I'm at my lowest! (and that's a GREAT thing!)

I weighed myself this morning, and I haven't seen that number since about October of 2003. I was just starting college and was coming off of a summer of a 16 lb weight loss (aided by having really bad mono). From that point, my weight just gradually got worse and worse.

I can honestly say that my brother's wedding was the event that kicked my butt into gear. (Thanks, Jesse and Marissa. I love you guys.)

I am 8.5 lbs away from the weight listed on my driver's license...and I lied about that weight at 15 years old because I was too embarrassed to put my actual weight (and even more embarrassed to step on the scale to find out what it was!). When I hit -50 lbs and keep it off for at least a week, I'm having an "I finally lost 50 lbs party", and you're all invited. I'm 11 lbs away from that, so mark your calendars. ;o)

Getting Better Everyday!

Get Better Everyday

I apologize in advance, because I know this post is going to be disjointed and not well written. My mind is racing and I want to get it all down before I forget anything I'm thinking. It has very little do do with the actual act of running. That being said, let's run with it...

A few months ago, my super-trainer Casey started telling us in class to "get better everyday". At first, I thought it was funny, and added a few pounds to what I was lifting and that was the extent of that. Now, I see it completely differently. About a month and a half ago, I had a long conversation with Casey about what it really meant to "get better". He told me to start by getting better at brushing my teeth in the morning...tying my shoes...easy things. Things that I would do my absolute best every day, just so I was focused. Today, my entire life is better.

This summer, I focused on my eating and my workouts. And thankfully, I was incredibly successful. With that success came confidence. A confidence that pretty much any of you know I have been lacking for a very long time. My summer started with a bit of heartbreak that I pretty much subjected myself to for way too long. I did that simply because I was making no effort to improve my life. I did not have the mindset I have now. My summer ended at a completely different point. I can honestly say that today, I am the happiest I have ever been. Ever.

I'm now going to go out on a limb and share something with the world that I've only shared with those that are extremely close to me. I'm single and perfectly happy with that. For a very long time I have tied being in a relationship with being happy. I have felt that there was no way someone could be truly happy with themselves if they had no one to share that happiness with. Now, I realize that I can't have a healthy, positive relationship without the contentment I feel now. I am perfectly good with where I'm at right now. I'm going to have a busy year, and if that ends up involving someone significant, great! If not, I'll be able to keep making my own schedule and do things as I please :o). I truly feel that I'm at a win-win point right now.

This realization that I've had is completely due to the fact that some part of my life needs to improve every single day in order to keep moving forward. I truly try to Get Better Everyday. This week, that included taking some steps I've been debating taking for a few months. I knew I couldn't truly "get better" if I didn't do them. Lululemon says to "do one thing a day that scares you." Well thank goodness I did what scared me...because I'm now a better person for it. I will bring the "get better" mantra to my students; I will encourage them to try their hardest every day in school, whether it be to make a new friend or try something new. I will continue to work towards the lofty goals I've set for myself. If I have no new goals to work towards, there's no way I can get better.

There are people in my life that have helped me get to this point, and I can't go without mentioning them. Vickie: my friend, coworker, gym partner, nutritionist, and overall motivator...I can't imagine where I'd be today without you. My Club Circuit group, you're a vital part of this as well. Thank you for constantly motivating me to keep going, even through my nagging, frustrating, annoying injury.

Yesterday, I took a look at the Vision Board I made for myself back in January. It has been on my wall since then, but has served very little purpose until I revisited it. Here it is:

See where it says "Fit, Proud, Strong"? That's how I feel. I'm going to add to it at the top. Where is says "NO EXCUSES", I'm going to add "...and Get Better Everyday".

How will you get better tomorrow?

"Return to Running"

Today was a really great day.

First, I'm back at work. I love my job, and I love being in my classroom...I can't wait for Monday!

Second, I had physical therapy, and FINALLY got GOOD NEWS!!! I'll give the best part first, so that if you don't want to keep reading, you don't need to. Before I left, Kaia gave me a "Return to Running" plan. Yay! Now for the details...

To start off, I am now supposed to add 10 minutes of walking on the treadmill to my daily workouts. I need to do this on the treadmill so that I can stop if I have sudden pain and won't be stuck somewhere! After a week or so of these walks, I can start adding a 30 second jog into my walk. If the jog can be completed with no pain, I can do intervals of walking a few minutes, and jogging 30 seconds. However, I have to keep these short walk/jogs to no more than ten minutes, just to be safe.

I am beyond excited.

I want to take the chance right now to say thank you to everyone who has supported me throughout this LONG journey. Your workouts (Casey), your daily support (Vickie), and your encouraging words and questions (Club One-ers, Brian, Parisa, Chuck, Laurelwood staff, and many others!). This has definitely been one of the most challenging years of my life, but I have still made progress because of all of you. I am really looking forward to getting back to running, whether it be next month or ten years from now. All of you have kept me on that path when I so easily could have gone another way. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

My goals are within reach!

Well...I've been tracking absolutely everything I have eaten for the last 3 weeks using a the website www.myfitnesspal.com. I love it! I track all of my exercise as well, and it has really helped. Since June 15th, I've lost approximately 9 lbs!

IT'S FINALLY WORKING!

My health and fitness has become my absolute first priority, and it is paying off. Thanks to everyone who has stuck by me when I'm annoyingly measuring out what I'm eating, or saying I can't eat at certain places because they don't have nutrition facts available. I truly believe I am finally in reach of my goals, and I'm hoping to reach them by June 2012. Stay tuned!

A New Challenge!

I'm going to make this short...more like an update type entry, not a full-out blog...mostly because I'm REALLY tired!

Tonight my super awesome amazing trainer Casey had me do some of our workout with the weighted vest on. It felt like it doubled the difficulty of what I was doing. It was so nice to finally feel like I have a challenge again that didn't affect my leg at all. As much as I wanted to cry while I was working out, I can't wait to do it again!

There's also a new challenge at the gym that is going on for the next 4 weeks. Most of it is leg-appropriate, except for the bench hops. I'm going to try to figure out something comparable that I can do that will allow me to work towards the challenge. I'm ready to be 100% again, but am not willing to set back all the progress I've made. We'll see what happens!

Some days are better than others

Today has been an especially frustrating day. Not only am I having car issues (again), but right when I found a way to get there, I can't go with friends to the Concert in the Park tonight because the closest we could park would include a total of about a mile-long walk. I'm trying REALLY hard to stick to what my PT said I can and can't do until this muscle heals, but its just frustrating that it is SO limiting. What's even worse is that I agree to do things with friends because I get excited about them, and then suddenly realize that I can't go because of these leg issues and have to bail at the last minute. Anyone that knows me knows how much it bothers me when people bail on me; I feel twice as bad when I do it to someone else.

Luckily, I have friends and family that understand the struggles I'm going through right now and know that I'm not bailing because I'd rather be doing something else. Trust me, I've had enough of sitting at home watching First 48 and counting calories.

I walked on the treadmill today so that I could charge my ipod (of COURSE it was dead when I got to the gym), but quit as soon as I felt a tightness in my leg (usually comes before the pain)...which added up to less than 6 minutes. I'm seeing the PT again on the 26th, so I'm hoping we'll add to what I can do at that point.

Thanks for all the support...this WILL eventually get better!

Update

I thought after my visit with the Physical Therapist today would be a good time to give an update. First, I think I'm really lucky to have a PT whose goal is the same as mine: to eventually get back to running! She told me today that she thinks I have also developed tendonitis in the anterior tibialis muscle (a muscle that runs down the inside of the leg, wraps around the back of the ankle bone, and holds up the arch of the foot). Because of this, the muscle isn't supporting to bone in order for it to heal correctly. The game plan is to rest this muscle enough to get rid of the inflammation, and then start strengthening the muscle so that I can begin doing short runs.

In the meantime, Kaia (my PT) said that I need to be wearing shoes with inserts at all times in order to protect and support the arch of my foot while the AT muscle isn't (goodbye, cute summer sandals.). She also said that I should refrain from doing any extended walking, or walking/standing on uneven surfaces (no hikes, walking on gravel/sand/grass) and no balance exercises that aren't on the floor (BOSU balls, balance platforms, etc.).

Kaia suggested I stick to the bike and the rower for cardio at the gym (no treadmill or elliptical, as they put weight on the leg), and work on upper body and core strengthening exercises. I also have limited strength, flexibility, and movement in my left hip, left side of my lower back, and IT band...so all of my at-home PT exercises are related to fixing that issue, just until the irritation in my AT muscle goes down.

It's time to set some new goals...I'll post them as soon as I've written them out. Thanks for everyone's support. I'll hopefully be back up and running (ha!) by January 2012.