Fell off the earth...

Well holy crap! It has been so long since I blogged.

I haven't fallen off the wagon by any means just haven't had a chance to get on here, I have been busy working out and focussing hard on training for my upcoming triathlon!

No point in playing catch up with this post since it has been that long, so I might as well catch you up to speed as best as possible. I decided to go with a local triathlon as cost played heavily into that which means instead of June 7th the new date is May 18th -- which doesn't give me a ton of time to train!

I started training for my running and biking this week. I ran my first 5KM last night which was brutal! Took me 48min. Tonight I did my 10KM bike in just over 40min -- that is my slowest time EVER! I was super bummed about that. I am looking forward to the nicer weather and going outside for my running and biking. Especially for the biking as on an exercise bike you literally have to bike ride constantly and on a real bike you can let your legs rest while you go downhill and yet you are still moving. Running is running but maybe the scenery changing will help me focus too -- I hope! Music sure didn't. I tried to focus on the beat tonight, maybe it did help a bit but it was so challenging to not quit. I kept trying to talk myself into it saying "you've done 10KM before and you know you can do it in 28min, your tired just quit" another time I said "just go to 5KM that's good enough" and if you can believe it I actually debated quitting at 9KM -- I was SO tired!! It has required a lot of mental focus lately to push through my workouts. I have always struggled with working out alone, that was the main reason I feel I always failed. This time I had someone to kick my butt and I to try and keep up with! It was someone I was accountable to and now I am only accountable to myself, which isn't a bad thing it just makes it a lot more difficult.

So yeah it has been challenging to work out by myself lately. I think this is just the way it will have to be as my partner is incredibly busy, it just means I have to dig even deeper when working out. I don't have that person beside me anymore saying "push it! don't quit!". Last night for running I almost quit like 50 times! I am NOT a runner and it is by far my biggest hurdle to overcome. I know I should be happy about running my first 5KM but all I could think about was how SLOW I was.
I did the same thing tonight for the biking. I felt so ridiculous for taking so long, I think tonight's workout played a lot into the fact that my legs were so sore from running last night. Only explanation, that and I did it on a level 10 pretty much steadily and was biking super fast too. How my husband put it was it was like biking the whole 10KM (almost) uphill. So next time I think I will take the level intensity down. It hurt! I actually scolded myself tonight for being slow. I remember actually saying in my head "geez just pick it up, your so freaking slow!" ... yep, my own worst critic at it again. I have been told many a times that I am hard on myself, honestly I don't think it is anything I can really help though.

So all this being said, I was originally going to take this week off for the T25 to let Joelene catch up since she missed last week then we could focus on trying to do the T25 together at least, but with her crazy new schedule and us not being able to match up times to do it, and in light of the last 2 days I have decided that I just need to get my T25 finished so I can focus 100% on triathlon training. If I take this week off I won't be done until May 9th which doesn't give me hardly any time to focus on training solely, but if I push through this week I will be done 1 week sooner and as it stands I need all the time I can get. It is my first triathlon and this is my first year being so physically active consistently probably since high school so my body needs time to build up stamina.

So now for some positive news! Last week was a bit of a struggle, I had the stomach flu BUT I ended up losing 3.5lbs and a bunch of inches! It stayed off. I then lost another .5lb the last time I weighed in (I think that was Saturday?) I am so looking forward to my weigh in this week as I have really dedicated to incorporating more protein in every meal/snack and NOT missing any meals. It has been a challenge some days but I am staying on track! I seen a video that Joelene shared on my Facebook about those wild cravings you get and the reason why. Well simply put it is because you aren't eating enough, and you aren't getting enough protein in either. So I focussed on beefing up my snacks and lunches with healthy fruits/vegetables and proteins and I have noticed a HUGE difference.

I am happy this week I get to finally order my tea machine and then I am going to buy a bunch of the "skinny genie" tea which will help to increase my metabolism, plus it tastes so good. Green tea (decaf) counts as part of your daily water intake so it will also give me variety there. I am also hoping to start taking Shakeology starting in April. Joelene ordered me some sample packs so I am excited for that too. I tried a couple and they also help with cravings and man do they fill you up! They are shakes as meal replacements but healthy and full of all your nutrients you need. Everyone who has taken them has seen amazing results in weight loss when coupled with exercise (T25 or some other beachbody workout) and clean eating. I am already doing 2/3 of that so here's hoping I can be another testimonial! I am also considering "selling" the stuff and becoming a beach body coach (mostly just so I can buy the shakeology at a discounted price) but if I can motivate others to come down the same journey as I just walked -- wow. What an inspiration that would be. I am not yet confident enough to post before/after pictures or post my start/current weights. However I do feel different, and I know I look different. I am not the same person who started this journey in January. I am stronger! In some ways I am the same though -- I am still hard on myself, and I still sell myself short!

I am also pumped because I want to start this new program after the T25 (and triathlon) called the "21 day fix" you should YouTube it. It seems so awesome! Some people have lost so much weight on that. Not that I am looking for that "quick fix" but I think a 21 day challenge is something I am up for and motivated to do.

ALSO (see now that I have started playing catch up I realize how many things have happened  these last few weeks!) I don't know if I have blogged this yet or not but I have also decided to do another 5K run in September called "The Neon Run" it looks SO FUN! I think I am totally becoming one of those exercise crazed people. I love it (and hate it at times), and I love this woman I am becoming! The more I walk this journey the more I amaze myself and the more excited I am to be a physically fit person.

Well a lot of training to do, so that being said... wish me luck! This weekend I am going to attempt my first "mock trial" doing all the exercises for the triathlon together to get my times. My son's birthday party is this weekend too! So hopefully I can resist cake! haha. Plus a family celebration on Sunday (spaghetti/garlic toast/ salad and more dessert!) I am going to try to resist as much as I can!

I think that pretty much covers it. Not really sure there is a whole lot more to add right now! Off to have my after workout protein (2 hard boiled eggs!)

Ciao!