c25k

atthequillsmercy

First workout of the week.

Since I didn’t complete my week, I restarted week 6 of c25k. I am not loving the heat (there’s no air conditioner in the room where my treadmill is) but I made it through.

Now that I’m 6 weeks in, I’m feeling all the familiar aches in my thighs and glutes. My calves ache too, but not nearly as much. I keep going back and forth about working out on the weekends or taking a break but, I know the proper answer is to work out every day. I get a serious case of the dunwannas on weekends; especially if I have to work.

Thankfully, this bad habit hasn’t had an adverse effect on my progress. I’m still trending down in my weight and if this keeps up, I’ll be under 220 before the end of the month! Maybe, if I play my cards right, under 200! But I don’t wanna set myself up for failure by making promises. Just keeping positive.

 

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atthequillsmercy

Week 6 Day 2: LARP

Sam is just adorable. I love how hyped he is about LARPing and any other assorted nerdy stuff.

Anyway, this run had two 10-minute sprints during which I had to remind myself AGAIN that I’ve done 20-minute sprints and not to give up halfway through for an extra break. Who needs a break when you have the pride of finishing a long run?

Me. I wanted a break. My muscles hate me.

But I made it through; making me realize I’m neglecting an important part of this process: Stretching.

I usually finish whatever workout I picked; jump in the shower, then get right to work on writing (yes, more reviews and stories are forthcoming). This is just to maximize whatever time I have left in the night to hit my rather lofty sales goals. But the cramps, mostly in my calves, are not fun. Those are not good pain, just PAIN pain. Way back in the stone ages when I was taking Karate, stretching was pretty damn important. Like with the weight training, I’ll need to make time for that.

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Week 6 Day One: Season 9 begins!

Oh yeah, baby! Back to the main story.

I like to have a few episodes ready to go in a season before I start it and it was worth the wait. I do have entirely too much emotional investment in this story.

This is the point in the C25K saga where the intervals get longer and longer. I can already feel my legs aching more but it’s a good kind of pain. Progress type pain.

In terms of my diet… I went off the rails over the weekend. I didn’t wanna cook so I ordered a bunch of food. I knew the Sandexa would keep me from any sort of overeating (no really, I get full SO fast) so, I could indulge a little – I needed some baked ziti in my life – and have plenty of leftovers to work on later.

I haven’t lost more weight yet but I’m sure that will come eventually.

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atthequillsmercy

Week 5, Day 3. Last run of the week and a recap!

On my days off, I like to go back to my lockdown habit of getting up and immediately putting on running gear to make myself workout first thing instead of waiting until the evening.

I also figured out what’s the deal with skipping weight workouts. Something in my head equates a “proper” workout with tons of movement and sweating – high cardio – and not laying on the ground with weights doing crunches. I have the cardio = weight loss idea in my head and think that it’s the only way to get to my goal when it’s not. Building muscle is important, too.

I started Saxenda on April 29th and since then, I have gone from 230 pounds to 225 pounds. This is about a pound or so a week. I am cautiously optimistic about this but I am withholding celebrations until I’m out of the 200 club. When I’m under 200 pounds and stay there, I’ll feel like I really accomplished something.

I don’t have any other metric because I didn’t think to take my measurements until 2 weeks into the meds. Didn’t take a picture, either. For the same reason I’m not celebrating the 5 pound loss:

Relatable memes for the win.

I’ve been at this weight loss thing since… Shit, I’ve been trying to lose weight since high school when a couple little shits decided it would be cute to oink at me when I walked by. My lowest weight was 179 and then I got pregnant. I’ve been trying to get back to 179 since then and haven’t been able to. I’ve avoided a lot of talking about it since I didn’t want to end up another Amberlynn Reid. My blog is monetized after all and weight loss is a hot keyword. It’s fair for someone to assume I’m in this to make money off my story.

If you saw how little I make from ads you’d realize that’s not the case but, I can see the thought process.

To sum up, I am hopeful but diligent.

And no, oinking at me and ridiculing me did not motivate me to lose weight. It made me feel bad my progress was slow and I’d give up. Don’t do that to people, guys. It’s not helpful.

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Week 4 of C25k Begins!

It feels like forever ago when I was doing c210k and running for 5 minutes straight was easy peasy. Man, how things change in a year. But, it’s getting easier and I am down 4 pounds from when I started Saxenda. I was never a binge eater but I have noticed I’m eating MUCH less than before and I haven’t felt too weak to workout like I did when I was doing Intermittent Fasting. I think this is because Saxenda is supposed to slow digestion and decrease your appetite so I’m still getting the fuel I need to workout. I don’t feel faint or anything otherwise I’d stop using this drug.

After a 4 pound weight loss I am cautiously optimistic. Once the weight loss is in the double digits, I’ll feel better. 

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Weight Loss Journey – Yeah, this again…

Over the course of lockdown, I lost some weight. No, it’s not bragging because in order to deal with the stress of a global pandemic, reduced income, wondering if I’ll stay employed at all… Basically the low-level underlying fear everyone had been going through; I was running up to an hour a day trying to make my way through Couch to 10k. 

Then we all got back to work and the weight came back. I didn’t have time for hour long workouts anymore. What I was doing is using my lunch hour to workout then eating lunch while I worked. If I felt spicy, I did an extra workout before bed. Going back into the library meant that no longer happened.

I’ve been trying to keep up with as much activity as I can. I got one of these: 

And if I’m not running, I use this for 20-40 minutes while I moderate programs at work. I restarted Couch to 5k to get my stamina back up and the workouts are shorter. I counted calories all over the place, cut out booze, increased my portions of vegetables, limited salt… And nothing.

I had previously discussed percription weight loss options with my doctor because while everyone tells me I look fine, I don’t feel fine. I did my annual blood test and all my bloodwork is perfect. My doctor was really impressed. So, I broached the idea again because I turned 40 this year and the older I get, the more likely my weight will start to affect my health.

And part is ego because I have some nice clothes I wanna wear and I’m too broke to replace my entire wardrobe.

This time, my doctor did recommend something to me: Saxenda. My insurance company gave me the OK and I started it last week weighing in at 230 pounds.

This week I’m down to 228.

Not gonna lie, I had some side effects. Mainly nausea but a couple of pepto tabs took care of that. I can aboslutely tell I feel less hungry. I’m on MyFitnessPal so keep track of what I eat. Feel free to friend me there if you want.

I’m really nervous to share this since I’m concerned I’ll make this public only for this to fail. But, here we are. Hopefully, I’ll hit my goals this time!

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Running Progress!

I’m on vacation this week with the kiddo so what do I decide to do? Run.

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Yesterday was my first attempt at running the route I plan to use for the 5k race in April. I wanted to see if it really was the proper distance and yup, it really is.

My plan was to walk out the first mile and a half then walk/run back. The first part of that worked out great! The latter half was more like walk/run/limp/curse/run/walk… But I did it. I cannot ignore the fact that I DID IT.

I had planned to run again today but my knees hurt SO BAD, I did more of a power walk/light trot:

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And to be honest, with the way my legs are I probably should have just stayed off my feet for the day. This time I ran with braces on both knees and one on my right ankle. It was easier but I had to stop for every five seconds to pull the braces back into place. What a giant pain in the ass.

To put a little history on this, I started running using the C25K app in September of last year. Back then, a 30 minute light run would leave me feeling like I’m gonna die. I was 220 pounds (and I’m 5’7″). Now I’m 210 and it takes me 2 miles to make me feel like I’m going to die. I’ve been steadily getting faster and stronger.

To be clear, I am not doing this to lose weight. Completing a 5k has been something on my bucket list for over a decade but I could never get it done. During my marriage, my self-esteem was in the shitter and I was continuously sabotaged whenever I tried to improve myself. Now that that toxic person is out of my life, I made a promise to myself to be everything he tried to keep me from becoming. Skinny is not one of those things. I want to be strong and healthy.

The first run I did with the kid (who is signed up for the race with me) and both of us barely made it. Today, I did the run alone and yes, my knees are killing me.

But it does feel great that every day, I put miles on these knees and I can tell I’m getting stronger.

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October Writing Update

Obviously, since NYCC just wrapped up, I haven’t written in several days. But being around all those awesome cosplayers and amazing books, my muse is psyched and ready to go.

Not much of an update but I managed to get through all four days of NYCC so I’m exhausted, sore, and broke. I gotta say, tho: the cosplay turned out amazing and since I’ve been doing C25K, I am in better shape s0 all that walking and getting jostled around in such a bog crowd – and taking the kiddo with me two of those days. The fact I don’t feel like a giant bruise tells me I’m doing something right.

Anyways, back on track with my writing and book three will have a complete rough draft soon!

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