Breakout Blue Team

I am a 36 years old esthetician/seamstress/ momma to 3 kiddos and married to my soul mate. The past 10 years have been a whirlwind of ups and downs in my life . I got married and had 2 beautiful kids which has been my up. I have also had cancer two times and had 2 other surgeries due to the cancer which has been my down. I have lived in what I like to call ," survival mode" just trying to get by. But I'm tired of  letting life pass me by, when I have so much more life to live that God has so graciously spared !! I'm ready to take back control of my health and set a good example for my little ones :)  I am going to rock this gift that has been given to me from FWSW and want to Thank you all so much for believing in me ! 

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Follow My Blogging Journal

7/2/17 ??????????? Won't know till the Finale

OMG OMG I just completed a half Marathon!!!!!!!! That was a true test of my mental strength! And you know what I passed!!! My strategy was I was going to walk the first loop and then 5/5 run walk the second due to my knee hurting when I run :( First couple of intervals went great ! But once I got to mile 9 my knee and feet started to hurt. So we spaced it out a bit more and stopped for a quick minute to stretch out! Which helped :) By mile 10.5 The wall was hit :( My body hurt my legs were heavy and I just wanted to stop. I just wanted to see that 11 mile marker because then there was only 2.1 left ugh!!!!!!!! By mile 12 my back started to hurt sooo bad and I was ready to stop ! But there was only 1.1 left ! My mind kept going back to the things I had pushed through already and I kept telling myself ," Come on April ! You don't give up ! You got this girl!!" So I pushed on! Once I was almost to the corner of Scott and Illinois i was fighting back the tears every emotion was going through me ! Pain! Excitement ! The overwhelming feeling of what I was accomplishing! Almost to the finish line and I could feel my wind going out as I pushed through those last couple of feet. And then Cicely came to run in with me too and that about pushed the emotion to the edge!  Get your Shit together girl you are almost there! And as I crossed the finish line I finally let the tears flow! I mean ugly cry! What a feeling! I am so proud of what I have accomplished!! I cannot believe I just did that! Thank you to everyone who got me to this point! I feel on top of the world!!! I feel as if I can conquer the world #season10warriorwomen!!!!!!

6/25/17 Down 1.2=28.4lbs See ya!

Week 13 was no joke! These workouts were tough but we made it through:) Saturday was a great day! We did 2 5k's. The first one I walked it felt great and seriously weather was beautiful!! The second one I decided that I was going to try running. I had not run since week 4 or 5 when my injury started and I wanted to try it out to see if I could do it next weekend for the half. My plan was to run all the level roads and then walk all the hills. So I started out running and it felt amazing to just run! I was thinking I would run till i couldnt or till i came to a hill. Hurt never came neither did the hill and then all of a sudden I saw the 1 mile marker ahead, wait WHAT I was about to complete a whole mile running!!!!!!!! Holy Moly !! Like I seriously almost started crying once I realized what I had accomplished! Ok so the weird thing is I did track in middle school and went to woodside. At the time Woodside was where the 9th grade academy is currently and we had to run down eggamen rd. THIS SAME ROAD I WAS ON!!!!! I always struggled running this road and now 25 years later I am running down this road and actual enjoying it ! what the what!!!!!! I continued running for about a half a mile more and then came to a hill and decided to walk . Still feeling good at this point . I continued walk run for rest of mile 2 and then the last mile Istarted to hurt. So we just kept at a walk pace for the rest. I was glad that I was able to figure out what worked and what didnt . I know for next weekend I am going to go at a slower pace and not run as long so that I can keep my knee feeling good. Yesterday was so huge for me not only did I run the first 1.5miles straight in 25 years but I also PR'd that mug! Formula for life 5k 48min, Germanfest 5k 57min and Run like a hero 5k 42min :) Ready to get Week 14 going!!! Its going to be wonderful, scary, magical and the toughest week all wrapped into 1 :)

XOXO

6/18/17 Down 1.2= 27.2lbs GONE!!!!!

Week 12 has come to an end and lucky number 13 is about to begin!!!!!! Total craziness this week with family in town and our oldest daughter graduation party:) Luckily we had lots of fruit and veggies for me to snack on while mingling :) This week food wise has been easier. We had our 10 miles this week and it was AMAZING !!! We all rocked it! I was so proud of myself for getting through the whole 10 as 6.5 had been my previous max! My knee was a bit sore after but a few rounds of ice and I'm much better today:) I am so excited for next weeks 5k wait, What.......... Did I just say I was excited for a 5k!!!! Yep thats right I am actually looking forward to it! Both kids are registered and ready to run and my husband is going to come out to root us on ! Love that we are doing this as a family! I will definitely be a 5 or 10k girl once this end! I am ready to get the half over and done! I am excited and nervous for it but after doing the 10 miles I know that its not as far fetched of an idea as I once believed, woohoo:) Hoping that scale gives me some extra love this week! I am really hoping to be at close to 40lbs lost at the end ! Come on week 13!!!!!!

XOXO

6/11/17 Down 2.4 = 26lbs down whoot whoot!!!

Week 11 was crazy good! It was so nice to have a full week back on land with the big group! It was also awesome to be able to join all of the weeks run events! Wednesday nights 5k was if you read my facebook post a "Wafful" experience ( wonderful and awful) I have really enjoyed my kids getting so involved in my journey. My husband even said he would consider running in the next 5 k woohoo! I may have pushed a little to hard during my walk yesterday as my knee is sore today. Just have to listen to my body and slow it down a bit. I felt amazing yesterday wearing a dress for the first time in a long time. My husband even made a remark of ," Damn girl looking good!" hehe:) Yep all the sweat is paying off! Hoping for another amazing week this week and some love from that darn scale! I feel like im in a better place starting this week off after not traveling this weekend. I could finally get my week in order with out having to rush after being away. My biggest advise to any future contestants would be to not plan any trip away from home if at all possible its really really hard to pack food or order fooout if packed food is not available. Its also so hard to not have the rest your body needs after such intense weeks! Anyways cant believe its week 12 seriously where have the weeks gone!!! I am going to be so sad when this is over . But I know this is just the beginning:) 

XOXO

 

5/21/17  Down 1.6 = 18.4lbs

Week 8 is in the books!!!! 

I was pretty bummed with my 1.6 loss for this week. But it's a new week :) I feel like I worked harder in the pool . My knee is starting to feel better. I have been able to move my knee more , woohoo!  Our Challenge this week is to swim 27 laps ( down and back is one) 2 X's. Man is that a great workout!! 

I am really missing the group but super thankful that Jessica started a girls group chat! I feel like I can still stay in the loop and cheer everyone on this way :) Let me tell you these women are amazing! I pray that we will all stay connected after the program is over because the encouragement and love that radiates from it is so inspiring!!!!!

Where I feel that I am lacking has been my water intake. I have never been great at getting my water in. But when I was working out on land I felt like I would get a big portion down in the morning and the rest of the day would just flow. Now its more forced, ugh! Again a learning experience. I am finding the things that I struggle with and trying to make myself more aware of those things. 

My food has been pretty good. Bev has challenged us to make a food plan for the week and take pictures to share in our group chat to spur each other on . I love seeing what others are making . I don't like cooking and feel like its exhausting to come up with new ideas. I normally stick to the same foods over and over. So this may help me come up with some new stuff to add into rotation.

I am adding a few things in this week, per Andreas. The group over at Summit PT has been so great offering new exercise ideas that won't hurt my knee and still get a great workout. 

Goals for week 9

* DRINK MORE H2O!!!

* Workout harder and get in my new Andreas exercises in !

* Meal prep and add in at least 1 new meal 

Week 9 is going to Rock!!!!!

XOXO

5/13/17  Down 3.2 = 16.8lbs !!!!!!!!!!

Oh week 7 you have not been to kind to me !!! 

Monday night was fantastic going to Kroger and learning new tricks and ways to navigate the store. My weigh in was Amazing!!!!!! I am in "Onederland" whoot whoot!!!!! The last time I was in the 100's was back in 2014 So this was a huge milestone! 180's will be even bigger I havent seen that since 2013! 

Monday and Tuesday I didnt get to workout due to needing to get in to see Joe at Summit Physical therapy. Tuesday He and Andreas iced and scraped ( yep its as painful as it sounds) my knee and showed me some stretches to do and said nothing but pool and or try bike for workouts so that I'm not putting any more stress on it. I love that we have options to get us by while dealing with something like this! I swam 2 times on wednesday. First time was morning workout in the warm pool and I felt fantastic after that. Second time was in the regular pool and that was where I felt a bit more pain, nothing I couldnt push through though and I had my teammate Jon there so that was awesome. Thursday was pool day for everyone! Thank Goodness because I miss my team like crazy!!!!!! It still was rough in the fact that I couldnt do everything they were doing and I hate that!!!! Competative me was pissed! But I know its for the best. Friday I had PT again and we tried out the bike and it didn't feel bad so I was excited to have another workout option. But as the day went on my knee hurt so bad. I'm sure it was from the manipulation but oh man! Everytime I would walk I would get shooting pain down my leg almost to the point of dropping me. I made sure that I wasn't making any quick turns with out stoping and straightening out my foot before walking. It's been a weird nerve pain going along with the knee pain ever since friday :( Todays pool workout was good for the first hour but towards the end it was killing me and I knew it was time to stop. I was super bummed though when I got a message from Jon saying he had Cellulitis and couldnt workout :( Praying so hard for him that the med's they gave him are going to get him better quick!! I was so jealous of everyone running 6 miles today! Who would have ever thought that I would be jealous of something like that! I hated running before! I don't really love it while it's going on but the feeling after is just so amazing and I crave it now! So proud of everyone for doing it this morning! I know from the messages going back n forth there was a lot of butterflies going around about it but they crushed it!!! Can not wait to get back at it!

Season 10 have all become so close and I miss there faces and pushing each other past our breaking points every day. But as I said to my blue team this morning. This injury has taught me that even when I'm injured I can still be proactive in my health. I can still do modified workouts ! Old me would have just gave up and gained it all back :( It is teaching me a lesson for my future for sure! Bev my amazing nutritionist told me this week ... "God has a plan-He sometimes makes us take a different path but knows what is best. Sometimes on the different path we learn more than if we stayed on the original one." I absolutely agree and am trying to pay attention to every bit of it :) Thank you Rick and Tina for being so amazing ! Thank you Bev for constantly checking on me and your wonderful advise! Thank you to my team who has all been so encouraging! You all have such a special place in my heart !

XOXO

 

5/7/17  Down 3.6 = 13.6lbs !!

Week 6 is a wrap! The time is flying by so fast!!! 

I am super angry with myself and I'll explain why...

About a week and half ago I noticed that my knee was super tight and figured just like every other muscles it would work its self out. As this week has gone on it has gotten more and more painful so I went into see Andreas at Summit Physical therapy and he told me it was a Pes Anserine injury. I am to Ice, Massage and stretch it and if it doesn't improve come back to him and we will figure out a plan. Yesterday I started out on our Saturday morning 4 mile 5/5 pace. I got through my first walk / run and it started to hurt more. so I decided to walk until I caught up to Tina who, Bless her, talked me into having Rick pick me up . I would have walked through it and I probably would have been a lot worse off today than I am. After getting into the truck, sitting and then getting out to my car It hurt so much more :( Thankful to have them to know the right thing to do when we don't . Hoping a lot of ice and rest today and a possibly getting into Andreas tomorrow will have me back to good! Now to why I'm mad at myself... If I could have only seen the damage I was doing to myself with all of the poor choices in food and inactivity OH my!! I know that this injury has everything to do with the extra 85lbs on my 5'1" frame :( I know now and will NOT go back to that ever!!!

On a happy note I have had some wonderful things happen this week.... I LOVE that my kids are catching on with out me having to nag at them! My husband and I walked in on my 7 year old Nico with his joggers on and no shirt lifting his book box and watching his arm muscles go up and down ( hahahaha ) this kid cracks me up! So needless to say we bought him a set of weights and showed him some exercises to do with them for his birthday. Bella my 9 year old came with me to run on Wednesday night and absolutely loved it! She has told me that she would like to be a trainer like Cicely when she gets older so that she can help others and cheer them on in there journeys ! How cool is that!!! I have had some other victories too. My clothes are getting super lose . I even had to retire a pair of workout leggings that are falling down! Also after taking a shower yesterday I grabbed a towel and put it around me and It went all the way around and then some!!!! It used to only go part of the way around! Its these little things that keep me going!!!!

4/26/17 Down 2.4 = 10lbs 4EVA!!!!!

This week has been tough! I feel beat down and every part of me hurts:( Monday night was awesome!! Loved the cooking demo! Down another 2.4 which is great! I cant remember a time when I was consistently losing so that has me pumped! 4 more pounds and I'll be in onederland!!!! It has been 3 years since I was in the 190's totally looking forward to that! This week I have chosen to take part in the ," Extra Love" It has been a great experience so far! I love pushing myself farther than I thought I could.

Today was a pretty emotional day after workout. Kaitlyn read Tomika's blog on how she talked about ,"What's Hard in life" You chose your hard it's hard to be fat and its hard to push yourself out of your comfort zone to get healthy. You Chose your hard and thats so true ! I could relate on so many levels. Then Cicely opened up to all of us on what struggles she has faced in her life. It definitely open people eyes to why she pushes so hard. It's not to be mean but out of love ! The kind of hard love that we all need right now. I love my FWSW fam :)

XOXO

4/23/17

I JUST FINISHED A 5K!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is so huge for me! The goal was 7:2 and I did 5:3 walk run. The hills Sucked! But there was always relief as soon as I was coming down. It seemed like I was always hitting a hill when it was run time ! I loved having my friend Cherie by my side she kept me going and kept telling me ," You have pushed out 2 kids 1 without drugs! That was way harder than this !" Over allI enjoyed this , total shocker right there! I am very excited for tomorrow , weigh in and cooking demo at St. Francis. I am hoping that the scale rewards me for the hard work I have put in this week and the 100 less calories. Week 5 Here I come!!!!

XOXO

4/21/17 

I thought that I was working hard .......Until I ask Cicely for some second workout advice. Being the amazing trainer she is she came and did my workout with me . I don't think I have ever work so hard ! And so sorry to all where in the machine area at Spiece as I had a total meltdown crying on the elliptical ! Eyes opened as to how much more you can give when you think you can't ! Also can't believe how great of a workout can be accomplished in 30 min ! Thank you Cicely for the lesson ! I am stepping up my game ! 

4/20/17  Down 2lbs= 7.6lbs Down

I was happy and frustrated with my 2lb loss. I look at all the numbers everyone else is putting up and they are amazing ! I really wish I could have a 4-5lb loss week :/ Luckily I have some pretty fantastic people in my corner. I emailed Tina and explained my frustration and she sent me down the right path for some answers. I knew that it was going to be hard for me to lose the weight, it always has been! But after having my full hysterectomy ( after being diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer the second time) It got way harder!!!!! I had consistantly put on 10lbs a year since. Menopause is no joke and it sucks!!!!! To anyone who is reading this that hasn't gotten to this point in there life , GET THE WEIGHT OFF NOW !!!! I emailed my nutritionists Bev and Christy who have both been great! They suggested that I take my calories down by 100-200 less a day to see if that will help a bit. Christy told me," While it will be harder it's not impossible to lose the weight. You will work harder for less results. It's a difficult emotional / metal hurdle to get over but an important one." This is so true! I have to get over the ," It's not fair" mentality and just put on my big girl pants and work my ass off ;) Thank you Tina for your encouragement ! Thank you Bev and Christy for the ideas and encouragement too ! I know that had I been on my own doing this I probably would have stuck to my old patterns and got angry and gave up!

XOXO

 

4/15/17

Week 3 is no joke ! It has been so hard , but has me feeling so fantastic:)  The only part that I'm not loving is the running. I am trying to change my thinking and trust that I'll be able to do this half but I am so freaked out about it! I have to keep telling myself that its 12 weeks away and the trainers know what they are doing. Again TRUST THE PROCESS!! I feel really great about my food this week. I have done a better job at planning and have really been watching my sodium intake. It had been over what it should have been the past weeks . I had no ideas how much sodium was in stuff!! Reading labels is really mind blowing! I feel as if this weeks weigh in is going to be really great!  I am so grateful for being in this program ! I have never worked as hard as I have in the past few weeks in my life! Its crazy what I can do !!!! Cant wait to get smaller and stronger :)

Goals for this week are.....

*Do second workout every night(only did 4 this week)

*blog more

*work on my running thinking !

XOXO

4/10/17  Down 1.8lbs= 5.6 Total

Bummed ! Thats the feeling right now :( Don't get me wrong I am very thankful for the 1.8 ! But dang I worked really hard for that 1.8 ! I kept so many things out of my mouth this past weekend and planned ahead for food!I even made a wrap consisting of all veggies and packed fruit and veggies for our very long road trip yesterday! There wasn't really one thing that I can think of that could have lead to this ! No binge No major slip up! I was super proud of how I did this week ! I let my team down , Rick and Tina down and myself UUUGGGHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK rant over , pick your self up and make some changes! It's still a loss , your still losing . Start analyzing your food and kick it into high gear this week . Tomorrow is a new day and it will be a better day YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!!!!

XOXO

 

 

 4/8/17 

One of my biggest fears happened today! I OVER SLEPT!!!!! Thank Goodness my husband woke me up at 6:45am AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I'm thankful that I live so close and was able to get there in 5 min. As I pulled onto Scott Rd I saw everyone already starting out S#*&! Pulled into the parking lot stretch really quick and took off Running to catch the group and after a few walk/run bursts I was able to catch up to Rob, Rick and Robert. OH My! I feel so bad and will NOT LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN! Darn you old over sleeping April I thought I said I was done with you woman! After the run/walk I came home ate some breakfast and then set out for another walk. Another 1.5 miles :) I just want to say I love my blue team each one is so encouraging ! Even though we are all on our own journeys we still want the best out of each other! We have started a messenger thred so that we can keep each other accountable for second workouts when we can't do it together! I Love this and them :)

2 things I learned today......

#1 Do Not I repeat DO NOT hit snooze!!!!! I don't want to hit snooze on my life any more so I will not hit snooze on the alarm clock!

#2 I am getting stronger! Ok maybe it was the fear of letting people down/ getting in trouble but the running I did was a lot easier today! Hoping it continues :) 

XOXO

4/7/17  Down 3.8lbs

Week 2 Gym workouts Complete! Fantastic week ! I could feel myself getting stronger . My aches don't last as long as last week. I can push myself longer. I love this," new April" or is it the lost old April, either way I really like her ;) 

Monday was walking at Spiece before weigh in (1.5 miles on tredmill) I was so nervous I could have thrown up! But Praise Jesus all went well and 3.8 lbs gone forever ;) 

Tuesday workout was  drills, wall sits and trips around the gym LOVED IT!!

Wednesday was another gym workout and then evening walk group at Spiece due to rain.

Thursday Pool day ! Love pool day!

Friday Boxing!  Oh boxing I wanted to love you so much! But you are going to challenge me ! This was probably the hardest workout yet. I could have thrown up or passed out ( thank you Tina for coming over and making me stand up and not have my head down or I may have been down for the count) I learned that my upper body strength Sucks! I'm going to have to work on punching with my boxing gloves to build my arms up, Tank Tops here I come !!!!

My nutrition has been much better this week. I listened to my dietitian and looked at my meals as the plate making sure I was adding every food group rather than the calories and that made it so much easier for me to understand.

Tomorrow will be another walking day. I'm hoping I can go farther and stronger than last week. Nervous that this will be our last all walking day as next week we start our run/walks ! Another challenge but new April can do anything she puts her mind to :)

XOXO

4/2/17

What an amazing week it has been!

Wednesday was a Cicely workout ," HOLY MOLY" that was killer, but felt great ! Wednesday night walk was rough. I was so tired and my legs felt soooo heavy.

Thursday Pool day was fantastic! I really enjoy swimming, I'm not the greatest at it but it was a welcomed change for my body.

Friday was another Cicely workout , my arms were ready to fall off! Wall sits Oh My! 

Saturday was another walk. It felt much better to walk . I got to sleep in slightly (5:30am) I made it a bit farther in our 15min which I was proud of! 

Over all I feel really great about this week! My water intake has been really good! I'm not good at drinking water. But this week I did at least 64oz , most days were 100oz which is my goal. Food was good too! I didn't do as great as I wanted but I did track everything. I was hungry and really wanted to just grab something quick ( like I normally would) that wasn't good for me. But instead I would reach for a piece of fruit or something healthy. I did go over my calories a few days , but it wasn't on anything unhealthy . Hoping to do better at planning out my food and staying right at my given 1400 calories. I need to find more filling foods. Nervous and excited to see how weigh ins go on Monday! I LOVE LOVE LOVE this new lifestyle :)

XOXO

3/28/17

First Workout Done! WOOHOO! I am so glad to have that under my belt :) I forgot how great it feels to workout! Everything started with walking around the gym, which was super nice b/c of the chat time with alum and other contestants to break the tension of the first day. Next was some stretching which felt amazing! Not sure that I'll have any boobs left after smashing them into the gym floor trying to maneuver my body in new positions ( I Kid..... kinda ;) Last was the timed mile, My arch nemesis . Oh running how I want to love you and hope that we can love each other someday, but today was not the day! I was pretty proud of myself for my time of 16 min. I ran more than I thought I would but mainly power walked. I always look at people running and think that looks so graceful and calming. Today when I ran my body felt heavy and awkward. But that's OK this was the first day and we are only going to go up from here!!!!!

XOXO

 

3/27/17

So today was a 1 of many hurdles down. WEIGH IN!!!!!! This is the most I have weighed even while pregnant with my babies . But as Rick stated tonight," This is the last time you will all weigh this much in your life!" I plan on making that a true statement:) I made it though having shorts on and a sports bra only in front of a lot of strangers. Isn't that what you are supposed to imagine when nervous but the other way around?? It didn't kill me , yes it was uncomfortable but I survived and will come out on the other end a better me! I think that is going to be a statement that will be said A LOT through out this journey:)

I absolutely LOVE this group of people already! I can tell that we are all going to lift each other up and that will make us the most successful bunch yet ! Nutrition class was full of great information . Honestly I think that this needs to taught in schools along with how to exercise effectively . Hopefully someday :)

I'm super nervous for tomorrow I am setting 4 alarms ! I just need to get through tomorrow . I'm a worrier and panic about the unknown! So excited so nervous so ready for it to be morning !

XOXO