“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20.

Created by MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Warm warm warm

I ran for the first time in my new Columbia OmniHeat base layer shirt today. It was really warm! I liked it! It has silver dots inside that reflect your own body heat back to your body. It works really well. When I walked back into the house it was burning up! Outside was 45* and this shirt a thin as it is was warmer than my Under Armour hoodie.
This is just one of my new running things I got for Christmas. Next post is about our healthy Christmas!

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

"Chub Rub" and the affects

Lol. I can't even believe I'm writing this post. Here goes...

"Chub Rub" - n. the fat on the inner thigh that rubs together as you walk.

That is my definition. I believe that a college roommate and I coined this term a few years back.

So is chub rub bad or good? Well initially it seems bad. It's fat! Chub rub is part of my second grade memory that I spoke of a while back where I remember comparing thigh size with a friend at school and we discussed having "fat thighs". In 2nd grade!!!!

Chub rub is the reason that I purchased compression shorts for running. I did this after developing a really bad case of chaffing on a hot sweaty run this summer. Still seems bad.

I personally think that chub rub is normal. Ive seen plenty of girls who's legs don't touch when they walk but there are plenty of athletes who's legs do touch. I think it may have something to do with muscle tone. I personally have never been slender. I have always been a thick/muscular body type. I've played sports since age 3. Never skipped the opportunity to build muscle on my legs. My mom is built the same way, and my dad too. Big thighs is pretty much my destiny.

I have recently heard some studies (dr. Oz, The Doctors, news reports) that find that thighs less than 24" have an increased risk for heart disease and death. Many factors also include a higher risk for Type 2 diabetes. (My thighs measure in at 25.5") I'm no doctor or scientist so look it up on your own:
http://abcnews.go.com/m/story?id=8492490
But in short I believe it has to do with the type of fat around the thighs and the insulation of important arteries. So now chub rub seems to be okay.... Maybe it should be toned chub rub?
One other thing that connects a bit. If anyone watched Oprah you probably saw types of fats be discussed. (belly fat is much riskier than lower body fat)
So now chub rub seems better... Maybe even a good thing.

One thing I KNOW for sure is that I have no intentions to be skin and bones ever in my life. I prefer being toned and having shape to my body as intended. I will NEVER compare myself to runway models. I bet most of them couldn't run a half marathon or do 50 pushups throughout a circuit! (no offense to any readers, just my thoughts here). When I "find the skinny" it will be a healthy toned skinny. Probably not even what the world considers skinny. I will be strong though! So I will likely never lose my chub rub. So that leads to one last thought followed by the picture that led me to this blunt and honest post....

Clothing companies need to respect the chub rub. Why do all of my jeans wear holes at the chub rub area. SERIOUSLY!!!!! This is what my jeans all look like when I retire them from my "appropriate to wear to work on casual Friday jeans collection". This pair has been retired all school year. But one time I wear them they are fine, the next time it's like "where did the holes come from!" *the jeans are off my person in the picture*

Comment and let me know your opinions and thoughts!

Follow me on twitter please: @findtheskinny

Monday, December 26, 2011

New Routine - I like it

With my new trainer I have the 3-2-1 routine that I talked about a few posts ago.
3- runs
2- high intensity sessions
1- resistance session

This past week and this current week my trainer has me doing a crossfit circuit that she taught me for the resistance. She gave me a sprint interval plan to use on the treadmill (or outside) for the high intensity and my runs are: pace, tempo, and long.
What I like about this routine.... I can do it ANYWHERE. I did my circuit in my parents living room last night while watching Blind Side with the family. So traveling has not affected my training much at all one thing it affected was my long run got delayed. That's all though. So I'm looking forward to this week. My routine will finish with a seven mile run on Saturday with my brother. So a whole week away from home but without getting away from my training! Brilliant!
I found a new feature on my iPhone since I upgraded to ios 5, it is a list maker with dates. I made a list earlier in the week of my 3-2-1 and below you will see a picture of them all checked off (dates are inaccurate, didn't realize how to assign to dates until today)

Today I made my list for the week. I planned them out, made them date specific, and I put distance/time goals with each run. Picture also below.

The final picture is of me downtown for my four mile run this afternoon. I love the downtown area in my hometown and was so excited to plan a run there today. The last mile was my favorite, it had gotten dark, I put on the Christmas station on Pandora, I was running down broadway under Christmas lights. Carol of the Bells was the most fun song to run with! Very fun run!

Nutrition at my Parents House

It's great being at Mom and Dads for Christmas. We arrived last night. I am a lucky girl to have health conscious parents. This morning when we got up for breakfast Brandon said he wanted bacon, eggs and waffles. Sounded good to me. Mom and Dad were gone to the grocery so I went to see what all I needed them to bring back to have this breakfast. I opened up the fridge and freezer and smiled. They had everything I needed: organic eggs, whole grain frozen waffles, turkey bacon, and laughing cow cheese wedges to go in the eggs.
How nice to have what I needed for a healthy breakfast all because they eat it too. I'm blessed to have good parents!
So the pressure is off. I know I can accomplish my nutrition goals while traveling this week!
Off to run!!!

Friday, December 23, 2011

Hardwork Dedication

Just as Dolvett from Biggest Loser teaches. A transformation takes hardwork and dedication.

Brandon and I traveled to visit his parents all day today. We started out at 8:15 am and got back to his parents house at 11:30pm tonight. Yikes!

I needed to run two miles. Thank goodness they have a treadmill. I changed and hopped on at about 11:45pm. If you know me you know I don't function well after 9:00pm

So I did 2 miles. I must say that my inlaws new infrared heater works GREAT in their Florida room (room with the treadmills)

I am exhausted. It's 1:40 am. Wanted to use my last bit of energy to tell you that I actually did a midnight run!

Proof below.

Goodnight!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Surviving family meals during the holidays part 1 of a million

Lunch at Cracker Barrell with the inlaws and my craving for pancakes....

So what do I do?

I ordered mamas pancake breakfast. I asked for multigrain pancakes but they don't serve them anymore:/

I ordered turkey sausage as my meat and egg beaters instead of eggs. Now on to the syrup. I used about a third of one bottle. Flavored it nicely. Each bottle has 190 calories. They serve two bottles. Who needs two bottles (380 calories)? Instead my third of a bottle was near 70 calories.

I feel full. Maybe a little too full, not miserable though. So at 581 calories leaving cracker Barrell I feel successful. Maybe I should request one less pancake next time.

Now I must get my run in. It's really rainy. I guess the treadmill will get some of my time today.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

So excited!!! I am headed down the right road!

I met with my new trainer yesterday (recap: Chad left in Nov, moved me to a different trainer who I did not mesh well with, I changed to a new trainer, Linda) *any thing mentioned in this blog is strictly in regards to how things work for ME, every trainer I have worked with is a good trainer, every person works well with a different type plan*
I am so excited to work with her. I had gotten very used to Chad and liked working with him, but I think Linda is going to be awesome. She gets it! She gets my goals and how to help me attain them.
My training right now has to revolve around my training for the half marathon.... She has done a fantastic job of creating a plan for me that does just this! From nutrition to workouts it is all designed to make me lose weight and succeed in running. So excited!!!

Nutrition is something that frustrated me a great deal with the trainer I had after Chad. I was trying to eat in a way that was unrealistic to stick with.
It was a "diet" that had intentions of making me eat perfect. That can work for some people I guess but not me. I believe that you have to like the food you eat eating should not be a miserable event. Some of the things like staying away from flour and serious sodium restriction had no purpose for me.
If I'm running and sweating I need sodium, if I'm running and working out I need healthy carbs.
Linda has me eating a healthy balanced diet with protein, fruits, veggies, dairy, healthy carbs, and healthy fats. She gave me some sample meals that came out of the Runners Diet. I don't have to chose from those meals but they set up a good example of how to balance a meal. She also knows that I have enough knowledge to make substitutions that are good and healthy.
She also saw that I was currently on a 1200 calorie diet. She used a formula and changed my daily calorie goal to 1700. 1200 was not enough and she thinks that the 1200 calories could have been keeping me from losing weight. My body was holding on to everything I gave it. 1700 calories is with enough deficit to have me lose 1.5 lbs per week according to my BMR and current activity level. So I went in to MyFitnessPal and changed my daily caloric goal. You can go in and change it on your own. Who knew?!
We discussed how to add 500 calories a day the right way: bigger breakfast and lunch, add good high cal foods like Greek Yogurt, nuts, etc. I am also working on making sure that I snack enough.

The first thing Linda did was go over my goals. Instead of so much a pound goal. I have a goal to shape up, lose inches, feel better, and in that I will lose pounds. Most importantly I will run a half marathon on April 28th. So we will be tracking pounds but not so focused on them. I have a pair of size 8 Lucky Jeans from high school in my closet. I was only able to wear them for a few months in high school (a time when I dropped 15/20 pounds or so). So they have been a goal for me for about 10 years! Linda had me get them out of the closet. I've hung them up where I can see them. I put them "on" the best I could and wrote down the date and where they go to when I put them on. I put that paper on the pants. I will go back to these jeans once a week and record each time where they go to. They currently hit mid thigh. This will give me an indicator aside from the scales. Since I have never been at a healthy weight as an adult we will see what a healthy number on the scale is for me when I get there.

On to exercise.

Im doing a 3-2-1 plan that changes depending on your current goals. My current goal is to run a half marathon so my current plan looks like this:
3 runs (1 pace, 1 tempo, 1 long)
2 high intensity workouts (I have options)
1 resistance workout (also have options)

Runs: she gave me specific guidelines for each run that are specified to me and my abilities. She watched me run yesterday and found that I have a good running posture! Yay! I thought I did.

High Intensity: options are some type of high intensity class or high intensity interval running with sprints. I can do that on the treadmill in my Livingroom in 11 min. I did this with her yesterday in the gym. I felt like I was on Biggest Loser(they are always jumping on the sides of those treadmills!). I use incline and a sprint speed. I do 15 seconds on, jump to the rails, breath for 15 seconds. I repeat all of this for several minutes. It felt great to get winded and push (my legs are sore today too) It is awesome.

Resistance training. Once a week. I have options. I have a crossfit circuit that she taught me yesterday. I was doing things that I was surprised I could do! I do 5 sets of the crossfit circuit and each time I have options for each exercise to give it variety.

I will do crossfit for the next two weeks. I will then learn another circuit that I can change out with.

I loved what I did yesterday. I enjoyed getting winded and sweating. You know why?! Because I feel like I'm headed somewhere awesome!!! Linda is someone with big goals. She has met many goals of her own along the way (some similar to mine, esp running goals that she has met). She wants my plan to be attainable in a busy lifestyle like mine and she wants me to have results and be successful. I can't tell you how excited I am to have someone give me such an attainable route to success. Will it take hardworking and dedication ABSOLUTELY! But I like hard work and dedication when I believe I'm on the right road!


Yay! Can't wait to update y'all!
Thanks Linda !!!

Friday, December 16, 2011

Crazy Week!!!

Not enough hours in a day it seems this last week. As a choir/band director married to a band director this time of year get extra hectic with performances. Over the last 6 days I have led my choirs/band in 6 performances and attended 2 additional performances of other groups. Our last performance was this morning! I finalized 80 auditions for spring choir, sat in on high school musical auditions we posted the cast list yesterday, I had two meetings and one training show for my second job (selling jewelry) It is now Christmas break. Praise the Lord!

With all of this busy hustle and bustle came dinners out with colleagues after performances. Sometimes I didn't leave school until 9:00pm. I missed running with my training group too..:( You know what else comes with Christmas break for teachers?..... Lots of gifts: ornaments, CANDY, giftcards, CANDY, hand sanitizer, CANDY, CANDY, CANDY!!! I mean it is good. Who doesn't love homemade goodies from kiddos?! Well it puts me in a pickle. I love the candy, I love the thoughtfulness, but I can't eat all that candy and train for this half marathon. The packaged candy is easier because you can save it. The homemade stuff goes stale pretty quick.

So my choices are:
1. Binge on gifted candy
2. Give it to someone (assisting them with a binge on gifted candy)
3. Throw it away and waste it.

None of those sound good. So I did a little of each with no binges. I ate a piece to tell the kiddo that it was good (I should not feel obligated, but it's hard not to), I made my husband some baggies with it portioned to take hunting, then I got rid of the rest. I can NOT have candy in the house without eating it. The packaged candy is all in the pantry for appropriate use. Lol.

So what do I do after a week that wasn't as good? Get down on myself? No!!! I make a plan for the next time I have a crazy week. The plan would keep me from missing any runs or healthy meals.

I can't wait to meet my new trainer Monday morning. !!!!!

My plan tomorrow is to run in the morning, then do some meal planning. I need to plan ahead for holiday travel. That's a whole other post!!!

How do we survive?... By survive I mean stick to a healthy lifestyle.

How do teachers survive a healthy lifestyle when this is what kids hand to us before Christmas break!?!?!

Find out tonight when I post about my crazy week as a choir teacher before Christmas.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Longest Run yet!!!


Thankful for January February March and most of April because I ran half of a half marathon distance yesterday and there is no way I could have turned around and gone back. Lol. My first half is April 28th. I feel very prepared having run 6.55 miles yesterday. I not only ran that far but I ran in Knoxville... HELLO hills! For real hills... er I mean MOUNTAINS!!

It was a great run. Yet again my brother ran with me. What a great brother. He was out training for his marathon with his wife Jamie. She ran 23 yesterday (choosing not to run the full 26.2 until the day) He was intending to run 26 (0.2 short of the full distance). So I wanted to run six miles. So we made plans for me to meet them at the 20 mile mark which just so happened to be Krispy Kreme donut shop. They had a plan to stop for a donut. When you are running 23+ miles it's not the end all be all to have a donut. My brother was scheduled to burn over 3,000 calories on his run. Wow!

One of Jamie's friends picked up with them at mile 11. So my dad (we made a family weekend out of this) dropped me off at 20 Krispy Kreme we all took a picture together (below left to right: Jason, Martha, Jamie, me!!!)
Starting at Krispy Kreme

Now what was my thought process at Krispy Kreme? I decided that I wasn't worried about the calories (I was scheduled to burn 1,000) but I was worried about the sugary glaze feeling heavy in my stomach. So I told my brother I wanted 1 donut hole (50cal) They wouldn't serve it to him. He said "can you not just put 1 hole in there?" they said no. So I got a plain cake donut instead (190cal). It was good and since it had no glaze it set just fine. I had eaten organic Kashi cereal and a banana for breakfast.

So we met at Krispy Kreme for my 6 mile run. Hilarious!

Off we went. It was hilly! I was thankful to be meeting them on the second half of their run. Their pace had slowed a bit. Good for this girl. It was neat running in territory that I was completely unfamiliar with. It was lots to see. We were in fairly congested areas. Had to watch traffic a lot. We passed a house on a residential street with an older man out front. He cheered each of us on as we passed. Super sweet. We finally got to the four lane with sidewalks! Whew! I much prefer sidewalks! I was keeping up with my brother pretty good. I was excited.

I enjoyed running past the mall. It was just cheery and Christmasy. Lots of thumbs ups from drivers. Some people blew kisses. I even had a kid roll his window down throw both hands up in the air and cheer. Lots of motivation on high traffic streets. Just after this point we dropped Jamie off to my Dad waiting at her 23 mile point.

It was me and Jason and the road shoulders were getting narrow (like 9" kind of narrow). I learned about a new group of people. Now I know I should call names but I named this group the "right turn idiots" this group I made up of people who pull up to the end of a business driveway to turn right onto a four-lane and for some reason feel that looking right before hitting the gas is unnecessary. After all the cars only come from the left! Well how bout those runners. Each time we approached a car waiting to turn right onto the four-lane we would NEVER assume they were paying attention. So we would make eye contact with them and either determine they were one of those fine "right turn idiots" or get a friendly wave ahead from them, wave back and go ahead. I can think of 3 times for sure that we would have been hit had we not anticipated an irresponsible driver was in the car. One time my brother stood to the passenger side of the car waiting. The lady didn't look our way until she had already given gas and rolled a few feet. When she looked over my brother waved at her. The lady probably messed her drawers! Once I had one of those "my truck is louder than yours" guys pulling out. He never looked I knew he wasn't looking. So I waited for him to go. He gave it lots of gas to make it loud an then saw me to the side (safe as I was because I was aware) he also freaked out. Please watch for runners/walkers/bikers. Don't be in the "right turn idiots" club!

Moving on. I ran through an intersection with the people collecting money for children with disabilities. Just so happened to have an emergency dollar in my hydration belt. It wasn't much but I gave it as I ran through. So that was kinda cool.

I tried three new replenishing products on this run: Cytomax (like Gatorade) Sport Beans and Gu. My reviews of these items.
Cytomax- I use the powder mix in one of my water bottles. It was nice to have flavor along the way. Sometimes I opted for my plain water though.
Sport Beans (by Jelly Belly) - awesome I had tried them once when I wasn't running. Not nearly as good then as they are when you are running. They taste good. They bring crisp flavor to your mouth, help moisten your mouth, and they give your body a boost of energy.
Gu- very effective. Felt good after I ate/drank/washed it down with water. It was way thicker than I anticipated. I expected yogurt thickness. It was more like gel fluoride in the trays at the dentist. The flavor was fine it was just such a THICK texture! But effective. I would use it again. Just wouldn't get too excited about it.

When we were at 25 miles (5 for me) I was feeling good. When we hit 26 (6.1 for me) I wasn't ready to quit. Jason went on and began walking. I ran to him and asked "where is Starbucks?" that's where dad was picking us up. He pointed. I said "donyou think that's .5 away?... I've almost run a half of a half" he said "go! Do it!". So off I went. It wasn't long that I sensed him coming up to me. He said "why wait til Jan (his marathon) let's do it now" he motioned me in front of him. We passed starbucks and not long after I hit 6.55 miles and stopped to walk. I did it. I not only went 6 miles I did half of a half marathon. Jason ended up doing 26.45 I believe. We did a walk for a few minutes and then we saw Dad waiting at starbucks. We went it. I got a tea and Jason a black coffee. We sat for a minute. I had to use my inhaler which I hadn't use in quite some time. I think it was the temp (42*).
With our Starbuck after a few minutes rest.
So we headed home. Jason, Jamie, her friend Martha, and I all set new personal records for distances run. We were thrilled. Below you will see the screen shot of MyFitnessPal from yesterday. Can't see dinner and snacks on the screen but the point of the screen shot is how many calories I burned yesterday.

Burned lots of Calories!
I had one awesome massage last night. Today I feel awesome. No foot pain the entire time (but don't think I haven't been streching and babying that foot and calf) I also only had sore knees for a short time this time.

My "6" picture
I can't wait for 7 miles, then 8, then.....


We all survived..... this is us after showers.
We couldn't quite find it in ourselves to get dressed up. lol

Friday, December 9, 2011

Best Sandwich EVER!

Road trip with my parents tonight for the annual ladies shopping trip / to see my brother and family. Brandon is spending time on the farm while I'm away.

So on the road my parents (also health conscious) and I got dinner on the road at subway. I got my typical turkey and ham on wheat. I added an egg white and dressed it with onions, black olives, and black pepper. It was AMAZING!!!!!!

So my brother is hitting the road for a 26 mile run tomorrow. He is having friends come out and run portions with him. So I'm planning to schedule 6 miles with him in the morning. My Sis in law I believe is doing 18 or 19?

Anyhow. I'm hoping for a successful new record tomorrow!

Oh and super good news. I voluntarily switched trainers this week. Nothing against the one that Chad set me up with our personalities just didn't mesh. So I had to change. Anyhow, I'm so excited about the trainer that is going to be in charge of my training now. She is a very motivating lady. A success story herself in many many ways I can't wait to work with her.

I am continuing with my running and nutrition as is until our first meeting on Monday the 19th (this week coming up was too crazy to meet!) I am also going to pick up a book she suggested, "The Runner's Diet". She talked to me about tailoring my diet to the fact that I'm training for a half marathon while at the same time aiming for weight loss. She, being a runner herself (recently completed her frost marathon), has knowledge about this process. I just can't wait. I've looked up to her since the first few times I was around her at the gym in Zumba class. Now I get to learn from her. This is going to be good! God always has a plan.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Food Diary

Monday's Food Diary.... can't see my 30min of elliptical/10 min of treadmill cardio here.
That gave me 419 calories extra in my day that I chose not to replace.



Tuesday's Food Diary
Can't see my cardio here either... see below

I think I'm kicking butt on my nutrition this week.  What you can't see here on this tuesday report is my cardio which was a 2 mile run that added in 389 more calories to my goal calories, for a short run like that I try not to fulfill all those extra calories, now if I do a 4 or 5 mile run, I will try to replace some of the burned calories. A five mile run burns almost 900 calories, so I replace some of that.

This is a screen shot of Monday's diary and Tuesday's diary on MyFitnessPal.com (I use the app for input, if you have never used this app I highly suggest it! If you use it look me up... findtheskinny is my screen name.

Don't forget to follow me on Twitter too... findtheskinny there too!

Monday, December 5, 2011

Cuboid? What is a cuboid?!

Yeah so I met the physical therapist today at the gym to discuss my foot pain. After many manipulative type tests he feels that it is my cuboid bone in my foot, located on the outside of the foot between the long pinky toe bone and the ankle bone (picture below)

My Achilles (heel cords) tendon is short/tight always has been.... As a child my mom had to stretch my ankles for me. Anyhow, due to lack of flexibility there I have also come to have tight calf muscles. Since these two things don't flex much my foot then hinges in the mid foot area (at the cuboid bone). This causes the cuboid to move in a piston action (not ideal) this then allows the cuboid to end up lower than intended. (subluxated)

Article:
http://www.cascadewellnessclinic.com/articles/2002art/0211art.shtml

So the therapist adjusted the cuboid back up for me (it didn't hurt). Kinda like a chiropractor. Lol.

He said lots and lots of stretching and warming up for the Achilles and calf. He showed me how to roll a towel and place it under my foot and lean into it to help push the cuboid back up into place. He also taught me toe crunches. Yes toe crunches. Put a pillowcase on the floor and use my toes to crunch it all up over and over. Exciting huh?

It will be exciting hen it helps and the pain goes away. Luckily he said not to stop running. So yay! He did say that if it begins to hurt while running to stop running and walk. You bet that I'll be stretching good tomorrow. I don't want to walk!!!!!!! I want to RUN!!!!!

Oh and one more thing. I will be wearing less cute flat shoes and more supportive athletic shoes. Even with my dress clothes for long days at work on my feet.

So. I'm praying for a pain free run tomorrow....

Sunday, December 4, 2011

No Fuel......

Well. I did fairly well this week with my new diet. I LOVE Ezekiel bread (esp the cinnamon raisin kind) I enjoyed my hummus. I tried two flavors. Roasted Garlic and Roasted red pepper. Very tasty!!!

I did excellent on breakfast and lunch but seemed to struggle with dinner some nights. One night we were super busy so I grabbed Chick Fil a grilled chicken on wheat and fruit. Not the worst thing in the world, but not the best either. There was the flour that the Ezekeil bread gets me away from.

I had one really bad day. That was Saturday. On the way to the parade I got a cheese Danish and hot chocolate at Starbucks. Not exactly a breakfast with a fueling purpose. After the Christmas parade. We met all of our friends at BWWs (UK game was on) I was hungry, and hadn't planned ahead. So I ordered boneless wings AKA Sodium!!! Then of course water "doesn't go with wings" so I ordered sodium... Oh I mean Sprite.

So after BDubs I was due for my Saturday long run. *I can still feel the brick in my stomach* I felt so run down and sluggish from that heavy meal at lunch and was still lacking pep in my step as a result of a useless breakfast. I got ready anyhow. I planned for 3 miles. I knew it was going to be tough. It's like driving your car twenty miles after it says "zero to empty".

No fuel.... No Energy.... No success

I mean I had eaten food, but hadn't fueled my body with energy. So before I headed out I ate a Tbsp of natural peanut butter. I did take my hydratiob belt with water because I knew I would need it.

I headed downtown. I had never run there before. I wanted new scenery and wanted to be in a populated area with sidewalks for safety. I ran toward the local university which is VERY full of hills. I ran to the top of the biggest hill in my first mile. I ran down the otherside, turned around and ran back up and across the big hill and downtown again. I took two short (30 sec) walk breaks in the 3 miles. I enjoyed people watching along the way. I felt great cardio wise. My legs burned and overall I just felt fatigued (my fault).
About 1.5 out ( ran out 1.5 and back the same 1.5) my left foot /ankle started hurting pretty bad. A reoccurring pain from earlier in the week that I thought was gone.
I had three choices:
1. Keep running as long as it wasn't so painful I couldn't stand it. I knew it would suck.
2. Walk it back which would still hurt so it was suck twice as long
3. Call my husband to pick me up and not finish.
I chose choice 1... Sometimes it hurt pretty bad. I made a few huffy noises from time to time, I slowed down, and I walked steps instead of running the steps.

When I got done I felt good yet exhausted. I drive home and told my husband that I could eat no more junk.
He's a great husband and will do all he can to help me with that.

Today I woke up with my foot still hurting. I'm going to see the PT at the gym tomorrow, then possibly a trip to my doctor, who happens to specialize in sports medicine. I had been advised (and will also discuss w/ pt) to set out my two short runs this week to rest my foot and pick back up with my long run next Sat. I get to do that long run with my brother!!! So I will see what I'm told tomorrow.

I train again with my trainer tomorrow. Nervous and excited all over again.

My goal this week is to continue doing great at breakfast and lunch and also do great at dinner.

Have a great week ahead!!!

Oh and below is my latest running hair style. Anna Kournikova wears her hair like this and says it's because it keeps your hair from tangling. I tried it Saturday. I have to say that I agree!!! It worked great. Though a braid is heavier than a ponytail, or so it seems.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Too much to talk about!

Training with my new trainer, Alex, went great yesterday! He hit my lower body and core pretty hard! I was expecting my legs to be very sore. They weren't bad today. Now my core is pretty sore!
Alex wants me to weigh less often. I weigh almost daily in order to keep myself accountable. He suggested only weighing with him. I think I might give this a try. I think I'll attempt this next week.
He is also requesting several diet adjustments. Nothing too drastic, he has a sample diet that I will start out with. I have guidelines for each meal. One major difference is that he has me avoiding flour. I'm trying a new bread called Ezekiel bread. It is flourless.
Below is a picture of my bring home from the grocery tonight. Some things I've had before, some things are new to me.

I ran today. First run since my 5 miles on Friday. It was COLD!!! I ran with Vetria my co worker, Marnie ran too. Vetria and I were nervous about 38* with a windchill of 31*. Oh and don't forget the mist in the air that often changed to drizzle!

When we warmed up my body went numb on the outside. So when I started running I couldn't feel my rear end. Lol. We laughed about that forever. After about 5 min we were "warm" and felt good. We did intervals today. It went well. I use my new neck gator and my new iPhone arm ban today. I love new gadgets!

Picture below of Vetria and I running. You can see Marnie in the background. She lapped us several times. She is a seasoned runner.

All in all a great day.

Monday, November 28, 2011

First Session equals success!

I'm very tired tonight after lots of house work and a long Monday. I will post about my first training session with the new trainer tomorrow. (hopefully first thing in the morning)

Sleep is super important at the moment. Thanks for bring patient.

Twitter

My brother @alienwanderer has convinced me @findtheskinny to join #twitter

It seems to be interesting and different yet motivating as I switch #personaltrainer and train even harder for my #halfmarathon

Seem like another language? Yeah I know tell me about it. Lol. I'm learning all sorts of interesting Twitterisms.

Jason convinced me to join twitter since my mom is on twitter I felt pretty behind, so I am @findtheskinny on twitter. If you have twitter follow me. If not, get a twitter and follow me an we can learn the lingo together (@ # RT etc)

I do love the fact that I can follow so many biggest loser contestants on twitter. Of course they have no clue who I am, but I can see how they still work hard, struggle, succeed, etc.

I have also figured out how to link my instagram app to Twitter. I will be putting a Twitter feed on my blog too.

So join the fun and follow me!

Saturday, November 26, 2011

It is all about strategy

So here I set at Outback Steakhouse. I came in with 1169 calories available.

First choice was simple. Don't waste calories on my beverage. Get a water for free (both money and calories wise)

Next step get on my iPhone. I used MyFitnessPal and outback.com along with my paper menu. I block out the world and all the "what are you getting discussions" and made a plan that I knew would work. If I don't order more calories than I can have then I can't eat more than I have.

I allowed myself bread and a small piece of the blooming onion. For each of these I calculated how much I could have and put exactly that amount on my plate and no more.

After deducting calories for a small portion of blooming onion and I do mean small (328 calories) and a serving of bread (175 calories) I only had 667 (minus one) calories remaining. So now that I treated myself to bread and fat ( all things in moderation ) I had to be picky with my entree. I chose a caesar side salad (330 calories) still a splurge and then I chose for my actual entree a 6oz sirloin prepared with no butter (227 calories) and steamed broccoli also with no butter (50 calories) all this left me with 69 calories remaining.

So what do you do next Hn you finish your small, planned ahead portions, others are still eating and the bread is staring you in the face.

You BLOG!!!

Now we are all done. I resisted the bread.

Friday, November 25, 2011

Smart Choices

At starbucks. Chose a grande water!
It's choices like these that will make this process proceed faster. Not to mention I am still recovering from 5 miles! Whew!

Personal Record - longest distance yet - 5 miles! with my big brother!

This morning I was so blessed and lucky to have my big brother take me on my first long run.  We went 5 miles today.  Up until this point the furthest I had run is 3.1 miles (my 5K in July).  I used to think my farthest was 4 miles in high school.  I'll get to that later.

I had a goal with my training for the half marathon in April to run 5 miles by Christmas.  Well, last night in talking with Jason (brother) I misspoke and stated that I had a goal of running 5 miles by December (big difference right?) I had mentioned going 4 miles with Jason, then in conversation I said "do you think I could go 5 miles" he said its not if you can or not, it's if you want to".  I was like ok, 5 miles it is.  So this morning we went to get little Everett's first haircut and then we came home to run.  Jason and Jamie had purchased my first hydration belt for me as a birthday gift and brought it to me this weekend.  I was nervous upon receiving my hydration belt.  I was thankful for the gift, but the gift of a hydration belt also brought a reality that it was time to get in some long runs.  I was nervous! Jason also brought me a neck gator this weekend because of my recent difficulties with being warm all over but having a cold face/ears/breathing cold air etc.  So we got ready.... got my hydration belt fitted, filled my bottles so I had a total of 20oz of water and grabbed a pack of fruit snacks, then placed my license in the belt as well.  I put on my neck gator and we were ready.  5 miles here we come!!!



Here we are ready to take off!

Headed down the road out behind mom and dad's subdivision, we were ready to work on my form.  My form has been pretty good, just working on smoothing out my motions.  I normally don't have trouble with the cardiovascular end of things.  I just have trouble with muscle fatigue.  I prefer it this way I think.  So today was not about speed/pace at all, just about being steady, smooth, and getting in 5 miles.



We looped around the high school, hadn't been there in a while. Just over 1 mile at that point.  Took a splash of water at that point in time with a 1 min walk break.

We headed down the main road to the elementary school, when we arrived we were at 2.3. There we took another min walk break with water and a few fruit snacks to boost my sugar and keep my mouth from feeling so dry like.  We looped around the playground where I spent many recesses off road and talked about how when I was there playing I didn't think about "can I make it through recess?"  No., I just played and did what I did and gave it little thought.  So, I should adopt a thought process about training for this half marathon like I had in elementary school, not fearing failure, but just doing it.  I also talked and remembered the days about running some of those roads back in high school for soccer.

Then we headed down Meemaw's Road, we called her she came to the window to see me go by and we exchanged waves.  Little things like that make the runs so much more special and fun.  Just past her house I got to practice good downhill form and uphill form.



Next we crossed the highway and came past one of my best friend's houses that has a monster hill next to it. At this point we were at 3.75 miles. I shortened my stride and lifted my feet, my legs burned bad by the top of the hill, but I made it. The hill was slanted so my right leg burned far worse than my left. I saw my friend, Rachel's, Dad working outside, it was fun to see a familiar face along my run in my hometown neighborhood.

We took our last walk break, another swallow of water and a few fruit snack pieces.  Then we were off to finish up.

We headed back into Mom and Dad's subdivision.  I felt myself slowing down at this point. My legs were getting tired... my lungs were GREAT though! We crossed the subdivision and went out to the road that we started on that goes along the outside of the subdivision.  When we got there I was at about 4.8 miles.  0.2 miles to go.



I could see the finish in sight.  I kept my form, didn't let it get out of control but drastically sped up my feet.  My brother went right behind me yelling "go go, you got this, don't give up now, push push, etc"  I had a bit of an adrenaline rush and it was fun.  He finally yelled "Stop!" and I had done it... I started walking and smiled big knowing that I had completed a 5 mile run.



5 miles!!!!!



I am so thankful for a brother who has invested time and energy into helping me succeed this time.



I have been rather fatigued this afternoon, I took a nap, I never take naps...... I did today though.  I feel great though! I feel better than I did when I ran my 5K in July.  I think that tomorrow I may be back to normal after a good night's rest tonight.

Today I realized this "I CAN DO A HALF MARATHON!" I can do it, I really really can.
My brother was going to take me to 6.5 miles today so that I would go half of a half marathon.  He thinks I would have done just fine, but we had family portraits an hour and 15 min after my run was over, so it was a push to get this hair all washed and dried anyhow, no time for the extra 1.5, but I'm confident that I could have done it.  I think that my cardio vascular health is the best its every been.  Now, I just need to train my legs to not fatigue so fast, it will happen though.

We looked at the map when we got home and I found out that the "4 miles" we used to run in soccer was only 2.2" !!!!!!! Seriously, so until today I thought my furthest run every was 4 miles, but I found out that it was actually my 3.1 in July... Until today!!! Now my furthest is FIVE MILES!

I'm so thankful for my health and ability to do this.  I'm thankful that God helps me through.

For those that know my childhood area it went like this (this is very general):

Mom and Dad's to
the high school
down to the elementary school
down a subdivision (across from the closed Minit Mart)
and over to and across the highway
back to mom and dad's subdivision

Thursday, November 24, 2011

A belt??!!

Yeah a belt. I bought a belt! Haven't owned a belt like ever in my adult life. We have family portraits on Friday so I headed to NY&Co for something that fit well and was cute. With my waist being 7 inches smaller than this time last year I decided to try something tucked in. OMG!!! Our attire for the pics is a white button up and jeans. So below you will see my outfit. It was the first outfit I tried (except I had to get a medium shirt instead of a large, yay!)
The jeans look black here but they are dark denim. The lighting in the fitting room isn't very good. Hope that doesn't come back to bite me tomorrow. Lol. And do you know how difficult it is to take your own picture in a fitting room mirror. Lol.

Anyhow. Just a little success to share along the journey.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

I will be enjoying small servings of great food this year. My motto for this holiday season. "All things in moderation."

I'm so thankful today for my family, a great husband, a wonderful job, home, friends, and God. I get to see my brother, Sis in law, and Nephew today for the first time since July 4th! I'm so excited. Jason and I will be running tomorrow. Cant wait. Maybe a run tonight too!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Getting honest with myself

I mentioned in last night's post that I had gained back the five I had lost. Well I had not been recording the gains in MyFitnessPal therefore you weren't seeing them on my blog button. So I officially weighed in and recorded this morning.... Not good. 185.6 up from 178.8 two weeks ago. Bummer. It's completely nutrition. I've been running and exercising.

So my goal is to have a loss, any loss, over Thanksgiving break, so by Monday morning.

Check out my progress graph below. This is my most dramatic loss and gain yet :(

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Changes!!!

Yeah so Today was pretty crazy. Aside from teaching 7th/8th graders all day that were about to be out of school for 5 days I decided to take a plunge and do something I had been aiming to do for some time. I tried a spin class for the first time. I did a 30 minute entry level class. I went to another location of my gym that I hadn't been to yet. My location has the pool, theirs (same distance from home) has indoor tennis courts and spin classes. Now, let's back up. After calling to confirm when the class was I got all pumped about this new adventure and texted Chad to tell him. Quickly he responded that he was excited for me to go, I then asked about our next training session.....

Chad recently made some job adjustments and got married! (Congrats! Chad!) and he was only training once a week. I knew that the day was coming that he would be done training at my gym and today was that day.... :(

I told him I wanted the best trainer to switch over to. Then I proceeded to be sad that we didn't get to train anymore. And I didn't get my picture with him for my blog. For those of you that have read a while you know this will make my 3rd trainer in a year (Chad trained me for 9 months!)
It's hard to open up to someone, get used to them and then switch.

Anyhow, Chad sent me the contact info for my new trainer. I asked Chad 20 questions about him (Alex). Chad told me that I would really like him. So I texted him. Before I went to spin Alex had already called me and talked with me about some goals and asked me to stop by the gym and meet with him after spin.

Back to spin....

I walk in a room full of spin bikes. OMG what am I thinking!!!! Immediately everyone was sooo nice and helped me pick a bike, the instructor came right over introduced herself, set my bike up for me. Adjusted all the adjustments. Taught me all the hand positions, terms, where to change resistance and how, and tips to make sure my form was right. Then once my feet were all strapped in and I left my water on the floor (it wouldn't fit in the bottle holder) we were off. We stretched while peddling, we peddled flat ground, hills, standing up, setting down, high resistance, low resistance,... All while the lights were out (except a black light that lit up our towels and shoes) Music was going. Everyone was chatting here and there about who was running what races when etc. The instructor was so great. When it came time for water I got off my peddles long enough to pick up my water and the older guy next to me came over and found a way for me to keep my water at arms reach.

I was sweating, it felt so good though. My legs burned, my heart rate was up, I was sweaty! Wondering why I left the tank on my bed and wore the tshirt.

Before I knew it I heard "if you are doing the entry level only this is your last run before cool down"

It went sooo fast!!! Yipee. Me and one other guy left after the 30 min. The others were in for another hour. That will be me one day (not yet, easy does it sometimes)

Everyone was so nice and welcoming and invited me to come back. I will go back for sure. I burned almost 300 calories in 30 min and it went by fast!!

So off to my regular gym location to meet Alex.

I met Alex... He is super pumped to train me. He has high goals for me and my success. I'm still extra nervous but knowing how eager he is makes my mind ease a bit. He gave me his diet plan that he likes to start people on which is what I've been doing just more intense. I did tell him that I like to be pushed. I will start training with him Monday. He told me to enjoy thanksgiving and start fresh on Monday. I like starting fresh. I will weigh, measure, set goals, etc. Alex has already added me on MyFitnessPal (you should too) to view my food journal, read my blog, and told me to text with any questions anytime. I'm pleased with his eagerness to help me succeed.

I had lost down to 178.8 remember? Well I gained back to 183ish. Not making excuses at all but I haven't trained with Chad in almost a month. I had met my goal of losing 5 lbs by the next time I met with him and when I realized last week that I didn't think we would get to meet again it was like subconscious self sabotage going on and I just gave in and gained. That is in NO way Chad's fault. I am the only person who can make things happen for me. Now I have a new goal. I'm going to weigh in the morning, then I am going to set a loss goal for Monday. I do plan to enjoy Thanksgiving but I also plan to get my runs in, and not go crazy. I plan to laugh and enjoy my family that I haven't seen since July!!! So my goal is not a specific number. I just want a loss between Wed. Morning and Monday Morning.

Running update. It's going great. I ran in the rain yesterday with Marnie (teacher running buddy). It was warm and drizzly. The rain was running down my face and it was amazing. I did a 25 minute run and got 2.1 miles in. Best rime yet!!!

5,000 challenge update - 4th try here. I will hit my 5,000 goals by next Wednesday Nov. 30th at 9:00pm. I will get this. I'm setting reminders on my phone so I won't forget which has consistently been my problem thus far!

So I went through lots of quick changes today but it's going to be good. I will miss Chad, but I will do well and make him proud I'm sure of it! I told him that when I have my 50 lb celebration party that he has to come!

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Saturday Morning Thoughts

So I got closer to accomplishing my 5,000 goal this week but haven't quite made it. It's a much tougher goal than I realized when I set it. I accomplished 2,880 of my 5,000 (2,100 sec of running, 420 sec of planks, 360 sec of yoga poses, and no knee drives). So I started over today. I will do this. I have set to have it complete by Thursday evening. I'm already off to a good start with 180 sec of planks this morning. I'm not upset for being on my third try I see it as getting better and stronger for the third week in a row.

I headed out to the gym last night for Zumba Party. The Friday night Zumba class at my gym. I got there and it had been cancelled and so the mental argument with myself began.... Stay and work out? Just do cardio? Leave so I can get home and eat dinner earlier? I headed to the car to get my earbuds for cardio and realized they weren't in my car. So I headed to the elliptical trainer to work out in silence. I faught myself mentally until I had 20 minutes in. Then I thought I can't be all warmed up and not do some circuit training. So I grabbed a kettle bell from my trainers office and headed over to the free weight section or what many might call "the guys' section". I rotated 3 kettle bell exercises with oblique sit ups on the inclined sit up bench. I did 12 reps of each exercise in the circuit and repeated the circuit 3 times. I was fatigued on the last few reps, but finished strong.

I laughed inside at all of the grunts and noises the guys make when they lift. Is it really necessary ? One guy (probably 25-30) was being worked out by his friend, who obviously though he was a bundle of awesomeness, and was being pushed by this friend to do more and more and more until he was literally about to vomit right there. The "bundle of awesomeness" friend, I thought, was just being a jerk. Anyhow. Now that that side story is over...

I left feeling great! I had pushed myself to finish a good full workout. I had done a good circuit without my trainer. Which is just an accomplishment for the simple reason that I took what he's taught me and used it on my own.

I did only upper body and abs because my quads were a bit sore from my 2 mile run on Thursday and I was looking to my running assignment today (25 min run) and didn't want to mess it up by overworking my legs. I can't lie though my shoulders are super sore today. I'm glad though, because I pushed myself in circuit training which in my opinion is difficult. I much prefer to have a person telling me what to do and when to do it.

I did 3 minutes of planks this morning. My shoulders felt that too! Yikes!

My running is going really great! I'm looking forward to my 25 min run today!

I am also really REALLY close to my goal of getting to the 170s. I weighed in at 180.8 a few days this week, then it dropped yesterday to 180.2, this morning I was 180.0 EVEN. Come on 170s!!!!

Thursday, November 10, 2011

I'm so determined.

My last weigh in was 180.8 lbs. I want to be in the 170s so bad!!! So I gave it my all on my busy busy day today (we had a talent show tonight at school that I was coordinating). I packed my things this morning for running. Two other people from our training group at work ran today as well. They are two experienced runners. I'm not going to lie, I was nervous to run just me and them because I'm not fast. But I had a great time. We went to a local park to run. I did a 2 mile trail. They took that trail plus an extra inner loop to make 3+ miles for them. So one of the girls told me that last time we ran there ( a month ago) when she finished the 3+ route that my running group was at a certain spot. She challenged me to be done with the loop by the time they got done with there loop. My run went great. It was cold but it didn't bother me today. I ran well and I passed up my loop before my time was over and just before they finished the loop. I was thrilled. I did 2 miles in 25 with hills. I was so excited. It was so nice to have someone there to challenge me and encourage me! Thanks girls!
There is a picture below of us after our run.

So after the talent show I was stuck running by Chic Fil A for our dinner. Brandon is under the weather so I got him our favorite, the spicy chicken sandwich with fries, in hopes that the spicy would clear his sinuses. Lol. So I put my dad on the phone as I went through the drive through so I would order healthy for myself. I told him ahead of time what I was getting so that when I got there I couldn't cave in. Dad is good at accountability. So it worked. I ordered a grilled chicken wrap with a carrot and raisin salad. (picture below) They packed my wrap without dressing. It was really good. So I saved 400 calories at Chic Fil a in planning ahead a healthier meal than my favorite meal that I'm always tempted to order.

I came in under my calorie goal today. I can't wait to weigh in tomorrow morning and hopefully hit the 170s!!!!!

One more picture. Me with my students at the talent show!

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Will Power

O'Charleys is a restaurant that normally ruins all healthy efforts for me. The sour dough rolls are death to all calorie counts! I actually ate lunch just now at O'Charleys for 305 calories! Yes! I finally beat O'Charley at his tricks to keep me pudgy!

I ordered a pick two lunch combo and got a ceaser salad and cup of potato soup. I only ate a third of the salad (I'm not a big salad eater) and I ate the cup of soup. I ordered unsweetened tea and skipped the rolls. If you stare at them and pretend you can almost taste them. I'm telling myself I can go without the rolls and I'm doing it.

I conquered the rolls! This will in turn help me conquer MY rolls! Lol.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Eating is so Social

So, today in order to avoid eating things I shouldn't me and my tuna and crackers with pineapple stayed at my desk to eat.  I LOVE eating with co-workers, but until I get my routine of bringing my lunch back in check I may have to eat at my desk on days when I feel weak and don't think i'll be able to resist sweets and things!

Sunday, November 6, 2011

5000 update

Well. I failed to meet all of my 5000 goals from the previous post and let me tell you why... I got busy and forgot last Fri-Sun because of other events going on. Now let me tell ya 1000 seconds of planks is NOT doable in 3 days. I was sore from 150 seconds a day for 3 days! (which only equals 450)I did manage 250 knee drives and over my 2000 seconds of running. I did not get in any yoga :( So I can't just leave it as a fail. I will try again. Same goals as last time:

1000 sec of yoga
2000 sec of running
1000 sec of planks
1000 knee drives.

I will accomplish this by the Satuday morning.

I was out of town Thursday-Saturday with 13 7-9th graders for all-state choir. I did not log my food while I was gone but that hotel was one long hotel and my room was on the far opposite end from my students. A few good trips between ends was a good little walk. Lol. Anyhow. I ate cracker barrel and pizza and other good stuff but I did it in moderation. I weighed this morning and had lost a few tenths of a pound. Success in my opinion since I traveled.

So this week is my first week with no marching band OR choir trips. Wahoo! So I hope to achieve my 5000 and much more!

Also I got the blogger app for my phone. This means lots more posts!!! I can now even post pictures from my phone. I used to type posts into notes then copy paste them on the site from my phone due to not having Internet at home. So, I'm excited for this app. Picture uploads were few and far between when I came across Internet access. Now they can be anytime, anywhere!!!!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

5000 Challenge

Yay! I hit 5,000 views on my blog. For that reason I'm going to celebrate by giving myself a 5,000 challenge. I will do the following before next Thursday the 3rd. They will be done in separate sessions and add up to the total. 

1000 seconds of planks
1000 knee drives (what am I thinking)
1000 seconds of yoga poses
2000 seconds of running

Total 5000 

Thanks for reading. 

I went over my calories today :(
My will power was amazing yesterday when I turned down a Frosty and then I turned down even a bite of Brandons frosty. So what did I do today?.... Bought a frosty!!!! I don't know why! It's like my will power was so strong yesterday that I ran out!

Anyhow. Tomorrow is a new day!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Running!!!!

So, I'm training with the Easties for the half marathon in April. My goal is to be to 5 miles by Christmas. Since I did a 5K this summer I didn't want to only go back to Couch to 5K with the group. I wanted to push further but I also want the experience with the team from the very beginning. So here is what I planned... Keep increasing distance on my own while doing intervals with the group. That way I get to train with the group and the intervals will help my endurance and speed on my longer runs. 

So far it's going well. I just finished resting from shin splints. No fun...

One thing I like about training with a group is pacing myself with other people. If you know someone in the group runs faster than you then you can try to keep up with them. I did that last week and it really helped me. It's not a competitive thing. It's a pushing yourself thing. Same thing goes for the opposite. If someone is running behind you and they begin to catch up you can assess... "am I slowing down?". Sometimes it's ok to have slower days and faster days but it's good to have those around you to help you measure. 

So here is my training plan to Christmas. 

Monday - 30 light run, run out 15 min and run back 15 min trying to get all the way back in the second 15 in order to not slow my pace over the run. Not trying to set records. Just running. 
Tuesday - intervals with group
Wed- off
Thursday - intervals w/ group
Friday - off
Saturday - long runs. Beginning with 2 miles, hoping to reach 5 by Christmas. 
Sunday - REST

My brother helped me make this weekly schedule up and my trainer really liked it. So here goes. 

This is my first week on this schedule. Saturday long runs will be tricky this week and next week. But I'll try to get them in. 

Monday, October 24, 2011

Update!!!!

I'm so excited!!! I found a way to get buttons from MyFitnessPal onto my blog. See left. There are two. One with my loss to date and one with lbs left to lose to get to my goal. I'm excited about this. Everytime I weigh in with MFP it will automatically update my blog buttons (which is every morning). I'm thinking about removing the Weigh ins section. Maybe just having a starting weight and current weight. I can't decide.

Ran on my treadmill tonight but it was cut short because something isn't balanced correctly with the legs and where they rest on the mat/floor so I stopped before something got messed up. It was nice to be back on my treadmill though. I went 10 min. I think my shin splints are gone (they seem to be) I rested for 6 days. Tomorrow is running with Easties (co-workers) training for the half.

My birthday was this weekend. Brandon was so sweet. He gave me the Oakleys I've been wanting. They are a great pair for running yet they look cute enough to wear anytime with any outfit. I'm out of contacts. Ordered those today so that I can try out my Oakleys!!! Yahoo. Also, one more week of marching band! I'm so proud that the Dragon band placed the highest at regionals in school history and qualified for the first time for Semi Finals since 1989. In 1989 they didn't have quarterfinals like they do now. So this is the first time ever for the band to make top 8 in quarterfinals. So proud of all of the kids and of my husband who Believes in the kids he teaches!

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Planning ahead / blessings

I ran a mile this morning. It was an awkward run. I felt tired at first, then I began to feel great! The temperature was my next hurdle. The sun was beating down hot yet the air was cold to my lungs. These two things were not working well together. So I struggled a bit, thus running one mile not two. 

The goodness.... My mile was 13'. Back a few months ago I struggled for a 14' mile. So I'm shaving time. So yay!!!

I ate great again today. Came in 35 calories under my daily goal. 

Brandon ran today as well I was excited for that! We hit another hurdle today when we had to take his mom back to the hospital. They admitted her again. Please pray for the doctors to have the knowledge they need to help
Her. I learned today that planning ahead is very beneficial. I planned a crock pot meal this morning and cooked my black beans ahead of time so tonight when we unexpectedly ended up at the hospital we still had a healthy dinner waiting at home. Also, running this morning was a good thing. I think it helped give us energy for the eventful day as well as not missing a run because we were too tired at the end of the day. 

As we pulled into the ER this afternoon I heard the first two lines of the chorus to this song. I had heard it before ( I believe some one sang it at church) so anyhow, when we got in the truck to leave the hospital it was on again, so I used Shazam and found that it was "Blessings" by Laura Story. The lyrics are below, it was a blessing to me ( just what I needed to hear) and I hope it will bless someone who reads this. 

"Blessings"

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights 
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights 
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Ain't nobody gonna break my stride...... Oh no! I gotta keep on movin'!!

Anyone who knows me knows that the last three weeks have been anything but normal or easy for my husband and I. Long story short my father in law is in a rehab hospital recovering from two strokes that he had three weeks ago. He spent a few days in Nashville in the Neuro ICU unit. We then move him here and his mom came to stay with us. We noticed some things in her health that were getting worse. We made her an appointment with our family doctor. She was admitted to the hospital about a week ago for testing. They found a blood clot and half I it had broken off to her lungs.  There are still many more tests to run for her but right now the focus I the blood clot. All of this while we are in the heart of marching band season. I'm so proud of my husband for taking his band (his second season here) to a point they haven't been in at least 11 years. They received reserved grand champion yesterday! All this while we see his parents through their hospital stays (in two different hospitals.)

The first two weeks I did some running but had to cancel my training appointments. My body was beginning to feel exhausted. Thanks to my trainer being persistent I got back on track with training this week. I knew I had to. I knew that working out was the best thing for stress. I also knew that the less I worked out the faster my body would feel exhausted. 

My Wednesday workout was tough for sure!! It made me mad that certain tasks were wearing on me. It made me mad that I wasn't as strong as my previous workout. It made me determined to keep my training routine and not cancel anymore appointments no matter what. I have to take that hour out for me and my health. Don't get me wrong. It has been a blessing to be able to help my in laws through this tough time. I appreciate my in laws and would do anything to help them. 

I also had two concerts this week. One was ban one was choir. They were both excellent!!! 

So Brandon and I have never been more ready for fall real than we are now!

Last night my brother Jason called. He said "hey are you still doing the Nashville half in the spring?"
Me - "yeah"
Jason - "if you are determined to do it and are sure your going to do it I'll register and run right beside you the entire way!"
Me - "really??!!! That's awesome! Yeah I want you to run with me, can you run that slow, you may behave to walk while I run in order to stay back with me"

I am so excited for this. My brother is so great for being willing to do that for me. We have a team from work that is training to do it together. After fall break we are beginning with Couch to 5K. I'm already to the 5K point so I'm going to be working on increasing my 5K speed and increasing distance. I will work on the speed by doing the interval training with the group (interval training is always good) then I'll work on my distance on my own. My goal is to have 5 miles being easy by Christmas. Having Fibromyalgia will not keep me from running the half but I do have to be smart and train at a pace that won't hurt me and set me back. That is one down fall of Fibro, if you push too hard it can set you back.

So, here we go!!! I'm running the 5K on Oct. 15th with hopes of a better time than last time. I'd like to be 40 min or below. So during fall break I plan to run every day with one day off somewhere for rest. 

After that 5K I will work on increasing my distance to 3.5- 4 miles then 5 etc. 

On Thanksgiving all my cousins and I have decided that since there isn't a Turkey trot in our hometown on Turkey Day that we will run our 1st Annual Terry Turkey Trot. I can't wait for that. I'll hope to have an even faster time by then!

So right now, I'm all
About running and training with Chad for strength and endurance. 

I do want to mention that through all of these last three weeks I've managed to lose a little weight. I'm hoping for a solid good loss this week. I want to be in the 170s so freaking bad!

I hope to post every day this week. I continue to appreciate all
Of my readers. Please don't give up on me. I'm still going I just haven't had much time at all to post. 

I'm still using my "my Fitness Pal" app every single day. I have logged my food journal and exercise every single day for 5 weeks. Woohoo!!!

Please add me on my fitness pal. If you know me message me or
Comment for my screen name. 

Monday, September 12, 2011

Lots of stuff to think about... And Gracie Update

I updated my weigh ins on here (left column) my lowest weight was in June and since then you will see ups and downs. The story of my journey. Weight fluctuation, plateaus, gains, losses....

I have mentioned a book before called "10 tips from a former fat girl" I recently stopped by Barnes & Noble and read the first half of "lesson two" 

The beginning of that lesson she talked about her 7 rules of weight loss in regards to food. They are below:

Water - drink plenty
Calories - monitor them
Breakfast - never skip it
Frequent meals - levels sugar
Protein, Carbs, Healthy Fats - make sure that meals/snacks have a balance of these three things. 
Avoid white - breads, rice, etc. 
Sodium - pay attention to it. 

So I realized that I knew these things. I have parents who taught me these things, I've read a lot, I watch Dr. Oz, and I haven't missed an episode of Biggest loser since season one (11 seasons). I know the "rules" but I have trouble implementing them. 

That is exactly where she went next in lesson two. 
She said "What You Say Matters..."
Matthew 12:34 "You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of."
The second half of this verse is powerful. What we say is a defection of our hearts. Am I believing in myself or am I tearing myself down for not reaching my goals? Am I saying " I can do this" or " I can't do this". What's in my heart? What do I say?

Then she said..."Our words are powerful..."
James 3:3-6
 3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

This all really something to think about. How big of a part our minds and our hearts play in a wright loss journey. So I've been working on this. If I wrote everything from lesson two in one post you wouldn't finish reading it because it would be too long. I will continue with this in the next post. 

I have started something new. I previously weighed with my trainer only. I would wonder what mess ups from the week messed up the weigh in. Or what good things provided a loss. So now I weigh in  every morning and log my weight on MyFitnessPal. When I lose 0.2 pounds I'm thrilled. It's success. When I lose more than that I take not of what I did the day before because it worked. When I gain I take note of what happened the day before ....  Did I drink soda, have a cheat meal? 
This new method seems to be working well for me so far. 

Update on Gracie : she is staying with Mom and Dad right now since Lily had her puppies. She's lost like 2 pounds there. Mom and Dad are getting her running inside the house playing several
Times a day ( she won't run in our house... It's the wood and tile she prefers carpet)
That is helping but the big difference is that she doesn't have other dogs to steal food from. We have to monitor very closely here and she still sneaks bites and mouthfuls of food from the yorkies, who by nature are graisers.
So she is doing well. We know Shawn she comes home that we have to come up with a plan to keep her from stealing food. 

Last thing.... Biggest Loser season 12 starts Tuesday!!!!

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Yoga mat and a quick nap.

Back to yoga I went tonight. 

My trainer had something come up last minute and we rescheduled for Tuesday. So I had my workout clothes packed. I stopped by home and checked on Lily and headed back out for an hour of yoga before band rehearsal. 

I hadn't been back to yoga since I fell in Jan. Once I was able to go back the musical was in full swing and yoga class didn't fit into my schedule because of rehearsals. So anyhow, I didn't know what to expect. I have done yoga at home on my own and I've don't Bob's (from Biggest loser) weight loss yoga at home, but I was still a bit nervous. 

So me and my Vera Bradley yoga mat headed on in. The strengthening and flexibility poses were just as easy if not easier than last time I went. I guess all the other exercise is keeping me up to speed. 

Then came the stretching and relaxation at the end an oh my goodness. I didn't realize how good it was going to feel. The stretching all throughout was just great. It felt so great to stretch out all the tension. 

Then the relaxation was so badly needed that I fell asleep for a second during the last relaxation pose (the corpse pose). 

I also burned over 200 calories in my 1 hour of yoga. 

I highly suggest yoga. If nothing else it's nice to do something that has the intent to keep your mind off of stress and just be sort of absent minded for lack of a better way to say it. 

When I would look in the mirror tonight to check my poses I would turn of the choir director/ wife brain with all the to-do lists and I would just focus on me and my weight loss goals. I focused on how I felt physically. 

It was amazing. 

Weigh in is postponed to Tuesday. 

Monday, August 29, 2011

Willpower

I was just so excited about this that I wanted to share. Tonight I went out to take back a blu ray and my husband called and wanted something sweet. He requested a peanut buster parfait from DQ. I was on the phone with my cousin. She said "don't do it!". I promised I wouldn't and with her on the phone supporting me I ordered his ice cream and ordered none for myself. I didn't even take a bite of his. Woohoo. My will power is coming back. It takes time to break the sweets habit. The more you eat sweets the more you want sweets. 

I just wanted to celebrate by posting!!!

Sunday, August 28, 2011

The Race is On!!!!!

My apologies to my great readers/followers for the lack of posts. Things are very busy with marching season and a dog that has kept us on our toes for a week waiting for her to have her puppies. Thanks for always checking in. As my routine settles in I will post more often. 

Anyhow, I went out for my first run tonight since the 5K! I know I know I know, the 5K was 6 weeks ago. I said "I'm taking one week off"..... Now I wish I hadn't taken time off at all!!! It was weird, I hit a goal and absolutely crushed it and then it was like I waited too long to set a new goal, so I became unmotivated to run.

 Did I want to run? ABSOLUTELY! But did I actually lace up my shoes and get my runs in on busy days? No. It was a new excuse everyday.  So today I was sick and tired of myself not being proactive, I was about to change to head out for a run then I hopped on Facebook and had a message from someone that I know that knows I ran my first race asking if I was running on labor day. I had to reply that I hadn't run since she saw me at my first race and I was currently headed out for that first run tonight. I had to say "I don't think I'm ready" Bummer. I let myself down. * thanks Andrea for the extra boost*

The good news? I ran my mile tonight and it felt great! I could have gone further but I only planned a mile. So I'm thinking 1.5 or 2 miles on Tuesday. So, I did better than I anticipated. 

I have found out that there is a 5K option at an upcoming big 10K run. It is on October 15th. So I'm thinking early birthday to myself... Improve my 5K time. It's 7 weeks away. I'm thinking less than 40' would be a good goal. So here goes. The only think that could change that plan is if our band competition that day is a.m. and a distance away. 

I'm also looking into doing a Thanksgiving Day run. I'm not sure I could do any better job of justifying my Thanksgiving meal! I'll be at Mom and Dad's most likely on that morning so I've got to locate a race near them. 

So, if all goes well I will run two more 5 K races this year. 

Also, I set a goal with my trainer on Tuesday August 16th to lose 3 pounds by my session on August 23rd. I ended up having to cancel my training session due to some crazy scheduling this week on my end, so we set a new goal to keep me motivated for this week. A 4 pound loss. Can I do it? I bet I can! Let's see!!!!

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Back to School routine in place

It's been a while since I posted. I had to cancel my appointment to train the first week of school and the first week of school also through my eating for a loop. However, I went to train on Tuesday, it went well and I'm motivated all over again. I lost 0.4 pounds this time (merely fluctuation) but I have to say that I was almost expecting to gain from lack of exercise. 

My workout was good on Tuesday and we set some goals. 
- keep my food journal (no slacking)
- cardio three days this week
- lose 3 pounds by next Tuesday. 

If I keep the first two goals. Number three should happen. 

I always go to buffalo wild wings once a week with my husband and friends for trivia night. So I asked my trainer if I could have wings once a week. He made a deal with me. I can have the wings on Wednesday (our regular day) IF I eat completely clean on Sat and Sun. Toug but I made the deal. I'm going to do it!

Yesterday Chad sent me a random text reminding me to journal my food. That kind of stuff really keeps me on my toes! 

I'm still pretty sore from Tuesdays workout but I'm going to head out for a run tonight to get in my cardio. I haven't run since the race ( huge mistake ). I look forward to seeing what I can accomplish tonight. 

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Sometimes I Get Mad...

Some times I get mad.... While I was working out last Friday morning I looked at my trainer while I was in my abdominal circuit and I was tired and hurting and I said "I get so mad that I've been fat from the get go"

Thinking through some of the things I told him, and later my Mom, it amazes me how vivid some of my childhood memories are that involve my weight. Let me give a few candid examples:

I played softball for a long time and I remember when we changed from our cute T-ball uniforms to our softball uniforms was about the same time that my body began going through changes and I started to fill out. I remember taking note of the fact that everyone on the team other than me (or so it seemed) was thin enough that the wide elastic waist band of our softball pants stretched straight across from hip bone to hip bone, but mine filled out between hip bones. 

Dance class when I was maybe 4-7, I remember that I was one of the biggest kids in class (height wise too), not that I was just really big but everyone else was still in the tiny tiny stage. I seemed to fill out my tights better than anyone else. 

2nd grade lunch time. I remember the exact table that my good friend and I were sitting at when we discussed our weight. We talked about how our thighs weren't as skinny as our other friends' thighs. Seriously! I was 8 years old.

Let me just stop here to make it clear that my parents were very loving and never mentioned weight to me until middle school/ high school when it actually became an issue that they needed to help with. Even then, they were wonderful in their approach. 

So those three stories were from early elementary school. There are many other stories, but those stick out. So I was talking with mom about this over the weekend and she said something that made me think. "You weren't overweight as a child, you were healthy", did I have an inaccurate view of myself that young?! I've seen pictures of myself at 5 or 6. I was thin at that time. Not "skinny", just thin. "Healthy" as my mom said. But I dint remember not worrying about my weight.   Best I can remember it was 2nd - 3rd grade when I began to fill out a little too much. (just before puberty)  I remember making weight loss goals all through middle school and high school. I was always an athlete so how did I miss the skinny train!??

I was in my best shape ever in high school when I played soccer. (Sophomore and Junior years) I ran all the stinkin time and usually had marching band practice on those same soccer practice days. Sometimes soccer was at 6:00am in summer. That year my cousin and I hit the gym every single morning at 5:00am and worked out until we showered and got ready to drive to school. So that "in the best shape" time in my life came at a cost.... Hard work and lots of it. 

I had to quit soccer my senior year (lots of physical activity) because I was Drum Major for the band (therefore my band physical activity all shifted to the upper body, no longer full body). I gained about 20-30 pounds my senior year. Also the year that I was diagnosed with Myofascial Pain Syndrome and the beginning of fibromyalgia. 

During the summer I had my first ever weight loss success. Mom and I did the South Beach diet. The Atkins craze was still going on but for those that new better than to eat all
Protein and no carbs here came south beach! We were hard core (dad kept
Us that way, lol) I moved to Murray State that fall at a much healthier weight. I met Brandon at that much healthier weight!

Over my 5 years in college and now 3 years of teaching (oh my goodness I'm getting old!) I have yo-yoed 5-10 pounds at a time. Any time I've had success it's come with hours in the gym, vigorous nutrition goals, and eventually burn out. I'm not burning out this time and that is a great success. However, I still get frustrated!

Why do I have to work so stinkin hard? One thing that I truly believe with all my heart and I've said on many occasions is that I know that my body being difficult is a blessing. My outer body is what isn't up to my standards and because I've worked so hard my blood pressure, cholesterol, sugar, resting heart rate, etc are all fabulous! So I thank God that he has provided me with a body that communicates what it needs from me. I'm glad that I'm not eating everything under the sun, staying skinny, and damaging my heart day in and day out. I get that! But now that I'm aware and I do work so hard I was success. I want benefits from my work. Why have I had to struggle for my entire life to try to get my body thin and healthy!?

I'm working to answer these lifelong questions. 

Next Post : I wondered through the Christian Inspiration section at Barnes & Noble yesterday while Brandon had already settled in with a book and I was chatting with mom on the phone. I ran across a book that caught my eye, "10 Lessons from a Former Fat Girl", by Amy Parham (a Biggest Loser contestant). I sat down and was amazed by chapter one. I'll tell about this in the next post.