Hump Day

We officially started this journey two weeks ago on June 12 since then I have lost 14 lbs and Heather has lost 21lbs total! How bad ass is that?!

I still have this week and next week before I leave for California and I am determined to look halfway decent in a bathing suit by then. I want to lay on the beach, get a tan, hang out with one of my best friends, and possibly enjoy a few adult beverages. I will not be “dieting” on this vacation but I will try and eat in moderation most of the time. Its only two days but I know I can do a lot of damage in those two days! I am looking forward to Carbs…Sweet, sweet, delicious, tasty carbs. If I can talk Amy into I want to go to Hash House a Go Go they have the best breakfast and amazing coffee, if I am going to cheat that is the place to do it!

After I go to California I go back to work for a week and then we fly out to Texas to go see my family. I am so excited I can barely stand it! I get to spend time with my Aunts/Uncles/Cousins/Grandparents/Mom and Hubby. Plus Scott has never been to Texas to visit my family so that should be an experience! But again it will be a fight to stay on track. I won’t be dieting but I will be watching myself very closely, I have a feeling most of the calories are going to come from the adult beverages.

Today went good. I still feel guilty that I didn't get up and run this morning but I was so cranky and tired last night that I took the extra 15 minutes of sleep for a mental break. I ran tonight to make up for the extra sleep this morning and really tried to push myself hard. I did 4 minutes at 7mph and then 1 minute at 5 mph pace for 30 minutes. I ran just over 3 miles in that time and I was breathing pretty hard when I got off the treadmill. We then did our Bosu ball work out, we upped our weights to 20's and 15 lb dumbells. That sucked big time, the 25's killed me. I am still sore from my workout on Monday so that made today and yesterday even harder. 

I am still staying in my boundaries with food and even though some days I would kill for a piece of toast or give up my first born for a piece of french toast...nom nom nom. OK food day dreams are done, I am going to bed where I can dream of pizza, cold beer, and snickers bars (I still want that damn snickers bar from the work candy drawer)

Happy Hump Day!! Eat a Salad, Drink some Water, and pretend that Filibertos doesn't taste or sound good! 

Who wants to invest in a children/donut farm? Any takers??

Todays battle against the fat kid was laced with bagels, donuts, chick fila, soda, diabetes, and a whole herd of children ranging in ages. Let me back up and explain so you don't think I run a child farm where I raise donuts for profit (A deliciously creepy idea...the donuts are delicious not the kids... crap... ok I'm stopping now). Today was take your kid to work day because who doesn't love screaming children running around the office jacked up on Mountain Dew and chicken nuggets? Ok that came out too mean, the kids were very well behaved and it was fun to watch them call and ask people for money... But because we had kids running around today, Sunstate had a catered lunch for all the kids and their parents (this is where the chick fila comes in). They brought in Chick Fila which is one of my favorites! There were platters of chicken nuggets, chicken sandwiches, and waffle fries... And that was just lunch! When I got to work there were fresh, warm, Einstein bagels with cream cheese and I could smell them from my desk! I had just finished making it through the bagel gauntlet when all of a sudden our receptionist is at my desk with donut holes from dunkin donuts!! Yes I did notice the excessive use of exclamation points in the last few sentences but seriously?! bagels, donuts, and chick fila!!!!!! Well I took my scroogness and bah humbugged myself right outside for lunch by myself in the heat just so I could eat my grilled chicken and salad in peace and without the smell of chick fila enticing me into cheating. So HA! take that delicious food

Workouts have been food, I slept through two alarms on Thursday so I had to get my lazy but out of bed this morning and go run. I tried to pick up my pace and made it a little bit farther today. It can be frustrating to go to the gym and run 3 miles in under 30 minutes but then go outside and barely make it past 2 miles in the same amount of time. Diet has been good too, lots of salads, egg whites, and chicken. I have to spice my foods up because I just cannot eat plain lettuce, plain chicken, and plain egg whites every day. Breakfast is 3 egg whites, 1/2 avocado, and sometimes I will add some homemade green salsa for an extra kick. Lunch is usually very plain, salad with grilled chicken leftover from the night before but I started marinating the chicken . Dinner is grilled chicken with salad. My dinner salad is more elaborate than just lettuce, I use spring mix and top it with bell peppers, avocado, reduced fat feta, and lemon juice for dressing. Today I just could not eat another salad for dinner so I made more egg whites with avocado and salsa but I did have some grilled chicken with it.

I also want to thank everybody for the amazing outpouring of support! You have no idea how awesome it is to hear from friends from high school that I haven't talked to in years. Just to pop in and say hi makes me feel like what I am doing is worth it... My family has been amazing as well. To hear that my sister in law has started running, or that Heather has lost 20 pounds (Can I get a hell ya?!) my mother in law is even making me salad with chicken for dinner on Monday! My parents follow me and call me to tell me that they really liked the blog, my grandparents read it and I couldn't do any of this without my husband who stands by me and eats salad every night with a smile on his face just so I won't be tempted to cheat. With a support system like that I can't fail!

11 pounds down! take that kick to the teeth fatty....

Happy Saturday

I made it through the week...by the skin of my teeth, but I made it! In four days I lost 7 pounds!!!
 HOLY SHIT!

It's amazing how eating right and cutting the crap out of my diet helps ha ha. We went out to dinner last night and because I didn't want to go all crazy on food and end up rolling around in a bed of pizza we went to Pita Jungle. They have plenty of healthy options (plus some deliciously bad options if you're in the mood) and I managed to stay on track even out at a restaurant. I had a greek salad (romaine, tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, feta) with dressing on the side and I asked for grilled chicken on top for some extra protein. It was really good and it filled me up. According to my calorie tracker it was around 700 calories but that still brought me in under my calorie goal for the day.

Today I got up early and went for my 50 minute run, I wanted to get up and out the door before my body had a chance to say.."HEY! oh HELL NO! get back in bed and snuggle with your pillows and dogs right now! Don't you know its Saturday??!!"  I ended up running 4.2 miles in 50 minutes which is around a 12 minute pace. I really need to get my mile times down before fall. I really want to run my half in 2 hours or under. Realistically I would be happy with just running faster than my first 1/2 marathon (2:35) but I need to prove to myself how far I have come and how far I can go. Maybe one day I will even enjoy running...


Today I am hanging out with my sister in law and we have a big day planned :) golfing, wet n wild, and carbs... WHOA GET CRAZY!

Happy Saturday Everyone

pizzapocalypse 2012

Today was day 3 of eating right and marathon/mudder training. I am still feeling the effects of detoxing, I am very very very tired and I am constantly hungry. I did my 3 30 minute runs and evening lifting sessions with Heather and I stayed on track with my diet. Today was a struggle, it was the pizza apocalypse of 2012. If you have ever read my blog before then you know that I have an unhealthy relationship with pizza, it's my favorite food. Today at work my boss decided to buy the department lunch and of course they HAD to order pizza! So there I am sitting at my desk nodding along with everyone thinking  "it's cool I got this! I will just eat my salad and stay away." 11:00 came and I ran to the break room to eat the food I had been thinking about from the moment I finished my breakfast. But to my horror I had forgotten to pack a new bag of salad, so I had 1/2 cup lettuce and a chicken breast. I tried to make it last as long as I could and gulp my water in between and that lasted about 2 minutes. Dawna felt so bad for me that she gave me one of her string cheese which I also devoured. We sat outside for an hour eating lunch as I silently prayed that all the pizza would be gone when we went back inside, but no that would be too easy...I walk inside, go back to my desk and realize that the leftover pizza is sitting on the cabinet that is right in front of my desk. I can smell it, I can imagine it how it tastes, and I want to rub my face in it (yes i know how creepy that sounds). So most of my afternoon was spent trying to talk myself out of pizza. I had one very weak moment and as soon as I realized it was going in the break room to be put away I went to go sneak a piece.I argued with myself the entire way but I was hungry and looking forward to eating my feelings in shame by myself. But the fates were working against me and there were other people in the break room so I acted like I just needed to fill my water bottle and went back to my desk. After that moment I really realized the power food has over me and how important it is that I find the ability to say no to 1 piece of pizza. The rest of the afternoon went smoother and I didn't try and sneak anymore pizza.

After surviving the pizzapocalypse 2012 I went to the gym and we did the tough mudder workout, sat in the steam room, and weighed ourselves. I am so proud of my sister in law for losing the weight and sticking to our diet plan. It's weird that we both smile now when we get off the scale. It makes me realize how bad we were eating before, we aren't working out any harder but the weight is falling off. No processed foods, no sugar, and no caffeine. I made a salad for dinner with spring mix, avocado, bell peppers, chicken, and lemon juice for dressing.

I found a picture today that really made me think and it pushed my to get through the rest of my day...

" If you are tired of starting over, STOP giving up"

I hope everyone has a great weekend/fathers day, I will pray to the food gods for strength against carbs and fat :)

The Joys of Detox

Day 1 is always fun. I have a throbbing headache, I am hungry, and I am very cranky. BUT!! I did get up and run this morning and I did go to the gym when I got home from work. Today’s foods have included Egg whites with avocado and a light sprinking of cheese, grilled chicken breast leftover squash and salad for lunch, dinner will be grilled chicken and salad again. I need to do this to prove to myself that I can, I don’t have to give in every time I think I am hungry. I have been drinking green tea to make up for being so hungry, the caffeine withdrawal, and the sugar withdrawal.  YAY DETOXING!!! I didn’t think it would be so hard to give up coffee! This is a sign that I need to cut back on the coffee, I usually have about a cup a day but I think it will be a weekend only drink from now on. However   because I am not drinking coffee I am also very very tired. That could be because I was up at 4:30 this morning, or the lack of sugar and caffeine... 

I really need to work on being uncomfortable and being in pain... not the oh dear god I think I just tore something kind of pain but the oh dear god I can't breathe and my legs are jello kind of pain. I always run until it gets hard and then I walk. As soon as my calves start to cramp or I start wheezing I immediately go to grab the side rails on the treadmill, I step to the sides, or slow all the way down to a walk. Of course I tell myself its because my Pandora just skipped and I don't have the balance to fix it while I run, or I need a drink of water and heaven knows I can't run and drink at the same time! That's crazy talk!! Either way I end up not pushing myself as hard as I could. This week I started talking to myself while I run (not in a crazy person talking to the voices kind of way) I just try to keep reminding myself to keep going, work through the paid, you can do it!*

So now its 8pm and I am going to bed... I wish that was just because I am so tired from working out but I really just like sleeping and I function better on old people hours :) 

* That is censored version of what I tell myself, what I actually tell myself would make a football coach blush...

Roasted Summer Squash

I needed a new veggie to eat for dinner, I was tired of salad every night so we tried a new recipe. Turned out great, it's healthy  and easy to make so win-win. 

4 squash ( I used 2 green and 2 yellow)

1Tbls of extra light olive oil

2 Tbls fresh pesto 

salt and pepper to taste

pre heat the oven to 500 degrees

cut the squash into 1 inch chunks

toss in the olive oil until coated

place on a cookie sheet and into the oven

let roast for 5-7 minutes

turn over and roast for another 5-7 miuntes until slightly browned and tender

take out of the oven and toss with the pesto and salt/pepper

Enjoy!! 

Where's the re-set button on this thing?

The first week of marathon training is done, we did 3-30 minute runs during the week and 1-50 minute run on the weekend. The 30 minute runs were done inside on a treadmill averaging 9-10 minute miles. Saturday I decided that I would run outside. My alarm went off at 5:15am and after I hit the snooze button 5 or 6 times I made it out the door by 5:45. I ran, walked, cried, cursed the running gods and made it back home in 47 minutes running 3.65 miles. Not my best run...I have been spending too much time inside on the treadmill and depending on the treadmill to propel me forward. We decided to alter the marathon training and stay on last weeks training schedule until we are able to run 50 minutes at race pace. This means that starting this week I have to get my lazy butt out of bed, put my running shoes on, and start running. Even as I write this I am regretting this decision. I like my sleep and the extra 30 minutes I get in bed being lazy now that I work out at night. I will still continue to work out at night but Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I will have to get up and run.

Today we did the Spartan race Workout of the Day... It sucked. But as the gym manager pointed out when we were leaving "You are sweaty and out of breath, must have been a good workout!" 

I know you are all dying to know what the Spartan WOD was and I won't hold you in suspense any longer. 

Behold the Horribleness we subjected ourselves to ( It's not that bad but I am feeling slightly over dramatic today)

10 burpees                             *** we are not cool enough to run 1 mile in between 10 sets

10 Pushups

20 Lunges                               ***We are cool enough to run 1/2 miles in between 5 sets

1/4-1mile run 

3-10 times 

We then proceeded to the pull up/dip machine congratulating ourselves in between breaths and showed our muscles to each other (Yes we are those people, shut the hell up) then followed up with abs. 

We also decided that the rest of the week would be filled with Egg Whites, grilled chicken, and green veggies. We have been eating so bad lately that I felt like a needed to hit the re-start button and get my mind used to saying no, walking away from the donuts, and staying on track. Salads have been purchased, chicken has been grilled, and I am looking forward to my egg white and avocado omelet. 

Scott has been reluctantly dragged into this with me but like the awesome husband that he is, he ate his grilled chicken and squash with a smile. 

it's more of a waddle...

I am leaving for San Diego in about 5 weeks, it will be a girls weekend with one of my best friends as the boys go off to Colorado to do boy stuff (grunt, scratch themselves, drink beer, and climb mountains). This means I will be in a swimsuit…on a beach… in PUBLIC. Operation eat rabbit food and drink green tea is officially in motion!! The next few weeks will be tough. I am going to be hungry, angry, starving but dammit if I won’t look decent on a beach by July! I am still working out with my sister in law almost every afternoon after work. We do a combo cardio/strength workout to get ready for the Tough Mudder Race and what we originally planned to be a half marathon. After reading everyone’s posts last weekend about the San Diego rock and roll marathon I decided that it was time to really give myself something to cry over. I decided that I would run my first (and probably last) full marathon in 2013. And then I immediately wished I could take the words thathad just spewed out of my mouth right back. I can’t run a marathon!! I am overweight, 25, and not a runner. Yes I can run, yes I have run 2 half marathons but in no way shape or form does that make me a runner. I am more of a waddler if anything… But I said I would do it (Scott heard me say it, no backing out now) and I have recruited my sister in law to join me. So every day in addition to our normal strength routine we have added the 16 week marathon training program. This involves 3 light to moderate running days during the week and one long run on the weekends. This week we did 3 30 min runs and on Saturday we will do a 50 minute run. I am hoping to stay in the 12 minute range for the marathon and A: just finish B: not die and C: finish AROUND 5 hours. I don’t think that is asking too much! The longest I will run before the marathon is 18miles...bleh!! And to be honest that scares the crap out of me! 18 miles???!!! Oh hell. I’m not even going to think about the 26.2 until I can think about 18 miles without wanting to puke or cry.