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.