PMS: Post Marathon Syndrome

It has been a month since the Utah Valley marathon and I am still not feeling the love for long runs or training. The other day I read a post by Hal Higdon about Post-Marathon Syndrome, or PMS.  I have decided that this is what I am suffering from.  I have the Pocatello Marathon on my calendar for August 31, but I can't wrap my head around training for it.  The training for the Utah Valley Marathon was so intense and focused and time consuming, that I am not ready to do it again.  Also my leg is still giving me some problems and I don't want to aggravate it more with long runs.

I am loosely following Brian Mackenzie's crossfit approach to running, but other than that I am doing whatever I feel like doing. For example, this week I did 2 speedwork sessions (the max was 4 miles), I went to 3 kettlebell classes, swam 1/2 mile, went on a 6.8 mile walk/hike, and attended a Pilates class. On Saturday, instead of going for a long run, I let my friend, Monica, kick my butt at the gym.  After a warmup on the treadmill we did a fitness test.  We did 1 minute of push ups, 1 minute of crunches and 1 minute of Burpees. We both kept a log of our results and then we will do it again to see if we are improving our fitness. We are still trying to decide how frequently we want to do the fitness test.  I suggested monthly and then we could try to get at least one more/minute each month.  After a warmup and the fitness test, she put me through her 1 1/2 hour long kettlebell boot camp. I'm really sore now, but it was tons of fun.

I wanted to do the fitness test because I recently realized that my 36th birthday is less than a month away. When I started this journey back in September, I made it one of my goals to be the most fit in my life by my b-day.  The only problem is that I really didn't set out any parameters to gauge my fitness.  I do feel like I am more fit, all of my clothes are loose on me, my body fat is down, I have lost a bit of weight, and I have set PRs in my race times.  All of these are good indicators of fitness, but I think that the fit test will help me to have a starting point for the next year of goal setting.

Last week I decided that it was time to take action with my diet.  I realized that I had eaten some kind of sweet everyday the week before and I caught myself drinking more and more Diet Coke or Dr. Pepper.  I have read that you should eat to look good, feel good, and to better your performance. So I decided that I needed some motivation and accountability. If I eat any type of sweet- including dark chocolate and soda- I have to pay Monica $5.  I started this challenge on June 29 and I'm going to do it until my birthday on July 27.  I know it probably seems crazy, but I have made it a week without sweets or soda. On any normal week this wouldn't be too terrible, but my husband and I have had tons of family in town with tons of family gatherings and tons of sugary temptations.  I was able to stick it out though and I am so glad that I did.

I threw this challenge out to my book club.  Sarah said that she would try and Libby said that if she tried to do this she would be setting herself up for failure. I replied to Sarah with my favorite quote from Yoda "Do or do not, there is no try."  My response to Libby was that I don't see it as setting myself up for failure, but for success. When I eats sweets and drink soda, I feel guilty, but I have never felt guilty when I have not eaten them. This week when I contemplated eating a piece of cake, drinking a Diet Dr. Pepper or eating a M&M, I remembered that guilt (and the $5) and it made it so much easier to walk away.  I figure that I saved at least 500 calories per day by not eating sweets this week.  I'm sure that I wasn't in a caloric deficit since I still ate plenty of other foods that I usually don't eat, like dip & chips and pasta salad, but it is a step in the right direction.

Lessons Learned

This week we finished up the 6 Figures Challenge.  I met with my trainer, Evelyn, this morning for my final measurements.  I was terrified to find out my results.  I already knew from my scale and from how my pants were fitting, that the changes would be minimal  The Challenge was 16 weeks long and for the first 8 weeks I attempted to tighten up my diet, but I just couldn't wrap my head around it.  Finally, Mike put his foot down and told me that I needed to quit obsessing about food and just train for the marathon.  I was also worried that my body fat % would be up because I have been so stressed out lately and I tend to be a stress eater. So when she did the measurements this morning I was in total shock and awe that I actually lost 2% body fat. Seriously?!?!?!  The crazy thing is that it was all from my thighs! WHAT!!!!  Evelyn said that it was because I had been focusing on my running, but not nutrition.  I am so relieved that I dropped body fat, but I need to still lose quite a bit from my upper body.

So what lessons did I learn?

Lesson #1) Don't give up.  Even though I haven't been focusing on calorie depletion, I have still been making the best choices possible for my nutrition.  Everyday I made sure that I drink a gallon of water, eat 120 grams of protein, and at least 6 servings of fruits and vegetables, limit my starchy carbs and fats, and do weight bearing exercises at least 3 times a week.  Of course, I also run a ton.

Lesson #2) If I want to lose my mommy tummy I am going to have to quit indulging so much.  I say that with a bag of Dove Dark Chocolate calling to me from my pantry.  I have also been drinking too much pop.  Why can't I be addicted to carrot sticks?  Why do I salivate when I think about Dark chocolate and Diet Dr Pepper?

Lesson #3)  My husband and friends are sick of hearing me whine about eating too much, what I shouldn't eat,  my general obsession with food, how much I hate my mommy tummy, what I did for exercise, and what I want to do for exercise.

Lesson #4)  I shouldn't tell anyone that I have introduced to clean eating that I have been eating chocolate and drinking Diet Dr. Pepper because they will tell me that I need a clean eating intervention (and by they, I mean Sarah).   Which this just happened about 10 minutes ago and yes, I agree.  Consider this my intervention.  NO MORE POP!!!!  Note that I didn't mention anything about chocolate - baby steps (again).

A Marathon PR and Setting New Goals

Utah Valley Marathon Run Down

I finished the Utah Valley Marathon in 4:19:47, which shaves 2 minutes and 52 seconds off my personal record.  So why am I disappointed?  Because I wasn't able to meet my goal of 4 hours.  My strategy was to start out with the 4 hour pacer and run with this group until mile 16.  There were three hills up to this point, so I had decided that after these I would reevaluate how I felt and then either stick with the 4 hour group or speed up for the last 10 miles of gradual downhill.  Right from the start I felt off.  I had been sick for the 2 weeks prior to the marathon, so I am sure that was a contributing factor.  However, I decided to stick it out and stay with the 4 hour group.  I thought that maybe I just needed to warm up and it usually takes me about three miles to get into a rhythm.  The first hill was at mile 8 and fell about 100 yards behind the pacer during the climb.  I decided that I wasn't going to worry too much about it because she was pacing a little bit faster than a 9:09 min/mile pace.  But as time went on, and as I came to the next two hills, she got farther and farther ahead of me.  According to my Garmin watch, at the half marathon start, my time was 2:01:19. I figured that I could still make a 4:05 finish, since the hardest part of the marathon was behind me. I was still slowing considerably, and after mile 19 I was averaging a 9:24 minute mile (4:06 finish).

By mile twenty, I hit the wall like I had never hit it before. I could barely put one foot in front of the other.  I had a cramp in my calf and both of my hips were throbbing.  I was also in a mental fog.  It wasn't until after the race, that I realized that I was dehydrated.  It took me several hours to figure this out.  When Mike and I sat down to eat lunch, the waitress gave me the menu and as I looked at it, I realized that I could barely read the words and what I could read didn't make sense.  As Mike and I talked about it I realized that I usually have to urinate midway through my runs, but I wasn't able to go until several hours after the marathon.  Last night I read on Facebook the race organizer's apology for the lack of porta potties.  I had to chuckle a little because I hadn't even noticed.

I ended up walking the majority of the last 6.2 miles.  I cried when the 4:10 and 4:15 pacers passed me.  If I would have had a phone with me, I would have called Mike to come get me after mile 20 and it took me 12:10 to finish that one mile.  I averaged an 11:37 min/mile pace for those last 6.2 miles.  Now, as I reevaluate everything, I am so glad that I didn't quit the race.  I am actually just relieved that I was able to finish without needing medical attention.  And although I am glad that I was still able to PR, I am still disappointed in the choices that I made that affected my performance.  I should have taken more time at the aid stations.  I should have trained with Gatorade, so that I would have been prepared to drink it throughout the race.  I should have drank both water and Gatorade at each aid station.  I should have started hydrating better before the race.  I was up at 3 am and I should have started to drink water and Gatorade at that time, but I was tired and I didn't feel like drinking then.  I did take two 6 oz bottle of BCAA with me.  I drank those with gels every 2 miles and that helped me not to have any GI issues until after the race.  I guess that is something that I have figured out.

Summer Training Plans

It's 24 hours after the marathon, and at this point I am usually planning out the training for my next marathon. Not this time though.  I am signed up for the Pocatello Marathon in September, but I am planning on changing it to the half marathon.  I don't think that I am ready to train for another marathon at this point.  I think that one marathon a year is more than enough.  I still want to drive my pace down to the sub 9 min/mile zone or lower.  I have been reading Brian Mackenzie's book Power, Speed, Endurance, which is a crossfit approach to endurance events and I want to start focusing on his method for awhile.  Check it out at http://www.crossfitendurance.com/.  I'm excited to focus on power and speed.

There are so many other things that I want to do, in conjunction with running.  I definitely don't want to spend the summer running any more long runs.  I have two great bikes: a road and mountain bike, but I haven't even gotten on either one yet this summer.   I have already mentioned several times how much I love Monica's Tabata and Kettlebell classes (they are comparable to the crossfit classes I have attended) and I want to be able to go to them whenever I want. Just writing about these things that I enjoy, I am getting excited.  I just have to get past this next week.  Hal Higdon refers to the week after a marathon as week zero.  I plan on doing pilates, walking, stretching, and using my foam roller.  I also need to get some sleep.  I might get on my bike next week, but according to Hal, I shouldn't do anything new.  Since I haven't biked for over 9 months, I think that this activity would qualify as "new."  I might try going back to Kettlebell class on Friday, if I can walk properly by then.  I was walking in front of an old lady with a cane and hunched back yesterday, and Mike said that she was moving better than I was.

And Finally-Time to get back to CLEAN EATING

I also am going to get back to eating clean 90% of the time.  This past month I was probably eating clean

75-80%.  I ate out about two times a week and I ate treats nearly every day.  Although I have splurged more, I kept the meals that I made myself totally clean.  I think that this really helped me to keep my weight maintained.  I still want to lose 5% body fat.  Now that I'm not training for a marathon, I can focus on building muscle and losing fat.  I have been debating if I should go back to the Stripped Diet Plan, but I think that I am going to start with Cooler 2 for the summer and see where that gets me.  If I'm not where I want to be after the Pocatello Half Marathon, then I will reassess what I am doing at that point.

Your WOD, courtesy of me!

All right everyone- grab some comfortable workout clothes and a water bottle. 

You might want to add some BCAAs (we all know that I can be long winded 

so you will need the extra energy) because I'm about to 

WORK YOU OUT!!! 

This week I took my kids to Las Vegas to visit my sister and brother-in-law. This was the first vacation that I have gone on since I started clean eating that I didn't pack my own food. My sister keeps a lot of treats on hand, but overall she cooks nutritiously. I made some trail mix and protein balls for the car trip and I brought along fruits and veggies to munch on. It hasn't been a total free for all, but I will admit that I have indulged in my sister's chocolate chip cookies and Dove dark chocolates one too many times this week (Mike just read that part and now I'm in trouble for not bringing him any).  I really wish that I didn't love chocolate so much!

While in Las Vegas, my sister and I walked every morning, which was good exercise for me on this taper week. I also ran two four mile runs and did two low impact tabata workouts. I tried to make up my own tabata workout, based on what we do in Monica's class, but it was kind of a disaster.  I texted Monica and she emailed me an outline of one of her routines and that went much better.  I also had a Pilates outline and I did that one day this week.  Today I did my last "long run" of 9 miles.  I have had a nasty cough and congestion for the past week.  My lungs felt like they were on fire the entire run, however, when I got home I realized that I had done the run one minute faster per mile than the last time I ran it in March.  I don't know what's up with that.  I hope that I get over this cold/allergies before the marathon on Saturday.

Have you worked up a sweat yet?  If you need to burn a few more calories, read on:  

I have mentioned before my love for tabata and kettlebell classes.  I was instructed by Evelyn that I was not to do either one of these classes for the 2 weeks before the marathon.  She texted it to me in all caps, so I decided that I better adhere to her instructions (I will do the low impact version at home, though, because I have issues with obedience and working out).  What is Tabata, you are probably not wondering.  Well, since I am only concerned about you getting in a good workout, I will fill you in.  Tabata is a form of HIIT (high intensity interval training) in which you work at a level 10 for 20 seconds and rest for 10 seconds.  Repeat these intervals 8 times for a total of 4 minutes.  Burpees, mountain climbers, and running from a bear are all level 10 exercises.  Sometimes Monica will have us do a tabata that exhausts our muscles, such as push ups.  Most classes have 3 tabatas with about 10 minutes of less intensity intervals between.  These intervals include 40 seconds work: 20 seconds rest at a level 7, 30 seconds work: 15 seconds rest at a level 8, and 20 seconds work: 10 seconds rest at a level 9.  An example would be lunges (level 7), lunges with a kick (level 8), plyometric lunges (level 9).  These classes are fast moving and a lot of fun.

I hope that you enjoyed this work out.  You probably deserve a brownie, coke, and a bag of chips, but since I advocate clean eating, you might have to settle for some protein balls and an apple.

Phantom Pain?

I said that I wasn't going to do lunges or squats until after the marathon.  Really, I did say it.  I even believed that I was telling the truth.  On Monday I went to Tabata class because I was a little bit tired of running.  Well,  I did some squats and lunges, but that was going to be the last day.  Then on Wednesday I went to Kettlebell class and of course I did squats and lunges.  About half way through the Kettlebell class (as I was doing squats on the bench) my left quad started to hurt.  It wasn't the normal "feeling the burn" kind of pain, it was deep, something is wrong kind of pain.  But, being the idiot that I am, I finished the class.  I realized I was in big trouble when it was very painful to walk up and down the stairs Wednesday night and Thursday.  I was supposed to meet with my trainer to do an interval run on Friday, but I texted her and said that I thought that I had injured my IT band and that I needed to rest my leg.  Thursday night, I ran into my friend Kim (who has ran several marathons) and I told her that I was worried that I had injured myself.  After listening to me complain, she told me that in the weeks leading up to a marathon she will sometimes have "phantom pain."  This has really got me thinking.  On a normal day, I try to push myself with every workout.  Therefore, everyday something hurts.  Even though something always seems to hurt, I do it again the next day.  However, the closer I get to a marathon, the more I worry about these aches and pains.  I dwell on every little thing and then I start to think the worse and then I worry about how it will affect me on race day.  I decided to take my runs a little bit easier on Friday and Saturday.  Today my right quad is still sore, but my attention has shifted to my sore calves.  Am I nuts?  Yes, yes I am.  But am I suffering from real or phantom pain?  I'm not entirely sure.

Despite this real or perceived discomfort, I still managed to get in 24 miles of running, the tabata and kettlebell classes, 2 pilates class and 1 at home pilates workout, upper  body strength training, and a 6.68 mile walk/hike (plus the neighborhood walks with my dog).  All in all, it was a good week.  I'm looking forward to relaxing this next week at my sister's pool in Las Vegas.  I plan on doing some pilates, pool exercises, walking with my sister, and 2 shorter runs.  Other than that I will spend the week lying on a lounge chair, watching movies, enjoying the company of my sister and brother-in-law, and just being lazy.

 

Starting to taper

I wrote this on Sunday and forgot to post it. Better late than never!

Last week was my "peak" week. I ran a total of 38 miles. A 6 mile run that included 10- 400 meter repeats, a 10 mile run as close to race pace as I could muster and a 20 mile run. The 20 mile run was my slowest one yet. I don't know if it was because I was alone, or because everything kind of went wrong. I usually run on Saturdays, but the weather was forecasted to be bad so I decided to run it on Thursday. I had worked the day before so I didn't drink as much as I should have. Because of this late change, I had done my repeats before work on Wednesday and then kettle bell class afterwards. My legs were exhausted before mile 10. I also had to stop for a potty break and I added in an extra hill climb. Although the run was hard, the weather was perfect and the scenery was beautiful. I also listened to "The Secret Keeper" by Kate Morton, so that made the 3 plus hours fly by.
Today I'm exhausted. I think that it will be nice to decrease my mileage this week. I'll still keep my regular workout schedule for one more week, but the 2 weeks after I will cut everything but Pilates.
These past few weeks of high mileage have been accompanied with lots of justifying of extra treats. However, now that I'm starting to taper, I'm also starting to clean and tighten up my diet. Food prep, lots of greens, and planning will be crucial.
I have been trying to come up with a granola/protein bar recipe, which has led to much sampling. I just want to find something that's a better alternative to granola bars at the grocery store. On the days I work, I am either going to the gym at 5 am or right after work. I need something that is convenient and nutritious. It's a work in progress, but I have found a recipe for a no bake cookie that I'm using as my guide. I will share it when I get it right.

I ❤ Hal

I love Hal Higdon! I think that I have said it before, but I felt like I needed to say it again. I wait impatiently

for his tip of the day on Facebook everyday. Often his tip is just the encouragement or insight that I needed. Last week I was dealing with a great deal of self doubt. I have set a goal of breaking 4 hours on my next marathon. I also have a BQ as my long term goal. Since I have said it on KPVI More and also on my blog and told other people of my goal, I worry about feeling stupid if I have to say I failed. I hate failing!!! This was Hal's tip when I needed it the most-



I love that! After I read that my whole attitude about running has changed. I'm back to loving it and doing it for me. Not to prove anything, not to care about what anyone thinks. A PR is just that- a personal record. No matter what your goals are- they are for you! Don't worry about where anyone else is. Focus on what you want to prove to yourself. Whether its getting your butt off the couch more, taking out the food that isn't food from your diet, or signing up for a race or fitness competition. Do it for you!

Marathon Training Blues

As I mentioned in my last post, I have been in a bit of a slump.  I have hit that 20 mile point in training, which I think is the most mentally and physically challenging part of preparing for a marathon.  The weather is improving so that helps a little bit.  When I trained for my past 3 marathons, I followed one of Hal Higdon's plans.  A typical week consisted of an moderate distance easy run, a shorter speed work run, and a long run, with 2 cross training days.  I have never done much strength training while doing this training schedule.   This time, however, every run is geared to improve my pace.  I am also doing 3-4 days of strength training, which includes 2-3 days of kettlebell class and 1-2 days of upper body weight training.  I usually cross train 2 days a week.  Right now I am walking or doing the elliptical.  I may start road biking when it warms up some more.   I  Sometimes I wonder if I'm overdoing it (like today because I am exhausted and I want to curl up in a ball and cry).  I'm also struggling with a bit of self doubt.  I have set a goal to improve my marathon time, specifically to one day qualify for Boston.  This will not happen this year, for sure.  Maybe 2014 or 2015.  I'm not in a huge hurry.  I want to train so that I can enjoy these other exercises that I love and I do not want to get injured again.  My PR to beat is 4:22.  I feel pretty good about being able to beat that time, but I would also like to break the 4 hour mark at the Utah Valley Marathon.  I'm not so sure if I'm there yet, though.   On my run today I was slower than I have been in a long time.  I was struggling with sore legs and feet, stomach issues, and lack of motivation. Maybe it's because I'm eating clean and not "treating" myself after each run with a Diet Coke and a cookie!!!

I went running on Saturday with Priscilla.  We started up on Buckskin and then ran down into Inkom.  She needed to run 20 and I only needed 14 (we are running races 3 weeks apart).  I ended up running 16.  I probably should have kept going with her, but I could tell that I was getting blisters on my toes.  Now, I'm not the most girly-girl out there, but I do like to have my hair and makeup done and I am somewhat of a foot snob.  I think that cracked, calloused feet are disgusting.  Well, guess what?  I'm pretty disgusting right now.  I don't even want to get a pedicure because it would hurt too bad.  I just love when the toenail turns black and quits growing (I'm being sarcastic).  I have lost the big toenail on my right foot already twice, but I guess that this time I'm going to lose the left toenail too.  I know that it's because I run with my toes up.  I try to hold them down, but some habits are proving difficult to break.  

For anyone interested, this is the recap of what I'm doing with the 6 Figures Fitness Challenge.  Each week we do a little update for their webpage.  This is what I sent in to Libby (I must of been having a better day when I sent her this, because of state that I feel rejuvenated):

I met with Evelyn on Monday for another session of hell.  I have 6 weeks until my marathon. Evelyn wants me to concentrate on speed and proper form right now. For our PT session she put me through some drills using the bungee contraption and also tubing. These drills are to get my foot strike and form correct. After the drills, she had me do speed work on the treadmill. She did different speeds to help me find what speed I could run my 400 meter intervals at, so I can use it to gauge where I need to be when I do them.  It was really a hard workout and I wanted to vomit, pass out, and cry. Although it was hard, I love how hard she pushes me. I wouldn't be pushing myself this hard on my own. Evelyn has changed up my schedule.  She wants me take out one of my workouts and add in another recovery day, so instead of 6 days of exercise I'll be doing 5. Most people would be happy to be told not to workout, but it's really difficult for me to take more than one day off per week.  However, after this past week of feeling burnt out, I'm a little bit relieved.  I will be doing 2 speed work session- one with longer intervals and one as a HIIT, kettle bell or tabata classes 2-3 times a week (focusing on upper body, since I need to keep my legs fresh for running), and a long run at race pace (I have a 20 mile run on Saturday, but she wants me to just do as many miles as I can at race pace and then be done). I was struggling with trying to cut calories at this point in my training, so right now I'm focusing on maintenance and keeping my foods nutritious. Evelyn wants me to focus on getting lots of veggies and fruits.  I need to focus on fueling my body for the workouts that I do. She encouraged me to focus on the quality of my workouts and that by taking off an extra day for recovery, I can use that time to do food prep and planning, stretching, and relaxation. 

Last week I was really struggling, but now I feel rejuvenated and excited about my new schedule.  Evelyn is the perfect trainer for me because not only does she understand the ups and downs that come with training for long distance running, but she also pushes me. She motivates me to run faster and harder than I have ever done before. 

Pity Party

Many of you have probably seen the video that showed how inaccurately women percieve themselves (http://mashable.com/2013/04/15/dove-ad-beauty-sketches/), so I know that I'm not the only one that has thrown themselves a pity party a time or two.  I just felt like I wanted to share my experience.

I am currently training for a marathon in June.  Training in Idaho in the springtime is somewhat of a joke.  One day it is sunny and 70 degrees and then the next it is 30 degrees and snowing (either way it's windy).  On Saturday the plan was to run 20 miles with Priscilla.  I was going to pick her up at her house in Inkom and then we were going to drive up to the top of Buckskin and run down towards Pocatello.  Friday night and into Saturday morning I woke up several times to the sound of pouring rain.  Finally, around 5:30 a.m. I texted Priscilla and told her that I just couldn't handle running in the rain and wind.  I felt like a big loser, but after running a half marathon in the wind the week before, I was not up to it.  I decided to head over to the gym and see how far I could make it on the treadmill.  I listened to Discovery of Witches and to keep me from totally dying of boredom, I would either adjust the speed or incline every minute.  At mile 10 my friend Sarah showed up.  I changed treadmills and ran 2 miles with her.  I went back to my favorite treadmill and ran another 5 miles and then my friend Melissa showed up.  I begged her to keep me company for my last 3 miles, which she did.  I couldn't believe that I had ran 20 miles on a treadmill!

Today, it was snowing sideways.  I couldn't stomach running on the treadmill, so I decided to rebel and go to Tabata class instead of doing the 7 mile run that I was supposed to do.  During the whole class I criticized everything from my hair to my short legs.  Then during Pilates, I criticized everything from the way I treated my family and friends to my lack of spirituality.  My husband was home when I got home, so I told him that I was a big loser.  He asked me why, so I continued to go through my list of shortcomings.  He listened patiently and then he told me that he had just watched a story on CNN about a girl who was a dancer.  She lost her leg during the Boston marathon bombing and now she will never be able to dance again.  Wow!  I felt about two inches tall at that moment.  I had just ran 20 miles on Saturday.  My body may be sore at times (ok, all the time), but I have a healthy, strong body.  I have so much to be grateful for, not just physically but also for my relationships.  I don't know what trials tomorrow will bring, but I do know that whatever it is I can handle it and what doesn't kill me, will make me stronger!

End of 12 week challenge

On Saturday I finished up the Gold's Gym 12 week challenge.  I debated all week going to the final check in, since I really don't think that my results are what I wanted them to be.  I lost 3.4#, 6.5 inches and 4.7% body fat.  I am happy with the numbers, but I am still overly critical of how I look and I didn't really want the after picture.  I wore a sports bra and swim bottoms for my before picture, so I felt like I had to wear the same thing for the after picture.  I was dreading it, but my husband encouraged me to follow through with the challenge.  Oh well!

The whole experience has me recommitting myself to this KPVI challenge.  I would really like to lose that many pounds, inches and body fat over the next 12 weeks.  I have had way too many treats this past month, so it's time to get my big girl panties back on and start exerting some self control again.  

New rules (actually these are rules that I have made before, but I need to reiterate them for myself)
For the next 12 weeks- Per day: 1) only 1 serving of nuts. 2) eat 5-7 servings of veggies. 3) limit of 2 servings of fruit. 4) eat proper portions. 5) drink 1 gallon of water. 6) 2 starchy carbs 7) absolutely no sweets or popcorn (the popcorn makes me bloated)- except for as a "treat" on Saturday. Saturdays are my long run days so I get 1 treat. Not the 10 treats that I ate yesterday, but 1 serving of a treat. Sundays are my hardest days, since they are notoriously a day of pigging out at my house. Evelyn wants me to keeps my calories low on Sunday, so I'm not going to have any treats and I'm going to go on lots of walks with my dog. I will still get one "cheat" meal per week. 

As I look over my old posts, I realize that this is a post that I have written many times.  I guess that's why this is a process.  It's not a diet, it's a lifestyle.  It's a roller coaster of ups and downs.  However difficult it is, the important thing is that I don't give up.  No matter how many times I fall off the wagon and then have to climb back on, the important thing is that I do climb back on.  I hope that by writing this post, that those of you that are also trying to make healthy lifestyle changes, will find some inspiration in my failures and accomplishments.  Always remember that "If it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you!"

Detoxing and Training Run #2

To be honest, I started the week off with great intentions, but it did not end well.  I succumbed to too many splurges and then after the Easter Bunny threw up in my house, I ate more candy than I should have.  As a result, I am in detox mode this week.  Sugar is like a drug to me and once I eat it I have a hard time not wanting to continue to eat more and more.  When I say "detox" I simply mean that I am focusing on getting more greens, such as spinach and kale and staying away from anything sweet, to help curb those sugar cravings.  As for exercise, I took the week off of work to spend Spring Break with my daughter while my husband and son went hunting so I was able to go to all my favorite classes and do 2 interval runs and an 18 mile run on Saturday.  The workout portion of my week was fabulous and I felt great!

I met with Evelyn today and we set some new goals regarding my eating:  (1) I am going  to cut 100 calories out of my meals, (2)  I will replace 1 serving of fruit with 1 serving of vegetables and (3) I will limit my intake of my beloved nuts, she encouraged me to eat other healthy fats, such as salmon in order to get my omega 3 fatty acids or even take a fish oil supplement.  We tweaked my schedule a little bit this week.  I will still be doing kettle bell twice a week, but I will go on Mondays instead of Wednesdays to accommodate work and family obligations better.  Tuesday and Thursday I will still do cross training of my choice, she encourages biking and swimming.  On Wednesday I will do 8 high intensity intervals of 400 meters hard running (1:3 intervals of hard running:recovery time).   Friday is Kettle bells and Pilates with a single set of lower body.  Saturday I will run 12 miles, keeping a pace brisk.  And then Sunday I get some rest, relaxation, and stretching!

After our discussion she paced me on a run outdoors.  We did what’s called a Yasso 800 meter.  These are intervals that can be used to predict your marathon time based on how long it takes you to run  ten 800 meter intervals with a 400 meter recovery between each 400 meters.  The theory is that if you can run these ten 800 meter intervals at 4 minutes and 0 seconds (4:00), then you should be able to run a marathon in 4 hours 0 seconds (4:00), which is my goal.   My average time for the 800s was 4 minutes 4 seconds (4:04), so I still have some work to do.  It was fun to get to know Evelyn better and to get some more advice.  She pushed me harder than I would have done on my own, which was painful but good.

Yesterday I posted on my Facebook page a detox smoothie.  Since I ate it for breakfast, I had added some fruit in it.  Tonight I was a little bit hungry since I ran 9 miles and went to both Pilates and kettle bell classes today.  Since I'm decreasing my fruits and increasing veggies, I did a green smoothie.  I blended a handful of celery (probably 2-3 stalks), handful of cucumbers, steamed kale, juice of 1/2 lemon, and protein powder (I used Matrix's Banana and Cream because it has both whey and casein.  The casein lasts longer, so hopefully that will help me to sleep better throughout the night), and cinnamon to taste.  My daughter said that it looked nasty, but I thought it was really quite tasty.  I highly recommend adding the lemon, but only 1/2 for this serving size.  Without it, the smoothie tastes too bland, but a whole lemon is overpowering.   I think that these green smoothies are a good alternative to the chocolate protein powder with peanut butter that I love.  They aren't as delicious, but I have to make some sacrifices to reach my goals.  If you want more info on detoxing, check out "Confessions of an Easter Bunny".  I'm not totally following her plan, but I am following her "no's" and eating more green leafy veggies and less fruit.  A detox is also good if you are just starting out with clean eating.

What I eat

Recently my friend Libby (co-host of KPVI More and fellow participant in 6 Figures) asked me how I am able to eat over 1600 calories per day since I am eating clean.  Actually, my problem is trying not to eat over that each day.  Just because a food is clean, it doesn't mean it is low in calories.  Sure, you can eat mounds of spinach, kale, broccoli, asparagus, etc. for very few calories, but nuts, dried foods, oils and the like are very high in calories.  That's probably why I have an addiction to Adam's natural peanut butter and prunes (not together).  I decided to break down what I eat during the day, just to show how easy it is to eat clean and get the proper nutrition.  These are my very favorite meals.  I'm not a nutritionist and if one looked over my meals, they would probably see a lot of things that I am doing wrong.  However, this is what seems to be working for me.  I have been able to keep up a high level of fitness and energy.

Breakfast 
4 squares of Jamie Eason's Carrot Cake Protein Bars covered in 1 cup almond milk and microwaved for about 1 minute.  I top with 1 TBSP chopped walnuts
or
4 egg whites and Everyday Oatmeal

My "Everyday oatmeal"
1/3 cup oats
2/3 cup water
1 TBSP chia seeds
cinnamon to taste
1/2 cup fruit: apples or blueberries are my favorite add ins
I microwave everything for 2 minutes, then I add 1 packet of stevia and almond milk to desired consistency.

Post workout snack
4 eggs whites scrambled with kale or spinach and chopped peppers (pretty much whatever veggies I have)
or
Berry Smoothie:  1/2 banana, 1/2 cup berries (fresh or frozen), scoop of protein powder, water

Lunch
Jamie Eason's Turkey Meatloaf Meatballs, sauteed peppers, salsa, cholula
or
4 oz chicken, sweet potato, veggies (I usually used some kind of frozen mixed veggies)
or
last night's leftovers

Mid afternoon snack
1 oz nuts and apple
or
1 rice cake, 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1 TBSP raisins, 1 TBSP pecans and cherry tomatoes or cucumbers

Dinner
Salmon and spinach- I line a baking dish with aluminum foil and then lay down a bed of spinach (a couple of handfuls) then I place the salmon on top and sprinkle on a little bit of sea salt and cracked pepper.  I fold the foil around the salmon and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.  Salmon is such a nice, fatty fish that the oils seep into the spinach and make it oh, so yummy!!!
or
4 oz chicken and salad (whatever is chopped up, so I can just throw it all together) and Newman's Own Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing (Lite)

PM Snack
If I'm really hungry then I will make a protein smoothie with lots of ice, a little water and chocolate protein powder.  If I'm really, really hungry and a little bit naughty (so almost every night) I'll add in a little all natural peanut butter.  My goal is to only eat 1 serving of nuts a day, so often I will divide the 1 oz serving between breakfast and my mid afternoon snack.

The total for all of this, including the PM snack is around 1600 calories.  I still need to work on increasing my  intake of carbohydrates from veggies because this breaks down to about 40% protein, 30% carbs, and 30% fats.  Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays are my high calorie burn days so I usually eat more on those days.  Now that my mileage is up to 18 miles and increasing for my Saturday long runs, I'm letting myself have that be a freebie day.  I usually use that as my day to go out to eat and get dessert too.  Sundays are my most difficult day because they are notoriously days of gluttony in my home and extended family dinners.  Now that the weather is warmer I am using this day to take my dog for a walk in an attempt to stay out of the kitchen. I'm also keeping my portions smaller, but still eating my 5-6 meals. It hasn't really helped that much, but I'm working on it.  As for the other days, I have good days and bad days too.  I still love and crave chocolate every single minute of each day.  I haven't been buying dark chocolate and I make my kids hide all sweets from me.  My daughter has become the sweets police with me and since she is a lot like me, I'm kind of scared of crossing her.  I guess whatever works!  I love popcorn and I will either make it clean or else eat Jolly Time Healthy Pop-kettle corn.  It's probably not the cleanest choice, but it helps to curb my sweet tooth.

Finding what works for me

I'm a goal setter.  I always have been.  I think that's why I have been able to train for and run marathons and why I enjoy doing them.  If I have a deadline and a plan, I'm unstoppable (well kind of).  I thought that signing up for the 12 week challenge would be like training for a marathon.  I have a deadline, I have a plan, so boom it should all just fall into place, especially my six-pack.  Um... not exactly!  I have found out that unlike training for 26.2 miles, fat loss/muscle gain is not quite as easy for me as I thought it would be.  I hesitate to say easy because none of my marathons have been easy, but I put in the time and I got the result. The problem: I don't think that I have found what works for me yet.

In my last blog I wrote about counting calories.  Well, that was pretty much ruining my life.  I had become so obsessed with how many calories that I had burned and how much I had consumed that I was miserable.  By the end of the day, if I had calories left, I would eat even if I wasn't hungry.  I also made some poor choices because they fit into my calorie allotment for the day.  Then if I went over on calories, I got discouraged.  By the end of the week I was eating chocolate covered pretzels and old Halloween candy and hating myself.  So, I decided that I am going to not "count calories" for 3 weeks and see how that goes.  I put it in parenthesis because I have been counting calories on and off for so long that I pretty much know how many calories are in certain meals.  I usually eat five 300 calories meals per day and then a protein shake in the evening if I'm hungry.  I also eat when I'm hungry, not just because I need to meet a certain quota.  This has worked really well for me in the past, so hopefully it will work again.  I have found that when I look at food as fuel, that I eat so much better and feel better too.

I also need to set some more concrete goals.  I have the goal to PR at the June marathon, but other than that I feel like I am floundering.  I have a certain weight that I want to attain, but I need to get over it.  I have tried to get rid of my scale or hide it, but I am honestly too attached to it.  It's another obsession.  All it does is discourage me.  I have had so many people tell me how good I look, but I have a hard time believing it because the number on the scale won't budge.  I guess my next goal should be to quit worrying about numbers and just continue on this journey of getting into the best shape of my life- pretty much just kicking my own butt every day!  That was an aha moment right there!

Bodybugg update:  The jury is still out!  Last Monday, I wore it all day.  I ran 8 miles and I averaged about 90 calories per mile, which is what I assumed.  Then I went to pilates and I burnt 190 calories for the 45 minute class, again, what I assumed.  The big surprise was the kettlebell class, where I only burnt 290 calories.  On Tuesday I did upper body strength training for about 75 minutes, and I registered a little under 300 calories again, which isn't surprising.  What I really want to assess, however, is the after burn.  Since kettlebell is circuit training, I think that the after burn is going to be greater.  This week I will compare my Monday and Wednesday workouts, which include the kettlebell circuit training classes and my running intervals to Tuesday and Thursday cross training, lower intensity days.

Marathon training update:  On Saturday I did my 17 mile run by myself because Priscilla is having back problems. I wanted to start early, but I didn't want to pack my headlamp so I decided to split my run up between the treadmill and the road. I ran the first 6 miles on the treadmill and then I ran 10 miles outside and finished the last mile with 100 meter sprints on the treadmill. Evelyn had told me that when she runs long she takes in a 1/3 of a Gu every 2 miles. I had also told her that I get really bloated when I run more than 6-8 miles. She suggested drinking some protein. I took her advise and put some branch chain amino acids in my water. I took a short walk break every 2 miles and I took in 1/3 of my Gu pack and drank my BCAA infused water. I felt so good! I felt like I could have done more sprints even at the end. Considering that 5 miles were running up a gradual incline, my average pace of 9:21 was pretty decent.  I'm excited about bettering my pace, but I'm more excited about how I felt.  I had terrible stomach issues at my last marathon and I would love to avoid that happening again.

Calorie counting

I have to admit that over the last 15 years or so, I have been a yo-yo calorie counter. I really don't like to "diet," but whenever I started to get over a certain weight, I would start to be more conscience about what I was eating and either start counting calories or keep a food journal. I have used The Daily Plate app, but I didn't love it. However, after a few days or weeks of counting calories, I would get sick of it and quit. When I started eating clean I totally changed my whole relationship with food. I started to eat to live, not live to eat. I continually reminded myself that this is a lifestyle, not a diet. As a result, the weight just fell off. I lost over 10 pounds in about 6 weeks. Then I hit the inevitable weight loss wall that it seems everyone eventually runs into. My weight has stabilized these past few months and although I'm still seeing changes in my body, I have had to really be more conscientious of everything that I put into my mouth. Now, I don't want to be a liar. I still have days that I make poor choices. On Saturday, for instance, I was at my daughter's gymnastics competition for 13 hours. I packed veggies, homemade trail mix, fruit, cottage cheese, protein powder, Greek yogurt, and carrot protein bars. I made really good choices until about 5 pm, when I broke down and ate chocolate covered pretzels. Was it worth it? Nope, it never is. Although, I made this poor choice, I feel that I made some other excellent choices, such as packing my own food.

This is the dinner that I packed for myself. I have a bag that looks like a black purse but is actually a cooler. My daughter and I went shopping at the Gateway mall in Salt Lake City the night before the competition and we ate our dinner at the food court. Being prepared allows me to eat healthy no matter where I am.








I knew when I started this fitness challenge, 6 figures, that the main focus would be what I ate. I have been using the fitness pal app for a few months now. I like Fitness Pal so much better than TDP. It is so easy to use and since it's an app on my phone, I can track my calories anywhere. So far, the trainer working with me (Evelyn) hasn't been super specific about what to eat or what not to eat. This last week she gave me some guidance on my calorie intake. The other 5 participants have a set number of daily calories, but I do not. This is from a text that she sent me:

"If you get asked about your calories, you are unique in the sense that you don't have a set daily amount. Yours depends on the demands of your workout. Long days require more fuel for energy reserves, and more nutrition to catalyze recovery. HIIT days also require a little more nutrition and calories. Recovery and cross days should be around basal metabolic rate. That is why you have a weekly deficit goal, rather than a daily target, and also why a body bugg would be really useful. Anyhow, if you have to explain yourself thats why. Looking for around 3500 calorie deficit/week. The [bodybugg] display is nice to see your calories accruing throughout the day. Plus a good way to know how to plan your higher cal days. I.e. You burn 1000 calories. You can plan to eat 500 above basal by 200 post workout, 200 during workout, and 100 more onto your breakfast. Helps to plan your future workouts and meals."

Since I had to buy a new washer and dryer this month, I didn't feel like I wanted to fork out another $150 for the body bugg. However, I am the kind of person that once I get it into my head that I need something, I obsess about it. Which is why I recently bid on a body bugg on eBay at 2 am. At 2 am my decisions are never stellar. So now I am the owner of a body bugg v3. It isn't the newest model and not what I would have picked had a done some more research at a more reasonable hour. I'm going to start wearing it this week. I'm really excited to see what I'm burning each workout and day. Hopefully it will be useful and I won't regret my 2 am decision. I'll report back on it next week.

Check it out!

Hey everyone!  You can check out the fitness challenge that my favorite girls and I are doing with KPVI More and Gold's Gym at http://www.kpvi.com/content/news/kpvi_more/6_figures/default.aspx  We got together for Book Club last night and it was so much fun to talk about our first week.  Each of our stories will debut this week on KPVI channel 6 at 4 pm.  My story will be on Thursday.  It's going to be awesome! I have always wanted to be on TV, bearing my soul and fat rolls to all of Southeast Idaho.  Maybe after this I will be on my own reality show.  Watch out Snookie!

I met with my trainer, Evelyn, on Monday and she ran me through some running drills on the treadmill, Rip:60, and then we did some jumps.  I thought I was going to die.  Before meeting with her, she had me go to Monica's Pilates class.  I actually loved it since my 15 mile run on the Saturday before had left my muscles tight and fatigued.  After the class, she had me do some upper body work and then we went right to the treadmill.  Yep, it was official- with her prodding, I ran my first 7 minute mile and I didn't even fall off the treadmill.  Then she put the treadmill at an 18% incline at 2.5 miles per hour and had me run backwards for about 5 minutes, turned me around and had me run 1 mile at a 1.5% incline at 6.7 mph.  I tried to turn it down to 6.5 mph and she told me that if I had enough energy to talk, then I could run at that pace.  That might sound mean, but she really isn't.  She just knows that I need to get out of my head and push myself more.  I honestly can't remember if she had me do it 1 or 2 more times, I just know that my thighs were on fire.

Tuesday was a moderate cross training day and I had to be to work early, so I just did the elliptical at home.    Every 10 minutes I did a tabata to work my core (push ups with side planks, high plank to low plank, and stability ball pull-ins).

Wednesday she wanted me to do my 8 mile run at 10K pace and then finish it out with sprints for 20 seconds, and then jog for 40 seconds. I haven't ran a 10K for awhile so I decided that I would run it as hard as possible so that I could find out what my 10K pace would be. I headed out at 5 am since I had to be to work early.  I ended up running it at an average pace of  8:58 min/mile, so I guess that will be my reference point.

Thursday was another cross training day.  I rowed for 20 minutes and then I decided to give my body a break from any type of pounding and swim laps.  I forgot how much I love to swim laps since I haven't done it for some time.  It is one of those exercises that when I'm doing it I think that it isn't really doing much, but afterward I can feel that every muscle has been worked.

Friday I was supposed to do Monica's kettlebell class, but I had to work at the time of her class.  She kindly emailed me a list of ladders for me to do instead.  After work I went to the gym and did it.  I added in the ropes and some of the jumps that Evelyn had told me to do.  When I was done, I was dripping sweat and my upper body was spent.  I texted Monica that I had finished it.  It was at that point that she informed me that she had added in some extra exercises because she thought I could handle it.  Sneaky, right?!?!  I came home and did some pull ups (I'm up to 2 1/2-yea I'm counting the 1/2) and pushups and tricep dips.

Saturday I had to take my turn working.  It was a fast day and I was done by noon.  I went straight from work to do my long run.  Evelyn wanted me to run it 30 seconds slower per mile than my 10K pace.  It was a downhill run for the first 10 miles so I kept the pace below 9 min/mile until I reached the bottom of the hill.  At that point I had a head wind so I ended up averaging 9:05 min/mile.  The last mile she had me run 100m sprints with the same distance in rest.   Since I had already ran 15 miles, I was tired and sore already so that last mile was a killer.

Today is a rest day, of course, but I am also using it to stretch out my sore muscles.  I don't know what it is about downhill running, but it seems to really beat up my legs more than the flats.  I am feeling it in my hips more than anything today.

Tips

I recently lent my friend, Sarah, one of my Tosca Reno books. She has been reading it and she asked me for some tips and recipes. I decided that I would blog all of it since other people have asked me about what I eat and how I have time to eat clean. I have posted some recipes on my blog, but most of my recipes I find on The Gracious Pantry, Eat Clean Diet, Jamie Eason on bodybuilding.com, and Tosca Reno. I also adapt my recipes to make them as clean as possible. I have bought some books and magazines on clean eating but they tend to be more complicated than I like.

Life gets crazy and the only thing that saves me from feeding myself and my family from eating junk is food prep. Most of my days start at 5 am. The only time I watch TV during the day is to fold laundry. My kids seem to get easier but harder at the same time. They are self-sufficient to some extent, but they are also very busy. When I finally get to sit down at night, I'm exhausted. So I get it. I get that this all seems overwhelming, but there are little tricks that I am learning along the way.

I started writing this post earlier in the week, and added to it as I thought of things, so I hope that it makes sense.  It was a crazier week than usual (my washer died so I have been going to a Laundromat or using my mother-in-laws washer until our new set gets delivered, everyone has had some type of appointment that has fill up my "extra" time on my days off, and I started my new training program).  In the midst of all of the craziness I found little snippets of time to prepare food for the next few days. I promise you that if you just take an extra hour or two a few days a week to take care of yourself, it will pay off. Trust me! I'm running out of pants that will stay up, so I know it works;)

Food prep: I do my food preps whenever I have time. All of this might seem complicated and time consuming, but I have found that it is just like exercise. I have to set aside a block of time for my food prep and then I it done. There are certain foods that I try to have on hand at all times.

Lean proteins: baked chicken tenderloins (I cook it and then freeze), boiled eggs, almonds, Cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, protein powder, turkey meatloaf muffins (Jamie Eason's recipe), all natural almond/peanut butter and plenty of eggs/egg whites for recipes. I really like hard boil eggs whites. I will cook up about 16 at a time. They are best if stored in their shells with a damp paper towel. I usually eat at least 4 eggs a day, so they get eaten up pretty fast. I also keep ground turkey breast, salmon, shrimp, and chicken breast in my freezer for recipes.  Tonight as I was making my family soup for dinner, I also boiled eggs, and made turkey meatloaf meatballs.

Fruits/veggies: apples and bananas are the perfect portable foods. Grabbing a handful of almonds and an apple is the easiest snack ever. I hate to waste food so whenever my bananas start to get a little soft, I peel them and freeze them. On the days that I go grocery shopping I chop up all my veggies to make it easier to make salads, such as celery, cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers. I will also chop up a large bag of peppers, mushrooms, and/or onions and saute them in a small amount of olive oil. Then I divide the veggies into one cup containers and freeze them. When I need a quick meal, I am able to pull out a lean protein and veggies and throw them into my cooler for lunch the next day or warm them up in the microwave. I also keep lemons on hand to slice up and put in my water. I keep a lot of frozen veggies and fruit on hand too, such as steamables and stir fry, Costco's bag of mixed berries, and blueberries.  It's so easy to throw some berries, banana, spinach, and protein powder together for a quick snack.  I keep a large container of spinach available for salads, smoothies, soups, and anything else I can create.

Other carbs: I love rice cakes and I found some from Quaker that have 35 calories and 7 grams of carbs. They are a great snack with cottage cheese and cinnamon or almond/peanut butter with a dribble of honey. I also like sweet potatoes. Since sweet potatoes are large, I will bake or dice and saute one and then divide it up into smaller portions. I eat oats nearly every morning. I cook them in the microwave and then add chia seeds, cinnamon, and either blueberries, applesauce, or 1/2 banana for breakfast.  Other than that I'm not a big potato fan and I can pass up pasta, bread, and rice pretty easily (unless it's pizza or popcorn).

Packing a cooler: when I clean up dinner on the night before I work, I pack up my cooler for the next day. It's pretty simple with all the food that I prepped. I include a morning snack- usually a smoothie, lunch, and an afternoon snack and an emergency snack - such as an apple and almonds. I also get my bottles of water with lemon ready.

Most important:  If it's not in my house I can't eat it!  I tried making clean treats and then I froze them so that I would only eat small portions at a time.  This did not work.  I have no self control.  I can't even keep sugary items such as prunes on hand.  I honestly will eat the entire bag.  Even though something is clean, doesn't mean that you should eat 600 calories of it in one sitting.   I drink quite a bit of herbal tea.  When I am feeling a craving coming on, I will first drink a cup of tea.  If that doesn't work, I will make a smoothie with chocolate Shakeology, ice and water.  It really helps with my sugar cravings and munchies.

If you have any tips or recipes that you would like to share, please comment on the blog or on Facebook.  I would love to hear from you.  Happy prepping!

Starting over

This past week was one of those weeks where I just wanted to crawl under a rock and not come out until spring.  I try to really limit my "treats" to one, maybe two per week.  This week, however, I was very indulgent.  Not pre-clean eating indulgent, but I did overdo my treats.  I believe that it was all stress eating.  The stress: my husband's schedule changed to night shift, our dryer died, my cycle is out of whack, I was a little anxious about this project with KPVI and Gold's Gym, and I have been increasing my mileage and adding some classes at the gym. This week for exercise I did manage to get in Tabata and kettlebell classes on Monday, I ran 7 miles on Tuesday, kettle bell class again on Wednesday, 4 mile pace run and walking on at 30% incline plus core work on Thursday, upper body strength training on Friday, and I ran 15.27 miles on Saturday.

Today I met with my personal trainer, Evelyn, for our initial assessment for this segment on KPVI More.  I was happy to learn that I had a body fat percentage of 19.2.  Not that I'm proud of this number, but because it is actually less than I had thought that it was.  My goal is to get it down to at least 16%.   I just have to say that the fat jiggle and pinch test is very humiliating.  There are just certain parts of my body that I do not like to have anyone look at let alone jiggle and pinch, such as my back and abdominal fat. It was encouraging though to have Evelyn comment on my bicep muscles and thigh muscles, these fat pinch numbers were my lowest.  I'm not sure if Libby filmed this whole procedure, but I'm hoping that if she did, it will make not make it onto the show.

So what I am talking about?  What is KPVI More?  It is a local talk show that airs on KPVI channel 6, weekdays at 4 pm.  My friend, Libby Wood, is the co-anchor and also the founder of my book club.  As women often do, we discuss our weight at book club.  There are 6 women in our book club:  Libby, Melissa, Heidi, Sarah, Monica (who is a fitness instructor and the picture of fitness and health, which is why she is not included in this fitness challenge), and me.  Libby came up with the idea of having the 5 of us participate in a fitness challenge because we all have such different shapes, fitness levels, and lifestyles.  The sixth member of our group is Melissa's husband, Clayn, to add in a male perspective.  Over the next four months, each of us will be working with a trainer at Gold's Gym.   On Saturday we met with our trainers for our initial assessments and to set our goals.  Next week we will be meeting with our trainers again to get our fitness plan.

My trainer is Evelyn.  I have actually known Evelyn for quite awhile and I requested that I have her as my trainer because she also runs marathons.  I learned a lot today about what I'm doing wrong and what changes I will need to make.  As Evelyn and I talked, it became apparent that the biggest factor that is holding me back is my eating.  I stress eat and I am eating too many starches.  She discussed with me the importance of making choices and thinking in the terms of what is good, better, and best.  She figured out what my daily net-maintenance calories were based on my weight and level of activity. What I will be doing each day is keeping track of the calories that I eat and the calories that I burn. My goal is to have a 500 calorie deficit per day or 3500 calorie deficit per week.  She emphasized that I need to eat when I'm hungry.  There will be some days that I may go over or be under the allotted number of calories, which is why I will be looking at the weekly average.

She will also be changing up my fitness routine.  I really want to beat my personal record (PR) at the Utah Valley Marathon in June and she is going to gear my workouts around this goal.  She also didn't think that I was allowing enough time in the week for recovery.  I'm really interested to find out what changes she will be making for me.  I can be stubborn and I like to do things my own way, but I have decided that I have committed to this project and I will do exactly what Evelyn tells me.  That's why I feel like I am starting over.

Rip:60, an awesome husband, and other random stuff

The plan for Saturday was to run 14 miles with my running buddy, Priscilla.  Friday night a storm started to roll in with winds of 20 miles per hour.  I texted Priscilla and told her that I was too big of a wimp for that.  When I woke up on Saturday, it was snowing and blowing (as you can see from the picture that I took from my front porch).  Of course, Priscilla is tougher than me, so she still ran out in this blizzard.  I, however, slept in and went to the gym 2 hours later.  Although I felt like a huge slacker and I felt bad that Priscilla had to run alone, I had ran 15 miles the week before so I didn't feel like I was missing my long run.  I ended up running 3 miles on the treadmill instead.  I wanted to make it quick and just get it over with, so I started out at 6 mph and then as I increased speed, I also decreased the incline.  My last 1/2 mile was ran at a -3 incline at 8 mph.

I think that anyone with a gym membership has their favorite "spot" where they tend to spend a lot of their gym time.  I like this corner in the cardio area at Gold's Gym.  It is upstairs in the back corner, so I'm able to look down from my treadmill and watch the TVs and people.  Yeah, I guess that makes me sound a little bit creepy.  The rowing machines are also over there.  I usually start my day at the gym on the rowing machines for a least 5 minutes. I do this even if I'm going to go to a class or just run on the treadmill.  I love the rowing machine.  Seriously, it works my hamstrings, chest, back, lats, and Monica showed me how to rotate side to side to work my core.  Behind the treadmills and rowing machines is this big contraption (see picture-this is a larger version than the one at Gold's).  I just found out that it is called Rip:60.  I have seen people using it, but I didn't want to look like an idiot trying to figure it out on my own.  I told Monica (my friend who also happens to be a fitness instructor at Gold's Gym) that I was interested in trying it out.  On Thursday she quickly showed me some basics and gave me an outline for an hour workout on it.  Since I didn't end up doing a long run on Saturday, she ran me through the entire circuit.  I started out sweating from my run and I kept sweating for the next hour.  It was really fun!  I found out that the Rip:60 can be used for everything - squat jumps, lunges, core work and mountain climbers just to name a few of the things that we did.  We also did some swings with the kettle bells and she attempted to help me improve my form.  I'm still bruising my arms when I do cleans.  The bruises make me look tough, though!

I have stated this many times before-clean eating and fitness are a lifestyle.  In order for it to become your lifestyle, you have to have support systems.  My support system is becoming larger all the time, but at the foundation of it is 3 people: Mike, Priscilla and Monica.  Monica and Priscilla are my work out and clean eating buddies.  I draw a lot of knowledge and strength from them. They are just as fanatical about fitness as I am.  I am also fortunate to have a husband that values fitness (clean eating not so much).  On my days off  I usually spend over two hours at the gym.  Since I don't like lifting weights at the gym, I sometimes will lift at home in the morning and then go to the gym after I take the kids to school.  Recently I have started going to Monica's tabata class in the morning and then her kettlebell class in the evening.  He never complains about my time at the gym.  Training for marathons and half marathons takes a lot of time and support. He has always encouraged my to run them and to take the time to train for them.  He also likes to spend hours working out, especially during the biking season.  This is a picture of Mike last September when he rode 206 miles in a bike race called Lotoja (Logan, UT to Jackson, WY).  He is pretty much just awesome!  Had I not married someone so active, I'm not sure that I would be on this journey right now.  I'm so glad that we found each other and that we are able to live these active lifestyles.  I think that it is really good for our kids to see their parents taking time for themselves and making fitness important in our lives.

If you have read through this entire post, first of all I would like to thank you.  I know that I can be long winded!  When I started this blog back in September, I did it mostly for accountability.  I felt like if I put this out there then I would have to do it and stick with it.  I knew that I needed a change.  My weight was starting to creep up into the 140 range and running was not keeping it off.   Starting up a facebook page and letting my friends know about it was huge for me.  I put a lot of personal stuff in here.  Sometimes too personal.  It's a little bit scary to put my journal of sorts out there for strangers and friends alike to read.  I just hope that there is someone that reads this and thinks "if she can do it, I can do it!"  One of my friends from way back when, Chris, messaged me that I was an inspiration (which made it feel pretty darn good) and that he had recently lost 45 pounds.  That is so awesome!  So please, leave me some feedback about your journey, like my facebook page and follow my blog.  I would love to form a little community of people that want to become the best version of themselves!

I'm half way there!!!

Holy Moly!!! I am half way done with this 12 week challenge.  Where has the time gone.  Yes, my pants are looser.  No, I have not lost any weight. Yes, my thighs are smaller. No, my waist is not.  Yes, my arms are looking more defined.  No, my abs are not.  Should I go on?

I had an interesting week of exercise for week 5.  On Monday I decided to go to both of Monica's classes.  In the morning I went to Tabata and then in the evening I went to Kettlebells.  Then on Tuesday, I got up at 5:30 am and ran 5 miles.  I was going to lift Tuesday evening, but I couldn't find a muscle group that wasn't sore!  I tried to do a burpee competition with my daughter, but I could only do 10 and she beat me by 1. On
Wednesday, I didn't get up and run in the morning before work and then I regretted it all day because I was super grumpy (when will I learn just to get up and do it?).  I was able to make it to Kettlebells, so that was a huge bonus.  On Thursday I woke up before the kids got up and did Back/Traps, Biceps and Triceps.  After I got the kids off to school, I headed to the gym.  It was snowing, so I had to run my 5 miles on the treadmill.  I ran my first mile on a pre-programmed interval workout.  After a few times at 18.5% incline for 30 second periods, I decided that was not going to work so I had to change it to the rolling hills at a lower incline so I didn't have a heart attack. The rolling hills consisted of 4 miles at -3% to 3% incline.   I kept it at a 6 mph pace so that I could visit with Monica while I ran.  Afterwards Monica showed me how to use some resistance equipment that I have been wanting to try and she gave me an hour workout that I can use anytime. Today I went to Kettlebell class.  The weather is nasty here so I'm not sure what the plan will be for Saturday, but it is looking like a long outdoor run is unlikely.

As far as food goes, I'm still struggling with eating too many starchy carbs in the evening.  Also I was hungry a lot this week, so I ate more clean meals than usual.  I tried the Carrot Cake Protein Bars from Jamie Eason's recipes and they were super yummy.  I added walnuts to the recipe too, just for some healthy fats.  You can just google Jamie Eason recipe and you will be able to find the recipes that I have written about, such as meatloaf meatballs and pumpkin protein bars.  There is also a chocolate protein bar that I want to try out.

I also made a big batch of the cream of mushroom soup from the Gracious Pantry blog and used it to make  super clean Swiss Steak.  The cream of mushroom soup recipe makes a ton so I was able to freeze the leftovers for other recipes.

Swiss Steak
2 cups of clean cream of mushroom soup
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
2 pounds of lean roast (I used a pork roast and it was pretty darn yummy)
Cook in slow cooker

I also made my family fajitas with peppers, onions, and mushrooms.  I sauteed the veggies on Monday and then I just warmed them up with some frozen, cooked chicken when I got home from work.  My kids and husband ate theirs with either a tortilla or brown rice and cheese and sour cream.  I topped mine with salsa and it was delicious.  I also tried out a banana muffin recipe, but it still needs some tweaking before I can share it.

My new favorite afternoon snack is cottage cheese on a rice cake and cucumbers or celery on the side.  This has been my go to snack for about a week now.  I found some rice cakes that are gluten and salt free and are only 35 calories.  Sometimes I even add some raisins for some extra sweetness.  I have been trying to eat more "real foods" and less protein powder during the day since I have been drinking a protein shake before bed.  Which brings me to my new treat.

Chocolate Protein Chia Seed Frosty
Fill a measuring cup with 1/2 cup almond milk, then with ice until it reaches the 1 cup mark.  Blend with 1 scoop chocolate protein powder (I recommend Matrix Perfect Chocolate because it is seriously the most delicious chocolate protein powder I have ever tasted) and 1 TBSP chia seeds.  Blend until smooth like a frosty.  This was honestly the best guilt free "dessert" that I have found yet.  It made my day!

I did have somewhat of a sugar binge today.  I'm not sure what it was all about, but it happened and I feel guilty.  I guess all I can do is remember that tomorrow is another day and that I ate clean the rest of the week.

In other NEWS:
I am so excited about some a development in my life.  One of the ladies in my book club, Libby Wood, is co-anchor on a local TV show called MORE on KPVI.  After much deliberation, it has been confirmed that our book club will be participating in a fitness segment on the show in conjunction with Gold's Gym from March through June.  All of us (except for Monica who will be part of the Gold's Gym crew) plus Melissa's husband, will be working with trainers and instructors to get fit!   I don't know all of the specifics, but I am super excited.  We are going to get together at Libby's house on Sunday to shoot the first segment.  This will be the get to know us segment.  I'm sure that Libby will have to edit it down like crazy, since the last time we talked about the possibility of doing this project, we talked about it for over 2 hours.  It should air in March, so I will add the link to the show then.  Maybe by June I will finally have rock hard abs!  Or at least a trim waist with no muffin top!!!

End of week 4 and into week 5

This post just shows how much of a roller coaster this can be with lots of highs and lows!

I'm 1/3 of the way into this 12 week challenge and I feel like I'm finally seeing results. It's super dorky but I still have the dress that I wore to the lunch after my wedding 15 years ago. I tried it on and it was loose on me. That means that I am thinner than I have ever been in my adult life. That's incredible to me. The best part is that I feel good too. I'm happy, I have more energy and I don't feel like I'm dieting.
In regards to my diet, I broke this 12 week challenge into 4 week increments. I'm doing Tosca Reno's Stripped eating plan and it's a 28 day plan. I made it 25 days and then I took a little break these past 3 days and just ate clean with the exception of my weekly date with my husband and book club dinner. Today will be day 2 and I'm ready to see what I can do these next 4 weeks.
I really like using the fitness pal app. I use the calorie counter as a general guide, but I still listen to my body and I eat when I'm hungry. Sometimes that means 2 mid-morning meals. I mostly use it to make sure I'm getting enough protein and other nutrients. If anything it reminds me to take my vitamins, otherwise I struggle to get enough iron and potassium.
I finally feel excited about this challenge.
5 days later- I started this post on Sunday, but then my family decided to do something (I can't remember what) and I forgot to finish it. I'm glad that I read it this morning though, because I have had a really off week and it has left me down. Part of the reason was that I missed kettle bell class on Wednesday because I wasn't able to get off work in time. I also added starches and nuts back into my diet and I think that might have bloated me a little bit. I see why the stripped program is only 28 days. I really needed a little bit of a break from it. Even though the break was good, it was unwise to take progress pictures yesterday. I need to save those for when my diet has been especially tight.
Yesterday I felt particularly bummed out (probably because I took those pictures). After a challenging long run, lunch at my favorite place and dessert of frozen yogurt (a total splurge this time with lots of chocolate) I felt better. I'm going to finish up the week eating clean, but I'll tighten things up again on Monday.
Side note- to anyone new to my blog. When I write about my "diet" it's not a real diet. It's a lifestyle of eating clean. I do want to lose body fat, so that's why I have decided to eat foods that will speed up the process. By just eating clean I was able to drop 10 pounds fairly quickly in October and November. This weight loss had plateaued however, so I'm trying to shock my body by adding more high intensity interval training (HIIT) and eating a diet with more veggies and less fruit (less sugar), less starchy carbs, and less fatty foods (like nuts and nut butters). The stripped plan is actually one of Tosca Reno's plans and you can find out more about it on her website or in my earlier posts.

Location:End of week 4

Finally!!!

This is huge for me!!! Seriously, huge! I can finally do a decent push up. I can only do 15 at a time, but I finally have good form. I have been working on this since December. My dog really wanted to get in the picture too;)


If only I could just get my chin above this bar though...

Maybe next month! I never thought that I would ever be able to do a push up either, but I just kept trying. The point is- never, ever, ever give up! NEVER!!!

February

  Small successes get me excited.  Today I put on these pants that I could barely button up in October, but as you can see I have plenty of room in them now.  You can't tell but they are baggy in the butt and legs too.  I'm not bragging though, because only minutes before this picture, when I was naked, I was bawling over how flabby my belly is.  Ups and downs.  My life is a virtual roller coaster sometimes.  But this makes me very happy.  I bought these pants 2 years ago when I was working with a personal trainer.  At that time I was about the same weight, but these pants were not this loose.  Also I was on a "diet" then, now I am just living a healthy lifestyle.  I honestly love it!  Since I am doing this 12 week challenge, I have been counting calories just to have a bit of a road map to help me figure out how much fat/protein/carbs that I'm getting and to ensure that I eat enough.  I am using an app called fitness pal, but you can also find it on your computer at http://www.myfitnesspal.com/.  I love the app because I can scan in the food label and presto, there it is.

I am going to mix things up a little bit in February.  I am not seeing the kind of muscle definition that I have been hoping for, so I need to shock my body a little bit.  I found this program on the Body Building website: 30 days to a 6 pack.  I will be doing 6 days of cardio, 4 of these days I will also be lifting heavy like I have been doing, but I will split the workouts.  I will be doing cardio in the morning and lifting in the evening.  The idea is to keep your metabolism burning all day.  I'm not sure if I am going to like this routine.  When I trained for the Ragnar, I was doing 2 cardio sessions one day a week and it got tiring.  The only difference is that I can lift pretty much anytime at home and not work up too much of a sweat, so I won't have to shower and redo makeup and hair again.  I will try it out this week and then report back.

As for eating this month, I'm probably not going to change things up too much.  As I stated above, I'm counting calories right now as a guide.  I am not that concerned about getting the exact calories, I just eat when I'm hungry.  I have noticed that I am still getting too many sugars.  These come from fruits mainly, even though I only have about 2 servings per day.  I do need to stay away from clean treats too because I still have very little self control with anything sweet (I ate 1/2 a batch of protein ball yesterday).  I also need to focus on greens, greens, and more greens.

End of week 3, a long run, and doing what I love

I'm now three weeks into this challenge and I don't even have a six pack yet!  However, I bought some pants this week that are 2 sizes smaller than a similar pair I bought about 3 years ago and my skirt today that I could hardly zip up in September was baggy.  I call that success!  Maybe after another year of this craziness and a tummy tuck, I will get that six pack.
This week I worked really, really hard.  I made every minute of strength training and cardio count.  By Friday I was exhausted.  I had done four HIIT sessions (one was speedwork), I did four days of resistance training and I had run a total of 12 miles.




My running buddy, Priscilla, and I hadn't been able to run together for over a month because of crappy weather, so when the weather looked decent for Saturday, I decided to buck up and do a long overdo run.  Although we froze our buns off running 10.5 miles and I was tired, I was really glad that we were finally able to do it.   It was so much fun to get out and run with her.  The time flew by because we had so much to catch up on and talk about.  I have said this before and I'm sure I will say it again: I would not be still this committed if it wasn't for her.   Having a buddy on this journey has been the key to sticking with it and not getting (too far) off the path.
Because of this 12 week challenge, I haven't been focusing on my New Year resolution of clean family meals.  I have still been cooking clean for myself, but I have also been making separate meals for my family.  This is not the ideal situation, but it is what I am going to have to do for the next nine weeks so that I can meet my goals.  With the exception of yesterday and today (I have been eating popcorn and I made my version of no bake cookies), I have not been eating starch carbs after lunch.  This makes it difficult to prepare meals that my family enjoys, like pasta and potatoes, but I am making it work out.  Their meals are still pretty clean, but they aren't eating salads as their main course.
I have been on somewhat of a smoothie kick lately.  I love it when people post new ones on facebook.  There are some great "green" smoothies out there.  I have mentioned before that one of my favorite smoothies looks like baby poop, but it tastes like pumpkin pie.  I also have been making ones with whatever greens I have: kale, spinach, parsley, celery, and/or cucumber.  I blend these with about 1/2 cup water, juice of 1/2 lemon, flax seed oil, and vanilla protein powder.  I have found that the lemon is the key to deliciousness.  It just adds the right little zing and pulls everything together.  I also love my fruit smoothie: 1/2 banana, berries and protein powder.  I recently discovered a banana cream protein powder and I am in love.  It is really yummy on oatmeal or alone.


Last night, I was perusing Facebook and I came upon an article,  The Happy Diet, by Christina @ The Athletarian,  she talks about Orthorexia, which is an obsession with eating only clean foods.  It's a great article and something that I have debated-where is it a lifestyle and where is it an obsession.  I think that I eat about 90% clean.  My day to day, meal to meal eating is 100% clean.  Even my treats on most days are clean.  The 10% is when I have my weekly cheat meal and/or dessert.  I decided that tonight, since it is the super bowl, I am going to indulge in 1 piece of thin crust pizza with my family.  I will have a big old salad, but I am also going to enjoy a little bit of pepperoni pizza. I'm not going to have any other treats.  I decided this after I read the article and after talking about fitness with Priscilla.  I decided that even though I have my goals and I will eventually meet all of them, I also need to enjoy my life.  Priscilla had said that she is really loving the weight room and that she has been thinking about running less and doing less marathons.  At this time in my life I am just the opposite.  I love to run!  So I am going to do what I love.  I am still going to get my strength training and HIIT in, but I am going to continue to train and run marathons and half marathons.  I am also going to strive to be a 90% clean eater and not develop orthorexia (hahaha). I don't even know if that's a real medical term. I guess I need to google it. My point is that if you love what you do, then you will stick with it. If you are miserable and not enjoying it, then you are more likely to give up.


Since it's Sunday, it's time to plan my workouts for the week. Most weeks I'm able to make everything go as planned, but sometimes I have to jostle things around. I have learned to use a pencil instead of a pen because I do a bit of erasing. I really enjoy putting my little plan together and watching the blank boxes fill up. I love knowing exactly what I have planned. I think this week's plan looks pretty challenging!

Time Management

This post is somewhat of a continuation from my post last week - There will always be critics.  When I tell people about my workout regimen, I usually get the "I don't have the time for that" excuse.  Even though my diet was total crap before September 24, 2011, I have always exercised.  I love cardio.  I was a cheerleader in the 8th grade, I did drill team in 9th grade.  In high school I remember doing Denise Austin aerobic videos before school and situps before bed.  When I went to college I took advantage of their gym and went to step/aerobic classes.  I started running after I had a breast reduction in 1996 (I know, boo hoo!  I am 5'2" and before my surgery I measured a FF bra size).  I guess that I really started in 1997 because I had to heal and all that jazz.  I started gradually with a run/walk program and I eventually lost the 15 pounds that I had gained when as a freshmen.  During the first 10 years of my marriage, I either ran or walked on and off with friends, went to the gym when I had a membership, or did workout videos at home.  In 2007 I became friends with "J-wanna," aka Tara Scott.  We call her J-wanna because she always starts out a conversation with "you wanna ...?"  She talked me into running my first 1/2 marathon in Ogden, Utah.  We had so much fun!  We stuck together through the whole race, pushing and encouraging each other.  I guess that I should mention that Tara has done about a million marathons, so this distance was a piece of cake.  A few weeks after the race she tried to convince me into running a marathon and I told her that I never would run a marathon.  Well, I was wrong.  I have now run 3 marathons and 7 half marathons.  Tara also talked me into doing an all women 100 mile road bike ride last year.

As for strength training, I have finally learned to like it.  I still don't love it.  I still prefer to run, but I see how strength training is sculpting my body and I do love that.  I was an off again/ on again strength trainer, but now I make sure that I do it 4 times a week plus Monica's Tabata Class, which also include resistance training.  Right now I am averaging 10 hours of exercise per week.  Monday-2, Tuesday-1, Wednesday-2, Thursday-2, Friday-2, and Saturday-2.  In a few months my mileage will increase, so my Thursday and Saturday hours of exercise will increase as I prepare for my marathon in June.  I also am currently working about 20-25 hours per week and I have 2 very busy children.  How do I do it?  First of all, I have a very supportive husband (which means he's scared of me), 2 low maintenance children (again, scared of me), and I have a difficult time sleeping in past 6 am.  Since Mondays and Thursdays are my days off, I get up around 5:30 or 6 am and I start laundry, today I cleaned my bathroom and dusted before I had to get the kids going.  I seem to be doing laundry all day on these days and cleaning. Last year I had some bulging discs so I wasn't able to vacuum.  My husband actually likes to vacuum, so he has taken up the vacuuming and that has helped out immensely.  My children also help out, but I usually have mostly everything done by the time they get home from school so they can chill a little before they have to venture out for their other activities.  

As for food, when I tried to do all of my food prep in one day, I found it overwhelming so I use Mondays to get ready for Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday to get ready for the rest of the week.  On the days that I work, I pack my cooler and get my breakfast ready the night before to allow me more time to exercise in the morning.  As a general rule, I do not like getting up before 5 am, so on the days that I have to leave for work by 7 am, I cut my workouts down.  I have to allow myself an hour to get ready because I don't like to be rushed.  When my husband is home he will either make dinner or help me out with dinner and cleaning up.  I don't make elaborate meals, even on my days off.  I try to stick with simple, clean ingredients and make meals that we all enjoy.  I try not to leave housework for the days that I work, because I'm usually beat.

What all of this comes down to is time management.  I don't watch TV while my kids are at school unless it's while I am folding laundry.  I listen to books on my iPhone while I do housework and then I will read, blog, etc. in the evenings during our quiet time.  Or right now, while I had a few minutes before my daughter comes home from school and dinner is in the crock pot and laundry is waiting for me to fold it.  I don't do much shopping during the week, except for groceries.  I actually don't enjoy shopping that much so I usually have to force myself to go.  I do love online shopping though, which is not good for my piggy bank.

As for finding time to workout, I sit down on Sunday and plan out my week in my Exercise Journal that I made for myself.  I look at my marathon training schedule, my HIIT schedule, and my strength training schedule and then I plan out what I am going to do for the week.  I also decide what time of day I will be exercising and for how long.  I have 5 runs scheduled for this week, so I will do one of those as a HIIT (speedwork), one as a long run, 2 short runs, and one easy, whatever I want it to be run.  I have split my strength training into 4 days, to do on my lighter run days.  On Friday, I plan on doing a HIIT at home, similar to what I did on Saturday.  I also leave these plans somewhat open to change, then I won't get overly stressed if something doesn't go according to plan.  I prefer to work out as early as possible, so I set it as #1 priority for every single day.

I have often told people that anyone can run a marathon.  I honestly believe it.  I think that anyone can do anything they put their mind to.  If I have enough time to do all of this, anyone does.  All you have to do is make it a priority.  Tell your family that you are taking time for yourself.  If they don't understand, then you have not made them scared of you and that's your problem. Just kidding!  Seriously though, I know that I am a much nicer mother and wife if I have had time to do something for myself for 2 hours and then I can devote the rest of the day to my family.  You might have to sacrifice your love for Pinterest or TV or cooking crazy, extravagant meals, but in the long run everyone will be happier.  I honestly believe that my health is more important than anything else in my life right.  When I am healthy I am happier and I am able to do all the other things that are vitally important much more efficiently and with a smile.  Also I am showing my children that my life has value, too.  My husband really is so supportive and that is the key.  He gets it because he loves to be fit too.  And really, he is a little bit scared of me!