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! 

It's not about the weight ...

OK, I know my post title today may not exactly make sense since I am participating in a weight loss competition...but bear with me!

Today was my one month check up with our dietitian, Barbara, at Covenant Weight Management Center. A little refresher on our timeline:

• November 12, 2011: Team met for the first time, did publicity photo shoot, etc. 
• December 12, 2011: First meeting with dietitian
• January 1, 2012: Official Biggest Winner training starts with Missy Kane & Chris O'Hearn. 

All of our walking, hiking, working out on our own prior to January 1 really was a bonus! It wasn't "required," but was a great jump start for our program.

All of that being explained -- since November 12, I've lost 2 pounds. Yup, you read that right, 2 pounds! I've lost 2 pounds, and 2 pant sizes. Let me explain...

The scales at Covenant Weight Management Center are very comprehensive in that they are able to measure some really cool stuff:

• weight
• BMI
• Fat %
• Fat Mass (how much of your weight is fat)
• Free Fat Mass (how much of your weight is not fat)
• Total Body Water

OK, so now here's the number I'm really excited about (and so was Barbara, even though she's still not thrilled with my sodium intake): Since November I've lost 6 pounds of fat! Yes, you read that right. My Fat Mass has gone from 125.51 to 119.51. In case you want to know what that looks like ... here's a pic of dietitian Barbara holding the 5 pound fat model (I stole this photo from Kelsey's (last year's winner) blog. I googled 5 pounds of fat, and ended up finding this picture!)

So, while I admittedly was disappointed that my weight wasn't lower than it is, I'm ecstatic about this huge achievement!

On the fitness front things are going well. Saturday was our longest walk to date, 6 miles. We met up with the Knoxville Track club at a new store on Gay Street to begin our adventure. It was definitely our coldest training event so far! 

On the greenway by the river with my teammates Lee Ann, Melody and Mike.

Tomorrow I turn 35. I've already celebrated with most of my wonderful family, and am very appreciate of the awesome gifts they've given me off of my list! A new heart monitor watch, and a new exercise mat! I know those may not sound terribly exciting ... but they are! Just a few more tools to help me on my journey. 

One of the other things that's helping me through this journey is a good sense of humor. I think you've got to be able to laugh at yourself, and learn from your mistakes and goofs, and make the best of any situation. Here's just a few little inspirational tidbits I found on Pinterest.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week! I'm enjoying a few days off with my husband! We all need a little rest sometimes! 

It's all in the numbers

This morning I had my highly anticipated first meeting with Barbara, the dietitian at Covenant Weight Management Center. I went to the appointment with mixed feelings of nervousness, excitement, fear, and anxiety. My teammates who had already had their initial appointments had come away with varying experiences, so I really had no idea how the visit would go.


The visit was wonderful. It was eye opening, and the perfect refresher course on nutrition that I needed. For a long time I've viewed carbs as the enemy, and have tried to limit them. For the simple fact that I am a carb addict I've always felt that if I kept them under control I would be healthier. Well, today was a big wake up call.


Let's rewind a little back to the summer. I started limiting my calories and my carbs. While I've seen some weight loss from the change, I didn't make any changes when I increased my activity level. So, instead of adjusting my diet appropriately a month ago when we started walking & working out, I kept up my old routine. 


Well, today Barbara explained to me that my body has been trying to protect me from myself. Since I haven't been fueling it properly (kept my diet around 1000 calories a day with only 2-3 carbs), and I have increased my activity by like 500%, my body is thinking that it needs to keep my fat around so that I don't die. The good news is ... I have enough fat to keep me alive for awhile. The bad news is ... I have enough fat around to keep me alive for awhile! :) 


My new food plan ... no counting calories. Really?! Nuh uh!! Yup, when you're reading everything else on the label and eating what you should the calories should fall into place. The only calorie rule is that a meal should have no fewer than 200 calories (my breakfasts and lunches for the past several months have been around 180 calories each). 


My ideal fruit, veggie & protein portions are all pretty much in check with my current eating habits. And Sodium goal 1500 mg or less a day. 


And now for my new carb plan ... 3 for breakfast, 3 for lunch, 1 for afternoon snack, 3-4 for dinner, and 1 for bedtime snack. 12 servings of carbs a day?! I'm still in shock. I'm actually still planning on how to work that all in! 


Barbara's review of food labels with me was absolutely the most helpful part of our appointment. I'm sure I'll carry this handout around with me the next few times I go to the store ... but it's a huge help. 


Some important things to look at when reading food labels:

• How big is the serving size? This can be sneaky! I spot-checked a few things in our pantry when I got home ... and Barbara was right ... some of them are sneaky! I even had my husband reading labels at dinner, when he realized 1 serving of club crackers was only 4 crackers. 4 crackers?! Sheesh.
• Total Fat: Ideally for me with weight loss (and probably a good rule of thumb) 5 grams or less a serving
• Saturated fat: Ideally 2 grams or less
• Trans Fat - 0
• Sodium: Ideally 300 mg or less
• And -- the more fiber, the better!!  More fiber gives you some credit with your carbs. For example If something has 30 grams of carbs, and 6 grams of fiber ... you only have to count the 24 carbs (30-6)!

Today was also my first weigh-in, exactly a month from our intro day when we did our publicity shots and first met each other. The good news is that I'm down 1.5 pounds. The even better news is that with the proper fuel, and new food plan, hopefully next month it'll be a greater weight loss.