...with her Mom

My Mother paid us a visit this past weekend. For the first time she looked at me in the eye and said "I am exhausted! I'm going to bed! You tired me out!"

My mother is XX years old and is in great shape. I hope I look and feel a good as her when I am XX years old. She has always been the one nudging me about going out for a walk, or doing some gardening or being healthier than I am. She loves me, but she knows me and nudging was all i would tolerate for a long time. The woman has patience I tell you.

So this is the first visit she has taken with us here in the city since last fall, long before my step off into my life-in-health. We started off yesterday morning with a large breakfast of eggs and bacon (the usual Sunday fare on my 'relax day') but instead of just sitting around digesting, I hustled my daughter and mother into snow pants and we went to Green's Creek for some sledding. If you didn't poke your head out of the house yesterday, you missed a rare sunny beautiful winter day after a snowstorm so sledding was perfect!

I should not have taken the road well traveled. It was bumpy and I got a new appreciation of a 'spinal compression'. But it wasn't the down so much as the 'up' that I was interested in. Greens Creek is a HUGE steep hill thta is a good 3-5 minute walk/hike for every 30 seconds of 'WHEEEEE' all the way down. After no less than 4 runs, Emma was done and so was I. My Mother did a little run down but wasn't too keen on taking a header and I don't really blame her. After all she is XX years old...

After that, Mother, my DD and DH went skating while I stayed home and did some necessary year end paperwork. I don't skate. I swim and sled, but I don't skate. My feet don't like it so just don't ask. So an hour later, they came home and my mother was soon napping. I just smiled. Then I napped. Hey it was Sunday...

Today was a whole new day of firsts.

I wanted to work out so told my mother in advance. Now she regularly works out at her local gym/pool so she was ready but had no shoes. Since my shoes were hanging on by - literally - a lace and prayer, we went shoe shopping and instead of pumps it was cross trainers (a first!) and we were stepping pretty high in our New Balance CT's for me and Wilson CT's for her. Off to the gym!

One hour class of a Cardio and Weight Combo later we were flat on our back stretching. I kept up! (A first) and I was able to do a special stretch I couldn't do before (another first!) . I would have gotten more out of the class only if I were more coordinated but that will come I am told. Mom did awesome! She had done thsi before after all.

New shoes made a HUGE difference and my feet and body are doing very well. Then we ran around doing errands for the rest of the day. Then we came home and after a snack went back to the Y (she couldn't believe I wanted to go out in the crap weather again) to take Emma for the family swim. In all honesty we didn't swim. Emma frolicked around in the heated shallow pool and we sat in the hot tub end of the heated pool and got our sore muscles blasted by the jets like two potatoes being stewed. Followed by a sauna. Feeling AWESOME all the way home. Had dinner and now I am thinking of going to bed myself. She went down an hour ago.

Oh and an update on my running - I went last Friday and did a combo of 30 minutes of treadmill followed by 30 mins of weights. It was a good work out but the best part - the absolute BEST part is that I paced myself so much better than when i ran mad. I was about to jog at a 1% incline and 3.8 speed (in miles) for 20 mins straight out of the 30. And I wasn't exhausted. I could have kept going. I was kinda freaking out - but on the inside.

Now I am entertaining thoughts of signing up for a 5k marathon.

Eep!

Jenn

...and is ticked off at herself...

Last week I didn't work out my minimum 3 workouts b/c on the Monday I was still recovering from a stomach bug and Friday was a PA day and so opted to stay home with my daughter because I have been working so much lately. I don't regret it, I know I have been doing really well with my life choices and I have been seeing successes in many parts of my life. I promised myself a kick ass work out week this week.

Monday - went to my class. was early even. No classes on Family day but the gym was open. Grrrr. I stood there staring at the closed workout room door and was torn as to what to do. i didn't have my music with me to do a run on the treadmill. Besides that was Tuesday's planned work out for when emma was at Brownies. i looked around at all the very complicated looking machines and decided to make it into an educational day and learn some of the machines. Over the next hour I puzzled my way through 8 various machines (with some help from complete strangers who could see I was a newb at this) and worked out mostly my upper body. No where near the workout I wanted but it was *something*.

Tuesday night - between work projects being late and meetings, I completely missed my workout window and barely got to Emma's Brownies in time to pick her up. GrrrRRRRRR....!

This morning - I thought I was prepared. I had my bag packed to shower there. I had  my work out gear on. I ate my scrambled eggs an hour in advance of my workout to have some energy and my after work out smoothie was ready to go in the car. I had Emma on the bus on time. I ....didn't...have ....my....running shoes. They were at the store. After saying things that don't bare repeating and seeing RED I drove to the store, picked up my shoes drove back to the gym and was way late for the class but instead pounded my angry energy out on the treadmill for 30 mins that for 17.5 mins I RAN! I went fast and longer than before, and way harder but I paid for it. After I felt sick and dizzy for awhile (I feel better now) I showered and went on with my day as planned.

This is a special notification to my life and whatever karma or negative energy that is trying to keep me from having a healthy life and working out regularly:

I WILL NOT stop. I WILL work out. I WILL move my body and be healthy. I WILL make healthy food choices and not fold at temptation.

SO THERE!

Jenn

...at the dr.'s office.

I have been looking forward to today's Dr.'s appointment for ... well since the last time I weighed in.

First weigh in at the dr's (otherwise known as "the start of it all") was Dec 21st 2011 right before Christmas.
I like his scale because it is super accurate and digital. I weighed in at 276lbs. Bleh. Then we had Christmas and I know I ate...ah...richly.

So today...after working out for over a month and making small healthy changes in my eating...

I lost 11 lbs. Weighed in at 265.0 lbs exactly.

So I lost it. I started to cry. Poor fellow was a bit startled but he had a box if tissue on his desk for just such an occasion so I blew my nose and beamed at him.

I can't wait to work out tomorrow.

Happy Love Day!

Jenn

...at boot camp.

I would like to thank everyone who had such wonderful words of support and love, in person, in emails, facebook and by donating to Bust a Move. I will get there. I have fun things planned to raise the $$ I need and a great crew of cheerleaders...but I swear this week has had it in for me with trying my limits on so many fronts...which brings us to today.

this morning's workout was the height of irony.

It was SUPPOSE to be cardio combo. It was SUPPOSE to be a medium dance like workout class and I was looking forward to comparing how much I have improved since the last time I did that class.

But the teacher was on vacation and i got Boot Camp class instead. Oh I hurt. Never have I done Boot Camp class before and it was brutal. But from the sounds of the rest of the class (one lady had to walk out twice?!?) I was in good company.

A first for me: I felt the sweat dripping off of me. Whoa.

Another first : When I preferred to plank (from the knees) to doing one more push up or my new exercise-to-hate "the mountain climb". Was able to do this for nearly 30 seconds.

Win : I did my 3 x 1 hour workouts this week and all of them pushed me into new areas. 

Anyways...it's one of those classes that when I feel more confident in myself I can see joining "On Purpose". I am so glad that today I snuggling at home with Emma as she recovers from the flu. She is doing better, but then she seemed to be doing better earlier in the week only to get sicker again, then recover and then get sicker again! Poor kid. I see a lot of movies and Nintendo DS in our immediate future and yummy, healthy easy to digest foods.

 I am looking forward to my yearly physical and check up on Tuesday (first time in a long time I can say that!) so I can get weighed on my Dr's very high tech digital scale. It will be the first weigh in on that scale since before Christmas. Trying not to get my hopes up to high, because I FEEL good about my progress.

Have a good weekend folks. Hope you get to enjoy the weather and Winterlude.

Jenn

...on video for Bust a Move...or not?

I did a video of this with my laptop and it ended up being like - 6 gigs of info or something like that. It would have taken 6 hours to upload so not going to happen. So no video but here is a written transcript of what I said in the video and I my sincere hope is that my voice whispers in your mind as you read it.

My struggle - and struggle it has been - for the last 15 years to be healthy and lose weight has been a very private one, that I haven't invited anyone to really share with me. So here is me, sharing with you. I feel the cause it worth it.

"If you are watching this video, thank you for your time. I have something important to share…that is important to me that is…and I hope you stay with me until the very end of the video. 

I have started 2012 with a challenge to myself. I can almost hear you think that perhaps that is the last thing I need right now, but I assure you that challenges inspire me to succeed. Perhaps it would be helpful if I mention that I define success as striving to meet or exceed any challenge or goal... so just by trying I am already succeeding…somewhat. 

I have joined a team to participate in the Bust a Move Event that is happening in Ottawa on April 21, 2012. We will be working out all day to raise funds and awareness for Breast Cancer and I need to raise $1000 just to participate. Some of my initial thoughts about this event were along the lines of “Really? Who doesn’t know about Breast Cancer yet?”, followed by “8 hours of straight fitness? Please tell me that they will have medics on site” and lastly was “Why  not? I have a thousand reasons to do this and only one really flabby reason why I couldn’t.”

     Here is another things I don’t share often but not a week goes by that I see someone drift into the store with a helpless look in their eyes. I ask them how they are doing and their story spills out like a tipped glass of water and its just pouring out of them how their mother, grandmother, aunt, sister or - my personal nightmare  - daughter has to go to see an oncologist and is in unbelievable pain from cancer, and why is it happening to her? How the hell do I know? Giving what comfort I can with words and a hug, they go. I have always felt so helpless. 

Now I feel I can do more. 

     I have signed up for a YMCA membership the second week of January and have worked out very regularily ever week so far. I have changed the way I eat, and look at food. I haven't had a tim hortons coffee for 2 weeks. I want this to happen and the Lord knows I need this for my own personal health. I have conversations with numerous people about the need for me to ‘lighten my load’ and they have been right from the beginning, but I was so adept at making excuses why I can’t work out, or how picking up fast food is my only recourse in this busy busy life of mine.

So here’s the deal – I am asking you for a pledge or a donation to help me get to Bust a Move on April 21^st. I need $1000 to get there but if we all chip in a little, it can be done. I thought it would be helpful if maybe I got a pledge per workout as an extra incentive to go and workout regularily or more often. Email me at jenn@thescrapbox.ca if you want to do it that way. Otherwise, the link to donate is on the written part of the blog. Go there and follow the instructions if you could please. If you aren't able to donate because it just isn't in the budget - I get it. Totally. A bit of personal support or cheerleading goes a long way with sort of endeavor.

And thank you for reading all the way to the end. I hope to change a little bit of the world and a whole lot of me."

yours in good health

Jenn Langlois

...in herself.

There comes a moment in a workout when you are passed feeling ok with how you are doing...and you think that the instructor keeps the hardest exercises for the later part of the class.

There comes a moment when the hair escapes from your ponytail and whips into your eyes and you can't take your hands off the weights to brush it off.

There comes a moment when you are at your weakest and the count is for "4 more..."

That moment is what I love because it's when I know my body is getting stronger and I'm losing that which I don't need, drop by sweaty drop.

Jenn

...and feels good.

This week was a challenge because I traveled on business for 4 days. Airports, hotels and convention centres don't offer much in the way of healthy food choices but I managed as best I could, having fruit for snacks. Coming home I realized I was coming down with a head cold which was going to railroad my plans to work out Friday but I had a good nights sleep, popped two Tylenol cold pills and decided to go on the treadmill instead of sneezing and snorting through an hour long class. I wasn't sure I would be able to keep up in the class anyways, since I was still feeling jet lagged from the flights.

The last time I was on the treadmill, I did 30 mins total, 5 of which I jogged. It was a push to do it, but I felt awesome then. That was nothing compared to how I felt today. I brought music with me this time and when I was 5 mins into the jogging portion and I was starting to feel tired, Mr. roboto came through on my headphones and the beat matched exactly what I was doing and I went ahead and did another 5 mins of jogging!

10 mins of jogging - double what I did a week & a half ago!!!! I did a good cool down and just as I was about to step off, 2 friends came by and told me how good I looked grooving to my music while I was running! Loved that feeling!

Top speed 6.2 kms/hour for 10 mins.
2.2 kms distance covered

I was going to go longer than 30 mins but there was some preprogrammed time that slowed the machine down right at 30 mins and I couldnt' figure out how to change it. Silly thing.

Day 10 without Coffee from Tim Hortons or Starbucks.

Feeling good.