Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Giveaway!

So I was teasing you all about a giveaway, and now that the holiday is done, the giveaway is here!!!!

Before I get into the giveaway, I want to write up a little review about this product, because I'm in love with it.

For quite a while before my first 5k race, I was trying to find an armband for my phone.  I do run sometimes with my ipod, but generally I use my phone, because I've got pandora, and I've got mapmyrun on it.  Plus, I like having my phone on me just in case of an emergency.  The problem is, I have a very large phone.  It's bigger than the iphone, which basically means it's impossible to find an armband that my phone will fit in.

One of my readers (I'm so sorry that I forgot who!) suggested that I check out bondibands.  The cool thing that I noticed about their armbands is that the pocket that your phone/ipod fits in a pocket that can easily fit any size item.  It's also big enough to where you could put your phone, and your ID, key, etc. in it.

So I decided to give it a try, and I'm SO glad that I did!  I couldn't use my headphones during the race but I have used it afterwards, there is a hole at the top of the armband for your headphones cord.  The material is so lightweight, AND it's the wicking material that helps keep you dry!

I wrote to the company and told them that I loved their product, and they were so awesome and sent me a headband to try out, AND an armband for me to give to one of you! 

I tried the headband the last time I went to the gym, and I love it just as much as I love the armband.  I have a hard time keeping my hair out of my face, and not only did this headband keep it back, but it also kept my head dry.  This is, no doubt, something that I will be wearing every time I work out.

Check out the website if you haven't already.  They have SO many cool things.  The headbands come in so many cool colors, with cool sayings, and you can also create your own! There is also wicking hats, towels, etc.  Such an amazing product, and they are SUPER affordable!

So, giveaway!  The armband that they sent me to give you is a beautiful Green Armband.  There are a few ways you can enter to win!
  1. "Like" Bondi Band on Facebook
  2. "Follow" Bondi Band on Twitter
  3. Blog about this giveaway
  4. Pin about this giveaway on Pinterest
  5. Follow my blog (I don't know if there are any of you lurking, but FOLLOW ME DARNIT!)
Make sure you leave an individual comment for each of these things that you do so I can enter each comment into the contest!  I will be picking the winner on Sunday, June 10, so get your entries in soon! :)

Oh, and just an FYI, BondiBand did send me the headband and armband, but all of the opinions of their product are my own!

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Half Marathon Training Program

I think that since my mind is no longer focused on my first race, I am now more focused on the Disney 1/2.  I am super worried about it, especially since I still can't run the full 5k, but at least I know that I can finish it.  I think that since I stopped following the c25k plan, my endurance has gone down.  I was able to run for a full 8 minute period, but I don't think that's the case anymore.  So, I think I need to follow some sort of program. 

I also think that if I wait too much longer before I start focusing on the 13.1 mileage, instead of just a 3.1 mileage, I will find myself scrambling to be able to finish a full 13.1, and I won't be able to finish the half marathon once it comes.  I have a scary feeling that my running will become less and less once the winter months hit, and the holidays come around, and since the race is right after that, I don't want to find myself struggling to get back into shape right before I'm leaving for Disney. 

I found this program  that I may follow, because it seems like it starts out slow enough, that I should be able to do it, especially if I start soon. Since the whole letter thing is a bit confusing, I may just type it all out individually day by day, so that I can follow it and rip off the pages of what I've done.  It's a 24 week training program, and if I start now, I should be done in November, which will give me a little bit of time to work on speed, etc.  So I'm going to aim to start on Monday, June 4. 

I can't wait for the Half Marathon!!! Is there anyone else who is planning on running it alone?  My whole family will be down there, and even though my sister said she'd run it with me, I have a feeling I'm going to be running it alone, and thought maybe if there are others who are running it alone, maybe we can plan on meeting up and going to the expo and stuff together!

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Very Random Post

I don't really have anything good to post about today.  I am a slacker and haven't been working out like I should. I blame it on the holiday.  We're having a bunch of our family and friends over on Monday. It's the first time we'll have a big group of people over at our new house - really, it's the first time we've ever hosted a get together like this.  I'm super nervous, but excited, and so is Cody.  We made a bunch of jello shots today, and we bought WAY too much food.  I have been super tired (mostly because I've been staying up late reading filth Fifty Shades of Grey), but I think I'm just stressed.  I fully intend on getting right back to where I was after Monday! Well, actually, after Tuesday. We're going back to our local amusement park on Tuesday, because the water park will be open! I should get at least a little workout walking around the park!

So here are the random thoughts in my head tonight:
  • I'm weirdly emotional about babies.  I want a baby, badly.  But I want to be out of debt a bit first.  We're working hard at it. And I actually think we've decided to start trying after the Princess Half Marathon/Our Disney vacation.  My friend is pregnant, and she just found out today (via a cake that was pink inside!) that she's having a baby girl.  I absolutely can't wait to experience pregnancy, and being a mom.  It terrifies me in the most amazing way.  
  • I finally got my giveaway item in the mail! I plan on starting the giveaway after Memorial Day.  Get excited!
  • I have to go to court!  We had a TON of crazy issues with our last apartment.  Not necessarily the apartment complex itself, but with the residents above us.  We lived there for a year and a half. We planned on staying there for another year or two, because we weren't really financially ready to buy a house.  (We probably still weren't, but this one fell into our lap and we were able to make it work, and I'm SO glad we did!). (Also, sorry if I've explained this story before!)  The complex was a super small one, maybe about 40 total apartments.  Each building had 6 apartments, and there was one main door that was locked, and then inside were the 6 apartment doors.  The first year we lived there, we didn't have any problems.  We had older people who lived all around us, except for a younger couple with a small son and a bird above us, and the only trouble we had was that the bird was annoying as hell, but it was liveable.  Just after we got married, which was also about the time we resigned our lease, every apartment besides ours in our building was re-leased to other people.  And every single apartment was kids under the age of 25.  Now, we're both 27, so it's not like we're old grumpy people.  But at the time, we were both working STUPID hours (I had to get up at 4am for work, and Cody was working 10-12 hour days).  Our time at home was generally spent relaxing, or sleeping.  The kids right above us, the lease had 2 boys on it, but there were ALWAYS about 6 or 7 people living there.  There were beds/matresses /sleeping bags all over their apartment, and it was always a mess.  Because of all the people living there, they were CONSTANTLY noisy.  Like, screaming, stomping, running, slamming doors, etc.  There was a few times I was afraid they were going to fall through my ceiling. We even had some things fall off my shelves because they stomped on the floor so hard. The main door was always propped open (I'm assuming so that they didn't have to buzz their friends in), and this was a security concern for me, because I had no idea who was coming in and out of the building.  Because they constantly had people over, our reserved parking spot was always taken, leaving me with no where to park, because all of the visitor parking spots were taken up, too.  They'd also park in the grass, which was where we were supposed to take dogs to use the bathroom.  There was blood smeared on the main door - why, I have no idea, but it was there and it was gross.  There was a lot of other random stuff (cops were involved in some of the things!) that also happened, and we finally had enough,  so we decided to break our lease, which is when we bought the house.  Apparently other people (and some people in other buildings) that complained, and they finally decided to evict the kids upstairs.  Well, they're apparently fighting the eviction, and the apartment complex asked us if we'd testify if need be, and we said yes.  So we got a letter today with a court date, so it looks like we're going. I've never been in a court room, so I'm really nervous!
  • This is really, really random, but I was watching Beauty and the Beast today, and I'm curious, why is it that in the parks, you can meet the Beast, but in the movie, he turned back into a prince? How do you explain that to a little kid?
Alright everyone, I'm headed to bed. I hope everyone has a great holiday weekend!

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Break

I just realized when I woke up this morning that I haven't blogged in a few days. Sorry guys! It's been a super busy few days, and I'm ashamed to admit, I haven't worked out OR really watched what I ate.  I figured out yesterday that my biggest downfall isn't snacking, or figuring out what healthy things to eat. Because I generally can do pretty well, and stay within my calorie goal. My downfall is my days off.  Cody and I generally try to do some fun things during our days off, because we aren't really sit around the house people.  And I always, always, always tend to eat bad on my days off! I need to start working on that.

So anyway, as I said, Cody and I try to do fun things on our days off. Monday, the weather was kinda cool, So we got up and ran some errands, and then went to the store because his brother and sister in law were coming over for dinner.  We decided to have Baby Back Ribs, Veggie Pasta Salad, and Roasted Red Skin Potatoes.  So we spent most of the day either cooking, or cleaning the house.  Dinner was great, and we had a really great time. After that, we all went out for ice cream, since the weather warmed up.  It was still pretty early (brother and sister in law like to eat dinner around 4:30) so we decided to head up to the casino.  We like to go to the casino once in a while, but we rarely ever come out ahead.  We ended up winning back half our money, so it wasn't a total loss!


Tuesday we went to the mall to get Cody some new clothes.  He's outgrown a lot of his summer clothes (he's gained a pound or two since we started dating) so we went to Old Navy and found him some stuff.  I also bought the second book in the Fifty Shades series....While those books are EXTREMELY dirty, I am addicted, and will more than likely finish the second one today.  When we got home from the mall, we decided to head out grocery shopping, again, because Monday we didn't buy any food for ourselves.  So, we decided to take a drive around our house first, and kind of explore.  We found some AMAZING places, and even some little parks where I might be able to find some places to run!  We went to this super cute little diner along the beach, before heading to the grocery store.  I am super excited about all the stuff we bought though, because 75% of what we bought was fresh produce!  We are going to try juicing once in a while again.  We did it for a bit a few months ago, and we both loved it, but it got expensive so we stopped.   I'm excited about some of the stuff we bought to juice!  I also am excited because I bought some kale, and we're going to make kale chips! I haven't tried them yet, so we'll see how they turn out.  Tuesday night was spent just hanging out watching tv, because we were both super tired from our busy two days.

Wednesday, our local amusement park opened up, and we decided that since we bought our house and it's super close to the park, that we'd buy season tickets.  That way, when we have a few hours to kill, we can go to the park, walk around, get some sun, and ride a few rides whenever we want.  So, we went to the park for a few hours yesterday before work, and it was super fun.  We rode a few rides, but mostly just walked around.  It was good exercise, and we both got a bit of sun! 

So in other news (that you guys will care a bit more about!) I am going to have a product review soon, which also means I'm going to have a GIVEAWAY! I'm super excited about doing a giveaway, because I love the product that I'll be giving out.  I want to wait until I get the product in the mail before doing the giveaway, just to make sure they weren't pulling my leg when they said they'd send me one!  :)

Speaking of giveaways, Tess at Because I want to... is having another giveaway! She's giving away an awesome Run Free shirt, that supports the USO! Go Check it out!!!!

Monday, May 21, 2012

Decisions, Decisions....

Well first of all, let me start out by saying, I had my weigh in again today....down another 3 lbs! yay me! I am pretty sure, as I said before, that my scale is a liar though, because I weighed myself on Saturday at my moms house on her scale, and it said 249, so I think we need a new scale.  Either way, yay for 3lbs!

Okay, so my decisions....remember how I had that interview, and I said it went great? Well, I had sent out a thank you email a few days ago, and got a reply last night from the District Manager, Ryan.  He basically said in the email that the GM had nothing but good things to say about me and that he thinks I'll be a great addition and would have a lot to add to the team, and Ryan thinks this also.  When I worked there before, I was a server/bartender, plus I was a shift manager, and I was the head trainer (I basically was in charge of the whole training program), so I have done a lot and have a lot of knowledge about the restaurant and how they work.  The problem that Ryan sees, however, is that there are a few people who I worked with who still work there, and he thinks it might be a hard transition for them, from me being kind of like their equal, to have leaving, to coming back as their superior.  His exact words were "We both feel that there are still quite a few team members still employed at [my old restaurant] that may possible make for a more difficult transition from your previous role to a management role.  This is by no means an indictment on you, just a possible concern that we feel could possibly detract from your growth and development as well as any momentum that has currently been achieved with the existing management team and staff."

With that being said, he said that there are some possible changes that are going to be happening, and that there is very likely going to be a position for me at a different restaurant. The only problem is, that restaurant is a 45 minute drive.  The one that I thought I was applying for is only 10 minutes away.  Now, I don't have an issue with driving....but we just bought a house, and it's almost as far away as you can get from the other restaurant, before it would be completely out of the question.  Cody and I figured out, it'd be about $10 a day in gas.  My other concern is weather.  I live in Michigan - and it snows. A lot sometimes.  If the weather is bad, it could take me over an hour to get to work/home.  Not to mention, dangerous.  The only good thing, is that the drive there and back is 100% highway, which makes the drive easy. 

It's such a great opportunity, and I don't want to skip out on it just because it's a long drive.  I don't have much management experience, and while I did go to culinary school and got a Bachelors Degree in Food and Beverage Management, that's often not enough for you to get a job - most restaurants want experience.  This would be the perfect opportunity for me to learn a lot and get the experience under my belt.  Not to mention, I'd get 2 weeks paid vacation, free insurance for me and Cody, and I'd be making about twice as much as I make now.  It seems too good to pass up, but man, I don't want to drive almost an hour every day to and from work! 

What would you do if you were me?

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Girls on the Run 5k!

So today was race day! It went so much better than I thought it would, and I am so happy I did it! 

Last night I was obviously having a bad night, and it really wasn't much better this morning.  I woke up around 6am with the worse headache ever.  I got up, took some medicine, and went back to sleep.  The alarm went off around 8, so I got up and started getting ready.  Cody made me some breakfast (egg, cheese, and ham on an english muffin) and we left the house around 9:10.  I wasn't sure when to get there, but I knew the race started at 10:30 and I wanted to make sure that I was there on time. We left in kind of a hurry, and I realized once we were at the high school that I had forgotten to put deodorant on....oops!  

My cousin is a GOTR coach, as well as my pastors wife, and my cousins two girls are participants, so there was going to be a lot of people I knew.  My parents were supposed to be meeting us, so we waited by the gate into the high school track before we figured out where I was supposed to go.  Right as my parents were coming up, we found my aunt and uncle, and they told me my cousin, Alicia, was looking for me.  I left my family and went and found Alicia.  I got to say hi to her and her girls, and then I heard the announcement that Community Runners had to go line up at a different spot. I headed over that way, and stretched while they girls had their parade around the track. It was so hot just standing there waiting, I was positive I wasn't gonna make it the whole way - it was almost 80 degrees!   I heard them say start, and I waited and cheered until I saw Alicia go by, and that's when I started running!  We took off at a much faster pace than I was used to.  I only was able to stick by Alicia and her girls for a bit before I needed to walk. 

 This is right after the starting line. I'm the one in the pink shirt and black pants - ignore how fat I look :) My cousin and her girls are up at the front of this picture.

I know that not every race is like this one, but it should be!  We went through a residential area, and there were SO many people who were cheering the girls on!  There was people outside with signs, cars with radios, people with hoses and squirt guns and sprinklers, it was such a positive atmosphere to run in! The first mile FLEW by.  The second and third...not so much haha.  I tried to use my mapmyrun app, but I'm not so sure it worked.  I know that the route was a full 3.1 miles, but mymyrun only tracked me for 2.23 miles of it.  When I look at the mapmyrun website, it says both 2.23 and 2.6...so I'm not sure.  It also said that I had a 17 minute mile, but it seemed SO much faster than that. According to my phone, I finished the 2.23 in 38 minutes. Who knows! I'm not to worried about it, because it was so much fun!

Just before crossing the finish line!
My cousins, Emerson and Talia, and me after the race!
My pastors wife, Tricia, me, and my cousin Alicia

I'm so happy I did this race, and I will definitely be doing it next year! I talked to Alicia about possibly becoming a coach next year, even if I don't have kids, and she said absolutely! Hopefully by then I'll be able to run the whole thing. I think it would be SO fun to be a coach to those girls! I wish this program had been around when I was younger!  

It was a great day, and even though I was sweatier than I've ever been, and now I'm super tired, I am SO excited for my next race (which so far, is the color run, but I hopefully will be adding another one soon!)

Thank you so much for all the support and kind, positive words ya'll have given me - it helped push me through the heat and got me to the finish line, so thank you!

Anxiety

So I'm going to start this post by stating that I KNOW I'm being irrational.  And I know that this is just my fear talking. 

I'm so nervous about tomorrow.  It seems that everything is going wrong today, so I'm not going to be prepared for tomorrow.  We were stupid busy at work, so my whole body is sore.  I wanted to come right home after work and go to sleep, so I'd be all rested, but my dog peed all over my bed before I left for work, so I had just enough time to throw my sheets and comforter in the washer, so now I'm awake, waiting for it to dry. I thought I'd be smart, and eat my dinner early so I didn't wait to do it when I got home from work, but now I'm super hungry. I don't want to eat too much and have my stomach be all upset tomorrow.  I just feel defeated today. 

I'm so thankful for all your kind words, and support.  And I know tomorrow, I'll be fine.  I'm just hormonal (another awesome thing, I'm supposed to start my period tomorrow....sorry if that's TMI), and I'm tired, and scared. 

I'll update tomorrow after my race, and I'll do my best to take pictures!

Thursday, May 17, 2012

It's getting Closer!

I guess this means it's official....

I went and picked up my race packet yesterday.  I didn't really know what to expect, but I got a tshirt, my bib, a water bottle, and then the schedule/race map.  I'm half tempted to drive the route of the race, but since it starts and ends at the high school, I'm not sure I can do that.  I'm getting more and more nervous/excited.  I think my biggest fear is making a fool of myself, and being the only adult that has to run/walk. My cousin and pastors wife are both leading the team of girls that I'll be running with, and they're both runners (my pastors wife, Tricia, ran the Princess Half this past February) and they both have been motivating me, I don't want to let them down.  I think that's the biggest reason I'm nervous - I don't want to let anyone down. 

Anyway, in other news, I went to the gym this morning.  I was going to run, but my legs are still kinda sore from yesterdays run, so I took it easy. I walked for 20 minutes on the treadmill, and then did 25 minutes on the stationary bike.  Enough to get some activity in, but not too much.  I'm going to take tomorrow off, and then I'll be all rested up for Saturday. 

Well, I'd better go.  I'm thinking about going out and gardening for a bit, and I need to nap before work tonight.  Have a great day!

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Attempt #2

I went out for a run this morning, just like I said I would, and I did all 3.1 miles, just like I said I would.  :)  Here are my stats:

Distance: 3.12
Time: 51:43
Pace: 16:35
Speed: 3.62

Yes, I know I'm slow.  But I'm super sad/angry that I added 2 minutes to my time! :(  I'm gonna use the excuse that the lack of music is what slowed me down, but I know it's just because I've been slacking.  It sucks, but it's my own fault. Hopefully Saturday, I'll have enough adrenaline to push me to go a little faster.  

I'm torn about what to do tomorrow.  My original plan was to do 3.1 Miles again tomorrow, take Friday off, and then have the race on Saturday, but I'm worried about running too much, and not having enough rest time before Saturday. I want to do my absolute best on Saturday, so what would you suggest?  I'm for sure gonna run tomorrow, I'm just trying to decide if I should run a little, or run a lot....and if I should run outside, or do the treadmill.  Ideas?

I love days when I run, because that usually means I can eat more!  But I'm not going to eat back my exercise calories if I can help it today.  I went WAY over my calories yesterday (by 900!), which I had expected to, but I'm planning on not eating them back in order to make up for yesterday.  I'm hoping that I can eat really well until Memorial Day, so that I can have another "cheat" day, because I know that there will be so much food at our picnic!

EDIT: I forgot to update about my interview!  It went really well! I got interviewed by the GM, and the Kitchen Manager.  Both of them seemed to really like me (the KM said "Well, I really like you, and I'll make sure to push for you!").  The GM said I should be getting a call from the District Manager soon, because I'd have to interview with him first, too.  Luckily, I already know him, so hopefully I get a call soon, and I can interview with him, and I get the job!

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

I love my days off.

I was so bummed yesterday about not getting the day off to hang out with the hubby.  It's not like he did anything exciting.  He visited his brother, his mom, and his grandma, then came home and watched tv until I came home.  We were busy at work, but not busy enough to really make time go by faster.  So it was kinda a blah day all around.  I was excited for today though, because we had plans to go golfing!

Unfortunately, we lost our coupon, and the golf course we had made a tee time for, was $25 a person, plus $12 for a cart, so it would have cost us $62 to golf, plus if we wanted drinks or anything, it was just gonna be too expensive.  We thought about going to the driving range, but we decided against it.  So, we went to this cute little local candy shop, where they serve the BEST ice cream, and we both got some ice cream.  Mine was called Jacked Up Tennessee Toffee.  It was made with a Jack Daniels caramel - so good! I know I went over my calories today, but I had planned on it. I'm going running tomorrow.  I'm going to try I'm going to do the 3.1 miles, just to see what my time might possibly be for Saturdays race. I'm also going to do it on Thursday, and then take Friday off to rest up for Saturday.  But more about that in a minute.  :)

So after we got ice cream, we decided to run to target.  I LOVE Target, and I can never seem to get in and out without spending too much money.  So, we ended up buying a hose, and a sprayer, an umbrella for our patio table, a cordless drill, and a dog toy for Remy.  All good stuff, but like I said, we didn't intend on buying all that! 

After Target, we went to see The Avengers. It was a good movie! I think Cody liked it more than me, but it's all good.  We saw it in 3D, which is always fun.  Then, after the movie, we went and bought a push lawn mower!  We have the rider, which is great, but it's hard to get along side of the house, or around the garden, etc.  So Cody mowed the lawn, and I pulled some weeds out of the garden.  We have so much garden space, I love it! I'm not the best gardener, so I'm still learning what is good and what isn't.  I want things to look clean though, so there was some ground cover that I THINK is weeds, but I'm not sure - I pulled it anyway haha.  All of this stuff was planted before we moved in, so it's gonna take a few summers to get to know my garden. We also have a super cute vegetable garden that I gotta get out into one day and weed out. 

So, all in all it was a good day.  I'm super not looking forward to working tomorrow, but the good news is, I work three days, and then I have Saturday off for the race!  I'm really, really nervous about the race.  I think it's finally hitting me that I'm gonna be doing this for real.  My cousin and her two daughters are running it, plus my Pastors wife, and their daughter are both running, but they're either on a GOTR team, or are a team leader, so I'm nervous that I'm not going to be able to find them. I'm worried about being late, or missing the packet pick up, or something.  AND I just found out that we can't have any sort of headphones in, and I've only run with headphones! I just bought a new armband for my phone, so I guess I'll just use it to use my apps to figure out my pace and time, since it's not a timed race.  I think during my run tomorrow, I'm just gonna put my phone in my pocket, and run, without headphones. 

I better get going, I think we're getting ready to head out to dinner.  Have a good day!!! :)

Monday, May 14, 2012

Quickie

Just a quick update this morning.  I got back on the scale, and it said the same thing as yesterday, 257.2! Yay! so I think I have officially lost 3lbs! Hopefully it doesn't pop back up to 260, because that really scared me. It is the heaviest I've EVER been! I was looking at some Weight Watchers weigh in cards from a few years ago, and my weight then was 211. I would LOVE to be back there!  Someday hopefully! :)

I'm kinda bummed today, because I'm scheduled to work. Typically, the hubby and I both have Mondays and Tuesdays off, because it's our only days off together, so that's when we get things done.  Well, since I took Wednesday off since we were in Chicago, I got scheduled to work today.  I'm sad because I miss him, I hardly saw him this weekend because he was at work most of the weekend, since it was Mothers Day.  Luckily I'm off tomorrow, but still...bummed.

My interview is in an hour and a half! Super nervous, but I think I'll be okay.  Since I do have a lot of experience at this restaurant, I think the interview should go pretty easily.  I might update later today and tell ya'll how the interview went. :)

Oh hey! Tess over at Because I want to... is doing a giveaway! She's giving away some SUPER cute shirts from a girl on etsy (which, by the way, is such an addicting site!)  Go check out her blog, because she's awesome, and enter to win her giveaway! 

Have a good monday!

Sunday, May 13, 2012

3lbs!

I never truly believe the scale.  I think it's a liar, because one day, I'll be one weight, and then two days later, I'm up 6lbs, and then a few days later, I'm down 10.  So, I have a hard time taking what the scale says.  I'm working on getting a new scale, but until then, I decided that I'll just weigh in once a week, and hopefully, I'll be losing weight, which will make the scale go down, and stay down. 

I weighed myself before we left for Chicago, and I was at 260.2.  I weighed myself today (even though I'm going to do weigh-ins on Mondays), and I was at 257.2! Down 3lbs!  Hopefully it stays that way, and I can FINALLY see some progress.  Even though I've changed my eating habits (I may not always log my food, but when we were living at the apartment, it wasn't uncommon for me to eat fast food 4 times a week, and we'd order pizza at least 2-3 times a week) and I've been exercising (I started doing the c25k program on Feb 29, and have been working out at least 2 times a week, on average (sometimes more, sometimes less), and I've gone up in weight.  My last weigh-in on myfitnesspal.com (follow me there if you want - kwrecks) was in February 28, and I was 254.  So, I've gained 6lbs, when I'm doing good?  It doesn't make sense to me.  Like I said, I think my scale is a liar, so maybe when I get a new scale, I can have a better idea of what I actually weigh, and when I'm actually losing.  I'm gonna hope, though, that I really did lose 3lbs!

On a different note, Bethi at Disney Mommi is giving away a Minnie Mouse SPIBelt!  It's this super cool belt that is easy to wear, and it holds your small stuff, like your drivers licence, credit cards, cell phone (or in my case, I'd put extra ponytail holders and hair clips in it for when my hair gets in my face!).  AND, it's red, with white dots, totally Minnie Mouse! Perfect for anyone who is planning on running the Disney Princess Half Marathon! Wanna enter?  Just go to her blog, and follow her, and she'll give you other ways to enter (up to 10 per person!).  And if you don't win, don't fret, because her blog is totally great too (she's still training for the Half Marathon, and she's 32 weeks pregnant!). 

Hope all you mothers out there have a great Mothers Day!!

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Change of plans

I was supposed to have my interview today at 9am, but I got a call last night saying he needed to reschedule.  So now, my interview is Monday at 11! I am actually excited about the interview, because getting this job would mean so much to us. 

I was quite excited that it was rescheduled, because that meant I could go to the gym! I was worried that I wouldn't be able to go to the gym until Monday, because Sundays, the gym doesn't open until noon, and I can't go at noon because I work at 2.  So, the fact that I didn't have the interview today meant I could go to the gym! YAY!

I decided to just do the treadmill today.  I did 2.1 miles in 36 minutes.  I think I actually did more than that, but I stopped halfway through because I wanted to try the elliptical out, and I didn't like it as much.  When I stopped the machine, I lost all the info, so I don't know exactly how far I went.  I swear, it was about a billion degrees in the gym though, because I sweat SO MUCH.  It was kinda gross!

I think the hubby and I are going to head the the farmers market this morning.  I am looking for some flowers to plant before our Memorial Day Party, and I also want to get some fruits and veggies. 

Happy Saturday :)

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Never Again

....am I taking 9 days off of running.  Holy cow!  Todays run was so bad. 

My plan today was to do like I did last week, and try to walk/run 3.1 miles in preparation for next Saturday.  I went to my moms house, and was excited because the weather was beautiful - sunny, slight breeze, and about 55 degrees.  I started running, and felt good, and after about a half a mile, my shins started hurting.  Usually, I can run through it, but it just kept getting worse as I went.  Also, my ankles started cramping up.  By the end of the run, my ankles were hard to bend because they were so stiff.  It was the weirdest thing.  I was able to get 1.27 miles in.  Here's the breakdown:

Distance: 1.27 Miles
Duration: 21:41
Pace:17:07

Slow time, but that's because the end of the run, I had to walk because I couldn't get my ankles to do anything.  

I'm super sleepy, so I may go try to take a nap, and get some food, before work.  Have a great day everyone!

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Home!

We just got home from Chicago, and let me say, while I love being on vacation, I LOVE coming to my own house!  It feels so good to be home.  I am not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow.  I think that's the hardest thing about vacations.  They have to end, and you have to go back to the real world.  :(  I'm starting my day off right though, by going for another 3.1 mile run/walk!

My first 5k is in 10 days, and I haven't actually ran in over a week.  I did go on the treadmill for a little bit, but no running. I dont know why I've been slacking lately.  It's kinda bumming me out.  So I'm determined to make the next 10 days count, and try to cut my 5k time down to less than 47 minutes.  My first 5k that I did on my own was 49 minutes, and I'd like to try to make it in under 45 for the race.  The problem is, the race isn't timed, so I'm going to have to go by whatever my mapmyrun app says.

Speaking of, I am having the hardest time trying to find an armband for the race.  I would like an armband for my phone. Since I don't have an iphone, and my droid phone is pretty big, it's not easy.  They all are just a tad too small.  I found one on amazon I'm going to try, I'm just hoping that I can get it in time for the race, so that I can run with it a couples times before next Saturday!

I should get going, my husband is mowing the lawn (first time using his new riding lawn mower, and he was so excited to use it, that it was the first thing he did when we got home, was go outside, start it up, and start mowing the lawn) and I think we may try to fit in a movie when he's done.  We want to go see the Avengers movie, because his brother has talked it up so much that Cody thinks it's going to be his new favorite movie.  :)  I can't wait to post and let you all know how my run goes tomorrow!

EDIT: I forgot! I got a call on Monday afternoon from one of my old employers, where I got my start in restaurants. It's a chain restaurant (if I get the job, I'll tell ya'll who it is :) ), and it's the restaurant where my husband and I met.  Well, apparently my husband was talking with the District Manager and he mentioned that the restaurant I used to work at needed another manager.  Well, I got a call on Monday and they want to interview me!  A management position there would mean SO much to us, just because I'd get paid salary, so we'd have a much more steady income, and I'd get two weeks paid vacation, as well as free insurance for both Cody and I!  So everyone say a little prayer around 9am on Saturday that I do well! 

Also, another edit, Cody thinks he already broke the lawnmower.  We have a lot of hills, and he was going sideways on a hill, and the mower won't switch gears.  He's gonna have the guy across the street look at it tomorrow. Hopefully it's not broken!  But, when he was mowing the lawn, he said he heard something.  He called me in the back yard, and when he looked in the ground, this is what he saw:

 It's a turtle shell!  We weren't sure if the turtle was alive, or even in the shell, so Cody took a shovel to try to move it.

Sure enough, there was a turtle in there!

We have a lot of water behind our house, but it's pretty far down a hill, so this little guy would have had to travel a long ways to bury himself in our yard.  We put it back by the hill, and we're hoping he finds his way home!

Does anyone know anything about turtles?  And why it would bury itself in our grass?

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Mini Vacation

I get a lot of perks with Cody's job.  He gets the opportunities to do a lot of stuff, that would be considered research or whatever for the restaurant he works at, plus his boss tries to do things so that he can show him that his hard work is appreciated.  For example, his Christmas present in 2010 was a free trip to Florida for a few days.  They have a condo in Fort Myers, so he paid for our plane tickets, and we got a free trip to Florida.  It was awesome!

So this week, the National Restaurant Association Restaurant Show was going on in Chicago.  It's this HUGE event, where vendors come to sell their stuff, and restaurant workers/owners/managers will come and try to find new things for their restaurant.  Cody and I came last year, and we got to come again this year.  It was all paid for - his boss paid for the gas, hotel, show tickets, etc.  All we had to pay for was food, and any other fun stuff we wanted to do. 

The show runs Saturday-Tuesday, but since our days off are only Monday and Tuesday, we decided to wait until Monday to come to chicago.  We also took Wednesday off, and made it a long "weekend" for us.  We went to the show yesterday, which was so awesome! It took us about 5 hours to get through it.  There were so many different companies there.  Everything from PB2, to floor cleaners, companies that sell ovens and dishwashers, plates and glasses, food trucks, to almost every type of food you can imagine.  We got so much free food and samples, it was insane!  We got to see Mike Isabella from Top Chef do a cooking demo.  It was so much fun, but we walked SO MUCH.  We were super tired by the end, and we still had about a 1/4 of the way to go.  We decided that we'd go to our hotel and hang out for a bit, before we were meeting with my best friend who lives in Chicago. 

Our hotel is awesome.  Except I'm pretty sure the whole point of the hotel is to film porno's in it haha.  The room has no windows.  We have this huge, king size bed, jacuzzi tub, steam shower. It's awesome.  My friends sister kept calling it "the boom boom room" lol.  It was great to go back to the room though, because I had such sore feet, so I got in and took a nice long bath in the jacuzzi tub!  We met my friend and her sister for dinner at one of those create-your-own stir fry places.  I ate a lot, but it was mostly veggies and pretty healthy!  We went to target afterwards for a minute, before coming home and crashing because we were so tired.

Today, we got up early with the intention on going back downtown to the food show, but we started watching the news and they were saying that from our hotel to the place the show was at, even though it was only 20 miles, it would take an hour and a half to get there!  We decided that since we didn't have that much to see at the show, we would just skip today and do some shopping, and relax a bit.  So we started the day by going to Ikea, where I got some awesome stuff. I'm excited to get back home to put it all to use!  Then we went to a mall and just kind of walked around a bit.  We ate at Potbelly, which is a sandwich shop for lunch, and a burger place called Meathead for dinner.  It was all super good!  We are discussing going to a movie later, but I kind of want to get in the bathtub again. I wish I had a tub like this at home!!! 

We are making our way back home tomorrow, but we decided that since we don't really have anywhere to be, we're going to take our time getting home.  There's some outlet shops on the way home, and a casino we may stop at.  I am so happy that I got to spend a few days with my husband! It's so good to spend time with him, since we don't get to spend a ton of time together.  I didn't exercise the entire time I was here, and I didn't really try to eat all that well. I know that someday I'll have to start making great choices while I'm on vacation, but I have been looking forward to this trip for a long time and didn't know how to track all of the samples that I was going to be eating.  I'm gonna get right back on track on Thursday though!!

Friday, May 4, 2012

Early Morning

I think I mentioned in a previous post, that I've been having issues with sleeping.  I generally don't get home from work until 11pm or so, and Cody and I are up until around 12:30am.  Every night, almost like clockwork, I wake up at 6am, and can't get back to sleep.  Sometimes I'll lay there and try to doze off until it's time to wake up, and some other mornings I'll just get up.  This morning, I decided to get up and go to the gym.  I didn't want to run on the track again (once I got the taste of running outside, I'd MUCH rather do that!) but I knew I needed to get some kind of workout in. So, I grabbed my kindle and decided I'd just walk on the treadmill. 

Since I was super tired, I was only gonna do one mile on the treadmill, but I ended up going for 1.5 miles. Then, I thought about doing an elliptical, but I changed my mind and did the stationary bike instead, and rode for just over 5 miles.  Not the most difficult workout, but at least it's something!  And it was good to be able to read and kind of get into my own world.

I'm gonna try to get a nap in before I go to work, I hope everyone has a great Friday!

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Food.

Does anyone else feel this way? cuz I know I do!

I mentioned in the last post that I would write a post about why I have issues with logging my food, and since I don't have a workout to write about today, I will complain tell you about why I hate logging my food.

If you've looked around my blog at all, you know that my husband is a chef.  Since we met and started dating 3 years ago, I have gained about 60lbs.  I was hovering just over 200lbs when we met, and now I'm at 260.  They say that when you are comfortable in a relationship, you are more likely to gain weight, and I honestly believe that, especially when you are in a relationship with my husband.  A lot of our dates were/are going to restaurants, or are based around different places we can eat, just because we are both foodies.  

My issue with logging food doesn't have anything to do with the fact that I hate logging.  I don't mind logging, I think it's kind of like a game.  The problem that I have, is that I constantly feel restricted.  

Last night, for instance,  was my first day of logging again.  I did great all day, and after logging my dinner I had about 250 calories left.  I was STARVING. And I was at work.  Typically, I'd grab a bag of baked chips, or pretzels or something, but I really wanted ice cream.  So, I could eat my chips and be satisfied, and not get the ice cream (or end up eating it, which is likely what I'd end up doing and go over my calories), or I could stay hungry, get grumpy, and eat my ice cream.  I know that I sound like a whiny baby.  And that these are the type of choices you need to make in order to live a healthy lifestyle.

But I'm bitter about the fact that I have to.  That I have to count each calorie that goes in my mouth in order to be healthy.  Besides being overweight, I'm healthy.  My blood pressure is fine, my blood sugar is fine, I don't have high cholesterol.  I know that could change one day and if I keep eating how I'm eating, I could find myself very unhealthy one day.  But I hate that I feel guilty every time I go over.  My husband and I are going to be in Chicago on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday for this HUGE food show.  There is a ton of samples, and great food.  Plus, it's chicago, so there are also all kinds of great restaurants.  Because I'm watching my calories, I'm going to feel guilty every time I eat any sample.  I know calories can add up quickly when doing samples, but this is a once a year event and I don't want to miss out.  I am struggling with trying to balance having a good, fun life and enjoying the industry that my husband and I chose to be in, with being healthy and losing weight.  

Am I alone in feeling this way? 

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

3.13

I decided last night that I was going to go to my moms house and run around her neighborhood instead of running up and down my road.  We had to drop off Cody's car at the mechanic, and then I dropped him off at work and I went to my moms house.  I was stalling, because I did NOT want to do this run today.  I didn't sleep well, I got up at 6am instead of 8, and only got about 5 hours of sleep.  I decided today was the day that I'd start tracking my food again (I'll go into why I stopped logging in another post later tonight).  New Month, New Beginning. 

So, I got to my moms and went outside.  I played with my phone a bit and finally figured out what I had to disconnect to make the GPS on my phone work so that I could use the mapmyrun app.  I didn't have a set path, I was just gonna run up and down the streets until I had gone the length of a 5k.  I hadn't ever gone that far, and I just wanted to see how long it felt, how I'd feel after, etc.  I knew I couldn't run the whole thing, but I did the best I could.  49 minutes later, I had gone 3.13 Miles!!!!    I am SUPER proud of myself!!  Turns out, my stupid piece of crap junky HRM is super inaccurate, because it said I only went 2.3 miles.  It had also said that it took me 20 minutes to do a mile, and turns out that's not quite right either.  Until I learn how to post a screen shot of my phone, here is my workout today:

Distance: 3.13 Miles
Time: 49:16
Average Pace: 15:45
Average Speed: 3.81

I know I went pretty slow, but I still finished much faster than I had thought.  I told my husband this morning that my goal was to do the 5k distance in less than an hour, so I'm proud of what I did.  This also means that I am under a 16 minute mile (just barely, but still!), which is the requirement for the Princess Half!!!  I still have months to train, so there's no doubt in my mind that I'll be able to do it!!! YAY ME!!!!!

Breathing

So I am gonna run tomorrow morning, at my normal time.  I think I'm gonna switch it up a bit, and run from my parents house.  They live in more of a neighborhood, where we just live on a dead end street, off of a busy road.  I have to take the hubby to drop his car off at the mechanic, and then drop him off at work for a little bit, so I'll get my run on when he's at work.  I really really really want to be able to run for a mile.  My 5k race is in 2.5 weeks (May 19th) and even though it's an untimed race, I still want to be able to run it in less than an hour.  I have no doubt in my mind that I'll be able to do a 16 minute mile by the time the Half Marathon rolls around, but for now I want to try to get less than a 20 minute mile, because that seems to be where I'm averaging.  Tomorrow, I hope to be able to go for at least 3.1 Miles, even if I just run as far as I can, and then walk the rest of the way, just to get an idea of how long it is, how I'll feel after, and to make sure that I can do it. 

Can everyone give me their input about how they breath when they run?  I am SO out of breath every time.  I've been more out of breath since I started running outside than I was when I was doing it on the track, but I'm hoping that is because it's been so cold outside and the cold air screws with my lungs.  I read that when you run, you should take deep breaths, from your belly.  So that when you breath in, your chest shouldn't rise, and your stomach should.  But when I do that while I'm running, I tend to only breath out of my mouth, and not out of my nose, which I think may screw my breathing up even more.  Do you guys have any tricks or anything to help me? My body gets tired when I run, sure, but I think the biggest problem I'm facing is that I can't breath.  Trying to breath the way I "should" is making me not breath as much, I guess, and it's making me even more out of breath.  Suggestions?