March 31, 2013

Jerry did it!

I am LOVING all the sleepy cat pictures you all have been sending... I think Jerry is tired of me saying, "Oh, look at this one!" I'm so glad that I am making my kids pick the winner, because I could never choose.

Yesterday morning, I spent two hours working on my RRCA certification test. I was nervous about it, because you only get one shot to pass. It was actually harder than I expected it to be, because some of the questions were tricky. But I got this e-mail today:


Yay! I don't really have plans of *actually* coaching right now, but I like having some credibility when people ask me for running advice. Andrea said she'll be my guinea pig first client while we train for the Chicago Marathon, and I'm excited to write a training schedule for her.

During the night, at around 1:00 in the morning, Jerry and I were both sleeping. Then we both were startled out of sleep from a horrible alarm sound. I had no idea what it was, and I was so disoriented from being awakened so suddenly. I may have said some obscenities, and Jerry found the source of the alarms--there were TWO that sounded simultaneously. Our cell phones.

Apparently, we have some sort of setting on our phones that sounds an alarm when there is an Amber Alert in our area. I had no idea that this existed. It took me a good hour and a half to fall back asleep after that.

When I got up this morning, it was still pretty early, so I just laid in bed and thought about what to do with the Rockford Marathon--whether I should do it or not. I made a mental list:

Reasons to do it--I can give it my all, and see my potential for that distance; I can be there when my sister runs her first half-marathon.

Reasons NOT to do it--I hate running longer than 13 miles; training for a marathon isn't fun; I am more likely to get injured; my newly faster pace will probably slow significantly; I don't have extra money to throw around; I'm trying not to travel much without my family this year (which is why I'm not running the Indy half); I really don't care in the slightest what my marathon time is, so improving it is kind of pointless.

When I listed all that, it was pretty obvious what my choice should be. I'm not going to do it. I actually felt relieved when I decided that, which means I made the right decision.

Jerry had to work this morning, so we gave the kids their Easter "baskets" last night...
They wanted fitted Detroit Tigers hats (just like their daddy), so I used hats for baskets--it was hard to fit much in there, but we went easy on the candy, because they really don't need it. They got the hats, a DVD (Life of Pi and Wreck-It Ralph), a chocolate bunny filled with caramel, peeps, and some mini Cadbury Creme Eggs. They were really excited about the hats, so it was a good choice!

They dyed Easter eggs yesterday, and this morning I hid them around the living room, dining room, and kitchen. I counted them before I hid them, to make sure we found all the eggs--there were 21 total. When the kids got up, they had fun finding the eggs. We got down to the last few, and they were having a hard time finding them, so I did hotter/colder to help them.

Well, turns out I had no idea where the last two eggs were. We searched for 45 minutes!! I couldn't find them for the life of me, so they are somewhere in my house right now, just waiting to start rotting and stinking up the place. My house is pretty clean, so it's not like they are hidden amongst clutter--I have no idea what happened to them!

So now that Lent is over (I gave up sweetened nut butters), I got a new-to-me peanut butter to try.
I don't think I've ever come across a peanut butter that I didn't like... until now. This stuff tasted way too oily. Peanut Butter & Co. makes a Cinnamon Raisin peanut butter that is FANTASTIC, so I will stick with that one. I like the idea of the granola in the peanut butter, but the flavor of this just wasn't very good. They have a couple other flavors, but those didn't interest me (one of them has banana, and I'm not a banana + peanut butter person).

Giving up the sweetened nut butters for Lent was pretty tough at first, but I'm glad I did it. I got out of that bad habit of swiping a spoonful here and there and not counting it.

Saving some exciting news for last... Jerry reached his goal weight!!! He started losing weight a few months after I did, and his starting weight was (funnily enough) the same as mine--253. He got down to about 10 pounds above his goal weight, and stayed there for the past couple of years. A couple of months ago, he decided to join Weight Watchers, and focus on reaching his goal weight. And he DID!

In his before picture from 2009, he was 253; and now he's 172--so he's lost 81 pounds! Doesn't he look awesome? :)  I'm hoping he'll write a post about his point of view of this whole journey.

35 comments:

  1. i already saw his loss on Facebook - and said congrats- but I just wanted to say congrats again!!!! i hope he writes a post- that would be so inpiring for the hubbies out there! :-)

    -erika
    urthmama.com

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  2. Well, let me say congrats on the certification. And although I know what you mean by saying you have credibility now, I say you have more than earned that. I aspire to run the way you do. I starting running years ago and you have come much farther than I ever have because you've actually worked at it.
    And I definintely think Jerry should write a post. I think his point of view would be very interesting.

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  3. I LOVED your kids Easter baskets. I totally dialed it down for our 4.5 year old daughter this year and she didn't seem to mind at all. Congratulations to your husband - that is awesome!

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  4. congrats to jerry. tell him that he looks great.
    i hope you find those eggs soon.
    i hope you liked my cat photo, mine was the one with the cat sleeping on the ugly color car (copper). :)

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  5. Jerry should write a post!! That's so amazing that he made his goal. I'm doing Weight Watchers and have lost 90lbs and I have 15 more to reach my goal. You have been such an inspiration to me!!

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  6. He looks great!! It would be interesting to read a post on his point of view. I think for a guy it would be different. Good for Jerry! :)

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  7. Congrats to both you and Jerry!

    I wanted to try that nutbutter, but I am afraid I would eat all of it at once!

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  8. I was in Lansing last night staying with Eric and we were woken up by that same alarm. Scared the crap out of us! I read this morning that the child was found, so I was glad to hear that!

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  9. I have a friend that swears by the PB, but I don't like it either! I is gross, and I much prefer PB & Co.

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  10. What great role models your boys have! Way to go Jerry!

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  11. Congratulations to both you & Jerry! He looks fantastic & hope to hear more from him about his weight loss story. Also looking forward to reading more about what you might use your certification. :)

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  12. YAY JERRY!!! That is so exciting for your family! Gilmore Girls taught me the importance of an egg map! Then you won't have any stinky lost eggs!

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  13. You will have to update us on when you find the eggs.
    I was rudely startled.out of a good sleep by that alarm (also
    By two phones symo). Just the sound gave me an adrenaline rush.
    A one yr old was left in the running car while the mom paid for gas.
    A fool jumped in and drove away with the car not knowing the kid was inside.
    Babies are a great anti theft device. The fools almost always gladly surrender car
    And baby in this kind of situation.

    Cudos to you coach! You have so much to be proud of!!!
    And cudos to Jerry too! Your story just keeps.getting better!

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    Replies
    1. I was a little stunned that a woman would 1) bring her baby to a gas station at 1:00 AM, and 2) LEAVE THE BABY IN THE CAR while going inside. I'm so glad everything turned out okay, but it could have been a horrible ending!

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  14. A big congratulations to Jerry! I barely believe the before and after are the same person, well done!

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  15. Congrats Jerry!! You look great!

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  16. Yes, tell Jerry to write a post! May provide some inspiration for my husband and father to consider weight watchers!

    For the cat contest, I think you should do it bracket style a la NCAA. Just hold up two cat photos at a time for your boys to choose. Ooh, and then post the final bracket.

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  17. Stephanie from BelgiumApril 01, 2013

    Congratulations for your test, congratulations to Jerry for reaching his goal ! What a team you are :-)

    I was wondering if you'd consider doing running-coaching online, with a remuneration of course. I'm not at ease with the global offers proposed on the web and you'd much rather be accountable to you than some anonymous coach.

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    Replies
    1. I'm not sure that I would market myself that way (at least not for a while), but I'd be open to doing it occasionally!

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  18. Congratulations on your cerification! And also to Jerry!

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  19. Congratulations to you AND Jerry!!

    I actually loved the NUT-rition pbs! They also have a berry granola one with cranberries in it. Something different. I don't have crunchy pb in the house, since smooth is preferred, so I love the granola crunch in these. Chelsea likes it, too. To each his own...

    The Hobbit and The Hunger games were in my kids Easter baskets this year. can't wait to watch them BOTH again and again!

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  20. I know you've mentioned this before, but what program do you use to make those before and after photos? They're so neat!

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    Replies
    1. I just use a Photoshop-like program called Gimp. It took me a while to figure out how to do it, but I've gotten better at it. My side-by-side pics were getting stolen and used for ads, so I really like doing them this way instead, when I have time :)

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  21. Congrats to Jerry! My boyfriend isn't overweight, but his bad food choices are starting to creep up on him as he's getting older.. It would be great to hear Jerry's experience with all of this.

    Perhaps your cats rolled some of the eggs into a new spot? lol

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  22. Jerry looks amazing--congrats to him :).

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  23. Oh my gosh, he looks amazing! Way to go, Jerry!!

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  24. Congratulations on your certification and congrats to Jerry for getting to goal! I usually don't comment on your blog, but I am an avid reader. I've lost 137 and you've been a huge inspiration. I LOVE that you give the kids "stuff" for Easter instead of so much candy. I do that too. They don't need all that junk and they love the movies even more than the candy = )

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    Replies
    1. Wow, 137 pounds is AMAZING--congrats!!

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  25. First - Jerry looks great, that is an amazing accomplishment.

    Second - If you ever come to New York City, there is actually a Peanut Butter & Co sandwich shop. It's a little place, located downtown and popular with college students as business people alike because it's reasonable $$$ and good.

    The website is ilovepeanutbutter.com

    Barbara (from NY)

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  26. CONGRATULATIONS !!!! To you and Jerry ! : ) Fantastic work from both of you. Please do ask Jerry to do a "guest post" with all his details.

    Happiness... Lent it over : ) I gave up Nutella and made it .... had some on a bagel for breakfast yesterday and have managed to only have a little bit since.... hope I can hold this pace : )

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  27. LOL about the eggs.....part of the reason we use plastic ones now! No rotting! LOL!

    Congratulations to Jerry!!! He looks great!

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  28. Congratulations to Jerry! What a great accomplishment.

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  29. Congrats to Jerry and on your certification!

    I might've missed this from an earlier post: is there a reason you couldn't run the half marathon with your sister? It could be good practice at going at a new runner's pace before Chicago.

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  30. Congrats to you on your certification and to Jerry! You two are my couple inspiration - my fiance and I are trying to lose weight together and get healthy. :)

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