Trying to Lose That Baby Weight

So BabyGirl was officially 10 weeks old last night, and I feel like it's time that I really put an effort into getting some of this "baby weight" off. I did initially lose a large chunk of weight after delivery: the baby, the fluids, the placenta, and all of that, and breastfeeding has helped my body come back down to a normal-ish weight. I'm still about ten or fifteen pounds heavier than I'd like to be. Plus, being pregnant makes you lose most of the muscle tone in your abs, so I've got to de-flub my belly.
Beardface has already agreed to train to run a 5K with me on October 29, so I've got some great motivation to exercise. I was impressed that my husband allowed me to force him into this in the first place; the man hates to run. I mean really despises it. But since I had told him (while still pregnant) that I'd need motivation and some moral support in losing the baby weight, he said he'd train with me for a race.
(When I say train with me, I don't mean we actually run together. We are using the same training schedule (couch to 5k) and running at different times of the day. BabyGirl is still too young to put into a jogging stroller so someone has to be home with her at all times.)
I'm doing my own version of Weight Watchers, as well. I had long ago figured out the points formula; my mother has used Weight Watchers a few times now. I don't go to meetings, and I weight myself once a week in my own bathroom instead of in front of a group of strangers. I would be horrified if a group of strangers knew how much I weigh!
I've been at this for about 4 weeks now, and I've seen 4 pounds of weight loss so far. (Saturday is my weighing day.) I'm starting to get that feeling that I'm in a rut, though. So any encouragement would be welcome. Anyone else out there trying to lose those last few pounds from pregnancy? Let's join forces!

Scared Silly

Have you all seen that movie "The Fourth Kind"? It is creepus.

It is another one of those thriller movies made like "The Blair Witch Project"; it used "real" footage to prove that alien encounters were happening at an alarmingly high rate in a particular town in Alaska. For clarification, I do not readily believe in aliens or any other lifeforms on other planets, but to be honest, there is something about the crappy quality of homemade video evidence that makes me want to believe whatever I see. Maybe I'm too gullible.

Whatever it is, I am going to have a hard time sleeping tonight, even though I ran 3.5 miles this morning (yea!) and did a little strength workout while making dinner. I guess I could just read until I fall asleep. I am currently delving into The Fellowship of the Ring by Tolkein. It's one of my husband's favorite books, and I feel I owe it to him to get through it. I'm about half way, and it's honestly not all that bad.

For now, though, I am beat. I'm going to hit the hay because we both have to pack tomorrow. It's going to be a busy weekend, what with us moving and then me going on TDY for a few days starting Monday.

In Bed Before 7? You Don't Say!

It has been one of those days, and everyone reading this knows what I mean. I woke up feeling slightly hazy, and no matter what I did all day I couldn't shake the fuzz on my brain. Yup, one of those days.

I went for my 3.5 mi run this morning, which I will admit terrified me. I left the house just before 5am, and it was obviously still dark. Last night I had used this to figure out a nice route to incorporate the extra half mile that I usually don't run in the mornings. Well, I picked a few new streets on this route that happen to have very little nighttime lighting. And for those of you who have never been up before the sun comes up, 5 am is basically nighttime for all intents and purposes. Anyway, here I am, phone-less, iPod-less, key-less, even, running down unfamiliar roads in the dark. It's no wonder my husband wants to buy me a road tag. (A road tag is basically an identification bracelet, anklet, or shoelace attachment for runners in case of an emergency.) The poor Beard probably thinks I'll be kidnapped.

But I digress. Back to my brain fuzz.

I had my usual cup of coffee at work, and I got cracking into my computer training early. As a government intern, I am required to do an irritatingly large amount of computer training in order to become certified and useful to the U.S. Government as soon as possible; my strategy has been to knock it out in the mornings, then roam the plant in the afternoon when I'd rather be taking a nap.

At about 0715 I sat down in front of a training module on government acquisition (doesn't get more thrilling than that, does it?) and got to work. By about 0800, I had lost all attention in what I was doing and wanted to just go home.

This pattern stayed with me all day, even when a few of us left the plant for "official U.S. government business". Usually I'm thrilled when I can leave the plant during the day, if only for a short while like it was today. This afternoon, though, I felt like I couldn't concentrate on walking straight, let alone be excited to be outside.

I managed to get home in one piece and cook some coconut shrimp for dinner (my absolute favorite summer dish), and now I'm in bed. I have a wonderful husband that cleaned up after dinner and gave me a cup of tea so I could sit under the covers and send my thoughts into cyberspace. I'm hoping for sanity and brain clarity tomorrow. Oh well.

A New Twist

I was having dinner with a friend from church yesterday, and during our conversation she made me realize something that I'd never thought of before: I could (and should) be running for charity.

I doubt she knew that what she said really triggered something significant in my heart, but I do have to thank her for it.

I do spend an awful lot of time running. I run anywhere between 15 and 25 miles each week, which usually means I spend almost 3 1/2 hours of my free time pounding pavement. When you consider that 40 hours of my week are dedicated to work, and another 56 hours are dedicated to sleeping, I'm left with about 5% of my "free" time that I choose to spend running.

I used to really enjoy running road races, just for the fun of it. I've done my fair share of 5Ks, and now I have two 10Ks under my belt.

I do think, though, that it's time to put this activity to good use. I've done some research on ways to use my running as a way to raise funds for charities, and I have several options in front of me:

1. Run charity races exclusively. These usually cost about the same as any other road race, and the proceeds go to one charity or another. I ran a 5K for Autism Awareness a few years back, and my hard-earned $20 went towards Autism research. This is definitely a viable option, but charity races are not as frequent, nor are they as popular as regular old road and trail races.

2. Pick a charity for each race and ask friends and family to donate. This sounds like an awesome idea on the surface, until you realize that my friends and family would have to trust me a heck of a lot to just hand me some money for my running in a race. It would in no way be official, and may creep some people out. Including myself.

3. Become a St. Jude's Hero. This option sounds like the best to me, so far. St. Jude offers a program for runners, walkers, and bikers to raise money for St. Jude's Children's Hospital. For a relatively small sign-up fee, St. Jude hooks you up with a fundraising site and some training information. I would be able to run any race I'd like, and I would just advertise to friends and family that they can donate on this particular website to sponsor me. It sounds slightly awkward ("please give money to this charity because I'm running this race"), but I feel because it is a known charity and an official program, it is less likely to raise any flags.

I definitely still have some thinking to do on this topic. If there are any other options out there, drop me a line. I'd love to hear how others turn their running into fundraising for charities.

I'll keep you all updated on my training progress and what is going on with everything.