November - Already?

Well look at that. The 11th month is already here.  I had high hopes for this year, including making it back to 150. 

However, over the course of a year, I have done some pretty amazing things.  I have run my 5th half marathon, my 4th 10K, completed a 12 week lifting program and done 1 full (and 2 half) Whole30s.  I have tested some new things to see what I can do to make myself better and healthier. I have dragged my family through most of it (they are great sports!)

So I am not where I want to be with my weight. And I honestly haven't had my body fat tested lately, although it's on my list of "Things to Do" next time I go to the gym.  But I feel like I have a greater understanding of my body, what makes it tick and what makes it sloth... 

I am in a fitness group that will start reading It Starts with Food as a group this week.  The plan is to do a GROUP Whole30 starting January 1, after reading the entire book.  I haven't committed to it yet, I just haven't decided if I am in the right place mentally. But the more I talk to people, the more I find myself saying "Oh, that wasn't a problem for me during my Whole30!" or "Whole30 fixed that in me!" and wonder why I wouldn't do another one?  It will have been 4 months since my last attempt and will probably be a great time to go for it.  I know Paleo is NOT for me as a lifestyle, but a good kick-start never hurt anyone. 

My weigh in on November 1 was a wakeup call (166). I'd been drowning myself in candy for a good week. I knew my October weight out was going to be HORRIBLE. Things can only go down from here.  So I recalled my first goal of the year - to fit into that Believe shirt. I still have time - my goal is to wear that shirt as much as possible starting the day after Thanksgiving. What does that mean? That means I have to clean up my food for the rest of November. I have to be spot-on with my working out and my water intake (I STINK at drinking water!! Coffee until it's time for wine, people!) 

I am definitely reevaluating the weight goal of 150 that I originally had for myself. I no longer think there is a magical scale number that will make me suddenly "healthy." Instead I am going for fitting in certain clothes and a body fat percentage as close to 22% as I can get.  I think I've mentioned this before, but the lowest I've ever gotten my BF% was during the clean eating phase we did last year. We still eat pretty closely to that, although I have never found a whole wheat or rice pasta that tasted worth eating so we still eat white pasta.  But I have homemade spices and sauces now for a long time and will continue to do so.  

So sorry for the rambling post. Nothing earth shattering today, just trying to get all of my thoughts out on what the last 10 months has brought me - almost right back to where I was at the start of the year...    

GO! St Louis Halloween 10K, 2014 Edition

This morning was the Halloween 10K, one of my favorite races of the year!  We were out late last night, I had a few minor tweaks to make to costumes then went to bed by about 11:30. My kiddo has her seasonal allergy cough right now, so that woke me up around 1am. Alarm went off at 5:35am. Needless to say, I was TIRED!

It was raining on the drive downtown. Sprinkling, pouring.... we had it all. It cleared up when we pulled into our parking spot, but started again on our walk to the starting line. As you can see, I was soaked before I even started!

I love having the Arch in the background!

I told myself before the race - I just wanted to be better than last year. Last year's results were 1:01:44, so my goal for myself was simply a sub-1 hour 10K. That would require my pace to be even faster than last week, but since I had such an awesome time last weekend at MO Cowbell, I figured I could push myself. This is my last race of the "season" so I knew I could leave everything on the road today.

Crossed the start line and hit the button on my Garmin and started RunKeeper (yes, I use both. I'm ridiculous.)  I kept checking my pacing - I couldn't remember the EXACT number I needed to get to PR the race, but I knew it was faster than last year's 9:57 average... Until about a half mile in when I realized that my pace was there, but my mileage wasn't! I never actually hit START!! I just hit the button that wakes up my Garmin. UGH! So I started that up and hoped that RunKeeper was having an "on" day.

The weather wasn't awesome like last week (Cowbell weather was PERFECTION) but it wasn't awful either. The rain had stopped before we started running and if I recall correctly, it didn't start up again.

One minor annoyance was that they didn't take down the signage from the 5K, so when we were around 2 miles (who knows, my Garmin was wrong! *weeps*) we ran past the sign for 1 mile for the 5K!!  I think they planned the route so that the water station at 1.5m in the 5k was the 2mi water station for the 10K/half marathon. But between that and the Garmin error, I spent the first four miles having NO idea where I was. I just tried my hardest to keep my pacing below 9:40. Obviously, I did ok.

I started rationalizing with myself around mile 5 - I can slow down and still PR... I think. I did the math quickly, I was at 48 minutes at approximately 5.2 miles and got nervous - a 10 minute mile would get me there JUST under the wire - and that's if Runkeeper was still on target (which it rarely is!) Instead of easing up, I gave it all.

Finishing the race with the clock time under an hour was awesome. Finding out my official time was 58:04 - spectacular!!  Such an awesome feeling. FURTHER awesome? Look at the stats - 40th in my age group, 369 overall? That's top 30% of the racers! I've never considered myself fast (and I'm still not ever going to "win" a race) but I know that I can keep improving.

2011

2012

I love comparing how far I've come.  This one - this one is making me a happy camper tonight. 

2013

2014

Costumes all came together. I think my costume only made sense when I was standing with my family :-)  but my little people looked like ADORABLE little Lego characters. The fun run was great (once my daughter stopped crying that her costume broke in the first 100 feet...) I usually run "fast" with my daughter while my husband stays with my son. This year, since hubby was actually a registered runner, I let him take the fast one and I held back. My little guy (3 1/2) did an awesome job. I'm thankful for the mom with the stroller behind us who encouraged him - "You have the piece of resistance!! Run fast, Emmett!!"  My son was thrilled, gave me a high five and ran his heart out. It didn't last long, but it was so much fun <3 We walked a lot of the mile and found my speedy family members waiting just shy of the finish line so that we could all finish together.  I am so proud of my little runners. They are troopers for going out in this weather! And I'm so thankful to my husband that he supports this crazy hobby I've picked up in the last few years.

HALFWAY!! Oh, and a long run.

HALFWAY DONE WITH WHOLE30!! 

I had a rough weekend (see this post) so I did slip, but not as much as "old me" may have.  More on that later. First off, Sara and I met up for another long run on Sunday! 

We both had 9 miles on our training plan, so away we went. It was a GORGEOUS morning with almost perfect running weather. I was severely dehydrated and probably under-nourished from Saturday that I felt like I was running with lead legs. I honestly wasn't sure I would make it to 9, but we did it!

The pace is about 40 seconds off of my average mile/min that I will need in order to PR the race, but after the week I've had, I'll take it. I am going to go on at least one "longer" run this week (hoping for 6 miles tomorrow morning) and go for a speedy run on Thursday (after my new "yogalates" class!) to get some more mileage in. Then Sunday, we'll aim for 10!! After that, people - it's TAPER time already!! What the what?!?!  This training season is going SO QUICKLY!! 

Day 11! 

Breakfast: Eggs, bacon, blueberries.

Lunch: Leftovers. Salmon, carrots and an orange (Lunch brought to you by the color orange obviously!) 

MIdafternoon: Lara bar, roasted rosemary almonds. 

Dinner: (This was my daughter's plate! I was so hungry I ate quickly so my daughter got seconds of everything so I could take a picture  Dry rubbed grassfed beef roast, mashed potatoes (no dairy) and green beans.

This was day 12!! I was off by a day!

Day 12: 

breakfast: 3 egg muffins

Lunch: 3 hb eggs (only the whites, I don't like the yolk). olives. cucumbers. peppers. blueberries. 

Dinner: again made pizza for my family and I ate sausage, onions, portobello mushrooms, peppers, on zucchini noodles with a homemade marinara.

 Day 13: 

Today was bad for emotions. I was so nervous for the vet appt I only drank 2 glasses of coffee & ate a Lara bar. I had lunch at 2:30 (hot dogs and pickles) and a glass of wine with dinner. Dinner was a seafood stew with tomato-saffron broth. The menu didn't say rice but there it was  thought I was staying mostly compliant. My poor pup, I miss him desperately.

Day 14:

Woke up, ran 9 miles. Came home and was too nauseous to eat. I ate about 1/4 sweet potato with cinnamon. 

Lunch: Chipotle. I am still so out of it that I ordered CORN SALSA! WTHeck?!?! So I spent the first 5 minutes of lunch picking individual corn off of my barbacoa salad. *duh*

Dinner: Omelette with onions and peppers, homemade hash browns and Pederson's bacon.

Day 15: 

Breakfast: Banana & coffee

Lunch: peppers, zucchini, mushrooms and onions sauteed with chicken sausage. grapes.

Dinner: balsamic crockpot chicken, giant pile of zucchini.

The last few days I have walked numbly through, barely eating. Mostly because all the things I wanted to eat (pb&j, mac and cheese - comfort foods really) aren't compliant. So instead of completely derailing my progress, I have been doing the opposite - barely eating at all. I am trying to get better about forcing myself to eat, but it's just so hard right now when all I want to do is fall face first into a cake. 

*************************************************************

Soooooooo stayed mostly compliant through a very difficult time, which makes me pretty proud. I'm usually a severe stress eater, and it would have been easy to get something sometime in the last three days. It would have been easy to just throw back a few beers to numb the pain.  I did have wine, but ONE glass (one Saturday, one Sunday) instead of half a bottle. 

My knee felt AWESOME on Sunday, which was the one bright shining moment (aside from the wonderful company, of course!). Even at our turn around I didn't feel the pain like I have been feeling, which was SOOOO encouraging!! 

I wasn't THAT off diet on Saturday night but I could FEEL the difference in my run on Sunday.  Now, to be fair, that may be a result of dehydration, low calorie intake etc. But it was enough that I am definitely staying on track with my Whole30 through my races, even though I will technically be "done" by September 23.  I will add in a few things once my 30 days is up, but I will largely remain grain- and dairy-free until after my 10K on October 12th! 

Final Stats from Whole30

I learned today that PEAS aren't allowed on Whole30. I truly had NO idea. So if you're looking to do one, don't eat peas!  

Aside from the whole "no peas" thing,  we finished a successful (as far as we knew) Whole30! 

Here are my stats ! 

 I've had more energy, I have successfully weaned myself from an antidepressant and I feel stronger. I didn't have the amazing results I've seen around the forums and Whole30 sites, but to be honest, I didn't have a ton of weight to lose to get to goal. I hoped to get closer to my goal weight, but I can't turn my nose up at a 6.5 lb loss in a month. 

I think I've said it here before, we won't be paleo after this - it's just not sustainable to us. Unless we find that someone in our family reacts poorly to something during reintroduction, we will return to "clean eating." My husband and I agree that this is an excellent "reboot" and we will try to complete 2 Whole30's per year. 

I won't even go so far as to say everyone should do this. It's NOT for everyone. But if you feel that you need a good body reset, if you feel like you have inflammation or AI issues, if you feel like you need CONTROL of it for awhile - this is for you.  I didn't hit my goal weight. I didn't even lose as much as I hoped, but I also am a lot closer to my goal than someone coming from a SAD (standard American diet) because of the small changes we've gradually made over the years. It's been hard for me not to compare my results to ALL THE OTHER people who have completed a Whole30. "Why didn't I lose that much?" "Why didn't I get the tiger blood feeling?"  But I can't do that. I am not them. They are not ME! 

I can only go so far as to be proud of my 6.5 lbs, my 1.1% body fat loss, the teeeensy tiny abs I see in my "after" pictures. The fact that I am off an antidepressant I've been on for as long as I can remember. That I don't NEEEEEEED coffee to get me moving in the morning (in fact, most mornings lately, I FORGET to make a cup until around 10am!) 

It's completely embarrassing to put these pictures out publicly, but I am proud of where I am now. I admit, the fact that there are baby abs pushing through in the bottom left picture is a little addicting and I want to keep moving in that direction.  We are a few days out now and I've been adding in "prohibited" foods - I feel them. I have been more bloated-feeling and I miss the feeling of thinning out. I am going to try to start making a conscious effort to get back to tracking macros (without such a RIDICULOUS number for my protein!) and go back to a "clean" approach - with whole grains and lots of starchy carbs instead of processed stuff. 

I've missed a few days of the Jamie Eason plan - and I'm ok with it. It was getting to be a LOT of time spent at the gym, when I really needed to be spending more with my kiddos (you know, the reason I left my job?).  So I'm spacing out the workouts a little more. I am going to complete day 61 tomorrow, which is the 5th day of week 9. Today is technically the 2nd day of week 10, so I am only 4 days behind. 

I am going to start adding some running into the mix too. I registered for the Halloween 10K (fourth year in a row!) and the Mo' Cowbell Half again for this fall, so I need to get my butt in gear! I registered my expected finish time for the half to be 2:15!! 6 min shorter than my last! So I have a lot to prove - if only to myself. 

So as always, I finished up one thing and I'm on to the next. We will revisit the Whole30 concept again, hopefully a few times a year. If NOTHING else, it's a good reminder that I DO possess will power. I CAN control my eating, I can accomplish what I set out to do. 

Go! Halloween 10K 2013

Sunday was the Go! St. Louis Halloween 10k, maybe my favorite race of the year! I love love the 10k distance - it's far enough to be a challenge but not so far that it kills me. 

This year they changed the course so that it went along the riverfront, down to the Arch grounds. It was neat, aside from spending most of the race running into the sun!

I started out, trying to pace myself. I felt

Work out before the mile mark and thought "well great, this can't be good." Took a peek at my pace on run keeper and realized I could slow it WAY down and still meet my goal of finishing in under 1:10. I had run the race in 1:27 (2011) and 1:08 (2012) but after a half last weekend and only 1 run the week between, I wasn't sure how to expect my body to perform. 

Turns out, it did just fine!

I kept trying to slow down but my pace felt good! My splits were ridiculous and I wish I had picked it up a tough around the corners to come in under 1 hr. But, I wasn't far off at 1:01:40!! 

It just felt GOOD! It made me want to come home and sign up for more races, which is an awesome feeling. 

After the 10K, my kiddos were signed up for a 1 mile fun run. It was more fun for me than E (she burst into tears when someone encouraged her to keep going) and AJ than Daddy (who was wearing jeans and long underwear haha).  But in the end, both of them got their shirt and medal and were happy. :-) 

Guess I should do something more official with all these bibs now!! 

Virtual FitNut 5K! Errr.... 10K....

Sunday I had a virtual 5K to complete for my August weight loss challenge.  I haven't gone on a "long" run probably since my (tragic) half marathon in April. I went out knowing that if I just ran a loop, I would quit when I finished my 5K. Instead, I stranded myself!

So I ran my 3.1 miles away from my car. I sprinted when necessary. I went slower than I thought I should be going. I am proud to say it was ALMOST a sub-30 5K, even though i have been averaging 10:45 min/mile when I run the hills in my neighborhood. 

Midway through my run - I was actually feeling GOOD!

But, shock, it's like the hills have made me STRONGER! 

Midway though the run I stopped at a little gazebo and just looked at my surroundings. How lucky am I to be able to run? To take 30 minutes, an hour, to myself to run and listen to good music and take in nature? 

The second leg of my run I took my time. I was definitely losing steam and decided right then that I was NOT going for a PR. If I needed a moment to walk (which I did) or if I stopped for a drink of water, it wasn't the end of the world. And surprise? I finished in only 1:04!  Not my very fastest time, but faster than my last official 10K last October!

I think if I could clean up my eating (omg gummy bears are my downfall right now!) and stick to running every morning before work (my snooze has been working over time this week!), I could get to goal weight in no time.

That's my goal. There's a beach vacation in my not-so-distant future and I would LOVE to be at my goal weight by then. Not so much to ask, really, it's 5-8lbs!

6/13

Why hello again!

So for as much as I haven't been around, I HAVE been doing really well!!

Last week, I ran 4 days!  More than I've run in a LONG time!

This morning I went to the gym. I lifted for a half hour before my 45 minute circuit class. 

I am back to the place where I have a huge surplus of calories at the end of the day. I am so cautious not to overeat that I tend to under eat. I know it's just as bad! I am trying to find some healthy clean options to bulk up my calories these days!

This morning I also put my baybee on a bus for KINDERGARTEN!!   I still have no idea how that happened!

Onward, people. I gained 1lb for the first August weigh in. Which didn't surprise me because I was alarmingly LOW for the initial weigh in - only 3lbs from my goal weight!  Just hoping to tone up at least this month since I'm getting my booty moving! 

Gotta train for the big 10K coming up!

August Challenge!!

I'm a day late, of course, because isn't that my style? :-) 

So my August challenge started, duh, August 1. 

July challenge results: I lost a lb from July 1. 

But since I was injured I will take it. 

BUT - August? August is MY month.  My official weigh IN weight was 156.5. LOW for me lately, but I am really ready to kick it into gear. I have another awesome partner (my friend Stacy) who has already motivated my butt to get moving this month! 

I am making it a goal to run several times a week - I am going to be running the Halloween 10K again (third year in a row!) with my friend Courtney and I am PSYCHED! I also signed me and my hubby up for the Color Run in St Louis coming up. And kids 5 and under run free - so both of my kids are coming with us! They will be SO psyched :-)  Not running it, obviously, but it will still be an awesome family time for us.

I'm excited that we're camping more often. I can usually max out at 10K or more steps on camping trips, even just walking to and from the bathroom with my kiddos. I'm sure I cancel that out with the amount of beer I drink when we camp, but I still think it counts for something.

This week:

I ran 2.25 miles on Thursday. (11:25 pace)

I ran 1 mile today (10:28 pace)

Here's to speeding my pace up this month. 

Here's to losing the last few pounds that are hanging around  (I'm 156.5 this am; would like to get to 153!)

Here's to cleaning up my eating - not necessarily to completely "clean" eating, but to eating what is good for me. Eating what I know fuels my body, not necessarily what tastes good. 

Pinterest!

So here goes nothing! I am ready, dedicated and super busy this month. Plus my BABY starts KDG in 10 days. TEN DAYS I will have a kid in elementary school. It blows my mind how fast time is going. And all I really want is to be healthy for my family. I always tell them they are stuck with me forever and I want to make good on that one! 

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! 

Majority says...

Find something new. 

Thanks for all of the responses, support and advice after my last post. The resounding majority of you said it's time to find something new, it's obvious I'm not happy.

So now I just need to brainstorm what I can do that will fit into that 4:30am time slot and will make me happy.  I'm toying with the idea of running (although my neighborhood is NOT good for running - running the whole thing only gets me about a mile, a mile and a half TOPS, before I start doing circles.)  I also have a few games on the Wii that I could do - Zumba, Biggest Loser, Pilates. 

So this week I am going to get back to getting up early (although I am off the majority of the week because my baby girl turns FIVE on Wednesday!) and trying out different things. I definitely plan on hitting the gym a few times, hopefully for some of my very favorite classes like kickboxing and cardio circuit. 

I need to get my eating in line again.  I log everything in MFP  but most days I'm over the allotted calories. After this week, I am going to sit down and start meal planning again.  I stopped at the store and bought massive amounts of veggies this week. My goal is to stop keeping such strict track of everything and to try moderation. I'm NOT good at moderation, if you haven't noticed. I need goals, number like goals, or else I just lose track of what I am supposed to be doing.    I am going to continue to track on MFP, I will start working out, but I'm no longer going to keep track of the other things I was tracking (sleep, water, drinks, etc).  It was just too much to keep up with. It's one thing to be accountable to someone, it's another to be so bureaucratic about it. 

I did register for the Halloween 10K the other day. My awesome friend C is going to come in and run it with me! Our tentative plan is to dress up as Super Moms. Our costumes will rock. My goal is sub 60. But since I haven't run since the Run in Color run in Evansville - who knows if that's realistic. I had an opportunity to run this morning when the kids were playing at the playground and it was REALLY not appealing to do it! I guess we'll see this week. :-) 

I went with Jen to try on my bridesmaid dress. You know, the one we ordered in February, before I started working, when I was at the gym 4 days a week, 2 hours a day...  Needless to say, it fit a BIT differently than it would have.  I can zip it (thankfully) but I certainly can't breathe when it's zipped. And I don't like the way it bunches around my waist/hips. So that is my motivation for the next 63 days. I even told my boss I was going to have the photo printed and put it in her candy drawer! Gentle reminders! :-) 

This picture is from last spring, but same bikes!

We did go on a lovely family bike ride today.  My husband took my son in the trailer and I had my daughter on the trail-along bike. It's not a bad workout, especially when she's "helping" ;-)  We went about 3 miles then stopped at the park and let the kids play. Then we headed back the same way but passed the car for an additional 1.5 miles. All told, our ride was 9 miles in about 55 minutes. Not speedy but we were out.  Hubby did make the observation that the calorie burn compared between running and biking is NOT comparable at all - it was about 260 calories for a 55 min ride.  NOT super athletic but I'm glad we got to go out as a family!

Gosh she looks so little here!

St Patrick's Day Virtual 10K, done!

So this weekend is the #13in2013 sponsored St. Patrick's Day virtual race. 

I did NOT want to run this morning. I have lost my workout mojo and haven't been able to find it. My knee has been tricky lately - I think my kneecap hates plyometrics. Learning I need to avoid it for awhile, but thankfully running doesn't hurt too terribly much. 

I wore a knee brace. I was ready for this, after all, I did 10 miles last week. 6.2 should be easy peesy, right? 

Except it's 45 degrees outside. And I'm a weenie. Mile 1 I was sure my lungs would explode. Mile 1.5 I was sure my hands were gone. Mile 2 I couldn't feel my legs anymore (so it wasn't so bad) and by mile 2.5, I had worked up a SWEAT! 

I had Runkeeper telling me my pace every mile. I was shocked when it kept telling me 9:36, 9:42 etc per mile. My 5K time was just shy of my last 5K PR - 29:12. 

Miles 3.5-4.75 dragged. But when I hit my interval change at 4.75 miles, I knew that the next interval change would indicate I had less than a half a mile left to run. I hit that 5.75 mile mark and SPRINTED. 

And made it - in 59:59, almost 10 minutes faster than my Halloween 10K time from October!!! 

So much for not wanting to go for run today! 

Next weekend, I have an Anywhere5K and the weekend after that is my third half marathon! A few weeks after that, I have the Chance to Hope Run in Color Hope in Motion 5K. I am so excited for that one!   My 4.5 year old daughter will be running her own races the same days as my half and the Hope in Motion 5K.