pain in the........

I think the pressure I'm putting on myself to lose this one pound is backfiring on me. I'm too stressed out about it and that's causing me to eat. When you have yummy left overs in the house, this is not a good thing.

Thanksgiving leftovers are evil people!!!! Soooooo good, but sooooooo evil! I really do fear a gain, but I know I've let it happen. I need to really just get back to my mantra of "one day at a time" and stop looking beyond that.

I did get out for my run last night with a friend and her family though. Running buddies rock!  It was a great run, but about an hour later my hips started to hurt, and hurt bad. I took some ibuprofen and put some deep relief on them, but still the pain was making it so I couldn't sleep. Add that to the fact exercise always seems to wake me up so I go to bed later anyway and the fact I had a nap during the day, I didn't fall sleep until 6am! 6 AM PEOPLE!!!!! I was suppose to be at work at 7:00!!!!! Of course, I called into work and said I wasn't coming. I'm not proud of it, but there is no way I can function on no sleep.

I ended up waking up around 12:30pm, and now I'm still just resting in bed. My hips are still really sore. I hate that I get this bilateral hip pain after my runs. It seems to be happening more and more now that my speed is a bit faster - mind you not by much!  I'm going to try using my foam roller again to see if that will help. I'm also wondering whether it's time to buy new shoes. Mine are a few years old, and although I didn't start wearing them regularly until this past March, maybe it's time. Mind you maybe it's just an excuse to buy a new pair! Either way I have to do more to control this hip pain I keep getting. I don't want it to derail my running efforts.

Speaking of running efforts, I signed up for the online 5K training program via the Running Room! I can't attend the in store sessions because of my schedule, so I decided to try out their web program. My hip pain is concerning because now I need to increase my running from 2 times a week (my average) to three! On top of this, my next 5K is on sunday! Ahhhhh, go away pain!!!!!

Today I ran for my Mom!

Today was a great day. I woke up at 6:45am did some yoga stretches, stuck on my gear and headed out the door. Soon after I picked up my Mother and we were on our way to the CIBC Run for the Cure!

I ran the 5K at a personal best of just under 40 minutes and my Mom walked the 1K.  My friend ran the 5K as well ----> with a chest cold! It was her first 5K and she rocked it!

Last year I couldn't have run this race if my life depended on it. Last year I said never gain. I'm so proud that I took the time to train and was able to meet my goal.  This race was special in so many ways!

Before the Race - it was a tad chilly! 

My Mom and I - She got a special survivor t-shirt to wear (and a funky wig!)

The sea of people who raised over $500 000 for Breast Cancer Research! 

The only running picture I have (Mom took a video that didn't really turn out that well at the finish line).
My friend's husband took this one. I'm the chick on the far right waving! lol.....

Walk/Run/Walk/Run

Okay, so I have to admit I miss my crazy lady with the crazy eyes on my previous blog header. I wish there was a way to keep that header with this layout. For some reason the layout editing option on my old template didn't work....and apparently some blog readers couldn't comment either! What's up with that? Sorry dudes...I didn't realize until recently that little glitch!

Right now, I'm not 100% satisfied with this template either. I might change it again. I might not. We shall see. I think I'll keep my title though for now. It's been with me from the beginning so perhaps it's best I just stick with it. I did change the tag line though as suggested (thanks!). Yet again I'm not 100% satisfied the new tag line though. Hopefully, I'll think of something more creative in time.

ANYWAY......

In other news...I am pleased to announce that I got my fat arse off the couch again, and did another training session of the couch to 5K. Week 1, Run 2 - DONE! This time I ran alone around my neighbourhood. I tried to distract myself from focusing on the fact I was dying running by looking at houses (oh I like that one, oh that one is totally nasty) and checking out fellow runners who were kicking my ass as they jetted past me. Damn fit 50 year olds!

I must admit if nothing else though, I did 'feel' like a runner today. Is that even possible after only two runs? I mean, I had the ipod in hand, the jogging pants, zip up hoody and even the Olympic Canadian mitts on to inspire me! I even had some cool sunglasses on. Oh yes, I was styling!  If a car passed me while I was doing my 60 second run, I might just have fooled him into thinking I was a marathon runner...okay well....a girl can fantasize!

After the run, I decided to take my best friend Cookie's (who lives with me at the moment) dog for a walk. Poor thing. She had a stroke a few years ago and Cookie totally rehabilitated her. She couldn't even walk after the stroke and now she's pretty much back to normal. Sure she has a new swing in her step , but who cares? She's sexy with a limp! She's still one happy dog and that's all that matters. We had a great walk together although like Auntie Sonya she was pretty tired in the end.  I wish I could run with her, but she can't handle that anymore....mind you...maybe she could considering I'm only running for 60 seconds at a time ;-) Hell, she might even be able to jet past me too like those darn 50 year olds! I thought I'd share a few pics of me and the big girl...Yes, I look totally different in the two pictures shown...what can I say, I transform myself often!

Vegetarian wise.....I made spaghetti  for dinner using Veggie Ground Round and whole wheat pasta tonight Yum, Yum! Tomorrow I'm heading to the Mandarin (a.k.a. eat until you vomit chinese buffet) for dinner with the folks for my Grandmother's 85th birthday. It should be interesting as I usually fill my face on pepper steak, chicken balls and lemon chicken. Not this time baby...vegetable chow mein here I come.

Down 1.5lbs AND Week 1, Run 1 - DONE!

...and the training begins! I went out and ran/walked with my friend like I said I was going to last night. Although it was pretty nice out, we decided to go to the local recreation centre and run the track instead.  I ran for a whole 8 minutes...lol....

The running ipod podcast I'm listening to while running are based on theCool Running website.

I did eight 60 second runs with 90 second walks in between with a five minute warm-up and cool down. I'm not going to lie, it was hard, and I was huffing and puffing by the end, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Having someone to run with definitely helped. It was also kind of fun to people watch as many other runners were there and people were playing tennis on the inside of the track as well. Time did go by faster than if I was by myself only concentrating on my running. I will not be able to hit the track with my friend every time I run, but it was definitely nice for a change.

My friend that I worked out with has decided (if she can also download the program) to train for the 5K with me. I'm so excited.  Now there will be five of us running together if we all stick with it!

In other news I lost 1.5lbs this week. I have no clue how that happened. I haven't been watching my intake that much, but maybe the veggie lifestyle is helping like I hoped. I have to say once again, I'm really hoping that by becoming vegetarian and training for this 5K, the weight will just come off with not too much extra effort.....I guess only time will tell.

I decided to put my all time highest weight as my start number on my blog (see left hand column). Yes, I lost the weight awhile ago, and decided to start this journey again at 246lbs...but I still lost a bunch of weight before that and I think that should count for something....and plus this is my blog and I can do what I want to ;-)

Soooo.....in total I have lost a total of 20lbs from my highest weight ever. Not too shabby...but I got a long way to go.

Meatless Wednesday and More

Still going strong with the whole new lifestyle. Veggie-R-Us.  I had yogurt for breakfast with bran buds, a salad and a few almonds for lunch. I then finished the night off with more delicious veggie loaf for dinner (with some extra veggies and dip for dessert). I have to say this was one of the best food days I've had in a long time. I made sure to get my protein in, so I wasn't hungry today at all, despite all the veggies I was eating. It was fan-freak'n-tastic ladies and gents. Everything was very filling.

Of course I have to remember (as my father did tonight for me while chatting on the phone) it's not only what you eat, but how much. I agree...and I'm getting there slowly but surely. I just have to remember to drink more water. Today (only having had three hour of sleep last night) my fluid intake consisted of coffee, diet coke and more coffee. Not good, but hey....I stayed awake, and lets face it....that was my goal!

I spoke to some colleagues at work about my new running goal. They of course all think it's awesome (I still think I'm crazy) I even had another running buddy offer.   At first I thought he was talking about just running the race with me in July (which is awesome), but later realized he was talking about even training with me....I thought well there's some motivation for me. Hot guy wants to run with me...hum....let me think for a minute....OKAY! With that being said though, I will not be running with him for a while. This is a dude who is a hard core runner. Need I remind you, I am not.  I do not want him having to do CPR on the sidewalk. That might be a tad embarrassing!   I know he would be super nice about running with a beginner, but the simple fact I'll be only running for 90 sec every other minute to start, I think I'll hold out on him for a bit. I can't let him see how completely out of shape I am, now can I?  I'm excited to now have three other people running the race with me though. It keeps me motivated for sure.

Veggie Runner

It's been too long. I know that. I always seem to be really good at blogging for awhile and than life happens and I don't get around to updating this thing.

My back went out for a little over a week (which landed me on the couch) and then work has been crazy since, but those are all excuses I suppose.

Anyway, I'm back!

Two things that have changed since last writing. One is that I'm pretty sure I've decided to be vegetarian. I've thought about it off and on for awhile, and last week I was watching Oprah where they were discussing the movie Food Inc. While watching, I thought to myself (yet again) how can I eat beef or pork, or chicken, when I can't even watch the movie because it will disturb me too much. After all, I cry as it is when I see pigs or cows in trucks traveling down the highway. I just can't handle knowing what their future holds.

This isn't the only reason though. You all know if you've been reading this blog for ....oh...two minutes....that I have a weakness for fast food. That fast food usually ends up being burgers and fries or fried chicken, or something equally as fatty. If I go veg.....I can't have Big Macs, or Whoppers or KFC anymore...and because I'm doing it for the animals, this new 'plan' might just stick and help me become so much more healthy.

Soooo....I've had three meatless days so far and I made my first vegetarian loaf tonight which turned out wonderfully. I just ended up adding some celery and ketchup, used one real garlic clove (instead of garlic powder) and twice as much pasta sauce. It was Delish!!!!! I'm finding searching for recipes online exciting. I love that a lot of recipes are 'rated' and people can comment on how they made it better for them.  Nothing is worse than spending time making a dish to find out it taste like garbage!

The second new and perhaps scary thing is that I've decided I am going to run a 5K in the summer. Can I run a 5K right now? HELL NO!  I can't even run for 5 minutes!!!! I'm going to do it though. I told Cookie (blog name for BFF) who already has ran a 5K and she said she would do it with me....but I knew that wasn't enough so I wrote a status on facebook about my plan, and now my friend's husband is going to be running with me! Heck, he's even going to pick the race we're doing!!!!! So this is serious dudes! I can let Cookie or myself down, but I can't let this dude down. I'm now doing it for real! AHHHHHHHHH.....

So with the new training schedule I'll be having and the new diet, I'm hoping the weight will come off. Fingers crossed anyway!

Is a 5K in my future?

This girl is thinking about signing up for a 5K. Can I run a 5k at the moment? Hell, no. Can I even run 5 meters at the moment? Nada! ...but let me tell ya, I'll be able to soon enough, so help me god!

A better update will come tomorrow, I promise....it's been too long and it's time to get blogging!