My Best Advice for Those With Weight Loss Goals in the New Year

I hesitate to even write this post, because I am currently eight pounds over my goal weight.

However, in the new year of 2009, I was over 250 pounds, and I haven't seen anywhere near that number since. Depending on how you define success, I've been "successfully" maintaining a weight loss of 100-130 pounds for the last 7 years.

My weight has gone up and down by as much as 30 or so pounds through the years, and I've gotten a lot of criticism for that (considering I write about it on the internet). Despite the weight fluctuations, I do still see myself as a successful weight loss story, though. In 2009, I weighed 253 pounds. Today, I weigh 141.

Since I started losing weight, I've gone through NINE New Year's Days.

Prior to my weight loss, I always had the New Year's Resolution to lose weight.

Every. Single. Year.

I never got past the first week of January on my new diet--no matter what diet it was.

Since then, I have learned a lot about losing, gaining, maintaining, fluctuating weight. I was so tired of always having the same goddamn goal every year, and it's refreshing not to have that redundant "New Year's Resolution" anymore. But I do remember that feeling of hope every January 1st--the feeling that THIS was going to be the time!

Anyway, after that very long intro, I thought I'd write a few bits of advice coming from my own experience. First, I always think it's important to recognize that everybody is different. What works for me may not work for you, and vice versa. These are things that I found helpful, but maybe they won't mean anything to you! It's okay. I'm not trying to tell you what to do.

Here are the things I've learned and I hope that they may help others not get so frustrated with the weight loss goal this year...

  Don't make any changes you're not willing to live with for the rest of your life. I've said it a million times, and I still swear by this "rule". If you don't want to run for two hours on the treadmill every day for the rest of your life, then don't do it now. If you don't want to give up dessert for the rest of your life, don't do it now.

A friend of mine asked me (way back in 2007-ish) if I would audition for The Biggest Loser with her. I told her no; I didn't want to do that, because working out for eight hours a day while living off of salad and grilled chicken was a miserable way to live. If you've watched the show, you see just how much they work out. And if you follow up with those contestants years later, you can also see that most of them have gained their weight back.

I believe that it's because they couldn't maintain that lifestyle forever. I feel like it's common sense that we should do now what we plan to do forever in order to make those changes last.

  Make the single change that has the largest impact. Chances are, you know what is keeping you from your weight loss goals. Maybe it's snacking from the vending machine all day, eating for emotional reasons, or late night binge eating. Think about whatever habit you have that is the most significant for keeping you from losing the weight.

Then make a plan to change that habit. Just that habit! There is no need to change anything else yet. For me, it was the binge eating. I could follow a diet all day long, but then at night, I would eat everything in the pantry. So, I knew that if I could just eliminate the binge eating, I would make a significant impact on my weight.

I didn't start exercising, and I didn't eliminate food groups, or anything crazy like that. I just did my best not to binge eat. (Here is a series on binge eating that goes into a lot of detail on how I changed the habit).

I measured out my portions and I stuck to it. I hated doing it at times, when all I wanted to do was stuff my face, but I was grateful not to be doing some of the ridiculous diets I'd done in the past: The 6-Week Body Makeover, Slim Fast, and even the Master Cleanse (literally consuming nothing but water with lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper for 10 days!). When choosing between a ridiculous fad diet and simply eating less food, it's really a no-brainer.

When you choose to change a habit that has the biggest impact, you see results quickly and without having to change your entire lifestyle at one time. (Here is a post I wrote that explains how to do just that.)

  Don't give up when you break one of the "rules" you set for yourself. It's so easy to say, "Well, I already screwed up, so I might as well just wait until next January 1st." Or Monday. Or whenever. Having a clean slate, like on January 1st, is a great thing--until we make a mistake from one of our goals, and then we decide that we'll just have to try again another time. I think that's the biggest problem with New Year's Resolutions... you only get one chance per year to make them right!

We ALWAYS make mistakes. It's inevitable. So, my advice is to plan for it and don't let it derail your goals. We get a fresh start every single minute of every single day, so there is no reason we have to wait until the new year.

I remember what it was like in the beginning, when I had well over 100 pounds to lose. It's completely overwhelming, and there is a feeling of dread. "Is this really what my life is going to be forever?"

When I started, my first focus was to quit binge eating. And to quit one habit, you have to replace it with an alternative, right?

  So, I started knitting (and crocheting). Instead of eating in the evenings, I busted out the knitting needles and went to town. I chose complicated patterns so that I would have to focus intently on them. Finding a distraction is the best way to get through the first few weeks or months of changing old habits.

Showing Eli how to crochet

  Keep things simple. The more complicated our diet or weight loss plans, the more we try to focus on them, and the easier it is to give up. My only goal was to stop binge eating--very simple (not to be confused with "easy")--so I didn't have to remember all sorts of complicated rules. Before I was actually successful at losing the weight, I always made things complicated with a lot of rules. Now, I really believe that focusing on one change at a time is the way to go.

  Customize your plan for YOUR lifestyle. I prefer to eat on a schedule, for example, rather than just whenever I feel like it. So, I have never done well with "intuitive eating", where you just eat when you're hungry and stop when you're satisfied. There is nothing wrong with eating on a schedule, so if it helps me, then I'm all for it.

  Don't feel like you have to follow all of the rules of whatever plan you are following. Make it fit into YOUR lifestyle. If you know that you bowl on Tuesday nights with your girlfriends, and you always have a drink or two with them, then just write that into your plan. If that is important to you, then you can keep doing it, regardless of what the "rules" say.

When I was losing weight, I wrote my own rules. A lot of popular diet plans suggest such a small amount of food that I could never live on. So, I changed my calorie amount to one that was easier for me. We can write our own rules! Then we just adjust them as needed.

  The main thing I want to stress on this post is that I know January is usually the time for ambitious diets, and I discourage that. God knows I tried that, year after year after year, and it never worked. It wasn't until I made simple changes that I was willing to do for the rest of my life that I finally made progress. Trying to drastically change our habits all at once is probably the main reason we tend to fail. If we just focus on one change at a time, we'll be much more apt to follow through.

When I was finally able to lose the weight, it was because I was consistent and persistent. I stopped switching plans every week (following low-carb one week, then Weight Watchers the next, etc.). I decided what I was WILLING to do for the rest of my life, and I worked that into my lifestyle. I still have lots of times where I "screw up", but that's where the persistency comes in. I just keep on trying. As many times as it takes.

Right now, I'm feeling like I'm in a bit of a slump, because the scale is going up. But this is normal for me. For the last eight years, my weight has gone up and down. But I know that if I persist and keep trying, I can reverse the gain, just as I always have. It's still scary to me--wondering if I'll gain back all the weight I lost--but with each week, month, or year that goes by, I feel a little more confident that I won't ever be 253-pound Katie again.

I wrote a post a couple of years ago called "Get it over with!" about procrastinating losing the weight, when we could just get it over with in a matter of months instead of decades. My friend Andrea introduced that thought to me, and it's such a simple idea, I couldn't believe I'd never looked at it that way before. This is something I need to keep in mind right now! ;)

Continue Reading...

Run Your First 5K: 8 Beginner Training Plans!

As I've mentioned several times, when I first started running in 2010, I literally could not run even 500 feet. A mile sounded completely impossible. And a 5K? How on earth did people do that?!

I tried the Couch to 5K plan a few times, and I just couldn't get past week 3. Week 4 was too big of a jump in distance for me. Also, I despised running intervals. The Couch to 5K plan has you run for a period, then walk, then run, then walk, over and over again. I found myself dreading hearing that beep on my watch, signaling me to start running.

So, I started doing my own thing. I ran as far as I could manage, and then I walked until I'd reached 30 minutes total. The next time, I ran a little farther than the first, and then walked the rest of the workout.

I only had one running segment, and I simply increased it each time I ran (three times per week). After the running segment, I would walk until the workout totaled 30 minutes. So, the running portion was increasing and the walking portion was decreasing, little by little. And eventually, I ran the entire 30 minutes.

After that, I continued to increase my distance until I'd reached 5K. (You can read my running story here.)

I wrote out a plan for all of this, to be able to go from "couch potato" to running for 30 minutes. But I didn't have a specific 5K plan for beginners, and several people have requested that I write one.

Instead, I wrote eight. Haha! They are all very similar, but they have several options to choose from: 3 days per week or 4 days per week; the number of weeks in the training plan; and running by time or running by distance. (I recommend using time spent running, but some people prefer to measure by distance; so, I included four of each.)

Some of the plans are short, and some are long. Some increase time/distance more quickly than others.

There are eight different plans for one common goal: to go from non-runner to runner.

---

Here, you can click on the link below any of the pics for a PDF copy of the plans. I think the plans are pretty self explanatory, but here are a few tips:

1) I know it's redundant, but make sure your doctor okays the plan.

2) Running is going to be hard. If it was easy, there wouldn't be training plans to go from non-runner to runner. Expect it to be difficult, but I promise you that it will get easier.

3) Run as slowly as possible. You may feel like you can walk faster than your running pace, but building up distance is the top priority. You will naturally get faster as you build up your distance, and you can always work on your speed later. At this point, running slowly will allow you to complete the workout.

4) When choosing the plans that are measured by time spent running, rather than distance, the number of weeks in the plan will vary by individual. Some people will get in more distance during the time spent running than others, so they may finish the plan earlier.

These posts may help as well:

Tips for running (and training for) your first 5K
50 Running Tips
How to Become a Runner
Running Lingo (running terms you may hear or read, and what they mean)


First, these are the plans that are measured by mileage. The first few weeks of each measures the running portion in duration (time), because it is such a short distance; but then it switches over to distance.

PLAN 1
Measured in mileage
3 days per week
9 weeks in length

PLAN 2
Measured in mileage
3 days per week
14 weeks in length

PLAN 3
Measured in mileage
4 days per week
9 weeks in length

PLAN 4
Measured in mileage
4 days per week
12 weeks in length

Next, these are the plans that are written in duration, so it schedules minutes instead of miles. It's just a matter of personal preference.

PLAN 5
Measured in duration (minutes)
3 days per week
About 8-9 weeks in length

PLAN 6
Measured in duration (minutes)
3 days per week
About 16-17 weeks in length

PLAN 7
Measured in duration (minutes)
4 days per week
About 7-9 weeks in length

PLAN 8
Measured in duration (minutes)
4 days per week
About 15-18 weeks in length

---

I hope these are helpful! I'd love to know your thoughts, as always, if you choose to use one of the plans. Let me know how your race goes! :)

Continue Reading...

Goals for 2018

I am a goal setter. I always have been, and probably always will be.

I am a list maker. I have books full of lists that I've written, most of them "to do" lists or "goals" lists.

I love thinking about things I would like to change, improve, or accomplish and then making a plan on how to go about doing it. One of the most helpful and motivating things I did during my weight loss was to track my accomplishments in lists. Losing 125 pounds was one of the most challenging things I've ever done (if not the most challenging) and taking it one small goal at a time helped a lot.

Anyway, the most exciting goal setting day of the year (for me, anyway) is January 1st. There is something about the clean slate of a new year that gives me the urge to make a goal list--whether it's just three big goals or a hundred mini goals.

First, a look back at the goals I set on January 1, 2017:

1) Read more books.

I failed at this one. I just don't enjoy reading, unless the book REALLY sucks me in from the beginning. I believe I only completed reading two books this year. I started several more, but didn't finish them for various reasons.

I read two memoirs, both by the same author: "Manic" and "The Dark Side of Innocence: Growing Up Bipolar". Both of them were (obviously) about bipolar disorder, and were fantastic reads. I love memoirs!

I also got about halfway through "The Gifts of Imperfection" by Brené Brown. The book was fantastic, but very overwhelming for me--I felt like I wanted to highlight every single sentence, and I had to read each sentence about six times to let it fully sink in. It was this book, though, that gave me the courage to "come out" about my bipolar diagnosis on my blog. Someday, I'd like to read a little more of it.

2) Spend more quality time with the kids.

I definitely did good with this one. I was much more aware of my time with them, and I made it a point to spend extra time with them wherever I could.

After my bipolar diagnosis, I wanted to say yes to everything. I kind of felt like I was trying to make up for years of my mood shifts, and I wanted to give the kids good memories of me.


3) Record one second of video every day, with the 1 Second Everyday app.

Yes! I did this one, and I am SO glad that I did. I will post the final video here. I will warn you, it's long--one second every day (actually, mine are 1.5 seconds each) is 547.5 seconds, which equates to over 9 minutes. (Yet somehow, the video ended up being 10 minutes long... go figure).

So, here is 10 minutes of my 2017, with just 1.5 seconds of video each and every day:



Anyway, I love love love this app, and I'm going to continue to do this daily, with one modification: I'd like to get more video of people, and less of things/pets. I tend to use my pets when I'm stuck for a video that day.

(After several people asked about the app, I recorded a tutorial recently. There was an app update, so I don't know how helpful it will be now, but here is a link to it.)

---

Those were the three main goals that I had for 2017, and over all, I'm pretty happy with them.

Now, on to 2018 goals...

1. Read more books.

(Ha! I will try harder this year.) In order to reach this goal, I'm going to set a mini goal of reading for 10 minutes every day. I don't think 10 minutes is asking too much, and that will add up quickly. Maybe I'll finish five or six books instead of two. I have a Goodreads account, but I'm terrible about keeping up with it--so I'm going to make sure to keep track of my reading on Goodreads.

2. Get back to running regularly. 

This is something I really want to do, but I'm having trouble making myself do it. It's been SO cold in Michigan the last few weeks, and I just can't bring myself to run when it's 5 degrees outside. I really regret that we ever moved our treadmill to the garage, and then getting rid of it (it was old and rickety, and when it was in the garage, it was just collecting dust).

After debating about it for what feels like forever, and at Jerry's encouragement, we finally bought a new treadmill. It will be delivered on January 9th. I read treadmill reviews for days, and it was so frustrating trying to choose one! I had been looking on Craigslist for a long time, but nothing felt right. Finally, I suggested that we just buy a super cheap, used one and make do with it for a while, but Jerry said we should just get a good one because I will actually use it a lot.

So, we ended up getting the ProForm Pro 2000. Let's hope that it's a good choice! It was more than I wanted to spend on a treadmill, but Jerry is right--I will get a lot of use out of it, and it will make me much more motivated to run. Which brings me to my next goal...

3. Run a half-marathon.

This is a piggyback goal of the "running regularly" goal. I thought about this a lot, and I feel ready to train again. I do much better when I have a training schedule rather than just winging it; and when I first started running, the half-marathon was a huge goal for me. I didn't care much about my pace--my goal was to run the race that I had walked three times prior (the Indy Mini). I'd like to feel that sense of accomplishment again.

My sister is registered for the Martian Half in Dearborn. I've done this race before (it was actually the half where I set my PR of 1:52:07 in 2013). I've also run the 5K at this race with Brian and Nathan. And I've run the 10K two times. So, I've participated in this race four times. She asked if I would do it with her this year, and after giving it some thought, I decided it was a good idea.

Nathan, me, and Brian

The race is on April 14, which isn't exactly ideal because we will be on vacation a couple of weeks before that--during my longest training run. But I never used to let things like that get in the way of my goals, so I just need to make sure that determination gets me through. Maybe I can get a hotel with a fitness room, and do my run there. Or, I can map out a route near the hotel.

Jerry wants to do this race as well, so we'll both be training at the same time. This will be fun, because we can do some of our long runs together. I have no time goal, so I'm not worried about my pace. I would like to use this race as a gateway to regular running again, so I'm just going to make my training as enjoyable as possible.

I'm going to follow my First Timer's Half Marathon Training Plan that I just posted recently. I was actually writing that plan for myself when I decided to make it more generic and share it. I wanted it to be as simple as possible, but still enough training to get to the finish line and have a good race. Training starts on January 15, which is perfect--I can get started right away, and the treadmill will have arrived on the 9th.

I'm actually pretty excited to start training!

4. Pay off our debt.

We've been doing SO good on our zero sum budget. It's been seven months, and we are still going strong. Even after buying the treadmill, we had enough money to pay extra onto the credit card in December. I don't plan on making any changes to the budget, because what we're doing is working very well. I expect that we will get the credit card paid off in late spring. We aren't paying any interest, so we're not in a time crunch.

---

Those are the main things I want to work on this year. I still want to focus on mental health a lot, but I feel like I'm doing good with that right now. Always working on my weight--which I need to focus a little more on right now, because it's been steadily increasing for weeks.

Most of all, I think I just want to feel more in control--when I'm not running and I'm snacking too much, I feel out of control and lazy. Before we started our budget, I felt like our finances were out of control, and I had a ton of anxiety about it. I want to feel good! So, by cutting out the snacking and by following a training plan, (as well as continuing our budget), I am hoping to feel my best this spring!

Anyone else making goals for the new year? :)

Continue Reading...

Top 17 of 2017

This post has become somewhat of a tradition. I've done one each year since 2011. It's a nice way of looking back on the year, and focusing on the highlights--the things that I may have forgotten if not for writing this post.

Some of the items on the list are obvious, but others are subtle things that had an impact on me in some way. Here are links to my past years' lists:

My Top 11 of 2011
My Top 12 of 2012
My Top 13 of 2013
My Top 14 of 2014
My Top 15 of 2015
My Top 16 of 2016

And here we go... my Top 17 of 2017...

1. Becoming an aunt

This was definitely my most favorite part of 2017! Lucas Charles was born on March 8, 2017. Seeing him grow this year, and seeing my brother as a dad, has warmed my heart in ways I can't even describe. I fell in love with Luke the moment I saw him, and I am able to cherish and enjoy every moment I spend with him, because he grows too fast.

There is something different about being an aunt than a mom. I love both, but there is just something so special about being an aunt! Becky, my sister-in-law, absolutely amazes me as well--with Brian being a pilot, he's gone quite a bit, and Becky has been the best mom to Luke. I think Brian and Becky's parenting style (totally relaxed!) has helped Luke become very chill and happy.

2. Spending some quality time with Noah during the nightmare that was his "splinter"

What we thought was a simple splinter at first seemed to be no big deal. But once we realized just how serious everything was, and we had the whole fiasco with the emergency room experiences, this whole thing was a living nightmare. And when my doctor insisted that we take Noah to yet another ER (in Ann Arbor, a good 45 minutes away), during the biggest snow storm of the year, I was stressed to the max over all of it.

The drive to Ann Arbor with Noah took forever, because we were crawling at 25-35 mph on the expressway due to the snow. There were times where I couldn't see even 10 feet in front of the car. At one point, my car ran out of wiper fluid, and with all the salt from the roads winding up on my windshield, I couldn't see. We had to pull off the expressway to a gas station and buy some wiper fluid.

When we finally got to the ER, we spent all day in an exam room with doctors and nurses popping in and out. This is an odd choice for one item of my "Top 17" list, but the drive to and from the hospital, as well as sitting in the exam room for so long, meant I got to spend alone time with Noah (which is rare--he's "too cool" to hang out with his mom much). I have good feelings with thinking back on that day.

3. Hosting a meet-up for local From Fat to Finish Line members

After meeting some of the FFTFL members in San Diego earlier in the year, I really wanted to get more involved. So, I organized a meet-up to go for a 5K walk at the State Park, followed by breakfast at Cracker Barrel. These people were so kind, and I really enjoyed meeting them!

4. Being diagnosed with bipolar disorder

This is a very odd choice as one of the "top" moments of 2017, but this diagnosis changed my life for the better in so many ways. I finally learned why I am the way I am; and best of all, I learned that there is a medication that can help me to be a stable version of myself. After starting the medication, I felt a million times better. I had just gone through the worst depressive episode of my life, and the change was huge.

While having bipolar disorder is embarrassing sometimes, and there is a huge stigma attached to it, I hope to bring more awareness to it. I have not only accepted the diagnosis, but I've embraced it. There are certain "bipolar parts" of me that I like, and now I know that there is a reason for my quirks. I've chosen to use humor to embrace the diagnosis, and that has made all the difference in how I've handled it.

5. Hosting a blog reader meet-up in Indy

Having decided to do the Indy Mini again this year, I invited readers to come share the weekend with me. I wasn't sure if anyone would be interested, but there was a huge turnout. Some of these women even traveled quite a distance for the meet-up, and I felt honored that they did that. The women I spent the day or weekend with were fantastic--everybody was SO nice!

Jerry came with me, and he enjoyed getting to know some of the other husbands. We both had a very fun weekend getting to know and spend time with new friends.

6. Hiking in several places in Oregon

This was one of my most favorite trips of all time. I went to Oregon to visit my BFF, Thomas, in Portland (which has basically become my "home away from home"). I absolutely LOVE the Pacific Northwest! Considering this was my fifth(?) trip out there in the past few years, Thomas showed me some of Oregon that was very different from Portland. The places we hiked were very dry and desert-like, which was the polar opposite of lush green Portland.

While I definitely prefer the green (the trees are my favorite part of the PNW), it was very cool to see the side of Oregon that I didn't even know existed. The views were stunning.

7. Having the Detroit Zoo to ourselves after closing

Well, not necessarily to "ourselves", but to the company that Jerry works for. We got to have a catered dinner, and then walk around the zoo in the evening hours after they closed. It was so nice not to have to maneuver through crowds of people, and to spend time with the Jerry and the kids.

8. Family vacation over the Fourth of July at my sister's "Camp Fireside"

The whole family went up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to my sister's property for the Fourth of July. We spent several days riding four wheelers, sitting around the campfire, playing Cornhole, and other fun things. I spent about 75% of my time hanging out with Luke ;)

9. Teaching Eli to cook while Noah was at camp

Noah went to church camp in the summer, and Eli chose not to go. I looked at day camp options, and he was interested in a cooking camp. I looked into it, but he would have been one of the oldest kids there, and I thought maybe it would be too easy for him. So, I told him that we would do our own little cooking class at home.

I let him choose several different things to make, each using a different technique so that he could learn a variety of skills. He loved it! And so did I. It was a great way to spend quality time with him, and we had some really yummy food. His favorite was this steak with sautéed summer squash and zucchini. It was probably the most delicious steak I've ever eaten. And I'm not even a fan of steak!

10. Digging out hostas with Jerry

Again, an odd choice for this list. But I have literally never laughed so hard in my entire life. We sucked at splitting the hostas (our first time trying to do it), and we couldn't stop laughing at what a terrible job we were doing. I couldn't even catch my breath, and I thought I was going to pass out. It was one of the funnest moments I've ever had with Jerry.

11. Going to the airshow with the family

Our next door neighbor gave us tickets to the airshow, so we thought it would be a fun family thing to do. While the airshow was just okay, we did share a lot of laughs. Particularly at the hideously ugly sunglasses we bought, because we'd forgotten our own.

12. Finally feeling free from the anxiety caused by social media/blog comments

I wrote a whole post about it (link above), but this was one of the very best parts of the last several years--not just 2017. Worrying about what other people think, and the comments that they make to me or about me was the source of a ton of anxiety that I carried around constantly. Once I had a breakthrough in therapy, as well as started my new bipolar meds, I was finally able to get rid of that anxiety. I no longer care at all what other people think of me, as long as I feel good about myself. This has opened up so many opportunities that I would have missed out on otherwise.

13. Jerry and I visiting Dan and Laurel in Seattle

On my trips to Portland, I've gone up to Seattle a couple of times now. Dan and Laurel are one of the most fun couples I know, and I was so excited for Jerry to meet them. We had a fantastic couple of days (starting with Laurel announcing that she's pregnant!). I'm already looking forward to visiting next year so that I can meet the baby :)

14. Visiting Thomas in Portland

From Seattle, Jerry and I drove back down to Portland to meet up with Thomas for a few days. Thomas planned lots of fun things for us to do, and he managed to choose things that would interest both Jerry and me (not an easy task). I was thrilled that Jerry finally got to see all the things I love about the Pacific Northwest.

15. A visit from Caitlin

I went to Boston in April to visit Caitlin (a blog reader who eventually turned into one of my best friends), which was tough not to include on this list (I had to narrow my list down from 52(!!) to 17.) I had so much fun with her while she was here, and the trip went by way too fast. One of the best parts was that I convinced her to do a boudoir photoshoot, and despite being very nervous and expecting to hate every minute of it, she LOVED it. She loved it so much that she wrote a guest post about it, which I will share soon.

16. Family photos with Santa

My kids had never gotten pictures with Santa before, and Jerry needed some cheering up, so I planned a surprise visit to Somerset Collection (an upscale mall) to have a photo session with Santa. We all had so much fun! We got some great photos out of it, too. We went to dinner afterward, and the whole afternoon/evening was a very fun way to spend time with the family.

17. Getting together with my childhood friends for the holidays

I have been friends with this group for well over 30 years. We try to get together every Christmas, but we missed the last two years. On Friday, they came to my house, and it was so fun getting to catch up with them. I even had photos printed of us from childhood, and it was fun looking through those and reminiscing.

The youngest of the group, Spence (Lance's younger brother--I've mentioned Lance several times on my blog), was diagnosed last month with stage 4 glioblastoma (brain cancer). I don't want to write about that now, because it was one of the biggest punches in the stomach I've ever felt; but spending time with these friends a few days ago meant more to me than ever before. I'm going to his house tonight for a New Year's Eve get together.

---

Considering the fact that I had to narrow down this list from 52 to 17, this year was clearly a very good year. Although it was off to a rocky start, this year ended up being one of the best ever!

Some fun facts for 2017:

I ran 146.85 miles this year. My lowest ever--by far. In September 2013, I actually ran 205 miles in a MONTH. There were two months this year that I didn't run a single mile. I don't regret any of it, though. I did what felt right for me at the time.

The food I consumed the most of was probably Mott's fruit snacks. I can't get enough of them, and I've been eating them every day for probably 10 months.

My most memorable meal was the Corn in a Cup I had in Indy. Not necessarily my very favorite meal, but certainly the most memorable. I saw a stand at the mall advertising "Corn in a Cup" and they were giving out samples. I was blown away at how good it was (corn with some seasonings). I was craving it all day, and when everyone else had pizza, I got Corn in a Cup, hahahaha.

My current favorite breakfast is some sort of sugar cereal (Cap'n Crunch is my favorite)
My current favorite TV Show is probably "The Good Doctor" or "This Is Us"
My current favorite evening treat is Mott's fruit snacks

What I am most looking forward to in 2018? Our family vacation to Boston!

Tomorrow, I'll write a post about my goals for 2018.

Continue Reading...

A Creative Christmas Gift for the Kids

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas! Ours was great :)

This year, I got creative with my kids' gifts. I didn't want to spoil them with "stuff" that was just going to sit around in their closets. I wanted instead to give them fun memories--and Jerry and I decided that a family vacation for their spring break would be perfect.

I knew I wanted to take them to a city (wasn't sure exactly which one). When I was growing up, I always had to go along with whatever my family wanted to do; and since my interests are very different from theirs, I never really got to have "my type" of vacation. After declaring this year my year of doing what I enjoy (unapologetically), I decided I wanted to take the kids on my type of vacation.

And after much deliberation, I settled on Boston.

My kids have obviously never been there, but it will be Jerry's first time as well. I know that Jerry will love Boston, and I'm pretty sure my kids will, too. So, the plan was to surprise the kids on Christmas with the Boston vacation plans in a creative way.

I bought them each a nice suitcase, as well as some travel stuff to go along with it (a travel pillow, toiletries bag, portable batteries for their phones, etc.). Then, I wrote clues to describe different places we are going or things we are doing while on vacation. Along with each clue was a little item (some were useless, others were a real gift, like Legos) to further describe the clue.

Hard to describe, so here are several of them...

This first one is the suitcase (wrapped in a gift bag). I wrote a little clue on the tag:

"You may think your first gift is lame,

But let me give you a tip:

You will be glad you have this come March

When we leave for an adventurous trip!"

So, they opened up the gift bag and there was a suitcase inside. The tag read,

"Inside this luggage,

You'll find the things you'll need

To travel in an airplane

And explore a city you've never seen."

And then inside the suitcase was a bunch of little travel things:

Following those, we wanted them to know where we were going, so they got this:

"We'll leave in the morning

For a TON of fun sights;

You don't need to be a BOSS

To sit through the two-hour flight!"

I thought that clue was going to be super obvious, considering I capitalized "TON" and "BOSS". They didn't get it, so they had to open the little bag and see the postcard and Boston Baked Beans before figuring it out. After that one, I figured they wouldn't be able to guess anything! Haha.


Next, we gave them little items in the order that we'd be experiencing them on our trip...

"You may hear a spell cast,

Or make friends with a black cat;

But can you tell me in what city

You could find this witch's hat?"

And the answer is Salem. We are going to take a drive to Salem to check out the sights there (something I wanted to do on the last two visits out there, but wasn't able to).


After that, they were given this clue:

"Our next adventure

Will take place as we set sail

And keep our eyes peeled

For a large spout or tail!"

The answer to that one is that we are going whale watching. Eli was crazy excited about this.


Followed by that, they were given this clue:

"The next place on our list

May make you want to dive right in;

But you'd better think twice,

Because you don't have any fins!"

This one was referring to the aquarium. All four of us love aquariums, so we're looking forward to that.


Next up:

"When you get dressed for this park, make sure you wear your sox--

Any color you like--blue, green, purple, black, or tan;

But if you choose red,

It'll show you're a true Boston fan!"

The answer, of course, is Fenway Park. The Red Sox aren't playing a game, but we are going to do the park tour that I did with Caitlin and John. Jerry is super excited about it.


After three nights in Boston, we are actually going on a little road trip. This next part is what I'm most looking forward to on this trip--and you'll laugh (or maybe roll your eyes) when you see what it is!

"When you go to bed at night,

You may imagine a monster at your feet;

But no need to worry,

This monster is sweet!"

And the clue was a Ben & Jerry's container with a little "monster" inside of it.

The answer to this one is "Vermonster". Years ago, we saw a show on the Food Network that featured "The Vermonster" at the Ben & Jerry's headquarters in Waterbury, Vermont. The Vermonster is an enormous ice cream sundae: 20 scoops of ice cream, 4 bananas, 3 cookies, 1 brownie, hot fudge, caramel, 10 spoonfuls of nuts, 2 spoonfuls of other toppings, and whipped cream.

After seeing that on the show, we all vowed that someday, we'd make the trip to Vermont and get one of these sundaes. Once in a while, one of us brings it up and we say, "Someday, we need to go there and get one!"

And "someday" is finally happening... we're going to Vermont to get a Vermonster. Definitely my kind of vacation, hahaha.


We'll spend one night in Vermont, and then:

"You may envision the west coast

When you hear this city's name;

But we're not going to the one in Oregon--

We're going to the one in Maine!"

From Waterbury, we'll drive to Portland, Maine. I've always thought it would be a cool place to see, and I've never been to Maine, so I think it'll be fun.

Our next adventure:

"Our next adventure takes place on a ferry,

Where we'll check traps and look inside with awe,

At the critter we'll call dinner

When we eat his two big claws!"

We're going on a "lobstering" tour, where we can buy the lobsters we catch and then have a restaurant cook them for us. It feels kind of morbid, but the kids have never tried lobster before, and when in Maine... well, what better place to eat lobster?!

There are a couple of other things we're doing on the trip, and I forgot to get pictures of the clues, but you get the idea ;)

---

When I was planning out our trip, I had originally been looking at Delta flights for my next trip to Portland (Oregon). I had just under 50,000 SkyMiles saved up, which is definitely enough for a round trip flight to Portland. Sometimes, I get lucky and find a ticket for 30-35,000; but usually, it costs more like 40-45,000.

On a whim, I checked the tickets to Boston as well. After plugging in different dates, I found a deal that seemed too good to be true--tickets for 12,000 SkyMiles roundtrip. So, for four roundtrip tickets, the total was only 48,000 SkyMiles! I had enough SkyMiles to buy ALL FOUR of our tickets to Boston, so I just had to pay the tax of $11 per person. I couldn't believe it. (Here is an explanation of how I earn SkyMiles for traveling. I LOVE Delta SkyMiles! If you are considering getting a Delta SkyMiles American Express, I would be so thrilled if you would use my referral link. We each get a bonus for it). Exciting stuff :)

---

I got a couple of fun shirts for Christmas. Noah and Eli gave me a hoodie with a cat pouch in it! The hoodie itself is really cute--the hood has cat ears on it, it has thumbholes, and paw prints embroidered on the front.

It also has a large pouch in front, just for the cats to chillax ;)

I absolutely did not believe that either of my cats would stay in there (and it would be hell trying to get them in). However, Estelle actually loved it! She sat in there for the longest time (I watched a two-hour movie, and didn't move--she was totally content in there). I, on the other hand, felt like I was pregnant. Haha, it was hard to move around with her weight pulling me down.

Becky drew my name for our family gift exchange, and I cracked up when I opened this shirt from her:

She clearly knows me well ;)

And speaking of bipolar, on my last post I mentioned a depressive episode that I'd been having. Well, that seems to have turned around. I'm feeling much better now. The mild sadness lasted for about 3 weeks, and then feeling depressed (mild, nothing too serious) lasted for about a week. I am SO GLAD that it didn't turn into more than that. I'm still getting used to all this (my diagnosis and medications), so I don't know exactly what to expect. I'm learning as I'm going.

---

This week has been crazy, considering the holidays and get-togethers, so I will get back to the regular stuff next week!

Continue Reading...

A First Timer's Half-Marathon Training Plan (for new runners)

I've written a few different half-marathon training plans--one for walkers who want to walk a half-marathon; one for the very beginner, a non-runner who wants to run a half-marathon in six months; and one for experienced runners who want to finish feeling strong.

It's about time I wrote one for the average novice runner who perhaps wants to step up their game and run a half-marathon. Maybe you just finished your first 5K, and you're feeling that runner's high that gets ahold of all of us at some point--you get a little crazy and sign up for several more races after having a couple glasses of wine and announcing it all over Facebook.

(Oh, is that just me?)

This plan is for you. If you can run 3-4 miles at a time, 3-4 days per week, then you can complete this plan and run 13.1 miles 13 weeks from now.

First Timer's Half-Marathon Training Plan PDF

Or maybe you're not a beginner, but you just want a simple, minimal training plan.

This is not an intense, rigorous training schedule. It has four runs per week--two very easy runs, one speed work run (either intervals or tempo), and one long run. The speed work is optional--if you don't care about your speed at all, then you could simply run 30-45 minutes at an easy pace instead.

There are three "step-back" weeks--weeks where the mileage and/or intensity is decreased to allow your body a chance to recover a bit before picking it up again the following week.

The long run builds up to 12 miles before the taper, and then you'll be ready to run 13.1!

I am always stressing the importance of running the easy runs at a truly EASY pace, so I highly recommend--no, I insist--that you read my post called The Importance of the Easy Run. Easy runs are what build up endurance, and the endurance is what will keep you going for 13.1 miles. If you run your easy runs too fast, you will not be conditioning your body in the ideal way necessary to run long distances. So please read it!

In addition to that post, here are a few more that may be helpful for first timers:

50 Tips for Running
All About Fueling for Runs
Tips for Running (and Training for) Your First Half-Marathon
My Favorite Running Stuff (clothes, gear, etc.)

I welcome feedback about my training plans--good or bad--so please let me know how it goes for you! Best wishes as you train for your first half :)

Continue Reading...

How to Build a Base (A Training Plan for Beginner Runners)

I could have sworn I wrote a post about this before, but when I was looking for it a few days ago, I realized that I actually didn't write it. I just wrote the running plan, but not the post. 

When people first start running, their legs obviously aren't as conditioned as someone who has been running for years. And, surprise surprise, the only way to condition our legs to run is to run--a lot. 

It's important not to do too much too soon, though--going from couch potato to running 20 miles a week, for example--so we need to spend some time steadily building our way up to where we need to be to hit our goals. 

If you think of it in terms of a body builder, you know that you can't go from lifting 50 pounds to lifting 200 pounds overnight. It takes a long time and a lot of small increases in weight to get to that point. 

So, in runners terms, we can't go from running 0 miles per week to running 40 miles per week overnight. We have to do a little here and a little there, until our legs build up the conditioning that we need in order to run that kind of mileage. 

In order to build up that "base", as it's called, we have to run frequently--but only increase our distance (or time) spent running by a small amount at a time. Each and every run is important to building a base.

As a certified RRCA coach, the guideline we follow that constitutes a solid base is to run a total of 300-500 miles. The length of base training is 6-16 weeks, and is done entirely at an easy pace (make sure you read this post about the importance of an easy pace!). Building a base is very important, even though it seems overwhelming at first. 

One of my favorite phrases is "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time." 

And likewise, how do you build a solid running base? One mile at a time.

I've written this base building plan for novice runners who want to get in their mileage and condition their bodies to handle training for a race. It also builds discipline by following a training schedule. 

Click here for the training plan

This plan may not work you up to that 300-500 mile marker, but it does establish a solid foundation and routine. It's a way to develop consistency and discipline. It's a 16-week plan and ALL of it is done at an easy pace. The easy pace is crucial in building a base.  

This plan assumes that you can run 30 minutes, 3 days per week. You should also get permission from your doctor to make sure that your health is good enough to follow the plan. 

You can switch the days around each week however you'd like. Just make sure to run them all at an easy pace! 

I welcome all feedback, good or bad, so please let me know how it goes for you!

Continue Reading...

"When the Fat Girl Gets Skinny"

I wanted to share this on Wednesday, but I have been feeling sad recently and just wasn't feeling up to writing a blog post; so I'll just post this now. Better late than never. (Seems to be my motto lately!)

See how happy Joey is that I made him cuddle with me? Hahaha.

Ever since I saw the performance of "OCD", a poem by Neil Hilborn, I have been really into watching videos of slam poetry from Button Poetry. They post all sorts of performance poetry, and the OCD one just blew my mind. (I shared that on this Mental Health Monday post--definitely watch it!)

This one came across my Facebook feed a few days ago, and I was just completely floored. It needs to be seen by every woman who has ever dieted, or felt inferior because of her weight, or had any sort of eating disorder, or who is tired of all the stress that comes from weight--losing, gaining, maintaining, etc.

This particular video is by Blythe Baird, a recovering anorexic. She describes the pressure to be thin, and how society makes us feel like we have to be thin to be worth something. Also, the lengths that we will go to in order to be small.

Isn't that powerful? My favorite line is, "I only feel pretty when I'm hungry". It's so sad, but I have felt that way so many times in my life.  Also, "the calculator in my head finally stopped". I have FINALLY gotten to that point after years of thinking about food in terms of how many calories or points it has. The numbers don't really cross my mind anymore. Someday, I hope I will get to the point where the number on the scale or the number on my clothing tags don't cross my mind, either--but I'm not quite there yet.  Speaking of which, the scale has been creeping up for the last month or so--and on Wednesday, I was at 137.2. I've written before about the thought process that happens when gaining weight, and how a two pound gain turns into a thirty pound gain. Basically, it goes like this (for me, anyway): Starting at 133, my goal weight. At 135: Oh, it's just two pounds, I can take that off in a day or two of eating well. It's just water weight. At 138: Well, I'm still under 140, so it's not that bad! I just need a week or two of being back on track. At 141: I'm only a little over 140, so getting back under 140 won't take much effort at all.  At 145: I'm still far below 150, and I'll never let myself get back to 150. At 149: Yeesh, I'd better get back on track. Thankfully, I'm not in the 150's, though. At 151: Okay, Katie, get with it! You're over 150 now. But at least you're in the very low 150's, so it won't take long to get back in the 140's.  And that's the way it goes. I can easily see how people gain back all of the weight they've lost. I know how quickly and easily it comes on, especially when thinking of it like I wrote above!  So, while I'm not panicked at 137 right now, I do know I need to be careful not to get into that mentality. "Well, at least I'm not at 140..." and then "I'm only at 141, it'll be easy to get back in the 130's..." etc.  My appetite is starting to decrease a little since I decided to stop drinking. This year has given me a lot of insight--I'm sure that alcohol causes an increase in my appetite for days after drinking.  I was wondering why my appetite was so low during the summer, when usually it's pretty high; I wasn't drinking at all during the summer, and I bet that has a lot to do with it. Normally, summertime means margaritas, shandy, and summery cocktails... and I never paid enough attention to notice that my increase in appetite coincides with alcohol consumption.  I'm curious to see if not drinking will continue to decrease my appetite and help me get my weight back down to my comfortable range of 131-134.  I have really loved learning so much about my body and my mind this year! 

Continue Reading...

A Depressive Episode

Writing when I'm feeling good is easy.

Writing when I'm depressed is really, really difficult.

Unfortunately, I'm going through the latter right now. When I started my bipolar meds, I promised myself that I'd write about how I'm feeling, whether it's good or bad. I didn't want to make my happiness seem like a miracle--"I'm great, fantastic, never to feel sad again!" I expected to have hypomanic and depressive episodes in the future; I just hope that they aren't as bad as before.

My mood has not been great for about a month or so, but the last couple of days have been especially bad. There is no cause for it; but that's how my depression has always been. It just seems to come out of nowhere. Yesterday, I was crying for no reason, and I told Jerry how scared I am of returning to the old me.

Usually, the depression happens during the spring and summer; but I felt fantastic this year. I think maybe this depressive episode was triggered by a big change in my routine this past week. Jerry had a week off of work, which was great to get to spend so much time with him, but my routine was thrown off--and I thrive on routine.

I wrote a post on Monday about goal setting, and I think that will help me to get focused on something. I'm having a hard time thinking of a goal, however, so I need to give that some more time and thought. I haven't been wanting to make plans, out of fear of being too ambitious, but being ambitious is what gives me focus.

One thing I've noticed since starting my bipolar meds is that my moods have been more mild and that they change more quickly. Most of the time, I feel "normal". When I am hypomanic, though, it doesn't last long. I haven't experienced real depression while on the meds until now, but I am hoping that it doesn't last long. And that it stays milder than it was before my meds.

Today is my kids' last day of school before Christmas break, so I will still be out of my normal routine while they are home from school. I'm going to make plans to take them to the rec center a few times to swim, and hopefully I can push myself to run on the indoor track. Running always makes me feel better, but getting myself to do it when I'm feeling this way is tough.

I borrowed a few books from the library, so I'm going to try to read at least one of them during Christmas break. I am a very slow reader, and reading one book over a couple of weeks is a decent goal for me. I also started playing my favorite solitaire game again. (I would love to work on puzzles like I used to, but it's too hard on my back; and having just finished physical therapy, I don't want to regress to where I was before.)

When I was feeling happy during the summer, I wrote a list of things that make me happy; and now I can refer to that when I need something to pick me up. My friend Sarah is going to be in town from Arizona for the week after Christmas, and I'm excited about seeing her; I only get to see her twice a year. I've also been thinking about going out to Arizona this winter to get out of the cold and visit her.

I'm really nervous to even write this post, because I feel guilty for feeling sad when I have nothing to feel sad about. I wish I could turn off my feelings with a switch, but it just doesn't work that way.

So anyway, I am just writing this to say that I may not be posting much lately. Or maybe this episode will only last a few days, and I'll be over it. Maybe I'll suddenly be hypomanic tomorrow. I have no idea what to expect!

I don't have any photos for this post, so I'll just share Luke's Christmas card :)

Continue Reading...

RECIPE: Creamy Italian Sausage & Tortellini

I threw this together one day when I had a package of hot Italian turkey sausage that I needed to use before the "use by" date. I pulled some ingredients that I thought would go well with it, and made what turned out to be a really good one pot meal. (I love one pot meals!)

Here is a printer-friendly version!

Creamy Italian Sausage & Tortellini

Ingredients:

2 tsp. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
16-20 oz. hot Italian sausage (I use turkey sausage and remove it from the casings)
2-1/2 cups chicken broth
1 package frozen cheese tortellini (I use a 19 oz bag)
1 (15 oz.) can of diced tomatoes
8 oz. cream cheese
10 oz. package of frozen chopped spinach (fresh is fine, too)
1/4 to 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large pot over med-high heat, and add the onions. Cook a couple of minutes. Add the sausage and garlic. Break up the sausage as it cooks (as big or little as you like), and drain when it’s done cooking. Add the broth and bring to a boil. (Meanwhile, thaw the spinach in the microwave—I throw the whole brick in a bowl and nuke for about 4 minutes on high)

Add the frozen tortellini and cook until the tortellini is done (I let it go about 5-6 minutes, even though the package says 2. Most of the water should be absorbed). Stir in the can of tomatoes. Add the cream cheese and stir gently until the cream cheese is melted.

Squeeze all the water out of the spinach, and then add it to the pot. Finally, stir in enough parmesan cheese to make the sauce as thick as you’d like.


Notes:

You may need to use more or less broth, depending on the size of the package of tortellini. You want to use enough to cook the tortellini, but not so much that it doesn't get absorbed. I would start with less and add more if needed.

You can use fresh spinach if you'd like--just add handfuls of it before adding the parmesan cheese, and stir until it's wilted.

The parmesan cheese will thicken up the sauce, so use however much you'd like to get the sauce as thick as you want it.

Continue Reading...