to the next aid station before taking a walk break. We passed the 5k (3.1 miles -halfway) mark and I told DH that I wish it was a 5k because apparently this would be my best one yet (no walking so far!) All the while, we are keeping a steady pace… lo and behold, we are actually passing people. I’ve never passed someone in a race before!

We turn north and one of the race volunteers tells us we’re at 45 minutes and essentially 4 miles - “WELL over halfway” as he puts it. This makes me super happy. The 4 mile marker is just over a small hill (at this point we’re well into the incline, but it’s just 100 ft over 2.5 miles so it’s not very steep). Mile 4 comes and goes, but there’s no aid station. Not really a big deal because I’m still feeling really good at this point and don’t need to take a break. Finally we come up on mile 5 and I see the aid station… it’s at the top of a small hill and I start to slow down. Only when I slow down (not yet walking, but close) a wave of nausea washes over me and I almost toss my cookies. I mean, it just hits me like a brick wall. I decided to forgo the walk and keep running just to try and keep things from falling apart!!! I’m slowing down a lot until a lady behind me says “keep up the good work, I’ve been using you as a pacer the entire time and you’re running the perfect pace!” Funny because I can’t believe someone was using me as a pacer! I thought “gee lady, you must be REALLY slow, then!” LOL

Mile 5 should be downhill, and I’m sure it was but I’m really starting to feel crappy now. I’m breathing hard, sweating, feeling sick and my legs are beginning to tire. I know that I’m running probably a 12 minute mile, and around quarter of the way into mile 5, I start to count to 60 twelve times, trying to focus on anything other than how crappy I feel and block out the world. It works for a little bit and we come over a small hill to see the middle school in the distance. I can also see mile 6 in the distance, but I’m running and running and running and it’s not getting any closer!!! Mile 5 was by far the LONGEST mile in the entire race. I still haven’t stopped running (at this point I’ve been running for over an hour straight) and the really old guy (I’d say probably in his 70s) that I’d been using as a pacer for the past 2-3 miles was starting to lose steam. We passed him right before mile 6 and turned south again for the final .2 miles. I’m picking up my pace a little bit but I’m about ready to drop dead at this point.

We crossed the finish line at exactly 1hr 15 minutes - beating my expectation by 10 minutes AND running the ENTIRE 6.2 miles!

I’m feeling totally out of sorts at this point and it took me a minute to calm down and not feel sick anymore. The Gatorade we bought earlier REALLY helped settle my stomach down and we sat for a minute in the car before it finally hit me that I had run for 75 minutes without stopping. I just completed a 10k having never run farther than 5 miles (and that included multiple walk breaks!) HOLY CRAP!!! Did I really just do this?!

Funny that my best race so far this year has been a distance I’ve never run before!

Anyway, this is long enough. I’m still kind of on cloud 9 from all of it, even though my body is still pretty sore from it all (hips, underneath my patella, quads, etc).

GREAT race!

Guess I’d better try and post since the site was down all day yesterday and still seems hit or miss this morning. Boo!

It’s Friday before race day and that means I don’t diet today. Well, I take that back. I eat on plan for breakfast and lunch, but dinner is “let’s not restrict, but let’s not get carried away, either.” I need some decent fuel in my body to feel energized tomorrow morning! Which, by the way, is still looking crappy weather-wise. Looks like more rain than snow at this point, but neither is really welcomed in my opinion.

Can I post my weight this morning?? 154.6!! That’s a 2.4 lb loss for the week…super happy about it especially considering it’s a taper week! Just a pound away from that elusive 60 lb goal. Also, another NSV to report. I have this gray and black striped shirt that, when I bought it, fit well but it was too tight to wear with pants so I always wore it with skirts. Well today I’m wearing it with my size 8 AE jeans and it looks awesome! It’s form fitting but not snug, kwim? I don’t feel fat. Hip, hip, hooray.

Contrary to other races, I’m actually not feeling that nervous tomorrow. I *expect* that I will have to take walk breaks. I don’t expect to finish very fast and that’s ok. I just want to get a 10k under my belt and scratch another goal off my list. Funny when I started out, I just wanted to run the one 5k. Now I am doing a marathon next year?? Who is this person? I like her!

Well, that’s it for me today. I read this great quote and wanted to stick it somewhere. I think it just really encompasses my journey.

“Believe that you can run farther or faster. Believe that you’re young enough, old enough, strong enough and so on to accomplish everything you want to do. Don’t let worn out beliefs stop you from moving beyond yourself.” - John Bingham

We have TWO separate storms moving in tomorrow through Sunday! 60% chance of rain/snow on Saturday! NATURALLY it has been in the 60s all week…grr! Maybe I will get lucky and they’ll cancel the race …haha. Just kidding. Well, kind of. I would love not to give up half of my weekend to go to Denver in crappy weather. Because running in rain and snow? Doesn’t exactly sound like my idea of a great time.

Sigh.

So begins my taper. I had planned on 3 miles + CE yesterday, but by lunchtime my hips were very sore and achey so I decided to forgo the running - don’t want to aggravate the knee. Given that I’ve never run 6.2 miles before, my legs need all the rest they can get. I am tempted to go to the gym today but I really just need to let go of the idea of weight loss right now. I’m down on the week, don’t get me wrong. But I can’t hamper my taper period just to see a scale result. Besides, running 6.2 miles is going to be a lot of exercise. Ridiculous! But I’ll be honest, I’m loving the idea of not having to exercise today and tomorrow. Oh, sweet rest.

I’m trying to decide what shoes would look best with the red dress. Red? Silver? The problem with red is finding a matching red since the dress is a “deep red” color. Maybe it would be safer to go with a metallic shoe.

I’m full of boredom today, so that’s all for me!

After work yesterday, I went to the gym and did 20 min on the elliptical and ran 2 miles on the treadmill.  I wanted to do the whole thing on the elliptical but I was getting bored and darn it all if the lazy/impatient side of me would rather burn more calories in less time, so the treadmill it was. Dinner was very yummy - the secret to making the recipe lighter? don’t use as much dressing! I followed the recipe exactly but left out the peanuts, fried wontons, rice sticks and cucumbers (since DH doesn’t like them). I made the dressings according to the directions but instead of pouring it over the entire salad, I took a reasonable serving (about one cup of salad mixture) and put it in a separate bowl, then added 1 tbsp of the thai peanut dressing and 1 tbsp of the lime cilantro dressing and mix it with the salad really well. We ended up making wraps out of it and it was DELICIOUS! According to TDP it is 342 calories for the entire meal including the low carb/low cal tortilla I wrapped it in. It was just the right amount of food..not too heavy but enough to be content. The dressing will keep for a few days in the fridge and it makes plenty of leftovers (brought the same thing for lunch today).

Anyway. I made DH take pictures of me in both dresses last night. I think I know which one I like better, but I’m interested to hear your opinions:

Please excuse the COMPLETELY asinine look on my face in both photos. I was dead tired at this point!

I finally got up the nerve to call my ob/gyn for a prescription for Ativan. I don’t have a primary care doc so I asked the receptionist if either my gyno could call in the prescription OR if they could give me a referral for a primary care doctor. She confirmed prescription location and made it sound like it wouldn’t be a big deal and my doc would call me back. So happy that this would be an easy process. I hate asking for meds. I really hate it.

So then the NP called back and said “Dr B, under any circumstances, does NOT prescribe anxiety meds. You either need to find a primary care doc or go to Urgent Care.” WTH? She repeated that like 3 times, in a “how could you even ask that?” tone… I’m like I GOT IT. So what am I supposed to do - go to Urgent Care and look like a drug seeker?

Call up a primary care doc and say “Hi, I’m new. Can I have some meds?”

It took a lot for me to even call in the first place. Argh. I guess I will try Urgent Care and promise I’m not going to pawn them on the street.

I got in my 5k run yesterday - I rocked it in 33 minutes!!!! I had to double check, but sure enough! And here I was feeling slow and yuck because it was chilly out. We made chicken sausage for dinner and then I did Burn Circuit 1. I am definitely getting stronger..still broke a sweat last night but didn’t get to the point of failure on any of the circuits. I think I will need to go to 15 lbs next week for the last week of the Burn Phase.

I got my red dress yesterday! I think it is the “wow factor” dress…especially judging by DH’s reaction (”wow!”) Since I had to rush to get in my workout I didn’t get a chance to take pictures, but I’ll do that tonight. Today is just Burn Circuit 2, but I’d like to get in some cardio so I think I’ll go to the gym after work and do the elliptical/cross trainer for an hour.

Tonight I’m making a knock off of California Pizza Kitchen’s Thai Crunch Salad:

The original recipe you get at CPK is 731 calories…for HALF of the salad! My version (leaving out the peanuts, wonton strips and rice sticks, and cutting down a LOT on the salad dressing) is 400 calories for the entire salad. I think I will make extra and make a wrap out of it for lunch tomorrow….mmm!

Here is the original recipe: CPK Thai Crunch Salad