1: Annual Physical – this was done in March, all results were normal.  Thank God!

2: Graduation Day – this is in TWO days.  Finally, I can see noticeable results. Yes!

3: European Vacation – this is in a few weeks.  I’m so unprepared!

4: My Very First 5k Race – I completed my first 5k a lot sooner than expected and it was a wonderful experience.

Now what? I need to think  of something else because there are still 6 months left in the year and I have 16 more lbs to lose. *sigh* These are my new motivation milestones:

College Check-in: When I bought my size 6 jeans as motivation, BG made a statement “mom, wouldn’t it be cool if you could fit those jeans by the time you drop me off at college?”  Would it????  Heck yea!!  It’s a stretch but this milestone goal is to fit into those jeans (comfortably) on the day I drop her off.

Second 5k: I’m going to run another 5k in October.  For this one, I will have plenty of time to train properly.  I may even create a performance goal.  Sure would be a lot easier if I were 16 lbs lighter. LOL  This will definitely be another milestone achievement.

My Born Day: I plan to spend my birthday on an island…near white sand…surrounded by blue water…sipping a fruity drink…in a 2 piece…on uber fabulous status! Yea baby!

The year is already 1/2 over with only 6 months left.  At this point, nothing, I mean NOTHING but an act of God can stop me from reaching my fitness goals.

If you’re with me, let’s get it in!

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Q: Doctor, I’ve heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true?
A: Your heart is only good for so many beats and that’s it.  Don’t waste on exercise.  Everything wears out eventually.  Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer. That’s like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving faster.  Want to live longer?  Take nap.

Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?
A: You must grasp logistical efficiency.  What does the cow eat?   Hay and corn. And what are these?  Vegetables.  So steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system.  Need grain?  Eat chicken.  Beef is also good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable).  And pork chop can give you 100% of the recommended daily allowance of vegetable product.

Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?
A:  No, not at all.  Wine is made from fruit.  Brandy is distilled wine, which means they take water out of fruity bits so you get even more of the goodness that way.  And beer is made of grain.  Bottoms up!

Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?
A: Well, if you have one body and you have fat, your ratio is one to one.  If you have two bodies, your ratio two to one, etc.

Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?
A: Can’t think of a single one, sorry.  My philosophy is: no pain…good!

Q:  Aren’t fried foods bad for you?
A:  YOU ARE NOT LISTENING!  Food are fried in vegetable oil.  In fact, they are permeated by it.  How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?!?

Q:  Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?
A: Definitely not!  When you exercise muscles, they get bigger.  You should only do sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.

Q:  Is chocolate bad for me?
A:  Are you crazy?!?  HEL-LO-O!!  Cocoa bean!  Another vegetable!  It’s the best feel-good food around!

Q:  Is swimming good for your figure?
A:  If swimming is good for your figure, explain whale to me.

Q:  Is getting in shape important for my lifestyle?
A:  Hey!  ’Round’ is a shape!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.

And  remember:
Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways – Chardonnay in one hand – chocolate in the other – body thoroughly used up,  totally worn out and screaming “WOO-HOO, what a ride!!”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

For  those of you who watch what you eat, here’s the final word on nutrition and health.  It’s a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional  studies.

1. The Japanese eat very little fat
and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.

2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat
and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.

3. The Chinese drink very little red wine
and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.

4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine
and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.

5. The Germans drink a lot of beer and eat lots of  sausages and fats
and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.

CONCLUSION:

Eat and drink what you like.
Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

Apologize for the delay, still basking in the glory of completing my first 5k. Hey, I rhymed! :-)

I want to thank nofearingthemoney and chele for checking in with me almost everyday of the challenge and staying committed to their goals from the beginning to the very end.  Congratulations!  If you both will email me your mailing address, I’d really appreciate it.

What…you guys didn’t know there would be a prize at the end?  Yea baby!  I like to reward dedication and commitment. That’s what achieving goals is all about!

Well, you all know how I did on the 5k. So tell me…how did YOU do on the $5k vs. 5k challenge?  What was your goal and what did you accomplish?

On Saturday, 5 June 2010, I ran my first 5k – the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in DC.  It was hard. It was fun. And it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

I ran the race with 5 other people.  Actually, two people ran at their own pace – one was much faster than me and the other was slightly slower than me.  One person decided to walk.  And two people, Tazzee and Tisha, ran with me (literally) at my pace from beginning to the very end…well, kinda. LOL!

Tazzee flew in on Friday night and spent the entire weekend with me.  Yay!  The morning of the race, I woke up at 5:30am and I was a ball of nerves.  I think I may have tweeted that I had a stomach full of knots.  Had Tazzee not been with me, I probably would have cried and chickened out.  But she talked to me about her 1st race nerves, we laughed, and kept it moving.

Around 6:30am, Tazzee, BG, and I hopped the metro and rode about an hour to the race site.  The first person we met up with was The Fit Lounge, also known as BK Diva.  After hugging as if we hadn’t seen each other just a few days ago, I listened intently as she gave me beginner’s runner advice.  At some point during our conversation, I began to tear up.  But in typical BK Diva fashion, she found a way to make me laugh. Celieeeeeeeeeeee! LOL

Shortly after, Tisha joined us, I found my other friend, called the two missing friends, and we walked over to the starting line.  Man, you should have seen that crowd.  It was riTHICKulous!  I think they reported about 40,000 participants. Sheesh!  Tazzee and Tisha knew I was nervous so they gave me pep talks, kept reminding me to relax and telling me this was MY race so they were going to stay with me.  It took everything in me to keep from crying because I was overjoyed by their support.  They started singing with the music, we did a few warm ups with the crowd, and at 8am…we were off.

I began the race and felt great.  My friends were with me, my favorite music was playing, and despite my concerns about the weather, the rain held off and everything was perfect. Thank you Lord!  I started as I normally do when running outdoors – took off too fast.  I later learned from Tisha that I was running close to her normal pace – about a 10 min/mi. *shock*  Needless to say, after about 1/2 to 3/4 mile, I had to take a short walk break.  When I began running again, they said I took off too fast again.  For some reason, I couldn’t seem to find a comfortable pace.

No matter how fast or slow I ran, whenever I was running, Tazzee and Tisha were running right behind me.  Mind you, both of them are way faster than me, but they reminded me again…this was MY race and they were going to stay with me.  When I slowed down, they slowed down with me.  And when I wanted to walk, Tisha jogged while Tazzee danced and sung songs.  It was hilarious. LOL  This continued throughout the entire race.

After 1.5 miles, I was getting too hot.  OMG, I mean like “want to pass out” hawt!  I had never run in that kind of heat before and it was a bit much.  This caused me to slow down more often than necessary, but I didn’t quit.  I kept asking “where are the water stops?,” then thank God, we finally saw one shortly after the 2 mile mark!  It was very unorganized because there were no volunteers passing out water cups.  We had to stop and pour our own water so imagine a thirsty crowd of runners, everyone grabbing at cups, finding empty jugs of water, and/or finding jugs with a few ounces of warm water left.  But I needed that little swallow to keep going.  I think there was only 1 more water stop in the whole race.

After the water stop, Tazzee reminded me that we only had 1 mile left so I began running again.  After another 1/4 mile, Tisha saw me slowing down and tried to motivate me to keep going.  She said “Single Ma, don’t stop. You can do it!  Remember, you earned an MBA while raising a daughter on your own. I know you can do THIS!”  I heard her, but it didn’t phase me one bit, so I slowed down for another walk break.  Then she jogged in front of me and pulled out the big guns.  She said “Did you see that breast cancer survivor just pass you?!  If she can do it, YOU can do it!”

I was getting mad at her, but she knew the right buttons to push.  My competitive spirit kicked in and I began running again…as usual, I took off too fast.  Immediately, Tazzee and Tisha yelled “slow down!”  Tisha told me to ignore the bpm of my music and slow down just enough but maintain a slight bounce.  Then she began to show me how to do what she was describing.  I tried to jog at that pace but it felt funny.  After a few minutes, I slowed all the way down to almost a walk again and both of them yelled “Nooooo! Keep running!”  Then I heard Tazzee say, “we’re almost at the finish line as soon as we turn this corner.”  When we turned the corner, I looked up, but I didn’t see the finish line.  I disappointed.  Although I tried to keep running, I felt my body losing steam.

This time, Tisha grabbed my hand and said “come on Single Ma, we’re almost there, you can do this.”  I heard what she said, but I didn’t I believe what she said.  Never in a million years would I ever say this out loud, but in my mind, I heard a voice say, “I can’t.” I was sooo tired and extremely hot.  I felt like I was going to pass out.  All I wanted to do was stop.  By the grace of God and to all of our surprise, we approached a tented water sprinkler.  For a split second, I thought to myself, “I can’t get my hair wet” (silly I know), but we all ran through and it felt good.  The water was cool and refreshing – exactly what I needed to get going again.

A few seconds later, I heard Tazzee and Tisha say, “look Single Ma, there’s the finish line!”  When I looked up and saw that black & pink banner, my adrenaline kicked in something fierce.  A fire ignited from deep down inside of me and I took off.  Tazzee said to Tisha, “Look at her!”  Later, I was told they both started running and tried to catch up with me but couldn’t.  I find that pretty funny and hard to believe.  But they said I was beasting it. LOL!  Before I knew it, I was crossing the finish line and heard someone screaming my name.

My faster friend was already at the finish line and gave me a double high five as soon as I crossed.  Tazzee and Tisha gave me hugs when they crossed.  Then I searched the crowd looking for the one person who means the world to me – my BabyGirl.  When I saw her coming towards me, I rushed to meet her half way, we embraced, and the tears flowed.  If that one moment could be frozen in time, I would be the happiest woman on earth.  But it gets better.

She made a little sign for me that said…

“NOT ONLY THE BEST MOM BUT ALSO THE BIGGEST WINNER”

My tear ducts flooded and the dam broke.  BG and I embraced again and held each other tight.  Through my watery eyes, I noticed my other friends approaching, smiling, and congratulating me.  That was the greatest moment ever!  I couldn’t have asked for a better first 5k experience.

Based on the race results, I finished in 42:13 at a pace of 13:36 minute/mile.  My friends and I didn’t cross the finish line holding hands as they had planned, but in my heart, WE finished…TOGETHER. I couldn’t have done it without you ladies!  To both of you – Tazzee and Tisha – THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!!!

I think it’s ironic that the main two people who made my first 5k experience so amazingly special are the exact same two people who inspired me to begin running just 5 months ago and improve my overall health & fitness for life.  I need to also mention that both of them went out of their way and traveled from another state to support me. *sniff* Because of their unwavering support from Training Day 1 to the finish line of My First 5K, I am honored and humbled to call them my two newest “friends” forever! :-D

I’d also like to thank The Fit Lounge for coming out to support and sharing your wisdom, thank you to everyone who donated (my team raised over $1,500 for Susan G. Komen), and a big thank you to everyone on the blog and twitter who leave words of encouragement for me everyday.

We did it! Woot!

1 – I will commit to working out 5 times per week for the entire month of May.

The first week was tough because my brain was still conditioned to push for only 4x/week.  In the past, I used “time” as an excuse to not workout more often, but I’ve learned that you make time for anything you consider a priority. Fitness is a definitely a priority to me now, so I am happy to report that I worked out 5x per week in the last 3 weeks of the month.  Even when I was stressed or tired, I took an unplanned rest day, but made up for it later in the week.  I intend to continue this new habit.

2 – I will continue my regular eating routine and other healthy habits.

My nutrition isn’t perfect by any means, but I’ve come a looooooong way.  It’s 100% better than last year and I will continue to improve every day, week, month, and year.

3 – My goal is to lose -10 lbs by May 30th.

This didn’t happen.  Saturday, May 29th, was my last official weigh in for the month and I only lost a total of -8 lbs:

• 5/1: -1.6
• 5/8: -2.6
• 5/15: +0.6
• 5/22: -3.6
• 5/29: -0.8

I may do another weigh in on Tuesday morning just so I’ll have an official weight loss for the entire month, but this is only 2 lbs short. I’ll take it!

4 – Registered to run my first 5k!!!

I’m running the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure on June 5th.  It’s this Saturday! Aaack!!

5 – I may even blog everyday for accountability and to track my progress.

Done! Whew, thank gawd that’s over that was fun hard!

National Fitness Month emphasized the importance of health & fitness by encouraging all Americans to workout and/or increase their fitness levels. Although I was already focusing on H&F before May, the nation-wide effort gave me an extra boost of motivation, a daily reminder to eat well and exercise, and another reason to hold myself accountable.  I am now convinced that I really can do anything once I commit to it mentally.

I didn’t do everything perfectly, but my health & fitness is much better than it’s ever been in my entire adult life.  I feel good.  I feel stronger.  And I feel healthier too!  Woot!

Did National Fitness Month encourage you to begin working out or kick things up a notch?  How do you feel about your progress?