New Kicks

So as I've been losing weight I have set a lot of goals and planned some rewards for myself along the way. The first major goal was to get under 300lbs, which I accomplished about 3 weeks ago. My reward for this goal was running shoes. Not just going to the nearest sporting goods store and finding some, I wanted to go to a running store. I had heard about both Road Runner Sports and Super Jock N Jill, being in Bellevue I tried Road Runner first, but when we went in they said it would be 10-15 minute wait and 40 minutes later I still had 2 people in front of me so we left. Super Jock N Jill was all the way in Green Lake so it took a little longer to get to, and we had to wait til a Saturday, but it was totally worth it. I walked in and the sales associate that greeted me asked what I was looking for and I told her I was new to running and she walked right back and started asking questions, looked at my old pair of shoes I had brought in and brought out a pair for me to try on. She watched me walk around in them and told me what kind of gait I had and brought out 4 brands of supportive shoes for me to try on. When I narrowed it down to 2 pairs she had me try one on each foot and it made my decision easy, then she had me run outside up the near hill just to make sure they worked well for me. All in all the whole process took less than 30 min, and I was being decisive, though I think even if I wasn't they would have been patient. They were really focused on getting me the right shoe for me, no pressure, no sales pitch, just wanted to do what was best for my foot. I absolutely loved it. Also, they told me that if for any reason they end up not working out for me to just bring them back and they will refund or exchange no problem. I tell you, they have gained a customer for life. 

Now for a pic: 

I ended up with a pair of Brooks and they are like walking on really supportive clouds. Of course as soon as I got home I HAD to go try them out!

When I was a kid I used to always pretend I was faster in my new shoes, c'mon admit it, you did it too. I use Run Keeper to keep track of my runs and it gives me my min/mile pace, and I was actually faster...I'm sure it has more to do with my losing weight and improving, but hey, the shoes get a little credit. 

18:41 Min/MI is my second fastest time, and this route has a big hill that my fastest time doesn't. This week I'll be starting the official Couch to 5k running plan so I should be getting faster and faster, my first goal is to be able to jog a whole 5k and I'd really like to get down to 15 Min/MI for that. 

The new shoes will help keep my ankles and knees happy.

On to the next goal, 50lbs lost. I have 14.4 to go til I'm there! 

4th of July

I hope everyone had as relaxing of a 4th of July as we did! For the past few years we've gotten togehter with friends or family for a low key BBQ. This year Steve's brother Brian and his wife Shelly invited us over to their house down by the park to have dinner. Shelly is wonderful and made a delicious dinner that was healthy! I volunteered to make dessert and was inspired by Abby at Aberdeens Kitchen by her mini Flag pie, so I decided to try to make a 4th of July Pie. I had all the ingredients on hand for a berry pie.

Here's a pre-oven picture:

After it was baked it looked like this, berry pie has a tendency to bubble over, but it didn't mess things up too much.

Here's as we  were about to serve the pie, it turned out great, I used a little more cornstarch than normal and as a result no goopy berry mess, slices came out just perfectly! 

Here's a pic of Brian and Shelly and our adorable niece Lana. She will be all smiles and then as soon as the camera comes out you get a scowl...I guess she doesn't like paparazzi. 

I've been trying to teach Lana the important things in life, like high 5's, which she does when she feels like it and only if I'm the only one looking as she has yet to do it in front of anyone (I don't think anyone believes me but she DOES give me high 5's) And on the 4th we practiced taking selfies. 

Here's Steve and I with Lana. The shorts I'm wearing haven't fit for awhile and they were a size smaller than the clothes I've been wearing but I tried them on and they fit! Which was nice.

And finally here's a short clip of Lana waving her flag. She loved the flag and anytime someone would take it from her she'd get mad and you got a death stare, girl has mastered the death star before even turning one. I think she smacked everyone in the face except herself, and especially loved to hit her daddy in the face with it. 

Weight Loss

Well, apparently I'm terrible at blogging. I haven't posted in over 3 years. I think I'll start posting more often now, though I've said that before....

One of the positive things I've got going on right now is I've been focusing on losing weight since the beginning of February this year. I've tried numerous times in the past, and had success, only to lose focus and go back to square one the next time. I've always had the best success when logging my food and making sure my calorie outgo is more than my intake. To do this I use MyFitnessPal, and so far this year I've lost 34.4 lbs.

Here's a pic of me from December, I'm not sure exactly how much I weight at this point as I avoided scales like the plague. My start weight in February was 329.4 so I was probably somewhere around that.

I put on my jersey again recently and where it used to be tight on my midsection I've now got loads of room. 

Then I started documenting my success, here's a pic of the progress I've made so far: 

And my least favorite perspective, the dreaded profile shot:

I never realized that I didn't have a neck. I've been really glad to take the photos as sometimes it's hard for me to see the progress, but when I look at the photos it's staring me in the face. It's weird to think that I'm now 16 lbs away from losing 50 lbs, 16 lbs doesn't sound like that much. 

I've been working out for the past month and a half about 5 days a week, trading between Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred and doing a Couch to 5k program. I've noticed some changes in myself since starting the workout program, first off, I have ankles again. Also, I have a lot more energy. We did a yard work day at my grandma's house and I was able to participate a lot more (plus it was an excellent work out). I can now run up our 3 flights of stairs and not be winded at the top, and biggest change is that I actually enjoy exercising. First thing I do Saturday mornings is go for a run. 

Steve's been losing weight too, he's lost about 20 lbs now, mostly because we've been eating more veggies and monitoring our serving sizes better. I'm a little jealous that he hasn't really exercised much (save going with me a few times) and he's lost 2/3 of the weight I have, but hey, I've still lost more.