Checking In

So, today is day number ten of being back at a good workout routine. Last week, I'm proud to say I went for a walk/jog on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Saturday and yesterday. I did yoga last Tuesday and Friday, and I took a step aerobics class on Friday as well. Yesterday, a couple friends and I went on a 17(ish) mile bike ride. It was a slow ride, keeping an average 8 miles an hour pace, but it was a bike ride nonetheless. Today I walk/jogged another four miles! I'm going to yoga class again tonight. My muscled will definitely benefit from the stretching. 

I am planning on weighing in this Saturday. I hope to have my digital scale fixed by then, but if not I have a regular scale that I can use. The last two days I haven't done well with my eating, but I'm taking it one step at a time and starting with the working out first. I think after a while my diet will fall into place anyways, especially once I go back to work. 

Speaking of which, I'm excited that I don't have to go back until November. I am taking the full twelve weeks of FMLA off, which will put me back to school the week before Thanksgiving. I don't know if that'll make it easier or harder to go back. We will have to see. Until then I have two things to focus on - my baby and my health. 

Anyways, that's all I have to report for today! Have a great week everyone!!

Changes

WOW, I really have to change my blog! So much of the information on here is really outdated!
Give me a second to stretch my fingers out, because this is going to be a long story. I have been on my "sabbatical" for over a year now. A LOT has happened in that year. Where do I even begin to start?? How about the biggest change of my life - my baby.

I know I mentioned last year that my hubby and I were going to start trying for a baby. Well, sometime in September, it worked. Over the course of the next nine months my belly grew, as did my weight. We found out in December we were having a boy, and yes, as my previous post noted, we decided on Michael Scott, a.k.a. Mikey. At 38 weeks along, the doctor realized that he was breech and promptly scheduled a C-section. I wasn't too happy with the idea of being cut open, but I had to deal because there was no way they would deliver a breech baby naturally and there was little hope that he would turn over. The C-section was scheduled for June 5th, the day after the last day of school. But, on May 25th, I felt a small pop in my belly, and though I initially thought I just had to go to the bathroom, it turned out my water broke. Apparently Mikey wanted nothing to do with a June 5th birthday, and decided to make his appearance early.

Needless to say, we rushed to the hospital as soon as we could because the hospital we chose to deliver at is a half an hour from our house. My hubby really didn't like the idea of delivering his son himself, though I couldn't understand why (just kidding). At 10:20 pm my handsome son was born at 7 pounds 2 ounces and 20 inches long. My life hasn't been the same since.

People try to warn you about how much your life changes after having a baby, but the warnings do you no justice. You never truly understand until you actually live through it. It sure has been a rough couple of months, making all the new adjustments and settling everything down.
Anyways, as far as work, I won't be back to school until November. I'm lucky enough to be able to take 12 weeks off, which will put me back the week before Thanksgiving. My son will be almost six months old by then. I have a new position this year, which I'm not happy about. Whereas last year I was in a Language Arts classroom, this year I'll be Science. Of course that's my least favorite subject. But my district, just like most other districts across America, has had to make tremendous cuts in staff, and I'm just lucky to even have a job, so I'm not complaining.
Well, on to the subject of weight. Gosh. Pregnancy really did a number on my body. That darn baby made me, yes twisted my arm, go to Taco Bell and Dairy Queen on a regular basis. Even though I continued to teach aerobics until I was 8 months along, I ended up gaining a huge amount of weight. Let's see, I'm pretty sure at my first doctor's visit I weighed in at 166 (which I wasn't happy with as it was). My last visit, I weighed in at 248 pounds. Two. Hundred. Forty-Eight. Pounds. That means I gained 82 pounds. For a 7 pound baby. Holy Toledo.

I did lose quite a bit right off the bat though. My current weight is 210, which isn't great, but at least I've already lost 30 pounds (including the 7 pound baby). But, I'm still a far cry from 166, let alone my goal weight of 130. I have 90 pounds to lose. Wow, even writing that number is overwhelming.
Future plans? How am I planning on doing this? Eating right (darn it, no more Taco Bell and Dairy Queen several times a week) and exercising.

Officially, here are my goals:

• Lose 20 pounds before I go back to school in November. I think (hope... pray...) that's going to be too small of a number, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there if it needs to be adjusted.
• Pre-prego weight by my birthday (April 27th)
• Hit 130 pounds by the time I go back to school next year.
• Ride in the MS 150 Escape

AND, drum roll please....

• Run two half marathons next year.

Oh gosh........

I've always said I'm not a runner. I've always said I would never run a marathon. But here I am, already signed up for two marathons next year. The first is in August and the second is in October. This allows me plenty of time to train.
The inspiration to run these half marathons came from the evening news. It started after yoga class at the Y, as I was walking out to my car. I happened to see a car with one of those 26.2 stickers on the window. I thought to myself that I'd like one of those some day. I figured a half marathon wouldn't be to bad, though I doubt I'll ever do a full 26.2 miles. Then I could get one of the 13.1 stickers for my car (I guess I could just buy one and not really have to run, but that'd be cheating, and that's not my style).

It just so happened that on the news that night they announced a new half marathon coming to the city of Cleveland. It's going to be a part of the Rock and Roll Marathon series, where local bands play and a bigger band holds a concert at the end of the marathon for all the runners. It makes sense that they are finally doing one in Cleveland, since it's the home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and all. Anyways, I pretty much made up my mind right then that I would register.

The next morning, I talked my stepdad into running it with me and registered both of us. We got a pretty good deal since we were one of the first 500 people to register. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if we were one of the first 50 since the race was just announced the previous day. That marathon is in October, and upon checking out the website, we realized there is also a race in August of next year in Pittsburgh. It just so happens that my mom and stepdad live in that area, and to top it off, if you run two races in the Rock and Roll Marathon series in one year, you get a really cute medal with two guitars in the shape of an 'X'. So, we decided to register for that one as well.

Now, I'm sure this isn't all that exciting to most people, but it's a huge step for me. If you had asked me last week if I ever thought I'd be registered for a half marathon, I'd have laughed in your face. But, when I make a decision to do something, I go all out. And sign myself up for two. Oh gosh, what am I getting myself into?!?!
I also plan to do the MS 150 Escape again next year. It's been two years since I did my first one, and it's about time to do it again. I didn't do it last year because I was too busy (ok, lazy) to train, and didn't do it this year because, well, I had a belly the size of a basketball that prevented training. This race is a 150 mile bike ride to benefit multiple sclerosis. It was a lot of fun the last time, and I love biking, so I'm excited to do it again. It's always at the beginning of June, so I'll have plenty of time to get fit for that one as well. Another possibility is the MS 150 Pedal to the Point ride, which is the same concept of a 150 mile ride but in a different location, and it takes place in August. Doing that one will depend on if I have the energy to do it after the half marathon (if they don't fall on the same weekend anyways).
Keep in mind, I don't expect to finish first in any of these races, I just want to finish. Plus, the training will help me get in shape, be healthy and lose weight. So, here's to the journey - wish me luck!

It's been awhile!

Hello my bloggy peeps! It's been just over a whole year since I've written on my blog and I figured it's about time to start again. Let's call it a "sabbatical". So what have I been up to you are probably wondering (well actually you probably could care less but I'm going to tell you anyways)? Let's see, I taught another year at the junior high, my stepdaughter went to her first year of college, I got a new car...

oh yeah and I had a baby! His name is Michael Scott and he's almost 10 weeks old. If you know TV, and have heard of the show The Office - yes, he's named after Steve Carell's character. No, I'm not kidding, that's my most favorite show of all time. Don't judge me.

So anyways, that's why I'm back - that good old baby weight. My lowest weight ever? 127. My pre-prego weight? 166. My highest prego weight? 248. My weight now? 210. I'm aiming to hit that lowest weight ever again. I was the happiest at that weight. That means I have just over 90 pounds to lose. Holy Toledo.
This time around I'll have a baby in tow. So I'm no longer just Thunder Thighs, I'm Thunder Thighs plus baby. I'm super excited to get back into the swing of things. It'll be fun to chart not only my weight loss journey, but keep track of the development and milestones of my little man as well. Wish me luck y'all! :)

If this heat keeps up...

... I'm not going to have to worry about losing weight - I'm going to die of heat exhaustion first!! This is RIDICULOUS! Holy hell on earth batman!

So we had a softball game tonight. In 100 degree heat. I had a really bad game, my abilities are really going downhill, not that they can go too much further as it is! I actually made contact with the ball while batting, which is more than I can say about the last couple of games. And, I barely made a catch out in the field, though I DID catch it! It hit my glove and bounced into my chest, which I then caught it with my hand. But, hey, it counted as a catch! Totally made up for the one that flew just over my mitt and I missed. Grrr...

Anyways, I weighed in at 163.2 this morning, which is about two pounds down from the last weigh-in. Unfortunately it's still not the 155 I was a couple months ago, but I'll get there again.

Well, just checking in! If I don't make it back before then, have a great weekend everyone!!

Just a Bunch of Blah Blah Blah

Ok, I know I shouldn't be rushing my summer vaca, but I'm so pumped to get back to school. I have a new co-teacher, and everyone is telling me she's awesome. But, the best part, is she's prego and due in August, which means the first six weeks of school I'll be on my own. I know that usually that would make people nervous, but I'm really excited to try out things that I want, and set up the classroom and routine how I want, and not worry about what another teacher's opinion is. Yes, deep down I'm selfish and not so much of a team player, I can admit that.

This year I've decided to provide my students with their supplies for a fee of $1. Therefore, I went to Walmart the other day and bought 175 notebooks, folders, composition notebooks and manila folders. I figured it out, and I'll actually make a profit because the notebooks were 20 cents, folders 15, comp. notebooks 40 and manila folders 15. That's an extra ten cents for me, which I'll of course use to provide freaking pencils and pens that they never seem to have. Parents, if nothing else, force your kids to have some sort of writing utensil for school please! Thanks :)

Anyways, I'm going to get online today and look up some ideas for icebreakers and opening activities. I know the first day we'll be reading the school rules, but that leaves about fifteen minutes for additional things, one of which will be organizing the seating chart. So, I need something for them to do. I'm tossing around the idea of having them take a quiz about me and then for homework, come up with a quiz about themselves that I have to take. I don't know.

The point is, I'm so excited about this school year! I need to pace myself, though, or else the rest of the summer is going to pass at the blink of an eye!!

So, weight loss. Oh, dear weight loss, how I miss thee. Yesterday I did pretty well eating-wise. I need to get some exercising in, which luckily I'll be teaching at the Y tonight. Speaking of which, did I tell you why I'm teaching during the week as well as my regular Saturday morning? Oh, wait, I know I didn't because I haven't blogged in forever! Ok, so this chicka Nikki normally teaches, but she's on maternity leave. This CRAZY lady kept teaching until like three weeks before her due date! WHOA!!

Anyways, well I have chores to do. Happy Tuesday to all!!

Confessions

#1 I pay $10 a month for a Netflix subscription that I barely use.

#2 I HATE when young people today use 'texting' lingo that's hardly decipherable. I mean, I get the lol and btw, I use those, but when they edit out all the vowels of words and expect you to understand what it all means, that's a little ridiculous.

#3 I'm addicted to crossword puzzles and a matching game that came preloaded on my computer. Yes, a matching game. You know, the kind where you play in kindergarten and flip over cards to find the matches. I guess I'm just trying to keep my mind active to fend off Alzheimer's.

#4 I've gained back all the weight I lost since April. Yep, I'm back to 166. Actually, 165.6, but there's no need to be that particular. The point is, it's back.

You know, a friend of mine once said, "It's so much harder to lose weight when you're older because by that time, your body and your fat are too good of friends to separate." I'm thinking this is very much the case with me, but I'm only 26, so my body and my fat must have fallen in love at first sight.

It's not that I'm not active. Actually, I've been very active this summer - a couple bike rides (indoors and out), teaching twice a week at the Y, softball, swimming, walking throughout the campground. But my diet lately has consisted of hotdogs, hamburgers, chips and alcohol. The only thing keeping me from blowing up into morbidly obesity IS how active I am, actually.

Eh, it's a little difficult to see this written down. But I certainly can't hide from the truth. I looked at myself in the mirror yesterday and barely recognized myself. How did I let my body get so big again?! Oh wait, I already know the answer to that. I remember back when I had lost a ton of weight and was down to a size 6, and my sister told me that I looked good and that when I was in high school I was pretty fat. Well, I weigh more now than I did in high school. Wonder what she thinks of me now.

Anyways, there's my update. My goal is to lose 5 pounds before school starts back up. I just want to be 160. Then, I'll go from there.

I'm still alive, I promise

Hey everyone!! I've been seriously neglecting my blog and all of the blogs I love to read. It's summer. That's all I can say. I have no other excuses. I haven't been doing well at all with my eating, I've been slowly gaining weight, and I haven't been following the workout routine I've wanted to. I guess when I lack a structured daily routine I fall apart. Plus, I've been drinking enough to offset any exercise or healthy eating I DO do! Oh well. Just think of it like this - most people worry about going on vacation for a week and gaining weight and how much it's going to throw off their progress, and for me, that vacation is over 2 MONTHS LONG! My goal is to get into a strong routine in August. At least then I start to go to inservice trainings and stuff, so it's kind of like getting back to work. Plus, the weather here went from cold and rainy to smoldering hot with very few days of nice springy weather in between. So I haven't really gotten outside for a run or bike ride at all. I have been playing softball and teaching my regular aerobics classes on Saturdays. I did picked up an additional aerobics class once a week because the original instructor is on maternity leave, which is nice because it forces me to workout at least twice a week.

Speaking of maternity leave, nothing has happened in that area for me yet. My hubby has continued to use other methods of birth control because he claims he's not 'ready' to begin trying. I asked him when he thinks he'll be ready, and he came up with the same bullshit excuse he did back before we got engaged about getting married - he's not sure when he'll be ready, maybe tomorrow, maybe next week, maybe next year. Sometimes I hate men.

So I guess you can't always get what you want, right? Anyways, I'll be back around soon enough. Hang in there! I hope everyone is doing well!!!!