Reindeer Romp 5k

Surprise! I'm running a 5k tomorrow!  It's called the Reindeer Romp 5k, and it's through the streets of my hometown, with a jaunt past the college where I work.

I've had this race in the back of my mind for months.  In fact, when I first started training again, this was the race I had my eye on.

I don't feel as in running shape as I would like, since my past two runs have been not-so-great.* In fact, it's hard for me to even classify them as runs.

However, it's not often that my little town puts on a race (I only know of two a year), so I'm going to go out there and give it all I've got.  Hopefully the adrenaline will count for something.  And I might even wear a Santa hat for the occasion.  We'll see.  Stay tuned for a race report later tomorrow.

In other news, I lost 4.5 pounds this week. This is especially great as I was not sticking strictly to my calorie budget, but I am being very faithful with my water intake and even drank 4 liters instead of 3 yesterday!

I hope you've had a good week!

*The run before these two, however, was phenomenal. It helped that it took place in Effingham, aka the flattest place on earth.  

Thankful Thursdays: December 10

Despite the fact that I wore pants that are a little too tight today, I'm very thankful. Here's my super long list of what I'm thankful for:

My work computer monitor

It's huge.  And I spent all last week reading my favorite blogs, checking facebook and twitter on my iphone while I was traveling.  The switch back to the large monitor for work purposes has been wonderful.

A new sweater I found at the bottom of the drawer.

It must've been donated by one of my friends during a summer month, because I don't remember wearing it before.  I just wish I knew who gave it to me. It's cozy and has a fun, cowl neck and is super long. I love long tops. (I apologize to you and everyone at work who has to see this crazy hair all day. I gets out of control sometimes.)

My new Lose It App for my I phone.  

It is actually easier to use than my old Sparkpeople app and has a fun barcode scanner that I can use on my phone, so I've been tracking calories for three days now.

The Little Book

A new book I'm reading that is very good. It's about a guy who travels back to turn-of-the-century Vienna. Right now, he's on his way to see Adolf Hitler as a 9-year-old.  Topic of discussion: what would you do if you had the opportunity to stop Hitler before he became the Hitler that we all know about today?

Water

I drink my water one liter at a time and right now I aim to get three liters a day.  Drinking water really makes me feel so much better.  When I get on a diet soda kick, I end up with headaches and bad skin.  Water is so much better.

My beautiful Christmas tree.

I love the beautiful lights.  I took this picture so I could enter the contest over at my friend April's blog.  If you want to enter, send a picture of your Christmas tree to April by Monday. More details are here: 

http://alittleofthisandthat-april.blogspot.com/2011/11/oh-christmas-trees-giveaway.html

(MOM- YOU SHOULD TOTALLY ENTER ON BEHALF OF DAD. TAKE A PIC WITH YOUR PHONE AND EMAIL IT TO APRIL)

Happy December everybody! What are you thankful for this week??

Time to Get Real

People, I have gained weight. Seriously.

As in, I have gained 34 pounds since I went skydiving on May 8 of this year. Sure, that's almost seven months ago, but it is unhealthy no matter how much time has passed.  It was one year ago on Dec. 9 that I weighed in at 97 pounds lost; it was the most I've ever lost. I now weigh 40 pounds more than what I weighed that day.

At this rate, I'm going end up having to lose more than one hundred and 40 pounds in order to make it to my goal of being 100 pounds lighter than when I started.

I'm not sure where the whole "lose 100 pounds and never find them again" thing got lost, but lost it has been.

Here's the deal, I'm tired of time passing and my size staying the same or going up. I'm tired of my pants not fitting. I'm sad that I went to visit my extended family for the first time in 2.5 years and I didn't feel like I looked very different because I've gained so much weight back.

And yeah, running is still hard.  It's probably because I'm carrying around a large toddler's worth of weight on me. (I actually have no idea how much large toddlers weigh. Is 40 pounds an accurate guess? Can anybody testify?)

So what am I doing about it?  I set some Goals of the Week yesterday, and I'm sticking to them. I'm two days in and I've completed two workouts and one run. I've drunk 3 liters both days.

Next week I'm going to add some more.  I also downloaded a new calorie tracking Iphone app called Lose it.  It works the same way my Sparkpeople app worked that I have pretty much completely stopped using, but I'm hoping that the new format/program to learn will keep me interested in writing down my calories. 

I hope to check in with you more often with real posts about my progress, like this one, instead of just topical fun posts all of the time. Because if I do, that means I'm more accountable.

Goals of the Week

It's the Monday after Thanksgiving and that means back to the reality of trying my best at being a healthy person.  I've been so slack in anything resembling healthy eating living lately that I practically need to start over.

I think a big part of my previous success was based on the goals I set for myself. With that being said, I'm going to try and set smaller goals for myself each week that will contribute to the larger goal of losing weight.  So, here's to what I hope will be another regular topic here on Lost and Not Found: Goals of the Week. Here are my goals for this week:

• Exercise five times, 45 minutes each.
• Run three times.
• Drink at least three liters of water a day.

If I can achieve all of these goals, then next week I hope to add to them.
Do you have any goals this week?

Thankful Sundays

It's Sunday!  And that means it's time for a Thankful Sunday post! If that sounds odd to you, it's because I really should've written a Thankful Thursday post. Especially this week when Thankful Thursday coincided with the big one, Thanksgiving.  I know, shame on me.  I'm going to chock it up to two excuses: 1) I was busy celebrating with family and 2) Effingham does not appear to have wireless or 3G internet.

So here's what I'm thankful for today on this wonderful week of thankfulness:

I'm thankful to be home.

After driving 14 hours yesterday, I was/am wiped out. But I am so, so glad to be back in my own house with my own shower and bed.

I'm thankful I got to see my granny.

She's 92, but she's full of energy and love. She made us cookies and pies and homemade noodles. She put up with the six adults and two small children who invaded her normally quiet house. And she gives great hugs.

I'm thankful for these cuties.

You'd think 10 hours in a car with my niece and nephew each way would make me un-thankful, but it surely didn't.  They are both just adorable in their own ways and really remarkable car riders.  And when baby Ryan started screaming when we were thirty minutes from home last night, it didn't bother me, because I completely understood where he was coming from on that one.

I'm thankful for these cuties.

These are my cousins Sarah and Kim and my sister Mandy.  These girls are my oldest friends. Sarah and Kim and I have been the three musketeers for as long as I can remember and they make me laugh more than most people.  Side note: Sarah's shirt says "Santa's Little Helper," but my dad misread it and thought it said, "Santa's Little Leper." We got a lot of laughs out of that one.

I'm thankful for my friend April.

She writes a fabulous blog and asked me to guest post during her week of Thankfulness.  I tried to post it from my phone in my post on Wednesday, but it looks like it did not work.  Check it out here. She also created these beautiful wallpapers.

How was your thanksgiving?

Holiday Gift Guide for Health Nuts

Do you have a fitness nut on your Christmas shopping list?  Someone who lives to Zumba or is trying to pick up running?  Here's some quick ideas on what to get them.

Running for Mortals

The best how-to guide I've found about how to start a training program safely.

Endorphin Warrior Jewelry

I don't own one of these yet, but it's on my Christmas list.  While they have different types of jewelry at Endorphin Warrior, my favorite is the PERSEVERE bracelet. I think it speaks to me and my weight loss journey.

Powersox

Everyone gets socks for Christmas, right? Or was that just at my house? These are the best socks I've found if you're going to be doing a lot of sweating. They have a great moisture management fabric, that keeps your foot from getting sweaty. Less moisture=less blisters.

Running headband

Another item on my personal Christmas list? This Brooks running headband.  I love winter running, but I absolutely have to have my ears covered.  This looks like it will do the trick.  But make sure to get it in a fun color.

Kitchen Scale

If you're trying to get the scale in your bathroom to go down, then you'd better use a scale in your kitchen.  It helps you if you are actually eating the correct serving size by allowing you to measure out your ounces.  I've had one for years and I use it when I'm cooking to make sure I'm using the correct serving size of different items like meat. I'm not linking to one, because I can't find my exact model online.

Wow, looking over this list, it's not very exciting. If you want to inspire the exerciser in your life, perhaps you could head on over to Cafe Press and make a custom t-shirt or search their humongous database for one designed by someone more creative than you.  For example, look what I found:

Or check out Team Sparkle:

I'm not brave enough to run in one of these skirts yet, but maybe someday I'll be confident enough to sport some sparkles.

What's on your fitness wish list?

On the Road

Today, I am blogging from the way back seat of my brother's SUV. His adorable family and I are on our way to visit relations in the land of our forefathers, Effingham, Ill. Let's hope blogging on an iPhone doesnt make me sick.

As I was dozing back here in the pre-dawn light, I started thinking about roads. Some roads, like I-77 to Charlotte, I know like the back of my hand. I can tell you what all of the exits are, what/who can be found at each exit and what's the billboards say. I travel this road several times a week.

Other roads, like I-85 to Atlanta, I know reasonably well. I know all of the towns between here and there, many ofthe exits, and a few good places to stop and eat or get gas. I travel this road several times a year.

Now we're travelling a route I'm familiar with, but do not know well at all. I have to check GPS to get where I'm going and know only the major cities. I only go to Illinois every few years.

I love roads and maps. Can you tell?

I think there are some parallels here between life and roads. Some actions we repeat so often that it's like I-77 and others are less well-known. I feel like my diet cycle of kick starting, doing great and then ultimately reverting back to old habits is becoming like that stretch of I-77 on the way to Charlotte, but I want to bust out of the familiar and travel a new stretch of road. I want to see what's north of Charlotte, if you know what I mean. Let's get that started, shall we?

PS, I am only sorry for you that you can't see pictures of these super cute kids that in riding with. Blame Mobile Blogger, because otherwise, I'd be smothering you in cuteness.

PPS my friend April asked me to write a guest post on her blog today. Check it out.

PPS. Please excuse any errors. iPhones aren't perfect and they are a pain to edit on.