The big winner

I found out yesterday that I won the Low Car Diet challenge. I am so excited and can't believe that I won :) It just shows that hard work and dedication sure do pay off. The big prize I won is a folding bicycle that unfortunately I am too short to ride. I tried twice! I think that I am going to sell the bike on Craigs List and use the money to buy a bike that I can actually ride. I also won $100 to Berry Chill, $100 to zip car, a free yoga outfit and mat from Lululemon, $50 to lettuce entertain you, another free month at Equinox and a free spa treatment at J. Gordon Salon. It amazes me how this experience that has changed my life has also given me so many fantastic prizes! They told me yesterday that my blogs actually broke the website one day because I wrote so much. That isn't quite surprising seeing as I always have a lot to say. I think that blogging is one of the things that helped me win and I plan on keeping it up.

I am excited to continue at Equinox for another month and hopefully I am able to continue with my current level of dedication to the gym. I think one of the things that will keep me motivated is the Bucktown 5k in 7 weeks. I signed up for it and hope to achieve my goal of completing it in under 45 minutes.

Speaking of running, it is time for me to go to the gym.

The end, but really just the beginning

Today is the final party. My 30 days are up and the challenge is over. I can't imagine how quickly the month passed. A lot has changed these past 30 days. I now spend at least 3 but usually 5 days in the gym and am starting to enjoy it a little more. I also truly think about what I am eating before I put it in my mouth and most of the time have been making smarter choices. I feel like a different person! I am so proud of myself for actually completing everything I said I was going to. Initially I wanted to lost 14 pounds which did not happen. Though the scale did go down, which is all that really matters. I have noticed that I am sleeping much better and have more energy during the day. I feel great!

I took today off of work because there is a party for us starting at 2pm at a bar in the West Loop. I am curious what is going to happen and if they are going to announce a winner of the contest. My plan is to do some laundry, clean my place and run before the party. It seems like a lot, but I think I can get it all done.

I haven't decided what I am going to do now that all my free memberships are up. I plan on joining a gym and would love for it to be Equinox, but I don't know if that is going to be possible. No matter what I am going to continue with the life changes and keep up the blog. I found that writing about what I am doing makes doing everything easier :)

xoxo

I HATE RUNNING

I feel the need to make it clear. I HATE RUNNING! I don't understand those people who love running, its like people who love brussel sprouts. It just doesn't make sense! I don't love vegetables, but I sure do love Pepperoni Pizza or French Fries, you get the point. I would much rather be sitting on the couch, eating the aforementioned pizza while watching crappy reality TV. With that being said, I LOVE the feeling I get after running. I feel great and re-energized. I also love that I know I don't have to do it again for at least 24 hours. What started me running is that I decided to try and run a 5k. I downloaded some podcasts called couch to 5k and I listen to then while running. So far I am on week 2 of 9 and can't imagine running a 5k in 8 weeks, but I guess I will have to wait and see.

The spray tan I got is fading nicely. I was worried that I would look strange as it fades. The only problem areas I have are behind my knees and under my arms because I am not as good about exfoliating those areas. I was them but I must not scrub hard enough. I learned from this tan and will do better the next time. I think that I am going to schedule my second tan for this week Wednesday so I am tan for the final Low Car Diet Friday.

I can't believe that my 4 weeks is up on Friday. The time has sure flow by quickly. I am proud of myself for sticking with the workout for 4 weeks. I have not been as vigilant with the diet, but that is something I am going to be working on the coming weeks. I hope to sign up for a membership at Equinox but I will see after the LCD ends Friday.

I will keep you all posted as I plow through this last week. I hope to make this week my best one yet!

me....tan....no way!

So it has been quite a while since I last posted. This week has proven to be busy for me which means that I haven't been hitting the gym as much as I should be. For the first two weeks of this adventure I was lucky because I didn't have any commitments after work and was able to go straight to the gym. This week I have had something every single night, except yesterday.

Yesterday after work I got my Berry Chill and grabbed the 36 Broadway bus up to the Equinox in Lincoln Park. The plan was to work out and then get my 1st of 2 Ortanic spray tans. I left myself plenty of time to exercise and shower off my stench before the tan. I hit the treadmill and did some interval training. My goal is to be able to run the Bucktown 5K in October so I have been trying to increase the amount of running I am able to do at one time. Yesterday I did my best yet! Hopefully I will be able to run a solid mile straight before the end of August. I am almost there :)

The spray tan was a new experience for me, but one I can't wait to do again. The spa at Equinox is beautiful and is where they do the tanning. The tan is actually airbrushed on by a person. I was worried that I would feel uncomfortable about someone seeing so much of my body (I had a tankini on, but pulled up the top so my stomach could get tanned) and being so up close and personal with me. The girl who did the tan made me feel extremely comfortable and it also helped that the two ladies before me were bigger than me :) The girl who tanned me warned me that I was going to turn quite dark over night but that most of the color would wash off in the shower and leave me with a healthy glow. When I woke up this morning and looked in the mirror I was extremely shocked. I looked like I had become another race over night! She was right that it washed off in the shower because the water coming off me this morning was brown. I now look like I went away and came home with healthy color. Everyone at work today could not believe how natural it looked. People who I haven't seen in a while came up to me and asked if I had been on vacation. I have one more tan to use and can't wait to use it!

Today I had a meeting after work and was not able to go to the gym, but I will be back in full force tomorrow. Hopefully I can run even further!

XOXO