Biggest Loser Challenge

The second round of the Biggest Loser Challenge has come to a close. My results are as follows.

I lost a total of 15 pounds during this round. Bringing me up to a grand total of 20 pounds since October.

I lost a total of 8 inches during this round. Bringing me up to a grand total of 23 inches since October.

I also have gone down TWO pants sizes, and the really exciting part... TWO bra sizes!

I'm quite proud of those results! Here's the before and the current after pics for you to compare.

Shamrock Run

It's a week late, but I thought I'd let you all know how the Shamrock Run went.

I was so nervous the morning of the race because I thought I'd have to run the 8K by myself. All of my friends were running in the 5K.

Eric dropped me off quite a long way off because there was so much traffic. That's what happens when 32,000 runners decend on downtown Portland. After walking through the rain to the race area, I was looking for where I was supposed to line up to start when I ran into a couple friends who were running the 8K. They were happy to have me run with them so we found the starting line together.

There were 11,000 people who ran the 8k. We were told to line up according to our minute mile. Since my friends and I all ran over a 10 minute mile, we made our way to the back of the line.

From there, we couldn't even see the starting line! It took us a good 15-20 minutes to even get to the line because they released us in groups.

Once we got to the start line, we were able to start running. I was surprised that we were able to run the whole time with all the people around us.

I really wasn't prepared for the hills through downtown Portland though. You never really think about how steep they are until you're running up them. I would say that over half the course was uphill. Thankfully the last bit was a nice downhill so we were able to really book it to the finish line.

As I crossed the finish line at full speed, I heard someone cheering for me. I looked over and it was my husband and all my kids. That was cool!




My ending time was 54.57. About the same as I normally do, but the terrain was definately a challenge.

Despite the rain and hills, it was a fun event that I'll probably do in the future. I think next year I'll try for the 15K Shamrock Challenge. (Goes up Terwilliger hill!)

A Change of Mood

I didn't take a picture this week... again. Sorry people, I'll be sure to take one next week as it's our last in the Biggest Loser Challenge.

I just wanted to update y'all cuz I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!!

I lost FIVE WHOLE POUNDS this week!!!!!

I also got two new pairs of running shoes today... for FREE! It's definately a good day.

If you don't mind, I've got a small prayer request. My ankle has been giving me some trouble in the last week. Nothing serious, just a twinge of pain after running on the street. I'm training to do the Shamrock Run this Sunday and really, really need my ankle to be okay. Could you pray for that please?

I think the problem has been the shoes. I'm gonna pick up an ankle brace too just for good measure. I'll let you know how it goes. With pics of course!

"Bust"

About a month ago I posted a blog about our planned trip to Ireland. Then a week after that I posted about having a really bad day. Well, I wasn't able to share details about it all until now because nothing was set in stone. Now it is... the hardest of stones.

We've had a big financial blow in the last month. We had no way of seeing it coming and were completely blindsided. It had to be taken care of immediately though and the only way of doing so was to use our Ireland money.

We've had to postpone our trip for yet another year. (We had planned on going last year, but felt it was more "responsible" to pay off a credit card.) It's incredibly disappointing, but sometimes that's the price we pay for being "grown-ups".

I spent that first day after recieving the bad news crying and being mad at the world, but I've moved on to acceptance.

We'll still get to go. And for that I'm thankful. (Really... I am!)

In fact it may be better because we won't have to plan our trip around a nephew being born. My sister and brother-in-law will be able to meet us there for a couple days and show us around Dublin. (They've already been there.) And who knows, maybe God is protecting us from a horrible plane crash where we end up stranded on an island inhabited by a polar bear, a smoke monster and Benjamin Linus! ; )

We will have a whole year to save even more money to play with in Ireland. Of course we have to recover what we've lost, but that won't be too hard.

I've learned that even though I've had to change my plans, I'm still a very blessed person. At least we had the option of taking care of this mess right away. It could have been really bad, but within a month, we're back to our normal lives. Well... as normal as we can be...

I am trying really hard to not be a total grump about life right now. I hope you understand if I sometimes post something that's a little grumpy. ; )

Biggest Loser Update

I've been really, really busy lately and as a result my blog has fallen by the wayside. Sorry about that.

Here's a Biggest Loser update for you!

This picture was taken a couple weeks ago. I had lost nearly 3 pounds that week! WOO HOO! And I would like you to note that I'm wearing workout pants that I couldn't wear in public before because they were too tight. *squeal*
The nice thing about being sick is that you don't really feel like eating a whole lot. So even though I didn't actually go to the gym for four whole days, I still lost a couple pounds.

Unfortunately, my husband was sick the following weekend. And while he was convalescing I ate enough for the two of us and gained back that 3 pounds. I think something was up with my body that night though because upon weighing myself the very next morning I discovered that I weighed 6 pounds less than the previous night. *forehead smack* DOH!

I'm anxious to see what my new weight is this week. We've only got two more weeks left in this round. I'm down about 15 pounds since October and would like to take another 5-7 off before the end of this round.

Thankfully I've got the Shamrock Run to train for this week. Running on the street always helps with the weight loss!