Monday, August 29, 2011

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!

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

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!
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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!
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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

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

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!

Friday, August 19, 2011

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!
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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!
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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

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Another Manic Wednesday

Oh boy! Wednesdays just aren't good days for us! The hubby and I were (again) planning on going out to dinner tonight and I had a fabulous run planned. Yesterday we found out our friend's dad ended up in the ER with signs of a stroke and they've asked us to come to the hospital this afternoon. Just seems like Wednesdays are turning into "Family Emergency Afternoons"! OY! Last we heard, he was improving so I'm hoping he's still on the fast track to healing up.

In other news, today is Day 3 and I'm feeling fabulous! Nutrition might have to be vegetarian tonight depending on where we end up eating - but either way its okay. Emergency situations are what the "vegetarian rule" was designed for - just wasn't expecting one on Day 3! haha! I woke up to a nice 178lbs this morning, which means a total loss of 4lbs since I changed my eating around! Can't complain about that!

Also as of today, I have now officially bought myself everything I have needed and wanted in the fitness world (at least until the new line of ZumbaWear comes out :-P)! Arriving tomorrow is my new BodyBugg V3. Being delivered next week are new Zumba Speakers for class and a new Garmin Forerunner GPS watch and HRM (which I paid for with gift cards from my work - so it only cost me $30!) Today I finally broke down and bought myself a pair of Zumba Pants that I've been eyeballing for MONTHS (seriously, since before they came out - I saw a picture of them and wanted them!) I've been trying to talk myself out of them due to the cost, but today I just decided to say "F it!" and I ordered them! Woot!! Those should be arriving in about 3 business days! Also, for my last gift to myself I purchased a Foot Pod for my new Garmin, so I can use it to track my indoor runs as well (its normally around $60 and I found one for $30 with free shipping on eBay! Woot!).

Wow - it sounds like I've bought a lot for myself (and I have) but I can't say that I didn't do it smart! I paid $139 for the normally $200 Bugg, I paid $189 for the Zumba speakers (which was a necessary purchase that couldn't be avoided), $30 for a normally $400 Garmin Forerunner Watch and $30 for the normally $60 foot pod. My only real splurge was the $70 I just dropped on those darn pants...but they're super cute...I can't wait to try them on!! So only spending $470 on $920 worth of stuff really isn't bad at all! So even though I splurged with my extra bonus check - I did so very wisely and didn't waste my money, which makes me feel awesome!

OH - and just to toot my own horn - I had enough left over to also make a $600 credit card payment AND I'll be booking the hotels for our anniversary trip soon as well! Financially and nutritionally, things are going great! Now if I could only apply that same luck to our "Family Emergency Wednesdays" things would be perfect! haha!

I'll update this later if I'm able to get a running workout in - but if I'm not, I won't stress too badly about it. I just want my family to all be okay!

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Another Great Day!!

So today was another fabulous day on the new diet routine! I was 100% Vegan except for a 100 Calorie Ice Cream Sandwich (I only had 2 left and I'm trying to get rid of them - I hate being wasteful so I figure I'll eat one today and one another day)

I slept better last night than I have in a long time. I didn't have to hit the snooze button as much as I normally do (I only hit it twice instead of my usual 3 times) and I am surviving on less caffeine than I usually do - I only had one can of Pepsi Max yesterday and today when I usually have two. Tummy issues are definitely improving and looking forward to continual improvement over the next few days.

I got in a fabulous mile run today at 6.5 MPH on the treadmill and it felt great! It was the first time in a while that I've felt energetic enough to run that pace and it was nice to knock it out again!

Tonight's Zumba class was awesome as well - I just felt really good today and it was easier for me to move than it has been, so that's a happy improvement as well!!

I think that's about it for me, now its time to watch "Eureka" with the hubby and prep some food for tomorrow! Have a great night!

Total Miles Ran in 2011: 110.96 Miles
Total Calories Burned "Running From My Issues": 16,444 Calories GONE

Monday, August 15, 2011

Running Helps Me Feel Better....

So this evening, the in-laws invited us to dinner and we had a blast! I kept my eating in line and had salad with sunflower seeds, black olives, artichoke hearts and Italian dressing, roasted seasoned corn and "sesame glazed carrots". For dessert I had sherbet and cotton candy - which was super yummy! Even though it was eating out, I still feel better than when I ate out last week. I had to explain to my MIL why I'm doing the "silly vegan thing again" and she now understands the reasoning behind it. I married into a family of carnivores, so I know they think its interesting but at least they're supportive!

When we got home, I hopped on the treadmill for a nice run while we watched Criminal Minds. I was initially aiming for at least a 3 mile consecutive run - but once I started running today my tummy felt a little wonky (leftover yuckiness from this weekend) so I decided to do some intervals instead and it was awesome. Hopefully I'll be back to running my normal distances by the end of the week when I start regaining my energy levels.

Warm Up - 0.25 miles at 3 MPH
Run for 1 mile at 5 MPH
Walk for 0.25 miles at 3 MPH
Run for 0.75 miles at 5 MPH
Walk for 0.25 miles at 3 MPH
Run for 0.50 miles at 5 MPH
Walk for 0.25 miles at 3 MPH
Run for 0.25 miles at 5 MPH
Cool down for 0.25 miles at 3 MPH

Total Distance Traveled: 3.75 miles
Total Calories Burned: 515
Total Distance Ran: 2.5 MPH
Total Workout Time: 56 Minutes

It felt good to get running again. Hopefully I'll be able to get fully back into it over the course of this week! Woot! I'm hoping my new Bugg will be delivered sometime soon and I've ordered everything else I was needing. I ordered my speakers for Zumba class and should have those later this week or early next week. Hopefully I'll be able to get my Garmin soon and then I'll have all my fun new fitness equipment! I'll be ordering some new ZumbaWear soon as well - I really want a pair of cargos, but considering how quickly I dropped weight last time I went Vegan I don't want to order new pants now for $60 a pair if they won't fit in 6 weeks! I think I'll wait a little bit to place that order (or I'll just order them in a smaller size and grow into them) - not sure yet!

Total Miles Ran in 2011: 109.96 Miles
Total Calories Burned "Running From My Issues": 16,299 Calories GONE

That's It! I'm DONE!

Let me give you a run down about what's been going on the past few months - back in February I went Vegan for 4 weeks to "guinea pig" myself to be able to explain to my personal training clients what that lifestyle was like. Lo and Behold - it turned out to be the happiest accident for me. I was sleeping better, had boundless energy, lost weight effortlessly, all of my tummy issues disappeared almost overnight and I was feeling incredible. However, at the end of the 4 weeks, I ended up missing cheese the most (go figure) and the vegan thing was tough on my hubby (total carnivore) - so I went back to an onmivore lifestyle after that.

In the months that have followed I've really struggled with introducing food back into my diet again. I've been sleeping terribly, losing energy, having trouble maintaining my weight (let alone losing anything!) and my tummy issues have come back in full force. I tried to incorporate a partial vegan diet, which epically failed because it was TOO easy to cheat. I just didn't have the willpower to eat better when I was allowing myself to eat anything on the menu.

Over the past month, my weight has gone anywhere from a lean 172lbs to a water weight 182ish - which is WAY too much of a weight span for me. My sleep has been terrible - I'll sleep for 9 hours but feel like I haven't slept at all. I've had stomach pains so bad that I barrel over and have issues breathing until they subside. (the stomach pains I've began to associate with higher fat meals, so I'm planning on going to the doctor soon to get my gallbladder checked out)

This past weekend was the last straw. On Saturday night, my hubby, my BFF and I went out to eat dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings prior to going to a friend's house for a get-together. I didn't eat the greatest, but I had a small assortment of chicken, popcorn shrimp and a few nachos - nothing that would have caused me any major issues pre-Vegan Investigation. About an hour later (once we were at our friend's house) my tummy pains came back in full force! UGH! I was so pissed! This is the first time the hubby had experienced me in that much pain and he really got nervous too.

Needless to say, we left the party early and I went home to curl up in a ball until I was able to fall asleep. The next morning, I'd had a nice 5 mile run planned - but I felt so terrible that didn't happen either. Now - for any of you that truly know me, you know it takes A LOT for me to miss a workout. I sat around watching Vampire Diaries on DVD (my guilty pleasure!), napping occasionally to stock up on energy and trying to feel better while the hubby was at work.

Yesterday morning, my hubby (who is amazing for multiple reasons) openly stated that even though he is (and always will be) a carnivore - he would rather I go full vegan again than see me in that much pain on a consistent basis. I'd been toying with the idea of going vegan again already - but refused to actually do it because of how much it inconvenienced everyone else (especially my hubby). Having my hubby's full support was enough for me to finally commit and make the decision.

I'm tired of feeling like crap all the time. I'm tired of being tired all the time. I'm tired of struggling with my weight when I know there's something better out there. I'm tired of wasting my time being sick on the sofa. So I'm DONE with it! I'm ready to be healthy, happy and energetic again!

Since I'm doing this for health reasons (and not PETA reasons) this is what I've decided to do - I will be eating Vegan all the time, unless I'm in a situation where Vegan isn't possible (i.e. restaurant, friend's house, etc), and then meals will be vegetarian instead (or if for some stupid reason I'm craving cheese again). My hubby has openly stated that he knows this is a change for him too - but he's willing to make it if it means he has his wife healthy (he's so fabulous!)

So this is me now - I am vegan because my body has been screaming for it. I really don't have a choice here. I refuse to go through life feeling terrible. I feel like the last few months have been such a struggle for me. I'm ready to start feeling better again. I've been eating vegan so far today and I'm already feeling more energetic and alert than I usually am (I haven't had as much caffeine as I normally do). I'm so ready for this. Bring on the awesomeness that I discovered in February.

Friday, August 12, 2011

OH Happy Friday Indeed!!

Today has been a fabulous day! Yesterday was totally yucky but today completely made up for it. I got into work this morning only to have my bosses give us the option of taking 6 hours of vacation time today since we've been doing such a good job! So I only had to work for a whopping 2 hours today! Yippee!!

Today also was payday - and the way that I've been budgeting my money I got another credit card paid off IN FULL today!! That makes a total of almost $2140 in debt that I've paid off in the past 6 weeks by budgeting and taking care of my money (as well as maintaining every other bill we have) I am SO proud of myself! Little by little, things are getting paid off. Now we only have 1 credit card each (mine has about $9,000 on it and Tom's has about $4,000ish), the motorcycle is about $4,000 left and my car is down to $10,000 left. Its my goal to have all of this paid off by Spring Break-ish this year, so March or April-ish. With me starting the after school program soon, I definitely think this is possible!

On top of paying off all that - I got my semi-annual bonus from work today!! It was based on our performance as employees and an extra $800!! OMG YAY!! So since I've paid off so much, I decided to use part of my bonus to treat myself to things that I have wanted, but couldn't justify the cost. Today I ordered myself a new Bodybugg and I'm super excited to get it. I got it for $139 - so it was a killer deal.

Also, I have some gift cards coming in the mail and I will be treating myself to a Garmin Forerunner watch that will allow me to GPS track my outdoor runs, bike rides and treadmill runs (if I get a "foot pod" accessory, which is about $60 so I probably will). I'm also going to be stocking up on stuff for Zumba classes in the next few days. I'll be picking up another pair of shoes for class and a portable speaker system to play music for my Zumbatomic classes (which will cost me about $200 for the speaker and $50 for the shoes) Might take the opportunity to pick up some new ZumbaWear too - not quite sure though.

The extra money left over from the bonus check will be put towards an anniversary trip for the hubby and I this October. We are getting ready to celebrate our two year wedding anniversary and we will be getting out of town for a few days to spend some time together. He and I have been through some tough times over the years and the past few weeks our marriage has only been growing stronger. SO I am totally looking forward to spending time alone on a vacation with him!! Not sure where we'll be escaping to yet - but it will definitely be a much deserved vacation for us both!

So now back to today - I got to leave work early at 8am which was awesome. Due to rush hour traffic, I killed some time at Target this morning until driving home. I picked up Vampire Diaries Season One for $19.99 - total impulse buy, but it was on sale and something I've been meaning to watch anyways. It was recommended by a friend and is quickly becoming a new guilty pleasure (I'm on episode 6 already!) After that I stopped at Sunflower Market and picked up some fabulous produce (dark red cherries, purple grapes and asparagus were all on sale!), sparkling water to mix with my Mios, some Asian tofu Noodles that are only 20 calories a serving, some Vegan Protein Powder samples and a fabulous chocolate peanut butter ice cream that is only 150 calories A PINT!!! The ENTIRE pint is 150 calories! EEP!!! So excited for yummy healthy lower calorie treats!!

Anyways, once I got home I started watching Vampire Diaries and its super fun. During the last episode, I got a run done which was great - I haven't ran since Monday and it definitely felt good to get some energy out. I found a fabulous half marathon training program in Runner's World Magazine that begins with the training load that I'm already used to - so it will be fabulous to start implementing it. Today was Week One Workout Two and just a 3 mile easy run - got it done in 34:47 which was super fun!

Warm Up - 0.25 mile walk
Run 3 miles at easy pace (first mile at 5.5 MPH then ran at 5.0 MPH except for last quarter mile at 5.5 again)
Cool Down - 0.25 mile walk

Total Distance Traveled: 3.5 miles
Total Calories Burned: 500
Total Workout Time: 45 minutes

Definitely a good workout! I loved it! I think this will be a great program for me for sure!! Can't wait to see how the remaining workouts go! Can't wait for all my new fitness gadgets to arrive and can't wait to see what the next few weeks bring. I've got some nutrition decisions that need to be made in the next few weeks and hopefully I'll be able to come up with something that will work for me in the long term. Weight was chillin' at 179 this morning, which isn't bad considering all the emergencies of the past few days, but most of this omnivore food has been really wrecking my tummy so some changes need to be made for sure

In the meantime - I'm going to enjoy my afternoon, watch my new favorite guilty pleasure show Vampire Diaries, shop around for fun stuff on the internet (I might buy some different colored armbands for my new Bugg), eat low calorie ice cream and then have a date night with the hubby tonight. I think life is definitely pretty grand right now! All my hard work is starting to pay off and its starting to feel like my hubby and I can truly breathe a little easier the more closer to debt free we become.

Total Miles Ran in 2011: 107.71 Miles
Total Calories Burned "Running From My Issues": 15,784 Calories GONE

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

A Crazy Day For Bikes

OMG today was just a crazy day! I had planned on eating well, working my regular shift, going home and running then the hubby and I were going to go see "Cowboys and Aliens" for date night as I didn't have a class today. OY - NONE of that happened this afternoon!

Right before the work day ended, the hubby called me saying that my in-laws had been in a motorcycle accident on the highway! They were okay, but the bike wasn't drive-able, so they needed us to come and help them. Since I was closer, I bolted from work, bought some bottles of water at a gas station (because it was 104 in the heat of the afternoon and they were standing in the sun) and found them. A woman in a Subaru hadn't been checking her blind spot when she changed lanes and hit the bike - thankfully, Dad managed to keep the bike from tipping, but it still caused a lot of damage to both the Subaru and the Honda!

See:
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After getting a police report filed & getting all the official stuff done, we got on the phone with the insurance company. They informed Mom that even though they have full coverage on the motorcycle, it doesn't cover towing (WTF?!?!?!) So we were stranded on the side of a highway with a 700+lb motorcycle that isn't drive-able in 104 degree heat. No bueno.

After thinking on it for a few minutes, I came up with the idea to rent a U-Haul to get the bike off the road and off to the mechanic. So the hubby, a friend of ours who had come to help and I hopped in my car and took off to the closest U-Haul. The guy had ONE truck left!! OMG!!! So we rented the truck, drove back to the highway, loaded the Goldwing into the back, strapped it in and drove it to the closest Honda dealership for appraisal of the damages. We are worried that the bike might be totalled - but we'll just have to wait and see!

So - once all that was done, we returned the U-Haul (which only cost us $60 - which was totally cheaper than trying to get a tow truck to come out there). We all went out to eat after that at Buca Di Beppo which was yummy, but definitely not within my calorie counts for the day - but after everything that had happened, calorie counts were the last thing on my mind!

During dinner, I mentioned to everyone that I wanted to start riding road bikes and eventually ride in a race. Dad then casually mentioned that HE used to do biathalons & triathalons (which is a fact that I NEVER knew about him!) and that he has his old triathalon bike still in his garage! It has been in there for years and he said if I wanted his road bike I could have it! OMG!! This bike is amazing! It needs a tune up, but this is a $2,000 racing bike that only weighs 30 pounds! OH - and its RED! haha!! It needs a tune up, but other than that its completely ready to go!! I can't wait to get out on the roads! Its going to be amazing! I'd love to get to the point where I can ride my bike to and from Curves for Zumba (which is about 14 miles one way).

LOOK - its so pretty!!
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I feel so lucky that I have family that truly supports everything that I want to do! Its just an amazing feeling! I need to buy a bike rack for my car in order to transport it - but that shouldn't be too expensive. I can't wait to get out on the roads!!

WHEW - so after the crazy day with the motorcycle, eating dinner with the family and getting my new bike home - I didn't get home until almost 8pm (and I got out of the day job at 230!). So needless to say - the run isn't going to happen today. Maybe tomorrow, but I have Zumba - so my next run might have to wait until Friday. I really am not upset about this. My family is safe and that's ultimately what always matters. My workout can take a backseat for a day and to help out those that I love.

When I got home, my kitten knew that something was wrong as well - she came home, snuggled and held my hand to help me feel better! It was super cute :-D
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Now, unfortunately - its time for bed and I don't have time for anything else. Tomorrow I'll look into the cost of a bike tune-up and hopefully I can get the bike up and running soon! I'm excited for all the excited fitness adventures that await me in the next few weeks! Woot!

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Not So Crappy BodyBugg & Happy Tuesday

So whatever I managed to do last night fixed my BodyBugg at least for the time-being. Its been working okay today. Tracked a mile run at the usual calorie burn that I'm used to and sitting at 1255 calories burned for the day so far - which seems about right considering I wake up at 430am and I ran a mile on my break.

However, I'm still planning on buying a new one - now I can just put it off until I get the Apex monthly email with all their specials! haha! Last month they had the V3's on sale for $129.99 - I'm hoping for something similar this month as well! Either way it needs to be replaced - I bought it used last November just to try it out to see if I like it - well now that its starting to not work correctly, I like the program enough to buy another one. Hopefully that darn email comes soon!!

Anyways - I haven't managed to break anything today so far...so I see this as a victory and *knock on wood* my destructive phase is now over. After breaking one computer mouse, two pairs of headphones and my Bugg over the span of 4 days - I am about done! haha!

So as I stated earlier - I got a mile run in earlier today and it felt good. I pushed myself for a sub-10 min mile and it was nice. I haven't ran for speed in a while and it was a bit of a push, but I got it done and had a good time. Tonight is Zumba, which is always fun, and then relaxing with the hubby since he's off work today. I'm thinkin' dinner will be grilled cheese sammiches and popcorn - that's always a fabulous meal!! Woot!

Total Miles Ran in 2011: 104.71 Miles
Total Calories Burned "Running From My Issues": 15,284 Calories GONE

Monday, August 8, 2011

Nice Run and Crappy BodyBugg

So I had planned to get a nice long run in this afternoon after Tom and I ate dinner - I changed the battery in my BodyBugg and all of a sudden started to act up. It wouldn't sync right with the digital display and I was having issues getting it to stay synched. I reset the digital display, reconfigured the armband and was still having issues. My program said that I'd burned 1700+ cals today and the digital display said I'd only burned 1200!! Growl!! I am not a happy camper right now! I'm going to let it sit and try using it again tomorrow. I'm worried that I'll have to buy another one if this one has stopped working - so sad!

After playing around with the damn bugg for over an hour I got fed up with it and just grabbed my extra Polar HRM instead. Not exactly what I wanted to do, but it was better than nothing. Anyways - so after all of that, I hopped on the treadmill and decided to just go for as long as I could. After a 5 min warm up walk, I started running and the new shoes felt good! I'm happy with them!

Running Workout:
Warm Up - 5 mins (0.25 miles)
Run for 47 minutes (first quarter mile at 5.5 MPH, everything else at 5.0 MPH) for total distance of 4 miles
Cool Down for 8 minutes at easy walking pace

Total Distance Traveled: 4.61 miles
Total Calories Burned: 550 calories burned according to HRM
Total Workout Time: 63 minutes

Hopefully my bugg will be working okay tomorrow - if not, I'll be ordering another one on Apex. Its too valuable of a tool (and I already paid for a full year) so I don't want to waste it! Hopefully I'll get a good deal on it! *fingers crossed*

I think now that I've ran 4 miles in two workouts now, I'll be starting up the full 10K training program pretty soon. I've been able to sustain the runs pretty well so I'm looking forward to the new program for sure! That's it for now - hubby and I are watching "Eureka" Woot! Time to snuggle :-D

Total Miles Ran in 2011: 103.71 Miles
Total Calories Burned "Running From My Issues": 15,134 Calories GONE

Whirlwind Weekend!!

OY it was a crazy busy weekend!! So Friday I tried to cut back on caffeine....not so bueno. I was tired and lethargic all day and didn't feel good. I figured now is NOT the time to try to cut it out of my routine. There's just too much going on right now! Friday after work, I went home and rested before a fabulous Zumba Master class with Grace. I had a great time! Her classes are amazing and she is a great instructor. I burned 850 calories in an hour and a half! Woot!! Gotta love it!

Then Saturday morning, I had my normal Zumba class at Curves in the morning, dashed to grab some food then headed to a ZIN Jam Session (which was a 3 hour choreography session with Grace) and it was super fun!!! We learned 5 new songs and though I liked them, I really think I'm only going to use 3 of them in my classes. The other 2 might be a little complex for my Curves ladies.

Here's some pics of Grace & I after the Jam Session - we had fun! I burned a total of 1530 calories doing Zumba that day! Woot!
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Nutrition was a little funky this weekend and my weight is up again. After my Jam Session, the hubby and I went out for BBQ foods, which was yummy and my tummy handled it okay. Yesterday, I slept in and got in a mile run in my spiffy new shoes before meeting the hubby for lunch at 5 Guys (super yummy!)

My new shoes were AWESOME!!! I loved them and can't wait to try them out for another longer run (hopefully today!)
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After that, I went to the grocery store, went home, trained a client, went to a friend's house to dye her hair and then all of us met Tom after work and went out to dinner at Turtle Mountain Brewing. We all split chicken wings & hummus as an appetizer, and I got a pizza with a red pepper sauce, mozzarella, zucchini slices, artichoke and salami - which was divine! I also got a really enjoyable cherry beer (definitely very summery!) and we had a blast! Its been forever since we went to Turtle, so it was nice to kick back and enjoy ourselves

My "Pink" Beer :-D
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After a few days of eating funky (even though I'd worked my tail off this weekend) my tummy started acting up again last night. Nothing as bad as last week, but definitely enough to make me pay attention and not be in the best of moods. The hubby and I relaxed on the couch and watched "Necessary Roughness" (a super cute new show!) and I went to bed a little early. Today I've kept my food all vegan so far and feel a lot better. I'm pushing fluids and hopefully will continue to improve! Weight was up at a squishy 182lbs, but I really can't complain much because I ate like hell this weekend.

This morning's breakfast was a cinnamon spice alternative bagel and rice pudding made with almond milk, blackberry preserves and some dried cranberries - totalling 409 calories! Gotta love healthy filling breakfasts! Great way to start the day!

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I'm going to do everything I can to keep nutrition in line over the next few weeks. As we get closer to our friend's wedding, the weekends start getting crazy - so I'm going to do the best I can and not beat myself up over having to eat on the go if things get busy.

Also, I have decided that I need to bring some more strength training into my program again. Through the glory of the internet, I found some great kettlebell workouts that are only 20 mins per day - so I think I'll be incorporating those into my routine. 20 minutes is something I think I can manage without being too overwhelmed so I think it will work out well! I'll have to see how many days I can fit in - I'm thinking I'll start out with 3 or 4 a week and see how it goes! Anyways, I think that's about it. It was a crazy busy weekend and I'm ready to get back to my quiet boring life! haha!

Running workout is planned for today - hopefully I'll be able to get a nice LSR in there. Depends on how much time I've got! I hope you all are doing well!!! Have a great day!

Total Miles Ran in 2011: 99.71 Miles
Total Calories Burned "Running From My Issues": 14,584 Calories GONE

Friday, August 5, 2011

Zumba, Miles & Diabetes

So weight is dropping down nicely - got rid of 3lbs of water weight this morning and am hoping for another drop tonight! Zumba last night went great - it felt fabulous to get moving again and after class, one of my students told me that her diabetes is GONE and her doctors are thrilled! She is doing such a great job!!! I'm way proud of her!!!

Prepped a bunch of rice & pasta last night so I'll be eating that for the next few days. I got new running shoes yesterday and since I had a gift card, they were only $17!! Woot! I am really looking forward to getting a good run in with them for sure (though it probably won't happen until Sunday)! Tonight, I have a Master Class at Baila from 6-8 that should be super fun and tomorrow after my Curves class I have some instructor trainings which should be great too - so lots of Zumba is planned for this weekend! The woman leading the class tonight and the workshop tomorrow is the same lady from the Zumbathon a few months ago - so I already am familiar with her style and I love how she teaches, so I'm excited to learn from her!

In other news - I am trying to cut back on my dependency for caffeine & diet sodas - so I had only about 1/3 of what I usually drink this morning. The result so far - I'm wiped out, the day is dragging and need a nap! haha! This might not be the easiest process, but its definitely cheaper to make tea at home than it is to buy sodas so I think I'll stick with it! I only got a slight headache (and I think that's because I've been so sleepy all week more than the soda thing) so I popped some ibuprofen and will hopefully feel better soon!

I got a mile ran on my lunch today and walked for another quarter mile after it (I was wearing my old shoes and didn't want to push it too much) and it felt good. I'm slowly getting back to my non-squishy self and it feels nice. Hopefully I'll continue to make some progress and get all this water weight off and then make some weight loss before my weigh in next Saturday! Woot!

I think that's about it - I've been keeping my food mostly vegan/vegetarian and am feeling really really good right now. Other than the lack of caffeine I've had a good amount of energy and am really going to stick with this eating plan as much as possible over the next few weeks! That's about it for me, hope all is well with everyone and I'll update within the next few days once I get a running workout in!

Total Miles Ran in 2011: 98.71 Miles
Total Calories Burned "Running From My Issues": 14,434 Calories GONE

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Post Vacation Update

Alrighty everyone - so now that Birthday/Arizona Trip weekend is over, I'm home and back on track. Its been a rough week for me nutritionally. Starting last Wednesday which was my MIL's birthday the eating poorly train officially started (we had Italian food!). This past weekend was also a friend's housewarming party (Saturday night), my birthday (Sunday night, which was super fun) and yesterday we just got back home from taking the kiddo back to Phoenix (so we were in Arizona from Monday through Wednesday). Needless to say, food has been "eating on the run" or "celebratory" for about a week now and my body is truly ready to get back on track. My tummy really hasn't been feeling good from all the rich foods we've been eating - so I'm totally ready for my "boring" healthy foods again! haha!

Arizona was awesome though - even though its always sad to take the kiddo back home. We went shopping, and I totally splurged and picked up a black Livestrong Nike sports Bra (love it!) and we went shopping around IKEA too which was super fun!

I've been keeping up with my workouts as best I can and my Bugg burns have been higher due to the warmer weather - so its been a little easier to compensate for the higher calorie intake. Weight was only up about 6lbs this morning from last Tuesday and I know its almost all water weight because my fingers feel fat & squishy - which considering I really didn't track what I was eating for a week, I'm not too upset about 6lb gain. The weight will definitely start to fall off today and hopefully continue on my downward trek throughout the month of August.

I picked up a new nutrition book (I raided Borders last week since it was closing) and it emphasizes eating various foods to help aid in recovery from workouts - meaning that one has to take less time between workouts and the body can ultimately train harder and recover faster. With me taking on multiple workouts a day with the after school program this September - this is really important to me - so I think my nutrition will be changing drastically now. OH - for anyone that's curious, this is the nutritional plan that Hugh Jackman used to train for his role of Wolverine in the second installment of X-Men (and every Wolverine movie after that)...



Granted - I don't want to be a big, burly, hairy Australian man as an end result of this...but considering he added 20lbs of muscle, lost fat, slept better, trained hard and raved about the program so much he wrote the "forward" for the book - I'm definitely interested. If I can maintain (or add) my muscle, drop fat, recover from my workouts faster while eating in a deficit AND sleep better - I'm sold! I'm thinking another "guinea pig" nutrition period is in my future!! Wahoo!!

Since we've been on the run for a week, our fridge and pantry are a little barren - so some grocery shopping is definitely required later on today. Also - my knees started hurting me on my last run - and I realized my running shoes are over a year old now (and I know I've put over 150+ miles on them) - so I will be picking up a new pair of running shoes today as well.

Hopefully I'll be back on track and will be able to do an "official" weigh in with progress pics next Saturday (if not it will come the week after, I promise!). Have a fabulous week everyone! Once I get grocery shopping and start eating better I'm looking forward to getting some great results - I think I might call this one "The Wolverine Transformation" and see how it goes :-)

We had a Hawaiian themed potluck at work today and I think I did a really good job - I had a plate of roasted sweet potatoes, zucchini, corn, fresh watermelon, pineapple, whole wheat roll and a small piece of grilled chicken. I think for a potluck at work I did a damn good job! I took pics of the food - but photobucket is being stupid - so I might have to edit this later and add them.

I also got a quick mile done this afternoon as well - which felt fabulous since its been a few days since I worked out. Granted, I am wearing jeans and a long-sleeve black hoodie, so it was definitely hot while running - it still felt darn good. Hopefully the new shoes will help even more!

Total Miles Ran in 2011: 97.71 Miles
Total Calories Burned "Running From My Issues": 14,264 Calories GONE

Monday, August 1, 2011

An Update!

Alrighty peeps - so I've been scarce for a few days. I apologize, but its been with good reason!! It was my birthday yesterday, so this weekend was full of lots of fun stuff (and lots of crazy food!) Weight has hung around anywhere between 176-179 the whole week - so I really can't complain considering I haven't been counting calories at all! I've eaten whatever the hell I wanted and its working out well!

Friday I didn't have Zumba class and was planning on getting a run at home - well that didn't work out. After work, I raided Borders and stocked up on cheap books that I wanted to buy. Once I got home, I felt horrendously lazy and ended up resting on the couch until Tom got home. Then we went to 5 Guys for dinner and saw Captain America (totally awesome!). Saturday I got my usual Zumba class workout and had a good time. Yesterday was planning on getting a run done, but just ended up being too busy with birthday stuff to even find a little time for myself.

This morning I got up, showered and went into work - only to find that I had requested the day off! So I came back home, slept and got in a good treadmill run. It wasn't the best I've done, but considering I haven't ran since last Wednesday - it wasn't bad either. I think its about time to buy myself some new shoes though. My knees started feeling a little jarred last week during my runs and felt that way again today. So I'll be off to check out some sales around town this afternoon and see what I can find.

Anyways - here's my workout. Sorry to keep it so short, but I have lots to do this afternoon. Hope all is well with everyone! I'm hoping to get a workout in within the next few days, but things are continuing to be super busy for us - so I can't make any promises! gir!

This was a fun little tiered workout I did today. Couldn't keep the distance up because of my knees, but still got a damn good workout!

Warm Up for 10 mins on treadmill (0.5 miles)
Run for 1 mile at 5 MPH
Recover for 0.25 miles at 3 MPH
Run for 0.75 miles at 5 MPH
Recover for 0.25 miles at 3 MPH
Run for 0.5 miles at 5.5 MPH
Recover for 0.25 miles at 3 MPH
Run for 0.25 miles at 6 MPH
Cool Down for 0.25 miles

Total Calories Burned: 525
Total Distance Traveled: 4.0 miles (with 2.5 Running)
Total Workout Time: 56 Minutes

Total Miles Ran in 2011: 96.71 Miles
Total Calories Burned "Running From My Issues": 14,119 Calories GONE