Somebody's got a case of the Mondays....

Its Monday…. Boo Monday.

The one nice thing about Monday is it is my day off from running, my one day a week that I let my knees/ankles/body recover from the concrete and treadmill. I will usually get on the stationary bike or elliptical when I get to the gym to warm up before we start our circuit. Yesterday I ran 1 mile at high speed and then jumped off the treadmill to do our Bosu workout (I made it up). I finally bought new headphones so I was able to listen to music while I ran which was nice. I had forgotten what a huge difference that makes! 8 miles on Saturday to the upbeat tune of the wind didn’t really get me going… But on Sunday I was pumped up, singing, and just generally in a better mood as I punished my body. I worked hard, sweated more  (not sure sweated is a word but I am going with it) and I can barely walk today because of it. My butt and arms are so sore! Scott recommended that I try doing more 1 leg squats in order to banish my inner thigh jiggle (at my request). When it comes to my legs they are                 S-O-L-I-D, as soon as I do one squat or calf raise they muscle up and lean out so to have one problem area on my legs was driving me crazy. So in order to get rid of the problem area I substituted a medicine ball chop/1 leg squat in for one of my exercises and I can feel it today.

I am usually a lot hungrier on Mondays. I think it’s just getting back into the routine combined with occasional boredom that makes me hungry. If I am busy then I don’t notice that I am hungry but when I have a slow day it feels like I am constantly starving. Today I was saved by Dawna and her Mary Poppins bag of healthy food. I went to the snack drawer hoping against hope that they had stocked something relatively healthy in there for me to eat but I was out of luck and staring at a candy bar/cracker/popcorn/Mac and cheese Mecca. Dawna saw me staring in and drooling all over the snickers peanut butter bars and offered me a cheese stick and strawberries. CRISIS AVERTED!!!

We tried a new twist on an old favorite last night and could have easily eaten the entire dish by myself, I ended up only eating four because I felt bad that I was going to polish it all off before Scott had a chance to eat one. We had baked fajitas, I ate them wrapped in lettuce leaves with a small amount of cheese and fresh guacamole. Scott ate them in tortillas with sour cream, cheese, and guacamole. This was a nice change of pace because it was something I could make for both of us without forcing Scott to eat what I was eating. He had the option of tortillas or lettuce.

Baked Fajitas:

2 chicken breasts –sliced into thin strips                               

1 bell pepper (I used red) –sliced into thin strips

½ onion –sliced

1 tsp Garlic salt

1 tsp Cumin

 ½ tsp Chili powder

½ tsp Oregano

1 Tbls evoo

**feel free to mess with the spices adding more or less as you choose

Toss the chicken, onion, and bell pepper with the spices and olive oil until coated arrange in a baking dish (you want it big enough so that you only have a single layer)

Cook at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

Eat with lettuce as a wrap or tortillas J

Lauren's World Post Pizza

It's the day after pizza...gooey , cheesy, delicious, pizza. I gained 1.5 pounds from yesterday to today but I will take it and not let that get me down. I told myself that I would get a reward when I hit a certain weight and it felt good to celebrate.

Pizza day started with an 8 mile run around Arrowhead, I really wanted to get in a good long calorie burning workout out before I stuffed myself full of cheese and carbs. The run went OK, I hit a wall around mile 7 and I had some chaffing issues (or as I prefer to call it "Chub Rub"). Scott said that this will happen with almost any long run so I went and invested in a pair of Nike spandex shorts to wear under my running shorts. That made the last mile or so of my run pretty uncomfortable and I am pretty sure I looked like a jackass running wide legged down Union Hills. I also felt around mile 7 that I just didn't have the energy, probably due to the fact that we went dancing and drinking the night before and I only had about 4 hours of sleep. I am still proud that I got up and ran despite the fact that I was exhausted. 8 miles and 1.38 hours later I talked Scott into going and grabbing breakfast with me. We went to Wildflower (one of my favorites) and I had a roasted vegetable egg white frittata with fruit and toast. It was amazing, I love bread so much and I really enjoy the times that I actually get to eat it. After that we went home and had a pretty lazy Saturday, most of our day was spent napping and watching Gene Wilder movies.

I was so excited by the time dinner time rolled around I could barely stand it. I had spent most of the week trying to decide where I wanted to go for pizza, the debate had been narrowed down to two choices: Grimaldis(thin crust NY style) or Barros (home town favorite, Chicago style).... Grimaldis won but it was a close battle. My parents, Scotts parents, and Heather and her two girls all met us to celebrate the combined 50+ plus weight loss between Heather and I. We drank wine, talked, let our nieces entertain us, and killed 3 large pizzas. I helped as much as I could, taking out 4 of the slices. It was so good, it reaffirmed my love of pizza. It also felt good to eat it in celebration, and not just because its easy. My stomach hurt all night long because it is not used to the grease, fat, or carbs but I still would do it all over again!! I think my next reward (after I lose another 20 lbs) is going to be new clothes. I am sure I will find a way to sneak another pizza day in there somehow :)

Don't stop until you are proud

Sometimes it’s hard for me to not go all Richard Simmons or Act like a nut bag spreading the word when it comes to eating healthy and staying fit.  I want to share my story and how hard it was for me to get on track and how everyday is a constant struggle. I want to do this so that other people can find a way to be healthy too or lose that extra weight they have been lugging around. I am not finished working on myself and in no way shape or form am I shining example of how to lead a healthier lifestyle but I get so excited trying to help people that I think I come across as pushy or crazy. Which to be fair I am pretty bossy and slightly crazy (In a good way)… I want others to be as happy as I am, losing 20 pounds has done more for me mentally than physically. Yes I can run faster and longer, lift heavier weights, and push myself to go that extra mile but I have always been an active person with an athlete mindset. The bigger problem was getting myself in the right place mentally, learning to say no and learning to enjoy my healthy food without feeling deprived. I still want to eat the bad stuff but now the good stuff is my main focus. Eating out or having a cheat meal means that much more than eating pizza every week or having fast food for lunch, I celebrate those meals and savor the taste. Before I would eat so fast I didn’t even taste my food. I like having a routine, I work better knowing what I am going to have for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This helps me stay within my boundaries, and yes it can be very tedious and boring but it’s what works for me. Trying to make a different meal every time and trying to fit those different meals within my food boundaries stresses me out and then I end up going back to what I would eat before.  

The other big factor is my success is my family and the support they provide. I couldn’t do this if I didn’t have Heather to meet me at the gym,  Scott to remind me that cheating isn’t worth it. Today was the first time in a long time that I actually felt like I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. I am hoping that light isn't a train but  I finally feel like I am doing something, that every pizza slice, cake slice,and hamburger patty I have turned down in the last two months is starting to show. I can see myself losing more weight, Hell I lost 20 pounds whats to stop me from losing the next 50 pounds that I plan on losing in order to reach my goal weight??!! I want to be proud of my body and I feel like that day is coming. Ok let me back up... I am proud of my body and the time and effort I have put in to changing my body but I want to be a different kind of proud. I want to be running in a sports bra, not wearing a cover up over my swim suit, wearing a string bikini kind of proud. 

weight loss inducing squeals

I stepped on the scale this morning and let out a very unlady like (very drunk sorority girl like) squeal…yes squeal. I have officially lost the vacation weight plus ½ pound! This brings the grand total to 19.5 pounds woo hoo!! And yes I wanted to go pee and lose the final ½ pound to round it out to 20 but I didn’t! I am hoping that it will be gone by the time I weigh in at the gym tonight or tomorrow morning. This means I am 3 pounds away from pizza, sweet saucy, cheesey, meat covered pizza. Moment of silence for the deliciousness…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Hopefully this weekend I will have a date with my hubby and a large pizza :)

I am starting to have some worries about actually eating the pizza, I don’t want to go up 6 pounds every weekend and spend every week trying to get it off. I know it will only be one meal and that the likely hood of me gaining six pounds from one meal is slim to none but I’m a girl so I have to over think everything. Maybe I will start pizza day with a nice long run to compensate for the calories.

Today I seem to have an unnatural focus on food and it seems like more than normal. I am not even that hungry but I just keep thinking about Taco Bell and looking at menus for different restaurants. I know that I am just torturing myself but sometimes it helps take the focus off of being hungry and I feel better looking at the bad stuff but still saying no. I know it sounds weird but I feel stronger afterwards, like I am building up a tolerance to the temptation.

Once I finish up at work I will head over to the gym for another round of punishment…

ps: Got on the scale after the gym and I am officially down 20.5 pounds....WAAAAA HOOOOOO

give an inch...take a carbohydrate

I got up this morning will all the resolve in the world. I had a stern talking to with myself and I explained that there would be no more just testing food, no more “quality control”, no more cheat days, no more alcohol, no more slacking on my runs, and no more listening to my starved, deprived, whiny inner fat kid. I am still standing strong but my will power is wavering. This morning I made my breakfast of three egg whites with ½ an avocado, forgot to put garlic salt on it, didn’t cook it all the way in my haste to eat, and packed a spoon instead of a fork. This is what happens when you take a few days off from preparing your food. So now I am hungry because I couldn’t eat runny egg whites with no taste and the frustration of eating with a spoon. This is making it really hard not to cheat… I have a bowl of tomato soup in my desk that just keeps calling my name. Somebody in the office is also eating popcorn so the smell of that combined with my hunger and lack of food is killing me. The only thing that is holding me back is my lack of weight loss last week, it was obvious that I didn’t eat as well or run as hard as I should of.

I am the epitome of give an inch, take a mile. If I give myself any kind of wiggle room then I can rationalize eating whatever I want. I think the downhill started with the office potluck on Friday and ended with a burger Saturday night. I started to gain back some control on Sunday and I had a chicken veggie bowl for lunch and chicken salad (no mayo) for dinner. My work outs were ok, Saturday we went to go run the mountain but we only made one trip before my stomach started acting up and heather got light headed. Sunday we kicked the poop out ourselves with my new favorite Spartan WOD (it takes up quite a bit of time but it’s worth it). I ended up sweaty, out of breath, and much happier with myself.

Pray for me this week as I try to tackle the inner fat kid… He is armed with waffle fries and self doubt(a killer combination) but I am armed with loose fitting pants and the will to enjoy chicken and salad.

Spartan WOD

50 body weight squats

15 burpees

50 lunges (25 each leg)

25 sit ups

15 push ups

25 jumping jacks

1 minute plank

20 kettle bell swings

Repeat 1-12 times (we have only made it to 5)

3-5 mile run

Laurens super awesome healthy delicious Chicken salad J

1 grilled chicken breast (chopped up or shredded)

¼  cup red bell pepper, chopped

¼ cup onion (more or less for your preferences)

1 tbls feta

½ avocado mashed up (should be the consistency of guacamole)

Garlic salt (to taste)

Lemon juice (to taste)

Ok here is a little back story on how the chicken salad came to be….last week I was making dinner and I wanted anything but 3 cups of lettuce with a side of grilled chicken (not that it’s not delicious but variety is the spice of life!). I was making Scott an egg salad sandwich for dinner and I was thinking about how good a chicken salad sandwich sounded while also grumbling to myself about the lack of mayonnaise in my diet. So I decided to try and make up a healthy chicken salad with no mayo, no bread, and a whole lot of taste. I took the avocado and mashed it up like I would guacamole, added some garlic salt, chopped up the remaining ingredients and mixed it all together. It was easy, healthy, delicious, and most important it was filling. I liked it so much that I have made it for dinner 5 nights in a row J it would be better with a whole wheat pita to scoop up all the deliciousness but I made do with a spoon.

36 hours...6 pounds

I survived vacation.. well I kind of survived vacation. My liver still refuses to talk to me much less process any more alcohol. I gained a good 6 pounds in California then came back for a week, lost the 6 pounds, went to Texas and found out that those sneaky bastards were hiding in Texas!! So the 6 pounds found me again. I’ve already lost 3 of them and I am hoping the lose the rest by Sunday (the the pizza countdown officially begins!). I had a fantastic 36 hours in Texas, I earned every one of those 6 pounds. There were piles of homemade mexican food (nobody can cook like my family), 4 pounds of beans, copious amounts of alcohol, jello shots, no sleep, laughing, crying, yelling(not in a bad way that’s just how we prefer to communicate),champagne at breakfast, staying up until 2 am, whataburger, bull riding, chris cagle, and again… a lot of alcohol Whew I am tired just thinking about it. I did get up and run 3 miles on Sunday before the party started again but it was a slow run and it was a painfull run. I thought the heat here was bad,its nothing compared to the heat and humidity at 10 am in Texas. So now I am back, back to the real world, real salad, and real cravings. I have done ok this week, I had a couple week moments but I always got right back on track. Workouts have been hard but nothing out of the ordinary. We are going to do a big mountain run on Saturday if you would like to join me and heather just let me know (TBird mtn H3 trail at 4:30am). I have 6 more pounds until I let myself have pizza.I am craving it all day everyday now its been almost 2 monthsmonths since the last time I had pizza. I think I want to go all out and go to Grimaldis or possibly Barros. I have days that are mentally worse than others. Days where I want to give up and eat whatever I want and days where me and my metabolism can conquer anything. As always its ups…downs… andpizza filled pot holes

Do they give medal's for turning down deliciously bad food?

Saturday morning I went hiking/running/crawling/dying with my partner in crime Heather. It was brutal but it was a fantastic workout, so great in fact we decided to run it twice. It wasn't  the smartest idea we have ever had but it burned a shit ton of calories and I felt less guilty about my cheat meal. I am still sore from the run, I feel like somebody beat me with a stick all over my body. Today was better but yesterday I was dying. Today we did another Spartan Workout of the Day, brutal but efficient.

3-5 mile run
50-200 body weight squats
50-100 push ups
4 minute plank
50-200 lunges
10-50 burpees
50-200 crunches

(We did the max but broke it into to sets)

I started to hop on the pity train this weekend. I wanted to eat like a normal person and not feel guilty or have to run 7 miles in order to eat a 540 calorie breakfast with GASP...CARBS!!! but before the pity train could derail my healthy lifestyle into the intersection of pizza boulevard and fried cheese corner I tried to remember that eating what I wanted wasn't going to get me where I wanted to be. There are days that I have to remember what exactly it is that I want, why I want it, and what I am willing to do to get there. Every day its almost the same thing. I eat breakfast, then I am hungry and I think about lunch and how far away 11 am is, then I eat lunch, then I think about kit kat bars and dr. pepper, then I go workout, then I come home spend time with the hubby and kill a giant salad. I always realize after the meal that eating healthy wasn't that bad, I don't ever regret having a salad but I know that I would have regretted eating a pizza.

Last Thursday I went to BJ's brewery for one of my friends Birthday dinner... You don't know how strong you are until you stare down a party plater of pizzouki (hot melty giant cookie topped with ice cream) I actually had to get up and pretend to go to the bathroom where I had a stern talking to myself. I felt like a deserved a medal of honor after I stared down the cookie but that may be slightly over dramatic......