I'm so sorry about the hives, Alaskanlaughter! That sounds so horrible; I feel for you so much right now. I hope by now it has subsided. I didn't even know that could happen.

Nothing very exercise-y interesting to report here. I'm having a lot of PMS induced self-loathing, irritation, and anxiety which all jumped to 11 when my check engine light came on today. I already knew I had to take my car in as my serpentine belt is cracked and I have a transmission leak but now it seems I've got some misfiring or something. I'll have more information tomorrow. What I do know right now is it is going to cost a lot more than I have. Anyway, the relevant part here is I put on my running shoes when I got home and I just ran out all the aggravation. No idea how long I was gone or how far I went. I feel so much better now. And, all to the good, I no longer feel like I want to dive head first into a vat of chocolate, you know, on the off chance a vat of chocolate happened to be laying around.

it subsided almost completely by the time i got to work about an hour and a half later...i still have red marks on me from all the welts and my face still has some itchy bumps but it is almost gone...its about 7 p.m. now and that's about where it's at right now

Ok, time to check in.

So Monday night I went to the Y as planned. I did 13:00 on the elliptical, and then I went over to try the back machine that, supposedly, works your butt and your lower back...

Oh.
My.
God.

I have a favorite Exercise Machine!

Oh ye gods, seriously! I'm using this thing and I've always got a stiff lower back (probably from keeping my huge oversized bust hanging) and I get on this thing... and I started using it, it has some weights for resistance... I started at 40 lbs.

Oh my goodness my back was popping all over the place as the joints were re-aligning and releasing tension and I swear the other people in there were probably thinking I was nuts cause I swear my tongue was hanging out like a dog in ecstasy! It just.. OMG. it felt amazing. I told my mom later "I think I just found a replacement for the AquaMassage machine!!!!"

Anyway, after that I did 400 Meters on the treadmill at a decent clip.

Didn't do anything Tuesday or Wednesday. Yesterday I biked about 2 and a half miles, down to the Gamestop, back up to Dollar Tree and K-Mart, got some stuff we needed, and headed home... and then, mowed the lawn..

Only to hit a momma bunny who was apparently delivering some food to her three babies... she had a huge gash in her rear from the mower and took off, leaving the babies....

so now I have three baby bunbuns in a tote and I have NO IDEA what to do with them. Gonna try taking them back to the nest later tonight and wait and see if Momma comes back... if not I'm gonna have to raise them, I guess. Lovely. As if I don't have enough animals to freakin' handle.

Anyway, I'll talk to you ladies later.

SOOO busy with school and daycare, can't get my posts in. Still getting my workouts in. Thought I would share this with you all. I hate that the author starts out "Hey, Fat Girl." That makes me want to punch somebody - but it gets better. Good read.

Hey You

Mortonpixie, i have read that before and I love it so much! It's just such a warm, loving sentiment. Whenever I see an overweight lady working out in public (usually running) it makes me feel so happy and I cheer for her in my head. (Actually, if I'm in my car sometimes I really do cheer.) It makes me wonder if when I started if someone somewhere saw me and for a brief moment was really pulling for me and believed in me and felt that same hope and joy.

My car is finished and will cost $685. I'm so relieved. I thought for sure it would be at least twice that. I have the majority of that in savings. Actually it was the money I was saving to completely pay the car off. It makes me a little sad that I won't get to pay it off this month as I had planned but this is okay too. Could have been much worse.

Back to my NROLFW workouts tomorrow! I'm very much looking forward to it. I cancelled my class memberships for this month, so no Flow or Zumba for me, just so I can focus on my lifting.

Hello all! Check-in time for me!

So I weighed myself and I'm down again! 298.4! So I lost a pound, pound and a half over this week!

Tomorrow my mom is having a cook out so I know I'll be cheating a bit for that, so I expect the bobble. Good news is is that the Y's pool reopens the day after labor day, so swimming is back!! I'll be swimming again to keep from gaining too much weight tomorrow.

Talk to you all later and have a safe and happy Labor Day if you're in the states! Can't believe Summer is over!

This weekend has been hard! I was supposed to go to the KC Irish Festival yesterday, but that fell through, so I was at home all day. When that happens, I tend to cheat. I was actually pretty good. Decided I wanted to actually eat food for lunch instead of a protein shake, but logged everything and stayed in my calorie targets for the day.

This morning's run (last day of Week 4 for C25K) was hard. I woke up late and dallied around the house before going. Paid for that. It was hot and sunny and it made the run that much harder to complete. But I DID finish it.

Stepped on the scale and I was down 1.8 lbs from last weigh in (Wednesday). The scale hadn't been moving at all this week, and finally, boom.

Going to the Iris Fest today, so I will load up on my shake before I go to keep me away from fish and chips, Guinness, shepherd's pie, and more Guinness. Did I mention there will be Guinness?

I will abstain. I will just listen to music and buy a couple of cute crafty things.

I have to keep reminding myself that I'm doing this to make my 40's start off healthier than my 30's and to make sure I love the photos that are taken of me on my birthday trip to Ireland. Oh, and feel confident and cute enough to catch the eye of a cute Irish guy or two while I'm there

im finding that i really miss going for a run at the gym when i dont go...like on the weekends when i'm busy and call it "rest days"...so much in fact that i got up this morning and went to the gym even though i hadnt planned on it...i just wanted to...i ran a mile and a half

my shoes need to be replaced desperately though...i'm getting foot pain and mild shinsplit-type pain during/after running...it's on my list to do today or tomorrow, to get a new pair of shoes...you can see where the cushioning has completely worn down and the insides are all torn up

Oh my gosh yes, PLEASE replace your shoes ASAP!!! Actually I've been told that you need to replace your shoes every 400 miles logged, which actually means that your shoes don't LOOK bad but are not giving you the support you need.

I fell off the diet/exercise wagon for 6 weeks and have been working my way up to more vigorous exercise. Am happy to say that I'm back at a reasonable fitness level. Yesterday I did a weight-lifting class (Body Pump) and Zumba, and today I did Zumba. So much fun!!!

today is going swell. I've had healthy food choices and I did 40 mins on the elliptical before going to Piyo which was super tough. So glad my back isn't hurting so bad anymore and I can do more. Going for a short hike in a little while. Hoping my back will feel good enough to get back to my c25k tomorrow. Might help make up for the fact that my water aerobics and yoga classes are canceled for labor day. Bummer. Take care y'all.

Yesterday's NROLFW workout went quite well, all things considered. Things got a bit dicey right at the beginning with my squats. I work out from home and don't have access to a squat cage or anything so I usually just lift the barbell from the floor and over my head into position. The first set was fine. On the second I couldn't get the barbell back over my head when I was done! My arms were just not having it. I knew my options were limited. I was either going to have to figure out how to get it off myself or wait until someone happened to wander into the basement. As the former seemed impossible and the latter unlikely a part of me was just like, "Well, now you have to live this way. Congratulations."
Had to resort to a crab-like backbend to drop it on the couch. But, hey! I learn! Won't be doing that again. I bought a set of squat stands online. As a bonus, the manufacturers even suggest using the stands and the barbell for pull-ups/chin-ups so that solves that problem for me too. Waaaay too much money for me to be spending, especially in light of my car repairs and the ballet tickets I purchased for my best friend's birthday (it's our tradition!), but I think it will be well worth it in the long run.

Today I decided to go for a jog. I've been going around my usual 5k course backwards for the last few weeks so I switched back to normal. I was really surprised with how much longer I was able to keep up the jogging sections! I kept the same landmarks to begin running but kept whizzing past where I usually slow down and walk. My real goal, however, was to focus on my form. I tend to hunch my shoulders and that's no good so I'm trying to be more mindful of it and correct it as soon as I notice. Anyway, the run didn't do as much to loosen my quads and glutes from the lifting as I had hoped but it was a good run!

how interesting to read that! because when i add up the miles ran and walked since i bought them in february, it totals almost exactly 400!! not counting the afternoons i've worn my shoes and been on my feet all day at work...i DID buy a new pair this afternoon and will try them out tomorrow

today was great. did 2 hours of cardio and 30 mins strength training. diet was good.

my cardio today:
45 mins elliptical
15 mins rowing
25 minutes c25k (15 walking/10 jogging)
15 mins stationary bike
20 mins cross trainer

New running shoes make a world of difference!

I ran 2.1 miles and did some walking and I'm not nearly as sore as I would have been in my other shoes.

Headed back to work now!

I'm doing good, hope everyone else is well.
Today meals are good and workout is awesome.

Today's workout:
(3 hours cardio total)
50 mins elliptical (3 miles)
10 mins rowing machine (.5 mile)
55 mins water aerobics
5 mins stair stepper
15 mins cycling (2 miles)
20 mins cross-trainer (2 miles)
25 min hike (1 mile)
30 mins strength training

Progress on Sept goals:
1 lb lost, 12 to go!
7 hrs cardio done, 53 to go!
18.5 miles logged, 41.5 to go!