Weight Watchers Meetings!?

I am still very sick. I think the emotional stress of the weekend made me sicker. I stayed home from work yesterday, laid on the couch, and took some naps while watching a Top Chef marathon.

I munched a bit too much yesterday on cheese rice cakes. I've decided that I really need help taking off this last 20 pounds, so I am officially going to Weight Wacthers meetings. Before, I have only ever used the eTools, so I hope the added support really helps. Now, I just need to find the right meeting.

Otherwise, haven't done any exercise in a week, and it's killing me! It's going to hurt so bad when I get back into the strength training; But, it was my choice not to exercise with my cold, so I must suffer through the pain.

Happy Hump Day everyone!

Bermuda 2009 and My 24th Birthday

My fiance and I had a great time in Bermuda. It was my first big-girl vacation, as it was the first trip I had taken since graduating from college last year.

Me in St. George, Bermuda

I also celebrated my 24th birthday while we were away. My goodness, where does the time go?! Even though time is fleeting, I felt great on my birthday. I reflected on where I am now in my life in terms of weight loss and where I want to be. I realized that unless I am willing to make more concessions on my food choices, that I am destined to stay this weight because my body is comfortable here. Well, my body may be comfortable, but I am not comfortable here.

My fiance surprised me by having our cruise cabin decorated

Then he surprised me with a special blue box :-)

Happy Birthday to me: dinner at a Mediterranean place in Bermuda

More celebrating was had when I returned from Bermuda. My family had a bbq, bought me an ice cream cake, and made me play drinking games all night. Well, maybe they didn't make me ;-)

Reeses ice cream cake...drool

Losing the drinking game, pouting about it, and being punished by sitting under the table

I feel lucky and blessed to have a wonderful fiance, family, and my health. I would not be the person I am without their love and support. Their faith in me has given me the strength I needed to lose weight and become a happier person in the process.

How I Saved the Barnegat Bay with an 8K!

The Barnegat Bay from Lavalette, NJ

I saved the Barnegat Bay by running an 8K! How did this "save" the bay? I have no f*cking clue.

I woke up nice and early, dressed, ate some peanut butter on a slice of bread and drank some water. My fiance came along to take pictures and share in the moment with me. We drove over to the bay (a few minutes from my childhood home), registered, got our goodies, and hooked up a little race tracker to our shoe for time keeping.

Hooking up my race tracker

We stretched a little, but mostly hung out and soaked up the sun. There were a few real characters there though. Ya know, the ones that take themselves way too seriously even though it is apparent that they are not hardcore runners. They were doing some stretches that I have never seen before, and trust me, I have seen a lot of weird stretches before- I was a competitive cheerleader for 9 years.

Can you guess which set of legs works 10 hours a day inside and which two sets of legs belong to lifeguards?

Back to how we were "saving the bay". I really don't get it. Especially when there is a water station every mile where you grab a cup, drink/splash/pour it, and then throw it on the ground so that the garbage may blow into the bay before someone has had the chance to clean it up. This seemed illogical to me, but my cousins thought that it would be an opportune time to come up with a song to amuse themselves as I left on my headphones, running and panting, and trying to keep up with the tempo. Their little verse went like this....

Just take one cup at a time
there's no need to waste.
It's like Saving the Bay,
the month after May

It's going to happen when it's
supposed to happen.
When you find the reasons why,
one cup at a time.

Mile 2: Me, my cousin Brittany, my cousin Courtney

In all seriousness, the race was really really hard for me. The race started at 8:30am and it was so hot and sunny. I usually run after work and on shaded roads so I found the sun added a big challenge to the run. I also felt a bit faint at times during the race. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to finish, but I kept it together.

Part of the course snaked through a neighborhood filled with locals who live there year-round and who (like me) have a certain pride in being from the area. There were so many people outside their homes cheering for us. There were a few awesome houses that even put out their own water stands and sprayed hoses into the air to cool off the runners- now that is gratitude!

I had wanted to run the 8K in 50 minutes because I new I could do it (10min/mile). My pace ended up being more like 11.5min/mile or 57 minutes. I'm not going to lie, I am disappointed in that time, but I know that's not what it's about. Would I do it again? Heck yeah! I can't wait! Me and my cousins have already planned to do it again next year but with more style- I'm going to design some cute tanks for us and get them screen-printed.

The finish line

Professional photos:

Start:

http://www.printroom.com/ViewGalleryPhoto.asp?evgroupid=0&userid=JMcCoy1454&gallery_id=1625284&tcount=149&scount=88&sku=1

http://www.printroom.com/ViewGalleryPhoto.asp?evgroupid=0&userid=JMcCoy1454&gallery_id=1625284&tcount=149&scount=89&sku=1

Finish:

http://www.printroom.com/ViewGalleryPhoto.asp?evgroupid=0&userid=JMcCoy1454&gallery_id=1625285&image_id=464&pos=465

http://www.printroom.com/ViewGalleryPhoto.asp?evgroupid=0&userid=JMcCoy1454&gallery_id=1625285&tcount=521&scount=466&sku=1

//www.printroom.com/ViewGalleryPhoto.asp?evgroupid=0&userid=JMcCoy1454&gallery_id=1625285&tcount=521&scount=467&sku=1

Rewards

I'm moving forward at a tremendous pace! The weight loss and inches lost have been so rewarding for all of the hard work I am putting in! I also finally surpassed by 10% weight loss goal, which I have decided to reward myself with is new jeans.

The motivation I have found by conversing daily with others on the WW 20 year old's board has been invaluable. These people are the reason I have been able to move forward at all. The most rewarding aspect of WW, however, has been the fact that I have started to inspire others as well! I started a "Shred Thread ~Shredding Sisterhood~" on the boards because people felt so inspired by the inches I lost this week. To think, 2 weeks ago I was longing to be just like the successful ladies on the boards, and now I feel like one!

I like to think of these rewards as WW rewards. They are just like credit card rewards: the more you put out, the more you get back (without all that complicated financial crap of course)! So here's a short list of some of the rewards I have received thanks to the all the effort I have put into WW:

Smaller sized clothing
MORE Energy
A new found self confidence
A revved up sex drive
Strength- physical and mental
Motivation
Inspiring others
A lower risk of developing diabetes, hypertension, and having a serious back injury (genetic ailments from my family)
More satisfying relationship with my boyfriend :-)

Shredding Sisters!

That is what I like to call my fellow ladies that Shred with me. I have been specifically following another girl, Kate, on the WW boards and we keep each other updated with our progress and promise to complete the Shred everyday. It really helps keep me accountable to know that someone else's motivation is reliant upon me. Hopefully I can convince my blog followers to join me in the Shredding Sisterhood.
I took measurements of my bust, waist, hips, thigh, and arm before starting the Shred, so I am really excited to actually measure my results. I'll be sure to post about it on Monday because that will be one full week on the Shred.