Fat Girl Learns To Run

Gearing Up ------------ Day 179

Tomorrow I start my training for the 10K.  It’s been about 3 months since I last ran with my group.  I remember the first time I went to the training session and being in awe of those people who were in the 10K group.  Now I am one of them.  Tomorrow we only run 2 miles so I should be OK with the distance.  The only problem is the weather.  It will be cold but not snowing.  I have never run when it has only been 30 degrees.  Tonight I am going to have to pack my gear to stay warm when I run tomorrow.  Since the training is starting much earlier than last year, I wonder how many people registered for the training.

 

An Oldie but Goodie ----------- Day 178

I was watching a TV show that had on 100 people who lost 100 lbs.  As I was looking at those people, I thought to myself that some of those people still need to lose some more weight.  I applaud those people for losing so much weight already.  No matter what weight you are at, losing 100 lbs is a big deal.  On the show some of those people were interviewed about their weight loss journey showing their before pictures.  When you look at their before picture and then look at them now, the common thread that I find is that everyone looks younger.   When I saw these people, it was difficult to imagine that they were ever overweight.

To wrap up the show, they had a long time fitness guru on – Richard Simmons.  He has been around a long time.  He couldn’t come across any gayer than he does.  What other fitness professional do you know who wears sparkly tank tops?  The thing that I admire about Simmons is that he so passionate about helping other people lose weight.  He has been at his craft for 35 years.

There is one thing that I will always remember about Richard Simmons; that he was grew up in New Orleans.  Why you ask?  When I was on a haunted walking tour around New Orleans, our guide told us that he was going to show us the scariest house in New Orleans.  When we arrived at the house, the guide said that it was Richard Simmons house.  For some reason, this useless bit of information is imbedded in my brain.

In my post, I often write about certain TV shows.  Nearly always, I am on my treadmill while watching TV so think that I am a couch potato.

Navel Intelligence ------------ Day 177

Nothing much going on today.  I came home from work later and thought that I would eat first and then do some exercise.  As I was changing from my work clothes, I thought to myself, “Who are you kidding?  If you eat first, you will never exercise after that.”  So I changed into my work out clothes.  I wasn’t up to doing much exercise since I didn’t want to eat that late before going to bed so I just walked for 30 minutes.  At least I did something.

As I was walking, I watched a show that had a body language expert on.  This woman was just on for part of a segment but I thought she was excellent.  I could have watched her on TV for an hour because she was that interesting to me.  Besides that, she talked really fast to get in as much information in the time she was allotted.  I can relate to people who talk fast.  One of the things she said is to observe when you a talking to someone, if their belly button (navel) is facing you.  If their navel is not facing you, they might be trying to hide something from you or they are uncomfortable with the subject you are discussing.  I think I need to watch this woman again on TV and take notes of what she said because it was some good stuff.

Picture Perfect ---------- Day 176

I finally started my picture project last night.  My plan of attack is to first divide all the photos and memorabilia in piles.  From there I will further sort each pile.

It was interesting glancing at some of the pictures from the past.  From the pictures that I have seen, let me just say that I have been all over the board in regards to weight.  Looking at the pictures, my guess is that I have been eight different sizes during my life.  The pictures range from really good to really bad and some in between.

Let’s start with the good.  At least those pictures reminded me that I was not always fat.  My favorite pictures were the ones that my sister and I took one Summer at our summer home when we were in our twenties.  We both had on white shorts. First of all, you don’t wear white on the bottom if you want to have a slimming effect in pictures; but it didn’t matter at that time for us.  Now for our tops; my sister had on a pink tank top and I was wearing my shorts over my bathing suit.  When I saw this bathing suit, which was a one-piece halter style with one side being black and one side being white, I remembered how I loved that bathing suit.  Even though I had 80s hair and way too much makeup on in the pictures, I was very toned and slim in the pictures.  Now I know why I didn’t have any trouble getting dates in my 20s.  I think that I am going to use that picture as my inspiration to slim down.

Now for the bad.  My parents had a pig roast at their house in 2002.  Someone took some pictures of me that really emphasized how fat I was at the time.  It didn’t help that I had on flowered capris.  I thought that wearing a black tank top would slim me down.  Boy, was I wrong.  One of the pictures is of my sister and me.  When I look at that picture, all I can think of is that I look like Jabba the Hut.  I am twice the size of my sister.  And besides that, I was not having a good hair day.  Then there is another picture of me from the party where I am in position where my but sticks out.  Two words come to mind; Bubble But.    My rear end looks like the front grill of a car; it’s that huge.  The one thing I will never be accused of is having a flat but.

Now here is that saddest part of all.  I still have those flowered capris.  It is amazing how wearing pants that are stretchy can accommodate you through various sizes.  I also have that black tank top.  When I reach my goal weight, I am going to wear those capris and tank top and compare what I look like now to the 2002 picture.

Pictures don’t lie.  I have been on a roller coaster ride with my weight, going up and down.  At this point in my life, I just want to get to one weight and stay there.  I am going to keep some of my fat clothes so I know how far I have come but the rest I am giving away.  I am not going back there again.  The only problem is that when I reach my ideal weight, I am not going to have many clothes to wear. 

Another thing that I decided to do this weekend is try on some of my clothes in the closet that I haven’t worn for awhile.  I really should wear more than 20% of the clothes in my closet.  Some of the clothes that I tried on were 2 pair of dress pants and this jean skirt.  When I bought these clothes, they were a little tight on me so I told myself if I lost about 5 lbs they would fit better.  In my mind, these clothes were tight on me so I never put them on.  Now when I now put them on, they are too big on me.  In other words, I never wore these clothes.  That was stupid on my part.  Hopefully, one day my relationship with clothes will be better.

The Silent Killer ----------- Day 175

If I watch a talk show on television, it is usually because a topic that I am interested in is being discussed.  Not long ago, Oprah did a show about diabetes with Dr. Oz as her co-host on the subject.  Now I don’t have diabetes but is something that I was always afraid that my son would get when he was overweight.  I don’t know why I felt this way about my son but I did.  I guess as a mother you want to take care of the people around you and you think about yourself last.

During the show, I found out some things about diabetes.  It is known as the silent killer because more than 6 million American are walking around with it but have no idea they are at risk.  Could I be one of them?   When I had my yearly physical, all my tests were normal so I should be okay.  Diabetes is the fastest-growing disease in history and we are spending $174 billion a year treating this disease.  No wonder our healthcare system is in trouble.

There are two types of diabetes.  One is based on genetics and the other Type 2 develops from lifestyle issues.  The good news is that is treatable if those people start making better lifestyle choices. 

Dr. Oz says there are four major risk factors for type 2 diabetes:

Belly fat: A big belly is the number one risk factor in America, and Dr. Oz has a simple test to see if you have too much: "If your waist size, measured at your belly button is more than half of your height, then you've got too much belly and you're at risk for diabetes."

Sedentary lifestyle: Physical activity is key to preventing or reversing diabetes. "When you exercise and do muscle-building work, the muscle actually becomes more sensitive to insulin," he says. "The insulin can work better. It can drive the sugar where it's supposed to go."

Family history: "If you've got relatives who have diabetes or if you had diabetes when you were pregnant, big warning signs."

Smoking: Cigarettes not only harm your lungs, "it kills your pancreas," Dr. Oz says.

 

Looking at these risk factors, I did my own analysis on myself.  I don’t smoke and never have.  Okay, I did have brief stint (maybe two months) smoking in my teenage years to be cool.  I remember smoking Virginia Slims menthol.  In my family, I don’t remember anyone having diabetes.  So far so good.  I do make a point to exercise almost every day.  I am been slacking in my weight training so I need to incorporate more of that in my exercise plan.  Now for the belly fat test.  I am 5’2” which is 62 inches tall so my waist size should be 31 inches.  Ok, I need to do some work in that area.

 

I did the belly fat analysis with my son and his waist is 2 inches smaller than what is normal so he is not at risk for diabetes.  Before he lost all his weight he was at risk for diabetes.  Now that he changed his lifestyle, he has nothing to worry about.

 

The scariest part of having diabetes is that it can lead to having your leg amputated.  I remember the dad of my best girlfriend in High School having his leg amputated due to diabetes.  When you are young, you think you are invincible and that could never happen to you.  Now I know that diabetes can happen at any age.

 

There are many diseases that people get even if they live a healthy lifestyle.  To me it only makes sense to make live a healthy lifestyle to prevent as many diseases as possible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the List ---------- Day 174

I received an email the other day about volunteering for the Shamrock Shuffle 8 K Race which is in March.  When I clicked on the sign up link I found out the race is sponsored by Bank of America (BOA).  Then it clicked, since I volunteered for the Chicago Marathon which is also sponsored by BOA, I must be on their volunteer list.  I did sign up as a volunteer where I will serve as a source of information at some point in Grant Park.  Like I did for the marathon, I will distribute maps of the area and answer general event-related questions and help direct people to their destinations within the park.

The racing season is quickly upon us.  If I am not going to run, I might as well be a volunteer.  As I was reading a CARA email, I found out that I would get $10.00 off of the registration fee for the Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon because I belong to CARA.  I have read about popular races being sold out very quickly so I decided to register for the Half Marathon this evening.  I’m glad that I did because the cost of the registration increases 4/1/2010. What I have quickly realized is the longer the race, the higher the registration fee.  Also the location of the race plays a part in the registration fee.  This makes sense because of the area in the city that needs to be blocked off for the racers.

Registering for the Half Marathon is the first step in preparing for the race.  I have a lot of training to do before August 1^st.

 

 

Under the Weather ---------- Day 173

I have been fighting this fever since Monday.  It just won’t go away.  I have been prone to get fevers since I was a child.  As I have found out from years of dealing with fever, the only way I get rid of one is to basically stay in bed for one day.  Since I need to shut down my body for one day, I am not going to work tomorrow.  Since fever drains my energy, I have no energy to write about anything in this post.  After some good rest, I should be back to normal.

Field Trip --------- Day 172

Last night on the Biggest Loser the contestants took a field trip to the Olympic Training Facility in Colorado.  During the week the contestants got to eat, train and live like the Olympians. I thought this was appropriate since the Olympics start this Friday and let’s not forget that the Olympics are on NBC; the same as the show.  You couldn’t ask for a bigger network plug than having an Olympics focus on a widely watched TV show. 

On the show some of the athletes competing in the Olympics worked with the contestants.  Two of those athletes competed in the Paralympics.  One of the women was born with part of her leg missing and the other woman was born with part of her arm missing.  They both made the comment that since they were born that way, they don’t know anything else.  It always amazes me when people with physical difficulties don’t let that stop them from being athletes.  Seeing these two athletics made me really appreciate that I have all my limbs.

One of the athletes on the show was a speed skater.  When I saw this guy, all I could think of was ‘Where is Apolo Ohno when you need him”?  Well, I will see Apolo in a few days competing.

I am far from being an athlete (Even though I have a shirt that says ‘Athletes Run”) but seeing other athletes inspires me to at least try to be one.

Grand Funk ---------- Day 171

Last night I had a conversation with a family member that didn’t go as planned.   I thought that I was doing something nice for the person but the person didn’t show any signs of appreciation for the gesture. After the conversation, I was in this bad funk.  I decided to take a bath to relax.  That didn’t help this time. This morning I still wasn’t in a good place mentally.  I still haven’t figured out what my next step will be after my conversation.  I guess what really bothers me is when someone doesn’t appreciate the things you do for them. They just take things for granted; like I am expected to do those things.

After work today, another family member irritated me.  This has not been a good week so far.  I just don’t like when people mess with my emotions. To clear my head, I decided to have a run on the treadmill.  If it wasn’t snowing, I think that I would have just run outside today.  After my run, I felt much better mentally and physically.  A good sweat will always do that to you.  Running was a better option than having a drink or eating a pint of ice cream which would have been the action that I would have taken in the past. 

Tomorrow has to be a better day.  Right?

Immerse Yourself ---------- Day 170

People have all kinds of addictions.  My addiction is kitchen gadget and appliances.  Some of the things that I have bought, I use all the time like my yogurt maker, my slow cooker for making my oatmeal and my blender for making my protein shakes.  Then there are those appliances that I have bought in the past that have landed in the appliance graveyard like the mini blender, the tortilla warmer and the smoke pit barbeque.  There are also those appliances that I use for awhile and then don’t use anymore like my plastic bag sealer.

Then there are all those little kitchen gadgets that I stored in plastic containers that I rarely use because honestly I don’t remember what is in those containers.  I remember once spending about $20.00 on a micro plane which I thought was a lot of money for a gadget but I use this gadget all the time.  Then there is this mushroom cleaner that I bought for a few bucks that I never use.  It is all a trade off.  I rather spend more money on a gadget that I will use often than a few bucks on something that I don’t use.  There are also those items that I don’t use all the time because they are a specialty item but when I need them they are indispensible.  Some of those appliances would be my electric egg maker (for the life of me I can’t make poached eggs or hard boiled eggs correctly in a pot) and my rice cooker (I always burn rice when I make it in a pot).

Over the weekend I got an Immersion Blender/Chopper.  The addiction continues. I have found from past experience that if I get a kitchen gadget or appliance that I need to use it right away or else it will sit in a shelf somewhere.  Since I was cooking this weekend, I used the immersion blender to puree my soups.  In the past I would cook the ingredients in a pot until they were soft and then transfer the contents to the blender to make a puree.  If you have ever done this, the heat of the soup explodes the lid off the blender if you have too much soup in the blender container.  To avoid this problem, you need to blend the soup in small batches in the blender and then transfer the blender contents to another pot and then repeat the process.  Now if you have an immersion blender (which I also like to refer to as the boat motor) you stick the thing in the pot and it purees the soup directly in the pot.  You just have to remember to not lift the immersion blender out of the pot while the motor is running since it causes the food to splatter.

I also wanted to use the chopper this weekend so I ended up making a big batch of spinach walnut pesto.  I kept some in the fridge to be used as a sandwich spread this week.  Since the pesto keeps for only a week, I poured the rest of the pesto in ice cube trays to freeze it.  I then take the cubes out of the tray when frozen and put them in a bag that I can use later.  So far I am really enjoying my new appliance.  I am sure this one won’t end up in the graveyard. 

Being addicted to kitchen appliances is like a guy being addicted to power tools.  Sometimes you just need the right tools to get the job done.  It’s good thing that I don’t have a bigger kitchen because who knows what other appliance I would have collected.