Even a rainy day won't slow us down!

I wanted to blog sooner this week, but it's been a whirlwind of a week! This week I had my post-fitness test at Fort Sanders Health & Fitness Center, and also my last visit with the dietitian at Covenant Weight Management Center, along with my final weigh in. Our Biggest Winner Team is gearing up for April 1 and the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon, and along with that comes lots of housekeeping type stuff.

As I mentioned earlier this week I had my post-fitness test, and was excited that the results were definitely what I wanted to accomplish! They showed that I'd gained strength, flexibility, and was in overall better health.

In December I could do 14 push-ups until I was fatigued...this week I could do 25!
My average flexibility on the sit & reach test in December: 13  inches. My average flexibility this week: 16.3 inches! My body measurements also all moved in the right direction ... except for my calves, which they explained was most likely due to added muscle.

At my weigh-in: I'd dropped one more pound on the scale, but converted 2 more pounds of fat to fat-free mass. Bringing my to-date totals to: 8.5 pounds ... but the more exciting number is converting 12.5 pounds of fat to fat-free mass!

I also had blood work done this week and was able to compare it to my initial blood work in November.
My cholesterol was 139, and is now 135. My triglycerides were 177, and are now 130. My HDL (good cholesterol) went up! Yay. It was 42 and is now 48! I still need to get it above 50!  My LDL (bad cholesterol) went down 1 point, and is still in the desirable range at 61. I'm eager to see if there's been any change in my A1C when I visit my endocrinologist in April!

This week our Thursday night strength training session was lead by Coach Kane and Joe Mitchell, former contestant on the NBC show Biggest Loser. We had lots of fun ... which is they key to our successful workouts!

Joe challenged us with some crazy exercises working on upper body strength and core stability. Below is LeeAnn punching out her frustrations, and then below Melody trying to balance while laughing at our teammate Randy.

Saturday for our long effort -- we began to taper our mileage! We were supposed to get in 7 miles, but about 3 miles into our walk it started raining. At first it was refreshing, and then it just rained harder and harder, and we got wetter and wetter. We ended up around 6.5 miles, but knew we would add mileage later in the day walking from our cars to the Women Today Expo. 

It was a beautiful day to start off on Cherokee Boulevard, part of the half marathon course.

"Here's your sign!" This is how we felt when we first started out! lol

But enjoyed it anyway!

Here's our teammate Edee who is going to hand cycle in the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon!

And then it started raining harder. We had to pause on the greenway (about a mile before we were finished) to memorialize the day! Our canine walking pal Zombie was also NOT a fan of being so wet! 

Well, an hour after we were done walking we were supposed to be at the Women Today Expo downtown to present on the Conversation Stage. I was so wet I ended up stopping by my parent's house to re-dry my hair and myself to change for the event. By the time I got to the Expo, the sun was shining again! A crazy, but beautiful day! 

My teammates Darla, Edee, Peggy and Melody all made it out for our presentation at the Expo. Coach Kane talked through our weight loss journey, and we all shared different info about ourselves and things we've learned along the way. We had a packed house in our seating area. And to close our segment we invited the audience to get up and do some fun exercise with us -- the Cha Cha slide. Although some were hesitant at first -- we had a pretty big group dancing with us at the end! It was a lot of fun! 

Here's just a few snap shots from the afternoon.

Well, just a little inspiration to wrap up for today! Enjoy this beautiful sunshine! Get outside and move! 

It's been quite a week!

I feel like it's been awhile since I've blogged, but it's been "one of those" kind of weeks! Work schedule was nutty, with not much personal down time,  but I've made it through to Saturday!

 I managed to get in 5 days of workouts for the week, including our first training session with Chris O'Hearn at Fort Sanders Health & Fitness Center. It was a great session, and felt good to start doing some more full body strengthening. We did some arm, back & leg exercises using the weight machines & free weights, and then  some other core strengthening stuff like planks, and crunches using the exercise ball. Friday I wasn't as sore when I woke up as I was afraid I would be -- which was definitely a relief!

This morning our Biggest Winner team met up with the Knoxville Track club at the Runners Market in Western Plaza for our training. Today my training goal was to increase my longest by 1/2 a mile ... so 5.5 miles for me today! Although Missy wants me to limit running right now to avoid injury, I did some interval pick-ups to get our heart rate up. Needless to say, my feet hurt after today's walk/shuffle, but the rest of me feels great!! It's 1 p.m. and I have over 14,000 steps in for the day!! I'd call that a successful day!

After our walk most of our team met up at Panera to relax a little. Missy asked us how the nutrition portion of our challenge was going. It was good to hear what everyone was going through, the challenges they were having, or the successes. We all go through the same stuff at different times, so most of us can honestly say "I know exactly what you're talking about!" Also, I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one who is not seeing the pounds just melt away! Some of our team members (mostly guys) have lost more than 10 pounds in the challenge so far. I'm fluctuating with the same 2-4 back and forth. I know that I'm building muscle and converting fat to muscle, and I am happy about that ... but it will be nice to see a bigger dip on the scale. Currently I'll be thankful that I definitely notice the loss in the way that my clothes fit. Even if the scale isn't showing it -- my baggy clothes do!

Another cool thing that's been going on this week is that at work we transitioned to a new employee wellness plan endorsed by our health plan Humana. I wasn't so sure about it at first, but now I'm pretty excited the opportunity. Why shouldn't I earn points (that transition into vitality bucks) for all of the hard work I'm putting in?! So, with my new pedometer clipped on, and my HumanaFit iphone app I tracked today's walk. Pretty cool!

I'll leave you with a few motivational tidbits that I pinned on Pinterest.

Oh, I almost forgot to share an article that ran in the Mountain Press, the local paper in the county where I work! Some of you have seen it ... but for those who haven't, here you go!

Designing my resolutions

It's been a few days since I've posted, with the hustle and bustle of the holidays surrounding us. Surprisingly I had a lot of quiet time to myself in the past week and have used it to really start considering my short (2012) and long term health & fitness goals. I plan to fine-tune my thoughts and post on that in my next blog!


But now for a quick holiday review! I did it -- the week prior to Christmas I got in 5 work outs! I've been going to the gym (Fort Sanders Health & Fitness) more than when I started training, and it helps keep me motivated. There's something about being in a group of people who are all sweating to help keep you going. One day I remember glancing over at the gentleman on the bike beside me - he was maybe 60+ years old, had been on the bike longer than I had, but had gone a shorter distance. I thought, "look at me, ahead of this guy," and then I realized he was just in his warm up! Before I knew it he was cycling over 75 rpm! Sheesh. Instead of letting him get the best of me (mentally) I kept up with him, even cycling on the interval setting. It was probably unfair to him that he didn't realize we were competing ... but it gave me the push I needed! lol


My goal for the coming week is to really start some upper body and core strengthening into my workout. I'm really looking forward to our group training sessions that will start in January.


As far as Christmas was concerned, I feel good about what I did and what I ate. Sure there were a few splurges here and there (2 cookies on Christmas to be exact ... but it was homemade rugula and it was worth every carb). I made a really yummy Greek dip with hummus, feta, cucumbers, tomatoes & kalamata olives (finally something productive from pinterest!) that I took to Christmas at my folks house. It was so yummy that I took a 2nd batch back for night 2 of our festivities.


I got some great fitness related holiday gifts, that I'm really excited about! New headphones (that double as blue tooth if needed), and an armband holder thingie for my iphone for when I'm walking/shuffling/running. I also got a great new pair of running gloves -- which will really come in handy tonight since I'm planning on some outside training! And, thankfully, some gift certificates to go buy some new clothes. My pants (even the ones I bought 2 weeks ago) have started to look completely, and ridiculously big. Yesterday at work I had no fewer than 4 people tell me I needed new pants. While I appreciate them noticing ... it's frustrating and exhilarating at the same time! lol 


Well, off to work (my Friday for the week)! Hope everyone is enjoying a wonderful week! 

I am the author of my own story

Today was a long day, but a good long day. After work I had my runner/walker evaluation with Phil at Parkwest Therapy Services. This was an optional tool for us to take advantage of as part of our team training. I was eager to see what he had to say, given my plethora of orthopedic maladies. I really enjoyed our session, and learned a great deal about body mechanics, and what I can do to strengthen my body core in order to protect my knees and my feet. He had some very helpful suggestions for the ideal shoes I need (good stability), and recommendations for strengthening my left hip & IT band on both sides. 


After my runner evaluation we had our first group goal setting session with our trainer Chris O'Hearn. This was really the first time we've spent with Chris, other than our brief meeting during our kick-off day. Chris is a personal trainer at Fort Sanders Health & Fitness Center, and also a life coach. You can check out his website, Strong Within here. I think he's going to be an incredible influence on our team. 


Chris reminds me of Coach Kane, in that he is just a ball of energy! He talks a mile a minute (which is good, b/c that's the speed at which I listen), and you can tell he's really passionate about helping people realize that they are the authors of their own stories. If you can dream it, you can be it. I knew I liked him when he quoted Yoda, "Do or do not, there is no try." 


More excitement to come tomorrow night -- my Fit Test at the Fitness Center! I'll keep you posted! 

Odd and ends... and fear of falling

I feel like a slacker, but I finally scheduled my intro Fit Test at Fort Sanders Health & Fitness Center (FSHFC) today. It's not until next week, but it least it's finally on the books. I have this bad habit of not doing things if I don't write them down, or create a reminder on my outlook calendar. Yesterday when I left work I put a sticky note right in the middle of my desk reminding me that today I needed to call and schedule my Fit Test. It is now done! 


I'm one of those people who tend to be more productive the more things I have on my plate. If that's the case then next week is sure to be a winner of a  week! 


Tuesday after work I have my walker/runner evaluation with a physical therapist, then later that evening I've got our first team meeting with our trainer and life coach Chris O'Hearn at FSHFC. Wednesday after work I've got my Fit Test at FSHFC. Thursday a festive holiday celebration with current & past team members, and then Friday a team appearance on Live at Five at 4. Then the following Monday I finally have my appointment with the dietitian at Covenant Weight Management Center. Yes, I'm already tired thinking about it all! 


I know many of you saw the link I posted on Facebook to the MTV show that featured an appearance by Chris O'Hearn. If you didn't get a chance to see it, it's now available here. If you've ever struggled with weight loss, it's definitely a must-see.


While working on building exercise as a habit in my life, I've been thinking more and more about if I can do this. If I can actually follow through with what I've started. Honestly, it still scares the hell out of me to think about where I'll be by April. Today I asked myself the question, "why have I never run before?" 


The simple answer - realistically and metaphorically - I've been afraid of falling. I've had so many injuries in my past, and I'm clumsy, so there's the survivalist fear of falling down and going boom. OK, worst case scenario, I end up in the hospital or dead (the previous is more likely). I work in healthcare, my friends will take excellent care of me. Mentally, if I set myself up for failure, I'll fail. If I convince myself that I can succeed, I will. If I "fall" metaphorically along the way, I've got a great support team of friends, family, and my new teammates to help me pick up the pieces, and keep working.


A few more nuggets of inspiration from my favorite time waster, Pinterest.

And my personal favorite, especially with my sesamoiditis...