Half Marathon training

Well for me the count down has begun.  On Saturday I had 2 weeks left to get ready for my Half Marathon on April 12th. Geesh, where has the time gone?  It seems like yesterday I signed up for the Half thinking, "Oh I have plenty of time to train for this sucker." Well, here I am. I guess I should say that I'm feeling OKAY about the marathon coming up, but not really super prepared.

On Saturday I ran 10 miles on dirt, gravel, and very little pavement.  It also consisted of some gnarly hills. UGH, hills. I will tell you that I am not a huge fan of hills, but they do make me stronger.  I have noticed they aren't as hard as they use to be, but I still crawl up them like a snail.

 I am hoping that with all these difficulties that I am adding to my long distance runs that come marathon time I will fly through those flat 13.1 miles. And by Fly I mean I won't die and won't come in last.  I DREAD the day I come in last in a race, but someone has to, right?!?!? PLEASE GOD DON'T LET IT HAPPEN IN 2 WEEKS! 

I also feel like the last 2 weeks all I have felt is being sore.  I am sore from Crossfit and I'm sore from running. But the combination of both of those is making me stronger which is what I want. But wholy moly does being sore suck.

I would also like to thank all the support I have had on Facebook as my runs get longer and longer. It really does mean the world to me.  A year ago I was just happy to run a mile without dying and now I'm able to run 10. It sure didn't happen over night. And let me say that the 1st mile of ANY run always sucks.  I am serious when I say that. I seriously think the first mile is worse then the last mile. I am out of breathe and struggling to get to that mile marker, but something magical happens as I hit that first mile.  I am not sure what it is, but something hits me and I start to tell myself "I can do this." But up until then I am constantly saying:

-At mile one you can take a break
-Just make it one mile and you can STOP
-Seriously if you make it to the first mile you can stop and walk home.
-Why is this so hard?
-I should have trained harder during the week.
-I REALLY want to walk RIGHT NOW, but just keep going. Hopefully it will get better.
-Why can't I breathe?

This is how I feel during my 1st mile.

These are seriously things I say while I am running. It isn't until after that first mile that I start to enjoy my run. And then around mile 7 I start thinking this stupid shit:

-Maybe I can run a FULL Marathon.
-This isn't so hard, maybe I should consider running a FULL one.
-Why is mile one so hard again??
-If I run a FULL marathon, should I try to qualify for the Boston Marathon?

Then I tell myself this "Just finish this run, then we can talk about other races." And yes I talk to myself, you don't??

I hit mile 9 and things are starting to hit me. I am starting to get tired and I REALLY want to see my house. But I keep telling myself "Just one more mile, you can do this."  Then I see the last hill I have to run before I get to my house and I say:

-Oh F%ck me.
-Why did I think I could run a FULL Marathon??
-This hill SUCKS
-I seriously think I could walk up this hill faster than I am jogging up this hill.
-Pump your arms (dad always says when your legs are tired, use your arms to keep you going)
-WHEN WILL THIS HILL END??
-Why do I save this hill for last??
-I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO RUN 13.1 MILES LET ALONE 26.2!!

And then I magically get to the top of the hill and shortly after that the lady on my app tells me I have ran 10 miles. WOW I MADE IT!!!

I slowly walk back to my house which isn't far, probably less than a block if I lived in town. I get home and no one is home yet, they are all still in town. Thank goodness, no one will see me waddle to the bathroom. I have heard people take ice baths after working out or long runs and I decided I would give this a try because we had big plans for that night and I didn't want to limp around all day. It did help!! Is it a miracle worker, NO.  But my hips didn't hurt at all on Satruday (yes I know I am old, usually my hips bug me for a couple days after a long run) and I was able to move around like I needed to.  

 

I needed more ice. Oh well. I promise you, it was FREAKING cold and I despise cold showers/bathes.

What were our big plans for Saturday night??

MONSTER TRUCKS BABY!!! Yeah, I'm a boy mom.  I think I was more excited about this than Jed was.  We surprised R with the monster truck show here in town.  I knew it wouldn't be a spectacular show, but I knew it would be enough for R to LOVE. And he did. I'm so glad we took him. I love that little boy to pieces.  This is why I didn't want to feel like a 90 year old lady all day!

And on Sunday we did a little of this:

Jed was off doing wheelies and showing off, so that is why he isn't in the picture. And yes we have a helmet for R, but we were putting around so slowly that he didn't need one. And no he isn't riding by himself yet, we ride on the back with him.  But my guess is by the end of 2014 he will be riding on his own or pretty close to it. It is crazy how fast they grow up!!

I hope everyone had a GREAT weekend. I have no complaints here. After a weekend of being sick, this weekend felt like a vacation! :) 

****oh and by the way, I am NOT going to run a FULL Marathon.  Those are just crazy thoughts I get while running. Some say exercise is like a drug and I would have to agree because I have INSANE ideas while I run!! LOL

My Awesome moves

So last week I had first post on Crossfit and how awesome it was.  Well then training session 2 came along and KICKED MY BUTT.  Tuesday night's WOD (workout of the day) just about killed me. I have seen people do burpees and I have done a few in my life, but Holy cows. I had to do 3 rounds of those babies and they just about did me in.

Here is what a burpee is:

This is what my trainer was thinking:

When he put this WOD on the board, I totally thought "I got this."
200 M. Row (on a rowing machine)
9 Burpees
9 Kettle bell swing (I think that is what it is called)

Let me remind you, spent a good part of the evening going over these moves before the workout. But I totally under estimated this workout. After one round I thought I might die. And I still had 2 more to go and they were timed!!

So I got through the workout and I finally gave Crossfit it's respect that it deserves. It sucks, but it feels great when you finish the workout. It is also good to know that the trainer is watching our every move to make sure our form is right.

So I was sore for a couple of days and then Friday came and that was suppose to be my 3rd training session, but I got sick.  And not only did I get a little sick, I got FREAKING REALLY sick. My tonsils felt like they were golf balls, I had a 101 degree fever, a headache the size of Texas, and the chills 99% of the time (the other 1% I felt so hot that I thought my clothes would melt off, #twss). So I had to call in sick! And then I was sick all freaking weekend with this crap and it was HORRIBLE. I spent most of the weekend in bed sleeping or watching Dexter (have you seen that show, I'm officially addicted, Thank you Netflix).

Finally Monday morning I woke up and I felt 75% better, I still had a horrible headache which I think was because I was dehydrated since I could hardly drink anything without wanting to punch myself in the throat.  So Monday morning I went to work and drank as much freaking water as I could. And by noon I was feeling back to normal. Which meant I could go to my 4th session (technically my 3rd) and I got lucky because all we did was go over moves, we didn't have a WOD. When I found out we weren't doing a WOD, I felt like doing this

But I was a little worried he might think I was crazy or trying to seduce him with my awesome moves. LOL

But tonight will be a whole other story, I know that last Friday the trainer was pretty brutal on the other person in my class. YIKES, I better have my game face on tonight.

In other news I decided that I'm going to TRY my best to take a picture once a day (probably in the morning before work) hoping that over the next few months I will start to see a different. I may do this with my workout clothes too. This is more for me because sometimes it is harder for us to see the improvements we have made.  So I hoping that having a bunch of pictures will help encourage me and inspire me instead of using the darn scale!

Well I hope your week is off to a good start. My goal is to NOT get sick this week. I think that is a good goal! :)

I get it now.

I never really understood why joining a gym was intimidating for people or why trying a new class would cause anxiety.  I was lucky enough to grow up with a father that was into sports and SHARED that love with his daughter. He actually shared that love with all his children. I AM LUCKY! And I use the word share because he not only signed me up for sports, but he participated with me. My dad was my BFF when it came to sports, well to be honest my dad was my BFF until I was in middle school and discovered boys.  Then it was my mom's turn to take over the BFF job. But back to my story. My dad took me to all my sports related activities and would either coach me or would sit through my practice and watch me. I NEVER had to do it on my own.  And then when I had a question or wanted to get better my dad would take me home and we would work on what ever skill I wanted to master. Like I said, I was LUCKY. Although I will blame my dad for one day in particular. We were getting ready to go to my first day of softball practice and he said to me "Jessica, get ready, these girls throw a lot faster and hit a lot harder than what you are use to." Well shit dad, thanks a lot. I freaked myself out. And when it came to warm up with the girls I freaked out even more and when the ball came hurling at me, I simply put my mitt up, closed my eyes and turned my head to the side.  It wasn't pretty folks, the ball hit me square in the cheek. OUCHIE and I looked like an idiot.

This would have been a smarter maneuver.

 

This is probably more or less what I looked like, but with a softball instead of a dodge ball.

 

 But luckily for me, my dad was there to help me recover. And we started throwing the ball a lot harder when we played catch at home, that never happened again. But over time, I just got use to a sport's setting. So as I grew up, PE class was just as comfortable. So when we got to middle school and it was time for the weight lifting section, it didn't scare me. I had never lifted anything in my life before, but since I was in PE class how hard could it be. It wasn't. And I didn't necessarily love it, but I didn't hate it either.

So what is the point to this long drawn out story?? Well, when it came time to join a gym, I had no anxiety what so ever about it, only excitement. When I wanted to start a new class, no big deal, I would just show up. The gym felt like PE class or a sports practice.  NO BIG DEAL TO ME!  But crossfit was a whole new show. I was scared and excited all at the same time. It felt like that first softball practice with the BIG girls, but worse. But once again, I had my dad by my side.  Not literally, but I could hear his words, "Jessica how hard could this be?" "So what if you aren't the best, we can always work on it." "No ONE is expecting you to be perfect on your first day!!!" The last one really stuck with me. So even though I was nervous, I walked through that door by myself.

And seriously this is what it seems like when you first walk in. In reality there aren't flashy words flying around and they are going just a smidge slower. LOL

 



And how was it????? It was great.  The people were super nice and the instructor was super nice. I walked into the gym at the end of their workout and to see those people push themselves that hard was AMAZING. I think I was sold at that point, but I keep telling myself to keep an open mind. But as of right now, I really like.  Last night we went over some crossfit basics and I learned a few things already.  The class is SUPER small, it was just me and another guy. When it came time to do an actual crossfit workout (WOD) I was pretty relieved it involved running. For the lifting section of it the trainer was right beside us encouraging us and helping us with our form. At the end of the work out, I felt pretty winded, but not horrible. Actually not that bad at all. NOW tonight might be a different story and that is what I like about this place. I won't be running every night or the same lifting moves night after night. I do have some things I need to work on, like the "push jerk" I just can't seem to get my timing right, once again I think I'm over thinking it. But like my dad always says, "we can work on it" and that is what I will do.

I keep wanting to land with locked knees (that's a no no!)

Tonight I will learn even more and I'm excited.  The anxiety has left now. But I get why people are anxious about joining a gym or class now. I 100% UNDERSTAND  IT NOW!!  But if you never take that step, you will never know if you are missing out something AMAZING.  And guess what?  There is a chance it may not be amazing, but you will never know unless you try. And remember, no one expects you to be a master on your first day.  Far from it. They know you will need some guidance and some support.  If you are thinking about trying something new, please take that step, don't let the fear or anxiety keep you from trying something new.

WOW this one got long! Sorry.  I was trying to keep it short. I hope you like the gifs, I thought they were funny. And if you haven't seen Arrested Development (first gif), please get out from underneath your rock and watch it on Netflix, freaking hilarious!!!

Have a great week folks!

the conclusion and a new beginning

So the cleanse ended too soon for me, but that is okay.  I learned that this is something that is doable and I learned about Paleo, which would not have happened on it's own (but that is a completely different post). It also taught me that if you want to eat Healthy then you need to plan ahead.  The just wing it attitude is going to cut it. Like today, I brought some tuna salad with me for lunch and then I started to think about when I made that and it had been over a week.  Just having the stomach bug earlier this week I couldn't chance it. SOOOO, I went down the street and grabbed 2 pieces of cheese pizza (with it being lent and all). Normally I don't get fast food or restaurant food on Friday's for lent because that doesn't seem like fasting to me. Which that is another post all on it's self too.

See this is what I mean by NOT eating meat, but going to eat to find your meatless meal. Not really a fast or sacrifice if you ask me.

 



ANY WAYS, I would recommend the cleanse if you are wanting to get back on track.  Now here is the interesting part. I did lose weight, but I think the cleanse did more for me than just get me to lose weight, it really did have me wanting to eat healthier and cleaner. I kind of feel like I'm back on track. So with that said, I did get down to 171.3. That is 5 pounds!! But then this morning when I weighed myself I was back up to 173. But that is okay.  I think after I get my meals planned out, the weight is going to start coming off again.  I'm not too worried about it. But I did notice my cloths feels a lot more comfortable and that the bloat in my stomach was starting to go away.  And OF COURSE I FORGOT TO TAKE AFTER PICS. I am seriously the worst blogger EVER! But I honestly think the best part of the cleanse was getting back in touch with eating better. I was REALLY struggling before and now I have this thirst for new recipes and cleaner food. I call that a win.

So what now?? Well, I am still planning on eating Paleo/Clean food from here on out (except for that crappy cheese pizza for lunch), but I know that I need to plan ahead for that. But at this point I have A LOT of the ingredients to make my own Paleo food which is exciting. I am also still training for my half marathon.  I have to run 8 miles this weekend. Once again this is new territory for me. It is scary as shit, but it is also incredibly awesome. I get such a high after running/jogging, these long distances. And luckily I haven't had any injuries (cross my fingers). So I will keep on keepin on.

 

But there is something else I have up my sleeve and that is..............................................................

I FREAKING SIGNED UP FOR CROSSFIT!!!
Yeah, you read that right. I start Crossfit on Monday. After falling in love with a bunch of the Paleomg.com's recipes I started to read the rest of her blogs and she talked a bunch about crossfit. Now crossfit is something that I have been really interested in since the beginning of the year, but my membership at the gym was a year long commitment so that meant I couldn't get out of that until April. And I was thinking that I would start after my half marathon which is in April and I thought this would make perfect sense.  But the more I read about Crossfit and the more I read Paleomg's blog, the more excited about it.  I have a good friend who does Crossfit and she LOVES it. My husband's friend does it too and he really likes it. So then I thought, well maybe I should give it a try before my membership actually ends and that way I have a fall back plan in case I don't like Crossfit.

Now to start Crossfit here in Salina you have to take a fundamentals class which is 5 classes spread out in 2 weeks. Fundamentals is exactly what is sounds like, it teaches you the basics of Crossfit. I will have a lot more information for you on Tuesday since Monday evening is my first class.  I'm so stoked about this. I wasn't going to tell you about it until AFTER I had taken the first class, but I couldn't resist myself.

What is crossfit, Wikipedia says: "CrossFit, Inc. is a fitness company founded by Greg Glassman in 2000.^[1][2] CrossFit incorporates high-intensity interval training, olympic weightlifting, powerlifting, gymnastics, strongman exercises and other disciplines" So it encompasses a lot of things. But it looks like this:

This is not the gym I will be attending, I found it on google.

 

 

But each day you have a different Workout of the Day or as people call it "WOD".  And everyone does the same workout, but the weight is up to you and any modifications that you need. From what I have read the goal is to make you stronger and more fit. And if you lose weight in the process then GREAT. I also get this vibe that there is this want and need from people in crossfit to continue to grow and do better each time. So as you do certain things you work on your form more and more and increasing your weight over time. Google it when you get bored. There is a ton of information on it.

Now let me tell you, signing up for Crossfit was quite the experience. I don't get intimidated very easily when it comes to gyms, sports, etc., but here I was almost shaking. Walking into the gym it got real FAST.  They literally work out right near the door and there is no desk or greeter there.  There are just sweaty people working out and this guy yelling out things, (he is yelling because the music is incredibly loud). I felt as small as a mouse.  So I sat there for probably 3 minutes HOPING a trainer would see me (looking like i'm ready to piss my pants) and come say hi. Nope didn't happen.  So I had to ask this guy working out where the trainer was and he just pointed to a guy in a black shirt. That was it. No hello or "yeah, he is right over there, welcome to this glorious place call crossfit. My name is Bob, what is yours?" Okay, no one talks like that except for me in my head. HA. So I finally start to walk toward the trainer (also, i'm in my work clothes and look like a elephant with a heard of cows) and he finally sees me and immediately walks over to me.  At this point he is very friendly and nice.  I don't really remember what he said, but he was nice. He takes my money and puts my name down on a list.  Then tell me he will see me on Monday and goes back to yelling at the people about their form and what not.  I leave there feeling excited and scared shitless at the same time. Come Monday afternoon who knows what I will feel like.  Right now I'm more excited than scared. And please let me remind you, I'm not taking this class with my friends or ANYONE that I know. I'm doing this on my own. And yes it is scary, but it is something I want to do so here I am about to jump into the deep end of the pool for the first time without a friend near by. And I'm okay with that. If I waited for a friend to do this with, it would probably never happen. So I have to make these things happen on my own. Not a big deal. I like to run on my own and I put my big girl panties on to show up to my fundamentals class. Actually, I might wear 2 pairs, just in case. LOL

So with this being said, I'm not going to blog on Monday. I will be back on Tuesday to tell you how the hell crossfit went. Think happy thoughts for me. The nice thing about fundamentals is that EVERYONE is a beginner, so at least I won't be surrounded by this guy:

Although he wouldn't be bad to look at for an hour.

 

See you guys next week. Have a GREAT weekend.

 

PS. if you have any questions about the cleanse please feel free to ask me. not a professional here, but if you have a particular question that I didn't cover please feel free to ask me.





The bad news

So I had to quit the cleanse. :(  I know so sad. I was kicking it's ass too. But Monday afternoon my stomach started to bug me and I thought it was because I didn't have that big of a snack and so I thought maybe I needed to eat more. So I had another snack and that seemed to help for about 5 minutes and then it started hurting again.  Well, I just decided to keep on going and forget about it. Then supper came and I ate all of my dinner (Left overs from the weekend) and went on with my night.  But as the night progressed so did the pain in my stomach. At about 3:00 am I didn't think I was going to survive!! It wasn't like a gut ach, it was full on "I'm going to throw up" feeling. And I did. And then I did again around 8:00 a.m. Now let me state this, I'm 99.99999999% sure that is WAS NOT the cleanse.  There has been a bunch of crap going around and R had some kind of stomach bug 2 weeks ago. So I don't think it was the cleanse at all.

I was going to take just a day off and then hit it hard again today, but then when I woke up I still felt VERY queasy and I knew that I couldn't make myself eat breakfast so there was no way I was going to be able to take the fiber drink. So I knew the whole thing was off at that point. Once again, I'm pretty disappointed in this. Mostly because I was on the freaking downhill of it!!

So what does that mean from here on out.  Well some of you asked about the recipes that I tried this weekend and I'm going to spill the beans now.  They were all paleo recipes.  I was trying to find some recipes that were low carb and clean for the cleanse and I ran across this website Paleomg.com. I started reading a bunch of her recipes and most of them sounded delicious. Not only does she give out these great recipes, but she also blogs about her every day life. LOVE IT! SOLD!!! So I tried a few this weekend. Like the Caramel Apple Pancakes shown here( Recipe found here):

I didn't make the caramel though, I thought that might be pushing the limits for the cleanse. But they were VERY yummy.  Actually better than the pancake mix that I normally use.  I didn't use your normal wheat flour, I used coconut and tapioca flour instead. And it workout AWESOME. and it is just better for you.

Then I tried the chocolate coffee chia breakfast pudding. It turned out like this:

And it was yummy as well. Now I have NEVER had Chia before, but I know that they are healthy, but I wasn't sure how to use them. Well now I do and it turns out they can be used in a tasty recipe.

Then there was the pork recipe that I most excited about because I thought Jed would fall in love with it, (crockpot pulled pork chili) It looked something like this:

I added the egg though, I thought it would be yummy with an egg. AND IT WAS! But Jed thought it needed a starch and in the end I think what he was missing was the beans.  Normally when we have Pork chili we have beans and tortillas to go with the meal, but not this one. So next time I make it, I will make some beans with it. Jed is a meat and potato guy, but the potato part is what gets me into trouble EVERY TIME! But I know there are healthier ways to make beans so I am going to try that next time.

But there you have it. Those were my new recipes. What does this mean going forward?  Well I'm going to try my best to stick to a paleo diet and see where that takes me.  I mean come on, if I can have those pancakes up there and STILL lose weight, then I'm in. If you are intrigued, give her website a look. I DO NOT KNOW THIS PERSON, I SIMPLED STUMBLED ACROSS THIS! But every time I come back to her website, I fall more and more in love with it.

Also, I am going to weigh myself tomorrow and that will be my final weigh in for the cleanse. And I will probably take pics either tonight or tomorrow night. And I will let you know what I actually think of the cleanse, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Have a good week folks!!

Don't wish for this, it is bad. I promise!!!

 



Also, sorry for the repeat pics. I didn't want to steal photos off of paleomg's website (which are MUCH better) so I just re-used mine. And no they aren't pretty, but they were yummy!

There is a first time for everything

So I headed into the weekend really not knowing what it would hold for me. I was worried that I COULDN'T stick to my cleanse and that some how I would screw up my 7 mile run.

And the best way to explain my weekend is through pics, so enjoy!

Made from scratch cinnamon apple pancakes. ALL CLEAN INGREDIENTS!

 

And shortly after this, I headed to bed and watched Grey's Anatomy. I know, exciting! The pancakes were seriously the best part of the night. Even Jed liked them!! These will be made again!

 

Started Saturday morning with some Laziness, which was A OKAY in my books. And then I had this:

 

This is a Chia pudding recipe and it turned out REALLY good as well. Once again, it was allowed by my cleanse!

 

 



 

Saturday night's dinner. I thought was SUPER yummy. Jed thought it NEEDED a starch, like rice to go with it.  I thought it was GREAT by it self, but apparently next time we make it I will have to serve either rice or beans with it. Either way, it will be made again as well.

 

 

Then, we were invited to come over to a friend's house for drinks. I thought about avoiding all social things with alcohol, but decided against that. You have to live your life. I did awesome and didn't have a drop of alcohol.

 

Sunday afternoon, I SLOWLY jogged my 7 miles. FIRST TIME EVER TO GO PAST 6 MILES. I ran in the stinking wind and it was HARD, but I did it. I wanted to stop several times and I did ONCE to walk for about a tenth of a mile. The wind got so bad in one spot I felt like I was running in place. So I walked until I got to my turning point and knew the wind would be pushing me instead of working against me. I don't feel bad about walking at all!

 

 

I have never burned more than 1,000 calories in a work out. BOOM, NAILED IT!

 

Came home and cuddled with this guy! Because honestly that is all I could do!! LOL My legs were shot after running. And I'm wearing flats to work today for that reason. They are still exhausted from yesterday's run.

 

So all in all, I had a GREAT weekend. I achieved things I wasn't sure was possible. And I learned a few things as well. ONE: you have to work out during the week. After my run, I was spent for the rest of the evening. What a waste.  This week I'm going to work on lifting and running to gain some strength for these long runs. TWO: If I set my mind to do something, it is actually possible to come true. THREE: I can make it a whole weekend without drinking and not be sick, pregnant, or unconscious. LOL

 

Next weekend I have 8 miles to run. It just gets scarier and scarier folks. But I know I can do it. It may not be pretty, but I'm in this. I am going to run this half marathon and more than likely this won't be my last one!

 

Have a good week folks. And I will talk about the recipes in my next post. There was just too much to share to fit in one post. That is strange! LOL I will also have a conclusion on my cleanse on Friday.

 

And since I'm on an ecard roll, why stop now!! LOL 





Almost quit the cleanse.

Okay so today is day 4 of the cleanse and I have to say.........

NOT BAD!!!!

I have stuck to the rules and limitations on the food and as of today I'm pretty darn happy with myself. If I have learned anything from this cleanse it is that I can eat clean and not die of starvation or boredom.  Now yesterday I was singing a different tune so who knows by Monday I may have thrown in the towel, but I am hoping not. 

What was the deal with yesterday?? Well there was snow on the ground and it was colder than I expected and I was just grumpy.  With it being cold I REALLY wanted my coffee with my yummy creamer in it. Then I got frustrated because I couldn't find a report that I needed for work and I knew I would have to ask someone, which made me grumpier.  Not because it wasn't were it was suppose to be, but because I would have to ask for help. I HATE asking for help, I am my mom's daughter!! In my head, I should be able to handle EVERYTHING on my own. So the idea of asking for help just really got me going and all I wanted to do was eat something sweet or a sandwich. And by sweet I mean something with chocolate on it! But I didn't! I was tired as well and I couldn't tell if it was from the cleanse or from the lack of sleep the night before.  But there were times I just about said, to hell with this shit, I'm going to hunt down a Reese's peanut butter cup egg and eat the shit out of it. But I didn't.  Also, there were some Oreos staring at me, beckoning for me to eat them with a cold cup of milk. But I put those bitches back in the cabinet and said no! I don't think they will be bothering me tonight. HAHAHA.

Today is a different day because:

• The sun is shining and it is FINALLY starting to warm up (and yes I know another cold front is coming tomorrow :( But i'm focusing on today). 
• I have tons of energy and would rather be any where other than my desk at work.
• Jed is home!!!
• It is Friday
• And I'm super proud of myself for NOT giving up yesterday. 

There was a point last night that I thought about just coming up with an excuse and quitting. But then I thought I would have to own up to it on here. I just couldn't do that! I didn't want to say I quit something else AGAIN.  So here I am eating one of the oddest things I have ever had!

I am pretty mad, I had a pic of my before and when I was going to put it on here, it magically disappeared. So you get a pretty much finished plate of spaghetti squash and asparagus. 

Yeah that is spaghetti squash and asparagus with Sriracha on it. It is odd, but it isn't bad.  I would go as far to say that I would eat this again. It is Lent so I couldn't have the spaghetti meat sauce that I had the other night so this is what I came up with. Odd, yes! Good, yeah. I will go as far to say, it is good.

Also let me tell you that I have lost weight.  I got on the scale this morning and I was pretty darn pleased with myself.  I am not going to tell you what the scale said, I am going to wait until the end to give you all the details.  I did take some before photos and I will post them at the end as well.  I am hoping my after pics will be noticeably different, but who knows I may look exactly the same.  That is okay because I feel pretty darn good and I have a different attitude towards food. 

Speaking of food, I have some new recipes that I want to try out and they look freaking good. I don't think I will have to adjust them for Jed and R either. So that is a huge plus in my book! I will do my best to take pictures and post the recipe if they turn out good.

Also, this weekend I have to run 7 miles. New territory for me. I'm excited and scared ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

Wish me luck!! Not only for the run, but because I can't have any alcohol this weekend. This morning I was thinking there was nothing better than sitting at home with a glass of wine and watching last night's Grey's Anatomy. And then BOOM, it hit me. I can't have the wine. I'm a little sad.  But really think it will all be worth it in the end!!

Folks have a good weekend.

cleanse

I Just wrote this HUGE post and just deleted it.  It got too long winded, you are welcome.

I started the cleanse yesterday, yes that is a Tuesday. For all you who have to start things on Monday will just have to get over.  Not starting on a Monday doesn't bother me one bit.

How is it going?? Well, pretty darn good so far. No complaints. Yesterday's meals were pretty boring because I didn't end up meal prepping, but I still ate with in my limits and felt good about NOT cheating.

How is it with NO coffee? Ummm okay. I like coffee just because it is hot and it is FREAKING cold here. Okay it is starting to warm up a little but you aren't going to see me in shorts any time soon. I like coffee because it warms me up and I'm almost always cold. So I miss that part of it, but other than that my Spark is doing just fine in the morning.

Why now? If I didn't do it now, then it wasn't going to happen. I just know this. I'm glad I did it.

What are you eating? Like I said yesterday was pretty boring, but here it is:
Breakfast: protein shake
Snack: almonds
Lunch: grilled chicken salad with salsa
snack: carrots
Dinner: scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, and Ezekiel muffin (all with Siracha, yumm!)

So yeah nothing too exciting except for dinner, I love that meal. R had pancakes last night, so that was easy enough.

Today, I'm mixing it up a little bit more:
Breakfast: Protein shake
Snack: apple with Almond butter ( I forgot how much I love this snack)
Lunch: Tuna salad with celery
Snack: boiled eggs (I think, I can't remember what is in my lunch bag)
Supper: Spaghetti squash with organic spaghetti sauce and lean beef. I think I might have some asparagus too.

Why is eating better now and not 2 weeks ago? I. HAVE. NO. FREAKING. CLUE. LOL Ummm, I honestly think it is because I want to know if this works and I don't want to half ass it. I wish I could have turned a new leaf on my own, that is why I was so hesitant to get this cleanse in the first place.  If you eat clean you will lose weight, end of story. You don't need a cleanse to lose the weight, but it pushes you in the right direct and help aids you. Plus I want to get rid of some of my cravings for processed food and this should help with that.

What was your starting weight? 176.6 and I didn't take any measurements yet, I'm hoping to do that tonight.

Are you tired? Nope. I'm doing just fine.

Are you jealous of your husband because he is Vegas? Yes, Yes I am! Jed is there for work of course, but man oh man, I would love to feel the warmth of Vegas right now. Oh well, it will be 105 degrees here before I know it!

I will keep you updated on the cleanse. Feel free to ask me any questions you have. I know getting down to 169.99999999999 is probably not the best goal, but I REALLY freaking want to see the 160's again. I'm hoping this is going to help steer me in the right direction. Also, P90X and I have a date tonight. I haven't heard Tony in a while and I have a feeling that nothing has changed and I'm going to be cussing at him the whole time!!

No, I'm not giving up my gym membership, but with Jed being out of town doing P90X at home is easier than trying to find someone to watch R.  Yes, there are people who are willing, but that cuts into my time with him.  I don't think I will find someone willing to come to the house at 4:45a.m. or at 9:00 p.m. So P90X it is. Which is fine, I have been wanting to add that into the mix any ways. :)

Have a good week folks!

The dreaded 6 miles

Okay, so with this whole half marathon training I save my longer runs for the weekend. And in my dream world I would be able to run outside for these longer runs.  This past weekend I knew running outside wasn't an option. If you live in KS then you know why, if not, let me tell you that it has been down right frigid here and on Saturday it started to snow. But I was determined to get my 6 miles in on Saturday.  So this meant I could either look like Ralph

Or hit the treadmill. It was a CLOSE call, but I headed for the gym to get on that horrible dreadmill. Let me tell you that the longest distance I have ran on a treadmill has been somewhere around 4 miles and those 4 miles were the HARDEST 4 miles I have ever ran so my expectations of actually running 6 miles continuously were pretty small. It went something like this:

Mile 1 - Alright, I'm rocking this treadmill
Mile 2 - SOMEONE SHOOT ME! I CAN'T DO THIS!!
Mile 3 - hummmm, did I just run another mile. wow, good for me!
Mile 4 - How do I possibly still have 2 more miles of this?? Seriously, I'm not going to make it.  If I make it to end of this mile I will call it quits.
Mile 5 - Hey lookie, I made it to mile 5. Man, I might actually be able to do this!!
Mile 5.55 - Treadmill shuts off!! WHAT THE HELL!!

Okay so at mile 5.55 my treadmill seriously shut off and I don't know why. I probably looked hilarious because I was hitting every possible button on that thing and yet, it never turned back on. So I grab my head phones and water bottle and run to another treadmill. Get it going and force myself to finish the rest of that mile. And to my amazement I jogged 6 whole miles. I didn't think it was possible.  I have not ran/jogged 6 miles since before I got married which was in 2006. And even back then, I was amazed that ANYONE could run 6 miles let alone myself. Let me add that after running 6 miles back in 2006, I quit running. Why?? Well because I had purchased a dress that didn't need any alterations.  And after that long run I tried it on again and to my amazement it was getting bigger. I knew that I either needed to dial back or go pay to have it altered, but it was stupid and lazy and decided to stop running. Fast forward to wedding day - dress was a little snug. STUPID DECISION!  But back to the present - I was so freaking happy with myself. People always tell me that running is a mental game.  And I agree, but it has been a mental game I couldn't win. UNTIL NOW! I mean seriously, if you told me a month ago that I would be running 6 miles on a treadmill I would have thought you were crazy.  I struggle to run 2 miles on a treadmill, but I was determined to get that 6 miles in on Saturday. 

(sorry this is a little gross, but too funny to NOT share!)

So how did this actually happen?  Well, I told myself that I was going to either run or walk 6 miles. If I had to take walking breaks then that was OKAY. If I had to stop completely and go lift or go do something else in the gym for a few minutes to get a break and then hop back on to finish then that was fine too!  But in every scenario I gave myself, the end result was 6 miles. So when it came time to get on the treadmill I knew what my goal was and I had several different plans to reach that goal, I knew I could do it. So when things started to get rough at mile 2, I told myself that at mile 3 I would stop and walk or get off completely and go get a drink.  But surprisingly at mile 3, I didn't need that break any more.  So I said the next time I start to struggle I will take a break.  So when mile 4 hit and I was started to dread the next two miles I decided to slow down the treadmill by one hit of the button. That HELPED and by the end of that mile I was getting bored and felt good, so I hit the button again, but to speed it up this time. And I hit that button a couple different times.  Sometimes I felt like going faster and so I did and other times I NEEDED to slow it down.  But letting myself adjust my speed helped me at times of boredom or when I thought I needed to stop. And then when my treadmill completely stop (for what ever reason) I knew that I had it in me to finish so I asked myself, "Why not finish then??" and I didn't have an answer.  So I switched treadmills and finished what I had come there to do.

Now I know that some runs are better than others.  BELIEVE ME I KNOW THIS!! But remember if you are having a bad one, then the next one will probably be out of this world AMAZING! Stay with it. Do what you can with what you got and the next run will reward you back.

So this Saturday is 7 miles and I will be in a whole new territory.  I HAVE NEVER RAN 7 MILES STRAIGHT. EVER!! I am hoping to achieve this run outside (because I want to enjoy this run and achievement while it is actually happening). But it is good to know that I have other options, like the dreadmill. Yeah, me and the treadmill are NEVER going to be friends, but we can be acquaintances.

Also, an update.  I was going to start the cleanse today, but since Sunday was full of nothing but laziness I didn't make it to the grocery store or do any meal prepping. So That means I will start tomorrow. Which is good because Jed will be out of town for a few days and I can focus on a CLEAN super and not worry about adjusting it for him. R can either eat what I'm eating (which I am hoping is the case) or I will adjust it for him.  But that is easier than adjusting it for Jed because Jed wants all the stuff I can't have on the cleanse and it just tempts me too much. So plan is to start tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Well I hope y'all had a great weekend and are looking forward to this awesome week.  I saw awesome because we might make it out of the freezing temperatures.  It is suppose to warm up in my neck of the woods and this girl couldn't be happier.

My thoughts exactly! Have a good week folks!