Looking back to go forward!

Oh my,my! I have come a long way and this week has been sorta up and down emotionally. I find myself sooooo excited and still needing motivation to keep going!!! I received my latest award at WW another 25lb washer fro my key chain last Friday at my meeting. This may not seem like anything but to me this is so very much. The only thing that means more is that 5k charm because that's really when my life changed.

The 5k charm on my key chain is what I earned for running my first 5k,ever! I love that cheap little metal charm because of what it represents to me and how it set my pace (haha, pace!) for my weight loss journey. I love that I made a choice to sign up first of all for my 5k and then that I trained for it and then that I ran it. Those small steps were HUGE and mimic exactly what I have chosen to do with my life. I made a choice to lose my weight, I took the steps to make it happen and when I reach my goal weight It will be like receiving my charm for finishing what I planned. I need one more of those little washers on my key chain and I cannot wait for the day that I get it.

Breaking up my goal has really made all the difference for me if in July last year when I started all this I was like "I am going to lose 100 lbs!" would it have been attainable, sure. Would it have been overwhelming,scary and probably too intimidating to accomplish? most likely! I started with non-scale goals and running that 5k was key to me earning that key chain first of all and all of the following bells and whistles that accompanied it.  You earn the key chain when you lose 10% of your body weight. That sounds like okay, whatever 10% but the benefits to your health alone have been proven to be tremendous, that's why WW celebrates that.

So even though I have lost over 75lbs, officially with WW its 53.8 (and yes that .8 is everything;-P)
I have had 2 major plateaus in loosing one at around 40 and one at around 60ish that lasted a good 2 LONG....FRUSTRATING months. I know after loosing so much your body really just needs a break to adjust to the new weight and also I wasn't changing up my workouts because I was training for my races so it wasn't like I was feeling like"what am I doing wrong?!" But, It can still be frustrating and the one thing I have found is to really look back at those numbers and remember that I got past them and I am now at the new number. Its very helpful to look back for me and know I can do this and I will continue to do this.

I saw a little craft on Pinterest and I knew I had to make it. It required 2 containers and some little marbles or river rocks.

this is pretty much the easiest thing ever but this made a very visual reminder of where I was and whats next.

On one jar I wrote "Pounds Gone" and the other I wrote #untili'm@goal I love using hash tags and this is a # I plan on using for the next hopefully only couple more months. I need to get rid of 31 more little glass marbles and move them over and this will be officially 107 pounds gone and that will be a great day but this journey has been so much more than those silly little marbles. To see a visual for me other than my body, Is very helpful. I am still at the point where my mind has not caught up to my body and I look in the mirror and don't always see the changes. I don't mean this in a negative way either but when you have lived with being a certain size for a long time there are times when I still think I wear "that" size and every time I buy something and  I don't try it on I end up having to take it back for a smaller size, I know tragic!haha!

Never underestimate progress no matter how slow you are moving forward, YOU ARE STILL MOVING! This is one of the biggest things I need to remember!

Mahalo!

Oh, Okay?

It's sorta funny because when I started this little blog it was at the start of my weight loss. Then I had another baby and then I started loosing again.
I don't really notice too much of a difference in how I look and it feels weird sometimes for people to be like "oh my gosh you have lost weight!!!"
Don't get me wrong it's pretty cool but at the same time it's weird. Loosing weight for me was/is for me to achieve something that I really want and it's not to be in smaller jeans. That is just an extra bonus. Although I hated saying goodbye to some of my cute clothes that are waaaay to big now.
Loosing weight is 90% mental for me and 10% physical and I really believe it will always be like that for me. The best part is in my "before" pics I felt amazing and great as people look in their after pics. Loosing weight is exciting but regardless of getting rid of the weight, which is my new term because I don't intend to ever find it again, it's about being confident in who you are. I fully believe that an intend to continue on this journey being happy with the person I am,who I was and who I will be.
Doing this little side by side deal is important for me to really see how far I have come and how making small lifestyle changes have made huge changes in my lifestyle forever.
I have a little over a month till the end of 2011 and 6 pounds to meet my goal that I set forth at the beginning of 2011 and I fully intend on meeting it and surpassing it.
I won't stop now because I have gone so far beyond what my mind would have thought I could do and that to me is as valuable as how small my jeans are now!
Mahalo

Check that off!

So, yesterday I ran in the Long Beach Marathon...what?!?!?
Crazy!!!! :-) I still can't believe it! As I approached the day I knew I would complete it but I had no idea how the race would go!!
I started the race with a smile and my husband! Seriously it was a great morning we were a little tired but determined to take on the race!
The sight was absolutely beautiful as the sun rose over the city. It was a perfect morning to run and it stayed that way right up until about 30 mins before I finished.
I started out in the back and I mean the back of the 2nd wave of starts... I paced myself at that point because I knew I had 13.1 miles ahead of me.
The amount of people,port-a-potties and energy was a little overwhelming to say the least! As soon as i started going I found a great steady pace and it felt awesome. I found myself smiling the entire time which felt very odd I couldn't comprehend how I was actually doing this! Lol that feeling carried me through the whole way.
As we headed over the bridge the first of my little inspirational sights caught my eye. There was a man wheeling his heart out in a wheelchair going up the bridge to the other side of the harbor. Here was a man who was enduring the same discomfort as others were but in very different way. At this point I said wow I'm given the ability to run this race in great health using my legs,it was what I needed at mile 3.
I looped around The Queen Mary an came upon a man who had to be in his 70's just chugging along he had a shirt that said "why be nrml" in this crazy font it was sooo funny and again another boost.
Throughout the next 6 miles I came across people wearing inspirational quotes and bible verses. I came across a lady wearing a shirt that said "my body was tired but my heart was not." I love that these little messages where so great and really allowed me to be thankful and maintain excitement through the whole thing.
I got to the 10 mile point and I got a little overwhelmed first that I was a part of this and second that this was the furthest I had ever run. I thought of where I had come from and that never in a million years did I think I would do something like this. I started to get a little emotional and I had to pull myself together because I wasn't quite done yet!
The last 3 miles oh sorry 3.1 miles I saw people at the aide stations getting help,1 lady on a stretcher, 1 lady Hooked up to EKG on a grass beltway and a lot of people walking,talking, 1 lady stopped to by a big gulp...lol so much going on.
At this point you also rejoin the people who were doing the full marathon... Here I realized and said I have absolutely no desire whatsoever to ever do a full marathon but it was encouraging to say to myself I can surely go 3.1miles further if these people have run so many miles more than I have!
It was awesome to run down Ocean blvd and approach shoreline dr where the turn was for the finish line!!! I was almost there and as I was about to cross I looked up and saw mikes smiling face waiting for me!!! Ahh I love him and it was so cool to do this with him and have him there at the end to tell me how proud he was of me and how well I did! It was awesome!!
I can now check off my list doing a half marathon and find the next race to be a part of and look forward to!! It was one of the most fulfilling things that I have ever done by setting a goal and actually completing it!

Mahalo!