Maria Week 36 - Pushed Too Hard

It's been tough doing what my physical therapist wants me to do. Here I am considering a career choice telling people how to get, be, stay healthy - telling people what exercises, stretches, etc to do - and I seem to be struggling to follow my own physical therapists advice. I guess one day I can truly be empathetic to my own clients/patients when they don't want to do what I tell them, right?

I am supposed to be slowly building back up to running. On Saturday I had had enough. I was determined to just see how far I could push it and ... well ... I'm afraid I may have pushed too hard. I ran, not until I hurt, I'm not THAT stupid! But I ran until my knee felt tight. I felt great for like an hour or so after the run. Went up and down stairs, walked all around - no issues! Then suddenly I went to go downstairs again and OMG! Agony! Needless to say, I was pretty bummed the rest of the day. I thought I had really screwed up my knee. Could see my dreams of being a runner drifting away.

So maybe I was a bit being a bit over dramatic. By Sunday my knee was much better and by Monday, practically good as new.

So back to my physical therapists orders - taking it slow again.
Sorry Rach - no 5K for me in June. Maybe July.

Depositing $7

SHORT & SWEET by MJ

Signing in 11 minutes past the deadline! I was determined to post on Wednesday of this week because I have been late posting the last couple of times!

Doing pretty well except for that fried chicken at the memorial day picnic. That would be frango frito in our house! Too tasty to pass up! Can't wait to hike with you girls next month!!

xoMJ

$7

A month crammed into ONE post! by Rachel

Week 32 .... packing (aka weight lifting) I have to make sure the suitcases aren't over 50 pounds!

Deposit...$8

Week 33 ... restaurants sure love to serve french fries with everything...it's a good thing I'm doing a lot of walking.

Deposit ...$8

Week 34... more restaurants ...visited the original StairMaster..Watkins Glen 866 stairs! It's a good yet sad bad unfortunate thing I only did a 3rd!

Deposit...$8

Week 35...HOME...with food poisoning...stupid restaurants...I never want to see another french fry!

Deposit...$0 not eating or exercising.

PS I really didn't eat very many fries but I did notice that they are a very common side option thank heavens more restaurants are offering a more healthy choices but not in the kid menu?! Also, sorry for the huge picture don't know what happened there!

MJ has been in ~LUNCH~LADY ~LAND~ Week 35

Friday already!!! How did that happen?


Hey, J... I for one am NOT losing my motivation, I've just been busy with the end of the school year!!

Doing pretty well this week as far as exercise goes. Actually, I'm doing better than I have in a long time but I've also been starving lately! In fact, the carbs have gotten the better of me this week. I'm not one with the will power to stick to a rigid diet but I am usually more careful about what I eat.

This week, I've been out to lunch 3 times!!!

(Not to mention heading to dinner with some girls this evening!) I have a friend in town so we met for lunch and I also have some "lunch ladies" who meet for chit chat. Somehow, everything ended up happening this week! Lunchmania.

I confess, I could not resist the Seafood Alfredo at Olive Garden. It was sooooo good. I normally order apricot chicken. But not this time. I remember thinking, "Well, if I get this for lunch, I'll eat a small dinner and walk an extra 20 minutes tonight." I ordered it and followed through with my dinner and 20 minutes.

Just looking at the image I'm adding to this post reminded me that the pasta plus the bread sticks and salad with extra cheese probably put me over my starch limit for the year but what can I say?

OK, I'll say this...I completed my goal of a 5 mile walk!!! I've found some great places to walk outside. I like it so much better than the treadmill. There is a road by my house that goes uphill. It's a great workout! It's only 2 miles to the top but it feels so great when you get there and know that the trip home will be downhill!

Milestone!

HiP hIp HOORAY! I was a little stiff the next day but overall, the hip is doing fine!

I have also kept up with my water intake and stretching! Can I just say that I love this blog and the program! I know I'll keep the healthy habits I've been working on with my BFGs for the rest of my life! So when I have a week like this one where I order a plate of pasta for lunch, I don't cringe from the guilt because I know I will be drinking plenty of water and doing enough exercise to balance myself out! I'd say I've experienced the butterfly effect without Ashton Kutcher!

Thanks girls! Love ya!

xoMJ
$10.50

Injuries . . by Jj

Okay, so I'm late posting again. I'm not sure if I'm glad that I'm not the only one or sad cuz I'm not the only one. Please tell me y'all aren't losing motivation like I feel I am sometimes. I hope you guys are just busy and not regretting your decision to follow me and my freaky ideas.

Anyway, back to my report. I didn't weigh myself today but as of Tuesday I hadn't lost anything so I'm going to assume that I'm still where I was - or at least close to it. I haven't measured either. I'm leaving that for next week.

But, most of this week was pretty active which I'm pretty excited about. Jana and Aeon came into town on Monday night and we went rock climbing at Momentum down in Sandy. Maria came down and climbed for her first time with us. Such a good workout - and a bunch of yummy guys to boot. ;) And on Tuesday Jana and I took our dogs up Adams Canyon here in Layton. I'm guessing that it's about a 4 mile hike, in and out which was a great workout too. Sadly, J & A had to take off to head to Wyoming on Tuesday afternoon, so it was a short but physical visit.

However, on one especially rocky part of the trail, I twisted my ankle again and now it's all kinds of crazy swollen. I was going to hit the gym this afternoon for a 5k training run but I just didn't dare. I'm thinking that I might have to lay off the training for a week or two which really sucks. I don't know what I'm going to do. I guess the elliptical would still be okay, right? There's not a lot of twisting on the ankle there . . what do you guys think??

We so need to go climbing again! It was killer.

Depositing $9.50 for this week.

Maria Week 35 - Ute

Rachel will be happy to know that I am a now a fellow Ute. Yes, it's true. I attended my first class yesterday. Oddly enough, I don't feel like I am betraying my Cougar loyalty by becoming a Ute. In fact, I have BYU Football season tickets and I think I could potentially cheer for both teams if necessary. (This is much easier said than done.) I save my real support, my real loyalty, and thousands and thousands of dollars for the school that grants me acceptance for graduate school so my true colors won't show for a few more years.


Well, that being said, this is about improving ourselves, right? And not just our physical appearances, right? I've worked pretty hard on and off, mostly on, with improving my physical appearance and now I get to work really hard with improving my mind. I'm very excited. We all know I'd be a professional student if that were possible. Anyone know if that's possible? I'll do it. Sign me up! I'm still not 100% sure what my undergrad major is going to be so I'm really on the right track to being a professional student. I mean, if I make a switch - it will be my 6th or 7th major since starting college ..... we won't get into exactly HOW many years ago that was. I have so many huge decisions to make and I feel such urgency to make them right now. I feel like I am standing on the edge of this enormous precipice! It's all exciting, nonetheless.

Well, workouts have not begun to suffer, yet. Depositing $10.

MJ -4 at Week 34

Is it just me or is the sunshine a great motivator to be more active? Thank goodness summer is starting to smile at us!

I've done pretty well this week. I was amazed when I took measurements and checked my weight. The measurements were encouraging but what was really great was that I've lost 4 pounds since I last weighed in.

I don't weigh in every week. Just once a month. I've mentioned before that I always tend to weigh the same amount. So you can imagine how glad I am. I have to say that I think the credit goes to lots of water and fewer carbs since I haven't been able to do any powerhouse workouts yet. I'm hoping those will come soon. I would love to burn 1800 calories in a day like our Awesome Blossom, Maria. (You are amazing!) But for now, I'll take what I can get and -4 lbs is pretty great.

For the next week:
Focusing on core and I'm shooting for a 5 mile walk.
(Yes, when I say next week I actually mean this week because I'm writing this for last week.)

xoMJ
$8

Ouch . . by Jj

So I've been determined to get back on track this week. I'm tired of feeling like a loser and gaining weight BACK. But this week has been pretty good and I've lost 2 lbs of the undisclosed number that I gained from Feb-May. However, I'm not going to count it as a milestone until I get back to were I was in February. Sad for me. But, since it's been a while since I've really pushed it like this, I'm quite sore. It feels good. Except for the sore part that is my ankle. That doesn't feel so good.

And on another note . . what's up with bald guys that still think it's cool to have a beard? Saw a couple of guys like that at the gym the other day. Seriously?!?

Depositing the max of $10 for exercise, fruits and veggies.

So sorry for the short and lame post. I'm lazy this morning and don't feel like getting into it.

Maria Week 34 - Loser

I'm a loser again. I'm excited about that. Not a very big loser....It's really a tiny accomplishment. But I'll take what I can get. Once again I am seeing the numbers drop on the scale.

Also, I burned over 1800 calories in just one day. That always makes me feel good. I really wish I could do that everyday. But it nearly exhausts me. And hopefully I'll have a job soon and won't have that kind of time. I can't credit that to my weight loss - I just did that today and I lost the weight by Monday. But I'm sure I'll see the effects of that huge calorie burn soon.

Picking up the pace, speed, intensity, whatever, on my running again. It's feeling good.

Depositing $10 for all my workouts.

Maria 33

We are at week 33 and I am fast approaching year 33. I don't have the abs I wanted to have by year 33 yet. And if I keep making brownies like the ones I made last night I'll never get those abs either!
(I am eating chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk as I am posting this - sadly enough, I am NOT kidding either.)
Must try harder from now on if I want to have those ridiculously defined abs in 4 months!



Depositing .... $8

Barbie, is that you? MJ 32 & 33

My friend had this pic of Barbie on her blog the other day and I thought it was hilarious!!



I am sorry for missing last week. Janis reminded me twice and I still didn't post. I don't really have a good excuse other than to say that I feel like life has me in a headlock! I definitely need to revisit the BALANCE issue again. I can't seem to find that person (me) who used to be able to stay on top of everything...I know she did exist at one time but I've lost her.

I want to choose a day to hike the cave...are weekends best for everyone or could we do a weekday? Let me know via email, FB or whatever. Would you ladies like to get together before that to work on vacation plans?

Goal this week: Get More Sleep!

xoMJ
32....$10 (this includes a milestone for distance)
33....$8

Another one of those weeks?

Ugh. I've been such a slacker for so long that I'm having a really hard time getting back into things but I'm trying. I'm sure Chuck wished I'd try to do a little more of it on the road instead of on the treadmill. And he may be pretty darn close to getting his wish. More to come on that later.

Anyway, since I gained back what feels like a ton of weight and enough inches to get to the moon and back I'm not counting any weight loss or inches as milestones until I get back to where I was. I really don't think it's fair to count it twice. It was my own fault, and I shouldn't be rewarded for it.

So I'm depositing $9 for this week for workouts and diet. Although, I have GOT to get back on top of the food journal. I really did well with the weight loss when I was using that but it's so much easier to do when you're sitting at a desk and can only eat what you've got there rather than just raiding the fridge whenever you feel like it. I'm forgetful when I'm bored I guess. Anyway, I went though my past posts to see how much I need to transfer over to our account. Holy crap, I'm a slacker. It's only $105 for 14 weeks. That should be SO much higher. I'm so ashamed.

So I really think we need to sit down and plan a date and a location for our trip. I think that would motivate me a lot more if I had an actual date to be ready for. I know that we have a date to end the challenge, but really it's going to end for reals when we're sitting in the sun. Anyone up for discussing that tonight?

PS I apologize for not having any cool/disgusting pictures to post today. I'm lacking motivation to do that too.