Thoughts from the…um…house. – August 11, 2015

I haven’t done a “Thoughts from the Sauna” in a long time, but I’m going to have to change the title…I’ll explain in a bit. So, John and I wanted to get serious about getting healthier. We’ve been walking in the neighborhood and eating better. But we needed to build more lean muscle mass. On the way home from Kroger, there was an ad for Workout Anytime. It’s only $15/month and it’s open 24 hours. The special on the radio was the first month was free. I was thrilled! We called, and there was stipulation of course. It wasn’t going to be affordable with the enrollment fees. But we remembered that the Planet Fitness had some good deals. We looked it up, and it was only $1 for enrollment and only $10/month. We joined.

I haven’t been to any gym since June 1, 2012…until today. 🙂

Planet Fitness boasts that it is a “judgement free zone” and let me tell you…I never felt so comfortable in a gym…even the gym I was a member of for 3 years. I did have a moment of anxiety walking to the doors, but I’m so glad that it went away when we went in. We finished our registration and recieved our FREE t-shirts, and changed to workout.

We did some strength exercises. John has never really understood the purpose of strength training and building lean muscle, so I taught him some of my knowledge…and we did the abdominal crunch machine…we each did a set of 100! I was very proud of him.

Then, my favorite thing…cardio! We walked/light jogged on the treadmill for 30 minutes…and the recumbent bike for 15 minutes.

It felt good. It felt familiar. Hurray for healthy living! 🙂

Yay!! A gym!!

Hello, old friend.

Broken Phone, Lots of Water, and 1.8 Miles…

The healthy living continues. John and I are both under in our calories, but even better than that…we are under for our sodium, too! Whoo! We are really trying to do this the right way.

It’s funny… I used to get the munchies and I would turn to cookies, and salty chips. Now, I don’t really find myself getting the munchies. For a dessert tonight, I had some natural peanut butter (ingredients being peanuts and salt) mixed with some honey. Delicious!

John had to go work at his grandma’s…he used to find it a taxing chore…now he sees it as an opportunity to get a little extra working out. 🙂 I’m so so so proud of him. He pushes me to do better, and I hope I return the favor. When he got home, we went for a walk in our neighborhood. One of the good parts of East Tennessee is that the terrain makes the roads full of hills. It’s great for Cardio.

As for the title including broken phone? The headphone jack of my iPhone is failing…and I can’t listen to music. 😦 One of the good things about having two people with iPhones…is that we are obessed with them…and we have an old one that isn’t used as a phone. I just loaded music on it and used it!

John and I have a new app that we use to help with tracking our walking. It’s called “MapMyWalk” and it’s awesome. It shows you the course you walked, the terrain differences, and the pace you took. It also has a screen that will show you your pace vs elevation. Another great feature is that it syncs to MyFitnessPal and helps us track our progress! 🙂

Here’s some screenshots:

Our walking course

Our elevation…this shows we did a 56ft difference in elevation throughout our walk.

Our pace vs. elevation.

It’s day 3 of nothing but water. To say I’m proud of myself is an understatement.

How’s your workout going? Let’s discuss tips and ideas!

I Had to Dust It Off…

Me (left) and my husband, John)

In January of 2012, I was very proud of the work I had done for myself. I was down 62 lbs from my starting weight of 382. I know I wasn’t always consistent from the time I began my weight loss journey in January 2010, but I always had the fallback of the 3-year contract for the gym that I was a member of. I would go up and down with my weight. I would eat better and do my best to lose weight, but I don’t think I was ever committed like I needed to be.

In June 2012, I lost my job…and because one needs money to pay for the gym membership, I lost my gym. I withdrew from life and just let myself go…really really let myself go. I gained a lot of weight. I went from 320 lbs to 415 lbs…the most I’ve ever weighed in my life. What had I done? How did I get to a point where I didn’t care about the heatlhy living I’d grown to love?

About four weeks ago, I didn’t want to leave our bed. I didn’t want to move. I felt terrible. My body was basically shutting down. I had given up.

Here are the norms of my life as of right now:

• I can’t sit in booths at restaurants. I just don’t fit.
• I have to order pants from the internet…and order the biggest size…and they are tight.
• I have very little clothing that fits me comfortably.
• At the movies, we have to sit in the back two rows, or the handicap seating…because those are the only seats that have moveable arm rests…so I fit.

Two weeks ago, it wasn’t abnormal for me to drink 2 2-liters of Mountain Dew a day. I would drink close to a gallon of sweet tea a day. My life was out of control.

On July 24th, I made the decision that something needed to change. That day, I decided that sugary sodas were gone for me…and one “sweet” a day. I made it the first week…then I set a new goal. I would eliminate sodas all together.

Here I am, two weeks later…I don’t even crave “sweets” or sodas. I’m all water.

The best part…I have a partner in my husband (Oh yeah…I got married two years ago!) that wants to be healthy, too. It’s truly a lifestyle change. We don’t have a gym, but we have legs and we go walking. We use MyFitnessPal and track our calories in/calories out. We make better choices. And you know what? It’s working.

We weighed ourselves on August 6, and he had lost 17 lbs, and I lost 20!

I think this blog is going to help. Look for recipes and more! I look forward to reconnecting to so many that encouraged me once upon a time. I hope to see you on here again. 🙂

Joie

Thoughts from the Sauna – March 13, 2012

I did 4.04 miles today. Not too bad. I listened to Dolly the entire time. Listening to her music always inspires me and encourages me. I used to write about her music and how the dog I’d feature would encourage me. I miss that. My old blog, “Joie to the Max,” just sits dormant. I think I’m going to dust it off and use it as a creative outlet about Dolly’s music. I miss writing.

I love fitness and all, but I miss writing out of passion.

Thoughts from the Sauna – March 6, 2012

I’ve been to the gym once since early February. I’m pretty embarrassed by that. But, I’m here. I did well today. After the car wreck a couple of weeks ago, I got sore and discouraged. I let that be my excuse. Even today, I wasn’t going to come to the gym, but I did. I’m so glad!

I did my run. I ran 6.5 miles. I burned 895 calories!! With my food I ate today, that brings me to -500 calories. Uh oh.

I have to get a good burn, but I have to get food too. Lol.

Frustrated

This past weekend, my mom, sister, and I were in a car wreck. It left us all very sore. For me, it left me traumatically scarred, too. I’ve done so much emotional eating over the last three days. A lot. It’s frustrating. I can’t seem to get it under control. I need to work on it harder. Because of the soreness, I couldn’t go to the gym. I’ve missed it.

I just want to be back on track.

Thoughts from the Sauna – February 14, 2012

I know it’s been a while since I posted. Sorry about that. Truth is, last week, I didn’t get to come to the gym Wednesday – Saturday. Work was crazy. I pulled six days last week at work. Yikes.

This week has been awesome. I came to the gym yesterday, but didn’t have time to post a blog. Here it is.

Happy Valentines Day!!! 🙂

Yesterday, I read more of The Help while I ran 7.81 miles.

Today, I finished The Help! It was an incredible book! 🙂 I’m glad I read it. See the movie too!!

I’m thinking about reading The Hunger Games next.

I ran 7.75 miles today!

Thoughts from the Sauna – February 6, 2012

I’ve absolutely fallen in love with Kathryn Stockett’s book The Help. I originally started reading it on my iPhone. I had purchased a Kindle Fire, and read it on it at the gym. The Kindle Fire just wasn’t working out for me, so I took it back. Today, I was able to use my brand-new iPad 2. I read while I ran. 🙂 All that to say, I love that book. It’s so good!! The movie is good, too!

Clay and I did weights today for the first time in almost a week. It felt awesome. I’m so thankful for him and his friendship. He really pushes me in the gym. I needed it. Even the past week, I’ve felt complacent and haven’t pushed myself. That’s over.

I ran 7.22 miles today. 🙂 I. Love. Running.

I have set my goal for February to do 5 miles every day I come to the gym. I can do it!!

Thoughts from the Sauna – February 3, 2012

62 lbs. That’s how much total weight I’ve lost. I’m so proud of myself!! Only 20 more lbs and out of the 300’s!! It’s been since middle school probably since that has happened!

🙂

I ran/walked 4.3 miles. Not terrible, but not my best. That’s okay! I’m okay with it. 🙂

I’m currently setting my goals for February. I should have them soon!

Thoughts from the Sauna – January 31, 2012

I broke my record set on Saturday. I did .37 miles more. 10.37 miles. I’m proud I me, but I want to go further!!

I read more of “The Help” today. It seems like when I read and run, I don’t realize how far or how long I’ve gone. I think that’s a good thing. It helps get over the mental aspect of the running.

I’m ready for Clay to come back to the gym with me. I miss doing my weights.