Weight Loss Journey

So it seems like in the last year of my life, about the only new thing going on has all been health related.  I've been exercising and trying to lose weight, etc.  But I haven't really shared much of that on here because I kept thinking that people wouldn't want to see nothing but weight loss stuff on my blog!  Plus, if I was going to share that kind of info, I would want to do it in a way that I could share with anyone, and not be sharing lots of personal info on the same blog.  Does that make sense?  So, finally, I started a separate blog.  It's going to be nothing but my weight loss journey.  And hopefully on this side of things I can start sharing some other parts of my life!  In fact, I actually have some really big news (job related) that some people are already aware of.  But I'll be waiting another month to share it because I don't want to jinx myself before everything is official.  If you are interested in checking out my other blog, I'd love that.  The address is http://www.kas9913.blogspot.com I'd also majorly appreciate any advice people can give.  Sorry again for the long absence.  Hopefully that will change soon!

2 Races

When you start going to the gym on a regular basis, one of the first things that happens (or at least for me) is you start hearing about all of the races, marathons, bike rides, triathlons, century rides, etc that everyone either has or is going to participate in.  It's a bit intimidating!  I keep hearing about all of these plans that so many of my friends have for the summer.  Overall I don't feel ready for most of the things that they are going to do, but there were two events that did catch my eye. 

The first is called the Dirty Girl Run and is held at Wheeler Farm.  It's a 4 mile obstacle course with lots of dirt and mud!  It's not a timed competition and is basically just something to go and have fun with your friends!  The 4 miles part has me a bit intimidated, but I still have about 5 months to prepare!

The other is a couple of weeks after the first and is called the Utah Tour de Donut!  This one is a completely fun and crazy bike ride.  Ok, here's the gist of it.  You ride your bike over a 7 mile course.  Then you stop......take a break......and eat as many donuts as you think that you can hold down!  Get back on your bike, ride the 7 mile course again, and repeat the rest stop/donut eating!  Lastly you ride the course one more time!  So basically, you are riding for 21 miles, with a couple of donut rest stops in the middle!  Then at the end, they take off 3 minutes from your final time for each donut that you ate.  Sounds crazy, sounds fun, sounds like something that I want to try out!

Even though I'm going to have to push myself to make sure that I am physically ready for both of these, they just don't seem as scary to me as some of the other more "serious" events that I know of.  I think that's probably why I am willing to give these a shot.  They are more for fun rather than for a serious competition!

Wish me luck!  BTW - I made up a couple of little count down tickers for both of these events and posted them at the bottom of my blog.  Help me keep track of how long I have to prepare!

Comfort Books

Just about everyone who knows me, knows that I am a MAJOR reader!  I was one of the few kids growing up that got yelled at for reading too much!  After the first time that I moved, my Uncle informed me that he'd gladly help me move any time I needed him, but that he refuses to ever move my books again!  I have a LOT of books!

Normally I am always reading something new.  Yes, I have some favorites that get read over and over again.  But at the same time I am always looking for a new story.  But the last few months have been a bit odd for me.  Anytime that I start something new, I find myself very quickly flipping back to something that I've already read and love.

I think part of it might be the time that I take out of my schedule to go to the gym.  It's made most of my days so tightly scheduled that I just don't have that time to sit and read.  But I can't blame the gym entirely.  I mean, the vast majority of the "reading" I get done is during work when I listen to audio books.  I was looking through my iPod this morning and I have 67 audiobook on there that I either haven't started or have only listened to the very beginning of!  (This might also be a sign that I've become addicted to Overdrive.com through the library!)  But every time that I flip to one of these many new stories, I find myself craving one of my favorites by Patricia Briggs, Kelley Armstrong, J R Ward, Karen Marie Moning or Vince Flynn.  I'd have to say that 95% of the books that I have read/listened to in the last 3 months are by one of those 3 authors, none of which have a new book out!  So, obviously I am just going back through the ones I've already read.

Not sure what's been going on with me!  But I apologize to those of you that typically ask me for book recomendations!  I just don't have anything new to recommend.  All that I am reading right now are my comfort books, the ones that I know will put a smile on my face!

Word of the Year

The other day I was reading the blog of one of my friends and she had done such a fun thing that I decided I wanted to copy it!  I wish that I could take credit for the idea, but no such luck!  Rather than making the same old, same old New Year's Resolutions, she picks one word each year to focus on for the year.  It's not as easy as it seems to think of just one word that you would want to live for an entire year!  But I took the challenge and found my word!

My word for 2011 is going to be DETERMINATION.

Definition -
* A quality that makes you continue trying to do or achieve something that is difficult
* The act of officially deciding something
* Firm or fixed intention to achieve a desired end
* Firmness of purpose; resolve
* A fixed intention or resolution

I have a lot of plans and goals for 2011 and I know that it will take great Determination in order to accomplish those goals.



What word would you pick to live by for a year?  I challenge each of my friends to come up with one word that they want to focus on in the lives for the rest of 2011.  Let me know what word you would choose!

Thanks for the idea Tib!

Kickboxing Therapy

I've found a great new therapy!  Kickboxing!  I take all of the stress that I've built up over the week, all the frustrations over rude people and people that are mad at me for something that I have no control over, and I pour all of the frustration into my kickboxing.  There's nothing better than kicking and punching your frustrations out!  Of course, the last couple of weeks I really probably could have used two classes a week!  It's just a fantastic therapy for my own mental health, and hey, I get a great workout too!  Plus, plus!  Love it!

New Year's Resolutions 2011

I looked back at last years resolutions and realized that I made it less than a month before giving them all up!!! This year I'm determined to keep them all, so I need to make sure that I am realistic in my expectations!


#1 - Workout for 1 hour, at least 300 times during the year. As long as I keep up the schedule that I have been doing for the last month or so, I shouldn't have a problem with this one! I made a little ticker countdown thing that's at the bottom of my blog to keep track of how I'm doing!

#2 - Be more aware of what I'm eating. I'm going to start counting calories. I'm not going to say that I will stay on a diet all year, or that I wont ever have that piece of cheesecake, or that greasy hamburger. But I really need to be more aware of what I'm putting into my body!

#3 - This one isn't as straight forward as the other two, and yet it really covers them as well as other things in my life. I want to start living my new motto! "Figure out the results you want, and do what you can to get them!" I need to stop being so focused on the here and now. Need to look towards what I want out of my life and what I want for my future. And then I need to start taking the steps to get there!

There are a million other things that I could add to this list, but like I said, I want to be realistic this year and actually keep my goals! So here they are! Once or Twice a month I'll do an update and let you know how I'm doing!

I think that I'm addicted!

I've got a new addiction!  Thankfully it's an addiction that is actually healthy for me. I really hadn't planned on sharing this.  I was even a bit worried about mentioning it on facebook.  But I decided that I no longer care, and I want to share!

I have become addicted to exercise!  About 2 months ago my doctor decided to put me on a medicine for 6 months that while helpful, also does some bad things to your body.  A couple of those things are bone loss and weight gain.  Both of which can be countered by exercise.  I have NEVER enjoyed exercise!  Typically you have to drag me kicking and screaming to any type of exercise.  Because of my back issues, I never even had to take a normal gym class in junior high or high school.  I've always avoided it and came up with excuses for not doing it.   I've even had doctors order me to exercise in the past to help my back, but it just never happened.  This time, my doctor convinced me.  She was just the kick in the butt that I needed!!!

So I looked around at the gyms by me.  I narrowed it down to Gold's Gym and the County Rec Center.  I ended up going with the County Rec and I am very happy for that decision!  It's just a great environment.  Nice people, great equipment, clean, and I don't feel out of place among a bunch of super models and body builders!

The first two weeks I started out pretty slow.  Walked on the treadmill, used the elliptical, and went to some water aerobics classes.  Didn't really feel any different, wasn't really excited to keep this up for 6 months.  But then came a lucky chance!

When I first joined the gym they handed me a schedule of aerobics classes, both land and water aerobics.  I barely even glanced at the regular aerobics and just focused on the water.  I was TERRIFIED to even think about the regular classes.  I was assuming that I'd need to get in a lot better shape before I attempted them.  But 2 weeks in, there was a Monday that the ONLY time I could work out that day was the 5:30am kickboxing class.  So I showed up expecting that this wasn't going to go well!  First thing I went to the instructor and asked her if it would be even possible for me to do or if I'd be better off heading to the fitness room and the treadmill.  She was great, very encouraging, and told me that I could do it, and anything that I had issues with I'd just need to modify to my own ability!  *That's been the biggest tip I've learned since!  Modify, Modify, Modify!*  Surprisingly, I had a lot of fun!  And better yet, I could tell that I had gotten a LOT better workout than anything else I'd been doing for the last two weeks.

But this was going to just be a one time thing......right?  lol, a couple of the people that were in the class that day started trying to convince me to come the next day at 5:30 again.  I kinda brushed them off, went home thinking that there was no way I was going back the next day!  While I'd had fun at kickboxing, I knew that the Tuesday class was Sports Cycling.  That sounded even scarier!  But all night at work I kept thinking about how encouraging they both were and the things that they had said to me.  I somehow found myself heading back over there the next morning, and almost every morning since.  I just finished my 5th week of going to the morning classes, and have only missed once!  I'm loving it and am completely and totally addicted! 

This post is already long enough, so I'll tell you about the different things that I'm doing some other time.  For those of you wondering why I was reluctant to share this, it's because I always worry that people are going to start watching how I'm doing and judge if I'm not progressing fast enough.  Please don't ask me how much weight I've lost.  Most of the time, I probably couldn't tell you!  I'm not focusing on the weight.  In fact I usually only weigh in once or twice a month.  I'm keeping track of how I am feeling.  Can I workout harder this week than I did last week?  Are my clothes feeling less tight?  Do I have more energy?  And am I just overall feeling better?  As long as I can keep saying yes to these questions, then I feel great about what I'm doing!