The 8 week “Fit By Labor Day” mini-challenge has ended. My weight change?

Zero.

I lost some pounds early on, but gained it all back in Ohio.

My eating habits changes?

Zero.

I still need to drink more water, and have a new weakness to overcome {Vanilla Cherry Dr. Pepper Slurpees…WHO has the will power to resist that?}!

My 5K progress?

Zero.

Well, not exactly zero. I can run longer than a mile now, but only about half a 5K.

Visible difference {sorry for the crappy “after” pictures}?

You be the judge:

But you know what? I’m still going. I’m doing the Wii Fit and I’ve got a new 5K picked out {I just need to register and begin training again}. And if I win the trip to SITScation {winner announced tomorrow!!!!} then I’m also going to do the 30 Day Shred again.

You only fail once you give up.

And just to reinforce that idea here are some of the lyrics to one of my favorite songs:

Get Up – Superchic[k]
I'm not afraid to fall.
It means I climbed up high.
To fall is not to fail.
You fail when you don't try.
Not afraid to fall,
I might just learn to fly and
I will spread these wings of mine.

If i get up I might fall back down again.
So let's get up, come on.
If I get up I might fall back down again.
We get up anyway.

We'll just jump and see, even if it's the 30th time.
We'll just jump and see if we can fly.
I'm not afraid to fall.
I've fallen many times.
They laughed when I fell down.
But I have dared to climb .
I'm not afraid to fall.
I know I'll fall again.
But I can win this in the end.

part 1

Other

Humor Me (comics):

• http://news.yahoo.com/comics/fminus;_ylt=Arge6iLM5v5Pmdb6L_UIKJwDwLAF We don’t get the paper, so I read my funnies online. I never miss F Minus, For Better or for Worse, Stone Soup, Get Fuzzy nor Pearls Before Swine.
• http://www.questionablecontent.net/about.php My favorite web comic, Questionable Content. It does, in fact, have questionable content just as a way of warning.

O Canada! (links related to moving to and living here in the Great White North):

• http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/index.asp Evil-evil-hardly-helpful-at-all website for immigrating to Canada.
• http://www.healthlinkalberta.ca/default.htm I can call Health Link and talk to a nurse about pretty much anything. And that rocks.

Trip (links related to our upcoming vacation):

• http://www.phdinparenting.com/2008/08/25/cover-up-airline-breastfeeding-policies/ A guide to different airline’s policies on breastfeeding (many of which are lame).

Running:

• http://nikerunning.nike.com/nikeplus/ I <3 Nike+. It tracks my runs for me.
• http://running.about.com/ A very good resource for newbs like me.

101 in 1001:

• http://www.actsofkindness.org/ Inspiration for doing good deeds.
• http://www.thrilltheworld.com/learn Learn the Thriller dance. Heck yes!

LoLs (a series of sites that make me laugh out loud):

• http://dontjudgemyhair.com/ Ridiculous hair.
• http://icanhascheezburger.com/ The famous “LOL Cats.” Don’t miss their sister sites (i.e. Fail Blog, Lol News, etc.).

Hope you’ve enjoyed seeing just some of my bookmarks. Don’t forget to leave me your favorite links in the comments!

*pant pant pant pant*

I ran…*pant*…one full mile…*pant*…for the first time…*pant pant*…since high school!

No lie. I ran a mile without stopping nor walking! It’s only the second time in my life that I’ve done that. {Yes I realize how pathetic that is.} I’m very proud of myself. I was even more excited when I checked my Nike+ data and saw that I ran the mile in about 11 minutes! 11 minutes! Holy cow! I didn’t know I was that fast! But then Bear reminded me that my Nike+ needs to be recalibrated because it isn’t measuring things quite right. Oh…yeah. I forgot about that. Sooooo I didn’t run my mile in 11 minutes. But you know what, I’m still damn proud of myself! Now I just need to be able to do an additional 2.1 miles and I’ll be ready for my 5K. Can I do it? I guess we’ll see…

Also? My eating is getting cleaned up again. I bet I’ll be eating super well by the time I go to Ohio…the place with the BEST DONUT SHOP IN THE UNIVERSE. Uh-oh. I foresee a problem.

Ohio weather is also miserable in August. It’s going to be hot and humid and I’m not going to have the luxury of an indoor treadmill to run on. But run I will. I guess I’ll just have to get up early to beat the heat.

I’m getting to know my BAB team {GO YELLOW!} through our own private blog. Seems like everybody is doing the 30 Day Shred. And I’m considering doing the strength moves again on my non-running days.

Speaking of running days, today is one of them! I wonder how far I’ll run this time…

You know how “they” say after giving birth a woman has no shame? Yeah…it’s true. I know because Samantha of Mama Notes is hosting a challenge within a challenge and asked for “before” pics. And I obliged. OK…so it’s not a bikini…but close enough! Eee gads! What was I thinking?!

About 3 years ago (shortly before getting married) I looked like this:

Wow. I’m not sure what is more amazing…how much I’ve changed in 3 years or that I posted it for the whole world to see. Truth is, my feelings about my body are mixed. On the one hand I love my body. I love her for all she has done for me (like incubating and birthing my Lovey-Girl!). I love her for her strength and beauty. On the other hand I can’t honestly say I wouldn’t prefer to look a little bit more like I did way back when. I looked good. I looked healthy. And the strangest thing is that though I may not look it I’m actually healthier now. I’m stronger, eat healthier, and have more endurance. I want my outward appearance to better reflect my inner health.

The mini challenge is 8 weeks long. And my goals for that time are to run my 5K race without having to stop and walk, to stop eating junk (including soda*), and to do my best to make my body even healthier. I won’t set a goal weight because I can’t know what weight my body is capable of being now that I’m nursing (hellooo bigger boobs)! Plus I’m trying not to focus on pounds so much as health (remember?). I am however willing to do before and after weigh-ins. My before weight (according to my lame-o scale which is probably way inaccurate) is 156 pounds. That’s quite a bit for my 5’2” frame.

I’m really glad this mini challenge popped up when it did. I already told you how poorly I did the week before last. Well…last week was better food-wise, but awful as far as exercising is concerned. I need this extra motivation to get back on track.

The Fit By Labor Day Challenge begins today! Wish me luck!

*With the exception of the occasional mojito.

This past week was an exciting one! On Wednesday I did my very last 30 Day Shred workout! I’m very happy with 30DS. I am stronger, leaner, and my endurance and confidence have increased. But I’m also glad to be moving on. 30 days works well because it’s long enough to see results, but not so long that the boredom kills you.

I’m on to training for my first 5K. I’ve registered for the Calgary Women’s Run which is in August. I am not looking forward to running in August heat. But I am looking forward to doing my first race! I began training on Thursday with a nice long walk/run on our new-to-us treadmill. My exercise was cut short by a hungry baby but it was still long and hard! The training continued on Friday with a loooooooong walk through the nearby coulee. I always enjoy this particular trail. The views and wildlife sightings are fantastic (see the pair of deer?)! Plus it’s very hilly so it’s quite challenging.

I was very sick on Saturday (I will spare you the details*) and that totally threw off my groove. It means I’m having to shift around some days in my training schedule. And I’m starting the strength training later than I wanted to by a few days. But such is life. I’ll still be on target for the overall training schedule. I’ve just had to switch my rest days for one week.

I also discovered this week that I’ve been eating healthy foods for so long now that I can’t handle junk the way I used to. Overly processed and super sugary foods just don’t agree with me anymore and I’ve lost the desire for {most of} them. Not even Oreo cookies appeal to me! I used to think that heating healthy would mean resisting temptation for the rest of my life. Boy, was I wrong! Given enough time a healthy diet turns previous temptations into disgusting prospects. That said, I don’t eat perfectly and I still like old fashioned goodies (like homemade cookies) on occasion.

This week my goal is simple, get back on track and keep the momentum going!

Be sure to check out the Body After Baby post on the host site (Mama Notes) for some tips on “accidental exercise.”

What kinds of things throw off your exercise routine? How do you deal with them?

*You can thank me later.

I started this challenge largely because I was unhappy with the way my body looked. But after really thinking about fat talk and body image I’ve tried to let go of that particular motivation and focus on health and the sense of accomplishment that comes from reaching one’s goals. So I’ve taken the scale out of the bathroom and stashed it in the storage closet. I’ve left myself an Operation Beautiful note. And I’ve already started feeling much better about myself.

Last week I set several goals:

• Continue 30DS
• Water, water, water!
• Make half a week’s meal plan.
• Make some long term fitness goals and plan for them.
• NO soda!

I’m happy to report that I have met those goals (and surpassed a few of them)! I have just a few days left of 30DS. Wednesday will be my last workout. I can’t believe I’ve stuck with it! I’ve never stuck with a fitness plan for this long! And this one is crazy hard at first! But Adam has provided a substantial bribe to do all 30 days, Jillian Michaels (the DVD host/trainer) is really motivating, and after completing NaNoWriMo and giving birth I more fully believe that I can do anything!

I did not give in and have any soda, even when my evil lovely husband tempted me with a mojito. And I did drink more water, but could probably stand to have a little more each day.

I not only finished half a week’s meal plan, I completed an entire week’s plan AND implemented it. I’ve gotten most of the meal ideas and recipes from Caitlin at Healthy Tipping Point. Very yummy! Just to give you an idea of what my new, healthy meals look like here are a few examples:

• sweet potato and bean balls rolled in ground flax seed
• hummus wraps with veggie toppings
• whole, sprouted grain French toast with ground flax seed
• vegetarian burritos (yup, I’m recommitting myself to vegetarianism…er…vegetariseafoodism?)
• lots and lots of green smoothies!

And I’ve made my long term fitness goals and planned my training. One of my 101 in 1001 goals is to run a marathon. So that’s my focus. And how appropriate that today’s Body After Baby post at Mama Notes is about running? That’s got to be a sign or something.

I’ve selected which marathon I want to run (the Calgary marathon). And I have a 46+ week training plan in place which will take me from beginner runner to 5K, from 5K to 1/2 marathon, and then from 1/2 to full marathon! If I stick to the plan then in just under a year I’ll be running a 26.2 mile race. It’s said that anyone who is moderately fit can train to run a marathon. But rumour has it that only between 0.1% and 2% of people ever will do it. I am going to do it.

Saturday night I watched the documentary Spirit of the Marathon. It was incredibly inspirational. It gave an abbreviated history of the marathon and followed several different runners training for the Chicago Marathon from first timer to elite racers (i.e. people who actually have a chance to win). As boring as that description may make it sound it was truly fascinating. I think my favourite part was when they discussed the history of women running marathons. Women used to be barred from long distance races (supposedly, one belief was that our wombs would fall out *insert BIG eye roll here*). Katherine Switzer was the first women to run the almighty Boston Marathon (entered under the name K. V. Switzer) and she finished it (without her womb falling out, I might add) despite a race official’s attempt to physically remove her from the race.

Starting Thursday my training will include the six week 100 push ups/200 sit ups/200 squats program three times per week and a six week beginner 5k program four times per week. I’ll be doing both programs on one day per week so that I can also have a complete day of rest each week. While I’ve enjoyed the commitment of working out every day as demanded by the 30DS it’s not really what’s best for one’s body. Our bodies need a chance to rest and recover.

So, this weeks mini goals include:

• start and stick to my training schedule
• water!!!
• continue to eat healthy foods
• register for my the Calgary Women's Run (5K) and/or the Bustin' Loose Race (10K)
  

I am so excited to start training. It is going to be hard. But in the last year I have discovered that I can do hard things. So, barring a late blizzard or serious injury I will run the Calgary Marathon, even if it takes me six hours to do it.

Would you ever run a marathon? Have you already? What hard things have you done? Brag away in the comments.