Sporadically Sandra

211, 64, 33, 24, 26, 1987, 7, 145, 5, 105, 135, 16

All numbers that relate to me, all numbers that I let define me, define who I am. I refuse to be defined by a number. I am so much more then my weight, my age, how much I make, how tall I am. I am so much more than just a series of numbers that list random figures about me, but don’t speak to who I am.

I get so caught up in what I lose, what I gain, what I weight, how many points I ate, how I can’t run for five minutes. I let all these numbers just control me and it’s ridiculous. I’m a brilliant, kind, loving, caring, beautiful, talented individual and numbers don’t speak to any of that.

For so long, I was stuck on week 4 of C25K because there was no way that I could possibly jog for more than five minutes. There was no way I could possibly jog for eight, there’s just no way. So, I got rid of the numbers, I got rid of the structure, I removed the “I Can’t” and just focused on the “I Can”

Please, please, please, push me faster


I want to Fly


Please, please, please, push me higher


I’ve got to Fly

I can jog for a song and walk for a song. I can do just one more extra jog. I can jog two long songs in a row and hit ten minutes by barely trying and I can do it because I didn’t let numbers define me. It’s amazing what I could do when I forgot about the seconds counting down until I was done and instead focused on the music, my breathing and my posture.

C25K taught me some very important lessons. It initially taught me that I can jog for a minute at a time, 8 times a work out. It taught me how to breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth. But, it also held me back because I focused too much on “I can’t make it through five minutes”

What other areas of my life have I held back because of the numbers I feel define me, because my number is too high or low but never just right? I refuse to accept that. I refuse to limit my potential or who I am because my number might not be ideal for society, or someone else or even me. I want to be an extraordinary person, and I won’t be if I let numbers define me, if I let fear of not being the right person effect me. I’m so much more than just a number.

I think I wrote monthly goals once before. I don't remember if it went down well or not, but that's no reason not to try again, right?

Goals for June:

1. Get to week 5 of Couch to 5k
I've been stuck on week 3 for *how* long now? First a hip injury, then a closed gym. Well, the hip is better and the gym is reopened and I redid a day of week 3 today and it was awesome!

2. Complete 3 weeks of GSP Rushfit
Um, life gets in the way sometimes. But I really need to do this. It is great strength training for me and an awesome all over body workout. Plus, I need to spend more time with my boyfriend

3. Close on my house
Did I mention I'm in the process of buying a house? If everything goes well, I close on the 24th.

4. Move to my new house
Any strong men with trucks want some free beer and pizza to help me move houses?

5. Not kill my herb garden
I think this is my third year growing an herb garden and so far I've gotten exactly ZERO herbs from it. I killed a cactus once, true story.

6. Stay OP and track Everything
'Nuff said about that.

The sign says it all!

We just started, we look so clean and energetic!

Finisher Medals!!

I think these photos do a nice job of summing it up. Sadly I couldn't get all my pictures to upload correctly so I couldn't include the one of me and Jazzy OR my finishing picture when I have my medal but I am still covered in mud and muck. I will reiterate that this was such a fun and awesome day.

Wow where has the time gone? It has been almost two weeks since I last updated. I guess that goes to show how sometimes, life just gets hectic.

But, I'm back with a doozie of an entry. Today at 2:30 I participated in the Georgia Warrior Dash in Mountain City, Georgia. Oh man was it hard! Besides the fact that it was a 5K, which is really hard enough on it's own, it had obstacles.

It is weird that the obstacles I thought I would hate, I loved the most. Wading through water, climbing the cargo net and jumping over fire were so much fun. I really disliked walking all the hills, and the mud. I had one obstacle I couldn't do, but I did the rest so I'm still super proud.

It was a really fun time. I did the race with my husband Joseph, his some of his family (Stephen, Jasmine, Bobby and Michael) as well as another couple he knows that he coaches wrestling with.

The absolute best part might just have been the awesome water slide, where I went super fast. I have to say that as crazy as I was for doing it, I am super proud of myself as well as surprised by how much I was able to do. I only hope that next year it is easier for me because I will hopefully be in better shape.
So, now that I've completed a 5k, What now?

Well, I've realized that even if it is only for the t-shirt and finisher medal, I want to participate in more races. Ideally, I would like to get to the point where I can run a 5K, then maybe run a 10K, but I honestly, really enjoyed this race. I see many more in my futures

Pics to follow when I'm on a real computer.

So, I had my first evening weigh in. I know that many people tend to eat less or lighter so that they will weigh less, but, I figure I should just keep it constant and so I ate normally.

Between eating normally, wearing my (not so light) work clothes and changing both my weigh in time and date, I gained 3 pounds.

The horror! Gaining so much, right?

Sure, if you only want to look at the numbers, but let's look at something else:

My mind is in the right place. I have my menu plan, I've followed it and tracked it. I'm getting in all my fruits, vegetables, water, oils, vitamins and dairy in, along with some yummy lean protein.

I'm getting in exercise. Between walking/jogging, GSP Rush Fit, Zumba and Clogging, I am getting a variety of workouts in. For the most part, I'm actually enjoying most of them.

Regardless of what my weight is, I am slowly shrinking. Clothing is the clearest indicator that this is working. I've had to buy smaller clothes, securely moving down in sizes, which is AMAZING. I was given some cute clothes by a coworker and half of them fit and the other half are just a tiny bit away from fitting.

So, I gained three pounds (most of it from the food I ate today), but I've also gained some awesome peace of mind, love of exercise and part of a new wardrobe.

I started Rush Fit last Wednesday. The basic premise was do a dvd one day and cardio the next.

The cardio during the week was clogging, C25K W4D1, Touch Football and Zumba. The DVDs were Strength & Endurance, Abdominal & Core, *Bonus* Stretch and Fight Conditioning. Everything was accomplished except for Fight Conditioning. It was planned for Easter and, well, after two Easter Dinner's and some Touch Football, it just didn't seem that important to do a DVD.

The plan was to do the DVD tonight, but that didn't happen. I appear to be in super witchy, total brat mode and I just want to veg out on the couch and watch Eclipse (who else thinks Edward is creepy, possessive and controlling?) and eat way too many mini Reese Eggs (Working out tomorrow is NOT an option)

All in all, I'm very proud of my working out over the past week. I was active 6 out of 7 days. That's phenomenal for me.

Tomorrow starts Week 2 of GSP Rush Fit. I'm really looking forward to it.

I obviously did not get to the body I did, because I enjoyed working out. In fact, working out used to be the BIGGEST chore possible. I hated cardio, I hated weights and I really hated overly happy workout coaches. I would try and get into an activity only to have it last two times and then I'd stop because I didn't enjoy it.

So, how did I become the working out lover that I did? Simple:

1. Find an activity you love
I discovered Zumba! I love dancing. I have done some sort of dancing since I was 6 or 7, so I really love dancing. Any sort of dance moves with music, especially in a group setting is just a fun time for me. I can't wait to go to my Zumba class because I truly enjoy it.

2. Start out slow
Too often, people give up on an activity because they start out doing it full blast, they can't finish it and give up because it is too hard. I want to love running, but if I go out there and try to run a mile I am only going to get discouraged. So, instead I am working on Couch to 5K which slowly moves me from running 1 minute at a time to a whole 5k. Each time I do a harder run I feel so powerful and proud of myself that I don't want to give up.

3. Don't workout alone
I do Zumba with my best friend, I walk 3 days a week with a friend at work and I do GSP with my husband. Zumba is one time a week when I know I get to see and hang out with my best friend, therefore, not only do I look forward to seeing my best friend, but I look forward to doing Zumba with her. I enjoy walking with my coworker because not only is she an awesome person but I inspire her (how awesome is THAT?!). And, when do I not love getting more fit with my husband. I've made working out into hanging out time and that really makes it so much easier to start working out.

4. Track your workouts
There is something ridiculously enjoyable about seeing how much more working out I do from week to week. Weight Watchers keep track of "Activity Points". I've gone from earning 0 to earning 40+ a week. That's crazy. Each week, I want to do the same as the last week if not more. It is like a challenge to myself and I don't like letting myself down.

Eventually you wll become crazy and actually start to love working out like I did.