Run a 5km race #ColourRun

There are two races I’ve always wanted to do.

One is a Disney Half (I’ll save that to do a few years.)The other was a Colour Run. A 5km race where you get powered paint thrown at you at different points, ending the race a colourful mess!

Then someone posted on twitter that they were planning to do one in London. I had to do it! As soon as registration opened, I signed up. And after trying to convince anyone I possibly could, finally, I got my brother and his girlfriend to agree to do it with me. I think both had a sense of doubt that it wouldn’t be as good as I had made it out to be (and at the end they agreed I was right.)

Fast forward to this afternoon, 31 degree heat, blazing sun, very little shade and standing in front of Wembley Stadium with thousands of others all dressed in  matching white shirts.

It took awhile for the race to start, we didn’t start moving for a half hour after the first people had gone and there were still people starting half an hour after us. The heat didn’t help and I do admit I walked a tiny bit but I finished in under 31 minutes so that’s not to bad.

But it was definitely an experience and one I would suggest you try at least once, especially if you like getting a bit messy. Running through the different colour zones and trying to get hit with as much colour as possible is not an everyday thing, but it is something I’d love to do again (maybe when it was less hot.)

Good luck to those people soon it in Manchester next weekend, it really is the happiest run ever

Nice and clean before the race

Afterwards: Me and my brothers girlfriend.

Here’s to the music #25beforeIm25

Finally, after a month I can cross another one off the list. #22 Go to a concert/ West end show.

I opted for the concert and it wasn’t just any concert. It was Michael Buble.

People seem to have a love/hate relationship with him. For me it’s definitely love. One of my sisters actually got me onto his music and since I started listening, he has been at the top of my list to go and see live.

London is sold out and people are reselling the tickets for £200 each, so that wasn’t really an option, so imagine how happy I was when I read a tweet saying that there was going to be a rehearsal show in Sheffield before he headed to London. I put the Boyfriend in charge of buying tickets and he did well (considering they sold out within an hour.)

So on Friday, straight after work, we headed into the traffic and slowly (very slowly) made our way to Motorpoint Arena in Sheffield. I bet it wouldn’t surprise you to hear that most of the people going were female, with a few boyfriends (much like mine) being dragged along.

I loved the show; he interacted with the audience, was very funny and played all his well-known songs. He even did a version of All you need is Love, that ended with red and white hearts raining down from the ceiling.

Before the show

Red and White hearts falling from the sky

Had to include a selfie of me and the Boyfriend

The  floor staff were very dedicated to making sure that there were no photos or filming happening, so unfortunately, any photos I did manage to take are either very blurry or very bright.

Given the chance I would love to go again so if anyone has a ticket they would be willing to sell, or an extra ticket and needs someone to go with, I’m in London a lot the next week (hint hint.)

I mean it when I say I am in London a lot this week. Headed in on Sunday night (after my 5km race!) I’m picking up my sister, brother and his girlfriend from the airport on Monday morning and then they are coming to stay with me for a few days. Also have a trial for a job on Monday so wish me luck. I’m headed down again on Wednesday and Thursday for some more Job trials, I’m really hoping one of them will work out. Also trying to fit in some flat viewings so it’s going to be very busy.

Jenna

Running 5k race (almost)

10 days to go till my first 5k race!!

I think back to a few months ago. March, lets say just to put a date on it. I started C25k. I struggled, there’s no other word for it and I was only running for a minute at a time. I couldn’t dream of doing running anything longer, and felt for sure I would give up long before I really started to get anywhere.

Fast forward 3 months and I know I can do it, in fact I know I can go even longer if I really wanted to!  I’m excited about next Sunday. It’s a race for life I’m doing because when I signed up I liked the fact that I could have walked if I felt tired. Now I feel there is no way I would do that. I would be cheating myself out of an achievement!

During the past 3 months I have had help. I signed up for a 5k runners course and I have found it to be really positive. The leaders have been motivating and it’s given me the confidence to run on the street rather then just a treadmill. I’ve really enjoyed it. It was week 8 this week and we did a 15 minute out and back today, a repeat of one we did in week 3. The goal was to beat your previous run and also beat the 15 minutes to get back to the start before 30 minutes are up.

I pushed myself tonight and not only did I surpass my old distance I did better on time as well. The best I have done yet

If only I had kept going just a tiny bit longer!

I know it’s not quite 5k but it’s so close how could I not count it!and in under 30minutes. No wonder I was dying at the end of it.

 

All I know is bring on next Sunday!!

 

Jenna

A WeightWatchers Victory

If this was my first week of weight watchers, I would be getting my first silver seven, instead I got this…

Yep, 50 lbs , well 54 pounds really since this week I lost 3 more pounds. I’m really glad since I had a really odd dream last night where I put on weight and everyone was really disappointed in me. That brings me to 8 pounds in just under a month. Pretty good I would say.

I am worried that I am going to grow complacent soon and lose motivation, but so far (apart from the odd day where I still question why I’m not eating a big piece of cake.)  My leader asked me today what is one thing that is keeping me motivated and on track to lose.     It was hard to pick just one really. I want to show people that I can do this, and I’m not always going to be the fat girl in the room. I want to be able to fit all those pretty dresses that I’ve seen in shops and not have to buy online to make sure I can get a big enough size. I want to know that I am healthy and that it isn’t a struggle for me to move because of how heavy I am.

The answer I did give was that I want to look back at photos of me on my travels and be proud of how I look. I was putting photos on Facebook last week, these photos started in January and went up till 3 weeks ago. I could see how much I had physically changed, and I couldn’t understand how I was happy looking like that. I know I probably wasn’t ecstatic  but I was okay with it at the time. I was almost embarrassed to put the photos up, but I did. I want to show how much I have changed and I want people to know that I am proud of what I am doing. I’ve gone from never wanting to talk about my weight to being able to confidently tell people how much I have lost.

I’m 1/4 way towards completing this goal, and so far the scales have been going the right way. We’ll just have to what next week brings.  Here’s to staying on plan and tracking it all in the upcoming week.

Jenna

From this in February …

…to this in May.
Yes I still have a while to go and no I don’t like normal photos

No one could say I haven’t tried

In the month since I have started this blog, I have tried to start working towards several things. It really doesn’t seem to be going my way.

On Wednesday night, I tried to donate blood. Me and the Boyfriend (who had been rather easily persuaded into joining me) turned up at the blood drive all ready to donate as much as they would take. I guess other people had the same idea, as we were turned away since they were to busy to take any more people. Remind me to book before the next one. Strike 1

Then this afternoon, after coming home from the gym, the Boyfriend helpfully asks if Gibraltar is actually a considered a real country. After consulting both Wikipedia and twitter (the 2 most useful sources of information) turns out it isn’t. Well there goes that one (unless of course someone wishes to inform me otherwise.) Strike 2

There is some good to come out of the second one. I think the Boyfriend feels guilty for imparting this fact AFTER we went on our trip, so was coming up with a list of countries we still had to visit. I feel a holiday coming up. Countries on the list include: Poland, Portugal, Malta, Czech Republic which means only one more to figure out. Let me know places you recommend.

I do realise that there are suppose to be 3 strikes, but I’m not ready to be out yet. I still have over 11 months to go and I will do this! Even if it does take longer then I thought in the beginning and next time I’ll do my research before I leave!

Jenna

My Weight Lose Journey

The past 6 months I’ve been on a journey. One where I try to lose weight and  hopefully change the way I feel and view myself.

It started in January…

I had just come back from visiting my family and attending a couple of weddings in New Zealand. While we were there, someone (who shall remain nameless) made an offhanded comment about how people must think that I’m pregnant a lot because I’m so big. The thing that struck me was the person that said it, said it in front of a large group and had no concern for how it would make me feel. I know I am fat, I don’t need other people to point it out to me. I was fat and unhappy and having someone point out just how fat I was, made me more unhappy which tended to mean I would eat (or drink) more and this  just meant an awful downwards spiral effect.

This comment, alongside the fact that my clothes were becoming rather snug, and I had to send back a XXL dress (that I was planning to wear to one of the weddings) because it was too small, made me decide to finally do something about my weight (rather the eating a family sized block of chocolate to drown my sorrows).  Fast forward to landing back in the UK and I began  investigating different weight loss groups, before finally deciding to give Weight Watchers a go.

The reordered dress

The hardest thing for me wasn’t the tracking or changing how much I ate, it was walking into that first meeting and saying I needed help to lose weight. I remember thinking that everybody there would be super skinny and judge me on how much I weighed, but it wasn’t like that. There were people of all shapes and sizes. Some, like me, beginning their own journeys and others who were further into it.

Since beginning, I have changed meetings but I’m so glad I did! I reached my 5% goal with my first leader and there was barely any sort of recognition. She stuck the sticker into my book and handed it back. Nothing mentioned about it at all (I only found out about the 5% certificate when I went to the new meeting and saw someone being given one and my new leader gladly gave me one.) My new leader celebrates every achievement big and small! Having a great leader keeps you motivated and I have found is such an important part of the journey. It’s the little things as well. She’s set up a Facebook group for her members where if you are feeling unmotivated or having a bad day, her or other members  will support you. (I don’t expect her to ever read this but Thank You!)

If I had to go back in time I would have joined sooner. The fear of entering the meeting that first time stopped me from joining quite a few times, but now I’m so glad I did. The amount of support I get from my leader and other members as well as the people I talk to on twitter is phenomenal. I would recommend anyone who is wanting to get support to lose weight try Weight Watchers. The freedom of choosing what you eat but having the portion sizes there is great. There is also the chance to gain extra points for activity in case I decide to have a night out, or an extra bar of chocolate.

I put lose two stones on my list because I know that there is a chance I might slip up and have  a bad week. If I do lose 2 stones, it means that I would be in the healthy range for my height which is something I would be proud of.  I have lost 49 and a half pounds all together on plan and next week will hopefully see me reach 50 pounds. With my leader,  I set myself small (and achievable) 5% goals. My next one is 30%. I know I still have a while to go before I get to goal weight but when I think of how far I have come, I know I can do it.

Total so far: 3 and a half  lbs/ 28 lbs

Only 24 and a half to go!

Once upon a time…

So every story has to start somewhere and this is where mine begins…

So I’ve decided to create a blog (finally!) It will be somewhere to record how much I accomplish off my list within the year, as well as other little things that I haven’t decided on yet.

In the past year I’ve lost over 3 stone and I know I still have progress to make but the decision to lose weight has impacted on other areas of my life including fitness and for the first time ever running a distance is something that I know I can do and want to do. This year, is about moving out of my comfort zone as much as possible and this list is a way of making sure that I do that. The 25 things that I put on the list are that I should be able to do within a year and things that I’ve always wanted to do but always had reasons not to do.

Without much further ado I present my 25 things I need to do before I turn 25:

1. Run 5k race
2. Run 10k
3. Skydive
4. Visit 5 new countries
5. Stay up till sunrise
6. Give blood
7. Start a blog
8.  Stand under a waterfall
9.  Sleep under the stars
10.  Spend a weekend away alone
11.  Do a European Festival (something I need to buy tickets for eg. Oktoberfest/ music festival)
12.  Start saving properly (have at least £3000 pounds at the end of the year)
13.  Visit Euro Disney
14.  Lose 2 more stone
15.  Go hiking
16.  Take a dance class
17.  Make a new Friend
18.  Take a cooking Class
19.  Try kite surfing/ Paddle boarding
20.  Get a tattoo
21.  Buy an outfit without looking at the price
22.  Go to a concert/ West end show
23.  Attempt to see the Northern Lights
24.  Take 6 photos of Ad and I (from this year) to turn into canvas
25.  Go to a fancy afternoon tea

For every goal I complete, I’ll put £50 into my savings and at the end of the year I’ll put in £100 for every incomplete goal. This should help me complete number 12 (or at least make a start on it.)

Some will be completed within the next few months (run 5k) and some will probably take most of the year but I’m going to try them all. In fact; I’m already able to cross number 7 off (Woohoo, go me!!) And I will try and keep this blog up-to-date as much as possible.

I’m headed off to Gibraltar tomorrow, so the next post won’t be till next week and I’ll get to update you on my progress towards number 4: Visit 5 new countries.

Till then Ciao

Jenna