Make today ridiculously amazing!

Saturday for our long distance training I met up with a few of my teammates (LeeAnn, Melody & Darla) to conquer the last 8 miles of the 1/2 marathon course. This had us starting at the front of Cherokee Blvd, and ending up at Neyland Stadium. Yes, you remembered correctly, this also meant that LeeAnn & I would walk the dreaded Noelton for the 2nd time, and got to help Mel & Darla face it for the first time.

We've SO got this hill. Seriously ... for those of you who have trained on greenways near the West Side YMCA, Noelton has NOTHING on the hill going up the street from the YMCA towards Barnes & Noble.

We like this hill so much now that we stop to take pictures with it. :)

Well, in true fashion, and now tradition, what was planned to be 8 miles, turned into over 10. How, do you ask, to we continue to miscalculate our mileage? The answer ... I have no clue. We followed the directions, and our route is right on target with the marathon route. Guess we'll be extra prepared for April 1!

Here's our walk mapped by my Humana Fit phone app:


Find more Walk in Knoxville, TN

Needless to say, although it was a LONG walk, it was complete with the excellent company of my teammates, and beautiful weather (although a bit chilly at times). Saturday was also a special day because it was LeeAnn's birthday! I even attempted to bake her some "tasty" low fat/low calorie blueberry muffins for her birthday. She'd been telling us how much she missed muffins, since they weren't on her healthy eating plan.  How they turned out is questionable, but she's still alive to tell about it! :)

Here's the birthday girl finishing her 10 miles at Neyland Stadium!

Here's how happy we were (self portrait) at the end of the walk!

To celebrate LeeAnn's birthday some of our teammates were able to meet up for dinner that evening ... and a my & Arielle's husbands joined us. Now my husband understands why I have so much fun with my teammates, we all laughed constantly at dinner! 

We clean up pretty nice! 

Well...this week so far hasn't been totally productive...I haven't been to the gym (don't worry, keep reading). I've got spring fever! The weather the past few days is really making me long for flip flop and shorts weather! Instead of the gym the past 2 days I've taken Belle dog for a walk. Tonight I'm going to have to add in some free weights during American Idol to finish up my workout!

The weather is making me think about my wardrobe, and how I'm going to have to replace a lot of it for the spring. As exciting as that prospect sounds ... it gets expensive! So far I've just replaced pants (since they are what have become extremely oversized)! Even though I've only lost 7 pounds, with the fat I've lost and turned into muscle, I've dropped 3 pant sizes! When we started our Biggest Winner journey I was wearing 22/24s, Saturday I bought a pair of regular sized 18s, in a non plus-size store. For those of you who aren't women, or have never shopped in a "Womens" or "Plus Size" section ... you have no idea.

My entire life I've had to shop for larger sizes, and have been limited by what I had available to purchase. And a large segment of plus size clothes are so not-even fashionable, that it's not even funny. I can't tell you how awesome it was to walk into old navy and try on their largest in-store size (regular 20 -- they carry their plus-size line online only), and it be too large. I got dressed, went back into the store and got 18s. One style was too baggy, and the other (the dress pants) fit perfectly!

Buying new pants has been one of the best rewards I have given myself. Talk about a boost in self confidence! You feel better when you look better, that's for sure! Well, leaving you with a little inspiration from my favorite font of knowledge, Pinterest!

This first one makes me think of our trainer and life coach, Chris O'Hearn. He continues to inspire us and make us stronger, no matter how much we complain! Even while we're complaining he reminds us how amazing we are!

The dog days of winter

Saturday we had a fun surprise during our Knoxville Track Club training run/walk-- we were joined by former Biggest Loser contestant Joe Mitchell. Joe was featured on season 12 of NBC's hit show, starting his journey at 348 pounds. It was fun hearing about his experience on the Biggest Loser ranch, but also reassuring to hear him express the fears and concerns he had when he began his weight loss journey. They're feelings & thoughts that so many of us have ... like, "will I ever feel thin?" and "will I ever convince myself it's OK to lose the weight?"

All of his advice and words were timely for our team. I think we're all at that point where we're really starting to make progress physically, and are all trying to mentally make sense of who we are, and what defines us. My strategy for positive thinking is to just do it. The more I tell myself that I'm healthy, and living a healthy lifestyle, the easier it is for me to believe. The more I tell myself that I'm doing amazing things for myself and my future, the more I believe it. The more I focus on my progress, and give myself credit for all of the hard work I'm doing, the easier it is for me to accept that this is all really happening.

Here is part of our team with Joe & his family at Saturday morning's training!

Well, turns out this week was a week for surprises  ... but more about that later.

Today our Covenant Health Biggest Winner team was on Live at Five at Four on WBIR, and it was definitely a lot of fun! Here's the link to our spot.  I think it was just the kind of fun we needed to break the somewhat serious cycle of workouts that we've been doing lately. Our first appearance was a few months ago when we first got started, and it's fun seeing the progress we've made on camera. We tallied up today before we went on the air that collectively we've lost 121 pounds since November. That doesn't even take into account all of the fat we've converted to muscle!

Here's the great story that aired immediately after our interview segment featuring my teammate Randy. He's truly been on a journey for many years, and I'm proud to call him my teammate!  One of his sources of inspiration he mentioned in his story is my friend Michael Holtz. I worked with Michael for several years at the beginning of my career, and admire him professionally for all that he taught me, and personally for his own commitment he's made to fitness and health. Michael has provided lots of inspiration to me, as he has to Randy, and I'm sure many others. He's proof that hard work pays off!

After we were interviewed on the show we got to take a tour around the station, and take some fun photos on the news desk and weather set that weren't in use at the time.

Here are Randy & Arielle exploring secondary career options! 

Our friend, and teammate WIVK the frog decided to try its hand at the weather, too! 

Although WIVK didn't have as much luck on the green screen! 

Our teammate, Live at Five at Four producer Lee  Ann,  had a little surprise in store for us. Before I get into the details ... a little background story. 

Have you heard of Mabel? Mabel the dog? She's becoming quite the celebrity around Knoxville. Check out her Facebook page here! Here's a link to a great news story about Mabel and her struggles -- you've got to watch this! Mabel was surrendered to Young Williams after her humans couldn't take care of her any longer due to her excessive weight. I hope you'll watch the story, but Mabel (who should weigh around 25 pounds) weighed 67 pounds when she was taken it at the shelter.  Mabel is working with the great folks at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine to drop some pounds in order to save her life. They've got her on a diet & quite the fitness regime. 

Needless to say after our team heard about Mabel and what she's going through, we thought she was quite the appropriate mascot for our team! We're cheering Mabel on every step of the way! 

So back to our surprise! Our awesome team mate Lee Ann invited Mabel to come and visit us while we were at the TV station!  It was pretty cool to meet Mabel, and hear her weight loss success story -- she's down to 51.7 pounds!!

Here our team is with Mabel! 

She's such sweetheart!

I guess the moral of today's story ... or today's surprise... is that everyone's got their own struggles. Whether you're a 35 year old woman, or a 60+ pound dog, the equation for weight loss is the same ... a lot of hard work, discipline, and an incredible support system of folks cheering you on!

As usual, I'd like to leave you with a little Pinterest wisdom ...

It's all about loving ... yourself!

Well, yesterday started out like a typical Monday. I was moving slow, and slowly moving! I headed to Covenant Weight Management Center for my monthly appointment with the dietitian. This was my 3rd meeting with her to date, and I was still nervous about it, b/c Barbara just tells you things how she sees them. She doesn't hold back. She doesn't sugar coat things. If you're eating something "wrong," she'll make sure you know your mistake. My visit before this one was good in that I'd lost 5 pounds of fat ... but I was still a little discouraged b/c the scale wasn't actually dropping.

Well, yesterday I finally saw some more progress, and it made every workout, every bit of discipline worth it.

My weight dropped 5 pounds in the last month, bringing total weight loss (since November 12 and the beginning of the Biggest Winner competition) to 7.5 pounds. That brings my overall weight loss since I started in June to about 25 pounds. The number of which I'm most proud is the conversion of Fat Mass to Fat Free Mass. In the last month I've converted 4 more pounds of fat to non-fat, which means since November I've converted 10.5 pounds of fat to non-fat mass. For those of you that are visual folks, just to jog your memory, here's what 5 pounds of fat looks like ...

So this ... x 2!!

Needless to say I'm proud of myself. This is one of those moments that I'm just going say it, and be proud of it, b/c I've worked hard for every ounce of it!

This is truly just the start of my journey, but today I feel like the ends have justified the means. Happy Valentine's Day!

Snap, crackle, pop!

Snap, crackle, pop, that's what my body sounds like this morning as I ease into my day. My poor knees, with all of their past trauma, won't let me sneak up on anyone! Every morning I think, "I wish I could stretch as good and satisfactorily as our dog does!"

Stretching, surprisingly, is something I've had to try to make habit as well as exercise. I think people take for granted the benefits of stretching in the morning, throughout the day, and at night. The nights I take time to stretch thoroughly before bed I really notice a difference in the morning. You'd think that outcome would be motivation alone to do it EVERY night! Oh, well ... we live and we learn!

I haven't blogged as frequently as I'd like to in the past few weeks, and hope that real world things will settle down enough soon so that I can post as often as I think about posting.

Let's back up to last Saturday! The Covenant Kids Run had its kick off at the Knoxville Zoo! I'd never been to this event before -- and I have to say it's pretty cool! Kids are encouraged to start their marathon mileage at the zoo during kick off, and then log their next 24 miles on their own with their families between now and 3/31/12, when they complete their last mile towards the finish line at Neyland Stadium (just like the marathon and half). It's a great opportunity to encourage kids to become more active, but also learn how to set fitness goals. Even if you missed the kick off you can still register your kids at www.knoxvillemarathon.com.

At the kick off we helped Missy with some pre-race stretching, and crowd warm-up. Warm-up was the key phrase for the morning, as it was cold and rainy. Unfortunately the weather kept some folks away ... but over 500 kids still attended!

Here's our group before the event began.

The absolute coolest part of the day was cheering the kids on as they reached the finish line. I have a feeling my facial reactions and surge of emotions will be quite similar to theirs as people cheer us on throughout the half marathon in April.

I'm especially proud of two newcomers to this year's kids run ... two of my nephews! They came to the kick-off with their mom (my sister), and my dad (Doc)!

Since the Kids Run kick off cut into our normal training time we needed to get in our mileage at some point over the weekend. So, my walking buddy, LeeAnn and I decided that on Sunday we'd tackle the first 7.5-8 miles of the half marathon course. For us this would help us clear a bit of a mental hurdle, as well as a physical one. We were joined by last year's Biggest Winner team member, Julie, who helped encourage our progress along the way! 

The weather was great, our moods were good, and it turned out to be quite a nice athletic adventure! A special thanks to my parents for allowing a pit stop around mile 5! 

Mentally, the greatest accomplishment for me on this training walk was conquering Noelton. Everyone talks about how horrible it is, especially at that point in the race. 

Then we took a closer look... j/k!

So here's our snafu for the day ... at this point we'd calculated we should be close to 7.5 miles...at least that's what the marathon route said. When we reached our cars at Earthfare we had logged 9.5 miles! Yikes! Oh, well ... crossed that mental barrier! Evidently we picked up a little mileage on the front & back end of the walk. 

This past few weeks we've really gotten to experience training in every type of weather! Yesterday's trek was definitely the coldest so far, with the first snow during a walk that I've seen this season. The temp was reading 30 degrees when we started, but with the windchill 20 degrees!

Lee Ann & I were joined by our friend Beth for the cold adventure! We started at the West Side YMCA, then walked to Wynsong Theatre on the greenways, and then lapped back towards Wal-mart, and eventually back to Wynsong.

Our goal was 7.5-8 miles, and we ended up at 7.7! It was definitely blustery! 

Tomorrow morning I have my monthly follow-up with dietitian at Covenant Weight Management Center. I'm eager to see my (hopefully) progress on the scales! The main diet-type things I've worked on this past month have been drinking more water, and adding less salt to things! I really hope they've paid off! Wish me luck! 

Here are my nuggets of Fitness (and overall life) insight for the week! 

You've got to have heart!

Today was a great day. Today was a long day. Today was an exhausting day. Today was one of those days where I was proud of my employer and the great things we do in the community. Today is one of those days that I really could have used a nap. Today was a day I was thankful for an amazing team of co-workers, with whom I truly enjoy working. Today was a day when I tried something new. Today was a day I sacrificed to get my workout in. Today was a day I was uplifted by time with my teammates. Today was a day that zapped my energy and renewed it all at once. I made the most of today.

Isn't it funny how so many emotions can occupy our heads all at once? I know I probably can seem scattered or flighty at times, but I've realized that being true to ourselves means embracing each day as it comes, and loving it for what it's worth.

We had an awesome work event tonight -- Covenant's Heart Truth Wear Red Gala at West Town Mall. Lots of lovely ladies modeled awesome fashions from various stores in West Town Mall, and Belk. The event was to raise awareness for heart disease in women, and promote that tomorrow is National Wear Red Day! Over 200 folks came out to support the event ... and the great swag bags put together by the mall! Several of the models were Heart Champions trained to spread awareness about heart disease in women, and several were heart disease survivors.

So...the trying something new part I mentioned above. I tweeted & facebooked live throughout the event on behalf of my company. Now, I can use social media with the best of them ... but, I'd never utilized it this way for an event before. All-in-all, I think I did a decent job, minus the few typos I found after the fact (stupid fat fingers with my iPhone).

My training has helped me realize something about myself that's been hard for me to accept throughout life ... I'm not perfect. I won't ever be perfect. This doesn't mean I'll give up trying to do an awesome job at the things I do, or that I've accepted defeat or anything, it just means I've started to set realistic expectations for myself.

Tonight towards the end of our work event I had to speed out to head to our group training session with Chris. At the beginning of training I think it was obvious that most of us were just plain tired. We all have demanding jobs and other obligations that pull us in a million different directions on a daily basis. Some of us aren't seeing the weight drop on the scales, some of us feel like we've hit a plateau, some of us feel that our fitness level isn't up to par with others ... but you know what, we're showing up! That's worth more than all of the stories we're telling ourselves in our heads about why we're not as successful as we think we should be at this point.

So tonight instead of focusing how tired I am, or how sore I am, or even how sore I am going to be tomorrow, I'm going to focus on the fact that I'm glad I'm tired because I pushed myself to be better today ... both professionally and physically. I'm going to focus on the fact that feeling sore means that I'm feeling something ... and that means I've alive! I'll take it! I'm going to focus on the incredible support system I have in my life ... my family, my co-workers, and my teammates, you all are awesome! I had one of our event models, who is a  heart disease survivor stop me this evening, and ask if I was on this year's Biggest Winner Team, and I told her yes. She told me how proud she was of me, and to keep up the good work! I won't lie ... it felt great!

Thanks for sticking with me on this one ... I know it's been a bit rambling. Don't forget to wear your red tomorrow to support women's heart disease awareness.

Don't forget to try something new tomorrow, and be thankful you have a tomorrow!