4%

I joined an online Dietbet!

It's a pretty cool idea, you put in $20 and so does everyone else who is doing the bet.  If you lose 4% in one month then you are part of the individuals who split the total pot!  I read about it on www.priorfatgirl.com and I am really excited to start.  I am starting a day late though since I just saw it now and I have to have a picture taken of me standing on the scale full body by someone else and then the number on the scale to prevent cheating. I weighed myself this am and it was ugly, 180lbs.  But I didn't take any pictures etc, so I'll just have B take those photos and fully weigh in tomorrow.  If I weigh in tomorrow at 180lbs then I will have to lose 7.2lbs.  That is a fully obtainable goal and one that I really need to hit.  The official wedding countdown is six months.  Six months to a strapless gown geez!!!!!  You can do this bet from anywhere and the pot is up to $5,520 as of right now!  It ends March 29th though so the longer you wait the less time you have to lose the 4%.

If you decide to do it let me know, maybe we could help keep track of each other!

Hump Day

This week has been slow at work.  After a couple of months of hard constant work I am so happy to have down time, although now that is Wednesday I'm bored!  The Internet is eh, I'm all caught up on wedding items I was backed up on and I asked my boss and other department management if there is anything I can help with.  Work will pick up next week so I guess I should be grateful for the downtime.

I cleaned, but to tell you the truth when I took the photos my apartment wasn't really that bad.  I guess I just needed a deep clean, so the deep messiness didn't show up in the photos. 

Here is my kitchen with Clyde trying to get a little of whatever the sink had.

And here is the living room, not really that bad. 

We are doing a little surprise for our wedding table numbers which is making me look through so many memories.  Photos really are so amazing, it makes me so happy to see them and remember things that haven't been in my mind for years.  Check out this picture of me when I was little!  Banana curls!  What little girl didn't have Banana curls!  Shortly after this year my mom chopped off all my hair, glad she got this one before she did!

B and I have been really good so far this week.  We have been eating clean, bringing our lunch to work and walking everywhere.  I am excited to see the weigh in results on Sunday.  We are doing it together and it is 150% better to have a healthier lifestyle with the other person in your house doing the same thing.  I haven't started running yet but plan on doing a run on Saturday morning. 

2013 Marathon....

Take 2! 

I know I have taken a total hiatus, I have taken a total hiatus in my life too.  Since the 2013 Marathon got cancelled I have not run at all.  Perhaps a slight jog across the street if a car is coming.  So needless to say, I am completely out of shape.  This morning I woke up and walked C with Brendan and although it was a fast paced walk I started to get excited for my training again.  The weather is starting to thaw ever so slightly and I'm starting to look at music.  That was one issue that I am definitely going to be ready for this year, a massive music selection.  I got so sick and tired of my IPod that I asked to borrow my girl friends.  I need to make sure I have a larger music selection so I do not get bored of the same songs and stay motivated.

I am running a short race in April (4miles) and I am going to ease into running again this week.  Perhaps one mile run, one mile walk, or I'll just see how my legs feel.  I know it will be another battle of long distant runs and hills and chaffing and losing toe nails but this year I'm pumped!  I might not have run the marathon last year, but I was ready and this year I know what to expect!

Last year during my training I ran 335 miles.  That is about the length of the state of Alabama!  I could have ran to Connecticut and back and still have mileage to spare.  That is about a six hour drive if you are driving on a highway.  Hmmm, that analogy doesn't sound so cool :(  Well it is a hell of a lot of miles and I am going to do it again.  My official training will begin again the first week in July, but I am going to be in running ready shape so my long run for that week will be a breeze. 

I will say although I loved being lazy I hated how it makes me feel.  I don't feel good about myself, I'm tired, I'm weak, I get angry faster and I am more negative.  There are so many reasons to exercise, but taking time off you can literally feel and see the changes within yourself. 

Since I am getting back into running, not full on training mode but running, I will be posting again regularly.  Tonight is a busy night of grocery shopping and cleaning the apartment.  We should have done this on the weekend, but the laziness took over.  See, it's horrible!  I'll post some before/after pics so you can see the lazy den we have been hiding in all winter!

Shifting Focus

So this blog was originally created to track my resolution goal and to talk about what it is like to train for the NYC marathon. 

I reached my resolution miles and I did talk about training for the NYC marathon and trained!  So, done and done (even though race never happened). 

Since the storm, I have pretty much stopped working out, gone to Ireland, had four Thanksgivings.  Needless to say my body is, um, wider ha!  I gained 9lbs since all of this and lost two so far this week, so net about 7lbs up.  Seven pounds isn't much, but I feel more tired and I wasn't at a great weight before I gained.  Yes I was running like a mad woman, but I was still overweight.

So, this blog/diary will shift focuses to me trying to lose the pounds, a new resolution and training for the 2013 NYC Marathon!

Right now I'm going to focus on losing major poundage.  I am heavy, way too heavy!  I am weighing in with one of my besties every Monday so I will put it out there for all of you as well.  It's about accountability right, right?  So below are my stats as of this Monday, I know I lost two already, but I won't make it official until Monday, weekends are usually horrible for me!

As of 11.26.2012

Current Weight  179
Goal Weight      150

I will add loss/gains starting Monday.

Now, lets talk exercise.  I want to join a gym or kickboxing but I am hesitant because of $$$.  I'm saving for a wedding and I know that starting March I'll start running again, so I'm not sure if I want to spend the loot for a couple of months.  I talked to B and we discussed doing something together, but I doubt I can count on him for exercise.  I love my fiancee, but he gets into exercise then gets out just as fast.  I can't think of doing something together, because then I will shift my mind that we HAVE to do it together and then give myself an excuse not to go when he decides he doesn't want to go.  I can get him to walk though.  Walk and talk.  So for now, until I figure out another plan, my exercise will be walking at night, lifting at home and doing yoga booty dvds :)

What goes down, must go up?

Alright, I had a very bad week, maybe two but hey it could have been worse.  That is what I told myself all that week.  It could have been worse, I am lucky, all that jazz and you know what, it worked.

Wether we are happy or not life goes on, and go on it did!  The week of Sandy was a toughie.  B left for Hong Kong that Saturday.  He had a week of training for his new job and wouldn't be back until the following weekend.  He did set me up with batteries, candles, water and all the essentials to survive a hurricane :)  That same day he left I went wedding dress shopping and got one!  It is amazing and I can't wait to show the world...in August! 

The hurricane was supposed to hit on Monday.  Even though our apartment was fully stocked I didn't want to be alone.  All of the media was making me scared, so Clyde and I packed up and went to my best friend’s apartment in Hoboken to ride out the storm.  When hurricane Irene hit the power went out for about 8 hours and there was flooding.  There was a lot of flooding, but it receded in about a day.  This was not the case for Sandy.

 It was about 8pm on Monday night when my friends power went out.  In about 10 minutes the street flooded from a puddle to a river.  We woke up the next morning to water levels about waist high.  Here are some pictures from the morning after the hurricane hit (Tuesday am).

These where from my friends balcony and as you can see we were trapped.  That was escaping Sandy easy believe me.  All of the basement and most first floor apartments where ruined.  You can't tell by the pictures but there is gasoline and debris mixed in with the water.  My dog was freaking out!  He would not go to the bathroom the poor thing even though I tried to encourage him.  I felt horrible and he wouldn't stop crying.  I wasn't sure what to do, so ladies and gentlemen, Clyde and I swam for my home.  At least at our home I know he would be able to go on our deck.  I know now I shouldn't have left and gone to stay with my friends, but hindsight is 20/20 and I thought the water would subside. 

I put Clyde in a harness leash and we headed out.  It is a short three blocks normally but it was so gross and scary.  Once we got to my complex I ran upstairs and put both of us in the shower.  We got one last shower with the hot water that was still in our pipes and that was it for a couple days.  I was able to get him to go to the bathroom in a small area that did not flood that bad in our elevated courtyard.  Then the blackout lifestyle began.  First the lights/power went out on Monday night, when still at my friends, then your internet connection, then your phone powers.  It was weird and scary.  I was sure to be in my apartment with the doors locked before dark and read mostly.  It was just me and Clyde at that point and we were in a surreal routine.  By Thursday the water subsided enough that when I was walking the dog I saw a bus running on the main strip.  There still was no power but I ran Clyde home and made it into NYC.  Slightly smelly I got to my office and was able to charge up and contact my family and B. 

Friday early am my girlfriend got power! Finally a place to shower!  I ran over there and showered up and went into NYC again.  The flooding was completely gone, however the rubble began piling up.  It was a sad picture.  Items that you can tell are so personal where put onto the sidewalks, the town was covered with trash and we still didn't have power, only one small grid (my friends thank god) was going.  Clyde and I had romantic dinners together while reading ahahaha see below!

You could barely see Clyde next to our couch and brown blanket!

Friday night the Marathon was cancelled.  I had a breakdown.  I know that it was the right thing to do, but it was kind of the last thing I could handle.  I trained forever and pretty much started this blog for the NYC marathon, so there ya go.  However, since then I'm ok with it.  Hell, now I know I can run over 20miles!  I will use my guarantee next year and train harder!

Saturday B came home!  I never was happier!!!!  We still didn't have power, but everything was already better.  I had a friend to play cards with, I had someone to protect us!  I had someone to start the fire place ha!  He felt bad he missed the bulk of the destruction and I was alone so I got many gifts from Hong Kong :)  I am spoiled!  Check out the candy I got and that was the smallest present!

Sunday and Monday came and went and then it happened.  Tuesday night at 8pm we got power back!  It was a crazy week, but when I tell you we made out lucky I am not exaggerating.  You never can prepare for the heartache that mother nature can bring.  My home town is destroyed.  A lot has happened since that week and I will catch the blog up to it, but that is all I can reflect on today! 

I will tell you this though, I haven't been running ha!  I do plan on trying to get some mileage in this weekend, but not for any races, just because I miss it!

Marathon Cancelled

Well, the NYC Marathon was cancelled and living through the devastation and still living through it, I really truly understand that it had to be, but let me tell you I was heartbroken.  It took me one year to qualify, months to train, then my whole city gets completely flooded, my home town and parents town is completely wrecked, I am still freezing with no power and I had one thing that I worked so hard for that I could feel good about taken away.  Just like that.  Friday was a very bad day for me.

I tried to bounce back fast, I had to.  Life had to go on and there still was a lot of cleaning and preparing to do for Hoboken.  I have a quarter of a tank of gas but I definitely plan on making it down to help the shore that I love so dearly and spent so much time growing up in as soon as the gas crisis calms down a bit. 

I am supposed to go to Ireland on Wed to see my cousin get married.  We are getting a snow storm that day, so who knows if any flights will be going out. 

I am beaten down, sad for so many people and exhausted.  I know life goes on, but for a while I might be a down and out blogger!  Praying for a speedy recovery for Jersey.

Sandy

Oh Sandy!  How I despise you!!!

I was hit hard this week ya'll, but I'm still running the marathon and I will write up all about my incredibly crazy week tomorrow!

Hugs and Kisses, hope everyone is safe and sounds.  New Jersey got rocked and my city of Hoboken was not sparred!

Until tomorrow!