Back in the game!

Ok, so I skipped my appointment today. We walked ALL OVER Six Flags and my leg didn't have any pain! I called this morning to cancel and they said "Well, we're glad you're feeling better!"  which leads me to believe this is a common issue :-) 

My July challenge final weigh in will be Wednesday morning. So I have 2 days to get at LEAST to break even. But watch out, August, I'm going to kick ASS. 

I'm ready for a run tomorrow morning! Now I just have to make sure I get up in time :-) Anyone want to sign up to text me around 5am central time?! 

Accommodation

I am making accommodations for myself. I am swimming to get some physical activity. I spend about an hour at a time in this lane in the pool (I am a creature of habit - I MUST be in THIS lane!) And I'm watching my calories SO closely!

We've gone back to a lot of clean eating.  Meals this week have been primarily veggies.

Monday I made a chicken dish. I used all tomatoes from our garden ( we have a CRAZY tomato plant garden this year! ).  I added chicken broth to the pan, fresh thyme/basil (from my herb garden), tons of tomatoes, a handful of chopped zucchini, several mini sweet peppers. Right before I served it, I threw in about 1-2 Tbsp whipped cream cheese. It gave the sauce a little more body. I tossed this mixture with brown rice noodles and away we went. Delicious! 

Tuesday night was a lovely burger with smoked white cheddar cheese and a bit of bacon. A sliced tomato from the garden. Corn on the cob. "Superfood" kale salad! 

Thursday night we had portobello pizzas. I've made this before, but tonight's topped ALL of them! I grilled the mushrooms first with just a touch of coconut oil. I layered them with pizza sauce, cheese, sauteed spinach and turkey pepperoni and grilled them until they were melty and delicious.  We had it with a salad and corn on the cob. Soooo yummy!

This morning I skipped my normal 1-2 cups of coffee in favor of this smoothie. I've talked about the amazing smoothie before but looking back, I realize I never shared the recipe!  I found it in a Tosca Reno cookbook. I found the recipe online here. I can take or leave the honey in the recipe, but it's sooooo delightful with the honey that I never ever leave it out!

Monday I am going to see an ortho about my leg. Of COURSE the pain is nearly non-existent now... But I am still going to go meet with him and find out what I did, if he can tell me. There is still pain here and there so I definitely don't think I am completely healed.  And hopefully I'll get the all-clear to start running again! 

Until then, I will keep swimming. I think we're planning to go on a family bike ride this weekend. I have a virtual race to do, so maybe a bike ride race is what I'll have to do in my current condition! 

Seriously?

So my minor ouchie from last Saturday? NOT so minor. I am still hurting.  In fact, the pain is spreading. It's not worse by any means, but definitely spreading.  It started in my ankle. Then it moved to my calf. Migrated to the back of my knee (today I noticed a definitely swollen lump behind my knee). The height of the pain was Friday am - I went to sit down and go through some paperwork, leaned back and it felt like my whole quad flipped itself over, from my knee up to my hip. It was HORRENDOUS. Since then, my quad, the outside of my knee and my calf have been in pain.

Our camp site

I went to see my doctor (family medicine) on Friday, thinking he could help me if I did something serious. He gave me some muscle strengthening exercises and told me it should feel better in 3-4 days. Seriously? I'm fairly certain, as a runner, I don't need to strengthen my quads. And if it would heal in 3-4 days, why does it still hurt 8 days after I injured it???

So I may have to suck it up an go see an orthopedic doctor or a sports med doc.  I just know I can't go on like this. I'm so depressed when I can't work out! For me, this translates into eating ONE OF  EVERYTHING (sometimes 2-3 of everything)!

It doesn't hurt enough that I can't walk. My family went camping this weekend and we toured Meramec Caverns. It was a 1 1/4 mile walk through Missouri's largest public cavern. It was awesome to see what nature has done under there!  There were moments (52 steps up to the "wine room" formations!) that hurt but by and large it was an awesome adventure!  I did walk 13101 steps yesterday! However, for as much as I ate - that probably didn't offset much!

I've been trying to evaluate why I've felt so "blue" the last week - I really do think it's because I haven't been working out! It's been awhile since I haven't done *anything* as far as working out for more than a week at a time.

Camping staple...

Date night dinner... 

And of course, someone who's feeling this way (or ME when *I* feel this way) only wants comfort food. I haven't been motivated to cook anything or go anything good for myself.

Birthday treats at work... 

This MUST end.  I am going in the wrong direction. I was feeling great, FINALLY finding a routine that was working for me - and now this injury has set me back again!  Is this just what getting healthy entails?! Two steps forward and one step backward??

This week, I made a deal with a friend (Yes, Stacy, I'm putting this in writing!) that starting Monday we were going to do what we need to do to get healthy. Fixing our eating, start working out again, whatever that may be. For me, this week needs to involve a clean meal plan, lots and lots of water and hopefully some swimming to get myself at least MOVING.

Week in Review!

Well, I didn't GAIN weight for my weigh in on Monday! I was down .5lb from my initial weigh in. I'll take it! 

My daughter left on Monday morning to spend a week with my mom in Georgia. I took advantage of my day off + only having my little guy and he and I went for a long run around the lake! 4 miles felt awesome after so long with no running! 

Tuesday morning I woke up and took a run around my neighborhood. It was delightful! I can't believe I haven't taken advantage of running in my neighborhood. The hills are killer, but I think those are exactly what I need to train. Those are definitely my downfall in my last half and I'm not about to let that happen again!

This week was a bit different since my daughter was gone AND I worked four days. We had a HUGE training event on Friday to prepare for and Saturday was our company picnic. I went to see South Pacific at the theater Tuesday night and was out late. No run Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. Friday was an all-day training that I helped plan and facilitate. It was a SUPER HUGE BUSY and STRESSFUL day. But I managed to get in my 10,000 steps. 

Saturday we had the work picnic. It was SERIOUS BUSINESS. First event was a three legged race. I was "ALL IN" and pushed myself so hard, my husband and I fell over one another at the finish line and I messed up my leg pretty badly. I kept pushing. We didn't win, but we certainly had an awesome time!  I am very thankful for my job and this company!

Tomorrow is another weigh in and the start to a new week. I did something ouchie to my leg on Saturday and today I rested it and I have a pain patch on it. I'm hoping that tomorrow it will be better so that I can get to the gym for my classes. Hoping to run Tuesday, but take Wednesday off (Tuesday night is my theater night and this week's show is Les Mis, which is my hands down all time favorite.) Thursday I want to get to a kickboxing class and Friday will be another run day for me. I think we are going to camp this weekend so hopefully some good bike rides and hiking will round out my week! 

Nerves!

Friday was awesome as far as working out. I was in the gym for 2.5 hours!
Saturday, all day I prepped for a sleepover for four very excitable and energetic 5 year old girls :-)
Saturday night I survived a sleepover for four very excitable and energetic 5 year old girls (who didn't go to sleep until 11:30 and woke by 7am!) :-)
Today, I rested.

However, none of the weekend is helping me towards my

FIRST WEIGH IN ON MONDAY! 

Oops. :( 

I'm quite nervous for tomorrow. I've been trying to get my water in - I didn't get my full 80 oz yesterday but I've gotten it every other day this week! I hit my 10,000 steps everyday except Saturday or Sunday. I did realize that I never set my stride length! So that is on my to-do list this week. 

In addition, I need to meal plan myself back to clean eating.   I realized that, even though I'm only 6-9 lbs heavier than I was in February, my clothes fit TERRIBLY now.  And it's because clean eating seriously reduces the bloat! Soooooo this week - running and clean eating are the first order of business! 

Here's hoping I at least MAINTAIN this week. This puts me at my highest level of uncomfortable - I am answering to a TEAM. If I don't lose, it could change my team's standings! Forget me, this is about them now. 

I'll check in tomorrow briefly. My plan is to wake up, weigh in, combat whatever happens with a good run around the lake! I will have to push a jogging stroller, so I'm not looking to break any speed records but just getting OUT will be awesome enough!

Is this moderation??

So the 4th of July is a big deal around here. It's "E's parade" - she even calls it "my parade."  We just so happen to live ON a parade route, so we roll out of bed, have friends come over for breakfast and sit on the lawn and watch.  As I mentioned last year, this parade is better than Halloween for my kids - the candy comes TO THEM.  Lots of candy!

I am a sucker for Tootsie rolls and banana Laffy Taffy.  So those were my big weakness yesterday. I signed up to follow a training plan through RunKeeper for a sub-55 min 10K and yesterday I was supposed to run "2 slow miles."  Well, that obviously wasn't happening as I had two HYPER kiddos and it was about 88 degrees by 1pm.   So around 1:30 I told the kids we were going for a walk.  We walked to a local park and I had a brief epiphany!  My kids are 2.5 and 5 now, hardly young enough for me to need to stand behind them and watch them play.  So while they played, I ran laps around the playground! It was only approximately .15 miles around the circle, I could see them every part of it. Also, I wasn't wearing running shoes or clothes - Keen sandals and cargo shorts. But I did it! And I went 2.48 miles, with the walking and running portions added in. The walk was about .5 miles there and .5 miles back, so I did a decent bit of a run.

photo of the day for my challenge - flex a muscle.

This morning, A woke up brutally early for a little boy who stayed up until 10 for fireworks. I was awake so I left the kiddos with my hubby (who rocks, by the way, if I haven't mentioned that lately) so that I could hit the gym for a few of my favorite classes. I always miss them because I work on Fridays now, but it was a lovely time.  I went to an 8:30 cardio drills class (I walked in with 800 steps and left with 7000!) where we do all kinds of plyo moves, run outside and use a big tall step!  Then I stayed for her full body toning class. I thought I would be done there because I felt something snap in my knee during a crunch with a yoga ball, but thankfully, the pain didn't persist. So I went to my circuit class for 45 minutes. 

But I hit 10,000 steps before 11am! 

I did well with lunch (a HUGE romaine salad with 4.5 oz of grilled pork tenderloin & 1oz of smoked white cheddar cheese) and dinner was fantastic (thanks to my awesome hubby - burgers (no bun) with curried cauliflower, grilled asparagus and corn on the cob!). 

My princess has her birthday party tomorrow night (our first sleepover!) and I made mini cupcakes tonight. I didn't' taste a cupcake, but I did taste the batter - delish. I had two Tootsie Rolls earlier and I'm having wine now. But I'm still within my calories for the day!

I did have another awesome moment of "right" choices yesterday for lunch. My family had Annie's shells'n'cheese and turkey hot dogs. Instead of indulging in that, I made myself a bowl of tuna, celery, onion and a TINY bit of mayo to bind it (I WISH I had an avocado, that would have been fabulous!)  I ate it mostly out of the bowl, but did have a few crackers with it. So yummy! I highly recommend it for lunch!

So in short, while I've been making some awesome choices, I also haven't been completely "clean."  I can feel it, though, in my gut mostly.  I have a weigh in on Monday and I'm just hoping to make a little progress by then so that I don't let my team down!

Any awesome lunches I MUST HAVE this week? 

I am working 4 days next week and at this point, I think I'm having the same salad I had today. Not a BAD thing, but also not much variety! 

Better than last year....

Today my little girl turned 5. FIVE, people. I have a FIVE year old!  It amazes me the road I've taken since she was born. 

• I am entirely unaware of what I weighed before I got pregnant. I was using fertility medications and had just plain old given up. 
• I was 210 lbs the night before she was born. 
• I lost weight, down to 160, and hit 160 the DAY I got my first positive pregnancy test with my son (my daughter was just shy of two years old)
• I went up to 210 lbs with that pregnancy -  And was STILL 199 when I came home from the hospital! 
• I weighed into my challenge this week at 159. 

Sometimes I just need to see those numbers are a reminder. So for the last year, I have bounced between around 150-162. I need to remember that even though I fluctuate, I haven't gone up, I haven't gone back to where I came from! My happy place seems to be around 152-154. I am hoping to get back there. We'll see if I can get lower if I start running faster and further!

I have a partner within the weight loss challenge that I am doing. It seems like the perfect match - her introduction was all about moderation.  PERFECT.  I (obviously) have a history with my "all or nothing" mentality! 

Today was one of the most hot/cold days I've had yet on my journey. If you recall, last year my daughter's birthday was an edible tragedy! Today, we started off with homemade poptarts (pie crust + cinnamon sugar or no sugar added preserves!).  

We headed out to Grant's Farm for the morning.  If you are unaware, Grant's Farm was the home of Ulysses S. Grant and (if I paid attention I would know how) but somehow it was acquired (married into the family maybe?) by the Anheuser Busch family.  They have spent 100 years accumulating animals on their 80 acre land and it is open to the public. It's a fun morning, the kids fed baby goats bottles of milk and threw corn to ducks. We saw an elephant show and our tram almost got charged by a bull.  The downside - all the food is crappy.  And they give you free beer "samples," which are truly cups of beer, probably 4-6 oz at a time.  So I had three of those over the course of our time there. I didn't want to eat the food, I couldn't bring myself to do it, so we shared a soft pretzel (2 for the 4 of us) and headed out of the park for lunch.

We went to one of our favorite local places, The Wolf Public House, for lunch. The food is amazing and the whole place is like Caribou Coffee and Panera had a baby.  Very rustic, very hip and awesome. This is from their website: . We support sustainable local family farmers raising animals kindly without the use of antibiotics or added hormones. We respect our environment and compost or recycle 95% of our waste.

So it makes me feel good about our choices to eat there.   Today I went out on a limb and tried a salmon BLT. It was ahhhhhmazing.  Absolutely amazing! And instead of potato chips, I got the veggie special of the day - a cold salad of zucchini, kalamata olives, feta in a vinaigrette. Delish! 

So, -2 for the beer, but +2 for my lunch choices, I think. Especially since I ordered an iced coffee with half and half instead of my usual Vietnamese coffee (coffee + sweetened condensed milk). 

We came home and I started making E's requested birthday dinner - Pizza. Now, I had the benefit of knowing what her birthday dessert was (which she didn't) so I wanted to balance my calories out. Instead of indulging in pizza (I make a whole wheat/corn flour pizza crust, so it's clean, but it's still carb-y and loaded with calories!) I made myself baby portobello mushroom caps with a tsp of pizza sauce, some mozzarella cheese and turkey pepperoni. BOY were they delicious! I tasted the pizza but I was quite happy with my dinner! +8 for me (the number of mushroom caps I ate! YUM!) 

What was dessert, you ask? 

Individual DQ cakes! 

I didn't finish mine. Which is another small victory. As recent as a month ago, you would have had to pry it from my clenched fist. Today, I ate half and was completely satisfied. So we put them back in the freezer to save as a treat for another day! 

All in all, even though I made some "bad" choices today, I feel like I did ok. I didn't get in a formal workout, but we did walk a lot at Grant's Farm and I did hit my 10,000 step goal, along with my 10 flights of stairs. 

So onto tomorrow. Just hoping to show SOME loss on the scale at my first weigh in on Monday, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, I guess!

Challenge Day 1

So I'm not even officially sure all the things I need to do for this challenge, but boy am I ready! 

This morning my alarm went off at 4:30. I sat up, ready for a run, until - I realized it's DARK at 4:30am. And I 'm a wuss - no running in the dark for me! So I went back to sleep and didn't wake up until too late to run. 

BUT I did have a solution. I worked today (weird because I don't' work on Mondays!) but after work I headed straight to the gym and my favorite kickboxing class! Booya 700 calories! 

I drank my required water too, 5x15 oz glasses at work, a bottle at kickboxing and a glass of water with dinner! 

So far I'm kicking butt. Here's hoping I can get up and run tomorrow! Jen and I are eating at a restaurant called CHEESEOLOGY tomorrow, which is probably as fattening as it sounds :-) So hopefully I can get a good run in the morning to justify some of those yummy calories. 

My official first weigh in weight: 159.
Goals: Hoping to get back to comfy weight of 153 by mid-July and maybe even 150 by August 1.