All about Birthdays...

Last week was all about birthdays.  My mom's was on Tuesday, Jaicee's was on Thursday, and the family party was on Saturday.  That is a lot of cake. :)  Despite all of that, I was able to lose the 0.8 I gained last week, but that was all I lost.  I'm okay with that.  It is better than gaining.  The past week, I also added two miles to my total weekly mileage.  I will do that again this week.  My short jogs will be 4 miles this week (that used to be my long run!) and my long run will be 6 miles.  I'm still only jogging an 11 to 12 minute mile, but I'm no longer stopping to walk.  It is coming along, slowly...  Sometimes I wish I had a partner to jog with, but other times, I just love doing it alone.  It's not like I could actually hold a conversation while I'm jogging anyway.  So all in all, it was a pretty good week. 

Total Miles Jogged - 12 miles
Total Workouts - 6
Total Pounds Lost - 0.8 pounds

Praying that God gives me the strength to eat only when I am hungry.  Still struggling with that.  Blessings, Jamie

Food...

I've been eating too much food in the evenings.  It seems like as soon as I get home from work, all I want to do is eat.  I really don't think I'm hungry.  It has become a habit.  A habit that I need to break.  So this week, I gained 0.8 pounds.  I know that is not that much, but when you want to see the scale go down, it is disheartening.  But let's be honest.  The way I ate this week didn't lead to weight loss and only I decide what I put in my mouth.  So I'm going to work on it this week.  In the Eden Diet, it says to use a smaller plate when you eat dinner, so I think I might try that.  I also want to work on slowing down when I eat and paying attention to when I'm actually hungry.  I'm a work in progress, but I'm going to get there eventually...
Some positives:

• My long jog this week was 5 miles.  I included some hills this time and I only walked for 3 minutes of the total hour.  That is a 12 minute mile pace.
• I'm enjoying using WalkJogRun on Google to map out my routes.  I learned about it from a fellow blogger.  If you've never used it, check it out.  It will compute your calories burned, your pace, mileage, etc...  Love it!
• Got to visit with 2 friends this past weekend that I haven't talked to in a while.  One of them will be doing the 1/2 marathon with me.  Makes me realize that I miss my friends and I wish they didn't live so far away.
• Enjoyed chocolate!  (That is a positive right??)

Total Miles: 12
Pounds Lost:  None, I'm up 0.8 pounds
Number of Workouts: 4 - I missed 2 workouts...

Blessings, Jamie

A Few More Hours Needed...

Something I'm realizing about myself through this process is that I'm neurotic about my schedule.  I don't remember being like this before I had children, but maybe I was.  It's just that when you have so many things that you have to fit into a day, you MUST stick to a schedule or it gets totally screwed up and then something has to be left out.  Usually, the thing that gets left out is exercise...  When my schedule gets out of whack, it would be nice if I could be flexible, but I can't.  I just get stressed and upset.  So this is something that I need to work on.  I know my husband would greatly appreciate this, since he is the epitome of flexibility and calmness.  I know there must be days when I really annoy him, but he never shows it.  I'm so lucky.  Now, I only have 14 more minutes before I need to get to bed, (see, I told you) so I'm going to write some of the things that happened this past week that I am proud of...
1.  I got in all of my workouts except one.
2.  I got up early the 3 days I'm suppose to!!  (Because it's part of "the schedule")
3.  I'm eating smaller portions, snacking less, and not going back for seconds.
4.  I'm feeling stronger during my jogs.  Not so much of that annoying heavy breathing.  I always feel bad for the person on the treadmill next to me if they don't have headphones in. 
5.  I went out of town this past weekend and got my workouts in.  Although I had to do them both on the same day.  Oh well, they got done.
6.  I'm ready to do it all over again!!

Blessings, Jamie

Stats for this week
Weight Lost - 2.8 pounds
Miles Jogged - 10 miles

Early Morning TV

If your going to workout at 4:30 a.m., make sure you have an i pod and some good tunes to listen to, because the only thing on t.v is infomercials.  Does anyone else want to buy everything they see on infomercial?  Today I wanted to pick up the phone and buy Wen.  I guess it is like a shampoo, but not a shampoo, but not exactly a conditioner.  You should have seen everyone's hair.  Amazing. :) 

Next time I will rememer my i pod. 

My Goal

I've always loved jogging.  Well, let me rephrase that, I've loved jogging since college and I still do.  The thing I love most about jogging is that it is time just for me.  Sounds selfish, I know, but when I jog, all the stress that I may have been feeling melts away, my attitude improves, and I can just be me.  Jogging, or working out in general, helps me fight off depression that sometimes starts to creep into my mind.  I call my workout time, "my prozac," and it really does work that way for me.  When I'm without it for many days in a row I can feel my thoughts turning dark. 

So I've recruited some friends and will be training for the ....

I'm excited for this opportunity.  I'm only doing the half marathon, but the longest race I've completed is Bloomsday, so this will be more of a challenge.  I am following the training plan outlined on Hal Higdon's website, and since I have more than 12 weeks to train (thank God for that!) I will be able to do many of the weeks in the training plan twice.  I'm now in my second week of training and once I figured how to fit all of the workouts into my "working full-time, mother of 2," schedule, I'm feeling very excited about it.  I feel like I owe it to myself to do this, to accomplish this. 

 So don't be surprised if you see me this summer with this around my neck... 

I figure I can make it go with just about any outfit during the summer. :)

If you have ever completed a half marathon or a full marathon and have any advice for me regarding training, I would love to hear it!  Thanks so much.  Blessings, Jamie

I'm Hungry, I'm Hungry Not...

My sister in law, Debbie, bought me a book a few months ago.  The past few weeks I've finally taken the time to read it and I am so thankful that I did.  When I read The Eden Diet, I felt like the author had written it just for me.  I can honestly say that I've never felt a connection with a book (a nonfiction book) like I did with this one.  It is all about listening to the hunger signs that God has given you, paying attention to portion size, and not letting food have control over you.  It was exactly what I needed to read at just the right time.  I'm so thankful for Deb, and thankful that God put the idea in her head to purchase the book for me.  ;)

So today, I started my new life of not letting the food control me.  It has not been easy and it is only day 1.  I'm not sure that I even know what it feels like to experience hunger; so this will be a new concept for me.  Like right now, as I'm writing this, I'm thinking to myself that I am hungry.  But I don't think I really am.  I know that half of my dinner is sitting in the fridge and I think I need to eat it because I didn't eat the whole thing.  But my logical self is telling me that it will still be there tomorrow and it will be just fine.  I think that I eat for many reasons, but usually not for the right ones.  I eat because it is lunch time, I eat because I'm watching t.v., I eat because everyone else is eating, I eat because I'm bored, I eat because no one is watching, I eat because I am sad, emotional, stressed...  You name it, I've made up an excuse to eat.  But today I didn't.  And when I wanted to eat when I wasn't hungry, I prayed to God to give me strength, and guess what, He DID!! 

Today was a blessing and I'm going to bed happy and proud of myself; and I haven't really been happy about myself in a long time.  A good day has passed on this journey.  Here's hoping for another good day tomorrow.  Please continue to pray for me.  Blessings, Jamie

Stats for Last Week
Miles Jogged - 10
Days Exercised - 5
Pounds Lost - 2.2

Here We Go...

I'm planning on making some changes this year.  Big changes.  And reaching some goals.  Big goals. 

This blog is to document everything that I'm doing, thinking, feeling, eating, praying about, etc... as I go through this journey. 

Please feel free to leave a comment, a good diet or exercise tip, give some encouragment, pray for me, ask for prayers, or all of the above.  I can use all the prayers I can get.  :) 

So, here I go...  Wish me luck!