Monday, March 18, 2013

Sometimes You Just have to Let the Bad JuJu Out!

And, Bad JuJu, I release you! Go sabotage some other ho's health and fitness goals!

I have to say that it felt really good to get that little rant off my chest yesterday. It felt good to realize that my goals were a little bit out of focus. Bad JuJu was messin' with my head! While, overall, my focus has been and still is on improving my health and fitness, I feel tempted sometimes to focus more on the way I look. I don't think that should be my focus--looking better nekkid is just a side effect of the healthy changes I'm making.

Speaking of overcoming, releasing, and resisting Bad JuJu, I walked past the rack of gummi candy (including JuJu Coins--zomg I LOVE JuJu candies!) three times yesterday. Every time I thought, "Oh, some JuJus would be a nice treat, and they're not that bad for me." But, I resisted. This is a victory. By the way, it's the next morning, now, and I do not regret resisting those JuJu candies. Bad JuJu! Bad! Good Alester! Good!

As I said, my focus hasn't been off entirely. Sometimes when I'm on the treadmill doing my incline walking I feel like I could take off running. I knew I couldn't jog or run without getting new shoes, so I made a trip Saturday afternoon to Naperville Running Company. I love that store. We have a smaller running store closer to home called DNA Athletics. The owners are really nice guys, and I like to shop with them. Unfortunately, they have a really small shop and my feet are a bit jacked up, so I needed to go someplace with a wider variety. The staff at NRC are super knowledgeable, as well, and I like buying from an independent store. They were systematic and got me into a pair of shoes that felt great. They even sent me on my way with instructions to jog a couple of times on the treadmill to see how they feel and offered to swap them for a different pair if they didn't feel good once I was up and running. That's the mark of a quality running store, my friends! They stand by their products and their fittings and gate analysis.

Unfortunately, I think I do need to trade my new shoes in. The second toe on my right foot is going a little bit numb, which probably means that I'm putting pressure on the nerve that runs up that toe, and I'd prefer not to end up with a neuroma! I'll have to give them a call tomorrow to see what's up. They offered to order me a wider sized version of the same shoe if needed. That may help. . . At any rate, these are the pretty pretty shoes I bought. They were fairly affordable at about $106. Another thing I like about NRC is that they offered me a 10% discount because I have a membership at Charter Fitness. DNA does this, as well, and so do the Dick Pond stores. It pays to shop local!

Anyway, I did do a little bit of running on Saturday. I got up and running for 2.25 miles split into two running intervals with a little walking in between. The next goal on my list was to run a 5k on the treadmill. My feet felt good enough after my jog on Saturday that I decided to go for the 5k on Sunday.

And, I did it! I ran a nice slow 5k at a 4.5mph pace. My total time was just a hair over 41 minutes. I'm a ways off of that 30 minute pace I said I wanted to achieve by the end of the summer, but I have five months to get there! If I can keep from hurting myself I have faith that I can do it. It's going to take a lot of hard work, but I am not known for backing down from a challenge! You know my motto: This bitch don't quit!

So, let's recap my fitness goals, and then talk about my workout totals for the week, check in on my weight loss progress, and set some goals for the next week! Go!

Here's a reminder of the fitness goals I'm working on:

  • Goal 1: Climb the Hancock
  • Goal 2: Jog a Mile on the Treadmill
  • Goal 3: Run a 5k on the Treadmill
  • Goal 4: Run a Sub 12-Minute Mile
  • Goal 5: Run the JJC 5k for my Birthday in May
  • Goal 6: Run a Sub 30-Minute 5k by the end of Summer
It feels great to have crossed another goal off the list. Next up is the sub 12-Minute Mile. Right now I'm jogging at a 13:20 pace, so I'll need to cut about 3:30 off of each mile to get there. Holy balls--what was I thinking? That's a tough one and I've never been that fast of a runner! OK--I need to just break it down. I'll need to start working in some faster intervals to improve my half mile and then my mile pace, then work up to both the speed and distance and knock the Sub 30 5k goal out!

My fitness totals for this week were pretty stellar, if I do say so myself! I managed to remember to bring my HR monitor to every workout, so I can actually share a screen cap of my workout summary!




I'm pretty excited! The sport zones are split from under 60% of maximum HR in gray at the bottom, 60-69% in blue, 70-79% in green, 80-89% in orange, and 90%-100% in red at the top. I'm stoked that I had more than a full hour total in the orange zone and over 3 hours in the green zone. Less than an hour total of the five I spent on the Treadmill, Elliptical, and StairMaster was at anything less than 70% of my max HR. Pow! I have to note, though, that I don't go by the calorie count from the app. It bases the calorie count on heart rate but doesn't account for pace and incline, etc. I had been going by the treadmill's computation before and so I still use that. I'm not sure which one is right, but it doesn't really matter. What matters is that I am working hard, burning calories, eating well, getting more fit, and losing fat.

And, boy oh boy am I losing fat! I'm finally starting to feel like my body is changing. My legs are stronger and firmer under my nice layer of fluff. lol But where I can really see it is in my belly. It's noticeably smaller, but it's also changing shape. I knew this week was going to be a good one on the scale because the numbers had been moving in my favor all week. I knew if I could just control my diet over the weekend (no sodium binges) all would be good. So, here's a run down of my weight loss progress so far:


Monday Weigh-In:

January 21st:               285 (Starting Point
January 28th:               282
February 4th:               275
February 11th:             269
February 18th:             267
February 25th:             266.5
March 4th:                   272 (Water Retention--went off my diuretic)
March 11th:                 263.5
March 18th:                 259

Total Lost:                   26 lbs!!!

So, this is the end of week 8 back on the wagon and I feel great! I've lost 26 pounds, I've climbed a sky scraper, I've cut meat and cheese out of my daily diet, I've jogged a 5k on the treadmill. Whew! I've been busy! I'm not sure why, but I kept thinking that there was one more week left before the two month mark, but here it is! It's amazing to think that if I keep up this pace and this progress over the next two months where I will be by my birthday. The weight is just a way of measuring my progress, but the thought that I could have made enough progress to have my weight in the 230s by then is really motivating. Of course, there are a lot of variables to consider (injury, another plateau, someone giving me a Panda Express gift card for my birthday and me passing out face first in a bucket of Orange Chicken. . . ), and I don't want to get ahead of myself. All I can do is focus on my own efforts the the choices I make over this next week. . .

So, what is on tap for this week? Well, I definitely need to give myself a cheat day this week. I've been doing really well, so I feel like a trip to Chicago to have some cocktails and a good dinner at Chicago Diner is in order. And I think I'm definitely going to treat myself to a piece of cake! OMG, I love cake! I can't believe that my goal for the week is to eat cake. I LOVE THIS! And this really is important--if I restrict myself too much for too long I may end up with another Panda Bear Meltdown (Hey--that's a good band name!), or worse yet, hitting another plateau. I'm using my cheat day this week to reward myself, but I'm not going to go overboard. I'll still eat sensibly, but I'll loosen up a little to allow for a nice restaurant meal--something I haven't done in a while (except for BD Mongolian, where I can control what goes in my food. . . ).

Oh yeah, but the goals are supposed to be about my fitness, too. Easy: I'm going to keep on doing what I have been doing. I'll do my best to log another five hours of exercise this week, and two more running workouts that will incorporate some intervals at a faster pace to get me working toward my sub 12-minute mile!

I also saw that Naperville Running Company has some running form clinics coming up. There's one on March 27th and another on April 10th. They're only $10. I think I'm going to register for the one on April 10th. I think it could help me run easier to have an expert give me some good feedback on how I'm doing! Maybe I'll go ahead and register for the JJC Foundation 5k after I get paid on Thursday, too. Eeek. Shit is getting real, but I feel like everything is doable. I like this feeling! 

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