Yet Another Weight Loss Blog

Is this thing on?

2010-07-27T05:20:00.001-07:00

Um, hey. It's been awhile. A long while, I know. I don't know if anyone out there is still reading (not that there has been anything to read) but let me know if you are!

Sorry I've been gone for so long. I tend to be a kind-of obsessive person. When I'm working on something, I think about it constantly. With this whole trying to get pregnant thing, I haven't focused much on blogging. And unfortunately, I haven't focused much on working out either. It's kind of silly, because being healthy will certainly make a pregnancy easier. I know that, but it can be hard to draw motivation from that alone.

So, I've decided to give myself something to work towards, since I know how motivating a goal is for me. I'm starting to train for another half-marathon. It's in early November, so I have plenty of time to train for it. For the next couple of weeks, I'm easing myself into working out again. Then I'll start the good 'ole Hal Higdon training program, with some modifications since I have a little more time.

I'm going to try to post more frequently to keep myself accountable. So, here we go!

Monday Goals

2010-04-26T06:08:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday morning everyone! I hope you all had great weekends! I did. :)

I had a very "all about Nate" weekend, including play dates on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Our Saturday play date was in downtown Raleigh, so we went from there to the State Farmer's Market. It is a huge market with tons of vendors. It seems like you could find anything you want there. In the spring and summer, we try to visit the Farmer's Market frequently. We love supporting our local farmers and getting the freshest food we can buy. It's also really affordable. I was able to pick up some chicken, beef and some strawberries, asparagus and kale. Mmmm, we are eating good this week!

I'd like to try to do a post each Monday, outlining my goals for the week. I hope that putting my goals in writing will help me to stay focused. This week, I plan to:

Go to the gym 5 days
Eat less sugary treats, and focus on fruit when I'm craving sweets
Drink lots of water
Start wearing my pedometer again, and tracking my steps daily

What are your goals for the week?

Seeking balance

2010-04-19T08:04:00.000-07:00

A blog I really enjoy reading is Balance for Mere. She talks about her fitness goals, but also about other parts of her life. She is focused on finding balance in all aspects of her life.

Finding balance is something that I desperately need to work on. I tend to obsess over one or two big things in my life and then let other things fall by the wayside. I don't want to do that; it just happens. When my goal was to lose weight, I stayed very focused and lost the weight I wanted to lose. When I decided to train for the half-marathon, I stuck to my training schedule and completed the race. And now that we're trying to get pregnant again and we're planning to sell our house soon... well those are two things that are very easy to obsess over. I swear I could spend days starting at fertility charts and looking at houses on realtor.com.

Unfortunately, obsessing over things like trying to get pregnant and selling a house doesn't make it happen any sooner. And as much fun as it is to chat online with other women who are trying to get pregnant and to hunt for our dream house, it's really not that productive. My time would be better spent taking good care of myself and my house. Then when I do get pregnant, my body will be in the best shape possible to help a little baby grow. And when we do put our house on the market, we will feel good about what we have to offer buyers in our area.

So, I am seeking balance. I want to find a way to make exercise a part of my life without having it become the focus of my life. The same goes with trying to get pregnant and selling our house... I want to work on those things of course, but I don't want to lose sight of everything else in my life!

I am not really sure how to change my mindset to make this possible. I do know that I'm going to try to take a break from the message boards I visit. I love them and I care about the women on the boards, but the boards really make me obsess more! I'm also reading more, which forces me to take my mind off of other things. I'm considering finding a race to sign up for, so that I have a race to train for. I don't want to obsess over training, but if I do a 5k or an 8k it wouldn't require much.

Do you struggle with finding a balance in your life? If not, how please let me know how you do it! If you do struggle with it, do you have any tips to share?

I did it!

2010-04-15T09:41:00.000-07:00

I had a rough morning, but I made it to the gym. I didn't want to go. I was very tired, and so tempted to come home and grab a nap before work. But I had said I was going to go, and I didn't want to come back here and tell you guys that I already missed a workout.

So I went! It felt good to walk through the front door. It felt great to get on a treadmill. And it felt amazing to have a good cardio workout. I decided not to do any strength training today or tomorrow. I'm just going to enjoy some cardio and start with weights again next week. I have to get back in the habit of exercising again. I always enjoy it when I go, so I need to stick with it.

Confession

2010-04-14T11:32:00.000-07:00

I don't remember the last time I worked out. It's true. I've been monumentally unmotivated to workout recently.

I think part of the reason is because I wasn't gaining any weight. It felt kind of awesome to be all relaxed about my eating and not to gain weight. I think I have probably gained a few pounds now (I haven't weighed myself either), but not enough to make it so that my clothes don't fit. But, is that what I want? What am I waiting for? To gain 20 pounds and do it all over again? That's just ridiculous.

The truth is that I have lost focus for one main reason. I wouldn't normally share this on the web, but I think it's important. We're trying to have another baby. Hurrah! Now don't go mentioning this on Facebook or in front of my mom, if you know her. It's hush-hush. Just between you and me, okay? Oh, and Erik knows too. And my sister. And a bunch of internet people who know me by various screen names. But that's it. So basically, let's just keep my parents and Erik's parents in the dark.

Anyway, for some reason it's like I can only focus on a few areas of my life at once. In addition to the hopes to add to our family, we're also hoping to sell our house soon. We're trying to clean and declutter, and of course we're having fun looking at houses in our area (even though it's kind of silly without our house on the market yet).

Somehow, I feel like I am focusing so much on these other things that working out doesn't fit into my life anymore. But that's dumb. I still have time in the morning to workout if I want to. All I have to do is drop my son off at daycare and drive to the gym. Simple, right?

Why is it so hard to go back to working out after a hiatus? I really think it's kind of like the "walk of shame" of college days. You have to walk back into the gym, looking chubbier than before, not able to run as fast or lift as much, and it's embarrassing.

So, here's my promise to you. I will not wait until Monday. I will go to the gym tomorrow. Thursday. And then I'll report back. I'll try to post more often, read and comment on your blogs more often, etc, etc, etc. Because no matter where our trying to get pregnant journey leads us, I want to be healthy for it. And I'm pretty sure I'm going to need your support along the way.

Hey, it's me!

2010-03-11T04:28:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! It's me! Remember me? I have been one sporadic blogger for months. Sorry about that. I'd like to make promises that I'll post more frequently, but I'm not sure if that's true. Somehow I am just not finding the time for it and I'd rather not feel bad if I don't get to it. Like Mary Poppins says, "That's a pie crust promise. Easily made, easily broken." I majorly love Mary Poppins.

I have not been working out much recently. And my "not much" I pretty much mean not at all. I want to, I really do. But I just haven't. However, I do plan to change that soon. I miss working out, and I especially miss running. We're starting to have much nicer weather here, so I'm hoping to get some outdoor runs in soon.

My diet has been okay. Not bad, but not great. We have been making a lot of dietary changes in our house for the past couple of months. We've been moving to more organic foods and meat that is either organic or at least hormone free and antibiotic free. We're cutting out all high fructose corn syrup. We've stopped using artificial sweeteners. It's been a really interesting change and I think that all 3 of us would say it's been a huge change for the better. I want to come back and write more about that later.

One really, super-de-duper important thing though! If you look over there ----> you will see a new blog on my blog roll. It's this one: (Fit and Mean -Leigh's 30 day shred). That's my sister's blog. Things you should know about my sister: 1. She's a great writer. So you should read her blog. 2. She's pretty new to this whole diet and exercise thing. So you should read her blog & leave comments & support her. 3. She's really cute. So you should read her blog and maybe one day she'll post a picture of her cute self. 4. She's my best friend. So read her blog and it will make me really happy.

Seriously though.... read her blog. You won't regret it. And if you read her blog, she'll read yours and I'm sure that reading other awesome blogs from women who have great ideas about diet and fitness will be really inspiring to her, as it has been to me.

A new attitude

2010-02-09T07:18:00.000-08:00

Sorry to be a delinquent poster. I have so many ideas for blog posts, but I have a hard time finding the time to write them. I think of things when I'm grocery shopping, running on the treadmill, making dinner, and reading message boards, but somehow I never get around to actually getting the ideas into words and putting those words out there for you guys to read.

One thing I have been thinking about consistently is having a new attitude. I am making a lot of changes in my life these days, and one major change is related to my attitude. Specifically, my attitude about food and exercise.

In the past, whenever I've been working towards a goal of losing weight, getting into shape, or reaching a fitness goal (like running the half-marathon), I've been very hard core about the goal. I push myself hard. I try to work-out 5-6 days per week. I get frustrated if I miss a day. I get frustrated if I drink a glass of wine or eat dessert. Basically, I expect "perfection."

I admit that I like to do things well. Even though I partied a lot and had fun in high school and college, I also made really good grades. I studied for every test. I worked hard on every paper. And I tend to take the same attitude when it comes to working out (and unfortunately, with most other aspects of my life).

It's all well and good to get on the internet and spout all sorts of hard-core talk to get yourself and others motivated. Maybe the fact is that nobody wants to read a blog where someone says, "hey, eat dessert sometimes" or "take the day off and don't worry about it." Maybe people like to be told that you have to work your ass off all the time and if you don't, then you can't expect results. Or maybe if you aren't kicking ass and taking names, you should feel guilty about it. Why even do a half-assed workout? Isn't that what Jillian Michaels says? Don't phone it in! What's the point of even trying if you're not going to go all out?

And you know what? Thinking like that can drag a person down. Each negative thought like that ("Don't phone it in!") is like a chain that will weigh you down and drown you, if you let it. I suppose it can be cutesy and it can be motivating to push yourself a bit harder. It certainly doesn't hurt to dig deep down and muster up a bit more energy to push through the end of a workout. But, on the other hand, not every workout has to be an ass kicking. There is value to all exercise. And in the same line of thinking, not every single day has to be 100% dead-on in the diet department. Have some freaking ice cream! We only have one life to live, and I don't want mine to be without ice cream. If there's not room in a diet for desserts every now and then, we need to re-evaluate our priorities.

So I've been changing my perspective recently. My goal is still to get to the gym each day, Monday through Friday. But I am being kinder to myself when I don't go. If I don't go to the gym, it's not because I'm lazy. Maybe I just need a little more rest or some quiet time to myself before work. I still want to run at least 3 miles when I run, but if I don't feel like finishing it, that's okay too. What really matters is that I am getting some cardio in.

I'm also going to skip races for awhile. I don't want that pressure on me. I could sign up for some 5ks, since that's the distance I regularly run, but I think I'd rather spend my Saturdays with my family right now and spend the registration fees on something fun for me or my son.

I am at a great weight, and when I look in the mirror, I'm happy with what I see. I'll admit that I check myself out in the mirror at the gym (frequently!) and I think I look pretty damn good. Yeah, maybe I could push really hard and lose another 5-10 pounds. But for what? Just to say I reached a certain number? Just to maybe wear a size smaller pants? Just to work my boobs back down to an A-cup? For me, it's not worth it. For my overall health, I am going to be less hard-core.

Thawing Out

2010-02-02T03:01:00.001-08:00

Hey everybody! How was your weekend? Were you able to stay active? I wasn't. Not really. Well, not at all. As predicted, we actually got some snow and ice on Friday night. We ended up with a few inches of accumulation, at our house, which may not seem like a lot to those who live in colder climates, but believe me, it's plenty. It doesn't take much snow to shut everything down around here (and rightly so.... we do not have the equipment to clean the roads quickly and it's too dangerous to drive until they're clear).

The snow in and of itself wouldn't have kept me from being active this weekend. If that was the only problem, I still could have gotten a lot of cleaning done and burned some calories in a snowball fight outside. Unfortunately my little guy was sick too and up all.night.long Thursday and Friday nights. We looked like a bunch of zombies around here this weekend. Somehow we survived being stuck inside all weekend with a sick child and no sleep without killing each other, and without even fighting. Amazing!

I should finally be able to get back to the gym this morning. I think the roads are clear, so I'm going to make my way over there soon. It's time to hop back on those weight machines and to spend some quality time with the treadmill. I'm ready!

All things considered

2010-01-28T04:38:00.000-08:00

So I have weighed in and I'm down 2 pounds. I took my measurements yesterday and the verdict was.... not so bad! When I measure, I only measure bust, waist, hips, and each thigh. The change I saw was:

Bust - +.25"
Waist - -.25"
Hips- +.75"
Thighs - no change

That's a net change of .75" increase, which isn't too bad, I think. It's nice to realize that all that hard work that I did was not lost. I am not back to square one. Not even close. I took a hiatus, but it's okay. I'm back. All the hard work that I did in the past allowed me to take a hiatus without seeing a huge change. It is also allowing me to get back to things without starting all over again.

It has been strange to lift lighter weights than I was lifting and to run slower than I was running, but I know I'll get stronger and faster pretty soon. Even yesterday I was able to push myself to run a little faster and it felt great.

The rest of this week is going to be strange. I doubt I'll be able to get to the gym again until Monday. Today & tomorrow I have early morning appointments that make it impossible for me to work-out in the morning. There's a possiblity of snow & ice over the weekend, which will mean that I likely won't be able run outside over the weekend. The best way I'll be able to burn some calories over the weekend will be with some NEAT activities. I need to get the house clean, so I'll spend some time cleaning with Nate on my back in the Ergo carrier. Housework is hard work anyway, but it's even more challenging with close to 30 pounds on your back! :)

The State of Things

2010-01-27T03:01:00.000-08:00

So far I have managed to go to the gym twice this week. Hurrah for me! I've got my clothes laid out so I can go this morning too. I'm planning another attempt on the treadmill. I'm sure I'll be just as slow as I was on Monday, but I hope that in a couple of weeks I can start picking up more speed.

It's really crazy the way not working out for over a month (closer to two months) can affect the body composition. I weigh less now than I did back in November. I've lost around 2 pounds or so. I think that my actual weight is probably the lowest that it has been since before I got pregnant. But that number doesn't mean anything, and I expect that it will probably creep back up as I continue with strength training. The only explanation for the weight loss is the loss of muscle mass.

True, the depression dulled my appetite and my interest in food, so that I was barely eating 3 meals a day each day. However, by the time I realized I was hungry, I was usually so starving that I would ravenously eat anything in sight. I wanted nothing to do with fruits and veggies. I swear I was living off of Jimmy Dean breakfast delights and whatever fast food option was nearby at the time hunger finally struck. So I feel like I can safely say that my weight loss has not been related to eating less, because I imagine that when I finally did eat, the calories I consumed were higher than what I would choose under normal circumstances.

I think I'm going to take my measurements this morning and see where I stand. It will be interesting to compare that to where I was last time I measured (whenever that was) and it will give me a starting point so that I can see progress as I go.

Guess who's back?

2010-01-26T02:34:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!

I think I am finally ready to return to the blogging world. It feels like forever since I've been a diligent blogger, but I want to get back into it. More than that, I am ready to get back into the world of exercise and eating well.

I am feeling so much better these days! I am not ready to say that I've kicked the depression completely, but it certainly feels like I'm on my way there. The anxiety is also much better and I finally feel like focusing on other things.

Sunday evening I decided it might be nice to try to go to the gym on Monday. I went yesterday and had a great workout. I lifted weights and ran 3 miles. It was a slow 3 miles, but I did it! I am really proud of myself. And I'm going to the gym again this morning too. I hope to go each day this week, and if the weather allows, hopefully I can do some outdoor exercises with Nate over the weekend.

One thing that I really want to change, however, is not to be so hard-core about diet and exercise. Yes, I want to succeed. Yes, I want to live a healthy lifestyle, and I believe that it's a 24-7 thing. However, it's not worth it if it comes at the expense of fatigue, feelings of guilt for not succeeding, anxiety or depression. I don't think that my previous attitude about exercised caused any of my depression issues, but I don't think it helped either. I tend to be very rigid about routines and then if I don't meet my goals, I beat myself up. I tell myself that I'm lazy, that I don't deserve xyz because I didn't work-out, etc. It's not really a healthy attitude. I think the healthy approach for me is going to be to have a goal to workout 5 days a week and to get some fun family time in during the weekends. But if I miss a day because I am tired or really busy at work, that's fine too. As long as I maintain a consistent workout schedule overall, missing a day (or a couple of days) here and there is fine.

So I'm back! Look forward to close to daily updates, I hope! And I look forward to catching up on all of your blogs and seeing what's going on with you!

The Emotional Flu

2010-01-12T05:40:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! How are you doing? How were your holidays? I wish I could say that I've been around and reading everyone's blogs, but that's not really true. I've checked in every now and then, but I've mostly been staying away from the blog world, Facebook, message boards, etc.

Depression sucks. I think everyone knows that, but you don't really understand it until you live through it. And then it's easy to forget how bad it can be, even if you've been through it before. The past month has been really hard on me. I have been dealing with overwhelming anxiety and a pretty bad bout of depression. The two often go hand in hand, apparently.

The anxiety is so strange. Anything can make me feel anxious. I went to the grocery store today to buy some detergent for the dishwasher and as I tried to pick one, I started to feel anxiety take over. For dish detergent. I was able to take a deep breath and redirect my thoughts this morning, but a couple of weeks ago everything was making me feel that way. The combo of feeling anxious about every little thing, then feeling exhausted, worthless, and guilty (all from the depression) is just awful. It feels like my psyche is full of snakes (or chains, or ropes). It feels like a terrible trap where nothing positive can happen. Except that I am lucky and I always have some positives in my life. I have a wonderful husband and son, and my entire family is pretty great. So no matter how bad I have felt, I've had them to make me smile and to remind me that things aren't so bad, and I can get through this because I have them in my life.

With all of this going on, I haven't really worked out much. I have been so exhausted that I haven't had it in me to go to the gym (though I did go once last week). I talked to my therapist about it and she told me that dealing with depression is like having the emotional flu. The body requires more sleep so that it can heal. Even as I (hopefully) come out of the depression, I need to be gentle with myself while I get better. Just like recovering from a flu, I need to to take it slow and not push myself too hard.

It's really hard for me to accept the idea that I'm allowing myself to heal instead of beating myself up for being lazy. In my mind, if I'm not going to the gym, it's because I'm being lazy. But the truth is that it is taking all of my energy just to get through the day right now. Trying to get work done and be a good mom takes just about all that I have.

Over the past few days, I've started to feel a little better. I have periods of time where I feel like myself. My focus has felt better and I'm feeling more confident. My appetite seems to be returning some. The anxiety is much better, even though it is not completely gone. I am not all the way there yet, but I am on my way to feeling better again. As I start to feel more like myself, I'll try to post more AND to work out more. Thanks for being patient with me as I figure this out!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-22T05:45:00.000-08:00

We'll be busy with travel and various family activities for the next several days, so I won't be posting. I hope that all of you have safe and fun holidays with your family. I look forward to checking in with you all next week!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Road to recovery

2009-12-18T04:35:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to give you guys a quick update after my post on Monday. I saw my doctor on Wednesday, and she agreed that it sounds like I am dealing with depression and anxiety. I didn't even realize all the ways that anxiety has been affecting me until I started to really think about it. It's really strange how things that are abnormal can become a normal part of our lives and we don't realize that there's a problem because it feels normal to us.

My doctor also suggested that I see a therapist, so I called my work's Employee Assistance Program and I am going to see a therapist this morning. I'm looking forward to talking to a trained professional to get some ideas on how I might be able to make some changes and cope with things better.

In addition to all that, I've started some meds. They can take a couple of weeks to kick in, but I feel better just knowing that I am doing something about this.

Yesterday, I told my boss what I've been going through. I thought long and hard about whether it was a wise decision to share this with my work, but the truth is that I feel like my job performance has been affected. I've had a hard time remembering things and staying focused. I've been more irritable (which I hide well, but it comes out from time to time). The anxiety has kept me from participating in meetings the way I used to. Basically, I've just wanted to fade into the background and not talk to anyone. It's not really a trait that gets you far where I work. So I talked to my boss to let her know that I'm aware that I've had this problem for awhile, but I'm working on it. I want to get better. I want to improve. I want to be myself again! I don't want to be afraid to ask questions or to talk at a meeting. I want to contribute. I want to feel valuable again. She was so understanding and I am really grateful to have such a supportive manager. And now I feel like I have been honest, which is really important to me.

So today starts therapy, I continue the meds and I hope to get back to a regular exercise schedule very soon.

Health - the total package

2009-12-14T06:46:00.000-08:00

To a lot of people, being healthy means being thin. Or eating well and exercising. Many people think that being healthy means drinking lots of water and avoiding sodas. We tend to forget that a very important part of our health and well-being is our mental health.

I've been struggling for awhile, but didn't really put all the puzzle pieces together until this weekend. I've been very stressed at work, but the stress has been causing a severe amount of anxiety for me. Anxiety that feels unbearable. It has gotten to the point where it has been hard for me to think about anything but work. It has been affecting my sleep and affecting my appetite. And yes, work can be stressful, but I realized that I am reacting to the stress in an abnormal way.

And then I went online and did some research and realized that I can check off way too many of those boxes on those "are you depressed?" quizzes. It took me by surprise because I don't feel depressed! But I don't feel right either. I have dealt with depression in the past, and it felt different than how I feel now. In the past, I felt like my emotions were dead. I didn't feel sad, but I didn't feel happy either. It was like there were no peaks or valleys whatsoever. I started taking an antidepressant and it helped a lot. I took it for about a year, then weaned off of it. That was almost 10 years ago. I've felt good for the past several years, but now I realize that I haven't really been myself for months. You would think that it would be easy to recognize that something is wrong, and I did realize that I was "off," but I didn't know why. The symptoms did not add up to depression in my mind, and I never even thought it was the problem. Mainly, I just blamed myself for everything and never even considered that I could use some help.

So Wednesday I am going to the doctor to see about getting an anti-depressant to help me out. I wish they could have gotten me in today, because now that I have identified what I think is the problem, I would like to start getting better ASAP.

I realize, of course, that this post is not about weight loss or physical health. But mental health is SO important, and people are always afraid to talk about it. Plus, what's the point of being in good physical health, if your mental state is preventing you from enjoying it? What we need is the complete package of good health. Good physical and mental health is my goal!

Numbers

2009-12-10T05:12:00.000-08:00

2.2
The pounds I have gained in my recent quest for laziness and junk food. I am not surprised. I'm a little disappointed in myself, but it's not like I don't know the consequences of my actions. I haven't been exercising enough and I've been eating poorly. Eating more and exercising less is a recipe for weight gain. I really do not want to let this pattern continue through the holidays though. I could end up gaining over 5 pounds if I am not careful. 5 pounds would probably mean going up a pants size for me. 5 pounds means at least 5 weeks of hard work to lose those 5 pounds. Why even gain them?! So I'm going to try harder. Really! I mean it this time.

56
The number of hours per week that most of us (meaning Americans) spend sitting down! According to this article, a study conducted by the Institute for Medicine and Public Health showed that we spend an average of 56 hours per week sitting down. The article goes on to state that even people who exercise regularly are suffering ill health effects from sitting for 8-9 hours per day. Do you sit a lot? I sit at least 40 hours per week due to my job. Telecommuting makes it worse because I don't walk to meetings. I don't have anyone to go chat with down the hall. Even though I just heard this story on the radio this morning and I just read the article 5 minutes ago, I'm already planning some changes to move more during the day. One little change is that I'm going to sit on an exercise ball at my desk more. I can't stand at my desk (as the article suggests) because that is just not ergonomic. Seriously, who can work standing up for more than a few minutes? But I can sit on a ball and strengthen more core while I work. I'm also going to start going downstairs to use the bathroom! ;) It's a little change, but hey... going up and down the stairs 8 times during the workday will be good for me. And as long as I keep up with my water intake, I can be guaranteed at least 8 trips downstairs per day.

3.1
The number of miles I ran this morning. It was my first workout all week. Yikes. I've been supremely lazy as I stated above. I really don't think it's laziness, per se, that has kept me from working out. I think a lot of it is stress related. Somehow I feel like I just don't have time to go to the gym. But I've already pointed out that that's not true and it's a silly argument. So I need to push myself to workout more. It'll help with the stress too, and I definitely need that.

I pick myself up, dust myself off....

2009-12-07T18:14:00.000-08:00

And start all over again!

I should start a tag for what I've been doing recently... what would I call it? Eating? Eating junk? Being lazy and eating junk? I like to think of it as "indulging" at the moment, but then later it feels more like it's self-destruction. Or maybe it's just December. Dirty, dirty December. Oh, December, I love you so much, but you are so bad for me!

If you can't tell, I have nothing good to report today. I got up this AM and got dressed for the gym. Did I go? No. Why? Well, I was planning to come home and do the Shred. But when I got here, I just didn't feel like it. Who ever really feels like doing the Shred though? So instead I made some eggs and grits for breakfast. So good. I've been on a total eggs & grits kick recently. But anyway, I got zero exercise all day. I bet if I was wearing a pedometer, I would have logged under 2000 steps. Sad, sad, sad. (Hmm... maybe it's time to get the pedometer back out....)

So anyway, I am going to the gym tomorrow. I would still like to work the Shred in somehow, but I want to focus more on getting to the gym because I don't have distractions there. *sigh* Is it January yet?

Syl made me do it!

2009-12-06T09:21:00.000-08:00

This morning, I was debating whether I'd go out for a run or not. I was planning to run yesterday, but it didn't happen. So I wanted to get out and do it today instead. But it was cold this morning! It was about 32 degrees when I checked the weather at 8 AM. I am a big wimp when it comes to being cold. I just hate it.

What got me out there this morning? Syl, over at Live, Smile, Run. Yesterday, she ran a 5k in feet of snow, with a windchill in the negative 20's! That is just insane! And super-motivational. I figured that the NC temp of 32 was downright balmy compared to the conditions she ran in yesterday. And if she can do that, I can certainly run on a sunny, clear, beautiful (even if cold) NC morning.

And so I did it! And it was a great run and not even too cold, once I got moving. Woohoo! Thanks for the motivation, Syl!

Shredding

2009-12-04T05:26:00.000-08:00

If you hadn't noticed over there ------>, I have added the 30 Day Shred to my workout routine. I decided to throw it in there because December is such a challenge for me and I think that shaking it up will help me get through it. Doing the same old thing gets boring. So I am trying something new in the hopes that it will help me to stay motivated through this difficult month.

I have a ton of questions about the Shred though, so I'm hoping some of you more experienced Shredders can help me out!

How often are you supposed to do it? Is every other day enough? Are you supposed to take any rest days?
When do you go up a level? Do you stay at level 1 until it feels too easy, and then move up?
Does anyone use multiple sets of weights for the exercises? I feel like I need to use a range of weights because my shoulders are weak, but my chest and biceps are strong.
Do any other moms out there feel like they're going to pee all over themselves doing the jumping jacks and jump rope? I peed 3 times before starting and still had to pause the workout to go to the bathroom again. Am I the only one with that problem?

Muchas gracias!

Well, crap!

2009-12-02T16:39:00.000-08:00

Ugh. Sorry it has been about a week since my last post.

Somehow, typing that out made me feel like I was starting a confession. I'm not catholic, so I apologize if I botch this up. "Forgive me bloggers, for I have sinned. It has been 6 days since my last blog post. And 6 days since my last workout." I suppose a trainer would tell me to give them 50 sit-ups and push-ups and to run 5 miles and then I could be absolved of my sins. Maybe they'd also add that I should drink a gallon of water and have a spinach salad.

I also confess that I am struggling right now. I am feeling very unmotivated. I have every intention of going to the gym each day. I get dressed in my gym clothes, I drop Nate off on time, but for some reason I don't go. I have no explanation. I wish I could figure it out. In my mind, I want to go. December is always a hard month for me. I know that it's a hard month for me and so, of all the months of the year, December is the one month I should be a stickler about getting to the gym. But somehow I don't.

As I type this out, I think a lot of it is due to a general sense of feeling overwhelmed in December. I feel like I have SO MUCH to do, and not enough time to do everything. But the truth is that I am not doing anything productive in the AM if I don't go to the gym. I might do the dishes, but that's about it. And the dishes can wait, right? The dishes can wait. The Dishes Can Wait. Maybe I'll put a sticky note in my car that says that. And another one that says, "Just go to the gym! It'll be great!"

This morning, I posted on Facebook that I had to go to the gym. I really did have every intention of going, but then I got a flat tire. It took quite awhile to get the spare on, and by the time it was on, I had to get to work. So I missed another workout. *sigh* But I really, really do plan to get there tomorrow. I will not let December get the best of me!

Edited to add: After I typed this up, I realized I had some time to myself this evening. Nate was in bed and Erik had a rehearsal... so I ran downstairs and did Level 1 of the 30 day shred. It's On Demand on my digital cable. Yay! I worked out! It was a good workout and I'm glad I did it.

Happy Thanksgiving (& a Turkey Trot)!

2009-11-26T15:51:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I am blogging with a very full belly! :) I hope everyone had a delicious meal and lots of fun times with their families.

I started my day off with a Turkey Trot 8k! It was in a really beautiful area of Raleigh, and we ran past some HUGE houses. There were a lot of supporters on the street, and a few were wearing Thanksgiving costumes (like hats with turkeys on them). The race had over 3000 people! Isn't that crazy?! Last year they had 1700 and this year they had 3000. How awesome! Anyway, the course was challenging for me. The first couple of miles were pretty easy, but then there were a bunch of hills. I got so tired! I think I must have started out too fast, because at the end I had no stamina left. I also didn't take my iPod, and I think that was a mistake. I wasn't really in the mood for music when I started running, but towards the end, I think music would have helped me push myself a little more. I took a few short walking breaks during the last 2 miles. I finished in 50:31, with a pace of 10:16/mile. I am really happy with that pace, especially since I walked a few times!

After a quick shower, we headed to my parents' house for Thanksgiving. We do an afternoon dinner for Thanksgiving. Ah, it was so good, but alas my stomach is too small! I had a little turkey, some mashed potatoes, asparagus, some dressing, some cranberry salad, 1/2 a roll, and some sweet potatoes and I was SO stuffed. I wanted seconds, but there was just no room for them! A few hours later, I had a few bites of pumpkin pie, a bite of red velvet cake and a cup of coffee. Before we left, I had a bite of pecan pie. My mom did send us home with plenty of leftovers though, and I intend on having a piece of pecan pie whenever there is room in my tummy! I get homemade pecan pie once a year and I am going to savor it! Mmmm.... Maybe I'll even take a picture for ya'll!

We had a really nice Thanksgiving. I am glad I started it out with the Turkey Trot. It was fun to see friends there and it was a great way to start off Thanksgiving. I am so thankful that I decided to start running this year! It has been a lot of fun for me!

I'm also thankful for all of you guys that read my blog and leave me comments, and I'm thankful for all of you who blog and give me lots of food for thought. It is wonderful to have such a supportive community out there. Happy Thanksgiving, ya'll!

There is no secret

2009-11-23T06:11:00.000-08:00

Last week, a friend on a message board I visit posted about how she had lost all of her pregnancy weight and then some. I was really happy for her because I know what an achievement that is! Baby weight seems to be particularly stubborn for some of us. Anyway, one of the main responses to her post (other than "congratulations") was "What's your secret?" It came up several times. And let me just say, that is the #1 question about weight loss that drives me crazy!

There is no secret, people! The way to lose weight is to watch what you eat and exercise. You have to burn more calories than you consume. There is no mystery there. We all learned it in health class. It's on the news, the radio, the internet, everywhere.

It's true that some people can just stop drinking sodas and the weight melts off. Other people may find that walking for 15 minutes per day helps them to lose a few stubborn pounds. Some people reduce their carbs... but you know what? It's still the same thing! They are still eating less and/or exercising more.

I think that when it comes to weight loss, we are all waiting to hear that there is this secret out there, that if we just knew it, we could lose weight without all the work. Unfortunately, no such secret exists. It takes hard work and commitment to lose weight and to keep it off!

Gobble, gobble!

2009-11-22T17:30:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving week! I am super excited about Thanksgiving this year. We are staying home this year (having Thanksgiving dinner with my family) and I'm really happy about that. It'll be nice to have 4 days off at home with my family!

Back in the groove
I'm trying to get myself back into the groove of working out after a couple of crazy weeks without much exercise. One crucial step was going for a run this morning, and I did it! I got out and got a 5 mile run in. I'm so glad I did it. I have an 8k on Thursday and I wanted to get that distance in today so that I'd feel ready. In addition, I needed to exercise just to remind myself that it's something I enjoy. Luckily it was a beautiful morning and I had a good run.

Random long runs
I'm planning on running 8 miles on Saturday. I am going to schedule longer runs every other weekend or so, just to keep myself accustomed to running longer distances. I think it will also give me something to look forward to, because I get excited about taking on that challenge, as crazy as that sounds. I'm already excited about my long run next weekend!

Trying new things
Recently, I've been challenging myself to try new things. A couple of weeks ago, I tried a recipe with radishes. I don't think I had ever used radishes in a dish before, and I thought they were great. Last week, we tried a brussels sprouts recipe. Once again, it was delicious! It was definitely not the healthiest way to prepare brussels sprouts (with butter and cheese) but they were very tasty. Even Erik enjoyed them. Today, we tried spaghetti squash for dinner. I was inspired by Jen's love of spaghetti squash. Erik was really excited about trying it too. And guess what? We thought it was great. Even better was that Nate ate it up (he had seconds and then thirds)! I am all about finding new ways to eat veggies, so I am thrilled that we had spaghetti squash success. Next up is collard greens! :)

A million excuses

2009-11-20T05:44:00.001-08:00

I have been so slack this week. It's been embarrassing. Hence, the lack of posting. Well, that, and I had a croupy baby who needed my attention in the evenings and by the time I finally got him to bed each night, I didn't really feel like blogging.

A croupy baby is no excuse for the immense laziness and terrible eating though. I didn't get to the gym all week long, other than today. I just didn't go. I'm not sure why. I didn't feel like it, I guess. Normally I'm good at making myself go even when I don't want to, but I didn't. Yeah, I guess I felt like there were other things I needed to do.... go to the grocery store, make dinner, do laundry, etc. But for the past 6 months, I worked those things in at lunch or in the evenings and still got my gym time in. I can't let those things take over my work-out time or I will never work out. And then I'll find myself back where I was 6 months ago, and that's just plain stupid. There is no reason to undo all the work I've done, so I'm not going to. It's not going to happen, dammit!

Oh, and the eating. The eating... WTF? I am 99% sure it was related to that lovely time of the month, but still. That's just an excuse. And there's no excuse for making a 13x9 pan of brownies and eating about 1/4 of the pan in a day. Blech. What's bad about that is that I didn't even like the brownies that much. I thought they were kind of gross. But I just kept eating them!! Why?! Why did I do that to myself? Why would I want to eat something that doesn't even taste that good? It makes no sense.

All I know is that I woke up this morning and finally said "No more." I went to the gym and ran 3 miles. I had yogurt and fruit for breakfast. I'm working on drinking my giant jug of water. I'm not going to let a few days of indiscretion ruin 6 months of hard work. I'm smarter than that and I work harder than that.

MIA

2009-11-16T15:38:00.000-08:00

I have been MIA for a few days. I'm sorry! Truth be told, I was pretty lazy last week. I only went to the gym on Wednesday. I just had no motivation the rest of the week. I'm blaming the crappy weather we had here. It was SO gross last week.... cold and rainy and blah. I should have gone to the gym anyway, but I didn't. Then Saturday we had Nate's 18 month photos and our Christmas photos done in the morning and I had dinner with my parents Saturday night. And yesterday Nate got sick. :(

So instead of at least starting the week off better, I started the week off with a visit to the pediatrician and to the Target pharmacy. Nate has croup, so we hung out at home all day so he won't get anyone else sick. Tomorrow Erik is staying home with him so I can get caught up on work (and maybe get to the gym too).

Scale update
The scale that I was using to weigh-in on disappeared from the gym! It was in the women's locker room, but it's not there anymore! I have no idea where it is. Yeah, I could have asked, but I didn't. So I haven't weighed in at the gym in over 2 weeks. I did weigh in on my digital scale last Wednesday, and I plan to keep using my digital scale from now on, so I'll know if I'm gaining/losing/maintaining.

Now what?

2009-11-09T15:45:00.000-08:00

Okay, I found the official results on the half-marathon. My official time was 2:33 and my chip time was 2:22, which gave me an average pace of 10:55. Not bad! I seemed to be pretty smack-dab in the middle of the entire half-marathon, of the females in the half-marathon and in my age group. Guess that means I'm an average runner, huh? :)

Over the past few weeks, as the half-marathon was getting closer and closer, I kept finding myself thinking.... then what? After I finish the race, then what will I do? And now I have finished the race, so it's changed to "now what?"

One of the main reasons I took on the challenge of training for the half-marathon was that it gave me a goal to work towards. I am very goal oriented. I like setting a goal, making a plan and then working to make it happen. Without a plan, it's easy for me to get side-tracked and to get lazy. I can't let that happen! So, what now?

First, I've already signed up for a Turkey Trot, so I've got that coming up on Thanksgiving. I'm really excited about that. What a great way to earn a few extra calories for Thanksgiving dinner! :) There's also a 5k in early December that I'm thinking of doing, but I may switch it out to do a different 5k so that Erik can do it with me. We'll see.

And, I'm thinking of signing up for another half-marathon too. There are a few in March that I'm looking at. And guess what? March is far enough away that Erik can train for it too! I don't know how we'd work it out for us to both get a long run in each week, but I imagine we can find a way if we work at it. We shall see!

13.1!

2009-11-08T17:10:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! How was your weekend? What did you do? Me? I went on a date with my husband, went to the beach, and... I ran a half-marathon! Woot! That's right! I did it!

We got to the Outer Banks on Saturday afternoon and got checked into our hotel. The hotel itself was kind of shabby, but it was on the water with a great beach access point. As soon as we got there, we went out and checked out the beach. We met a nice woman who was running the marathon (trying to qualify for Boston) and she offered to take a picture of us.

We spent some time driving around the Outer Banks and we had a yummy pizza for dinner. We saw a beautiful sunset too. Check out this photo Erik took of the sound and the bridge that was on the race route.

I tried to go to bed early, but slept so poorly! I was just wound up and anxious about the race. I kept worrying that I was going to oversleep and I was convinced I had overslept at one point. When I checked the clock, it was 3 AM. *sigh* It was time to get up for real at 5 AM, and I had a cup of coffee, a little breakfast and then I got ready to run!
The hotel was less than a mile from the race start, so Erik drove me down and dropped me off. I immediately got in line for the bathroom. My friend Kathleen had advised me to use the porta potty, then get back in line to use it again. It seemed like great advice, so that's what I did. It worked out well, in that by the time I made it through the line again, it was about time to start.

The race had a staggered start, so I got in the corral for the 10-12 minute mile. I don't know exactly what time we actually started, but it was around 10 minutes after the official start. I was so ready to go by then! The first few miles were so crowded. There were probably close to 4,000 people running the half-marathon and you could tell. It was really hard to navigate through that many people. It did make the first few miles fly by though! It really seemed like the first 5 miles went by in a flash. The first section of the race alternated between running on a highway and running sound-side by the water and through some residential areas. It was really beautiful and I tried to take in the sites as much as I could.

Around mile 7 or 8, we started to head towards Manteo. Manteo is on another island, which meant that we had to run over a bridge. I wasn't dreading the bridge since I had done the Neuse River Bridge Run, but I wasn't looking forward to it either. Running over a bridge during a 10k is different than running over a bridge at mile 9 of a half-marathon (or mile 23 (or whatever) of a marathon). Someone with a sense of humor had anticipated the negativity surrounding the bridge and taped a cute note to the bridge. It said "I'm not that bad! 'heart' -The Bridge." The bridge was difficult, but I made it. On the bridge, I reached the 10 mile mark, which was the furthest I had run to date. I knew the next 3.1 miles would be the biggest challenge for me.

And challenging it was. It was kind of boring for about a mile or 1.5 miles. They tried to spice it up with signs that had silly knock-knock jokes and such, and there were cool kites and things.... but it pretty much sucked anyway. Those last few miles I was grumpy. I wanted to be DONE. I was over it. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to stop running, but I chose to just slow way down instead.

Finally, I saw the awesome sign that said 13 miles completed. Just .1 mile to go! I cranked it up as much as I could and crossed the finish line with as much gusto as I could muster. And then I was like, woah! Seriously, I just finished? A half-marathon? What? It was pretty funny. I couldn't believe it was actually over and I had done it.

The finish line area was SO crowded. The half and full-marathons were finishing at the same place and they had turned the Manteo village area into a marathon village. It was packed. It took Erik and I quite awhile to find each other in the crowds and by then I was ready to hit the showers.

I'm not sure of my official time yet, but I'll let you all know when I see it. I crossed the line around 2:32 so that's probably the official time. I think that my time was probably closer to 2:22 or less, since my group started so much later than the official start. I don't know if that information will be posted or not, but if I find out I'll share it here.

The good things about this race: The scenery! It was gorgeous. I love the Outer Banks. The weather was also amazing. The high this afternoon was in the 70's! The crowd support. There was a ton of support from the OBX and there were supporters everywhere. It was great to have so many people cheering us on. The costumes! I loved seeing people running around in pirate costumes. Major props to the guy who finished ahead of me who was wearing the kilt. :) There was a team of Wonder Women running too, and they were awesome.

The bad things about this race: It was super crowded. They do everything they can to make it manageable, but it's still really crowded. They should probably open up 2 lanes to runners instead of just 1, at least for the first section of the half-marathon, until it thins out some. The bridge. Even though it's manageable, it sucks having it so late in the race. It'd be nice if it was earlier on. The insanely crowded finish line area. I can't tell you how many people I saw struggling to find their families. Lots of us didn't have cell phones on us, so we were just stuck in a huge crowd trying to find friends and families in a giant crowd. If I had known what to expect, we would have come up with a meeting place ahead of time.

Overall, I enjoyed myself and I am SO PROUD that I did it. Even though at mile 11 I wanted to die and I was pissed off and thinking that running 13.1 miles is really stupid, I'm already considering doing another one. :P I have not, however, decided to train for a full marathon. Maybe one day, but right now I am just not ready to even consider running 26.2 miles!

And here are some photos Erik took:

The Wonder Women lead the pack here. Kind of hard to see them, but they're in front.

Me at Mile 4.

The sound, right before the bridge.

Me, around mile 9. This is right before the bridge.

Me, around mile 10.5 or 11. This is after the bridge. Too bad you can't see my facial expression that well, because you can really tell that I'm over it.

And... sweet victory! I did it!

See you on the other side!

2009-11-05T16:07:00.000-08:00

This is my last post before I run the half-marathon! Eeee! I have butterflies in my stomach, just thinking about it.

I'm sitting here with all the race information in my lap, reading over it one more time (for the millionth time) before Sunday. I'm sure the pages will be worn out by the time the race starts on Sunday morning.

This is going to be a big race! It is sold out! Isn't that crazy? Maybe not. The Outer Banks is beautiful and it looks like we are going to be blessed with amazing weather. Hurrah! I can't wait! :)

So excited!

2009-11-04T15:39:00.000-08:00

The OBX Half-Marathon is a few days away and I am super excited! I can't believe that I am this excited about running 13.1 miles, but I am. I just re-read all the race information online, and it sounds like it's going to be so much fun! Plus, I love the Outer Banks. It's a really special place for me and Erik (it's where we got engaged!), so I'm glad we get to spend a couple of days out there.

In addition to being excited about the half-marathon, I'm also excited about the weekend in general. We're leaving Nate with my parents for the weekend. We're going to have a whole weekend alone! Last time we left Nate with my parents was over our anniversary in June, and that was just for one night. This is the longest we'll be away from him (2 nights) so far. I know that we will miss him a ton, but I am really looking forward to adult time. We're going on a date night Friday night and then heading to the OBX on Saturday. We may even try to see a movie Saturday night after I pick up my race packet.

Do you have fun weekend plans for this weekend?

I think I need a new rule...

2009-11-03T15:49:00.000-08:00

No Baking. Baking is a serious downfall of mine. I love it! I love making sweet treats to share with people, especially if I get to make them from scratch. But it also ends up being a huge temptation for me, and I pretty much always give into temptation when I am baking. I lick the bowl and then I taste a sample of whatever I've made. If there are extras, I'm likely to eat all of those too. Then, a couple of weeks ago, there was the case of the cinnamon muffins that did not work out. They were supposed to go to a friend who just had a baby, but they fell to pieces when I took them out of the muffin tin. Did I throw them away? No. I think I ate 3 or 4 before I stopped. It's embarrassing!

I don't know how I can approach a holiday season without doing any baking, but I think I'm going to have to! Or else I need to find some sort of steel resolve that will magically help me to bake without indulging too much. I just don't see that happening though. :(

This is one of those tricky things for me. Part of me thinks that it's good that I can identify that baking and baked goods are a weakness for me, and therefore I can just avoid those things. Another part of me thinks that I don't want to deprive myself of baking when I enjoy it so much. Surely there is a compromise in there somewhere.

Do you like to bake? Are you able to be disciplined when you bake? If so, how do you do it?

No spark

2009-11-02T16:09:00.001-08:00

Happy Monday everyone! There are just a few days left until my half-marathon! Wow! I'm tapering my workouts down, per the Hal Higdon training guide, and taking it easy this week. I'm also planning to drink tons of water this week and to get lots of sleep, but the amount of sleep I get isn't always up to me, so we'll see how that goes. :)

No spark
A few weeks ago, I joined SparkPeople to track my calories and such. Well, it has not gone well. Basically, it hasn't gone at all. I pretty much didn't do it. I tracked things for a couple of days and then stopped. So, yeah. I don't know what to say about that. Part of me wants to get all gung-ho about it and really give it the old college try to see if I can do better. But the larger part of me just doesn't want to deal with it right now. Gah. I'm sure that the reason why I'm not losing any more weight is because of my diet, because I'm getting plenty of exercise. *sigh* I don't know. It sucks to know what I need to do, but I just really don't want to do it!

If you track your calories, how do you stay motivated to keep up with it? How do you keep it from being too time consuming? And if you don't track your calories, how do you make sure that you're on the right track?

10 miles!

2009-11-01T11:08:00.001-08:00

I did it! I ran 10 miles yesterday. It was a huge challenge too. Because I ran for like 5 minutes before it started raining. At first, it was a really pleasant sprinkle and I didn't mind it at all. It felt good and it was certainly a lot more comfortable than being hot. But off and on throughout the run, it rained pretty hard. I really do not recommend running in that kind of rain. It sucked. The only thing that kept me going at one point was the knowledge that I was pretty far from home and if I stopped running, I'd still have to walk in the rain to get home anyway. So it made more sense to keep running since it's faster.

I had modified my route to take me up a slightly busier secondary road so that I could get my full 10 miles in. But I forgot that I had also added a second loop up a long hill so that I wouldn't have to do multiple laps around my neighborhood. That 2nd hill came around mile 7 and I did not want to do it. At all. So I ended up turning down another street and running there for a bit until I was ready to take on the hill. The last 3 miles were much more difficult mentally than they were physically. I was so sick of being in the rain and I just wanted to go home. Somehow I pushed through it. I'm glad I did because I really wanted to get the full distance in before the half-marathon next weekend.

Here's a picture of me after my run. I was dripping wet!

The skin I'm in

2009-10-29T13:11:00.000-07:00

Workout updates
I was able to get to the hotel gym yesterday morning and get a good cardio workout in. I didn't have enough time to do a lot of strength training though. I think tomorrow I'll just do all that I can in one trip to the gym and hope for the best.

The website for the hotel talked about the gym there and they made it sound like they had the best equipment, and that it's all in sparkling new condition. They showed a photo of these gleaming elliptical trainers and it made me think that the photo was from their gym. Not so much. It was actually a very large gym for a hotel, but the equipment was sketchy at best. I used an ancient stairmaster machine and it actually had duct tape on it! I don't know what the tape was for, but the machine was stable and it worked just fine. I was able to switch to an elliptical halfway through. I'm not complaining! I'm happy I got to work out, I was just amused at how different the actual gym was from the pictures they were showing on their website.

Oh, and I got my full 5 mile run in this morning. It was really important to me to do the whole 5 miles. I have my 10 mile run on Saturday and I knew if I didn't finish today's run, I'd start questioning myself on Saturday. I have felt pretty confident about my running recently, but missing several runs and not finishing my run on Tuesday have left me feeling doubtful of my ability to finish the half-marathon. Saturday's run is going to be super important! I must do it and I must feel great! No pressure.

The skin I'm in
The skin I'm in is pretty crappy these days. I've been battling acne for months now. I finally went to a dermatologist today and we came up with a plan of attack. It includes taking an antibiotic orally and using 2 different prescriptions topically. Wow, I guess it was worse than I realized! Pre-Nate, I was really self-conscious about acne problems and I used topical medicines to keep it at bay. Since I've been a mom, my skin has been pretty low on my priority list. I really don't notice the acne until I see photos of myself. I do look forward to getting it cleared up though. It'll be nice not to cringe when I see photos. I worked so hard to lose weight to feel good about myself in photos, so I deserve to feel good about my skin too!

Do you have clear skin naturally, or do you have to use products to keep it in control? Have you ever been on prescription medications for your skin?

Running again

2009-10-27T18:37:00.000-07:00

I finally ran again this morning. I got on the treadmill and I was feeling great. I guess I got a little over-enthusiastic or something because I really started to run out of steam after awhile. I really had to push to get to 4 miles and I just could not get to 5 miles. I know that it was a mental thing. I was feeling crappy and I could have pushed to get to 5 miles, but I decided to stop instead. Why was it such a tough run? Was it because I'm still recovering from a cold? I think so. On top of that, it's that lovely time of the month too. I didn't even think about that, but when I got home from the gym I had killer cramps. Ugh. I took some ibuprofen and even that took quite awhile to take the edge off. Oh well, I'll keep pressing on!

Ghiradelli
I had a super-yummy majorly indulgent Ghiradelli bar this evening. I got it at the airport and slowly ate it as I waited for my flight and as I was on the plane. Mmmm! It seems like I tend to indulge a little while I travel. It's a good thing I don't travel often for work, or else I'd really have to work on that. Since it's pretty rare, I'm not going to worry about it. But I will try to avoid indulging in another one tomorrow! :)

Three Positives, Part IV

2009-10-26T17:52:00.000-07:00

Quickly, quickly....

1. I am looking forward to running 10 miles this weekend. What?! I sound like a runner or something!

2. I have beautiful eyes. I never thought much about them, but now when I see photos of me and Nate, our blue eyes really stand out. It's neat to suddenly realize what a nice feature they are. I can't believe it took me 30 years to realize that.

3. I have straight teeth and I never had to have braces. I was one of the lucky kids who didn't have to worry about braces or glasses (though I did get contacts in college).

Post done. Gotta go pack for a short business trip!

One week

2009-10-26T09:51:00.000-07:00

It has been one week since I have gone running. Over the past week, one thing after another got in the way of my running schedule. I got a cold. Nate's babysitter's kids got sick. We went out of town. Nate had a terrible diaper rash, which meant I kept him home this morning to call the pediatrician to see if I needed to take him in for an appointment. They gave me some tips over the phone, but it still meant that I couldn't go to the gym this morning.

I'm about to revise my workout schedule for the week. I'm really bummed that I didn't get my 9 mile run in. I feel like I missed an important run for my training, and not running for a week is not good at all. It was out of my control, but I still feel bad about it. I feel like it's a terrible way to end all of my training before the half-marathon in 12 days.

Despite my best intentions on Friday, I could not get my 9 mile run in. In the morning, Nate was way too grumpy for me to try to leave him at the gym daycare. When Erik got home from work, I did try to run outside. It was really hot and sunny. One of my neighbors was burning yard waste, which created a ton of smoke. Between the heat and the smoke, I only got 2 miles in. I was so disappointed!

When we got to the mountains, I discovered that the road our cabin was on was way too dangerous for running. It was a small one-lane road. Even though there was very little traffic, it just didn't seem safe. Not to mention that it was one big hill. I don't think I would have been able to run 9 miles on it if I had wanted to. I didn't see any other safe place to run until late Sunday, right before we left. That's when I realized where I could have gone running: BOONE. Note to runners who are visiting the West Jefferson area.... run in Boone! It's a college town and there are tons of sidewalks. It would be easy to run around the university campus and through downtown to get some miles in. Now I know. It didn't come up when I did mapmyrun because it's a little drive from where we were staying. But Erik and Nate could've been easily entertained visiting ASU's campus and checking out all the stores in downtown Boone. C'est la vie.

So now what? Should I just plan on running 10 miles this weekend, even though I didn't get my 9 mile run in? Should I split the difference and run 9.5 instead? I can't believe that this is my last weekend run before the half-marathon.

P.S. I haven't forgotten that I need to do a positive post today. I'm going to do it this evening, but I wanted to talk about running too.

Plan A...

2009-10-22T18:30:00.000-07:00

Ugh, so I'm trying to stick with Plan A - Run tomorrow morning. We've had a little twist in our plans though. My son's babysitter has 2 sick children at home and the doctor thinks it could be H1N1. Despite the fact that Nate has been hanging out with them all week, we're keeping him home tomorrow which means 8 more hours of PTO down the drain for me and no way for me to run 9 miles around my neighborhood.

I do have a jogging stroller, but there is no way I can jog 8 laps around my neighborhood while pushing a 27 pound child in a huge stroller. Plus, there's no way Nate would sit still that long.

So my only options are to go to the gym tomorrow and do my long run on the treadmill or to try to find a place to run in the mountains. I mapped the street that we're staying on, and it's under 2 miles long. I'm really not interested in doing that many laps on a mountain road. There is a state park nearby, but the trails are for hiking. I guess I am stuck with the treadmill. Please keep your fingers crossed that 1) Nate will be happy at the gym daycare for 1.5 hours while I run, 2) I can run 9 miles in general, 3) I can run 9 miles on a treadmill and not lose my mind, 4) After I run 9 miles, I can muster up enough energy to be a good mom until Erik gets home.

See, just when you come up with a plan, someone has to go and get swine flu and mess everything up!

WWYD?

2009-10-21T17:32:00.001-07:00

2 posts in one night?! Crazy!

I am struggling to figure out my workouts for the rest of the week. I can stick with my plan (over there --->) or I can change it up a little bit.

Here's the deal. We're going to the mountains this weekend. A good friend has offered to let us use her cabin for a weekend getaway. Isn't that awesome?! We never get to do anything like that, so of course we jumped at it. The dilemma is that I'm not sure where I can run up there. She suggested that I can run on the road where the cabin is. I don't know the address yet, so I haven't been able to map it. But she said it's very hilly. I have checked mapmyrun.com for some other routes, and since I'm not familiar with the area I have no idea if they're good routes or if they are safe.

I think my options are: A) Do my long run on Friday morning and know that I'll get more cardio in, hiking during the weekend or B) Commit to finding a place to run on Saturday morning and sticking with my regular running schedule.

Pros of A: I can run in my neighborhood or even on a treadmill if I have to. I don't have to worry about finding a safe place to run in an area I'm not familiar with. I don't have to interrupt time with my family to go out and run Saturday morning. I will be less tired Saturday if I'm not recovering from a run.

Cons of A: I'll have to either run 8 laps around my neighborhood or for 90 minutes on a treadmill. I'll be tired during the afternoon and I have to work. I'll be tired during the drive to the mountains, leaving Erik to drive without company if I fall asleep. It'll be tough to get a long run in before work. I'd probably get a late start Friday morning if I run 9 miles before work. I'm recovering from a cold and I don't want to strain my body too much.

Pros of B: I'd get to run in the mountains, and hopefully it would be really pretty. I can keep my regular running routine.

Cons of B: I'm unfamilar with the area and may need to drive to a park or some other place to run. Erik and Nate may have to go with me somewhere and hang out while I run. I will eat up a couple of AM hours running, cooling down and showering, instead of doing something fun with the family. I'd be tired all afternoon after my run, which could keep me from enjoying activities with Nate and Erik.

Okay, typing this out has been really helpful and I think it's obvious that I need to go with A. As I went into this blog post, I had no idea what I should do. But I really think Plan A is the way to go. Hopefully I can get lots of rest tonight and tomorrow night, continue drinking tons of water, and I'll be ready for my run on Friday morning!

Eat the rainbow

2009-10-21T16:42:00.000-07:00

I'm not talking about skittles people! I'm talking about our diets.

When I was at the gym on Monday, I watched a segment on the CBS Early Show about 4 ways to reduce your risk of breast cancer. Guess what the first tip was? Maintain a healthy body weight. Simple, huh? If fitting into your jeans isn't a good enough reason, how about fitting into your bras instead? One interesting comment that Dr. Ashton makes is that even exercising early in our lives can reduce our risk of breast cancer later in our lives. Decisions that we make now can impact our health as we age.

As for diet, she talks about keeping a colorful dinner plate. She says "eat the rainbow." It really got me to thinking about making sure that we get a variety of colorful foods in our meals each week. It's easy to stick to the things we're comfortable with- carrots and sweet potatoes, bananas and apples, spinach and tomato. But what about all those great winter squash? What about kale, turnip greens and mustard greens? There are also peas, radishes and rutabagas! And so many more!

I am going to make an effort to incorporate more of a variety of fruits and veggies into our diets. I look forward to trying new recipes and learning about foods we don't eat very often.

Do you eat the rainbow? Which colorful foods are your favorites?

Under the weather

2009-10-20T16:23:00.001-07:00

I'm a little under the weather today. Sucks. I felt kind of crappy last night (cold symptoms) and I had some trouble sleeping. But I still went to the gym this morning because I didn't feel that bad when I woke up. I had a really long day though, and I kept feeling worse throughout the day. It's 7:25 pm and I'm ready for bed now. I am wiped out.

I'm supposed to run 5 miles tomorrow morning. I'm keeping an open mind. I don't have a fever and my nose isn't even that congested. I just have some chest congestion right now and a lack of energy. If I wake up and I feel like I can take on the run, I'll do it. Or maybe I'll go out and do what I can, but not push myself too hard. Or I might just take the day off. We'll see.

I hope you all are avoiding all the crud that's going around right now!

Three positives, Part III

2009-10-19T12:18:00.000-07:00

It's Monday again. Time for three positive things!

1. I ran 5 miles on the treadmill this morning! I was able to get past feeling bored by doing intervals. I have not done intervals in awhile because I've been adding distance to my runs and I didn't want to overdo it. Now that I feel comfortable running 5 miles, I can push myself more and add some intervals in. That means that I have no excuse not to run! Even if it's cold and rainy outside, I can still run on the treadmill.

2. I ran a 10k race! I remember when I started contemplating training for the half-marathon, I looked into some local 10k races to decide which one I wanted to do. I felt really intimidated by the idea of running a 10k. I was nervous that I wasn't going to be able to do it. I am so glad that I ignored my worries and started training because it was the best race I've participated in so far. I am really proud of myself and that is an amazing feeling!

3. I planned all of our meals for this week. Hurrah! I've been slack about it for a few weeks, and it has shown. We have had to scramble to figure out dinner and we've ended up with some less than ideal options. All of our dinners for the week are planned and I have an idea of what we'll be having next week too.

Confession: I had a really hard time coming up with three things this week. I can't tell you how many times I almost wrote something about how proud I am of my husband or my son... and while those things are true, I don't really think that they are positive things about me, know what I mean? They are positive parts of my life, though, and I am really lucky to have them!

Neuse River Bridge Run

2009-10-17T17:46:00.000-07:00

I ran the Neuse River Bridge Run 10k this morning! It was a good race and I had a lot of fun. It was really well organized. There were a lot of participants, but not so many that it felt overwhelming. It looks like there were 271 10k runners, according to the race results.

First of all, let me start by saying that I forgot my iPod in the car! I was not happy about that, but I ended up not missing it at all. I enjoyed running different terrain and looking at the scenery. I'm glad to know I could do it without the iPod!

The route started in front of a Food Lion and took us down a road and towards a very long bridge (hence, the name of the race). I cannot believe how long this bridge was! We started on the bridge right after mile 1 and right as we left the bridge it was mile 4. It was kind of intimidating, because it was a flat bridge at first, but there was a large hill in the middle of the bridge. You see the hill in the distance and it seems like it takes forever to get to it. Everyone seemed nervous about running over the bridge. We knew it was going to be cold and windy, not to mention the damn hill. But you know what? It was awesome. The view was gorgeous. The wind was cold, I won't lie about that. But the hill wasn't bad at all! I think all my training around my neighborhood has helped me out. Because once I got over that hill, I felt great! I had tons of energy and I knew I was not going to have any trouble finishing the race. I started passing people that I had been pacing, and the last 2 miles flew by.

I was really excited when I saw the finish line in the distance and I started looking for Erik and Nate. I saw them on the corner as I approached the finish line and gave them a wave. Nate had a huge grin on his face, then he started screaming when I ran past him. ;) It made me laugh. I crossed the finish line right at 1:02, so my average pace was exactly 10 mins/mile. I ended up smack dab in the middle of my age group - 12 out of 22.

Overall, this was an awesome experience. I had SO much fun! I was bouncing off the walls when I finished the race. I felt so great about myself. I was happy that I finished in a respectable time, but most of all, I was thrilled that I had so much fun the whole time. Woohoo! I am feeling really revved about the half-marathon now!

Playing catch up

2009-10-16T03:19:00.001-07:00

Sorry it's been a couple of days since I've updated! I've been both busy and lazy. I've been reading everybody else's blogs, but just didn't take the time to update mine.

Rookie mistakes
After my post the other day about being tired of caring, I did a crappy job of staying on track with my eating. Wednesday I made cupcakes for a baby celebration. I stupidly made them first thing in the morning because I wanted to make sure I got them done and didn't run out of time... well, it is really hard to work all day knowing that there is a platter of chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing sitting downstairs. They were calling to me. So I ate one. I also ate some more icing because there was a ton leftover. Nice. (Note: I have thrown away the icing, so it cannot tempt me anymore.) Then I went to dinner and ate one more slice of pizza than I should have. I originally stopped at 2 pieces and I was full. Why did I eat a 3rd piece? I ate it because it tasted SO good. But it was just too much. I knew there was cake for dessert and that I was planning to have a piece (despite already having a cupcake in the morning). I should have gotten a box right away and put my pizza away. I was having fun and enjoying the conversation and not thinking about my eating the way I should have. I paid for it the rest of the night though. My stomach hurt so bad and I felt gross. I still haven't recovered from Wednesday yet. I still feel gross and bloated, like I need to live on a diet of apples and carrots until I get all the sodium and grease out of my system. Yuck.

Yesterday wasn't great either. I got on the treadmill and only got 2.5 miles in. I was not feeling it. I've got to get out of my treadmill rut though, because there are days where it's going to be better to run on the treadmill than outside. Somehow, I've got to get over this. The whole time I was on the treadmill, I was trying to talk myself into going home. Pathetic.

I feel like all of this is not who I am now. It's who I used to be, but I know better now. I've worked too hard to let myself fall into these habits. Who is this girl who is making all these rookie mistakes? I really liked the comment that Jen made in my last post, saying that we have to take it one decision at a time. That's true. I know it. I just have to live it. (Edited to add: Jen's post from today talks about this a lot. I had to link it because it's so relevant to what I'm going through).

Neuse River Bridge Run
Tomorrow is the 10k! My first ever 10k. I'm excited and nervous. I'm not really nervous about the run yet, but more nervous about the logistics. This race is in another city that I'm not too familiar with. I've been there several times, but I don't know my way around. So I'm worried about knowing where to go and making sure I get there on time. I'm worried that my friend doesn't have a coffee maker (what?!) so I think we'll bring ours from home. I can't run without coffee first! I'm worried about sneaking my iPod into a race that doesn't allow headphones, but I'm going to give it a shot anyway. I'm a little worried that I'll be cold or that the race will be very hilly and I'll be exhausted. I wish I knew someone else who was running in the race too. I always hear runners say that they talk to someone else who is keeping their pace... I just don't see me doing that. I'm kind of shy when it comes to talking to people I don't know.

Last night I was really worried that Erik wasn't going to be able to come with me to New Bern. He was feeling sick and we're both worried about the flu. My friend has a 2 year-old, so there was no way that I was going to let Erik go to their house if he wasn't feeling well. That sparked all sorts of extra nerves in me... I was not looking forward to navigating my way to the race by myself, or running knowing that there was no one there to cheer for me at the finish line. Luckily, he woke up feeling much better today, so he should be able to go. Whew! I'm counting on him and Nate being there for me when I cross the finish line tomorrow. I'm looking forward to seeing their smiles when I finish my first 10k.

Tired of caring

2009-10-14T06:12:00.000-07:00

Today I am tired of caring about things. I'm tired of watching what I eat and trying to plan all of my meals for each week. I'm tired of stepping the scale once a week and hoping for a loss. I'm not tired of working out. I'm happy to be active. I'm excited about the 10k and the half-marathon. I like feeling good about myself. It's just all the food and weight stuff that is getting to me right now.

Sometimes I think that there are only so many things in life that we can do well on a daily basis. It's like I can choose to work out, be a good mom, do a good job at work, make dinner, and maybe get the dishes done at the end of the day. But that's it! Try adding vacuuming to that list and something else has to go. It's like it just gets to be too much sometimes. It becomes overwhelming.

I don't know why it is that sometimes I can balance all of this well and meal planning and cooking doesn't feel like too much. At those times, it's fun and I enjoy it. Right now is a different story. It's making me feel overwhelmed and frustrated. Which is making me want to turn to junk foods, convenience foods and comfort foods. I have to get out of this rut soon or I will regret it.

Three Positives, Part II

2009-10-12T16:27:00.000-07:00

It's Monday! It's a cold, gray, dreary Monday here in NC. But, Monday in October also means 3 positive things.

1. My butt! :) I've noticed that it's looking quite nice recently. All that running is doing nice things for the badonkadonk.

2. The blogging community. Over the past few months, I have really enjoyed finding new health-related blogs to read and adding them to my blogroll. I get so many great ideas for new workouts to try, recipes, cook books, not to mention all the motivation and general health information. I love it when someone new visits my blog and I love comments! It's so awesome to feel like I belong to a supportive community. It's nice to know that I have people cheering me on out there.

3. Cooler weather. NC is finally cooling down. If you don't live here, let me explain something to you. Our summers are very long. L.O.N.G. Our Springs and Falls feel almost non-existent at times. We go from cold (to us) to hot weather starting in April and May. Then it stays hot until October or November. Sometimes we even have random warm days in December and January. Anyway, it's finally cooling down some and it's lovely. I got to wear long sleeves today! Fall clothes are so much fun. And, it means that running outside is much more enjoyable too.

A quickie

2009-10-11T16:42:00.000-07:00

I've been sitting at my computer for about 5 minutes, staring at the blank blog post and trying to think of something clever to say. Instead, I'm almost asleep and it's 10 'til 8:00. So I'm going to write this up real quick so I can get to bed early tonight.

Just wanted to say that I did get my 8 mile run in today! Yay! Last night I was nervous about the run for some reason. It's the first time in awhile that I have felt anxious about running. I don't really know what that was about. But there was nothing to be worried about. It actually went pretty well.

It was cool out when I started running and that was nice. I did the first 4.5 miles in my subdivision and then I headed out onto the streets nearby. I was really glad to get out of our neighborhood. I get bored doing laps! Plus, my hips were starting to hurt some and I needed a distraction. The last few miles went great. I challenged myself by running up the long steep hill and it was easier than I expected. I think one thing that helped me was that I decided to stay at a very comfortable pace the whole time. I didn't push myself until the last mile. It made the entire run much more enjoyable and it felt easier than the 7 miles I ran last week. I can't remember how long it took me exactly, but the average pace ended up being 10:44/mile.

Next week is the 10k! I'm really excited about that. The race is in a beautiful city and one of my best friends lives there. We'll be heading to her house Friday night and spending the night there. Then we'll hang out on Saturday after the race. Yay!

A cookie confession

2009-10-08T17:02:00.000-07:00

I think yesterday's frustrations got to me today and I slipped some. I had to go into campus this morning, and I came home at lunch. On the way, I stopped at Super Target to grab some things we needed and I picked up a sandwich at their deli... a turkey & brie sandwich. Probably not a great choice, huh? And, it wasn't even that good. How can brie not taste awesome?! I don't know, but it didn't really do anything for the sandwich. I hate it when I find myself ingesting way more calories than I should AND it doesn't even taste good. If I'm going to overdo it, I want to at least enjoy it, you know? On top of that, I grabbed a package of cookies at the checkout counter and I ate them in the car. All of them. When did I read the nutritional info? When I got home. How many servings were in the package? 3. 120 calories per serving x 3 servings = 360 calories on chocolate chip cookies + a turkey & brie sandwich (let's face it, probably 600 calories) = almost 1000 calories in one trip to Target. Yikes. Good thing I've got 50 minutes of cardio ahead of me tomorrow...which will probably only burn off half of those calories. *sigh*

I really don't know what came over me. I think I just wanted to eat and not think about it for once. The downside (other than the ridiculous amount of calories consumed) was that I felt pretty gross afterwards too. :P

Book giveaway!
I forgot to post about this yesterday, so I'm doing it today. Jen at Priorfatgirl is giving away a book! It sounds like a pretty good read. Check out her post!

Whiny Wednesday

2009-10-07T16:18:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of whining to do. I'm sure it's going to be annoying, so I'm sorry. I just need to get this out.

Weekly weigh-in
Stayed exactly the same. There has been no budge on the scale at all. Sucks! I am definitely working hard and pushing my workouts each week, especially considering that I'm increasing my mileage as I train for the half-marathon. But it's not affecting my weight at all. I really don't care all that much, but I'd just like to lose another inch or so in my waist and then I'd shut up about it. In good news, I guess, I'm definitely losing more in the bust. I am able to wear some bras that I never thought I'd wear again.

TIRED
I know I keep complaining about being tired, but it is just insane. The fatigue that I am feeling is just not right. I could go to sleep right now, and I would like to. I'm going to try to stay awake until 8:30 or 9:00 just so I can spend some time with Erik. I added more protein to my diet and I'm eating a very balanced diet. I take a multivitamin. Sunday night I went to bed at 9:30 and last night I went to bed at 9:00. What else can I do? I'm tired of being tired.

Tracking again...
To help me figure out the two above items, I've decided to start tracking my diet and exercise in Sparkpeople. I decided to leave Babyfit since I don't need anything targeted towards pregnancy or nursing anymore. I really hate tracking everything I eat though. I feel like it's so time consuming. Even if most of my favorite things are saved, it still takes awhile to go in and enter in every single thing that I ate. And then I feel like I focus too much on making sure I stay within a calorie goal, even if I'm still hungry. It sucks. I want to do it so that I can make sure that I am getting enough, but not too many, calories and to be sure that I'm getting enough protein, carbs and fat each day. But I don't like doing it. I hope that I don't have to keep it up long.

Oh yeah...
I created a header and updated my background! What do you think? I miss the cherries and wanted to keep them, but they did not look good with the header. I'm still not crazy about all the font colors, but I don't have time to play with them and find the perfect combination yet.

October is...

2009-10-06T17:00:00.000-07:00

Breast Cancer Awareness month!

Who hasn't been touched by breast cancer in some way? It seems like everyone knows somebody who has faced that diagnosis. Breast cancer is all around us. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime.

In October, we are inundated with charity events to raise funds to fight breast cancer and to keep breast cancer in the public eye. I found this list of charities and product promotions taking place in October for breast cancer awareness. Check them out! Also, check out Self magazine and Self.com for lifestyle changes that are known to help prevent cancer.

Breast Cancer FYI (from Google Health)
Early breast cancer usually does not cause symptoms. This is why regular breast exams are important. As the cancer grows, symptoms may include:

•Breast lump or lump in the armpit that is hard, has uneven edges, and usually does not hurt
•Change in the size, shape, or feel of the breast or nipple -- for example, you may have redness, dimpling, or puckering that looks like the skin of an orange
•Fluid coming from the nipple -- may be bloody, clear-to-yellow, or green, and look like pus
Men get breast cancer, too. Symptoms include breast lump and breast pain and tenderness.

Symptoms of advanced breast cancer may include:

•Bone pain
•Breast pain or discomfort
•Skin ulcers
•Swelling of one arm (next to breast with cancer)
•Weight loss

Most lumps are found by self-exams or by a partner, so don't forget to do a self-exam every month!

Do you do a self-exam regularly? If so, is there anything that helps you remember to do it?

Three positives! Part 1

2009-10-05T16:18:00.000-07:00

Syl, over at Live, Smile, Run is doing a challenge for the month of October. She has put away her scale and is not weighing-in all month long! Each Monday, she is posting three things that she is proud of about her body. She has invited others to join her with this challenge. I am still going to weigh-in on Wednesdays, but I'm avoiding all other impromptu weigh-ins. And I'll be sure to think of 3 positive things to share with you guys each Monday. I really believe in trying to stay positive as much as possible. I've been an optimist all my life and I think it's working out pretty well for me. :)

1. My legs. This morning I ran on the treadmill and I noticed how great my legs looked while I was running. They looked so strong and muscular. I love muscle with a purpose! I have awesome legs that are helping me to train for a half-marathon and I am very proud of them.

2. My hair. Half the time these days it's barely brushed, but when I give it the effort it deserves, it's really great. I have very thick hair and its always been healthy.

3. My immune system. I do not get sick often, and when I do get sick, I am usually able to fight it off pretty quickly. I think that eating healthy, working out, taking a multi-vitamin and drinking tons of water helps boost my immune system too. (Dear God/cruel universe... please do not take that as a challenge and give me H1N1 or the seasonal flu... do I need to go knock on some wood now?)

Seven Miles

2009-10-03T16:47:00.000-07:00

I ran seven f-ing miles today! SEVEN MILES. I really can't believe it. It was hard, but I did it.

My favorite part of the run was running past the goats on my way out and back. There were 2 billy goats and two kids out in the field today. I waved at them and even said hello to them and they just stared at me as I ran by. I think goats are such funny animals, so it put a smile on my face when I passed them.

I used the fuel belt and it rocked! I definitely needed the water, as it was getting pretty warm by the time I finished this morning. I also tried out some Gu. I don't know if it helped me at all, but it didn't make my stomach hurt or anything, so that's good.

After I finished my 7 mile run, I walked the last little bit until I got home. I was surprised to find Erik and Nate in the driveway, playing fetch with the dog. Erik started clapping for me as I walked down the driveway and Nate joined in. :-) It was awesome to have my own personal cheering section after I finished my run. I have such a great family!

Tomorrow is rest day! Wahoo! And in the morning, I'm making waffles!

Just keep truckin'

2009-10-02T17:16:00.000-07:00

Nate went to daycare today and I got to go to the gym! Hurrah! I did leg weights, biceps, and abs. And I got some good stretching in too. I'm going to put on some yoga pants and stretch while I watch tv tonight too. I'm also going to get everything ready for my run tomorrow.

This is going to be my first run using a fuel belt. I got this one from Fleet Feet. Yes, it's pink! I love it! It should be nice and cool during my run, but since it will be the longest distance I've ever run (ever!) it seems like a good idea to have some extra water on hand. Plus, I think it'll be good to have the fuel belt for the half-marathon, so I need to be accustomed to wearing it and using it.

I'm looking forward to getting out on the road tomorrow morning and conquering my longest run ever! Wish me luck! :)

Oh dear lord...

2009-10-01T14:44:00.000-07:00

I have spent the past 29 hours (minus whatever hours I slept last night) caring for a "sick" toddler. "Sick." Quotes are there to imply that he is not actually sick, which he's not. Yesterday morning, after my 4.5 mile run around my neighborhood (which was kind of awesome), I got a call from daycare telling me that Nate had a stomach bug and needed to be picked up ASAP. I got there as soon as I could, although I stopped at the grocery store on the way, to pick up some of Nate's favorite things since I knew he wasn't feeling well.

Well, he's fine. Completely fine. He has a diaper rash or something, but that's not really a reason to stay home from daycare. But since they said he was sick, he had to stay home for 24 hours.

Non-moms or non-work-outside-of-home-moms may think that I sound heartless for not celebrating that I get a day off with my darling son on a day that I should be working and he should be at daycare. I don't care. I have a job. I have work to do. I have very, very little personal time off. Very little. Which means I now need to find 13 spare hours in the month of October to make up for the time I've missed the past 2 days. And I'm exhausted from trying to keep Nate entertained since noon yesterday. He has high standards. That's a downfall of daycare. It's fun and I'm not. I do not compare to a room 7 other toddlers and a radio blaring "Peanut, peanut butter and jelly."

Anyway, the whole point of this long post is that I didn't get to the gym today. I did spend a lot of time chasing a child around and teaching him how to climb down the stairs, but I did not do leg weights and abs like I was supposed to do. I will get to the gym tomorrow morning and I'm not really sure what I'm going to do yet. I will have to choose between getting caught up on weights or doing the 50 minutes on the elliptical. Right now I'm leaning towards strength training and getting a really good stretching session in for my 7 mile run on Saturday. Which, let's face it... 7 miles of running means that I'm going to get over an hour to myself on Saturday morning! And that sounds pretty good right now...

Playing hooky

2009-09-29T12:10:00.000-07:00

I played hooky from the gym today. I was so tired this morning that I talked myself out of going. Instead, I came home and rested on the couch for awhile before work. At lunch, I climbed into bed and dozed for awhile too.

Remember yesterday how I said that I had to have a cup of coffee to help me through the afternoon? It was a bad idea. That caffeine kept me up all night long! Even when I fell asleep, it wasn't a restful sleep at all. It's really awful to be physically exhausted but unable to sleep. I guess I was reminded that I really cannot have caffeine in the afternoons. I've known that for a long time, but sometimes it'd be nice to be able to cheat and not suffer any repercussions.

I'll be back to my regularly scheduled workouts tomorrow, hopefully after a good 9 hours of sleep!

The dreadmill, and sleepy afternoons

2009-09-28T13:39:00.000-07:00

The dreadmill treadmill

I think all runners complain about treadmills. Who wants to run and not go anywhere? Personally, I don't mind treadmills for the most part. I like that I don't have to think about where to run. I just go to the gym, hop on, and get it done. It's nice to be able to watch a morning show while I work out. I get my run in and I get caught up on current events.

But as I continue training for the half-marathon, my short runs are getting longer and it's causing some treadmill dread for me. I can handle 3-4 miles on the treadmill. But over 4 miles and I start to get kind of stir crazy. It's just boring! No amount of morning tv and good music can keep me entertained as I run in place for 45 minutes. I think I'm going to have to start doing my shorter runs outside now. It's going to be interesting to figure out how to go to the gym and do strength training and then get a 4.5-5 mile run in, outside, twice per week. My gym is located in a subdivision, so I'm going to play with mapmyrun to put together a route. I can also do 4-5 laps around my subdivision to get the distance in too. My long run route isn't a good option because the roads would be too busy with commuters during the week.

Sleepy afternoons

Since I've been training for the half-marathon, I have been much tireder (more tired? see? I'm tired. My grammar goes when I'm tired) than I used to be. I hit the normal afternoon slump that most people hit, but I don't rally again later. I get through the rest of the day in a half-daze. Well, that's not good for my job and it's not good for my family! Today, I resorted to an afternoon cup of coffee and a protein bar to give me a boost. It helped for a little bit, but I'm already exhausted again. I have been going to bed earlier, and about 5 out of 7 nights I'm in bed by 9:30. I can't imagine going to bed much earlier than that.

I really have to work on getting more protein too. I think if I actually got as much as I need, I'd probably feel a lot better. I think I'm going to pick up some sort of protein supplement (probably a powder) and add it to my breakfast or afternoon snack. If you use a protein supplement, what kind do you use? How do you incorporate it into your meals or snacks?

White Deer Dash

2009-09-26T11:03:00.000-07:00

We completed the White Deer Dash 5k today. The weather was awesome for the 5k. It was kind of chilly and completely overcast. I'm glad it wasn't hot and sunny!

My mom met us at the park and took Nate for a stroll and to play on the playground while we ran. We lined up on the road in front of the park and tried to listen to the man giving instructions through a megaphone, but we could barely hear him so we decided we'd just hope for the best. I knew we weren't going to be in the front of the pack, so we could just follow everyone in front of us.

The race was fun! Most of the race was through a residential area with some beautiful houses. Erik and I ran together and pointed out the houses that we liked the most. We kept a comfortable pace together and it was nice to have him running next to me! I'm used to running alone.

We crossed the finish line in under 30 minutes, and my average pace was 9:36. I placed 26 out of 74 women, and I came in 7th in my age group (out of 19 women).

I am really happy that we did this race, and more than anything I'm proud of Erik for running it with me!

Erik and I crossing the finish line.

Running for the deer!

2009-09-25T16:51:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning, Erik and I are running in a small local race called the White Deer Dash. There are less than 100 people registered for the race, which I think will be kind of neat. It will be a more intimate 5k. :)

One reason I wanted to do the White Deer Dash is because we have a white deer (an albino doe) who lives in our neighborhood! She's been here the whole time we've owned our house and we really enjoy Albina sightings. Lots of our friends have been lucky enough to see her at one time or another when they've visited. She is so beautiful! Seeing her seems special, and it always feels like a sign of good luck to me. I hope we see her tomorrow morning before our race!

And if you needed one more reason....

2009-09-24T17:01:00.000-07:00

This morning I was listening to the radio, and I heard a segment about how obesity is now the leading cause of cancer! Cancers that may be related to being overweight include colon, breast (postmenopausal), uterine and esophageal. Scientists aren't sure why obesity contributes to a higher incidence of cancer, but they think it's related to higher hormone levels in obese people.

I never thought much about whether cancer would be correlated to (or caused by?) obesity, but I guess it makes sense. It seems like pretty much every health issue out there is either caused by obesity or made worse by it.

My family tree is full of people who have had diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, congestive heart failure, and just a smattering of cancer. Just a tad. For the most part, it's those pesky obesity related illnesses that get to us.

But not me. Can I say that? Is 30 too young to declare, "That will not be me!" It cannot be. I will not let it be me. I refuse.

There are so few things in our lives that we can control, but these are the things I can control: My diet and my activity level. I can make sure that I eat well and that I feed my body lots of heart healthy foods. I can get at least the minimum recommended amount of activity most of the time. I can drink lots of water (and a little wine!) and avoid sugary sodas. I can get 7-8 hours of sleep most nights. I can take care of my body so that, hopefully, Nate won't have to take care of it for me in 40 years.

The ice cream made me do it!

2009-09-23T10:13:00.000-07:00

Last week when I was at the gym, I saw a segment on MSNBC about why it's so hard to stop eating high-fat foods like ice cream and cheeseburgers. The study shows that when you eat foods high in a certain type of fat, the fat molecules go to your brain and tell the brain to ignore appetite-suppressing signals... for up to three days!!! THREE DAYS?! So the ice cream that I ate on Sunday is probably just wearing off today. Whew!

I think most people who indulge in ice cream and fast food can attest to the truth in this study. It is really hard to eat a small portion of ice cream. It seems impossible to stop eating a cheeseburger once you've started. I've always thought that the downward spiral that tends to occur after an overindulgence like that is due to the "I give up" phenomenon that occurs with many dieters. You know what I mean. You eat something unhealthy and then you've already wrecked your diet, so you might as well give up and eat a ton of junk food for the rest of the day (or week, or weekend). I think most people have experienced that at least once in their lives, if not much more often than that. But it is really eye-opening to see that the fatty foods can affect your brain and body chemistry for three days, making it harder to feel full and to make good dietary decisions. Wow.

I don't think that research like that means that you should never ever have ice cream or a burger. Who wants to live a life without two of the yummiest foods around? But if you go into it knowing that those foods can affect your ability to stop eating when you're full, you can limit your portions before you even take a bite. You can also plan your meals for the next couple of days to make sure that you avoid foods high in saturated fats so that your body can re-set.

Speaking of ice cream, I weighed-in this morning and my weight was exactly the same. Not too bad, considering the pizza and ice cream I had over the weekend.

Weekend Update

2009-09-21T16:51:00.000-07:00

I wish I was feeling like a cute Tina Fey right now, but instead this Weekend Update is coming to you from Dennis Miller. No offense to Dennis Miller. Seriously ya'll, I have got to make an effort to dry my hair and put on make-up at least once or twice a week. Shouldn't it be a daily activity? It's really embarrassing. I have gotten really lazy about it since I've been telecommuting for over a year now. No need to get my hair cut regularly because nobody sees it! And screw wearing make-up when I'm spending 90% of my day alone with my computer. But when Erik gets home, he walks in to a wife who looks more like Medusa than Madonna and it's really a shame. He deserves better, and so do I.

Training update
I ran 6 miles on Saturday and it went well! I was a little slower than I'd like, but at least I finished. It took me just under 65 minutes to run 6 miles. I'd like that to be closer to 60 minutes, but it is what it is. The run went really well! I really cannot believe what a mind game running is for me. Every time I have to go run a longer distance, I think "Well, I've already run 5 miles, so I can definitely run 6 miles. It's just 1 more mile." And then I do it!

At least once during every long run, I find myself doubting my ability to run a half marathon. I start thinking "If I'm already this tired after 4 miles, how can I possibly run 13.1 miles?" But I have faith. I believe in Hal Higdon! A bajillion people across the world have used his training plan and it has worked for them. Even though 13.1 miles seems so far right now, I can genuinely say that 6 miles seemed unattainable back in early August. So I'm keeping my faith in the training plan and hoping for the best!

Weekend food update
I think an illogical alien came to live in my body over the weekend. I played host to someone else, because it surely wasn't me making those decisions! Saturday night, our plan was to make a homemade pizza. But we got home later than planned Saturday afternoon, and then we (meaning Erik) got caught up doing yard work for a few hours. By the time he was done, it was after 4:00 and too late for me to have enough time to get to the grocery store and have dinner ready in time for Nate to eat. So... we ordered pizza from Papa John's. *blush* It was a veggie pizza, but still, not a great choice. Had we had anything in our house to cook at all, I would have gone that route. But we had a credit at PJs and an easy dinner was so appealing! Thus, we ate a sodium filled dinner that made our tummies ache.

Sunday, we went out to the Carrboro Music Festival, where Erik was performing with a local jazz orchestra. They gave him a free voucher for food and he gave it to me, so I hit up Armadillo Grill. Yum! I had a chicken enchilada and it was delicious! A few hours later, we visited the beloved Maple View Farms ice cream shop. I've heard about this place for years, but I've never had a chance to go. Oh, it was worth every calorie. Just smelling the place must add about 100 calories to your day. I shared a scoop of chocolate chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream with Nate. It was divine. I haven't had ice cream in 4 or 5 months, so I savored every single bite. Delicious!

Clearly, my not-eating-out goal was on a temporary leave of absence over the weekend. But I am pushing forward. And those weekend indiscretions haven't made me lose focus. I was back at the gym this morning and I had a great run. I've eaten well all day and I'm drinking tons of water.

How was your weekend?

Re-excited

2009-09-18T12:41:00.000-07:00

When it comes to living a healthy lifestyle, I find that it's really easy to get bored with it. I fall into the same routines with my exercise, my meals, my snacks, everything. I like routines and I do well with them. But after awhile, it gets boring! So it's time to shake things up and get myself re-excited!

Here's what I'm doing:

New music on the iPod! I've been listening to the same stuff for months now. It's time to freshen it up with some new tunes! I'm also going to add some new (to me) episodes of This American Life for Thursdays when I'm not doing cardio.
Updating the blog! Did you notice that I've made some changes over there? ---> Yep, a little layout change, but I like it. I'm thinking of doing a custom header too, if I ever get the time to work on it.
Picking out a fun reward! I was thinking of how I can reward myself when I lose these next 5 pounds, and I remembered that I have a spa gift card sitting around collecting dust. So I'm going to use it! When I lose 5 more pounds, I'm going to go get a massage. I can't wait!
Reading some more motivating magazines! At the gym today, I read a Weight Watchers magazine while I was on the elliptical. It's a great magazine! Normally I read trashy magazines at the gym, and while they are fun to read, they do not provide me with any motivation or health tips. Reading the WW magazine made me feel inspired about my weight loss journey and it gave me ideas on new meals to try. I think I'm going to pick up the next issue, and maybe a Self magazine too. I'll save them for gym reading, and when I'm done, I'll leave them there for someone else to enjoy.

Hopefully changing things up some will help me get excited about this lifestyle again. What do you do when you need to get re-excited?

Resignation

2009-09-16T17:03:00.000-07:00

As much as I want to be in the "maintenance" part of my journey, I don't think I'm there yet. I think I need to suck it up and admit that I want (need?) to lose another 5-ish pounds. Dammit! I don't want to feel this way. I want to be happy where I am. But I'm not.

I DO feel really good about my weight and appearance right now, but I'm not completely happy where I am. I think losing another 5 pounds will get me where I need to be.

Guess I'll go update that pesky ticker again. *sigh* Here we go...

40 pounds

2009-09-14T16:45:00.000-07:00

Between Erik and I, we have lost 40 pounds! He weighed himself this morning and realized that he is now 20 pounds lighter than when we started this journey. Woohoo! I am so proud of him. It's really hard for him to make it to the gym considering he has to be at school by 7 AM, and when he gets home he always has things to do around the house, like mow the lawn, make dinner, or work on lesson plans. But he has still been able to lose weight with fewer trips to the gym than he'd like! He went on a little "closet shopping trip" this afternoon, pulling out clothes than he hadn't worn in years because they didn't fit. He looks great! He is set on maintaining this healthier weight. Looks like we both get to work on maintenance now!

Scenic and Smelly
Saturday morning I did my 5 mile run. I used mapmyrun to map a route around our neighborhood and the surrounding area, and it was perfect! It was a good challenge for me too. The route had lots of small hills and one longer hill, right at mile 3. I pushed through it and finished the run, with an average pace of 10:30. I'm pretty proud of that pace! Anyway, when I had mapped the run, I was excited about it because the main road of the route is this country road by our house. I love driving on it. But the reason I love driving the road is because I pass by cows and goats. Well, cows and goats are fun to look at from the car, but they are pretty smelly to run past! Also, I ran early in the morning, so they weren't even out yet. So I was left running past smelly fields with no cute animals or anything. On the flip side, one of the houses I passed had a lovely tea olive in their yard, so when I ran past their house I took in as much of that amazing aroma as I could.

More Zzz's?
I am starting to wonder if I'm going to have to go to bed earlier to accommodate training for the half marathon. I am tired! This morning I ran 4 miles, and by 4:00 this afternoon I was so ready for a nap! I might have try getting to bed at least half an hour earlier to see if it will help. If I'm this tired with a 5 mile weekend run and a 4 mile runs during the week, how am I going to feel when I'm running 5 miles during the week and 8-10 miles during the weekend? Other than coffee, what else would help with this? More protein? An energy bar?

Hobby?

2009-09-11T16:38:00.000-07:00

Tonight, Erik and I were talking about the upcoming race dates and times, discussing the logistics of where the races are, how we'll get there, whether we'll take Nate, etc. He has been so supportive of my running, especially since I started training for the half-marathon. He is behind me 100%, and that means so much to me. I can't imagine how hard it would be to go for my Saturday morning run if he was resentful that I was going out to do that every weekend. Anyway, as we were talking about everything, he said how proud he is that I'm training for a half-marathon, and how he's so glad that I have running as a hobby.

A hobby?! Really?! Does training for a race change my runner status from "newbie trying to run to get into better shape and get better at running in general" to a hobbyist? When I think of the word hobby, I think of carving figures out of wood, or maybe sewing. Running is not something that I have ever thought of as a hobby, but I guess it might be for some people... but not for me... I don't think...

Still I have to admit, I was kind of flattered to be categorized with hobby runners, even if it's not necessarily a category where I'd place myself. It does sound kind of like a nice thing to work towards. Maybe after November 8, I'll feel like I belong on that category. Maybe then I'll feel like a real runner.

You won't find me sitting around

2009-09-10T12:00:00.000-07:00

The only children's show that Nate seems interested in is a cancelled show on Noggin called "Jack's Big Music Show." Preschool On Demand rotates about 10 episodes of the show, and we record all the episodes on our DVR as they appear on Noggin in the hopes of one day having all of the episodes saved and easily accessible. Are you reading this wondering if I'm posting on the wrong blog here? No, I'm not. This does tie into my fitness and weight loss/maintenance goals, I promise! So we've seen the same handful of episodes over and over and we really don't get tired of them. The show is so entertaining that we don't mind seeing the episodes dozens of times.

The music is really upbeat and motivating too. One song that I find myself singing a lot these days is "Bottle of Sunshine" by Milkshake. It's about getting up and playing with friends, being active, using your imagination and having fun. The last line of the chorus is "You won't find me sitting around."

One of my personal goals is to be a positive role model for Nate (and any future children) when it comes to health. I want him to see me being active and to have a positive attitude about exercise and physical activity. I want Nate to grow up eating variety of foods and to know that we don't have to clean our plates. I hope that he will prefer drinking water instead of juice, sodas and the NC favorite - sweet tea. My hope is that Nate will see all of these things from me and Erik and that he will model his own habits after ours. As much as I want to lead a healthy lifestyle for myself, I am also doing it for my family as a whole. And when I don't feel like doing it, I hope that seeing them will help me remember why it's so important.

Drumroll please...

2009-09-09T16:53:00.000-07:00

First of all, I'm not going to do my weekly weigh-in posts anymore. I will continue to weigh myself every Wednesday, because it's important for me to get on the scale weekly to keep myself accountable. If I find myself gaining weight, I will post about it. I'm pledging to be honest with you guys because it will force me to be honest with myself. Conversely, if I lose a few more pounds, I'll share the good news with you guys too!

Ha-yuge News
I'm finally going to share the big news that I've been alluding to for a couple of weeks. I'm still a little hesitant. Can you tell? I'm procrastinating even as I type this out.

I'm training to run in a race.

A half marathon.

There. I said it. Maybe it should be all colorful, in bold print, with confetti around it. I know I should be proud that I'm taking this on, and deep down I am. But I'm also intimidated as hell and scared that I'm somehow going to make a huge fool out of myself. Ask my husband, I am not the type of person that does anything expecting to fail. I don't like to play games that I'm not good at. I don't mind "playing for fun" if it's something I am good at... but I do not like to show weakness. I hate going into something as a newbie. I like being an expert! I want to show up at the race and seem like I know what I'm doing, and like I belong there!

I've been using Hal Higdon's Half-Marathon novice training. I'm taking it week by week. Last weekend, I ran 5 miles. It felt great! I'm doing it again this weekend and I'm looking forward to it.

He encourages runners to sign up for a 5k and a 10k as a part of the half-marathon training, so that's what I'm doing. My 5k is going to be on 9/26 and the 10k is on 10/17. I'm looking forward to each of those races for different reasons, and I'll post more about them later.

So that's it! Big news revealed. And now we commence 8 weeks of probable non-stop jabbering about training, my nerves, my stupid self-esteem issues, etc. Enjoy! ;)

Long weekend?!

2009-09-07T19:33:00.000-07:00

We had a long weekend that didn't feel very long. How is it that a 3 day weekend can feel as short as a 2 day weekend? I guess when you (and by "you," I mean Erik) spend 10-11 hours driving, it kind of makes sense.

I think I did a pretty good job with my eating while we were in WV. I definitely did not eat as nutritiously as I would at home, but that comes with the territory. But I watched my portions, limited my sweets and ate as much fruit and veggies as possible. I am still feeling kind of gross and bloated, but I'm sure I'll feel normal again in a couple of days.

I got my 5 mile run in on Saturday too. Erik was awesome and made sure that we got out of the house so I could go running before it got too warm out. He drove me to downtown Charleston and dropped me off by the Capitol Building. There's a nice sidewalk that runs beside the Kanawha river for miles. So I ran 2.5 miles out and 2.5 miles back! It was actually a very easy run because it's really flat. It was also really nice to have different scenery to look at. I'm used to running the same paths over and over. I think I am going to try to change things up a little more, because the change of scenery really helped the run go faster for me.

This week is looking kind of uncertain in terms of workouts though. I didn't get a run in this morning before we left WV, and by the time we got home, got the car unpacked, fed Nate and got him to bed, there was no time. I don't feel comfortable running outside in complete darkness. Nate has been sick with a fever all weekend, so I'm keeping him home tomorrow and taking him to the pediatrician. If I get to the gym, it won't be until after Erik comes home from school. I think I'm going to try to get out to the gym tomorrow afternoon no matter what though. I'll feel better if I can get some sort of activity in!

September!

2009-09-03T11:18:00.001-07:00

September Challenges
A couple of weeks ago, I posted a list of challenges I wanted to take on in September. I wanted to:

Avoid eating out in September.
~~Do the 30 day shred.~~
Run a 5k.

Yes, I'm cutting #2 out of my list. First of all, I am focusing more on my running right now. I don't want to add in the 30DS. I am getting enough cardio and strength training as it is, and I'm not willing to give up my current routine to add the 30DS. Secondly, a friend of mine told me that she felt that the 30DS wasn't as challenging as another Jillian workout. So whenever (if ever) I feel like doing something different, I'll probably try the other Jillian DVD she recommended.

Addressing #1... My goal is not to eat out at all, including Starbucks or other coffee establishments. HOWEVER, I am giving myself a couple of outs here. We are heading to my in-laws' house for the weekend, and if they want to go out to eat then I'll have to go. Also, they are not known for their strong coffee, so we occasionally pick up something stronger if we're out. If I'm dying for caffeine, I am not going to deny myself. But I will stick with a basic coffee and nothing fancy. Also, when we drive back from WV, we'll likely need to stop and eat. I don't see a way around that. If we take a cooler with us and I'm able to make a sandwich and bring some fruit back with us, that's what I'll do. But if I can't, I'll do my best to eat something healthy on the road.

Addressing #3... There are 2 5ks I'm interested in on September 26. I am trying to decide which one I want to do. Either way, I'm signing up for one of them and I will be running in a 5k on 9/26! Woohoo!

This weekend's challenges

Like I said above, we're staying with my in-laws this weekend. It is always a challenge for me to stay on track with my eating there. Let's just say that there is not a lack of sweets and treats in their house. They usually do have some apples and bananas and I'll probably bring a few things from home as well. I'm hoping to stick to some of my basic favorites for breakfast and lunch (yogurt, oatmeal and sandwiches) with fruit for snacks. I just have to stay away from the candy jars and the pepperoni rolls!

Also, I am determined to get my running in while we're there. I'm supposed to run on Saturday and Monday. I used mapmyrun to work out a route for my longer run on Saturday! I can't wait!

Edited: I am already failing at #1! I made this delicious pulled chicken barbecue in the crockpot for dinner tonight. I wanted coleslaw to go with it, but I have no idea how to make coleslaw that tastes good. So I asked Erik to stop and buy some from a BBQ restaurant on the way home! Oops! I didn't even think about it. :( Oh well... I'll keep trying!

2009-09-02T13:07:00.000-07:00

Weekly Weigh-In, Week 18

How many weeks does it take to lose 20 pounds? 18 for me! I guess "they" are right about the healthy weight loss rate of 1-2 lbs per week. Whew! It feels great to have met my goal! I am very proud of all the hard work I've put in over the past 18 weeks.

A lifestyle change

I really feel like I have successfully changed my lifestyle. I automatically go to the gym each morning before work. Even on days where I really don't want to go, I pretty much always go anyway. I'm eating way better than I had been, and I am enjoying it. I do miss some things, like unlimited amounts of chocolate, milkshakes, and ginormous bowls of ice cream. I won't lie about that. But I indulge myself too and try not to let myself feel deprived. I feel like I can maintain what I am doing right now. It's not something that I want to give up on. I'm enjoying it too much!

Ultimate goal?

Now that I've reached my goal weight, I have to decide if this is really my ultimate goal weight. I'm still 5-7 lbs over my old Weight Watchers weight. I'm not ready to set another goal though. I am going to wait 1-2 weeks to decide if I want to reduce my goal weight by another 5 pounds. In the meantime, I'm going to continue eating and exercising like normal. If I lose more weight, I won't complain about that!

Big plans

I'm still being a tease! I DO have some really big plans, but I'm still not ready to share quite yet! I will soon. Maybe next week!

I got Erik to snap a photo of me this afternoon. I had to go on-site to work today, so I actually put on make-up and professional clothes. Here I am, looking snazzy at my goal weight!

Didn't go to the gym...

2009-08-31T17:21:00.000-07:00

I overslept this morning and woke up majorly grumpy. Nate was grumpy and clingy. It was dreary and drizzly. I was about 30-45 minutes late dropping Nate off for daycare. Had I gone to the gym, I would've been an hour late to work probably.

So instead, I ran outside. ;) I decided to re-work my weight lifting schedule for the week to make-up for what I missed today, but I didn't miss my run! I went to the path right by Nate's daycare and ran 3.5 miles in the cool drizzle. It was great! I am a big fan of running in a light misty rain. It's so much better than heat and humidity! Oh, and despite my complaints on Saturday, I managed to complete my run at an average pace of 10:15.

I finished my run feeling happy and in a MUCH better mood than I woke up in. It was a great start to the day!

Conflicting feelings

2009-08-29T09:43:00.000-07:00

This morning I got up bright and early to go for a run. I went out to one of my favorite parks, Lake Johnson. I like Lake Johnson because it is scenic, the trails are paved and there are enough people there that I feel safe if I'm by myself. The downside of Lake Johnson is that there are some pretty steep hills, and they are lumped together. You have to go up and down 3 or 4 steep hills, one right after the other. It's challenging if you're walking, and super-challenging if you're running.

So this morning I went out there and I chose to park and run in a direction that would put those hills right in the middle of my run. I felt pretty good and got through the hills okay. I was tired afterwards, but I got through it. I was planning to run 4 miles, but when I hit 3 miles I felt done. Just done. I knew where in the path I had to go to reach the 4 mile point, and I just didn't want to do it. So I stopped. I walked for a moment, became racked with guilt, then started running again. Then I decided I didn't want to run, stopped again, then turned around and walked until I got to my car.

The whole time back to my car, I'm beating myself up in my mind. Why am I trying to run further? Who do I think I am anyway? Why do I think that I can ever add distance? And what's the point when I'm so slow? When I run outside, I tend to average about 11-12 minutes per mile. I hear my friends who are runners talk about how slow they are when they are running under a 10 minute mile. So it makes me feel self-conscious and like I'm stupid for even trying.

I know that I am my only competition when it comes to running. I know that it doesn't really matter if I'm a slow runner. I know that finishing a run is more important than finishing it fast. I have been running consistently for about 20 weeks now. I can't compare myself to people who have been running for years. I do, but I know that I shouldn't. I need to run with blinders on. I can't worry about what everyone else is doing. I just need to worry about me.

So I'm going to keep putting one foot in front of the other. I'm not giving up. I'll be kind to myself. I can do this!

The evil voices

2009-08-27T13:23:00.000-07:00

For the past couple of days, I've felt like there has been a little devil sitting on my shoulder. It's whispering devious things into my ear. Things like, "Just add some heavy whipping cream to your hot cocoa.... it will be so delicious! Nobody has to know!" and "Put some butter on your rice. Butter on rice tastes so good! You deserve butter!" I gave into the butter, but not the heavy cream. Evil voices - 1, Me - 1. And as a side note, I poured out the heavy cream this afternoon. I don't need it calling to me anymore.

I think that this is a result of being close to my goal. Subconsciously, I must be feeling like I can let my guard down now. I guess that part of me also feels like I deserve some indulgence. And maybe indulgences are not out of line, but if I'm going to indulge, I want it to be planned and I want it to be worth it. A pat of butter or two is tasty, but not really worth the calories and fat in my opinion.

And another reason I'm dealing with this is because I haven't been tracking my calories recently. After doing it for awhile and realizing that I was eating the same things over and over, it became redundant. But now that I seem to be relaxing my standards somewhat, I think it's time to get back into the habit of tracking everything again to keep myself accountable.

Do you have evil voices that taunt you? What do they say? How do you fight them?

Coasting

2009-08-26T16:44:00.000-07:00

Weekly Weigh-in, Week 17
No change! I stayed the same as last week. That's not bad considering all that was consumed over the weekend. I am hoping for a loss next week though!

Black Bean Brownies
My friend Beth made brownies for a mom's night we attended last night. Instead of using the oil and eggs the brownie mix called for, she used a can of black beans that she pureed. I had heard about black bean brownies in Weight Watchers, but never tried them. They were good! They were very moist and chocolatey. I actually forgot that she had used black beans in them until after I finished my brownie. Yay for healthier chocolate treats!

Coasting
I feel like I'm just coasting in life right now. I'm still focusing on losing weight, but I am less focused on it than I used to be. I am trying to continue what I have been doing, because it works. But I'm not doing much different right now. However, expect that to change soon! I think I am going to have big news to share soon! (and no, I'm not pregnant) I have been thinking about something that I am very excited about, but I'm not quite ready to share yet. I'll fill you all in as soon as I'm ready! :)

The Girl Who Ate Everything

2009-08-24T16:48:00.000-07:00

I am finally back online after a long weekend of birthday celebrations. I had such a wonderful weekend. I was really sad for it to end!

Friday, I did a 4 mile run in the morning before work. It was tough, but I did it! I was very proud of myself for getting through it. It was so humid outside and it made the run slightly miserable and very sweaty. I kept fantasizing about how wonderful it's going to feel to run outside this Fall. I am very excited about cooler weather in the next couple of months!

I decided to take a half-day on Friday to spend the afternoon with my sister, since she was in town from Seattle. We went to the mall to do some shoe shopping, and then we goofed off trying on dresses and bathing suits. It was such a blast! We picked out dresses that looked super sexy, fun, or sometimes just plain silly and tried them all on. It was unadulterated girl time, and I ate it up with a spoon. It reminded me that mental health is just as important as physical health. We need to relax and have fun just as much as we need to get our hearts pumping! It's so easy to forget to prioritize FUN, but it's something I'm going to work on more.

Friday night, we made pizzas for dinner and then Casey and I went out to meet some friends at a bar. We ended up having a good crowd of people show up. I was good about drinking just one beer and then I switched to water. So I can't blame alcohol on the photo below.

Saturday was pig picking day! I was able to make a short trip to the gym before we went to my parents' house, and I ran for about 25-30 minutes. I did some hill intervals to make it challenging. I was not into it at all though. I think I was just ready to start partying!

The pig picking was so much fun. The food was delicious! I went into it with an attitude of "I'm going to eat whatever the hell I want." And that's what I did. I ate lots of pork dipped in barbecue sauce. I had a piece of pound cake (maybe two....?) and a piece of chocolate cake. And I drank beer. A lot of beer. Countless beers. It's really hard to keep up when you're drinking from a keg, and you're drinking from about 5 pm until 1 am. Let's just say that beer was consumed and it was tasty indeed. I managed to pace myself and maintain a pleasant buzz the whole time, without getting to the point where I embarrassed myself. Yes, I may have let someone take a photo of my ass. But I was sober enough to know what I was doing at the time. :P

So, I felt really awesome in my dress! I got a ton of compliments from my friends. And some of the best compliments came from my guy friends as they drank a little more and let their guards down. One friend called me a MILF. He later apologized (ha!) but I told him I thought it was a great compliment. I think just about every one of my guy friends told me how hot I looked, or said that I was beautiful. It meant a lot. It's nice when my girlfriends tell me I look great, but it's awesome when guys go out of their way to pay a compliment.

Due to my alcohol induced state of mind, I didn't get a ton of photos! Boo! But here are a few:

Sunday I was so exhausted after not getting nearly enough sleep, that I just rode the wave of not caring about what I ate. I had bacon and eggs for breakfast. And then I ate a wheel of brie for lunch. Yes, a wheel of brie (albeit a small wheel), pretty much all by myself.

I'm probably going to pay for the weekend of indulgences when I weigh-in Wednesday, but I don't care. I'm back on track with my eating and exercise, and all the beer, pork, cake and cheese were totally worth it!

And shimmy!

2009-08-20T16:38:00.000-07:00

Shimmying was just one of the many moves I did last night in Zumba class. I also did the salsa, the cuban, and lots of other moves that made me feel like a blobby, uncoordinated white girl. The class itself was fun and I worked up a good sweat. I liked the music too. Most of the songs had a fun latin sound, but we also danced to Single Ladies and Stayin' Alive. Despite my previous post about feeling good about what I see in the mirror at the gym, seeing myself shimmy and rotating my hips like Elvis did not make me feel sexy. I didn't watch myself in the mirror and see a hidden Christina Aguilera just dying to get out. Nope. I looked more like Elaine from Seinfeld. But at least it was fun and a good workout!

I haven't decided if I'm going to take Zumba again next week. I enjoyed it, but I also missed spending that time with Nate. I am not sure if Zumba was worth being away from my family for an hour. It's gotta be pretty special to keep me away from my sweet little guy!

My old self

2009-08-19T06:20:00.000-07:00

Weekly Weigh-in, Week 16
Down another pound! Slow and steady wins the race, right? If I maintain this rate of loss, I should only have 2 more weeks to get to my goal weight. Yahoo!

Birthday Re-cap
I had a great birthday. Thanks to everyone who left comments on my blog and who wrote on my Wall on Facebook! :)

When Erik got home from work, he hung purple streamers in the kitchen to make it more festive. He got us sushi from our favorite restaurant for dinner, and we wolfed down as much sushi as we possibly could. For dessert, he got a piece of strawberry swirl cheesecake and put a 3 and a 0 candle in it and he sang happy birthday to me. It was really sweet and special. I love that he wanted to treat me to a dessert, but he chose to get just one piece of cheesecake instead of an entire cake that we'd be left nibbling on all week long. Very sweet and thoughtful!

He also got me some Rainbows . I have always wanted some, but would never get them for myself. In addition, he gave me a bottle of Irish Cream (because I love that stuff), Steel Magnolias (because I want him to watch it with me), and gift cards to DSW and the Gap! I can't wait to go shopping! Do I have the best husband, or what?

My old self
I can really tell that I am close to my goal weight again. Yesterday, I went on-site for work and I tried on several outfits to figure out what to wear. My first choice was a favorite pre-pregnancy skirt, and it fit perfectly! Unfortunately, I couldn't find any shirts to wear with it (I think a lot of my pre-pregnancy clothes are still packed up somewhere) so I decided not to wear it. On a whim, I grabbed a pair of trousers and they also fit like a glove! Wow! I felt so empowered! :) These slacks are Loft size 8, but they were tailored down when I got down to my WW goal weight (my mom took in all my pants for me when I was at goal, so most of the sizes don't mean anything anymore). It was awesome to go to work in clothes that make me feel great about myself.

30 years old...

2009-08-17T06:44:00.000-07:00

And going strong!

Happy Birthday to me!

I've had a great day so far. Nate slept-in a little bit, so Erik and I were able to have coffee together this morning while I opened my (very funny) birthday card from him. After some super-sweet baby snuggles, I took Nate to daycare and went to the gym. I had a good workout, and then I came home and made myself my new breakfast obsession- yogurt topped with fresh fruit and Kashi Go Lean Crunch. Yum!

I'm looking forward to the rest of my day. :)

Can't eat

2009-08-14T13:22:00.000-07:00

Last night I started reviewing something for a project I work on, and I thought that there was a really large problem with the project. Like, a monumental problem. What's worse is that it was something that was my responsibility to maintain. I felt like crap. And when I say that, I mean that I was sobbing and I could barely stand I was so upset. I was sick to my stomach with worry. I couldn't sleep last night and I couldn't eat this morning.

I went into work for a meeting with my manager and we may have gotten it straightened out. I may have been looking at it the wrong way. She thinks that everything is fine. I'm not convinced yet. It's going to take a much more thorough investigation for me to believe that everything is okay.

Due to all that stress, I didn't go for my run this morning. I also didn't eat breakfast or lunch, so it was probably better that I didn't exercise this morning. I still have barely eaten anything and I'm not sure when I'll get my appetite back, but maybe once I get some sleep tonight I'll feel better about things tomorrow.

Mirrors

2009-08-12T06:51:00.001-07:00

Weekly Weigh-in, Week 15
I was down another pound this morning. 3 lbs to go to reach my goal weight! I think the odds of reaching that weight before my birthday next Monday, or even before my party on the 22nd are slim to none, but that's fine. I'm going to keep working towards it and I'll get there eventually.

September Challenges
I'm thinking of doing a few personal challenges in September. They are:

Participate in a 5k. I know I'm ready for it, I just need to pick one and sign up.
The 30-day Shred. I keep hearing about it and I'm curious about all the hype. I'd have to figure out how to maintain some of my regular routine around the 3DS though, because I'm not willing to give it up.
No eating out. A friend of mine did a "no eating out" challenge a couple of months ago and I'd like to give it a shot. We don't eat out that much as it is, so it shouldn't be too hard. I think it'd be a great way to save a little extra money and calories!

Mirrors

Like most gyms, mine is lined with mirrors. I don't mind at all. When I'm lifting weights, I like to have the mirror there so that I can keep an eye on my form. When I started back at the gym, I'll admit there were lots of moments where I'd cringe at what I saw in the mirror. Flabby arms. Leftover baby belly. Jiggly legs. You know, all that stuff that we tend to criticize ourselves for. But now, I feel pretty proud of my reflection! When I'm lifting weights, I see how strong my arms and legs look. If I'm running on the treadmill, my legs look powerful as they carry me through my workout. And I'm not ashamed of the sweat pouring down my beet-red face, either. I'm happy to see it because it means I'm working hard. I think mirrors are my friend now.

Grumpy McGrumperson

2009-08-11T16:29:00.001-07:00

That's me today. I am the angel of anger. The princess of PMS. Et cetera.

It's been one of those days where I didn't want to go to the gym, but did anyway. I had a decent workout and then halfway through it, I just wanted to quit. But I kept at it and finished.

When it came to food, nothing sounded good, but I wanted to eat everything. I tried really hard to make good choices on a day when I really didn't want to eat spinach or apples. I've probably had a little more peanut butter than I should have in one day, but overall I've done okay. I wouldn't say I've had a well-balanced diet, but I haven't binged or anything like that.

I think 70% of this mood is attributable to hormones and the rest is work crap and other general annoyances.

Eating Out Challenge
My mom called me today and told me that my dad really wants us to all have dinner together Friday night. It's kind of strange, because we almost always have dinner together on Saturday nights. So this would mean 2 nights of dinners together. Anyway, he wants us to go out to eat at a local Italian/Pizza place. If they serve pizza in heaven, it comes from this place. Their pizza is amazing. But it is SO ridiculously unhealthy. I can't even begin to estimate the nutritional value because it doesn't compare to any other pizza a national chain sells. But I know it's not good.

To keep me from having a meltdown from taking Nate to a restaurant (which sucks, believe me) I'm going to ask them if we can get takeout and have dinner at our house instead.

So... how do I handle this in a way that prevents me from eating too much unhealthy pizza, but still allows me to have a little (mainly to make my dad happy, since this meal seems important to him for some reason). Do I make a big salad and have a salad with 1 slice of pizza? Or should I make a little veggie tray that we can share, and munch mostly on veggies and just have 1 slice of pizza? Any other options out there that I'm not thinking of? One thing I know for sure is that the leftovers are going home with them!

29 years and 358 days

2009-08-10T11:34:00.000-07:00

It's one week until my thirtieth birthday. Wow! I always dreaded turning thirty when I was younger. It seemed so OLD. But now I don't care at all. And in some ways I'm looking forward to it. The most important thing is that I am really happy with my life right now. My age doesn't really matter to me. I feel great! I am happily married and I have a gorgeous son. I have an interesting and challenging job. I love my family and my friends, AND my strong body! :)

Pushing it
I am really pushing myself with my cardio right now. Last Wednesday, I ran faster than usual and it was HARD, but it felt so good! I was pouring the sweat and really breathing hard. It was awesome. I realized that even though I've been challenging myself to get faster and stronger, I am not really pushing myself hard on a regular basis. So now I am! :) It's been awesome so far. I don't know if this will translate to any change on the scale, and I don't care that much because the workouts are their own rewards.

Weekend challenges
I had a hard time this weekend. I was HUNGRY. Just plain hungry, you know? And I really, really wanted to eat. Saturday I did really well all day, but I went to see Julie & Julia with my mom and it left me starving! You should not go see that movie on an empty stomach. I left the movie with a huge craving for brie, but I refused to go buy any. Luckily I had an apple in my purse, so I ate it in the car on the way home. It didn't fill me up, so I ate some cheese when I got home. And when I got to my parents' house for dinner, I was still hungry! I had a glass of sangria. I had a few pieces of bread dipped in oil. And then I had a really reasonable dinner and I was finally full and satisfied. Whew!

Yesterday wasn't quite as bad for me. I did find myself really tempted by some chocolate pumpkin muffins I made, but I quickly froze them so that they were out of sight (but not until after I had already eaten two. I admit it. *sigh*). It was one of those days where I wasn't that hungry all day, but I felt like eating anyway. Luckily I also made it to the gym and got a great cardio workout in, so hopefully it was enough to counteract all the munchies.

But I'm back on track today and doing great. And thanks to everyone out there who talks about how yummy Kashi cereal is. I got some GoLean Crunch yesterday and put half a cup on my yogurt this morning and Yuuuuuuuuum! I have a new favorite!

Pizza Friday!

2009-08-07T05:23:00.001-07:00

Today is Friday and that means it's pizza night in our house. I got the idea from Meredith awhile back. She has pizza every Thursday. I liked the idea of making Friday night pizza night, since it's the start of the weekend. We've been trying a variety of Kashi, Archer Farm and other lighter options that we find. Tonight we're having the Kashi Mexicali Black Bean pizza. Yuuum! I do plan on mixing it up and making some homemade pizzas too, we just haven't done it yet. Erik and I have both really enjoyed doing pizza once a week. Neither of us has even mentioned ordering a pizza since we've instituted weekly pizza night.

Mind games
This morning I ran outside, like I usually do on Fridays. I decided I wanted to try running 3.5 miles. It was hard! I'm not sure why I was having such a hard time this morning, but after about 1.5 miles I was ready to be done. I didn't think it was really because it was too hot out, but it may have been (and really, ya'll, this should be the NC state motto) "Not the heat, but the humidity." If you don't hear that at least a hundred times a summer, you don't live in NC. Anyway, I run on this long path that just ends at a field, so I run half of my run in one direction and then I turn around and come back. After my Nike + told me that I had a mile done, I kept waiting and waiting for the "Halfway Point" notice it gives me. I finally convinced myself that it wasn't going to tell me about the halfway point because I had surely already made it that far. When I reached the freaking end of this long path I run on, I hear that voice in my ear "Halfway Point." What went through my mind, in the words of Bridget Jones, was "Fuuuuuuuuuuuck!" Seriously?! I wanted to die. I could not believe I still had half of my run left. So the mind games began. First, I thought, "I just need to make it through Devo's Whip It and then I'll re-evaluate." Then it was "Oooh, I'm almost past so-and-so's house... if they happen to look out the window and see me, I want them to see me run by." Then "I can make it through this Lily Allen song." And it went on and on until I had half a mile left. And at that point, I knew I could finish, because of course I could run half a mile.

I'm proud that I got through that run and didn't quit any of the gazillion times that I wanted to. And here's to hoping that next week's run is easier!

Watch out, moms!

2009-08-06T07:29:00.001-07:00

Way back before I had Nate, when I was still working on campus at work (now I telecommute), I did Weight Watchers at Work (WWAW). I was really ambivalent about doing it because in my mind, WW was for middle aged women who wore mom jeans. I didn't think I'd have anything in common with anyone. However, it ended up being one of the best things I've ever done. It was a really great way for me to meet other people outside of work, and it ended up being a nice social outlet in the middle of the week. But more importantly, Weight Watchers taught me valuable lessons about portion control and keeping myself accountable. I went to the meetings every week and I reached my goal weight. And then I continued going to the weekly meetings as a lifetime member, until a couple of months before I got pregnant. I'm a big believer in WW, and the only reason I didn't join again is because money is tight and I felt like I already had the tools to start a healthy lifestyle again. I just had to apply them to my life again.

Anyway, I remember at one particular WW meeting, a woman was talking about one of the challenges she faced. She said that she had a toddler and she tended to finish his meals if he didn't finish them himself. I remember thinking that this was so bizarre. Why on earth would she feel like she needed to finish her child's meals?! It made no sense to me at all. But life is funny, and a few months ago I found myself munching away on a cheese quesadilla that Nate didn't finish. And then I'd take a few bites of a grilled cheese or leftover hot dog. To this day, I find it hard to resist a few graham crackers or animal crackers.

I was pondering the extra calories I was mindlessly consuming when the crystal clear memory of that WW meeting popped into my mind. "Oh!" I thought. I finally understood. There was perfectly good (and tasty) food that was going to go to waste. I like the food, so I should eat it rather than waste it, right? Uh, no. Then another thought clicked into my mind... Would I finish my husband's meal if he didn't finish it? No! It would never even occur to me to clean his plate for him! I was never raised to be in the "clean plate club" and I don't believe in it. So why was I cleaning Nate's plate if he didn't? Very strange. Since that epiphany, I have no desire to finish Nate's food if he doesn't. I either toss it out, save it in the fridge if it's worth saving, or give the dog a little treat. But it never comes to me... except for the occasional graham cracker. :)

Weekly Weigh-in, Week 14 and 3 things

2009-08-05T06:13:00.000-07:00

No change on the scale this morning. Oh well! I really don't care for some reason. I think it's because I am working really hard and I know the weight will come off. Plus, I'm feeling pretty good about myself these days, no matter what the number on the scale says! I took my measurements this morning, and since I started measuring in early June, I've lost a total of 5 inches! The biggest change has been in my hips.

In Honor of Kim Emmert

Yesterday evening, Nate and I went on a walk after dinner. We dedicated the walk to Jen's mom, Kim. We said a prayer for Jen and her family before we walked.

Three Things

Yesterday, I was able to wear a pair of jeans that I wore when I was in Guatemala! We went to Guatemala about 4 months before I got pregnant. I was feeling pretty good about myself back then, so it's cool that I can wear those jeans again.

I am able to run a (slightly) less than 10 minute mile now! That is just plain amazing to me. I don't think I've ever done it before (I honestly don't know if I ever tried before, either). Yesterday I did a mixed cardio workout with 15 minutes on the bike, 15 minutes on the elliptical and 15 minutes on the treadmill. I ran the first 10 minutes and came in at 1 mile right under 10 minutes. Then I cooled down the last 5 minutes. Today I ran close to 2 miles at that pace, but then I got tired and slowed it down so I could finish my 3.1 miles.

I've decided that next week I'm going to change up my weight lifting routine to add 1 new thing to my routine each day. I'm going to check out some moves on Self.com and incorporate them into my workouts. I am looking forward to trying some new moves!

One size fits all

2009-08-04T09:47:00.001-07:00

A friend and I were emailing today about weight loss, fitness and the struggles we face. One thing that everyone has to deal with is finding some sort of a balance with eating well versus indulging, working out versus resting, how and when to eat out, etc. Nobody lives in a bubble where they can control every thing they eat and always get their workouts in every single day. Life happens, and we have to find a way to consistently maintain a healthy lifestyle.

One thing that we have to remember is that nothing in life is one size fits all, and that includes diet and exercise. Some people can eat well all day and then treat themselves to a fun-size candy bar after dinner. Some people eat well all week and then go out for ice cream on the weekend. Some people do a free-day every now and then. What's important to realize is that what works for me may not work for you. And what works for that girl over there might never work for me. Everyone has different relationships with food and exercise and those relationships affect what works for us.

So... what works for me? Right now, what is working for me (and why) is:

Tracking my calories on BabyFit. It helps me to make sure that I am getting enough calories, but not overeating. I also get a good idea of how I'm doing with calcium and protein each day. Mainly, it keeps me accountable.
Working out Mon-Fri. I am a very routine person. I love having a routine. So I run on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On Tuesday I do another form of cardio. I also lift weights. Monday is chest & triceps, Tuesday is back & biceps, Weds is shoulders & abs, and Thursday I do leg weights (and no cardio). If I miss a workout, I try to make it up on the weekend, but if I can't, I just let it go.
Having reasonable treats. I love peanut butter, so I incorporate it into my diet. It's much easier to do when I track my calories and I know that there is a place for PB in my diet. I also love ice cream, so I usually have a low calorie ice cream treat each evening. I never feel deprived this way.
Lots of planning. I try to plan ahead before I go out anywhere. If I am going to a friend's house for dinner and I know what's being served, I try to figure out ahead of time what I'm going to eat and how I'll handle dessert. Sometimes I decline dessert and have a couple of bites of Erik's instead. Sometimes I'll have a small serving. I do the same with eating out. If I'm going to a restaurant, I try to figure out what I'm going to order in advance. If there's a menu online, I'll look at it and pick out my meal before I get to the restaurant. If there's not a menu online, I try to make the best choice I can when I get there.
Forgiveness. I forgive myself if I mess-up. I try hard to learn from it too. It's no fun to go around feeling bad or feeling guilty all the time. So if I slip a little, I acknowledge it and move on.

So there is not a whole lot of indulging in there. The reason is that little indulgences tend to lead me to bigger indulgences. I can't buy a milkshake and not drink the whole thing. Hell, I can't even buy a half-gallon container of ice cream and not eat the whole thing. It's hard for me to limit myself to one piece of chocolate if I have a bag of candy in the house. So I just don't have anything like that around and I often choose not to have even a taste of something that's really bad for me out of the fear that it'll lead me down a slippery slope. That's what works for me. It may not work for you at all. Like my mom always said, "That's why there's chocolate and vanilla." ;)

I got tagged!

2009-08-02T16:46:00.000-07:00

Meredith at Balance for Mere tagged me to name my 6 favorite things! I love the positive spin of this game, so here we go. In no particular order...

1. My family. I have a great husband and the best son ever! We laugh all the time and I love it!

2. Pre-pregnancy clothes. There is nothing greater than wearing clothes that I used to wear all the time before I got pregnant. It is WAY more satisfying than wearing new clothes!

3. Cheese. Everything tastes better with cheese on it. If you pick the right cheese, a little bit can go a really long way.

4. The Outer Banks. When we go to the OBX, a sense of peace washes over me. I feel calm there. The area we visit is so beautiful and quiet.

5. Music. I love music! I love how music can transport you back to the time in your life when you were really into a certain song or album. I love how it can pull you out of a bad mood or get you going when you need a little boost. Erik is a musician and I think our love for music has brought us closer together.

6. Coffee! Sweet nectar of the bean (as Erik says). Man, I love coffee. I always have. When I was in middle school, I was guilty of coming home from school and fixing myself a cup of coffee. I find it very soothing.

So there's a hodge podge of favorites! Enjoy!

And in the spirit of the game, I'm going to tag Beth at Uphill Both Ways and Mary at Unfatisfaction.

Speechless

2009-08-02T07:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning when I woke up, one of the first things I thought about was Jen, and whether she met her goal weight of 140. I knew she had been working really hard last week to kick the last 1-2 pounds of weight to the curb so that she could meet her goal of 100 pounds lost.

When I logged in, I found myself faced with shocking news. Jen's mother had just been killed in an accident. If you have read Jen's blog, and particularly the comments on her blog, you know that her mom was an amazingly positive woman who loved and supported her daughter. It was obvious to anyone who reads the blog that they were close friends.

I don't know Jen personally. I've never met her and I've never met her mom. But yesterday I found Jen and her family in my thoughts constantly. I cried for them. I prayed for them. I send my condolences to them. I have never experienced such a tragic loss and I feel like I have no words of comfort to offer, but I do want Jen to know that they are in my thoughts and prayers.

Dear Caribou,

2009-07-31T05:54:00.000-07:00

I have missed you, delicious coffee beverages! I look forward to a rendezvous with a nonfat latte or mocha tomorrow morning. Ah, the sweet, sweet aroma of coffee!

The water only challenge ends today. It hasn't been too hard for me, except for those moments when I've been out shopping and found myself eyeing a diet root beer or trying not to inhale as I walked past Starbucks.

I certainly am not running out to Caribou Coffee tomorrow just because I can. We're going to a play date with Nate in the morning and we'll be near a Caribou, so I'm going to indulge in a little coffee treat. If we were not going to be right next to a coffee shop, I certainly wouldn't be going out of my way to get something.

What I've learned
Well, I drink mostly water anyway. On most days, all I drink is 2 cups of coffee and water. Sometimes I have hot cocoa as a snack. We don't keep soda or juice in the house. So the only time I am tempted to get anything else is while I'm out shopping. Doing this challenge did help me to recognize the association I have with shopping and getting myself some sort of a treat while I'm out. I am going to continue to work on breaking this association by NOT indulging in sodas or coffee beverages while I'm out. I've gotten really good about taking a water bottle with me everywhere I go. If I continue that, there is no excuse for me to buy another drink while I'm out.

The Freaking Weekend
Our weekend should be pretty fun! Tonight, we're going to see Tori Amos in concert. Yay! I've been a Tori fan for over 15 years! I've been to several of her concerts over the past decade and a half. It's been a few years since I've seen her live, so I'm looking forward to it.

Tomorrow, we've got Nate's play date and then a little get together with a family friend. After that, we'll have dinner with my parents. Sunday is open right now, so maybe we'll hit the pool and/or go to a park.

Have you got anything fun planned for the weekend? Do you prefer busy weekends or chill weekends? I enjoy both!

Favorite things!

2009-07-30T05:52:00.000-07:00

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens! Okay, maybe not. I guess they're both okay, but they're not really my favorites. Toddler belly laughs are way up there though. I could listen to that all day long! But this blog isn't about toddlers, it's about food, exercise and all that fun stuff. So I thought I'd share some of my favorite things with ya'll. One thing I loved about Weight Watchers was finding out what other people ate! I learned about so many products and recipes at my WW meetings. It was awesome. I subscribe to Hungry Girl so I get an email every day telling me about new products that are out there, recipe remakes of fast food favorites, etc. But these are some of my tried and true favorite things right now.

Amy's Kitchen Frozen Meals

I don't eat a lot of frozen meals. I might have one for lunch, once a week. I used to be a big fan of Lean Cuisine a few years ago, but I stopped eating frozen meals when I was pregnant and I could never go back to them. Until I tried Amy's frozen meals. My 2 favorite Amy's meals are the Indian Palak Paneer and the Cheese Enchilada meal. If you are craving Mexican Food, the cheese enchilada will not let you down! It is seriously as good as (if not better than) enchiladas I've had in a lot of local restaurants. Try it! And if you like Indian food, you will love the Palak Paneer too. It's heaven on a plate. I think that Amy's frozen meals taste way better than any other frozen meals I've tried. You don't get that weird preservative and sodium flavor that you get with other things. Since I've tried these, I have no interest in eating a Lean Cuisine or WW meal ever again. It's all Amy's for me!

Laughing Cow Cheese

I first learned about LC cheese when I did WW several years ago, and it has been a staple in our house ever since. Somewhere out there, there's an awesome recipe for Laughing Cow Chicken Cordon Bleu. It's so good! I use LC cheese on sandwiches, in my eggs, on english muffins, etc. My favorite is the Garlic & Herb flavor.

Arnold Sandwich Thins

These have pretty much taken the place of Flatout Wraps in my house. The sandwich thins are a little more substantial that Flatout Wraps and they hold up well in the George Foreman grill (which we use as a panini press). I bet they'd be great for little miniature pizzas too, but we use them for sandwiches and instead of hamburger buns.

Nestle Fat-Free Hot Cocoa

I love hot cocoa. It's one of my all-time favorites! When I was little, my mom made us homemade hot cocoa every morning for breakfast. It's not only a comfort food for me, but it's also a great way for me to get extra calcium since I do not drink plain milk. I make FF hot cocoa with skim milk and it is a filling snack.Blue Bunny Sweet Freedom Ice Cream Bars

We love these! The chocolate raspberry ones are our favorites. The flavors are very rich. It's enough to satisfy a chocolate or ice cream craving, but not so much that you feel gross afterwards. We also like the English Toffee flavored ones. In addition, we were really impressed with the Skinny Cow Truffle Bars, but they were the same price for half as many bars, so we probably won't be buying them as often.

Cooking Light 20/20 Okay, so this isn't a product, but a website. I love the fast and easy recipes at CookingLight.com! We have enjoyed every recipe that we've tried and they really are easy, quick and delicious.

Weekly Weigh-in, Week 13

2009-07-29T06:45:00.000-07:00

Howdy everybody! I am in a GREAT mood today! First of all, I am down another pound. It looked like it may have been a little more than a pound on the scale, but it was hard to tell, so I'm calling it 1 pound. It feels great to be so close to my goal! I am now finally in the "Healthy BMI" category too. I really don't put a whole lot of stock into BMI, but it's still nice to be in that healthy range instead of the yucky overweight range!

Inspired running
I had the best run at the gym this morning! I have no idea why, either. The stars just lined up right and it felt like I had unending energy. If I didn't have to work, I totally would have stayed on the treadmill just to see how long I could go. Since I couldn't do that, I worked on pushing myself more with speed work. It was fun. I love that I can see an improvement in my running. Hard work pays off!

I hope you all have a fabulous day! And if you have a minute, go visit Jen at Priorfatgirl and cheer her on! She just has a few days until the end of her weight loss challenge, which will take her to 2 years of healthy living and 100 pounds lost! Isn't that amazing?!

Like a fish out of water

2009-07-28T06:13:00.000-07:00

When it comes to doing cardio, I definitely prefer running. I also really like spinning, but my gym doesn't have a spinning class or spinning bikes (but maybe I'll put in a request for some and see what happens). My gym is also lacking a stair climber and/or stairmill, which was another form of cardio that I used to do on non-running days. They do have a lot of ellipticals, but I don't like them! They don't change incline and I get bored. I normally run on Mondays and on Tuesdays I usually force myself onto one of the elliptical machines and I push through the workout, but I never enjoy it. The past few weeks, I've been listening to This American Life to keep me entertained.

Yesterday I decided that I was going to give swimming another try. So today, I packed my bathing suit and I hit the pool when I was finished with my weights.

Man, I SUCK at swimming. SUCK! I love pools. I love to float on my back and let my body completely relax. But I am a terrible swimmer. I watched some YouTube videos last week to try to help me work on my technique, because I really have no swimming technique at all. And this is after taking a semester of swimming in college. I guess the second I finished with that class my brain just threw that info away, because I remember nothing of it.

I was happy to be the only person in the indoor pool this morning. At least if I had to feel like an incompetent swimmer, I could do it on my own. I got in and did a lap. When I made it to the end, I was gasping for air as though I had just crossed the English Channel. *sigh* I let myself recover a little and then did another lap. Same thing. I think I was in the middle of my 3rd lap when an older man, probably mid-sixties and very overweight, came in and got into another lane. He began walking laps in the pool while I swam. And he was walking faster than I was swimming! Nice.

It didn't take long before I realized that I could not swim laps. I'm just not ready for that yet. So I started alternating between swimming a lap and walking a lap. I felt like an old woman walking laps in the pool, but at least I was still moving. Somehow, despite my pathetic lap swimming, I made it through 30 minutes in the pool. And I am left with really mixed feelings about swimming. I know it's a great workout because I feel my heart pounding! I don't doubt that I'd get nice and sweaty if I wasn't submerged in water. But it's just so hard for me. I know that if I kept at it, I'd get better. I certainly didn't hop on a treadmill and run for 30 minutes the first day, so it's unrealistic to expect to be able to swim for 30 minutes. I just don't know if I want to stick with it though.

I am torn. I don't want to not swim because it's hard for me. There is a big part of me that enjoys a challenge and wants to conquer anything that doesn't come easily for me. Also, I would like to become a better swimmer so that when I get pregnant again, I'll have swimming as an option for cardio. Plus, it'd be nice to have it as another option in general. On the other hand, I feel like I don't get the best workout because I have to stop and recover a lot. And I get really frustrated at how badly I suck. The easiest thing for me to do would be to not worry about swimming and just focus on doing other forms of cardio instead.

Do you swim? If so, how did you get to be a swimmer? Any tips on how I can improve? Is it one of those things that I can work on getting better at, like running?

Espinacas

2009-07-27T09:15:00.000-07:00

Weekend update

We did everything I thought we'd do this weekend. We took Nate to the pool a couple of times and had a blast! I'm so glad our gym has a pool. We're really enjoying it. We also went on a hike Saturday morning and worked up a good sweat. I even got a nice long nap on Saturday! It was wonderful! Saturday night we grilled and vegged at home. Erik and I spent Friday and Saturday nights getting caught up on all the episodes of Nurse Jackie and Hung. It was so nice to chill on the couch! I resisted when Erik offered me a tasty whiskey sour though. No drinks until 8/1!

Fun with spinach

Espinacas is Spanish for spinach. Doesn't espinacas sound way more fun than spinach? I think so! I try to eat some spinach every day. I put it on sandwiches, in my eggs, in salads, and I've been known to food process it and stir it into marinara. I'm always looking for new ways to sneak spinach into my diet.

Friday, I decided to try a Green Monster smoothie for lunch. I figure it doesn't go against the water-only challenge because it was part of my lunch. And it's nutritious. I made mine with spinach, skim milk, frozen tropical fruit and a splash of vanilla. The recipe I was given called for a banana, but I don't like banana in things like that, so I added extra frozen fruit instead.

This is what it looked like when I put it all in the blender together. Hm... I admit, it's strange!

This is what it looked like when I realized that I needed more than 1/4 cup of milk to get it smooth enough. Yes...our blender is considered "heavy machinery" and we keep it in the garage. We actually moved it out there one night when one of us wanted a smoothie after Nate went to bed and we didn't want to wake him up. We have kept it out there since then.

The finished product. I had it with a piece of cheese toast.

The verdict... It was okay. I thought the spinach added a strange texture that I wasn't crazy about. I think it'd be better if I could add another texture to balance it out. I was thinking coconut would be nice. Unfortunately coconut is a dangerous food for us, so we don't really keep it around (or else we'd find ourselves grabbing handfuls of coconut all day long). I haven't given up on the GM though. I'll keep playing around with ingredients until I find something that works for me. And, it did keep me full as long as any of my more traditional lunches would have!

On Saturday, I played around with a favorite combo of mine - Tomato & basil. Who doesn't love tomato & basil together? I had some DIVINE tomatoes from a relative's garden, and I was dying to make a sandwich with those sweet tomato slices. So I took an Arnold Sandwich thin and added a couple of teaspoons of basil pesto to the sandwich top. Then, I piled on some torn spinach and my tomato slices. I sprinkled 1/4 cup of reduced fat cheddar cheese and then placed it in the oven on broil for a few (under 5) minutes.

Before broiling:

After:

It was delicous! It was so good that I had another one yesterday. Ah, I love it when tomatoes are in season!

Do you eat a lot of spinach? If so, what are your favorite ways to eat it? If not, do you have another super food that you try to eat as often as possible?

It's Friday!

2009-07-24T06:41:00.000-07:00

Did ya know? Hurrah for Fridays! I am especially excited about this one because we have ZERO committments this weekend. That means we can do whatever we want whenever we want! Awesome.

I think we're going to hit the pool this evening with Nate. Going to the pool does not equal working out for us. It's just a fun family activity. Nate gets to walk around in the infant pool or float around in the big pool and we get to grin and get all goofy from the sheer cuteness of it all. An hour of giggling surely burns some calories though, right?

I'm hoping that Saturday or Sunday we'll hit up one of the local trails for some hiking. We'll have to go early though with this forecast!

Running Update

I posted awhile back that I had finished up the Couch to 5k running program, but that I wasn't really running 5k yet. Well, I've been working on that and I first got a full 5k in while I was in Seattle. Since then, I've continued adding speed and distance so that I can regularly run 3.1 miles. My plan is to keep running at this level for another week or so, and then I am going to try adding a little distance to my Friday runs! And I'm definitely planning to sign up for a 5k in September. Exciting!

Associations

2009-07-23T07:51:00.000-07:00

I went shopping last night (without the husband or the baby.... heaven!) and I got the dress that I'm going to wear to my 30th birthday party. I found it at TJ Maxx, on clearance. Love it!

After shopping at TJ Maxx, I went over to Target to get some diapers and to wander around, basking in that wonderful feeling of being out of the house alone. And I found my mind constantly wandering towards chocolate, root beer and Starbucks. Target is one of those places where I often "treat" myself to something... maybe a package of Rocher chocolates to share with Erik, and frequently a diet A&W Root Beer or a drink from Starbucks.

I have a very strong association with getting some sort of a treat while shopping. I think it all started with my mom, who always bought us a candy bar while we were out grocery shopping with her. Hey, I don't blame her. If I had to take 3 children grocery shopping, I'd probably offer them chocolate to make them behave too. I think that's what got me started on that path of thinking that there should be some sort of instant gratification while shopping though... as if the groceries aren't enough. Or like you can't just grab a banana from the bunch (after checking out, of course) as a snack, instead of a candy bar.

I am happy to report that last night I steered clear of the Starbucks, the diet root beer and I didn't even walk down the chocolate aisle. Instead, I dug down in my purse, found a trusty pack of gum and prayed that it would help distract me from all the temptation.

I'm a loser

2009-07-22T06:55:00.000-07:00

1. I lost another pound this week. I'm glad that I am continuing to lose! I've got 5 pounds to lose and 5 weeks until my 30th birthday party. :)

2. I did not win any of the prizes from my work's walking challenge. Oh well! It sure would have been nice to win $500 (or even $150 or $50) but I never win anything, so I should have known better than to even hope that I could win. I guess deep down I know that I am still a "winner" because doing the 10,000 steps a day challenge helped open my eyes to what it takes to lead a more active lifestyle. But some cash would have been nice.

Are you ready to Rumble?

2009-07-21T05:55:00.000-07:00

When we were in Seattle, we had breakfast one morning at Coastal Kitchen. I had their delicious oatmeal, but my friend Robin ordered a Spinach & Goat Cheese Rumble. A Rumble is basically scrambled eggs with various ingredients stirred in. I had a couple of bites of Robin's breakfast and it was amazing... and inspirational!

Over the past couple of weeks, I've played around with variations of the Rumble. With lots of fresh veggies coming out of my parents' garden, it seems like the perfect season for rumble experiments. This morning, I used 1 whole egg and 2 egg whites. I stirred in a wedge of Light Laughing Cow Garlic & Herb Cheese (you need to use a fork if you want to add LC cheese to your eggs). I sprinkled some additional garlic salt on top of my eggs as well. In the meantime, I diced about half a cup of yellow squash, a little onion, and about half a cup of spinach. I sauteed it, using a little Pam spray, until the squash was tender. Then I poured the eggs on top and scrambled them in with the veggies.

Yum! It was quite tasty! Last week I tried squash, zucchini, fresh garlic, and spinach and instead of using Laughing Cow, I sprinkled 1/4 cup of reduced fat shredded cheddar on it. I think it was even tastier than the one I had this morning!

Go forth and rumble, people! You will not be disappointed!

Raising the bar

2009-07-20T09:40:00.000-07:00

Almost 15 months ago, I ran a marathon. Or, did I climb a mountain? Maybe I walked 20 miles. I'm not sure.

Actually, what I DID do was give birth. Naturally. And by naturally, I mean without any drugs. Heck, there wasn't even a doctor present. I wasn't even in a hospital! ;) I delivered at a free-standing birth center with a midwife. It was an awesome, albeit challenging, experience. That's not really the point of this post (however, if you want to read my birth story, look here).

The interesting thing about natural childbirth is that it kind of raises the bar when it comes to any sort of physical challenge. When I find myself getting tired as I run a speed interval, I remind myself that I got through contractions that were harder than this! And sometimes while I'm working out and I feel like quitting, I think about how I got through hours of labor (including 2-3 hours of pushing alone). Surely I can get through 30-45 minutes of cardio! That's nothing.

People who plan for a natural birth compare it to training for a marathon. There is no way I would try to go out and run a marathon tomorrow. I wouldn't be ready! I would be setting myself up for failure. I think childbirth is the same way. If you want to go natural, you can. You have to prepare yourself for it though. Obviously things happen and interventions may be required. But I really do believe that most people can do it if they are prepared. The question is... is fitness the same way? Can anyone run a marathon if they spend enough time training for it? If I spent 9 months working on that goal, would I be able to do it?

I don't think that running a marathon is in my immediate future, but this is certainly food for thought!

Behind me

2009-07-19T18:57:00.000-07:00

This weekend was not the best. Not in terms of diet/exercise. Those were fine. I kept to the water-only challenge, though I did taste my mom's sangria (no more than a sip though!) I also went running at the beach Saturday morning. But despite being at the beach, I had a dissapointing weekend and I don't want to talk about it. The only reason I'm posting about it at all is because if I didn't mention the weekend, it might seem like I was avoiding the topic because I had ignored the challenge and gotten my drink on... or that maybe I had gone into vacation mode and ate a tub of ice cream. Nothing like that happened, I swear! I'll be back to my regularly scheduled posting tomorrow, I'm sure. :)

Meh

2009-07-17T05:10:00.000-07:00

As I look around the blogosphere this morning, it seems like there is a lot of "meh" feelings out there. Maybe it's related to Jen's water-only challenge. ;)

I'm feeling "meh" right now because I had a yucky run this morning. I absolutely did not want to get out of bed at 6 am! I kept pulling the covers back up over me, but eventually Nate forced me out of bed. Then I really didn't want to run. At all. Today was my day to run outside, and I usually look forward to the fresh air and sunshine. But not today! I was all grumps and grumbles as I parked my car and got my iPod ready. Normally it takes me about 5-10 minutes to start to feel really warm and to get my groove, but my groove never came to me today. I kept telling myself that I would run to the half-way point and then I'd re-evaluate. I got to my half-way point (where I turn around and run back) and I decided to walk. I just had no energy! I tried to run a few more times, but I could not muster the energy or will power to do it. Of course I still had to walk since I had to get back to my car, so I still ended up getting a workout in, even if it wasn't as much running as I would normally like.

Water Challenge..hm.
I knew that yesterday I would have a hard time not getting a coffee or a diet soda during the day. I ended up getting up at 3:30 am yesterday morning because Nate woke up and I had to get up at 4:00 anyway, so it seemed pointless to go back to sleep. So I had the 2 cups of coffee that I am allowing myself and I carried a water bottle with me to the airport. I did fine until about 11, and then I was fading. We ate lunch (which was a very sad little turkey sandwich for me) and my lunch came with a bag of chips. It was strange because they just handed me a bag of Utz chips without even asking me if I wanted them. I didn't want to throw them away (don't know why I didn't just give them back, like I used to do at Panera before they offered an apple or bread instead), so I stuck them in my bag thinking I'd give them to my husband or to Nate when I got home. When I got back to the airport, I was so tired that I could barely keep my eyes open. I was hungry and I needed a snack. What I wanted was a skim milk latte. I had an apple with me, and I thought a latte and an apple sounded great. I'd get a little caffeine, some protein & calcium, and all the goodness that is in an apple. But... I said I wouldn't have more than 2 cups of coffee! So.... I ate the chips instead. :( I think that I made a really dumb choice and it was completely against the spirit of the challenge. Now, this little bag of chips was only 120 calories, so it's not like I went and got a double whopper with cheese and a super-sized order of fries, but still. I am just annoyed that I felt like it was my only option at the moment. I hate airports and their over-priced yucky junk food everywhere! Believe me, I stared at every restaurant's menu board to see if there was something that seemed like a decent choice and I found nothing. Don't you just hate airport food? Even if you go to a restaurant you know & love, in the airport the food is twice as expensive and half as good.

Le Weekend
We are heading to the beach this evening and I am looking forward to it! I will keep up with the water challenge while I'm there. No beer, wine or margaritas for me! It will be a weekend full of sober Cranium and Apples to Apples. :) I wonder if that will help or hurt my game... I'll let you know on Monday!

Weekly Weigh-In, Week 11...and more changes and challenges!

2009-07-15T06:17:00.000-07:00

I was down another pound this week! Yay! I can't believe I'm 6 pounds from my goal. I have a feeling I will revise that goal and continue working to lose a little more weight once I reach my initial goal weight. When I was trying to set a goal, I wanted to choose a weight that was achievable and realistic. I wasn't sure if I pregnancy had changed my body in such a way that would make it impossible for me to get back to my previous Weight Watchers goal weight. I suspect now that I will probably want to lose another 5 lbs when I get down to my current goal weight (which will put me right there at my old WW weight), but I am going to wait and see how I feel once I shed these next 6 lbs.

A really big change
When I started this blog, I mentioned a few times that my son was still nursing and that I had to be careful of my calorie intake so that I could maintain my milk supply. Over the past few weeks, he has slowly weaned. I am 99% sure that we are done nursing now. I won't go into my thoughts and feelings on that, but if you're dying to know, you can read my post about it on my other blog. Anyway, over the next few weeks I may have to reduce my caloric intake to continue to lose weight. I am not sure how much, since Nate wasn't nursing a lot at the end anyway. I'm going to keep logging everything in BabyFit and I'll just see how it goes!

A few of challenges
1. Jen at Priorfatgirl has issued a challenge to drink nothing but water through August 1st. I am joining in on this challenge, with the caveat that I am going to still drink my 2 cups of coffee per day. It's not hard for me to not drink soda, since we don't even buy soda. But I will be at the beach this weekend with my family and I will be giving up beer and wine while we're there. Sometimes I grab a diet root beer while I'm grocery shopping too, so there will be none of that! I think that I will still have hot cocoa if I want it though. I make it with Nestle Fat-free hot cocoa mix and skim milk. I don't drink plain milk, so it's a good way for me to get my calcium in. And it's a light and filling snack. So there you go. No soda, wine, beer or mixed drinks from now through 8/1. I will not have any tea either. I will have a maximum of 2 cups of coffee a day, but no more. I can have a cup of my FF hot cocoa if I want it. I'm looking forward to taking this on!

2. I'm traveling tomorrow for work. It's one of those quick one-day trips. My AM flight leaves at 6:30 (yikes!) and I arrive back in Raleigh around 5:30. I'll probably take a Quaker Oatmeal To Go bar with me, because I don't think I can eat breakfast at 4:30 am. I'm also going to take an apple and banana with me, as well as a bottle that I can fill with water once I get through security. My challenge will be to find a healthy lunch and to avoid airport junk. Luckily Challenge #1 will make me avoid Starbucks and other sugary coffee drinks. I'm going to be in the DC area, but not in DC proper. I'm visiting a regional office for a meeting. I have no idea what my lunch options are going to be, but I'm going to make the best choice I can. Obviously I won't be able to go to the gym tomorrow. :( I have a feeling I'll be doing a lot of walking though, so at least that's something.

3. The weekend beach trip! Mary at Unfatisfication posted yesterday about vacations, and how you can choose to lose weight while on vacation (it was a motivational tip from her WW leader. I love WW)! I thought it was a really good point and I'm taking it to heart. I am going to make smart choices at the beach this weekend, and I am going to plan an early morning jog on the beach too! I am really excited about that jog, and I hope the weather cooperates!

Happy Hump Day everyone!