Health Goals

Its been a long day, and this will be a shorter than normal post, but I really wanted to touch on this topic before I got too ahead of myself.

When I went to my doctor last August to speak honestly about me wanting to lose weight and keep it off, she was extremely helpful. Next week I will spend time going over some of the advice she gave me, but right now I want to discuss the one question she asked me that made me think.

What are you hoping to accomplish by doing this?

Really? I want what I believe everyone wants when they try to lose weight! I wanna be skinny and look hot! I want to wear bikinis and get stares! DUH!!

Okay, realistically speaking, I actually had to think about what I truly wanted to accomplish in this journey. What did I want my end result to be? I was in this for the long haul. No more quick fixes or failed attempts. This is a life style change. I need to retrain my body and my habits to live healthier and continue with it. So, I started to make a list of goals I wanted to achieve. Its like when you set your 5-10-15 year life goals, only I was focusing on just my health.

Ultimately, I want to lose weight and be where I was when I graduated high school. I wasn't super skinny, but I was at a healthy weight and I was fit and in shape. I want to be able to Jog for at least 30 minutes without getting winded. I want to be able to buy clothes in a normal store, and not a plus size store with limited options. I want to have kids and be able to play with them without getting worn out because of my weight.

Its more than just being thin. Its about whole health. I DON'T want the health risks that come with being overweight. I DON'T want my weight to prevent me from getting out and enjoy life. I DON'T want to be another obesity statistic.

So, here is my list! I know some of these I can accomplish rather quickly, while others could take a few years. But I'm willing to fight to the end to reach them all.

1. I want to weigh 150lbs - this will require me losing 100+ lbs.
2. I want to be able to Jog (not run) for a minimum of 30 minutes without getting winded.
3. I want to fit into a dress I still own from my first year of college.
4. I want to be able to try on wedding dresses without worrying if they will carry my size.
5. I want to have children and not be overweight when I do.
6. I want to expand my food knowledge so that I make healthier food choices.
7. I want to work towards a whole month with no fast food.
8. I want to step on the scale at my doctor's office and for the nurse to tell me my weight falls into the NORMAL category.
9. I want to train for a half marathon.
10. I want to share my experiences with other women, and men, to help them gain the courage to get healthy as well!

There ya' have it! My list of health goals. What are your goals? How did you decide on the things you wanted to accomplish? Create them for YOU.

Peace and Good JuJu,
Holly

Mother's Day and the Seattle Color Run!

Today's Savory Sunday post is being replaced with a special Mother's day post!

First up, HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!! To all the moms who give there all each and every day for their children, you are truly appreciated! To my own mom, you are the best! Thanx for always being there with the honest truth, the tough love, and the best hugs ever!!! I miss you and hope to visit you soon!

So, what did I do this Mother's Day? Well, since I couldn't be with my mom, I ran in the Seattle Color Run! My mom has been one of my biggest supporters in my weight loss journey, so I ran this 5K for her!

The Color Run pretty much has 2 SIMPLE rules. 1. White shirts mandatory at the start line and 2. Color plastered EVERYTHING at the finish! Everyone starts the 5K dressed in white and ready to rock! And by the end, it looks like a tie dyed party! At every kilometer of the run, you go through a color zone where you are blitzed with color dust! This was my first 5K EVER and I've got to say it was a BLAST!

My training for the 5K wasn't very good. And I wound up being the only person in my Princess Procrastinators team who made it to Race Day! However, another great friend of mine, Myranda, her 2 sisters and her mom were all running, so I spent the day with them! They are like my surrogate family and I've known them for 17 years, so it was a great way to spend a beautiful sunny Mother's day!

When we got to Seattle, we wound up being at the end of the line! 7000 people in the run, and WE were the tail end! I told everyone right away that there was no way that I was going to be able to run the whole thing! With a prior ankle injury, very little training, and all the extra weight I carry around - running is not my friend! I had 2 goals: finish in under an hour (59 minutes 59 seconds was OK!) and do NOT be the very last person to finish!

I started off good and kept up a nice jog for the first little bit. I alternated walking and jogging all the way to the first color, which was Blue. By then, I was on my own! Thank heavens I knew we had a predetermined meet up point, or I would have been left in the dust (literally)! The next color I ran through was Yellow! I stayed on the far left side of the run lane and was pelted with yellow dust from head to toe! I even got it right in my face! Luckily I was wearing my sunglasses!

As I was nearing the half way mark, I saw another friend of mine, already on the return trip! And then Myranda and her mom jogged past me! I finally caught up to Myranda's 2 sisters and walked with them til we went through the 3rd color, Green! Green seems to be the color that stuck to almost EVERYONE. After we got past green, we heard a guy say that it was "all downhill from here" (we had been walking up at a slight incline, burning those calves!). Hearing this, the girls started jogging and I just kept on walking. My feet were killing me, but I knew I had to make it all the way to the end! I was not about to give up!

Whoever said it was all downhill lied, because shortly after jogging through the 4th color, Orange, there was a HUGE HILL! Ok, it wasn't HUGE, but man did I think I was going to die before I made it to the top of that hill. When I got to the top, it was like all the pain I was feeling the last part of the run went away! I saw the finish line. I actually made it ALL THE WAY!

After walking through that finish line, I couldn't stop smiling! This was an amazing accomplishment for me and to see my friends afterwards, proud of me and cheering for me because I made it all the way to the end was amazing! And of course, the first thing I did was call my mommy! The best thing to hear was how proud she was of me for making it through to the end! One big step in my weight loss journey! It was a great day to enjoy an sunny Seattle day when I couldn't spend it with my mom!

And with that, I leave you with a slideshow of pics from the day!

Peace and Good JuJu,
Holly

Fitness Friday - How did I get here?

Welcome to the first Fitness Friday post. I figured the best way to begin this segment was to explain how I got to where I am today (health/weight wise) and going forward talk about the things I'm doing to get healthy and my progress!.

***NOTE: This is the first time I have ever been completely open and honest about why I'm at the point I am today. I apologize for the length now and will understand if you do not want to continue, however once I started writing, I just couldn't stop. I could have split this in to 2 posts but I felt I needed to get it all out now and start moving forward. There are 2 big events that led me to where I am today. I shed a few tears while writing this, and ultimately I feel this has really put me at a better starting point than I thought I was already at.***

I was always an in shape kid. Being the only girl in my family, with a younger brother and 4 older boy cousins, for 16 years meant that instead of tea parties and traditional Barbie activities, I was with playing sports, running around, and using Barbie dolls as throwing objects! (my baby sister was born the summer after I turned 16!) By the time I hit high school, I was short, healthy and in shape. I never felt like there was ever a problem with my weight, until my step-dad would make comments about me having a fruit snack or 2 when I got home from school. Or my mom would pipe up when I had seconds at dinner. I think the most annoying part about it all was that I wasn't an inactive teenager. I walked a half mile to and from school every day. I lived in a great neighborhood, so a lot of my after school time was spent walking around with my friends or taking my little brother to the play area in the housing development close to our place. Did I have times where I sat at the computer? Yes. Were there days where I would just hang out in my room? Yes. But I was a teenager. That's what teenagers do.

I stayed around the same weight (145lbs) all through high school. By the time I left for college, I was THRILLED!! I spent a lot of my time helping take care of things at home, and watching my siblings while my parents were out. I missed out on a lot of fun times with my friends because of it, and moving away for college was going to be my chance to start MY life. And I chose to move 3000 miles from home, from Washington state to Pennsylvania!

When I got to college, my eating habits weren't that great! Dining hall food, HUB restaurants, 2am Pizza escapades! But I was a freshman, with no car! It was a mile walk ONE WAY to just about everything I needed to get to. Dorm hall to class? A mile. Class to work? A mile and a half. Back to my dorm? Almost a mile. Do that 2-3 times a DAY, and there was no Freshman 15 for me! When I came home at Christmas break, I was actually almost 15lbs lighter than when I had left. For a short girl with big hips and a large chest - I looked great!

I only spent one year in Pennsylvania. The program I was in wasn't right for me, and because I was an out of state student from a poor family at a pricey school, I just couldn't afford it. I moved back home for the summer before heading to Central Washington for my second year of college. I moved into an apartment off campus with a girl who had a spare room. I got a job on the opposite end of the college town working for Subway. And again, I didn't have a car. It almost didn't matter what I ate, because I walked so much and so far, I burned off all the extra calories I ate. And that's when I met a boy.

Princess Procrastinators

So, my bestie Mia and I are always talking about doing some sort of walk/run/half-marathon. We were supposed to start a training program last year, but she broke her ankle and had to have surgery. I didn't want to train alone, so I sorta gave up. (I know, bad me *slaps hand*)

Now that her ankle is healed, and we've vowed that 2011 was our last FAT year, its time to start that training. I made a comment that we should start small and do a 5k, maybe a 10k or 2, and work our way up to a half marathon. She's also enlisted a good friend from high school, Krystal, to join in the fun. I mentioned to Mia the Color Run and that was the spark that ignited the fire! Next thing I know, Mia has a Facebook group set up for the 3 of us and we are in training mode!

Originally Mia set up the training name as the Trotting Mavens. After some thought, I realized we needed a more personal name. Mia and Krystal are HUGE Disney fans. Not to say that i'm not a huge fan, but these girls worked at Disney, are on a Disney radio station, and have a Disney blog (Check out Partners Behind The Mouse!!) So, I threw out some alternate names: The Beauties After the Beast, The Cinderella Runners, The Princess Bustlers, even the Incredible Joggers. But the one that sealed the deal was the Princess Procrastinators! Its personal and fits ALL THREE OF US!

I shared a 5K training program that I've spotted before and heard is very good for the SUPER beginner! I'm going to combine this program with the workouts I already do with my Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2012 Kinect game, and hopefully by May 13th, I'll be prepared to walk/jog/run the 5K Color Run in Seattle! I'm hoping that this will lead to more and longer races in the future, and perhaps the Princess Half Marathon (a bucket list race I've always wanted to do!)

Well, That's all for today.

Peace and Good JuJu,
Holly