Kathybad

Thanks Ladies! I don't love my arms, still big, but I don't hate them either. I did wear a shall when I wore the red dress, but stopped wearing it halfway through the evening and felt great. Happy Mother's Day everyone!

Here's my red dress, and the dress my DH gave me for Mother's Day...

Renewed... Ohhh my "All or Nothing Friend" so like my DH! LOL, don't worry, you can renew your love of fitness! That's the great thing about the band... if you let it, it can save you. Glad to have you back! Get off that pretty butt of yours and run around your land. BTW... now that you're all moved in, how's life on the land? Georgia... date night is special! DE... congrats on registering... good luck on your run. Is Memorial Day next weekend?? I think you guys have the same long weekend as we do in Canada, we just call it Victoria Day. Ok, I stepped on the scale this morning - first time since going away for the week - and expected it to be up a bit - but not 6.5 lbs! Boo Hoo... I guess I didn't eat as good as I thought and those desserts were too much. I also think I'm retaining water due to all the high sodium in restaurant food and so much coffee! My ankles are swollen a bit too. Oh well... it too will come off!

Suzanne... Good luck tomorrow! Remember to look around and enjoy the moment, even if its a real challenging run, think to yourself... I am doing this! Georgia... glad you're feeling a bit better. Good luck on the run today. Amy... welcome!!! Come on in and join the fun! Carol... Grrr! Don't you just hate it when aches and pains get in the way! Lynn... Ohh I missed you. I hope you're still reading posts! So sorry about your injury. Heal fast and well. As for keeping your stamina, if you google wheelchair fitness, you might find some seated types of exercises that you could do. I just got home from being away all week. I'm exhausted! I was at Sales Meetings from Mon-Thu, and then to other meetings that overlapped from Wed-Fri. Part of the meeting included going to a Gala dinner on Wed night. I wore this beautiful hot red dress that was sleeveless and backless. I was stunning! I thought the dress was a size 14, but when I looked at the label, it said size 12. I just about fell over!!! Thur night I had to go to a Gallery Opening, so my DH joined me in Toronto for the night. It also happened to be my birthday, so we had lots of fun! I was a fairly good girl this week. I ran 3x at the hotel, ate fairly healthy 75% of the time... but did eat dessert and drank my face off! LOL. Glad to be home. Ohhh but my feet hurt. Too much walking and too many stairs while wearing high heals! Yeah, I was a bit of a slave to fashion this week. Again... I did look hot! HAHA!

Hi All, glad to see all the activity! Georgia... I love Chiropractors! I hope the back cracking helps. I have a chronic issue with my lower back/hip area, and when its not in line, it aches a lot! I'm out of town all week at a sales meeting. They have us in a nice resort in Niagara Falls area. We got here around 2 and the meeting was set to start at 4, so I took advantage of the free time to check out the fitness facility. I ran 3k and am so glad I did. The rest of the day involved lots of wine (Niagara is wine country) and good food! I plan to get up early and run again.

Carol... great running moment! You're on your way! Bella... don't push yourself too much. Keep safe and let the band work for you. In time you can begin to workout. We took the kids and dog for a long walk today... the longest one we've done with them. We went about 5.5k, and they did it! The dog's wiped and my DD is exhausted!! But it was really good for them.

Georgia... feel better! I planned to run last night but got busy and didn't. So when I got up this morning I had my coffee and then set out. My plan was to do 5k, and just around the block from my house I took a fall! :thumbdown: I tripped on the sidewalk seam that was raised. Tried to recover and then knew I was goin' DOWN. Slow motion in my head I thought "Great... I'm going to break something and all my good work is gone!" I landed on my hands, and luckily on the soft tissue of the side of my calf, thigh and upper arm. No bones! So I sat there for a minute and was amazed that I didn't really hurt myself. Then got up, turned off my Nike+ and started to head back home... giving up! Then I thought to myself, I'm ok, I'm not hurt... get going! So I started my run over and I did almost 6k. I felt really good the whole way. I'm a little sore and bruised now, but nothing major. I guess I'm luckey. The only real injury I sustained was to my pride! LOL. Georgia... for a brief moment on my way down I thought of you and your tumbles!

Carol... good luck with your run tonight. Thanks for your thoughts. I'm so glad its Friday. Its been such a busy week at work, and I've started a sideline business in the evening for resume writing. For a few months I didn't even get a nibble, then I got my first client and it was like the flood gates opened and now I'm turning people away! Not like I have a lot of time anyways, but until we claw our way out of debt due to me being off work last summer (yeah it is taking more than a year to recover!!) I've got to bring in extra money somehow. So I've been burning the candle at both ends! But, I've still found time for the kids and my runs. Sleep, well that's another story! LOL... my body's getting smaller, but my eyes are getting darker! I'm actually looking forward to my run tonight to clear my head and just get the stress of the week out.

I love this thread!!! I miss a few days and when I come back, there's so much activity and inspiration goin' on! Carol... I knew you could do it... tough, but worth it. Now, don't talk yourself into too much rest. 1 day off then back at it girl, otherwise, you run the risk of losing what endourance you gained... of course, I don't always follow the wonderful advice I give! LOL!!! The race sounds great. I'll be cheering for you. DEGirl... love the new photo, and your progress pics... you've done so well! Georgia... great run. I'm so glad you're back at it. Suzanne... hope the new shoes work for you. Ok, I have a bit of a revelation lately that's kind of freaking me out, but in a good way... I'm not fat! That's been my identity all of my life... there has never been a time in my life that I wasn't fat. I was the fat little girl, the fat teen, the fat adult. That's not me anymore. If I had kept my old job, I wouldn't have experienced this feeling, but I have a new job with people who don't know me as the fat Kathy, they have only seen the last 20lbs (and boy do they see it!). I use to worry about this, cause I thought I would always feel like the fat girl, but now I know, I can leave it behind. I really do see how non-fat people treat those of us who are obese. Its so obvious, and wrong, and now I'm not treated that way. Ok, enough rambling... but wanted to share this. Its an amazing head game, but one I'm enjoying.

Georgia... sounds like a great workout... I might try that one soon. Kristin... I know its hard to get back in gear when you've been off. So here's my official kick in the butt!!! Just go out one day and start, then keep at it. Soon you will get back in gear. Carol... CONGRATULATIONS!!!! You did it on your first try! I'm so happy for you. My advice... move onto week 6. Now that you've done the 20min run, you really only have 1 week of intervals left and the rest of the time you just add minutes. So I'd just go ahead to week 6 and finish your intervals. Don't be surprised if it seems really hard to run the intervals... many of us found this on w6d1, but rebounded by w6d2. Scuba... I love your username... I love to scuba dive too... just never get the chance! Wow, you are very very active! What you've outlined leads me to believe you may be needing a bit of a rest. I think your main concern is trying to build your run endourance, so you can run farther. You didn't say how frequently you run, so I'll just assume since you're on week 8, that you run every other day. If you're running more frequently than that, I'd suggest backing off a bit. I'd suggest you alternate your cardio days (running) with strength training days and not do too much of both on the same days. Your nutrition sounds great. Lots of balance. Just make sure you're getting enough water before your run, and I like to have a bit of real protein, not powder, before too. Don't worry about your weight loss, you're doing all the right things, and are probably losing lots of fat. good luck!

Carol... congrats on W5D2... you rocked that one! Sending you good thoughts for tomorrow!!! MacMadam... the challenge started today, so no worries for this challenge! Well, I feel so much better now! I got out again today and ran much further. I could tell really early into the run that it was going to go better. It was so windy that it almost knocked me over when I ran against it, but I kept going. I did just over 5k. I'm whacked but in a good way! I was the first to post my run on the challenge.... so for a very brief moment I'm in the lead! LOL, not for long! I'm also in a challenge with my DH and he's kickin my butt!! Does anyone own a universal gym for the home? I keep thinking that it would be a good investment. I can't afford a really good one, at least not right now, but I was thinking that anything is probably better than nothing, and then I can maybe get something better in the future. I really think strength training is going to be the thing that will get me all the way to goal. Dieting did the first 50, running did the next 60, now I think strength training will do the last 20. Any recommends on a universal system that won't cost a fortune??

Suzanne... my heart goes out to you... what a pain! Literally! I've never heard of what you have, so my advice might be totally whacked... if so, ignore it. Have you tried taping up your toes or wherever it is that hurts to cusion it a bit during the running? I hope you are able to push through the pain, at least until your race. Don't worrry about losing tone, when the race is over of after your surgery, do some free weight exercises. That will keep you going for awhile. I ran tonight. It was so warm out that I ran in shorts and a Tshirt. I'd like to say it felt great, but it didn't. I hadn't drank any water all day, so was dehydrated, and I haven't run enough lately, so it was a struggle the whole way. But it left me with the knowledge that I want to run so I'll have to go back to the basics to rebuild my endourance. No better time like the present. I'm 3 months away from my 2nd bandaversary, so would like to try and reach my goal by then or get really close! Game on! BTW, I went and got a few new outfits... Size 13/14!!! I didn't have to pour myself into them anymore... they fit!

MacMadam... you go for it!

Ok the Nike+ "Spring Fling" challenge is set up. Starts Sat and runs until May 31. I've sent out the invites to everyone I know on the thread with a Nike+. If you have one and didn't get an invite... send me your email address.

Ahhhhh time to kick me in the butt!! Please! I've been so stressed out lately... work is piling up, the kids are driving me crazy, and $$$ (long story), that I have let myself slide on the running. I've only run 1x per week for the last 3 weeks. Each time seems harder and harder too. I'm going to have to get back into a routine and do some intervals to build back up. Congrats on the progress everyone. Carol... WTG on starting Wk 5 Suzanne... I'll be thinking of you on race day Georgia... so glad to hear from you I can set up another Nike+ challenge. If anyone has the Nike+ and hasn't participated in one of our LBT challenges, PM me your email address. If you've been in one, I'll just send it to you. I really need the motivation. It's Thurs now, so I'll have it start Sat and run for 4 weeks or so.

Whosya... CONGRATULATIONS!!! You are amazing! One year after your first 5k and now you've run a 1/2 Mary! Great time too! Welcome to all of the new runners, I hope you grow to love running as much as I do. The weather seems to have turned into Spring, and it has been so beautiful out this weekend, so I ran Fri & Sat. I've fallen out of my routine a bit lately (since I was sick), that its been a little hard getting back into the right groove. I do love to run, but it seems so easy to let the day get away from me and then convince myself its too late to run. But certainly not this weekend. I actually ran in shorts and a Tshirt yesterday. Today was so busy and I was a bit achy, and it was soooo windy, that we chose a long walk with the kids. Carol... I think you mentioned wondering why you have the compulsion to post after every run... well, I'm 9 months into running and I feel the same. It almost makes it real once you've posted it. The same with the Nike+... it makes it official. Keep it up... that's what we're here for. My weight seems to have plateaued again. I think its going to be tough slugging now that I'm so close to the end. According to my body comp scale, I have about 53 lbs of body fat on me, so I have at most about 20-25 lbs left to lose. So that's going to be tough going since about 5-10lbs is loose skin . Oh well, I'm overjoyed with where I am now, so anything more is icing on the cake!

Suzanne... you're doing great! You are increasing your running time each week and will eventually get the full distance in. Don't beat yourself up about your time. Remember, my first 5k I ran the whole distance... no walking, and it took me 44 min. So you're probably pretty close to that time if you were to run the whole distance. The 5k I just ran had me at 41 min, so I've improved, but am still slow. There were a LOT of people who ran it a lot slower than that. I looked at the results, and many did it in 55 min or more. Yes, some of them were walking, but most were running. Have you tried just running until you can't run anymore? I did that and went from 28min to 50min in a week. That helped me just get over the distance thing. I just turned on my iPod and ran to my own music and stopped when I had to. I didn't look at the time or distance, just kept going. Every once in awhile, I do that now and it helps me break through a block that I'm having.

Ally... the body is such a mystery! Chances are when you run, you're building a little more muscle than before, so you might be losing fat, but replacing it with muscle. You'll know for sure if your clothes start fitting better, or if you have a body composition scale, it'll tell you your % body fat. Also, when you were sick, you probably dropped weight due to eating less and having more fluids. One caution about running... you will be more hungry, and its really really easy to justify that extra food because "I ran earlier". The challenge is to keep up the activity, but eat healthy. Good luck, and no, its never too soon to incorporate running or any exercise into your program. You've done great so far... keep it up.

Ahhhh!!!! Twice now the Nike+ has messed up! First during my race last week, and then again today. First it wouldn't play the music, but was calculating the distance, so I kept it on. Then when I went to sync it, the run didn't register and then it wouldn't play music. Now its playing music again, but not sure if it will work next time! Very frustrating! Oh well... I did about 4k at the park, but I wore too much and overheated. As I was running, one of my old work colleauges was walking in the opposite direction. She knows I'm running now, but hasn't seen me for about a year (and about 65lbs ago) That was fun!!!

MacMadam... WTG! 4.5m is excellent! Whosya... I'm posting the results below! Auggies... welcome and good luck! Carol... On week 5, I would just power through the first 2 runs and then focus on the 3rd one. That's one of the hardest overall, as its the biggest step so far. It took me about 4 weeks to accomplish it, but I had no problems with the first 2 runs. Take it at whatever pace you're comfortable with, and keep at it. You'll do great!