Final Steps

Today I fulfilled my final commitment as part of the Heart Challenge. We ran the 1st annual Race for Red. I was happy to see Ann and Ingrid, friends of mine from church, also running the race. In this picture, I am wearing a Broncos visor, Ingrid is in the yellow tank top, and Ann is all in red. I was excited to participate and prove myself after these 100 days. I kept to the pace Traci set up for me, although it's kind of hard to just walk when all these people are running past you. My downfall in this 5K was my allergies. I've been battling them a lot the last week or so and it made it hard to breathe. Even so, it was exhilarating to see my fellow challenge participants along the way. We all smiled and cheered each other on - there is nothing quite like that. I believe that is why this challenge works so well for women and is not quite a guy thing. My husband came and walked the last half mile or so with me. About 200 yards from the finish line, there was Cressent. She cheered extra loud and encouraged me to run. I can't believe I sprinted to the finish. I haven't actually run since high school. After giving it all I had and digging in, I coasted the last few yards to finish at a time of 43:49, about 3 minutes slower than the 5K at work. Several of our group won medals in their age divisions, but for most of us just finishing was a victory. It's hard to have this challenge end. I will miss Whitney pushing me to give more in the gym. I will miss Traci's encouraging emails. I will miss Jalaine's nutrition classes, but I feel that I have learned the basics I need to succeed. The friendships I have developed along the way...I hope they continue to grow. We have talked about reconnecting in another 100 days, 6 months, 1 year, etc. Lynda, you have been a huge inspiration to me. You went from no exercise to working out like crazy. I'm so happy you are getting to enjoy your garden tours without running out of energy. Cressent, you have been a sister and an angel. We were together from beginnning to end on this challenge. I'm sorry you had an extra hurdle to jump, but thrilled that you get a chance to do this again next year. I look forward to continuing our "Bad Health Sucks" efforts. While you're fighting cancer, I will be battling my own demons and I know we will be victorious. For all my friends, family, and curious others reading this blog -- I hope you have learned from what I have written. Any of you can do what I have done. Just start with one change, then another, and keep going and improving your lives. My parents died early as the result of health problems. Joint me in preventing what you can so you can live the longest, healthiest life you can. Get tested and find out how your health is and then do something about it. Even if you are healthy now, don't take it forgranted. Work to stay alive!

CELEBRATE!

Tonight was our banquet to celebrate the end of the 100-day Heart Challenge and to find out how we did. I think we all could have just hung out and chatted all night long. The heart doctors from the hospital told us how impressed they were with our progress. They like this program because it's about prevention and they hope that we will take what we've learned from the challenge and share it with our friends and families. I know there are people who have followed my blog and it has been fun talking about my ups and downs with them. I sure hope other people benefit from what I've learned.

The climax of the night, of course, was the announcement of the results. As Traci talked about each lady and her progress, it was amazing to see how well every participant did. I could see a difference in how each of them looked. We all stressed so much over losing pounds and yet amazing progress was made in cholesterol, blood pressure, blood glucose, and body fat. Several ladies battled the scales during the 100 days and were frustrated with low weight loss. They were amazed to find they made dramatic reductions in body fat percentage, which is much more important. I'm very happy with how I did and it was very exciting to hear Traci announce my victories. There were some very big surprises in the results tonight. Carma wasn't able to be at the dinner, but Traci shared her remarkable results. We had no idea how precarious her health was when the challenge started and we couldn't be prouder that she has come so far in improving her health. She ended up coming in 2nd. Barb took the top prize with dramatic improvements in all areas and an amazing 10% loss in body fat. She looks incredible! At the final weigh-in, she was frustrated that her blood pressure had gone slightly up and thought that knocked her out of the competition. It just shows that some of the most impressive results are the ones we can't see or easily measure. Tomorrow is our Race for the Red and our final event together. I kind of wish we could keep this going for the rest of the year...

Final Numbers

My goals for this Heart Challenge have definitely been reached. I was so worried about getting my blood pressure and blood glucose down as well as my weight. SUCCESS!! At this morning's weigh-in, I had lost a grand total of 25 pounds, brought my blood pressure down from 160/88 to 135/90, went from a blood glucose of 132 to 100, and made a pretty good dent in my cholesterol numbers. My triglycerides went from 244 to 79!! I'm pretty sure I lost some inches around my waist, but I forgot to look at what the measurement was this morning. It's so nice to be healthier and to avoid having to start taking medications for all the problems I was building up.

I know this picture doesn't exactly make me look happy, but I actually am very happy with my haircut and my new look. It was fun to see everyone this morning looking so healthy and happy and eager to continue this challenge on their own. This opportunity has definitely been a life-saver and I am so grateful to everyone involved for making it possible. Probably my only regret is that the activities we were expecting from The Daily Herald never ended up happening. Maybe another time.

Final official workout

I had my final official heart challenge workout tonight with Whitney. I am really going to miss her! She has pushed me to do more than I think I can and helped me laugh through exhausting workouts. I have no idea what my final numbers will look like tomorrow morning. It's about more than just losing pounds. If I have gotten my blood pressure and glucose back into normal ranges, I will be happier than I am about losing weight. I have learned so much, especially about what I'm capable of doing. This is only the first 100 days for me - the first 100 days of being healthier and happier.

My new workout partner

I was really looking forward to Saturday morning's training for the upcoming 5K. I arrived a little too late to join the rest of the group, but I didn't mind since I brought Shadow, my 10-month old beagle puppy. He loves to go for walks and made the whole experience fun. The only part he didn't like was people riding by on bicycles. That scared him, but he figured out that he could run behind me until they rode by and that worked well for him. He really liked it when we jogged. I'm still trying to figure out my pacing. I forgot to bring a watch, so I walked for about 2-3 minutes then jogged 30-60 seconds. I made it through the course okay, but my time was higher than at my 5k at work. I have to focus on walking faster in between jogging.

Hanging in there

I have one of the biggest events of my life tomorrow night - a 25th anniversary benefit gala at work. I usually respond to the stress by snacking, eating chocolate, and binging on fattening foods. This time, I have stayed strong. I've been picking healthy food and not giving in to temptation. It's nice to feel so strong.

Don't want it to be over

When I started this challenge, 100 days seemed like a really long time. Now we're just 10 days away from our final weigh out. Where did the time go? I'm a little nervous about the final results. I feel so much better and I think I'm doing a lot better, but I worry about whether I've made enough progress or not. I really wish we could keep this going - more for the camaraderie of our group than anything else. It would be nice to keep getting together every week.

5K Success

We have a semiannual 5K where I work. It's the one time we can bring our families and get together. Last year, I wore a "Chubby and Dangerous" shirt (Valentine's leftover with picture of a cupid) for the race. I tried running a little at the beginning and that messed me up for the whole thing. I hurt like crazy and didn't think I could make it at all. Because we went to a turnaround point and came back, it was hard to see so many people on their way to finishing the race when I was only 1/3 of the way done. The nice thing was they all cheered me on and gave me encouragement. It took me an hour to finish and I was the very last person. They were already picking up the cones, signs, and water tables.

Last night, I completed the 5K in 40 minutes, 36 seconds and I was not even close to being the last person to finish. I did what Traci taught me - paced myself by walking 5 minutes, jogging one minute. I adjusted as I felt tired by walking 2 minutes then jogging 30-45 seconds. I even jogged across the finish line!! That was an amazing feeling and I can't wait to see if I can get even better for The Race for Red.

Promises

When I worked out with Whitney Tuesday night, we talked about how I did while she was out of town getting married. I made some mistakes on what I ate and slacked off on my working out, but I was honest with her about it. Before I left the gym last night, she made me promise to do my strength training. I'm happy to report that I kept my promise. I went to the gym later with my husband and worked my upper body. Tonight I worked my legs and did more cardio. My temptation to go home doesn't outweigh my commitments I have made with my trainer. I do worry that when this challenge is over I will lose some of the drive I've had. Whitney tells me I'll be fine and I really do hope I keep this up after this month is over.

I'm Famous

I had an interesting experience at the gym today. It made me realize how weird it must be for people on The Biggest Loser to have everyone know who they are. I was recognized by someone who was a Heart Challenge participant last year and has been following our blogs. I hadn't really thought about too many other people reading what I write.

Today's workout was really interesting. Stress at work has caused me to struggle with making good choices and my moods have been fluctuating all over the place. I was in a pretty down mood on my way to the gym and I didn't think I could get through the workout. Within 15 minutes of being on the elliptical, my mood had improved and I had rediscovered my motivation. Having Whitney back was really great even though she really pushed me to go beyond what I thought I could do. Exercising was exactly what I needed to deal with all my stress.

Biggest Loser Lessons

I've gotten into watching The Biggest Loser and they did a really cool challenge on their last show. Each contestant was given a large backpack with a picture of what they looked like at the beginning of the contest. Each backpack contained the weight that person had lost, contained in one bag for each week and the weight they lost that week. The challenge was to haul the weight they started with, climbing up one sand hill for each week of the contest. After reaching the top of the hill, they could get rid of the weight for that week. Obviously, the backpack gets lighter and lighter along the way. At the top of the final hill, they got to throw the backpack with their original picture off the top of the hill. They had a really tough time hauling the weight. Isn't it interesting how we can get used to lugging an extra 100 pounds around, just because it's on our body? I haven't lost my entire 100 pounds yet, but I am 1/5 of the way there. My friend from the trip to New York told me last night that he finally reached his goal weight. He did it in just under one year. Now it's my turn!

Training in the Rain

After missing the last couple of 5K training sessions with Traci, I was determined to go this time even though the rain was coming down. I used to let myself make excuses and talk myself out of exercising for almost any reason, but not today. Cressent was there and I was so happy to see her since she wasn't at class on Wednesday. I know she is having a rough time, but it was kind of nice that I got to set the pace today. Trying to jog or run has always been a problem for me. It usually hurts and I feel awkward and worn out. Traci showed me how to set a good pace and do intervals so I can jog a little without hurting myself and wanting to give up. I walked for five minutes, then jogged for one minute, then back to walking and so on. The first jogging interval was tough and my shins hurt, but it was a ashort interval and after walking five more minutes the next jogging interval went fine and without pain. We have a 5K coming up at work on May 11, so I'll get to try this out before our official Race for the Red. I'm glad I didn't let the rain stop me, but I was soaked to the skin at every level. Time to get warm and dry.