Being skinny is easy.

We’ve all heard it. ‘Skinny bitches’ have it easy. I’ve said it. I’ve thought it. Watching a girl who weighs 103 lbs eat a double cheeseburger with fries, top it off with a milkshake and not even break a sweat. Hello envy, we meet again.

Some people are naturally skinny, without working out, regardless of what they eat. I prefer to think of them as some mutant form of human who must have really awful personalities.

(I kid, I have some friends who are naturally tiny, and are some of the sweetest people ever).

Me with my super tiny, skinnie minnie friend Amanda at my wedding reception.

My point is, everyone likes to have an excuse. Where I work, I am the excuse.

I get teased quite a bit because I don’t partake in the employee birthday festivities (i.e., there is a cake in our office kitchen on a daily basis here, and I don’t eat any). I get teased when I go for a run on my lunch break instead of sitting at my desk for even longer than the 8 hours I have to anyway. When I refuse a piece of chocolate offered, I hear ‘of course you would… you’re so skinny!”. I realize that it’s all harmless fun, but sometimes it can feel offensive. It’s like I’ve got a ‘Get out of fat free’ card and no one else does.

Not. the. case.

1. I am NOT skinny.You can’t count my ribs and I have an ass. I am a healthy weight, with a lower body fat percentage, because I incorporate eating right and working out as part of my lifestyle. 

2. I am not small because I somehow ‘lucked out’. I weighed close to 14o at my heaviest, and worked out super hard to get that off. I have maintained that 20 lb weigh loss for 7 years. It is not because I eat onion rings and cheeseburgers everyday (and honestly, I don’t even want to).

3. I spend a lot of time tailoring my diet to be healthier, and challenging myself with exercise.That being said, I’m human like everyone else, and crave things. Except I don’t fight when I crave something. I eat it, in smaller portions, and get on with my life.

  At my friend’s daughters 1st birthday party, though I only ate the piece of cake (Nate put the cupcake on my plate to be funny).

4. There is no secret society to join, no hidden password to get- anyone can have the body they desire by changing their lifestyle. The first thing they have to change first, though, is their mindset (I still struggle with this on a daily basis, I don’t think it ever goes away).

5. All of my friends aren’t fitness fanatics, my husband hates running and loves to eat junk food (not always), and I work around that. It’s not about everyone around you, it’s about you and what you want.

Katie wrote this blog yesterday about feeling guilty and I realized for the first time that I suffer from that feeling too. When I first started running during my lunch break, I’d go to another location to change instead of doing it at my office because I didn’t feel like hearing all the ‘of course you would run on your lunch break, you’re making us look bad’ remarks.

People ask me often how I manage to go for a run after work, I mean aren’t I just exhausted after a long day? Of course I am! I’d be down with going back to sleep as soon as I wake up to be honest with you. Or cozying up to this guy:

Sometimes I’m really stoked to go for a run, and other times I’m not. That’s when I start playing music on my way home from work to pump myself up. I also make concious decisions (ex. when I walk in the door, I won’t sit down, I’ll just immediately change and go to the gym), or I’ll even pack my gym clothes in the car so I don’t even have to stop home. Little things like that make a big difference.

I mentioned in Katie’s blog that the hardest thing I had to face was realizing that everything that happens to me is the direct result of previous decisions made. If I decide not to work out and eat a whole pizza, I ultimately decided to put on a few lb’s. When you give yourself the power to make your decisions, you realize that no one can take that away from you. You don’t have to eat cake just because it’s in the office fridge; you don’t have to not workout because How I Met Your Mother is on. It’s all up to you.

Everyday I make the decision to be healthy, to work out… or I make the decision not to. But knowing that I made the decision isn’t easy sometimes, it can be hard to swallow. It’s because I have no one to blame. It’s not Nate’s fault if I don’t run, it’s not token Victoria Secret model’s fault because she’s ‘skinny’ and I’m not.

Do you ever feel blamed for other’s failures in weight loss/being healthy?

How do you motivate yourself daily? (I can always use new tips!)

Fun with veggies

Ever since I tried to start eating more veggies, I’m learning that #1. it takes concious effort to eat more fruits/veggies and #2. I need to learn better ways to incorporate (read: sneak) them into my diet.

This is a crappy picture from my Iphone of the delicious lunch I had yesterday. I mixed extra virgin olive oil with oregano, basil, rosemary, chives, S+P and a little balsamic vinegar. Poured it over some fresh sliced Italian bread and toasted with with swiss cheese. Topped it off with a large serving of grape tomatoes. It was absolutely amazing! Probably one of the best open faced sandwich I’ve ever had in awhile.

Tonight I did some yoga and ab/core work to work on my stretching and strengthen my core. It was a killer 30 minutes! After, I decided to have some more veggies (I’d only had a banana and a serving of tomatoes at this point), so I cooked turnip greens and put tomato basil sauce, Frank’s red hot (a MUST have in every kitchen) and some Parmesan cheese on top. I don’t really like greens, but this almost tasted like a pasta.

I’m really trying to focus on all of my new goals, and so far (day #3) I’m feeling really good about it. What are some of the ways you sneak veggies into your diet? Any tried-and-true recipes to share? Hook a sista up! 🙂

 

 

 

 

Finally liking cool weather running?!

I was really pumped to run yesterday. I planned to go during my lunch break but it was really rainy and gloomy, so I decided to go when I got home. By that time, laziness had set in and I ended up going to dinner with my aunt. Not a bad trade by far.

I did manage to eat probably 6 servings of fruits and veggies. I bought some grape tomatoes and bananas, been snacking on them ever since. Not as good as chips, but will do the trick with a sandwich.

Today I woke up, ready to hit the gym (Nate said it was pretty brisk outside). I was fighting the temptation to just sit on the couch and watch tv, because I still hate running on the treadmill. I peeked outside: 50 degrees, no wind and calm. It didn’t feel that bad so I decided to give it a go. And hey, I could test out my new super awesome running band.

Wearing that and my long sleeved racing shirt I got from the 5k Saturday.

My initial goal was to just run a slow mile, to acclimate myself to the weather. Since I’m focusing more on distance and not speed, I figured this would be the best way to go. Back to my old mantra ‘slow and steady wins the race’.

After my first .5 I decided that I could probably go closer to 2 since my breathing wasn’t too labored and I wasn’t too cold. I just kept running along, keeping about a 10:50 pace and focusing on breathing.

Around 1.81, a funny thing happened. I felt a burst of energy; I wasn’t cold, in fact I was warm! Was I starting to fall in love with cooler weather running? Felt like it! I kept the slow pace but ended up running 3.61 miles, .4 more than my longest distance ever! 

It felt amazing! I can finally start to see that a 10k may be in my near-ish future! I took a longer cool down walk (probably 4 blocks) and did some serious stretching. No soreness to report right now, and after munching on a banana I still feel pretty good.

I have to say I LOVE my running band. Sure, it made a fashion statement (a bad one), and my hair was soaked underneath it. But it kept me so warm! Crazy how warm ears make your whole body warm. LOVE.

I’m really happy with how my run turned out this morning! I have a really big meeting in a little bit that I’ve got to get ready for but I just wanted to share the great news! Cool weather, you and I may be best friends yet.

New goals

I’m really happy with the progress that I’ve made with running. Even though it still can feel like a battle running 3.2 miles, I’m proud of myself to have completed 2 5k’s this summer without walking and clocking in an under 10 (and even 9!) minute pace.

Now that I’m considered a runner  I know that there are some things I need to be better disciplined on in order to move forward with my goals.

1. I need good running shoes. 

It’s something I absolutely hate to do- shoe shop. Yes, I am like the one woman in the world who doesn’t like buying shoes. Especially gym shoes. most of the gym shoes I have are at least 3 years old, save for my running shoes. Nate bought them for me on our honeymoon because I forgot to pack some. They were $50 at JCPenney. Nice shoes….but as I am trying to up my mileage I know that it’s time for me to go and get properly fitted for running shoes. And probably spend much more than I’d like to on them. But it will be worth it, and from what I’ve heard from other runners, really change my running game.

2. Work on my diet

I have a moderately healthy diet currently, and I’ve even lost a few pounds from running. The problem is that I eat more processed food than I care to admit. I don’t eat fast food, RARELY eat fried food, hardly ever eat red meat, so those are all good things. But all the chips, cereal, etc are processed and not whole foods. I don’t get nearly enough veggies/fruits in my diet. These are all things I need to work on so that I fuel myself properly to prepare to run better/longer. Also will help with better recovery.

3. Recover better

After a long run (which to me is anything over 10 steps- kidding! But after a mile can still feel challenging at this point, let’s be honest), I tend to need a nap. Maybe not right away, but eventually. I’m sure that part of this is me not sleeping super great, but I feel like if I fueled up better I’d recover better. I also need to incorporate more cool-downs and stretching in my running.  Generally after a run I leisurely walk for 5ish minutes and then stretch for 3-5 minutes. I know I can add more to it though.

4. Run more!

When I was training for my first 5k, it seemed like my motivation to run frequently was higher. Of course, I also was in the process of starting my new job and didn’t work as much as I do now. Lately I’ve been managing to run at least twice a week, maybe 3 times, but not much more than that. Part of it is that the weather is cooler now and I’m not having the best time getting acclimated  which means I either need to figure that cool running out or hit up the dreadmill. I hate running on the treadmill because it’s boring but I may need to work around that to keep up my distance.

5. Do other work out stuffs

In addition to running more, I want to incorporate more activity in between. Ab and weight training for sure, and possibly some other forms of cardio. This will help me increase my endurance, as well as continue to lean out (my main goal vs losing weight).

I’m slowly going to try to incorporate all of these new goals into my lifestyle and see how it goes. I’d love to get up to a 10k distance (but first I want to be comfortable running 5k) and feel all of these aspects would really help. It feels good to set new goals, but scary at the same time because the same thoughts creep in your head- can I do it?

All you can do is believe it and work to achieve it. That’s my plan!

Race Recap

This morning I got up at 7:30am, in preparation for the race that started at 10am. To my surprise, and disappointment, it was really freakin’ cold outside. Temps were about 47! Ugh. I kept checking weather.com and read that by 10am it would be a balmy freezing 57. As you’ve noticed, me and cooler weather running have not been on speaking terms lately. I was about to live out my worst nightmare.

We got there about 9:30, and it was a little warmer (but my toes were still going a bit numb), and I tried to walk quickly/stretch to warm up. We had to sign waivers and everything, plus there was a memorial service for all the fallen officers. It was really cool, they had a bagpipe player and everything. Unfortunately I didn’t get any pictures becauseI was waiting for my super late brother to show up.

He had gotten lost, and ended up getting there at 10:05. The race was supposed to start at 10am, but ran a little behind which was great because he still had time to register. We took off and stayed together the whole time.

The course started out on a trail and then went onto a paved course which ultimately went in a circle back around. Mile 1 went pretty well; we were keeping about a 9:2o pace. I’d been warned that the course was hilly, but didn’t expect so many little hills to creep up. The bad thing was that the hills on the trail were really muddy and had tree roots all over the place so you really had to watch your footing. The hills exhausted my legs a little, and I battled the idea of stopping in my head many times. I convinced myself that if Alex, who hadn’t been running at all and was complaining yesterday of knee pain, didn’t need to stop, I wouldn’t either.

So we didn’t stop the whole time. And we made it to the finish line at about an 8.5 min pace.

We finished a second off! I got 27:17, he 27:16.

And for those of you paying attention, yes that is 1 minute and 23 seconds better than my last race time!

I placed 2nd in my age group, which was an amazing feeling! It was really nice having my brother alongside with me the whole time.

We both won door prizes- I picked my runner’s band (something I’ve been desperately looking to buy ever since it got cold! super score!) and he got a really cool runner’s shirt.

All in all, a great race. I’m a little tired now, as we rushed from the race to a friends to watch the Michigan game. Gonna relax for the rest of the night! So happy everything went so well!

 

Night before the race

Tomorrow  I’m running in the 16th Annual Michigan State Police Fall Color 5k at a state park with my brother.

I only ran twice this week (was really busy with work), but I’m feeling a whole lot more confident than I did for advoKate. Probably something to do with me having already ran 3 miles several times before. It is a definite confidence booster.

I’m really excited to have someone running with me tomorrow. It’s great having Nate on the sidelines cheering me on, but it is a lot of fun to be running right alongside with someone.

Us on our 25th birthday (remember we’re twins?) 

He has got me on distance running, but he hasn’t been running much lately and is actually complaining about a bit of knee pain. I’m hoping that means he’ll be running slower and I’ll be able to keep up with him!

I’m off to rest and relax for the rest of the night, wish me luck tomorrow!

Pick your passions

Growing up, I was in the orchestra, on the swim team, played softball, sang in choir, took honors (some) honors classes, and took up creative writing. This was just in high school.

When I was even younger, I danced for 5 years (tap, ballet, jazz and gymnastics), played sports, was part of a youth theatre group and a handful of other things.

Why yes, I am quite dorky, all the cool kids are

I guess you could say I was rather well rounded. I had a ton of hobbies, interests- asking me what I wanted to be when I grow up was a different answer each hour (who am I kidding- I still don’t know who I want to be when I grow up, and I’m grown!).

I’m very much like that now. I got into pole dancing for awhile (sooo fun), then yoga (still love), was a dedicated gym rat (now I hate the gym), and now it’s running.

The problem? When I was younger, my ‘rents covered the tab for all my leotards and viola strings. Now, as a newb college grad (with newb college grad debt), there is no invisible cash flow extending out to me.

Which sucks! Because I see all these races that I really want to run, and all these marketing conferences that I really want to go to. I see shoes and clothes I want buy; I see crafts and baking projects in Michael’s that I’d really like to start.

And even though my super awesome hubster has an amazing job, we are budgeting right now because we want to buy a house in the near future. So I’m learning to say ‘yes’ to some of the things I want and ‘no’ to the ones that I want, but can hold off on. I can’t sign up for every single race I want to, but I can sign up for the ones I happen to catch with the cheapest registration fee. And I can put money aside for races that I want to run next summer (when I’ll be much faster and run a lot longer distance- I’m hoping!).

It’s hard, because I’m so bummed when I read a race recap, or see pictures from an event that I couldn’t go to, but I know deep down I’m learning a valuable lesson. You have to hone in on your passions, narrow them down. Having a variety of interests is good, but if you try to cater to all of them you end up not really truly experiencing any. For right now, I’m really fueled by running (shocking as that may be), and I’d like to journey through this until Nike comes hunting me down for a contract or I happen to run alongside Skinny Runner, whichever happens first.

I’m also a pro at bowling (no that does not say 83 as my final score, that’s the nonexistent 7 year old next to me.)

Seriously, letting yourself do something that makes you uncomfortable helps you learn more about who you really are. Learning to let go of fear and having fun, while gaining conditioning and strength really makes me feel good. While I can’t run very far or fast yet, everytime I come back in from a run, I feel great.

That’s what’s truly important. I may not be able to attend every race, or buy every scrapbooking tool that Jo-Ann’s has available, but it will just make me value the ones I run (and the tools I have) that much more.

brrrr!

I never realized how much I loved running outside until I ran inside. Yesterday the temps were in the 50’s (love how Michigan can go from 75 to 52 in a 24 hour period), and I tried running outside still. Let’s just say it sucked.

The wind was blowing against me, so it made breathing hard and my nose started running continuously. I also started to cough a bit and my face just felt overall like it wanted to jump ship. I took my puppy with me and decided to just do a speedy mile. I ran 1.17 in 10 minutes, about an 8.5 min pace. I felt really proud of myself for doing it, but had a feeling I was going to feel sucky the next day.

I was right! This morning when I woke up, it felt even cooler than yesterday! I knew there was really no way I’d be able to get a long run in that weather, so I headed to the gym. I ran 3.15 miles and was really happy with my pace and timing. I felt good. The race next weekend should be fairly easy. So long as this horrible weather doesn’t keep up!

Which leads me to my next question: how do you acclimate yourself to running in cooler weather? I have been looking into running bands because my ears tend to get cold easy, so I thought that might help. But when I was running yesterday I started to feel like I’d need an entire ski mask to get through it. I don’t want to look like some crazy psycho, but I was freezing! My body was warm (I had on a long sleeved lightweight shirt and pants), but I cannot get over how much my face hurt. And today I’ve been coughing up a bit of phlegm (sorry, gross I know), sneezing like crazy, and my sinuses hurt. I don’t feel sick, just like my allergies are acting up. And I feel like my run outside yesterday contributed to it.

How can I fix this? I realize that once it starts getting super cold me and Mr. Treadmill will have to be bff’s. But in the meantime, what are some things to do that will help with running outside in cooler temps? It seems like everyone in the running blog community is saying this is the perfect running weather, so why I am not in agreement? I just need to move to  California already.

Side note

I am OBSESSED with my Run Keeper app! It was seriously helped me run so much more. Something about tracking every run/bike/walking activity I do makes me want to add more to it. Like my Iphone gets mad at me when I am not clicking ‘start activity’ in Run Keeper. Weird.

Last Friday the weather gods heard my cry because the sky opened and there was sun! Hallelujah!

I got in a quick 2 mile run during my lunch break, but my ankles were hurting bad. I think it may have been because it was a lot of terrain/hill running (something I am NOT used to), which is a good start considering how hilly this next race course is warned to be.

Speaking of this next race, I blackmailed  paid for convinced my brother to run it with me! I offered to pay for his fee because I owed him for pizza. What a win for him. A $5 pizza gets an awesome 5k with his awesome sister. He’s totally reveling in this. I know it.

(This was taken at his graduation from Michigan)

My brother and I are twins (he’s 10 minutes older), so we’ve always been pretty close. He’s very competitive and has run way more than I have, so I’m hoping he’ll provide some good humor and motivation during the run and possibly help me beat my previous time.

Yesterday I ran 2.5 miles with my crazy puppy, who I’ve decided it no longer going on ‘long’ runs with me (long being considered over 1 mile). She is just too hyperactive and all over the place.

I ran 2 miles today after work too! Feeling really good about the race coming up. In fact, I have been looking up some other races that I want to do within the next few weeks. Call me crazy?

 

It’s fall! (and time for the oh so cliche I heart fall post)

Seriously, fall is one of my favorite times of year….

(taken last year, way too early for the leaves to look that way yet! also my hair is a lot different 😉 )

Another oldie but goodie:

One of our engagement pictures from last fall. We got engaged in August 2009, but didn’t do the whole photoshoot she-bang until 2010.

I’m a summer baby, so that’s my main staple in weather. But I find reasons to enjoy all the seasons, and that’s why I consider myself lucky to live somewhere that has all four of them.

I’ll be changing my tune come December when the snow starts (I think snow is pretty, but it’s definitely not my favorite. I could probably live somewhere that gets spring, summer and fall without missing those snowflakes. After all, I can always visit. Hmm, something to work on with the hubs….)

ANYWAY, my main point is, I keep reading all these running blogs about how fall is the best weather to run in. As a newbie runner, I’m not convinced.

The last few days have been rainy, dreary and cool. That has no contributed to a desire to run for me. In fact, I haven’t ran since Tuesday when I went during my lunch break. One of the things working against me is that I HATE running at the gym. In fact, I hardly go to the gym. Something about being locked on a stationary machine. It’s gross.

That’s why me and summer were besties. I could easily muster up some motivation to go for a quick run around the neighborhood. But with this weather, I know it’s only going to get more cool and rainy.

This is where I need help. How do I make gym running more fun? What do you do to incorporate it in your schedule? I need tips!!