Down Sizing Baby!

That's right, I am down sizing! Physically, I have been loosing the pounds, and inches. I am so proud of how far I have come, in just 8 weeks. I am wearing clothes that I have had in my closet for a few years that have been a little too tight. I put on one of my shirts that used to be tight in all areas, mostly my arms, and it fit! It not only fit, but it looked good and it was not tight around my arms. When I started this journey my goal was to loose weight. What has gone on in my mind it a lot of "I need to loose 150 pounds!" and "This is going to take forever!" But, what has happen to me know is, I am thinking I am well on my way to loosing those pounds. As of today, and according to weight watchers and their scale, I am down 36.2 pounds. I of course get on my scale on Thursday mornings, after I have done my duty, and I am down 40 pounds. But, this is not what counts in the competition. However, what this does for me is help me to look at things differently, and know that no matter what happens at the end of this competition, I now how the tools I need to keep my weight loss goals in check. I have set new goals for myself. I am not just going to stop at this Biggest Loser 5k, I am going to do a 10k, and then who knows from there. I know that I am becoming an athlete, and I enjoy working out.
Many of you know that I am a recovering addict, and that I have been clean for over five years now. Well, with that being said, I am an addict, which means I am addicted to more, I am addicted to things that make me feel better. So, I am fortunate enough in this situation that I have now become addicted to working out. Who would of thought that something that created so much wreckage in my past would be a good quality to have today.  Working out makes me feel good. It makes me feel like I can do anything, and it helps me to believe in myself. When I am working out, it is me against myself. No one else is there to tell me I can or can't do something, just me. What happens through this battle at the gym is that I can apply all these positive thoughts that I have taken from those moments in the gym when I wanted to quit on myself, and apply them to my life outside of the gym. I have learned how to live life without the use of drugs, and now I am learning to live my life without the use of food. I am also learning to live my life for myself, and putting myself first. If I do not take care of my health and my body, no one else will. I have lost my brothers, my father, my grandmother, my godfather and today there are no more excuses for me to be lost in my weight. I need to be healthy so that I can see my children grow up, and do things with them that I have not been willing to do.
I need to be honest, I was not happy last night when I found out I lost 2.4 pounds. I know what I have been doing in the gym and outside of the gym. I have been running a few miles without stopping. I have been doing spin classes, and power training classes, and eating properly. I spoke with my trainer, Ty, and she said that who knows what is going on with my body. I might be gaining muscle, or my body is adjusting to the workouts. Once I run the week through my mind I realized that I am getting stronger, and my endurance is better than it was when I started this thing 8 weeks ago. I am running down Snow Canyon "The Stop Sign", and I still have the ability to run more. This is amazing. My goal when I started was to be able to run the entire 5k, and I am well on my way to doing this. McKel has been my partner through this journey, she has been by my side encouraging me to keep going. Thank you McKel. I also have to say that Charlie, well how can I say this, he watches what I eat more than I do at times. Which, is frustrating, but I know he is looking out for my best interest. He is also willing to go on these 8 miles runs with me, when he has time off. So, to sum it all up I am getting what I need out this journey. I am loosing weight, I am thinking better about myself, and I have a ton of new friends who are athletes. How amazing is that!!! LaRae, from the Planet, shared her story with us last night, and it was so inspiring, I know that one day I will be where she is, and I will have the opportunity to share my story with someone and inspire them.
Today is a new day! I am ready to face this challenge and work my hardest to get the results I need. Today I am 110 pounds away from my goal weight! That is so amazing! This is not going to take as long as I thought it was going to take. I just might be able to wear one of those amazing swimming suits one day, and some really cute shorts with a tank top! Look out world, because I am ready for you!

Feeling the Success!

Today is just the beginning! I am well on my way to becoming an amazing athlete. I never thought that it could be possible for someone like me. But, today I am setting goals and reaching those goals. Since I started this competition my goal has been to run at least three miles a day. I have done the three miles a day sometimes I do two miles and sometimes I do four. But, what is happening for me is I am finding myself getting stronger every day. At this point I am focusing on my fitness goals, and leaving behind the weigh-in's on Wednesday. For so many of us we get all worked up and stressed out about how much weight we will loose and if it will be enough. Of course I want to loose big numbers each week, why wouldn't I? Who doesn't want to loose 10 pounds each week? But, what I have been gaining is so much more that what the scale says. When I am in the gym and I am struggling, trying to breath and holding back the tears something happens, I gain a little more of my life back. I gain more of myself, and the belief that I can do anything, absolutely that I set my mind to. There is this thing that I do when I need to push through, I take a few deep breaths, I clap my hands a few times, and in my mind I am saying, "Ok God I need you to help me right now, I need you to help me to push. Leslie, I believe in you! YOU GOT THIS!" Then I push myself through. This past week Ty had me trying different exercises. We started on the stairs in the gym, she had me jumping up them. I looked at her like are you crazy?  I don't jump! But, I did! All the way up not only once, twice, three times but four times. Then we moved on to some other intense upper/lower body exercises. She had me on this half ball turned upside down, balancing myself and doing squats on the top. This is where ninja noises started come out of my mouth! Needless to say if I hadn't already had the attention from those around me, I did after I started to make these silly noises. After the end of this workout I was ready to pass out! I was so beat down. However, I cleaned up and went to work. This week I have not taken one day off from the workouts. I am not sure if that is beneficial or not, but I have felt good. On Tuesdays I hit the gym in the morning, then meet with Ty and end the day with Zumba. Today, I slept in and did not hit the gym this morning. I will meet up with Ty and get my groove on with her and Zumba. I think this is my idea of break. There have been some family things going on that have not been easy to deal with, but another one of my goals is to focus on my personal goals and live in the moment. This week I have also hit the stop sign twice! It is my new favorite thing to do. It is a total of 7.71 miles, I walk up and then I run down. This Sunday, I ran most of the way down! Yes, can you believe it! I have learned that I enjoy outdoor running much better than indoor and I learned that I can just keep running! Charlie is a huge support and motivation, thank you sweetheart for believing in me. Monday night, I met up with McKel and Kristina, we ran one mile without a stopping! Yea that's right we did one mile no stopping! Did some frog jumps, jumping jacks, lunges and laps. After we finished our sets we preceded to do another mile, yes that's right we jogged the whole way, I walked a minute or two but picked myself right back up and finished the mile. It is amazing what can happen when you put your mind to it. It is also amazing what I can do when I have someone working out with me, it helps me to push that much harder and hold myself accountable to finish what I started. Thank you ladies for being apart of my workouts! I am down 30 pounds so far and I am starting to feel the difference in my entire body. I am looking forward to my next weigh-in and can't wait to fill all my supporters in.