I may have used that title in the past already... however, I felt like I needed to again because I am really working it! lol!
I uploaded my data for today at 1030pm and burned more than 3100 cals and took 17700 steps! Can you freaking believe that? How many miles is 17700 steps? seriously!
Im in an odd place right now. Mostly because I feel great and I don't know that I've ever felt THIS good before... the best thing is, is that it will only get better once JT and I are TOGETHER. As exhausted and tired as my body feels - I am so happy and thankful to have fitness and healthy food in my life. I have a hobby (couponing... save your Sunday coupons for me and send them!) and pretty soon I'll be back with JT and the pups <3 Life is so wonderful.
I HAVE to incorporate yoga into my routine. It is TOPS on my priority list. In fact, I am going to go to Target or somewhere to get a book or dvd - I just HAVE to get it going. I know it probably sounds ridiculous, but I just FEEL like I need it. So I am going to figure it out asap.
Oh, Also, although its cold and crappy and rainy here in Ohio still most days, it is warming up a bit, so people are finally planting! Which means... FARMER'S MARKETS! I went to one today that sucked, but it will get better once people actually have veggies (they literally had asparagus and only like 3 bunches of it lol... the rest was bread, jelly and plants... OH and some overpriced organic meat). I can't wait until it really picks up so I can get delicious healthy locally-grown food. :) My next task is to really start cooking so once I get into that I will post some pics (of the more successful dishes of course...lol).
The reason I want to start cooking because JT mentioned today that he has no one to make him dinner - I want to be able to do that when I get home without running to the local drive thru. One of the problems with us in the past is that JT gets sick of cooking EVERY DAY and I was too scared or lazy maybe to actually cook for us - instead I got AWESOME at ordering out and so we enjoyed terrible delicious food and got fat. When I have babies I am NOT going to be able to be awesome at ordering food - it is going to have to be cooking enough to at least give JT a break sometimes. (Its hard to cook when someone in your house is just amazing at it...) lol. <3
Ok - I have to get to bed. Here is a great article!
If you are anything like me you probably have back pain and no idea how to avoid it at the gym - check this article out for helpful tips!
OH and PS - to those of you who are struggling to get started I first want to point out that you can't just feel bad about not doing it... you have to do something about not doing it - but I also want to say don't have regrets, just recover. Here is a great quote for those of you who need some motivation...
"Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or to lose." - Lyndon B. Johnson
I think I may have some issues with my body image.
I feel great - I have been working so hard and eating well and basically busting my butt to lose it! I've been slightly obsessed with my gut lately - mostly because I've always had a small stomach and lately it feels like it is rounded and it makes me feel uncomfortable. I am pretty sure it looks that way due to digestive issues and have thus started a cleanse to see if that helps... Here is where the issue comes in.
When I look in the mirror I see my body changing and I can feel it changing, but I still feel fat and gross compared to where I want to be. But, I saw a picture yesterday of me running my 5-K and realized that I actually look quite thin and athletic. Why can't I make the distinction in real life as opposed to pictures? Was it just a good shot (well, a couple of good shots I guess) or is that my reality? Am I looking good?
I think one of the things that throws me off is that everyone gives me SUCH a hard time about wanting to lose weight - "you look great - you'll be too thin..." it is almost like they are jealous and trying to sabotage me. I just want to say "really? because I am effing 30 lbs overweight and I am TIRED of hearing you tell me I am being ridiculous" but I don't, because I do believe some people are just trying to be nice. I get so frustrated though that rather than encouraging me to keep on going, people are more worried about telling me why I should quit.
I don't mean to be negative about all of this - I actually think this realization is a good thing. Its a great reminder of having to keep the changing of my body and life in perspective. What is important to me may not be important to others, also, some people have very skewed body images - they think being overweight is what is right because others make such a huge issue about the "too skinny" body images we see on TV etc... Some people think it is better to carry extra weight.
And you know what - it may be ok - If I get to 155 or 150 and I am fit and 15-18% body fat and I feel good than I will stop, but in the mean time I am still about 168 and have weight to lose. Other peoples' opinions and ideas are skewing my body image and making me feel frustrated and bd about my progress.
I wrote all of the previous section Sunday and wanted to add some info for today (Monday). I worked a double today - 12 hours and burned a TON of calories. I also took over 16000 steps! Freaking CRAZY! The cleanse is going well so far and is almost done actually (Wednesday).
Here is an article for today too! For those of you who are runners check this out!!!
OH and the other thing I wanted to mention! I am going to start "couponing!" I am SO excited! I am going to havee to work hard to get deals on actual "healthy" food, because most coupons are for crap - but I am excited! I spent my entire Sunday clipping coupons! :) IT was actually fun! I will compile a list of coupons I am looking for specifically and if any of you come across them and don't plan to use them you can send them to me!! :)
Anyways, thanks for reading - feel free to comment!
A little blurry.. but that is because I was running SO fast! :)
It might not seem like a great time - 28:42, but to me it is an AWESOME time because i've been running 3 miles between 33 and 36 minutes and my goal was to finish in 30 mins. I beat myself by an entire minute and 18 seconds...
I was going to start today's blog off with an apology for not writing in a couple of days - but I feel too good about my progress to apologize for anything. If I feel bad for not writing enough, I just need to write more - not make excuses about it.
So, instead I wanted to talk about my run today and my thought process through it - as well as a couple of other things.
First of all, last night, when I was chatting with JT via FB I still hadn't signed up for the 5K (registration was this morning at 8 for people who couldn't sign up at the church) I mentioned that the best part about not being signed up early was the chance for an out if it was raining or I was too tired to get up... talk about a ridiculous cop-out statement! JT didn't say anything to me, but I definitely realized right away that my mind was trying to screw me over. At that point I made the decision that no matter how I felt I would get my ass out of bed and run this morning - rain or shine.
And I did. In fact, I woke up at 600am on a day off of work and felt great. I ate a great breakfast, checked my computer stuff, talked to JT and got there FIRST this morning to register (AND they still had a couple of shirts! I got one of the last mediums!) When JT and I talked he asked what my goal was - I told him that I had been running it in 33-36 so my goal was to do it in 32. He said um... how about you shoot for 30 - you can do that!
So that is what I did. I was nervous before the race because I hadn't run anything like that in so long and I just wanted to do well. JT had said "don't let your mind tell you that you're tired - remember that is just your mind, you can PUSH your body." I thought about that statement the whole time. It is so true. I felt tired toward the 2 mile marker and kept repeating that to myself - I CAN keep going, I run 3 miles very regularly - I can pop out a mile in 9 minutes if that is all im doing so why can't I do 3 in 30 minutes?
It got me through. And next time I'll be shooting for 27 minutes!
Our minds are such powerful things. They give us our motivation, our will power, they make us feel and think and so much more... We have to train our minds to believe in us.
In other news, work is still going great. Im working my tail off and feel exhausted when I get home. Overall, I am still able to make it to the gym almost daily. I take two week days off for rest days and otherwise have been steady. I also found out i've lost a couple more inches... I feel SO great about that!
I have been having some issues with bathroom stuff - (don't want to go into details... TMI right?) lol so I am using Jillian Michaels Detox and probiotic cleanse. Does it work? Probably not really - but my brain thinks it is and that is all that matters right? (we can trick our brains to make our bodies work!)
Ok, I have to cut this shorter than I wanted because I have somewhere to be soon - but thank you for reading and I'll post more later!!! (check out JT's blog... it is an AWESOME one today! http://raceforthestrong.blogspot.com/2011/05/human-nature.html)
My eating today was great! I factored in 300 calories of "extra" cals just in case I didn't count every single calorie, but without those 300 I finished at about 1250! :) And I feel full and great. I re-made those "perfect protein pancakes," doubled the recipe so I could warm some up for breakfast in the morning and subbed 1 full scoop of protein powder for 4 TBSP of cottage cheese. They were MUCH better! A lot less dry and SO yummy! :) I put a little peanut butter on them and had such a yummy supper! :) Can't wait until breakfast in the morning!
I also grilled up some organic chicken breast and put together a huge salad for lunch tomorrow. Snacks will be carrots and hummus and almonds. :)
I also worked out today. I took yesterday off (Mondays and Fridays are my new rest days) I ran 1.4 miles to the gym and then did a men's health workout JT showed me a couple of weeks ago (that he plans to do himself). It was a bit too hard for me as is, so I improvised and feel like I got a great workout in. :) my run went great too - ran 1.4 miles in 13.50. However, I had to "calibrate" the run because my Nike program said it was 1.34 miles, but according to mapmyrun.com and google maps it is a 1.4 mile run... so who knows - either way I am happy with that time. :) I am speeding up a little bit. I am running a 5K Saturday, so we'll see how I am REALLY doing! lol.
Saw this article today and thought it might be helpful for those of you who are also trying to build endurance -
When I wrote Thursday, I mentioned at the end that I would be uncovering a huge Biggest Loser lie in today's blog. The important thing about this post is not what actually happened in the show... but the lack of integrity in the show. Sadly, there is a lack of integrity in our world and it makes me sad and sick. While you're reading today, please take a moment to reflect and ask if you're living a life of integrity or not.
JT always waits a few days to watch Biggest Loser. He DVRs it and watches it later in the week or maybe even the following week and almost kills me because I always want to talk about it! Well the other day he finally watched last weeks episode. The one where they brought Tara back to compete in the "car pulling" challenge to win money for her charity.
SPOILER ALERT (if you have not watched the episode and do not want to know what happened, please skip down to the next bolded line!)
During the episode they did a huge build up to this challenge. One of the prizes was that the winner would have their face put on a Wheaties box. Rulon, who as we all know was an olympic athlete gave a pretty weepy interview about hoping he finally had his chance to make it on a wheaties box etc... because he couldn't make it happen in his past. He used the word "redemption."
The race came around and all of the players were lined up in front of their cars on a race track - when the horn blew they were off and Rulon got an early and HUGE jump on everyone. He was obviously going to easily win, but, somewhere along the way he lost momentum and low and behold Tara ended up winning. (It ended up being a photo finish though.)
I watched, felt disappointed for Rulon and moved on. Then, unexpectedly and surprisingly, at the end of that episode, Rulon quit the show for "personal reasons." I was actually very surprised... Rulon was still 301 lbs. with only 4 weeks left and was absolutely poised to win... WTH was this guy doing? I was surprised, especially because when he said he was leaving it didn't sound very legit? But, I didn't know so I moved on again.
This week, after JT finally caught up with the show I was excited to finally get his opinion! That is when all of my Biggest Loser bliss came to and end.
The first thing JT said was how bullshit the car challenge was. I asked why and he explained that racetracks are built at an extremely large angle and that Rulon being at the top and Tara being at the bottom was a VERY unfair advantage in her favor. Rulon would be dealing with a lot more friction due to his wheels wanting to pull left and go down hill - his driver would actually have to turn the steering wheel, whereas Tara's wouldn't because she was on the opposite end lane that was on flat ground. I knew the tracks were built at an angle but never thought about how unfair that would be for Rulon... then, JT decided to look up info about the race and omg... it was horrible... not only was the race set up unfairly... but the show re-shot the ending of the race to "make" Tara the winner. Please see the following links for proof and more explanation.
The worst part is that Biggest Loser was caught lying about something in the past and PROMISED never to let that happen again - http://www.buddytv.com/articles/the-biggest-loser/the-biggest-loser-dane-did-not-26659.aspx
What a shame.
END OF SPOILER!
So yeah, needless to say I am very disappointed about Biggest Loser's lack of integrity. It makes me not want to watch the show anymore. I know it may not "seem" like that big of a deal to some... but to me, that sort of crap is what sucks in life.
There are a ton of examples of athletes with no integrity - in fact, I found a TON of videos for players with no integrity and found far fewer for those with it... I hope that is just journalism sensationalism and not the reality though...
this was obviously made before Barry was convicted of lying... his ass definitely took a few shots... (lol no pun intended...)
And another "winner" who NEVER took a steroid!
Guess he forgot he gave that interview a couple years later when he admitted to using steroids while playing with Texas...
and THIS guy... Jeez dude - how in the HELL are you going to keep lying about your steroid use when your best friend said you admitted it to him and that he used them as well and when your wife admitted to using them?
It really makes me sad. Sad because these people are the heroes to our youth. Kids want to be them... and the saddest thing is that these are only three stories of probably hundreds of people who lied and got caught...and there are probably 100s more who didn't get caught...
I do want to share a few stories of people who DO have integrity.
Sorry this first one is not in English... like I said, it was a lot harder to find stories about athletes doing the right thing...
The guy ended up losing, but he really won because he could leave there knowing he gave it his all and didn't cheat.
This next one is about an athlete who DID lie - but finally couldn't live with the lies anymore. She showed integrity eventually and that is something that should be applauded.
I saved the best for last. Pat Tillman was a man of great Integrity. People looking from the outside probably though he had "everything," but to Pat, that wasn't enough. He wanted to fight for his nation - he wanted to do what he thought was right.
Sadly, the circumstances surrounding his death were filled with lies and deceit. The people involved showed no integrity at all, even after the truth came out. Thank goodness there are people in the world like Pat though - a true athlete, a true MAN and HERO that kids can look up to.
I hope today's videos and post really made everyone think. It is a topic that is very important but I think few people ever think about. Integrity is so important in our lives. It is important to do the right things in sports, training, and life in general. And it important to your training. If you make the commitment to yourself to get in shape and eat right, you have to be able to be truthful with yourself. You have to have integrity within yourself.
Integrity is what we do, what we say, and what we say we do.
Don Galer
"Honor your commitments with integrity." Les Brown
On a different note I had a GREAT run today. Did 3 miles in 33 mins 15 seconds! 11 min 5 sec. miles! That is a PR for me! Next Saturday I am going to run a 5K and I hope to improve it even more by then (even if it is only by a few seconds.)
Tomorrow I am supposed to do a 6 mile run, but I was talking to JT and I don't think I am going to do the long run days for my training. I don't have anything planned to run and Im still working on healing my sprained toe and learning how to run correctly. Instead, I am going to follow the rest of the days in the plan and switch my long run out for a long bike ride and possibly a couple mile run. :) I think that will suffice for a while.
I am also going to be really cutting my diet this week. Im still not seeing a ton of weight (i am losing inches and gaining muscle though... which is great, but being 30 lbs overweight I need to drop lbs. too). So, I am going to cut my 1600 cal average to 1200 for a while. And I think that average is on the loser side too - Ive been trying to log accurately, but I sometimes grab stuff to snack on while cooking and such that I don't think to count... cutting my diet is probably going to suck at first - but, if I am eating whole foods that are filling I will be fine. I'll see how it goes and assess my intake from there. :)
OH and DEFINITELY check out this chicks recipe blog! IT ROCKS! - http://fitnessista.com/food/
I made her perfect pancakes today, here is a pic! They are obviously cooked unevenly... but Im not exactly the best cook in the world :) They were pretty awesome though - a little dry but I think it is my protein brand - I am going to switch out half of the protein for a half cup of cottage cheese (no taste but adds lots of protein and wetness!)
My crazy week is finally coming to a close. So far I am 32 hours into the work week, I completed 2 finals, 3 papers and several assignments, and I've logged 13 miles of running and done some lifting. I feel great and accomplished!
It definitely hasn't been easy though. I've been preparing my food (breakfast, lunch and snacks) every night for the next day. The hardest thing has been drinking enough water - but all in all I have been able to maintain my commitment to myself.
The "breakfast" cookies I wrote about the other day are AWESOME by the way! Everyone needs to try them! So far I've only had mine with bananas and craisins as the "mix ins" but I LOVE that combo. They are a little too soggy for my liking out of the fridge, so I put mine in the freezer for about 10-20 mins before eating it (while I get my stuff together in the morning.)
So, i've talked about this before, but when I need something in life, someone always happens to show up to help provide it to me.. Today I met "Annita" at the gym. She is a BEAUTIFUL middle-aged woman (40) - she literally looks 27... when she told me she was 40 I was shocked. Anyways, I changed up my workouts last week and started using Hal Higdon's training plan (to run a half marathon.) I don't have any particular one I plan to run, but I needed to change up my workouts and felt like I needed more cardio.
Anyways, Annita is training to run marathons and halfs too - she is actually running the cleveland half next weekend in fact. She gave me some GREAT stretching tips (as most of you know i've had some hip and lower back pain lately... her stretches ROCK) and offered to train with me and all sorts of stuff :) It was awesome! It is always nice to meet someone interested in what you're doing who can offer incite! ALWAYS keep your eyes and ears open for people like this.... I really believe it is a gift from somewhere.
I apologize my blogs haven't been as packed full of information as usual - I'll catch up this weekend and share tons. :)
Here are a few articles though! <3
This first article is about exercising while traveling - http://www.active.com/travel/articles/4-Exercise-Tips-While-Traveling.htm?cmp=17-1-581
And this is another one about hip pain - http://www.active.com/women/Articles/Cross-Training__Hip_Helpers.htm?cmp=17-1-580
My sister Sara (Tony's wife) shared some awesome quotes with me today! Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
“Those who say that I will lose and I am finished will have to run over my body to beat me”. Aouita, 5000 meter Olympic gold medalist
“Workouts are like brushing my teeth; I don’t think about it, I just do it”
Patti Sue Plumer, U. S. Olympian
Thank you for reading!
OH PS - I have some info to share about Biggest Loser this weekend too... I think I am done watching that show :( VERY Disappointed in the fact that they RIG crap on it :(
I had a very productive weekend that included 8 miles of running, lifting, finishing work for finals week, grocery shopping and tons more.Yesterday morning I had my first "real day" at work and was on my feet for 6 hours (the dude training me had worked overtime so we had lots of breaks lol) followed by an hour and a half drive to my class in Trumbull where I took a final and an hour drive home. :) I did take today off from running and the gym - it was much needed!
Today I worked again and was on my feet for about 7 hours, came home and went to the gym. Ran 3 miles and did legs. Gonna stop lifting unless Hal says too though from now on. I don't know if i've mentioned it yet but I am using THIS training program. I am going to start running in the mornings as often as possible too.
I found a great blog with lots of great recipes that I want to share. :) ENJOY! The actual recipe I am linking sounds SOO YUMMY! http://fitnessista.com/2008/11/something-worth-waking-up-for/ I am making it for breakfast! :) :)
I know this is a short one today and I am slacking a little - but I will get better once I get used to my schedule. Here are a few articles that may be of interest though!!!
This first one is about hip issues that may be causing other issues. I personally have a lot of hip pain. I did the stretches and they were actually VERY helpful! I was able to do my 5 miles Sunday thanks to them!
This next thing isn't an article, but I did this after my run and it really really really helped my legs feel better! Try it - I swear it works!
"Also a beginning runner--long run is 7--but have had great results with a tip from Danny Dreyer. After the run, lie on the floor with your legs stretching straight up a wall. Starting at your feet, use your hands to squeeze the blood out of your feet, calves, and thighs in that order.
When you stand up, three or four minutes later, you'll be refreshed--energized by the return of blood to your upper body, and with remarkably fresh legs. Recovery times become nonexistent--after a good run and a good session on the floor, I could sometimes run again."
It really worked - my legs felt SO much better. I def. need to start icing though, my joints are SORE.
