*ahem*
My weight before I started exercising back in March was 245lbs. Oh, I know. I know.
My current weight as of April is down to 235lbs. Hallelujiah!
My goal every month is to lose 8-10 pounds. I know sometimes I'll miss my mark, but I'm setting my standards high.
Anyway, that all said, my torture of choice has become running! Before I kinda jogged/walked (more walk than jog), and it wasn't getting me very far unfortunately. In February I told Erin I needed a new workout plan, because I couldn't stomach being my weight anymore. He suggested running. I tried it a few times in February with him, and couldn't run for more than a few paces without stopping. I mean, heaving, tired, gasping, stopping. I just could not do it at all.
Later that month I tried walking. This, also, seemed fruitless.
Then in March Erin decided to bite the bullet, and just take me running every other night. And that first night was like running me over hot coals in the middle of Hell with a whip on my back. I ran beside Erin, with no music, and the sound of my ragged breath to entertain me. I had to stop continuously, even though my partner pleaded with me to just keep running, and it will get better. Oh boy, I barked, and spat, and howled, and cried. I was sore every day with a fierce pain I could not overcome for the life of me.
And he had me doing not just a mile, but a mile and a half. Apparently, if you do a mile, you never really get better (apparently). But if you do a mile and a half, you're right there at two, and you begin to improve. Alright! So I pushed myself, and finally bought out my headphones for two reasons:
- I got sick of getting belligerent with Erin while he was trying to help me.
- I got sick of listening to myself breath. It made me panic, and trick me into thinking I HAD TO STOP OR ELSE I WILL DIE!
Within a week, it worked. By the end of the third week, I had ran most of the mile without pause, but did near the end.
By the end of next week, I could run through the whole first mile.
By week four, I was running the whole length of the 1 1/2 mile distance. Albeit my time was extremely slow (over 22mins), I was doing it.
In the few weeks after that, my times have gone up and down, which bugs me. For a while, I was running two miles straight, after training my lungs and my legs and my willpower to ignore the burning and the pain. And soon after that the burning in my legs almost disappeared (even though the burning in my chest remained). In the last two weeks, I slacked a little, while trying to find a new method of exercising, due to rain. Jumping jacks can go suck a big one. That shit hurt like a nothing else, and my boobs didn't appreciate the bounce per ounce, either. Swimming is for pleasure, not exercising. I tried this, and there's nothing like not knowing how to swim while trying to exercise in a pool. Yes, I can float, and doggie paddle, and what have you, but you need over the hand swimming for maximum value. Erin swims like a damn fish, and I'm jealous.
So when I came back to exercising via running last week, I wasn't surprised to find that I'd completely lost it. I had a severe back ache from the jumping jacks (boobieflopple), and the swimming made my legs sore. So since last Sunday I have had to recondition myself. Sunday was the worst, with me being completely unable to accelerate. Monday I still felt like crap, but my 22mins went down to 19:50mins. Tuesday my 1 1/2 went further down to 18:40mins.
Tonight (last night?) I only did a mile to test my speed, and for the first time it was BELOW 12 minutes ...just barely, though. Usually when I only do a mile, I get 13mins or 12:50mins or whatever. Tonight I got 11:59mins. YES. I had pushed myself quite a bit as well. I'm flushed with pride.
How's my fooding you ask? I cut most of my dairy. I cut out all meat except for fish (I love fish too much. Sorry vegheads.) and survive on salmon, tilapia, and etc. I love shrimp curry. I cut out most sweets. I do mean this. It was painful as hell to do, but I cut my sweets and snack intake by 90%. The most I allow myself is cheddar popcorn or Pirate's Booty every now and then, and the Vitamin Water. Though...I'm about to quite Vitamin Water as well. I'm not sure I like the idea of crystalline fructose anymore. They're damn tasty, though, and I can't purchase the drinks I used to love (Odwalla juices, specifically their orange juice). Lately I've been having cheese cravings like madness, so I've had extra, extra sharp cheddar on a few things (tuna or fish wraps), or tuna sandwiches, but I've done well avoiding the crap foods. I'm quite proud, as I miss all of my crap food, especially ice cream. I miss ice cream so hard, but I know what's more important for me now.
And I do enjoy reverting to pescetarian...ism? Haha. Fish is my deity!
Soooooooooooo...here's to hoping a lose another ten pounds this month, and not due to extreme stress over financial troubles!
-shica
