I always manage to get sucked back in....

I ended up with an extra 30 mins at work this morning...so what did I do??? I ran. I walked to the gym (at 530 in the morning) and knocked out over a mile on the treadmill. Granted, I haven't ran since my demon stomach bug back in November - but nonetheless, I got my ass on that treadmill and I ran.

I knocked out a mile in 11:50 - which I didn't think was really that bad considering its been over a month (actually closer to 6 weeks - last run was November 9th!). The first quarter mile is always the hardest - getting in the groove, convincing yourself you actually *ARE* capable of getting your distance met. But then, as usual - I got into my groove, put on some good tunes (specifically Prepare to Be Wrong) and just enjoyed the process. I wasn't dying, I wasn't hurting, I wasn't suffering - I was enjoying myself!

Appetite has been wonky the past few days, but its helped me get my weight down a little bit. Dropped 3 pounds from yesterday so I'm already feeling better. Today got an egg, chile & cheese burrito for breakfast after my run - but I had to force myself to order it because I just didn't have an appetite. But now that I've eaten, I do feel better - so I'm glad I did.

Today is also Day 4 with no soda or caffeine! I wanted to try to cut back on it because it wasn't doing good things to my thyroid, so I figured I'd give it a shot. Been drinking nothing but water (and a decaf latte Tuesday morning and a cup of green tea at a chinese restaurant 2 days ago) - and I'm already noticing positive benefits. Even though I've been a little grumpy and I've had to take some ibuprofen, I'm feeling better, sleeping better and starting to get my energy levels back. I'm missing the bubbles of soda, so I think I'll be drinking sparkling water with some Mio in it to satisfy that craving, but overall it hasn't been too bad. Maybe an investement in a Soda Stream is in my future, since sparkling water is so expensive....

Anyways, tomorrow night we have a Costume Party to go to - and I tried on my costume yesterday. It actually made me feel pretty darn fabulous...I didn't feel fat or squishy at all (which was surprising!) It made me appreciate that even if the scale is being evil, I don't actually look as bad as I thought. I'll be sure to post pics (just not sure if its going to have to be after Christmas since we're so busy!)

Since I don't have my kids again until January, I'll be pushing myself to get some kind of movement each day throughout the holiday. Just that little 11 min run today upped my energy levels and made me feel SO much better - so I'll be sure to be adding that into my regular routine. Perhaps a Bosu routine and an interval workout on the treadmill is in my future today! Yippee!

Total Miles Ran in 2011: 132.2 Miles
Total Calories Burned "Running From My Issues": 19,860 Calories GONE

Holy Workout Gods I'm Wiped!!!

Okay - so after my awesome strength training workout on Thursday....I got nothing out of it. No soreness, no nothing....kind of a bummer and not really inclination to keep it up. I wasn't really happy. Guess that's the downside to already being pretty fit - I've gotta keep upping the ante to get good things out of it! Growl...

Anyways, didn't get a workout in yesterday - got out of work early after our holiday lunch (I had one plate of chicken enchiladas, beans & chips & salsa). Finished up my Christmas shopping for the hubby and came home with the expectation of grabbing a nap before he got home from work. Little did I know that he was already off work and he strolled in the door *right* when I laid down for a nap! haha! He'd gotten out of work early and been going shopping for my Christmas gifts all afternoon (he's such a sweetheart!)

SO - he walked in the door and said "you're going to get this gift now because I have NO idea how to wrap the damn thing!!!" Of course, I was totally confused. What on earth could he have picked up for me that was too big to wrap???

He walked to the garage, slapped a bow on the box and walked in the door with this (the kitten totally loved the box!! haha)


HOLY CRAPOLA!!! I've been wanting a Bosu ball for YEARS - just never been able to justify the cost!!! What an amazing husband I have!!! OMG he totally made my day!!! What a fabulous Christmas present from my wonderful man! I can't believe he remembered that I wanted one!!! AAAHHHH!!!

Okay - so anyways, we basically hopped right in the car when he got home and drove up to see my family for the evening. We went to dinner and I had a Caesar Salad with a side of green chile Mac & Cheese (so yummy!). Then we went to my Stepdad's choir performance and living nativity at his church - with real camels and everything! Totally cool! It was freezing, but we had a great time!

We got home a little late last night, so we slept in this morning - which was really nice. Its rare when we can sleep in! We rolled out of bed a little after 9, showered and went over to visit his mom - who just got a new puppy for Christmas! Isn't he totally cute???


We hit up Twisters for breakfast and then took off to Toys R Us (yes, we went to Toys R Us the weekend before Christmas) We took $40 and bought as many toys as we could. We managed to get 3 kitten stuffed animals, 7 hot wheels cars, 3 bouncy balls and 1 kung fu hamster toy thing - all which went straight to the Marines for Toys for Tots. We have been so blessed in our lives that it meant a lot to us to be able to give back.

After that, we walked around the mall for a bit. Hubby got 2 pairs of jeans, 2 new shirts for work and a sweater for less than $70 and I got myself a festive new top for Christmas! Yippee!

This afternoon, hubby has errands he needed to run, so I stayed home and finally broke in my brand new Bosu! Holy crap...that thing is amazing!! It took me about 10 minutes to get used to jumping off and on the darn thing, but it worked my legs in all kinds of crazy ways! It came with 4 workouts, so I ran through the Total Body workout - took me about 30 minutes and only burned about 160 calories (but I think that will go up once I'm more comfortable jumping on and off the darn thing) However, low calorie burns aside - my legs were totally toast at the end and my abs are STILL shaking now! EEP! I think I've found my new strength training plan!!! I heart my Bosu soo much!!!

I can't wait to try the other workouts! I don't want to try another one today because I don't want to overdo it, and I'm going to take it easy and slowly get into this thing - so I don't hurt myself. But I really see myself getting lots and lots of progress with this thing! Let's just say - push ups on a Bosu are KILLER!!!! haha!

Been an eventful Friday evening and Saturday so far! Can't wait to have a quiet night in with the hubby catching up on TV shows, might order in dinner if we don't want to cook....either way its going to be fabulous!

Hope you all have a great day!

Hittin' the Weights...

So today started the "Lunchtime Strength Training Routine" and it felt good! I didn't get a massive calorie burn - but that's to be expected since my cardiovascular rate is so high. Hopefully this is enough to see some changes and keep my muscle (if not make them more defined!)

Got the joy of doing the workout today in bootcut jeans, reebok sneakers and a green skull t-shirt...totally spaced out bringing workout clothes to work...go me! BUT - I didn't use that as an excuse to NOT work out! Squats were about parallel or a little lower - since I don't have the ROM in jeans that I do in workout gear. Had to ditch the lunges after 5 reps on each leg - I tweaked my knee in class last night and the lunges were pissing it off so I didn't want to do anything terrible to it

Okie - so here's what I did today. I know I can move more volume than this, but since I'm restricted to dumbbells and don't have bars & plates - this was what I was able to do today. Since I couldn't go higher in weights, went higher on the reps so I think it still sufficiently kicked my ass - overall wasn't too shabby for a little full body routine. I went through each set as quickly as possible, with no rest between exercises to make a circuit workout (so for the arm stuff there was no rest between row #1, row #2 then shoulder press - they were toast by the end!)

Strength Workout 12/15/2011
Deadlifts: 50lbs (two 25lbs in each hand) X 15 reps for 2 sets
Squats: 20lbs (two 10lb in each hand held up at shoulder height) X 15 reps for 2 sets
Bench Press: 10lbs each hand X 15 reps, 15lbs each hand X 15 reps
Lunges: 10lbs in each hand X 5 reps (one set only - wonky knee)
Lat Pulldown: 50lbs X 15 reps for 2 sets
Row #1: 10lbs each hand X 15 reps for 2 sets
Row #2: 10lbs each hand X 15 reps for 2 sets
Shoulder Press/Bicep Curls: 10lbs each hand X 15 reps for 2 sets
Bicycle Crunches: 2 sets of 25 reps
Skull Crushers: 1 set of 15 reps with 10lbs in each hand

Total Workout Time: 22 minutes
Total Calorie Burn: 135 Calories (like I said...not too high, but that's the joy of being cardiovascularly fit)

So tonight is my last night of my after school program! I was totally wiped after all 3 of my classes yesterday, but still can't believe how fast this year has gone already! I'm excited for my new classes, but I will really miss the kiddos that I've had this semester so far!

Other than that, hubby and I have a date night planned for Friday evening - should be super fun! The bike is finished at the repair shop, so hopefully we'll be able to pick it up this afternoon. I've been eating like a horse recently (and am still hungry right now, but I guess post workout that's to be expected) - but weight is about the same, so its good to know that I'm maintaining with all this crazy that's going on.

New Plan For Now...

So, after posting that last blog I really started to think things out about my strength training plan. I really don't want to have to try to fit something into my already busy schedule - so the appeal of finding something do to at work (on my lunch break) is really nice. I came up with a plan that I can do 3-4 days a week that will fit into my lunch break really nice.

So far - it includes:
Deads
Squats
Bench Press
Lunges
Lat Pulldown (since there's nowhere for me to do pull ups)
My Two Types of Rows (upper back/lower back)
Shoulder Presses with Bicep Curls
Bicycle Crunches
Skull Crushers
And Optional (if I have time) - Calf Raises, Flys, Weighted Crunches, Planks, etc

I'm thinking 2 sets of each all done in a circuit style will make for a nice little workout. Since tomorrow is my hell day with 3 classes, I can't start it tomorrow - but I'm looking forward to trying it out on Thursday and seeing how it goes!

Reigning myself in....

Alrighty folks...I know its been a while. Life's been busy. Helped a friend move this weekend, got all our Christmas shopping finished, been snowed in for a few days last week (and there's another storm on the way now), wrapping up my first semester of the After School Program - which is proving to be bittersweet. I'm finally starting to get really comfortable with my schools - so its sad that this is the last week for them. I feel really accomplished that I'm halfway through the year though. I was really worried that I'd burn myself out, or that I wouldn't be able to handle working 3 jobs all at once...but I've really stepped up and proven to myself that I'm capable of working this hard for something I really enjoy.

In trying to manage the crazy schedule from hell, nutrition has taken a backseat to time management. I've been maintaining my weight in the 180's (anywhere from 183-189 depending on the day) and I'm feeling a little chunky but all my clothes are still fitting well. Still rockin' the size 6 and a small/med in tops. Because of the chunky feeling though, I'm not as comfy in my skin as I have been in the past, so changes will need to be made.

I think a big part of this is my current workout scheme - with how busy I've been, workouts are only my classes...meaning lots and lots of cardio....but not much else. I haven't been able to maintain the muscle definition in my upper body I had before the school year started and my arms feel a little too jiggly for my liking - even if I haven't lost any strength from the lack of workouts. This past weekend we helped our buddy move, and I spent most of the day lugging boxes full of books around. I was really impressed that I handled the lifting so well considering I haven't done a formal strength workout in months.

I was trying to come up with a strength program that might work for my busy schedule - and today at lunch I snuck into the gym to play around with some weights. Its been forever since I've had the chance to throw some weight around - so it felt good. I just pulled the 10 pound dumbbells and knocked out bicep curls and 2 sets of row isolations (10 reps for upper back, 10 reps for lower back) with no rest in between - so arms sufficiently felt like jello in less than a minute...go me!

After that - I kept each of the dumbbells in my hands and knocked out 15 consecutive ATG squats while checking my form in the mirror (no butt winking!) Its nice to know that I can still knock out proper form even after months of not really doing a lot of strength training.

So after all that awesomeness, I decided to snap a few pics - I'm wearing workout clothes today and they give a decent idea of the current shape of myself. I'm not too thrilled about my current chunkiness (as expressed above) but all in all - I really don't think I look that bad. I don't have a muffintop going over my pants, I still have an hourglass figure and my legs are still muscular and strong (even if the rest of me feels like squish)

Here's the pics I took earlier (I took a few more, but photobucket is being stupid today and won't upload them from my phone)





In other news, hubby and I are planning on hitting nutrition hard after the new year - with the holidays coming up we don't want to "diet" through them but we won't go crazy either. After the new year, we are going to get a better handle on nutrition and keep ourselves to a good calorie count for our energy levels. I figure since I'm halfway through the year, I've been able to acclimate to the crazy schedule I've created - now its time to get myself in line and stop feeling bad about the way I look.

I'm still working on the actual plan, I can't over-exhaust myself, but I can't just do cardio anymore either...need less squish which means more muscle at the moment. I can't figure out if I'll try to come up with a plan I can do at work during my day job, or try to do something outside of work during the small amount of free time I've got.

That's about it for my ramblings today. I've already updated Spark with everything else that's been going on...hope you all have a great day!

Back At It

Hey peeps! I'm back and going to be blogging more regularly again. Things have been super busy - but in a good way. I have 3 weeks left of my first semester for the after school program! I can't believe how fast the time is flying! I'm getting ready and excited to start the next semester of the program!

We had a great Thanksgiving filled with lots of friends, family and food! As of yesterday, the hubby and I got back on track with our nutrition (set at 1600 calories/day-ish) and I'm already feeling better. Dropped 3lbs of water weight overnight so I'm happy about that! I'm hoping to keep things on track for the next few weeks and hopefully get a good head start on the holiday season - so Christmas isn't so hard this year.

I haven't been able to run since before I was sick - and that's okay with me. I know my limitations and I'm not going to push it. I need to stay healthy for my classes and anything beyond that is totally extra.

In other news, I've been researching renewing my PT Cert which is due at the end of April this year. I can't believe its already been almost 2 years since I finished that program! EEP! Time really is flying! I've got to complete a few more CEU credits and renew my CPR/AED cert before that's done, so I'll be looking to get a start on that in the next few weeks.

Also, the hubby and I have talked about finishing our Bachelor's Degree programs and we think we found an online program that will work best for both of us and allow us to finish school at our own pace (i.e. I can theoretically finish faster than the 8 semesters) All the books are included with the cost of tuition, so I won't need to shell out extra cash for books whenever I start a new class - which is awesome! The other perk is that all financing is done through them so I don't need to take out any loans and I can get reimbursed for tuition through my day job - so I really shouldn't have to pay a whole lot to finish my degree...which is a perk.

If all goes as planned, both of us should be enrolled before the end of the year *fingers crossed* I miss being in school. I like learning new things and constantly challenging myself. Its been over a year since I've been in school (I finished my fitness nutrition in October 2010) and have completed Zumba classes/licenses since then - but it would be nice to start working towards a degree again.

Anyways, enough rambling for me...have a great day everyone!

I am alive!!!!

So this past weekend I got hit with the yuckiest stomach bug I've ever had (and I mean ever). I don't get sick often, and this one had me out of commission all weekend. No bueno. The stomach pains were so bad that I didn't want to eat anything - dropped 5lbs in water weight the first night! After a few days of recovery, I'm feeling about 95% better. I rehydrated and have been forcing myself to eat higher amounts of sodium so weight came back up. Still a little weak - but overall okay.

Made it through my 2 classes yesterday without much of an issue, so I'm thinking I'll be okay in my classes today. I'll just have to do the best I can and not completely exhaust myself & risk getting sick again. Nutrition has been crap - but weight is maintaining at or around 185ish, which is good. For the past few days, I've been eating whatever sounds good (considering I couldn't really eat for 3 days) just to get my strength back - which has basically amounted to crap...nachos, burritos...you get the idea. Once my strength is back to 100%, I'll start cleaning it up a little bit but I figure that I'm just going to try to maintain what I can through the weekend and see where I'm at on Monday.

In other news, hubby and I got new phones on Monday! Wahoo!!! Super sexy iPhones (the brand spankin' new 4s ones)!!! We switched carriers to get better service and couldn't be happier! Woot! I am so emotionally attached to it already - its scary! haha! Hubby loves his too! I'm still learning it (since I've been android for a few years now) but I'm loving it so far!!!



Anyways, I'm still keeping a written diary of how food has been affecting me - so that's helping me figure some things out. I need to figure out what my mental hang up is with food - why do I overeat, etc. If I can figure this out, then I can truly fix the rest of my life - instead of creating just another "diet plan". The Great Unknown was a way to start that, and it hasn't been working too well - but maybe I'll continue it into the new year. Learning to trust myself implicitly is a big step for me - I'm not surprised its taking me a few months to start getting it right.

In other news, due to above mentioned illness - running has been non-existant. Work and paying Zumba classes has been priority #1. Now that I'm starting to feel better, I might dabble in running again this weekend - but I'm terrified about relapsing into this illness and refuse to push myself too hard. And with Thanksgiving coming up, we'll be doing lots of family stuff and running around - so don't know if I'll have lots of time to do much of anything.

I think that's about it for me. Going to avoid most of a potluck at work which is good. I brought pumpkin pie though, and I might allow myself a little slice without whipped cream since its my fav. I'm teaching 3 classes after work and its not going to kill me to eat a piece of pie :-P

Have a good day everyone! I'm off to play with my new phone some more :-D

Catching Up With Friends

So this morning's run was awesome! A friend of mine at work has been on vacation for a week - so he joined me in the gym to catch up and tell me all about his vacation. While he talked, I ran - and it felt awesome. Knocked out another mile in 10 minutes and it felt fabulous! Gotta love it!

Probably not going to do any more running today - I have 2 Zumbatomic classes after work and Curves after that. So I don't want to trash my legs too much before then. Should be another 3,000+ calorie burn day!

Weight stabalized again today - no big drop yet, so hoping for a woosh today or tomorrow. I'm going to stay in this diet phase until I'm back in the 170s and then transition into the next phase of the diet. Good times indeed.

Total Miles Ran in 2011: 131.2 Miles
Total Calories Burned "Running From My Issues": 19,660 Calories GONE

Guitar Hero Running

So I had a great afternoon at my classes!! I rolled out a new song today and the kids loved it!! At my second school, one of the kids asked if we could do the macarena while playing our game. I told him absolutely, since I was convinced I had it on the iPod. After scrolling through half my music I realized I didn't!! Eep!!! I had machinehead immediately followed by macho men!!! No macarena! A travesty!! So I told the kiddos who then asked to do macho men instead!!! So we played our game to macho men and YMCA today!!! Totally amazing and fun!!!

After class I met up with the boys at Fat Squirrel since it was $2 Tuesday. I totally behaved myself!! Go me! I limited myself to 3 chicken wings, an order of peel and eat shrimp and diet coke!

After hanging out for a few hours, we headed home with our buddy Tom and the boys started playing Guitar Hero. My twisted brain obviously hasn't had enough cardio today and thought "this is my usual running music, lets knock out another mile in my goal to hit 200!"

So with the boys playing Avenged Sevenfold and Pantera, I knocked out a nice 11 min mile (first half at 6 MPH and second at 5 MPH) on the treadmill. It felt good and now my bugg says an awesome 3089 calories burned and 15,904 steps for the day! I feel accomplished!

Now time for sleep. I've got work at 5am and 3 classes after work. Busy day ahead! Gotta love it! Night all!

Total Miles Ran in 2011: 130.2 Miles Total Calories Burned "Running From My Issues": 19,495 Calories GONE

Running In The Dark

So I felt that pull again this morning....that unspoken desire to get my ass running again. Perhaps its because I just starting reading "Run" by Dean Karnazes, or because I'm trying to find an attainable goal to reach through the holidays (something I can do daily to help me survive this year) - but either way, that pull became a nervous antsy-ness around 7am this morning.

After my fabulously dismal run on Friday (I've never run a 5K that slowly) - but I recognized that I'm out of running shape, my knees hurt because of the weather change, I was tired and not 100% feeling it - BUT decided to do intervals instead, managed to finish and feel better after the fact - I had something to prove to myself this morning. Today I wanted to show myself that I'm still capable of running a solid mile at 6 MPH - a 10 min mile. I needed to see that I still could.

At 715, I took a break, grabbed my little shuffle MP3 player and headed to the gym at work. I'm already wearing workout clothes (since I have classes after work today) - so it was easy to jump on the treadmill. The gym lights were off - and I kept them that way. The only light was coming from the gray haze of wintery sunrise occurring outside. It felt great to run in the soft natural light - my eyes didn't have to strain or adjust...it was just awesome

So - now after all that build up...how did I do?? Well I proved myself correct - I am still capable of a 10 min mile. There was no question - it felt good. No hesitation during the whole thing - I zoned out almost instantly and enjoyed the whole thing. It was over before I knew it. That's how running should be. Not the slogging 5K I ran on Friday - this is what running is supposed to feel like. 1 mile in 10 mins - check that off today's list of accomplishments! Go me!

Now - that being said. I want to run as much as I can, but I don't want to force myself to do it (which takes the fun out of anything). Last year, I ran a Marathon to Christmas - a mile a day from Thanksgiving to Christmas, just to keep my lazy butt in shape during the holidays. This year, I feel like I can accomplish more....but how much more??

There are currently 53 days left in a year. 53 - that's a good solid Ultra....that's over 85 KM - even running a mile a day its definitely ambitious considering how much I already work out. BUT - according to my mileage tracker, I'm currently at over 129 miles for the year. 129 + 53 = 182 miles....that's damn close to 200. Can I hit 200 miles by the end of the year? 53 days to run 71 miles. That's over 8 miles a week. If I do a mile a day, with one 5K day each week - this is do-able. I think this is my ambitious goal for the next 53 days....I want to make the rest of this year count. I've had too many slack off days. I need something tangible to work towards. Since I don't have the free time or the energy to train for a longer race - this is the best I can to

Happy Running Everyone!

Total Miles Ran in 2011: 129.2 Miles
Total Calories Burned "Running From My Issues": 19,320 Calories GONE

That was a good run....

So I got in a good run after work today. I had the day off from classes - so I decided to run. No time constraints, pushing for PRs or any other stresses - just run. As far as I wanted, I walked when I wanted to and ran when I wanted to - just whatever the hell I wanted to do and it was fantastic!

I haven't been able to run (I mean really run) in months - so today was just about getting myself a good workout and feeling good about myself again. Top speed was 6.5 MPH, with walking intervals every half mile or so (I'd sprint then walk, sprint then walk) for a full 5K. I realized that I need to work on my running conditioning again - but that will come with time.

For now, I just enjoyed the awesomeness of being able to run again. I'm toying with the idea of the Marathon to Christmas idea again - a mile a day from Thanksgiving until Christmas - but maybe just a little different. Maybe a mile a day from now until the end of the year - something along the lines of "My Ultra to 2012". Who knows - it would be really good to run today and I know I'd enjoy that freedom of running again on a regular basis

Total Workout Time: 51 Minutes (Including Warm Up And Cool Down)
Total Calories Burned: 505 Calories
Total Distance Traveled: 3.75 miles (3.12 during workout - rest through warm up and cool down)

Now time to change and get ready to go out. We are taking the bike to the Honda dealership today to get repaired and then out to dinner at a local BBQ place. Should be a good evening! Tomorrow is class and training with a client - if I have the energy maybe I'll throw some kettlebells around tomorrow...we'll see how I'm feeling. I don't want to push it too hard, but I want to push myself a little farther than my current boundaries are set....damn me and my constant drive to better myself as a person!!! haha!

Total Miles Ran in 2011: 128.2 Miles
Total Calories Burned "Running From My Issues": 19,150 Calories GONE

Hi!!!

Okay so here I am - still here, super busy, but still here! The past few weeks they've offered overtime at work to help meet our service level goals - so I worked 8 hours of OT last pay period - which came to a nice extra $200 on my paycheck today. However, with working my normal shift, all my classes plus overtime - didn't leave much time for anything else...so that's why I've been scarce!

The After School program is continuing to go well. I have 5 1/2 weeks left of this quarter (the 1/2 is the week of Thanksgiving). Its definitely been hard work, but the payoff has been awesome! I am using the extra cash from this program to pay down my monsterous credit card - which is going well (and now its not so monstrous anymore!) I'm hoping to cut that balance in half by the beginning of the year - it started around $9500 so I'm shooting for less than a $5000 balance by sometime in January...it will be tough, but I'm thinking I can do it!

In other news, hubby and I are getting ready to completely pay off our motorcycle (the remaining balance is $4,100!) and it will be GONE in about 3 weeks! Can't wait!! We are working super hard to get our debt down and its going great! Having the bike paid off will mean that I've got an extra $160 a month to go towards something else. Once this bill is gone, I only have my credit card (currently $8800 balance) and car payment (current $9100 balance) left over - that's definitely not bad at all!! The hubby only has about $4000 left on his credit card, so that should be gone soon too!!! I'm really excited to start the next chapter of our lives (with the exception of the mortgage) - debt free!! Wahoo!

Alrighty - onto other things. Nutrition has been off most of the week...but weight has stabalized and I'm staying about the same. I'm back on my eating plan today and its going really well so far. We made seafood stuffed Salmon last night and it was super yummy! I brought the leftovers for lunch today and that's definitely going to be nice to eat! I bought a nice beef roast and I'm going to marinade it and make jerky this weekend in our dehydrator. That's a nice snack and its much cheaper to make it ourselves than buy it in a store. I found some killer recipes online, so hopefully it will turn out yummy!

Been reading a lot recently - both work and non-work related and its been really good for me. Reading is a great way to calm my brain down and I've found a great series that I'm really enjoying right now. I've got a ton of books lined up on my Nook and hopefully I'll be able to keep up with my reading throughout the next few weeks. I've been keeping track of all the books I've read this year - its been nice to track what I've actually accomplished this year, I'm over 30 books so far!! Considering I have zero free time - I'm happy with that!

Workouts are continuing to just be classes at the moment. I got in a pilates strength training workout last weekend - was expecting some DOMS from it, but got NOTHING! Boo!! I guess I need to find something a little more challenging to put my body through. Once again, going back to the option of KettleBell workouts...maybe 3 days a week...hmmm....now I just need to find the energy to add that into the routine. I don't want to over cardio myself while eating better and lose muscle definition.

Anyways, that's about it. Got a run planned for this afternoon and I'm totally looking forward to it! Can't wait! Happy Friday to all!!! Its been FREEZING here recently, so I'm looking forward to staying warm this weekend!!!

Wow its been a while!

I haven't updated this thing in a while! Oops! Sorry! So after our trip, we had every intention of getting back in line with nutrition - but that ended up not working out so hot. I ended up eating out almost every day and my weight shot up. I wasn't feeling comfortable in my own skin and something needed to change. I realized a lot in the past 3 weeks.

First of all, I can trust myself to eat until I'm full - but getting full on a plate of nachos has a lot more calories than getting full on a plate of chicken and veggies. Since we came back from vacation, its been tough getting back on track. Just overall lack of motivation - I know what I want to accomplish, but being sick and super tired all weekend just didn't help with anything and I ate more yucky foods than I wanted

Next realization - though I enjoy being Vegan, its next to impossible to eat that way with my hubby and current lifestyle. I found myself choosing crappy foods that just happened to be Vegan and that wasn't helping to solve anything (fried mushrooms & pickles anyone??) So needless to say - the Vegan thing just isn't going to work at this point in my life. When I started this program - I wanted to learn to trust myself again. So - how is being a Dirty Vegan the best thing for me and showing my body that I trusted it??? Well it wasn't.

So, two days ago I started a new eating plan - its similar to Paleo but instead of the nuts & other fat sources I'm eating non-fat dairy. So lots of lean protein (chicken, turkey and boca burgers so far), non-fat cottage cheese, non-fat greek yogurt and nothing really high in fats or super high in carbs (even though I'm getting carbs from the dairy so I'm not crashing or feeling crappy) Since the food is all low fat, all my digestion issues have disappeared as well, just like when I went vegan - so I'm thinking this is a good compromise. Plus I haven't really been hungry in 2 days...can't complain about that. The hubby is doing this plan with me as well and I'm excited to see his progress as well!

Its working great and I'm feeling awesome so far. I've dropped 4lbs in water weight overnight and weight is now a more stable 182.2lbs. As I stated in prior blogs, once I get my weight back to around the 180lbs it was when I started this thing, I'm going to refrain from weighing myself until the end of the year. However, in order to help track progress that I might be making with this new eating - I will be taking measurements and progress pictures every two weeks or so....I think that sounds reasonable to me

I also haven't been feeling well due to allergies & a sore throat - so that didn't help with nutrition either. However, workouts were still there. I've taught all my classes and even ran a 5K this past weekend in 35:06 for the Duke City Marathon. I was impressed considering I haven't ran the distance in over 2 months! Go me! Race pics are in my SparkBlog for this week if anyone wants to check it out!

Otherwise, I think that's it. I don't have class today due to conferences, so I think I'll be running on breaks just to get some activity. I need to go to my car and see if I have any socks in there (I wore flip flops today - not the smartest decision) - if I do, the running is ON! If I don't, well then I'll just walk briskly for about 20 mins on lunch...either way I'll get my movement in!

I've been keeping a daily log in my Nightmare Before Christmas journal of how I'm feeling and hopefully I'll be able to update this more frequently - I'll definitely try! I've also picked back up on reading and hopefully that will continue throughout the rest of the year too! I'm keeping a list of all the books I've read so far in 2011 and I'm making a decent list so far! Woot!

Total Miles Ran in 2011: 125.08 Miles
Total Calories Burned "Running From My Issues": 18,645 Calories GONE

Back to Reality...

Okay - so today is back to the real world (as much as I might dislike it!) This past weekend was totally amazing! The hubby and I went on our anniversary trip to Nevada and had a blast! I ate and drank way too much - but that's what vacations are for right??? We walked a ton and I snuck a peek at the scale this morning (because I was curious about the damage I'd done) and it wasn't too bad. Water weight and everything showed 186lbs this morning, so can't really complain too badly.

The hubby and I are now going to start focusing more on nutrition - over the next few weeks we are going to eat at home more and that should help with the weight loss as well as saving some money. Even though I'm not tracking my food, I'm thinking about trying to put myself right around 1600 cals a day - which should make for a good deficit but be enough to fuel through my workouts. I'll have to play around with it for a little bit and see how that works out.

I didn't get to run on vacation like I'd planned - after walking for 3 days straight, my knees felt totally wonky and I didn't want to risk injuring myself by going out for a run. Some friends want us to run with them in a 5K in a few weeks - which normally wouldn't be an issue. However, I haven't ran that distance in months and I have no idea what I'm going to be capable of. When your cardio is mainly Zumba classes, any other cardio may or may not improve - just depends. I think I'll try to hop on the treadmill this weekend and see what I'm able to do! Either way - its only $27 per person to enter, and we get a shirt for participating - so its not a biggie. Might not hit my sub-30 goals, but right now its all about learning to adapt to what life is currently handing you....and right now its handing me a pair of wonky knees and minimal free time. YAY!

Anyways - hope things are well with everyone. Got 2 classes with the schools today after work, then I'll be able to go home and rest. Looking forward to some relaxation for sure!!

The Great Unknown - Getting Started!!!

So I am on Day 3 of the Great Unknown adventure - I've had a super busy weekend, and am just getting to update all this crazy stuff now. I took "before" pics on Saturday morning, measurements and weighed myself for the last time until December 31st! EEP! So - now that I have all my information - I wanted to get it posted here today so I have it for accountability!!

I bought myself a new journal on Friday afternoon to help me keep track of what I'm feeling and what I'm eating during the next 3 months! I love it!!!


So here's all my starting measurements & stats:

Starting Weight: 180.8lbs
Starting Body Fat Percentage: 26.64%

Measurements:
Neck: 13.5 inches
Shoulders: 39.5 inches
Bust: 38.5 inches
Chest (under bust): 34 inches
Waist: 33 inches
Belly Button: 34.5 inches
Lower Belly: 39 inches
Hips: 41 inches
Butt: 42.5 inches
Thighs (Upper/Mid): 25.5/23.5 inches
Calves: 16 inches (both legs)
Forearm: 11 inches (both legs)
Bicep: 12.5 right/12.25 left
Wrist: 6.75 inches (yeah - I'm kinda big boned! haha)

So here's my "Before" pics - I think I might take pics every 30 days - even if I don't weigh or measure...that way I can really see if progress is being made

Tummy Shot:


Left Arm:



Right Arm:



Back:


Left Side:


Right Side:


So overall - I'm actually happy with these pics. Granted, I'm a little fluffier than I have been in the past - but I know my body is strong and healthy. I have a hard time feeling upset when I am at a 26% body fat at 180lbs. I have amazing cardio abilities, I am strong and appreciative of everything my body is capable of doing. I can't wait to see what happens in the next few months!! Looking forward to it!!!

Also - because I thought it was a super cute outfit - here's what I wore to my Zumba class on Saturday morning! haha!

Wow its a weird day...

So after my scale success yesterday - things got kinda rough. Food wasn't the best all day and when I got home from class, the hubby wanted to go out to dinner. I wanted to spend time with him (since I've barely seen him all week) so we went to Hot Tamales and had a fun time just hanging out. The food was good as always - but it didn't settle well with my tummy and it caused me to not sleep very well. Also, it was really cold in our house last night (we left the cooler on) and so that didn't help me get a restful sleep either.

This morning I woke up not feeling so great. Water weight made the scale jump again and I had ZERO appetite. I had planned on packing a lunch - but nothing sounded good at all. BLEAH! Just so I had something to eat, I grabbed 2 Clif bars on the way out the door - and forced myself to eat one around 630am just so I had something in my tummy but I just haven't had the appetite to even think about eating the other one.

I've been super thirsty all day - so I've been drinking lots of fluids. I had a sneezing fit earlier today that just totally messed up my sinuses - can't quite breathe, ears are all clogged up, nose is runny yet stuffed (like what happens after you've cried, ya know?) just feel YUCK!

I've had about 4 cherry lifesavers as well over the past few hours, but my appetite isn't coming back at all. I feel super tired and am looking forward to napping after work today. Being super tired also means I'm feeling super girly right now - fat, squishy, emotional, grumpy - just not good. I hate days like today - I just don't feel like myself.

Tonight the hubby and I are just gonna take it easy - we are gonna stay home, probably munch on grilled cheese sammiches & popcorn and watch a few movies on the Blu-Ray player. I've been so busy that just snuggling on our couch together sounds like the perfect way to spend the evening.

Given the way I currently feel - I don't think any workouts will happen today. I don't have any classes and so I think I'm going to take it easy today. Rest days are rare for me so I might just chill and try to get out of my "girly" funk.

I think that's about it for me right now - don't wanna blog too long for fear of becoming whiny - I hate reading whiny "woe is me" blogs and would hate to display the behaviors that annoy me so much. After work today, gonna swing by Sam's Club and pick up granola bars for the Zumbathon this weekend. Probably going to also stop at Barnes & Noble to see if I can find a journal. Considering how badly food impacted me last night - I think its really important to keep a log of how things are making me feel over the next 90 days. Granted, I'll still be using this online journal and Spark - but having a journal with me 24/7 will make it easier to track patterns over the day.

I hope I feel better after I get some sleep!! *fingers are crossed*

Happy Friday everyone!

Something is going right...

So the whole "intuitive eating" thing is starting to pay off...for the first time in WEEKS I saw something below 180 on the scale this morning! I saw a lovely 179.2lbs and I'm noticing my clothes are fitting looser as well which made me happy. I have been eating out almost every day, but I've been eating mindfully. I've been vegetarian almost all week and feeling pretty good. Sleep has been lacking, but that's getting better than it has been in a while. So I'm definitely happy with the progress my body is making!! Can't wait to see what happens in the next few weeks!!! Hopefully clothes will continue to feel looser :-D

Yesterday's crazy Wednesday was much better than the past ones. I walked/danced over 14,000 steps and burned over 3,000 calories (as I usually do) and my body is finally getting used to it after 4 weeks of the after school program. I was tired afterwards, but not wiped out like I was the first 2 weeks. I've been taking energy supplements that are amazing - they help curb my appetite a little, so I'm not eating everything in sight and up my energy levels so I can survive the crazy days.

Today is definitely going to be a little easier than Tuesday and Wednesday usually are - I only have 1 school to go to today and I'm getting out of work a little early to run some errands which will be nice. Hopefully I will be able to nap a little bit before going to the school.

Other than that, my last "official" weigh in for the next 90 days will be on Saturday. I want to go pick up a journal so I can document how I'm feeling when I'm not able to update my blogs online - I think that will be my mission for this weekend. Also this weekend, I have my normal Zumba class on Saturday, training clients both days and my Zumbathon on Sunday afternoon which will be super fun! I get to do 3 of my favorite songs, so I'm definitely excited!! Its completely sold out - which is great for the foundation we're taking donations for!! I'm super excited to be able to help out with this great cause! Hopefully someone will be taking pics!

Anyways, I think that's about it for me! I'm looking forward to an easy day and some restful time this weekend! I am going to start prepping a new circuit for Curves this weekend and hopefully roll it out in the next 2 weeks, so that's lots for me to work on as well. Lots to do - but lots of fun as well!!

Things are going in the right direction for sure! Hopefully it will continue to go that way!! Woot!

The Great Unknown and Learning To Trust Myself Again

The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.
~ H.P. LOVECRAFT

There's lots of fear surrounding that which is unknown, but also lots of wisdom that can be gained when fears are overcome. Sometimes, when trying to attain a dream, an underlying fear can cause you to never be able to attain a goal and never truly evolve into the person you are supposed to be. It isn't until you overcome that fear, and learn to trust yourself that you can embrace the life you deserve to live.

I very strongly believe that life is a journey more of mental strength than physical strength. Without the mental determination, none of the physical goals can ever be reached. There are things I've done in my life that I've never thought I could possibly do - that I was terrified about...buying my first house, changing careers and turning to the fitness industry, becoming a Zumba instructor and performing in front of hundreds of people (EEP!), taking on running a 5K race when I HATED running, choosing to leave gyms if my ethics are compromised and venture out on my own, taking on an entire after school program by myself for the whole school year

Sometimes decisions are easy - and they come as naturally as breathing...accepting a wedding proposal and getting married, refinancing the house so that its now "ours" and not just "mine", working hard and crazy schedules to make our lives the best they possibly can be.

With all of these decisions - terrifying or not - I trusted myself enough as a person to be strong enough to be the person that I needed to be - wife, teacher, trainer, responsible friend and so on. And all of those times I've trusted myself - the risks paid off

Now - somewhere in the middle lies my health dreams and goals. I have lots of things I want to accomplish, but every time I try, something goes haywire. I track all my food, every workout, measurements, photos - yet something always seems to fizzle out. For some reason, I'm finding myself taking the safe route - like I feel safer being slightly pudgy. I find myself saying things like "I'm already at a healthy enough size (size 6)", "I'm strong enough to get through all of my crazy schedule", etc...

I'm a control freak - this is a fact. If I can find a way to measure, track or record something, I will do it (which is how I got so good at managing money!). I would track every piece of food I ate, and every calorie I burned in a workout, maintain a calorie deficit worthy of fat loss - yet I still wasn't seeing the progress I want - weight stayed within the same 10lb range for almost a year now, measurements changed a little but nothing major.... Yet, when I think back to the days when I didn't track my calories - the weight loss just seemed to happen on its own. Perhaps there's more to this theory....

So what happened here....do I not trust myself enough to be able to reach my goals on my own? Why don't I trust myself enough to stop eating when I'm full? Why can't I trust myself to not mindlessly munch when I'm not hungry? Why can't I seem to trust myself enough to make better decisions for myself? Where did I go wrong?? Is being so neurotic about tracking everything truly sabotaging any progress I might make??

Then I realized something (going back to something I blogged about a few months ago) - perhaps this is the "Inner Fat Girl"'s true impact on my life. Maybe I've spent so long trying to supress her that I am no longer able to trust in my abilities as a healthy person. I have all the knowledge and tools I need - so why is it so hard for me to embrace it?? Maybe her true motive is to sabotage the healthy person living inside of me - regardless of how hard that healthy person works.

So what am I so afraid of??

Am I afraid to trust myself and then have that lead to failure?? What happens when I can't trust my own actions?? I think that's why I'm playing it safe - at least I know that's working for me and it doesn't involve much risk. Its almost like I'm scared of reaching my fitness goals and I'm talking myself out of it - of finally reaching and staying at a healthy weight, of pushing my muscular strength and finally seeing my abs, of being proud enough in my own skin to not worry or care what other people might think, of rockin' a bikini at a moment's notice and not worry about having to sit or stand a certain way so I don't feel "fat", of being that "trophy wife" for my husband (yeah okay - I know that's totally a vanity thing, but it would be cool!)

Venturing into the unknown and truly trusting my own abilities is a BIG step. I've done it in every other aspect of my life - marriage, homeownership, career, but why can't I seem to take risks and trust my gut when it comes to a healthy lifestyle??? Maybe because when I "let myself go" I gain weight so easily - but what if I didn't fully let myself go like I have in the past...what if I still ate healthy foods, work out regularly and trust my body's ability to tell me when it needs something???

Its natural to doubt your abilities until you prove yourself wrong. Its most common with me in workouts, "I don't think I can run that far..." "I don't think I can lift that much.." - but when you do it, that overwhelming feeling of bad-assery is just amazing. So what can I do to prove myself wrong and build trust in my abilities to adapt to a fully healthy lifestyle - consistent nutrition, healthy sleep patterns??? Everyone always says this is about a lifesyle change right??? How so I expect to go through my life not fully trusting my abilities as a person??? I don't want to have to track my food every day for the rest of my life, step on a scale to feel good about myself, be concerned about how one meal is going to impact my diet for the day. There's going to be lots of things in my future that are uncertain - how will I know that I'm strong enough to handle it???

I haven't tracked my food for over a week now - and you know what, the world hasn't stopped turning. I've actually stabalized my weight and its actually starting to come down - which is what spurred this whole thinking process. So what does this mean for my future?? After a few days of thinking about it - this is what I've come up with. The answer is simple - I need to learn to trust myself again. I need to learn to have enough faith in myself to know that I've made the correct changes to a healthy lifestyle already that I can continue it on my own, without having to weigh myself daily, track my food online or freak myself out over stupid little things.

So this is my plan - I've named it "The Great Unknown" and it will start on October 1st. I will weigh in, take measurements and photos that morning...but then after that - its all over for 90 days. I won't weigh myself daily, I will trust myself to eat what I need to handle my energy levels, I will learn to listen to my body and trust myself to be able to take care of myself.

I won't step on a scale (unless its at a doctors office & necessary) or measure myself until December 31st, 2011. I will have 3 months to kickstart my thinking, to learn to trust myself again and embrace this lifestyle I've chosen to lead. I will trust myself to get through the holidays without gaining weight and I will prepare myself to begin 2012 with a strong and healthy mindset. I will be keeping a journal (not sure if online or paper or a little of both) of HOW I feel, how certain foods make me feel, energy levels, sleep quality etc - so I can start learning how my body responds throughout this process.

This is the only body I'm ever going to get - if I can't learn to listen to what it needs and trust its abilities...no one will. I'm sorry this blog was so long - but it was just about getting all these feelings out into the world. In the 2 hours it took me to find all these words, I already feel lighter, empowered and stronger than I did before.

Okay...I feel better now...

I just strapped on my running shoes and hit the treadmill on my break at work. Knocked out a mile in 10:35 - not too shabby considering I haven't really ran in weeks (and with the exception of my shoes I'm not wearing workout gear!) I purposefully left my iPod on my desk and ran in silence (well with the exception of the huffing & puffing coming from the dude walking next to me) - but I was basically alone with my brain - which was amazingly active. I'm always astounded by the things that come up in my head when I run

The first quarter mile was tough, getting back into the rhythm of running. The second quarter mile was alright - slightly uncomfortable, but overall okay. Third quarter, I was on that "downhill stretch" and I started to get comfortable with my running stride and breathing again. And the last quarter mile, I found my stride, shut up my brain, picked up my speed and just ran. It felt fabulous!

Now if I only had the free time and energy to be able to do that every day...

Total Miles Ran in 2011: 121.96 Miles
Total Calories Burned "Running From My Issues": 18,145 Calories GONE

An Update From My World!

Hey everyone! I don't have too much time to post an official update but I wanted to let everyone know how things are going!

The Zumbatomic After School program is going amazingly well!!! I am having a blast, the kids love it and I'm definitely getting my workouts in!! Between 5 Zumbatomic classes a week, my Curves Zumba classes 3 days a week and my 40 hr/week 5am day job - I don't have much time for anything else! I'm averaging at least 500 calorie workouts 5 days a week (right now Friday and Sunday are the days I don't have any classes - so I'm lazy those days!)

I've noticed my body is adapting to the new level of exercise well. Wednesdays are consistently 3,100+ calorie burn days according to my Bugg (since I work 8 hours then teach 3 back to back classes) and it was easier this week than last week - so I'm seeing endurance improvements. Yesterday (with only 1 class) I burned 2,489 calories on my Bugg - so my burns are super high right now. Gotta love a fired up metabolism *grin*

While this is great - but I've also noticed a slight downside....I'm hungry ALL the time! haha! Its been tough to eat consistently healthy all the time and eat enough to maintain my energy levels. Eating vegan/vegetarian, its really tricky to eat THAT much food - have you ever seen 2,000-2,500 calories of fruits and veggies?!?!?!? That's a TON of food to eat!! OY!!!

So needless to say, I'm having some issues with this ravenous hunger. I'm finding that I'm eating out a lot (mostly because I'm too tired to cook) so water weight is hiding any weight loss that might be happening. I'm still sitting right around 180-182lbs, but I can't really complain too much since I'm feeling leaner than I was before - so I know something is working right. My body is now capable of sustaining 3,000+ calorie burn days on a regular basis! I gotta be proud of that!

Also, because my world is being consumed by my Zumba classes, I'm starting to notice that I'm getting antsy. I need to do something for myself to help keep myself sane. The easy solution for this is to run - but my body can't quite handle that on Zumbatomic/Zumba days just yet and I can't run the risk of injury. I haven't ran anything longer than a mile in weeks and its starting to get to me. Even though its a rest day - I might strap on my shoes and just run a little bit today and/or Sunday. I've gotta maintain some sense of sanity during this crazy time! Part of me just wants to run and run and run until I can't run anymore - something about that total exhaustion sounds amazing to me right about now (yes - I am a glutton for punishment!)

I think that's about it! Hubby and I had a great date night last weekend!! I took pics, but forgot them at home - so I'm sorry they're not here to post!! We got to go to the Melting Pot (YUM!) and have a complimentary 4 course meal!! Cheese, salads, seafood/steak and chocolate fondue AND 3 glasses of wine for me (woot!) - it was super yummy!!! And our anniversary trip is coming up soon, so I'm super excited about that too! It will be nice to get out of town for a few days!! I seriously can't believe its been almost 2 years since we got married!! Time sure flies!!

Anyways, that's about it for me!! We don't have any plans for tonight - which is super nice! Gonna relax and watch some stuff on the DVR that's been waiting for me all week! Looking forward to a little downtime this weekend (hopefully!)

Hiya everyone!

Hey there! I hope everyone is doing well!! I haven't updated this thing in a while, so I figure an update is necessary - even if its brief.

The after school program is definitely keeping me busy - but its going really well! Its taking a lot out of me to get through Wednesdays (on average 3,000 cal burn days according to my Bugg) and I'm sleeping a lot more than I am used to - but that's to be expected when I'm working as much as I am.

The Curves location I'm teaching at is a totally different story - the owner decided to not renew their franchise (which expires in October) and the location is currently up for sale. My students asked me if I would buy the location, but (after much discussion) the hubby and I decided against it. We have lots of plans for the next year or so - and taking on a struggling business isn't really one of them. If we were at any other point in our lives, we would have probably been willing to take the risk - but we just can't do it right now. SO - needless to say, if the location doesn't get sold by October, those classes will be ending for me in November.

BUT - in other news, I was offered a job teaching at another Curves location in town once a week, so that will help make up for some of what I might lose when the other classes end.

I've been struggling with nutrition due to my overall lack of energy. Eating happens when I can and I honestly haven't had a lot of "good" days in the past week. Weight has been maintaining though - on average between 180-183lbs depending on sodium intake. I've been struggling with excess hunger due to being so tired and find myself justifying poor nutrition to give me quick energy when I need it to get through the day. I haven't been tracking my food because I'm trying to teach myself intuitive eating patterns and I think its slowly starting to work. Food has been almost 100% vegetarian and that is helping me feel better too

Last night, the hubby, a friend and I went to Zio's for dinner and I had my usual pasta, soup and a few pieces of bread. We all shared an appetizer (which I had about 1/3 of), I ate 4 pieces of bread, half my soup and only about 6 bites of my pasta before I was full. I didn't force myself to eat anymore, felt reasonably full after dinner and brought the rest home for lunch today.

However, around 10pm last night my tummy felt AWFUL! I couldn't get comfortable in bed due to tummy pains, had hot/cold flashes, was constantly nauseous and desperately wanted to purge just so I could feel better (even though I didn't). I was waking up at multiple points in the night (about every 45 mins-hour) and feel totally wiped out today which isn't good since its a crazy Wednesday with work and my 3 classes. Needless to say, the leftovers will NOT be eaten today...UGH! I don't want to take the risk of feeling yuck again in case it was the pasta that messed with me.

I've barely had an appetite and have only eaten because I've forced myself too. I know that today is a 3,000 cal burn day and I need fuel to keep me going. I've managed to eat a Clif Bar and a plain cheese quesadilla from the cafe at work - which made me feel woozy, but the calories are helping clear my head. At least I'm keeping that down at the moment. Now I'm just sipping water and Diet Dr Pepper and I'll probably avoid food for a while. I don't want to get sick right now...no bueno! All I want to do is nap - but that won't happen until after classes today - which means I'll probably go home and just pass out until work tomorrow morning.

Okay - I think that's about it for me. Lots going on, and hopefully the next few weeks will go quickly! I'm excited about our anniversary trip and can't wait to get out of town!! OH - and I need to feel better....ASAP....

Feelin' Good

Hey there! I hope things are good with everyone! Things are finally calming down and getting back to normal for me - which is awesome! I was able to run today for the first time in almost 2 weeks and it felt incredible! I didn't push it too fast and only ran 1 mile at an 11 min mile pace - but it still felt fabulous to get moving again.

Last night was my normal Zumba class at Curves - and we received some bad news. The owner of the location has decided to not renew the franchise when it expires on October 1st. So our location is currently up for sale, and if its not purchased by Halloween - our site will be closing! So sad!! I actually had a lot of my students asking me if I'd consider buying the location - and the hubby and I agreed that if it were ANY other time, we'd probably consider it. However, right now we are focusing on getting out of debt completely and don't really want to take on any more financial challenges or risks right now. Anyways, so if no one buys the location - my Curves classes will be gone at the end of October and it makes me super sad - I love all my ladies there!

In other news, yesterday I kept things 100% vegetarian and I'm already feeling SO much better. Would have been 100% vegan, but ate some leftover macaroni and cheese around lunch time that was super yummy. Weight dropped down to 180.2 this morning and today I'm staying 100% vegan and already feeling great today as well - definitely more alert than I have been. Made myself take a nice 2 hour nap before my Curves class last night (to help catch up on sleep) and got a good amount of sleep last night as well. I am starting to feel more rested and recovered from all the crazy of this weekend.

EDIT: Oh - and today begins day 2 of "eating by feel" - I haven't been counting calories and we're going to see how this works. The last time I actually made any decent weight loss progress in my life - I didn't count calories. So I think there's something to be said for trusting your body to tell you when its hungry and when its not - instead of forcing yourself to eat and messing things up. This seems to work really well for me when I'm vegan - since its tricky to eat over maintenance calories when I'm not being an omnivore or a "dirty vegan" - which helps with the hunger and weight loss/maintenance. I'm going to see how this goes for about a week or so and determine if its working for me (or if I should start counting again!)

This weekend (Sunday) was supposed to be my first 5K race of the year. However, we have a friend's wedding reception on the 17th and are still feeling fatigued from the past few weeks - so we have decided to not enter it this year. We would rather continue to improve and run individual races in October than try to push ourselves too hard to get to a 7am gun time the day after our friend's wedding reception.

In other news - one of our most favorite restaurants in town is moving locations, and has invited us in for a complimentary dinner on Friday night so that they can "get accustomed" to the new location! WOW! We are so excited! What a fun experience! I need to call today and confirm our reservations - but YAY for DATE NIGHT (especially a FREE one!). Anyways, that evening will DEFINITELY not be vegetarian, but the food is high quality and shouldn't cause me any issues. So excited for it!

Today starts the second week of the after school program - and today I'm hitting 2 schools after work! I'm excited and it should be super fun! Hopefully it will go really well!!! I am having a really good time with this program and can't believe I've been given this opportunity!!

I think that's about it for me - starting to feel better and ready to get back to the crazy of my normal routine! Hope you all have a great day!

Total Miles Ran in 2011: 120.96 Miles
Total Calories Burned "Running From My Issues": 17,985 Calories GONE

Its been a while...

So - Its been a while since I updated this thingy. The Zumba Bridal shower was a blast and this past week was super busy. Started the After School program and am LOVING it! Was running ragged getting everything set up for my friend's wedding (which was Saturday). Ate nothing but fast food for about 3 days since things were so busy. I didn't have time to step on a scale or get any kind of workout in. The wedding involved lots of Hardcore Cider and the hubby and I had a great time spending the night at a hotel together.

This is gonna be a super brief blog - just to catch up with everyone. The wedding is now over and life can go on with just our crazy stuff (and not everyone else's too). Yesterday the hubby and I went to dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings and then stopped at the Farmer's Market & Sunflower for lots of food. I cooked lots of yummy stuff to get me through the next few days.

Even after all my hellish eating this weekend - woke up to a solid 181.6 this morning (wtf?!?!) I was expecting something as bad at 185+ - especially considering my diet consisted of McDonald's, Taco Bell and Burger King all in the same day! So I'm definitely happy with the 181.6 this morning and its going down from there. Now that I don't have to worry about eating and surviving someone else's schedule - I'm 100% vegetarian again. I'm going to try to eat by feel and not count calories this time around, just to see how it works. Also now I can focus on getting my sleep schedule together so that hopefully I'm not tempted to eat simply because I'm tired.

Anyways - I was worried I'd have to play "catch up" after the wedding....but I don't. My weight has been hovering around 179-181 for a few weeks now, so to still be here is actually a relief. Hopefully my body will like the vegan/vegetarian foods I'll be eating this week!!

YAY!!! NEW PR!!!! WAHOO!!!

So I am SUPER stoked right now!!! I haven't ran in over a week - and got an itch to just tear it up on the treadmill this morning...I was literally antsy and bouncy at my desk until my first break rolled around. I took it earlier than usual because I just couldn't wait anymore - I *HAD* to run!!! This is what I truly love about running...that random desire to just whoop my own butt!! Its amazing!!!

So I was hesitant to go for a new PR today....I haven't ran in a week and I didn't know what I was going to be capable of. I didn't want to push myself too hard and risk injury, but I wanted to push myself hard because I needed to run. Before I went to the treadmill, I reviewed my last PR run so I would have an idea of what I needed to hit. I also wrote my last time of 8:35 on a Post-It and put it on the treadmill - so I was forced to look at it the entire run.

I pushed myself to start at a nice 7.0 MPH and was good for the first quarter mile. I put on "Human" by The Killers and was totally jamming out. The second quarter mile I started to get my blood moving and I relaxed into the tempo of the run. By the third quarter mile, I was starting to feel the strain of running that fast, but I knew that I still had to pick up my pace if I was going to beat my last time. Halfway through the third quarter mile, I picked up my pace to 7.5 MPH and maintained that for a full quarter mile (still rockin' to The Killers - I put it on repeat since it was a good running song) - then, for the last 2/10 of a mile, I let myself go and topped out at 7.7 MPH! I felt like my legs were going to fall off and my lungs were straining to breathe - but I also felt incredible and accomplished! I finished in 8:23 - that's 12 seconds faster than the last PR I set for myself in July!!

I definitely count that as an accomplishment and am SUPER proud of myself right now! I haven't ran in a week...had no idea what I could do...and STILL shaved off 12 seconds off my fastest time!! I am THRILLED!!!

Zumba class went great last night and weight was still steady at 180lbs this morning (even after eating a 1/4 vegetarian twister burrito for dinner last night!) so I'm happy with that as well! Tonight I have my friend's Bachelorette/Bridal Shower Zumba Party, so that's going to be super awesome! I also just found out that my Big Boss is letting us leave at 830 this morning as a "Happy Holiday Weekend" gift!! Yippee!! I'm sensing a Vampire Diaries marathon is in my future!!! I've got laundry to do as well, so the extra time at home will definitely be appreciated!!

Hope you all have a safe and happy holiday weekend! Lots of love to all of you!!! *hugs*

Total Miles Ran in 2011: 119.96 Miles
Total Calories Burned "Running From My Issues": 17,825 Calories GONE

Quickie Update

So I don't really have much to update on. I started my 5am shifts and I'm perpetually tired all the time (joys of adapting to a new shift). Because I'm tired - I'm wanting to eat almost everything in sight. However, I've been as good as I can. I've kept it vegetarian every day this week and only had tummy problems after my Omni meals this weekend - otherwise I've been good and haven't experienced any unexpected tummy issues. Weight has been chillin' around 179-180 the past few days and I have been eating between 1700-2200 calories a day so I figure that's right around maintenance or at a slight deficit (according to my Bugg)

Clothes are still fitting well (happy size 6) and I only feel squishy when my sodium is higher than it should be. Last night the hubby and I went to dinner with the family at Saggio's and I had a fabulous calzone filled with veggies (mushrooms, black olives and broccoli) and I treated myself to a chocolate cannoli for dessert, which was super yummy - and I still woke up to a stable 180lbs this morning (no water bloat at all! Woot!)

I haven't been able to run since last week because I've been so sleepy and I don't want to over-exert myself right now. I've been napping almost every day after work and just feel crazy tired. I've been drinking more caffiene than I usually do, but that's what adapting to a new schedule is like. There's tons of stuff I've been wanting to get done (like my running workouts) - but wedding stuff for my friends take priority. Their wedding is September 10th so they're getting down to the last little bit of crazy times.

I've got another friend's bachelorette party/bridal shower tomorrow night that should be super fun. She is also getting married on September 10th, but her reception is on the 17th, so even though we have to miss the wedding (due to the other one) we still get to celebrate with her and her hubby. She's one of my Zumba students and she asked me to lead a Zumba party tomorrow night for all of our friends - which should be fabulous. I also have a friend hosting a Mary Kay party on Saturday and then my nephew's birthday party on Sunday - so this weekend already seems busy for me. Thankfully I have Monday off and I'm going to use it to get everything finalized with the Zumbatomic program which starts on Tuesday.

I have Zumba class tonight which should be awesome - I'm looking forward to an exhausting workout so I'll probably push myself a little harder today than I normally would just to try to get some energy out. Since I've been trying to recouperate and adapt to this new shift as much as possible, I've been reading more than I usually do. I've already torn through 4 books in a week and already started another one today. It kind of feels nice to be a book nerd again - but I don't like feeling lazy, so I'm having to force myself to relax....which feels weird, even though I know its necessary. I can't afford to get burned out, exhausted or injured prior to starting this after school program - so the resting is a necessary evil at this point in time. I don't feel bad about taking time off from working out since I'll be working out consistently starting next week

I also was asked to help instruct classes for a Zumbathon to benefit the Susan G Komen breast cancer foundation in early October - which will be totally awesome! I sent the organizer my selection of music today so hopefully I'll be able to lead a few of my new songs - which are super fun! I'm going to be getting the information out to all of my students tonight and hopefully we'll have a good turnout! Its on October 2nd at 2 in the afternoon, so that should work out well with my schedule and be all for a good cause at the same time!

Okay - I think that's about it for me... any more rambling and I'll just stop making sense (plus I'm on a conference call and really *should* be more engaged! haha) I have some errands to run after work and then I'll be heading home for my daily nap before class tonight. I haven't been sleeping very well (which is to be expected given the circumstances) so my naps at least are helping me feel more human again. Fingers are crossed that I'll be able to get myself a run done on Sunday morning!! Hopefully it will happen!!

Whirlwind Weekend!

OY it was a super busy weekend! I feel like I need another weekend just to recover from this one!

Friday night, the hubby and I went out with our friend Adam and we had Sushi for dinner! It was my first splurge since starting the nutrition changes and it was a fabulous night. It had been a rough day at work - so I had myself a nice Kirin beer (the big one! haha!) and the 3 of us ate yummy sushi. Since it was fish and all pretty lean - my tummy did well on it! Slightly bloated but overall not bad!

Saturday I had Zumba class in the morning - which ended up being the only workout I had all weekend! It was super fun as always - but they're having issues with their A/C so it was really warm in there.

After that, I picked up food, met the hubby for lunch at the house, trained my client and hung out with her that afternoon, then changed into my clothes and headed to my friend's bachelorette party. This party was thrown by one of her friends and it was one of the most awkward and uncomfortable parties I'd ever been to. I really didn't have that great of a time. Also - the damn host knew I was vegan/vegetarian and still selected a restaurant where the entire menu was steaks & burgers....needless to say, I had to eat something and I wasn't exactly thrilled with her. I ate a tortilla burger with cheese and some fries

While we were at the party, the hubby and another friend decided to take their bikes out. A few hours into the party, I got a text from my hubby that just said "call me when you can" - oh boy....not good...

The hubby and our friend were driving up the backside of the mountain and the hubby had been in an accident. Needless to say, I was freaking out and we ended up leaving the party (which was fine because we weren't having a good time anyways) and I raced back home. After dropping of some friends I'd carpooled with, I finally made it home. He was okay - a little scratched up & road rashed, but overall okay. The bike is a little banged up, but considering it could have been much worse. I was totally freaking out and it just hasn't been a good motorcycle month for our family.

So, after not sleeping very well on Saturday night - I woke up on Sunday morning, showered and headed out. I was throwing my friend a surprise bridal shower so I had a bunch of errands to run before the party. I picked up my friend, Andi, and we went to Mimi's Cafe for breakfast/lunch. We were in a hurry and their vegetarian selections weren't going to be very filling - so I (again) ended up getting a burger - this time with bleu cheese. It was yummy and not too overwhelming to my tummy since I didn't eat the fries, but instead had a cup of soup. We also got muffins to go since they looked good but didn't get a chance to eat them all day. After running ourselves ragged to get everything ready for the party, we had everything set up and shared a bottle of wine before everyone came over.

We had picked up snacks for everyone to eat that consisted of mini-cupcakes, veggies, meat/cheese tray, chips & dip. I snacked over the afternoon but didn't really eat anything substantial during the afternoon. The bride was really surprised and I think she had a great time at her bridal shower.

After helping her clean up, we headed out and I dropped off my friends who had helped me get ready. It was about 500pm when I got home and I just wasn't in the mood to eat a whole lot (my head was totally pounding). So I took some ibuprofen, ate my muffin from earlier that day and went to bed early. I woke up an hour later and wasn't able to get back to sleep until after 8pm.

So - after going to bed super late, my 5am shifts started this morning. I've already had a Sugar Free RedBull and a Diet Mt Dew. Now I've shifted to water and am doing okay. I only have 2.5 hours left of my work day - so at least the day is going quickly. I am so wiped though that I don't think I'll be exercising at all today. I don't want to push it. It was an exhausting weekend both mentally and physically and right now I think my body just wants to recover. I was going to try to run at work today, but I have minimal energy and have just been reading instead - and I'm okay with this. I knew my schedule change would totally freak out my body, so now I'm just focusing on getting my schedule adapted without freaking my nutrition out (easier said than done! I promise!)

This morning my weight was hanging around 180lbs again - but not too bad considering my eating options for the weekend. I've been vegan today and am going to prep food tonight so I can start packing my lunches again. I was so swamped this weekend that I didn't have time to prep food - but my amazing hubby picked me up veg-friendly food last night on his way home so I had something to eat for lunch today! Woot!

I think that's about it - that's my crazy weekend in a nutshell. I'm looking forward to resting this afternoon before a client comes over. Should be a good afternoon! Getting out of work at 130 will be really nice! It will be good when I adapt to the schedule and don't have to nap in the afternoons though! haha!

Ahh Good Day Indeed!!

So the new class went AWESOMELY yesterday! They loved it so much that they asked to do the same workout again!! It was STELLAR!! I got really good feedback from the ladies - both students and employees so I left feeling incredible! Needless to say I slept REALLY well last night! All those nerves were just GONE so it was really relaxing once I got home

The new Zumba pants are AMAZING to dance in!! They were absolutely perfect! Now I understand why they're $60 a pair!! I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for additional pairs to stock up on if I see any good deals! Now I can't wait for the black and red pair to be delivered - hopefully sometime next week I'll get them (they're shipping from China - so they're estimated any time between now and September 20th - gotta love customs!)

Here's a pic of me in my super cute new blue Zumba cargos before class - they are AWESOME!


So today I woke up to a fabulous 177lbs (woosh, anyone??) and am really feeling good today. I'm thinking that my body is finally adapting to my new way of eating and its working out really well!! Last night, I made a fantastic dinner of fresh asparagus, yellow squash & zucchini cooked in a spicy hawaiian sauce with Shirataki Noodles - it was amazing and I had a TON of leftovers - so this is what I had to eat at work this morning! The whole plate was only 195 calories and I didn't finish all of it because it was just too much food!! Woot!


Since I know Wednesdays have been super crazy for us recently, I've decided to make sure I get a workout today - even if its not exactly what I wanted to do, I figure its better than nothing at all! So today on my breaks and lunches I ran on the treadmill just like I did last week. I'd prefer to have a consecutive run - but I definitely don't think that 4 miles over the work day is bad at all!

Mile 1 - ran on first break
1 mile ran at 6.5 MPH at my 9:17 pace
Total Workout Time: 11 minutes
Total Calories Burned: 135

Miles 2-3: First ran at 6.5 MPH, Second ran at 5.5 MPH (11 min mile)
Total Workout Time: 27 mins (Total Run Time 20:17 with cool down allowed)
Total Calories Burned: 315

Mile 4 - ran on last break
ran at 5.5 MPH for 0.75 mile, then I got bored, just wanted to kick it into high gear and knocked out 0.25 miles at 7.0 MPH
Total Run Time: 10:26
Total Workout Time: 14
Total Calories Burned: 160

For Entire Day:
Total Calories Burned: 610 (wahoo!)
Total Workout Time: 52 Mins (not bad for getting it done during the work day, eh?)
Total Distance Traveled: 4 miles ran in 40:03 - WOOT!! 10 min miles all day! Woot!

Tonight, as long as we don't get any emergency phone calls *knock on wood AND fingers crossed* the hubby and I are going to go out and run some errands and have a nice night together. It should be super fun! I'm looking forward to spending some time with him and getting some stuff done that needs to get finished. We're going to enjoy a nice dinner out, not sure where yet though. Its just going to be nice to spend some time with him for sure!

Total Miles Ran in 2011: 118.96 Miles
Total Calories Burned "Running From My Issues": 17,680 Calories GONE

YAY its Tuesday!

Alrighty folks - so how's things in my world??? Busy, chaotic, fabulously entertaining - pick your word! haha! My life is always busy (and getting ready to get busier) and that means that there's a happy form of chaos that I bring to my existence - this is just the way things are

Yesterday was a good day - weighed in around 180lbs in the morning and am feeling much better than I was. I've been 100% vegetarian for a week now and the differences are definitely there. I've stayed vegan for my work lunches and some dinners - but have kept things vegetarian when eating out and its working quite well. Weight is down 2 pounds from when I started this crazy journey last week and hope to continue to see a downward trend.

The hubby and I went out to dinner with a friend of ours at Zio's and I kept things vegetarian. It worked great. Weight stayed exactly the same (180 again this morning) which definitely is a sign of progress (usually it hops up by at least 2 pounds when I eat out due to water weight, etc). I didn't work out yesterday, but I did get the chance to run through some of my new Zumba songs on my break at work. Thankfully no one walked in the gym - If they would have, they would have thought I looked like a darn fool! haha!

Last night, I had the best sleep than I have had in weeks!! I woke up once and thought "UGH I probably only have about 20 more mins until the alarm goes off" (since this has been the trend recently) - looked at the clock and saw that I had a whopping 5 HOURS!!! YES!!!! I definitely had some extra energy this morning when I got up!

In other news - I finished Vampire Diaries Season One and am sad to say I'm hooked....so until Season Two comes out on DVD next Tuesday, I picked up the first of the books at Borders yesterday and started reading that (and now I'm hooked on that too - even though there are some striking differences between the books and show). AHH me and my sappy high school vampire sagas....a girl has to pass the time, right???

Plus - this is never bad to look at for an extended period of time! haha!



Anyways, back to how things are going with me...getting ready to roll out a new Zumba workout tonight at Curves. As always, there's a little bit of nerves prior to teaching 6 brand new songs that I haven't taught before - but I'm as ready as I'm gonna get...so I'll do the best I can. My spiffy new Zumba pants are coming in today - so we'll have New Pants & New Routine! Yippee!! I'll snap pictures of myself in the super cute new pants tonight - definitely excited!

I'm thinking that from now on (since things are about to get super busy with the after school program) that I'm going to make myself learn one new choreography a week - that way when the time comes to make another Curves mix of music, its not so overwhelming. Trying to get this new class thrown together in a week was definitely a bit crazy. I think this is the best way I can find to plan ahead as much as possible!

I also want to start incorporating more strength training into my routine - I just need to find the time to get it ready. I'm thinking something 3 days a week that's quick yet effective. I've been looking at a few programs and now that the new Zumba circuit is rolling out today I might be able to finalize a strength training plan this week.

Anyways, tomorrow is hopefully a running day. Since Wednesdays are so crazy normally for us - I might just try to run while I'm at work again on breaks and lunches. Even though it won't be consecutive miles - its better than nothing, right??? Anyways, at least that way the workout will get done and if anything comes up that evening I won't have to stress about trying to squeeze in (or missing) a workout.

So I think that's it for me - looking forward to new workout tonight and my new pants from the FedEx man! Have a good day everyone!

Finding the time...

Alrighty everyone - I know its been a while since I updated, so this might be a little longer than my usual posts

Thursday was a good day - did well on nutrition, ended a little low but I just wasn't hungry. Had a great Zumba class (its amazing how much better workouts go when you're actually feeling alright!) Thursday when I got home from class - hubby was at practice, so I had the house to myself. I made pasta so I could pack lunches, uploaded 2 Zumba CDs into iTunes and loaded them on my IPOD, created a new ZIC Mix for my Curves ladies through GarageBand (I already know most of the choreo for it, but need to practice before I roll it out), paid some bills, synced my V2 Bugg and set up my new V3 Bugg that was delivered Thursday night. Lo and behold, with all that I decided to do I ended up going to bed 2 hours later than I normally do (ugh!)

But look - its so pretty and BLUE!! I'm gonna look into other colored straps for it too - I'm thinking about custom making me a red one! Woot! And just a side thought - dude I look skinny in this pic!


Thursday, I also got my new supply of Vegan Protein Powder! I have a coworker who also works at Sunflower Market, so she was able to pick me up a jug of it at her discount (20%) - this crap is so expensive it STILL cost me $60 after her discount!!! OY! I guess if it works then its worth it right?? And yes - that is Storm hanging on my wall of my desk at work - go X-Men!


Friday was shaping up to be a super busy day as well. After work, I had a client until around 530ish, then the hubby and I had dinner plans with some friends of ours in town. So to ensure I got myself a decent workout/calorie burn in, I ran on every break/lunch during the work day! I got one mile done on my first break, two miles ran on lunch and another mile done on my last break (workout stats are at the bottom of the blog). OH and we got to go home 2 hours earlier than expected - so I went out and ran some errands around town before going home and enjoying a nap (since we were going to be out later that night). We went to O'Niells for dinner and I kept it completely vegetarian (vegan was tricky, so I kept it vegetarian and didn't feel deprived at all!). I also had a nice pint of Hard Cider and it was super yummy!

Saturday morning, I woke up not feeling super bloated (like I usually do when I eat bar food) so I am starting to think that this vegetarian approach is going to work well for me. I had my Zumba class at Curves and that was super fun - we had a blast as always. It was a little warm in the building, so my calorie burn was 100 calories higher than normal! After that, I went grocery shopping, picked up lunch for the hubby and I and headed home. I picked up a vegetarian twister burrito for myself and it was super yummy (plus its always nice to see the hubby on his lunch break!) Then I had a client come over and she and I hung out for a while - she is always fabulous to talk to! Then my friend who is getting married came over to the house and she tried on her wedding dress for the last time before the ceremony - she looked fabulous. I tried on my bridesmaid's dress again and it definitely fits better than it did before even if there isn't much difference in the scale - which is awesome!

THEN after that (busy Saturday, huh??), the hubby came home from work and we got ready to head over to our friend's house for a BBQ evening. They bought me Boca Burgers! YAY!! I indulged in a few Sam Adam's Octoberfests (one of my favs!), an unnecessary amount of trail mix (if its out, I eat it!), some crackers and the Boca Burgers. My tummy started to feel a little bit uncomfortable towards the end of the night, so we headed home. I think I just over-did it with the vegetarian junk food that day - but lesson has been learned!

Sunday, I totally allowed myself to sleep in - which was super nice! I didn't roll out of bed until almost 9am! EEK! Then I set up my new Zumba Speakers (which was delivered this weekend) in the living room and started practicing my new ZIC routine. Halfway through it, I realized some of the choreo is too tricky for my ladies - so I ended up having to edit the darn circuit THREE times before I finally came up with something I was happy with! OY! Needless to say I was Zumba-ing for quite a while yesterday! But my new speaker works beautifully! I'm super happy with it!

Once I had the choreo down, I allowed myself to be super lazy for the rest of the day - which was desperately needed! I wanted the rest of Season One of Vampire Diaries (I'm totally sucked in!) and can't wait for the next season to come out on the 30th! I'm gonna try to get the books today so that I can feed my horrid addiction to high school vampire stories until the DVDs come out! haha!

The hubby had his first volleyball game last night, but since it was so late I had to miss it. His team won all 3 games!! I am so proud of him!!! He really enjoys all the fitness aspects he's getting from playing volleyball again! We were joking that I'm the totally opposite when it comes to fitness - he enjoys playing in a team environment, it helps him push harder, whereas I prefer being on my own since I push myself harder when no one is watching (thus why I like running so much!) haha! We were joking that I just must not be a team player I guess :-P

Anyways - I think that's my crazy busy weekend in a nutshell. After all my indulgences, weight is sitting right at 180lbs this morning - which definitely shows a nice downward trend even with my crazy weekend of food. I think this veggie stuff is gonna work out well for me! Can't wait to see where I am next week!!

I got my Garmin delivered this weekend too, but haven't had a chance to play around with it yet. Hopefully I can maybe take it out tomorrow - today will be spent putting the final touches on the new ZIC routine since it will be rolled out tomorrow. New Zumba pants should be delivered tomorrow and then I'm still waiting on a few more purchases to be delivered - gotta love eBay! Woot! Definitely looking forward to another great week!

Running Workout Stats for Friday the 19th:
Mile One: 6.5 MPH (9:17 mile)
Total Workout Time (cooldown included): 14 mins

Miles 2-3: First ran at 6.5 MPH, Second ran at 5.5 MPH (11 min mile)
Total Workout Time: 25 mins

Mile 4: Ran at 5.5 MPH
Total Workout Time: 14 mins

Total Calories Burned: 626 (wahoo!)
Total Workout Time: 53 Mins (not bad for getting it done during the work day, eh?)
Total Distance Traveled: 4 miles

Total Miles Ran in 2011: 114.96 Miles
Total Calories Burned "Running From My Issues": 17,070 Calories GONE