Reflections

So here it is. The obligatory NYE post. New Years is a time for reflection, and this year that means more to me than it ever has because in 2009 I actually changed my life. I didn't do it on purpose and I didn't actually expect to do it, but last year my New Years Resolution was to lose weight. (Like the other 50 percent of the world...) I didn't know how to do it. I didn't set specific goals (at first). I didn't have direction. I just did it. Decision by decision. Choice by choice. And now it's a year later, I'm at a happy, healthy weight, I've made working out a part of my life, and I can honestly say I have never been happier.

It was last new year that was a final straw for me. Getting ready for the party, I felt fat in absolutely everything and I couldn't shake how awful I felt as I ran in 2009. 2010 is much different!

Just last night I was talking to some of my friends about working out and I said that the hardest part about it is that when you work out, you have to put yourself first. So many people have this difficulty in working out because working out can be selfish. It's taking time for yourself to benefit yourself. There are a billion reasons not to do it, but once you accept that YOU come first and you have to take care of yourself, a lot of the pieces of life start to fall into place. Now this might be getting a bit more philosophical than it should, but I've thought a lot about this this past year. There are a lot of times when I want to stay at home with Jack, or you have to cancel plans to get to the gym or whatever it is, but on some level you are telling the world that you're worth it and you need to take this time for yourself. And once you do that, you feel liberated.

For some people this is easier, for others it's harder. And I know that there are a lot of circumstances about my life that make this easier for me than others (I don't have kids, I can workout over lunch, etc). But I can honestly say that in 2009 I learned how to make myself a priority and how to take care of myself.

I am by no means perfect and have a long way to go, but for me, falling in love with working out has made many other areas of my life a lot better and I find myself being generally happy about 99 percent of the time. And that is a pretty big accomplishment!

I can say that I was the happiest I've been in my life in 2009 because I put myself first. And I can't wait to see what I accomplish in 2010! I'm excited to ring in the new year with a fresh outlook on life.

Post Christmas Update

The holiday is over. Back to normal, right? Well not quite for me. I still have this whole week off! But I wanted to do a post-Christmas update. I had an absolutely wonderful holiday. Lots of family time, lots of love, and being spoiled by presents! What's better!

This holiday really showed me how much I've changed since last Christmas. I avoided desserts, made sure to get my work out in (even raced home to get a run in before a family party!), and got a lot of presents that will help bring my healthy journey into 2010.

Here the two I was most excited about receiving!

Running tights! I would like to attempt running outside in the cold and everyone and their mother seems to have these around the lakes. Now I'm legit right? Now I just have to use them....

Women's Health: The Daily Fix.

Book of nutrition tidbits, "what to do when" situations, and tips. Can't wait to read. I will for sure blog about this when I get to it!

My Christmas meals were not as much of a landmine as I thought they would be. I had a few meatballs, some mashed potatoes, and a great beef roast, but nothing too outrageous. And I went to the gym for 2 hours on Dec. 26th :-)

Did everyone enjoy all the snow we had here? Went out to enjoy the winter wonderland and took some pictures.

Brother Rob and I went out to play in the deep snow! We both commented on what an exercise this was! It was so deep!

Of course Jack loved the snow too. He was running like a deer to get through the snow. It was fun to watch!

Now back to my week off. Not sure how often I'll be updating, but I'll be back before 2010 to reflect on the past year, 'cause I had a good one!

Merry Christmas!

Well, that is a bit premature, but I don't think I'll be blogging again before the big holiday. My computer at home is kaput for the moment, so after today (my last day at work in 2010!!!) I'll be off the grid until my new power cord arrives in the mail.

I figured out my holiday scheduled while on the elliptical this morning and I'm happy to report that holiday parties and working my second job will NOT interfere with my workout schedule. I took the day off tomorrow (have to use up my vacation!) so I can get a nice workout in before working my second job at night. Then I work the morning of Christmas Eve, but have a nice break between that and my first family party. I'm hoping to hit up the Chanhassen Snap. Sooo nice! Maybe my brother will join me? Christmas Day might be a bit tight, but that can be my rest day for the week because I have nothing. Nada. Zilch. on my calendar after that.

Plus I have the whole week after Christmas off! Days off are a bit scary because I find myself sitting on the couch with no motivation. You'd think since I have unlimited time I'd spend it doing a nice workout, huh? But I find more than anything, when I have a day off it is 10 times harder to get to the gym. So let's just hope I get there, right?

And a new year is on the horizon, which has me thinking about my resolution last year: to drop 45 pounds. Well guess what? It's almost been a year and I'm still not there! But I'm working on it...most of the time! But this time of year has me doing a lot of reflecting, which I'm culminating into a blogpost of course, so you'll have to read about that later!

But Merry Christmas dear readers (or Happy Hanukkah, but I missed that already...). I'll catch y'all on the flip side.

Winter Workout

I had the day off on Friday (hence, the no blog post) and it was about 20 degrees out. And the sun was shining. So I decided it was a perfect day to attempt an outdoor run.

If you would have asked me a year ago to run outside, I would have stormed away from you. I've always been scared of running when it's cold out because my lungs hurt, the phlegm builds, my nose runs, etc. But I'm willing to try things now. So I went for it. Put on multiple layers and headed outside.All geared up! Nice pose, huh?

I set out thinking I would just head to Lake of the Isles (3 mile run as opposed to the 5-miler around Calhoun) but once I got out there, I felt kind of good. So I hit Calhoun. I figured if it got bad, I'd just walk.

They only plowed the bike trail! Eek this meant a longer run. But the trails were nice and empty!
Jack says hi!

It really was gorgeous out. But I got tired thinking that I had to get ALL the way over there!

So I alternated between running and walking and took a moment to take in the view.

When I was walking too I tried my Walk 50 steps, Lunge 10 system. Which left my legs nice and sore the next day. And my heart rate was kept up when walking because of the lunges and, I think, because of the cold air!

Yay done! And freaking exhausted. 800 calories, gone! (I normally burn about 700 on this route, so I must have been pushing it extra hard!)

Morning Workout

Today I have a busy one. Gotta work on a project that is going to keep me busy all day, we have our holiday company lunch, and then I'm going out to dinner with friends. Last night I worried, when the heck was I going to squeeze the gym in?

Then I realized: In the morning! Duh!

I blogged about loving a.m. workouts, and I still do, but ever since the windchills reached negative numbers, I haven't been too eager to get out of my flannel sheets. And when I was doing my morning workouts, I kind of missed going over my lunch hour. If only for the reason that it gives me a boost of energy in the afternoon.

Well this morning I got out of bed at 6 a.m. and hit the gym. I had left my workout shoes at work so I went in my old tennis shoes. (Ya know, the ones that gave me blisters up the yahoo!). I wanted to run so I thought: 'I'll just see how long I can go without pain.' That was about 20 minutes. And I'm OK with that. The bottoms of my baby toes were on fire! So then I did the elliptical for 25 minutes. All in all, I feel like it was a good workout! And I love catching some Saved by the Bell! Plus, burning 460 calories before 7 a.m. is enough of an accomplishment for me! And I'm glad I got a workout in, two of my three meals today are eating out so, um, calories?!?! Yes.

Motivation = 0

Yesterday was not a banner day for me. I ate just fine, but getting to the gym was a struggle.

I didn't make it to the gym over lunch. Just had no motivation and hanging around the office seemed like a better option. Which is a little scary since I'm almost always excited to hit the gym over lunch. But I just blamed it on a rare day.

I had a car appointment to deal with a flat tire and my gym is about one block from the Tires Plus. So I brought my gym clothes to the car place, but really just wanted to sit in the waiting room and read my book. Well, the decision was made for me when the mechanic said it'd be a few hours. Geez! So I reluctantly grabbed my gym bag and headed down the block.

But my workout session was lackluster. I did the bike for 30 minutes. Most of which was spent reading a magazine and not breaking a sweat. Then I did some weight lifting, but decided I'd had enough after about 15 minutes. So nothing to brag about, but at least I got there? Right?

Anyway, my lack of wanting to do anything yesterday scared me a little bit. When I hit days where I don't want to go to the gym (about once/month) I instantly get worked into a frenzy that makes me think that I'm going to quit the gym for the bajillionth time in my life.

Well, not anymore! I have my gym stuff packed. I'm going over lunch. I'm going to hit the treadmill. And I'm going to eat decent all day! So there motivation! :-)

P.S. I brought V8's Butternut Squash soup for lunch. Have I told y'all how much I LOVE this stuff? looooovee. And 180 calories for the whole thing. And it's a big enough portion to keep me full!

Oh P.P.S. A little housekeeping: I'm not sure how many of you find me via Facebook and Twitter, but I normally post a link to my blog on those websites so people know I've updated. Well, it's kind of pointless since I update almost every M-F. So I'm done posting those links. I feel like it's a little unnecessary. So bookmark me, or check back often, for updates!

Anti-Soda!

While everyone knows that soda is bad for you, many of us people (trying to be healthy) drink diet soda thinking that 0 calories = no health problems. (Yes, I've fallen victim to this my whole life). So yes, diet soda isn't as "bad" for you as full-calorie (sugar-laden) soda, it should still be avoided. Nothing beats water!

The video I'm about to post is so incredibly disturbing (I gagged!) but it gets the point across. It's a NYC Health Ad. And it's sooo gross.

Enjoy!

Holiday Parties!

Well I don't know about all of you, but holiday party season is officially in full swing for me. While these can be a dieters landmine, I did OK this weekend at both of the parties I went to. I also ate HUGE meals beforehand so I wouldn't be hungry. Probably not the best solution, but it kept (most of) my snacking at bay.

And this holiday season I've picked up something I've never really enjoyed before: drinking wine. While I am not really a big fan of red (yet!), I like white wine more and more with every glass I drink.

I know that wine is nothing but empty calories (like all liquor) but with a group of friends and a holiday party, how could I resist?

After a few (well, more than that?) glasses last night I was interested in the calorie count of wine. Here she is: 85 calories per 3.5 oz (about a glass). Not too bad. Most beer is about 100 so yay! ha.

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Also, due to the holidays and the general economy, I'm spread thin money-wise right now. Who isn't!?! But I think two good things are going to come out of this: I'm trying with all my might to not eat out. Really, I'm going to try. And I don't think I'm going out on the town until New Year's. My upcoming weekends are pretty busy with my second job and I just spend too much damn money when I go out. I'm hoping these two things not only help my wallet, but my waistline! It can't hurt, right?!

Fail

Well I didn't do so well last night with the bajillion temptations around my house. Ended up eating THREE Christmas cookies. Oh well. Just gotta pick myself up again, right? And I did track my calories, I didn't go too much over. But I have to admit, I was mucho disappointed in myself. Why is it that once that cookie enters my brain I can't get it out until I eat one?!? What is that?!?

I switched up breakfast a bit. We were out of milk so cereal was out the window. Instead I had two pieces of peanut butter toast (with the 12 grain light bread I LOVE) and a banana. Comes out to about 300 calories, about the same for a bowl of cereal. And I feel like this breakfast was much more well rounded. Fruit: check. Protein: check. Carbs: check. Perfect breakfast? Ha, maybe not but it was kind of fun to switch it up.

And I think I may have found a (kind-of) solution to my damn sweet tooth. Jolly Ranchers! These were at my gym the other day (yeah, I found that odd too) and I grabbed a cherry one. My absolute fave. I remembered that I had that Jolly Rancher at about 2 in the afternoon (right when snack cravings hit me the hardest). Well I popped it in my mouth and was instantly happy! And didn't have one more snack craving the rest of the day! I know that these aren't "good" for me, but it got my mind off of grazing for food and satisfied my sweet tooth. I bought a bag yesterday. Just need to make sure I limit myself. They're only about 25 calories a piece, but that can add up. Especially since they're all sugar! But for the time being, I'll take 'em.

Ahh! Temptation!

Yesterday I have to say that I did a fab job. I watched the calories of everything I put in my mouth and I worked out. My Spark goal for calories is 1240-1590 per day. Yesterday I raked in 1,441 calories, right on target!

But that's not to say I didn't struggle with some pretty sweet temptations.

I had tracked what I was having for dinner already in SparkPeople and that's all I was going to eat the rest of the day. I was fine with it...until I walked into my kitchen. These were staring right at me.

Ahh! I don't even like Reese's all that much, but dang these are hard to look at without craving!

But I forged on and continued to make my pre-planned dinner. But then I turned around and these two things were staring at me:

The ever-present box of yummy delish baked goods! Ahhh!

And yum banana bread made by Nicole. I repeat, Ahhh!

PLUS:

I knew all of these cookies (and then some) were upstairs, waiting for me to devour them.

My house is full of baked-good landmines right now! While I avoided them all last night, it seriously required me to be in the room away from them and think about something else! The problem isn't that I want to eat 20 cookies or something, it's that once I see them, I want them and that gets non-stop sweets cravings into my head. And I'm constantly craving sweets without having to see them everywhere!

But, somehow, I stayed on track and made a pretty standard dinner for me. Lean steak, sweet potato, and broccoli:

This meal is 401 calories. Not bad at all for dinner!

Then Jack and I snuggled up on the couch for the Biggest Loser finale!


Aww. Don't ya just love him?

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Did you guys watch The Biggest Loser finale!? Couldn't believe how great everyone looked! It's crazy! And Danny won! I was really rooting for him. He's been a sweet guy all season (like I know him...) and really wore his heart on his sleeve. And Rebecca won the at-home prize. They both totally looked like different people! Check out some video here

And the best news: the new season starts January 5th! Didn't know that they pump them out that quickly. Just one month! Yay!

Bad. News. Bears.

Well I haven't weighed myself in about two months. I'm not sure why. I guess since I haven't planned on losing anymore weight, I kind of thought it wasn't necessary. Well, what I forgot is that I need to keep an eye on my weight in case it is creeping up. And, damn, it is.

Stepped on the scale this morning and am up exactly 5 lbs. And instead of freaking out and being depressed all day, I am going to take control. So I did something I haven't done in about 8 months, I measured my cereal. And dang, I have been eating waaaay more than 1 cup for breakfast (typical serving size). I'm going to track that cereal in SparkPeople's food diaries and I'm going to pay better attention to what I eat. PERIOD. I know the problem is my diet because frankly I haven't changed a single thing about my workouts except, if anything, I have been working out harder these past few months. But I've been working out harder because my diet has kind of sucked. I NEED to remember that maintaining a healthy weight requires BOTH of these things!!

Being up 5 pounds is not the end of the world. I know this. And my clothes are fitting exactly the same, but I really would like to lose a few more before my upcoming doctor's appointment (one year check up since getting healthier). And with a month to do it, I really think I could.

Weekend Update

Hello all!

How was the weekend? Mine was fantastic. Well, aren't all weekends, great? Yeah, I think so too.

Friday I rushed out of work to go to 12 Bars of Christmas. Had a good time and only made it to three bars. Haha. BUT I'm proud to admit that drunk, horrible eating did not happen. I heated up a 200 calorie enchilada I had in the fridge when I got home :-)

And Saturday I had nothing but free time. Bryan and I went out to breakfast at Uptown Diner. MMM yummy. I do have to admit that since moving to Uptown, the Sat or Sunday breakfast out has become my most absolute favorite thing. Starts the day out right (well, wrong if you add up the calories, but life is short, right??).

And since I had the free time, I knew I would get a good workout in. I spent an hour on the treadmill, but didn't run. I thought I'd try something different. So every 10 minutes I switched different walking speeds. 10 minutes at 3.5 with a 5 incline, 10 minutes at 4.2 with .5 incline, etc. The hour zoomed by (well the trashy programming on MTV helped with that too) and I burned 600 calories! Without running! So that was fun. Nice to know you can get a good workout in without having to really exert yourself bigtime.

Then Saturday night I hit up a party my friend's parents were having. Great time with great friends. Do I have pictures though?? Um no. I forgot to load them onto my computer. I'm great at this whole digital camera thing, aren't I?

Then yesterday Eric and Nikki filled the house with true holiday spirit and baked Christmas cookies all day! I think I only ended up having 3 (hmm I seem to have lost count?) but hopefully they get those packed up into tins and outta the house ASAP.

And we ended the weekend eating out at Chili's (yes, the most unhealthy chain restaurant out there). But I had a pulled pork sandwich and broccoli on the side (no fries!) so I didn't feel too bad about it. And what was nice is that I wasn't stuffed silly afterward, just contently full. What a difference a side makes!

And now onto Monday. I'll add pictures to this post tonight maybe. Sorry, all.

Sweaty Mess

Yesterday it was cold. And dang, was it cold! And winter has just begin. I'm so screwed.

Because I didn't want to leave the house and walk the whole FOUR blocks to the gym, I realized I have all of these great workout DVDs I don't do anymore.

Since we moved to Uptown, we have downstairs neighbors, so I feel really bad doing workout DVDs. I don't own one that doesn't involve some kind of jumping/running in place so I assume I'd annoy the heck out of them. But it was 4:30 in the afternoon and I didn't think they were home so I went for it!

I did Jillian's Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism.

August was probably the last time I did this DVD and dang did I notice a difference! While I was sweaty as a pig, I was able to do every single move. And some of them were a lot easier than I remember. Especially the "up down" (as my trainer called them). You start in a plank position on your elbows and then lift yourself up to a full plank, then back down. Serious arms/shoulders/core on this one and I remember the first time my trainer had me do them, I had to stop at 4!! But I was able to do 2 sets of 20 no problem yesterday! Hmm, am I getting stronger??

But I was super excited (yes, this next sentence will really prove my dork-dom) that I had my new digital camera at hand because I finally was able to post a sweaty workout picture!! PriorfatGirl always posts these and I've wanted to do it, but with no camera it's a little difficult. Well, here she is folks! After 40 minutes of Jillian and 500 calories, here's what I look like! (Actually I looked more sweaty in person, sick) And don't worry, my application for supermodel is in the mail!

Yes, I did!

Well after my post yesterday about signing up for some running events, I actually did it!

I went to Running In the USA and started searching for running events and stumbled upon the Minneapolis Marathon. And I actually did it, I signed up for their half marathon!

Instantly once I hit submit, a surge of excitement came over me. I kind of thought I would be filled will dread and nervousness, nope! Excitement!

The race is on June 6th and I am going to try to do it in 2 hours 45 minuts. I have no idea if I can actually run the whole thing. I have no idea how huge my blisters are going to be. I hae no idea if this will take me 7 hours, but if there's one thing I have learned it's that the old Nike saying is true: Just Do It!

So after signing up for that I was on cloud 9. I picked up my gym bag and headed to the gym over lunch. I was planning on just doing the elliptical, but after knowing I have 13 miles in my future, I wanted to hit the treadmill. And this might have been the best run I've ever had. I was determined, into my music, and kept picturing the finish line of my half marathon! So that 3 miles was a breeze!

Anyway, had to share with y'all my exciting news.

And to bring yesterday even more full circle, I scheduled my annual doctor appointment: the original thing that started me on this health kick. It's early January and I can't wait to see my blood work!

Marathon?!

Did everyone watch The Biggest Loser last night?

It's down to the final four (can't believe the finale is next week, sad!) and again this year they had them run a marathon. Not an easy feat whatsoever and it truly motivated me.

I'm signing up for the Get in Gear Half Marathon! Registration isn't open until mid-December, but as soon as it is open I'm doing it. I figure it will give me the motivation I need to stick with workouts over the winter. I have been looking into this race for a while and originally was just going to take it "easy" and do the 10K, but I think I really want to challenge myself and do a half marathon instead.

Plus, I kind of want to have a Biggest Loser moment. I have yet to accomplish anything super big to celebrate my weight loss and getting healthy. I want to cross a finish line and know that "I did it!" So I'm doing it!

The race is April 24th. Enough time to get some spring outdoor running in beforehand and early enough that it won't be super hot out. The only problem is that my brother and I had talked about doing an 8K in Madison (he goes to school there) on the same day. So I kind of want to give in and do that (it will be more fun...) but we'll see. Either way, I'm racin' that day!

Weight Lifting?!?

I've recently started to incorporate more weight lifting into my workout routine. While I don't necessarily skip cardio on days when I weight lift, I do shorten it. So instead of an hour of cardio, I'll do a half hour and then a half hour of weight lifting. Which sort of makes me feel like I'm getting less of a workout. I know with weight lifting you're supposed to actually strength train and keep your heart rate up by working both upper and lower body at the same time, and while I do some of that, sometimes I don't. I sit down at the chest press or do leg presses. And my heart rate drops.

But I have to say, I think it's paying off.

My arms are definitely more toned in the last few months (of course I wasn't smart enough to start taking measurements at the start of this whole weight lifting thing) and I feel a big difference in my legs (especially my hamstrings, can't tell you the last time I 'felt' my hamstrings). My out of town friend JoeL even commented that I look "tighter" (whatever that means).

But I can't shake the feeling that I shouldn't be weight lifting and I should be all cardio all the time. I know that if you build muscle you burn more calories and my health buff coworker Jane and I talked about doing lower intensity workouts, but I'm still doubting if this is working for me. Was my body ready for this next step??

I think all of this doubt is coming from the fact that my diet still kind of sucks and I'm worried that if I don't burn at least like 500 calories a day, I'll start to gain weight. I'm not sure if they go hand in hand, but I'm up about 2 lbs since I started weight lifting more. And I doubt what I've gained is muscle!

Sorry to get all self doubt on you. I feel like I've heard plenty of opinions on this, so I'm not sure if I even need an answer, just had to share my thoughts!