Back to Walking Away the Pounds

Week two on Weight Watchers. It's getting a bit better. What I have come to realize with great annoyance is that my body just refuses to let go of any weight unless I exercise. I am SO not an activity type of gal and so the fact that I have to not only eat less but to have to exercise on top of it, well, let's just say that it ticks me off.

So I pulled out the Walk Away the Pounds DVD and for the last few days I have been doing the three mile, high calorie burn walk. I will begrudgingly admit that I do feel good. I still wish that I had the treadmill back or could afford to go to the gym but that's not going to happen.

Actually, yesterday I bought a Dancing With the Stars toning workout DVD. It has 3 fifteen minute routines. I watched it yesterday and well, let's just say that I may very well hurt myself doing even the most "basic" of steps. I was a dancer back in the day but I guess I just don't even think that I could attempt some of these steps now.

Oh, well...I guess I'll just keep walking off those stupid pounds! Dang it!

*Today's Examiner.com article is on Groundhog Day activities at the Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh. You can read about it HERE. Thanks!*

Walking Away the....Marathon??

Okay, so one month to go to the half marathon. I've been doing my Walk Away the Pounds, I had mastered the 5-mile an hour walk. I was feeling good. Feeling healthy. I went out and purchased a good pedometer - not a cheapy Wal Mart one that both Danette and I agreed was not a good one. I set it up...well, Frank set it up and got down to walking.

And wanted to chuck it right out the window.

I have no doubt that this is a great pedometer. I researched them and found one in my price range that had all great reviews on Amazon. I think that the Walk Away the Pounds is lying! That's right, I said it! My five mile walk only registered 3.28 miles! So I thought about it and said, well maybe all the kicking, knee lifts and back kicks don't count for full steps so I skipped them the next time and no! I still come up with only 3/4 of a mile for her every mile! How can that be??

I'm sure that right now some of you are saying "Gee, Stace, maybe you're not doing it right!" IT'S WALKING!!! HOW CAN I NOT DO IT RIGHT??? I keep pace with her and sometimes even go faster because I'm in the zone! And I'm STILL not making her mile.

So I'm putting it out there to you, friends. What are your thoughts? I have a month to go and my confidence is SHOT! I went out walking yesterday on the trails of a new park. It was a beautiful day for walking. And in one hour...I manage 2.68 miles. Granted, it was very hilly terrain which I was not used to and my body is complaining BIG TIME today. But I'm curious for your ideas on which should I trust here: the new pedometer or the DVD?

Anyone? Anyone?

Oh, Yeah...I've Got a Marathon in Three Months!

Okay, but to be honest, it's a HALF marathon and I am walking it, not running it. But still, thirteen miles is a big deal and it does require some training.

I've been doing water aerobics for two months now with some treadmill walking and some Walk Away the Pounds DVD's thrown in, but now it's time to get serious. I got an actual half-marathon training workout from Prevention magazine that I will be following. It has me scheduled to start actual training in two weeks but I think I am going to try and ease in to it before going at it full steam.

As of right now I am walking with ease at a 15-minute mile. At that rate I will finish the marathon in just the right amount of time without the bus coming to get me. But wouldn't it be nice to get there a little bit BEFORE I even see the bus coming around the corner? I mean, I'm not trying for any award or to set some great time, but I just think that it would be nice to finish without the anxiety of "Oh, no! Is that THE bus coming up behind us?" Who needs that kind of stress? Not me!

So today it's water aerobics. Tomorrow will be a 4-mile walk. Wednesday, water aerobics, Thursday, cross training, Friday, a 4-mile walk and I will take the weekend off. I know there are some of you out there who probably are looking at that and scratching your head like "What kind of wacky training is that?" For now, it's mine. I'm just trying to have fun with all of this.

Think endurance, friends! Pray for the 12 minute mile to come to me with ease!

Monday Madness!

You know, I had such high hopes for the day. I really should stop doing that. Whenever I have high hopes, things go down hill fast.

It started out as a typical Monday - got Michael ready for school, sent him on his way. When Frank got back from driving the boy, we discovered that he had no work for the day. Sigh. I so HATE when that happens. So, okay, he's home. Wandering around. In my face everywhere that I am. I do love him; really I do. It's just that I have a...routine of sorts for my mornings and when someone is continually blocking your path or yammering at you, well, it gets a wee-bit annoying. I found him some "chores" to do while I did my 4-mile walk. Yea, me! A task that should have kept him occupied during my entire one-hour workout apparently needed to be broken up in to ten-minute intervals where he would have to walk right through the middle of the living room where I was walking away the pounds. I think at one point I hit him with a weight and while I did apologize, the snarky party of me was like "Well, that's what you get for walking through my workout!"

Really, I honestly DO love him!

I got through the workout and then had to deal with a series of e-mails from an acquaintance that just...well, I don't want to get in to it too deeply but...this person wanted to come over and talk to me at great length and I had to tell her no but she just would not give me the information that I apparently NEEDED and so we kept going back and forth on e-mail. Trust me, when I get a handle on what THAT is all about, I'll let you know. Let's just say that it just about had me losing my mind and pulling my hair out of my head for about an hour.

I finally get out of the house and head over to my friend Donna's house for our 2 hour water aerobics session and 45 minutes in to that I get a call from Michael's school saying that he has a very bad bloody nose and they will NOT put him on the bus (it was 15 minutes until dismissal) and I had to come and get him.

Sigh.

Now, I am about 25 minutes away from the school, in my bathing suit and now have to run to get him. Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is to have to go and pick your child up from school while wearing a Mickey Mouse bathing suit with a mesh cover-up over it??? Well, let me tell you, it's PRETTY DARN EMBARRASSING!! I walked in and was trying to hide behind potted plants and whatnot just to not be seen! Oh, and my boy? Completely FINE by the time I got there!

We get home, we relax and now Nick wants to go driving. For those of you keeping count, tomorrow will make road test number THREE! I told a friend earlier that if I were still a Catholic, I'd be lighting candles right now! So we go to the bank and to the supermarket to food shop, run home to unload the groceries and then headed back out to the SuperTarget to pick up my thyroid medicine. 99% of his driving was fine. The last minute and a half of the drive had me screaming at him - all the while he's looking at me like I've completely lost my mind!

I don't have high hopes for the morning, people. Honestly, I don't.

Once home again, we start up dinner and light the grill but two minutes in, it runs out of gas. Sigh. So Frank went and filled up the tank came back, hooked it all up again and within minutes we were back in business. That is until one of the lines on the far left side of the grill CRACKED and we had flames reaching up to the roof. I was grilling some sausages and I do like them a little crispy. Not ten-foot-high-flame, crispy! We got the fire put out and sometime around 7:30 we actually GOT to eat dinner.

Thank the LORD that the day is coming to an end. Think of us in the morning, everyone! Pray for an understanding DMV instructor who will take pity on us so that they can cancel the plaque that surely they are preparing to mark my own private parking spot and chair!

Of Marathons and Men...

So the training has begun. Nothing major, just another good three mile walk. It felt good. I felt good when it was done. I have not done any major changes to my diet as of yet. What is amazing me the most is the reaction of family and friends to this whole idea. I was thinking that people would be excited for us and encouraging. Apparently, not so much. Maybe we're not as committed to finishing things as we like to think we are. But that's okay. Me, personally, I am not doing this for anyone else's approval. I am doing it for me. It is something that I have wanted to do for a long time and so I am doing it. My face will not be on the front of a Wheaties box, there will be no "endorsement" deals, I will just feel good about myself.

Frank is kind of quiet about this whole endeavor. He is neither cheering nor is he telling me not to do it. I was kind of hoping for him to choose a side of the fence but he has not as of yet. We'll see how that all goes.

We had a weird morning this morning. One minute we were laughing and joking and then in the blink of an eye, everything was different. I won't go in to specifics (for his sake) but he said something, then I said something. I thought we were joking but apparently he did not think so. Things got ugly. I slammed some doors, he refused to let me finish getting ready when I needed to...it was just a crappy way to start the day.

Why is it that everything a man says to a woman is a joke, but what a woman says in a joking way is taken seriously? I just don't get it. Either way, my morning was crap. We left without saying good-bye to each other and I pray that I don't come to regret that. We're both working all day and then he is going to play with the band right from work. He did that last week and when I went to bed early and missed his coming home, he was in a snit about that. So I guess I will have to stay up late for his sake and be the good wife.

Being the good wife sucks sometimes.

Will she run???

And by "she", I mean me. And by "run", I mean speed walk. And the answer is....
YES! The girls and I are planning to do a local half marathon in November. I know, I know, it's not the dream of the Disney half marathon but it is already 90% full of this coming January and I just didn't want to make the huge financial commitment if I didn't train properly and couldn't do it. So to take the pressure off of myself and my friends, we decided that we would do a half marathon here in Raleigh for November of 2009 and then go for the 2011 Disney half marathon.

I AM SO PSYCHED!!!

This is not something that I am taking lightly. I am looking at a lot of different training strategies - but I am NOT looking for others telling me how to do it. I totally want to be in my own comfort zone here and to train at my own pace. I have no intention of running at any point. I just can't do it. My heart rate goes up extremely quick and the doctors have no idea as to why but because of that, running is just not an option. Nor do I want it to be.

I really believe that we can do this. We're not looking to break any records, we're doing this because we want to, because it seems like it could be fun and what a neat example to set for our kids!

So don't be looking for me to be running by your home or jogging down the block. I'll be sticking (at least at the beginning) with the workouts from the Walk Away the Pounds series and my Power 90. Maybe the closer to the Fall we'll hit the actual road to get used to walking the pavement but for now, it's all indoors.

I'm just too excited!!!

My Disney Diet - Day 18

Okay, so I am starting day 18 of my Disney diet with a personal victory. The treadmill that I am using is a loaner from a friend. I'm only supposed to have it for 8 weeks and that was going to end on Sunday. This coming Sunday. I have not heard yet if he's going to truly take it back. Anyway, when Frank first got this monstrosity home for me, we set it up and the first morning I got on it, I was only able to walk for about 13 minutes and I think I got up to 2.8 mph but only for a very brief time. I walked only 1/2 mile. That was the pattern that first week and I was very discouraged and didn't use it everyday because of that. So Frank got annoyed because he had gone through all the trouble of moving it all the way from Burlington and I think he just figured that I was going to quit. He was kind of right. I used it for maybe 2 weeks and then took 3 weeks off - I had my period, I hurt my back, I hurt my knee, Michael was on track out so I was sleeping in - I had my reasons.

So now I decide to start this diet and lo and behold, there's the treadmill. I got myself back on it and after looking back at that pitiful start I had with it, I can now say that this morning, at 8:01 am, I hit my personal record. I had walked for a total of 40 minutes, had gotten up to speeds of 3.4 mph, and burned 400 calories!!! YEA!!! Carol, if you are reading this, if I never have to give this treadmill back you and I are going to do the Walt Disney World Minnie Marathon in January 2010!

Now if only I could get the numbers on the scale to move with the same intensity as my numbers on the treadmill. Hmmm...