WIW & Goals

 I didn't make it out of the 80's this week like I had hoped, but at least I had a bit of a loss!

Last week, I was at 180.5, this week...

Here is my list of excuses for why I didn't make it out of the 80's.

Aunt Flow is visiting.

I had a work dinner last night, and ate nachos and taco.  Hello, sodium!

I only worked out 3 times in the last week.

I had a sick dog-child to tend to. 

Next week, I will have no excuses because...

Aunt Flow will be gone.

No crazy work dinners the night before weigh in.

I will be working out everyday this "week".

(My weeks have changed from Monday-Sunday to Wednesday-Tuesday)

My baby dog, Skittles, is all better now so no added stress.

To help keep excuses at bay, here are a few goals I have for the week.

1.  Log 14 miles walking or running.

I haven't been taking the dogs for very many walks lately because it's so freaking cold, but it's such as easy way to fit in activity!  Averaging 2 miles a day should be easy!

2.  Do a full week of 21 Day Fix workout videos.

W-Total Body Cardio

T-Upper Fix

F-Lower Fix

S-Pilates

S-Cardio Fix

M-Dirty 30

T-Yoga

3.  Log everything, EVERYTHING!, I eat into MFP.

We got a sneak peek of our engagement photos from our photographer so I'll end this post with this adorable family photo :)

Currently...

I feel like blogging today, but don't have too much to say, so I'm borrowing some "currently" prompts from Bless This Mess . 

If you have never visited Melissa at Bless This Mess, I recommend that you do!  She has an awesome blog where she shares wonderful recipes and stories about her adorable family.  Visit her now! 

Without further ado, my "currently".

Thinking...Autumn Calabrese, the brains behind 21 Day Fix, is wicked.  

Wickedly awesome.  Wickedly evil.  

Her program is so doable, but so killer at the same time.  

When I am doing the workout videos, I think to myself, "hey, this isn't so bad."  I feel great throughout the entire workout, and then BAM, the next day, I'm hella sore. 

 So sore I don't want to get out of bed.  

Even though I'm in pain, and my legs were so sore last night from my Wednesday session with Autumn that I didn't want to put the effort into taking off my workout pants, that I just slept in them, it's a wonderful kind of sore.  

It's the kind of sore that lets me know I'm making progress.  

It's the kind of sore that lets me know I'm going to see awesome results!

Feeling...If you didn't read thinking above, this is going to come as a shock, SORE.  

Last night was upper body so my arms are feeling it today.  I may have to sleep in this shirt I wore to work just to avoid lifting my arms over my head ;)

Watching...Little snow flurries drift past my office window.  I'm a Wisconsin girl, born and raised, bring on the snow, Mother Nature!

Reading...Way too many things at one time.

Lirael by Garth Nix - This is the second book in a UA trilogy that I've read before, but it's so awesome that I'm reading it again.  If you like Harry Potter, and/or the undead, you'll like it too.  The first book is Sabriel and the final book is Abhorsen.  

Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon - The fourth book of the Outlander series.  If you don't know what Outlander is, of who Jamie and Claire are, we can't be friends.  For serious.

King Arthur by Norma Goodrich - I like history.  I am fascinated by mythical/mysterious history.  It doesn't get more mythical than King Arthur.

The Monuments Men by Robert Edsel - Once again, I like history.  I really like art history.  Fascinating read that gives another perspective on WWII.  I bet you've never really thought about artistic masterpieces and how they're protected, or not, during wartime.  Am I right?

The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien - I'm actually listening to this one on CD.  I don't like all the talking, commercials, and repeated songs on the radio, so I listen to books on tape while I drive.

Excited...for the weekend!  Tonight, one of my bridesmaids is coming over for dinner, and wine.  Lots of wine.

Saturday, my matron of honor and I are going bridesmaid dress shopping.  I also get to see my wedding dress again :) so we can compare some colors.  

Sunday, I am meeting a friend I haven't seen in months, for lunch, at my favorite restaurant, The Grumpy Troll.  

Surprisingly, I am also excited for the weekend so I can go running.  

I really dislike running in the dark, and it's dark when I wake up, and dark when I get home from work, so I'm saving my runs for the weekend/days off for the next couple months.  I'm doing 3 miles on Saturday, and 5 on Sunday.

Missing...The longer daylight hours of summer!  I can handle the cold and snow, but I hate that it seems like it's ALWAYS dark!

Working...not very hard, since I'm blogging at work...oops.

Stressed...about our current roommate situation.  My brother, his girlfriend, and my 9-year-old nephew have been living with us since the beginning of September.  They actually moved in the weekend Nick proposed to me so we never really got to enjoy/celebrate our engagement...I love my family, but it's beginning to take its toll.  They should be moving out in the next two weeks, and it can't happen soon enough!

Proud...of Nick for finishing his first half marathon last weekend!  

I didn't mention it in my last post, but Nick also did the Tyranena Beer Run Half Marathon.  

He also didn't really train...but he finished about 5 minutes ahead of me!  Yahoo!  

He hated every minute of it, and says he's never doing one again. LOL!

Wanting...Christmas Break to be here.  I work at a college, and the staff is lucky enough to get a portion of winter break off too.  I'm off from December 24 through January 4, and it's paid holiday time!!

Wishing...I could bring my dogs to work.

Eating...a banana.  Half of which I just dropped on the floor.  Sad face.

Drinking...water and coffee.

Loving...Everything today!  I'm in an extremely good mood :)

Happy weekend, my peeps!

WIW

Happy Wednesday, my friends!

We all know what Wednesday means, official weigh-in time.

I did weigh myself on Monday to see where I was at because I had been avoiding the scale for weeks. 

 Monday I was at 181.8, and I am happy to report some of that weight was residual poor-choice-weekend-weight.  Today, I weighed in at:

Next week, I'll be out of the 80's, and I won't look back!

This morning, I started the 21 Day Fix workout DVDs, and I did total body cardio.  I planned on starting Monday, but my legs were hella sore, and I couldn't even do the jumping jacks during the warm up.  

Why were my legs so sore you ask?

Oh, did I forget to mention I ran a half marathon on Saturday?

That's right.  I finished my 4th half marathon this past weekend.

It was the hardest thing I have yet to do because I didn't really train for it.  And by "didn't really" I mean I didn't train.

  I looked back on my Garmin Connect and I only ran 8 times after I signed up for the half in August.  8 times!!  Those 8 runs totaled to only 26.37 miles.  Not nearly adequate training to run a half marathon!

My goal was to just finish the damn thing.  I had hopes of finishing in 3 hours or less.  Somehow, some way, I managed to officially finish in 2:39:55.

I felt pretty good up until mile 9, then I crashed.  Hard.  My hips were so tired and sore that I could only run a few minutes at a time.  The last two miles consisted mostly of walking.

I definitely will NEVER run a half marathon again without better training!!

Sweating for the Wedding

Why hello.  It's been a while.  Quite awhile.

The last time I posted was September 24.

I haven't really had anything to blog about though.  My blog is supposed to be about running.  Running a full marathon in particular, but I have yet to even come close to doing so.

Instead, all I've been trying to do for the last 4+ months, is get my shit together.

Instead of losing weight, and becoming healthier.  I've been gaining, and my eating habits have been spiraling out of control.

Time for that to end.

I've said it a dozen times before, but I'm saying it again.

I'm back.

For real this time.

Because you guys, I have a wedding to get ready for!!

I only have 208 days to bust some ass, and not look like a whale in my wedding dress.

On my wedding day, I am going to look amazing.  My dress is going to fit so wonderfully that I will not once worry about sucking in my tummy, or if my back fat is out of control.

I am going to dance with my friends and family without a care of what my body looks like.

I am going to celebrate marrying the love of my life, and not once will the thought of whether or not I look fat cross my mind.

I am taking control of my body, and I will reach my goals.

It's time to start sweating for the wedding!

There are 30 weeks until I say "I do".

I have the goal of dropping 1 pound per week, or 30 pounds.  Overall though, I would be happy with the range of  20-30.

 I stepped on the scale this morning, after avoiding it for roughly a month, and it sucked.

181.80

Where in the hell did that number come from?! Oh, yeah.  Not exercising, and eating like a hog.

So my goal weight to  reach by 6/6/15 is 151.8-161.8.

Here we go!!

Weighing In & Wedding Planning: Venues

This morning was the first time I've weighed myself in a while.  Since I've been working out consistently for about 10 days now, I was of course expecting a miracle, but instead, I just got a reality check...

177.5

Still in the same area I have been for the past few months.  Now that I have a great workout buddy, a consistent workout schedule, a wedding to get in shape for, and I'm eating really well, I know I'll be out of the 70's in no time!

On a more exciting note, I am pumped to join the Wedding Wednesday link-up!

Mary at Little Bit of Class Little Bit of Sass will no longer be hosting after this week, but Kristyn at Chits & Giggles will be taking over.  I am excited to share my wedding ideas, and to read about the plans of others!

For those of you that did not read my last post, Nick proposed a few weeks ago!

Our wedding date is 6/6/15 so wedding planning is already in full swing!

We chose an early date because I am a HUGE procrastinator, unless I have a tight deadline.  If I had a year or more to plan, I would just wait until the last possible moment, and then scramble to get everything in place.

This week, I am going to share a little bit about the venues we chose.

The wedding ceremony is going to take place at Library Park in the town we live in.

The stone building was erected in 1894 and was the town's original library, village hall, firehouse, and jail, all in one.  In 1923, the village hall, firehouse, and jail were relocated, but the library remained there until 1978.  After that, the building was put on the National Register of Historic Places, and is used for local events. 

We had to put down a $100 deposit to reserve the park.  This deposit is fully refundable as long as there is no damage to the property, and we clean up after ourselves.  Our reservation also includes access to the first floor the library building, for no extra charge.  We plan on having the ceremony outdoors, but in the event of rain, we'll move into the building.

Conveniently, our house is only about a mile from this park.  The plan is to have the girls get ready at our house, or my aunt's (she lives about 2 miles outside of town), and the guys will get ready at the other house.  Nick and I do plan on seeing each other before the ceremony so we can get a bunch of pictures taken care of beforehand.  We will still do a first look shoot though, so there is still some element of surprise for Nick seeing me in my dress for the first time, hence getting ready at separate houses.  

Our reception will be a short 15 minutes away from the ceremony site at The Heights Event Center. 

I nabbed these photos of The Heights from the web since I haven't taken any myself yet.  

You can get an idea of the set up of the room from the first picture though.  Behind the point of view of the photographer, is the dance floor, the piece of wood sticking out to the left is the bar.  The second picture is of the foyer area outside of the reception hall.  

It's such a nice, large space for a very reasonable price!  The owner/event coordinator of the venue is also amazingly nice.  Like, the nicest person I have ever met.  He is beyond excited to work with us, and is ready to help us in any way possible.  The reservation fee for the center is $3 per person which includes set up and tear down, waitstaff fee, and white linens!!  We can also use any decorations they have on site for no extra fee.  What a steal!

The owner of the venue also owns a restaurant so they do in-house catering.  Nick and I already did a food tasting with him at his restaurant, and daaayyyyyuuummm, their food is SO good!  I'll save the food details for another post though :)

So far, wedding planning has gone very smoothly, and things seem to just fall into place.  I really hope it continues that way!