I've been there so many times...I'll come across an old blog- a page dedicated to the life of your typical American family...or maybe a tribute site to someone who has battled and, sometimes, lost. And, then I notice the date- be it weeks, months, or even years since the last post. I wonder what happened?! Did they die in some horrible accident?! Did the birth of baby #6 just prove to be too much to take care of a family AND maintain a daily blog?!! And, well, the other day, I realized I had done just that to my own blog.

So, here I am...back! I'm sure you saw the inklings of a blog and life hiatus based on some of my last posts. Workouts getting erratic...food choices getting even more erratic. Well, good news is, I haven't gained all the weight back (although I have gained) and I did complete my first mini sprint triathlon. I actually finished it #216 out of #772- not too shabby IMO. I almost hit my goal of doing it under an hour, but my transitions were too long and the pool was pretty crowded, so my swim was a bit of a joke (I was just floating in the water at one point.) Hopefully, October's race in Chapel Hill will allow me to break an hour.

As for today- it's been a great day- just went for a 3 mile run in the new neighborhood and we have a healthy dinner planned. So, where there is healthy food and exercise, there is hope. Yah with me?! :)

Oh, and here's a pic of the new digs- love, love, love this home and I feel so fortunate to be able to raise our family here.

Last Week- honestly, can't remember

Monday's Workout: 1hr 1min run / 40min swim

Today's Workout: 1hr 7min swim/ 2hr 16min bike ride/ 46min run

Saturday's Weigh-in: don't know

Week Loss/Gain: ??

Total Loss: ???lbs

OK- just so you guys know, I have NOT thrown in the towel. I had another half-on/half-off week- and I lost track of what workouts I did last week (and I did work out- at least 2 to 3 days.) My eating was not what it should have been either, but it wasn't good enough for me to even remember what I weighed Saturday morning. So, again, haven't thrown in the towel- it's just last week was a bit of a blur.

I also was having some calf pain during/after one of my runs last week- so, even though I shouldn't have eaten like I did, when I eat bad, I don't work out, so it allowed my calf issue to go away. So, not a solution that I would recommend to, well, anyone, but it was at least a small silver lining in the mess that was last week.

So, this week is going well- did my longest workout for the entire training period today- over 4 frickin' hours!! To keep it simple, I did it all in the gym- and I did it in the order that I would do it during the actual tri. I usually swim last, 'cause it's easier to just leave in my bathing suit than having to change into biking/running clothes, but I wanted to see how my body did swimming, biking, and then running. And, it was very tiring, but definitely doable. If anything, the only issues I had was regarding boredom- my favorite shows weren't on HGTV and I didn't feel like bugging the floor manager to change the channel for me again. The GSN tv near the treadmill was on "Lingo" when I started, so that was a bust too. At least I got to finish with a semi-old episode of "Family Feud".

Anyways, today was long and arduous, so tomorrow is actually a scheduled off day (thank goodness!!). So, Phoenix and I will spend the afternoon together watching "HOP." I also want to see "Rio", but that may have to wait until next week.

Thanks for reading and I apologize again for my issues in motivation and posting. I knew when I started this, that it wouldn't be a perfect journey. I just can't let my usual fears of not succeeding mess up my plans of getting to my goal weight. As of last Saturday, I was almost under 10lbs from my goal- now is not the time to sabotage my journey!! :)

Wednesday's Workout: 1hr run / 39min swim

Thursday's Workout: 2hr 44min bike

Friday's Workout: 53min swim

Saturday's Workout: Rugged Maniac 5K Obstacle race- Completed in 41:00! :)

Sunday's Weigh-in: 145.4

Week Loss/Gain: -8.8

Total Loss: -26lbs

Well, I just realized I wasn't changing the week number on my stats, so I just took it off for now. If I have time, I'll add it back up there later. :)

As far as this week, it's been really interesting. By Wednesday, I was down to 145.2. I've had extremely long workouts this week (as noted above), including a tough obstacle race yesterday, but I pretty much maintained my weight since Wed. So, either I didn't eat enough this week OR my body said... "you know what, I let you lose all that weight you gained, so I'm not giving up much more for the week-- deal with it." :) Today is free day, so I'll see if that helps shake things up a bit.

My obstacle race yesterday was the most fun I've EVER had at a race before. There were shuttling issues going to and from the race, but even those 1hr wait times weren't bad enough to dampen my high spirits from the race. As soon as I arrived at the speedway, I knew this was going to be a fantastic time. People were already racing, walking around post-race covered in mud and eating bagels, and some were just standing around, enjoying the view.

The race itself was awesome- I had to climb wood walls (with the help of a boost from other racers on the higher ones), slide through a tunnel, climb up a cargo net and then drop 10+ feet onto a mat, go down a huge slide into a pool of extremely cold water (outside temp was only 50 degrees), run through at least 3/4 mile of 1' deep mud, run around 1.5 miles in the forest, hop through tires, etc. etc. My time was around 41min and I felt like a million bucks when I finished. I couldn't stop talking about it to my line "neighbors". I was there by myself, but I certainly didn't feel like it.

The best part is, I have Josh on board for the next one (called the Gladiator 5K) in Raleigh on May 21st. There were a lot of "teams" at the Rugged Maniac and I would have loved to have had someone with me, so I'm so excited to have Josh running alongside next time. I'm also signed up for the USMC Mud Run in June and then the Warrior Dash in August. To be honest, I may never run a 5K again (except maybe a Turkey Run on Thanksgiving morning- those are sort of a tradition for me), 'cause these obstacle races are just way too fun to miss.

Have a great week everyone and let me know if you want to join us on an obstacle race! The sooner, the better, since most of these races have time waves that fill up quick.

Monday's Workout: 45min run / 1hr 2min swim (supposed to be 1hr 6min- I need to start writing these "odd" times on my hand or something)

Tuesday's Workout: 2hr 11min bike

So, this week's workouts are kicking my butt!!! :) I guess you could say it's payback, considering how bad I did my eating last week, but it still doesn't make it any easier.

The one good thing though is that, believe it or not, I weighed in at 146.2 this morning which is exactly what I was before I blew it last week. So, down 8lbs so far this week (again- mostly water weight, but still happy to be back already) and I still have 4 days to go w/ a long workout planned for the next days (1hr run and 39min swim today and then a 2hr 44min bike ride tomorrow.) I have to say that this week should prove to be a good one.

Oh, and if you want to know what I'm doing this Saturday, I'll be running and completing the "Rugged Maniac" obstacle race. Little nervous, but still excited to pull this off. As my friend Douglas can attest, I'm particularly nervous about the 7ft wall that I'll have to hurl myself over. Fortunately, I don't anticipate being dead last in the race, so I'm hoping for a butt push from a fellow racer. :)

Monday's Workout: 50min bike ride- 24min swim

Tuesday's Workout: none

Wednesday's Workout: 1hr 2min bike ride- 15min swim

Thursday's Workout: 22min run

Friday's Workout: none

Today's Workout: 20min run- 20min swim

Saturday's Weigh-in: 154.2

Week 3 Loss/Gain: +8.0

Total Loss: -17.2lbs

OK- so you can probably tell something went terribly wrong this week. My workouts were a bit wonky and, um, I had a pretty horrible binge. Now, while I know the majority of those 8lbs is water weight, I need to put the number out there. It's important for me to see that number in print- it sucks and I don't want to forget it.

So, why the bad week? Well, Josh is touring this week with another comedian and has been gone since Sunday...or maybe it was Friday. I can't quite remember anymore. Also, Ladon has decided that this was the week he wanted to cut down on solid foods and wake up twice a night. So, lack of help and sleep turned me into a basket-case. And, instead of exercising more, I didn't exercise a few days (although I did make up for those missed days today and I'll run tomorrow too to make up for my usual run on Saturday) and I ate waaaaayyyy too much.

I've learned a few things though. When I'm home alone with the kids, I'm much less likely to go out and get something bad to eat. Too much work. So, if I can just avoid heading to the grocery store and buying every binge food I can think of, my overindulgence will not get too out of control. Second, eating bad always makes me feel worse. Exercise on the other hand, makes me feel good. The only problem is that, at the moment, eating bad makes me really happy, while the exercising makes me feel worn out (or even a little bored, especially when I have to do all of my exercises indoors at the Y, since the kids are in the nursery).

So- will I never have a bad day again? Of course I will. But, every time I do, I try to take something from it. Like when I realized that I was super-hungry (and consequently binged) almost every Wednesday night. And every Thursday morning I realized that I had only put on a little bit of weight from the previous mornings weigh-in...so, if I could just make it through Wednesday night, I would have a great reward the next morning.

Anyways, this week stunk. But, this week is also looking great. I had a great day today and I have errands to occupy me tomorrow. :) I hope all of you have a great week too!

Monday's Workout: 40min swim

Tuesday's Workout: 1hr 19min bike / 27min run

Wednesday's Workout: 36min run / 24min swim

Thursday's Workout: 1hr 39 bike

Friday's Workout: 32min swim

Saturday's Weigh-in: 146.2

Week 3 Loss/Gain: -1 .4

Total Loss: -25.2lbs

So sorry for the delay guys- it's been a jam-packed week and this weekend involved some traveling, amongst other things. I even had to skip my Saturday run due to sleeping in a bit (8:30am- bad Jenny!) and wasn't able to make it up today due to cold rain and then more traveling. So, tomorrow I will bike and swim and be happy. Hell, I may even run for a few minutes too. :)

Have a great week!!

Wednesday's Workout: 32min run / 23min swim

Thursday's Workout: 1hr 29 bike

Friday's Workout: 31min swim

Saturday's Workout: 40min run

Saturday's Weigh-in: 147.6

Week 3 Loss/Gain: - .6

Total Loss: -23.8lbs

I barely squeaked out a loss this week, but I'll take it. While I know it's going to slow down eventually, like I told Grandma Julie, I'm just not ready for it yet!! :)

Thursday's bike ride was nice- I decided to try out the Shelley Lake paved trail. It's about 2 miles long and it goes around the beautiful (and large) lake in Raleigh. It also happened to be the place where I busted my butt not just once, but twice. The first time was on a short, but steep hill- I was trying to go around some people, avoid a big bump in the pavement, and get up the hill. Not a good combo. I fell, scraped my knee a bit, and almost quit riding altogether right then and there. I thought I might fall at some point, but I didn't expect to feel so downhearted about it. But, even though I just wanted to pack it up and call it day- I decided to give the trail one more try and give that hill at the end one more sincere effort.

When I got back around to the hill, I was really tempted to just hop off my bike and walk it. Something told me that I could manage it though, so I got some speed going and VOILA, I was up and over. I almost cried I was so relieved. And, I proceeded to do it about 7 more times- each time was easier than the last and by the very last one I was thinking "why did I think this hill was that hard- it's actually pretty easy." Amazing how our minds can trick us like that. :)

The second time I fell was when I attempted to turn around to get back on the main trail. Whoopsy-daisy! :)

And, to end the day with an interesting story, I spent a few minutes watching a little girl, while her mom fished their runaway stroller out of the lake. Luckily, no one was in the stroller at the time, but everything in the stroller was soaked. That and, depending on where they were parked, she had a 1/2 to 1 mile walk back to the car. She was in surprisingly good spirits about the whole thing though, after she got over the initial shock.

I guess that's all for now- Josh is in NJ for a long weekend with his brother, so it's just been me and the boys since Friday. We're heading over to my Mom and Mike's house for a little afternoon get-together and then back here for dinner and a desperate attempt to straighten up Phoenix's bedroom (Playmobil and Legos have started to become one with the carpet.) Tomorrow morning is the house inspection at 8am, so it will be an early day, but I'm looking forward to being at the "newer" new house for a few hours. :)

Have a great weekend!

Monday's Workout: 38min swim

24min run

Today's Workout: 1hr 11min bike ride

Today was my first day out on my new Trek Lexa SL- and the first time I've ever clipped into a bike. Basically this is where your shoes have brackets on them that clip into your pedals. Clips = terrifying experience for me, but I overcame my fear and got out there.

For my first ride, I chose a greenway in Wake Forest that was around 3miles around- it ended up working out perfect. It took me about 5 minutes to even get on the bike, but once I got clipped in I was fine. Then, I ended up going down a path that stopped at a main street, so I had to stop. And, then I almost fell, but lucked out and my foot clipped out just in time. I know that time will only make this process easier for me, but I can't help feeling like I'm learning how to ride a bike for the first time. :)

Also, a big moment for me today- I signed up for the Goofy's Challenge at Walt Disney World. This means I'll be running the WDW Half Marathon on Saturday and the full Marathon on Sunday in January 2012. I also signed up for the 5K on Friday- apparently this means I'm unofficially doing the "Dopey Challenge", 'cause it's Goofy to do a half and full- but to do a 5K on top of that is just Dopey. LOL The only bad part of those races is that it pretty much checks me out for 2 days on our vacation, but I think it's worth it. Plus, I think my recovery will be quicker this time since I'll be at least 35lbs smaller.

Tomorrow is a good day- Josh and I will be celebrating 9 years of wedded bliss. :) And, I guess we unofficially celebrated it by putting in an offer on our "dream" home on Sunday. 2011 is looking to be a great year!!

Thursday's Workout: 22min swim

29min run

Friday's Workout: 29min swim

Today's Workout: Run for the Oaks 5K- 8:37pace

Today's Weigh-in: 148.2

Week 3 Loss/Gain: - 2.6

Total Loss: -23.2lbs

Another great week- my weigh-ins have been stressing me out a bit 'cause I'm not showing a loss until Thursday or Friday. But, once I get a loss, it's still pretty good, so I'll take it. :)

I was scheduled to run for 36 minutes today, but since I was so fast in my 5K it took me less than 27...whoops! :) LOL It was a good race though- officially the first 5K of the Jenny season. :)

On another note, I've been dealing with some anxiety when I've been starting my runs lately, so I'm trying to figure out what's causing that. It seems like as soon as I start running my body just freaks out a bit- I get sort of nervous and unsure of myself and my ability to run strong. It's really a strange feeling- and only hits me when I'm running. Never when I'm on the bike or swimming. Sometimes it goes away, but then sometimes it lingers. It actually hit me fairly strong today- to the point where I really wanted to stop running even a few minutes into the race. I'm going to try to work through it myself, but if I'm not successful, it's going to be time to talk to a shrink, 'cause I can't run the Goofy Challenge freaking out for 2-4hrs! :)

BTW, I will be posting some pics in my next post- I know that pictures speak louder than words and I feel like I've lost enough at this point that it's worth a few shots. So, look forward to those darnit!! :)

Monday's Workout- 1hr 4min bike ride

36min swim

Tuesday's Workout- 22min run/ 8:27 pace

Today's Workout- 1hr 20min bike ride

Well, on a non-weight loss related note, we put an offer in on a house on Sunday. And, less than 20hrs later, another offer came in at a higher amount. Since it was a short sale, we decided not to get into a bidding war (since we were going to have to negotiate with the bank at some point too), so now we're on the search for another home. The Penfold Lane house was nice, but it was not our dream home by any means- and, since our rental lease isn't even up until August, we don't have to move any time soon. To be honest, we probably won't have to move in August either- we're in an investment property, so I'm sure we could just extend the lease.

While part of me is tempted to just keep on renting (especially after seeing Phoenix playing Star Wars with the neighborhood kids yesterday), a part of me also yearns to own my own home again. There's an appreciation and permanence that goes along with home ownership and I miss it. I guess we'll just have to see where life takes us. All I know is I'm definitely going to take a look at as many houses as I can with our fantastic new realtor, Kevin Starkey.

As far as exercise goes, I'm back on a longer workout schedule again after last week's taper. I'm also prepping for the Run for the Oaks 5K this Saturday in Raleigh. And, with a 8:27 pace yesterday, I'm feeling pretty good about breaking my personal goal of coming in under a 9 minute pace. :) My right foot is hurting a bit though, so I think there may be a trip to Athlete's Foot in the next few days. It's probably too soon to consider running a race in new shoes, but I don't want my "injury" to get any worse.

I'm also going to switch up my exercise schedule a bit- my 2 longest days happen to fall on days that Josh has to be at Jui-Jitsu at 12pm and I'm having trouble getting home in time for him to get to class in time. I think it would also help to switch things up a bit- while I enjoy being on a schedule, I also get bored sort of quick and knowing that each Monday and Wednesday is "long ass bike and swim day" starts to get to me after a bit. So, I'm going to switch it up and see if that helps my boredom and my tardiness. :)

Have a great week!

Friday's Workout: 17min swim

Today's Workout: 22min run / 9:00 pace

Today's Weigh-in: 150.8

Week 3 Loss/Gain: - 2.0

Total Loss: -20.6lbs

Well, I did it- over 20lbs gone! I'm so excited to be close to the 140's again- I feel pretty confident I'll be there next week, but , of course, there are no guarantees.

I told Josh a few days ago that this journey has been so different for me. I've rarely felt deprived and my fitness level just keeps on getting better. I really feel like I'm going to be able to pull it off and keep it off this time. Of course, if we decide to have a third baby...well, we all know how well I do when I'm pregnant. HA!

Anyways, have to keep today's entry short, 'cause we're celebrating my sister and her upcoming bundle of joy in a few hours. And, the shower is at my house, so lots of cleaning and preparing to be had. So, later tater- have a great weekend!

Today's Workout: 17min run / 8:20pace

Just had to put another post up with today's workout stats- very pleased with my time on today's short run. I was able to pull off over 2 miles, so I'm feel really good about my potential time in next week's 5K. Before I was pregnant with Ladon, I had a personal goal of getting into the 7min range- at that time, my fastest official 5K time was around 8:05. So, while I doubt I'll be breaking any records next weekend, it's still nice to know that I'm getting faster again.

I hope everyone is having a fantastic week! We have a park playdate today and then I get to go pick up my new Trek road bike! The bike group I'm looking to join does a 32mile ride on Sundays, so I'm going to do that next Sunday- in the meantime, I'm going to cruise around the neighborhood and try not to fall down too much. :)

Monday's Workout: 39min bike

22min swim

Tuesday's Workout: 13min run / 9:17pace

Wednesday's Workout: 48min bike

13min swim

This week is a recovery week, so my workouts are a lot shorter. Of course, that just means I have to work a bit harder to insure a good weight loss this week. :) With swimming, I've also started working towards a kick flip (where you flip and push yourself off the wall.) I have trouble with this move, so I've decided to break it up into stages- the past 2 swim days I've just worked on kicking off the wall. Tomorrow, I'm going to spend some time working on the flip part. My biggest fear is clipping my heels on the wall, so if I can get over that, I'll be fine. :)

I wanted to take a second to comment on something I've noticed on a lot of these weight loss shows. I've started watching Shedding for the Wedding and this week the contestants met with a cake designer- and, of course, part of the process was to try the cake. I was disappointed to see that 2 of the couples opted not to eat any cake. I think when you go into a diet and treat it like a diet, you're already in a trouble zone. Now, I do understand these people are on a weight loss show and not losing weight on their own at home, so they might be more strict on themselves with cameras rolling. But, it's a troublesome mindset and I hope they allow themselves to take a single bite of cake once they get back to the real world.

When I was on Nutrisystem, I remember bringing my NS dinner to PF Chang's. While everyone around me was eating delicious food, I was eating some not-so-tasty chicken and pasta "mix with water" dish. During a Christmas vacation, I didn't have one bite of our friend Jill's, Ooey Gooey Butter Cake, 'cause, yep, I was on Nutrisystem. I don't remember what I ate instead in that instance, but the fact that I remember that choice bothers me- I should not be remembering what I didn't eat. :)

Finally, I wanted to give a shout-out to my friend Tricia who lost 7lbs last week on Weight Watchers!! I'm so happy for her and I know she's going to have a great journey this time!

Monday's Workout: 1hr 2min bike ride

36min swim

Tuesday's Workout: 21min run

Wednesday's Workout: 1hr 17min bike ride

22 min swim

Thursday's Workout: 28min run

Friday's Workout: 29min swim

Today's Workout: 35min run / 9:28 pace

Today's Weigh-in: 152.8

Week 3 Loss/Gain: - 2.2

Total Loss: -18.6lbs

Wow- another amazing week. I want to apologize in advance for not writing this week- I kept on meaning to get on and then, apparently, I never did. Both kids have been battling nasty colds all week and then we started house hunting, so that took some time.

I've started to make an extra effort to work out at a higher intensity- I figure, I have this time away from the kids to do with what I want- why half-ass it? So, my swimming is a little more intensive- I drive myself a bit harder on the bike- and I try to keep a faster pace on my runs. So far, I think I'm doing better and the scale continues to drop, so that's also a good indicator.

You know- a year or so ago, I thought that running was truly the only (and best) way to lose weight at a good rate. When I was pregnant with Ladon, I had to stop running since my heart rate would go above a certain level that wasn't recommended for women in my position. :) So, I went back to swimming- which I really enjoy (and the waterproof mp3 player doesn't hurt one bit!) As for biking, I never really considered it while I was pregnant- of course it would have been tougher once my belly got really big, but it didn't even occur to me before I started to show. Anyways, I'm really amazed at how I'm now running less than I've ever ran before (maybe 5-7miles a week?!) and I'm losing weight at a great pace. So, apparently, mixing your workouts up can make a big difference- I just had to try it myself to really believe it.

On another note, I just received the best e-mail EVER from a mom in my mom's group. I just met her for the first time and she wrote me to tell me how she really admired all the hard work I had put into this and (this one really touched my heart) how strong I looked. I have to tell you, that e-mail made my whole year. When I walk into a room of people I don't know, I immediately start comparing myself- "her hair is prettier than mine", "she's skinnier than me", or "she's better dressed than me." I never consider the fact that someone looks at me and thinks "she looks strong." It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. While this journey is my own- it's also something I want to use to inspire other people. To know that, even if you've gained and lost weight before, if you gained some, all, or more of it back, you can lose it again. And, you WILL feel better losing the weight- like I read somewhere "No one gets to the top of a mountain and says "I should have just stayed at the bottom."

Now, you may say, "well, Jenny, I can't live on salads and grilled chicken my whole life! That's a mountain I do not want to climb!!" And, I totally agree. I think anyone who tells you never to eat fried food, candy, cookies, or carbs ever again is nuts. You absolutely can eat those foods- just in moderation and not every day either. For instance, we made a casserole last night that had ground beef, tomato sauce, sour cream, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and spaghetti squash (instead of noodles.) Nothing was low-fat (although it was lower carb) and it was delicious!! And, I was still down from yesterday morning. Now, I'm not a fan of low-fat diets (check out Tom Naughton's "Fat Head" to see the movie that completely changed the way I view carbs), but I know what we ate last night is good for me and I didn't eat a ton of it. I wanted to eat about twice the amount I did, but I restrained myself and ate at a normal pace and didn't go back for seconds.

Also, today is free day. I won't go into what I ate today, but let's just say it involved Girl Scout cookies and McDonald's. Again- not healthy, BUT, after a week with sick kids, it was really nice to just sit down and eat a few Thin Mints. And, because I allow myself a free day, I have even more of a reason not to dive into the pantry on Wednesday night when I'm hitting Hump Day Hunger! :)

So, I hope that I can inspire more and more people to eat better, exercise, but not to give up the foods they love. To know that they can go out to eat once a while and pig out and STILL lose weight (or maintain). It really is possible- I promise.

Wednesday's Workout: 1hr 9min bike ride

20 min swim

Thursday's Workout: 25min run

Friday's Workout: 27min swim

Saturday's Workout: 31min run / 10:48 pace

Today's Weigh-in: 155.0

Week 3 Loss/Gain: - 2.4

Total Loss: -16.4lbs

Another great week- I was really nervous about this week weight-wise thanks to our super-delish fondue dinner on Sunday, but all is well! I actually saw 154.8 flutter on the scale for a second, but it settled on 155. Who am I kidding though- I'll take it! :)

I went out last night to a 31 bags party- they had lots of yummy food (including Girl Scout cookies?!) but I kept it low-carb and only had a few mini slices of turkey, cheese, and lots of water. I was having a great time talking to the other moms too, so running my mouth, probably helped prevent me from shoving food into it. :)

Workouts are still going well- I forgot my pace time on Thursday, but I think it was pretty good. Today's time stunk a big one, but I fed Ladon twice before I even went out and only had a cheesestick for breakfast, so I'm thinking I should have fueled up a bit more.

Sleep has also been tough this week- Ladon has been getting up around 6:45 (one morning it was 5am?!), so I'm trying to get to bed early. Both of the boys are in bed by 8pm now, but it's still hard to get myself in bed by 10pm. I'm trying though.

I'm most impressed though with how Phoenix is doing with the earlier bed time. He's going to sleep by 9pm (although in bed by 8) and he's waking up b/t 7-8am. He's happy in the morning though, which is a stark contrast to "old Phoenix" who was a cranky-weepy mess in the morning when he was getting up at 10-11am. So, I think letting him stay up late was actually a bad thing- go figure?! Even I'm doing better with the earlier wake-up time (once I get over the fact that I reallllllly want to go back to sleep.)

Hope everyone is having a great Saturday! I got hooked up with Girl Scout cookies today, so I'm already in 7th heaven. Also, Mizu sushi train tonight, which is always fun.

Monday's Workout: 56min spin bike / 80-100rpm

34min swim

Today's Workout: 19min run / 8:54 pace

Workouts are still going well- really felt good after my short run today. :) Weight is still up from free day, but that should go down now that I'm caught up on sleep (took an awesome nap today!)

We had an awesome dinner Sunday night at The Melting Pot fondue restaurant. My mom and step-dad watched the boys, so it was nice to have a little Valentine's dinner just to the two of us (last year we ate at IHOP with Phoenix- Ladon was 2 months away from his arrival.) The food was pretty good and I actually felt confident with my calorie intake until they brought out the dessert fondue- dark chocolate, marshmallow cream, and oreo cookie crumbles. Oh, and you get to dip brownie, cheesecake, marshmallows, and fruit in it. I mean, come on?!! Needless to say, dessert was my favorite part!! :)

I had a nice little NSV on Sunday though- I realized that I wanted to dress up a little bit, so I went in the closet to find one of two cheap outfits I had bought last year for special occasions. I saw the skirt and top sets and then came across a top I had worn when I was this weight in 2008-2009. 10 seconds later I was so thrilled to see that it fit- and I was even able to squeeze my butt into a size 10P black pants- granted they were snug, but they fit (which was good, since I didn't have any bigger sizes in pants.) So, it felt nice to FINALLY be able to wear something that's hanging in my closet. It's the little things sometimes.

Oh- and I discovered a new device today!! It was a deal on Mamapedia and it's called S2H Relay (Switch2Health.) It notes physical activity (anything that uses your arms and doesn't require water, since the watch isn't waterproof) and gives you 60 points for every 60 minutes. You can then redeem those points for things like gift cards from Toys R Us, Home Depot, or even a Nintendo Wii system. Anyways, it was 50% ($10), so I snagged one and I'm looking forward to testing it out. Unfortunately, I'm biking and swimming more than I'm running right now, but I'm sure I can come up with other fun things to do to rack up points! :)

Hope your Tuesday is and was fantastic!

Today's Workout: run 28 min / 10:14 pace

Today's Weigh-in: 157.4

Week 3 Loss/Gain: - 4.2

Total Loss: -14.0lbs

Well, hello Saturday!! My run kind of stunk, but it was 21 degrees outside and 7:45am- not a good combo for me. I did it though and that's good enough for me, 'cause I had a super-duper weight loss today!!!

Every Saturday, I run before my weigh-in. Am I cheating the system...no, because I do it every Saturday. I like to get as much water weight loss as possible before I have a fantastic free day. :) Now, if I wore jeans every weigh-in and then decided to wear shorts one day, that would cheat the system a little bit (at least for that single weigh-in). Now, if I continued to wear shorts every weigh-in after that, I would be right back on track. It's all about doing the same thing before every weigh-in...if it means removing every stitch of clothing and jewelry you have on, then as long as you're consistent with it, that's all that matters.

Anyways, long story short, I didn't get to run before my weigh-in last Saturday, 'cause I had to run a 4.7mile race and attempt to eat 12 donuts (only managed 5.) I figured weighing in after eating donuts, might not be the best idea. Plus, I ended up being down 4lbs, so I wasn't complaining. I figured this week would have a bit of a bump because of that (and it did). I also thought that our sushi dinner on Sunday might screw up my weight loss a little bit (which it didn't.) So, when I woke up this morning, I was down 3lbs and after my run I was down another 1.2lbs for a total of 4.2lbs!!! Based on my current weight, I'm pulling Biggest Loser numbers right now- 8.2lbs in only 2 weeks (14lbs in 4 weeks). Even I'm surprised.

Since I've done well the past 2 weeks (and the first week when I lost 7.2lbs), I've started looking at what I'm doing. Here's my checklist of changes:

• Working out 6 days a week (usually did 5)
• Making sure not to eat too many "extras" a day (if I eat a shrimp soup, I don't have a greek yogurt)
• Doing Wii Fit on lighter triathlon training days (ex. 17 min run day)
• Going to bed before midnight- preferably by 11pm
• Doing my workouts in the morning when possible

Just to review what I'm doing diet-wise, I'm still guesstimating my calories every day. I don't measure anything- I don't write down what I eat- and I don't follow a set plan. I'm not doing Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem, or Jenny Craig. What I'm doing is eating what I want- just in smaller portions. I'm also doing a lower-carb diet, but again, I'm not counting carbs- just make common sense judgements on what makes up a good meal. Oh, and one day a week, I throw all the rules out the window and eat whatever I want.

It's really amazing to me that this works- I did this the first week of our Texas RV trip last year and I lost 3lbs (and my workouts were pretty puney since we were on the road so much.) But, it does work. Eat what you want- try to make the best choices possible- and eat less. Like I told Richard in an e-mail last year, it's amazing to me that it's taken me 31 years to figure this out?!

Oh, a special shout-out to our friend Beth- she turned 30 today!! Happy Birthday to you Beth- looking forward to celebrating with you tonight!!

Tuesday's Workout: 17 min run

Wednesday's Workout: 1hr 5min stationary bike; 20min swim

Thursday's Workout: 22 min run

Today's Workout: 26 min swim

Triathlon training is going great. The short runs are weird for me right now, but the long bike rides help quite a bit. :) I didn't have an opportunity to look at bikes yet, but I'm hoping to do that next week. The stationary bike is OK, but I pretty much read all of my magazines during Wednesday's ride, so I think it might be time for some fresh air.

Swimming is coming along, but I can't seem to get my speed up. I'm fairly slow- around a 1:05-1:15min lap. I could have sworn that I could do a 45sec lap when I swimming about 6yrs ago, but maybe I just made that part up. I still have 26lbs to lose, but I can't imagine my weight affects it that much...or maybe it does. Maybe I should google "why the hell am I a slow swimmer?"

Also, since I'm doing short workouts right now, I've started doing Wii Fit Plus again. Well, I should say, I'm now playing it for the first time. I bought the game when it came out, but our Wii messed up and I eventually forgot about it. So, while it's not a hardcore workout, I think it gives me an extra boost on days when I'm working out less than 30 minutes.

Tomorrow, is my longest run of the week (28 min- good lord, will I be able to make it?! LOL) Then, it is free day, which I'm REALLY looking forward to. Lunch is going to be a chinese buffet and dinner will be tacos at our friend, Beth's, 30th birthday party. Woohoo!

Today's Workout: 32min spin bike

20min swim

Well, today was my first triathlon training workout. I didn't get out of the house in time to complete the prescribed time (supposed to be 50min bike and 32min swim), but I managed to get a good workout in nonetheless. And, I learned that I have to add in time for my "transition", which is kind of long when I'm having to go between 2 separate floors of the YMCA, plus deal with lockers. :)

I'm enjoying it so far though- I created a workout at Beginner Triathlete and was able to plug in my emphasis (running) and even which workouts I wanted to do on which days. Since I almost always run outside, I have that set up on days where I'm not doing anything else. Then, I group the bike and swim together, since I'll be doing some of my bike training at the gym. Anyways, it's only day 1, but I'm liking the results so far.

I also had the pleasure of talking to my friend, Russ, for an hour or so on Saturday about...bikes!! He is the bike expert, so when I realized my mountain bike was probably not the best option for the triathlon, I knew exactly who to turn to. He's given me a TON of information to digest and I'm pretty much going to go into the bike shop with a checklist. Watch out bike salesmen- I'm not messing around!

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's run- only 17 minutes?! The mileage does go up later in the training, but the fact that I'm running less than 2 miles tomorrow is a bit scary. I know that I'll make it up later in the week though with swimming and biking, so no worries. :)

Thursday's Workout: run 3 miles/ 9:18 pace

Friday's Workout: 30min swim

Today's Workout: run 4.7 miles / eat 5 donuts! :)

Today's Weigh-in: 161.6

Week 3 Loss/Gain: - 4.0

Total Loss: 9.8lbs

Today was a great day! First off, I weighed in at 4lbs less than last week. So, there goes that pesky 1.4lb gain that came out of nowhere and with it went another 2.6lbs. So, an average of 1.3lbs for the past 2 weeks- not great, but not terrible by any means. I'm almost in the 150s again which feels GGGGGRRREAT!

Also, today's workout was a bit different. Josh, my SIL Claudia, my BIL Jonny, and myself all ran in the Krispy Kreme Challenge. Basically you run 2.3miles, attempt to eat 12 KK donuts, and then run back to the start line.

The day started off early for us and the weather was pretty crappy- around 36 degrees and constant rain. When the rain let up, it got colder, so there really wasn't a good moment to be had in the weather department. So, after standing around in our now cold and wet clothes for an hour, we got started on the run. My time was really good going into the run- pretty much under a 9 minute pace all the way to the KK store. Unfortunately, once I started eating donuts, my plan fell apart. :)

After watching some videos on-line, I decided to mash up 4 donuts at a time and attempt to eat them as fast as possible. About 3/4's of the way through that first stack, I realized that this challenge was not going to go over very well with my stomach. I still managed to finish the first stack though and mashed up another 3 donuts. A few bites in I felt like throwing up- like another bite would result in instant vomit. So, in a last ditch effort to save my spot as a challenger, I went in search of the rest of my team. I figured a pep talk might get me through the next 7 donuts- unlikely, but I was hopeful!

I caught up with Claudia and she had eaten 1.5 donuts and was throwing in the towel. With that, I decided to join her and call it at 5 donuts for myself. After walking around for a few minutes, we still couldn't find Josh or Jonny, so we took off to run back to the start. Not through the challenger shute as planned, but still wanting to finish strong.

I managed to finish the race in 1:01, which didn't meet my 2nd goal of finishing under an hour, but it was close. I was just thrilled to have suffered through crappy weather and the attempt to eat 12 donuts. :)

The one shining moment for me was shortly after I crossed the finish line and I saw Josh standing to the left. I yelled at him "You finished before I did?!" He nodded and then I asked him "Did you eat all 12 donuts?!!!" He nodded again. And, come to find out, he even managed to finish the race in under an hour- 55minutes to be exact. So, a special kudos to my husband for a spectacular finish.

BTW, Claudia and Jonny also did great- Jonny wasn't able to finish the donuts either, but he won 2nd place with 7 donuts down. :) Overall, a fun morning and something I plan to do again next year- this time I'm going to finish it right though.

After the race, we came back here to chill and then back to Jonny and Claudia's house to celebrate my niece, JuJu's, 3rd birthday. And, I must say, this little girl had the best cake (made for her by Claudia and her friend Katie.) JuJu is a big fan of "Tangled", so it's only appropriate that her cake looked like this....

Pretty awesome- huh?!

So, now we're chilling at the house and looking forward to a chill day tomorrow. The boys are going to watch some UFC and then I foresee some Mizu sushi train in our future. :) Can't go too crazy, but I'm really getting used to my usual Saturday sushi, so we decided to just move it to tomorrow.

On that note- hope you're weekend is going wonderful and see you on here tomorrow or Monday!

Tuesday's Workout: 3.5 miles (5.5mph on the treadmill)

Today's Workout: 6x400m splits

I waited too late to run outside yesterday, so I decided to tough it out on the treadmill. It's amazing to me that I can consistently run under a 9:30min mile outside, but put me on a treadmill and I can't stand to be on there at a 10min mile pace (6.0mph) for too long. The one good thing that came out of it was I started to watch "Something Wicked This Way Comes"- a movie that Josh was shocked to find out that I cannot recall ever watching. It's good and I plan on finishing it tonight. :)

Today's workout was good- I had to run in the neighborhood again and the hills and wind slowed me down. I wavered around 7:30-8:45min miles. I have to do splits again in 2 weeks and I plan on getting over to the middle school and using its track at 7am. I think that's the only way I'm going to get an accurate time on these things.

On a personal note, I'm really looking forward to being able to wear my engagement/wedding rings again. I can get them on, but they are still a little too tight. It's so frustrating to feel good, but I still can't keep my rings on. On the other hand, I guess it's a good thing they don't feel good- I found out last year that I'm very susceptible to getting lazy at this weight and I need all of the motivation I can get sometimes! :)

Saturday's Weigh-in: 165.6lbs

Week Two Loss/Gain: +1.4lbs

Total Loss: 5.8

Saturday's Workout: 6 miles / 10:18 pace

I'm back! Sorry for the lapse in messages, but the past few days were a bit crazy. Friday ended up being a looong day with a 5hr hair appointment... I think it looks great though! :)

Josh was not feeling well that day, so I spent the rest of the day watching the kids. Luckily, he felt well enough to place SECOND!! in a local Jiu-Jitsu tournament. Very proud of him!

Before Josh's tournament, I went out and did my long run for the week. 10:18 pace, so I'm happy with that. I was sitting around 10:22 during the last mile, so I decided to pick it up and shaved 24 seconds off my time.

Now- as far as my weigh-in, I am not happy with the number. I'm a daily weigher, so I had a feeling it was going to be higher based on my weight on Thursday and Friday, but I was still hopeful. Alas, I was still up 1.4lbs Saturday. Now, I wish I could give myself a good reason for the gain- fortunately, I don't have a sob story of me reuniting with an entire box of mac and cheese at 2 in the morning. I actually had a good week with eating. What I didn't have was my run on Wednesday- oh, and a lot of bathroom time on Wednesday. :) So, I'm thinking the stomach bug threw me off. I am positive this Saturday will be better.

Sunday was Phoenix's 4th birthday!! We had a fabulous Toy Story party with friends and family. Really happy with how everything turned out and Phoenix had a blast.

Today includes a swim (and the mp3 player is charged!) and some time with the fam. Oh, and a delicious Garlicky Lemon Scallop recipe that I've been making for a few years now- definitely a personal favorite:

Garlicky Lemon Scallops

(Makes 4 servings)

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 º pounds sea scallops, dried with paper towels

2 tablespoon all-purpose Flour

º teaspoon salt

4-6 garlic cloves, minced

1 scallion or large shallot, finely chopped

pinch of ground sage

Juice of 1 lemon (2-3 T)

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Directions:

1. Be sure to pat the scallops dry before you mix them with the flour &

salt. That way they wonít soak up too much flour.

2. In a large non stick skillet, heat the oil.

3. In a medium bowl, toss the scallops with the flour & salt.

4. Transfer the scallops to the skillet; add the garlic, scallion & sage.

SautÈ until the scallops are just opaque, 3 - 4 minutes.

5. Stir in the lemon juice and parsley; remove from the heat and serve at

once.

Note: Scallops cook very quickly. DO NOT overcook or they will turn into

erasers. Be sure to have all other items ready before cooking the scallops.

Per serving: 187 calories / 5g fat / 1g of fiber

Thursday's Workout: 3 miles / 9:47 pace

Well, Wednesday's tempo run was a bust considering I woke up at 4am feeling pretty pukey. :) I decided to spend the majority of day in bed, excluding the glorious time I spent in the bathroom. Luckily, it seemed to be more like a 12hr bug and, after a good night's rest, I felt more like myself. Thanks so much to Josh for watching the kids- couldn't have done it without you!

As for yesterday's run, I decided to test out my little "walk some, get the same pace" theory. Needless to say, my theory did not pan out. My pace was exactly the same as last Thursday's run. So, at this point, I'm shaving about 45secs. off my 3 mile run by not walking. Worth it? Kind of... depends on whether or not I'm climbing a hill when the walking is set to start. ;)

Today may or may not include a swim for me- it looks like Josh now has the bug that I had on Wednesday, so I'm going to stay home as much as possible. He has OKed me to get my hair done at 11:30 as scheduled, so I just hope Ladon takes a long nap. Phoenix is easy- he plays so well by himself it's ridiculous, but Ladon- well, he's 9 months old, what can you expect? :)

Today's Workout: 3 miles / Pace 9:29

Happy with today's workout. I was actually disappointed that my time wasn't better since I skipped over the walk breaks, but I'm starting to think there might be some benefit to the breaks- even for my lower mileage days. So, I'll test that theory on Thursday and take two 1-2min walk breaks. If the time is around the same, I might just keep them in there for good measure (and who doesn't love to walk?!)

Oh, an update on Mr. Ladon- his appt. when great. The doc was very pleased with him and I was happy to see his weight and height were in the normal range again (for him- 40 and 30% respectively.) I did have to get the nurse to recheck his height though, since it came up low (27.25"). I showed her how he likes to curl up his leg and then, viola, he grew another 3/4". Doesn't seem like much, but when they're this little, it makes a huge difference in their growth percentage. At least now I know that I have to keep on them about it.

My MIL and niece are coming over today to hang out- Phoenix was supposed to sleep over at their house tonight, but he got sick 2 nights ago and I want one more night at home before we clear him for a sleepover. He has this tendency to get sick at like 4-6am and then he's fine around noon. It's happened about 5 or 6 times now and I always feel so bad for him every time it happens- nothing worse than seeing your little one throw up. At least it passes quickly though.

Alright, time to do a mad rush to clean the house before everyone gets here. Have an awesome Tuesday!

Today (Monday's) Workout: 45 swim

Yay- I have access to a pool again!! Since my waterproof MP3 player wasn't charged, I went old school and swam without tunes. Luckily there were about 40 kids in the pool while I was there, so it certainly wasn't quiet. :)

I did enjoy the time to swim though and even spent 10 minutes in the steam room afterwards. I swam a lot when I was pregnant with Ladon and I remember looking off wistfully at all the people going into the steam room. Now, I can go in there myself and it feels sooo good! :)

On a non-weight loss related note, I just spent the past few hours going through my mom's zorro collection. We're putting everything on eBay, so I wanted to give it a once-over and take notes before I start posting on Sunday. So, I don't go completely bonkers, I'm going to put up about 10 items at a time at most. I also have about 15-20 things of my own that will go up this time too. I'll be sure to post a link when everything goes up- granted I doubt the 3 people reading this will want to bid on anything, but it can't hurt, right? LOL :)

On another note, tomorrow is Ladon's 9 month appointment. No shots this round, so yay for that! I'm excited to see how much he's grown and I hope it's more than last time. At his 6 month appointment, they didn't stretch out his leg all the way and he came up as 1/4" SHORTER than he was at his 4 month appointment. The doctor chalked it up to different methods of measurement (one uses a pen to mark the top of the head and bottom of the foot and then uses a tape measure- the other one lays him on a pre-marked board), but, in true Jenny-fashion, it freaked me out. Needless to say, I ended up doing my own measurements that day and came up with over an inch difference (in favor of him being taller, of course!) If they don't stretch him out tomorrow, I may have to hurt someone. :)

Oh, and one more thing- I signed up for a race in April- this one is called Rugged Maniac and it's being held in Asheboro. It's similar to the Warrior Dash in that it's an obstacle course race where you may have to wade through water, hop through tires, walk over fire...ya know- little things like that. :) While I enjoy 5K's, I really want to step outside of my comfort zone and try something new and these obstacle races just sound like a lot of fun!

So, in summary, right now I'm signed up for:

Two Obstacle Course Races

Two Sprint Triathlons

One 5K

...and I'll be signing up for the Goofy Challenge once registration for that one goes live in March.

I think 2011 is going to be a great year!

Today I did something awesome. Well, I should say I signed up for something awesome- the Ramblin' Rose Women's Triathlon. Actually, I should say I signed up for 2 awesome somethings- the Raleigh Ramblin' Rose Triathlon and the Chapel Hill Ramblin' Rose Triathlon.

Now, before you call me a nut, please understand that they're 5 months apart (Raleigh is in May and CH is in October.) Also, these are sprint triathlons and the swimming is in a pool, which is easier than lake/river swimming. So, totally doable. :)

And, as luck would have it, I just started up my new YMCA membership on Friday, so I have access to a pool again. Now, I just have to get my bike in working order- granted it's a mountain bike and completely inappropriate for a tri, but I'm not quite ready to fork over $500-$1,000 for a new bike right now. The bike portions are only 9 miles, so I think I can manage that on a mountain bike with no problem, although I might change my mind after the first race. :)

Hope your Sunday was awesome!

Today's Weigh-in: 164.2

Week 1 Loss: 7.2

Total Loss: 7.2

Today's Workout: 5 miles

Today was a good day!! :) I finally got my butt out the door for today's run around 11:30 and it went well. Today was my long run for week 1 of Hal Higdon's Half-Marathon training, so I took it at a 1-2min mile pace slower than my usual runs. Came out to a 10:27 pace, which I was pleased with. It's hilly out here and I have to run on grass sometimes when the sidewalks peter out and the shoulder doesn't leave much protection- but, it all makes me stronger...and, eventually, faster!

The weight loss is an obvious WOOHOO!! for me. Like most people, I had my obligatory high loss for week 1 and I'm pleased with it. I know that next week will probably show 1 or 2lbs at most, which, again, I will be pleased with. You can come to expect certain things when you're losing weight and the first 2 week results are the most predictable. But, to be that much closer to the 150s makes me feel good. :)

I meant to mention yesterday that I joined a Biggest Loser challenge in a local mom's group!! There were BL challenges going on throughout the year on the Nutrisystem boards back when I was on the NS program in 2008. I loved them and, trust me, those challenges were sometimes the only thing keeping me out of the kitchen and stuffing my face with cookies. I had considered going back to the NS boards this year, but I didn't feel quite right about it since I'm no longer on the NS food program. Anyways, while catching up on old e-mails, I saw an ad in my local mom's group newsletter regarding its Biggest Loser challenge and, as luck would have it, Friday was the last day to sign up! So, I did and I'm really excited to share my weight loss journey with these other local moms.

Finally, I want to close by mentioning an experiment my husband, Josh, has set up for me. I'm currently doing 3 different exercises, 3 times a week that, in total, take less than 5 minutes to do. Right now it's like 15 butt raises, 15 alternate Supermans (not sure what to call them), and 50 kettle bell swings. And, since today was free day (eat what I want!!), I did 40 squats right after lunch and I'm about to do 40 more since I just had a big sushi dinner. These are all ideas that Josh got from one of his new favorite books, The 4-Hour Body. It's all about doing the least amount possible to get the most benefit. We'll see how it goes for me- so far, I find no faults with the time commitment! :)

Today's Workout: 3 Miles

Today was an easy run of 3 miles- ran it at a 9:47 pace w/ 1 minute walk breaks every mile (pace includes walk breaks.) I'm pleased with that number, but definitely want to see it go down-down-down. My neighborhood is hilly, but I know a lot of my issues with speed have to do with the junk in the trunk (and the chest, arms, legs, etc.) :)

I wanted to also comment on something that dawned on me yesterday. As upset as I got over that Disney waiter perhaps assuming that I did not run a marathon, I made my own assumption the morning of the race.

When I hopped onto the monorail to head over to Epcot, another runner came on with her Goofy bib (half marathon on Saturday and then the marathon on Sunday.) I noticed it- congratulated her on her accomplishment the day before and then asked "Did you walk the half-marathon?" She didn't bat an eye and said "Yes- and it wasn't that bad." We made small talk all the way to the entrance of the gathering area for runners near the start and then parted ways. Not a bad chat and when I saw her later in the day, I made a point to say hi again.

Now, you might ask, "what is your point Jenny?" Well, my point is that the reason I had asked her if she had walked the half-marathon is because she was overweight. She was tall, but she was also a big girl- probably bigger than me. And, because of this, I automatically assumed that she wouldn't be able to run both races.

So, here I am a hypocrite. As miffed as I was towards that waiter, I did the same damn thing a few days before. Made an assumption based on someone's weight. So, lesson learned- never ASSume. You might be right, but you might also be unnecessarily hurting someone's feelings in the process. I don't know how I made that runner feel, but I'll be sure not to make that mistake again.