I almost decided to avoid weighing in today. I knew I would have to weigh in here at home because I couldn’t make it to my Weight Watchers meeting. I didn’t weigh in last Sunday either though, so I figured I might as well face the ugly truth. It was definitely ugly – up 5.6 pounds.

The reason for the big gain had nothing to do with not staying on track with my eating, fortunately. It had everything to do with medication this time. My body is notorious for retaining fluids when I’m on medications, and it certainly didn’t disappoint this time either. I knew it was going to be bad before I ever set foot on my scale because my poor fingers have looked like overstuffed sausages for the past several days.

Why am I on medication? Well, last Friday evening, May 14, I started experiencing severe lower back pain that was also shooting down my right leg. From past experience, I had a feeling my sciatica was once again rearing its ugly head. This was confirmed by my G.P. on Tuesday. He prescribed muscle relaxers, pain medication, and stretching exercises. He said if it wasn’t feeling better soon that he would refer me to a chiropractor.

Fast forward to today, I’m still in pain. I’ve been to one visit already with the chiropractor and will be seeing him again tomorrow. He wants me to come in three times per week for the next couple of weeks to get me out of crisis, and then I can drop down to once per week until things get back to normal. Of course, both my G.P. and the chiro gave me the lecture about how losing weight and strengthening my core will help alleviate most of my back issues. Recognizing how I was basically free of back issues when I was at my lowest weight six years ago, I have to admit that I know they’re right.

As if that weren’t motivation enough to keep myself on track, I read this blog post this afternoon. Talk about some motivation to get the weight off … WOW! I spent some time reading some of the other posts on the Share It Fitness blog. It’s definitely a good read, so I’ve added it to my Google Reader account.

I’m still not sure what effect my back issues are going to have on my half marathon in two weeks. At this point, I can’t even imagine trying to walk 13.1 hours (or four hours, whichever comes first) since I can’t walk more than a few feet right now without pain. I’m just trying to stay positive and hope to go out and walk however far I can that day.

Along that line, I’ve really been battling with beating myself up over the whole situation. There is a big part of me that feels like I’ll be letting down all of my friends who have donated so generously to my efforts. The competitive side of me also feels like a bit of a failure at the thought of possibly not being able to do the event. I keep trying to remind myself that this was all about raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and has NOTHING to do with me actually finishing a race, but it easy to lose focus of that at times. I’m just really thankful right now that I have friends and my fellow Team Shrinking Jeans teammates who remind me of that fact when I start feeling down on myself. You guys rock!

Oh, and speaking of Team Shrinking Jeans, with the help of all our friends, families, and generous donors, we’ve raised $41,566 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society! There’s still time to help out this wonderful cause by clicking on the Team Shrinking Jeans link above and making a donation. We’ve already exceeded our goal, but every dollar goes that much farther in helping find a cure. Thanks!!

Until next time …

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The reality has finally arrived. It’s time to start training for the Rock ‘n Roll San Diego half marathon in which I’ll be participating on Sunday, June 6.

Today was the kickoff meeting for the local Team in Training (TNT) group with which I’ll be training for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). Even though the rest of Team Shrinking Jeans will be doing the VTNT (Virtual Team in Training) program, I’m actually training with the local group here in southern California since there is one available.

So, this week I’ll be doing three training walks. If this were a normal training week, I would be four training walks. However, since I’m participating in the Surf City 5k next Sunday, the coach recommended that I not participate in the group training on Saturday. I’ll still head down to meet up with the team and take part in the training clinic they will be presenting.

Now, you may be asking yourself, “What on earth is this woman thinking by signing up for a half marathon?!” Well, it’s actually a couple of things. As I mentioned earlier, I’m doing this event with several other ladies from the online community Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans. I love the idea of us all training together for this event even though we are spread out all across the country. It’s going to be so great meeting all of them on race weekend!

The second reason, which is more important to me personally, is the fact that this past year marked the 20th anniversary of my dad being in remission from Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL). I remember all too well the pain & struggles he went through during his courses of chemo. Not only would I never want him to have to go through that again, but I hope for the day when NO ONE has to hear their doctor utter the word “cancer” to them as a diagnosis.

How does LLS help in this cause? When LLS was founded in 1949, the survival rate of children diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) was less than 3%. But with today’s advancements funded through organizations like LLS, the survival rate (PDF) has increased to nearly 90%! But the battle is still not won. Every four minutes, another person is diagnosed with a blood cancer. Sadder still, every ten minutes, someone dies.

Since it’s inception, LLS has invested over $680 million in the fight against blood cancers, with more than $69 million of that being invested in fiscal year 2009 alone! I’m excited to work with TNT because 75% of the funds spent by LLS go directly to fund research, patient services, and education programs.

Now I know you may be thinking that I’ve lost my mind (which may very well be true ), but my challenge of walking 13.1 miles is NOTHING compared to the daily challenges of those dealing with leukemia or other types of cancer. Won’t you please join me in this fight by contributing to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society? If you would prefer to donate by check rather than online, just drop me an email and I can provide information on how to donate via snail mail. Also, please remember that all donations are tax-deductible, too.

Even though the race isn’t until June, my goal is to have as much of my fundraising as possible completed by March 1st. By doing that, I can then focus all of my attention on training to prepare for my half marathon rather than having to divide my attention between training and fundraising. I will be doing the physical part, but I ask for your generous financial support and encouragement for this endeavor. Every little bit counts, and together we can all make a big difference in the lives of so many.

I know most of you who read this blog are friends of mine from the online stitching community. We all know that we have far more stash than we’ll ever know what do to with in a lifetime. I want to challenge each of you to please donate (at least) an amount equal to the cost of a chart & fibers. Stitch from your stash this month, and instead put that money toward a good cause in helping find a cure for people with these cancers, especially the young children battling leukemia.

I’ve also been blessed over the past several years of blogging to have received many wonderful birthday presents from my fellow stitchers. As you may be aware, my birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks (Feb. 17). This year, I want to ask all of you to instead make a donation as a birthday gift to me.

So, now that I’ve thrown out these challenges to you, here’s a little added incentive. For all donations received between January 31 and February 17 of at least $25, I will draw the name of one (1) winner to receive a $50 gift card/gift certificate to either Amazon, the online stitching shop of their choice, or, if they prefer, I will donate the $50 back to TNT to go toward the cause. The winner will be announced on Thursday, February 18.

Until next time …

Write a quick comment

The reality has finally arrived. It’s time to start training for the Rock ‘n Roll San Diego half marathon in which I’ll be participating on Sunday, June 6.

Today was the kickoff meeting for the local Team in Training (TNT) group with which I’ll be training for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). Even though the rest of Team Shrinking Jeans will be doing the VTNT (Virtual Team in Training) program, I’m actually training with the local group here in southern California since there is one available.

So, this week I’ll be doing three training walks. If this were a normal training week, I would be four training walks. However, since I’m participating in the Surf City 5k next Sunday, the coach recommended that I not participate in the group training on Saturday. I’ll still head down to meet up with the team and take part in the training clinic they will be presenting.

Now, you may be asking yourself, “What on earth is this woman thinking by signing up for a half marathon?!” Well, it’s actually a couple of things. As I mentioned earlier, I’m doing this event with several other ladies from the online community Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans. I love the idea of us all training together for this event even though we are spread out all across the country. It’s going to be so great meeting all of them on race weekend!

The second reason, which is more important to me personally, is the fact that this past year marked the 20th anniversary of my dad being in remission from Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL). I remember all too well the pain & struggles he went through during his courses of chemo. Not only would I never want him to have to go through that again, but I hope for the day when NO ONE has to hear their doctor utter the word “cancer” to them as a diagnosis.

How does LLS help in this cause? When LLS was founded in 1949, the survival rate of children diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) was less than 3%. But with today’s advancements funded through organizations like LLS, the survival rate (PDF) has increased to nearly 90%! But the battle is still not won. Every four minutes, another person is diagnosed with a blood cancer. Sadder still, every ten minutes, someone dies.

Since it’s inception, LLS has invested over $680 million in the fight against blood cancers, with more than $69 million of that being invested in fiscal year 2009 alone! I’m excited to work with TNT because 75% of the funds spent by LLS go directly to fund research, patient services, and education programs.

Now I know you may be thinking that I’ve lost my mind (which may very well be true ), but my challenge of walking 13.1 miles is NOTHING compared to the daily challenges of those dealing with leukemia or other types of cancer. Won’t you please join me in this fight by contributing to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society? If you would prefer to donate by check rather than online, just drop me an email and I can provide information on how to donate via snail mail. Also, please remember that all donations are tax-deductible, too.

Even though the race isn’t until June, my goal is to have as much of my fundraising as possible completed by March 1st. By doing that, I can then focus all of my attention on training to prepare for my half marathon rather than having to divide my attention between training and fundraising. I will be doing the physical part, but I ask for your generous financial support and encouragement for this endeavor. Every little bit counts, and together we can all make a big difference in the lives of so many.

I’ve also been blessed over the past several years of blogging to have received many wonderful birthday presents from my friends. As you may be aware, my birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks (Feb. 17). This year, I want to ask all of you to instead make a donation as a birthday gift to me.

So, now that I’ve thrown out this challenge to you, here’s a little added incentive. For all donations received between January 31 and February 17 of at least $25, I will draw the name of one (1) winner to receive a $50 gift card to Amazon, or, if they prefer, I will also donate that $50 back to TNT to go toward the cause. The winner will be announced on Thursday, February 18.

Until next time …

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