As 2009 comes to a close...

2009 was such an up and down year. It was the year that I trained really hard for something and actually completed it. It was also the year I gained back most of what I had lost. It was a year of strengthening friendships, testing bonds, and letting some things go that just don't matter.

A big portion of the first of this year was wrapped up in health issues for D. He had his surgery, then the hell of the months with the sponge up in his sinuses. Countless doctor visits and another surgery for tubes and to clean all that out, as well as lots of worry over if his hearing would be permanently affected, were to follow. I am happy to say that the second half of 2009 has been great for him for that. Aside from minor allergies still, he's been healthy enough (aside from a bout of bronchitis we both had).

Then, my little man started kindergarten. He looked so grown up and I was so nervous for him. I'm very fortunate that so far they seem to be handling him wonderfully. They've made modifications in the classroom to help him out, and he's not just being set aside. I'm very grateful for that. You can tell he's learning so much, new letters ALL the time. And lately he's been spelling things constantly. He might actually read before middle school! lol

It was also a big birthday year. I turned the Dirty 30 this year and enjoyed an amazing trip with one of my best friends to New Orleans, with no D! I will never forget that trip.

I learned a lot about myself this year, and have grown immensely. We started training in May for the half marathon. Training for that, which I completed in September, was rigorous. We had lots of early morning weekend walks (that I want to get back into). I found out that I could definitely do that once I put my mind to it. It was one of the biggest mental challenges I'd ever faced. Sure, a lot of it WAS a physical challenge. But at mile 9ish when my feet were killing me, and I didn't think I could go a bit further, somehow I managed to stand up and keep going. I want to feel that again, I want to experience that again. But more on that in my 2010 post. I think finishing the half was very anticlimactic for me afterward and I lost a lot of my vision for it. Because I had such awful shoe/foot problems that I had not been having before, it was a bit of a letdown. And I let that kill my determination. But no longer. I'm bringing that back!

So here I am, half way through my 30th year on this earth. Someone on DAM asked us to rate 2009 on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the best. I put 4 at the time I answered. And after thinkin about it, I stand by that. 2009 has definitely had plenty of crap happen, lots of stuff that I'd rather never see again, but...we do have a roof over our head, food in our tummies, and I have one sweet kiddo who drives me nuts half the time, but whom I wouldn't trade for the world. I am blessed.

This will be my last post of 2009, so stay tuned for a post on Jan 1st about my goals/thoughts/and plans for 2010. I'm excited about the possibilities! I pray that all of you had a wonderful Christmas, and have a marvelous New Years! Stay safe, stay happy, stay healthy, and most of all, stay in prayer!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful, joyous Christmas!

We got to experience a "Texas blizzard". On Christmas Eve, we headed to my aunts house, about 45 miles away from us, and it was snowing. By the time we left 3 hours later, we were in full assault. A trip that typically takes less than an hour, ended up taking us 2 hours to get home. But we were blessed in many ways. Several overpasses were blocked already due to cars sliding, but we found the one that was not too bad. And while I had to take a detour into downtown, it worked out because I missed a BAD overpass and was able to get back on the highway with no issues. But other than that, we had a nice Christmas Eve with family.

We woke up Christmas morning to snow on the ground still. I was determined this year that D and I would have Christmas morning at OUR house. And I had asked my best friend if she would take D shopping with a bit of money from me, so he could pick some things out for me to open. D loved his gifts, and I loved getting to experience that with him.

After that we headed to my other aunts house for Christmas Day brunch which was also the one time a year I see my mom. And then we headed to my best friends house for Christmas dinner. There was lots of laughter, lots of kiddos running around screaming, it was hectic, but it was a blast, and I wouldn't have missed that for the world. Even got to get my baby fix in. *heart* It was, while not without its issues, an overall great day, and we topped it off with a special RAK.

This weekend, I took a few big steps in some things, a few great strides emotionally for me, and the rewards I felt from those, let me know it was well worth the effort. The Christmas spirit was alive and well in my heart this weekend. :)

Today felt a bit like a let down though, with it all being over. We bummed around the house all day, and then met a friend for dinner and then made a Target run, so it was a quiet day for us. D slept until 10am!!! That is SO unheard of for him! But he didn't get to sleep til about midnite, so he needed it. He also took a GREAT nap! It was, all in all, a day to recover from the festivities, and prepare for all that this next week and the new year will bring. I'm currently preparing a post about some plans I have for 2010 and I'm very excited about it. The goal this next year will be to get this weight off once and for all!

Another quiet weekend

The title is pretty self explanatory. We did get out and about a bit, but got in some good rest too. We did hit up Santa's Village on Sunday evening for it's last night with Beth and her family. We had a great time! D did good, with NO STROLLER, even! I was impressed. I mean, he was still D...still had some minor things, lots of reminders, etc, but for him, it was great. lol

My workout is getting easier still, so I think I need to have my trainer bump up my reps again or something. I like the feeling of my body adjusting to it, and I like feeling strong. Now to get the fat off so I LOOK strong too, not squishy. lol

I've done ok with eating as well, so I think tomorrow I might actually have a loss from last week. Woohoo!!! I just need to keep sucking down my water today to combat salt intake...lol

Good workout yesterday!

I got in two sessions. One was a walk at the Galleria at lunch, and while it was still only 3 times around (on my lunch break, and roughly 1.5 miles) it was at a much faster pace than I am used to since my trainer was with me and uhhhh, she doesn't cut me much slack...lol I got back to work completely redfaced, but it was a good feeling.

Then yesterday evening I went through my workout with the increased reps and timing as last week when I struggled so bad (ESPECIALLY with the bridges), and I was able to skim through them easily. However...today I paid for it. My whole backside was sore all.day.long. I could barely sit most of today! I keep repeating that it's a good pain. Ouch! But I'ma do it all over again tomorrow. It's been interesting to see my body adjust so quickly. I knew that it typically DOES, but I've never done this kind of training in order to really see it. Most of mine in the past has been straight cardio. So I'm enjoying it, despite the soreness. My trainer gave me good tools for stretching too, so that does help some.

I'm still struggling to get back on eating. I will say, I have NOT done too bad these last two days, despite all the crap up at work. There were one or two things that I had a small bite of and left alone otherwise, and some things I just had to say "no thanks" to. It's gonna be a rough couple weeks though at least up at work, eating-wise. I'm ready for the new year to be here so things will settle down!

A quiet weekend

It was AF having WAY too much fun, so we didn't do a whole lot the last few days. Thursday and Friday nights we joined Beth and her boys to go see Christmas lights. We had such a fun time!!

Saturday morning, I took D to a Behavioral Center for a consultation. We were there almost 2 hours, and I think it was a good visit. I can't wait for him to start some of the things they are recommending and see the plan they are drawing up. The rest of the day was quiet as AF was being a pain, so I just chilled and worked on the teacher's gifts I'm making for Christmas.

Sunday we didn't do much else except for a couple of store visits for things to finish the teacher gifts with.

Tomorrow is a weigh-in and I'm dreading it after AF this week. :( I don't think I've gained but I sure haven't lost. I haven't eaten that great this week either. I did get in one extra workout aside from Tuesdays, but not the 2 I need. So will have to buckle down this next week. I'm so glad AF is about gone so I can go for a good walk at lunch tomorrow!

Planning for next year

I've been thinkin about some of the things I want to do next year, walking/running related at least. Here's a list of them:

March - Rock N Roll Half
April - Tyler Azalea 10K
May - HEELS AND HILLS HALF
September - HEELS AND HILLS AND HIM HALF
October - Great Urban Race - Fort Worth

I thought about the OKC Half but it is literally the weekend before the H&H Half and I just don't see that happening, and I'm not willing to miss the H&H Half.

So that's my big race plan so far. I'm sure there will be plenty of 5Ks thrown in there too, and we'll see how the year goes. I'm excited about the possibilities though esp as I continue with the trainer.

And speaking of, I had a good session with my trainer on Tuesday evening. She only had to correct a few things in my form, but otherwise I had decent form on most of the exercises. We even bumped up a few things for my 3 times a week workout. Weight did go back up today thanks to AF, but it's not too bad, and I know it will go back down. I'm just making sure to stay hydrated, drinking LOTS of water!

Gettin there

Still a bit sick, yucky cough, but overall I'm feeling ok. My personal trainer comes back tonite and I'm happy to report I've lost 7.2 lbs this week. That may not last long as AF showed up today (oh joy), so I expect it to go up a tad, but at least by next week, it should have evened out.

I'm glad I backed out of the White Rock Half when I did, as it is this coming Sunday. No way would I be able to do it with AF here! Just want to say GOOD LUCK to my friends who are doing the Full, Half, and Relays!!! I'll be thinking about you guys!

Feeling somewhat better

This was the first morning in a week that I didn't wake up feeling like I was choking. You can tell some of the infection is slowly going away. I still have issues with my voice, and a yucky cough, but this is much progress.

We had a decent weekend though I slept most of Saturday, lol. I only got up finally to feed D some lunch, then we both took naps. It was very much needed rest for me! After that, we got our 3 year old houseguest who spent the night with us, and I put up our Christmas tree while the two boys played. I didn't get much sleep but part of that was my own fault for not going to bed til 1245am and part of that was my 5 year old who woke up at 6am and was WIGGLY after that. Sheeesh. Good thing I got all that sleep on Saturday!

We had a fun Sunday today. However, we were a bit disappointed in a planned trip to take cookies to a nursing home and visit with the residents. First, the activity director forgot we were coming so was not there to greet us. Then, the staff acted like we were in the way. It def felt like they were understaffed and couldn't spare anyone to show us around, or even help us out. We could have wandered the halls ourselves but had we just started handing out cookies, we had no way of knowing who was diabetic, who was on a special diet, etc. So we stood around awkwardly for a bit and finally left. :( After that, we had a yummy late breakfast at Denny's, where D ate the whole restaurant. He needs to finish this growth spurt! After a Heels and Hills Run Team late lunch, we did a quick RAK, and then headed to see Santa! D was quite excited that he had a reindeer there too, and loved getting to pet it.

This evening I did my workout to make my 3rd one for the week. I finally managed to find the foam roller that my trainer asked I get so used that too. And now just mentally prepping for the week ahead. It's gonna be a good one!

Day 2 and 3

And still sick! I ended up having to miss work today due to it, and it sucks. I wish my meds would kick in a little faster! But I have some decent cough meds now so we'll see how things go. I really hope this is mostly gone by this weekend as we have some fun plans!

This afternoon, I had a bit of energy come about so I decided to do the workout plan that my trainer gave me. She said to do it 3 times a week, so I could either schedule specific days or I could do it every other day, etc. I figure I'll just plan to do it every other day for now. None of it is really cardio so I can do it without being able to breath that well, though there is an add'l cardio component that I will start doing as I feel better. I felt a bit weak during it, but just made sure to take it slow, make sure I was getting my form correct, and concentrating on the muscles. Afterward, I had NO energy again, but felt good that I got it done. After Tuesday's workout on it, yesterday, I started out not really sore but as the day progressed it got worse. Thankfully by late last night, it wasn't bad again. So we'll see how tomorrow goes.

My food intake has been good but mainly because I don't have much of an appetite. Last night I made some healthyish enchiladas from Beth's recipe: lean ground turkey, whole wheat tortillas, 2% milk cheese. They were good! But today was simple foods because of my throat. I had chicken soup, a banana, some mac n cheese. All very bland things.

So *cough**cough**hack**hack* off I go to bed. Maybe I'll get some good sleep tonite. Or not.

A new month, almost a new year, and a new beginning

Its December 1st...and I've come to the realization that I've now gained back most of what I had lost. I decided a few weeks ago to start with a personal trainer, and found an awesome chick who was willing to, well, personal train me. We had our first session this evening, did all the first stuff like weight, measurements, etc, plus a full run through of my plan. I knew from this mornings weigh-in (I had not weighed since the half marathon over two months ago), that it was going to be bad, so I was prepared. But I sure am not happy about it. So I am using this as further motivation. Our session went really well! She has a plan for me all drawn up, that I will be doing 3 days a week, and its going to WORK ME. I feel really good about it tonite though. Like I'm abit achy, but its a GOOD achy, I feel energized. So I can't wait to see where this goes!

I'll start posting updates again, so might as well get real here. I started this whole process over a year and a half ago at what I think was 350-360 lbs. I don't know for certain as I didn't have a scale at the time, but based on where I am now, and knowing I'm not quite back to that yet (we originally assumed 330), that's my best guess. In a sense I feel like I'm starting over, and in many ways I am.

Starting weight today: 335.8 lbs.

I'm not sure whether or not I will start posting food intake on here again, it gets tedious to do it in two places. But I am going to start counting cals again tomorrow on my phone. And I will keep posting my weight every week, I think. We'll see, I need to tweak it as I go.

That's all for tonite, I'm also battling an Upper Respiratory Infection, so it's been a few long nights! But hopefully I'll start getting better there too.