Weekend Warrior

So today was another session of weekend warrior. It was a fun time of team building, mountain climbing, hiking and a good cardio workout. We laughed a lot, there was a lot of "what the hells?" and quite a few battle wounds. I have posted a link to the hike that we did from my friends garmin, it shows the elevation gains and so forth. However, it was supposed to take about 1.5 hours and it took us 3. We climbed 1000 ft in the 1.4 mile up but majority of it was in the last .4 miles. It was straight up, almost like stairs but with nothing to put your foot on. It was about 3 miles total by the time we got the trail head from Shannon's house and did the trail round trip.

We met up at Shannon's house. It was a beautiful, cabin style, home with gorgeous views of the Smokies. They are on there way to being so pretty for fall. A few more weeks and they will be spectacular with all of the changing leaves. We arrived around 9 and hit the trail (if you can call it that) by 9:30.

The beginning was the hardest part for me. This is probably different than everyone else. The first 3/4 of a mile was a lot of rise and fall, mostly rise and because there was a trail the girls were trucking it. They were going fast, no stopping and I thought I was going to die. There were a few times I wanted to quit but my girls "T" and "JRo" wouldn't leave me behind. At one point, Teresa told me that if she had to "push my butt up that hill" I was making it to the top. We finally got to a little flat resting point and Shannon says "well, that was the easy part; it gets much harder from here". I thought she was kidding but she wasn't!

The next part of the hike was mountain climbing. It was straight up, no trail head and going through lots of brush and trees to make it to the top. It took a long time and the whole time we were going up all I could think about was how are we going to get down? We can't possibly be going down the same way that we went up. While the mountain climbing was hard, I was okay...we had slowed down, my heart was no longer trying to escape from my chest and this was mind over matter. One leg in front of the other. It was beautiful along the way. At one point we looked out and you could see Shannon's house....way, way down. It was gratifying to know that we had accomplished the mountain. Going up required you to be on all fours. The ground had lots of leaves on it so it was pretty slick. Also there had been a fire in the woods about a year ago, so several of the trees were burned or rotten and were not good foot or arm holds.

(if you look very closely you can see a white house under the bottom branch of that tree,

it is a little bit down and to the right from the other houses...

that is Shannon's where we started)

We finally reached the top! I can't lie that the summit was not as impressive as some of the other vista views we got along the way because of the trees. However, I decided to take that into my own hands. There was one good view but there was a measly tree in the way. I knew that all the trees were weak so I decided to push it down to make my picture better. It pushed right over with a little effort. We stopped long enough to get some pictures and then headed back down.

(After taking down the tree)

(the top)

Now the decent down the mountain is where the fun really began. This is when everyone began cursing. I was so glad that I had worn my hiking shoes. They had said we were going for a hike so wore my trusty hikers. Every other girl had on their beautiful white ASICS tennis shoes. Well, let me just tell you...they aren't white anymore. The ground literally had no good foot holds and you couldn't really hold on to the trees or stumps as 90% of them were not secure. Going down the mountain had lots of scooting on your butt and just hoping that you didn't get killed. Had I known what we were going to be doing, I would have brought my trekking poles. This would of made the entire hike about 10 times easier.

At one point, I must slid down the mountain and hurt my leg. I have been bruising more easily lately and it looks pretty bad. Yet, I was not the only one with battle wounds. Lots of us got scrapes and scratches but our "Sherpa", Teresa gets the award for wound of the day. At one point I looked over and she literally did a cartwheel down the hill and starting sliding head first with her hand in front of her down the mountain. Thankfully she didn't get too hurt. She got a pretty good puncture wound in her hand and some pretty good scrapes but she was a good sport. From that point forward, I tried to take on the role of Sherpa. I think I did fairly well. I was able to kind of slide the earth down under my feet and create little ledges to hold. We all found good sturdy sticks and used them as a walking staff. I can say that if I had not had my stick, I might have died.

(This is the bruise on my leg...ouchy)

After we got down from the mountain we still had to hike back to the house. At this point we were all tired and ready to eat. We got lost at this point for about 10 minutes but then found our way back. Everyone had brought some "healthy" food to share. Tammye, our trainer, brought a really yummy dip. It was good, tasted fresh and healthy. Here is the recipe.

• Can of corn drained
• Can of black beans drained
• Can of black eyed peas drained
• Can of tomatoes drained
• One onion chopped
• One green bell pepper chopped
• A little fresh cilantro and lime
• Garlic powder
• 1/2 C of light Italian dressing

It was so yummy. I stuck around and ate a few snacks and then had to head home to my sweet family. It was definitely an adventure. I did have fun. I would of been much better off in a healthy forest with something to hold onto though, or if I would have had my trusty trekking poles. One of the girls had a nice SLR camera and took several pictures. Tonight while looking at them on Facebook I almost cried because I was laughing so hard at us coming down the mountain. There were some pictures where she had taken so many that scrolling through was almost like watching them animated...and I got to relive the whole experience.

My ankles are pretty sore and the rest of my body just feels like it has been beat up. Hopefully a good night's sleep will take care of some of that.

Update

Well tomorrow is weekend warrior. I am so excited. I will be doing a long post to fill you all in about how it went. I know it is going to kill me but hopefully I will get some good pics and maybe even a video. I am doing well. Feeling good and hoping for a good week!

I stayed on plan all week except one day. One day, I royally screwed up! I didn't really even eat that much but every choice was bad. Pretty much I just snacked all day long on high calorie food. The sucky part about it was that I was never full and actually felt deprived all day. All day I didn't eat any substantial, I just ate small things through out the day but it was all junk. At the end of the day when I tallied up my points, I had used all of them for the day as well as my flex points for the week! What the crap!

I have a lot of friends that want to lose weight. Most everyone always talks about the exercise part. I can't exercise, I don't have time to exercise, etc. or they talk about starting to exercise. While exercise is great and definitely accelerates the process....it is 98% about diet. It is about what you put in your mouth. My trainer always says "you cant out train a bad diet". It is so true! I have slacked on the exercise. I need to do more. I love my class on Thursday nights, and I love Weekend Warrior but I have lost my love for the treadmill. I know I said it in my last post but I need to get a new show to watch. I was doing so good when I wouldn't allow myself to watch "my show" unless I was on the treadmill.

Anyway...if you want to lose weight...exercise but more importantly....don't put the junk in your mouth to begin with...it will take hours/days of exercise to burn it off.

Weight Watcher Results: Week 25

Well, we are moving in the right direction again. I am happy to see that! However, I can't believe I have been doing this for 25 weeks. Almost half of a year and I have to admit I thought I would be down more by now. It stinks when you spend 3 weeks right around the same number. All I can think about is what if...what if I would have exercised more...what if I would have tracked my points better..what if....

But I can't do that. All I can do is change the future. Race for the Cure is coming up and I am excited to see my friend Jordan. I havent seen her since she was here the day after the baby was born.

I am also excited for my goal and to have some major losses between now and my birthday! 52 more days, I should easily be able to lose 2-3 pounds a week if I can just stay motivated and keep on plan. The eating is by far the hardest part for me and it is getting more and more difficult to be motivated to get on the treadmill. I need to find a new show. It is hard to just get on without something to watch. I think I'll go back to my idea of getting 24 season 2.

Next weekend is Weekend Warrior. I am so excited. I got this email from my trainer a few days ago:

Hey Ladies!

We have a special WW coming up Sat the 16th!! Shannon "Honeybun" has offered to let us have a WW at her house! She has an intense hiking trail that we will hike! One mile but really intense. A steep driveway that we can run and an open field that we can do drills and other fun stuff! Workout may last 2 hrs or so...can't really tell you exact times. Just be prepared for a hard, long workout.

For the fun portion, we will stay after class and eat and mingle! I would like everyone to bring their favorite HEALTHY dish with a recipe! It can be whatever you like: appetizer, dessert, entree...What a great way for us to sample new, healthy foods!Shannon is going to make margarita's, obviously other drinks will be provided and you can bring whatever you like!

I will send directions to her house if you want to go on your own. Or you can meet at the gym at 8:30 and we will carpool!

Doesn't that sound so fun! I can't wait. Any locals want to join me for the fun...or can I say torture! I am so addicted. Wish I could go with her twice a week but the time away from my family is just so hard. I need to incorporate what she has taught me and do some of it at home.

I almost Barfed!

So tonight I went back to my regular Thursday night work outs. Let me just tell you that I will not be taking two weeks off ever again. I was just getting used to the workouts and not being brutally sore. Took some time off and returned; the whole night I thought I was going to barf. It was so hard. I dont even want to think about tomorrow. I am going to be so sore. I am sore just typing this quick blog post.

I got there early, stretched out and did a quick mile on the treadmill. We had our typical circuits around the room and all of them were hard. Tammye really pushes me. Sometimes I want to give up so bad but the other girls are real supportive and keep me going. They are all in much better shape than I am. Tonight they kept asking me if I was okay...at one point my trainer asked me why I was resting..I told her because if I moved I would throw up on her shoes. Well, at least I know I got a good one in.

Race for the Cure is coming up the end of this month. I am so not ready to run the whole thing. I know my friend Jordan is coming for the weekend and she is a runner, I know she will push me and hopefully I can at least jog the entire thing. I better hit the treadmill more frequently! So the new season of Biggest Loser started and I am enjoying watching it. I must admit that it doesn't seem as great this season. I really like the teams and/or couples...so far it isn't that exciting but it still keeps me motivated. I am excited to see Jordan for the race, it is also Halloween weekend. We get tons of trick or treaters since we live across from the corn maze and one of our friends has a big party. Hudson is going to be a pirate this year and Reese is going to be a ladybug. Pics to come.

Blog Award

This month's Blog Award goes to my friend Rachel Holloway. I told her about my blog a while ago and ever since I told her she has been a great follower. She posts lots in my comments, talks to me on Facebook and it is nice to have her as a reader. She is also trying to lose some post baby weight so it is fun to have someone else that is having the same goals.

The funny thing about Rachel is that while we went to high school together she graduated a year after me and we never were really close friends. She asked to be my friend on Facebook a long time ago and I accepted. She also posted links to her blog, http://excellenteats.blogspot.com/, on Facebook and a lot of her posts were recipes. I think I have tried at least 75% of them and they are all awesome! I enjoyed reading her blogs and we became friends pretty much 100% through the internet. Out of all of my facebook friends she posts the most on my pictures and my wall.

She is an amazing lady! She has four kids but she is always doing activities, cooking, blogging, etc. I don't know where she get her energy! She is doing weight watchers too and is doing awesome. She has been my motivation in recent weeks. Keep up the good work Rachel! Thanks for all your support. You amaze me!

Chop and Shop

So, while my friends were here I learned about a new concept. It is called a personal shopper. I had never heard of it. My friend Liz told me about it. It is where you pay someone a fee (around $150) to go shopping with you and pick out clothes for you. They know current style, are excellent and sizing, colors, etc. I kind of thought the idea was absurd since it was so expensive but my friend Liz had some really cute clothes and she inspired me. We seem to get stuck in a rut. Do you notice that you wear the same 10 outfits and just regurgitate them over and over again. Or have you ever liked a shirt so much that you went back and bought it in another color? This is totally against everything a personal shopper's thinking. They want each outfit to be unique and not just a copycat.

I haven't went clothes shopping in forever! I can't even remember the last time I bought some business casual outfits. I did buy a dress for Maggie's wedding but that was it. So......I talked my friends into being my personal shoppers...for free! We went to my favorite store, New York & Company. They were having a great sale. We didn't get there until 8:30PM and they closed at 9. My friends and I ran around like crazy and I tried on tons of clothes. I ended the night with 4 great outfits. Nothing that I would have bought on my own. The best part about it, is that I only spent $200 and the regular bill would have been well over $400. I got everything for about half off. These outfits were a good deal too because they all had three pieces, like a pair of pants, shirt and sweater or pants, shell and blouse. It was very fun and it was great to get some confidence and feel good good in some new clothes. It was also great to be able to fit into the pants with no trouble and to even have to buy a shirt in a large instead of an extra large.

I also hacked my hair off while they were here. I now have a chin length a-line bob. It is cute! A little shorter than I expected but it will look great in a month! It is way healthier now. I got rid of some old highlights with the cut and now I am just back to my natural color. I will take a picture soon.

Weight Watcher Results: Week 24

OK, so its not huge but I am pretty darn proud. For having friends in town for four days, I am amazed that I almost lost 2 pounds. I haven't been to my workout on Thursday nights in two weeks. One week I was in Chicago and this week my friends were in town. I meant to do weekend warrior last Saturday but it was the annual neighborhood garage sale and we had planned on participating for months. I did make about $400 at the sale! It was great, I put it together in under an hour and still have quite a few things to craigslist and donate.

I just have to keep telling myself that slow and steady wins the race!