Fitsanity

So a lot of you know I've been on this "get fit" journey for quite a while. Things started quite slowly for me eight weeks following my thyroid surgery in February 2009. Jason had decided he was going to run an 8K that June and started training. I reluctantly agreed to run it with him, mainly because the race benefited a cause close to my family, the Children's Hospital in Norfolk. I told Jason in March I would run it with him, but I didn't get serious until I was challenged. The challenge came in the form of my sister-in-law's look of pure shock when I told her I was going to run an actual race. I'm still not sure to this day if she thought I was crazy because running is ridiculous or she thought I was crazy because the idea of ME running was ridiculous. I definitely took it as the latter and quietly accepted her challenge with a vengeance. I started jogging..nearly quitting every day, but in June 2009 I ran my first 8k. My time was dismal, people nearly triple my age were passing me (very slight exaggeration), and the race organizers were literally tearing down the race finish line as I crossed exhausted, but proud of my achievement.  discovered that I actually enjoyed running...a lot. And even though I completely sucked at it, it became my go-to when I needed to burn some extra calories, escape life's stresses, or simply get some fresh air.


Over the last three and a half years I have struggled with getting my thyroid medicine dosage correct. My energy level was all over the place...but mostly I was exhausted and weak. I hated my doctor who literally told me I was overweight and sluggish because I had bad genes and that I needed to "quit eating potato chips and switch to carrot sticks" in order to drop a few lbs. Encouraging, right? Actually it was devastating. My self-esteem plummeted as I struggled to find the energy to work out, finally grasp said elusive energy, workout like a mad-woman, only to see the scale stay the exact same. I finally got the nerve to tell Jason that my doctor was a loser. Then I mentioned what the doctor had said to a few friends who were as appalled as I was by my loser doctor. I knew it was time for a switch.



2012 has been a year of many changes for me. I made a conscious decision that I was going to do everything in MY power to lose weight, eat healthy, and take care of myself. Yes, I will forever need to have my thyroid (or lack thereof) levels monitored and yes,I will always need to take medicine to keep me alive...Scary stuff, and both out of my control, however, I did have control over exercise and diet. I started doing research on "real" food and that research scared me. The amount of preservatives, chemicals, and other crap in most of the food we buy and consume is outright ludicrous. The rise in cancers (such as thyroid) and autoimmune diseases have increased in ridiculous numbers over the past few decades. Are the two linked? I don't know but it was enough to start me thinking.. I also started to realize just how much sugar is in the average American diet...Sugar is in EVERYTHING...sugar, brown sugar, high fructose corn syrup...CORN which is converted by the body into SUGAR is IN literally EVERY processed food we eat...It FREAKED me OUT.



I decided to make some switches in the way our family ate. I followed the old cliche of "shop the grocery store's perimeter" and avoided nearly all packaged/processed foods...If we wanted it..I made it from scratch..seriously. It was an adventure. We switched from white flour products of whole wheat...including bread, pasta, rice....everything. I even started making my own bread, tortillas, and granola. We stopped buying hormone injected milk and switched to a home delivery service and I watched the sugar levels in everything we ate like a hawk...Truth is IT WAS EXHAUSTING. I was in the kitchen all the time! I felt like I never got to spend any time with my family and by the time something was finally ready to eat, I was so exhausted from standing up and cooking it that I wasn't even hungry, BUT I did notice a huge difference in my energy levels, and albeit slowly, I was dropping a few pounds.



I was encouraged so I kicked my workout routine up a notch. This was in April. I started working out about an hour a day six days a week. I switched to a female doctor whom I love and was sympathetic to my weight loss struggle. She adjusted medications for me and encouraged me to keep up the hard work. The pounds started coming off. Since the beginning of the year I have lost nearly 40 lbs. I'm proud to say that I have worked out six days a week consistently (and when I say consistently I mean I've only had two weeks where I didn't work out six days and in those week I worked out for five). I dragged my workout DVD on vacation and road trips. I've made the time when there was NO time.



And in July, Jason told me he was going to start the Insanity workout program. For those of you not familiar with Insanity, well...it's INSANE...and hard, and long (the program is two months, some of the actually workouts are one hour), and intense. I watched the videos. This was a program for athletes, not people like me. Even though I had been working out consistently three months prior to starting Insanity I was in NO WAY ready for the physical toll it would take on my body. I once again grudgingly agreed to to the program with Jason...I'm pretty sure I cried after the first workout, and the second, and the third. On day 4 I did the workout and nothing else...for the REST OF THE DAY. I started dreading waking up in the morning, but when I did I would throw on my workout clothes and get the "Insanity" over with..otherwise I would sit around and stress about having to do it. I was exhausted and felt defeated. I started week 2 telling myself that if this didn't get better I was quitting. But guess, what?? It DID get better.



The workouts got more manageable (they NEVER got easier). I was starting to see a difference in the way my body looked. I was 2/3s of the way through one of the workouts one day when I realized I was doing REAL push-ups people!!! Not the knee ones!! As my body grew stronger so did my spirit (I'm pretty sure because I prayed constantly during those workouts). A side benefit to the Insanity workouts was that Jason and I were doing it together. He would workout early in the morning before me, but we would would compare notes later in the day. It was encouraging to have someone who held me accountable and told me I could do it. I was so proud of him and he was proud (possibly shocked) of me. People started noticing..The word "skinny" came from family and friend's mouths and they were actually talking about ME and not in an ironic way...Though I will say I'm hardly skinny. According to the BMI calculator I'm still technically in the "overweight" category...WTH???? But I would take the compliments, mostly because I was working and working HARD for the results I was getting.



I'm not proud to say this, but life got in the way and two weeks before the end of the Insanity program I stopped. I let personal issues derail my intense drive to finish..I was 8 workouts away from completing Insanity and I.didn't.finish. So where am I now?? Well, the past three weeks have been hard...I'm coming off Insanity, but I continued to workout...I've thrown in some Insanity workouts into the mix, but I've also gone back to my original personal trainer, Jillian Michaels (awww Jillian you're not so tough following Shaun T.), and I've kicked my running up a notch. So in the past three weeks, though I may have abandoned the Insanity schedule, I've run my first 10 minute mile, run a personal best time of 34.47 on my 5K, and set a new goal to run the Shamrock Half Marathon in March with Jason (who has graciously agreed to slow down his African-like running pace and run alongside me so we can cross the finish line together).



I'm also not proud to say that my eating has gotten off track again...mainly because my husband who is trying to woo me has taken me out to fantastic restaurants and I've indulged, and indulged, and indulged. I have not gained any of my weight back. And honestly, I don't think I will. It's definitely been a process and some days are better than others, but overall for the first time I feel like I have a plan in place to keep me focused and on track. I have a husband that's helping me come up with (ridiculously hard) goals and has been encouraging the entire time. When I slip and eat a bowl of ice cream and then go back for another (yep...did that the other night..remember Jay??) he doesn't call me out, but asks what I'm doing the next day to make up for it. It's a balance and for those of you who've followed my blog at all the past few years, you know that finding balance in my life has been an unceasing challenge for me. It ain't easy being a mom, and teacher, and homemaker, and event planner/coordinator, and half marathon runner(!), but I'm trying....and for the first time ever, I can honestly say that and not hear a little voice in the back of my head telling me, "but you really could be doing more."



Soooo..If you've read this far I'd love to know what you think I should add to my goals list??? I'd love your suggestions...Here is my fitness plan for the next several months...let me know what you think...



1. lose 10 more lbs---I'm so close to being out of that overweight category and I know that calculator is ridiculous, but I want to be "NORMAL" and have a 5lb cushion.



2. run the Wicked 10K in October



3. workout with Allyson Heyen (IN SAN DIEGO in November!!!!! wooo hoo!!!)



4. run the Shamrock Half Marathon with my husband in March 2013.



I'd also like to start training for a triathlon. My swimming is dismal though so it will definitely be a challenge. And Jason has mentioned some craziness about doing the Tough Mudder in VB next year...we'll see about that one, but so far I've not turned down any challenge he's thrown my way yet....



ok so that's it... Give me your thoughts on new goals, your best fitness tips, or even your best juggling tips...they're all needed and appreciated!!!



Peace and love:

D