"Oh My Gawd. I'm Totally Riding a Bike!"

The other day I was at the gym on the recumbent bike. It seems almost useless to use that machine to work out because it's like sitting in a La-Z-Boy with a flat screen in front of you pedaling. How hard can that be? It wasn't. So much so that I spend the better part of my workout yapping away on the phone with Autumn annoying all the intense Gym Rats working out around me.

Being Strong. Staying Strong. It's Not Always That Easy

Having done this gym thing for a few months now, I have noticed that there are some days that I feel awesome. I can workout and nothing hurts. I have stamina and endurance. My breathing is on target. The sweating is dripping off my forehead and running down the sides of my face.

Then there are the days when doing just ten minutes of something feels like I ran a marathon. (Ok i have no idea what that feels like but perhaps one day I will.) But, there are days when the strength just isn't there and it's a mental game I have to play with myself to not just hit the Stop button on the machine and call it quits for the day.

I have bumped up my workout routine to an hour a day now. I had been doing 30-40 minutes, but I figure the extra 20 minutes might help shave off some of this weight. I have been working out religiously since mid-march and still have not seen a drastic loss of weight per my evil scale. Clothes fit differently. People are noticing. But, that wretched scale doesn't want to help me out at all.

I have also decided to make some alterations to my eating habits. After not following The Biggest Loser and then watching the season finale at work the other night, I saw the winner had lost a ton of weight and her starting weight was my starting weight. She looked amazing. And though I completely understand that the contestants on that show have nothing better to do than lose weight and exercise, I figured I might change things up a bit.

First thing that is getting a overhaul is my cheat day. The last few cheat days I have gone entirely overboard on the eating. To the point one might say I was bingeing. So, I have decided that perhaps just one big cheat a day, like an ice cream or a Brownie Earthquake at DQ will suffice instead of allowing an entire day for cheating. Saturdays are my cheat day. I will start this new regime next Saturday.

This next week will also start a full week of my one hour workouts, altered eating and cross training. Fingers crossed I keep my head in the game!

Cape Cops 5K

And it's over..... The run was yesterday and somehow even though I trained for several months for that day, my thighs and arms are killing me.

The morning started out tense. I was nervous and anxious and it was clearly visible to all those in the car going to the run.

My friend Amanda and I noticed several participants running, sprinting, stretching before the race. I didn't want to waste my energy on warming up, but Amanda convinced me to take a quick walk before the start of the race.

Once we made it back to the mob of runners the nerves almost got the best of me. I looked around and saw people who looked like they had been running for years and were in much better shape than I was capable of ever being. There were people in shirts with team names on them. They had leg muscles that were toned and firm. I felt slightly out of place. I had to remind myself that the only person I was racing was myself. I had my set time in mind as the goal that I wanted to finish by and that was all I needed to focus on.

Once it was time to run I felt like I was going to be trampled by all the people who were behind me, but I was able to run .75 miles without needing a rest. I walked a short time and hit the mile mark at about 14 minutes. I wasn't too happy with this time so I knew I needed to pick up the pace if I wanted to reach my 37 minute goal. By mile two, I felt strong and nothing was hurting. The only thing was my breathing. It was hot and humid and it felt like I was breathing in mud. There were a few people around me who'd run for a few and then walk and sometimes I'd be ahead of them and sometimes they'd be ahead of me. It kept me motivated to keep moving and jogging along.

As I rounded the corner at mile three I could see the big blow up finish line. I switched on Eminem's "Lose Yourself" and hauled ass to the finish line. I was scanning the crowd for TGIM and Yellow Marble but I didnt' see them anywhere. It wasn't until I was almost to the finish line I saw them standing on a transformer box cheering me on. I couldn't help but feel emotional. My goal to complete a 5k had come to fruition at 37:06 minutes. I was so happy that I did it!! I was proud of myself for setting a goal and sticking to it.

I remember just a few months ago when I couldn't even run a minute without feeling like I wanted to quit. It's amazing how good it feels to be able to complete this 5k and know that I could do it. I can do it. And I will do it again!

Thanks for all the support!! Knowing I have people watching my progress makes me work harder. I hope I have inspired some of you to put on your walking shoes and get out there and start moving.

Bottomless Pit

When I was pregnant with all three of my Marbles my stomach always felt like a bottomless pit. I never felt full. I would eat and eat and eat and there was never that satisfaction of, "Wow. I'm full." Today was one of those days for me and with my mom being in town, I say I am going to go to the gym but the last thing I feel like doing is going for a run when my mom is literally righthere.

The will power I had today was only there because my mom has decided to do this different way of eating along with me. When you have someone there with you, pushing away the end of the year Young Astronauts Party cake, not eating the pizza at the school function, not ordering a double scoop of ice cream it makes being able to lose weight a lot easier. I only wish I had her here all the time to journey down this road with me as she was a huge part in my original weight loss endeavor.

The 5k is just days away and i haven't been to the gym since Monday. That's a huge deal for me because I was going six times a week. My mind is telling me that I will be fine on Saturday and I know I will be, but I am worried that I am going to fall off this bandwagon once the race is over which is why I have set my sights on a 10k in October. We will see what the cross training brings me in the months after this race on Saturday, but I am hoping to continue losing weight and attempting to get in shape.

Today my mom and I went to Kohl's and I bought a pair of shorts. Not capris. Not those roll up pants. But shorts. They come to the top of my knee. And... get this.. THEY ARE A SIZE TEN!!! Now, granted they aren't a ten in the ladies section, nor were they purchased in juniors. In fact, they're from the older lady section but nonetheless they were a ten and they fit nicely. (I thought, my mom.. not so much.) I have a few pairs of pants that are tens that I wear to work and depending on the store and cut of the pants will depend on what size I actually wear, but buying a ten in SHORTS was a big deal for me as you might know I never wear shorts because I am so freakin' insecure about my legs. Baby steps. Baby step. Who knows, by the end of the summer you might hear me saying i went on the boat in a bathing suit!!!

I just gotta keep running......

Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eater

Cheat Day! My favorite words. Every week I afford myself a Cheat Day which I should rename "Binge Day" because that is basically all I do is binge. I eat myself into a stupor. My coworkers have never seen such a sight, nor have they seen me eat like I ate these last 12 hours. Here is a run down of what I ate:

Large Wendy's Fries
Medium Wendy's Frosty
Piece of Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Two chocolate donuts
Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich on white bread
12" turkey sub with mayo and provolone cheese
Red Velvet Cupcake with cream cheese frosting
Fries from Bear Rock Cafe


I think that's it. Wow!! It looks bad when I write it all down.

6 days until the 5k!!!

Beans In, Beans Out

One of the things that came along with this weight loss journey was a total revamp of my eating habits. When Pink Marble was just in preschool I would drop her off at 830 in the morning and then go through the Tim Horton's Drive-thru and get a chocolate chip muffin and two chocolate frosted donuts and a Diet Coke. That was my morning ritual. Breaking that ritual was difficult and thanks to the help of my mom, when it was time to buckle down and lose weight her experience with Weight Watchers helped me along the way.

I have found over the years that holding myself accountable for what I eat means having to write everything down. For a while during my time on Weight Watchers, myself and several of my friends blogged on a site called YAW (You Ate What???). This was helpful and it allowed me to see what everyone else was eating too. But mostly, I hated writing down my cheats. Still, I hate writing down my cheats.

The way I am eating now is high protein/low carb. It's not an Adkins Diet or any fad type diet. Basically, I just try to eat as clean as possible. By eating clean I mean, for one, I have stopped drinking Diet Coke which was a HUGE accomplishment for me. I basically had an 12 pack of Diet Coke strapped to my back with a straw fed up through my shirt so I could swig on it during all times of the day. Giving up Diet Coke was like having to say good-bye to Autumn and Raphie when I moved down to Florida. It was saying good-bye to an old friend. Only Autumn and Raphie still keep coming around. Diet Coke doesn't enter my life unless I go to the store and purchase it... which I haven't since March 16, 2011. Eating clean as found this one website I was looking at kinda sums it up, "eating clean is the practice of eating whole, natural foods such as fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and complex carbohydrates. It also means staying away from the junk that typically makes up the Standard American Diet (S.A.D) These types of food include man-made sugar, bad fats (hydrogenated, trans-fat), preservatives, white bread, and any other ingredients that are unnecessary. An easy way to remember if a food is clean is: "if man made it, don't eat it." I am not a nazi about following this type of diet, but I have tailored it to my way of doing things.

I also drink Nu-tek Pro 5 Vanilla Protein Power for Her shakes with a scoop of powder and a tbs of Jif or Skippy Natural peanut butter. I have one two times a day which replaces those granola bars, Kidz Clif bars, cookies, 100 calorie packs and other things I ate that were loaded with carbs and refined sugar. Now my carbohydrate intake consists mostly of what some refer to as "slow carbs". They are carbs that metabolize slower in the body and don't spike your insulin levels. Food for Life has a great bread that is considered slow carb. Also, beans are also considered a slow carb but beans and I don't have a very good relationship. I eat the beans and within an hour or so they are coming out the other end. Then they continue to come out the other end for days. My stomach is distended and I look like I'm six months pregnant. Not the look I'm going for when I am trying to lose weight.

I have talked to a lot of people about their eating habits. My old trainer, Alexa, was my motivation to eat better and now I talk to a girl from high school who also eats clean to try to get new ideas for foods so I am not constantly eating the same way. The foods I eat on a regular basis are:

*Lots of Chicken Breast baked with Mrs. Dash and ground Flax Seed on it
*Nasoya Cubed Extra Firm Tofu
*Raw Blueberries
*Ezekiel 4:9 Bread
*Nu-Tek Protein Powder
*Black Beans/Lentils
*Brown Rice (once a week at most)
*Sweet potato (once a week at most)
*Green leafy veggies
*Salads
*Salmon

Losing Something, Just Not Weight

Since 2005 I embarked on a journey to lose 100lbs. I can't believe it's been almost six years and I still haven't reached that goal. I spent a long time lingering around the 85 lbs weight loss mark and at times thought that perhaps that's just where my body was most comfortable. But, my goal was 100 lbs and I didn't have a set date on how long it would take me to get there, I just knew one day I wanted to say, "I lost 100 lbs."

I have a pair of size 22 pants that I keep in my closet as a constant reminder of where I don't want to be. And once I got out of having a number two as the first number in my pant size, I vowed never to go back. This picture is me at 253lbs. My starting weight.



I started taking photo's documenting my weight loss and then I hit a plateau and stopped wanting to see how much I wasn't losing. This picture is me with my size 22 pants and at about the 80lbs weight loss mark.
A few months ago when my doctor told me I need to lose the rest of the weight running a 5k became my goal. My first 5k is quickly approaching and I am excited and nervous about how I will do. I have been trying my best to think positive about the time goal I have set in my head and I think I can do it, I just am going to have to push through the pain of this ankle injury I sustained when the treadmill decided to pull me under.

I think having goals during weight loss, no matter how big or small, keeps you motivated and gets you inching toward where you want to be. I hope soon I will be able to declare a 100 lbs weight loss. But, for now I will just run on the treadmill hoping all that flab and fat will somehow melt away in a reasonable amount of time. I will also wish that while that flab and fat are melting away that holding my "core tight" will give me the stomach I so wish I had.

Today's gym goal: attempt to run an entire mile without stopping to walk for longer than a minute. I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.

You have a choice. You can throw in the towel, or you can use it to wipe the sweat off of your face.

I chose to run. And sweat.

You Might As Well Look Hot if You're Going to Be Hot

I am not sure the etiquette when it comes to clothing attire for the gym, but I do know that what you wear to the gym and how you feel about that outfit will determine whether you have a good run or not.

Let's start with the obvious. Boobs! You need a good sports bra. I found a sports bra at target that has those foamy cuppie things in it so when you get party hats they don't show through your shirt. I think merchants refer to this type of bra as a "t-shirt bra". There is nothing I hate more than running and having party hats so this sports bra not only has support but it avoids the wandering eye to my chest. Don't ask me the brand name right now because I have it on and I'm at work and it would be awfully unprofessional to hoist up my shirt and ask my coworker to check out my tag to see what brand I'm wearing.

Now you need something to cover up those bad boys. I religiously wear the "Long and Lean Tank Tops" at Target. They are $8 each. I have one in every color. I wear them under everything. It's like my signature look. If I see you start layering tank tops then I will assume you got the idea from me and I will call you a copy-catter. I usually wear two tank tops for my runs.

Now onto the pants. I have been wearing the yoga pants Target sells but they tend to show all the sweat from every area of my body that I sweat. That means that as I am hoofing it along my fellow gym attendee's get to see butt sweat, crotch sweat, and thigh sweat. Not flattering. So I bought a pair of Under Armour pants in hopes that I would avoid these problems. I am not a huge fan of the sheen on these pants. They look more like 80's spandex than a running pant. But, I am going to try them out tonight when I run here at work and if they absorb the ass sweat then I'm a believer. If I look like I should be rocking out to "Let's Get Physical" every time I go to the gym then so be it.

Then there is the one item of clothing I never leave home without.... SPANX! Don't be fooled by the imitators that Kohl's or other department stores sell. You can only buy Spanx at upscale department stores or online. So when you put on a pair that are supposed to do the job of Spanx but aren't Spanx, don't come crying to me that you don't understand how I can wear Spanx all day every day because obviously you bought the knock-off version. Spend the money and get the real thing. Now, because I wear Spanx everyday it's not really a good idea to waste the good Spanx on being all sweaty at the gym. Especially since they're $28 a pop. So, I go to Target and buy their version (made by Sara Blakely the same girl who makes Spanx) and I get the cheaper Assets version. They don't provide the best compression and support as the regular Spanx but they serve the purpose when I run and that is to stop all my jiggly skin from flopping all over the place.

Then there are my shoes. It was said to be that I needed to get a good pair of running shoes and I didn't believe it until I got a good pair of running shoes. My shoes are Brooks. There are two running shoes that avid runners wear, one of them are Brooks and the other is Mizuno. I went to my local running store and had a pair specially fitted for the way I run. The Brooks were the best fit. I can't stress the importance of a good shoe. They are costly, but these are your feet. The part of your body that carries you around everywhere you go. You need to take care of them and throwing on just any pair of shoes if you're serious about running will leave you with achy feet, blisters and strained muscles. The chain athletic stores will try to sell you shoes but if you hit up your local run store, they will be more knowledgeable and get into a shoe fit especially for your feet.

So, now that your boobs are compressed, your belly is sucked in, your pants looks like you just left the set of a Whitesnake video and your feet are nice and cushioned it's time to go for your run!

Why Blog. Why Ten Thirty-One. Why Run.

One would think that running is as easy as putting on a pair of shoes and heading out on the open road. If it were that simple perhaps I would have started running years ago. But, frankly, it's not.

Living in Florida, one has to deal with the elements that are involved in Florida weather. For instance, humidity. Humidity is not your friend. It's not nice either. My hair doesn't like it. My lungs don't like it. My skin doesn't like it. My clothes don't like it. Along with the humidity, you have the heat. I hate sweating. And in Florida it's always hot. Don't be fooled either by those people who tell you that the "winters are nice in Florida" because they're not. Those people are snowbirds and come down here from Michigan, Ohio and Illinois so of course it's going to be nice for them. For people like me who live through it year by year, hot is hot. Then there are the bugs, wind, blinding sun, hot asphalt, idiotic drivers and dusty vacant lots. So, throw those factors all into a blender and mix it around and you have a pretty shitty environment to go running in which is why I would have rather sat on my couch and watched it all from the comfort of my air conditioned home.

Then I went to the doctor and he fucked up my plan to be a couch potato. Back in March he told me that though I've done good in my weight loss over the years, if I didn't lose another 25-30lbs I'd be at risk for a whole boatload of medical issues. He handed me some reading material for a diet that seemed relatively easy to follow and then said that horrible E word: EXERCISE.

I decided I was going to set a goal and go from there. My goal was to run a 5k. So, I set out to do it. I spent time on the internet figuring out how to go from couch potato to 5k and bought some snazzy Brooks Adrenaline GTS 11th edition tennis shoes and off to the gym I went. I found treadmill running helps me keep track of my time and pace and I don't have to deal with the Florida weather. Plus, the treadmills at my gym have fans that I can angle just right so they blow on my face while I trot along.

Since starting this 5k training, I have been able to go from not being able to run one minute straight to being able to run .75 miles without stopping. That's great coming from someone who spent the last ten years being a SAHM and not doing much in the way of exercising.

So, I decided to start a blog about the ups and downs of dieting, running, weight loss and my journey to reach that 100lbs weight loss mark.

The title of my blog - Ten Thirty-One- in a ten code we use in my line of work that means "in pursuit" or in law enforcement terms "oh fuck the bad guy is running." So, whenever I go for my runs I always chuckled to myself and say, "Bridget is ten thirty-one."