Fat Nerd Fit

Last night was class number two at ilovekickboxing.com. I went last Friday for my first class and holy heck did it kick my butt. I loved almost every second of class number one (the cardio warm up is a killer), but when I woke up Saturday morning I WAS SORE!! My legs were all kinds of stiff and no amount of pain reliever was going to make a difference. At work that night my manager noticed I was walking stiffly and came by to make sure I was okay. Wednesday was my first pain/stiffness/soreness free day after my Friday class. I super wanted to go back to class Wednesday night, but my sis-in-law (who lives across the country) was in town for a one night only appearance on her way somewhere else. Not going to lie, there was a huge part of me that wanted to go to kickboxing. Which I know makes that huge part of me a terrible person. But, my siblings-in-law are all awesome and I went to dinner with them and got to spend time with someone I only see once or twice a year. I’m glad I d...

I adored kickboxing class, even if I'm still sore and a bit stiff from it. But, the hoped inspiration and boost of starting something new is working. All week for my lunches I've been taking fresh, raw veggies with hummus and fruit to work. I've been staying away from the café and vending machine. No Starbucks. No cream in the coffee. It feels good to have things closer on track. I’m still not at 100%. I had pizza one night for dinner. But, I’m moving forward at a good pace. I’ve got class planned again for Friday, and depending on a couple factors, I may hit one up on Wednesday, too. I think Wednesday and Friday could be regular class days for me with my current work schedule. But we have possible out of town family member dropping in Wednesday this week. I had a job interview last week for a promotion, that is also at a closer location, last week and it felt pretty good. I don’t want to start counting eggs, so I’m trying to keep things in prospective. I am...

Last night was my first kickboxing class at my local ilovekickboxing.com studio. My legs hurt today in all the best ways. I adored class and you better believe I signed up for a one-year membership before I left the studio. The one downside is the price of membership and how the company tends to keep it under wraps for the most part. When I sighed up for their internet special (5 Classes for $19.99 plus a pair of boxing gloves) I started scouting their website to check membership pricing. They are up front about the “After your first class we’ll show you how to save $100 on membership!”- so you know after class it’s time for the hard sell, but it’s not advertised on their website what you’re saving $100 on. I did some digging and googling and found the structure of membership. Being armed with that info when I went in and having time to discuss the membership costs with my husband beforehand, I was comfortable with the hard sell approach and there was no sticker shock. Here’...

I’m trying to be more real with myself. I’ve been keeping a food journal with little notes like “said no to bunt cake!” and “walked past the donuts!” and one “Husband’s birthday celebration.” This last week was rough. There was a lot going on in not a lot of time. I was working, dog sitting (which takes up my lunch break), and babysitting, and it was my husband’s birthday- and then, you know, trying to run a house. I made some poor decisions. There was a trip to CiCis. There was a frozen pizza for dinner. But, even with how full my calendar was, I made fewer poor decisions than I have in just a normal week. Even with the pizza and junk food, I ate this week- I still made more good decisions than I did in a normal week. I’m okay with that. And, the good food choices that I have been making are making it easier to keep going. We had two birthday dinners for my husband (one friends, one family) and I only had one cupcake and declined the cake at the second dinner. I bought a ...

I’ve not only stagnated- I’ve gone backwards. I got on the scale and have not only regained the weight I’ve lost this year… I’ve added six pounds. Like I said last time, this isn’t a real surprise. It’s not out of left field. I’ve grown complacent and just stopped trying. I think I need to shake things up to get myself going again. Over the last two weeks, I’ve just paid attention to what I’ve been eating. I’ve cut down on “I’ll just grab dinner on the way home” days. And I’ve cut out the trips to the vending machine at work. I’ve made better choices at Starbucks. After getting on the scale this morning, I can report that I’ve lost two pounds. Two pounds of making the obviously better for you eating choices. I’m happy with that. To keep up my momentum and work to my strengths, I’ve started a food diary/journal. It’s hand written and just for me because right now I think I’m putting too much pressure on myself to show a “perfect” and “motivational” picture of me to the p...

This week I started Jillian Michael’s Body Revolution DVD set—ish. I say “ish” because the DVD set I bought is missing a disk. I got it at the bookstore I work at, so I go a super awesome discount. The Body Revolution is a 12-week DVD set that comes with a workout schedule and meal guide. Because I’m still doing the AdvoCare One80 I’m not following the meal guide, but I am following the workout schedule. The disk I am missing is for Phase One so I’m only missing something for week one and week two but soon I’ll be whole hog. Phase One Week One is three DVDs (one of which I am missing)- two weights oriented and one cardio. The schedule gives you Sunday off and you do each of the DVD workouts twice for the week for six total workouts. I managed four workouts this week- two weight DVDs, one cardio DVD, and one walk outside instead of the cardio DVD. The first day I did Phase 1 workout 1 using 5 lb. weights. And damn did 5lbs feel like a ton after 30 minutes of working my shou...

Aright, 2018 is officially here and we're all knee deep in our resolutions. To help me get a jump start on my healthy journey I have decided to take the AdvoCare One80 Challenge . (I should take a quick second to say that I am not an AdvoCare distributor, employee, or affiliated in any way other than participating in the challenge.) It's an 80-day program with the end goal of helping you make healthy lifestyle changes that you can maintain. Right now, I am just over half way through the 11 days cleanse. The purpose of this step is to help prepare your body to more effectively absorb nutrition. I've done this part before about a year ago. I loved it then and I'm really liking it now. Their website can put it much more eloquently than I can. But in my terms, in TMI terms, it makes you poop. Regularly. The good news is, it's not a stimulant that makes you cramp. It's a fiber powder that you put in your drink in the morning. I like to use it with my Sp...

The new year is fast approaching and I, like most of the world, am looking for what is to come and looking back one what has been accomplished. When I look back at 2017 all in all I am happy with what was accomplished. -- I went from a job that I really liked that didn't pay the bills to a job that I love that does pay the bills. WIN -- I've lost 22.4 pounds while just half assing my efforts. WIN -- I've helped my husband get off his pre-diabetes medication and lose over 40 pounds. WIN -- I won NaNoWriMo 2017 and wrote over 50,000 words in November. WIN -- I am truly happy with where I see my future going. WIN I did not lose the 50 pounds I wanted to. I did not finish my novel. I did not make my 1000 purposeful miles. I did not get close to any of these goals that I shared on December 31, 2016. But I feel like I did achieve goal number 1 on that list. Goal number 1 was Happiness. I feel like I did that. I am happy. I feel at ease. I feel content. I feel a...

Dudes, I don’t even know where to start. Life has been passing me by at an alarming speed but in a good way. Nothing new has really happened, but I’m settling into my new normal. My schedule at the bookstore has found its constant. One great thing about this place is the full-time people have consistent schedules, even though it’s a retail job. The schedule still posts every week, but it’s really more of a confirmation of what you already know than a crap-shoot of hoping you can make plans with your friends. I’d forgotten how nice it was to be able to make plans in advance. I do not miss the corporate world in the slightest. I’ve been doing office jobs since I graduated from college and none of them made me as happy as the bookstore does. I’ve worked in payroll, in investments/oil, and the legal world. Yes, they all paid better than I get now, but the quality of life was atrocious. I was working crazy hours, not sleeping well, totally stressed, unhealthy, and unmotivated. My c...

Hi, guys. I'm so sorry I've been MIA for so long. We got hacked and both of our computers (mine and husband's) ended up dying. It took a while to get the funds and whatnot together to get a new computer. But, we're back and we're good to go! The good news is, without a computer I've actually gotten my fat ass out the door for exercise more than ever! July I set a record for getting out and getting some miles in. I even had one week where I got out the door five times! That is huge for me. Usually I'm pushing it for three times a week and I did five without even thinking about it. The real corner I turned was on a day I'd usually be very likely to NOT go out for a couple miles... I did! Over a very busy weekend I had a lot of demands on my schedule. I had work, I had two birthday parties for my niece (we were told that we were not expected to go to both, but were welcome at both), a social engagement with my sister AND I was starting a new j...

I know it's been over a month since my last post. I have been running around like crazy... and I have nothing to show for it. I've gone through the interview process at two new companies, made it to the final round, and not gotten the job. I have another interview at a third company on Thursday. This new place is somewhere I've wanted to work since my college days. I'm not holding my breath, I've been burned too many times, but I am hopeful. The location is a bit far from where I live now, but it's not bad. I leave an hour before shift at ThinkGeek and always end up early, and I think my hour early routine would serve me well at this place, too. But, we'll have to see. There's no point in getting my hopes up any more. I feel really defeated when it comes to employment. I've always sort of fallen into jobs. ThinkGeek is the first job I got by going after it on my own. I have nearly 10 years office experience (in only two companies, I...

I've been keeping my feet up and trying to heal from my Plantar Fasciitis. With the exception of when I have to work I keep off my feet and when I am walking around I make sure to wear shoes that have some insert in them for extra support. It took a solid twenty days, but I am pain free when I get up in the morning! Today, being a nice cold Texas day, I hopped in my car and drove to a nearby park for a run. I put on my Couch to 10K app, made sure Charity Miles was running and hit the path. The park wasn't as nice as I was hoping. It was just a circular path around the soccer field with a small off shoot loop trail that went into the woods, but both loops combined wasn't even a full mile. When I go running again I'm going to look for a different park. I like getting to run through the trees and get a bit of nature. Running in circles drives me almost as crazy as running on the treadmill. So far, so good on the pain front. Granted, it's only been a couple...

One of the terms that comes up over and over again in the From Fat to Finish Line Facebook group is "NSV" or Non Scale Victory. I hadn't really taken this side of the journey into consideration until I starting seeing other people's victories. When working on weight-loss and health it is so easy to just look at the scale as the only tool of measurement. When I confessed my weight to the group at the New Year one of the first comments I got was to only weigh once a month and not focus solely on the number as there is so much more to take into consideration. Yes, we celebrate everyone's weight loss numbers but there is also just as much support and excitement for the NSVs in the group. Yesterday I posted that it was my fourth day with no cream or sugar in my coffee. Over 120 people as of this writing have showed their support for my achievement. From a huge group of people who have either been there, done that, or are struggling themselves, or just starting...

I was very hopeful that my plantar fasciitis was going to clear up by now. It continues to noticeably improve, but it's still not healed to a place where I can get out and actively exercise. It's easy to sit here and swear that I'd totally be hitting the gym and/or the road if only I could be out there, but I feel like I'd at least would have made two or three workouts in the last two weeks if I'd be able to. That's still not the every other day I've got my eyes set on and it's certainly not the every day my subconscious ego swears it would be, but two or three times in two weeks is a true estimation of what I've lost out on. It's still a win for me, though. Not very long ago I would be quite happy sitting on the couch for two weeks with my feet up. I'd have a six pack of beer, a pizza delivery on its way and be planning on wine and Chinese take away tomorrow. I'm actually kind of proud of myself that I am anxious to get out there. ...

After a crazy holiday season logging overtime on my feet at the store I developed Plantar Fasciitis. To quote the Mayo Clinic "Plantar fasciitis (PLAN-tur fas-e-I-tis) is one of the most common causes of heel pain. It involves inflammation of a thick band of tissue that runs across the bottom of your foot and connects your heel bone to your toes (plantar fascia). Plantar fasciitis commonly causes stabbing pain that usually occurs with your first steps in the morning. As you get up and move more, the pain normally decreases, but it might return after long periods of standing or after rising from sitting." It was most likely caused, in my case, from prolonged standing at work and wearing old shoes. Like when it happened last time, when I get up in the morning I hobble like an old person and it takes about half an hour of old person hobbling to work my way back to a normal stride. It sucks, it hurts like hell, and I had to keep going to work and being on my feet for ten ho...

I done did it, y'all. I got my scale out this morning. I can't say that I'm surprised, but I can say that I was hoping to be pleasantly surprised. Two hundred and freaking forty six pounds. It was a bit of a gut punch. I'm not happy. I know that I have lost weight since our move. I can see it in the mirror. I can tell by the way my clothes fit. But, as it stands this morning I have an official number. 246 Gross. Have I been heavier? Yes. Earlier this year. Have I (as an adult) been lighter? Yes... also earlier this year. Was I heavier when I got my ass in gear a few months ago? Yes. Can I do better? Also, yes. Am I going to be better? HELL YES!!! It's easy to pick a start date that is "later." You screw up on your new diet on Wednesday and decide to start over on Monday, or the first of the month, or the first of the year. Well, guess what? The first of the year is tomorrow. I'm not giving myself "one last night...

When I started running several years ago, I joined a local running class though Run On!, a local running store. I started out in the 5K group in January and by the end of the year I was running 13.1. After I got injured and stopped running I missed it terribly. I just never was able to get back into the swing of it. I missed the fun of a group, but didn't have the money to sign up for classes, and didn't feel enough like a "real" runner to meet up with the local hobby clubs. So, I basically stopped running. I still had running friends on Facebook and I followed them and their races/training/adventures with a ping of guilt. One day Facebook's big brother algorithm spybot saw fit to suggest the Hogwarts Running Club to me. Being a big Harry Pottery fan, I checked it out of curiosity and was hooked in a matter of seconds. I joined immediately, got myself sorted into Ravenclaw and haven't looked back. Within a couple of weeks of me joining HRC the brillian...

In a world that loves the "Super Food" of the week, I tend to take in the fads with a grain of salt. Everything is healthier than everything else and what is amazingly healthy for you today is poison tomorrow. There's so much back and forth its hard to keep up. I do not pretend to have any sort of medical training, unless you count my First Aid badge I earned in the Girl Scouts, but I know what has been helpful to me and what I like. I tend to subscribe to the common sense theory for dieting. Alfredo sauce is never the healthy option, water is better for you than sodas, and when faced with the option between potato chips and carrot sticks the healthy choice is obvious. Every now and again I find a fad that I end up really liking and I incorporate it into my kitchen. One of these fads is chia seeds. Yes, as in ChiaPet. But these little seeds pack a nutritional punch. These little guys are a good source of fiber, protein, omaga-3 fats, calcium, and also cont...