Weight In Wednesday: Last one of 2014

Weight last week: 205.4

Weight today: 205.0

Lost this week: -0.4

Total Lost: 76.6

Total to Onederland: 5.1

Total to Goal: 65.0

Another loss!  Small, but still hooray! Well, that's it, my last weigh in of the year.  This year, I lost 76.6 pounds in 10 months, so not too shabby.  Hope everyone has a wonderful New Year's, be safe, and be well.

Housekeeping

Ok, I'm back!  I didn't really go anywhere, but craziness at work and holiday craziness at home do not lend themselves to consistent blogging.

A little housekeeping:  Here are my numbers from Weigh In Wednesday last week (12/24/14):

Weight last week: 207.4

Weight today(actually 12/24): 205.4

Lost this week: -2.0

Total Lost: 76.2

Total to Onederland: 5.5

Total to Goal: 65.4

Another loss!  Yay!  I'm getting so close!  I had hoped to get to Onederland by Christmas, but that didn't happen.  But it's getting really close and I'm loving how my clothes are fitting.  Plus, I lost my hump!  I used to have a hump of fat right at the base of my neck.  I couldn't even tilt my head back very far.  But now it's gone.  I find myself reaching back there to touch it and feeling surprised at how I can feel the bones.  

I did some shopping over the weekend and I am now in a size 16 pants!  I'm so excited.  And they are normal 16s, not 16W or 16 curvy.  Just regular 505 straight leg Levis. I'm also in a size Large shirt.  Both of these things are so strange!  I bought some leggings at old navy and got an XL, and honestly, they are big.  I should have gotten the Large.  And not maternity leggings!  Doh!  I wondered why the stomach was so much higher.  Duh!  lol  Oh well.

I hope everyone had a good holiday.  The kiddo got his train set and a noisy fire truck so he's in 7th heaven.  My hubby is finally on board with doing Paleo with me which is making dinners much easier.  And he got a smoker for Christmas and last night smoked a pork tri tip.  So delicious!  We had it with some mashed sweet potatoes.  It was perfect.  I'm already looking forward to next weekend when he smokes a beef tri tip.  And then I found a recipe for smoked maple bacon wrapped pork loin which sounds INSANELY good (and totally paleo!.)  

Less than 3 weeks until the Star Wars 10k!  I went for a run with my dad yesterday, but it didn't work out.  We did about a mile when we both admitted we were just too cold to keep going (it was only 38 degrees out.)  Hopefully we can try again on New Year's Day.

Well, that's it for today.  I'm hoping to post some Disney stuff before the run and also show off my costume (I'm waiting for a couple more pieces to arrive.) 

An Awesome Run with My Dad

Sunday was so great.  I met my Dad at a local bike trail to do a 6 mile run to prep for Star Wars weekend.  He is doing the half marathon (he's done a few before) and I could never keep up with him.  He was always WAY too fast for me.  Well, those days are over.  I slowed down to stay with him!  Here's my splits:

It was so nice to be out and we had a great time together.  My dad and I don't really spend time just the two of us, so this was really nice.  We are going to make this a weekly thing for a while and try some different paths.  I'm really excited about it and can't wait for next weekend!

Belated Weigh In Wednesday

Weight last week: 210.0

Weight today(actually 12/17): 207.4

Lost this week: -2.6

Total Lost: 74.2

Total to Onederland: 7.5

Total to Goal: 67.4

Hooray!  I lost weight! I'm so excited.  Less than 8 pounds to go to Onederland and only 0.8 pounds until I am 75 pounds lost!    

I'm sorry for my long absence from posting.  I have plenty of reasons (work, the holidays, traveling, etc) but most of them feel like excuses.  The truth is, I just didn't really like how I was feeling and didn't really want to write about it.  

But now, I'm feeling much better.  I just returned Tuesday night from Disneyland!  We flew done Saturday morning and back Tuesday afternoon.  We met my parents down there and had a great Holiday trip.  I'll be posting some reviews about eating Paleo at the parks early next week.  I stayed mostly true to my diet (though I hate calling it that) even though it was more difficult than it was in previous trips.  I'm actually really surprised I lost weight given that I did have a couple of treats.

It was also the inaugural Disneyland trip for my Fitbit Flex and it was awesome.  Here's how my steps broke down:

Saturday: 19,336

Sunday: 11,325

Monday: 21,995

Tuesday:10,708

Monday was my top day.  Over 20,000 steps!  And I checked a bunch of times and it did not count rides as steps, so that was very nice. The reason Monday is so high is because I got up early while everyone was asleep and went to the gym at the Grand Californian (where we were staying) to do my 30 minute training run.  I'm doing 5.75 miles this weekend, so I wanted to be sure I got in a training run.

Anyway, sorry for the lack of posts and the belated Weigh-In Wednesday.  I'm hoping to get back on track with posted every day, so fingers crossed for that.  

Weigh in Wednesday 12/10/14

I realized after I posted on Monday that it was kind of silly to post the whole30 days with numbers since clearly I was not sticking to the whole30.  So, I guess that was a failed experiment.  I know I'll be going off it again this weekend, so I won't start again until likely Wednesday.  I'll explain why then.   For now, my weigh in:

Weight last week: 210.0

Weight today: 210.0

Lost this week: 0.00

Total Lost: 72.8

Total to Onederland: 10.1

Total to Goal: 70.0

0.  Yeah.  No miracles, but no surprises either.  Oh well.  Maybe next week (but I doubt it.)  I'm planning on a gain next week, so maybe I won't be disappointed when I see one. I hate plateaus.

5 miles

Day 4

Breakfast:

1 apple

Almond butter

apple pie Lara bar

Lunch:

Organic tuna

grape tomatoes

kalamata olives

Dinner

Gluten Free Pizza

Day 5

Breakfast:

3 eggs

3 slices of organic bacon

1 mandarin orange

Lunch:

Dinner:

Paleo Chili

Coconut milk hot chocolate

Day 6

Breakfast:

2 poached eggs

1 ham steak

Lunch:

Paleo Chili

Coconut milk hot chocolate

Dinner:

So my whole30 completely went out the window this weekend.  I didn't even stay completely paleo!  Friday night was bad.  I ran out of cumin, so the tacos I had planned to make weren't going to happen.  For some reason, all I could think about was pizza!  Again!  And it wasn't even that good (which you wouldn't know since I ate AN ENTIRE MEDIUM PIZZA by myself.) *sigh*  Then we had some friends and their kids over for a holiday party and I made them all hot chocolate and all kind of yummy things.  So I had some hot chocolate which I had been craving for weeks.  So, if you have read The Polar Express, you know the part where the hot chocolate is described as being "as thick and rich as melted chocolate bars"?  Well, I'm never had hot cocoa like that.  Until Saturday.  Holy cats it was AMAZING.  So amazing that I made more on Sunday.  So good.  

My only saving grace this weekend was that I did a 5 mile run on Sunday.  It went really well, despite a surprising number of annoyances (which normally derail me.)  

I had an overall pace of 13:42 which included a 1 minute warm up at the beginning (which is why my pace was 14:00 for the first mile) and a long cool down at the end (hence the 17:38.)  I had hoped to stay at around 13:00 and I stayed pretty close.  I'm proud of myself.  

I tried out my new vest from LL Bean and it was awesome!  It's so thin, but it kept me really warm which was nice.  I had left my Garmin at the gym at work and couldn't find my husband's gym boss, so I added the MVP option to Mapmyrun because they have an interval timer.  Boy was that crappy.  I couldn't hear it unless I had it almost next to my ear.  Especially if there were any cars around.  I once again forgot to bring water with me and around 3 miles, I was hungry and thirsty and pretty miserable.  I perked up and actually was able to get water from a park drinking fountain late in my run, so I felt better.  This next two weeks is all about figuring out my running nutrition.  I really don't want to do shot blocks so I'm hoping to find a more natural solution.  We'll see how that goes.

Owie

Day 3 (12/4/14)

Breakfast:

1 apple

Almond butter

Lunch:

Organic tuna

grape tomatoes

kalamata olives

Dinner

Grilled salmon with steam broccoli

HOLY COW, I hurt so much right now.  My abs are still killing my from my workout on Tuesday and now my legs are sore from yesterday.  The combination is killing me.  

My eating is going pretty well.  A lot of apples and almond butter this week, since it's what I had in the house.

Otherwise, not much to report.  I'm planning to run 5 miles this weekend per the Jeff Gallaway/Run Disney plan.  I believe that it is the furthest I have ever run, so wish me luck.  

Well, that's all for today.  Sorry it's not much of a post. 

Whole 30 Day 2 and Weight Training

Note: This was supposed to post yesterday, but I think I forgot to click something.  So there will be 2 posts today.

Day 2 (12/3/14)

Breakfast:

1 apple

Almond butter

2 hard boiled eggs

Lunch:

Leftover Meat sauce

2 clementine oranges

Dinner

3 eggs over easy

4 pieces of Applegate Sunday Bacon

Yes, I had bacon.  I made Homemade Hamburger Helper for the family, so I made myself some bacon and eggs.  But it's organic bacon and while it's not technically whole30 compliant, I just can't afford the US Wellness meats stuff and I cannot eat any more chicken apple sausage.  So, I got organic since I figured it's better than the farm factory stuff and moved on.

I did my second day of weight training today.  For a while I was doing an hour a week with a trainer that is a cousin of my husband at a crossfit gym near my work.  I'm just fascinated by crossfit, but I felt like I would never be fit enough to actually go to a crossfit gym.  I was really surprised.  Not only was everyone not a paragon of fitness, but everyone was really welcoming!  I envisioned it being filled with the kind of people you see on American Ninja Warrior (such a great show) but there were all ages and sizes.  Even some bigger than me!  My first workout, I was really stupid.  I didn't eat beforehand and I nearly puked twice (and also nearly passed out!  Way to go, dummy!) So, I got smarter after that and while I was always exhausted and dripping sweat after a workout (and usually sore for 4-5 days afterword) I felt really great. And I started getting really definition in my arms and legs prompting annoying comments to my husband like "Look!  I have bones in my knees!  You can see and feel them and everything!"  But now we are having some financial issues at home and so I can't afford a trainer right now.  

But today, I decided was the day I was going to figure out how to do a weight training program by myself.  With sweating.  Not just halfheartedly lifting weights.  On Monday I did arms and abs and it seemed lackluster to me, but the agony in my abs right now tells me I did something right.  So, I checked out some beginner crossfit workouts only and came up with this:

5 minute warm up on the treadmill

Then two circuits of:

20 lunges

20 air squats

20 plies

20 steps up (each leg)

20 leg lifts (each leg

20 kettlebell swings

5 minute cool down on the treadmill

I felt great when I was done.  I was even sweating!  I had my ipod on which was different since I don't use one when I run.  I enjoyed it and I felt like I got a good workout.  I'm going to see how I feel tomorrow and Saturday and see if I need to increase my weights, but I'm hoping to try to go a little faster next time.  We'll see how that goes.

Weigh In Wednesday and Whole30 Day 1

Weight last week: 209.4
Weight today: 210.0
Lost this week: +0.6
Total Lost: 72.8
Total to Onederland: 10
Total to Goal: 70

I'm not surprised I gained this week.  I was bad on Sunday and went out for pizza.  I got gluten free crust, but there was cheese of course.  Honestly though, it was the best pizza I ever had.  And it had been FOREVER since I had pizza.  So, I'm not thrilled about the weight gain, but I get it.  Hopefully I get a big loss next week.  

As if the weight gain wasn't bad enough, I also had an absolutely horrible run today.  I was just doing a 30 min maintenance run.  I do my weekday runs on the treadmill at my gym at work and there are only 3 treadmills and only 1 really good one.  But there are only maybe 15 people who use the gym right now (there will be more come January) so usually that isn't a problem and I score Awesome Treadmill (as I call it.)  I do time interval training and on Awesome Treadmill I just set it up with my running speed and my jogging speed and I only have to push 1 button to switch.  But today, I did some trigger point therapy on my ankle/shin so I was late and someone else got Awesome Treadmill.  That began a series of little annoyances that added up.  I tried one of the other treadmills and couldn't figure out how to set up the intervals, so I switched but that one would only do heart rate intervals.  So I just did a quick start, but it was hard to change speeds.  Then my ankle brace was in a bad place in my arch so it was hurting and that was throwing off my knee, then my ipad fell off the treadmill.  And yes, I know I'm whining but everything was just wrong!  Needless to say I will be early on Friday and get MY treadmill. 

I decided that in order to get myself back on track with whole30 and add some accountability, I would go ahead and share what I eat each day.  So, here goes: 

Day 1 (12/2/14)

Breakfast:

2 clementine oranges

2 hard boiled eggs

1 Cashew Cookie Lara Bar (I only ate 1/4 of it because it was awful!)

Lunch:

Leftover tri tip

grape tomatoes

steamed zucchini

Dinner:

Meat sauce with sausage and sauteed zucchini

Well, I think that's it for today.  Hopefully tomorrow I'm in a better place emotionally.  I'm planning to do weights at the gym tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes.  

Cravings and Injuries

I didn't run this weekend.  I used the rain we've been having and the pain in my ankle that I've had the last few days as an excuse.  Luckily it was just a 30 min maintenance run, so I did it on Monday and I'll do Wednesday and Friday this week too to make up for it.  Sunday will be my next long run.  5 miles, which I think will be the longest I've ever run before.

As for my ankle, it felt ok yesterday when I was running, but hurts when I just walk around the house or the office.  I thought it might be my work shoes since none of them see to fit any more.  I guess my feet have shrunk.  It doesn't help that most of them are worn crooked on the bottom.  Stupid pronating feet.  But then I wore my sneakers the rest of the day and it still hurt.  Last time this happened, I went to the doctor who put me in an immobolizing boot for 4 months.  And it never did a thing.  It was only when I did my whole30 that the pain went away.  My run in just over a month a way, so I have to get serious and get back on the whole30.  The problem is that I've been saying that for a while now.  But I really don't want this to halt my running like it has in the past.  I've just got to do it!  So, here it is.  Today is the day.  I'm doing it.  No more excuses.

It doesn't help that I've been eating so much sugar lately.  I have an addiction to Luna and Larry's Organic Coconut Bliss coconut ice cream (dark chocolate flavor, of course.)  It's dairy and soy free and totally delicious.  And while I like to pretend that it's totally ok to eat since it's paleo and all, it's still ice cream.  And I can usually resist it for a while.  I do my grocery shopping online so it's easy to keep from being tempted.  But once I get it, I just want to buy more and more.  Like the paleo baked goods, ice cream should be a sometime thing.  Not an every night thing.

Wish me luck!  I have a feeling I won't have a loss tomorrow for Weigh In Wednesday, but I can hope!

My Ewok Running Costume

Today I ordered 3 of the pieces I need for my Ewok running costume for the Star Wars 10k in January.  I scored Black Friday deals on all of them so I'm excited about that.  I also tried out Polyvore for the first time to create the graphic above with my costume idea.  If you want to check it out, you can follow me, FromFantasylandtoOnederland, on Polyvore.

I've ordered my running skirt from Rock City Running Skirts.  The compression pants are from Old Navy and the running vest is from LL Bean.  I still need to get the shirt, which I saw at JCPenney.com and the headband which is from Etsy seller, ChickyBands. I haven't figured out shoes yet, and my Fleet Feet store always gives me the lecture that it's about fit, not color, so we'll see if I actually get the orange shoes I want.  

I thought about making everything myself, but I have so many craft projects to work on between now and Christmas, that I know I wouldn't get them done.  So I spent a little more and bought them.  I can't wait to try everything on!  I'll post a picture once I have all the pieces together. 

On Thanksgiving I had planned to do a training run for 30 minutes by myself, but at the last minute, asked my hubby if he, the kiddo and our dog might want to come with me.  

As you can see, I took it really easy to stay back with my hubby, which was really strange since usually he can easily outrun me.  I guess I really am getting faster!  

Well, that's it for today.  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!  

Weigh In Wednesday 11/26/2014

Weight last week: 210.6
Weight today: 209.4
Lost this week: 1.2
Total Lost: 72.2
Total to Onederland: 9.5
Total to Goal: 69.4

Happy Weigh In Wednesday!  This week I lost 1.2 pounds.  It's a bit less than I would like, but hardly surprising with my big loss last week.  But, most importantly, Single Digit Dance!!!  That's right, I'm now single digits away from Onederland.  I'm really excited.  Hopefully I can have a few good weeks and make it to Onederland for Christmas.  

Admittedly I was hoping for a bigger number just because Thanksgiving is tomorrow so I've been really good this week and trying to workout a bit more.  I've been taking a look at my portion sizes lately and trying to see if I can eat a bit less and still be satisfied.  Like one can of tuna instead of 2, that sort of thing.  It's going pretty well.  

I went for a walk today at lunch since it's my rest day from running, so I should get over 10,000 steps today.  I also had a good run yesterday, but I think I pushed myself a bit too hard so I was pretty tired.  
I am planning to take tomorrow off from blogging to spend time with my family, so Happy Thanksgiving everyone (yes, I'm still pretending someone is reading this)!  

My love of gadgets and a review of the Fitbit Flex

My favorite fitness toy right now is my Fitbit Flex.  

What is a Fitbit Flex?  It's an activity and sleep monitor.  

Pros:  

Comfortable
Easy to wear all the time and not forget it
App is easy to use
The silent alarm function is great

Cons:
Charging cord can be very persnickety 

I had a Fitbit Zip, but I seemed to forget it a lot.  Or I would leave it on my pants and wash them, things like that.  But with the Flex, I just wear it all the time.  At night, when I shower, when I workout, I just leave it on, so I don't forget it.  The only time I take it off is when I need to charge it.  Actually, just a few days ago, I took it off to charge it and then I went down to the gym at lunch and did my run and afterwards realized I had forgotten it!  I was so irritated.  All those untracked steps!  I keep my goal at 10,000 steps a day which I only seem to reach on running days, but I am optimistic so I keep it there.  I think my highest is something like 15,000 steps.

I've also started using the app on my ipad to track my weight.  It has great charts for tracking weight loss and BMI. 

Now in general, I'm a big fan of gadgets.  When I do my long runs on weekends, I wear my Fitbit Flex, my Garmin 305 and I carry my iphone with the Map My Run app.  I used to run with music on my iphone but when I read that Katie on www.runsforcookies.com runs without music, I decided to give it a try.  I actually much prefer to run without music.  I don't know if it's just that I don't have to deal with headphones falling out of my ears or thinking about switching to a different song, but I enjoy the time when I can just hear myself think.  I often plan blog entries or think about what I'm going to do the rest of the day while I run or just enjoy the fact that I can run without pain.  Now, one might ask, why do you need so many devices?  Well, my Fitbit keeps track of my steps through the whole day, my Garmin helps with with my intervals (I just set it and it beeps when it's time to run or walk), and my iPhone has my course and overall distance on it.    

But back to my Fitbit.  I just love tapping it to see how many lights I have (I did a 30 minute run at the gym at work so right now I'm at 4 of 5) and I love that it vibrates and does a little light dance when I hit my goal.  I love that it tracks stairs, which I don't think my Fitbit Zip did as well.  And the Omron I had before that was rubbish at stairs and when I rode attractions at Disneyland it often counted those steps because of the bumpiness.  The real test will come on our next trip to Disneyland.  I will do an updated review then.  The other thing that I love about it is the silent alarm feature.  Basically you set the alarm and it vibrates at the time you set to wake you up.  I have it set to wake me up at 5:30 each weekday morning and it's wonderful because it only wakes me up.  If my son have climbed into bed with us or if I have to sleep in his bed, it's great because it's with me all the time and it only wakes me.

The one downside for me is the charging cord that comes with it.  It is very difficult to get it just right so that it actually charges.  

I know there are plenty of tools with it that I don't use (I don't track my water consumption or my food but I read that it has some great functionality for that) but I am really happy with what I do use it for.  

Overall, I LOVE my Fitbit Flex and I highly recommend it for anyone that is trying to get more active.  The price isn't too bad, I've seen them at Costco for less than $100 and it comes with extra bands.  

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post (of course, since I'm essentially writing to myself at this point). I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned (I just really like them). 

Long Run

Sorry for not posting on Friday.  I'm working on two posts, one is a review of my Fitbit Flex and the other is about eating paleo on a Disney Cruise which I will likely break down into a couple posts.  Neither of them were ready to post on Friday, so that's why I didn't post.

Today, I thought I would share my long run from Sunday.  I think this perfectly describes it:

That is what I said to my hubby before I went out for my run.  I didn't realize that it would actually be true.  I mean, Morgan Freeman didn't narrate it, of course (except in my head) but it was an awesome run!

As I've mentioned, I'm using the Jeff Galloway training plan from the RunDisney website for my event, the Star Wars 10k, in January.  I was supposed to run 4.25 miles but I got a bit lost and ended up doing 4.74.  Here are my splits:

This is HUGE for me.  This is the not only the first time I got under a 14:00 min/mile pace but it's the first time I got under a 13:00 min/mile pace!!  This was so amazing and I was really excited since I actually felt like I was going really slow.  I had no idea that I was actually flying!  At least for me.  My goal for the 10k was a 14:00 min mile pace, but I think I may have to modify that some.  

Next week is just a 30 minute easy run, so I won't have another long run for two weeks.  

Now, I just have to hope that my dinner tonight didn't ruin my chances for a great weigh in on Wednesday.  I went to a local Farm to Table place called Roxy and I ate paleo, but I worry I ate too much.

Fingers crossed!

Goals for when I'm skinny

It seems obligatory for one to have a list of things they want to do when they are skinny.  So I thought I would post one.  

1. Run a half marathon (Especially the disney princess) (scheduled for May 2015)

I've always been fascinated by people who just go for a run.  Like it's easy.  Like it's nothing. And really, I'm a girl who loves bling, so a bright shiny medal seems like a great thing to have.  Especially if you have one of these. And anything that gives me an excuse to go to the house of the mouse is a good thing.  I don't know why Disney runs in particular seem so magical.  I mean, there's the running in the parks, which i know from experience is pretty cool, but I'm trying to find the joy in running itself (and I think I'm getting there)

2. Run a full marathon (especially the Disney World Marathon)

I always said a marathon was crazy and I would never do one, but now that running is getting kind of fun, I want to train for one and see.  I'll definitely have to get faster though, because at a 14:00 min/mile pace, it would take me 6 hours, which is just too long.  I get down to a 9 or 10 min/mile and we'll see.  

3. Get a coast to coast medal

For those whole don't know, the coast to coast medal is given to those who do a Disney race at WDW and DL in the same calendar year.  

4. Wear a size 10 (a single digit size is too hard to imagine right now)

I actually don't remember when the last time I was in a size 10.  I can remember dreaming of a 14 or even a 12.  So we'll see.  I'm down from a 26 to an 18 now.  

5. Try rock climbing (indoors...i don't love the outdoors)

I tried this on Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas and I just couldn't make it to the top (but I could watch the 7 year olds fly by me!  Fun!) So I want to try this again.  I don't love heights, but it looks fun.  Plus all the best American Ninja Warriors are rock climbers.  Heh

6. Climb to the top of Upper Yosemite Falls (so i can give the outdoors a chance)

I actually do enjoy hiking in Yosemite (especially if I get to come back to a nice cabin or hotel room instead of a tent afterwards.)  I'm done the Vernal Falls trip as a plus size gal, but I would never even think of trying the upper Yosemite Falls trek unless I was really fit and I would love to see it since you couldn't pay me to climb that ridiculous ladder up half dome.    

7. Retire the fat girl logistics department

All plus size gals know what this is and most have a name for it in their heads (it's not something one usually talks about aloud.)  It's the evaluation and assessment of space when entering a room or situation.  Can I fit in that space without putting myself in a position where I will be embarrassed by my weight.  It's getting on the Finding Nemo Submarines and knowing you will take up more than one of the tiny seats and hoping the person loading accounted for that in their count.  It's squeezing through the jungle cruise turnstiles sideways.  It's getting on a bus and hoping you can fit down the aisle without touching someone with your butt and without crowding someone in their seat.  Will I fit in that booth?  Are these chairs too delicate?  It's exhausting.  I just want to fit in the world.  To not have to worry so much.

8. Wrap a towel around myself

A regular towel, not a beach towel.  I can't remember when I was last able to do this.

9. Get a massage and be able to fit comfortably without asking for a man's robe

I've had many massages, but I hate the robes.  I always have to ask for a men's robe and I still feel like I have to hold it together when I sit down.  I want it to wrap around me and feel cozy rather than exposed.  

10. Take a beginner ballet class

I'm fascinated by ballet.  I took it as a little girl and then stopped and then I was too big.  My son and I love to dance around in our living room to The Nutcracker Ballet and I would love to have so much flexibility.  I actually thought about signing the kiddo up for ballet lessons, since I have this weird dream for him to dance in the nutcracker (what?  plenty of boys do it! And he loves to dance!), but I didn't because I thought the other mothers would think I was fat.  I found a local studio that does beginner ballet lessons for adults and I am dying to do it, but I just can't at a size 18.  I'm hoping I will feel more comfortable in my skin and can tackle this goal someday.  

So, that's my list.  Hopefully someday I can start marking them off.  

Weigh In Wednesday 11/19/2014

Weight last week: 216.0
Weight today: 210.6
Lost this week: 5.4
Total Lost: 71
Total to Onederland: 10.7
Total to Goal: 70.6

Halfway!!!!  I've made it halway to my goal!  I'm really excited.  I know the next 70 pounds will be harder to lose, but I know I can do it.  5.4 seems like a big number for a week, especially after this long, but in reality, my number last week was up about 3 more than usual.  And I'm a little bummed because on Monday I was at 209.8.  Oh well, I'll get there again.  Hopefully by next week!

This was a good week, eating-wise.  I stayed away from sugar as much as possible.  My only real "cheat" if you want to call it that was having sweet potato tator tots at Krush Burger this weekend.  But at least they weren't endless like the ones at Red Robin last weekend.

I kept up with my running too, which has been going well.  I did 30 minutes on Wednesday and again on Friday and Sunday.  I haven't run since Sunday, so I need to do my 30 minutes today and then Friday and then on Sunday (when it hopefully won't rain since I hate doing my long runs at the gym on a treadmill) I will be doing 4.25 miles.  My longest run yet.

Well, that's it for Weigh In Wednesday.  Till next week, onward and downward!

Oops!

My apologies for not posting yesterday and for the missing recipe.  I'm still figuring out this blogging thing, so for now, I will just link to the recipe and tell you what I love about it.  As for not posting...I meant to last night but I forgot.

So, here is the link to the recipe I mentioned:

http://www.ourpaleolife.com/2013/02/crockpot-paleo-minestrone-soup/

This soup is just amazing.  Even my vegetable hating husband loves it. It is packed with veggies and it is great to come home to the house smelling so great from it cooking all day in the crockpot.  The only changes I make to the recipe are that I use a garnet yam instead of a sweet potato and I use 1 zucchini and 1 yellow squash and a whole box of spinach.  I also buy ground pork and season it myself.  

I hate to talk about clothes two days in a row, but on Sunday I went shopping for some new work tops.  Seems I didn't keep very many over the years.  So I went to the mall and grabbed a bunch of XL sized shirts.  I was pretty excited to be able to select shirts from the regular departments instead of the "women's" department (code for Plus Size.)  So, then I headed into the fitting room.  The kiddo insisted on accompanying me.  I guess so he could stare at himself in the mirror (and attempt to lick himself as well...oh to be 2 and not a germaphobe like mommy.)  Anyways, while he checked himself out in the mirror I tried on the first shirt.  It looked ok, just kind of funny.  Then the next and the next.  All seemed to be cut weird.  Not tight, just not fitting.  And then I suddenly thought to myself...Is it possible that these XL shirts are too big?  I can't remember the last time I was a size large.  It certainly wasn't in the last decade.  But I went back and grabbed some larges just to see.  And HOLY COW THEY FIT!!!!  It was amazing!  And then, remember those size 16 pants I tried on at lane bryant?  Well, I was looking at some dresses and saw one I really liked.  But the largest size they had was a 16.  Was it possible?  It was!  Now, the dress is Spanx-required, but it fits and it looks amazing.  

So, I am super excited to be in my new clothes, and hopefully I will write about something else tomorrow.  Heh

So long old clothes!

This past Sunday, I donated most of my old clothes. I say most because I am planning to take some to consignment and I kept one of my biggest pairs of pants.  A size 26.  I'm saving it for the ubiquitous I-can-fit-in-one-leg-of-of-my-fat-pants photo that I plan to take one day.  In a way, it was pretty anticlimactic.  We pulled up to our local Goodwill Donation Express, and 2 minutes later we drove away without a box and 2 large garbage bags filled with my plus sized past.  

I expected to feel more.  I expected to feel attached to these old clothes.  Many of them were 5 years old or more.  But in the end, I'm way more excited about the clothes that are still in my closet.  Many of them with tags on them.  The clothes I bought for a someday that never seemed to come.  The Pebble Beach shirt my husband bought for me in 2010 in an XL which was the largest size they had.  The Brad Paisley concert t-shirt (also a size XL) that I have never worn. The Disney shirts that fit (barely) before shrinking in the wash.  Of course now I have to go shopping for new work clothes because I seem to not have any.

I also did something crazy last Monday night.  My size 18 pants have been fitting so well and I had a little time, so I stopped at Lane Bryant and grabbed a pair of size 16 trousers and headed into a changing room. I stared at them for a moment.  It's actually strange how my view of sizing feels off.  When I looked at my old 26s as I was boxing them up they didn't look that big.  But when I looked at that pair of 16s, I started thinking how stupid this was.  They looked so tiny!  How in the world were they going to fit over my enormous tush.  There's no way.  But I took a breath and I stepped in and started to pull them up.  Up over my thighs, my tush, and my hips.  All the way up.  And then I buttoned them, and zipped them up.  And they were on.  And I could breathe.  I just stood there and stared in the mirror.  A size 16.  Now, they were pretty snug.  I wouldn't want to wear them to work right away.  Maybe in another 5-10 pounds.  And I know they were from Lane Bryant's curvy collection, and they tend to be a little generous with the sizing.  But still.  I could button and zip a size 16.  I got a huge grin on my face.  And if those pants hadn't been $60, I would have bought them just to have them.  Instead, I hung them back up and dashed out to my car to go finish my errands.  

Maybe by the time I get to Onederland a regular 16 will fit.  *fingers crossed*

**Note** On Monday, I plan to share my current favorite Paleo recipe.  But for now, I have to go research how to properly do that on a blog without violating copyright or making another blogger mad at me.

This is Not Whole30 - My Frustrations with Pinterest

There used to be this great website called Regetsy that showcased the crazy/ridiculous/disgusting things that some people sell on Etsy.  But one of my favorite things were her "This is not Steampunk" posts. It would show items that were labels or tagged as steampunk that were definitely not (Star Trek pasties?  Really?)  Well, many times nowadays when I look on Pinterest for Whole30 recipes, I just keep thinking to myself "This is not Whole30." 

Now, for those who are unfamiliar with Whole30 (hey, look at me thinking that people are reading this!) Here is a link to read about it.  Basically it is a really strict form of clean or paleo eating that eliminates sugar, dairy, legumes and a bunch of other things in an attempt to heal your gut, your immune system and your body.  In practical terms, this means no bacon for me for 30 days, because finding bacon without dextrose or some other form of sugar is impossible unless you order from US Wellness Meats online and you have to order 7 pounds and no thanks.  Have you ever tried to do paleo without bacon?  Yeah...it's tough.  Heck, any form of sausage, especially breakfast sausage is pretty much out unless you make your own.  I picked up some turkey sausage and checked the ingredients and it had Hydrolyzed Soy Protein.  That's MSG!  Are you kidding me?  

In the past, I've had a lot of success with Whole30.  I've done two, one in March of 2014 and the other in September 2014.  And after the first few days, I felt amazing.  I slept well, my mood was great, and best of all, my shin splints, which had bothered me for over five years were gone.  It was amazing.  But both times, my sugar demon came back to haunt me.  So now, I'm back on the Whole30 wagon.  

But back to Pinterest.  If I look for Whole30 breakfasts, inevitably there will be a slew of baked items.  And here's the thing, there are no such things as whole30 pancakes or Whole30 muffins.  It doesn't matter that they only have Whole30 approved ingredients, these things are specifically mentioned in the book and on the website as being on the no fly list.  They call them SWYPO foods (short for Sex With Your Pants On) because they believe that these foods will just make you crave the real thing. Basically, you are supposed to be learning something while on Whole30 and a Whole30 pancake isn't going to teach you anything.  It's just a crutch.

Now, that is not to say that I would ever go to someone blog and post anything that says, "You know that isn't Whole30, right?" because that is just rude.  And kind of mean.  I mean, that's someone's blog.  That's their space. And it's not my place to "educate" someone via comments like that.  But it is annoying.  

It's funny too because I never got that "Paleo cinnamon rolls are EVIL!" attitude that I have seen so often online.  But, now I kind of get it.  I'm tired of typing "paleo breakfast" into Pinterest or Google and getting scads of links to paleo donuts and muffins and waffles and pancakes.  I guess this is just what happens when something gets popular.  Remember when you used to be able to buy things from real people on Ebay?  Yeah...good times.  But I guess the inevitable progression of the paleo diet's rise in popularity is the inundation of people who are trying to find a way to live the same way they always have, just with a paleo slant.  Why are we so afraid to completely change the way we eat?  Why is that so scary?  I don't have the answer. It's hard.  It's scary.  It makes people look at you like you are planning to move to a commune and wear a track suit.  At least at first.  And it's so easy to slip back to what's comfortable.  After all, I love eggs and bacon.  Mmmm...bacon...

I don't have answers.  But I know that paleo pizza isn't going to get me where I need and want to go in life.  So, for now, i'm going back to looking at what I eat and asking myself, if this going to have me more or less healthy?  If the answer is the former, I'm going to eat it.  The latter, at least for now, I'm going to skip.  Even dark chocolate coconut milk ice cream.  Which is the best thing ever.  

Now if you will excuse me, I have to go troll Pinterest for a breakfast recipe for tomorrow.   

Weigh In Wednesday 11/12/2014

Quick note: Sorry about not posting yesterday.  I'm trying to post every weekday, but with the kiddo's school closed yesterday for Veteran's Day, I spent the day with him and didn't get a chance to post. 

Welcome to Weigh-in Wednesday!  I arbitrarily decided that Wednesday would be my official weigh in day.  Plus Weigh in Wednesday sounds cool.  So there's that. Now, in the interest of full disclosure I will admit that I weigh every day.  I need that instant correction or gratification that weighing every day gives me.  I've tried weighing once a week, and once during my second whole30, I went 30 days without weighing.  I was actually jonesing harder for the scale than for a cookie.  So, I accept it and I weigh every day.  But for accountability purposes, I will just post once a week here.  So here it is (note, I can't believe I'm about to post my weight on the internet....*deepbreath*):

Weight last week: 214.0
Weight today: 216.0
Loss this week: -2.0 (Gain)
Total Lost: 65.60
Total to Goal: 76.0

So I gained about 2 pounds this week.  One look at my Pinterest board for "Recipes for this week" had the answer why.  Pumpkin bread, chocolate bread, pumpkin spice cookies, gingerbread cookies.  They were all paleo recipes, but yeah, sugar is a problem for me.  I'll talk more about that in a later post (as well as my frustrations with Pinterest) but in short, sugar is a problem for me.  Natural or not.  Add to that the endless sweet potato fries I had way too many of at Red Robin on Sunday and you get that kind of a gain.  I actually lost a pound since yesterday, but it was 3 days in a row of the number going up, up, up.

The reason it went down a bit since yesterday is that yesterday I decided to start a new whole30.  I mean, technically, I think it's going to be more of a whole14 or something like that, since I just need to get back on track before Thanksgiving, but getting back on track will let me examine what I'm doing and make some more permanent changes.  At least I hope so. I'll share more about my whole30 experiences in a later post.  So, yesterday I did much better eating wise and I'm already feeling better.  So hopefully next week's number will be better.  15.3 to go til Onederland!

Running

I'm following the Jeff Galloway runDisney training plan for the Star Wars 10k, which is awesome because it uploads to my Google Calendar. This weekend I was supposed to do 3.5 miles.  I was able to do it, despite my cold, so that was pretty awesome.

Here are my splits from my my Mapmyrun record for Sunday's run run:

For my training, I've been working on interval running.  I used to have a goal to run a whole race, but that seems somewhat unrealistic right now.  I've found a pretty comfortable groove at a 1min/1min interval.  I'm doing about an 11:30 pace on my runs and about 18:00 or so on my walks.  I know, I'm terribly slow, but all I need to do to avoid being swept at my Disney race is stay above a 16:00 pace overall, And I'm below that, so I think I will be ok.  I'm trying to be really careful to not push to hard.  

I think the potential for getting swept is what scares me the most about doing the race.  It happened to my parents a few years ago and my mom was really upset.  For those who don't know, Disney has a pace requirement and if you aren't meeting that pace, they will pull you off the course and take you to the finish in a golf cart.  You don't get to finish the race.

My running journey started about 5 years ago when I decided that I wanted a Disney Princess Half Marathon Medal from Walt Disney World in Florida.  It's shaped like a tiara which makes it the coolest medal EVER!  When I told my mom about it she decided that she would train too, because a Disney run sounded fun, but she would do the Disneyland Half Marathon (we are west coasters, so it's closer.)  Well, before we knew it, there were about 12 of us who were all going to do the Disneyland Half.  Awesome.  Until I went and did my first 5k.  It turned out to be a trail course (unbeknownst to me), and I injured my shins.  I had already registered (and paid for) the Disney Princess race well in advance.  But I couldn't do it.  I couldn't run.  The pain in my shins was just too much.  So I didn't even go and try to do the run.  It seemed better to just waste the cost of the run than to also waste the airfare.  They mailed me my shirt and my bib and I cried.  At least I was smart enough to not sign up for the Disneyland Half.  

I was also really jealous of my mom and all the others who were doing awesome at their training.  I went down to join them for the race and even made everyone charm bracelets to celebrate. But a few weeks before the race, my mom injured her foot.  She went to the race anyway and she tried her hardest, but she was too slow and she got swept.  She was so upset and I felt so bad for her.  But I was also so proud of her.  She was hurt and she still had the courage to go out there and try.  I admire her courage so much for doing that.

I'm scared the same thing will happen to me.  That I will have worked and trained so hard and in the end, failed.  Failed to finish.  But right now, things are going well.  Since my last whole30, my shin pain has been gone and I hadn't had any pain during my training so far.  I hope things go well and I can finish the runs I have signed up for.  

And someday, I'm going to get that princess medal.  

Hello Interwebs!

I guess I should start by introducing myself. I'm Sarah, a thirty-something wife, mom and Disney fanatic. Here's a picture of me close to my heaviest weight in 2011:

Old pictures of me are hard to find because I hated having pictures taken. A little over a year ago, I decided that I should really lose some weight. I was around 275 pounds and I hated how I looked and how I felt. I was bigger than most of the "befores" on the Biggest Loser. I couldn't really keep up with my growing toddler. Not that any of these things caused much in the way of action on my part. I decided to try the Paleo diet, but was really more Primal since I included dairy, and rice...and chocolate...so pretty much i just left out bread and pasta. My philosophy at the time was: I'm willing to give up bread but you can pry cheese from my cold, dead, (and still fat) fingers.

By February 2014, I weighed 281.7 lbs. So, yeah, that wasn't working. Clearly eating a mountain of bacon wasn't working. In February, I decided, enough. Enough of feeling like crap and being tired. Enough stomach problems from stuffing myself at every meal. Just enough.

 I read It All Stars with Food and decided to try a Whole30. And it changed everything. I lost 11 pounds that month and soon, I was on my way. Now, I'm down 68.7 pounds. I went from a size 26 to a size 18 and I still have a ways to go. Along the way, I've done a juice fast, another whole30, and started running and working with a trainer.

 My goal is to get to 135 lbs. That would but me right in the middle of "normal" for a BMI (as opposed to the Morbidly Obese II I started at). But I have other goals too. I want to run a 10k, a half marathon and a full marathon. And I want them all to be runDisney events. Right now I am signed up to do the Star Wars 10k in January 2015 (just 70-ish days away!) and the Tinkerbell Half in May 2015. I want to be able to climb the stairs at work and not get winded. I want to get into a size 10 pant (at least...hard to imagine a single digit size at this point.) But most of all, I want to reach Onederland. I want to get back to a weight with a 1 on the front. I'm 13.1 pounds away at this point and I want to get there. I'm hoping that having some accountability here will help me (even if no one is reading this.)

 So, here I go! Onward to Onederland.