Monday with Missy

Hey gang, Kelsey Godfrey here, live from blogging.  So glad you could join us today.  Okay, so that sounded like a scripted tv show introduction, but hey, I filmed for tv today, so I can pull it off!  Today has been so great, even with the rain.  I woke up real early (around 7am) so that I could get a morning run in.  I actually ended up running around 2.5 miles, but walked about 1. 5 additional miles with my momma.  Then it was showtime!  Yvonne was nice enough to braid my hair and we drove to Knoxville to film with Missy Kane for Fit and Fun!

I wore a pink sports tank with black compression pants, and wheeew I looked skinny!  So exciting!  I talked a little fast on the show, but I always do, so no worries there.  I was so blessed that my mother and Yvonne actually went with me to watch live in studio.  We did a kickboxing circuit and talked about my weight loss journey.  Such exciting stuff.

Then it was off to the gym to see Chip and Chris.  Since I filmed this morning, me and Chip did not do our usual training session, rather we did a really, really fast mile around the track.  I usually hate running with people, but it was nice to have someone to push me beyond my normal level, and I was left with a great sense of accomplishment.  I also saw Chris of course, and that went well as always.  Sometimes it is nice just to have someone to talk to about anything going on in your life.  It really is nice to be listened to, so I always love meeting with him.  I realized today that if I can lose 13 more pounds by the half marathon, then I will have lost 50 pounds total through the Biggest Winner.  Just 13 pouunds!  Technically, that is one pound for every mile I will be running on April 3.  I have a month left to do it, so I'm  getting my butt in gear and its going to happen.

Showing off that hard earned bicep.  That's my momma.

My momma actually bought me that pink shirt specifically for Missy's show.  I look so so so skinny.

Weekending!

Oh boy has this been an exciting past couple of days.  Since I only go to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the weekend does not always actually seem like the weekend, but nonetheless, I always enjoy it.  Yesterday a few members of the marathon team and myself met at Panera for a run on the greenway.  I was able to run 2.75 without stopping to walk at all!  I have never, ever been able to run that far consecutively with no walk breaks.  Such a huge accomplishment.  Two goals on my fitness list are to run a 5k without stopping and run a 5k in under 30 minutes.  I am signing up for a 5k at the end of March and hopefully I will be able to mark both goals off my list with that race.

Also yesterday, I took a nice 3 mile walk with my momma on the Townsend bike trail and then did an additional 4.5 miles last night with Yvonne.  So yesterday I put in over 13 miles, so it was virtually a half marathon, only it took me all day.

Today I woke up REALLY early.  Like, before 6am early.  I drove over to Kingston to volunteer for the Knoxville Track Club's Whitestone 30k.  That's over 18 miles in case you didn't know.  I was a course monitor and split timer at mile number 10.  Luckily, I had an umbrella to survive the horrendous downpour that was plagued upon us, but it was so much fun cheering on all the runners.  I even got a t-shirt which is always a plus!  Such a fun day.  Tomorrow I am filming with Missy Kane for her Fit and Fun show, then its off to the gym for Manic Monday.  Happy weekending!

My lovely sign for the 10 mile marker.

Awesome view from the top of Whitestone.

Loved the Dora the Explorer cups they had for water at the finish.

Seesaw Day!

Ever since beginning the Biggest Winner, I have had this small goal of being able to seesaw with my best friend Ashley.  I have always been about 100 pounds more than her, so obviously, seesawing would be a little difficult.  Well, today we adventured out to seesaw and it was so much fun.  I still weigh about 50 pounds more than her, but it is sooo much easier and way more fun.  We also had a little too much fun with her camera too by capturing the achievement of this goal!  Woo, see below.

The family of seesaws.

My beautiful best friend, Ashley

So excited to finally seesaw!

See, exercise can be fun!

We might have been having too much fun.

Up in the air!

Yeah, I was definitely having too much fun.

Gym Rat

Gym rat.  That is what I have become.  Yesterday, I arrived at the gym at 8:30 for my hour long kickboxing class.  I had a little extra time before leaving the gym, so I decided to do a tiny bit of strength training.  Then, during my lunch break, I was able to do my 110 stories on the stairmaster in 24 minutes flat.  Loved that!  One of my new short term goals is to be able to do my 110 in under 20 minutes.  I'm so going to make that happen.  I was also able to fit in a 2 mile run around the track during my lunch too. 

After school yesterday, I went to Fleet Feet and treated myself to a Sweaty Band.  They are super cute non slip bands that actually fit my head and don't fall off.  Check out http://www.sweatybands.com/ to see if you can find one to fit your style.  Afterwards, it was off to the gym for the third time in one day.  I mostly did strength and then thirty minutes on the run simulation machine.  Nutrition class was last night too, so I learned ways to cut back salt and fat from my diet. 

Hey, the day wasn't over yet, so after nutrition class I met Chelsea at the gym to climb another 110 stories on the stairmaster.  To say that I was wore out last night would be an understatement.  But I know that if I put in my time at the gym then results will show.  It will definitely be worth all the hard work when April 3 comes.  A few months ago, I would never have even dreamed of doing any of these things, let alone do it all in one day.  Such a vast improvement a few months can make.  Hope you all are living your dreams today!

Cheater, cheater, bagel eater

It pains me to say this, but for the first time since beginning the Biggest Winner back in early December, I actually cheated on the diet portion of my program.  I was struggling this morning since I did not get the usual amount of sleep I am used to the night before.  So when we had bagels in my first class this morning, I could not stop at just eating one.  By the end of the day, I had consumed four bagels.   So pitiful, but it was a learning experience.  I made up for it tonight with an hour on the stairmaster, a kickboxing class, and TRX training with Chris.  I beat myself up pretty bad about it, but if this is my first mistake in two months, then I'm doing pretty good.   Although I "fell off the horse", I hopped right back on and I'm not going to let this discourage me.

On another note, I have noticed that my body has adapted to all the changes I have undergone with a new diet and exercise program.  Yes, I have lost 37 pounds so far, but I am starting to hit a plateau since I have adapted to these changes.  So, beginning tomorrow, I will be starting a new exercise regimen to sort of "shock" my body and also adding a few new foods in.  I am going to start eating even more fruit throughout the day and see where this takes me.  Hopefully the scale will reflect the changes I make and we will see what happens.  Stay tuned.

Valentine's Day!

I hope all you readers had a very happy Valentine's Day.  I would consider this Valentine's Day my best one yet.  It began with a lovely outside walk with Chris for our life coach session.  Speaking of outside, the weather was beyond phenomenal yesterday!  Then I was off to endure an hour of hardwork with Chip.  By the time I left the gym, I was definitely hurting.  But the good kind of hurt, of course.  I weighed in yesterday, and to my surprise I was 197, which is a huge accomplishment. 

After an eventful morning, I picked up my good friend Yvonne's kids from school.  Their 10 year old son really loves fitness and being outside so I decided I would let him "coach" me.  So we headed up to the local football field to work on speed and agility.  He had me do cone drills, suicides, hill repeats, sprints, and I even backpedaled.  We did that for about an hour, then headed back to their house to jump on the trampoline and play some basketball.  Then, we took a huge tractor tire, and did squats to lift it up, then pushed it over.  This happened over and over and over.  I was wore out.  Just when I thought my Valentine's Day was over, their dad brought home festive balloons and chocolate covered strawberries for us.

Me with the infamous tractor tire.

Thank you, Uncle Nanc, for the chocolate covered strawberries.

After going home, my mother decided we should go walk the bike trail, so we headed back up to Yvonne's house to walk some more.  Momma, Yvonne and myself ended up doing almost 5 miles and it was dark outside by the time we were done.  I was in bed by 9:15 and slept til past 9 this morning. Needless to say, I was wore completely out.  The good news?  I had a perfect Valentine's Day and when I weighed myself this morning, I was a lovely 195.  Yeehaw.  Hope y'all found love on V-Day, but if not, you can always love yourself.

Hitting the road, but not by foot!

Friday morning, my dad and I left Townsend around 6 am to drive up to South Dakota to take my uncle a new truck.  I decided that since I was feeling awake, I'd take the first leg and drive first.  We made it to Nashville, Paducah, Mt. Vernon, and even up to St. Louis.  My uncle decided to just meet us about 200 miles north of St. Louis.  But I drove the whole way!  Go me!  I was a super good marathoner because I packed my own snacks, lunches, and dinners, but once we met up with my uncle, I was sabotaged.  My uncle lives in a town with 62 people in it.  Literally.   And the nearest Cracker Barrell (his favorite restaurant) is 312 miles away.   So his bright idea was to stop and eat there.  If Barbara Foster is reading this, please still love me.  As I browsed the menu, I could not find anything that looked remotely healthy.  So I settled on a sirloin minus the oil, marinade, and seasoning.  I could just feel myself getting fatter while eating it.  Horrible horrible!  After exchanging vehicles, my dad and me made the trip back to Townsend.  So after more than 1500 miles on the road in a day's time, I was wore out so sleep was definitely on my agenda of things to do. 

My uncle's wonderful license plate.

Hello, St. Louis.

Cannot wait til Monday, because I am the lucky gal who has 5 Valentines.  Count them, 1..2..3..4..5!  Yes, 5 Valentines.  Be jealous of me, please.  Anywho, Happy Saturday to y'all and keep up with your training.  Don't forget the marathon races price increase is Tuesday, so be sure to register before then to secure your spot to finish at the fifty.

Fit Test Day!!

Today is the day of all days because it was Fit Test day!  I have been looking forward to this for quite a while now so that I could look and see my progress.  I was so pumped from the get go today and me and Chip got down to business.  I'm not going to go into extreme detail about what all happened today, but I have definitely improved.  When I have my final Fit test, I will explain all the improvements I made so that it'll look a little better.  ;)   But I can spill that I have lost 20.25 inches since the beginning, so that is a huge huge improvement.  Today while I had a little break at school, I made a picture story out of highlighters and paper.  Enjoy. 

33 pounds lost so far :)

Displaying my happy face!  So pumped!

20.25 inches lost so far.  Go Kelsey!

I got taller!

Greetings blogreaders!  Today has been such a wonderful day, and it isn't even over yet.  I woke up super early today to run a few errands, then I was off to the gym for Manic Monday.  First stop was weighing in and I am proud to say that as of today, I am officially under 200 pounds.  Did you hear me?  UNDER 200 pounds.  It has been at least middle school since I was this weight.  I am so so so so so incredibly happy about this.  I have worked so hard for it and my work has paid off.

Next on the agenda was talking with the awesome Chris O'Hearn.  Today really showed off my progress and he was the second person to tell me today that I looked taller.  I guess my confidence is just soaring now, so I feel the need to stand up a little more.  It's so exciting.  Then, I got to tell Chip the big news since it was training day.  I also wore a new outfit to the gym today that my momma bought for me so that I can look as good as I feel.   I go in for a follow up FIT test tomorrow to see how much I have improved since this journey began. I absolutely cannot wait to see the results. 

Today was also my meeting with my wonderful dietician, Ms. Barbara.  She told me that I seem to be doing everything right, and to just keep up the good work.  We are still adding in new foods to the diet so I am excited about that too.  Oh, and I got another Bruce Pearl shoutout today!  Woo!

Black and Yellow!

Friday morning, I was blessed with the opportunity to visit the studios of WIVK and go on air with Andy and Allison, as well as be a guest on the Hallerin Hilton Hill show.  Such fun!  I had to practice talking slow leading up to that day because we all know I average about 1253 words per minute.  I thought I did pretty well considering how nervous I was.  Loving all these opportunities to talk about my Biggest Winner journey.  I kickboxed after that, and weighed in.  As of Friday, I have lost 30 pounds total.  Yay me!

Myself, Hallerin, and Missy Kane

Yesterday was our group training run so I bundled up in my rain gear to face the pouring rain that Knoxville had to offer.  I ended up turning around at the 3.5 mile marker so that I could get in 7 miles, but got a little lost on the way back, so I ended up doing 8.2 miles total (according to my Garmin).  After the run, it was Saturday morning kickboxing time so I got to go get my fight on!  Such fun!  The ladies in my kickboxing class are such sweethearts and we always have a fantastic time. 

Tonight is Super Bowl Sunday so I hope that all you readers are sporting your black and yellow for the Steelers!  Or, I at least hope you are enjoying the commercials. 

Manic Mondays and Turbulant Tuesdays

Monday has the potential to be renamed "Motivating Monday", because that's essentially what all my Mondays are.  This past Monday, I met with Chris O'Hearn to talk about my goals, and how to accomplish them.  I've discovered that seeing a life coach is way more emotional than I expected it to be, and a lot of tears are usually shed.  But that is a great thing because mental/emotional health is important in the weight loss journey too.  I'm slowly but surely starting to realize that I am fearfully and wonderfully made and that I am beautiful.  Yes, I have to tell myself that multiple times on a daily basis, but I'm starting to believe it and am starting to feel much better about myself. 

Chris O'Hearn, my super fab life coach.  Visit his website http://www.strongwithin.com/

Manic/Motivating Mondays also consist of Chip Gibson training sessions.  Every week, we try new things, and the more we do, the more I love it.  He had me do box jumps, which is basically just jumping vertically onto a square platform.  So much harder than it looks!  I did it though, and could not have felt more proud.  If you are bored with your work out, or just not motivated, I would highly recommend hiring a trainer.  It makes a huge difference and results are almost guarenteed to show.  Plus, it helps to have someone motivating you and there for you when you are going through such a rigorous process.

Speaking of results, yesterday was Turbulent Tuesday.  After a long day at school, I headed to the gym to play some basketball, but decided that I wanted to be measured instead.  So one of the trainers took my measurements and then compared them to the measurements I had the day I began this whole thing.  I've lost more than 17 inches on my arms, waist, hips, thighs, and calves.  Such progress!   Tuesday was also weigh in day at the Weight Managament Center.  I was a little shocked when I saw that I had gained 2.5 pounds, but I looked at my reciept and since last week's weigh in, I had lost 8 pounds of body fat and gained 10.5 pounds of fat free mass.  Let me repeat: 8 pounds of body fat!  In a week!  That in itself was so incredibly motivating and I wasn't so horrified about gaining a little weight.  My muscle mass has to come from somewhere. 

This week, I have vowed to try a new vegetable: asparagus.  Commentary coming soon.

Wake me up before you go-go!

Each year around Valentine's day, my church hosts a talent show starring the children of the church.  My outgoing self always gets picked to be the MC of the night.  However this year, I will be taking on a new role.  Ashley and I have decided to perform a dance to entertain the kids so we spent Sunday searching the internet for dance moves, and countless hours rehearsing to the old song "Wake Me Up Before You Go-go".  I am probably the worst example of graceful, but hopefully our mad dance skills will impress the youngins. It has yet to be polished, but it was a good cardio session. 

Think we can pull off those outfits?