Scioto Miles 10 Miler

I've decided 10 miles is the perfect race distance.

About a week ago, a friend of mine posted on Facebook that her husband couldn't run the Scioto Miles 10 Mile race and if anyone wanted it, she would transfer it to their name. Since Jess's wedding is this weekend (!!!!) I figured it might be good to get in a long race. She transferred it to my name last Monday and I was at the starting line at 7am yesterday. Needless to say, I didn't train much for this race in the way of getting many miles in. I've only ran about 5 miles at a time since my last half marathons in 2011 but I figured I could walk if I needed to. I also knew I could be running more than 5 miles at a time but I didn't really have any "need" to and this would be a good way to push myself and see if I still had it in me. Good news: I did!

The weather was perfect, the course was easy but with enough hills to make it a little bit of a challenge, and I ran it in 1 hour, 40 minutes, averaging 10 min/mile. I could have gone faster but, like I said, I didn't train so I didn't know how I was going to feel. I felt AWESOME afterwards and like I could have kept going had it been a half. I knew running this race would make me want to run more (since that's how I roll) and as soon as I got home, I started looking up local half marathons coming up. I found one at the end of August, the weekend before football season starts, that I registered for this morning. I've caught the racing bug once again!

Biggest Loser Challenge Complete!

So, I haven't posted in awhile because the website was messed up and wouldn't let me type! WTF!
Anyway, The Biggest Loser Challenge officially ended for the franchise yesterday. Christi is going to take our final measurements and weight next week for our local club. I ended up losing a total of 9 pounds in (technically) 7 weeks. I am definitely happy with those results! I didn't lose much after my first initial weigh-in at the end of week 2 when I lost 8.2 pounds but I knew that would happen due to my change in diet and added workouts. Once my body got used to the new routine, I didn't see as much of a weight-loss change. I honestly am OK with that. I am more concerned about how I look and feel in my clothes than what the number on the scale reads. I'm more excited/anxious to see my measurement results! I feel like I've lost quite a few inches, especially in my stomach and bust (which kinda sucks but I feel some muscles under there!) and I am feeling faster and stronger with every workout.

I am still obsessed with Turbokick and Insanity, which is insane (get it?!) since I was especially terrified to try it and now I cannot get enough. I'm also running less and have adjusted well to working out after work instead of every morning like I used to. I still run about 1-3 mornings a week but since I know a tough, sweaty, ass-kicking workout is awaiting me after work, I don't stress about HAVING to run as much as I used to.

My weekends still need improvement. I think I psych myself out because I work so hard and am so disciplined throughout the week, I kind of lose my mind (literally) on the weekends and will eat a ton because I feel like I "earned" it. Clearly, I'm still working on balance but I feel like I'm in a much better place than I was when I started the whole Biggest Loser Challenge.

Since I plan on continuing Shakeology, I've joined another challenge that Christi starts on August 5. It's all about paleo. Yes folks, I'm going to continue with the paleo diet/life-style. I have really enjoyed how satisfied and full I feel. I do not feel deprived at all and I truly have more energy. After the weekends when I eat less clean, I feel so sluggish and heavy. Once I start back eating clean, I feel so much better and can really tell a difference in my workouts and runs. I'll keep you posted on how it goes!

So there ya have it. I know that if I was a little more disciplined, I would have been able to lose more weight over the course of the 7-8 week challenge. But I think I've made huge strides toward getting back to eating clean, healthy foods and trying new, exciting workouts. I've definitely lost inches and I feel better overall about my appearance and endurance which is the whole point, in my opinion!

3 day cleanse

I SURVIVED...

a 3-day cleanse. But not really. Allow me to explain...

I want to start by saying I'm not a huge fan of "extreme" dieting, juice cleanses, or cleanses in general because I feel like whatever weight you do lose is mostly water weight. The minute you start eating regularly again, you gain all the weight back. Also, this particular cleanse is not meant to be an every-day diet; there is no way a person could sustain his/her health eating like this on a regular basis. However, I decided to bite the bullet and participate in this cleanse because I wanted to challenge myself, explained more below. And, since I am participating in a weight loss challenge, I figured that even if I did just lose water weight, it would be better than nothing. Honestly, I probably wouldn't have done it if I wasn't having my weight loss tracked by someone other than myself but I'm competitive, so here we are.

This cleanse was given to me by Christi, Brickhouse owner, and consists of green tea, three Shakeology shakes a day, two pieces of fruit, and a large salad with veggies and lean white meat protein for dinner (low-fat dressing of choice.) You choose when to drink your shakes throughout the day. I chose to drink one for breakfast (8am), one for lunch (noon) and one after dinner/workout (8pm.) If you aren't doing high-intensity exercise during the cleanse, it is suggested to cut out one piece of fruit. I did go to my Brickhouse classes, no extra runs though, so I ate two pieces of fruit a day.

How it went

Obviously, I was hungry. But that's kinda the point of a cleanse, in my opinion. It probably didn't help that the three days before the cleanse, I ate and drank pretty much whatever I wanted so my body wasn't use to being hungry. Learning to be hungry and being ok with that feeling is one of the hardest parts of losing weight for me. When I say "hungry," I don't mean "starving." I mean not eating something every time I think I feel a little bit of a hunger pain. Some people can do this, snack all day, and they can maintain or lose weight. I have learned that this is not something I can do while trying to reach my goals. I also have a hard time with liquid meals because I miss the chew factor, so drinking 3 out of 4 meals was difficult mentally.

I think I pushed myself a little too hard on the exercise front. Even though I didn't do my usual runs Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, I did do Turbokick on Monday and Insanity and Bodypump Tuesday. I didn't sleep very well Monday night which lead to me being tired and hungry all day Tuesday. Tuesday night, I went to bed hungry (shocking) and then proceeded to wake up every hour from midnight-6am when my alarm went off because my neighbor had people over and they were coming and going all night. I know that doesn't sound like an issue except for the fun fact that my bedroom is right next to the back stairs and our back door has no spring, so it slams shut every time someone uses it. Multiple those slams by at least 5 people who I'm sure enjoyed some adult beverages because they were talking loudly (for 2-3am) and then add a crazy storm, making my apartment even hotter than usual (no A/C, I'm awesome) and what do you get? A very grumpy Lainer. At about 3am, I got up, said "screw this," and ate a banana. At that point I was just too tired, too hungry, and too annoyed to care about any cleanse. I decided at that moment that I would be stopping the cleanse a day early. Call me a quitter, I don't care; losing weight is not worth me being miserable for one more day. So Wednesday morning I got up, packed myself a REAL lunch and my regular snacks and decided 2 outta 3 days ain't bad.

A positive from the 3-day 2-day cleanse is that I've come to realize I get some anxiety about missing exercise that I've mentally scheduled for myself. I usually run Tuesday and Wednesday mornings but I just physically didn't have the energy for it this week. I felt guilty about it for a minute but quickly reminded myself that I wasn't eating enough calories for the extra exercise. A bad habit I've formed over the years is eating something I probably shouldn't and justifying it by saying "oh, I'll just add a run tomorrow" whether or not that run actually happens. More often than not, it didn't happen. I need to get out of the mentality of "exercising it off." It's not a healthy relationship to form with food or with exercise. So this cleanse helped me get real with myself about that, which I'm happy about.

Results

I weighed myself before the weekend and then again Wednesday morning and there was no weight change. I guess it's good that I didn't gain any weight over the weekend but I'm glad I made the choice to stop the cleanse a day early beause it didn't really do much weight-wise. All in all, I'm happy I did it; not necessarily for the weight loss aspect of it, but just to re-adjust and re-group myself. If it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you, and this cleanse was certainly a challenge for me personally. Again, I wouldn't do something like this on a regular basis (or probably again for a LONG time) but I wanted to prove to myself that I could-kinda!

Thankful and Biggest Loser update

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it on here yet but I left my job at The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society last July. I nannied for awhile and when my dad passed away, I realized I needed a job with benefits quickly. By the end of October, I got a job at OSU's James Cancer Hospital scheduling patients with head and neck cancers to see their surgeons in clinic. I've really enjoyed the change; it's definitely different than fundraising for a living, that's for sure! Also, it doesn't hurt that I'm now officially a Buckeye.

Working at The James, a comprehensive cancer center, makes me thankful for my health every day. I know I talk about losing weight and eating/not eating this and that and the other, but every time I lace up my sneaks or go out with friends or eat a whole medium pizza (just kidding, haven't done that in awhile!) I am just glad I have the opportunity to do so. You never realize how much you appreciate your health until you're sick.

Alright, enough depressing talk, let's move on to the Biggest Loser challenge update. We had our 2 week weigh-in at Brickhouse last week. I got weighed after a workout at the end of the day, just like the first time, and I am down 8.2 pounds! I seriously cannot believe it. I mean, I can, since I've been working my buns off (literally), but that seems like a LOT for such a short amount of time! I realize it won't always be as much weight lost but it definitely made me feel great and even more motivated for the remaining weeks ahead. I got a little shout-out on Facebook too:

Nothing like a little friendly competition to light a fire under me I guess!

Good thing the weigh in came before Jess's bachelorette party this past weekend. Not too many "healthy" choices were made which I am completely fine with. I knew this weekend would be happening in the midst of the challenge so I was prepared to let the diet go a little bit. Now I'm doing a 3-day cleanse to get me back on the wagon. I'm looking forward to sweating tonight at Turbokick too!

Catch y'all later!

Eats

First thing's first: I updated Monday's post with the picture I love so much from last year. Tear.

Anyway...in the blog world there is this thing called "What I Ate Wednesday" or WIAW for the veterans. I don't usually participate but since I'm changing my eating habits, I thought I would share my eats from Tuesday. I've also included some examples of what I would eat before since it's a pretty big change. Again, it isn't perfectly paleo but it's as close as I'm gonna get for now.

Yesterday I was up with the sun for a run (rhyme time.) I found my legs at about mile 1.5. I don't usually eat before my morning workouts because I don't have time to digest and also, I'm still half-asleep.

8am

Breakfast was an unsweetened iced coffee with non-fat milk (milk is not paleo) from Starbucks and a Shakeology shake.

I made the shake with one scoop choco Shakeology powder, 1 cup water, ice and 2 tbsp PB2. The PB2 makes the shake taste like a peanut butter cup. No, for real. It's amazing.

Before, I would've had vanilla Chobani with strawberries and peanut butter Cheerios. I think I like the peanut butter cup shake more. I mean, how can you beat a peanut butter cup for breakfast?? Answer: you cannot.

10am

Since my breakfast is liquids I usually feel the need to chew something so I'll have a banana about this time every day.

In case you don't know what a 'nana looks like

Noon

I don't take my lunch break until around 2-2:30pm for work and I like to save my "bigger" meal for that time but of course I'd die of starvation if I didn't eat something in between. Yesterday I had an apple with 1 tbsp sunbutter. Since peanut butter isn't technically paleo, I got this sunflower seed butter that I've seen around the blog world. It's pretty tasty; definitely can tell it's made from sunflower seeds and it's no peanut butter, but it gets the job done. Also a handful of dry roasted almonds.

B.P. (Before Paleo-ish), I would have a string cheese and pretzels. The apple and almonds fill me up way more and I feel more satisfied so the new diet wins this round.

2:30pm

I made this recipe I found on pinterest for lunches for the next few days. I omitted the zucchini, cabbage and mushrooms (yuck!) soo basically it's just turkey sausage, pepper and onion-use what you got! BUT it's really good! I also roasted up a sweet potato in olive oil, garlic salt, and rosemary and added half of that to this dish. Yummy.

Usually, I would pack cottage cheese with tomatoes and/or cucumbers and have something else on the side...fruit, broccoli slaw, etc. Granted, I didn't do the same workouts before, but this new lunch keeps me fueled until dinnertime.

7:45m

I did Insanity and body pump after work so I didn't get home until 7:30pm. I like it quick and easy (TWSS) so I cooked up a turkey burger and topped it with 2 slices of turkey bacon (cannot get ENOUGH), lettuce, tomato and a little light mayo. Apparently you can make your own mayo that is 100% paleo but Hellmann's works for me. On the side was another tomato and some sliced mini bell peppers.

Dinners before is where I would get in to trouble because I would just snack on pretzels, hummus, veggies...basically whatever. Or I would make sweet potato fries, which I still do, but it's nice to switch it up so I don't get bored and/or fall in to the snack trap. I've learned that preparation is KEY for me.

I also had some strawberries and blueberries about a half hour later because they looked so delish when I was washing them.

Overall, a very yummy day indeed!



Weekend with Ella

I've been watching Ella since Thursday night because her parents and brothers went to DC for a start-of-summer trip. They come home tonight and, while I'm ready to get back to my own personal routine, I will certainly miss having a little partner with me. I just love that little peanut. She is so freaking hilarious! I am so thankful I get to spend so much time with her. I know I've talked about it before but I just feel very fortunate for how close my family is and that my brother and sister-in-law trust me enough to watch their daughter over extended periods of time.

Her mullet is out in full force here. I love it.

Last time I watched Ella for a long weekend was last Memorial Day when Jamie and Tiff went out of town for his friend's wedding. My dad would come over every day; he even bought Ella a blow up pool to play in. He sat out in the back yard and filled it with air using a bicycle pump! He also told me I would make a great single mother. I told him that wasn't exactly my goal but I appreciated the vote of confidence. Good ole' Dupe. I miss him.

As far as workouts went, I rode Jamie's bike to the park Saturday and Sunday and I was able to use their elliptical while Ella napped. Let me tell you something: I hate the elliptical. I don't know why, maybe because I can't go the pace I want? At any rate, it's pretty much the worst. But what doesn't challenge you, doesn't change you, so I was glad I did it when the workouts were over. But make no mistake: the whole time I was cursing that stupid machine. I did 30 minutes of PBF's elliptical workout which is all I could take. It was like walking through hills of sand. Awful.

I went off the paleo thing just a smidge this weekend. I stayed away from carbs for the most part and didn't go overboard on the food by any means. I decided I needed a little more sustenance to keep up with Ella. I'm not feeling guilty about it though; it was good weekend all around!

I don't weigh in for The Biggest Loser challenge until next week and I'm kind of anxious to see how I've done so far. I'm really trying not to focus on the number on the scale so much and focus more on how I look/feel in my clothes. I really don't think the weight on the scale is an accurate depiction of one's overall health so I'm glad measurements are included in this challenge, at least locally. Also, I don't think my scale at home is accurate (that's what they all say, right?) Honestly though, when I had my first weigh-in last Monday, I was at a pretty surprisingly high number. But when I weighed myself at home four days later (in the morning sans clothing) I was 9 pounds lighter. Granted, the weigh-in at Brickhouse was at the end of the day in my sweaty clothes after a workout but 9 pounds is a pretty outrageous change for 4 days. I like to weigh myself at home first-thing in the morning, without having eaten anything yet as well. Needless to say, I'm really looking forward to seeing my weight at the gym to see how much I've actually lost so far.

Guess what, y'all??! I signed up for my first race since 2011 (just typing that makes me sad.) I am more than ready to hit the pavement with some fellow running enthusiasts. I registered for the Jazz & Rib Fest 5 miler on Friday, July 19 and I am totally jazzed about it! I've never done an evening race so I'm interested to see how I do. This will be my first race without having my dad at the finish line too; mixed emotions for sure.

Two New Plans: Brickhouse and Paleo

Soo....I've started a new adventure in health and fitness that I'm super excited about.

WW update

I've been doing ok with Weight Watchers. I lost about 12 pounds but hit a bit of a plateau the last 2 weeks. Since my subscription is up in a few days, I decided not to re-subscribe; I kind of have an idea of the points values of most foods and I feel like having that knowledge in my back pocket will help me continue to make smarter choices without having to use (and pay for) the actual WW program. For now, I'm bidding my farewell to J-Hud; good luck with that girl!





Brickhouse

Since the last time we saw each other, I started at a new gym that is conveniently right down the street from where I live. Proximity is a huge factor for me or else I will find any excuse to skip the gym. Brickhouse Cardio Club is located on 5th Ave and it provides the fitness classes that I've been missing since my OU days when I had access to free classes! (Step classes and bootcamp were my JAM.) Brickhouse has most definitely answered my prayers in that area. Classes include bodypump, turbokick, INSANITY, and Zumba. Annndd I'm kind of obsessed. I've done bodypump in the past and it's a great full-body strength workout that I'm very happy to have back in my life on the regular. Most people are familiar with Zumba (it's not my fave) but I never heard of Turbokick before joining Brickhouse. It's a 60 minute strength/cardio class that is incredibly fun, energetic and motivating! After my first class, I was sore all over and I love that because it makes me feel like I got in a high-quality workout. I just did INSANITY for the first time last night and, I have to admit, I was a little (a LOT) scared going in to it because I've heard some horror stories. I finally bit the bullet mostly because it's in a class setting and not on the TV. I really enjoyed it and, honestly, didn't think it was like the hardest thing I've ever done. Admittedly, I could have pushed harder but since I didn't know what to expect, I didn't want to go balls to the wall at the beginning and then run out of steam before the end of the workout. I'm excited to go back and push myself even more. I'll let you know how I feel after that one.

[source]

Of course, I'm still running but it is so nice to have options for when I don't really feel like it. Cross-training FTW!

Biggest Loser Challenge

Brickhouse has fitness studios all across the US that are participating in a Biggest Loser challenge. A winner from each Brickhouse franchise will receive $25 and the overall winner gets $250. Honestly, I don't care that much about the money OR winning; I feel like losing any weight during the 8 week challenge is a win in my book! Our awesome owner/instructor Christi set up additional challenges just for our gym that I am more excited about winning than anything else.

For the national challenge, each participant must attend a class at least three times a week and weigh in every 2 weeks. Christi offered our club different meal plan options to purchase which I jumped all over. If you're a regular reader, you know food is my worst enemy. I bought an optional two-month supply of Shakeology from her and, since I did that, Christi is providing me with meal plans for the duration of the challenge. She follows and promotes the paleo diet. I've heard TONS about this type of eating lifestyle, mostly from the healthy living blogs I follow, but have always shied away from anything that requires cutting out carbs. I feel like it's ingrained in me that since I do so much cardio, I need carbs. But at this point, I'll pretty much try anything and since it's only for 8 weeks, if I hate it, I can go back to my normal eating habits when it's over. So far, I've been pleasantly surprised with how easy it has been to cut out carbs. I'm still eating sweet potatoes and fruit like it's my job and I still allow myself a little bit of dairy- I'm not that hardcore- but, as of today, which is day 3 (only 53 to go! hah) I'm not dying of hunger and I don't feel fatigued throughout the day and during my workouts. We started the Biggest Loser challenge on Monday and we end on July 20. If it goes well, I'm planning on continuing it until Jess and Alex's wedding on August 10. If it doesn't, I'm going to say F it and eat whatever the hell I want. Pretty good plan I'd say.

Terrible split times

Some updates on what last week looked like:

Work outs

I've been running outside in the mornings lately instead of on the treadmill. For some reason, I've always felt like my early morning runs outside are harder than any other time of the day so I have preferred to run on a treadmill when I work out before work. Well, last week it was just too nice to not at least try to run outdoors. After the first morning, I was hooked and ended up doing them all outside. Looks like I have changed my tune about early morning outdoor runs!

Wednesday's run



Friday's split times


My splits are just terrible. I'm trying really hard to slow down at the beginning. I'm not dead by the end of my run, which means I can probably run farther if I have the time. I just need to figure out a reasonable pace!

Food

I ate the most delicious meal last week. I made salsa chicken (look how little Ella is in that post! Tear) in the crock pot and put some on a warm sweet potato with a dollop of plain Chobani. So filling and so tasty! I'm back in my sweet potato phase, which means I'm pretty much eating one a day. Can you blame me? They are amazing and you can eat them in fry form without feeling guilty! Win.

I also made crispy parmesan garlic edamame which is seriously the best snack ever! I really have to watch myself because I could eat the whole thing in one sitting, it is THAT good. Tatum was trying to get in on the action but I wasn't sharing. You can buy frozen shelled edamame at Kroger (it's called mukimame) making this one of the easiest recipes on the planet. If you're a fan of cheese and edamame, jump on it.

WW update

I've been doing a good job sticking to my points and am down one pant size! Still have a long way to go but I'm heading in the right direction at least.

Have a great Monday!

Back In The Game

Guess who's back?!

I've had a few people ask me recently to start blogging again and I finally feel like it's time to get back at it. I have a lot to share and actually have some time to share it!

My life has changed drastically since the last time I was blogging semi-regularly. I posted about it but didn't really share it. Anyway, as we know from my previous posts about how I deal with a personal loss, I tend to eat a lot and work out less. It's no excuse but it's time I take charge again. I didn't gain as much weight with the passing of my father as I did when my mom died, but I have still packed on some lbs. I'm working toward getting rid of them for my friend Jess's wedding! Nothing like having to be in someone's wedding pictures to get my rear in gear, that's for sure. Apparently I need all my friends to get married a year apart to keep me motivated. Whatever works, amirite?


"If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always gotten." (I've seen this quote credited to multiple people, so we'll just go with anonymous.)

This quote rings so true for me lately. I've always thought I could lose weight on my own. Well, clearly, that ain't the case. I finally bit the bullet and signed up for Weight Watchers. I don't know why I was so "against" it for myself; I know lots of people who have joined it and have been successful losing weight (and keeping it off!) but I always thought I knew how to eat healthy and knew the right things to eat when I wanted to lose weight. I guess I realized, why work so hard when I can pay something else to do it for me!

So far, I really like it! I've always counted calories and that can be so stressful, annoying and discouraging. I love the Weight Watchers points system; it makes figuring out what I want to eat so much easier. I also love that you "earn" points for working out. I really don't have a problem working out on my own; I can run pretty far, I just can't stop at 2 slices of pizza. Go big or go home, right? Well, not so much in the kitchen. I've been "on the program" for 5 weeks and have lost 6 pounds. Just call me Jennifer Hudson, y'all!

I'm feeling really encouraged and excited about my new goals and can't wait to share some awesome recipes I've been loving lately. I don't know how often I will post since my computer at home punked out on me, but I'm hoping to keep it updated fairly regularly, just like the good old days.

As always, life is a journey and I appreciate anyone who cares about mine! Have a great weekend!