I have been making changes to my diet. A few weeks ago I officially broke up with Weight Watchers (but they totally screwed me and charged me for another month)! I made this decision for several reasons:

1. Money ~ WW is $40/month and well Big Man is still out of work. On Monday I received a pink slip (but it was on white paper) so no more unnecessary spending.

2. Obsessed ~ I was beginning to go points-crazy! I was so obsessed about how many points and tracking that I was going crazy. Then there was the incident with mini-me: she asked me how many points were in her snack and I freaked! My mom was always on some diet or another and she didn’t always speak kindly about my body size and/or shape. She went through a brown, cardboard phase and one year there was pineapple in ever dish on the Easter table. I do NOT want my daughter growing up like I did!

3. Guilt ~ I began to hate tracking my points! Everything I ate was causing me great upset. Anytime I ate too much or the wrong food I was feeling so guilty. I love food but I was beginning to dread eating. When I started running a few weeks ago, I realized I was hungry a lot but when I ate extra (even though it was good stuff like veggies and chicken) I felt guilty.

Worse, I wasn’t losing any real weight! I was floundering with my weight loss and I was starting to hate the whole process. I just want to be normal…whatever the hell that even means. I don’t want to have to obsess about food. I want to eat what my body needs and enjoy food (all food) and not analyze and agonize over what I can and cannot, should and should not eat.

A few weeks ago, I chatted with a friend and we discussed food options. She was trying out Body for Life and I admit, I like many things about BFL. For the most part BFL looks like a great place to start – it seems like a very “clean” way to eat, even though I am not sure I understand what that means exactly. I have been trying to eat close to the BFL way and so far I like it! But while at Fitbloggin I listened to a very interesting man named David Grotto and I found myself nodding along to a lot of what he was saying. And then later I got to shake hands and chat with DG and he knew who I was!!!! I mean seriously, he knew me!! Craziness!!

“Adding IN” not “taking out”

I love this concept. Instead of eliminating foods and craving them I just add in healthy stuff! I have been doing this to some extent but this week I am kicking it up a notch. I add spinach to my eggs, zucchini to my eggs and pasta sauce, and actually I had a bag of spinach and I have added spinach to leftovers, salads, sandwiches, eggs, and I am sure I will find more ways to squeeze in more veg.

In the few weeks since I stopped counting points I feel like I have been making better food choices and the scale has been kind. You know I only hold so much stock in the scale but I have been losing with more consistency. I also have been feeling awesome! I love adding extra veggies to each meal. I have been eating extra fruit every day. Funny thing is ~ I am probably eating the same calories (I don’t really keep track) but I am definitely more satisfied.

A change will do you good!!! That just came out of nowhere but I suddenly caught myself singing.

keep on keepin’ on, jen

Current Weight: 186.0  lbs
Previous Weight: 188.8  lbs
Weight loss: -2.8 lbs
Weight loss in March: -8.8 lbs
Starting Weight: 242.6 lbs
Weight loss total: -56.6 lbs

NON-Scale Victory:

I have been forgetting to post something awesome and positive! I  do not want to forget, so I will make it a part of  WIW!!

Last week was an amazing week with the best weekend ever! Fitbloggin was so amazingly awesome that I have too much to say about it and I am really not sure where to start with my bloggy reviews on the subject. Well, today’s weigh is the perfect excuse to  tell you about my first mile.

Yes folks, I ran an entire mile!! I know you are wondering how the heck that happened so I am going to tell you all about what led me to run that mile!

Friday when I registered for fitbloggin I was directed to the New Balance table.  I had signed up for the Fitbloggin 5K which was sponsored by New Balance. Well, NB hooked me up!! I was handed a pair of running shorts, socks and new running sneakers.  I was so overwhelmed with meeting everyone and all the awesomeness of fitbloggin so I did not take pictures of the swag.  So registration then to the hotel bar…meeting only the coolest bloggers around for the very first time…Pomtini reception…long line for drinks, starving people…we went out to dinner.

Dinner was amazing! We had a huge table outside and it was a beautiful night! We had to add a second table when the Shrinking Jeans girls showed up!!

Then we hung out in the hotel bar until Lissa finally showed up! I had so much fun chatting with the SJ girls! It was hard to pry myself from them and go to bed! My dumb-butt signed up for a 5K remember?!?

Fast forward to the next morning…the wake up call was way too early!! I did think a little about rolling over and going back to bed but I got up and prepared myself. Thankfully Mo was there to cheer me on! We headed to the meeting area and started chatting with our peeps. I found myself chatting with Mary, Sue and Lissa and we decided that we were going to run the 1-mile route instead of the 5K. We had many reasons but what it boils down to is this….ALL FOUR OF US RAN A WHOLE FREAKING MILE!!! I think it was the first mile any of had run in like forever!! Here is the blurry finish line:

That’s me in the grey, Sue in the green and Mary in the red….Lissa was on the other side of me but unseen in the camera’s eye. She was hiding!

Then we:

I am so super proud of my mile! I am super proud of Mary’s mile!! I am super proud of Lissa’s mile!! I am super proud of Sue’s mile!!

What are you proud of this week?!?

Thank you for hosting the most amazing conference!! I have never attended a bloggy conference but I cannot imagine there being a better one out there!! From the minute I entered the Hotel, I was in absolute awe! Baltimore certainly turned the weather up for a beautiful weekend in inner harbor. The Marriott is gorgeous and they catered to every need!

The sponsors and the swag was over-the-top and I was blown away by the generosity of so many! Not only were they all so generous but everyone was so nice. I enjoyed meeting the faces behind so many of the sponsors.

Thank you for getting my ass out of bed at 5:45 am on a Saturday to run a mile! Yes, you read that correctly! I ran a whole mile and there will be a post all about that coming very soon!!

Thank you for organizing FitBloggin so that I could meet you and so many other amazing bloggers! I met in real life for the first time so many people who have influenced, inspired, motivated, encouraged and supported me (including you) along this journey.  There are seriously so may awesome bloggers that I just could not wait to meet! Thanks for making that happen!

I will leave you with this picture from Friday night. Christie O took this picture of (from left to right April, ME, and Christy both from the Freaking Fantabulous Shrinking Jeans )!!

I don’t think that smile ever left my face this weekend!!

much love, Jen

What did I do, you ask?!?!

I

SIGNED

UP

FOR

THE

NEW BALANCE 5k AT FITBLOGGIN

OMFG!!!

I will stop using caps now!!

I have not run a mile since high school and that was forever ago!

I tried running earlier in this journey and failed miserably!

What the heck was I thinking?!?

Who the heck knows what got into my crazy head but I did it and I sought out to train for this newest challenge of mine! I am such a challenge junkie!

So, Sunday I layered up and went out for Day 1 of the Couch to 5K training program!

‘Then Tuesday it rained all day!!

I went out in it anyway for Day 2!!

And today it snowed!!

I went out in it anyway for Day 3!!!

Please enjoy a photo journey of today’s SLOGGER event!!

This pike path runs one block from my road and runs through 4 towns.

Since my town’s school had school, that section was plowed!! Pretty, isnt it?!?!

I am not good at self-portraits but here is the before training pic!

Sorry about the glare but do you see those 3 green check marks?!?!

I complete the first week of the Couch to 5K!!

Do I look sweaty?!?

I certainly felt sweaty!!

and stinkin’ proud!!

How are my fellow Couch to 5Kers?!?!

and those of you awesome runners….can you suggest how I prevent or relieve shin soreness?

Thanks for all  the support, love and encouragement!!

Days left til Fitbloggin 10!!

Being sick left me useless and whiny and tired!

I am tired of being sick and tired!!

I am over it!

On Monday, I was feeling totally better! I was home from school because of a snow day. I cleaned and decluttered like a mad woman (a blog with picture proof will be coming shortly).

Yesterday, I got my GRUVE back!! I was out of commission while I was sick and most days I did not even hit blue! and that is if I remembered to put on my gruve.  Yesterday, I wore my Gruve and I made sure to stand and walk at work as much as possible! I worked out hard: I did a 3 mile Leslie Sansone walking dvd and Week 1, day 1 of Bob Greene’s Total Body Makeover.  I hit my Green Goal for the first time in days!! I just looked it up and the last Green day was January 26th.

I was tweeting with @trulytrayce last night after my workout! Trayce just recently got her Gruve and she has hit Green yesterday! We decided to try to get Green every day between now and Fitbloggin2010!  We were just goofing around but I think we are on to something! We are calling it out Gruvey Green Challenge and we will have to make up t-shirts!!

So, Trayce and I have challenged each other to our very own Gruvey Green Challenge!!

Are you a Gruver?  How many days can you go Green??