Thanks! !

Yay! Thank you secret Santa!! More goodies!

Push ups, spin, and quinoa

So, I had yesterday and today off from work, yay!! I spent yesterday getting all my Christmas shopping done and getting the tree up! Last year we were in a rental house that did not have much space for a tree so we had purchased a rather small 5ft artificial. It worked well last year. Now that we are in our own house, with much more space, the same tree looks rather inadequate. It will do for this year, it is just hubby and I, but next year I think we'll get a different tree. Since I had the day off, my trainer and I met a little later for our Wednesday strength training, so I was able to sleep in just a bit! We had a great workout, including some crazy push ups, I'll share the picture once she sends it over! Then as we were finishing up, she told me that if I was free this afternoon, she's going to a 4:30 spin class and I'm welcome to join her. At first I was a little iffy, I mean, this is my day off, I want to relax and play on the computer all day! hahaha I decided to text her this morning while I was waiting on my tires on my car to be rotated and balanced and told her to count me in! So, I'll be heading soon for workout # 2 today - spin class! Woo hoo!! Excited!! In the meanwhile, I'm re-coloring my hair as my roots were starting to show and waiting on my pudding to cool. I bought hubby some decaf black vanilla tea by Numi and on the box was a recipe for Black Vanilla Quinoa Pudding. I've been meaning to try Quinoa after a recommendation from my surgeon's office that it's a fabulous grain - high in protein and better tolerated by the band than rice. So, finally a reason to try it. It has raisins, walnuts, tea, apple juice, various spices and of course the quinoa in it. Smells good cooking, not sure how it will taste. going to have some before my spin class to see! :)

Wow. A look back in photos

I was looking through photos of me and finally I can see just how far I've come... A couple of pictures from Vegas for my last hurrah before surgery. Taken January 2011

Me running in a 5k in August 2011

AND a big huge thank you to my Secret Santa! My feet will be nice and toasty throughout the winter! yay!! And I just love that they are PURPLE!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday workout

My trainer "tried" to kill me today during our workout. Keyword there "tried" ;) notice the facial expression that looks something like a half exhausted smile

Weigh in today

Woo hoo!!! I'm down to 162 lbs! That's 80 lbs lost! I'm super excited to be at this point. I still have some ways to go, but I'm loving it. I need to remember next week to call my surgeon's office and get on his schedule for January/February time frame for my 1 year visit. So far I'm feeling good that my current fill might be my sweet spot, but I think I'll have them book me for my visit with him and for a fill at the same time, just in case. They always tell me it's okay if we don't end up doing the fill.

Recent pic

Better, better better

After getting over my cold and then the weird nausea issue, I'm better!!!! Worked out with my trainer on Monday - it was a heavy lifting day for legs and then on Wednesday another heavy lifting day, but this time upper body. We also did measurements! I had set a goal at the beginning of the month that I would hit 163 and I did, barely, but I did!! Yay!! For December my trainer and I will focus on cardio - specifically improving my running time. I did a baseline run today - 3 miles on the treadmill at 1% incline - I completed it in just under 45 minutes. Average speed 4.0 mph. I started off walking for my warm up at a 3, then 3.5, finished that mile off running at 4. Mile 2 I kicked up to 5.0, however only made it .8 of a mile before slowing back down and finishing that mile at 4. I stayed at 4.0 for almost all of mile 3 but the last quarter of a mile I kicked it up to 4.5 So happy, then I did some stretching and tomorrow is spin class. Super excited! It was a stressful day today but running this morning helped me keep it somewhat under control, I definitely feel better that I ran!