Last week was the final week of BBB. First, last week’s recap:

• 5/7 working out- walking & cycling miles: + 2 strength days.
• 7/7 drinking full pitcher of water
• 6/7 taking multivitamin

Now for my fitness test progress:

I had pretty big improvement jumps between the start and the halfway point because then I was mostly following the workouts Tina gave us. For the last 2 sessions (4 weeks), I was mostly doing my own thing because I was still trying to avoid high-impact (until today!!!). I still improved in all 4 tests, so that’s great!

I’m really happy that I was able to get faster on the bike because that means that I hopefully haven’t lost too much cardiovascular fitness in the 10 weeks I took off of running.

Thanks to Marie for doing the giveaway so that I could be a part of this challenge. It really kept me motivated to work out at least a little bit in this break from running.

compared to this Thanksgiving…

happyhealthycook replied to your photoset: Flashback Friday Ghosts of holidays past edition …

Holy what the… such a stunning difference then, then and now. Wow!

Thanks!

I’m glad I saw these pics on my computer (while looking for the snow ones for my other blog) because I really needed the reminder- both that I’ve come so far and don’t look terrible and that I need to turn myself around so I don’t go back there.

28. Looking back

Neither of these are from the 28th, but I made the collage that day.

I actually posted this on my facebook. I did refrain from making a hinted jab at Advocare.

I suppose I can see some difference. I suppose it’s about 25-30 lbs difference. I wasn’t at my high weight yet.

I was much more in control Sat. & Sun., and so far so good for today.

Flashback Friday- Halloween ‘06 or ‘07

Also, perspective 

Flashback Friday- I found this picture in a yearbook last night.

Look at my face, y’all.

Also, today will be the last day of moving all my stuff out of my classroom. Then begins the task of storing it all in our house & shed. I Carried the stuff that I left in my car yesterday into the house this morning, and my arms were so tired from yesterday. I neeeed energy. How am I supposed to run 8 miles tomorrow.

Panera is so cold. I have to bring a jacket, but since I’m wearing shorts, I have it on my legs, so my arms are still cold.

Brenna had a good point on one of my posts last night:

Why weigh at all? It seems quite evident that your measurements are more indicative of progress than weight. Also: humidity is the WORST in the morning. Makes for sucky runs :(

Instead of doing weekly weigh-ins, I’ll try only using the scale as a hydration gauge  for longer runs, and keep up with my measurements.

Guys, look what I found in one of my drawers.

I must get a good picture of these and save for a future before & after.

This packing thing isn’t going so well. I’m torn between wanting to do it in a somewhat organized way and dumping everything in boxes at random.

Surprise b-day party for age 25 v. age 30.

160-ish to low 130s, so about 30 lbs difference. 

and this:

runningdetermined replied to your photoset: Saturday, after examining the cabinets for cake…

If you’re not following this guy, you need to be!

becomingabetterbecky:

I saw this idea on pinterest last month and at the time I mentioned to my boyfriend that I wanted to do it… flash forward to last night and we’re walking through walmart, getting some more dog food and he asks me, “How much weight have you lost?”

“umm.. 60 lbs. why?”

“here, hold this! And this one! And this one! Now stand still, so I can take your picture”

I didn’t even have time to fix my hair! But, yeah, this is what 60 lbs looks like, and this is what I’ve lost in the past year and a half… and OMIGOSH, it was heavy!! I had a hard time holding it up, let alone walking around with it… It was just the self-esteem boost I needed!

Reason # 8673 I love my boyfriend

This is so awesome!

30. Progress

I was going to take a new one, but I decided to go with this comparison.

The top picture is our two families on my 24th birthday, so that would have been 2006. James was 8 months old.

The bottom is from April 2011. (I’m close to the same weight.) James was 5, Daniel 2, and Toby 5 months.

Though I’m the same weight, look at my running mileage from last April compared to this one:

The difference in my total mileage is even greater:

Progress comes in different forms.

We also progressed from living in a trailer to owning our own home.

18. Before & After

I finally made up my mind.

I also posted a couple more, one of which has and answer box if you want to leave any feedback.

Actually, if you look at it at all, will you please drop a line in the answer box just so I know. I’m always curious who even looks at it.

If you don’t have the password, then ask, but I won’t give it to you if you’re male, not a fitness-related blog, or have absolutely no personal posts.

Now I’m trying to decide what to use as the before pic for #fitnessphotochallenge of the day. If I should use one from close to my high weight or close to my start weight or one where I’m wearing something comparable to what I’m wearing today (my dress from Goodwill that I mentioned but haven’t shown yet).

2 out of 5 kids (1 from each grade)  are absent today, so I haven’t had much teaching to do. With this small of a class, I don’t like to go over much if there’s someone absent because I’ll have to go over it again the next day.  

I do our normal reading/English lesson and the math lesson, but have them read the pages for science and history. Then we’ll discuss 2 days worth of material in one day.