It's Monday Again!!!

Happy Monday Morning Everyone!  Hope everyone had a great weekend!  I sure did and it was a busy one!  All of last week was a busy one for me!!!!

Last week was all about proving to myself just how far I've come.  Between the scale, the pictures, measurements, and the way my clothes feel, I've got a lot of different ways to gauge the changes I've made, but nothing feels as good as pushing yourself to do something you couldn't do BEFORE because you know you are capable of doing it NOW.  Heading to the gym after work on Monday I was thinking about what I was going to do for my workout...do I do the treadmill and jog, or do the elliptical?  How far do I want to go today?  I finally decided that I would do the treadmill but instead of a 20 minute run that I would push myself an extra 10 minutes.  And I did it.  To prove to myself that it wasn't just a fluke, I did it again on Tuesday, and then Wednesday, and again on Thursday.  I was really doing this and that sense of accomplishment was amazing. 

Here's how the rest of my week (and workouts) went....

How My Week Went

Monday -   AWESOME!  Kicked it off with a 2.5 mile walk for work.  Hit the gym after work and did 5 min. warmup on treadmill/30 min. non-stop run/10 min. cooldown.  After my cardio I did the Body Pump class.  

Tuesday -   Walked to Rouses for a lunch salad.  Rouses and back was about 1.10 mile.  Hit the gym after work and did a 5 min. warmup on treadmill/30 min. non-stop run/10 min. cooldown.  Had to cut the gym short to get home to my online group meeting where we discussed...physical activity.  Ironic...no?  Cut the gym short to head home and discuss how important physical activity is?  LOL...  ANYWAYS!  Between Monday's run, then Body Pump, and today's run....my legs are SPENT.  But in a good way..if there is a good way to be so sore that you are struggling to sit on the toilet!

Wednesday -  Walked to Rouses for a salad and back - 1.10 mile.  Hit the gym and did 5 min. warmup on treadmill/30 min. non-stop run/10 min. cooldown. Then I did the Zumba class.

Thursday -  2.5 mile walk for work.  Hit the gym after work and did 5 min. warmup on treadmill/30 min. non-stop run/10 min. cooldown. No class for me because I was just tired and hungry... but then I got home, cooked my husband dinner, cleaned up, went grocery shopping, and did 3 loads of laundry.  So much for resting huh? 


Me in the yellow shirt on Thursday vs. Me when I first started this journey.


Friday - Rest Day! I left work at noon and headed home with the idea that I'd do housework in anticipation for a late Mother's Day dinner at my house on Saturday.  The idea worked perfectly...I got a lot accomplished.  I started off saying I'd do yard work.  I love yard work!  Yeah...cut and edged the backyard in 15 minutes...no problem!  Headed to the front yard and thought "I'll just tidy up the garden area real quick.."  From 1:30 til 5:00 I tore apart the garden!  I had huge overgrown plants, and a hail storm not long ago ripped all my plants to shreds.  I was so excited with the finished project that I forgot to take a photo.  But here's a shot I took during the tear down and clean up...



The majority of the garden was green b/c it was overgrown by the plants and the mulch had weeds popping up everywhere.  The flag was not visible because of a huge rubber tree plant that was growing right under it, and that front window was barely visible because of a huge tree.

 Saturday -  My nephew spent the weekend at my house.  Saturday morning he woke me up at 6:30!!!  Ugh!  At 8 we went walking in the Jean Lafitte Swamp on the Bayou Coquille Trail.  I suggested it because I knew we would see a lot of stuff with the warm weather and with it being spring/summer.  We saw 5 alligators, countless red birds, squirrels, dragon flies, lizards, turtles, etc.  We were most excited about the alligators.  One of those gators had to be at least a 12 footer!  It was massive!  I didn't get a picture of it though =(

Sunday -  Sunday's adventure was to cut my aunt's grass.  My job was to use my electric edger and edge along the house, the fence, the landscaping, etc.  Her grass was so overgrown that it was up to my knees!!!!  Craziness!  I was dripping sweat that kept falling from my forehead to my arm and because it was cloudy I kept stopping to see if it was starting to rain!  Nasty!  Then it was time to get painting done at my house.  We are going room to room and repainting and making it nicer.  Our master bedroom is finished and since my sister and nephew moved out, we are starting in that room.  That room will be the new office.  I chose a color called Roycroft Mist Gray for the walls, the ceiling is called Simply White, and the trim is called Moonlight White.  We put the first coat on the walls and on the ceiling yesterday.  So far, so good.

Here's a photo of the look I'm going for...



Adam and I's desks are matching.  The legs and drawers are black, but the top of the desks are a very pretty wood color, similar to the floor color in the pic above.  The wall color will look great with our desks.  I've also picked out curtains, curtain rods, and shades nearly identical to those in this picture.

 Adam took down the two ceiling fans so there's no light in our new office at the moment.  This is the only picture I took of the progress and it's not much to write home about because the sun was already going down and the room was getting dark.  I can tell you that the room was a blue color with brown trim and a gray ceiling when we moved in.  Ew!!!

I can tell you that this picture does this room no justice when illustrating its size.  There's a whole half a room you're not seeing that includes a closet and a big window that is double the size of the window in the photo.  It's a big room!

Here we are back at Monday again and I'm wishing the weekend were longer!  Ain't it funny how the weekend flies by but the week drags ass?!?!?!  Sad isn't it?!?!?!

What's New?

1.  Let's talk about Monday and the 30 minute running.  I've struggled with this for a while now...speed vs. endurance.  Which is better?  Which should I focus on?   My per mile pace on Monday was a 14 min. mile.  It was slow, but it was non-stop, and that's what I've been focusing on. In the past I've considered whether to increase my speed or focus on endurance....and ultimately decided to work on endurance.  This has paid off because I successfully ran 2 miles straight and that's HUGE for me! 

While doing the treadmill on Monday there was a lady next to me that I see at the gym a lot.  She is my age (maybe a little older), fit/athletic, and thin.  Absolutely someone I wouldn't mind looking like!  She was running on the treadmill at a faster pace than me but she had to continue slowing down the treadmill to breathe and then ramp up the treadmill to get back to her running.  She was clearly going for speed vs. endurance.  Which was better?  Clearly, by her athletic build, she's doing something right.  After thinking it out and seeing that I've got the endurance down (for now...I'd like to be able to go longer than 30 minutes in the future) I think in a few weeks I'll switch my focus from endurance to speed by increasing my speed little by little each time.  I'd like to spend the next 2 weeks continuing to push myself to 30 minutes non-stop and once that is comfortable, stick with 30 minutes but increase the speed.  Hoping to knock out 3 miles (non-stop) soon!

2.  This brings me to my next topic...the workout high...that workout itch you get when you just did an awesome workout and you can't wait to hit it hard the next day.  When I push through and do something I previously was unable to do, I get this high that has me wanting to go back for more.  Yesterday, for the first time, I ran 30 minutes straight, albeit slowly, and today I'm at my desk counting down the time til I leave so I can hit the gym again.  Will I do it again?  Who knows.  My Body Pump class and all the lunges and squats have my legs burning today, but it's days like yesterday where the workout motivates me to keep going.  I'm in a non-stop race against myself...constantly chasing that next goal, that next limit, to push myself past it.  When it comes to exercise I am very non-competitive.  I'm me.  I'm not the fastest, the strongest, the leanest, or the fittest person.  And I'm okay with that!  I don't know about anyone else, but I can say for certain that I am faster than I was yesterday, stronger than I was 2 months ago, leaner than I was 16 weeks ago, and the fittest I've been in YEARS.  I win. So what does all this mean?  It means don't compare yourself to others.  It means don't worry about what others say or do.  It means focus 100% of what you're willing to give on your goals and go for it. 

Why am I bringing this up?  In my online meeting this past week we discussed physical activity and barriers that people face.  One of the biggest barriers that people face, besides poor time management, is JUDGMENT.  People have a fear of going to a gym or fear of working out in front of others because of the judgment they may face.  As an overweight person you would think that I'd feel self conscious about putting on shorts (yes..SHORTS) and hitting the treadmill at the gym in front of everyone.  But I 100% am not self conscious about it AT ALL.  I'm there to workout.  I could care less what the people around me are thinking...and I'm sure someone in that gym is thinking something about me, whether negative or positive.  The gym I go to is very much a social place where the guys stand around staring at everyone, whispering, and doing more socializing than working out.  They check out all the cute little girls in their matching gym outfit (shoes match too...shoes are expensive, I can't afford to buy a pair of Nikes for every workout outfit I own!).  I'm sure as I roll by they look at me, but not in the same way.  I can see how this is intidimating to people who care.  Point is...you shouldn't care.  It's not about you, it's about them!  (My Five Fit Friends know this, but in case anyone reading cares, I'm telling you NOT TO!)



This picture was going around Facebook and I absolutely love it because it's SO TRUE!

  

3.  Thursday afternoon I had a skin cancer screening.  I had to get down to my bra and undies and had only a hospital gown to cover me.  The doctor came in and gave me a thorough screening and I'm happy to report that I have no signs of skin cancer.  He warned me with the usual...lots of sunscreen, seek shade at all times, sunglasses (to protect your eyes), hats (to protect your face), and yearly checkups.  It's scary when you think that you could potentially have a spot on your scalp and not even know it!  What complicates matters for me is that both my mom and sister have had melanoma (more than once for each) and have had to have it removed.  My sister has 3 permanent scars on her back, arm, and shoulder from recent (within the past 3 years) surgeries to remove her skin cancer.  Moral of the story:  Avoid tanning beds, wear sunscreen, get in the shade any chance you get, and get regular screenings! 

This post has gotten out of hand with so much to say so for today I'm going to end it here.  I'll have more to say in next week's post and hope to have more pictures of the new office as well!  I don't think we'll be doing much in the office during the work week because there's no light in there and after my evening gym routine, I get home as it's getting dark! 

Have a great week everyone!