I’ve completed three runs since we last spoke, three days in a row because my “rest day” was moved up to Thursday. Though, considering whom I was with and what I did, I’m not sure that can qualify as a rest day either. Friday made up for Thursday’s skipped 4 miles, yesterday was my regularly scheduled 3 miles, and today was the dreaded 5 miles I sucked so hard on before.

I’ve only just started taking running seriously, so it seems like every time I complete a workout I’ve broken some sort of personal record. Something weird about my after-work runs; I seem to have so much energy and can easily go nonstop. The 4 miler on Friday is probably the longest distance and duration I’ve gone without having to rest. It also helped that it was only about 3:30pm and the park was empty.

Saturday’s record breaker was time and average pace, though I did stop a bunch of times. Makes me wonder how fast I could have gone had I not rested, but then again it all evens out in the end. This morning I was determined to have a good 5 miles. Last week I had basically already given up hope before I even started, hence the horrendous pace and total time. Mission accomplished.

So grateful to give running a rest tomorrow so I can do some hardcore weight training. I’ve been slacking in that department because I’ve unwittingly become a cardio queen. NO! Must…pump…iron. Or at least Sworkit for an hour. I might even do it later because I have the energy, and I’m going to need all the extra calories I can get for many beers will be consumed tonight.

Lately all I’ve been talking about is working out, but my nutrition has been pretty stellar lately, too. You know what? My daily habits in general have seen much improvement. During my slump, this type of behavior was not uncommon:

• Ordering takeout almost every night
• Eating said takeout in my bedroom, on my bed
• Getting home from work and immediately changing into my pajammies, and watching TV in bed or dicking around on the internet until bedtime

Since the beginning of May, I have not eaten a single meal or snack in bed. I can’t believe I have to brag about something like that, but I’m proud of myself nonetheless. I may still lie down after work and cuddle with the dogs for a few minutes, but I don’t stay there for hours until it’s time to go to sleep. Also? I don’t think I’ve even turned on the TV in the bedroom this whole month. Could also be because I can’t find the remote but whatev. My laptop hasn’t seen my bedroom in a while either. My bedroom has only seen bedroom-appropriate actions this whole month. Imagine that.

I weighed myself at the beginning of the month and it was, again, about 10 pounds higher than my lowest recorded weight. So annoying; 159lbs must be my set point or something. I got on the scale again Friday morning and I was down to 154.4. I really feel like I’m back in the game now. Eating healthily and working out feel natural again, and not such a struggle anymore. Yay.

The strange thing is, I now look forward to my running days more than resistance days. It has always been the other way around. Running outside is much, much less painful[ly boring] than a treadmill. Just looking at the treadmill in my dojo makes me cringe, so I put it on craigslist. No hits yet though. Anyone in LA interested? …after I just gave the treadmill a glowing review? Ha.

In other workout news, after two weeks of solid effort, I’ve  made the executive decision to stop going to boot camp. These are going to sound like excuses, and I guess they are, but: 1) my work schedule is 7am to 4pm. Boot camp ends at 7am so I’m not getting to the office until closer to 8. 2) My fling with the morning workout has ended. Back to evenings it is for me. 3) I think I’m just better at working out solo.  HA! As I’m typing this I just got an email for a $50 off coupon, plus $25 off returning student discount for the next boot camp session. It’s like they know…

But wait! That doesn’t mean I’ve quit completely! Not even a little bit. Yesterday it dawned on me that I have put in a solid to intense workout 15 of the last 17 days, and 11 days in a row. The other night I discovered my new favorite workout app: Sworkit! You choose what you want to work, how you want to work, and how long you want to work it. A series of 30-second workouts flash on the screen with a timer, and audio cues guide you through it so you don’t have to keep one eye on your phone while you’re spazzing about doing burpees.

Monday night I did 20 minutes of cardio followed by 20 minutes of strength; all body weight exercises like jump squats, wall-sits, push-ups, etc. Basically everything I did at boot camp, with the same intensity and burn to boot. Last night I did 15 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of strength, all while watching the OKC/MEM game so it seemed to go by really quickly. I love this app! There is a free version, or a full-featured version for only a buck. Really can’t beat it.

Tonight I have a 4-miler on the schedule, and tomorrow I will begrudgingly take a rest day. Yes, rest days are important. The old me savored and looked forward to rest days. The current me is on such a roll that I’m really and truly scared this one day of doing nothing will ruin my momentum.

I won’t let it, though. Maybe I’ll have a hot date with my foam roller tomorrow night. Can I foam roll my chest? My boob muscles hurt from all the bouncing when I run.

That was not the case. It may only be spring on the calendar, but it’s hot as all hell in Los Angeles right now. I got off to a later start than I wanted and the sun was already way up in the sky and shining brightly down on me.

Maybe I didn’t eat enough the previous day, or that morning, or the heat just got to me, but as soon as I began running I could already tell it was going to suck.  Instead of circling the track the entire time, I ran around the entire perimeter of the park and down some side streets to vary the terrain. I walked more than I wanted to, but was pleased that I still finished in under 40 minutes.

It seems cruel to make me run five miles the day after I struggled to finish three, but I put my big girl pants on and got it over with. Again, later than I wanted to; it was already in the upper 70s by the time I began.

The park was so fucking busy; I was dodging rowdy dogs on leash and their oblivious owners, flying soccer balls, Entourage style walkers blocking the running paths, and children on bicycles who should have been administered field sobriety tests. I suppose if I ever do think about running a race that I should get used to stuff like that. Not those exact things, but obstacles that may slow me down.

I walked a LOT this time. I tried to make up for it by throwing in some sprints here and there, but at every five minute mark, the app would chime my pace in my ear and it kept getting worse and worse. My lungs are so, so, so weak. I truly admire people who have the endurance to run long distances on a regular basis. I know it’s not “easy” for you guys either, but the difference is you get it done while most of us do not.

My next run was to scheduled for this morning, but I had a hell of a two-a-day yesterday and was too sore to even get out of bed. I’m definitely not skipping it though. I’m hoping the heat won’t be too unbearable tonight. Oh, and if you’re getting bored of my workout posts, you’re in luck because tomorrow I’m going to have another one (with an iPhone workout app review) tomorrow or the next day too. Hey! I’m on a freakin’ roll and I never thought I’d be back here again, let me enjoy it!

On a closing note, check it out! I’m in with some great company here.

Diet-to-Go: The 100 Most Inspirational Weight Loss Bloggers of 2013

Week 1 (April 29th-May 5th)
Monday: Cardio Body Sculpt
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Boot Camp
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Boot Camp
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: 4.26 Mile Walk/Jog

Even during my peak, those workouts would have been considered a solid week, if not a little overkill. But a wise spin instructor once told me, “It is okay to slow down if you get tired, but whatever you do, keep moving your legs. It is much harder to get going again once you stop.” If you’ve ever taken a spin class, you will know that this is true. Take all the resistance off if you have to, just don’t stop pedaling. This is also true for working out in general.

Clearly I had been struggling to find some sort of routine, but it’s been two weeks of my best behavior and I’m ready to call it a comeback. This is a critical period for me; I’m in a groove so I cannot stop moving. If I have the energy, why not fill in the spaces between? So I revisited my old nemesis: running. RunKeeper has all kinds of workout plans depending on your goals, and I casually chose the “Beginner Half Marathon” one.

NOT because I’m training for a half marathon. Not out loud anyway; remember how my plans always fall apart when I declare my goals like that? But really, I’m not. It’s not a big deal. I am just looking to improve my distance capabilities and endurance. The plan was seemingly made for me, since the runs are scheduled on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Convenient, right?

Week 2 (May 6th-in progress)
Monday: Boot Camp
Tuesday: 3.14 Mile Walk/Jog
Wednesday: Boot Camp
Thursday: Spin & 3.1 Mile JOG!
Friday-Sunday: in progress

I could be proud of the fact that, even though I woke up too late Thursday morning to get my run in before work, I decided to hit up the 7am spin class instead. I could be even prouder that I didn’t skip my run completely and laced up to get it done when I got home from work. But what I am proudest of, is that I ran the entire thing. I knew I had the 30+ minute continuous runner in me; I’d done it a few times before, but I thought I had a long way to go before I got back to that point.

I warmed up by briskly walking to the park, which is about half a mile from my house. The park has dirt track that loops around a couple baseball diamonds; one loop = half a mile. My workout called for an three easy miles (slow pace), so that’s six times around the track (math whiz!).

My boot camp instructor sometimes has us warm up by running one loop around the track within five minutes. For those who can’t run a mile under ten minutes, the modification is a run to the corner of one baseball diamond and back, then laps around the basketball courts until the five minutes is up. I don’t like having to do the modification, but I also don’t want them waiting on me while I schlep around the track.

At the beginning of last night’s run, without any pressure from the boot camp sergeant, I set one goal for myself: you don’t have to go fast, you don’t even have to beat five minutes, just make it around the whole thing without stopping. RunKeeper chimed in my ear at the five minute mark, and I was closer to the end of the loop than I thought I’d be, and I easily met my goal.

But why stop there? I set another goal: run the first mile without stopping. Boom, done. I continued to set these small goals in my head, which must have distracted me enough from my crying lungs and achy legs, because before I knew it, I was rounding the corner on my sixth lap, then sprinting a final 0.1 miles to log an even 5K. If I wasn’t in a public place, I would have thrown my arms up and crossed an imaginary tape, then collapsed to my knees and wept.

No, I wouldn’t have. I mean it was just three miles for Pete’s sake. A slow three miles. Many of you lovelies can do that in your sleep, or on “rest days.” But this is me, the hater of running, and I am infinitely proud of myself.

I skipped boot camp this morning because I had an early meeting at work, and I really should take a rest day, but I might do something low impact to keep my mojo going. Tomorrow I have another three miles on the schedule, and Sunday I’ve got spin in the morning plus another five miles. And you know what’s weird? I’m really looking forward to it.

When I sat down to write this entry, I was going to say something along the lines of “I have no profound words, yadda yadda yadda” but laughed when I saw that I had already written something like that last year. Guess some things never change. I’m going to glaze over the fact that I am only 12 pounds lighter than I was a year ago and focus on the good things. Good things, like I am not 12 pounds heavier. I’m also going to venture a guess that I’ve got much more muscle tone and athletic ability now versus then. Not much, but more nonetheless.

Here’s the picture I posted in my 1st anniversary entry compared to present day. What do you think? Any difference? I think I see it most in my face. And maybe my super ripped shoulders.

I wish I could be more upbeat and positive with this entry, but the truth is I am not terribly proud of anything I’ve done this second year (difference of 12 pounds) compared to my first (difference of 114 pounds). Is it a sophomore jinx? Complacency? Abundance of attention? The good news is I’ve had a really good two weeks, which is the longest well-behaved streak I’ve had in recent months.

Once again, I am contemplating tracking solely with WeightWatchers again beginning this weekend, and maybe…just maybe even reactivating that ActiveLink I disliked so much. My main workouts are boot camp and running now, which involves a lot of movement, so I am curious what kind of APs they will award me. I refuse to believe that white piece of plastic is THAT useless.

Hopefully Mae Day 2014 will bring much happier, and goalier, news.

The reason I bring it up is because yesterday, my friend Danielle rang me with what she called exciting news to share. She works at my company’s franchise location in NYC, which is also where WeightWatchers’ headquarters is. She was signing up a parent for classes (we do Mommy & Me type classes), and when Danielle learned the parent worked for WeightWatchers, naturally she brought me up. The parent mentioned that, at the WW office, they have a wall decorated with all of their favorite success story photo shoot alumni. Danielle gave her my name, she looked me up, and lo and behold, I made it to the wall!

This was my first time seeing a finished product of my shoot. I don’t remember my dress being that short, nor my legs being that tanned. I’m not on the website or published anywhere else as far as I know; they said they’d give us a heads up before our stories went live. My friend and fellow success story Trixie says it took them over a year to post hers, so I’m not holding my breath. To be honest, appearing on any WeightWatchers marketing materials is just an afterthought at this point. All of the pride, honor, and fun already happened. Still cool seeing my shit eating grin plastered on the wall nevertheless.

Oh WeightWatchers, you just love to love me, despite how badly I treat you. One day, after I’m done sowing my wild oats with MyFitnessPal and the like, I’ll realize that you were the best I ever had.

I kinda sorta wonder when I’ll finally get my act together. Can someone wake me when that day comes? #weightlossprobs

— Mae (@reducedfatgirl) April 26, 2013

My dear friends pondered in agreement, and I knew I wasn’t alone. Is it something in the water? Is Mercury in retrograde (whatever that means)? It almost feels like I’m starting over again at 283 pounds, where every Thursday I thought, “I’ll just wait till Monday,” and every Monday I said “I’ll just wait till the 1st of next month.”

When I think back to that day two years ago (oh no, I missed my blog’s 2nd anniversary) when I up and decided to walk into my old weight loss clinic, there was no a-ha moment, epiphany, or unfortunate event that really forced me to start losing weight. Maybe I did it because I didn’t over think it. It wasn’t circled in red on my calendar. I didn’t make a big deal about it to myself.

They say that failing to plan is planning to fail, but I seem to have experienced the opposite. Many times I’ve spent hours perfecting a workout and nutrition calendar, only to derail three days into it. Per my last entry, I signed up for that Cardio Sculpt class on a whim, and bought the boot camp Groupon without really thinking about what I was getting myself into. You already know how my first boot camp class went, and after my second one last Friday morning, I feel my mojo slowly coming back.

Yesterday, while my house was being cleaned, I took the dogs over to my aunt’s house to hang out. Almost everyone has a “trigger” environment, and my aunt’s place is definitely mine. You see, Filipino households are always stocked with food. Whenever I am there, I find myself standing in front of the open pantry and seeking out snacks to graze on. Sometimes I will plan ahead and bring fruit to eat, but planning never seems to work for me.

This time, I had no plan. She asked if I wanted sinigang na baboy with rice (only my FAVORITE Filipino dish) and I said no. Instead, I had a plate of broiled chicken, some rice cakes, a mini babybel, and a lot of water. Sounds terrible, but there weren’t a lot of healthy options, and I’d only be there a couple hours anyway. There was no reason for me to gorge myself; I wasn’t going to starve otherwise.

This morning I got up bright and early and started my day. Ate breakfast, and sat around for an hour before deciding I was gonna go on a run. If running is the hardest part of boot camp for me, then I better practice, right? I reminded myself that there was a point in time where I could jog for 30 minutes straight. Since I’ve put off running for so long, I am basically back to square one, and I really want to get back to that C25K graduate I used to be.

So I warmed up by walking to the park; the same one boot camp is held. Then I started on the track that our instructor had us run around last time. My intent was to run it twice, and with the walk to and from the park it would make my total distance 2 miles. But I just kept running. Well, run/walking. My lungs aren’t strong enough yet. When my RunKeeper app told me I had just completed a 5K, I was near the end of the loop towards my exit, but I ran another time around the track. My walk home was supposed to be a cool down, but I ran that half mile home.

After stretching (and forgetting to stop my Polar…I’m slow but it didn’t REALLY take me an hour and 15 minutes to run 4.26 miles), I burned nearly 600 calories on a “whim run.” I’m very much looking forward to boot camp tomorrow morning, too. I think I may have been converted to a permanent morning worker-outer. I have SO much energy the rest of the day, and sometimes even want to get a second workout in before bed. What the hell is wrong with me?

I’m turning into some of you freaks.

P.S. Shoutout to Vega Sport‘s Pre-Workout Energizer. This thing works for me every single time. It may just be in my head, but as long as it makes me not want to die during a workout, I’m all for it.

Last week I remembered that I purchased 10 Zumba classes for $35 on Groupon a while ago. Along with Zumba, the Groupon is also valid on something called Cardio Sculpt which intrigued me. I always prefer some sort of resistance training over pure cardio, so I booked that one for last Monday night.

In a nutshell, it was tough. Nothing I couldn’t handle, but I wasn’t a fan of the format. Loud cheesy music, high reps with light weights, sort of like jazzercise without the leg warmers. It was a perfectly good workout, but I don’t know if I’ll do it again. When a workout consists of a ton of quick lunges set to music, my form gets super lazy and it’s hard on my knees. Unfortunately I have 9 more classes on my punch card, but I’ll probably use those on Zumba for light cardio days.

Before I even went to that class, I had also purchased a 5-week boot camp Groupon for $49 (regular value of over $300) with a start date of May 1st. The 60-minute class meets Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays in the morning, and Tuesdays and Thursdays in the evening.

Some people are morning exercisers and some people are evening exercisers, and neither group can figure out how the hell the other pulls it off. Me? I’m an evening exerciser all the way. Yes, I’m tired from a long day at work, and yes, it cuts into my social life, but it feels so good getting a hard workout in, then showering off the sweat and climbing into bed.

Classes are held at the huge community park across the street from my house where leagues hold soccer games, coworkers play softball, and people jog with their dogs. Because I still feel a bit of anxiety working out in front of others, the ass crack of dawn time slot would certainly have less people at the public park than the evening slot. Also, with summer afoot, sweating outdoors under the heat of the sun doesn’t sound fun.

On boot camp eve, I was hit with a major project for work that would have normally taken me a week, with a due date of 18 hours. I didn’t get to bed as early as I’d hoped, so I had already resigned to flaking on the first day of class. Even emailed the instructor that I wouldn’t make it and would start on Thursday instead.

When morning arrived, my 5am alarm went off because I forgot to change it back to 6am, and I laid in bed waffling back and forth a hundred times about getting up and going. Surprisingly, “get off your ass” won out, and that’s what I did. Sleepily changed into my workout clothes, packed all my supplies (a towel, mat, and water), and headed out the door before both the sun and I were completely awake.

When I arrived at the park there were a few other lost-looking people there, and we all confirmed that we were about to take our first boot camp class, and we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. We laid out our mats at the edge of the basketball courts and were told to warm up for about 10 minutes, which meant a slow jog/fast walk around the courts.

It was the first class ever for about 90% of the students (if I had to guess, there were 20-23 of us) so the instructor did a lot of explaining of the individual workouts. Much to the dismay of my lungs, the first half hour was all running. You know me and running. It was embarrassing how out of breath I was.

The second half hour was a series of body weight leg exercises like walking lunges, squats, and frog jumps, then core work. Leg raises, superman, I’m still terrible at holding plank for longer than 30 seconds, but I was thankful that the harder part (cardio) was out of the way.

This was, by far, the hardest workout I’ve ever done. It is in a similar format to Insanity, but the difference is I can’t stop and rest anytime I damn well please while I have a [friendly and not at all mean] drill sergeant keeping a watchful eye on me. (Note to self: next class, put your mat at the edge of the court and not smack dab in the middle where the instructor stands.)

It was hard not to get a little discouraged when I was one of the last ones running back towards the group after a cardio drill, but I’ll get over it. I already know that I’m never going to be a fast runner with these short little legs, but at least these strong little legs fared better than most of the men during duck walks.

By the end of the workout, I felt absolutely wiped, but amazing. My hair was drenched, despite it being a chilly morning. My dogs were quite happy to see me again, thinking that I was already done with my workday, but unfortunately it was just beginning. I showered, got ready for work, and was ready to start my day.

Next class is tomorrow morning, and I won’t lie. I’m nervous. Scared of more running. Scared of passing out and/or puking in front of others. Scared of having to wake up butt-ass early again. But…I’ll go. Instructor mentioned that only about 25% of people make it through the entire 5 weeks, and I don’t want to be another statistic…

…said the girl who can still barely walk, or move any of her limbs.

Waffle Sticks & Stuffed Spinach Shells

Breakfast: Waffle Sticks with Sugar Free Syrup
Grade: B+
DTG meals can be thawed in the refrigerator (they don’t have to be kept frozen), so there are certain meals that you can toast or bake in an oven and have them taste home cooked. Waffles are a perfect example, and they toasted up perfectly. I only used one syrup cup which went a long way.

Lunch: Stuffed Spinach Shells with Carrots & Vanilla Pudding
Grade: A-
Pasta meals heat up perfectly in the microwave, but next time I’ll take the vegetables out first. They get steamed and mushy and inedible for me.  A lot of DTG meals also come with a dessert, like vanilla pudding. It was okay; I’m not really a fan of vanilla pudding in general so I skipped it.

Tomato Veggie Pie

Lunch: Tomato Veggie Pie with Couscous
Grade: C-
Although the couscous was lovely, the veggie pie was not. Perhaps my taste buds felt they were being tricked, because although it looks like lasagna, it isn’t. I took two bites and gave the rest to my coworker, who by the way thought it was tasty. Our two grades average a C- for this meal.

Mexican Pizza

Lunch: Mexican Pizza
Grade: A
In the package, the pizza was cut in half and stacked, so I thought it was only half of this. In fact I almost put it in the oven (I was at home, not at work, so a perfect opportunity to bake it) that way until I realized there were two. The pizza had rice, various beans, peppers and jalapenos. Absolutely delicious! Like most DTG meals, half of it would have filled me up but I ate it all anyway. It also came with a tub of sour cream, but I felt it tasted fine without it.

Bean Burrito & Rice

Dinner: Bean Burritos with Rice
Grade: A
The Mexican food theme continued at dinner with another huge portion. I microwaved these, and they were a bit mushy, but what do you expect with beans and cheese? I could have probably stopped at one, but I ate 2…and a half. Had to stop myself from eating that last piece.

Chicken Waldorf Salad

Dinner…and Lunch: Chicken Waldorf Salad
Grade: A
I’m really proud of what I did here. The portion of chicken salad I received was HUGE! It also came with a big honey wheat roll. I thought, there’s no way I can eat this all in one meal, so I put half the salad in a FlatOut wrap and brought the rest to work the next day for lunch. The salad was amazing. One of my favorites that I look forward to having again.

Flat Iron Steak & Wasabi Mashed Potatoes

Dinner: Flat Iron Steak with Wasabi Mashed Potatoes
Grade: A
Tender, flavorful, and another good portion of food. It was hard to believe I had just microwaved this steak for 2 minutes; I felt like I had a gourmet meal. The mashed potatoes have a hint of heat from the wasabi, and the veggies? Well I skipped those mush piles again.

***

Final Verdict: Overall, I am highly pleased with Diet to Go and will continue to order from them. In the future I may downgrade to only lunch and dinner, but I like their breakfasts so much that I may stick with what I’ve got. I like that there is an option for 5 days of meals so you can pick a couple days out of the week to do something else, or even mix and match meals on certain days.

Since I am on the 1,200 calorie plan (which is way low for me, honestly), I still have the freedom to sensibly snack in between meals, or maybe get sloshed on old-fashions or beer one night (just kidding but not really).

Did I lose any weight? No, but I maintained my weight while eating the DTG meals AND having a lot of alcohol/other random snacks. I also didn’t really work out much last week, so what can ya do. I’m still not really back to that old mentality of “eye on the prize,” but I’m getting there.

I have always said that “when I win the lottery” the first thing I’m going to do is hire a personal chef. Since I am 305 times more likely to get struck by lightning than win the lottery, Diet to Go is a more than worthy alternative.

Want to try Diet to Go for yourself? Well you’re in luck! For a limited time only, Diet-to-Go is offering readers a 25% discount on their first week of meals. Simply plug in the coupon code summer25 at check-out for 25% off your first order!

Disclaimer: Diet to Go sent us Brand Ambassadors (yours truly) five days of breakfasts, lunches, and dinners in exchange for a review and picture shares on social media sites. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated in any way, nor will I receive commission from the use of the promotion code above. 

I wanted to do a quick and dirty unboxing video of this week’s shipment to give you an idea of how it all looks when it arrives at your doorstep (unless you are lucky enough to live in a fresh pick-up area).

I will also be tweeting my meals daily with a thumbs up or thumbs down, followed by a formal recap at the end of the week, so watch out for those if you’re thinking of trying it out for yourself. I’m a really picky eater so if I like something, chances are you’ll like it too.

Disclaimer: DTG sent me a 5 days of breakfast, lunch and dinner meals to review on the blog. All opinions are my own because Cassie ain’t got time for games.