Church Of Mars...on my treadmill

Sooo I've been MIA lately...my fault I know. Lots has happened since the last time I blogged though :) I've now lost a total of 18.2lbs....this last week at weigh-in I was down 3.2lbs which pretty much blew my mind. We did do a pretty good job of trying to make our Thanksgiving meal "Dub Dub" friendly....but I was just really happy :)
I did have a week where I gained .8lbs and for a second I was kinda bummed about that. But I realized I needed to stick to and up the frequency and intensity of my exercise and not get myself down. The lyric from the song Alibi really stuck with me that next week...."I fell apart but got back up again" .....so true.
So when I run here is my play list...or what my goal of songs to get through is: Hurricane (Kanye version...sorry just straight 30stm version lovers...the Kanye one gets me moving a bit more), Closer to the Edge (this is the song that motivated me to start running in the first place), Vox Populi, Search and Destroy (looove running to this one...esp the last half of the song) and then cool down to Alibi. Some times I can only get through till the end of Vox Populi though. My goal the last week has been to get all the way through to Search and Destroy. Made it a few times...then this week I decided I really wanted to try and though Kings and Queens in after Search and Destroy...this was a lofty goal for me.
I would like to inform yall that for maybe 15 years my mantra was "I'm not a runner"...and up until about a month ago that was true. So for me to say I wanted to add another song into the playlist...it was going to be a challenge to say the least.
So today I hopped on the treadmill and by the time I got to Vox I was feeling good but was thinking I wouldn't make it to K&Q. I was pretty much assuming that Search and Destroy was going to wear me out....but surprisingly enough by the end of S&D I was so pumped that I knew I could make it to K&Q and if I got to it I knew I could make it all the way through :)

And guess what....I DID! I cannot explain to you how freaking happy I was the whole time I was running and listening to K&Q. The only feeling better than that would probably be being able to participate in Church of Mars on stage at a show. It was seriously awesome.
But for now....the treadmill is my Church of Mars.

After I finished K&Q I was ready for cool down with Alibi...yeah that didn't happen as planned. I don't have an mp3 player...well, I do - but it's on my Kindle. Yeah....I run while listening to mp3's on my Kindle....there is a nice little ares thank goodness that I can set the Kindle while I run. But anyway....the mp3 order is kinda messed up and the Kindle recognizes Closer to the Edge as the first track on the list...so it pretty much play 7 through 6. Long story short I had to listen to Hurricane again to be able to start the playlist over to get to Alibi....which worked out anyway....I increased the treadmill to a 7.5% incline and cooled down to Hurricane and Alibi.

#Irule

So the lesson learned the past few weeks is never give up and keep pushing yourself. It is SO worth it. And in honor of Church of Mars on my treadmill....here's Kings and Queens :)

It has been confirmed...

That I have no rhythm :)

I'm taking a Zumbs class with my mom once a week...it's fun and def a good workout but it has def confirmed to me what I've known for years.

• I have no rhythm
• I will never be a dancer
• This is why I don't dance in public

That's ok though. The point to me with the Zumba class is that I'm having fun and putting in my time working out.
At the Dub Dub get together this past week our "person" challenged us to workout 3 times this week. Two weeks ago I fit in 3 workouts. Last week only one - the run of my life where I felt like I was going to puke and pass out afterwards. This week though I've done awesome! I did ab work on Sunday, ran on Monday, and did Zumba yesterday. I'm hoping to be able to hop back on the treadmill at least one more time before going back to Dub Dub on Saturday....we shall see!

Youtube clip of the morning....I received my copy of "This is War: Deluxe Edition" in the mail yesterday. All sorts of amazing. Included as a bonus track is the guys doing a cover of Kanye's "Stronger". It's different and kind of mellow....def "mars-i-fied"...but I love it.

It's getting easier every time

Afternoon all :) Hope everyone had a great weekend. I personally think that daylight savings is a cruel joke played on parents with small children...seriously. Yesterday felt like the longest day of my life.

Anyway....so I'm .6lb away from hitting 15lbs lost. I def want to hit that 15lb mark this week so I'll be hitting the exercise quite a bit this week. I also can't wait to hit my 10% goal...I told myself that when I do I'll reward myself with buying the triad necklace - which I really want.
So yesterday I did some ab work while watching the Mongoose play Wii and then today I hit the treadmill. It's amazing (although not surprising) every time I get on the treadmill it gets easier and I don't feel like I'm going to die as much :)

Here's the YT clip for today. Ignore the chatting between the two hosts in the beginning and listen for the baking question for Tomo...his answer is all sorts of hilarious.

Woo to the freaking Hoo!

Down another 2.4lbs this week....so since I started the Dub Dub on 9/11 I've lost a total of 14.4lbs :)

Asking Why and Whoa Oh Oh Oh Oh Whoa oh oh

Last night plans were all sorts of messed up - which turned out to be ok. We were supposed to go out to eat but that changed due to some circumstances. It was just fine for me though...I was more likely to make "better" food choices if I was at home.
But as I was getting dinner ready for my kiddos something happened and suddenly I was in a pretty crappy mood. All I wanted to do was say f*&^ it and have what kiddos were having to eat (corndogs and french fries and carrots). I fought myself in my head for a good 3-4 minutes going back and forth about corndog vs. my planned spinach salad.
In the end I chose the spinach.
I'm really glad I did though....this go round with Dub Dub I've been much more aware of asking myself questions such as "why am I hungry? or "why do I want this?"....in situations such as the one I described above it was really helpful in making the right choice.

Here's the Youtube clip for now. Another one from TMF..."Search and Destroy" wasn't my favorite song off the bat on "This is War" but oh how it has grown on me. I love how he stops twice to get the people jumping towards the end....now I wanna bounce every time I hear the song :)

Youtube and Breakfast

Breakfast was the usual this morning....oatmeal and a cup of coffee.
I love cereal....I could eat 2 bowls of cereals every morning but that doesn't help with the whole weight loss thing. That's one reason why I think I like eating oatmeal for breakfast....it's pre-portioned and all I have to do is pour in the boiling water and wait.
If I do eat cereal (and I'm trying to stay OP) then I'll usually do 1/2 cup of Fiber One mixed in with a container of yogurt....it's really yummy and a great way to get a serving of dairy.

Youtube clip for now....here yah go. From the TMF festival/awards thing....absolutely love this.

Have I mentioned....

I turn 30 in 116 days? Time to kick my butt into gear. 


Turning 30 = not feeling frumpy

Something you'll learn if you stick around

• I'm random
• I write run on sentences....like horrible run on sentences
• I tend to jump around a lot but it'll all make sense in the end
• Have I mentioned I'm random?

How I found it...

...Motivation that is. 

It wasn't easy at all. You can't make yourself do some things if you're just not motivated. I knew I wanted to lose weight but I just wasn't motivated to put the work into it. I had joined what I'll refer to as "Dub Dub" shortly after my 2nd kiddo was born in 2008. I had done the Dub Dub plan before and had success - but even though I wanted to lose the weight I had nothing truly motivating me.

Fast forward to March of this year. I had just turned 29 and wasn't happy with the idea of being 29. Maybe it was because I just wasn't happy with the way I looked. Feeling like a frump at that age just wasn't working for me. Yet still....I was lacking that motivation.

Fast forward to the beginning of September. Once again I joined Dub Dub. It started off ok but after 2 or so weeks I had lost the excitement of it and my motivation was still pretty much zip, zero, zilch.

Around the first week in October I was sitting around one night bored after the kiddos had gone to bed and I remembered that I wanted to re-listen to a song I had heard on the radio. I knew it was 30 Seconds to Mars...I had liked "From Yesterday" and "Kings and Queens"....but with 2 kiddos, 3 jobs, a house, and a husband - music hadn't had a big place in my life for years....which makes me really sad. Music had always played a huge part in my life...I've played piano since I was 4....no matter what genre or type I've always been pretty open minded and loved music so much.

So back to 30stm....I got online and got on youtube...I listened to the new 30stm song I had heard on the radio - "This is War". Loved it. Then watched/listened to "Kings and Queens"....loved it. Then I started going through all their videos on the 30stm youtube channel.....every song kept getting better and better.

But when I got to "Closer to The Edge" something happened. I heard that song and watched the video and it made me so happy. 

And here's the weird thing....it made me want to get up and run. Yeah....run. 

I probably haven't run further than 2 blocks in YEARS. 

When I was growing up my Dad would get up and run every morning. He would sign up for 5k's and 10k's...and sometimes I'd sign up for the 5k's too. It was a great bonding activity for us when I was in elementary school and junior high. But then I stopped.

For the past 15 years if working out was brought up one of the first things out of my mouth would've been "I'm not a runner....soooo not a runner". Even walking bored me sometimes. Maybe it's ADD....but I could just never get into running.

So when hearing "Closer To The Edge" and suddenly feeling like wanting to be the next Forrest Gump....I knew something was going on. 

Over the next week or so I listened to the "This Is War" album over and over again....during that week I took a "mom-cation" overnight to see my other fav band and had a 4 hour drive each way....so I had a lot of time to reflect and think.....and it's prob the best 4 hours I've had in a long time.

Throughout the years I've heard people talk about a defining or as Oprah likes to say - an "a-ha! moment". I just could never relate....I'd never had that.....until October 12, 2010. 

I was driving home from "mom-cation" listening to "This Is War" and suddenly everything was so clear. The music was so amazing. Every song made life so much more clear and my motivation was suddenly there. 

I came home and immediately went to the grocery store....picked up a ton of fruits and veggies and pretty much started changing my life. 

Last week I got my ass on a treadmill. Now that's something I thought I'd never say. I popped in some headphones and started listening to "This Is War". I didn't run for too long but I reached my goal of running a mile....something I probably hadn't done since junior high. But when I got off the treadmill I just felt so good. The next day I did it again.....and the day after that I went to Zumba class. The rest of the week I was down for the count with a nasty cold....I didn't get my butt back on the treadmill or exercise but I stuck to my healthy eating and it paid off b/c I lost 2.4lbs last week. 

So at this point in time on the Dub Dub I've lost 12lbs....previous to joining the Dub Dub I'd lost 10 pounds....so for the year I'm down 22lbs.

I decided to start this blog for a few reasons. One reason is that it'll keep me accountable. I'm more likely to stay true to my healthy eating if I have to come on here and tell the world about it. It helps to have the vastness of the internet help keep me accountable. Another reason is to help pay homage to the band who gave me the motivation to really kick my butt in gear.