THIRTY MINUTES!! w00t!!!

That's right. I jogged a full thirty minutes on the treadmill yesterday at 4.5 mph (7.24 kph). That's 2.25 miles (3.62 km). No walking. I walked another half-mile to cool down at the end, so my entire treadmill workout was 2.75 miles (4.43 km). I'm getting close to 5K!

I know that my pace is really slow, but speed will come with time. Right now I'm just so psyched that I can actually jog for that long.

Also, my strength training session with Brittnee was BRUTAL. We concentrated on lower body and core, and my hamstrings felt like they had been tied in knots and set on fire. I'm going to start feeling that a little later today. It's that kind of workout that is going to help rehab my knees, though, so I can't complain. I think the huge amount of blood that raced to my legs actually helped on the jog, too.

All in all, I'm feeling really good. This is the best thing I've ever done for myself.

What Flips the Switch?

After struggling with food for months, and being stuck between 186 and 188 forever, finally, something clicked.

I have been strictly on SBD for a week today. I stayed on over the weekend; I'm following the program to a tee, and I'm down 5 lbs.

So, what caused that lightbulb to come on? Why, all of a sudden, am I motivated and determined enough to actually follow through with my intentions? Why do I suddenly have the courage of my convictions?

Beats me.

I honestly have no idea what happened. I'm just in the zone. I even went to the mall with Julia twice this past weekend, and we did not have ice cream, popcorn, German roasted nuts, or Macaroni Grill (all mall standards for me; I have at least one of those things at any other mall trip).

If I could figure out what gave me my willpower back, I would write a book and be filthy rich.

Still on Track

Today is day three of the South Beach Diet for me. I gave up on Weight Watchers because I just didn't get enough structure from the plan. If a diet leaves me to make too many decisions on my own, I will make bad ones. That is how I got fat in the first place.

Anyway, SBD is going really well. I have stuck to it 100%, except that I eat a banana every day on the advice of my trainer (bananas are not allowed for the first two weeks) to help flush out some of the water I'm retaining with the strength training (ST). I don't think anyone ever got fat from including a banana in their daily diet, so I'm guessing I'm safe there.

Yesterday my running was not quite as strong; I did 30 minutes on the treadmill, and 18 of that was jogging, but not all at once. I did 10, 3, and 5 minute intervals. The rest was walking at a good clip. I'm not going to beat myself up over having a slow day; after all, I had just finished ST on legs, so they were getting tired and wobbly already. Next ST session is upper body, so I should have a better run then. I'm thinking that I should be able to do a Turkey Trot 5K in November. I may not be able to run the whole thing, but I should be able to do okay.

If it isn't raining this evening, I may go do a walk/run on the greenway instead of the treadmill. I need to start moving it outside, and the evening weather is getting tolerable (finally!). I'll blog later to say how (and if) that went...

Check Out the Ticker

I have a new weight loss ticker down at the bottom of the blog page. Visuals are good for my motivation!

Feeling Back on Track

Today was a good day. I stayed completely on-plan food-wise, and I had a really great strength training workout at the gym with Brittnee. If I can keep this momentum, I'll be on my way to actually shedding some poundage and getting some shape to my body.

I've also started the Ninjutsu class at the gym. It's only once a week, but it's a three hour class. I think I'm going to like it a lot. It is way different from Wado Ryu, which is the martial art I took years ago, so no muscle memory will benefit me. In fact, the old musle memory is getting in the way, and making it harder to catch on. But I love martial arts, and man, talk about something that will whip you into shape! The last time I was anywhere near my goal weight was when I was regularly practicing Wado.

Tonight is just a short post to let any readers know that I haven't fallen off the wagon. In fact, I'm holding the reins!

Horrible PT Eval; Running Milestone

This post starts out with a bad attitude, but I'll end on happy, I promise.

I had my first weigh/measure evaluation with Brittney today. It sucked. I lost zero weight. I lost zero inches. I know why; it's because my eating has been horrible. I haven't stayed on any kind of plan, I've been eating too much junk, and I've been mindlessly eating too many calories.

On the bright side of this, I am now motivated to get my butt in gear and start eating the way I know I'm supposed to eat. I have started keeping my food journal again. I'm marking off all my healthy guidelines (I'm going for all eight, every day). I'm going to stay on plan and on target, no matter what. I just have to decide and accept that this is what I'm going to do. If I do this, then I can be at or near goal in six months, when my husband returns from Antarctica. He will come home to a new, hotter version of Nena.

Now, my running milestone...I jogged twenty minutes yesterday. I know what you're thinking, "she's done that before - why is that a milestone?" I'll tell you why...

I did it non-stop; straight through; solid twenty minutes.

I couldn't believe it. I walked for five minutes to warm up, and I started jogging with the intent of just jogging until I had to stop. When I got to seventeen minutes, I was ready to stop and walk, but I thought it would be a shame to not do a measley three minutes more, so I just did it. It was awesome!

The really weird thing is, I can't wait to go jog again tonight. I'm actually learning to like it. I never really thought that would happen, but it has.

I hope it lasts...