Wow. Has it really been 4 years since I posted anything here?! I'm happy to say that not only have I kept the weight off, I've lost even more! 80 lbs now! I was really worried about gaining a bunch of weight when I was pregnant two years ago. ...And I probably would have gained a ton if I didn't have gallstones, a few scary nights in the hospital, surgery for an ERCP, and forced to limit my fat intake to 10g a day for the remaining 20 weeks of my pregnancy. How was a pregnant girl going to satisfy her pregnancy cravings? I got very, very creative with cooking and even started a Facebook page with low-fat recipes called Fat Attack. I had my gallbladder removed 1 month after I had a healthy baby girl and I continue to eat a healthy low-fat diet (just no where near as low-fat as before). After all that craziness, I now appreciate having a little interior "healthy food gage" that lets me know right away if this food is going to be good for my body, or make me feel yucky.
This year my BFF's husband got my husband and me into cycling. We started training in February (as in purchased bikes, lots of spandex, and learned how to shift in the rain) and by July we did the STP (Seattle to Portland bicycle classic), 204 miles in ONE DAY. WHO DOES THAT?! Normal people do the STP in two days. We just decided to keep going in 103 degree weather all the freaking way to Portland. (I read that only about 10% of STP cyclists do it in one day. AND only 1 in 4 cyclists are women! Huzzah!) I can tell you that it was just as hard mentally and emotionally as it was physically. I'm pretty sure we all cried at least once. (Our group was 2 women, and 3 men… and we adopted an extra woman along the way.)
I also started doing all sorts of fun 5K's with my BFF. She wants to get into running, and I really do like to run (more than cycling really) so I told her I'd sign up for anything she signs up for. I have a stash of bib numbers hanging in my kitchen now. Many cycling and running events this year so far. It's like a disease. We can't stop. She wants to do the Tinkerbell Half Marathon in Disneyland next May so we signed up last week. We also started reading all sorts of funny marathon books like "Confessions of a fat marathoner", "Running like a girl" and "The non-runners marathon guide for women." While reading all these books about the highs and lows of a running I thought, "I can do a marathon. It sounds like the same emotional ordeal I went through during the STP. Only a marathon can't possibly take me from 5:30am to 11:30pm…I hope." Sounds like a piece of cake… that I choke on and cry over… but it'll still taste so good!
My BFF said her goal was a half marathon, not a marathon so I'm still in the process of convincing her that we're going all the way. I told my "cycling wife" that I wanted to do a marathon and she should do it with me. She said, "But I hate to run." I said, "Yeah, me too." And she said, "Ok". She's easily convinced. She's also been teaching me to weight train at the gym a couple days a week. She's a middle school gym teacher so she's super spunky, motivational, and awesome.
Anyway... I decided to make my blog a marathon journal. I never in my whole life had a marathon on my bucket list but here it is I guess. I didn't have riding a bike from Seattle to Portland on my bucket list either and I didn't die doing that, and riding my bike terrifies me. Bikes go too fast, especially down hill. This endeavor sounds much safer. And my plan is to do the Honolulu Marathon. No time limit… and of course the added bonus of beaches and many tropical drinks is an extra motivator.
So here we go! I blame this entire crazy adventure on the "BFF's". (My BFF and her husband, who is pretty much my husband's BFF too.) We make quite the crazy team! ….although the husbands really have no interest in running. They just roll their eyes at all the money we're spending on 5K's, 10K's, triathlons, and cycling events. I figure it's cheaper than fast food and the medical bills that go with being stationary, right? Wish me luck and no medical bills for being active!
