Couch Potato To Marathon

Tomorrow is the conclusion of our online Biggest Loser Challenge.  We had to submit before/after photos, final weigh in, and a 500+ word essay about our journey.  I’ve attached the essay below:

What the Biggest Loser Challenge Has Meant to Me

Over the course of five months, I have begun an emotional, physical, and spiritual transformation.  I am not finished.  I have more pounds to lose and more strength to gain.  Here is what I have discovered about myself along the journey:

1. I am in control of my health.  For years, I accepted my family history as an early death sentence.  My parents suffered from diabetes, heart attack, and kidney failure–both dying in their 50’s.  I have carried the pain with me of burying my father during sixth grade and my mother during college.  I do not have to follow in their footsteps.  This is not my destiny.  I owe that much to my future children.

2. I am a runner.  I am not a fast runner, nor am I a competitive runner.  I do not have perfect form.  I do not win races.  But I run.  I run 5k’s for fun.  I run 10 miles on a Saturday morning to fellowship with other runners.  I run to think more clearly.  I run to prove to myself that I am capable.  I run with a sense of pride, no matter my speed.

3.  My body is extremely adaptive.  My body will adjust to whatever demands I place upon it, as long as I am sensible and safe.  I can gradually increase my time and speed, and my body will become stronger.  Before this challenge, I was out of breath within 15 minutes on the elliptical machine.  I can now cross train for two hours with an increased resistance.

4. I need to eat a balanced diet.  I had no concept as to what I was consuming until I began tracking my protein, carbohydrates, fat, calories, and fiber.  After marrying a vegetarian, protein was nearly eradicated from my diet.  The majority of my diet consisted of carbohydrates.  It is more than counting calories.  I now understand how to truly read a nutrition label and what to look for to stay within the appropriate ranges.  

5.  I don’t have to pay anyone to teach me how to eat.  No infomercial or Today’s Special Value can do the work for me.  Weight Watchers taught me that I could have an entire bag of 94% fat-free popcorn, can of green beans, and a slice of cheesecake and stay within my points range for dinner.  NutriSystem taught me that I could consume lots of high-sodium, packaged food and still be hungry.  L.A. Weight Loss taught me that I could lose weight as long as I ate their protein bars and shakes.  (They also taught me that I could go in debt after paying $1,000 dollars to a company that would go bankrupt within a few months!)  I never needed any of those products; I only needed to be willing to make a change.

6. I can be a positive role model to others.  I can inspire others to be healthy.  This past weekend I had the pleasure of running a Girls on the Run 5k with some of the students that attend my school.  I was a mentor runner for two fifth graders.  They were exhausted and mentally drained, but I held their hand and ran.  I refused to give up on them like so many had given up on me.  I repeated over and over, “You are strong.  You are beautiful.  You will finish.”

7. I can accomplish any goal I set.  In December, running a half-marathon was laughable.  I was embarrassed to tell family and friends about my plans because it was such a ridiculous goal, considering I couldn’t even run a mile.  I can recall sitting in my recliner over Christmas break eating ice cream and surfing the web late at night.  I was disgusted with myself.  Like so many Americans at the time, I was contemplating New Year’s resolutions.  I literally thought, “What is the hardest thing I can do to push myself towards better health”.  Finishing a half-marathon was the first thing that came to mind, and that is what I decided to do.  When there is a will there is a way.

8. I will never be thin and I am content.  I embrace my curves.  I know how to dress to flatter my body.  I know how to look and feel good.  I am confident. 

9. Mistakes do not mean failure.  I get mad at myself and I am too hard on myself sometimes.  I am still tempted by certain things.  I have to accept the fact that I will make poor choices sometimes.  One poor choice does not give me permission to make even more poor choices.

10. Weight will be a lifelong battle for me.  I have to make conscious decisions about my diet and exercise each day.  I need accountability.  I need to track my food daily.  I need to blog regularly.  I need to check the message boards consistently.  I did not choose to participate in this challenge to lose weight, simply to gain it all back within a few months.  I finally possess the necessary knowledge to live a healthy lifestyle.  It’s up to me if I want to maintain that lifestyle.

December 2009–Decided to join BL Challenge  (above)

May 2010–After Photo (below)

As of Saturday, April 24…this blog title became true!!

I successfully completed my first half-marathon, the Country Music Marathon in Nashville, TN.  I also registered and paid for the VA Beach Half Marathon the Saturday before Labor Day.

I completed 13.1 miles in just under 3 hours, which was my only goal. 

More details to come…just wanted to share the excitement!! 

I just spent the past hour updating my blog and when I clicked “Publish” a message popped up that said “your attempt to edit has failed”. 

This statement sums up the past week.

No more energy or patience left…

Half-Marathon in three days!

Okay, so I totally forgot how unbelievably overwhelmed teachers are after Spring Break.  We are supposed to be refreshed and rejuvenated, but instead, we experience a tornado of observations, meetings, and skill and drill reteach.  With less than a month remaining until End of Grade tests, the pressure is on!

I have LITERALLY spent 14-16 hours a day working on school…whether it be grad school, teaching, filming, observations, etc.  Monday I went straight to grad school after teaching.  Tuesday and Wednesday I was in the school building for 12+ hours.  Here’s why:

• I am one of seven teachers at my school partipating in the Measures of Effective Teaching study by Bill and Melinda Gates.  On Monday, I was filmed from 9:15 am-3:30 pm.  We have a one week window to watch the uploaded video captures and provide detailed commentary on each lesson.  I spent the past three hours this evening skimming and analyzing myself.  Ugh!
• 2. All observations must be completed by Friday.  Of course, they are unannounced so the assistant principal and veteran teacher may come at any given time (separately).  I assumed I wouldn’t be observed Monday because we are not to be interrupted during filming.  Every other day was fair game.  I have put a lot of time and energy into creating really innovative lessons and making sure I hit it hard.  (We’re talking less than 20 days to make sure my kids are confident and ready to prove they know enough to go to middle school!  I love my babies, but I don’t want to see them next year.)
• It just so happens BOTH observations took place today.  Let’s review what exactly happened.  Each night I e-mail myself links to videos and Word documents I’m going to use so I can copy and paste them into a SmartBoard file.  (The computers at our school are so old they don’t recognize USB’s.)  I get to school at 7:20 in time to turn my computers on and run down the hall to meet with my study group for grad school.  We finish our meeting and I head back to my classroom around 8:40…10 minutes before kids arrive.  Of course, my Internet is not working.  I do some further investigating.  WHY is my Internet not working, you ask??  Because rodents have gnawed through the Ethernet cable again.  This is obstacle #1 for the morning.  Let’s continue….  Even though the tardy bell rings at 9:15 and class is supposed to begin promptly, I do not start teaching until 9:30.  Students have 15 minutes to complete morning work (4 math problems) and/or read AR while I circulate to conference.  Lo and behold, in walks the assistant principal at 9:17.  So goes Obstacle #2.  (Mind you, five of my students don’t even stagger in until 9:35.)  I go ahead and begin my lesson (the lesson that I e-mailed to myself in which I cannot open) with little to no visuals.  I excuse my two EC students to go to the resource room as I do each day at this time.  Five minutes later they return, letting me know that the EC teacher isn’t here today.  Unfortunately, I have already put all the copies for my two students in the EC teacher’s box.  Therefore, I have no copies or any work for them…Obstacle # 3.  Despite everything, it actually went fairly well.  I was just nauseous the whole time.  Somehow I still managed to have a rather high rating as I have already conferenced with my AP and signed paperwork this afternoon.  The second observation was fine, nothing worth commenting on really.  The good news of course is NO MORE OBSERVATIONS THIS YEAR!!!
• Grad school is taking over my life this week.  We have this nonsense “Digital Storytelling Project” in which we are supposed to select a children’s book and create a short film.  It must include speaking, moving pictures, music, transitions, etc.  Apparently I am the only one in the group who knows how to make movies.  Unfortunately, the two that filmed it literally made 3 takes of every single page, didn’t go in order, and it was really blurry.  I didn’t have a copy of the book so I couldn’t quite figure it out.  It took hours to split clips and make sense out of it all.  As Murphy’s Law would have it, we all decided that the video wasn’t high enough quality and they are going to re-shoot it with a different camera.  This means more hours of video editing for me!  (While I bitch about this, I absolutely LOVE my group and we all pull our weight.)  This is due on Monday…

This post has become very long-winded and I have become very tired.  I will admit that I’ve been quite drained, only consumed about 1200 calories a day, had trouble sleeping, and certainly have not worked out any.  I am already beginning to feel like I can breathe again after having these 2 observations and first filming behind me.  Monday we will turn in our grad school project and I will have my second and final day of filming so I can have even more weight off of my shoulders. 

Oh yeah, did I mention I’m running a half-marathon in EIGHT days?????  Yeah, it’s crunch time….

Well, the good news is our running group finally resumed weekly runs.  Yesterday was a 12 mile run, which we completed in 2 hours and 40 minutes.  I don’t know why, but I’ve had it in my head all along that we would finish in 2 1/2 hours.  Turns out our goal is under 3 hours.  I guess that’s not a big deal, but for some reason I still feel like that is a long ass time to run 13 miles.  How is it possible that I feel lazy b/c I don’t run faster?  I am still really proud of myself and a bit in shock that I kept at everything, but now I need to challenge myself to run more and walk less.  Yesterday I had a protein bar, pancakes, yogurt smoothie, salad, and lasagna.

I got to school at 6:45 this morning (a full two hours before kids arrive) b/c I felt so unprepared.  I am participating in the Bill Gates study Measuring Effective Teaching.  I was video taped ALL day, which meant I had to move desks around, make sure my lesson plans followed the focal topic guidelines, and wear a microphone all day.  Personally, I find that to be in violation of the 8th amendment being the day after Spring Break and all.  I have to watch myself teach for 5 hours and reflect on each lesson.  Also, I know I will be observed this week for my final observation, so I want to make sure all my ducks are in a row.

Grad school was fine, nothing worth sharing.  The bed is calling me soon…

Food Diary:

B: Pure Protein Bar

L: Healthy Choice frozen entree (sesame chicken, rice, broccoli, fruit crisp?)

D: Bojangles biscuit, mashed potatoes, mac-n-cheese, chicken breast (no skin)

S: Nature Valley Oats ‘N Honey bar

Tomorrow’s Agenda: teach, file a MOUNTAIN of papers that I never quite did on that work day, run HILLS, Biggest Loser!

P.S. I’ve officially lost 32 pounds since Dec. 27.

I didn’t hear anything from anyone in our running group this week.  I set my alarm, put on my running clothes, and headed out the door with my protein bar and water in hand.  Naturally, our leader texted us saying she couldn’t come but we would run tomorrow morning.  I was already in my car ready to go so I drove to the YMCA.  One of my Biggest Loser message board friends is running a 10K today so I was inspired to run 6 miles.  After running I went to the cycle class that was getting ready to start.  This was my second spin class and much more pleasant than the last.  Though I was still dripping with sweat and worn out.

After going home and showering, my best friend visited us before heading back to the coast.  As always, it was wonderful company and I enjoy discussing teacher talk, love life, past friends, etc with her.

Next on the agenda was getting a season’s pass from the local amusement park.  The newest roller coaster was simply AMAZING.  It literally took your breath away.  There are seven hills (the largest being 230 feet tall) and it goes 75 mph.  WHEW!!

We are about to settle in for a DELICIOUS grilled dinner, watch Precious (rented it), and go out for drinks to celebrate a friend’s 30th birthday.  Ahhh, what a fabulous spring break.

Food Diary:

B: Pure Protein bar, cantaloupe

L: 99% fat free turkey on whole wheat w/ tomato, crunchy cheetos, grapes

D: FAVORITE grilled meal: ahi tuna steak, asparagus, potatoes and onions

S: 1/2 serving of yogurt covered raisins, beer

Tomorrow’s Agenda: RUN w/ running group, prepare for reality

I just barely met my calorie/carb/fat/protein goals today.  Today was the first day I’ve tracked since last Friday.  Shame shame…

We had a pleasant day at the movies.  Again, my husband I have complete opposite taste in movies.  We timed everything  so we could each see two movies back to back.  I saw the Blindside first, then Valentine’s Day.  (He saw the Wolfman and Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.)  I really enjoyed both movies. 

Still no exercise.  I can’t even make up an excuse as to why not.  Many prayers that the running group is not cancelled, or I miraculously find the discipline to run 12 miles outside on my own.

Food Diary:

B: Fiber One shredded wheat cereal w/ skim milk

L: 99% fat free ravioli, 1/4 cup yogurt covered raisins

D: bbq chicken, baked sweet potato, baked beans, garlic toast

S: small chocolate dipped ice cream cone from Dairy Queen

Tomorrow’s Agenda: last day of laziness before preparing for school week…who knows?

Yeah…it’s been a while…brace yourself for this marathon update!

I’ll just pick and choose random events that are worthy of writing about for each day.  As far as weight loss goes, the moral of the week: extremely poor food choices combined with general lack of exercise equals significant weight gain.

Saturday: First things first, it turns out the leader of our running group has been deathly ill.  This marked the third week that she couldn’t meet.  I wish I could write about how ambitious and determined I was and how I ran 12 miles on my own.  Unfortunately, I went to the gym, ran 3 miles, then went home.  (Random note: I was completely alarmed when I approached my driveway and found our indoor only cat on top of the roof.  We had the windows open on the gorgeous spring morning.  He clawed through the window screen and escaped from the second story!)  We attended a birthday party for my neice who turned 1.  This set the tone for a rough week with food.  She of course was adorable, though I did consume 2 zebra cupcakes and pizza.  After the party, my husband and I went to the cheap movie theater.  I saw Dear John (avid Nicholas Sparks fan) while he watched Sherlock Homes.  We then went out for Japanese that night.

Sunday: We went to a new church for Easter service.  I’m not sure it will become home, but we’ll definitely go back again.  We began our Easter binging immediately following church with my family.  My meal centered around lots of sweet potato casserole and chocolate caramel pretzels (with baked beans, green beans, corn, mashed potatoes, mac-n-cheese, etc).  We had our annual egg hunt with the nieces and nephews, then headed off to the in-laws for round two.  Since this was the start of spring break, we had two of our nieces spend the night with us.  Dinner with the in-laws was enjoyable as always, though it did mean more potatoes, mac-n-cheese, and the best damn strawberry pudding I’ve ever consumed.  (Think banana pudding but with layers of homemade pudding, fresh strawberries, and chess cookies.)  I had a bit of baby fever as I held Levi for a long time.  Anyway, the evening was fun for all.  The girls kept our in-laws entertained racing in the yard and playing with the dog.

Monday: Waking up to children asking for breakfast is adorable (when it is only every other month…I imagine this looses appeal when it becomes a daily encounter).  We had a fun day planned at the local children’s library, very cool interactive science museum, lunch at McDonald’s, and watching Princess at the Frog at the cheap movie theater.  (It only costs 75 cents on Mondays.)  We had lots of lowfat yogurt and fresh fruit for snack when we came home.  We spent the rest of the afternoon coloring, playing the Wii, and playing card games until their Dad picked them up.  Dinner for me consisted of 94% fat free popcorn and a protein bar.

Tuesday: The faithful blog followers know I go to a monthly science workshop, post to message boards, and have to plan lessons and video tape segments through the STEM Fellows.  This week was our retreat in the breath taking mountains of NC.  I spent the morning finishing my physics unit that was due, then running by school to make a few copies.  I had a very healthy breakfast and lunch (Subway) before arriving in the mountains at 2 o’clock.  As soon as we checked-in and unpacked, we were divided into groups of 6.  Each group was led to a large creek, given 3 ropes and a page of directs, then instructed to build a bridge.  Two hours later, lo and behold, we all walked across a suspension foot bridge we built using various knots and loops.  After dinner (lasagna, salad, cheesecake), we went on a night hike.  We were not allowed to use flashlights as we were supposed to adapt using our rods and cones.  It was actually a fascinating hike and my eyes adjusted rather quickly.

Wednesday: Still at the retreat, I made some pretty bad food choices, but totally sweated my ass off so I don’t feel that bad.  The day began with a very challenging 3 hour high ropes course.  (Keep in mind you literally had to walk a mile to get the course.)  While I have done a high ropes course before, this one was particularly difficult as my team members were overweight, fearful women in their 50’s.  I didn’t exactly exude grace myself, as I just wanted to get the hell down.  I don’t care how securely harnessed we were, I don’t like the idea of leaping on swaying platforms 50 feet in the air.  Apparently the other women didn’t like it either, since half of my group abandoned me on the second portion of the course.  After debriefing and lunch, we headed up a grueling 5 mile hike.  No joke, it was literally 2.5 miles straight up and straight back down.  I met my best friend for dinner who happened to be in town, went back to the campsite for campfire/sharing, then went back into town to meet 2 more friends for drinks.  (Side note: apparently everything shuts down early in small towns, so “drinks” turned into a Coke float at Denny’s!  We spent hours in the BEST company, laughing hysterically the whole time.)

Thursday: Final day on the retreat.  We had to bring our FlipCams and make a video for our students about how to navigate trails/what to do if you get lost in the woods.  I’m not entirely sure how that aligns with our curriculum, but whatever.  We came back as a large group, edited, and shared our videos.  All were amusing.  I hung around as I had plans to meet yet another college friend for lunch.  First I headed to Montreat which was just ten minutes down the road and nostalgically walked around Lake Susan before completely losing time in the bookstore.  Lunch company was great; I had potato soup, and half a chicken salad sandwich.  I then drove down the mountain back to city life.  When I came home I napped. 

My husband apparently had a stomach virus while I was gone.  After finally gaining his appetite, he was perhaps too inventive with dinner.  He grilled Jamaican-jerk chicken, made a rather odd yogurt broccoli slaw w/ dried fruit and walnuts, and steamed veggies.Yesterday evening my husband and I went to the nearby mega mall (it’s honestly a mile around) and bought a few posters at the teacher supply store.  I then caught up on hundreds of e-mails, status updates, and DVR recordings. 

After all that took place during the week, I find myself cringing at the thought of running.  The half marathon is very quickly approaching and I’m not so confident anymore.  Our running group hasn’t met in three weeks!  (I’ve run on my own, but not the distance I should be running.)  The food I’ve consumed has made me gassy and bloated (I know, I know, TMI…but seriously, I forgot the effects of eating this way).  I’m ready to re-energize my semi-healthy lifestyle.

Whew…that brings us up to speed.  We have another busy day planned with only fun things as this is our last real day of Spring Break.  I’ll write more in a bit!

Sooo….IT’S SPRING BREAK!!!!  Whoo hoo!!

Today was a half day teacher workday.  I furiously caught up on grading and entered final grades.  I really didn’t get a chance to prepare for the week after spring break, so I’ll try to go in for a few hours one day next week to make copies, change my seating arrangement, bulletin boards, etc.  I always like for things to be clean and organized at the start of a new quarter.  I had wanted to go to a Stations of the Cross/Good Friday service but didn’t make it out of work on time.  (Side note: Last night’s Maundy Thursday service was renewing.  There was a washing of the feet service in addition to communion.)

I had a most pleasant afternoon shopping at Ross and A.C. Moore.  I tried on dozens of tank tops and dresses.  I’m in need of something cooler and nice looking to wear that is school appropriate.  I ended up buying 1 nice tank top and a very flattering dress for $25.  The dress is black and white.  It has a print that looks like it is made of lace, but it’s not.  Anyway, it will be perfect to wear with any color cardigan for any season of the year.  I had a great time looking at A.C. Moore…I could just spend hours at craft stores.  I decided one of my projects for the week off is going to be making a scrapbook for the in-laws to show the pregnancy and birth of baby Levi.  While they’ve taken a ton of pictures, they haven’t even printed many of them.  I LOVE scrapbooking.

Husband and I had a yummy dinner at the Mexican restaurant.  We window shopped and played with the kittens at Pet Smart after dinner, then headed to the grocery store.  Food Lion was having a good sale on cake mixes so I went ahead and bought 8 boxes!  I’ve literally spent the past 3 hours making zebra striped cupcakes.  Who would have thought tiny black stripes on dozens of cupcakes would be so time consuming.

Food Diary:

B: Fiber One Frosted Shredded Wheat cereal w/ skim milk

L: Subway 6 inch turkey on wheat, Dannon Light and Fit yogurt

D: chips and salsa, 2 beef tacos, refried beans, rice

S: cake batter (unidentified amounts…I eventually had to chew gum), Pure Protein bar

Tomorrow’s Agenda: run??, niece’s 1st birthday party, laziness

Every other Wednesday I either volunteer at the Salvation Army or a homeless shelter (Room In the Inn) my church participates in.  Tonight was RITI and I was asked to do the laundry.  (The only thing I was told was to make sure not to combine clothes.  Each person must have clothes in an individual load.)  Sounds simple enough…right.  Here is my advice to you, as I had to learn the hard way.

1. Make sure the laundromat you plan on going to is indeed a coin-accepting, do-it-yourself laundromat…not a dry cleaner.  Do not use your GPS, as it will send you to the four closest dry cleaner/alteration shops and/or abandoned laundromats.

2. Make sure you have coins as it is almost a guarantee that the coin machine at the front of the store will be “out of order”.

3. Don’t piss off the one lone staff member who happens to not speak any English.  No need to ask about the coins, just walk across the street. 

4. Now this is key: make sure you put the clothes in BEFORE you put the quarters in.  Otherwise you will have multiple washing machines going with NO clothes in them which wastes money, time, and energy.

5. Be aware that there are small machines that only cost $1.50, and there are very large machines that cost $2.50.  When you are washing each homeless person’s only outfit as individual loads, do not put them in the giant machines. 

6. Even though the instructions on the washing machine tell you to add the liquid detergent in dispenser 1, you must do this AFTER the “pre-wash” is complete.  Otherwise bubbles will come out of the top and Mr. Pissy staff member will shout things at you again.

7. Be cautious about the high heat of the dryer as it might melt the plastic and gum found in the pockets of some jeans.

Food Diary:

B: Pure Protein bar, raisins

L: mashed potatoes, baked chicken, 3 reduced fat Oreos

D: Fiber One Frosted Shredded Wheat cereal w/ skim milk

S: bag of 94% fat free popcorn, chips and salsa

Tomorrow’s Agenda: teach, Maundy Thursday (MY FAVORITE SERVICE OF THE WHOLE YEAR), Grey’s Anatomy/Private Practice, sleep!