Seriously - Who Am I?
I haven't blogged much since Chuck proposed. That was a very fun Valentine's Day. We had a great "date" at Los Tres - then came home and he asked, and I said yes. The ring is lovely. He was genuinely happy that I agreed to be his wife. Amazing!! We took pictures that night. I looked at the ring that I barely got on my finger - a very tight fit. I looked at my chins in the photos. I thought about the WiiFit telling me my weight was almost 200 lbs. And I thought about it. And I thought some more. It wasn't a surprise to me that I'd let my weight climb back up and beyond my previous weights. It was just sad that I realized I'd done it. I looked at the beautiful ring on my chubby finger.
And I decided to re-join Weight Watchers. I looked for a WW Buddy - Ashley volunteered. Chuck even said he'd give it a try. So, that first Saturday after Valentine's Day, February 20th, I joined. My initial weight was 197. I really haven't taken the best of care of my self since we lost Anna. I didn't want to live myself, so why suffer through a diet? Wasn't going to work every day bad enough? I lived on microwave popcorn (the good kind with BUTTER) and fast food for months after Jessica & Elisha moved into their house, leaving me with no-one to watch me eat, no-one to be accountable to. And then I quit smoking in February 2008 which nudged the scales up a bit. I suppose quitting smoking was the first thing I really did to say, "I am alive, and I will stop killing myself." Chuck quit Weight Watchers after a month and no weight loss. Ashley has had a bunch of health problems that have kept her from participating. But for some reason - I kept going even though I had an excuse - "I can't do it by myself!" - but I haven't given up. Go figure.
I've heard about lots of diets and weight loss plans, but for me, Weight Watchers is the ONLY one that will ever work. Most diets tell you what you CAN'T have - that makes me immediately decide I have to have it - whatever it is! I can have anything I want on the Weight Watchers plan, so long as I "budget" for it. I am a number-oriented person, so counting my "points" is no big deal. Keeping the food journal - no problem. And I've lost weight every single week since I joined. This coming week will be sixteen weeks. I've lost 30.2 pounds. I weigh 166.8 pounds. The last time I weighed in the 160s was when Weight Watchers helped me take off my baby weight after Anna was born (okay - that's 22 years ago). My goal is 162 - that's a loss of 35 pounds which for me being 5'9" is practical. The goal is in sight. YAY Me!
But, here's the problem. Who the hell am I now? I knew that if I wanted to lose the weight faster than just watching my food intake - I needed to exercise. So - okay, I can walk. I started walking. Chuck & I would walk on the River Trail (the best thing about the City of Danville). Then, after about two months of that, I read that you burn TWICE the calories if you run/jog than if you walk. Also, Weight Watchers was encouraging members to sign up for a 5K walk.
Being the person I am, I signed up for two - on two consecutive Saturdays. I practiced. I made sure I could complete the course. I downloaded an aerobic dance mix for my iPod to keep my pace up. Me? In a 5K? I finished the first walk on West Main St in 45 minutes. Jessica joined me for the second one - very crowded on the river trail that took us 46 minutes. We were hoofing it!
I found the "Couch to 5K" program at www.coolrunning.com. It's a nine-week program that takes you from couch potato to 5K RUNNER. You start with intervals of jogging 60 seconds, walk 90 seconds repeated for 20 minutes. Then I found the audio "Podcasts for Runners" at iTunes where the guy has put the C25K (couch to 5K) to aerobic-mix music and he tells you when to walk, when to run, so I don't have to keep up with anything. I have completed three weeks of three days for each week's intervals. Yesterday, I did Week Four, Day One. It was: jog 3 minutes, walk 90 seconds, jog 5 minutes, walk 180 seconds - done twice with brisk 5 minutes walks to warm up & cool down. I actually ran for sixteen minutes altogether. Unbelievable. I never would've believed you if you'd told me I would do that. NEVER. And more than that - no one that KNOWS me would've believed you. Ever. Never.
Even MORE unbelievable is that this morning I wanted to get up and do it again! But the program stresses that you take a day in between to let your body recover. So Chuck and I rode our bikes from one end of the river trail to the other, and back - took us 63 minutes. There's another 5K in two weeks - I am considering signing up to RUN the damn thing. I'm scheduling my life around when I can run. I'm always on the lookout for a new place to run. Run? Who? What?
I have obviously been taken over by aliens. Or my mom. Definitely one or the other.
