Workout Update 6/11 - 6/17

6/11 - 65 min treadmill and 5.13 miles, no weight training
6/12 - rest - Alli's final orchestra concert for the year
6/13 - 65 min treadmill and 5.49 miles, weight training
6/14 - 65 min treadmill and 4.95 miles, skipped weight training
6/15 - rest, Greg's house
6/16 - rest, worked in the yard all day, though!
6/17 - 70 min treadmill and 5.40 miles, weight training

So, that's 20.97 treadmill miles last week, yay me!

This weekend, I bought new shoes. Or, I should say, this weekend, I bought new shoes that fit. I went to Foot Zone and a nice man watched me walk. He told me "you hardly pronate when you walk, you have a very neutral gait." Aw, thanks! I think! He found me shoes that feel like little pillows on my feet. They are Brooks Ghost 4:

Should I be disappointed that I see that there is a Ghost 5 on the market? Did I buy outdated shoes?? Nah, they're fine. They feel good. I did the treadmill yesterday in them and they felt wonderful.


I said that this weekend I bought shoes that fit. A few weeks ago, I bought a pair of shoes from Nordstrom Rack. They are too tight on my toes. A couple weeks ago, I bought two pairs of shoes from Costco. They are also too tight on my toes when I run. I blame my black toenail on the Nordstrom Rack shoes (they are Skechers), but the nice man at the running store says maybe not. He says wear my black toenail with pride. :) Anyway, lesson learned. I'll leave my shoe selection process up to the professionals from now on! Or, as Kim says, now that I know I like this style of shoe, I can just stick with it as long as it works.


I am sitting at 142 pounds, but happily, I am noticing changes in my body with all this exercise. My mid-section, while not tightening up to Swimsuit Edition standards, is definitely looking better to me. My legs and butt are definitely looking better. My arms and chest? Eh, maybe. I was thinking this weekend that my shoulders and collarbone-type area are looking good.

While researching "loose skin" and "plastic surgery" and such, I ran across a couple articles that said most loose skin is really just stubborn fat. Hrumph, this is discouraging, but makes sense. I know I have seen a lot of pictures and posts online where people say they have all this loose skin - but when I look at the pictures, I've thought, "No, you just still have a lot of weight to lose." There's something that happens as your body deflates. Before, your belly, or arms, or whatever are "filled," and it's easy to see that as extra weight. As you get down to the end of your excess weight, you *do* battle loose skin but you also sort of forget about the remaining extra weight.

There is loose skin - don't get me wrong. :) Under my chin there is a little turkey wattle that is categorically, undeniably empty, loose skin. My upper thighs, I would say are almost all loose skin, because I've got some pretty damn solid legs. Boobs and belly are lots of loose skin, too. But there's more to it with my belly, perhaps. Which makes sense, seeings how I am a TOTAL APPLE SHAPE and that's where the bulk of that extra weight lived.

This point has been seeping into my brain lately as I *do* notice all that belly fat tightening up with exercise. Haha! It's not tightening up like a 20 year old's belly or anything. But it is improving. And that to me says there is still work to be done here. Although I feel great at 142 pounds, the fact of the matter is that I'm still "overweight" according to BMI. Just a couple pounds, of course. But even to drop below 140 puts me at the outside end of "normal."

I'm not saying anything other than that I am pushing myself to get a second wind with my efforts here. I am sooooo close. I've got one foot in the camp of "this is great, I'm satisfied here," and one in the camp of "let's see how far we can take this." :) I want to know how much of this is something I can deal with on my own. However, I am also excited to see a plastic surgeon for a first consult next month!


Today, I'm going back to the hematologist to find out what's up with my iron/ferritin levels. I'm so flipping tired. I'm going to get those monthly iron infusions for the rest of this year, if I can. I just want to see what it's like to have sustained normal iron for awhile. I also have an appointment with my primary care doc, whom I'm excited to see. It's been awhile since I've been in, and it's fun to get weighed in on his scale and get fussed over for my success. Sadly, I'm seeing him because after I fell on my shoulder on New Year's Eve, it still freaking hurts. It had been much better, then I jarred it on a support post on a bus and it has been hurting me again. :( All these months later, it's time to find out officially what the heck is going on there.