Slowly Committing Suicide

I know the title sounds dramatic, but it's a phrase that has rocked me ever since reading it. I'll get to that in a bit. Tonight I had dinner with my dad. I was talking to him about my weight loss and what I'm doing right now to get healthy. He told me that he had a picture of me from 2 years ago.

When I got home, I reminded him to email it to me. When I got it, I was shocked yes, but sad. You see, I had seen that phrase in my title in a fitness article. Someone had said that they were slowly committing suicide by the food choices and lifestyle they were living. Looking at that picture, I saw myself doing that. In that moment in that picture, I knew I was overweight, I was not happy, but I didn't realize the magnitude of my problem. I didn't realize that in that moment, I was killing myself. 

Two years later, I am in a better place. I want to live. I want to live a long life. And I don't want to go back there. I have dieted before, lost many pounds, and have gone back up. Not being that person is a day to day struggle. Like a drug addict, leaving the addiction behind is difficult. It's a daily choice to stay "clean." Addicts stay clean by going through rehab, having a sponsor, and a support group. Well I have better than that... I have two coaches, supportive family and friends, and a mighty God who wants the best for me. I believe this time I can beat it and live healthy.

My thoughts to you: Are you slowly committing suicide? Are you limiting the number of days you live? I urge you to today to truly look at your condition, find support, pray to God for strength, and get started. Live.

Then

Now

Week 5.....EEK!

So today I started week 5. I had 3 five minute runs with 3 minute walks in between each run. I must say it went fantastic! My legs had a burn, but a good burn. I felt tension free, my breathing was great, and my legs never felt like they were about to give out. If was far from being easy, but it felt really good.

On Friday, I move to on to 2 eight minute runs. In between each run, I'll have a 5 minute walk. Not so bad. I'm not really dreading it. I'm looking forward to it. The one that gets me afraid in Sunday's run. I am going to have a 20 minute non stop run! I have so much trepidation with this run. I've been fortunate to read about others, using the same app, make it so I know I most likely will. But, I'd lie saying I wasn't really nervous about it. From there the time continues to increase..EEK.

So from here on out...I'll be blogging about each run until I reach 30 minutes straight! :)

Who Would've Thunk It?

So this week, my running has increased to 5 minutes! I've been reading in my Get Running forum that it is a big jump. Boy was it. I started with a 5 minute warm up walk. From there I went into a 3 minute run, 1 1/2 min. walk....THEN 5 minute run, 1 1/2 minute walk. I do this twice!

My first 3 minute run went really well. My legs were feeling fantastic. I went into the walk and again legs were great! Normally I need that walk for my legs to recover. Now it was time for my first 5 minute run. I was ok at first. Then came the burn... then more burn...then more burn. Then the girl, Claire, came over my iPod telling me I was halfway down. What?!??! Barely halfway!!! I really didn't think I was going to make it. I slowed my already slow pace down to just a tad faster than a walk. I did everything to distract myself. I turned up the music and looked around the park I was running in. I made it through the 5 minutes! Yay me! After that first 5 minute struggle, my next two runs were a lot better. Maybe the initial burn and heat up of my muscles helped loosen then or what...but I even picked up my pace in the final 5 minute run. This has been the most challenging since week 1. I'm glad I survived it. Yay me again!


So that was yesterday. Tonight I had a kick butt workout with my coach. We did different rope exercises. If you've never done them, they are killer. They are intense cardio and it works your leg and arm muscles for sure. Back to running tomorrow. 

I realize looking now that I work out 7 days a week now. I got my boot camp on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. I do my running on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. Crazy. If I would've told the me from a year ago that she'd be doing that, she'd laugh at me. But I think the difference now is that I'm doing this for me. I'm not doing it because my family and spouse have encouraged me to and I want to shut them up. Not because I got teased for being overweight. I'm not doing it because I hate my body...I'm doing it for a healthier me. And it feels good to take care of me and love me this way.

My thoughts for you: Make sure that when you decide to get fit, it is for you, and loving way for you. If not, the probability of keeping it up will be slim. Do it because you want a better you. Do it because you love you. There lies your success.

Cinderella Dressed in Yellow

"Cinderella, dressed in yellow, went upstairs to kiss a fellow. Made a mistake and kissed a snake...." If you are a girl, you probably remember that famous chant. It was sang over and over again as a young child jumping rope. You remember right? Your friends and you would spend hours jumping over and over. Boys you probably remember us too, right? You'd always run through the rope and we'd scream at you! Did you realize you were interrupting some serious calorie burning?!?!?

$5-$8 for a good one!

Yup, I'm going back to my childhood days and bringing back the jump rope!! I'm going old school on my exercise. Did you know that jumping rope is one of the BEST exercises you can do?!?!? I started picking it up again. I do it while watching t.v. How easy of an exercise is that? But do you really know why you should be doing the same thing? Do you?

Check out these stats from Livestrong.com:

Four hours of fast rope jumping burns the caloric equivalent of more than 1 lb. of body weight. Although you may not jump rope for multiple hours per week, you can still burn calories jumping rope. Body weight and speed dictate calories burned during 10 minutes of activity.

125-lb. Person

A 125-lb. person burns 76 calories during 10 minutes of jumping rope at a slower speed and 113 calories during 10 minutes of fast rope jumping. A fast speed uses 37 more calories than slower jumping.

150-lb. Person

A 150-lb. person burns 91 calories during 10 minutes of slow rope jumping and 136 calories during 10 minutes of fast rope jumping. A fast speed uses 45 more calories than slower jumping.

200-lb. Person

A 200-lb. person burns 121 calories during 10 minutes of slow rope jumping and 181 calories during 10 minutes of fast rope jumping. A fast speed uses 60 more calories than slower jumping.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/294818-how-many-calories-will-be-burned-jumping-rope-for-ten-minutes/#ixzz1kRm4ISep

So of course you know I had to put this to the test, right? Well I own a BodyBugg. It is an arm band that calculates the number of calories you burn during activity. The other night I did 8 sets of 25 jumps. I burned 110 calories. It took me about 10 minutes. Can you believe that???? In 10 minutes, I burned 110 calories. I just burned off my Starbucks mocha or that soda you picked up. So if you have the knees for it, pick up a jump rope each night and do some sets. Take a 20-30 second break between each set to catch your breath and a drink of water. Then get back at it. It is the cheapest ($5-$8 for a quality jump rope) and fastest way to get your body moving!

My Biggest Loser Moment and Nike's Just Do It

After that dreaded doctor visit, I found myself in one of those same crossroads like many of you come to as well. You know...the one that says I keep going the way I'm going and it's just not that serious...and the other than says I need to get my butt in gear. Well I took the second path.


I knew I couldn't just get a gym membership. Been there. Done that. One, I hate the fact that women show up with skin hanging out and all dolled up. I hate men that just stare. Working out is ugly. Sorry. It is. You sweat and you get funky. Period. I also knew that going there gives you no accountability. You can work out as hard or as light as you want. You can walk in for 5 minutes and be back out and nobody knows. It's way too easy. I had been hearing about the new craze called boot camps. It seemed way too hard, but maybe this could be what I needed.

"Working out is ugly. Sorry. It is. 

You sweat and you get funky. Period."

One of my cousins had been attending one and seemed pretty excited about it. I decided that the first week of July 2011 would be my start. It gave me time to relax after a long school year. I showed up the first day determined to show that I wasn't the overweight girl that would slow everyone down. The fat girl that nobody would want to partner up with. Yup I'll show all them skinny girls that really don't need this workout. Boy did I show them. I lasted 10 minutes before I had to sit down because the room was spinning. My coach came over and told me to drink water and rest. I did for about 5-7 minutes. Only 50 minutes of exercise to go! Crap. This time I lasted..oh about 5 minutes. No, no..no dizziness. I felt like puking my guts out. You see....well at least from what I know, when you're heart isn't used to a heart beat that fast and a body that is demanding blood (oxygen), it speeds up like crazy and the rapid blood movement gets you nauseated. I understood now why all the Biggest Loser contestants (love this show) all threw up!!! I sat down again, got my water, but was having a hard time breathing. Now on to my real moment.

My coach had me move to a different area of the room, near a fan. I went and sat there feeling like a failure. Here I was taking my first step and I failed. My coach came over to check on me. He asked me how I was. I couldn't answer. My lip started quivering and then came the tears. I felt like an idiot. "What are you feeling right now?" my coach asked. "Overwhelmed" ...that was the only word that I responded with. "Why?" he asked. Well in that moment, my mind was saying I can do this, but my body was not following along. My coach then said something I'll never forget. He said, "What you are feeling is a release. You've had this monkey on your back for so long and the mutha@$#%$ is finally off.Give me 6 months Steph and watch what I can do for you." I sat there in gratitude. Gratitude for the fact that he even cared enough to ask about my feelings and for believing in me. Boy does that make a difference. I've seen my own students make a big turn around just from me believing in them and telling them that. Here I was the student. I understood the power of belief.

"What you are feeling is a release. 

You've had this monkey on your back for so long 

and the mutha@$#%$ is finally off.

Give me 6 months Steph 

and watch what I can do for you." -Omari

Fast forward 6 months, I'm down 27 pounds. I've stopped snoring at night. I do not wake up with lower back pain. I'm not just dieting, like I did before with just denying myself food. I'm trying to live a lifestyle. I eat almost everything I want in moderation. But...I'm moving. Lots. I'm boxing. Doing lunges. Jumping rope. Walking and jogging. Climbing up hills. Doing yoga. And doing other things I never ever thought possible physically. It's amazing. 

Ok here is my pitch to you...Like Nike's motto. Just Do It! Don't think about getting your life in order, just do it. Stop doubting yourself, JUST DO IT! Stop making excuses...JUST DO IT! ... Stop saying I gotta..I gotta....... JUST...DO...IT!


BTW...If you're in the West Contra Costa area...go to http://www.fit-verse.com. I work out with this coach. Get a week for free! You won't regret it!