Heading into the homestretch and I'm on the run...

Week eight was a challenge! It was a stressful week at work and just a hectic schedule in general making it difficult to get to the gym and making me crave food. It was hard week at work and just a hectic schedule in general making it difficult to get to the gym and making me crave to fight off the “stress eating” urges that I had throughout the week. I wasn’t totally successful this week, but I was aware of what was going on with my stress and so I definitely handled the urge to eat better than I have in the past.

I’ve been training for a 5K and plan to run in the Illinois Marathon with the rest of the Go Red team on Friday, April 26^th. I’ve started week seven of the training and ran 25 minutes straight this morning! I’ve never been a runner so this is definitely a first for me. I just keep thinking how much easier it will be when I lose the rest of this excess weight I’m carrying around. I’m excited to be running not only for myself, but also to raise money for Crisis Nursery!

I’m a member of the “Miles for Smiles” team and my goal is to raise $1,800…enough money to support an entire 24-hour day at the Nursery. Check on the link for more details if and if you want to support me on my run…

http://www.crowdrise.com/teamcrisisnursery2013/fundraiser/stephanierecord/updated

Crisis Nursery creates an “Island of Safety” dedicated to the prevention of children abuse and neglect by providing 24-hour emergency care for children and support to strengthen families in crisis. We serve children birth-six years of age and last year provided nearly 30,000 hours of crisis care to 776 children! Crisis Nursery can care for up to 12 children at any one time so on a day when we are at capacity, the cost of care for a child is about $6.25/child/hour. That’s a bargain! :)

This week I only lost 0.6 pounds. I knew there wouldn’t be much weight loss this week, given the challenges I mentioned earlier but I’m still pleased with the progress I’ve made. I also lost another ½ inch off my hips! Slowly but surely the weight is coming off. The best part of the week is that people have started to notice. Joey, one of the male cheerleaders I coach, informed me this week that my pants were too big.  :)  So this morning, when I was getting ready for work, I decided to dig in the back of my closest to find a pair of pants a size smaller…I was thrilled when they fit! I'm planning to weed out the old clothes and get rid of them as my body continues to shrink. I will not be back in those sizes again so there's no reason to keep them! The scale is not always my friend but it does keep me accountable. This week I’m celebrating the fact that my body looks different and I’m heading in the right direction!

I’ve already planned my meals and workouts for the next week so I’m hoping that will help ease the stress of fitting everything in. I’m looking forward to week nine and the last leg of this journey! Thanks to everyone for supporting me and good luck to the rest of the Better U participants. You can do it!