5 miles, Baby!

I ran 5 miles on the treadmill today. It took me over an hour. I don't know my exact time because I had to reset the machine a couple of times. It was 67 minutes or so, I think. Anyway, totally crazy, but I did it! I feel good and sore.

Checking in

Not a whole lot happening here on the weight loss front. I'm not losing much, not gaining, just kind of hanging out here at my 100 pound mark. I think I'm going to get a fill in February. I still have times when I'm pretty tight, but I also have a lot more hunger than I'd like, so hopefully a fill can help me with that.

I'm doing great with my running. I'm going to run 5 miles tomorrow which will be huge for me. It will have to be on the treadmill since the weather turned very cold today.

Hope everyone else is doing great.

Great article

I just read this article and really appreciated the sound advice.

Collar Bones

Okay, so I was looking at this month's progress picture compared to the last one I took and wanted to show you the difference in my collar bones. I think it's quite noticeable. The one on the left is in October, the right on January. I think my face looks different too. There's about a ten pound difference between the two. (Yes, my weight loss has slowed down quite a bit.)



And just to remind us all of where I came from, where the differences aren't as subtle:
February 2008 and January 2009 with 100 pounds lost. I look like someone pumped me up with a bicycle tire pump or something. I don't ever want to see that woman in the mirror again--and I won't!

Progress Pictures Finally!

I haven't taken official progress pictures in a couple of months because we've been busy and frankly, I haven't seen a ton of difference. So here are the latest of me in regular clothes. I will add the ones in my official before clothes to the slideshows at the right. Enjoy!



I think my pinky might be sticking out in the side shot! Silly habit.

Hey, remember me? I'm your band.

Sometimes my band really reminds me that it's there. Yesterday at lunch I either at too fast, too much, or didn't chew properly, but the chicken breast I was eating came back up. I haven't had that happen since last spring sometime. I'm grateful that it doesn't happen more often. I try to be careful, but I'm not always as careful as I should be and things do get stuck. It usually passes after a few uncomfortable minutes. I haven't had my food come back up in what bandsters call a productive burp very often at all. I don't know why they call it a burp because it's certainly a lot more than a burp to me. It feels like vomiting, though a bit less strain on my body.

Anyway, after the chicken incident, I consumed only liquids or soft foods the rest of the night. Even though I prefer not to do that, it is a nice little reminder that the band is there and this is serious stuff.

I don't know that I ever reported on the holidays. I was back to my pre-Christmas weight pretty much within a couple of days after New Year's. I did enjoy myself and indulge in things I don't normally eat, so I'm happy with the results. I'm only one pound away from my all-time low of 203 and that 100 pounds lost mark again. (On the up side, unfortunately.) That's how weight loss happens for me normally, a jump down, then back up and then slowly back down. Even without the holidays, so I was expecting it.

Lenthening my stride and squaring my shoulders

Literally.
I've decided to train for a half-marathon along with some friends and my sister. I'm a little nervous about whether or not I can actually do it, but I'm going to try. The training schedule I'm using actually has me running just 2 mile runs for a couple of weeks before increasing. I'm fine with that at this point.

I've realized/decided/had it pointed out to me that my posture has become a real problem. I knew it was bad and hated seeing myself in profile pictures. I just chalked it up to being able to actually see my spine again since I had posture troubles before I got heavy. That is true to an extent, but the chiropractor told me when he saw me last week that my posture is significantly worse than it was 6 weeks ago when he saw me. I find that alarming. So, I'm doing some research into what I can do to correct my bad posture, and the hump in my upper back. I think running is making it worse, so as I'm running I'm trying to concentrate on better posture.

One thing I learned in my internet search yesterday is that making sure your head is above your spine is important. First and foremost your spine needs to be able to take the weight of your head, not have your shoulder muscles trying to hold it up as it is forward of your body. A head is really heavy, so I totally get that concept. So this is my next quest. . to have better posture and less back pain.