Still Trying

I've been less than motivated again recently. I did run on Tuesday, Denby had drank a lot of coffee and made me run at a really good pace. I was proud that I kept up with her. I'm supposed to run tonight, and probably should considering the first thing I did when arriving at work was grab a huge chocolate chip cookie and chow down. I need to make sure the other girls are going to be able to run tonight, or maybe I should run by myself!
I'm hoping that Denby is looking into the Tae Kwon Do classes at the YMCA in Kailua. I think that would definitely change things up a little.

Holiday Party

I've been trying for the past couple of days to eat better. It's really tough during the holidays. Last night we had a holiday party, and although I think I didn't eat a whole lot of food, I also drank quite a few beers. I also didn't do anything active yesterday. On Tuesday I ran with Ananda and Denby, so at least I did something. I did some very short runs with Titus, mostly just to get some of his energy out rather than to get exercise for myself. I'm hoping that once Ananda and Myia are settled into their new jobs we can all start working out together again on a more regular basis. On my own I am fairly unmotivated. When I know others are counting on me to show up, I am more likely to do something. Hopefully we'll hike tomorrow morning and then run again on Tuesday.

The holiday party itself was a lot of fun, although Nate's just posing for the above picture at the beginning of the night, I'd say it's a pretty fair representation of how we were feeling towards the end of the afterparty. I got a few compliments on my outfit, which I was rather proud of. Hopefully Myia will send out her pictures since my camera batteries died at the beginning of the night.

154..... Briefly

So Thanksgiving morning I went for a run with Titus to the beach. I did some sprints in the waves (only cause that's what Titus wanted to do). It felt good to start the day off with some exercise. I jumped on the scale and Voila! Finally! 154. Then I went to Myia's for Thanksgiving lunch. That was some good fried turkey. She also put together some candied yams, stuffing, deviled eggs, ham, mashed potatoes, and I made a baked mac and cheese dish. I ate a ton of food then, of course, there was pie for dessert.... twice.... with cool whip. It was lovely. The next morning, I was no longer 154. It felt good to meet my goal for a moment.
Since Thursday I ran with Titus again on Sunday. Last Monday we were informed that Hip-Hop class is being moved to 4:00pm because the kids have been staying late practicing for the concert. Unfortunately for those 3 of us who are not still in elementary or high school, 4:00 is too early because of work. We were thinking about doing a Salsa class instead later on Monday, but we were all too tired. We are planning to start salsa next week. Tonight Ananda and I called each other and actually ran again. It was good because I was starting to feel unmotivated again. It is so helpful to have someone else to workout with. We only ran three miles, but it's something.
I'm looking forward to running on Saturday morning and hopefully also Sunday. I may hike on Thursday, but its gonna be a late Hawaii Kai hike, including flash lights and what-not. We'll see. The plan is not to get too off track even with the holidays coming up. And to hit 154 again.

ooops

Just ate about 15 homemade chocolate chip cookies. At least I substituted splenda for sugar, and did mostly whole wheat flour... Actually, I don't think that even counts when you eat 15 cookies. And lick the spoon and beaters.

Arin Weighing In...

Weigh in - 170 lbs. Now, that may seem like a lot, but given the fact that when I moved to Philly from Rochester it was 194 (and had been for at least a year) it's pretty good. So, I lost some when I got here and then I gained some back - to about 185. Maybe I'll put in some before and afters...

Before (April of 2006):








Okay, now that one is just funny.





Here's a for real one of me chunking out in my business suit (March 2006):














Finally, more recently (October 2006):














And now I've stalled out at 170 and am almost ready to get back on the crap eating train. It's cold out! I want to hibernate! There are holiday parties ALL THE TIME! I need some support!

So, went to the gym last night. Feel like crap tonight but will go tomorrow night before I do laundry, Friday after work before the concert I have to go to, and Saturday morning there's an intro to yoga class that I want to take before I do my acocunting homework and study for my test.

I wish I weren't too scared to take a hip-hop class!

Project 154

Weigh-in- 155

So, it's been a little while since the last post. I have been keeping busy for the most part, but did not go on a hike last Saturday with the Hike for Discovery team. Myia was feeling like she wanted to take a break, so I joined in. I also skipped Hip-Hop last Monday. I did go for a few short runs, mostly just with Titus to the Dog Park. I didn't gain any weight, and that's the most important thing. I've decided that my new goal is 154. I don't know how long I've been at 155, but it's been way too long. I just need to drop the 1 pound, and then I feel like I will be over my plateau. Of course I want to continue to lose weight without diet pills or even strict dieting, so it's taken me a long time to lose all the weight I've lost in the past few years. I think I just need to step up the running on the days in between hiking and Hip-Hop class. Maybe if I do that for a week I can lose the 1.
This week I've woken up feeling pretty exhausted, I don't think I've been sleeping very well. That makes it hard to work up the motivation to go for a run. All I want to do is watch tv.

This past week's hike was pretty awesome, well the first half of it anyway. It was also a great workout. The views on the first half were beautiful. I cut my leg on a fallen tree, but it was well worth it. The second half of the hike was pretty much a huge dirt road, still in use by cars. It was pretty boring, there were no views, and it hurt your feet because the dirt was so packed.
Afterwards I was really tired, but luckily not too sore. I ran on Sunday, just a little bit, and then on Monday was Hip-Hop class. That was a lot of fun. I almost felt like I was keeping up with the instructor. There's a couple of 12-year olds (or younger, I can't really tell) who are awesome. They're really fun to watch because they're so young, but they can dance really well.

So, the plan for this week, since it's already Wednesday, is to run later this evening if there's time, hike on Thursday to the Pillboxes in Lanikai, run with Denby on Friday, possible Turkey Trot on Saturday, and hike with Myia on Saturday or Sunday. Monday is Hip-Hop of course. Keep the focus on 154 and stop eating like I am a starved child.

Likeke Hike, Buddy Hike, Hip-Hop, Aiea Loop, Pumpkin Carving

Weigh-in- 155

So, it's been a week and a half since my last post, and still 155. That's okay, since I've been eating like crap. I'm lucky I didn't gain weight. I did keep busy, we hiked Likeke Trail off of the Pali- my camera battery died, so I don't have many pictures of that hike. It was a pretty good hike, it's got a waterfall, and Myia and I have hiked it before. At the end we found a mini-cache called "Ain't no more Mr. Nice Guy" or something like that. It was really hard to find, very well hidden, but we had some hints from our fearless leaders who had found it once before.

On Sunday Myia and I went for a run, after we walked for a while. Monday was Hip-Hop class and I actually felt like I was keeping up with the instructor. Not that I really looked like her when I was dancing, but my moves were at least resembled hers and were pretty much on the beat. After class we bought Hip-Hop hats so we can look the part next week. (Of course Titus ate my hat on Tuesday, but I'm gonna get another one before the next class.)

On Tuesday and Wednesday I rested up and Thursday we went on a Buddy Hike on the Pali. It was the same location as last week, but we took a different trail. We tried to take a lot of pictures, but the lighting wasn't that good, so a lot of my pictures came out blurry or out of focus. This is a picture of the Lepto Tank (that's what we called it anyway). We were gonna take the ladder out from under it and climb on top to see what was in it, but we didn't have a whole lot of time to get back before dark.



On Saturday we hiked the Aiea Loop, which was nicer than I thought it was going to be. There weren't a whole lot of picture-worthy spots, but there were some nice trees to look at. Because we didn't need to stop to take a lot of pictures we did the hike at a pretty good pace and I was pretty tired and sore afterwards.

I got to visit with Nate's cadets on their voyage, they were doing some awesome Hawaiian projects. I watched them play some Hawaiian games, I can't remember their names, and also took some pictures of them pounding the Taro root to make Poi. Later, we went to Kara and Eli's and carved some pumpkins. We took the pumpkin carving contest pretty seriously and came out with some amazing pumpkins. The winner was Cheryl's cat. I carved a pretty mean "Hot Head" (the flaming skull pumpkin).

There were a lot of really good pumpkins. There was Teri's Scarecrow, Kara's ghosts, Charles' Palm Tree (done free-hand), Kara's skull and crossbones, Sue and Charles' googley-eyed pumpkin, Damion's Pirate, Kara's Cat in front of the Moon, and Myia's scary house. Not shown in the picture are Kara's Pumpkin "Pi", and Me and Myia's Penis Pumpkin. Featured on the right is Nate and Mike's "Bend her over and let Rover take over" pumpkin.

Buddy Hike

Weigh in- 155

So last night we did a Buddy Hike off of the Pali. A very pretty little hike, but unfortunately most of the pictures I took came out very dark and some of them were blurry. I put them on my Yahoo Photos page. It was a fun hike and if you couldn't tell, that's me doing some hip-hop moves on the trail. I took a picture of Myia doing some moves and then I got jealous that I didn't have any hip-hop pictures.

I've been eating well during the daytime this past few days, but at night I pig out. And of course last night we made fondue for dinner. We dipped pears, little hot dogs, onions, bread and smoked sausage in some swiss fondue cheese. So I'm not feeling so good this morning. We talked about eating better for a while yesterday on the hike, and there were many good ideas. A lot of talk about how easy it is to gain weight by drinking your calories and what kind of diets we have all tried in the past.

I have made a new goal of losing 5 pounds- down to 150 and then I can start trying on wedding dresses. I'm excited about that, so maybe it will give me some incentive (although it didn't keep me from pigging out on fondue last night!) I need to tell Nate that we've gotta keep the treats out of the cabinets. After the earthquake we bought Kit Kats and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups- the cups are gone, but the Kit Kats are still around and very hard to avoid.

Well, onward to work.

Hey Sexy Lady

Weigh-in- 155

So, I was eating really well, went on a hike on Saturday that I wrote about. On Sunday we had an earthquake that registered 6.5 on the richter scale and the power went out. Because we did not want to open the refrigerator door, I gave myself an excuse to eat a ton of junk food. Now I'm feeling the effects. I also didn't do anything active, I just sat around on my couch.

Yesterday, Monday, I ate pretty well. I had a half a bagel for breakfast, and packed a lunch with a snack of peanuts and raisins. My sandwich was a delicious chicken with mustard. For dinner we did pesto pasta with french fries and salad. Not too bad.

Before dinner I went to Hip-Hop class and started to learn our dance for the concert. I'm pretty sure we're gonna try to be in the performance, even though most of the class is a bunch of 12 and 14 year olds. You should see my moves. We look just like the guy in the picture. Well, not really, I need to work on my slouch and my facial expression, and my ability to do the moves fast. It is a pretty funny, but pretty good workout. We're gonna be dancing to the song, "Hey Sexy Lady" by Shaggy. Right now I've got that playing on my Myspace Profile. Check it out. I'm thinking about inviting everyone out to see the performance. It'll be my first recital.

Pillbox, Lanikai

Weigh in- 155

Have eaten pretty well the past two days, except for the Quarter Pounder with Cheese and Fries for dinner. Other than that I actually drank water all day, and snacked on peanuts and raisins. I had a South Beach Diet heat-up meal for lunch, which was delicious. I have discovered that peanut butter is an excellent diet tool. I don't think it is as delicious as Nate does, but it is okay, and it keeps you full for hours. I'm gonna start investing!

After work we went on a hike up to the Pillbox in Lanikai. We weren't going to go because it was pretty rainy out, but somehow we talked eachother into going. It was worth it. It was a short hike, that is pretty steep at the beginning. The view from the top is very pretty. The last two hikes we've done will be perfect for anyone who wants to hike when they come out here for the wedding. They were both short, but beautiful. Of course, there's also some other hikes that are more challenging for those who would like to work for a great view. This is actually a picture from an earlier hike, but I forgot my camera, and I want to try to put in a picture on my new blog. This is a picture of the first hike with Hike for Discovery, last week. That's Myia, who talked me into trying to raise the 3000 dollars for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. At the end we get to do a crazy hike in Maui. Check out the website and support me!

http://www.active.com/donate/hfdsdh/hfdMSulliv1

What are your goals for the next couple of months?

The Beginning- Check In

This is me on one of our hikes. This pictures was taken a few weeks ago, and I was about the same weight as I am now. Today I am 155, and I would love to lose 20 pounds. My realistic goal is to be 145 by June 24. If anyone wants to add their goals to the site, feel free. I plan on updating this as time goes on.
Weight-
155
Size- 10 (at Old Navy, 12 everywhere else)

Plan-
Hiking every Saturday morning with Hike for Discovery
Running 2x a week with Myia and others who decide to join
Half Marathon on Nov. 5th.
Hip Hop Class - Mondays at 5:00pm.

Diet-
Looking at eating South Beach Diet type foods, meaning eating less refined carbs, more protein and healthy carbs. Also, eating less goody-treats- you all know what I mean.

Will update soon!