26.2

I love this number! Anyone who knows me really well, knows that I am NOT a runner. I can walk up to 4.5 mph, or so, but my knees have told me many times "STOP RUNNING!!!". So why 26.2? Well, my first triathlon number was 262. I thought that was pretty rad. The guy who marked me said "hey, lucky number, eh?". Take off hoser. Well today I have a new reason for liking the number 26.2: BODY FAT BABY!!!!!! Now, before you start to think "um, wow Ames. Great job...?", remember that I started out just over 29%, which means I have lost 3%!! That is fantastic! I have been a little cranky that I haven't lost any lbs (still at 192), but I will take the body fat ANY day!
And now I have to go to work. BYE!

Little Red...the update you've both been waiting for

Little Red was AWESOME!! I am already committed to do it next year. What a fun ride. I rode with Matt's sister Kaitlin, and My brother Jason's wife, Natalie. We had such a fun time. I burned around 5000 calories!! I don't know for sure, because I accidentally reset my watch when we were stopped for lunch. :( I was a sad girl. Anyway, it was a wonderful day. I am looking forward to racing hard next year (and then I will probably work on bringing another Johnson into the world) ;)
Here's an update on my fitness-ness. I have not lost anything. I have been working hard, but not lost a pound in a while. I started a "cleanse" that gave me severe abdominal cramps (no, not THOSE cramps!), and I decided that it was not worth it. I am looking into the blood type philosophies, to see if my body reacts well to it. I sure hope so!!
I haven't checked my body fat since April, so I am not sure if that has changed. I HAVE, however, lost a total of about 2 inches off my waist! I am not giving up! In fact, if anything I am going to work harder. I have been focusing a lot on weights, so now I am going to keep that up and add a LOT of cardio. I just want to fit into my clothes.
On that note, no picture updates yet. I have to be down a solid 10 lbs first.
Hope you are all doing well! Thanks for following!

St. George Triathlon

WOW!!! That was THE hardest thing I have done in a LONG time. In fact, at the moment I can't remember anything that would compare. They cancelled the swim, because it was too windy, and the kayaks couldn't even hold their position. They decided to replace the swim with another 5k! What?? I admit that I was not prepared to do this tri anyway, but when they added the extra 5k, I was a little worried. Well, we ran on sand. Yes, I said sand. I have had some slight knee problems anyway, but nothing a cho-pat strap couldn't handle. This course, however, trumped. I walked part of the first 5k because I decided that a good race time was not worth permanent damage. The bike course had a huge hill, which my bike was not the one for it. My bike is pretty old, and does not have the really super extra low gears for hills. I, along with many others, walked up. :( I reached the summit, and the rest of the ride was fine. Some 70 year old guy came up behind me yelling "Come on pink fuel belt! You can do it!" He made comments like that to everyone that he rode by. "Hey green shorts! Let's go!", "Hey there black sweat band! Keep going!". It was awesome. He totally motivated me. Thanks cute old guy!!

Anywho, toward the end of my ride I had finally caught up the the 12 year old girl that was in my heat. She was adorable! She was telling me how she had 2 babysitting jobs later that day. Ahh, to be 12 again. We rode in together, but then she smoked me on the run. I ended up walking the last 5k (again, the knees). I sprinted across the finish line, because some woman yelled "finish strong!!". Ok!...and then...well, I couldn't breath. My knees are still hurting, but getting better. I am really excited, and slightly nervous for Little Red on June 6th. Natalie and I are going riding this weekend! Can't wait! And yes, I do know that I am crazy!

I have been a little slacker!

This week has been crazy!! Would you believe it if I said I haven't gone to the gym once?? Oh boy. But you know, I'm ok with it for THIS WEEK ONLY. It's finals and I have so much to do that I just don't have time to use 1-1.5 hours at the gym. I must study, write papers, etc. It's been crazy, and I'm barely hanging on to my sanity by a thread, but it's almost over. I have one more BIG final on Monday, then another on Thursday that I am not so worried about. I am going to spend the entire day today reading a book about Deafness and the Law. Maybe I'll hop on the bike at the gym and do it...that's a great idea!! I'm a genius. Then maybe next week, if I am not curled up in a corner, I will clean my house. It's funny, I don't know why this semester's finals have been so stressful, but it sure has taken its toll. It will be nice to look forward to my triathlon, and then Little Red. I am taking classes over the summer, but it should be a little smoother. Right?
Her's a shout out to Devon. Yesterday she told me I looked like I was "doing great/looking great". I could kiss you for that. And to my client who asked me yesterday if I was pregnant, then when I said no they asked if it was just fat on my stomach---I might kill you in the night. :) Devon loves me. lol!
Oh, a few cool updates: I finally bought clips for my cycling shoes, and I had the brakes on my bike tuned up, so I am READY to go! As soon as the rain stops, I will be rockin' that bike! Who wants to join me?
15% body fat or bust!

I just burned 1041 calories. I feel better.

Feelin the burn...why am I still feelin the fat??

Today was not a good day for my ego. Nothing fit, nothing looked good, and I have gained a total of 2 lbs in the past 2 weeks. WHAT?? I have been working hard, eating well/within my calorie limit, and working with a trainer. Why am I not losing anything? I understand that after a while, the pounds come off a little slower, but I'm in the first few weeks of this. Grrrrrrrrr. I'm not gonna lie, I am pretty irritated. Not discouraged, not depressed, not mad at myself for not working harder (I guess I can always work harder). I am irritated. And I'm not losing inches either. My trainer has me lifting 30 min 3x/week with 30 min cardio after, plus an extra 2-3x/week doing 1 hour of cardio. I think I am going to up the cardio by 30 min everyday and see what happens. I have to burn more calories. I don't want to get out of control with this, but dangit, I WANT RESULTS!!
Anyway, I weighed in this morning at 190.4. I didn't want to ge back to the 90's EVER (and lets be honest, who would anyway--big bangs...really??) I need to set up a better menu plan. Right now I am just working on making healthy choices throughout the day. I have been doing really good so far. If I eat something that I shouldn't, I make sure that I only eat a little, and I don't exceed my calorie limit for the day. I have really cut back on the Diet Coke intake too. I limited myself to $1 per day to spend on soda (that was part of my agreement with myself to get a trainer) I have done really well with that. On Saturday I started my plan to cut out the caffeine. I bought fresca and lite lemonade instead. I was pretty sad to find that the lemonade has aspartame, which is part of the reason why I wanted to ditch diet soda. Oh well. One less option. No biggie. I'm drinking a lot of water in an effort to not want to drink so much soda. It's working well!
Ok, well enough rambling. I have to go to the gym. Here's to the treadmill...and the stair stepper...and the eliptical...and to 15% body fat.
OH!! 2 more things. I am doing the St George Triathlon on May 9th, and "Little Red" is 7 1/2 weeks away!! Yee haw!

Almost done with week 2

Ok, so this week has been great with my workouts. I went to a spin class on Saturday morning that kicked my butt!! I'm glad they let me "take it easy" for my first day. I am staying in my "fat burning" heart rate zone, trusting that Polar really does know what they are talking about. (except for that spin class...yikes! That one worked my cardio endurance) I was told to "trust the science behind the watch", so I am.
I must admit that this week has been a little rough in regards to my food intake. My first week I was really good about eating proper portions and often throughout the day, but this week...eh not so much. Friday was especially bad. I has this super healthy pita thing for lunch, but I just ate SO much. Oh, and it was my breakfast too-I finally got to eat at like 11 am. It was 3 servings of meat, and I ate the whole dang thing. I was really glad that I felt sick afterward. That'll teach me-until dinner anyway. Every year, Matt's Grandpa takes all his kids and grandkids to dinner. Last Friday we went to Los Hermanos. It was so yummy! I got shrimp fajitas, which were delicious. The only problem was all the tortilla chips I ate while waiting for my food. I was so so hungry when I got there, then they had to prepare food for like 20 people, plus I am mildly allergic to wheat, so you do the math. Again, I was stuffed (to the rafters!). So in the end I ate 2 very large meals, a few small snacks, and tortilla chips. Oh boy. The beginning of the week was better. Tomorrow's weigh-in might not give me the results I want, so to that I say "THIS WEEK IS GONNA ROCK!!!"
This Friday will be my first session with my personal trainer. I am really excited to start working with her...she's gonna kill me! :)
9 weeks til the "Little Red Riding Hood" race. Yeah baby! I signed up today for the St. George Triathlon on May 9th. I can't wait!!
Ok, I'm tired and going to bed. Oh, and I just re-arranged my living room. Just thought I'd throw that in there. Thanks all for your support. Muchos besos.