Reader Questions & Answers #24

On Sundays, I will answer some readers' questions in a post. If you have a question that you would like me to answer here on the blog, just send me an e-mail with the subject "Q&A", and I may include them in a future Q&A post. They don't have to be about weight loss or running--anything is game!  (Remember, I'm not a doctor or dietician, or any sort of medical professional--I can only answer questions from my own experience).

It's been a few weeks since I've done a Q&A post!

Q. Did you have to re-size your wedding ring after losing weight?


A. My engagement/wedding rings have actually been the same size since we bought them in 2002! That's not to say they didn't NEED to be re-sized, however ;)  When Jerry and I first got engaged, I was about 180 pounds (after a short bout of dieting). I have no idea what size my ring is--I think 7.5? My weight went up and down, and sometime during my pregnancy with Noah (2003-2004), the rings stopped being able to slide off. 

I remember being in the hospital, and the nurse asked me to take off my rings because she was going to insert an IV and my hand might swell a little. I couldn't get it off! After that, my rings were actually stuck on my finger from 2004 until after I lost quite a bit of weight--I believe it was early 2010 when I was finally able to get the rings off. That was a big NSV (non-scale victory) for me. Now, the rings actually fit pretty good. I've always had big fingers, and they didn't shrink a whole lot when I lost the weight. The rings can come off easily, even on my puffiest days, but they never fall off.

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Q. After you finished your weight loss, how many calories did you (and do you now) eat? Did you ever feel deprived because of the restricted diet while losing weight, and if so did it lead to binges after your weight loss?

I reached my weight loss goal, but having been feeling deprived of food and I find myself eating a lot, and then realize I gained weight and then go back to calorie counting to loose it. This has been going on for a month. I just feel like it is an never ending battle, and am trying to find some kind of balance. Any advice?

A. I didn't have a smooth transition from weight loss to maintenance, like I'd hoped. I was just 10 pounds from my goal when I fainted and severely broke my jaw--I had to have two surgeries, resulting in my jaws being wired shut (and a liquid diet). I lost the last 10 pounds while I was recovering, and because of the liquid diet, I wasn't counting calories anymore. As soon as the wires came off, and I could eat solid food again, I ate a LOT to make up for the deprivation, and the 10 pounds came back right away.

I never really picked up counting calories again for more than a few days at a time. I've tried numerous times to get back to counting strictly so that I can get back down to my goal weight, but I never last very long. And quite honestly, I'd be happy to stay right where I am if it means I don't ever have to count calories again! But I'm always trying, because I'm afraid that I will just go up and up and up if I don't. 

So to answer your questions, I wasn't counting calories when I hit maintenance, so I can't tell you exactly how many I was eating. But I had formed so many healthier habits while I was losing weight, and I continued those habits after I hit maintenance, which is how I've managed to keep the weight off.

Ice cream at a farm with the family? Sure!
Ice cream on the couch by myself when I'm
feeling lonely? Nah, I shouldn't.

I think it's important to find a balance you can be happy with--you don't want to feel very deprived, but you can't go back to your old habits, either. The way I live now, I don't feel deprived very often, but I certainly do have to make sacrifices! 

I post often about junk that I eat, so it might seem like I give in whenever I want something. But the truth is, if I ate ice cream every time I had a craving, I would be 253 pounds again for sure. Sometimes I allow myself to have it, and sometimes I don't--so I don't feel deprived in the sense that I DO still eat ice cream; I just wish I could eat it for three meals a day ;)  Am I making sense? 

What I would suggest is eating foods that you really, truly love--then you won't feel deprived. You can count calories and plan to have a special snack or treat every day that you really enjoy. I did that throughout my entire weight loss, which is why I didn't feel deprived (most of the time; like I said, sometimes you have to say no to things you really want, and that's okay too). 

My binge eating definitely stems from emotional eating rather than deprivation, which is an entirely different issue. But if you think you're binge eating because of deprivation, then the solution would be to stop depriving yourself--just make sure you plan for it so it's not impulsive.

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And now a question for all of you...

What are you most looking forward to this fall? As you know, fall is my very favorite time of year. I love it ALL--jeans and hoodies, crisp air, colorful leaves, apple-everything, cozy blankets, cool running weather, all things pumpkin... 

And speaking of pumpkin, I made a Vanilla Pumpkin Protein Shake today that was reeeally good! You can find the recipe here: Vanilla Pumpkin Protein Shake

I even tried to get a pretty picture for you ;)

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RECIPE: Vanilla Pumpkin Protein Shake

This shake makes me super excited for my favorite time of year--fall! It turned out so yummy it actually deserves its own post ;)

One of my readers requested that I create a pumpkin protein shake. I tried a few recipes that I found online, but wasn't crazy about any of them. A lot of the shake recipes use bananas to sweeten them, and I just wasn't crazy about the combo of pumpkin and banana.

I used Torani Pumpkin Pie flavored syrup in this--if you really can't find it and/or don't want to buy it online, you could probably just use some sort of sweetener (1 Tbsp. of maple syrup would probably be good!) and extra pumpkin pie spice.


Here is the printer-friendly version of the recipe


Vanilla Pumpkin Protein Shake

Ingredients:

3/4 cup milk (I prefer whole milk, but use what you like)
1 serving vanilla protein powder
1/4 cup canned pumpkin
1 Tbsp. Torani Pumpkin Pie flavored syrup (you could substitute with 1 Tbsp. maple syrup and extra pumpkin pie spice if you don't want to buy the Torani syrup)
1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
about 10 ice cubes
(optional) 1/4 tsp. each xanthan and guar gum* (see note below)

*I use the xanthan and guar gums in this shake, which are always optional (I like the thick, creamy texture they create). If you don't use them, I would cut back on the milk to about 1/2 cup, and freeze your pumpkin before using to get a thicker texture.

Directions:

Throw all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Top with whipped cream and pumpkin pie spice, if you'd like! Makes 1 large serving (16-18 oz) or 2 small servings.

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Family day

Jerry was bummed that he missed out on garage sale-ing yesterday, so I told him we could go this morning to another city-wide sale. I was hoping to have better luck than I did yesterday, but the sales were still pretty sporadic. I did buy a few things, but nothing that was very exciting. At one sale, I saw this nice box (about the size of three shoe boxes put together, so it was big) for $1, so I picked it up. I like to keep mementos in boxes like these (pictures, cards, letters, etc.)

 I was surprised once I opened it up--it was filled with gift boxes, gift bags, and bows. Definitely worth more than $1!

I also got a few Dean Koontz books. I used to read his books a lot when I was in high school and college, and kind of forgot about him. Then I got a book at the library the other day, and flew through it in 24 hours. Books have to be very suspenseful and interesting to keep my attention enough to finish, and all of his books do that for me. Normally, I don't buy books (I just use the library), but these were only 25 cents each, and now I don't have a time limit with them ;)

At one sale, I saw a tag that cracked me up!

Notice the "Never worn, too fat"... Bahaha, I love the honesty.

While we were garage sale-ing, I noticed that there were people standing in the street holding signs, and I got that exciting thrill that maybe a race was going on. And then it hit me--it was the Run for Ryan, a 5K that I had been planning all year on doing! I was going to try for my sub-26:00 5K at this race, because it's a very small race.

The city couldn't have done worse planning, with the city-wide sale AND the 5K on the same day... I felt so bad for the runners having to dodge all the cars that were lining the streets for the sales.

That is where the runners were coming from, and see all the cars in the way?

While we were out, we noticed a farmer's market going on, so we stopped to check it out. I'm so glad we did! I know farmer's markets are usually about the fruits and veggies, but I happen to love the baked goods ;) It's so great to try homemade baked goods--the boys talked me into buying some cookies. I also bought some local honey and apple-rhubarb preserves. Jerry bought a seasoning packet of dill veggie dip--we sampled it at the market, and it was fantastic!

After the sales and farmer's market, we went to Jerry's work for a family day picnic-type thing they were having outside. They did the same thing a few years ago (right after I started losing weight) and it was a lot of fun, so I was looking forward to going again. They had inflatable bouncers, pony rides, one of those trampoline bungee jumping things, a hay ride, games, and food.

Jerry tried out the bungee thing. I really wanted to, but my bladder isn't exactly as strong as it was before I had kids, if you catch my drift...

Jerry made me feel better by saying it wasn't that great, and he's glad we're done having kids, because he probably would be infertile after that thing.

We rode the hayride, which ended up being much longer than we expected--we went around the entire plant where he works.

After that, we ate lunch--they had grilled steak, chicken, and hot dogs; potatoes; baked beans; chips; salad; and brownies and cookies for dessert. I took a hot dog, but the bun was really stale, so I didn't end up eating it. The potatoes and baked beans weren't very good, so I ended up eating just my salad and then too much dessert. The brownies were SO good--really moist brownies with a peanut butter frosting on top. I ate one three in the three hours we were there.

Jerry and I played cornhole (like a bean bag toss game) with his coworker Daniel and his girlfriend Kristeena. I'd never played before (or maybe I did a long time ago!), but it was really fun. I was ready to leave at that point, but the kids wanted to stay a little longer, so Jerry and I laid on the grass and digested our food ;)

It was a fun day, but I wish I hadn't eaten the two extra brownies... I felt gross after that. I talked to Mary yesterday, and somehow peanut butter was brought up--I mentioned how peanut butter is ALWAYS my weakness, and everything I overeat seems to contain peanut butter. So I was thinking of maybe trying to make that part of a six-week challenge until my marathon... no peanut butter for six weeks?? That would be extremely tough!

But I think if I could do that, I would feel back in control, and it would be a huge boost in my confidence. Peanut butter isn't a bad food, but the way I consume it, it's not healthy. I have too much, too often, and it's usually with a load of sugar. So maybe giving up for six weeks would be a good thing! I would definitely have to get creative as far as snacks go... I'm so used to having peanut butter.

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Hoodie season

I don't know what came over me this morning--I was having a dream (that I rescued a cat that someone hung from a tree--weird!), and I woke up at 5:20. Without even thinking about anything, I just jumped out of bed, threw on my running clothes, and made the decision to get my run done before waking the kids up for school.

Literally five minutes later, I was on the treadmill. I was scheduled for five miles today, and I did a tempo run. I ran one mile at 6.0, then bumped it up to 6.5 and ran three miles, then went back down to 6.0 for the last mile. I watched Nip/Tuck again, and I was done running before I even fully woke up!

I told my mom yesterday that I would go garage sale-ing with her this morning, so I had been planning to just run when I got home; but getting it out of the way beforehand was so much better. I showered, and then woke up the kids and got them ready for school. I made a quick chocolate raspberry protein shake for breakfast, and then my mom picked me up.

Someone recently asked me if I eat before or after I run in the mornings. I've tried it both ways, and I much prefer to eat after I run. I love to sit down and take my time eating breakfast while I read e-mail, and I wouldn't really be able to relax if I was waiting to go out for a run. Also, eating before I run sometimes gives me an upset stomach midway through the run.

The only exception to this is when I have a longer run scheduled (like 12+ miles). If I'm running, say, 16 miles that day, and likely wouldn't get home and showered until lunchtime, I'll eat a small breakfast (toast with peanut butter, or half a serving of oatmeal with a little peanut butter) before I run. And when I'm running more than 12 miles, I have Gatorade and/or Gu during my run.

Some people say it's better to eat before you run, some say it's fine to wait until after... but like I always say, one thing I learned while losing weight was to screw what everyone else says and do what works for ME ;) What works for me may be the opposite of what works for others, and vice versa.

Along with my mom and me were two of my mom's friends, and we picked up my aunt while we were out. There was a city-wide sale, but unfortunately, not many of the sales started today. I only bought a couple of things--I got a skateboard for Eli (he just asked me yesterday if he could get one, and I found one today for $5); a couple of hoodies for me (that's what happens when I'm psyched for fall!); and the movie Gremlins for the boys.

$1 Hollister hoodie... it's a little big, but this is
the most COMFY hoodie I've ever worn in my life!

I paid $4 for this Gilly Hicks hoodie, but I don't have
a pink hoodie, and it is super soft inside!

I was a little disappointed not to find something really exciting today, but Jerry said he wants to go tomorrow, so maybe I'll find something then. Most of the sales start on Saturdays. I've missed garage sales! I don't think I went at all this summer.

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Sunday will be exactly six weeks until my marathon. I'm thinking about doing some sort of challenge for myself. I really liked doing my Wii Active 30-Day Challenge, and it gave me something to really work toward. One idea I have is to burn an extra 100 calories every day--something above and beyond what I would normally do. One hundred calories wouldn't require too much extra effort, and it would be fun to think of creative ways to do it. I was also thinking maybe it should be some sort of food challenge, since I really can't seem to drop these 10 pounds I picked up. I'll think about it some more today and tomorrow, and then start the challenge on Sunday!

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Youthberry

I had such a lazy day today! But it was definitely needed. I actually planned on doing my 30-Day Shred DVD, but I couldn't find it for the life of me. I think the last time I used it was about a year ago, so I don't have a clue what happened to it. I'll search some more tomorrow (I need to clean anyways).

My Teavana shipment arrived today! I always get a thrill out of seeing the UPS or FedEx truck outside. It was pretty sobering to open my package and see just how little tea you get for the cost! But hopefully it will last longer than it looks like it will...

That's 8 oz. of the Youthberry Wild Orange Blossom blend, 4 oz. of Chai, and 1 lb. of German rock sugar. It also came with a free sample called Blueberry Kona Pop, which I decided to open and try right away. It suggested having it iced, but I wanted hot tea, so I did that instead. It was really good! The sample had the rock sugar already in it.

I was never really a tea person until I quit drinking coffee; and even then, I couldn't understand that drinking loose tea like this could be that much different than tea bags. Boy, was I wrong!

While I was drinking my tea, Estelle found a nice cozy pillow to lay her head on...

Yes, that is the remote control. Ridiculous cat.

I went to Hobby Lobby this morning to get the fabric to finish off my quilt. Someone suggested flannel, and that sounded very cozy. Since the quilt is pretty ugly, I wanted to just go with it and possibly make it even uglier... so I chose red flannel. I backed the quilt with it, but I haven't tied it yet. I am thinking I might just leave it as-is right now...

There is already a ridiculous amount of cat hair stuck to it. If there is one thing I've learned today, it's that flannel attracts cat hair like Nutella attracts ME. My favorite part about the quilt is that it has pockets! I have no idea why anyone would need pockets in a quilt, but I just used the pockets that were already in the sweatshirts and pants I cut up.

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As of today, there are only 7 days left on our Kickstarter page! It's looking pretty hopeless, unfortunately. We've gotten about $9,000 in pledges, but it will all be returned if we don't get a total of $50,000. To those of you that have pledged, THANK YOU--from the bottom of my heart, honestly. Even if we don't get funded, it means so much to me that there are people out there who really believe in our project!

It's actually kind of crazy to think that in less than four months, I'll be in Florida, running from Miami to Key West. I've never been to Miami (or Key West), so that is exciting in itself; but just three years ago, I never would have imagined in my wildest dreams that I'd be doing something like this! I've always been super introverted, and I had to step waaay out of my comfort zone for this whole project (remember, my entire team were strangers to each other when we came together this year).

Three years ago, I never would have imagined I'd be running, let alone running a relay race with 11 strangers while it's all captured on film! My hope with this whole film is that people see what we did, that we are totally "normal" people who lost a lot of weight through diet and exercise, and now we are doing things we never thought possible. If all of us can do it, ANYONE can. I really believe that!

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Pet Weight Translator

Thanks to Chandler, I got pretty much zero sleep last night. Chandler isn't exactly a small cat, and for some reason, he's been wanting to sleep on the bed lately. I swear, he takes up more space than I do:

He actually looks kind of small there, but don't let that fool you. Jerry and I were joking about how much space he takes up, and Jerry went in the bathroom to weigh him. The last time we weighed him, he was 23 pounds. Yesterday, he was 25! I Googled "cat BMI calculator" and found this website that gives you a human equivalent to your cat's weight. So if Chandler were me (a 5'4 woman), he would weigh 363 pounds.

I don't know how Chandler got so big--our other cats weigh less than 9 pounds each. Anyway, I just thought that translator was pretty fun!

Today was my boys' first day of school. I got them ready to go, and then walked to the bus stop with them. While they were waiting for the bus, they spent the entire time fighting:

Play fighting, but still trying to throw each other to the ground. Typical boys.

Once they were on the bus, I was very tempted to play hooky from my scheduled run, but I knew I would feel more "worthy" of relaxing later once that was done. The plan was to run eight miles, and I chose to do it on the treadmill because it's much easier on m knees, and I'm still scared my knee injury is going to reappear. I really didn't feel like watching The Biggest Loser, so I decided to start watching Nip/Tuck from season one. I loved that show!

I decided to do the eight miles as a progressive run. A progressive run is just where you start out comfortably, and then gradually increase your pace over the course of the run. So I started at 6.0 mph, and then each time I hit a mile, I bumped it up by 0.1 mph. The last half-mile, I just wanted to be done, so I bumped it up faster and faster.

I kept thinking of a million excuses to quit early, but I stuck it out. And of course, I'm glad I did. But I was pissed when I saw that I forgot to shut off my Garmin while I checked my e-mail (notice split #9)...

Actual time was 1:14:20 (9:09/mi average)

When I was done running, I showered and decided to go to Sam's Club. My membership expired in March of this year, and I wasn't sure if I was going to renew--every time we go, we spend a small fortune. But when I was shopping for things like meat, nuts, dried fruit, etc, I was paying a small fortune at other stores, so I decided to renew my membership today.

I probably spent more money today than I would have all summer if I'd still had my membership... but this will last us a long time! I got snacks and lunch stuff for the kids for school, meat to portion out and freeze for dinners, lots of nuts (including a bag of Castachios--a mix of cashews and pistachios, with salt and pepper--yum!), and a bunch of other stuff.

That is what $275 looks like at Sam's Club (and that doesn't include the membership fee, which was $40)!

By the time I got home, it was already 1:00--I had a quick lunch and then tried to catch up on e-mail, which was my original plan today. Cleaned up the house a little, and the boys were home at 4. Time flies by when the kids are at school! But they had a good first day, and I made goulash (at their request) for dinner.

I almost forgot that my new weekly goals start today. Here is what I'm going to work on this week...

Food--Replace my nighttime snack with tea.
Fitness--Do Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred twice.
Misc--Back and tie my sweatshirt quilt.

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The back of the pack

It was pretty overcast when I woke up this morning, so I decided to run outside instead of on the treadmill. Jerry was off work, and after refiguring my marathon training to include a fourth day per week, I only had to run four miles today. When I saw it was overcast, I thought, "I bet it feels just like fall outside!"

Boy, was I ever wrong. It was 7:30 in the morning, and it felt like I stepped outside and into a greenhouse. I think I even started sweating as I stood in the driveway while my Garmin found satellites.

As soon as I started running, I felt clumsy and heavy. I hate days like that! My legs just didn't feel like running, apparently. I kept reminding myself that I only had to run four miles. After about 3.25 miles, I saw that my average pace was 10:15. I thought, "I'm going to try and run a sub-10:00 mile for this last mile", so I picked up the pace.

Then I decided to make it even more challenging and see if I could drop my AVERAGE pace to a sub-10:00. That would be much harder, since I only had 3/4 of a mile left to shave more than 45 seconds off my time. I rounded the corner of my street, and ran as hard as I could, with my stiff legs. As soon as I hit four miles, I stopped the timer and looked down. 10:02/mi average pace--not what I'd hoped, but I managed to knock 13 seconds off my average pace in just 3/4 of a mile.

I only ran four miles, but when I got done, I was completely saturated with sweat, thanks to the humidity. I felt like I worked a lot harder than I actually did ;)

I showered and had a Chocolate Cherry Almond protein shake for breakfast. The kids' open house wasn't until 3:00, so I had all morning and part of the afternoon to do whatever I felt like doing--and I decided to work on the sweatshirt quilt that I wrote about yesterday. Jerry and I started a new season of The Biggest Loser (season 3) on Netflix, and I just sat on the floor cutting out squares.

By the time I left for the kids' open house, I had all the squares cut out and most of them sewed together! We went to the school to meet the kids' teachers, and then when we came home, I finished up the quilt top. It's not-even-a-little-bit pretty, but it's going to be super cozy when I'm done.

I have to get some fabric to back it with, and I think I'll get t-shirt cotton. Then I have to tie it, and it will be done and ready for use this fall.

Estelle spent the entire time I was sewing sitting in my fabric container. She can't stand to see a box on the floor and NOT crawl in...

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A few people asked about my memoir that I mentioned in my last post. I do NOT have a book deal, or anything exciting like that! I've always wanted to write a book (like since I was a kid!), and a lot of readers have told me I should write a memoir about my weight loss. So I am working on it now. I don't know if anything will ever come of it, but I will be happy just to do it.

Another question I was asked (on my race report post) is why I like watching the last finishers of the race. I always feel SO inspired seeing people cross the finish line of a race that they may not have even thought they could do. When I did my first half-marathon, I was at the very back of the pack, and I know how much it meant to me to actually finish that race. The first place person, or even the top 10 people, KNOW going into the race that they will finish in the lead--and unless they get injured, they KNOW they will finish.

But the people in the very back of the pack are usually (not always, of course) either doing their first race, or overcoming health obstacles (age, injury, obesity, etc). The last place people are out on the course much longer than everyone else, when the crowds have gone home, and the water stations are packing up. That's a big mental obstacle to deal with during a race. I notice that a lot of these people have a look of pure joy, or amazement, or pride when they cross the finish line that just gives me chills to see. Chances are, they worked just as hard to finish the race as the first-place person did, but it means something different to them. So anyway, that is why I like to watch the end of the race!

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Tomorrow is Noah and Eli's first day of school. Noah is going into third grade, and Eli into first. They are growing so fast! My plan is to run eight miles in the morning after they get on the bus, and then (finally) spend some time catching up on my e-mail. I'd also like to spend some time this week catching up on blog reading. I'm embarrassed to say that ever since I got back from my sister's house in Illinois, I haven't touched my Google Reader--and now I have over 1,000 unread posts. Yeah, I'll never actually catch up on it all, but I feel like I'm missing out on stuff! (If I've missed something exciting, please share in the comments here! I'd love to read about what's going on with all of you)

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Yummy tea

Today was my kids' last "real" day of summer vacation. Tomorrow they have open house, where we'll go chat with their teachers and check out their classrooms. Then schools starts on Wednesday!

As I mentioned yesterday, I took today off of running--my legs are pretty sore from the race still (must be those hills!). Jerry was off work, so together, we tackled my "miscellaneous" goal for the week: clean out our bedroom closet.

I didn't get rid of as much as I'd hoped to, but it was nice to organize everything. I went through all my sewing stuff and fabric, and now I'm kind of itching to start a new sewing project. I have a TON of old sweatshirts and sweatpants that I cut up in order to make into a quilt--not because it would look cute, but just think how comfortable a sweatshirt quilt would be!

I have also been meaning to make a denim purse out of my old jeans, similar to my quilt. I have all the stuff to make it, I just haven't taken the time to plan out a pattern. For the next couple of months, I'm going to be working on my memoir every spare moment I get, but after that, I can't wait to work on some crafty projects.

Ever since I went to Teavana at the Mall of America on Friday, I have not stopped thinking about the tea I had there! Finally, this morning, I couldn't take it anymore and I went online to their website to order some. It's a blend called Youthberry and Wild Orange Blossom. The only reason I chose that one to sample at the store was because the other one they had was "highly caffeinated", and you know I don't do well with caffeine. But this Youthberry tea was AH-MAZING. 

source

The tea at the store was sweetened with their German Rock Sugar, so naturally I had to get that as well. I also bought a small amount of a white chai to try. The grand total almost made me faint at $62, but I found a coupon code for $10 off. Very pricey, but this tea was so good that I could drink it as a dessert, and be perfectly happy. In fact, that is going to be my food goal for next week--to have tea at night instead of a snack/dessert.

I already completed my three goals for this week:
Food--Not go totally food-crazy in Minnesota. I did good with this one, probably because I was with Renee, who is a very healthy eater. I didn't gain a single pound over the weekend!
Fitness--TRY for a sub-2:00 half-marathon. I feel I put in about 85% effort on this one. I let myself get defeated too early, and I wished I had pushed a little harder at the beginning to stay with the pacer. But I didn't totally throw all goals out the window, I just refigured them as needed, and I think I did well.
Misc--Clean out my closet. Did this today with Jerry.

Speaking of my fitness goal, I figured out why my Garmin time and my official results were so different--I was looking at the gun time, not the chip time. So the results I posted were a little off. I fixed them now, not that it makes a huge difference. My time was 2:08:43 (not the 2:09:13 that I had posted before). Thirty seconds isn't much, but every second counts ;)

I got a fun package in the mail from a Twitter buddy, Kendall Marie. She had posted a picture a few weeks ago of pumpkin seed butter, and I thought it looked fantastic--I'd never seen pumpkin seed butter before. She offered to send me some (from Canada!)--so she sent me the pumpkin butter and included a surprise jar of almond hazelnut butter as well. Yum!

I tasted them right out of the jar. I loved the almond hazelnut butter! Surprisingly, I wasn't too crazy about the pumpkin seed butter. After tasting it, I added a big pinch of salt to the jar and stirred it up, and it was much better with salt in it (the only ingredient was the seeds). These will both make perfect toppings for my Ezekiel toast.

It's so crazy to me that summer has come to an end (at least in MY sense of the word). Jeans and hoodies are right around the corner!

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Breakfast of champions

After a very eventful weekend, I was disappointed for it to end today.

Yesterday, after the race, Brian took Renee and I to the beach for kayaking. I'd never used a kayak before, and it's something I never would have attempted when I was obese, so I was excited to try it. Brian showed me how to get in and out without tipping it over, and thankfully, I think I mastered that. Renee and I made a big loop in the lake.

It was a very good core workout, if nothing else! I could really feel it in my shoulders, also, which Brian said meant I was doing it wrong ;) But I didn't crash or tip over, so that's all that mattered. We sat on the beach for a little bit before going back to Brian's house. We talked about maybe going to a comedy club or a bar, but Renee and I were both pretty whipped from the half-marathon and the kayaking, so we decided to stay in and drink wine while watching a couple of movies.

Brian listed us on an 8:50 flight this morning to Detroit. He dropped us off at the airport, and after we went through security, we went into a bar/restaurant so I could have a glass of wine before boarding. Yes, it was only 8:00 in the morning, but I wanted to choose wine over Xanax this time, so I wouldn't be super tired when I got home. I picked up a muffin at a little bakery in the airport before going into the restaurant. So here is my breakfast of champions:

My jaw dropped when I saw how much the wine was. I told the server "Whatever is cheapest"--and that "cheap" Chardonnay cost me over $13!! I prayed we would make it onto the flight, because there was no way I was going to buy another glass at that price.

When we got to the gate, we saw it was going to be another close call as to whether we got on the flight. Brian was pretty confident we'd get on, because there were 20 open seats, but when we looked at the list we were the last two people on the stand-by list. After most people had boarded, the gate agent told us that there was only one seat available, and asked if one of us wanted to go. We said no, that we'd just try to get on the next flight.

At that point, there was a man and woman who were added to the stand-by list, and they had lower priority than we did. The man said he would take the seat. I was bummed about missing the flight, so I called Brian and he said he'd call me right back to tell me what gate to go to for another flight. Right when I hung up with him, there was a pilot talking to the gate agent--he was flying as a passenger to Detroit, and he said he would be willing to give up his seat and sit in the jump seat (a small seat in the cockpit)--that meant there were TWO open seats! Since we were higher priority than the other couple, the gate agent gave us the seats. I probably thanked that pilot a dozen times--it was really nice of him to do. (Brian later told me that he did the same thing for someone last week, so it was his good karma that got us the seat ;) ).

And, lucky me, I was in seat 4A--the window seat in the row immediately behind first class. I was relieved to be by a window (it eases some of my flying anxiety).

It was very cloudy once we got into Michigan. I tried to read, but it's impossible for me to focus on ANYTHING when I'm in an airplane, so I just sat and looked out the window. I had another glass of wine during the flight (and my beloved Biscoff cookies). Once we landed, and I stepped out of the plane into the chute, I could feel the humidity in the air. Minnesota was the same as Michigan temperature-wise, but it wasn't humid at all. I felt sticky and gross when we got outside.

Renee's husband Dave (and their three boys) picked us up from the airport. When I got home, the exhaustion of the weekend set in. I watched a Lifetime movie, and almost fell asleep. I haven't done much at all today since coming home. I was thinking about revising my marathon training schedule. My kids start school this week, so I think I'd like to add a fourth run in each week. Hal Higdon's schedule isn't that far off from where I am in training right now, so maybe I'll just follow the last seven weeks of that. I'll try and figure it out tomorrow (I'm taking tomorrow as a rest day as well, because I'm pretty sore today--both legs and shoulders).

Anyway, this weekend was a lot of fun, and I definitely needed the "adult time" away from my kids. It was a busy weekend, but also relaxing, if that makes sense. I already think I want to go back to St. Paul next October (in 2013) for a half-marathon called the Monster Dash. My brother runs it in costume every year, and he always has a blast.

I am going to sleep like a rock tonight!

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Women Rock MN race report

I think a combination of nerves and being in an unfamiliar house made me not sleep much at all last night. I wished I hadn't announced that I was going to try for a sub-2:00 half-marathon today, because I was putting pressure on myself.

Anyway, Renee and I got up at 5:30 ish and got ready to head out. Brian drove us to the finish line of the race, so we could check our bag and then take the shuttle to the starting line (the starting line wasn't the same as the finish). Once we checked our bags, we got on a bus that took us to the start. By the time we got there, we had about 15 minutes before the start of the race, and we were at the back of the porta potty lines.

The announcer called 2 more minutes when we were finally first in line. We hurried through the porta potties, and then got to the start right with just a few seconds to spare. I hopped in right with the the 1:55 pacer--I knew I wasn't going to hold that pace, but the next pacer was a 2:00 time (9:10/mi), and I wanted to try to stay ahead of that.

As soon as the gun sounded, I ran with that first pacer for a while, feeling pretty confident. But my mouth was SO DRY. That always happens to me during races--the first mile or two, I'm so nervous that my mouth feels like cotton. After about a half-mile, I decided to just fall back a little, and then I heard what sounded like a stampede coming up behind me. It was the 2:00 pacer, and a ton of people surrounding her. It was so hard to run with tons of people around me.

I heard my Garmin beep, so I looked at the time--9:17 for the first mile. As soon as I saw that, I felt defeated. I would have a lot of catching up to do if I wanted to finish sub-2:00. So I just decided to forget it, and fall back to a comfortable pace. I was feeling really disappointed, and I wished I'd never set a time goal--I hate setting time goals, because when I don't meet it, I always feel down.

I was feeling kind of crappy, but a little before the turn-around at mile 3, I saw Renee (she had already turned around, and was coming back). We high-fived as we were running, and she looked like she was doing awesome. She looked really determined, and it made me stop feeling sorry for myself and change my plan. I thought, "Renee wouldn't give up if she didn't reach her goal--she'd still try and do her best!" So I decided to make it my mission to catch up with the 2:00 pacer (a near-impossible task).

I was really not expecting all the hills in this race. The elevation chart looked like it was pretty flat--well, it wasn't. I took full-advantage of the downhills, and tried my best to hold a good pace on the uphills. At around mile 6, I started to feel a hot spot on my foot that I prayed wouldn't turn into a blister. I had brought my Mizuno's to race in, but I really should have brought my Brooks. The Mizuno's give me a blister on my right foot for anything over 6 miles or so.

I kept seeing my overall pace getting slower and slower, and it was bumming me out. My "A" goal was sub-2:00. My "B" goal was to PR (faster than 2:02:57). When I realized THAT wasn't going to happen, I made up a "C" goal of running all sub-10:00 miles. There was a huge hill around mile 11, and my pace was an 11:xx mile (I'll have to check my splits when I get home). So then I made a "D" goal of finishing with an average pace under 10:00/mi. And I did that! Thank goodness, because the only other goal (my "E" goal) would have been to just finish, regardless. So I crossed the finish line, and after stopping my Garmin, it read: 2:08:45. My official time:

I obviously wasn't thrilled with the results, but I am happy to have finished and to have at least completed one of the goals. My only regret is putting pressure on myself to run a sub-2:00 half-marathon. I've been training to run a sub-5:00 marathon; NOT to run a sub-2:00 half-marathon! So I couldn't possibly expect that I would blow away that goal with ease.

After I finished, I found Renee and we went to the after-party to enjoy our "bubbly".

Of course, we had to get a photo with the Michigan flag...

Then we went back to the finish line to watch people finish. I LOVE to watch the last people of the HM crossing the line. The first-place marathoners were starting to cross then, too. Renee and I laid in the grass and enjoyed the nice weather!

Final thoughts on the race: It was very well organized, a super fun atmosphere, and a gorgeous course. I was expecting it to be flat, but I was totally wrong. It was fun that we got unique swag, too--instead of a t-shirt, we got jackets. And instead of medals, we got pendants. We also got a champagne flute. It was nice to have different stuff than the usual race things we get. For being a first-year race, I thought it went perfectly.

During the race, I was mad at myself for not sticking to my goal, but got over that quickly. Now, I am happy to have finished, despite it feeling much tougher than I planned. I don't know if I'll ever run a sub-2:00 HM, and I'm okay with that. I actually think it's more fun to run slowly and enjoy the view of an unfamiliar city.

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