Bia: My New Motivation Plan

It's been ages since I posted and I'm taking a break from research to do this, which is probably not a great idea, but I wanted to get this out...

I gained a lot of the weight back which I had lost before the Colombia trip a few summers back, but I'm finally getting back on track. It helps that my work schedule is starting to make sense to me and that I don't have to drive two hours a day to get back and forth from my job.

But I think the thing that is making the most difference is that I've given myself some incentives for when I reach goals. Nothing big, mind you, but some smaller goals with a light at the end of some smaller tunnels, rather than stressing about one big goal.

The smaller goals are just five pounds each time, with the 'incentive' being a surprise present from some friends who were kind enough to help me with this plan. Basically I sent a few people money (plus gained a few awesome volunteers who just decided to be their own funders of my gifts) and they are buying/making a present for me, wrapping it, and sending it to me. My first gift will be when I get down to 190, and every five pounds after that will mean a new gift. 

The current goal weight is 170, at which point Ben is going to pay for me to go skydiving, which is something I've wanted to do for years!

But the true motivation for me right now is that I just got this new toy. Most of my friends on facebook already know about it, but the Bia Sport GPS watch is MAKING MY LIFE!!! My students are laughing behind my back about how overexcited I am, but I can't help it. It's just, amazing.

In any case, plan to see more posts, because I'm back baby!

Getting back on track...

This past semester was really tough on my healthierness plan and even though I was technically exercising regularly I actually gained a bit of weight back... I had to buy new pants at TJMaxx so that I could fit clothing comfortably, and I am finally working on getting back to where I was before.

Ironically, after all that time, a solid year of self-motivation, it is motivation which is lacking for me. I have gotten back on running, but not with the same excitement as before. Trying to drive to Texas for Christmas messed up my knee and I wasn't able to run most of the semester. I'm forcing myself to do it now, and my knee seems fine. My real motivation is actually that my friend Karey is helping me plan a schedule and being my exercise partner.  I've been running with her to take her daughter to school and then doing P90x with her after. We'll see how that goes, but I will say in the last week of getting back on track I have managed to get back down another five pounds from where I was last time I checked. Not the past posting, but just recently weighed in I mean...

Anyways I hope future postings will be more positive than this.  While at camp this summer I plan to run and exercise when I can, plus I'm working in the backpacking unit during third session so that should be good exercise!

Upping my mileage!!!

This week I am house sitting for my good friend Karey and since she has a dog (Tut) who likes to run, I am determined to up my mileage again this week! This morning I ran 5 miles instead of going to bootcamp, and I think that it was well worth it... My personal record currently for running on my own (meaning Karey not having to drag me) is 8 miles which I did on Friday and I'm SOOOO excited! I am trying to get to the point where I can run 9.5 miles for a relay marathon in January for a friend and her daughter... My personal trainer said that if I can get up to 11 miles regularly then 9.5 should be no big deal... So that's the goal!

Things I've invested in to help with my running include:
-amphipod running belt with water bottles and a pocket for my ipod.
-my running shoes from fleet feet
-gloves for running early in the morning
-a hat made by Cuddles and Curses with a brim (some kind of crocheted or knitted masterpiece)
-long sleeve running shirt

I also am going to be trying GU energy gel this week. The nice people at Fleet Feet said that if I am running long distances then having an energy gel at the 45 minute mark would help keep my energy up and fix up some muscles... or something like that.

Results: I am officially down 45 pounds, to 170 and under! Also I bought my first pair of size 10 jeans a couple of weeks ago and am well on my way to be solidly the next size down!

Real Results: greater confidence and I feel AMAAAAAZING!!!

The MapMyRun app on my new phone is AMAZING!!!!!

I promise not to turn this blog into a soapbox or an app review blog, but I just HAVE to gush about this new app I started using this week!!! I am SOOOOO excited! It's called Imapmyruns (with various capital letters in there), and if you have it on your phone and turns on the GPS it can track you while you run! I love it! I was able to find out that my 'usual' five mile run was actually 5.2, and when I decided I wanted to up my mileage, I ran all around this end of my city and was able to track it and come home right at the right distance so I wouldn't wear myself out by overdoing it... I'm upping my mileage so I can do a relay marathon in January, so I need to be able to do at least 11 miles in one shot pretty regularly, including hills, trail running and weather. I'm looking into good running jackets and learning more about GU and other energy maintainers for the avid runner...

Also, I forgot to post the pictures from the wedding, but the few that I have don't show the whole dress anyways... I'll try to get one on here soon, since it's on facebook currently anyways and most anyone who reads this knows about it due to facebook anyways...

Wish me luck!

Getting Back On Track: Fall 2011

Well it's back to school and back to work(ing out) but for some reason I'm not as motivated as I was back in June before I left for camp. I am trying though, so here goes the update.

A friend asked me ro clarify what kind of protein powder i use, so for the record, it's called protein plus (with a plus sign for the plus) and it is made by the same company that does Muscle milk but it is found at Costco and is a pure milk protein powder. I get it in the 3 pound container. Chocolate of course!!!

In other news, I totally wore my bikini ALL the time in Colombia, and then even wore it floating on the river last weekend at my friend's bachelorette party.

On that subject, i had to have my bridesmaid dress tailored to fit properly because i have shrunk so much since they ordered the dresses. I will post pictures after this weekend but the punchline is that my seamstress had to take out about four inches all the way down!!!

Thats it for now, thanks for listening!

Primary Goal Achieved!!!! Sense of Accomplishment= AWESOME!!!!!!

The other day, I achieved my primary goal of losing 40 pounds to get my weight down to 175! That is what my weight was when I first moved to Chico over three years ago, and now the new goal is to get down to 165. I'm a size 12, and I recently upped my daily minimum morning run from three miles to four.

LIFE IS AWESOME!!!!!

I recently got a new bike and on the first night riding it I had to brake quickly to pick up a dropped flashlight and managed to flip over the handlebars, sending my silver dolphin cuff bracelet flying where it will probably never be found again... My new replacement bracelet says "Dreams become reality one choice at a time" and I feel like this is especially true in my life these days, so I love it. I dreamed of being healthier, but had no chance of reaching any goal until I started choosing healtheir options like walking to school instead of being dropped off and having a chicken salad instead of a hamburger...

In any case I wanted to take today to comment on a few realizations that have hit me in regards to my healthierness...

The first one is that I have been blowing through sizes as I'm shrinking and I recently offered to pass some of my clothing to my mom and sisters now that they are too big for me. The fact is that when I was gainning weight I passed my too small clothes to my mom and sisters, and now I'm doing the same thing in reverse... I feel a sense of accomplishment knowing it took me three years to gain almost 50 pounds but that I've lost 40 pounds since deciding to get healthier in December.

My other realization happened last night when I was doing the p90x video with my friend Karey. We were doing squats for leg exercises and I was holding the 25 lb kettlebell as extra weight. I suddenly turned to Karey and told her that I just realizes that I used to have that much extra weight on my body, and she pointed out that it was that weight PLUS an additional 10 pounder AND a 5 pounder... How did I have the energy for anything? Last night I was also able to do a few sort of pull-ups on the pull-up bar, which is something I could never imagine doing a year ago...

So I guess my main comment about my successes for my friends and family to know is that moderation is key in all things! I don't believe in DIETING persay just because I've found that it usually means some kind of extreme, and doesn't teach me good eating habits that will last forever... If I cut out all carbs (Atkins?) then I suddenly eye every piece of french bread or plate of pasta like I can't resist it to save my life... If I was to give up meat (vegetarian) I would have to go to a lot of trouble to find protein substitutes, not to mention that as a poor college student that's not really affordable sometimes.

Also on the subject of moderation is the concept of not over-doing exercise... I just mean, if it starts to hurt, don't keep going, and find something else to do. For example, when Karey and I do her p90x video, there is one move that requires you to balance on your hip bone. It's uncomfortable, and even though I'm sure the exercise would be awesome for my slowly developing ab muscles, I won't do it just in case it might cause an injury in not doing it correctly...

In other news, most of my friends know this already, but today I went to the WREC center (college gym) pool in my new bikini, swam a bit and then sat in the sun for an hour reading and getting darker... I haven't worn a bikini since elementary school, so this was a huge accomplishment! Now that I've survived it one day, I plan to make it a regular visit until my Colombia trip!

A Look at the Changes Over the Years

I've decided to show a few photos of kind of before and after... 

I'm so excited that I reached a size 12 this week!

One comment about my exercising, today I made the choice to stop running at three miles instead of going all the way to the four I had planned... My calves were killing me and so even though I was on the far side of my loop and a mile from home and it was about to rain, I decided to walk home. And hopefully if anyone else is taking up exercising they will remember the wisdom of listening to their body and not risking an injury, which would prevent further exercising, you know?

This is me at my 21st birthday... Just 2.5 years ago...

At my friend Annie's 21st birthday around 2 years ago or sooner... I'm so awful with dates!

A weekend camp (it was suddenly hailing, thus the strange expression) around a year ago...

Me just a month or so ago, a few sizes down and loving it...

Me TODAY!!! I can't even believe the difference!!!