I haven't blogged yet in July. Woops!
July has been crazy. July has been awesome.
Well, I started July 1st following my new meal plan and workouts from my trainer. I'm a protein eating machine and I just can't help myself. I eat 6 meals per day and was granted my first "cheat/boost" meal this last weekend on Sunday. Spaghetti and garlic bread have never been so good.
The spaghetti was good like it always is but the GARLIC BREAD. Oh sweet Jesus. It was worth every single second of not eating it for the minute or two that it existed. I don't want you all to think I've been deprived on this meal plan, I'm really never hungry aside from first thing in the morning and after that I'm good to go. I seriously ate 8 cucumbers by myself last week. Did I have other options? Of course. Do I love cucumbers? Of course. I better if I'm eating 8 of them when I have countless other veggie options to choose from. Cucumbers are convenient, cheap and yummy. I've also eaten way more meat than I can remember ever eating in my life! Lots of lean proteins of various varieties. Our freezer is stocked with meats and I cook 1-2 times a week to prep them to portion out for each meal. I've been making different things and seasoning them in various ways. I'm trying not to eat the same meat two meals in a row so I don't get too tired of it. Can we talk about how much I love eggs too? This girl had never had an egg white in her life (that I'm aware of) until July 1st and boy I look forward to my breakfast every morning now. I literally cook myself breakfast at 4:30 in the morning before work because #1 I'm supposed to :) and #2 because it's one of my favorite meals of the day. I never ate breakfast before January except if it was a weekend and one of us felt like cooking, we went out for breakfast or if it was a breakfast for dinner kind of night.
I've also been at the gym around two hours per day five days a week and also doing my long runs on the 6th day of the week and taking one full rest day. I probably wouldn't be there two hours everyday if I didn't spend so much time checking instagram and facebook before, between weights and cardio, and after while cooling down. I'm probably going to need a social media intervention soon. I started a challenge on instagram on July 1st from my favorite vlogger (www.youtube.com/trulyjess) and instagramer who made a lovely challenge of daily things for July involving health and fitness. Now, let me tell you I love this girl and I get caught up on all her videos once or twice a week. She's a total badass and has inspired me in my journey, especially these last couple of months. She gets her booty to the gym twice a day without excuses and is working hard for the results she's always wanted. She looks phenominal and is super sweet. I pretty much wish we could be best friends if she didn't live in Canada (warning: total fangirl). I've been keeping up with the challenges and they are on my instagram account (www.instagram.com/traininglindsay) daily if you are interested. I try not to double post those so much on Facebook so I can contain my picture craziness to one area for everyone's sanity.
Back to the gym - so my first 45 min-hour is doing weight training. 5 days a week I train a specific body area and do cardio after. I run 3 of those times doing my week day runs and the other two I do other cardio or try a new class out. I tried Zumba for the first time last weekend and Spinning last Monday and I pretty much loved them both! I shook my booty in Zumba and kept up with the instructor. Let me tell you, the great thing about Zumba is that there were people of all ages, shapes and sizes in there and certainly all levels of dancing abilities as well. One lady right in the front row did everything a count behind and in the opposite direction but she was having a blast and I wasn't about to stop her. Good for her for even being there! I was in the very back but directly behind the instructor and my goal was to keep right with her once we had gone through the moves once each song and not see myself in the mirrors but be right with her. I was pretty successful with that and she told me I had done a really good job at the end, especially for a first timer. (she had asked at the beginning if it was anyones very first time so of course I had to fess up in case I was really bad at this) Monday morning I went and checked out my friend Paula's spin class. I figured since I worked with her at Bethesda North she might go easy on me if I was sucking at that too. The class that morning wasn't too big and she was nice enough to fit me on the bike and get me started. I made the mistake of getting there with not quite enough time to get my leg workout in before class but that also might have been a good thing. I did legs yesterday too (pretty much my Monday routine now) and they were wobbly afterwards so I don't know if I could have made it through the class if I had done it second. It was fun and went by fast! I'd definitely do it again - except I might need some padded bike shorts or something next time!
I'm sure you're all itching to know how my actual progress is going by this point if you've read all that rambling so far! When I weighed in July 1st (after a pretty serious "last day before I start with my trainer" mini-binge of fro-yo, goldstar chili with fries and chocolate) I had put a few pounds back on and weighed in at 218. As of Sunday I lost 9 pounds in my first two weeks of working with my awesome trainer and following her instructions to the letter. I weighed in at 209.0 and it never felt better to get out of those two-teens that I was so happy to get into. I know now how close I am to Onederland (when someone has been overweight and above 200 pounds and gets back down in the 100's again) and I've got my eye on it. It also brings me 5 pounds shy of tattoo time when I get to that point. I've never eaten so clean. Literally eating things I cooked and chopped myself for three weeks now is crazy for me. I can't remember a time before now that I didn't go a day or two without eating out somewhere. Chipotle, Panera, Bob Evans, pizza... whatever. It's been going on since at least high school. So... 10 years? That's even crazier when I put it that way. I've even given up my very favorite thing - sweet n' low. When I would go to Panera I'd get a large drink and have 3 iced teas typically while I was there. That's 6 packets per glass and 18 just for that meal of sweet n' low processed crap I was putting in myself. I don't even think your body knows what to do with that so who knows where that ended up going inside of me. Probably my love handles. Anywho, point of the matter is I'm a water-only type of girl now with coffee occasionally with stevia. I decided if I couldn't have tea the way I wanted it I was just done with it and it's probably for the best. I'm very okay with this decision.
As far as progress goes, my excitement over the American Eagle jeans I finally fit into has worn off because they too are FALLING OFF of me. I need a belt!
I went to Columbus after my 9 mile run early Saturday morning and went to have lunch with my Mamaw for her birthday. After lunch I met up with the girls (Karley, Ashley and the bride-to-be Amanda) and we went to David's Bridal to try on a bridesmaid dress for the wedding in October. I was excited to see what fit me because the last dress I bought for one of the several weddings I've had the honor of being in was a size 20. We grabbed a 16 off the rack on the basis of these jeans falling off and it fit like a dream. I even had a little room to move around in the waist!! We decided that we'd order even the next size down at a 14 because by October if I keep going the way I have I should fit in it then. I don't even ever remember having a size 14 jean. I remember going from kids to a 10 juniors to a 16 to an 18/20. Somehow I kind of skipped that part and I don't really know how.
Oh yeah, that little 9 mile run. How about that?! I worked Wednesday and Thursday nights, woke up at 2 Friday after having gone to bed around 9AM and took my well earned rest day and went to my favorite thing of the whole summer - the Dave Matthews Band concert. I literally look forward to this night every year like I do Christmas. I had a single 9th row ticket because I refuse to sit in the lawn anymore but did hang out up there with my friends Christina and Brian during the opening act and then moved down to my seat. It was a phenomenal show! One of the best of the 10 I've been to with a killer setlist. I got asked in the parking lot by a very drunk man if I was 34 and if I worked at Subway. He was jealous of my cucumbers I think.
Overall I've been so busy and do again apologize for being a terrible blogger! I did do an interview with another website so I will again be featured! I was blown away by the response from my fitapproach.com blog post and I am just so lucky to have all you positive people in my life - especially through this journey. I can never truly show you all my gratitude but know it is there in every minute, every mile and every single day.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Sunday, June 30, 2013
I have a coach!
What a week it has been! My only day off was Friday and I went back to my old stomping grounds for a few days to start the week. I've only been gone for a little less than 3 months from Bethesda but it was nice to be back and see some familiar faces. I finally didn't feel like such a newbie there - I felt back in my comfort zone.
Surprisingly ALL of my log in information for the computer system and the medication Pyxis worked with no issue. That was hurdle number 2. I say number 2 because I was considering number 1 to be the scrub situation when I got there. We get scrubs provided for us so that they know they are properly cleaned to be back in the sub-sterile environment and definitely one of the perks to a job in the OR. I was worried about which size I should get and what was going to fit me with my weight loss since I've been gone. I immediately needed to size down my jacket from my previous XL to a L (yay!) and I stuck with my normal sizes from before for my scrub top and pants. The pants had to be tied pretty tightly to stay up and I didn't want to burst my own bubble trying to go down in sizes because I felt pretty darn good in those scrubs for the first time. Everyone was super welcoming and glad to see me. I felt missed, loved and appreciated.
Of course within my first 15 minutes of getting my room assignment I was switched someplace else then back to where I was originally supposed to be. Not surprising and it's funny to see how things haven't changed. My two days were enough to keep my skill set fresh and back to Children's I went on Wednesday.
I had one of my critical care classes to start my time back and then I flipped back to night shift Thursday night. I missed my awesome preceptor, Emily (hey girl heyyyyy!) and it was good to get back in our groove even if it was only for just a night again. I was off for my only day Friday and I slept part of it since I worked the night before. I was up at 2pm and hung out with Penny and we took her to the dog park since Kyle got home early. We went out to dinner at Bravo for my last "hoorah" as I start with my trainer this week and got my meal plan. We ended the night at Kroger to get all the food I needed and watched The Incredible Burt Wonderstone from home which was pretty funny. I love Steve Carell so that was always a plus. Speaking of, I totally am like 3 seasons behind on The Office and now that it's over (sad!) maybe one day I'll finish watching them.
I got up around 5:30 yesterday morning for my long run of the week. It was in the low 60's temperature wise since it rained Friday evening and it was perfect for an outside run. I was seriously debating treadmilling it again if it was too yucky but I'm glad I didn't. Besides, after an hour the treadmill automatically goes into "cool down" mode and it takes a minute to get it going again and I kind of lose momentum. I ran from my house, down and up the dreaded hill that I fell and injured myself on back at the beginning of training. I was honestly pretty nervous about that portion of the run just because I did NOT want that happening again. Not this far into it and not with starting the rest of my new training plan this week. I paid extra attention, shut off my music while I was going down and up that hill and was happy when it was over with on the way out and back. I ran from our apartment down Bethany Rd into a housing development that hits Mason Rd on the other side and kept going past and actually ran into downtown Mason for my 3.5 miles out and then backtracked home to finish the 7 miles. Oh yeah, did I mention that part? I RAN the 7 miles. In my goal time frame for the 1/2 marathon in August of 12:30-13:00 min/mile pace. When Kyle's sister Carrie agreed to run the 1/2 with me she asked a goal pace so she could train to that as well. She's a much better and faster runner than I am but she's been on a bit of a hiatus with having our nephew (notice how I didn't say just "having a baby" or "having her son" or anything like that... OUR nephew lol) so she wanted to train to my tune I think this time. The run really felt great - the best I've had so far. The weather was perfect, my music shuffled to all the best songs on my playlist and I said "Hi!" to about 50 other people out running and walking yesterday morning. That's a big thing too because when Carrie and I were training for my first 1/2 marathon I hated everyone who spoke to me on the runs because I had a hard time keeping my breath and saying it back. I hated being so much more out of shape than these people who were older and faster than me. So talking and jogging a comfortable pace is a big accomplishment for me.
I ran some errands and came home and took a nap before work last night then I did my 12 hours and came home and passed out this morning as soon as I hit my bed. It was awesome. I finish my crazy work week tonight with a princess 8 hour shift from 7p-3:30AM (weird coming home in the dark!). Tomorrow starts my next phase of crazy awesomeness by starting my meal plan and supplemental training (to my marathon plan) with my trainer. Everyone, meet my coach, Sara Willis! (http://wonderfullymadephysiques.webs.com)
Sara is a mom, wife and NPC bikini competitor. She's also a personal trainer and had actually lived about 4 miles from me at one point before she moved to South Carolina where she is now.
This concept of "online training" is really taking off and I thank Instagram and all the awesome people I follow and get motivation from on there for finding someone who cares about me and my goals to work with (and at a truly affordable price - she can't be beat guys, go check her out!). I don't have 100's of dollars to spend on someone to tell me what to do plus have the access to the equipment and meals I need to eat to get me to where I want and need to be. Sara understands this and is realistic about helping people who might not otherwise reach their goals with a trainer, myself included.
I've got my meal plan, my running schedule and 5 days a week of supplemental weight training to get myself as ready as I can be for this marathon and beyond. Maybe (probably! hopefully!) into summer next year and maybe I'll wear a bikini for the first time in my life. That's really the end goal in all of this. I want to feel amazing and confident in my own skin 110% for the first time in my life and a plan like this matched with the drive I have right now is a recipe for success as far as I'm concerned. It's going to be hard with my work schedule being crazy and flip flopping all the time and working 12.5 hour days plus an hour of driving between coming and going to work but it's something I want to stick with and I'm going to put in the work. I'm literally going to have to break it down every week to see what days I need to get each workout in and plan my meal schedule and prep so I can eat every 2.5-3 hours as I'm recommended to do. This can only help with my weight loss and improve my running by building muscle everywhere (including legs and core for that purpose). No more counting calories but knowing what I'm eating is healthy, clean and full of things that are good for me. Thank you Sara for coming into my life! I'm so excited to see my transformation continue with you!
Another exciting piece of news is that this coming week I will be FEATURED on the Sweat Pink website!!! My "ah ha" moment post will be published on www.fitapproach.com on July 3rd (that's this Wednesday, people!!) and I hope it turned out well. I wrote it and didn't 100% proof read it not thinking it was going to make the main page! I thought it was just shared among other Sweat Pink ambassadors and I feel honored to be highlighted this week. Please, if you have a moment to check it out that would be awesome. Thank you Fit Approach and Sweat Pink for this honor!
I have to finalize my plans for the coming week before I get ready for work so thank you all as usual for your continued support and I promise a full body progress picture shot this week on Facebook and instagram! Stay tuned!
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Checking in, post vacation!
Welcome back to real life, Lindsay.
That's what I felt like when I looked at my bank account, the pile of laundry, the empty fridge and the litter box that needs changed.
However, vacation was amazing and just what I needed after not having one since we went for the long weekend to Chicago in May 2010. We did a whole lot of nothing, took lots of naps, spent a lot of quality family time with the Morrison clan and spent a full 24 hours on the road between driving down and coming back home. I'm so glad we rented a car because we took two coolers, 3 suitcases, a bag, 4 pillows and a large lunch box to bring drinks and snacks in for the trip and neither of our cars would haul all of the above. We got an Impala and it was nice and roomy, had satellite radio, a sun roof and was a comfortable ride.
We left around 6AM last Saturday morning and stopped in Virginia for lunch at a Buffalo Wild Wings since we had a gift card. We arrived in Corolla, North Carolina around 8pm and met up with the rest of Kyle's family at a diner for dinner. Everyone else had already arrived and unpacked at the beach house and we were all hungry. It wasn't the best experience but we were all pretty tired, too. We walked behind the diner and over the dunes to get our first look at the beach and see the sun set and it was beau-ti-ful. We headed to the house and got settled and I was pleasantly surprised that it was a lot nicer than I anticipated. We had a 3 story house with 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms, a pool table with small kitchenette on the first floor, a living room with sun room and full kitchen on the third. We had our own pool and hot tub and overall it was super nice and had everything we would need. We had about a two block walk through the neighborhood we stayed in to the beach.
I got up Sunday morning and went for my first run of the trip. I tried to find enough road around the neighborhood to get in my full 3 miles but I fell just slightly short of that but was okay with it. We went exploring and climbed all 214 steps to the top of the Currituck light house (http://www.currituckbeachlight.com) and it was quite a view. I didn't realize we'd be out on a ledge of this thing to see out once we got to the top so I was pretty much plastered to the wall the whole time but did get a nice panoramic picture. We climbed back down with shaky legs (I was surprised how tough it was for me with all the running I've been doing, my calves were killing me!) and went down the road to book some jet skis.
Kyle has been talking about jet skiing since we went to Myrtle Beach for his brother's wedding. He wants to race, and beat me, around the water and just go ripping through the water and have fun on them. He wants to one day own a lake house down at Cumberland and get a boat and a truck and jet skis - the whole nine yards. Anyway, that day we went and made a reservation for Monday morning for us to go out on the sound side of the island for some water sporting fun. Kyle's brother, Chris, and his girlfriend Shae wanted to get one too so they went back to get a third ski for the morning. We spend the rest of the day napping, hanging by the pool and had a taco dinner.
The next morning we went out on our adventure on the sound. I was more nervous than I thought I'd be and even though I wore a swim suit and all that jazz I didn't think I'd get that wet or be cold. Well, it was about 75 degrees for a high and it seems like it was always windy down there. We also had to walk in the water to get out to the skis so there goes my not getting wet theory. These bad boys were supposed to go up to 55 miles per hour and there were already 6 out in the zone they have for their business - there are multiple places to go so they have buoys to separate locations. It was kind of busy out there so I wasn't planning on going super fast anyway and I had our sister-in-law Mallory riding with me and she's a tiny little thing and I didn't want to throw her off. We went a whopping top speed of 10mph and that honestly was because we ended up having sea weed up in there but we were okay taking it easy so I didn't go back inland to have them check it out or anything. We had a good time and got lots of water in the face with the decent size swells out on the water and I was glad I wore sunglasses so I could see!
We finished up, came back to the house for lunch and more naps.
Tuesday I got my second run in and we went south to Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills and saw the Wright Brothers Memorial. It is literally the place where the first flight flew (say that 5 times fast!) and the hill where they took their glider the year before they got the engine plane off the ground. There's a big monument on top of the hill and we got a good dose of cardio seeing that thing up close. There was a museum with a glider inside and pictures of the great people in aviation. It was nice to see and there were markers by big rocks that designated the distances of their flights. Kids were out flying bag-kites and it was a good time. We had lunch at a local brewery and I had the best wrap of my life. So good! Back we went to the house and spent the evening playing dominos.
Wednesday I treated myself to a 90 minute massage to soothe my aching neck and calves from our lighthouse excursion. When I did my 6 miles the previous week I was on the treadmill watching TV for over an hour and I think I strained my neck looking up at the screen the whole time - not cool. I still feel like it's very stiff and can't move it the best yet but it is slowly getting better. I was taking doses of extra strength Tylenol every 4 hours to keep up with it and was having a hard time getting comfortable sleeping. I love massages anyway and so I figured since I was on vacation and we had nothing but time I would treat myself. IT WAS SO AMAZING. The massuse didn't even wear shoes because that's just the type of laid back atmosphere they had at Outer Banks Massage and I've never felt more relaxed than I did when it was over. I had also started developing a bit of a summer cold and just really felt good afterward. My calves were so sore they were sensitive just to the touch but I tried to remain calm and let the therapist work his magic and I wasn't sore at all by the time he was done. My neck felt significantly better and it was worth every penny. We did some shopping in the afternoon and found a neat popcorn shop and did a little sampling. We came out with just a small bag of buttered popcorn but we returned on Friday for more :) The day ended with a heated dominos match and we called it a night.
Thursday I woke up at 5AM and got my 6 mile run in. I couldn't see myself trying to stay in the neighborhood and running in circles for 6 miles so I drove down about 5 miles into Duck, NC where there are paved bike trails along the side of the road. I parked in a raquetball club lot and went out 3 miles and then back to get the day started. The day before someone had gone to get Duck Donuts and I did allow myself to have one when I got back to the house - I didn't let myself feel guilty either. I popped that bad boy in the microwave for a few seconds and it was AMAZING. I showered and took a nice nap and that afternoon we went on the Wild Horse Adventure Tour. We packed into an oversized jeep and went all the way up the road until it turns into beach front driving on the sand. The driver took us over a huge dune and I was so surprised how many homes are up in that area where you must have a 4x4 vehicle to travel on the beach. Total isolation out there and it was so cool. We saw 10 wild horses of the 130 something there are out there. In the 1500's Spanish ships headed this way and they got stuck on a sand barge and released the horses they were carrying to drop weight to get off the barge and they swam to shore. At one point there were over 5000 horses but were being considered a nuisance and open hunting season was declared at one point and we're left with only the 130 there are now. They are never touched but have over 7500 acres of land to roam with lots of lush greenery and some man made canals for fresh drinking water year round. They aren't vaccinated, fed or given veterinary care otherwise and have a 95% survival rate. They also live about 5 years longer than domesticated horses so that's pretty awesome too. They were so beautiful.
Friday we went back to the popcorn store and got a tin to bring home. We went to watch the nephews ride go karts and had ice cream and then went for pizza for dinner. Totally went off on the calorie goal for the day but I did so well the rest of the week I was okay with it. I went to get my last run in Friday night but it got too dark and there were no streetlights - only the moon - so I had to cut it short. We were all packed up and headed to bed with a 4:15 wake up call.
Saturday morning we all headed out around 5AM. Kyle got us over the bridge off the island and I took over for the first leg of the drive home. As freaked out as I am about bridges I was super impressed by the bridge and tunnel in Norfolk, Virginia. It was just such a cool design and going under the water in the tunnel was neat as well. We got home around 5:30 last night and unloaded the car and went to pick up Penny from doggy day care. She looked so tired on the cameras and we were missing her so we decided to get back in the car and get her last night instead of this morning. I slept like a baby in my own bed last night and we got up this morning to return the car, bring Levi his shirt and sea shells we got for him and have a belated anniversary lunch at Long Horn. I went grocery shopping and did laundry and wrote my first ever guest post interview for another blog. If/when it gets published I'll let you guys know :)
My goal was to lose a pound on vacation and I'm waiting a day or two to weigh myself because I was so dehydrated not drinking a lot the night before or day of the drive home so we wouldn't have to stop every 45 minutes and I know I'm bound to be retaining any water weight possible. I rehydrated like crazy today and got lots of fresh fruits and veggies for lunch this week. I'm working every day but Friday and switch back to nights starting Thursday night and work through the weekend. I picked up tomorrow and Tuesday by choice at Bethesda to make up for some of the hours I missed being off this week and I'm actually super excited to see everyone the next two days that I've been missing!
I also have been considering hiring a trainer for further fitness and nutrition coaching. I follow a lot of inspirational people through Facebook and Instagram and see their progress and how they are reaching their goals. I'm on the right path but I could certainly be eating better and could use a structured meal plan and other fitness besides my running to complement my training and to avoid injuries. I found a person I really like and is very affordable compared to many other coaches charging 100's of dollars and beyond for their services. I'm going to re-do my budget and try to stick better to my financial plans and will see if this will work out for me and go from there. I'm excited and hope I can make this work out!
I also got my first "fan girl" shout out from a reader, Beth Morvay. Thanks Beth! I was seriously smiling ear to ear when I saw your post and am so happy to be a source of motivation for you. Like I keep saying, if I can do it, ANYONE can do it. Keep it up and you'll be happy you did. My newest favorite quote that I keep seeing it seems like EVERYWHERE is "a year from now you'll wish you'd started today" and that is so true. So many years ago I think now "if only!" I had started caring more about my health, my life and longevity. No more. Never again. I'm setting goals and holding myself accountable because no one else can! YOU'VE GOT THIS!
I'm determined to get all this laundry and everything put away tonight so I better wrap up this ever-long post but I'm glad to be back and here's to being refreshed and back on track! Have a great week!
That's what I felt like when I looked at my bank account, the pile of laundry, the empty fridge and the litter box that needs changed.
However, vacation was amazing and just what I needed after not having one since we went for the long weekend to Chicago in May 2010. We did a whole lot of nothing, took lots of naps, spent a lot of quality family time with the Morrison clan and spent a full 24 hours on the road between driving down and coming back home. I'm so glad we rented a car because we took two coolers, 3 suitcases, a bag, 4 pillows and a large lunch box to bring drinks and snacks in for the trip and neither of our cars would haul all of the above. We got an Impala and it was nice and roomy, had satellite radio, a sun roof and was a comfortable ride.
We left around 6AM last Saturday morning and stopped in Virginia for lunch at a Buffalo Wild Wings since we had a gift card. We arrived in Corolla, North Carolina around 8pm and met up with the rest of Kyle's family at a diner for dinner. Everyone else had already arrived and unpacked at the beach house and we were all hungry. It wasn't the best experience but we were all pretty tired, too. We walked behind the diner and over the dunes to get our first look at the beach and see the sun set and it was beau-ti-ful. We headed to the house and got settled and I was pleasantly surprised that it was a lot nicer than I anticipated. We had a 3 story house with 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms, a pool table with small kitchenette on the first floor, a living room with sun room and full kitchen on the third. We had our own pool and hot tub and overall it was super nice and had everything we would need. We had about a two block walk through the neighborhood we stayed in to the beach.
I got up Sunday morning and went for my first run of the trip. I tried to find enough road around the neighborhood to get in my full 3 miles but I fell just slightly short of that but was okay with it. We went exploring and climbed all 214 steps to the top of the Currituck light house (http://www.currituckbeachlight.com) and it was quite a view. I didn't realize we'd be out on a ledge of this thing to see out once we got to the top so I was pretty much plastered to the wall the whole time but did get a nice panoramic picture. We climbed back down with shaky legs (I was surprised how tough it was for me with all the running I've been doing, my calves were killing me!) and went down the road to book some jet skis.
Kyle has been talking about jet skiing since we went to Myrtle Beach for his brother's wedding. He wants to race, and beat me, around the water and just go ripping through the water and have fun on them. He wants to one day own a lake house down at Cumberland and get a boat and a truck and jet skis - the whole nine yards. Anyway, that day we went and made a reservation for Monday morning for us to go out on the sound side of the island for some water sporting fun. Kyle's brother, Chris, and his girlfriend Shae wanted to get one too so they went back to get a third ski for the morning. We spend the rest of the day napping, hanging by the pool and had a taco dinner.
The next morning we went out on our adventure on the sound. I was more nervous than I thought I'd be and even though I wore a swim suit and all that jazz I didn't think I'd get that wet or be cold. Well, it was about 75 degrees for a high and it seems like it was always windy down there. We also had to walk in the water to get out to the skis so there goes my not getting wet theory. These bad boys were supposed to go up to 55 miles per hour and there were already 6 out in the zone they have for their business - there are multiple places to go so they have buoys to separate locations. It was kind of busy out there so I wasn't planning on going super fast anyway and I had our sister-in-law Mallory riding with me and she's a tiny little thing and I didn't want to throw her off. We went a whopping top speed of 10mph and that honestly was because we ended up having sea weed up in there but we were okay taking it easy so I didn't go back inland to have them check it out or anything. We had a good time and got lots of water in the face with the decent size swells out on the water and I was glad I wore sunglasses so I could see!
We finished up, came back to the house for lunch and more naps.
Tuesday I got my second run in and we went south to Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills and saw the Wright Brothers Memorial. It is literally the place where the first flight flew (say that 5 times fast!) and the hill where they took their glider the year before they got the engine plane off the ground. There's a big monument on top of the hill and we got a good dose of cardio seeing that thing up close. There was a museum with a glider inside and pictures of the great people in aviation. It was nice to see and there were markers by big rocks that designated the distances of their flights. Kids were out flying bag-kites and it was a good time. We had lunch at a local brewery and I had the best wrap of my life. So good! Back we went to the house and spent the evening playing dominos.
Wednesday I treated myself to a 90 minute massage to soothe my aching neck and calves from our lighthouse excursion. When I did my 6 miles the previous week I was on the treadmill watching TV for over an hour and I think I strained my neck looking up at the screen the whole time - not cool. I still feel like it's very stiff and can't move it the best yet but it is slowly getting better. I was taking doses of extra strength Tylenol every 4 hours to keep up with it and was having a hard time getting comfortable sleeping. I love massages anyway and so I figured since I was on vacation and we had nothing but time I would treat myself. IT WAS SO AMAZING. The massuse didn't even wear shoes because that's just the type of laid back atmosphere they had at Outer Banks Massage and I've never felt more relaxed than I did when it was over. I had also started developing a bit of a summer cold and just really felt good afterward. My calves were so sore they were sensitive just to the touch but I tried to remain calm and let the therapist work his magic and I wasn't sore at all by the time he was done. My neck felt significantly better and it was worth every penny. We did some shopping in the afternoon and found a neat popcorn shop and did a little sampling. We came out with just a small bag of buttered popcorn but we returned on Friday for more :) The day ended with a heated dominos match and we called it a night.
Thursday I woke up at 5AM and got my 6 mile run in. I couldn't see myself trying to stay in the neighborhood and running in circles for 6 miles so I drove down about 5 miles into Duck, NC where there are paved bike trails along the side of the road. I parked in a raquetball club lot and went out 3 miles and then back to get the day started. The day before someone had gone to get Duck Donuts and I did allow myself to have one when I got back to the house - I didn't let myself feel guilty either. I popped that bad boy in the microwave for a few seconds and it was AMAZING. I showered and took a nice nap and that afternoon we went on the Wild Horse Adventure Tour. We packed into an oversized jeep and went all the way up the road until it turns into beach front driving on the sand. The driver took us over a huge dune and I was so surprised how many homes are up in that area where you must have a 4x4 vehicle to travel on the beach. Total isolation out there and it was so cool. We saw 10 wild horses of the 130 something there are out there. In the 1500's Spanish ships headed this way and they got stuck on a sand barge and released the horses they were carrying to drop weight to get off the barge and they swam to shore. At one point there were over 5000 horses but were being considered a nuisance and open hunting season was declared at one point and we're left with only the 130 there are now. They are never touched but have over 7500 acres of land to roam with lots of lush greenery and some man made canals for fresh drinking water year round. They aren't vaccinated, fed or given veterinary care otherwise and have a 95% survival rate. They also live about 5 years longer than domesticated horses so that's pretty awesome too. They were so beautiful.
Friday we went back to the popcorn store and got a tin to bring home. We went to watch the nephews ride go karts and had ice cream and then went for pizza for dinner. Totally went off on the calorie goal for the day but I did so well the rest of the week I was okay with it. I went to get my last run in Friday night but it got too dark and there were no streetlights - only the moon - so I had to cut it short. We were all packed up and headed to bed with a 4:15 wake up call.
Saturday morning we all headed out around 5AM. Kyle got us over the bridge off the island and I took over for the first leg of the drive home. As freaked out as I am about bridges I was super impressed by the bridge and tunnel in Norfolk, Virginia. It was just such a cool design and going under the water in the tunnel was neat as well. We got home around 5:30 last night and unloaded the car and went to pick up Penny from doggy day care. She looked so tired on the cameras and we were missing her so we decided to get back in the car and get her last night instead of this morning. I slept like a baby in my own bed last night and we got up this morning to return the car, bring Levi his shirt and sea shells we got for him and have a belated anniversary lunch at Long Horn. I went grocery shopping and did laundry and wrote my first ever guest post interview for another blog. If/when it gets published I'll let you guys know :)
My goal was to lose a pound on vacation and I'm waiting a day or two to weigh myself because I was so dehydrated not drinking a lot the night before or day of the drive home so we wouldn't have to stop every 45 minutes and I know I'm bound to be retaining any water weight possible. I rehydrated like crazy today and got lots of fresh fruits and veggies for lunch this week. I'm working every day but Friday and switch back to nights starting Thursday night and work through the weekend. I picked up tomorrow and Tuesday by choice at Bethesda to make up for some of the hours I missed being off this week and I'm actually super excited to see everyone the next two days that I've been missing!
I also have been considering hiring a trainer for further fitness and nutrition coaching. I follow a lot of inspirational people through Facebook and Instagram and see their progress and how they are reaching their goals. I'm on the right path but I could certainly be eating better and could use a structured meal plan and other fitness besides my running to complement my training and to avoid injuries. I found a person I really like and is very affordable compared to many other coaches charging 100's of dollars and beyond for their services. I'm going to re-do my budget and try to stick better to my financial plans and will see if this will work out for me and go from there. I'm excited and hope I can make this work out!
I also got my first "fan girl" shout out from a reader, Beth Morvay. Thanks Beth! I was seriously smiling ear to ear when I saw your post and am so happy to be a source of motivation for you. Like I keep saying, if I can do it, ANYONE can do it. Keep it up and you'll be happy you did. My newest favorite quote that I keep seeing it seems like EVERYWHERE is "a year from now you'll wish you'd started today" and that is so true. So many years ago I think now "if only!" I had started caring more about my health, my life and longevity. No more. Never again. I'm setting goals and holding myself accountable because no one else can! YOU'VE GOT THIS!
I'm determined to get all this laundry and everything put away tonight so I better wrap up this ever-long post but I'm glad to be back and here's to being refreshed and back on track! Have a great week!
Monday, June 10, 2013
Ambassador.
A month or two ago I applied to be a Sweat Pink Ambassador (www.fitapproach.com) and today I was notified that I did it! I am officially a Sweat Pink Ambassador and I am happy and proud to be a leader in inspiring others to change their lives just like I have started to do. While my journey is no where close to over I have learned so much about myself over the last 6 months and I'm happy to find myself in a community of like-minded women.
This week we are preparing to leave for vacation and it couldn't come soon enough. Two more 3 mile runs, a 6 mile run and 30 hours of work between now and Saturday early morning separate me from a week at the beach. While I don't particularly care to actually be in the ocean, I do love walking in the sand and just looking out on the horizon. I'm excited to spend time with Kyle and his family and sort of disconnect for the week. I'm brining my running shoes - a week of vaca won't keep me from training!
I got some reeeeally cute new work out clothes that have helped keep me motivated. Old Navy had a 40% off active wear sale and I splurged a little. I even went to Victoria's Secret (coupon in hand!) and invested in some new sports bras since mine were completely worn out, the adjustable strap in the back kept coming un-done (woops!) and they just had done their time and they needed to go.
I also completed my first Diet Bet (www.dietbet.com) through a Facebook group and I won! It was a $30 entry fee and if you "won" by losing 4% of your body weight in 4 weeks you got that back plus a split of the others who did not "win"'s entry fee. I'm waiting to see what my total amount won is but the pot was over $16,000!
Last time I blogged I talked about my horrible haircut and how I was going to get it fixed - well, I did. I'm a pixie now! I'm loving it so far and its soo easy. My hair hasn't gone a week without seeing a hair straightener since the first day I got one many years ago. We'll see how the growing out process goes but I found a great Pinterest post about doing so that I think I'll reference as I go along. It's fun for now but I don't know when it's time to decide what I'm going to do if I'll keep it or not for more than a cut or two. I think everyone should do it at some point. It's liberating! People really see you and maybe for the first time. It forces them to actually see your face. When I get compliments they are usually about my blue eyes but I have had more complements in the last week than imaginable about my eyes being pretty and that's almost enough to keep it short for the long haul :)
Tomorrow I'm putting out my first "transformation" picture. A true side-by-side before/after picture! However, it's not truly an "after" picture, it's an "in-progress" picture. I took it this evening and its really just a picture of my face vs. a head to waist shot but the real differences are there. So far I've lost the most weight in my face and everything else is coming slowly behind it but I am so happy with the changes I'm seeing. When I started this journey I was in a size 18 jean - and probably should have been in a 20 - but I'd wear clothes I thought would hide my rolls over my jeans or put a sweat shirt on to mask the flub. I'd worn an 18 since I was around the size I am now and never upgraded the size even though I should have. Now my jeans are starting to get too big and today at Old Navy I tried on a 16 and it legitimately FIT! I zipped and buttoned them with no issue - they were bermuda shorts with one of those materials that you should go up a size so it all lays flat and nice but I think in jeans if I were trying those on I could have gone with the 16. I also bought all L/XL shirts for the first time and no XXL's. I got a pair of neon pink pants from the Gap this afternoon and I don't know the last time I could fit into ANYTHING at the Gap. It's these small non-scale victories that keep me motivated - even at 3:32 AM when I share it with everyone that I'm going running before work :)
Hoping for a successful, relaxing vacation and to come back even a pound lighter than I left would be very satisfying.
OH YEAH. I almost forgot! I signed up for another race - the Scrambled Legs Running virtual 5K and I got my shirt and kicked that race in the booty :) It was virtual - meaning I signed up online and was sent my shirt and race bib in the mail and submitted pictures to the facebook page I signed up through. There are many "virtual races" and some even send you medals after you complete them! How cool! My bigger next race that I signed up for is the Little Miami half marathon on August 18th located about 30 minutes from my house. The last two half marathons I said I wanted to finish in under 3 hours and walked them around 3:30 both times. This time I plan on running the whole thing with a goal of 13:00/mile or less with a finish time of 2:50:25 or less. Kyle's sister Carrie agreed to do this with me in the heat of the summer (on a shaded bike path should help, right? :-P) to help get me marathon ready and I'm very thankful to her.
School is out, the heat is on and it's going to feel like summer this week - I hope you all have some great, fun plans and thank you as always for supporting me through this. You guys are rockstars and I really do love each and every one of you for every "like", comment and kind words when you see me. I couldn't finish this through without your support.
L
This week we are preparing to leave for vacation and it couldn't come soon enough. Two more 3 mile runs, a 6 mile run and 30 hours of work between now and Saturday early morning separate me from a week at the beach. While I don't particularly care to actually be in the ocean, I do love walking in the sand and just looking out on the horizon. I'm excited to spend time with Kyle and his family and sort of disconnect for the week. I'm brining my running shoes - a week of vaca won't keep me from training!
I got some reeeeally cute new work out clothes that have helped keep me motivated. Old Navy had a 40% off active wear sale and I splurged a little. I even went to Victoria's Secret (coupon in hand!) and invested in some new sports bras since mine were completely worn out, the adjustable strap in the back kept coming un-done (woops!) and they just had done their time and they needed to go.
I also completed my first Diet Bet (www.dietbet.com) through a Facebook group and I won! It was a $30 entry fee and if you "won" by losing 4% of your body weight in 4 weeks you got that back plus a split of the others who did not "win"'s entry fee. I'm waiting to see what my total amount won is but the pot was over $16,000!
Last time I blogged I talked about my horrible haircut and how I was going to get it fixed - well, I did. I'm a pixie now! I'm loving it so far and its soo easy. My hair hasn't gone a week without seeing a hair straightener since the first day I got one many years ago. We'll see how the growing out process goes but I found a great Pinterest post about doing so that I think I'll reference as I go along. It's fun for now but I don't know when it's time to decide what I'm going to do if I'll keep it or not for more than a cut or two. I think everyone should do it at some point. It's liberating! People really see you and maybe for the first time. It forces them to actually see your face. When I get compliments they are usually about my blue eyes but I have had more complements in the last week than imaginable about my eyes being pretty and that's almost enough to keep it short for the long haul :)
Tomorrow I'm putting out my first "transformation" picture. A true side-by-side before/after picture! However, it's not truly an "after" picture, it's an "in-progress" picture. I took it this evening and its really just a picture of my face vs. a head to waist shot but the real differences are there. So far I've lost the most weight in my face and everything else is coming slowly behind it but I am so happy with the changes I'm seeing. When I started this journey I was in a size 18 jean - and probably should have been in a 20 - but I'd wear clothes I thought would hide my rolls over my jeans or put a sweat shirt on to mask the flub. I'd worn an 18 since I was around the size I am now and never upgraded the size even though I should have. Now my jeans are starting to get too big and today at Old Navy I tried on a 16 and it legitimately FIT! I zipped and buttoned them with no issue - they were bermuda shorts with one of those materials that you should go up a size so it all lays flat and nice but I think in jeans if I were trying those on I could have gone with the 16. I also bought all L/XL shirts for the first time and no XXL's. I got a pair of neon pink pants from the Gap this afternoon and I don't know the last time I could fit into ANYTHING at the Gap. It's these small non-scale victories that keep me motivated - even at 3:32 AM when I share it with everyone that I'm going running before work :)
Hoping for a successful, relaxing vacation and to come back even a pound lighter than I left would be very satisfying.
OH YEAH. I almost forgot! I signed up for another race - the Scrambled Legs Running virtual 5K and I got my shirt and kicked that race in the booty :) It was virtual - meaning I signed up online and was sent my shirt and race bib in the mail and submitted pictures to the facebook page I signed up through. There are many "virtual races" and some even send you medals after you complete them! How cool! My bigger next race that I signed up for is the Little Miami half marathon on August 18th located about 30 minutes from my house. The last two half marathons I said I wanted to finish in under 3 hours and walked them around 3:30 both times. This time I plan on running the whole thing with a goal of 13:00/mile or less with a finish time of 2:50:25 or less. Kyle's sister Carrie agreed to do this with me in the heat of the summer (on a shaded bike path should help, right? :-P) to help get me marathon ready and I'm very thankful to her.
School is out, the heat is on and it's going to feel like summer this week - I hope you all have some great, fun plans and thank you as always for supporting me through this. You guys are rockstars and I really do love each and every one of you for every "like", comment and kind words when you see me. I couldn't finish this through without your support.
L
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Two-teens!
When Kyle and I started dating 5 years ago I was in a pretty good place (for me) weight wise. I felt pretty comfortable in my clothes, I was living on my own for the first time and things were pretty good. I think I was around 220 pounds at the time but I was running occasionally and that fall I finished my first official race - the Plain City 4 Miler. I thought that was a huge accomplishment and was super proud of myself. I ran a time or two a week and didn't really measure the distance (I didn't have a way how to yet - no iPhone or apps for me back then! Certainly no Garmin either) and figured I was pretty close to running 4 miles at a time. The race proved to me that I wasn't anywhere close to running as far as I thought, I walked about 1/4 of the way and ran/jogged the rest and finished in just over an hour. I beat the person behind me by seconds and did NOT want to come in last so I sprinted to the end and pulled that one out somehow. I was exhausted for the rest of the day - I had a shift working as a server at the time that evening (a Saturday night shift no less and we were busy!) and I didn't know how I was going to make it about half way through the night. I survived and obviously I've moved on to bigger and better things.
The bigger picture for this week is that I did my 5.5 miles this weekend and earlier this week I hit 217.8 pounds which brings me at a total weight loss of 27.8 pounds. AHHHH. I was so stuck at 226-228 for a month or so and now I've lost 3ish pounds the last two weeks. Weird body, weird. Whatever's happening I'm definitely okay with and hope it continues. I'll be at my first major 50 pound goal before I know it and then it will be tattoo time. Yep, you read right - I'll be getting my first tattoo at my 50 pound weight loss point and I'm pretty excited about it. I'm not going to reveal the details of what I'm getting because it's pretty personal for me and it means a lot to more than just myself. The person I'm most excited to show it to afterwards is going to hate that I even got it but I think will understand.
Back to the 5.5 miles.... it was awful. It was humid and sticky and awful. I started out pretty strong the first mile and a half but after that it started getting hotter and I was praying for the rain that was forecasted. Much to my dismay, that rain never happened and I spend the hour drenched in my own sweat (or the tears of my fat as I like to think of them) and miserable. I didn't set an alarm clock as I typically wake up on my own around 7-7:30 but I didn't wake up until 9 and I was behind. I know with summer I need to start early and that didn't happen. I was more than okay running in rain but that didn't happen either. At least this week I ate and didn't feel like passing out from starvation mode. This week I have 4 3-milers set before I ramp up next Saturday with 6 miles. 6 MILES. The realization that I will have to add a one in front of that six in the next several weeks is pretty scary. I have started to mix up my playlists or just listen to a whole album that I really like to try and get through it but its fading pretty quickly. I started looking for new routes too so I can keep it interesting so I don't start getting bored. I already am trying to plan for my big last long run of 20 miles of going to Columbus and running on the Olentangy Trail which goes a loooong way and I can go 10 out and 10 back easily and it will be good. Right? Right.
Little brother's graduation was really nice and I'm still so proud of him. He comes down this week for orientation at UC. I want nothing but good things for him and know he can do whatever he sets his mind to.
I made a new buddy who lives on the west coast due to a running group on Facebook. Every month they do a "swap" and get paired by by the page administrator with another runner and you have a $20 limit to send a goodie box to someone else. I'm pretty excited and have already started collecting some things for her box - I can't wait to see what I get from the other side of the country.
I also chopped my hair off this week. It was already pretty short but had grown out about an inch and I was going to go all out semi-pixie and was pumped for it. I had a picture of a color and style from Pinterest and needless to say when I left the salon of course they made it look good but when I went to style it myself the next day it was AWFUL. I feel like I have two very different cuts (yes it's an asymmetrical cut but really that's not at all what I showed them. I'm okay with whatever they do pretty much as long as it looks good) and one side is sort of pixie with part of the ear cut out and the other one looks pretty much like I had it done before. The back is stacked but its kind of a longer stack and at the bottom one side is longer than the other and I have somewhat of a rat tail/mullet thing going on and I'm not at all happy. The color I can live with but this cut is just embarrassing. I'm cheap and I was also a student once so I have no problem going to one of the hair schools to get my hair done which is what I have been doing for almost two years. The real issue I have is that because my color took a little bit longer than expected to process the instructor cut my hair and not the student and it looks this way. I'm fine if the instructor comes to find a few mistakes or long pieces and fixes them but when someone who is teaching others does this terrible of a job that's concerning. I'm going to try to get in to a nice place down the road tomorrow morning and pay way more than I normally like to but with my hair as short as it is it's going to be hard to fix and I'm probably going to end up with a full on short pixie haircut but if that's what it takes to make it straight I'll do it. Like I said - as long as it looks good, I don't really care about the style I end up with. I've been fortunately blessed with hair that does pretty much whatever I want it to and it grows back so whatever happens tomorrow happens. Let's all just pray I don't have to go Britney Spears on this hair and shave it all off - ha ha :)
This begins my time back on day shift (hallelujah!) and the countdown to vacation is ON! Woo hoo! I don't mind night shift at all but when I don't work 3 in a row I'm pretty much useless on all the other days and I get nothing accomplished and all I do is watch TV and sleep. Pretty lame.
That's all I think I have to ramble about for now. Happy June everyone!
Friday, May 24, 2013
A little behind.
My apologies for a lag of updates. I switched to night shift 2 weeks ago and haven't really gotten the hang of being a productive member of society while doing so. One more week then I'm back to the daylight - hallelujah!
With my upside down schedule I've still managed to get all my runs in, some walks with Penny, new shoes and some protein powder to boot. I really feel myself continuing to change and get better with every passing day. I've more than made it a priority to get my runs in and to make sure I stay on top of my game. I've been setting PR's like it's my job - an 11:15 min/mile and a personal best 5K time of 37:48 in the rain yesterday. Let me just say - I knew I'd have to run in the rain at some point. Thunder and lightning is out of the question but just a nice summer rain is totally okay by me. I wasn't sure how I'd do but let me tell you - IT ROCKED. I loved every second of that rain and I feel literally and emotionally cleansed by that run. I felt the weight of the world wash off of me, didn't look down every 5 seconds at my watch to see how far I'd gone, had my headphones in (with my iPod in a sandwich baggie :) - can't break the thing!) and just put it on auto pilot. I looked back at my stats for the run and I literally stayed within my pace by 8 seconds to the mile the entire time. I ran so strong and am so proud of that run that I really don't know any other way to put it. I'm loving running more than I ever thought possible in my life and while I'm not "fast" and maybe I'll never break a 10 minute mile but I'm still doing more than I gave myself credit for. Of course I said "hey - I'm going to run a marathon!". But in the back of my head it was more like "I'm going to FINISH a marathon - even if I have to walk". I honestly think I may be able to run this whole stinking thing and that excites me even more. I was content on finishing and walk/running was and has been a reliable method for getting through races before. This time though, I might not even have to.
While I had hit my first weight loss plateau I am so happy to say that I've gone over the hump and weighed in the other day at 221.0 and nearly lost my jaw. I was bouncing around from 226-228 for so long and then BOOM here we go again! To date I have lost 24.6 pounds. My jeans almost literally fell off of me today! My Lane Giant jeans may have to start getting replaced soon :) I joined a "DietBet" through a facebook group where you pay $30 and have 4 weeks to lose 4% of your body weight. You have to submit a full body picture and a picture of the scale reading to start and finish. If you succeed you will get your $30 back plus all the money from the players who do not meet the goal is distributed among those who did "win". There is over $16000 in the pool right now and I am only 2.5 pounds away from hitting my goal with 2 weeks left. I'm determined to get my money back - plus some!
Still loving my new job and I feel so humbled and blessed to be caring for these little lives. There have been numerous patients I have had some outside connection with of some sort and it reminds me how small the world really is. I am everyday more and more thankful that my nieces and nephews are healthy kiddos. But, good news B North friends! I am planning a 2 day return mid-ish June after I get back from vacation. I haven't ironed out the details officially but am planning to see your smiling faces in the next few weeks.
The next point I must touch on is the fact that I am so, so proud of my baby brother, Tyler. He graduates from high school tomorrow and I am probably going to be a big mess watching him cross that stage. He has overcome so much the last few years - dealing with his epilepsy, our sick dad and getting himself in a good place and back into regular school from an online program. I wasn't sure if he'd keep up and be able to graduate with his friends which made me so sad for him but he persevered and here we are! He will be coming south to Cincinnati and go to UC in the fall. I'm sure he's glad to have his big sisters around too for Chipotle trips and weekend laundry.
I do want to remind everyone that I am still (and will continue to) fundraise for this marathon and I'd love if you could support myself and the Huntington's Disease Society of America! On the right side of the page you can find the link to see that I'm ALMOST at 50% of my goal but we've got a long way to go! Every penny helps and I cannot thank you enough for all the support to this point. Everything is tax deductible, you will get a receipt for tax purposes AND you'll make me smile and maybe run a little faster :)
www.firstgiving.com/lindsayintraining/columbusmarathon
With my upside down schedule I've still managed to get all my runs in, some walks with Penny, new shoes and some protein powder to boot. I really feel myself continuing to change and get better with every passing day. I've more than made it a priority to get my runs in and to make sure I stay on top of my game. I've been setting PR's like it's my job - an 11:15 min/mile and a personal best 5K time of 37:48 in the rain yesterday. Let me just say - I knew I'd have to run in the rain at some point. Thunder and lightning is out of the question but just a nice summer rain is totally okay by me. I wasn't sure how I'd do but let me tell you - IT ROCKED. I loved every second of that rain and I feel literally and emotionally cleansed by that run. I felt the weight of the world wash off of me, didn't look down every 5 seconds at my watch to see how far I'd gone, had my headphones in (with my iPod in a sandwich baggie :) - can't break the thing!) and just put it on auto pilot. I looked back at my stats for the run and I literally stayed within my pace by 8 seconds to the mile the entire time. I ran so strong and am so proud of that run that I really don't know any other way to put it. I'm loving running more than I ever thought possible in my life and while I'm not "fast" and maybe I'll never break a 10 minute mile but I'm still doing more than I gave myself credit for. Of course I said "hey - I'm going to run a marathon!". But in the back of my head it was more like "I'm going to FINISH a marathon - even if I have to walk". I honestly think I may be able to run this whole stinking thing and that excites me even more. I was content on finishing and walk/running was and has been a reliable method for getting through races before. This time though, I might not even have to.
While I had hit my first weight loss plateau I am so happy to say that I've gone over the hump and weighed in the other day at 221.0 and nearly lost my jaw. I was bouncing around from 226-228 for so long and then BOOM here we go again! To date I have lost 24.6 pounds. My jeans almost literally fell off of me today! My Lane Giant jeans may have to start getting replaced soon :) I joined a "DietBet" through a facebook group where you pay $30 and have 4 weeks to lose 4% of your body weight. You have to submit a full body picture and a picture of the scale reading to start and finish. If you succeed you will get your $30 back plus all the money from the players who do not meet the goal is distributed among those who did "win". There is over $16000 in the pool right now and I am only 2.5 pounds away from hitting my goal with 2 weeks left. I'm determined to get my money back - plus some!
Still loving my new job and I feel so humbled and blessed to be caring for these little lives. There have been numerous patients I have had some outside connection with of some sort and it reminds me how small the world really is. I am everyday more and more thankful that my nieces and nephews are healthy kiddos. But, good news B North friends! I am planning a 2 day return mid-ish June after I get back from vacation. I haven't ironed out the details officially but am planning to see your smiling faces in the next few weeks.
The next point I must touch on is the fact that I am so, so proud of my baby brother, Tyler. He graduates from high school tomorrow and I am probably going to be a big mess watching him cross that stage. He has overcome so much the last few years - dealing with his epilepsy, our sick dad and getting himself in a good place and back into regular school from an online program. I wasn't sure if he'd keep up and be able to graduate with his friends which made me so sad for him but he persevered and here we are! He will be coming south to Cincinnati and go to UC in the fall. I'm sure he's glad to have his big sisters around too for Chipotle trips and weekend laundry.
I do want to remind everyone that I am still (and will continue to) fundraise for this marathon and I'd love if you could support myself and the Huntington's Disease Society of America! On the right side of the page you can find the link to see that I'm ALMOST at 50% of my goal but we've got a long way to go! Every penny helps and I cannot thank you enough for all the support to this point. Everything is tax deductible, you will get a receipt for tax purposes AND you'll make me smile and maybe run a little faster :)
www.firstgiving.com/lindsayintraining/columbusmarathon
Monday, May 6, 2013
Maybe I'm really not a carbo-holic?
When I initially started this blog I openly admitted to my carbo-holic tendencies and knew to be successful in my weight loss journey I was going to have to cut back. No more asking for extra bread or rice at my favorite restaurants, no more desserts to satisfy my sugary sweet tooth AND carb cravings. My love affair with carbs had to stop no matter how hard it was going to be.
As I started tracking my food with MyFitnessPal I have the capabilities of seeing my daily intake as a chart by nutrition information as well as a chart that shows my percentage of carbs/protein/fat intake. This chart has really opened my eyes to my naitivity about what I was actually eating all along. Fat. And lots and lots of it.
There are days even now that I've been "watching what I eat" where fat accounts for 40% of my diet and I'm not even eating fried foods (a few times I have had French fries but in the grand scheme of things I'm not really eating fried foods hardly ever) and my fat intake is still that high. How can that be?!
Also my protein intake is generally in my recommended range of about 15% of my diet. I feel that is too low and have been taking steps to improve that by eating more Greek yogurt (Chobani flips are my new favorite breakfast/morning snack item) and peanut butter. I figure adding protein to a meal where it often gets neglected will help. Also with all my running I'd rather increase my muscle mass than destroy it all by avoiding protein - even if it's not purposefully done. We do eat more red meat than we probably should and while that certainly works protein wise it's not helping that far intake that I'm unhappy with.
Yes, I understand "good" versus "bad" fats and while I'd guess I'm probably 50/50 on those for my intake I really need to watch the saturated fats. I'm all for lovely skin, nails and hair from including fats in my diet but I'd really rather have those AND not feel like I'm un-doing all the hard work I've put in so far.
Last week I promised an update on the change in diet and if it helped as far as losing weight went and I'm happy to say I saw some positive results! I worked on my fat intake and did increase my protein and I weighed in this week at 224.0 making my total weight loss up to 21.6 pounds! I crossed the 20 pound mark and then some. Mini-goal #2 accomplished. Next up: hit the 2-teens. I'm feeling good about this one!
Another milestone was crossed this week as I had the best run of any in the last 6 weeks during my 4.5 miler Saturday morning. I kept a good, comfortable pace and finished strong. I logged just over 16 miles for the week which is also a personal high for me. This week I have a weird schedule and am going to see TAYLOR SWIFT in Columbus Wednesday night so I'm fitting in my 4 runs however I can. Today I did a morning 2 miles and am planning 3 miles for this evening, one for tomorrow afternoon and my long run for Thursday. However I have to do it, I will. I'm very proud of myself for not missing any scheduled runs during the 6 weeks of training so far (minus my injury week).
I'm still really enjoying the new job and am happy to be celebrating my second official Nurse's Week! I can't believe I've been a registered nurse for two years this month and feel blessed to be doing what I love and getting paid at the same time! Happy Nurse's Week to all those who I work and have worked with, my step-mom Jody and all the incredible people who help take care of my dad on a daily basis. You are all the best and are appreciated!
As I started tracking my food with MyFitnessPal I have the capabilities of seeing my daily intake as a chart by nutrition information as well as a chart that shows my percentage of carbs/protein/fat intake. This chart has really opened my eyes to my naitivity about what I was actually eating all along. Fat. And lots and lots of it.
There are days even now that I've been "watching what I eat" where fat accounts for 40% of my diet and I'm not even eating fried foods (a few times I have had French fries but in the grand scheme of things I'm not really eating fried foods hardly ever) and my fat intake is still that high. How can that be?!
Also my protein intake is generally in my recommended range of about 15% of my diet. I feel that is too low and have been taking steps to improve that by eating more Greek yogurt (Chobani flips are my new favorite breakfast/morning snack item) and peanut butter. I figure adding protein to a meal where it often gets neglected will help. Also with all my running I'd rather increase my muscle mass than destroy it all by avoiding protein - even if it's not purposefully done. We do eat more red meat than we probably should and while that certainly works protein wise it's not helping that far intake that I'm unhappy with.
Yes, I understand "good" versus "bad" fats and while I'd guess I'm probably 50/50 on those for my intake I really need to watch the saturated fats. I'm all for lovely skin, nails and hair from including fats in my diet but I'd really rather have those AND not feel like I'm un-doing all the hard work I've put in so far.
Last week I promised an update on the change in diet and if it helped as far as losing weight went and I'm happy to say I saw some positive results! I worked on my fat intake and did increase my protein and I weighed in this week at 224.0 making my total weight loss up to 21.6 pounds! I crossed the 20 pound mark and then some. Mini-goal #2 accomplished. Next up: hit the 2-teens. I'm feeling good about this one!
Another milestone was crossed this week as I had the best run of any in the last 6 weeks during my 4.5 miler Saturday morning. I kept a good, comfortable pace and finished strong. I logged just over 16 miles for the week which is also a personal high for me. This week I have a weird schedule and am going to see TAYLOR SWIFT in Columbus Wednesday night so I'm fitting in my 4 runs however I can. Today I did a morning 2 miles and am planning 3 miles for this evening, one for tomorrow afternoon and my long run for Thursday. However I have to do it, I will. I'm very proud of myself for not missing any scheduled runs during the 6 weeks of training so far (minus my injury week).
I'm still really enjoying the new job and am happy to be celebrating my second official Nurse's Week! I can't believe I've been a registered nurse for two years this month and feel blessed to be doing what I love and getting paid at the same time! Happy Nurse's Week to all those who I work and have worked with, my step-mom Jody and all the incredible people who help take care of my dad on a daily basis. You are all the best and are appreciated!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)