Lifetime and other things

It's been a while since I've blogged!

First off- I hit Lifetime at Weight Watchers!

10% key chain with 25lb, 50lb, 75lb,
16 week, goal, and lifetime charms

This is the closest thing I currently have to an after picture... I'm sorry it sucks... It's even like a month old...

It feels great and a little strange, much like goal.  Like I have said before, I think when I started Weight Watchers a long long time ago, I viewed goal and lifetime as an ending, and I see now that it's really not.  For one, I still have to track food and exercise since NOT tracking food and exercise is how I gained weight.  I also still have lots to work on fitness-wise.  Please don't misunderstand- I am so proud of how far I've come with my weight loss (97lbs currently!!!) and my fitness level (more about that later), but I can always set a new goal to work on. I could run more miles, I could run faster, I could try a new activity, etc.  And I don't think that's a bad thing.

The Full Monty at Stoneham closed a very successful run a couple of weeks ago! It was a really great experience with some wonderful people and I got to wear this wig for one song- 

This happened.

and I got to share a dressing room with these hot chicks

Aw, I miss you girls.

I also had a cabaret this past Saturday at Arts After Hours. It was a lot of fun!  I think I saw Corey taking some pictures?  Corey, do you have any?

This is also the big audition season in Boston.  Ok. I'm done making excuses for not blogging....

So bad news on the marathon front- I will not be able to afford the Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge in 2013!  Turns out getting married is expensive and so is the race and a trip to Disney World. So... maybe next year. But I am still going to find a marathon to run in 2013. I'm open to fairly inexpensive, not too hilly, and pretty suggestions.  I am still going to run the Race to Remember May 27th.  (crap, I have to register for that)  The training is going pretty well!  My last long run was 10 miles and if it hadn't been raining, and I hadn't eaten tortilla chips before bed, I think it would have been pretty good.  I have no cold rainy running gear, so I ran in a wet and heavy sweatshirt.  

Ok- I'm going to admit something now.  I've had a rough week staying on program and I have no explanation.  Life can get in the way, but I know how to handle that, I just haven't very well.  I let myself have an extra beer or two on a couple of occasions, I indulged in the basket of chips at a restaurant, I had more almond milk ice cream than I should of, etc.  I've kept up the exercise, but I can feel myself slipping every now and then on the eating.  I'm hoping that putting it out there in this post will help me get back on track. If you see me pick up a chip, just slap it out of my hand (don't really do that, please).

Ok- onto my goals for this summer... 

1) I want to find a marathon to train for.  

I find that I like running more if I have a goal in mind.  Not just running faster or longer, but "I need to run this long or fast on this day, so I shouldn't skip this day of training".

2) I want to train to teach Les Mills Body Combat.

3) I want to play more than four chords on the guitar. 

I played along with the fabulous Josh Martin at the AAH show, but I would love to be able to play on my own without terror :)

4) I want to purchase and learn to play a ukulele.

Pink. Nuff said.

5) I want to be more mindful of the kinds of food I eat. 

I eat a lot of healthy food.  I also eat some junk food.  I really notice the difference in how I feel when I run. We had this wonderful pot luck between shows the last Saturday of The Full Monty.  People really outdid themselves!  Anyhow- I ate things like wheat berries, chick peas... whatever the hell it was that I brought... oh! Succotash.  I ran nine miles the next day, and if I didn't have a matinee, I could have run more. I felt amazing!  The ten miles I ran the next week? Not as good. The rain, sure, but the tortilla chips.  I counted them. They were within my points, but they really didn't give me much energy.

Alright- that's it for now!  

Goal! (and an eye patch)

This update is a week overdue, but you'll see why!

So, I made goal! March 29, 2012 at the noon meeting, I passed my Weight Watchers goal!  I was running late and had to weigh in during the meeting and then sneak in.  Jean (our fab leader) knew I was getting close, so she stopped for a second and asked if I made it.  The applause and congratulations felt very nice. In 12 or so years of being back and forth on the program, I had never hit my goal. It's a great milestone.  But if I'm being honest? It's not really how I pictured it.

I feel wonderful, don't get me wrong. I guess I always viewed goal as an ending.  I thought I would be completely satisfied with my body when I got to goal.  Again, I'm happy and very proud, but I'm not done. I'm not done and I don't really know when I will be done.  I'm not sure what my personal goal number is.  I know that I have fat I want to lose and muscle I want to build. I know that I want to be a smaller clothing size. But I also know that I want to be a better athlete, a faster runner, I want to have more endurance and flexibility. I'm trying to shift my goals from a number on the scale or on the tag of my clothing to something more important (like the later goals above).  I want to be healthy. I feel so much better than I used to and I want to keep feeling better.  I guess I'm learning that I'll never be "done", but it doesn't seem as frustrating as it used to.

I tried to find a "before" picture online, but I'm having some trouble finding one from almost 90lbs ago.  I'm sure I have physical pictures somewhere, I'll just have to find and scan. BUT- here are a couple of my most recent "before" and my recent headshot as an after-

This is from a wonderful trip to Maine in 2010.
I think this is probably  50-60 lbs or so more than I am right now.

This is from Halloween 2011 (Joan from Mad Men) 50lbs heavier than now

This is my current headshot from a couple of weeks ago. I don't have anything else more recent right now,
but I think I can see a big difference in my face and 

Now... eye patch, you ask? Yes. Eye patch.  I've taught and taken many many Zumba classes with no injury to myself or others.  Last Friday (the day after I made goal), I subbed a Zumba class at Vavavoom Fitness.  It's a bit of a drive for me, so I got there nice and early. I chatted with some new students, said hi to my friend Deena.  At 9:30, I introduced myself, started the music, ran to the front of the studio to start... and scratched my cornea with my thumb nail.  Yep. There's really no better way to earn the respect of a class than to accidentally gouge your own eye out.  I was double over with pain for about 10 seconds and then got it together.  I thought "I'm subbing... I can't leave... " I somehow made it through the class with only a few moments of blinding pain.

After the class I wondered if I should get to the eye doctor or maybe the ER?  I looked in the mirror and could see a scratch on my eye.... probably not a great sign.  I walked outside assuring everyone that I was totally fine and got in my car.  So far, so good. I started to drive away wondering where I should go... then realized my eye was not feeling wonderful... so I pulled into the Target parking lot and called Kevin.  "So... if I scratched my eye, should I go to the eye doctor or the ER?"  So, I went inside of the Target to wait for Kevin to pick me up (since by now I couldn't reeeeeally see) and sat at the Starbucks with an iced coffee.  For some reason, every mom that came into Starbucks decided to park their toddlers in shopping carts next to the table I was sitting at.  I'm sure that a sweaty girl with one eye swollen shut wincing in pain wasn't scary at all to them.  I went and bought some sunglasses, sat back down at Starbucks and called the stage manager (of COURSE I was scheduled for rehearsal that night).  Kevin arrived and helped me to the car.  I got in, closed my eyes, and didn't really open them about for 26 hours.

Now.... I know no one likes eye pain, but wow I hate it. Me at the eye doctors is like someone trying to put eye drops in a dog's eyes.  I just told the doctor  "I'm not opening my eye, you're going to have to just do it."  We got home and I just laid on the couch. I wasn't hungry, I didn't have to use the bathroom, it was just blinding eye pain.  I spent most of the afternoon and night lying on the couch listening to the Food Network with either sunglasses on over closed eyes, or with the comforter over my head.  Except for the few times and Kevin had to force antibiotic ointment into my eye.

The doctors and nurses had told me that eye injuries generally heal pretty quickly and I should be feeling better the next day.  I woke up Saturday morning to the same pain, more worry. I had to call out of rehearsal again and just kind of lay around with my eyes closed. (this time, I listened to the audio book "Bossy Pants" by Tina Fey.  A much better choice.

Kevin got me some gauze and an eye patch to try to keep the bad one closed and help the good one open. It worked! Not too much pain.  After an afternoon nap, I woke up feeling like I could open the scratched one.  I opened it and felt pretty good.  It was a little sensitive to light and got tired easily, so I got to sport my eye patch.  I even got to wear it part of the day at rehearsal the next day.  Jealous?

It's completely healed now, but I totally flinched at my own hands Monday when I put up my guard in Body Combat.

I'm a terrible blogger

Yes, I'm a terrible blogger.  I never update and I haven't really told anyone that I have a blog.

So- on the Weight Watchers front, I'm very close to goal. I'm 1.2lbs away. I have to admit that I TOTALLY cheat and weigh myself every morning. I was at goal yesterday, and today I'm up 3.4lbs.  I know this is why they say that you shouldn't weigh yourself every morning.  Eh. 

I've never been so close to the Weight Watchers goal range before. I'm not totally sure how to feel about it.  It's a strange place to be because I know it's not my personal goal, but it's still a big accomplishment.  I mean, I totally look forward to not paying them six weeks after I get to goal (don't judge me), but  I don't know what my personal goal is just yet.  I feel like sometimes 10lbs lost doesn't make a huge difference, and then 5lbs lost looks like 30lbs, so I'm not sure of a final goal weight.  I always thought I would just kind of "know" when I was there, but honestly, I'm a little afraid that maybe I won't know.

In other news, I made a hasty decision.  I'm running a half marathon May 27th. What? Yes.  A high school friend (who, I think I haven't seen in person since then? We may have only had social media contact for a while) noticed a tweet via dailymile about running and one thing led to another and now I'm joining her in the Boston Run to Remember.  She said the magic words "very flat course".  Also, she assures me that she is also not a really fast runner.  I like having something to work towards (not that being fit and healthy is not something to work for) because then I'm less likely to miss a run. I think of getting stronger and more fit with each mile and I try to think about how that will benefit me come May 27th.

Other than that- I'm super excited to be rehearsing for The Full Monty in Stoneham!  Fabulous cast and creative team and such a great show.  

Oh, and I got new head shots. Pat Piasecki is a genius and has luckily chosen to use his powers for good.  

I'm not good at updates.

Ok, so I haven't felt super inspired to write, but great things are happening.  I've lost 79.2lbs (!) and I set my Weight Watchers goal weight. I've never set a goal there before.  I'm only 6.8lbs away from my WW goal, but I have a feeling I will want to keep losing (not in an unhealthy way, of course).  I'm really excited that I'm so close, but it doesn't really feel real yet.

I've taken the Zumba training again and after I take CPR on Wednesday, I'll be ready to teach again!  I've really missed teaching and taking the fabulous ZES Ann Saldi's class again really inspired me! I'll be subbing at her studio (Vavavoom Dance) and hopefully picking up my own class eventually!  I'm also looking around to get on more sub lists and maybe picking up a couple classes at other clubs.

I've really been trying to step up my work outs. I am at a point where I truly enjoy going to classes and running again, but I also hate feeling like I'm wasting my time.  I've added weight gloves to Body Combat. I'm not going to lie, I feel like a bad ass wearing them in class. That is, I feel like a bad ass until I do a side kick and lose my balance for a second.

The Spin for Hope is in one week.  Three hours on a Spin bike next Sunday. I'm not worried about the amount of working out, but I am concerned for my butt.

Ok, here's the crazy thing I decided. I'm going to do Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge next January in Disney World. It's a half marathon on Saturday and a full marathon on Sunday. I got a sign last night when our friend Josh invited us to Disney for that exact weekend. I've ALWAYS wanted to run that (those?) race(s).  I've put all of my training IN my calendar for the next 46 weeks and I just have to keep my eyes open for the registration.  I'm going to run as much of it as I can, but the pace requirement is only a 15 minute mile, so walking won't be the worst thing ever. I can do this.