Calories experiment

After two rest days in a row, my legs were really aching to go for a run this morning. It's funny, my legs always ached when I was obese, and I assumed it was from being obese--and maybe it was--but now, if I go more than two days without a run, I get that same ache. The only way to make them feel better is to run!

With four miles on the schedule, and the temp at a toasty 21 this morning, I headed outside. I did my favorite out-and-back route. There were a few patches of solid ice, and it was kind of scary running on it, but most of the road was dry.

It felt really good to run this morning! That's the best part about taking a couple of days off--it actually feels good to do it again.

When I uploaded my run, I noticed that Garmin Connect added a new feature to their website--the weather from the time of day and location that you ran.

So, for the last week, I've been logging my food on Weight Watchers, like usual, but I've also been tracking calories because people keep asking me how many calories I eat per day while on WW. The beauty of WW is that I don't have to track calories, but I did it this week just out of curiosity. So here is the result:

This could vary enormously, depending on the amount of fruits and veggies eaten (I happen to eat quite a bit of fruit, which is 0 PP but I still counted the calories for it). My PP target is 32 on maintenance, and usually I don't only eat the minimum like I did Sunday and Monday, but that was right after I went out Saturday and spent a billion PP on Mexican food and margaritas. Thursday was my long run day, so naturally, I ate a lot more. Regardless, I averaged 1814 calories per day (or 40 PP), which is probably pretty typical on maintenance (for me, anyway).

A few people were curious where I got the number 80 from when I explained how I calculate my activity PP earned. I don't remember where I read that! I read to take the calories burned and divide by 80, and that will give you the PP earned. However, I'm going to start logging the activity PP that is calculated when I enter my activity into the e-tools tracker. Usually it tells me a couple of PP more than I've calculated, but I don't think it'll make much difference in my maintenance... and I want all the PP I can get! ;)

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I am SO ready for it to be summer. Going to Key West was a tease--even though it was hot to run the Ragnar in Florida, it was so nice to vacation there, and just walk around in a sundress. Normally, I enjoy the cold weather, but right now I'm really in the mood for some sunshine and warmth. (Of course, when I'm running in the heat this summer, I'll be complaining that it's too hot and I wish it was February again!)

Just looking at this picture makes me feel warm and cozy!

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The forgotten necklace

While a lot of the country got dumped on with snow, we surprisingly didn't get a whole lot! That changed our plans for this weekend. The boys were off school yesterday, but the snow was more like slush, which is not good for our plans to go sledding.

Since I ran 13 miles on Thursday, I took yesterday off. Today is a rest day anyway, and it's been a while since I took two days off in a row--it's kind of nice!

Yesterday, I was going through some boxes in my closet. I found a box of letters that my dad had written my kids while he spent an entire year in Iraq, working as a civilian. After my little brother Nathan was discharged from the Army, he ended up going to back to Iraq as a civilian also--my poor mother was worried all year about her husband and her son being away, but thankfully, both came home safely.

Anyway, my dad has always been very close with my kids, so it was hard on them to not see him for a whole year, and he would send them letters from Iraq, mostly just silly pictures he drew. And once in a while, I would get a letter from him, too ;)  All this has a point, I'm getting to it...

When my dad came home, he brought a bunch of stuff that he bought in Iraq--t-shirts and some jewelry, and other stuff. He was handing out t-shirts, and it got a little awkward when he realized that he didn't have one that would fit me. I was my heaviest at the time, over 250 pounds, and even the XL men's shirts wouldn't have fit.

He gave me a necklace that he said a woman made and sold on the street. I remember thinking at the time, "Oh good, a necklace is safe, because jewelry always fits." Obviously, I didn't wear a lot of jewelry. When I got home, and tried to put it on, it was INCHES away from hooking in the back. I thought to myself that it must have been made for a child, because it was so small.

I put it in the box and forgot all about it. Until yesterday. I found the necklace in the box, and even though I knew it didn't fit, I held it up to see if it was even close to fitting...

It actually clasped, with room to spare! I was stunned, but then I realized--duh, I've lost 4.5 inches from my neck, of course it fits.

It's kind of funny, because when I was obese, I never thought of my neck as being fat. Sure, I could tell that my stomach was fat, my arms were fat, my legs were fat... but my neck was just, well, my neck.

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Anyway, I never got around to going to Weight Watchers yesterday, so I went today to weigh-in. I had to bring the boys with me, so I didn't stay for the meeting. I weighed in (on their scale, I was up 0.1), and I asked about how Lifetime membership works, just to be sure--I'm sick of weighing in every week on maintenance, because I get the same, "Oh, at least you didn't gain!" or "You're up a little this week" or whatever. Since I'm in maintenance, I'd rather not hear any comments about the ups and downs of my weight, because I monitor it at home.

They said I just have to weigh-in once a month to keep my membership free; if my weight goes more than two pounds over goal, then I have to start paying again until I'm back at goal. I can go to as many meetings as I'd like, and I don't have to weigh in to stay at a meeting. As long as I've weighed in once that month, then I don't have to worry about it.

So as of right now, I'm well-under my goal, and I don't have to weigh in again until March (I'll still do my weekly weigh-ins at home, for accountability, though).

After we left WW, I took the boys to the community college because there was a robotics tournament going on there today. Definitely not something I was interested in, but my dad was disappointed he couldn't take the kids today, and thought they would like it. I'm glad I went, because the boys really did like it. It was about as exciting as it sounds ;)

We sat up in the bleachers, and this was our view: 

 The robots had to pick up bean bags and put them in "baskets", and got a certain number of points for the number of bags they got. Noah and Eli both said that they can't wait until they are in high school so that they can be on a robotics team.

On the way out, the kids wanted to buy a soda from the concession stand, so we stopped there for a minute. The woman working looked at me and said, "Oh, you're Katie!" I didn't recognize her, but I said yes. I learned her name is Lori (Laurie?) and she reads my blog. That was fun--it's very, very rare that I run into someone that reads my blog, and even then, it's always at a race.

The kids and I watched a couple of movies this afternoon. The first was Beethoven, and Phoebe was very interested in that one!

Then we watched "The Wizard", a movie that I loved as a kid--and I figured the boys would like it because they love video games. It was a very relaxing afternoon.

Tonight is my wine club meeting, and my friend Shannon (whom I haven't seen in FOREVER) is coming over to my house and then going to Winers with me. I'm excited to see what she's been up to!

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The Basics of Weight Watchers

(Note: This post pertains to the Weight Watchers PointsPlus program. They've changed their program several times since then. I am no longer a fan of Weight Watchers, which you can read about here.)

A few people have e-mailed me about Weight Watchers lately, wanting to know exactly how it works if I think it's worth the money, and all that. So I figured I'd write a post all about it, and hopefully answer some questions. Keep in mind, I'm not a Weight Watchers leader or anything, but I've done their programs about a billion times, so I know it well ;)

The day I reached my Weight Watchers goal weight

If you're not familiar with Weight Watchers, here is how the program works (I'm not going to get super detailed, because that would make for a very long post):

  All foods are assigned a PointsPlus (PP) value, based on the carbohydrates, protein, fiber, and fat grams that they contain. For example--an English muffin has 3 PP, two tablespoons of peanut butter has 5 PP, and a cup of skim milk has 2 PP.

  You are given a PP target to aim for each day--for example, my target is 32. That means I can eat 32 PP worth of food each day (I can go over that, which I will explain later...). Your target is personalized to YOU, so yours may be different from mine.

  Healthier foods are usually lower in PP than the junk food, which makes you want to eat healthier so that you can eat more :)

  Weight Watchers does have "Good Health Guidelines" that they like you to follow when you spend your PP (for example, getting two dairy servings a day), but I won't get in-depth about all of that right now. Basically, you can spend your PP however you'd like, as long as you eat your target amount of PP.

  Most fruits and vegetables are 0 PP. The starchy veggies like potatoes, corn, and peas are not 0 PP. I like to use these foods as fillers, to have along with a meal and fill me up.

I'm pretty sure that my veins are filled with grape juice by now, rather than blood...

There are two other types of PP that you can spend, however, so you're not confined to your target every single day:

  You are also given a weekly PointsPlus allowance of 49. Those can be used at any time during the week, and you can divide them up however you'd like. You can use them all in one day if you have a special occasion, or you can have seven of them every day.... or you can choose not to use them (I personally recommend that you DO use them).

  You can also "earn" more PP for food by doing activity. For example, when I run 4 miles, I might earn 5 PP. I can use those earned PP however I'd like. You don't have to use them, but again, I personally recommend using them.

Dessert after a 5K run :)

  Your daily PP target cannot be carried over from day to day. For example, since my target is 32, if I only use 30, I cannot carry over 2 PP to tomorrow. You should try to use all of your target PP each day. Similarly, you cannot carry over your weekly PP. If you don't use all 49, then on the starting day of your week, you automatically get 49 again.

  Activity PP can be used any time during the week that they are earned, but cannot be carried over to the next week either. Basically, your slate is wiped clean at the start of each week (my weeks start on Wednesday, my weigh-in day).

Here is a typical day from my Weight Watchers food journal:

Breakfast--1/3 cup oats (3); 1 tsp. peanut butter (1), 1 tsp. mini chocolate chips (1), 1 tsp. shredded coconut (1), and 2 tsp. fat-free caramel dip (1); grapes (0)
Lunch--English muffin (3) with 1 Tbsp. jelly (1); 1 egg, 1 egg white, scrambled (2) with 2 Tbsp. Hormel crumbled bacon (1), and 1 slice low-fat cheese (1); grapes (0)
Snack--1/2 Clif bar (3) and 1/2 oz. almonds (2)
Dinner--CrockPot chicken chili (10)
Snack--orange (0)
Snack--5 oz. wine (4) and 1 Dove Promise (1)
Total for the day: 35 PP (my 32 daily target PP + 3 weekly or activity PP)

Obviously I am lacking in the vegetable department, but this is an honest typical day for me. I tried to pick a day where I ate on the lower side of my target PP (usually, I eat at least 40 PP per day, because I use all of my weekly PP and activity PP every week).

So, those are the basics of the program. Pretty simple!

Now, my thoughts on the program... a lot of people want to know if I think it's worth trying. I don't want to say yes or no to this, because it totally depends on the person. Weight Watchers isn't magical; if you're having a hard time eating healthier, or counting calories, or sticking with any program, then Weight Watchers probably won't be much different. It still requires US to do the work--they just give us the tools to do so. Weight Watchers isn't going to be the one making food decisions, so I can't say whether it's the right program for you or anyone else.

Here is an updated version of the positives and negatives (in MY opinion) about WW.

Positives:

  I like that the numbers are small--counting PP is MUCH easier to track than counting calories.

  I love that fruits are "free"--I've said it over and over, but grapes definitely helped me get through the first few weeks on plan! With free fruits and veggies, there is no reason to ever be hungry.

  I do tend to make healthier choices, since they are lower in PP values.

  I love that I get extra PP to use after I exercise--it's a big incentive for me to go out for a run! (Yesterday, for example, I earned 15 PP on a long run, and bought an insanely good dessert at Mrs. Fields)

  You don't have to give up any foods--you can eat anything you want, if you just count it. You can fit any food into your plan if you plan for it!

  At the meetings, you get little rewards for milestones, like 5% lost, 10% lost, 10-lbs, 25-lbs, etc. Maybe it sounds lame, but it's kind of exciting to look forward to that reward!

Negatives:

  The meetings are expensive. And even the online program is expensive. (Check with your insurance company, however, because a lot of them pay for it now!). However, if you're frugal like me, then spending that money might actually help you stick with it. I would have quit on Day 1 if I hadn't spend $60-something for the online program.

  It can take a lot of time when you're getting to know the program--calculating the PP values in all of your regular foods, your recipes, totaling everything up and either writing it down or entering it online. Once you get used to it, it's not as time consuming, but it still takes some of your time.

  It's tempting to find ways to bend the rules--like with the free fruit. "Technically", you could eat 10 bananas for breakfast and still be on plan--but we know that 10 bananas contains a LOT of calories! So I think it's important to be honest with myself while following the program. If I swipe a spoonful of peanut butter from the pantry, well, I have to count it.

That seemingly harmless spoonful has 225 calories!

Another question I was asked was about the meetings--how public the weigh-in part is. I wouldn't let this intimidate you at all! There is a tall desk, with a few receptionists behind it. On the floor, in front of each receptionist, is a small scale (without numbers on it). You just step on the scale, but the numbers only show behind the counter--so YOU can't even see what your weight is, let alone anyone else in the room.

If you're uncomfortable with anyone knowing your weight, it's very easy to keep it a secret between you and the receptionist. And if you're shy, like I am, you can let the receptionist or leader know that, and they won't (or shouldn't anyway) make you feel uncomfortable at the meeting by asking you questions and all that.

I guess that pretty much sums it up! I didn't intend for this to be so long, but it's hard to fit everything in.  I'm not promoting Weight Watchers in any way, because if someone isn't ready to take control of their eating habits, then WW isn't the answer. But if someone is looking for something different to try, and it sounds interesting, then I'd say give it a go and see!

If you're a Weight Watchers member (now or in the past) I'm curious what you think... feel free to weigh in on your likes and dislikes of the program.

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My impromptu half-marathon

This morning, I so badly just wanted to do nothing but sit around with some tea--basically a repeat of my rest day yesterday. I only had four miles on the schedule (I posted my running schedule on the right sidebar of my blog for reference, since a lot of people ask me what it is), but I was feeling lazy.

Since I had a Weight Watchers meeting at 10, I couldn't put off my run too long, so I finally got ready and headed out at 8:30. I didn't wear my IceSpikes, because I wanted to take my favorite out-and-back route, which is pretty clear about 1/2 mile into the run (my neighborhood is still ice/snow covered).

About 3/4 of the way into the run, I started thinking about how tomorrow is my long run day, and I would have to do it on the treadmill for two reasons: 1) My kids don't have school tomorrow, and 2) We're supposed to have a snowstorm. While I was running, these thoughts started running through my head:
"I could just run my long run (12 miles) today instead of tomorrow."
"No, I can't do that, I have Weight Watchers this morning."
"I could go to WW tomorrow instead."
"But I don't have to run 12 today--I only have to run 4!"
"But it be worse to run 12 on the treadmill tomorrow."
"If I can avoid the treadmill, I really want to..."
"I'm already dressed in my running clothes, and out running, so I could just go farther and get it done now."

I was seriously debating back and forth, and finally made it to the two-mile mark, where I would turn around to go back home and finish four miles. I didn't even hesitate to keep running, and I decided to do 12.

About four miles in, I thought, "I could just do 10 today--turn around in a mile and head back. Yeah, that's what I'll do." But then when I got to mile five, I thought, "What's one more? I'll regret it if I don't get in all 12 while I can."

At the six-mile mark, there was a car coming toward me. I always feel embarrassed turning around (I have no idea why) in front of a car, so I kept going. And then I just thought, "Might as well run a half-marathon!" So I ran to mile 6.55 and turned around.

I realized it then that I'd had a tail wind the whole way out, and now I was going to have a head wind all the way home--bummer! But after that, my main focus was keeping each mile under nine minutes. It wasn't too bad! I didn't feel like I was dying or anything, and my heart rate was good, so I just went with it.

At about mile 11, I was so ready to be done. But I was so close to meeting my goal of not only a sub-2:00 half-marathon, but having ALL of my mile splits under 9 minutes. I kept going, and the last couple of miles felt like they were taking a long time, but I finally reached 13.11 and pressed stop on my Garmin.

I'd run the entire thing without even slowing down. Someone on Facebook asked me what I do about water when I run, considering I was only planning on four miles today--I find that in the winter I can run about 14 miles without water; but in the summer, I can't do that! It helps that I drink an entire quart of water right when I wake up, so I'm well-hydrated when I start my run.

Anyway, I was shocked when I saw my time!!

I didn't just hit sub-2:00, I totally crushed it by 6 1/2 minutes! That may not seem like a big difference if you're not a runner, but each minute is "worth" quite a bit. I couldn't believe it! I sent out a few "OMG!" texts, posted this picture to social media, and just reveled in my excitement about hitting that goal.

To make it an "official" PR, I will have to do it at a race, but I'm VERY confident that I can do sub-2:00 now ;)

Stephanie asked me how I was going to celebrate, and only one thing popped into my head:

I haven't had anything from Mrs. Fields since my marathon in October, and it was due time that I truly ran for a cookie! When I got there, I couldn't decide between a Chocolate Peanut Butter Dream Bar or a frosted cookie slice; I ultimately decided on the Dream Bar, but I got a cookie slice for Jerry.

I planned to wait until Jerry got home to eat my Dream Bar but I only lasted about 10 minutes at home before I decided to eat it ;) It was SO good.

It was 19 PointsPlus. I'd earned 15 on my run, so it didn't even set me back too far. Definitely worth every bite. Jerry's cookie slice was in the box on the counter, and I decided to take just a little nibble.

Well, a couple of hours later, it looked like this:

I ate the bottom part of the wedge. I felt bad, so I sent him a text telling him I'm sorry. But I should never be trusted around cookies! Especially cookies with frosting. I looked up the PP in a cookie slice and estimated how much I ate, so I counted it. For the record, that was worth it, too ;)

Needless to say, I missed my Weight Watchers meeting today, but I'll just go to a meeting tomorrow. I'm wondering which would make a better explanation for skipping--that I was running, or that I was at Mrs. Fields? Hahaha.

Tomorrow, I may just take an extra rest day. If I feel up to it, I'll run the four miles I had on the schedule today, but if not, then I'll just skip it without guilt. If we get a lot of snow, I told Jerry and the kids I would go sledding! I haven't gone sledding since I was about Noah's age. Will definitely be interesting... ;)

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Weight Loss Specialist

First up, I have some exciting news to share...

I am now a NASM-credentialed Weight Loss Specialist :)

I actually had no idea that such a credential existed, but when NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine) contacted me and asked if I'd be interested in taking the course, it sounded like an amazing opportunity. They told me I could take the course for free in exchange for a review--even better.

I've always absolutely loved reading anything and everything I could get my hands on regarding health, nutrition, fitness, weight loss, etc. When I first checked out the website for this course, I thought it sounded like it was just for certified personal trainers looking to further their credentials. Since I am not a personal trainer, I asked NASM about this, and they assured me that I didn't have to be a trainer to take the course.

The NASM is a very respected and well-known organization--I knew they certified personal trainers, but they have a lot of other courses that you can get credentials for as well.

I got the e-mail just after I wrote the post about what I was going to do for my "next big thing". And once I registered for the running coach certification course, this sounded like it would fit in perfectly. Anyway, I didn't mention that I was doing this course sooner, because how embarrassing would it be if I FAILED?! ;)

I was told the course would take about 15 hours to complete--in reality, it took me a little longer, because I am a very slow reader. The course is done entirely online, and consists of reading the manual, watching presentation videos about what you've just read, and then taking a 10-question quiz at the end of each chapter. At the very end of the course, there is a 100-question exam that you must pass in order to receive the WLS credential.

Things I liked about the course:

• All of the information is very up-to-date. I was really impressed with this as I read the manual.
• It is completely focused on the science of weight loss--not the fad diets! Calories in vs. calories out, and how/why exercise is very important.
• The format of the course made it easy to break into chunks at a time--I would do 1-2 chapters a day (or some days I would take a break). Each chapter was about 15-20 pages of reading, plus a 10-15 minute video, plus a short quiz.
• The whole thing is done online, which is very convenient.
• I went into it thinking that I could probably take the test and pass without even doing the course, because I feel like I know a lot about this stuff! But I did learn quite a bit, and I feel the course was necessary to pass the test.

Things I disliked about the course:

• Despite the fact that anyone can take the course, it really does seem targeted to certified personal trainers. While reading the manual, I was glad that I had taken two semesters of anatomy and one semester of medical terminology in college; otherwise I wouldn't have understood a lot of the text.
• I'm not so sure what a WLS credential can do without being paired with a personal trainer certification. If you're a trainer, however, I think clients would be drawn to that credential if they're looking to lose weight.

Overall, I'm glad I took the course. Would it be worth $499, the current cost of the program? Yes, IF I was a personal trainer (or even certified running coach), because it's a great credential to go hand-in-hand with those. However, on its own, I'm not sure how beneficial the certificate is.

(Disclosure: NASM provided the course for me free of charge in exchange for an honest review about the course. Much thanks to NASM for giving me this opportunity!).

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Speaking of certifications, yesterday I completely spaced out and forgot that I was signed up for a CPR/First Aid certification class last night! It's required to get my running coach certification next month. I panicked when I realized I missed it, because it was $90. I called them, explained that I had forgotten, and asked if I could reschedule. Thankfully, they allowed me to reschedule without charge--the woman I spoke with was SO friendly and helpful. Now I'll be taking it on the 18th.

Yesterday, while the boys were in school, Jerry and I drove up to Ann Arbor (45 minutes away) to hit up Trader Joe's. We very rarely go there, but we had nothing going on yesterday, so I thought it would be fun. We bought a lot of stuff that we didn't really need, but everything looked so good!

Jerry wanted the sushi--I'm just not a sushi fan, unfortunately. Naturally, I picked out the smiley face wine only because of the bottle. We got a few things for the kids--chocolate-covered potato chips, for one. I tasted them, and they weren't very good. The Cocoa Almond spread is amazing!! I tried it out this morning on an English muffin:

A little bit actually goes a long way, too--that was 12 grams total (about 2 tsp). The English muffin with the spread was 5 PP.
Today was a rest day, so I got up early to shower and dress before the boys got up for school. I had an ob/gyn appointment this morning for a repeat pap smear. I was supposed to go in October, but completely forgot about it (yes, I'm very forgetful, I guess!). It's also Wednesday, which means it's my weigh-in day. I was curious how I would do on the scale this week, considering I went over my PointsPlus on Saturday (but I did make up for it Sunday-Tuesday).

I was 131 on the nose again, so this week was a success! I've been at or under goal weight for almost two months now, which is the longest I've ever maintained a stable weight. I'm also on a very long binge-free streak...

I have an app on my phone that counts down to certain events. When you put in a past date, it counts up. So now I can see at a glance how long it's been--seeing that streak makes me want to continue it! I chose that cookie photo from Key West, because it reminds me that I can eat amazing food without bingeing on it.
(In case you're wondering, the app is called Countdown+ Event Reminders Lite.)

Anyone else have a long healthy streak going (binge-free, exercise, smoke-free, etc)? Please share!

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Losing weight without diet or exercise

Jerry and I had a bit of a lazy morning. Since he was off work, we sat around and chatted once the boys went to school. I turned on The Dr. Oz Show from the DVR, and was immediately annoyed with the theme he's had going on for while now with this shows: "Lose weight without diet or exercise!"

This annoys me for a couple of reasons:

1) Exercise is good for our bodies--particularly, our hearts. Dr. Oz is a cardiologist, who knows that fact better than anyone, but he still does these shows where he makes it sound like exercise is something to dread (or avoid, in this case).

2) This gives people unrealistic expectations. "Take this supplement, and you don't have to diet or exercise, but you'll lose weight!"

I used to love Dr. Oz when he was on Oprah, because you could really tell that he was passionate about telling people about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. He always got very excited when talking about it. The first time I met him, in October 2009, I still got that same vibe from him (his show was pretty new at the time).

When I met him again in November 2011, I didn't get that impression so much. He didn't seem to have that passion, and he just went through the motions on the show as it was written. I think I mentioned this before, but I wasn't allowed to talk about running while I was on the show. When I asked the producers about it, I was told that it was discouraging for the target audience to hear that I run, because that is unrealistic for them.

Um, I NEVER thought I could be a runner. When I was morbidly obese, becoming a runner was what I would label as "impossible". I like to write about running on my blog because I want other people to feel like they, too, can do what they once thought was impossible--whether it's running, or walking a race, reaching goal weight, cycling, competing in triathlons, or just being an active parent. Those are things that may feel impossible, but they most definitely are possible for most people.

Did I have any clue that I would run a marathon just a few
years after this photo was taken? Um, heck no!!

But anyways, back to the show--I watched for about 15 minutes before I turned it off. I think that there are people out there looking for a solution to their weight problem, and when Dr. Oz says it can be done without diet or exercise, it's like telling these people that they should look for an easy way out. Exercise shouldn't be looked at like a punishment, but more as a solution.

Yes, I'm the first to admit that I hate exercise--but I'm also the first to admit that I LOVE what it does for my body and how it makes me feel. I can't imagine my life without it, now that I know how much good it's doing me!

If there is one thing that I've learned while losing weight, and maintaining weight (and even gaining here and there) it is this: Exercise is crucial to losing weight and keeping it off. Period.

I've lost weight lots of times in the past through diet alone; but I always gained it back, because I wasn't exercising. Now that I'm at goal, I'm no longer working toward a specific weight--so I need other goals to focus on, and running gives me that focus. I am setting goals of getting faster, and running farther, and pushing myself. If I wasn't doing this, there would be nothing stopping me from slipping back into old habits--which did not include goal setting.

Exercise doesn't have to be as challenging as running, either. Dr. Oz could talk about the benefits of walking, which is something that most people can do. My friend Stephanie wasn't remotely interested in running, so she walked while she was losing weight. She set goals just like you would as a runner--first, to work up to walking 5K; then to walk it faster; and even though it wasn't originally part of her plan, she is now running. I started out by walking for exercise, as well:

This was in Jan. 2010, after my first walk while losing weight

On to the "diet" part... the word "diet" has different meanings, and people interpret it in different ways. Most of us think of it as a way of eating in order to lose weight. When I talk about my diet on the blog, I'm referring to the foods I eat on a daily basis--"my daily diet". Others despise the word, and prefer "lifestyle change" in regards to eating for health or weight loss. But obviously, The Dr. Oz Show was referring to what you eat in order to lose weight.

I also am a firm believer that people have to change their diets (what they eat on a daily basis) in order to lose weight. When Dr. Oz says that you can take a certain supplement and lose weight without diet or exercise, that immediately makes it sound like people can eat the same stuff they are eating as an overweight person and still lose weight. Again, very unrealistic!

I didn't mean to turn this into a rant about the show, or Dr. Oz--I still greatly respect him as a doctor and health advocate. I just wish that he would go back to teaching people about a healthy lifestyle, which includes healthy diet and exercise, rather than doing shows like this.

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Introducing Motivational Mondays

For the past month or so, I've been doing a fun "Motivational Monday" post on Facebook--where I ask everyone to shamelessly brag about something health or fitness related that they did in the past week. It's so inspiring to see all of the challenges people faced, how they handled them, the miles run, the healthy food eaten, the binge-free days...

So now that things are settling down (I had a super busy January!), I'd like to start sharing some of  the Motivational Monday posts on my blog. Here are just a few of the replies from today:

Kendall Marie, a Twitter friend, has been celebrating all week the one-year anniversary of changing her health habits--she's lost 70 pounds and has taken up running!

Check out her progress!! Doesn't she look amazing?

Anyway, I'd like to showcase some motivational stuff on Mondays, so that is my plan. You can read the full Facebook thread here--LOTS of great accomplishments! I'll do it again next Monday, so if you have something to feel proud about, feel free to share!

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Being Monday, I was scheduled for speed work today--intervals. I hate intervals! I like that they go by so quickly, but they're really hard and exhausting. I usually do 8x400 (8 repeats of 400 meters, or 1/4 mile) basically as fast as I can handle. When I do them on the treadmill, I jump off the treadmill and just rest in-between intervals; when I do them outside, I walk in-between intervals.

Today, I decided to change it up a little and do 4x800 (4 repeats of 800 meters, or 1/2 mile). That way I'd be doing the same distance, but just in longer intervals. I do my 400's at about 9.3 mph, but obviously if I was going to double the distance, I would have to go slower. I chose 8.6 mph (about a 7:00/mi pace).

It was HARD, but the whole workout went by pretty quickly because I only had to run four times (3 1/2 minutes at a time)--totaling 2 miles. I only earned 2 activity PointsPlus for it, but at least it got me out of the negative this week :)

For breakfast, I toasted an English muffin and spread it with PB2 + mashed banana. It was just so-so. I'm just not a huge banana fan.

After breakfast, I had to go to the dentist. I didn't have a cavity, but when I went to the dentist last week, he said something strange was going on with a filling that I had. Today, he said that the drilling would be very shallow, so I wouldn't need to get numbed--I was so relieved, because I hate getting numbed! He drilled and fixed the filling, and discovered that the molar had a very small crack in it, almost like it was trying to split in half.

That was scary! He checked out my bite, and saw that the problem was from the surgery that fixed my broken jaw. My upper molar was fitting into my lower one the wrong way (the surgery shifted my teeth slightly), and was trying to push it apart every time I would bite down, and it cracked.

He had these little blue tabs that he had me bite down on, and they left blue ink on my teeth so that I could see where my teeth came together while biting. It was really interesting to see just how badly that side came together! I never noticed it before.

The dentist told me that he could file the teeth (that's not the word he used, but that's how he described it) so that it would take the pressure off of that tooth. It just took about five minutes, but it made a big difference in my bite! He had me bite down on the blue thing again, and my bite was much more even. Did I mention that I love my dentist?! He didn't even charge me for what he did today.

I tried a new food find today. Jerry ate one of these at work, and told me they tasted just like an Almond Joy, so naturally, I had to try it! It's the new Fiber One Coconut Almond chewy bar:

I know people either love or hate Fiber One stuff, but I happen to love it. My very favorite are the Oats 'n Chocolate chewy bars, but these new ones may have taken the lead. It truly did taste JUST like an Almond Joy. They are 4 PointsPlus, which isn't bad at all.

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Great weekend!

What a great weekend! Friday, I went to lunch at La Pita with Renee, Jessica, and Amy. Yesterday, I had SO much fun with my old friends from high school. We went to a Mexican restaurant in Toledo called El Camino Real. They are known for their amazing margaritas, so naturally, I had to get one (okay, I had two...). I wanted to share a dinner with Jerry, but he wasn't in the mood to share, so I ordered chicken fajitas. The plates (yes, that's plural) that came out to me were enormous!

I made up one fajita, then ate some of the filling--the tortillas really aren't worth the PointsPlus to me. I ate about half of the dinner, and skipped over the chips and salsa entirely. It was so great to be able to chat with my friends! It's been way too long since we were all together.

The only problem with a rectangular table like that is that we couldn't talk with the people on the other end. So after dinner, Eric and Maris volunteered their house for all of us to go hang out. I was definitely up for that! We went over there and chatted for a long time--it was after 1:00 when we finally left.

When I got home and logged all my food, I saw that I had actually gone OVER my allotted PointsPlus for the week--I've never seen a negative number on there before, but it read -6 Weekly PointsPlus. To get it out of the negative, I just have to earn 6 activity PointsPlus before Wednesday.

This morning, I started that off by going for a run. I was planning to run 5 miles in order to earn 6 PP. It was FREEZING outside, and the roads were covered in snow, but I decided to run outside anyway. I dressed in some warm pants, an Under Armour Cold Gear long-sleeved shirt with a fleece jacket over it, gloves, a balaclava, and my shoes with IceSpikes on them so I didn't fall on the packed snow.

It was just 10 degrees outside--the coldest temp I've run in this year, I think. Anyway, I ran out to the road that I usually run on, but it was clear of snow, and I didn't want to run on dry road with my IceSpikes. So I just ran through the neighborhoods instead, because the IceSpikes work best on about a half-inch of packed down snow. Instead of running five miles, though, I just did 3.3--it's hard to run far when you're running the streets in neighborhoods.

I also learned that it's nearly impossible to get any oxygen with a balaclava covering my mouth. Shortly after I started running, I had to pull it down to my chin, which was kind of uncomfortable.

I thought my pace would be super slow, since I was running on snow, but it wasn't bad!

The tags were still on this balaclava this morning--this was
the first time I wore it, and I bought it two years ago!

Because I don't have any weekly PointsPlus to fall back on for the next few days, I have to be extra careful about what I eat. I decided to make it a mission to get in all of my Good Health Guidelines:

(source)

For breakfast, I made a protein shake with a cup of milk and a cup of berries; then for lunch, I got in some veggie servings by having spaghetti squash. I topped it with spaghetti sauce mixed with ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, and mushrooms sauteed in olive oil. Those two meals alone got in almost all of the healthy guidelines today!

It tasted much better than it looks. ;)  It was so good that I'm going to have it again tomorrow.

This evening, my little brother Nathan came over to watch the first half of the Super Bowl with Jerry. I was excited for him to come over, since I don't see him too often. It was a great day!

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Beard

I had such a relaxing morning today--it felt great! First, I worked on a fun knitting project for my brother--a beard. He saw a picture of a beard hat, and asked if I could make it for him; but instead of doing the whole hat, I figured I'd just do the beard part and he could wear it with any hat he wanted. I'm pretty good at making up my own patterns, but since my brother isn't here to try it on as I knit, I figured I'd better find a pattern for it.

I found one I really liked, but unfortunately, it wasn't free--bummer! But it was only $2, so I bought it anyway. (Here is a link to the pattern).  It ended up being a pretty quick and easy project, and I was happy with it when I was done:

I made it a little big on me, so I think it should fit my brother. Jerry saw it and wanted one too, so I made him one in brown:

After I finished that, I played Guess Who and Sorry with the boys. I loved the game Guess Who when I was kid! It's not much fun as an adult, however ;)  But Sorry was a fun one--the boys were really into the game.

This afternoon, I decided that since today is a rest day, I would try out the Jillian Michaels' yoga DVD that I bought. So many people swear by yoga, and I really want to like it. I like Jillian, so I thought maybe she could get me into it.

I started the DVD, got just six minutes into it, and then called it quits, hahaha. Besides the fact that I just don't enjoy it, it was killing my knees. I'm just not cut out for yoga!

Instead, I got some activity by shoveling the snow from the driveway--twice. I could have left it for Jerry, but the snow was really light and fluffy today, so I figured I'd surprise him and do it so he wouldn't have to. It's amazing how much easier it is to shovel snow when I'm not obese! I remember feeling like I was going to have a heart attack when I shoveled it a few years ago. Today, I didn't even feel like I was working (but don't tell Jerry that, because then he'll always want me to do it!) 

I also worked a little bit on my blog today--just updating things like my FAQ's, race reports, etc. I know most everyone knows this already, but just in case you don't--there is a search bar on the right hand side of my blog, so if you're looking for something specific, you can just type in a few keywords there. It works really well--when I get e-mails from people asking questions about things I know I've written in the blog, I use the search bar to find it, and then pass along the link.

Speaking of my blog, quite a few people have told me that one of my posts never showed up in their Google Reader. I have no idea why that happened, but it was the Virtual 5K results post--so if you haven't seen it, you can check it out here. It's a list of everyone who completed the Virtual 5K, as well as the winners of the prizes. 

Well, I've got to get ready to go meet my high school friends for dinner! I'm really excited to see everyone :)

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Thirty-One

So last night before bed, I was thinking about how it would be dumb to get up at 4:00 to run before the kids woke up. Just as I thought that, Jerry had to go and say, "There's no way you'll be able to get up at 4:00 when I wake up!" If Jerry hadn't said that, I would have slept until 7:00, I'm sure of it.

The alarm went off at 4:00 for Jerry to get up for work, and I so badly wanted to go right back to sleep like I usually do, but I was determined to show Jerry that I can too get up at the same time as he does. I crawled out of bed at 4:05, and got my running clothes on.

I wasn't sure how far I was going to run. Usually, Fridays are my long runs, and I like to do 8-13 miles. But the virtual 5K last Friday kind of screwed up my schedule, and I ran 12 on Tuesday this week. So I figured I would just run a little longer than my mid-week runs, and call it a day.

I turned on Breaking Bad--that show just keeps getting better and better!--and started season two. I set the speed and incline, and just left it there for 6 miles, then called it quits.

I was only a tiny little bit into the second episode, and I really wanted to keep watching it, so I amended my rule of only watching it while running on the treadmill--I just had to finish the episode!

I took a shower, dressed, and did my hair, then plopped into the recliner. It was only 5:20, so I had gotten up SO early for no reason! I chose 4:00 thinking that I was going to run for much longer. I've been doing an online course (I'll explain more about it later, it's for a review), so I was reading the manual for that, and I kept nodding off. That never happens to me! But I was just really tired.

After I got the kids off to school, I kept reading the manual until it was time to go to lunch at La Pita. I met Renee at Kroger, and then she drove to Dearborn. She gave me my birthday gift in the car--a cute tote by Thirty-One:

I should have taken a better picture, because that one is so dark, but the bag is really cute. Anyway, it never even occurred to me the significance of it being a Thirty-One bag!! After lunch, Jessica mentioned it, and then I put two and two together (I'm a little slow)--a Thirty-One bag for my 31st birthday ;)

While it was a cute gift regardless, it made much more sense then! haha

Lunch at La Pita was nothing less than amazing, per usual. Also per usual was my meal (are you sick of this picture yet?):

I will never get sick of La Pita!

I spent the afternoon trying to get caught up on a bunch of stuff that I'm behind on--e-mail, blog reading, crafts I volunteered to make for people (my brother wants me to knit a beard to wear with a winter hat--that's a fun one!), laundry, getting the virtual 5K prizes ready to mail (I hope to get those shipped tomorrow), stuff like that.

I just took this picture of Paolo--isn't he gorgeous?

It's a shame I don't take more pictures of him, considering he's so pretty, but he's really boring. He just sleeps all day long, unless he sees me get out his brush. I've never seen an animal go so crazy to be groomed. He rubs all over me, falls over on the floor and rolls around happy as can be while I brush him.

Chandler likes to be brushed too (he's too fat to groom himself!) but Paolo gets really mad at Chandler when he comes over to me while I've got the brush out, and starts swatting at him.

Cats are so funny--I love their personalities!

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