#59: Lose 15 Pounds

I don't know why, but I've just not wanted to write about the completion of this goal.  I actually hit a 15 pound loss back sometime earlier this summer.   I think I worried that if I put it out there that I lost weight than I'll feel like I'm being looked at and scrutinized more! :)   I think I also had the fear that if I were to say "Look at me...I lost weight!" and then the weight came back on I would feel like I had failed and that people would be thinking, "Hmmmm...she's sure putting back on the weight."

I realized that line of thinking was ridiculous and since I have kept the weight off (and continued to lose), I now feel comfortable letting the world know. :)

I had lost about 5 pounds from the time I started this list to this past April.  I was just trying to watch my weight and exercise some and it was working, just slowly.  In April though, I finally decided that I needed to kick it into gear and I joined Weight Watchers.  I had seen my sister, Kim, have great results with the program after she had Alexandra, so I thought I would give it a try. 

The program WORKS.  At least it works if you DO the program.  I think the meetings are a little cheesy, but there is something about having someone weigh you in every week that is very motivating.  

So as of today, I have lost 17.2 pounds with Weight Watchers.  When that's added to the 5 pounds I lost pre-Weight Watchers, I have actually lost about 22 pounds since I started my list.   I struggled along the way with feeling like I was losing weight so slowly, but it all adds up after awhile!  I figure it's better that I didn't lose quickly because now I have learned how to be healthy as a lifestyle instead of just as a quick-fix.

This actually completes the last of my "Health" goals.  Who would have thought that I would finish the Health section first!?

#60: Run a 5k

The 5k Saturday morning went really well!  The past few years I had seen the signs up for the Jared Coones Memorial Pumpkin Run in our neighborhood, but it wasn't until last year that I had been going somewhere Saturday morning and realized that the route runs right in front of our house!  I told myself then that if I ever got in shape enough to do a 5k, that I would run this one.  The run raises money for cancer research in honor of Jared, a 10-year old boy who died of Leukemia 11 years ago.  His mom, Jayne, also lost her fight to breast cancer 3 years ago. 

Jared attended the elementary school right by our house and the course runs in front of his house.  It was neat to know that we were running the race for such a good cause.

One of the things that I also really liked about this race is that out of the 3,200 participants, 1,500 of them were elementary school students.  Over the past 11 years, more and more schools have started running clubs to train for the 5k.  It provided a lot of entertainment during the race! 

Trevor was nice and ran with me.  I'm sure it killed him to run slowly with me and to be doing such a piddly run....a 5k is only 1/10th of his race in July!  I really appreciated him doing it with me though!

Mom & Dad decided to come visit us this past weekend, so it worked out well that they could take some pictures for us during the race.  Mom was at the start/finish and Dad took a picture as we ran by the house.

Trying to stay warm before the race.  It was 37 degrees!

The start.  It was total craziness with 3,200 people on the narrow streets.  We were somewhere near the back and it didn't thin out hardly at all until we finished the first mile.   We were trying our best to dodge kids and strollers everywhere, but we felt like we were barely moving.  It took us 12 and a half minutes to run the first mile because of this!  I'm slow....but I'm not that slow!

Dad's picture of us running in front of the house.  I actually was excited at this point, we were only about a 1/4 mile from the end and it was all flat!

Crossing the finish line.

It cracked me up when I zoomed in on the picture above.  Trevor is smiling and looks like he's out for a stroll in the park and I look like I might die!

Done!

We had a really good weekend in general.  We had a nice visit with Mom and Dad.  They took us out to dinner for Trevor's birthday Friday (He's 27 now!).  We ran the race Saturday morning and spent the rest of the day shopping and relaxing.  Then Sunday after church, Trevor's parents came over for some birthday cake and after they left we went out for dinner with his Uncle Dave and Aunt Debby.  What a fun weekend!

#63: Exercise at Least 3 Days a Week for 2 Months

Well, I'm off in about an hour to run the Jared Coones Pumpkin Run.  I've been training for a 5k for the past 9 weeks, so I just realized I'd completed the exercise 3 days a week goal without even thinking about it!  I followed the Couch to 5k plan here.  I started at week 2 since I knew I wasn't that out of shape and then I added on a week at the end.  The program worked out perfectly for this goal because it requires you to get about 30 minutes of exercise three times a week.   I would really suggest this program to anyone that would like to try a 5k.   It progresses really slowly and nothing ever felt too incredibly hard. 

Let's hope this training pays off....today is making me think I may be crazy.  I just looked at the weather here and it's 37 degrees outside!  Yikes!  I don't think we've run in anything under 50 degrees while we were training.  Perfect timing for a cold front to come through, huh?

Wish me luck! :)