My First 5k! Komen For The Cure 2009!

I did it!!! I power walked my first 5k today as part of the Komen For The Cure walk for breast cancer.
Originally I was going to go by myself and meet my friends up there, but when I looked at the very complicated map of parking and shuttle routs, I got scared and forced my husband to take me. I am directionally challenged and I would have ended up lost and crying in a ball on the ground and never would have made it to the race if he hadn't taken me. Who needs that anxiety, right? Plus, it was just really nice having someone waiting for me at the finish line :)
So we finally got a parking spot and I swear, it was practically a 5k just to get from my car to the starting line!! We found my friends and waited around for our race to start.

It was SO packed, I couldn't even take enough steps to activate the Nike + sensor in my shoes! The air horn went off, signaling the start of the walk, but we couldn't move, lol, it was just so packed with bodies.

For the first 5 minutes of the walk I think I moved a whole yard, if that, lol. Once the pack finally broke up and we could actually move, it was great. I wasn't able to keep the pace I really wanted to because I was walking with other people who weren't as fast of walkers as I am, but that's ok, it kept me from getting too burned out. We ended up loosing each other though, and I spent a lot of waisted time looking for them instead of just walking on ahead, so I ended up crossing the finish line later than I would have, but again...no biggie. It'll just make my next finishing time look that much better :)My husband was waiting for me at the finish line and cheering me on :) so that was really nice.

I was walking for my grandma. She didn't pass away from breast cancer, but her breast cancer is what triggered the other cancers that she did die from :( So it was an emotional day for everyone, but you could really feel the positive energy! It was empowering :)

Then we walked around just for a little bit and got all kinds of free swag! It was so awesome to see SO many survivors of breast cancer and people who were walking in memory of loved ones who have passed away from it.

Really it was such a great day! I felt great after my first 5k and now I feel confident that I can do all the other ones!! YAY!

The Magic Shoes

Hey ladies :)

I am pleased to announce that I am doing ANOTHER walk! That's FOUR!!! Actually, I'm cheating just a little bit. There's a YMCA 5K walk on the same day as the Nike Human Race run, so I'm going to do both, but track the first 5K for the YMCA walk and then go home and do the other 5K around my neighborhood :) Hey...I'm still walking 10K, I'm just changing locations half way through! :)

So a few of you asked about my shoes. They're the new Nike Lunar Glide women's shoe and here is the link:
http://store.nike.com/index.jsp?sitesrc=uslp&country=US&lang_locale=en_US#l=shop,pdp,ctr-inline/cid-1/pid-239441/pgid-239442

I have high arches and these have a built in arch support. They also are specially designed so that those of us who's thunder thighs push their feet sideways (yes, it's true) the padding on these shoes is specially designed to keep your feet level :) Anyway, the link tells all about them. If you're serious about running/walking, then the BEST thing you can do for yourself is get a really good pair of shoes :) And these are truly magic.

What's Happening To Me???

As you all know, I got my Nike shoes that I super love. I thought they were a pretty good price for shoes w/a hole in them (for the ipod sensor). What I didn't expect was what else came with the shoes! They're magic! All of a sudden I WANT to walk more, faster, longer, further. That's never happened before. Now I find that I'm super into sponsored walks for good causes! I'm signed up for THREE next month! Whoa!

October 11th- 2009 Komen Phoenix Race for the Cure (5K walk)
http://www.kintera.org/faf/home/ccp.asp?ievent=305284&lis=1&kntae305284=558601B6A1BE4E5FBAAE25CD8380F752&ccp=91644

October 24th- 2009 The Human Race 10K- Nike- "The Day The World Runs." (10k RUN-but I'm walking, lol)
http://inside.nike.com/blogs/nikerunning_humanrace-en_US/?tags=race_day

October 31st- 2009 JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) Walk To Cure Diabetes (5K walk)
http://jdrfdsw.org/events_phoenix_walk.html

Seriously! Three walks that have a "K" in them! That's a first for me :) I'm SO excited! I'll be posting photos of each one as I do them, of course :)

Strange Dreams

Last night when I went to bed I was thinking about this morning, about whether or not I wanted to set my alarm to give me enough time for a power walk in the morning, or if I wanted to sleep in. I decided to compromise and set my alarm to get up in time for a power walk, but not actually go walking, just to get in the habit of waking up earlier. I just knew I wasn't going to feel up to walking in the morning.

Then I fell asleep. As I drifted off into unconscious bliss, my celebrity crush (who shall remain anonymous) slowly wandered into my dream world. We were "dating" in my dream and I was so crazy about him. I just always wanted to be around him and I was hanging off of him constantly. He didn't really seem THAT into me though. At some point I was trying to kiss him (I know right?? I'm a married woman!!) and he wasn't really giving in, so in typical Stephanie fashion, I got my feelings hurt. He felt bad, so he started kiss me back (thank you dream gods!) and then did one of those moves where they grab you on your upper thigh right below your butt and lift you up onto their hips...yeah, only it didn't work so well. Why? Because I'm still fat in my dream!! What the heck. So, he somehow manages to lift me up, only I look at his face and he is in AGONY over how freaking heavy I am, but he knows if he drops me I'll be embarrassed, so he's trying w/all his might to keep me lifted. He walks me over to the couch where his arms finally give out and he drops me into the cushions. He apologizes (out of breath) and explains that he's really into me, but I'm just too heavy and big for him to be with me the way I want. :(

So my alarm goes off and wakes me up, and I wake up embarrassed and hurt. And no one is around but my husband, so I feel embarrassed and hurt by him. This is common- the transfer of dream emotions. So instead of slugging my way out to the couch to be lazy before work, I instantly put on my work out clothes, laced up my Nikes, activated my Nike+ on my iPod, gave my husband a hug and kiss (out of guilt for dream kissing another guy, even though my husband didn't even exist in my dream, but still), filled up my water bottle, and took off down the street. I did over a mile again today, but I accidentally turned the dang thing off after .2 miles, so my work out history isn't completely accurate. Oh well.

Now I am enjoying my breakfast after my workout while I update this :)

Today's Breakfast:

*1 Sandwich Thins bun (2 slices)- toasted

*2 tbs organic almond butter smeared over the 2 toasted Sandwich Thins

*1/2 granny smith apple sliced into thin slices and placed on top of the almond butter covered toast

Not bad :)

What's For Breakfast?

Ever since my surgery over 3 months ago (WOW!) I have had the same 3 breakfasts over and over again.

Breakfast #1

*Fried eggs (no butter)

Breakfast #2

*Egg omlet w/low sodium bacon and low fat cheddar cheese

Breakfast #3

*CarbMaster Yogurt mixed with Kashi Go Lean Crunch

Sometimes I have bacon with my fried eggs, but I always have some kind of fruit with any breakfast. But it's always the same and usually involves eggs.

My question to all of you who have had WLS, what do you eat for breakfast? I need some variation, but I'm so picky about my food. I'm used to the super carby breakfasts like the picture, lol, mmm...food porn >:) LOL.

I just bought some turkey sausage and that was pretty ok. But come on, there's got to be more out there.

Leave me comments w/ideas and/or recipes :) I'd love to hear from you!

My New Nikes!!!

I went shopping this weekend :D I was able to sweet talk my darling hubby into lifting the "deal" regarding getting my Nike shoes only if I work out on my elliptical for a month! He knows I'm motivated!

So I got the arm band for my iPod touch so that I can listen to all my "power songs" that are designed to keep me energized and keep me going even when I want to quit.

Then I got the SHOES!! While neon orange isn't really the height of fashion in my opinion, I still LOVE them! They are super light weight, and accommodate my WIDE feet very well. They have the best arch support ever AND they have extra support for the outer sides of my feet since my thighs push my feet to the side.

The iPod Nike+ transmitter goes under the cushioning of the shoe. That's what sends your work out info to the iPod and then to Nike.com.

And this is what it looks like :)

So this morning I woke up early and strapped on my new shoes and donned all my gear and hit the trails! Well, the trails in the community I live in, lol.

I was so mad because I actually did over a mile, but I forgot to hit the "start" button until I was half done! :( I can dye my hair as black as I want but I'll always be a blond. But hey, for my first time power walking for a while, a mile isn't too bad :) And I wasn't even that worn out, I was just HOT because let's face it, I live in the middle of the freaking desert and it's dang hot here!

Losing More Than Just Lbs

What's this? Totally awesome shower art? No...it's not. It's my HAIR :( And that's not including what already went down the drain or what I combed out after the shower. That is just what came out in my hands after shampooing and conditioning :( Isn't that AWFUL?! Yes, it is.

If you're reading this and you're pre-surgery, don't freak out. Hair loss after surgery is common, yes, BUT I also have PCOS, so I probably lose more than most. Also, it's only temporary (I'm told!) so hopefully this will end happily soon enough!

For those of you reading this post-op...did this happen to you? For how long? When did your hair start growing back?

I'm not sure exactly what the cause of all this hair loss is, but I've read so many things it "could" be. So I've increased my protein intake (possibility #1-lack of protein), I've started taking a Hair/Nail/Skin vitamin (possibility#2- lack of important vitamins), and I just bought the #4 Nioxin system and have started using that just today (possibility #3- body is in shock/stress from surgery and rapid weight loss and new growth has stopped).

So for now I'll just have to make more shower art until my hair decides to stop abandoning my scalp.