Sorry for the absence

Good Morning!
   Sorry for the absence!! Life got away from me.  Weight wise I'm maintaining, refocusing on what I'm eating and reincorporating weight lifting into my workout.  1/2 marathon training starting up this week for the Nov 30th 1/2.
  Measurements are down again!!

Two great things to share - yesterday I got to present the Check from the 5k I helped organize to our beneficiary Promise in Brevard!!! What a great feeling (picture below).   Second played in the 4th of July parade again this year, only this year I played the drums (instead of my normal clarinet!!!).  Below you find a video of one of the songs we played.

Happy Thursday, may it be filled with many blessings!

Sorry for the Delay

Ok sorry for the delay folks.  We have switched to google at work and it is limiting my ability to log in and update you all.

So if you were paying attention to the tracker at the top of my page, because when i don't post you just come check out my page right? Well great news this week!!!!  With this weeks weight loss I am down a total of 15 pounds!!! ECSTATIC!!! Yu:p doesn't even come close to how excited I am about this.

I haven't been able to maintain the 5 am runs, but I have been getting in some heat training.  Which with the race on June 21st is very important.

Buddy/Coach/ I run 4 Jocelyn update: Jocelyn had to be admitted to the ER for her glucose test, they didn't want to wait any longer.  After a bunch of times being poked they found a good vein and she got through the test.  Now they wait 3 weeks for results.  They are also waiting to hear back because her GI doc and the surgery want to put in a G-tube to vent her stomach and keep the J-tube for the feedings.  Please Please keep her in your prayers.  What to show her your praying for her?  She has a page about her journey and they see each like as a prayer warrior.  They are trying to get to 2000 likes.  Think you can help her reach this goal?  If you've already liked her page please share it with your prayer warriors.  Here is the page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hope-for-Jocelyn/351637158314602  she is currently at 1775 likes.

On another good news front, its the beginning of the month, you know what that means??? Measurments!!! And you guessed it they are down again!!!!  Even better this months biggest measurement change ......... the chest!!!  WAHOOO!!! Ok if you know me you know the big deal that truly is.  If you don't know me that well then just take my word for it - I have had times in the past of some weight loss and my chest actually got bigger!!!  

	9/1/2013	3/14/2014	4/11/2014	5/9/2014	6/5/2014	Change  this week	Total       Change
Upper arms	16	15.5	15	14.75	14.25	-0.5	-1.75
chest	46	46.5	46	45.5	44.5	-1	-1.5
waist	48	47.5	47	46.75	46	-0.75	-2
hips	54	52.5	52	51.75	51	-0.75	-3
thighs	25	24	23.75	23.5	23	-0.5	-2

Happy Thursday, may it be filled with many blessings. 

Today's picture shows Jocelyn at the hospital in a shirt she had made for us - in case you can't read it - it says: My heart (in the heart says Jocelyn) belongs to Alice and her feet belong to me.  It makes me smile every time I see it!  She has stolen my heart!

good day with one dissapointment

Disappointment - couldn't get up and do my 5am 5k today,  had stomach issues that required I take the extra hournof sleep. However I will be back at it tomorrow! :-)

Good news - down another 1.6 pounds!

Please keep Jocelyn on your prayers. Shes lost weight (which is not good) and she had a seizure yesterday.  They are running tests and waiting for answers.

Happy Thursday,  may it be filled with many blessings.

another week

Another week, another weigh in.  Down another pound. :-).  Its so nice to have multiple weeks with successful weight loss.  We've now passed into unfamiliar territory for me - and I love it!!!!

Jocelyn's tube is still leaking, please continue to pray.

Happy Thursday may it be filled with many blessings

Finally did it

So it was official weigh in this morning, a loss of 2.3 pounds!!!  Which is huge all by itself.  Then you add that I have busted the 10lbs lost mark, another huge success.  But wait there's more, does this sound like an infomercial yet?, I have been watching, and waiting and watching, to break below 260.  I was painfully going down by tenths of a pound ... then this morning 258.9! I not only broke below 260 I smashed it by 1.1 lbs!! I am happy dancing all day today!!!

These next two weeks the mimaw is with us (hubbys mom) so her and I have decided that each day, besides Sunday, we will get up at walk a 5k before I have to go to work.  That means 5am we walk out the door, so I can be back and showered in time to catch the carpool .i.e. the hubby to leave for work.  Needless to say my mornings are a little more rushed than I would like and I'm feeling pretty exhausted by the end of the day - but I wouldn't have it any other way.  I don't know where I would fit a workout in right now if I wasn't getting up, but with out her there I think my brain might find excuses to stay in bed. :) We finished day 3 today.   This Saturday I will walk the 5k with her and then I will do another 5k to make a 10k for the Mother's day virtual 10k for my buddy Jocelyn.

I am asking for extra prayers for Jocelyn as she had to go to the hospital yesterday evening.  Her fever went higher and her platelet counts are really low.  When Jocelyn gets sick her marrow is attacked.  This girl, she always finds a smile! She keeps me rolling.  There is no excuse I could ever come up with that could counter act her influence in my life.

Happy Wednesday, may it be filled with many blessings.

Mother's day week Picture of Mom - year: 2008

Fantastic News

Ok so because of hours changing my weigh in day has changed to Wednesdays.  This week I am down another 3.6 pounds!!!  WAHOO!!!  I'm also starting to see some definition from the weights I've been pushing, which is really kinda cool :).

We started assembling the runners bags last night - its real now! We have the shirts, the bags, the bibs, the goodies!!!  We have 77 runners!!!!!  We've also been informed there are more planning on signing up, at least 5 that I'm aware of.   Its so crazy to believe that just two weeks ago we were only at 22 runners signed up.

The power of prayer - I'm sure of it.  Saturday morning there is a Run or dye Color run 5k going on in our town.  When we originally selected this date there was no races in our community.  I'm not afraid to say we were disappointed when this run choose the exact same day we were already signed up for, but we prayed and left it up to God.

As he promised he has us in the palm of his hand!

Buddy/Coach Jocelyn update - well she has to have an appointment at the surgery center for her tube.  For the next two weeks she has 3 appointments a week at CHOP, but she is a fighter with a smile.  Please continue to keep her in your prayers.   We will be wearing matching shirts on Saturday - her's is in the mail and should arrive tomorrow, I have all the stuff I need to finish mine.

Happy Thursday!! May it be filled with many blessings

I know you've all been waiting .....

So yesterday I promised details after my weigh in today.....

So first this week is a 3.8 lb loss!!!!  That is incredible for me.  In the past when I have managed to lose weight it has been at most 1 lb at a time.  Most of the time it was 0.5 lbs or less at a time.  Which I happily took, because it was way better than gaining.  But Wow!!! 3.8.  I am on Cloud 9!

So you all know about the homeopathic remedy, because of posted about that.  What is new is after seeing my parents success on Maximized living I have tried it.  When you read it, its not all the different of an approach that I've been taken, however there is one big difference ..... I have completely cut out all sugar - of any kind.  The only sugar that enters my body right now is that of the natural kind found in fruit.  The rest about good carbs and good fat I had already incorporated into my diet.

Yes my tea tastes different, there are some that I'm not as fond of, and there are some that I like a little better.

I love the work outs - they have a DVD set (which I haven't tried yet) but there system is basically the HIIT (high intensity interval training) principle, but for not super athletes!  I have applied this to the workouts I have already been doing 5-6 days a week and have noticed a difference.

Just to clarify I am not sponsored by them, I get no compensation in any way from them - it is just the first thing for me that is having such a dramatic effect so quickly.  Now for me I do believe it is the combination of this new focus on what I'm eating along with the upped dose of the homeopathic remedy I am taking.

I could not be more thrilled!

Joselyn update: she will have a glucose monitor put in on the 28th to see if they can get that batter under control.  We talk daily and are having a great time getting to know one another.  Please keep her and her family in your prayers.

Happy Thursday, may it be filled with many blessings.

P.S. If you want to read more about Maximized Living you can go to: http://maximizedliving.com/

Words of Wisdom to pass on today

From PCOS Diva (https://www.facebook.com/pcosdiva)
"Don't approach your PCOS as a battle to be won, a war to be fought or an enemy to be conquered.

When we treat PCOS as the enemy, we give it more power over us. It becomes something to reject and suppress rather than a situation where we have the possibility of learning what is off balance in our lives. It may be physical, emotional, mental, social or spiritual. I believe it is all connected. It isn’t just about taking a pill, eating a low carb diet and killing ourselves at the gym. Healing is so much more than that. This is what I work on with women in my programs. It takes a holistic approach

When you wage a war or battle against PCOS, you are empowering the enemy, but when you say, “how can I heal my life and find peace and balance” then some incredible things happen."

This is a really healthy reminder for me today.  I have been on this journey for what feel like a very long time now, but only over the last year and more importantly the last 4 month really taking the holistic approach of healing instead of fighting.  I am seeing progress, real progress, that is sustainable for the first time.  But it took this whole journey for me to get her and be acceptable to this process.  

Happy Tuesday, may your day be filled with many blessings. 

IRUN4 Jocelyn news:

  She is back at CHOP today, intense physical therapy and too look at her tube.  It came out the other day and was bleeding.  So many prayers for her today please.  She is one strong young lady! 

Today is just another Day

Well its weigh in day again - happens same time every week.  Its not till later, but hey it is what it is.  Either the work of done this week will change the scale or it won't.  I know I am eating healthier and I am working out more consistently.  That is healthy for my blood, my bones, my lungs and my heart - if the weight wants to be stubborn so be it - eventually it will move if I stay consistent.


Running buddy/coach fact:
"It started off when Jocelyn was born at 26 weeks she had a NG tube while she was in the NICU. Then at the age of 2 she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer she had a brovaic (central line) for TPN (intervenes feeding) and chemo and a g-tube for feeding! She has never tolerated the NG and g-tube for feeding so we tried a GJ- tube well that didn't work so we went back to the brovaic up until recently because Jocelyn kept on getting blood infections and she would wind up in ICU  we had the broviac pulled on December 19 2013 and she got a j-tube placed thank god she is tolerating the feeds because I don't know where we would be without it" from her page Hope for Jocelyn (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hope-for-Jocelyn/351637158314602)

Looking back

I saw the Homiopathic doctor on 1/24, I see him again this Friday.  I have a weigh in tomorrow, but as of today I have lost 1 pound since then.  While this may not seem like a lot, for me it is a maintained weight loss.  As we all know weight loss is not a fast process, but about learning how to live life daily and making changes that will withstand the test of time.

I finally get to share!

If you look back to 2-14-2014, yes Valentine's day, you will see the title was Happy Day.  Well that had a very special meaning - that is the day I got married!!! My husband and I eloped, to a near by beach, with his daughter, her boyfriend and three other very close friends.

Why did we wait so long to tell everyone?  Well we wanted to tell our parents in person.  My parents and sister came down for their annual Disney trip.  We handed them envelopes with cards in them - that are often sent at Christmas time (ok well I didn't get my Christmas cards out this year so they were in there too!), but these ones said Just Married and had a collage of pictures.  My mom and my sisters reactions were priceless! We missed my mom on camera, but managed to film my sister.

Over the past year we had been telling both our families that we were just going to elope.  Neither of us wanted a big to-do with lots and lots of people.  This was about us, God, and our marriage - not our wedding day.  For us this is what felt right.  We had both done the big day thing before.

For those reading everyday, yes I did then get up the next morning and run a 3k with my step daughter at the zoo, where I set a PR by almost 5 minutes. :)

From the day we started dating my husband has supported my weight loss efforts and my running goals.  I know some are not as lucky to have that support and I do not take if for granted.  He loves to cook and he is always looking up new recipes that add lots of flavor with out the calories.  I went low carb and he went low carb with me.  I'm counting points and he is learning what that means.  He celebrates my victories and he helps evaluate when things don't go the right way.  He doesn't sugar coat it, but is supportive in the way I need.  

So Happy Monday! May your day be filled with blessings.  Here is a picture of our day.

Great Weigh in!

To be totally honest I wasn't sure how this weeks weigh in was going to go.  I spent 5 days at Disney, where yes I watched what I ate and ran 8.5 miles, plus all the park walking.  However, my body rarely does what I expect it should do.

So today was a very HAPPY DANCE kind of day.  Down 2.2 lbs! I will take it and run some more.

Its been a slow start back to the week - getting out of vacation mode.  However since I got back I've started the "25 to start the day"  where I do 25 reps of : Crunches, inline push-ups, squats and tricep dips each morning as soon as I wake up.  Its something small, but I struggle with weight/resistance training and this is the first small step to making it a permanent part of my workout routines.

Happy Thursday, may it be a blessed day,
and always remember:

Happy Half way there Day

Back to reality yesterday, from a 5 day FANTASTIC vacation with my family.  I have decided to start my mornings a little bit differently.   In my head I call it 25 to start.  So after my alarm goes off I do 25 crunches, 25 incline pushups, 25 squats, and 25 tricep dips.  This way everyday starts with exercise.  It gets the blood pumping and I've begun my day in the right, healthy state of mind.

Today was day two.  It was a little harder this morning as my muscles were sore from the day before, but I completed my 25 to start.

I have found, over my years of trying to manage my PCOS, that is the littlest things that make a big difference.  Three years ago I decided I was going to start running.  I used the Free 5K101.com program and followed its instructions of 3 days a week going out there and putting one foot in front of the other.  On Dec 1st I completed my 1st half marathon.  Had a set back in this past Sunday's 1/2 marathon, but made it 8.5 miles and am learning my lessons from it.  I am already signed up for my third 1/2 marathon coming this November!  3 years ago a 1/2 marathon was just a bucket wish list item I never, ever thought I would complete.

That helps with the confidence level and renews my hope that I will find the right combination to get the weight off.  It may be many years down the road still, but I know if I keep making the small changes they will add up to the BIG ultimate change of weight loss.


Have a blessed Wednesday