An AMAZING opportunity (for one of you!)

I am SO excited to share this opportunity with one of you...

Remember when I wrote about running the Ragnar Relay Florida Keys in January 2013? I've been working with a man named Rik (who I met through my blog--he has also lost a lot of weight and become a runner, as well as had the same surgery as me) to put together a team of people like us to run the Ragnar. (If you're unfamiliar with the Ragnar Relay, you can read my race report I wrote of Ragnar Relay Great River from 2010).

Ragnar Relay teams are made up of 12 people, and right now, we have a fantastic team of 11:

Rik (our team captain)
Me (from 'Runs for Cookies', duh)
Mary from 'a small loss'
Linda from 'Frickin Fabulous at 40'
Allison (no blog, but she's lost weight and taken up running)
Jen R (from 'From FAT to Finish Line')
Andrea (who was on Oprah for her weight loss)
Jen S (from 'Miles, Muscles, and Mommyhood')
Lealah (from 'Lealah on a Mission')
John (SparkPeople success story manager, and success story himself)
Ada (from 'The Biggest Loser' Season 10)

So as you can see, we have a pretty AMAZING group!! But we are one team member shy of a complete team, and I thought this would be a great opportunity to hear some of your success stories.

We are searching for the perfect twelfth team member... and it could be you! We have a couple of qualifications that you must meet for us to consider you, however. Our team is made up solely of people who 1) have lost a significant amount of weight without weight loss surgery AND 2) become runners through their weight loss journeys.

Ideally, we'd like to shoot for the moon and find someone who has lost 100+ pounds and run a marathon. I realize this is probably a difficult task, so if you think your story is pretty awesome (say you lost 80 pounds and ran a half-marathon) please still consider this! You don't have to be fast (although Ragnar teams must be faster than a 12:00 min/mile), nor do you have to be at your goal weight.

This will not be a random drawing for the spot on our team. I will accept e-mails (see below) and our team will vote on the person we think would be the best match for our team. If we pick you, you will still be responsible for paying all the costs that the rest of us have--airfare, hotels, van rental, food, race fee, etc. Rik has come up with an estimate of how much this adventure is going to cost, and with everything included, it is probably going to be about $800/person. The good news is, the race isn't until January, so you don't need ALL that money right now.

So, if you "win" this spot on our team, you will be running the Ragnar Relay Florida Keys with us on Jan. 4-5, 2013, so make sure that you're willing to commit to that.

To "apply" for the open spot on our team, please answer the following questions in an e-mail and send it to: Katie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com, with the subject 'Ragnar Relay Florida Keys':

*How much weight have you lost?
*How did you lose the weight?
*How long have you kept it off?
*How long have you been running?
*How often do you run, and how far?
*Have you run any races? If so, what distance/time?
*Do you have a blog or website?
*Why do you think you would make a great addition to our team?
*Anything else you want to add?
*Please attach a before and after photo, too*

There are no right or wrong answers--these questions just help us get to know your story. I can't wait to read your stories!!  (FYI, there is a chance that this whole adventure may be filmed and turned into a documentary, so make sure you're okay with that if it should happen).

I also stole a few race pictures from my brother Brian's Facebook page. He just ran the 2012 Ragnar Florida Keys, and loved it so much he's doing it again in 2013...

Gorgeous sunset!

I had to share this pic of Brian because it's funny

The AFTER party on the beach in Key West--the best part!

I'm hoping that we will have chosen someone by March 26, but the sooner you can e-mail, the better!

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Hydration belts

I've been putting off writing this post, because there are so many different opinions on hydration belts, and mine is just that--an opinion. But after my last couple of long runs, some of you have asked me how I carry water with me while I run.

After running the 12-miler, I knew I was going to have to figure out a solution to hydrating while running. Since the longest distance I'd ever run was a half-marathon, I never felt the need to carry water with me. I always drink a quart of water before running, and I only really feel thirsty after about 10 miles. But in training for the full marathon, I knew that I couldn't do these long runs without water.

I could have planned routes that passed my house or car, but that just seemed too inconvenient. Jessica and I wanted to explore the Metroparks, so it wasn't always possible to pass the car. I normally don't like to carry anything with me when I run (not even an iPod) because it just seems to get in the way. And the one time I attempted to carry a water bottle with me, I was so irritated by the water sloshing around that I never tried it again. So I was dead set against getting a hydration belt (a belt that holds water bottles), because I was sure it was going to annoy me.

Jessica had bought one and she brought it along on our 12-miler. I decided to try wearing it for the last few miles of our run, to see how it felt. I was really surprised that I barely even noticed it! If anything, it gave me better posture. I didn't hear water sloshing, and I didn't feel any irritation from the belt at all. So I ended up buying one also.

The one I have is this belt by Amphipod. HOWEVER, after I got it, I saw some belts at Target (just off-brand ones) and I tried them on--they felt exactly the same as the Amphipod. If I had known that, I would have just gotten one from Target for much less money. I also tried on the Nathan brand ones, and they felt the same too. There is another one by Amphipod that is a couple dollars cheaper, but the belt isn't stretchy, which I why I chose this one.

Jessica mentioned this, and I think she's right about it--to keep the belt from bouncing, you should wear it around your natural waist (at the narrowest point), with the bottle resting on the small of your back rather than wear it low by your hips. I've tried it both ways, and it was very annoying when it was on my hips. But when it's around my waist, I don't even notice it. Jessica and I are about the same size, so I don't know how this would feel for someone who is much larger or who has a larger waist than hips.

The water bottle holds 20 oz of water, which has been just fine so far. We're probably going to have to refill our bottles once for our 15 mile run on Monday. The bottle is really easy to get in and out while running, which is nice. There is a pocket on the front of it, but you can't hold much in there. I can fit a couple of Gu packets and my car key.

Over all, I'm pretty happy with it. I won't use it on my shorter runs, but for runs that are longer than 8 or 10 miles I will need a drink. If you're thinking about buying a belt, I'd go to a store to try some on and see if they bother you. Try wearing it in different spots to see what is most comfortable.

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I had a moment of complete stupidity yesterday, and I just had to share it with you. I was looking at the cover of my new Runner's World magazine, and saw this:

I thought about it for a second. I was thinking, "How on EARTH could there possibly be 50 ways to open a magazine? Huh?"

It didn't come to me until about 30 seconds later when I realized that I was supposed to "open" the magazine for rest of the sentence '50 easy ways to'. They really needed to put a dot dot dot after the 'to' so people like me don't feel completely stupid trying to figure out 50 ways to open a magazine!

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I was supposed to do speedwork today, but I decided that since I ran the 5K race on Sunday, I could count that as a tempo run and just do 3-miles easy today. I haven't run my regular 3-mile route in a long time, and it was nice!

 Tomorrow and Sunday are rest days before the big 15-miler!

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Blue sparkles

Yesterday, I bought some more sequin fabric to make a couple more sparkle skirts for my races. I bought blue and purple. I just made the blue one...

I think I want to wear purple to my next race, so I'll make that one tomorrow. I'm getting faster at making them, but they are still a big pain in the ass to make.

I guess I was feeling crafty yesterday, because I also had the urge to knit or crochet something. But I wanted something quick and mindless, so I went with a very practical item--a dish scrubber. I've been making these things for a few years, and I LOVE THEM. They work so much better than any dish scrubber you can buy at the store, and they're super cheap to make.

I buy a skein of kitchen cotton and a roll of tulle. The tulle is probably about 6 inches wide on the roll, so I slide it off the cardboard roll and then I cut it in half and cut each of those in half--so I wind up with four long strips of tulle to hold together with the kitchen cotton while I knit or crochet a scrubber.

The cotton holds in the soap and water, and the tulle is a gentle abrasive to get off the crud from dishes. It's safe to use on non-stick pans, too. I hold the strip of tulle with the cotton and crochet two rounds out and then two rounds back in on the other side. The whole thing takes 15 minutes, and looks like this when it's done:

It's not very pretty, but it lasts a really long time and I just wash it in the washing machine.

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Anyway, I don't know what possessed me to do this today, but I decided to put my post-op lower body lift pictures back on my blog. The traffic I was getting from Pinterest has died down significantly, which makes me feel more comfortable sharing the photos on my blog again. I just hope I don't see them on Pinterest again! I will have to report it as a copyright infringement like I did before.

Pinterest has created a code that you can post to your website to prevent people from pinning photos, but I don't want to prevent ALL my photos from being pinned. Most of my photos I'm fine with seeing on Pinterest. But it's extremely embarrassing to have my post-op photos on there, and when I saw them, I was thisclose to deleting my entire blog. So please, if you view my post-op photos, leave them where they are.

I'm now four months post-op, so I think I'll have Jerry take some new pictures tonight.

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Today I had a scheduled 7-mile run. I was feeling extremely hyper and wound up this morning for some strange reason. I met Jessica at her house and we set out for our run.

I felt like I could run forever, and run super fast--unfortunately Jessica didn't feel as crazy as me, so we stuck to our training pace ;) I didn't bring water or Gu with me (I really don't need it if I'm doing less than 10 miles or so).

We ran into some guy that had his black lab with him (unleashed) and I kind of panicked. I'm really scared of dogs while I'm running because I've been bitten three separate times while on a run. People apparently think it's okay to let their dogs wander around without a leash. So when I saw the guy's dog today, I just kind of yelped and came to a dead stop, waiting for him to catch his dog.

Tomorrow I'll run intervals and then take Saturday and Sunday off for our big day on Monday--the 15-miler!! It will be new territory for both of us.

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Portion control

I've been having a hard time with portion control lately. While I was losing weight, I was fine having a carton of ice cream in the house or a pan of brownies and only have one or two servings for my daily treat. Recently, however, I've been having a hard time keeping any sort of treat in the house longer than a day or two.

So for the past week or so, I've been buying those tiny little Ben & Jerry's ice cream cups:

They're a little less than 1/2 cup. But they're pretty expensive (about $1.25 each) so until this week, I didn't buy them very often.

Today I decided to make my own portion-controlled cups of ice cream so I can quit buying these little things. I found carrot cake flavored ice cream (LOVE carrot cake ice cream) and I bought some little Tupperware containers that hold four fluid ounces--perfect for individual sized ice cream.

I got nine little portions out of that container (even though it claims there are fourteen 1/2 cup servings--I packed it in). That means each little container has 202 calories, which is actually fewer than the premium Ben & Jerry's.

I know that this might not make any sense, because if I really wanted to binge, I could just eat all those little containers. But something about having tiny little containers like that makes it much easier for me to stop with just one. If I kept that carton in my freezer, I would easily take a big bowl of ice cream and only get 3-4 servings MAX out of it.

I really ought to start doing this with peanut butter, too. Or at least the sugary nut butters that I like--Nutella, PB& Co., etc. I could put the nut butters into 1-oz containers and it would be much easier to stop with one serving. I know that it's sold that way sometimes, but it costs too much for me to justify buying it like that.

Sweets seem to be the only thing that I really have a problem with controlling portions. I just never feel full from them! I could keep a bag of chips in my pantry until they expire, but a box of cookies wouldn't last two days.

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I had a very interesting dinner last night. I was having a strange craving, so I just went with it... I chopped up a peach in to a bowl, then added dried cherries and a splash of milk. Then I crumbled up one of those Nature Valley Oats 'n Honey bars (the really crunchy ones) and threw that on top. Then I microwaved it for about 90 seconds, and it was delicious!

What's that on top? you might ask. Well, that would be my most recent nut butter find (read: something I should not have bought)...

I will say, however, that the Caramel Almond Spread wasn't AS good as I expected. So I won't be buying it again. It tasted kind of like a maple frosting--which sounds yummy, but I honestly wasn't super crazy about it.

Good grief, no wonder so many of you think I have an atrocious diet--lately, all I post about is the junk food I eat! I do eat healthy stuff MOST of the time, I just don't write much about it because it's not very interesting. The fact that marathon training has allowed me to eat a little more junk than usual makes me excited to post about my treats ;)

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Miles of earthworms

Thanks so much for all the nice comments on yesterday's entry about my running anniversary! A few people asked what program I use to keep track of my runs. I use RunningAHEAD--a free website that you can use with or without a Garmin. Whenever I post screen shots about my runs, it's from RunningAHEAD as well.

I love that site! I've been using it since the day I started running (although you can backlog too, if have previous runs you want to put in there). Whenever you run, you can either upload info from the Garmin or input the information yourself (time and distance, and it will calculate your pace). You can also keep track of the miles on your running shoes, other sports--swimming, biking, and weight lifting, weather during your runs, quality of your runs, etc. You can also map out routes that you plan on running or view routes that you've already run.

It keeps track of total and you can run different reports, which is what I did to find that info and show you the graph of my running over the past 2 years. I'm a "numbers person" and I love to see all that data!

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It was raining pretty hard yesterday morning, so Jessica and I decided to postpone our long run to today. Today it was supposed to be a high of 65 degrees! We chose to go to La Pita for lunch afterward instead of Whole Foods--we figured we could do must less damage calorically at La Pita than the bakery of Whole Foods ;)

We left for the Metropark at about 8:15. This is a step-back week (meaning the mileage of the long run drops a little before picking up next week) so we only had 10 miles scheduled. I brought along one Gu packet and a bottle of water. We were running a new route today, so I was kind of excited to check it out.

It turned out to be a really nice route! A combination of the quiet natural setting of the woods in the Metropark, and then we went along some busier roads (we were on a bike path). We even crossed an overpass over the expressway.

The one thing we noticed were that were hundreds (probably thousands) of earthworms littered all along the path from the rain yesterday. It was still a little wet this morning, and the worms were all over the place. We were literally dodging worms for miles.

I was feeling really worn out and sluggish for the first half of the run. Nothing was hurting, but I felt fatigued. Jessica said she felt it too. I think I was feeling that way because normally I take 2 rest days before my long runs, and my last rest day was on Saturday (I had the race on Sunday and yesterday I ran 4 miles on the indoor track).

We did an out-and-back route, and at mile 6, we decided to eat our Gu. Normally, we stop running and take a water break, but today we decided to walk and eat and drink at the same time, while the Garmin clock was ticking, just like we will do during the marathon. (We plan on walking through the aid stations at the marathon).

I thought I brought the Peanut Butter Gu, but when I pulled it out, I saw it was the Chocolate Outrage flavor. I was a little nervous to try it, because when I bought it, I didn't realize it had caffeine in it, and caffeine makes me extremely jittery.

But I was feeling so run down that I tried it anyway, and HOLY COW--it is SO good! One of you told me that it tastes like chocolate frosting, and you were right on. That's exactly what it tastes like. I think I like it even better than the peanut butter one. Jessica happened to bring the same flavor with her, and she agreed--chocolate frosting.

After that, and maybe this was just mental, I felt a little pep in my step and I felt much better for the remaining 4 miles. It was pretty warm out, though (about 60) and I wished it was cooler. I like the 40's for running weather.

Thankfully, my stomach behaved and I felt great after the run. I'm convinced it was that stupid Nuun that made my stomach revolt during our last long run. I'm sticking with Gu and water!

After our run, we freshened up the best we could (I had baby wipes and a comb--but I still smelled like I ran 10 miles!) then we headed to La Pita. Every time I eat at La Pita, I seriously moan with every bite. It is just.that.good.

I got my usual there, the chicken kabob (this is the LUNCH portion, and it's huge):

Not pictured: the 4 warm pita breads I dipped in my hummus and garlic sauce

Last time we ate there, I ate the entire thing, but today, I probably only ate about half of it. I was trying not to get that feel-like-I'm-going-to-puke-I'm-so-full feeling. I definitely could have eaten more, but I was pretty full. So I brought the rest home with me.

Like I said, MUCH less damage than the Whole Foods bakery! That turtle brownie alone probably had more calories than this entire lunch. And Middle Eastern food is pretty healthy. I never feel sick and gross when I leave La Pita because the food isn't covered in grease and salt.

Today's long run was definitely a success. I'm going to rest tomorrow, then run 7 on Thursday. Our next long run is on Monday, and it's *gulp* 15 miles! I've never run more than 13.1, so I'm super nervous about the 15. We said we're going to play it by ear whether we go eat after the run, because we both may not feel so hot after that one...

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Running anniversary

Two years ago today, I decided to start training for a 5K race to take place the following October. I knew I wouldn't be able to run very far, but I thought since I had been training to walk a half-marathon, I assumed I'd be able to run about 1/2 mile or so.

I made it just shy of 1/10 of a mile.

My lungs were on fire, and I was gasping for air. And this was after I had just lost 73 pounds (I weighed 180 at the time I started running). I thought to myself, "There is NO WAY IN HELL I will be able to run a 5K... ever." But that short, 1/10 of a mile changed my life. I was determined to go a little farther the next time. And I did. Just 11 days after my first run, I managed to run a whole mile (albeit very slowly!).

My confidence increased with each run, and I started to feel like maybe I could do it after all. Somewhere along the way, I got hooked on running. I hated it with every cell in my body, but I loved the way I felt afterward, which is what kept me going. Eventually, I started calling myself a runner, which sounded so foreign to me. But I was so excited to be part of that "elite" group of people that I'd always been in awe of.

So today I am celebrating two years of being a runner. The past two years of running can be summed up in a small bar graph like this:

Here are some fun facts about the last couple of years...

• I've run a grand total of 1,320.6 miles in 216:40:38 (hours).
• Those miles were split into a total of 337 separate runs.
• The most I've run in one month was 106.2 miles.
• The most I've run in one week was 27.3 miles.
• The most calories burned in a month was 11,646. That's the equivalent of over 55 Mrs. Field's chocolate chip cookies.
• The most calories burned in a single run was 1,437, at the Indy Mini-Marathon in 2011.
• The longest distance I've run to date is 13.1 miles.
• My fastest mile was run in 7:45 on the dreadmill.
• I've run nine races: two 5K's, one 4-miler, one 8K, three 10K's, one half-marathon, and one Ragnar Relay.
• My current PR's: 5K- 26:57; 10K- 55:05, HM- 2:10:40
• I've run a minimum of three times per week, every single week, with the exception of my post-surgery recovery (in Nov. 2010 and Nov. 2011).
• Of the 1,320.6 miles that I've run, 301.8 were run on the dreadmill.
• The longest run on the dreadmill was 10 miles.

Things I've learned over the past two years about running:

• It is MUCH more comfortable to run in moisture-wicking clothes rather than cotton. And it looks better, because you don't look drenched in sweat.
• Running doesn't have to be taken so seriously. The first year I ran, I thought any sort of break during the run meant that the run "didn't count". Now I realize that it's totally fine to stop for some water, to tie a shoe, to take a picture, etc. 
• No matter how prepared I am, I will always be nervous before a race.
• Finding the right running shoes is critical to being a runner.
• Oatmeal is my pre-race breakfast of choice.
• Running with friends makes the mileage fly by so much faster.
• If I want to get faster, I have to do some runs alone.
• Runner's trots are a fact of running life.
• The longer I am a runner, the more I actually enjoy running. Dare I say I actually like it? ;)  (Nah, we won't go that far! Yet...)

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Corktown 5K Race Report

Let me start by saying that the Corktown 5k was NOT the best choice to try and PR a 5K. I had no idea how big it was going to be! There were 8,000 runners on an out-and-back course (meaning you can only run on half the road).

I had some goals in mind for it: My "A" goal was to finish sub-26:00. It would be tough, but I thought I could maybe do it. My "B" goal was to finish sub-27:00. My previous PR (personal record) was 27:17, so my "C" goal was to just PR with anything less than that.

I had fun getting ready this morning, dressing festively for the St. Patty's race. I wore the green sparkle skirt that I made for Jessica and me, and black running capris and a black shirt. I wore my green wrist warmers that I made, along with a headband that I made out of leftover fabric from the skirts. Oh, and Jessica sprayed my hair green:

The race didn't start until noon, so Jessica and I left at around 10:00 this morning for Detroit. We found it easily enough, and parked in a spot that worried me we'd get towed. There were already a lot of people there. We met up with my friend Renee and her husband (her husband Dave was running) and their kids. Jessica and I walked around and got a couple of pictures:

Jessica has a thing for men in kilts ;)

I made a decision at that point that if you know me at all, you would realize was just CRAZY for me. I decided not to wear my Garmin Forerunner during the race. (Insert gasp here). I know, totally insane, right? I've never done a race (even walking the half-marathons in the past) without wearing a Garmin. I've never even run outside in my life without my Garmin!

The truth was, I was really discouraged by the number of people in this race, and I had a feeling it meant I wasn't going to hit my goals. I knew that if I wore the Garmin, I would constantly be looking to make sure I hit that 8:20ish pace to get a sub-26:00 time. So by choosing not to wear the Garmin, I was basically saying that I would just let it be. I would run for fun, and if I didn't meet any of my goals, so be it.

When it was time to race, I got up near the front but not TOO close to the start line. I didn't want to get stuck with all the walkers and run/walkers, because it's hard to dodge people in a crowd of 8,000. When the gun sounded, I could barely trot, let alone run. It was super packed.

As always in the beginning of a race, my mouth went dry and my heart was racing before I even got to my "happy pace". I get so nervous, and then the adrenaline on top of nerves just makes me feel like my chest is going to explode. I couldn't stop thinking about how dry my mouth was.

The first half-mile or so was pretty difficult to have a steady pace, because people were weaving all over the place. I just tried not to fall, and that was all that was on my mind. About a mile of the course was on a brick road, and that was hard to run on. The bricks weren't very even in areas, so I was just trying to watch my footing.

Since it was an out-and-back route, at mile 1.5 we had to go around a big inflatable pole thing and run back to the start. When I got to the 2-mile marker, a man was yelling out times, and he said that it was 15:45 from the gun start. When I heard that, I thought, "Holy shit! That's less than an 8-minute mile that I'm running!!" Figuring that I didn't cross the start line until about 15 seconds after the gun time, I figured I was running about an 8:00/mi pace. I stepped it up a little there with one mile to go, but I was really feeling exhausted.

The last mile seemed to go on forever! However, at the very end, you have to go around a corner and then the finish line is about 1/10th of a mile after that turn. So the finish line kind of sprang up on me unexpectedly, which was nice.

As I got close to the clock, I saw it read 27:14, so I knew I didn't hit my 'A' goal. I almost just slowed down since I didn't reach the goal, but I realized that 27:17 was my previous PR, so I wanted to finish before that number hit. I crossed the finish line running HARD, and the clock said 27:16--it was then that I realized that I forgot to take into account my chip time, so my time was actually less than that. I knew that the 2-mile mark of 15:45 had to have been wrong. I know I didn't slow down the third mile.

And since I didn't wear my Garmin, I had no clue what my results were!

 I met up with Jessica and we found Renee and Dave. We went to the beer tent to get our free beer. It wasn't green, like I expected. It was a darker beer though, and I didn't like it, so I ended up giving mine to Dave.

We went to a bar for a little while, hanging around outside (it was super crowded). I had a beer there. Renee and Dave left with their boys, and Jessica and I walked around a little bit more and chatted with a friend of hers. We left right as the parade was starting. Even if we wanted to see the parade, it was way too crowded to see anything.

This was just one small part of the sidewalk

I looked up my results when I got home:

So at least I hit my B goal! And I can cross this one off my 30-in-30 list. But I still kind of want to strive to hit that sub 26:00 ;)  There is a 5K in September that Dave was telling me was a good one to try to PR, because it's really small and an easy route.

Anyway, here is the medal we got--it's pretty nice!

Over all, I'm pretty happy with the race. I'm happy to have met my sub-27:00 goal (barely), especially when it was so crowded.

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Reader Questions & Answers #4

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

Q. What were some of your favorite foods while you were losing weight? 

A. I've mentioned before that I tend to go through phases with food--I try something I really like, and then I eat it day after day until I find the next thing. So I went through a lot of phases throughout my journey. But from memory, some of my favorite foods throughout the journey were: oatmeal, prunes, apples, peaches, cabbage, Caramello candy bars, tuna sandwiches, pita pizzas, a sandwich made of peanut butter and marshmallow fluff on two waffles, protein shakes (by necessity because of my surgeries), popcorn with oil and salt, chai lattes, PB2 used a thousand different ways, lentils, Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches, feta cheese, Dove Promises dark chocolate...and probably some other things I'm forgetting. Almost all of my dinners are listed on my recipes page. 

As you can see, I liked a variety of things--both healthy and not-so-healthy. I just ate whatever I was in the mood for, and I counted the calories for it.

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Q. When you lost the weight, did you ever hit a plateau? If so, how did you get over it?

A. To be perfectly honest, I actually never did hit a plateau. I define a plateau as a stalled weight loss that, no matter what you do, your weight just won't budge for a while. My weight stalled a few times, but I know that it wasn't a plateau. It could always be attributed to my eating habits--maybe I binged that week, or just ate too much on a couple of occasions. 

For the most part, however, if I was following my plan (measuring my portions, counting calories, and keeping my calories within my range), I lost weight. Whether I exercised or not, as long as I counted my calories, my weight continued to drop.

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Q. Can you share a few days of what lower-calorie eating looks like, or give some sample menus that you used while losing weight?

A. I had to dig out my old paper food journals to find a few samples--these were chosen completely at random. But keep in mind, my diet wasn't perfect--not even close! Like I said before, I just ate whatever I was in the mood for and I counted the calories for it.

December 2009 (1633 calories):
Breakfast: Fiber One Honey Clusters cereal with milk
Lunch: grilled cheese with bacon sandwich, and an orange
Dinner: Turkey, black bean, and corn chili, cup of milk
Snacks: Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich, cup of milk, 1/4 cup Raisinettes

April 2010 (1497 calories):
Breakfast: cream of wheat with milk and grapes
Lunch: hummus with pretzels and grapes
Dinner: chicken and dumplings, Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich
Snacks: Nature Valley Sweet & Salty granola bar, bottle of beer, banana with frozen yogurt and honey

June 2010 (1554 calories):
Breakfast: coffee, oat frittata with PB2
Lunch: tortilla with Boca chik'n patty and Laughing Cow cheese, 1 peach, 1 kiwi fruit
Dinner: lemon lentil soup, salmon cooked with a drizzle of honey, ice cream cone
Snacks: baby carrots with peanut butter, one small bag of popcorn, 2 peaches, Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich with Hershey's syrup, PB2, and cool whip

August 2010 (1322 calories):
Breakfast: oats with almond milk and walnuts
Lunch: wrap with hummus, spinach, and turkey; sauteed broccoli; grapes
Dinner: homemade baked beans, 1 glass red wine
Snack: cashews and dark chocolate chips

So there you have it--a variety of stuff, with a variety of calories. My diet was far from perfect, but I ate what kept me satisfied mentally as well as physically, and this is all stuff I enjoyed eating.

Example breakfast:

Bran flakes with frozen blueberries and milk

Example lunch:

PB&J on a waffle with canteloupe

Example dinner:

White Chili

Example snack:

Chocolate chips and almonds

Example treat:

S'mores Pie

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Sparkly arms

Last night ended up being really fun, and the kids were well-behaved, which is always a bonus. When they got home from school, we told them we were taking them out to a surprise location. We ended up choosing Red Robin, because I knew the kids would like it (they'd never been there before).

They loved the decor and Eli was fascinated with an airplane hanging from the ceiling. Jerry and I ordered fried jalapeno coins to share as an appetizer, and they were awesome. They were just slices of jalapeno peppers, battered and fried. It was a tiny portion, so we each ate probably about 10 coins total. I didn't want to be full before my food came.

I can't even tell you the last time I ate french fries or a hamburger before last night... it's been SO LONG. I ordered their cheeseburger with the works--lettuce, tomato, pickles, mayo, onions, ketchup, and mustard. I could barely fit my mouth around it, but it was delicious! I ate about half of my fries and almost my entire burger. I looked it up when I got home, and my meal was 900 calories. Which actually wasn't as bad as I thought. I burned 600 calories during my run yesterday, so I didn't do too badly.

I should have only eaten half the burger though, because I was STUFFED when we left. I hate that feeling. My stomach felt super bloated and gross, and I actually got kind of nauseous. I learned that greasy food doesn't agree with my stomach very well. But it was worth it, and we don't eat greasy food very often--like I said, I don't even remember the last time!

Then we surprised the kids by taking them to Toys R Us. They were thrilled when we pulled into the parking lot. I took Eli and Jerry took Noah to shop. Eli knew what he wanted (more Army guys to add to his collection of about 10,000). He loves those little, tiny, cheap plastic toy soldiers. So he picked out a bucket of them that came with a bunch of other stuff (tanks, helicopters, etc.)  I gave each of the kids a $40 limit, and since that was only $20, I let him pick something else. He got the same bucket of stuff only it was a Western theme instead of military ;)

Noah picked out some nerdy stuff that I knew he'd like--a little microscope, an ant farm, and a remote control rat. Yep, definitely a boy!

On the way home, we dropped the boys off at my parents' house, because they wanted to spend the night there. Jerry and I had the house to ourselves, and we wound up in bed and asleep by 8:30--hahaha. Jerry gets up at 4:00 in the morning for work, so he has a hard time staying up late.

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I'm super nervous about my race tomorrow! I can't wait until it's over and I'm drinking green beer at the finish line. I got out my scraps of green sparkly fabric from the skirt I made, and threw together a couple of headbands for me and Jessica (they look like Bondibands, but they're the sparkly green fabric); and I made a pair of wrist warmers for me (not enough fabric to make them bigger into arm warmers!)

Kind of lame, I guess, but I wanted to use up every scrap I had! At least if I don't get my PR tomorrow, I'll look cute festive while trying ;)

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A Gu experiment

I had made plans to go for a 6-mile run with Jessica this morning. At around 7:00, I could barely see outside because there was snow blowing around like crazy--but it stopped shortly after it started. I dressed warm and went to meet Jessica at the state park.

When we started running, we both mentioned that we felt stiff and just not ready for a run. After about two miles, it was really tempting to just head back to the car and call it quits. The wind was really strong, and at a couple of moments, I felt like I was running in place.

I started to feel better after about three miles. My legs weren't as stiff and the wind wasn't as bad (although it was still pretty windy!) I brought along a Gu to try out during this shorter run. I'd never had Gu before, and after the disaster of Monday's run with the Nuun, I decided I'd better be safe and try the Gu on a shorter run to see how well my stomach handled it.

I don't know how people eat that whole little packet in one shot, though--it took me about three different squeezes. It was the peanut butter flavor, and soooo good. I wanted to savor it ;)  I finished eating that, then drank a few sips of water. I did all this while running, so I could practice for the marathon.

My stomach didn't bother me one bit!! I was so excited about that. My feet are on the mend and my stomach handled the Gu perfectly. I'm going to bring some on our long run on Monday.

Both Jessica and I felt much better the second half of the run, and we finished out our six miles. We went at an easy pace today--she was using new shoes and I was worried about screwing up my feet.

After I got home and showered, Jerry and I went to the running store so I could exchange the Bondibands--I didn't return them, I just exchanged them for the plain fabric that isn't slippery (one is purple and one is blue/aqua). I bought a few more packets of Gu. Then we went to Dick's Sporting Goods so that Jerry could buy a new softball glove.

I browsed through the clothes (I was eyeballing all the Under Armour stuff, but I really don't need anything right now). They had a display of Brooks shoes, and the Brooks Adrenaline 11's (the shoes I wear) were on clearance for $70/pair since they are last year's model. Unfortunately, they didn't have my size. I buy a wide shoe, and they only had the regular sizes.

I had lunch when we got home, and I was feeling snacky after lunch, per usual. I had a Larabar and some pretzels--not great, but definitely better than half a jar of Nutella or Biscoff spread. Tonight, I think we are going to take the kids out to dinner. I've been feeling guilty because Noah asked me last week, "Mama, do you think it would be okay if maybe we could go out to a restaurant once a month or once a year?"

Basically, we NEVER eat out. I can't even remember the last time we took the kids out to dinner--but it was probably more than a year ago, and probably on vacation at that. Jerry just got a bonus from work today (only about $300) so we decided to split it and use it on something we want (kind of like an allowance). But I suggested we share the love by taking the kids out to dinner and then let them pick something out from Toys R Us. I can remember my dad taking my brother and me to Toys R Us when we were very young and letting us choose something. I thought it was so cool! I chose a realistic-looking baby doll, and I think it's still in my parents' attic somewhere.

I'm getting nervous about my race on Sunday! I keep reminding myself it's "only" a 5K, but I have my hopes so high to run a sub-26:00 time that I've gotten myself nervous over it.

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