Yeah, sorry its been awhile.

This post is going to be short. I will try and post again soon. I started a new job and don't really have much time for anything "extra" anymore. I am down 60 pounds. Which is good, a few weeks ago it was closer to 70, but yeah I kind of haven't worked out for a bit and eating hasn't been so well. So I am back on the grind and going to be getting up at 4-4:30 starting Monday so I can get a good workout in and get crap done before I leave for work.

I have been getting up every now and then and running in the morning. Its so pretty to watch the sunrise. No one is around and its just me with my thoughts. Often time that can be a bad thing, but overall I think its helping me to become a better more healthy person. Anyway I will write more later for y'all.

Yucky

Well it's been a while since i've blogged. Mainly, because i've been struggling like MAJOR. So bad. It's like ridiculous.  Long story short (won't go into details) but i'm trying to get off the one medication I take, and it's hard seeing as i've taken it for five years. 

I feel tired all the time, I never wanna get up in the morning at the butt crack of dawn to work out, but I always feel better afterwards. It's just getting there that's the problem.  Nina has been so motivating and stood by my side when I wanted to give up, and I can honestly say I would've given up a long time ago if it weren't for her. I don't wanna get all sappy on here but dang that girl does a lot for me and i'm grateful for it.  

She had to leave early or something a week or so ago, I don't remember but she wanted some encouraging pictures so I was showing her I was still working hard. Ha! 

We feed off of each other so much its ridiculous. We have both been super moody this week because our workouts have sucked. Nina's practically having a meltdown because she's not burning as much as she used to, but um after losing 50 pounds, she's not gonna! This past week I'VE had the same problem too.. WHAT! I haven't lost weight, and i've only lost a couple inches since the new year... 

So we have just been struggling together but pushing through.  This morning I really really didn't want to get up and was going to think of any excuse in the book not to go, but I thought that I really need to for some reason, we pushed hard and I finally burned over my 500 and she broke 1,000. So we were in better moods after not being able to all week! 

She was really in the zone the other day and I was going to start saying something and I look over and she's busting it out and has both headphones in, I was laughing but she was so into it she didn't even see me taking pictures hah! 

I got a lucky opportunity to run in the Ogden half marathon on May 18th. SO soon. I'm freaking out a little whenever I think about it. I still haven't ran more than 8 miles in my life. And I haven't had sufficient time to train for this. And i've really doubted myself, but after reading Brandi's blog post about her half she ran this last week after not training and doing it last minute, I feel a lot better. I CAN do this. Yeah it's gonna be hard, yeah i'll want to stop, yeah i'll cry when I finish, but dang it i'll do it whether I have to crawl across the finish line.  I'm really excited for this opportunity to test myself, and then to run the Huntsville half in September and try to beat my time.  

Wish me luck! 

First Goal of 50 pounds lost: Complete.

Hey all! I hope that you can share in my excitement for my first 50 lbs lost. It was hard. It sucked. I loved every minute though. I really am addicted to living a healthy lifestyle. I will post before and after pictures later. So y'all can see the difference. I can finally notice it myself. It has been slow catching up mentally to the weight loss. I think that has been the hardest thing for me. Excercising and eating right has been easy compared to the mental side of it all.

That amazing person to the left has played a HUGE part in my weight loss. Kylie is so good at motivating me. She is super supportive and also knows when to be tough on me. I can't stress enough how important it is to have support. It feels good too. When someone is ready to lose weight they have to decide for themselves. I know that not everyone can have an awesome gym partner and accountability buddy. I just know for me its exactly what I needed to help me when I made the choice to live better. This picture was taken today, we went trail running up in North Ogden. It was a ton of fun. I was slow like always and sucking wind!

This hill doesn't look as steep as it was. My heart rate stayed at a constant 165-170. Which is fairly close to my max heart rate. It does not feel to lovely when its that high, but for some reason today I was enjoying having to work really hard to try and keep up with Kylie. I would have to say that I have improved a lot and don't hold her back as much as I used to.

It is super important to have fun during your workouts. Our workouts are usually always full of smiles and laughter. Don't think for a second that we don't work our butts off though. We are both competitive and push each other to work hard.

Kylie is super tired after doing burpees at the gym. She has a nice little sweat puddle going.

I got a new job and I am working full time now. So in order for us to have a life, we get up around 5 and get to the gym around 5:45. We do this 4 days a week now, and usually run or something on Saturday. I really like going to the gym that early. I am a morning person anyway so it wasn't that much of an adjustment for me. Kylie on the other hand hasn't handled it to bad. I thought she would have a rougher time (Shes soooo NOT a morning person.) It sure has helped to have more time in the evenings with our families. It's a nicer balance. Working out takes a lot of my time. I have made it a priority in my life. Not everyone agrees with that, and that's OK. I need to do this to get healthy. The sacrifices I make now will even out and be worth it as I become more fit.

I am so glad to be making progress. I am also glad that I can share it in this blog. Hopefully I will inspire someone to live a healthier life. There are no good excuses as to why you cant get in shape. I was just plain lazy and comfortable being miserable physically. I didn't think I could run at 350lbs. Guess what? Ya I ran anyway, more like a slow jog, but I am improving each week. And I can do a 10k and not want to roll up and die. I enjoy the soreness, it means that its working!!!! And that's the best feeling. Kylie is making progress as well. I can totally see it and tell. Shes such and inspiration and I love her!! Shes the bestest friend Ever!!!!!

I am so grateful for Heavenly Father and Jesus. There was a need in my life and they filled it. Even when I had forgotten them, and didn't want anything to do with them. No one is forgotten and left alone. Just remember even when you think your alone. You still have a Father in Heaven who loves you.

Our first 10K

Well it's been a good last few weeks. I've been taking time out of my Sunday evenings to prep for food for the week.  I found some new pitas that I absolutely LOVE, they're so good, and cheap! This worked out perfect as well as some pulled pork, taco soup, and fish with vegetables.  

We've been working hard and lifting big at the gym! I love doing pull ups and working my triceps! I'm so proud of Nina who can do pull ups like a boss now! 

Nina thinks it's funny that I like to watch myself in the mirror. 

I just like it because I watch my form and make sure i'm doing it right :) 

As far as cravings go, i've done pretty good, except Nutella.  

It's my weakness....

BUT I am happy to say i've found a replacement.. 

Hazlenut butter, it's much healthier and tastes just as good.

Love that stuff :)

As far as goals go, I got a pair of size 7/8 capri pants that I bought the other day, that is my goal size for now, and they are super tight and I can hardly get them on, and it makes me have huge love handles, BUT I will fit into them one day. I can promise you that, they are hanging on my bedroom door so I see them every day and it can remind me of what my goal is. 

Nina and I went running last weekend and ran 4 miles, it went really good, there was a hill at the end that tried to kill us, but we made it ! We passed out on my driveway and had sweat body imprints.. ha!

We like to take pictures at the gym and end up laughing every time so it seems like we're not working, but I promise we are.  The other day we had a huge group come with us, Kate, Mom, Heather and her son, Lynette and her daughter, Nina, and I.  It got a little crazy, but we had a lot of fun.  

Nina and I have been working so hard to get her at her first goal next Thursday.  We did an hour and a half session at the gym this week and I burned 1,000 ish calories, which means she burned like 2,300.. she burns so much its crazy sauce! We tried pushups and could do some :D WOOT! 

Yesterday we woke up and ran a 10K.  My calf has been really sore and hurting so I was nervous to run, but it was perfect weather! 60 ish degrees and a light breeze, so I headed to Layton and we were off.  We did it in 1:28 minutes and averaged a 13 minute mile.  We did so good! We jogged the whole time except for the halfway point when we stopped to stretch and one other time when we had to stretch our calves, Nina is convinced she was getting sympathy pains because her left calf was killing her too! Ha! I got a little sun, and burned a ton. 

When I got home I worked around the house, we're renovating the basement bathroom so I was hauling sheetrock and wood to the truck to take to the dump, I burned another 1,000 calories. When I took a shower man it felt SO good, I was so dirty and sweaty. When I was done eating for the night, this is what MFP Told me.. thats a 22 pound difference! Crazy awesome. If only I could burn that much every day!  

I love Running!!!!

Nina Here! :) (so ya'll don't have to wait till the end to see who wrote this post. Although, Kylie has a better writing style than I.) So I should be doing homework right now. I just can't seem to get into it, even though it is a topic I am interested in, Paleolithic Nutrition. I just need a break from reading medical journals HA! So the cleanse is over. I lost around 9lbs on the cleanse. Which is pretty good. I am just plugging along to my short term goal of 300lbs. My new goal after that will be 250, and my overall goal is around 200 then we will see from there. I pretty much am in LOVE with running. I know I said that I hated it last Saturday, but that has changed. I went for a hike on Tuesday which was ok. I ended up tripping and messing both my knees up. Which is nothing new for my left knee, but on my right one I got a hematoma, and it ended up popping so my knee is all nice and purple now. They both ache and my left needs to be drained. We will see if I can get rid of the fluid without having to go in. My first thought when I fell was a swear word. After that I thought oh crap this better not mess up my running. I was surprised that was the first thing I thought of. I took a rest day on Wed. Like always after a rest day its super hard for me to be motivated to go workout. So I whined some this morning and with Kylies ever helpful motivation I just left the house to go for a run. I wasn't sure where I wanted to go. Whether it was just the old UP trail by my house or driving all the way to 31st I didnt know. Then I thought of the Kayscreek Parkway and WAALAAA I decided to go there. One problem I had never been there before and didnt know exactly how to get there. I mean I knew the general direction. Good thing for google tho, he sent me on the right path.

This is about 1.5 miles into my run. I am super tired, I was trudging up a hill. I decided to jog back to the car and be done. Then this happened.

Now I try and not swear (vice of mine,) but I was sooo pumped. I am trying to not be so self conscious about myself really. Kylie helps me with that shes super awesome! So if ya'll laugh at my video I am ok with that :) Also, I know it doesn't look like I am going that fast, but I am jogging up a hill and my heart rate was way up there.

I ended up running 3.42 miles in a about an hour. Not bad, I seem to run faster when Kylie is with me. She will be a good pace maker for our 10k. For having bum knees though I think my run went well. After I was past the "wall" I was fine. I probably could have ran even farther, but once I told myself I was going to start walking at the trees by my car it was soooo hard to not shut down. It was weird how my brain was like ok and started getting tired once I "announced" when I was going to stop. Lame right???

If anyone (the few who read this) have questions be sure to ask me. I answer almost anything, and if I don't want to I will just say so. Just so grateful for an amazing sista (Kylie, the all amazing) in my life. WOOOT!

First outside runs!

Well I did a week of the cleanse. Then I decided I was SO done. Preston said that he didn't think we'd finish, which apparently motivated Nina.  So she's still going, which i'm so proud of her. But I ate bad on Sunday and it was all downhill from there. I  am still doing good thought and trying to stay low on carbs and sugar... trying. HA

I went running last week outside. It felt SO good.  I ended up running 4 miles.  I can run so much better and so much faster outside. I averaged a 11 minute mile I think.. I can't remember. My fastest was around a 8 minute mile. I have a 10 K mapped out. I'm waiting until a little more snow melts before I run on it. And get a little more in shape first of course :)

I got these new workout pants (XL Aerie) and they were falling off my butt the whole time I was running.  I hadn't worn them before but XL always fits or is even tight... definitely can't run in these anymore! I'm sad though...they were cute. Oh well :) 

Finishing up the cleanse I did my first attempt at spaghetti squash with low sodium sauce and ground turkey.  It was pretty good.. the squash needed to be cooked more but I was experimenting.. and going off a bloggers recipe in Texas.. guessing the elevation? Who knows. At least Preston liked it, he said he'd try it again if it was cooked more :) 

We worked out yesterday and continued to work on our C210K program.  We stretched out afterward and it felt sooooo good. My quads and hamstrings have been so sore. 

I'm glad to be out of my anti-workout stage. For a minute there I was hating the gym, I felt like all I did was work and work out. I still kinda feel like that but i'm over my rebelling. For now.  I wish I was more of a morning person and could workout in the morning but I am always so tired and especially at 5.. boo. I'll try it next week :) 

Nina and I went running outside this week and completed a 5K in 45 minutes and I am SO proud of her for doing that. I feel like we are such a good inspiration for each other and keep each other going. I'm grateful I have her to back me up and hold me when I'm weak :) Enough cheesiness.. Until next time!

Cleanses.. yay!

Well it's been an interesting couple of weeks for me. I keep telling myself I'm going to work out in the mornings so I can have the evening with my dearest husband since he won't go to the gym with us... and it never happens. I set my alarm almost every morning for 5:50 and I never get up. I always sleep that extra hour, I really need to try it, at least a couple of times, I'm just one who LOVES my sleep and will stay in bed down to the last possible minute before I have to get up.. 

I am SUPER proud of Nina because when we started going to the gym together she wasn't able to do pull ups on the machine with the most weight added (the more weight that's added, the easier it is) and the other night I made her try it again and she did it! I knew she could, I could tell she was reluctant at first, but I'm so happy she's improved so much! I can tell such a difference, her mood, her gym addiction, her encouraging words, and her cute little body :) ha! In a non stalker-ish or creepy way of course! 

We also maxed out on squats and presses to see what we're at. We squatted 240 pounds and pressed 110. I'm really proud of us, I used to be able to do more, but i'm glad i'm working my way back up! I like to push Nina and make her do more, she is dramatic about it but can always do it! She just doesn't look like she struggles enough, so I add more weight! Haha! :D 

I have still been discouraged because I have stayed right at 3-5 pounds i've lost since the new year, but i'm trying to stay positive. I know that somehow, some way, sometime, my body WILL change, and I WILL see my hard work paying off.... I eat healthy and work my butt off at the gym, I burn at least 500 calories a day, it's gotta be going somewhere!? I went to the doctor to get my labs drawn and especially my thyroid checked because I have a strong family history of thyroid issues. Everything came back normal except they think I might have Epstein Barr, I'll find out for sure in the next couple of days.. I am kinda sad, I was wanting to secretly blame it on my thyroid. She asked me all the typical diet questions, am I drinking enough water, am I working out doing good cardio workouts (she asked if I go on the treadmill at over 4MPH I was like uh yeah I'm at like 6 or 6.5  right now.. ), do I drink enough water, I'm on a high protein-low carb diet... The only thing she could suggest was to lower my daily carb intake. We will see how that goes. I dont' really eat a lot of carbs though.. no potatoes, no rice, no pasta, very rarely will I have bread.. *sigh*  Hopefully something will change.  Until then... I'm working on shrinking this large booty of mine, and my giant thighs. :D I feel like my stomach has gotten a tiny bit flatter though, and my boobs are shrinking a little.. yay! Ha! 

Nina and I follow Brandi and Megan and they started a cleanse yesterday so we decided to go along with them and try it. It's not the typical cleanse.. we can eat all the fruit, veggies, and protein we want; no carbs ( I think whole grain pasta/rice is allowed... I just cut it all completely out) and no dairy for 10 days. This package came with some fiber drinks and different pills to take throughout the 10 days. Nina got the gross citrus flavor and I got peaches and cream, mine isn't bad, just tastes like thickened peach juice.. however from anyone i've heard that's had citrus says its disgusting, She almost threw it up apparently ha! Tomorrow is the last day of the fiber drink, then we have a break until the last three days when we do it again. 

I was all worked up that it was gonna be super gross but it wasn't that bad! Yesterday I went to the store and bought a butt load of fruits and veggies and meat. (The olive garden dressing is for after the cleanse! full flavor for preston, light for me (:  )  80 freaking bucks for all that crap. Healthy food is expensive people! 

I seriously love avocados. I could eat one every day twice a day and never get sick of them. Put a little salt on those babies and just eat 'em up! MMMMMM. I just had one actually :) yum. 

We are still working out like normal.. pretty much. For the 10 days of the cleanse we are ONLY doing cardio. Nina strained her shoulder because she doesn't know how to rest it and is addicted to working out :) I only say that because its totally true! So the doc said no arm workouts for a while.. And my calves are so fat I cant zip up my boots... so we're just sticking with the arc trainer and the good ol' dreadmill. I can't wait for it to warm up so I can run outside, and trail running... I love trail running, and I want to run on Legacy.. and go biking.. and swimming.. and... uhhhhh I have summer fever.. anyone else? 

Anyway back to working out.. We did the arc trainer tonight and Nina had to leave to attend to her sweet daughter and Girl Scouts (WOOT for GS Cookies... I ate a box and a half in one sitting this weekend as I mentally prepared for this cleanse :) Worth every calorie!) So after she left I ran on the treadmill. I was thinking hm I should try to run a 10K, then after a mile I was like hmm I should run a 5K, then after 2 miles I was like hm ok i'm done. I had already worked out though so I was tired :) I had to keep wiping my face off because I sweat like a whore in church (as Nina says)  and my rag was SOAKED! Gross.. 

Due to our no sugar, no carbs, no sweet delicious chocolate cleanse.. i've taken up mints. I'm addicted, I think I had like 15 today.. then I was sick. But it could also be from the freaking gallon of water a day we drink! I swear I've never peed so much in my life! :D Just cause you wanted to know :)

My mind is my worst enemy

Hey all, things are going rather well. I am still losing, and mostly have a hold on my eating. Occasionally I want to over eat, whether its from emotional stress or something just looks so dang good. Believe it or not there are people who don't want you to lose weight or get healthy. Realistically you should ignore those people, but its easier said then done. It helps that I have a few people that are awesome at giving me encouragement and support.

Yesterday, before my English class I decided to go for a run outside. How it really happened is, I was telling Kylie how nice it looked and that I wanted to run outside. So she said go do it. So I did. I went on the Kayscreek trail (The old Union Pacific line) busted out C25k and Map my run and off I went. As I got thinking about it this is the first time I believe that I have every just went running outside. Soccer and other sports don't count. It was colder than I thought, I warmed up quickly though. It was harder physically to run outside, on the mental side it was soooo much easier. I enjoyed my time running. I even had time to take a pic to send to Kylie to tell her to leave the girl scout cookies alone.

For anyone who is interested in my progress you can view the weight side of it on this blog. As far as my mile time, I started out at 21:00 for a mile. This is what I am at now.

Ignore that McDonald's add, and don't eat there its nasty.

So I am at around 17:00 minutes and I am pretty happy with that. The 10k is coming up in July and I hope to finish in at least an hour and a half.

A little something I read every morning that helps to keep me going. I need tons of reminders all day long.

Pushing on

Well Nina has been wanting me to blog for a while. I'm not gonna lie I've been struggling.  By the time I get off work after my 9 hour shift every day I am beat tired and I want to just go home and relax.  Some days i'm excited to go to the gym and have been looking forward to it, other times I am dreading it and will do anything to get out of it, but Nina has kept me going. I'm so grateful for that, I can say for sure I would have quit a long time ago if it wasn't for her.  

My weight has been so weird since we've started. I've fluctuated but haven't lost more than 5 pounds total since the first of the year. It gets really discouraging because Nina loses so much, but I know i'm gaining muscle and she has more fat to lose.. not in a mean way. Its true and we both know it, so I can say that :) Haha! I gained last week then I lost .2 this week putting me at 199.7... not that great. BUT I am excited to measure myself on the first of March. I'm doing it monthly but am thinking we're going to lose weight totally different. I'm going to lose inches first but not weight, and Nina's going to lose weight first then inches. We will see...

When I was clothes shopping for Christmas I found these jeans, I got the biggest size they had in the store (Vigoss Brand Size 32) and I couldn't get them zipped up or buttoned.  I bought them anyways as motivation, I tried them on the other day and they were still tight but I could get them buttoned and zipped! Proud :) 

I bought another size down from what I am right now and they are hanging on my bedroom door so I see them every day! 

More random laughter going on at the gym :) 

We ordered some more amino. It's the best stuff ever invented. For real people. It's got no sugar, like 2 carbs, and I think 10 calories for 2 scoops. I've now tried every flavor but orange, I think my favorite is the fruit punch, then grape, then watermelon, I've yet to try the blue raspberry.. Nina's slacking on giving me some to try ;) hahaha! 

Now for some random goodness :)