Working out

I have been working out for the past few months. As far as weight goes, I did fine after Cam was born...pretty good after Jake was born....not so good after MaKenna was born, and when Major was born, I think the only weight I lost was his 9 pounds!!! It has been hard. Couple the fact that I have birthed 4 babies with the illness of my mom over the past 5 years (I am an emotional eater), and you get an overweight mamma! Now...I am NOT going to blame my kids OR my mom for my weight. I did it all by myself...but those are circumstances that didn't help my situation much.

When we moved into this house, I started walking the kids to and from school. That was a start...then the weather got yucky...I wasn't going to walk my babies in that weather...so I didn't exercise at all. After mom died, and I couldn't get into the one suit that was my biggest one...the suit that I wore DIRECTLY AFTER my pregnancies, for her funeral...I decided...this is ridiculous. I have to do something about this. Those of you who saw me at the funeral and you say...."I think you looked fine in that suit." I just want you to know...I was HORRIBLY uncomfortable, I wasn't breathing a lot and if you noticed...no matter how hot I got, I NEVER took off the suit jacket....I also NEVER buttoned the suit jacket! :-) Don't get me wrong...I don't think I have ever been huge by any means...but for someone that used to be a size 1....my current size 12-14 is big! And I was just not comfortable anymore.

So...as soon as the weather started warming up...some in February, but mostly in March, I started...not only WALKING the kids to and from school...but I went and bought a jogging stroller and I JOGGED to and from school, with Major in the stroller and MaKenna riding her bike. That was my starting point. I also started eating better. Not really a diet...I just cut out ALL snacks during the week....on weekends, I can splurge a bit. Anyway, I didn't see a huge difference, but my clothes weren't quite as tight after a month or so...and I did have more energy. Well...one day we went to Skatedaze as a family and I saw a flier for a fitness study done by Curves. I called and I got in. They measured me, weighed me, talked to me about goals, etc. It was a one month study. I had to go in at least 3 times a week. So...starting May 18th, I went at least 3 times a week. I also had to record all of my data on the computer for the University of Texas, who was actually doing the study.

After a month, I was weighed again and measured. Now...throughout this month, I must say...I REALLY enjoyed it. I had TONS more energy....and my clothes fit MUCH nicer. I continued to run to and from school. And once school ended, I kept running in the evening. It all became a habit for me. Now I am lost if I don't go to Curves and get my running in. So...after that month...I lost only one pound...BUT...I lost 7 inches!!! Not all in one spot of course, but 7 INCHES! THAT IS HUGE! ONE MONTH!!! So, I joined Curves...I became a member.

Now....like I said, I go at least 3 to 4 times a week. Even when I am vacationing in Flagstaff next week, I plan on going to their Curves. I also run ALMOST nightly...and eat well during the week. Now my clothes don't just fit much nicer, now they are ALMOST loose on me!!! I am not quite ready to go down a size, but almost! I still haven't shed much weight...but I know that will come with time.

If you aren't familiar with Curves, I would really encourage you to click on the link above. It is circuit training which is what I always did when I ran track. It is a 30 minute work out. That's it! I have 30 minutes I can give to my health! I burn more calories in 30 minutes at Curves than I can running for an hour!

Anyway, so I have this friend, Allyson. She is a fitness person too. She wanted to start running together at night after we put the kids to bed. So, Sunday night at 8:30, she came and picked me up. We went over to Ed Zorinsky Lake, and did 4 miles! 2 miles running, and 2 miles walking quickly. It was SWELTERING hot here...but I survived. When I got home, I had so much sweat all over me I was soaked. The kids asked if I jumped IN the lake! Allyson and I had planned on only going out and doing this once or twice a week...but knowing I was going to be busy this week getting ready for the trip and then being gone for 10 days, we thought we should go out Monday night too. So at 8:30, I went and picked her up. We wanted to mix it up a bit...plus it was EVEN hotter, so we biked the 6 miles around Wehrspann Lake. The running at Zorinsky took us an hour....the biking at Wehrspann only took us 33 minutes. We were still sweating like crazy, but it was fun. So we have been enjoying the extra work outs we've been getting. We plan on picking up where we left off as soon as we get home from Flagstaff/Lake Powell. Maybe in a few months I can get back into size 10 jeans??? You'll all here a "Hallelujah" chorus when that happens!!! :-)

Keep on keepin' on!!!

T