A Jog in the Park

Posted on March 18, 2010 by Leah@MyNewEnding

I just got home from jogging 3.2 miles in the park. This is my first 5K’ish run outside. I figured I’d better try it at least once before going to my run/race in two weeks.

Good: It was a beautiful sunny, 60 degrees out. People were out walking their dogs and kids were playing in the park, so I found many times to use my smile.
Bad: It took me 48 minutes, which makes me a little sad, but I realize that it’s the effect of inclines and wind. I’ve decided to pray for little to no wind on race day…I can dream…
I also noticed that a person doesn’t realize how slow they jopg until they are being passed by runners. You know, on the treadmills at the gym I know someone is running faster than me on the machine next door, but they can never get ahead of me no matter how fast they are going or how hard they sweat…. We just run next to each other. LOL
I was going to skip working out today, but (of course…) now I’m glad I did it. I spent all day on my feet cooking and cleaning and babysitting three toddlers, so I’m ready to shower and enjoy an evening with just my family.
Tomorrow I’ll be back with the news about my weigh-in for this week…be it what it may.
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Getting it Together

Posted on March 18, 2010 by Leah@MyNewEnding

Good morning! Though I sat down and did some evaluating of my habits, etc, last week things have not really changed drastically yet in my eating habits.

I know they need to, and I’m not going to make excuses. I’d like to post a great thing on here about something I’ve learned, but I feel like a hypocrite because I’m not following everything I “preach”.
Things not only need to change to see my weight go down, but also because I know that my running will get easier when I am smaller.
So, I keep reading blogs and am trying to get motivated to watch my portions and make healthier choices. I also keep exercising, because I know that I’m feeling the best I’ve ever felt due to the exercise and losing that first 10% body weight.
Now to get the rest of it together. I need to want it badly enough to do what it takes.
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Preparing for 5K

Posted on March 17, 2010 by Leah@MyNewEnding

A little background first….

The treadmills at the gym on the base only allow you to use them for 30 minutes at a time. They will actually shut down into cool down mode after 30 minutes. You can reset the treadmill, but you have to stop it to do so, or you have to keep pushing a button for a few more minutes and up the speed each minute. Hmm… this makes it hard for yours truly to run 5K on the treadmill, because I have to keep pushing the button to extend time for about 15 minutes to reach 5k. 🙂

So, on nicer days I’ll go run at the park (maybe) for distance, but mostly I needed to figure out how to “train” on the treadmill. I decided to work on my pace and do intervals of fast pace/slower (comfy) pace.
Today I added the “hills” setting so that it would automatically put the incline up and down every couple of minutes. I did this for a solid 30 minutes at 4.3 mph, which is the fastest speed I’ve stayed at for that length of time.
It was hard towards the end, but I didn’t let myself lower the speed. I felt like I got a good, hard cardio workout in. I think adding incline to my runs will help prepare me for running outside more, and my 5K run coming up in a couple of weeks. 🙂
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Spring Break

Posted on March 16, 2010 by Leah@MyNewEnding

It’s Spring Break here for us and schedules have been a little out of the norm. We’re staying busy and the kids are enjoying it so far. Since my husband is a full-time student he is also home all week.

Each morning the kids have been going with some neighbors to a Spring Break vacation Bible school. My husband and I are taking advantage of this time to go to the gym each day while the kids are gone. It’s been nice! I was a little worried about when I’d fit in trips to the gym, and planning to utilize workout DVDs here at home, but I’m happy that I get to make it to the gym after all…and in the daytime like I like to.
I hope you are all having a nice week. I’m going to do my blog-reading rounds. The next couple of days shouldn’t be so busy, so I should be back soon!
Have a good day everyone!
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Perfect 10 Final Update

Posted on March 15, 2010 by Leah@MyNewEnding

Well, it’s here. March and the last update on the Perfect 10 Challenge sponsored by Steve at Log My Loss.


Let me start by saying a two things:
First, I’m sorry this is so late. I wanted to have it done on Saturday, but we had a family concern arise Friday night that took precedence over any blogging for a bit.
Secondly, when we started this challenge my main goal was to finish the Couch to 5K program. I added the other two goals because they are something I consistently need work on. I had been walking since May 2009 and I wanted to start running. I could hardly believe I’d actually be running by March. It seemed so far away…but here we are. 🙂

My Perfect 10 Goals Are:
  1. Complete the Couch to 5K program. Yes!!!!!!! I finished the program in week 9. Last week I ran 5K on the treadmill and I’ve ran 30 minutes on the treadmill three other times in the same week. AND…. I SIGNED UP FOR A 5K RUN!!! It’s a local event and my family will come to cheer me on. I’m nervous and excited. I know I’ll finish, but I’m sure I”ll finish slow. That’s okay, it’ll give me a starting point to work from to get my pace faster. 🙂


  2. Drink 6-8, 8 oz. glasses of water daily. Better, but not completely. I got 6-8 ounces of water in at least four out of seven days. Getting out my old WW drinking cup has helped immensely in getting that water in.


  3. Adjust my eating to see weight loss. I saw a 1.5 loss, which is good. I had a good talk with myself about evaluating what I need to do to see more consistent loss.

As for the little tidbit on me….

I’m a diet rebel. I confess. It’s something that can be good, but can also be very, very bad.

When I started working on losing weight I knew that signing up for a diet would mean failure for me, so I refused to follow any specific plan. I cut out a few things and started walking.

This baby step showed good results, but I’ll be honest in telling you that it can only get you so far to just “cut out a few things”.

I still refuse to get on any one diet plan, because I know what I need to do to see weight loss. I believe everything in moderation is okay and I’m working on not rebelling against healthier food choices.

That’s the honest truth and I’m not totally proud of it. However, I’m working on it and I plan to see my goal weight reached someday with learning to eat intuitively and adding healthier foods into my diet.

If I can go from never completing a full mile in a jog to running for 3.1 miles at a jogging pace, then I know I can reach my weight loss goal as well. It’s simplygoing to take the same perseverance it’s taken to reach my first running goals.

I can and will reach the end of not only my first 5K, but my weight loss journey as well.

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Weigh-In … Self Evaluation

Posted on March 12, 2010 by Leah@MyNewEnding
Today’s Weight: 205.5
Loss/Gain: -1.5 lbs.
Total Loss So Far: -25.5 lbs.

I’m happy with the loss for this week. The food still wasn’t the best, but I did try some.
I tried some.
This is a problem I have and I’ve been spending some time reevaluating myself the past few days and looking at what I do, or don’t do, that affects my weight loss journey.
Our pastor preached a really good sermon Wednesday night on choices. He talked about how many times we don’t think we’ll pay the price for the choices we make, but eventually they will catch up with us. This is so true in everything, but you know for me it was especially true in my weight loss journey.
I remember last fall reading on someone’s weight loss blog something along the lines of “if you give 50%, then you’re going to see 50% results”. That’s how I’ve been.
Honestly, I can’t write and say a miracle is going to change and I’m suddenly going to give 110% and see the weight drop off, but I am going to work at upping my level of commitment to more than just 50%.
I gave 100% to the Couch to 5K program and I got 100% results. If I can do that, then I know I can give more effort towards my eating and see better results in that area as well.
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Positive Step for Today

Posted on March 11, 2010 by Leah@MyNewEnding

I woke up in a bit of a funk today. Not exactly sure why, though I have a small ideas as to a few factors.

Throughout the day I had self-doubts coming and going through my mind in regards to my weight. I want to see my weight come off and I’d like to see it happen a bit quicker than it has. This means that I have to get my food under control. I know it and I am facing it. Though, honestly, I felt like giving up today.

But I won’t and I can’t. It’s just not an option for me.
This was a day when I have to not go by feelings and instead reflect on how far I’ve come, and just believe in myself – no matter what my emotions tell me.
One thing with my food that has been seriously lacking is my water intake. Thus the cup.
I pulled out a 32 oz. green and blue insulated mug I purchased during my last Weight Watchers attempt years ago. I can drink water so easily with this cup and the straw that came with it. I took it out, filled it and the first 32 oz. is almost gone.
That is my positive step in the right direction for today.
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One More Mile Giveaway

Posted on March 10, 2010 by Leah@MyNewEnding


No, I’m not the giveway queen, but I know one… Trish at Endurance Isn’t Only Physical has some of the greatest giveaways!! 🙂

Today’s is a t-shirt from One More Mile. You can click here to read all about it.
My favorite shirts from that site are:
“Dear God, please let there be someone behind me to read this.”
“Find your happy pace.”
“This IS my race pace.”
Feel free to tell us your favorite(s) if you were going to buy one.
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I Made It All The Way

Posted on March 9, 2010 by Leah@MyNewEnding

Short story is….

I ran a complete 3.1 miles/5 K yesterday!!!!!!!!!
(on the treadmill)

Long story is…

As most of you know I finished the Couch to 5K program last week. For me it meant being able to jog 30 minutes straight, but not exactly 5K (or 3.1 miles). As I was talking to my husband about my accomplishment I told him that upon finishing that third 30-minute jog I wasn’t really winded and dying to quit. It was tough, but I knew I could’ve kept going.

hhhmm… That got me thinking, “I wonder if I can jog a full 5K yet?”
So, yesterday I decided I would try it, or at least jog as much as I could. I started out at a brisk jogging pace for me (4.2 mph) and kept that up for the first mile. The second mile I took it back down to 4 mph, then back up to 4.1 where I finally fell into a steady rhythm that I felt I could keep up for a while.
The sweat was pouring down the sides of my face. It was great!
Suddenly twenty five minutes rolled around and I realized that if I was doing my “normal” jog I would be done in only five minutes. I realized then that I could probably keep going for the entire 5K. I kept it steady, bumping up the pace for the a minute or two at different intervals.
At thirty minutes the treadmill decided it was time for me to be done and I had to reset my time for fifteen more minutes. Unfortunately, every minute it tried to go down into cool down settings, so I had to reset my pace every minute. That was interesting, but thankfully it didn’t wear me out or make it hard.
And at about 44 minutes I reached that magic number of my running dreams thus far
3.1 (miles)
At the same moment the little trail on the screen showed me crossing the 5K mark.
I was so happy I was smiling and I wanted to turn and shout it to everyone in the gym. LOL Instead I texted two of my best friends and my husband with the news. I also told one woman in the stretching/core room, because I couldn’t contain my excitement. (And there were no guys in there at that particular moment…*sheepish grin* )
The best part of this entire story is that I was NOT exhausted at the end of my jog. I jogged 3.1 miles and I wasn’t dying to stop during those last few minutes. This shows me that I can endure a race.
So….yes, I’m going to start looking for a 5K race to run in this spring. I’m so excited and can’t wait to see more health goals reached in my life this year!
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A Waste Either Way

Posted on March 8, 2010 by Leah@MyNewEnding
One concept of Intuitive Eating that really caught my eye as I was listening to the audio companion book the other day was that throwing away excess food is okay.
The author commented something along the lines of, and I paraphrase, “You may not want to throw the extra food away on your plate when you realize your no longer hungry because you think it’s a waste of food. However, if you’re eating beyond full isn’t the food still a waste, even if it’s in your body? Now you’ve just added something to your body that you don’t need.”

Isn’t that interesting?
Extra food, whether it’s left on your plate or eaten and in your body, is a waste. We simply have to decide which waste is better.
She didn’t condone, and neither do I, cooking tons of food just to throw the extra away. However, she did mention trying to do it a few times to allow yourself to get rid of extra and not feel the emotional pull to eat it just because it’s there. I believe this is what they call the “clean plate club”, and many people won’t stop eating when there is food on the plate, even if they are full simply because they don’t want to waste the food.
I’ve never really been a “clean plate club” eater; however, when I want to overeat I try and ask myself if I really want that waste of food in my body, or should I just throw it out?
So, going along the lines of wasting food last week I decided to clean out the candy supply that has accrued in our pantry. My kids still each had a bag of stuff from both Halloween and Christmas, plus Valentine’s parties added a few pieces each. So, I made them get their bags out, pick out their favorites that they might eat soon and we threw the rest away.

This is what we threw away. I believe it was probably 85-90% of the candy that was stored. Yes, even chocolate got thrown away. I decided that while some may think this is a waste it’s a much better waste in the garbage than in our bodies where it is not only not needed, but not even wanted.
Are you a member of the clean plate club? Do you have a hard time throwing food away after you realize you are full? Feel free to share your comments.
Have a great week everyone!

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