The day my world changed forever

So, it's taken me a long time to attempt to compose a blog post about the last few weeks. I'm not even sure how much detail I'm capable of giving and I'm in a public place so it's best if I don't cry. LOL!

Long story short - my birthday was Tuesday, August 9. It was fantastic and I thought, "44 is going to be my year, I just know it." That following week I was evacuating my house due to the flooding in/near Baton Rouge. I live in a suburb of Baton Rouge. (Totally possible I have these dates wrong, so forgive me if that happened).

To sum this up as best I can: We only got a foot/foot and a half of water (depending on which room in the house). We had to wait five days before the water receded enough for us to even see the damage to our house. When we walked in and saw it was a foot, we rejoiced.

Then we immediately started going through our stuff. Naturally all furniture and appliances had to be thrown out. We knew right away floors would have to be ripped out and sheetrock replaced.

We started going through our stuff - Emily's toys, my books, Rich's sports memorabilia. There was so much slime, even on things that were at the top of our closets. Turns out, the sewage pond behind our neighborhood flooded into people's homes in the neighborhood (only five streets in our neighborhood).

So there was the combination of swamp water, rain water, sewage and about 500 dead and living earthworms. That same water sat in our house for five days. The humidity apparently rising to the top of the closets.

There are no words to describe the first time seeing your house in this condition. No words.

Because we followed FEMA's directions (although I'll fully take responsibility for this decision being the biggest mistake of my life), we left one car there. Phone service was terrible, people were starting to panic. FEMA says to only take one car so you don't get separated. So we packed as fast as we could, put the cat in her kennel, shoved her in the car with us and left. Try explaining this to a 6-year-old......

Later I'll post about where we've been living, what are our future plans, talk about the lost car (we have since bought a used car from New Orleans) and the pros and cons I've seen from people during this time.

Where does this leave my running journey? That's coming up too. And yes, I do still have goals other than doing everything humanly possible to get my little family back into my little house as soon as possible.

I bid you adieu from the state that gets a lot of shit from northerners about our Cajun ways, but we are strong. We will rebuild. We did not wait for help from the government. We helped each other. We are taking care of business. This is south Louisiana.

Week 20 - my first run!

This morning was my first run after losing 15 pounds. My goal was one mile at a 14-minute pace. I made it a half mile. hahahah!

Mistake #1 - 5:30 a.m. as opposed to 5:00 a.m. - apparently that's the open season time for people to go to work. I had to dodge a few cars which slowed me down.

Mistake #2 - I started off way too fast. I was so focused on hitting my goal that I was completely spent by the half mile.

Mistake #3 - Not sure this is really a mistake, but a factor - there was heat lightning and I'm a scaredy cat when it comes to any type of lightning. It wasn't raining at all, but the lightning kind of freaked me out. Also ... HEAT. HUMIDITY. I had to take my phone for the music and I wasn't even outside one minute before the screen was soaked with dew.

I was disappointed I had to give up halfway in. I was dying though and I was worried I'd pass out. So naturally the walk back home was long and I had the sadz.

By the time I took my shower, got ready for work and drove into work - hell yeah, I'm going back out there Friday! It really is a mental game.

I have such a long way to go, but I definitely felt lighter without the extra junk in the trunk. I did keep looking at my watch and I'd see 12,13 and 14-minute numbers pop up so that was exciting. My numbers used to be 15-16.

I ate breakfast this morning after the run so I didn't weigh myself, but I'll count yesterday's weigh-in: 162.4. The weekend screwed me over. This weekend I'm determined to reign in the diet. Tuesday is my birthday so I'm having a Brewbacher's catfish platter and my husband and daughter are making me cupcakes to celebrate.

Last Friday my weight was 161.2 and oooooh I was so excited. I hadn't seen that number in four years. But alas, it was short-lived.

So there we go. It's going to take a lot of work and hopefully no injury. HOPEFULLY NO INJURY. This is my biggest fear.

And for posterity and because I need to include a pic:

My homemade salad. Quite a handy, quick meal.
 

Week 19 summary

Whewww, I'm super late posting about last week. We went to the beach this weekend and I've been playing catch-up all week. I'll just use my weigh-in for today since I'm already so late into this week.

Our favorite place in the world. Only pics I took on my phone. Other pics were on my real camera.
 

162.4 - ahhhh, my new stalled number I think. Although I think in my last post I was in the upper 163s, so technically I am losing. I, of course, gained a couple of pounds at the beach. I had some great meals and some not-so-great junk food. But between the trudging on the beach and walking up and down stairs outside and inside the condo - I'm going to give myself a high-five.

Also I'm proud that when I got back I eased right back into the diet. I'm still probably having too much rice and bread, but I have not resorted back to night snacking and my Starbucks coffees. Man, I'm really proud about that. I'm back to where I was on Friday when I went to the beach and back to eating for food, not eating for cravings or emotions.

Rich's grandmother passed away while we were at the beach. She was a fantastic, amazing woman who was spunky and a real dish right up till she died. If only we could all live to be 92 with a wonderful life to look back on.

Other than a few jellyfish stings (looking at you long-tentacled beings) we had a great time in the ocean.

BUT, I'm out of shape. Maybe I am skinny fat. HAHAHAHAHA!!! I'm not skinny, but I like to joke that I'm skinny fat because I've lost a decent amount of weight, but I'm terribly out of shape.

So, I think next week I'm going to head out to the road and run. I'm scared! I am hoping my 17-pound loss from my last run will help my feet and knees. I'm excited to see what I can build up to.

Week 18 summary

Before I give my summary, I just wanted to say I'm praying for the city I work - Baton Rouge. The city is going through hell right now with the officers' deaths. My dad knew one of the officers killed. I grew up in church with their family. I know a lot of people do not believe thoughts and prayers work, but I'm a believer. I'm also a believer in the officers. I will always be on their side. Period. I know I'm in the minority these days, but I believe in these people. They run TO the danger, while the rest of us take cover.

It's been a tough two weeks in my area. My opinion on anything political doesn't matter to anybody, so let's move on. :)

Surprisingly I'm down to 163.4. It's almost two pounds and you better believe I'll take it. I'm finally finding my rhythm with the diet and my new job. I'm starting to feel more comfortable with both. So now it's time to get into a rhythm with workouts. I have been doing abs and weights several times a week, but I need to add in cardio.

One mistake I've realized, remember that Clif bar? Yeah that nice little nugget had a TON of carbs and "additional carbs." What are additional carbs? Bueller? Bueller? It amounted to the amount of carbs in a Starbucks White Chocolate Mocha. So all those days of Clif bar breakfasts - yeah, what a disservice to myself that was.

Peanut Butter Crunch

Source: Clif Bar website

So now I'm researching other breakfasts. I'll probably go back to eggs and oatmeal. The great thing about the bar was I could eat it at my desk. I'm a big label reader and for some reason - I never actually read the Clif bar label. However, I think if you are maintaining weight while training - the bars would be A great choice post run.

That about does it for my summary. We are heading to the beach this weekend and I'm nervous about the diet. I'm definitely going to allow for splurges, like the ice cream shop called SHAKES. Probably a Lambert's roll or two. My brother is going to barbecue, sooooo yeah. Unfortunately I won't be drinking my usual multiple real Dr. Peppers, breakfasts of pancakes, junk food, junk food, gas station food, did I mention no junk food? Gahhhh!

I hope your week goes well and you are happy and healthy!

Week 17 summary

Apparently 165 is my body's happy weight. It's not the weight I want for running, but this is where it just luvvvvvvvvvs to climb back to and stay. I had actually reached 164 last week and joy! But I gained back two pounds this weekend.

Last week was a tad difficult what with the July 4 holiday. Then my daughter became sick with a virus and 103 fever on Friday. I stayed home from work with her. Sat by my own personal portable/walking/breathing heater all day. I handled Friday at home pretty good with my eating.

Don't mind the creepy eyes from the cat. She was a very nice nurse all weekend to the sickly.

Saturday was a different story. My husband went to Houston for the day for an Astros game. So I had Jimmy Johns. I also had custard ice cream. I was just tired, functioning on little sleep and boom.

Sunday I went out to lunch with my friend. We went to Applebees for a "healthy salad." I knew that salad wasn't truly healthy, although the chicken was grilled. But it was a quesadilla salad. hahahah! Little quesadillas were in the salad. It was delicious, but we probably could have had a burger and fries for the amount of calories in the salad. muahahahaha!

My daughter is better today, but I'm just hoping she doesn't relapse.

So my goals for the next three weeks are to get as low as I can with pounds. I plan on starting back running in three weeks and I'm hoping for a good 20 pounds or more lost since the LAST time I ran. This should be considerable less poundage on my knees.

Ultimately my goal is 9-minute miles. I'm dying to do a full marathon, but there's no way I can get out there at 3 a.m., run for three hours only to have run a nice 9 miles or so. I need to be fast to put in the work for daily training before going to my job. This is going to take a lot of work.

Based on my history with pace, weight and injuries, I may not meet that goal till next year. That's ok! I'm not giving up. :)

In other news, I'm gearing up to go to the beach in a couple of weeks! So excited!!!! Yes, I plan on watching what I eat. Another :)

Week 16 summary

I ended the week at 165. Darn holiday weekends are the knife in the weight-loss life, right? I had actually dropped to 164 on Friday and boom, it was the weekend. In all fairness to myself, my eating was not all that terrible! I feel like I have about two pounds of bloat on me, that's for sure.

Also last week I upped my workouts to five days. Each of those days I did my weight workouts and a couple of the days I did the ab challenge.

So not really sure the workouts did all that much to help with weight loss, but I was pretty darn proud of myself for squeezing them in.

We had a nice, relaxing July 4. We finally made our way to see Independence Day. So good! It was pretty crazy because the theater only had 45 seats. It was actually SMALLER than the theater I went to with my friend to see Me Before You. Sequels usually don't fare well, but I still really enjoyed the movie.

I meant to work on my wreaths for the benefit, but I ended up reading three books. So I know what I'll be doing this week.

This week I'm going to really watch my sugar. I felt like crap this weekend and I know it's because I had too much sugar and those bad (not the good!!!) carbs. I was very sluggish and I'm not normally like that during the week, so looks like food really can affect my energy levels.

This week, much of the same of the last 16 weeks. What can I say? At least I've made a blog post for 16 weeks right? LOL!

Couple of food pics:

Salad from home with roasted chicken. Coincidentally I'm having the same thing tonight!

More of Amy's Vegetable Soup. 

Just a fun pic of my dad playing basketball at my house. And no, I did not play and I'm TERRIBLE playing as an adult.

Hope you have a great week in this FOUR-day work week. 

Week 15 summary

Woo hoo! This past week I went from 168 to 165.5. Finally I hit 165. FINALLY! My body was hanging onto 167 and 166 for a good month I think. I've broke through the plateau.

But I still have a lot of work to do.

My diet slipped somewhat this week with my starting a new position at work, while keeping up with my old position. I still ate healthy foods, but I did have some rice, a taco, etc...Nothing too crazy, but I wish I had cooked more. I do love cooking, but some days it's tough squeezing it in. It's going to be like this for a couple of months. But I love my new position, and of course I still love my old position, so it's a win-win.

However, I do have to work extra hard to stay on course. I've been doing the ab challenge, but I need to add more weight workouts and get in some cardio in preparation for running.

This weekend I ended up drinking a lot of my calories and that's probably not too healthy. I had a REAL Mr. Pibb which was fantastic. Saturday night I went to see Me Before You with my friend. We had been planning on seeing this for weeks and finally found time to see it. So good, but alas so sad. I had prepared myself for it and didn't cry too much. My poor friend. I texted her Sunday telling her I'm sorry it was so sad!

I also had real movie popcorn, but I didn't go overboard with it.

I also had jambalaya from a benefit for my daughter's friend who has leukemia. And surprise, surprise, her friend was there. Ohhhh those two hugged each other so tight and it was my favorite part to the weekend. She's been at St. Jude for treatments. She looks good, but she's fighting a tough battle.

Yesterday I had a REAL Dr. Pepper because I was dying of thirst and it sounded good. And it was. Luckily I am not a drinker. I literally have one or two daiquiris a year and that's it. Even the "skinny" margaritas and drinks still have over 500 calories. Ahhhh, I'd rather eat my calories than drink them.

This week, going to drink more water, workout daily and eat loads and loads of vegetables.

Hope you had a great weekend and a happy week!