Putting Things in Perspective

M came home from her grandma's the other day with some pictures she had picked out from grandma's "picture cabinet."  I didn't think anything of it, figuring they were some old pictures that grandma wasn't too attached to, since she gave them to a 3 year old.  This morning I was getting ready and found this gem.

This is me circa 2005.  At this point I was still in college, madly in love with Tim and food and alcohol (and obviously really bad hair color).  Shortly after this, I reached my highest weight of 201 pounds.  I had completely forgotten about this point in my life, most likely because it's not a time I was proud of.  It helped to put things in perspective for me.

Lately I have been really focused on the scale and its lack of movement.  Still, regardless of which way the scale moves, I am eating better and exercising more than any other point in my life.  Seeing this helped remind me that I started this journey because I wanted to be healthy, not just for weight loss.  True, fitting into a size smaller is a nice; but living longer and feeling better are even nicer.  As much as I hate to be reminded of that time, today it served as a reminder of just how far I've come.

Rough Day

Today was a very rough day.  Work is stressful, and it is only looking like it is going to get worse.  I normally can handle stress pretty well, but I'm getting to the point where I am overwhelmed and really don't know where to start.  The problem with this (other than stress=bad) is that when I'm stressed, I eat.  And when I stress-eat, it is NEVER healthy.  Candy, pizza, if it is terrible for you, I crave it when I am stressed. 

Today was no different, and I blew it diet-wise.  As I sit here now, I'm waiting for my friend the Papa John's delivery guy.  I'm still planning on going to the gym, but who knows what will happen between now and then. 

I'm trying very hard to have a positive attitude through all this, although I will admit that this is not always the case.  However, I did find a song that helped me through today, thought I'd share it.  A little Nick Howard always makes me feel better...

 

 

Updated - 1 hour later - So I ate my pizza, and enjoyed every bit of it!  I did opt for the thin crust, so I wasn't totally unhealthy (although I made up for it in breadsticks).  It was after dinner that M helped put everything into perspective.  Here I am, complaining about my terrible day, focused on me, and all she wants is a cuddle.  Turns out, she fell asleep right on my lap, like she used to when she was a baby.  In that moment, my bad day didn't seem so terrible after all.

 

 

A Problem with Boredom

So I've gotten to the point where I really look forward to going to the gym everyday.  It's a good hour by myself, where I can focus on me.  I'm sure many other moms out there agree, that type of time is priceless.  The fact that I'm spending it bettering myself, makes it mean even more.  Still, I've run into a bit of a problem.  I'm to the point where I'm no longer doing just a half hour on the treadmill.  Today, for instance, I did a half hour on the treadmill and then a half hour on the bike.  I go in planning on doing a full hour on the treadmill but I get so bored!  I've tried watching TV or changing up my music, I've switched speeds from time to time and have tried to make a game of it, but nothing helps.  Right around that 30 minute mark I am to a point of boredom I can no longer stand, and I stop.  I'm looking forward to the spring so I can get back outside to run, but I have no other option until then.

Today went especially slow....took this pic while on the bike then waited a while (without looking at the time).  Took a pic what I thought was a few minutes later and got:

Anyone have any ideas of how I can help fend off the boredom?

Eating Habits

So after yesterday's yucky weigh in (I didn't gain nor lose), I weighed myself again and found that I was down a half pound.  I really do think it is the amount of water I've been drinking that is making the difference.  And let me tell you, I've been peeing like crazy too!

I've also started making sure that I'm eating more than just three meals a day.  Instead of eating three big meals, I've starting eating 3 moderately sized meals along with two snacks, so that I'm eating every 2-3 hours.  I must say, I've fallen in love with Power Bars for this reason.  They've become my go-to for between meal snacking.  I stick with the mainly the Fruit and Nut or Mixed Nut kind simply because they are much lower in sugar than the other flavors avaiable.  They are high in protein, and provide enough energy for me to make it to lunch.  Plus, they are small enough to throw them in my bag.  Plus, the fact that Giant Eagle has them 10 for $10 makes them affordable too!

Do you have any go-to snacks?

Leg Day

Today was my second official "leg day" using the workout given to me by the trainer I worked with Saturday.  I must say, going into it, I was a bit worried.  I still was having trouble going up and down stairs because my legs were still sore, but I decided to go and see what I could do. 

I was pretty impressed with my warm up.  Even though it was only a mile and a half, it was the first 10 min. avg. I've run since I started on the treadmill.  Although my legs were a bit stiff, they loosened up after a few minutes.

Once I finished my run, I started my leg workout.  The workout I did today only involved 5 exercises, but kicked my butt.  I will say, I was pretty proud of pulling out equipment and actually knowing what to do with it!

After finishing the leg exercises, I did hop on the elliptical for about a half hour too, just to get in a bit of cardio.  I must say, I'm feeling pretty good!

There is one problem I have discovered with going to the gym.  Because they prefer us to wear clean shoes instead of street shoes (totally understandable), I have developed quite the shoe collection in my car!

At least I know I'm always ready for a good workout!

Skinny Wrap Update

So it has now been over 24 hours since I've been wrapped, and I'm still seeing results.  As of this afternoon, I was down another 2 inches!  I can believe how much better my skin looks too!  Although the amount of water I'm drinking is pretty ridiculous, I also feel like it is helping to flush my system a bit. 



Before wrapping

24 hours after wrapping

Skinnwraps, fact or crap?

Skinnywraps started showing up on my Facebook feed a few months ago. At first, I paid no attention, but as time went on and I heard more and more I became intrigued. People were reporting losing several inches, all from a wrap? As luck would have it, one of my friends on Facebook recently started selling the wraps. I figured, why not? So I got in touch with her, and today I tried my first Skinnywrap. I figured I would share this experience with everyone just in case there were any other inquiring minds out there.

What is it?

The skinny wrap reminds me of a huge Biore nose strip. You know, the ones you put on your nose to pull out all the black heads? Imagine that, only large enough to fit across your mid-section. The difference is that the wrap is coated in a gel that supposedly helps the wrap to work its magic.

 

The Process

Before meeting with me, my friend asked that I prepare by making sure I was clean and wearing comfy clothes. Along with that, I needed to make sure I drank a few glasses of water before she got here. Once she arrived, all we had to do was take measurements, unwrap the wrap, place it around my mid-section and then wrapped me in plastic wrap to keep the gel from getting all over the place. The wrap stayed on for 45 minutes, although you can leave it on up to 8 hours (sleep in it). After taking off the wrap, she had me rub in the remaining gel and we took our after measurements.

Results

In the 45 mintues I had the wrap on, I lost 2 inches. Sitting here now, 7 hours later, I just remeasured and I'm down another 2 for a total of 4. The information that comes with the wrap tells you that results are not instantenous, it can take up to 72 hours before the full results can be measured.

Before wrapping

 

After Wrapping

 

 

7 Hours Post-Wrap

 

 

 

Other Info:

One part of the wrapping process that I did not expect was the fact that you are expected to drink the equivalent of half your body weight in ounces of water in the days following your wrapping. For me, this means 70oz. of water for the next three days. Apparently the wrap gel includes ingredients that work to rid your cells of toxins, thus resulting in inches lost. Drinking water helps to rid your body of these toxins quicker. During this time you are also supposed to stay away from "toxic substances" such as alcohol and high amounts of caffeine.

 

My Thoughts:

 

Knowing what I know about fitness and nutrition, I am aware that the wrap is a "quick fix" and does not take the place of a good diet and exercise.  However, I did notice that there were more benefits than just the inces lost.  The wrap significantly improved the texture of my skin, and I noticed that my stretch marks were also lighter.  Talking with my friend about this, she said that she, too, has noticed an improvement in the texture of her skin.  That being said, the wraps are a tad bit expensive.  To try a wrap today it was $25.  A four pack of the wraps run about $100 for first time buyers.  According to my friend, the improvements seen increase with each wrap, and continued use is (obviously) recommended.  You can wrap as often as every 3 days, although they say once a week will help maintain results.  That can get pretty pricey!  They do have a "loyal customer" program that helps a bit.  After three months of paying full price, you become a loyal customer and get the same product but at about a 45% discount. 

 

You can have a wrapping party, where the consultant comes and wraps several friends at once.  For every five friends that pay to wrap, the host get their wrap for free.  Along with the wraps, there are also several other products that the company sells including facial wraps (to help get rid of wrinkles), creams and supplements. 

 

All in all, I will say I was happy with my results so far.  For something so easy, it was nice to see some improvement.  As I said, it is a bit pricey, but may be one of those things that can be used on a case by case basis.  Because it also improved the look and texture of my skin, it may be something I consider before going to the beach or any other instance where I'll be baring my middle.  Because you can wrap different body parts, I would be interested to see if the results are similar on my arms or thighs.



Thank You Mr. Trainer!

Last night my parents had us over for dinner.  Dinner with them has become a weekly ritual, and we really look forward to the family time.  However, it is consistently the day that I eat terribly, drink too much, and fall WAY off track.  Last night was no different.  Mom made homemade pizzas, the best I've ever had.  Then my dad and I proceeded to hit the wine pretty hard while enjoying some of our favorite Girl Scout cookies.

I didn't make it to the gym yesterday, so I was bound and determined today.  My parents offered to watch M, since Tim wasn't home.  When I got to the gym, I was extra excited to see that it was practically empty.  I warmed up by running a quick mile, then grabbed my clipboard and headed over to the machines.

While I was on the machines I noticed that one of the trainers was in.  I didn't think anything of it until he came over and started talking to me.  We talked a bit about how things were going, as I've only been a member for about 3 weeks.  As we talked I mentioned how I was training for the half-marathon in August.  Since there was no one else to train, he said he had some tips for me.

He helped me learn some new moves, not using the machines, that were better for running and balance.  Wow, the difference was amazing!  I am already sore!  Turns out, the work out I was doing was doing very little for me.  Thankfully, due to a slow gym, I now have a different routine that I can try out.  I'll keep you posted!

Sweet Treats Make Me Happy

So I had a pretty rough day at work today.  Eating-wise I did pretty good, but by the end of the day the stress was really getting to me.  When I got home, all I wanted was something sweet.  Seeing as my healthy eating has taken over, we have very little sweets in the house.  What we do have is a lot of fruit.  So, I decided to get M out of daddy's hair for a while, and make some blueberry muffins.

I looked around for different recipes, but everything I found was either super high in fat or super high in sugar.  So, I found something close and decided to make a few small changes.  The result?  Delicious, 123 calorie muffins that helped to calm the sweet tooth without ruining my diet!

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients

-1 cup unsweetened applesauce
-2 cups wheat flour
-1/4 c. granulated sugar + 8 Stevia in the Raw packets
-1 tsp. baking soda
-1/2 tsp. salt
-1 cup blueberries (you can add more if you like, I only had a cup)
-1 large egg, beaten
-1 tsp. vanilla
-2 tsp. butter, melted

Preheat oven to 325.  Put liners in cupcake tin, I sprayed mine lightly with some cooking spray.

Mix flour, sugar, Stevia, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.  Put aside.

Mix eggs, melted butter, vanilla, and applesauce in a medium size bowl.  Add to flour mixture, stir until blended but don't overmix.  My batter was somewhat sticky at this point.

Fold in blueberries carefully.

Fill muffin tins about 3/4 of the way.  I used an icecream scoop to help me make sure portions were as equal as I could get them. 

Bake 25 minutes.  Muffins will be lightly browned (which I'll admit is a little hard to tell with the wheat flour.)

The final product wasn't quite what I expected.  The muffins rose a bit, but not as much as I would typically expect muffins to rise.  Still, they tasted delicious!

Nutritional Information (Thanks My Fitness Pal!)

Serving Size - 1 muffin
Calories - 123
Fat - 3g
Sodium - 194 mg
Carbs - 23g
Sugar - 8g
Fiber - 3g
Protein - 3g

Back in the Saddle

So the last week has been a bit exhausting.  All the school work, grad school work, exercising and things around the house caught up with me.  I barely had a chance to sit, let along blog!

But I'm back.  The good news is, even through all the busy evenings, I still found time to go to the gym.

I've been making up my own combination of running and lifting.  Alternating strength days and short runs with longer runs and minimal strength.  This week, I did gain a pound, however, I lost 3 inches!  I even went out with my bestie, Betsy, this past weekend.  First, we stuffed ourselves silly at Olive Garden.

After stuffing ourselves silly, we went shopping.  Betsy seemed to enjoy being my "fashion consultant" and had me in the dressing room for a good half hour (and I do not try on clothes).  In the end, I walked away with some pretty cute outfits, and two pairs of size 6 pants!  I haven't been a size 6 since right before my wedding!!  Now hopefully I work up the courage to wear my bright blue skinny jeans...haha!

Running-wise, I'm up to doing about an hour on my long run days.  I'm still only getting about 5 miles on those days.  I just get so bored!! I've started riding the bike to supplement the running and mix things up again.  Still, I can't wait to be able to run outside again!

To Run, or Not to Run?

So I started my half-marathon training this week.  I've been alternating days of running with Insanity.  It's a lot, but I thought I could handle it.  Today is supposed to be my "long run" of 5 miles.  However, I noticed yesterday that I was worn out.  Getting my three miles in was tougher than normal and my legs felt even more like jelly than before.  So now I'm trying to figure out if I should go and do my run, or if my body is trying to tell me to take a break.  What would you do?

Good Times and Good Food

So I'm just crawling out of bed after what was, by far, one of the most fun times I have had in a while.  Last night we had good friends of ours over for dinner and some drinks.  No only was the company great, I somehow restrained myself enough to not go over my calorie limit (thanks to a great amount of exercise earlier in the day).  So this morning, although a little groggy, I'm not feeling guilty about indulging a bit.

Not a picture from last night, but just proving that there are always good times when Amanda and Pat come around!

List Update - One Month In!

Bri's 30 Before 30 List

1. Run a 10k  I tried to get my friends to sign up for the St. Patty's Day 10k, but they wanted to do the 5k instead.  I'm still looking at a few different races in the spring.

2. Finish a half marathon  Registered and paid.  Got a gym membership so I can run more consistently.  Currently I'm running 3-5 miles consistently.

3. Travel further west than Toledo Still working out the details with Tim

4. Shoot a gun  Tim says he has a plan for this one (not sure what it is though!)

5. Visit New York City

6. Start a blog/journal You're reading it!

7. Go to an NFL football game

8. Read at least 10 books off of Time’s Top 100 Books of All Time list Finished The Great Gatsby and now I'm reading Slaughterhouse Five. 

9. Take a class unrelated to teaching

10. Finish re-painting the house (Master Bedroom, Guest Bedroom, Downstairs Living Room, Basement Bath)

11. Have the equivalent of one month’s salary in savings. About a third of the way there!

12. Host/Cook a holiday meal for the family. Talked to mom and she isn't willing to give up any of the biggies (Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving).  Instead I was given Mother's Day, Father's Day, Labor Day, and Memorial Day.  It's a start I guess.

13. Take a weekend trip focused on M.  In the planning stages.  May be next winter, a few months after I turn 30 but I'll still count it.

14. Go to a concert.

15. Have a girl’s weekend somewhere other than Erie.

16. Golf a full 18 holes, and keep score

17. Pay off at least 2 of my 3 credit cards. (and keep them that way!!) Consolidated so I will have a zero balance on all 3, but will have one payment to cover the consolidation loan.  According to my calculations I'll have everything paid off in two years.

18. Get another tattoo

19. Organize all my pictures and back them up. Maybe even get some printed out.

20. Try at least 10 new foods (or re-try foods I haven’t tried in a while) Thanks to Tim this one happened really quickly.  So far I've tried Rye Bread, BBQ sauce and BBQ chips.  Random and kinda lame, but still they were all new.  Since I've already met this one but want to keep going, I'm changing the number to 10.

21. Ride on a motorcycle

22. Change my hairstyle/hair color

23. Complete at least one random act of kindness/pay it forward type action

24. Make/build something

25. Surprise someone

26. Rekindle my mad piano skills. I've played a little, but I'm having trouble finding something I want to play.  Still looking for good sheet music.

27. Improve my Spanish

28. Learn to drive a stick shift

29. Have a spa day – more than just mani/pedi

30. Celebrate my 30^th in style! (think Limo, sequins, bubbly!)

Good Ol' Jellylegs

So for the past year I have, in my opinion, exercised fairly regularly.  There have been some points where I was less devoted than others, but overall I've stayed pretty active.  I was the most active in the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  At one point, I would do an Insanity workout, and then go run three miles.  I was a BEAST!

Right around Christmas I started to slack a little, drinking wine with the family is a much more attractive option!  By January, I had all but stopped exercising.  In the past two weeks, I've gotten back on the fitness train and have really worked hard to get back to where I was. 

However, this time is proving especially difficult.  On top of the cold that I just can't get rid of, and the cough that miraculously whenever I touch a tredmill, I have a serious case of jelly legs. 

I noticed today when I was starting my workout that I just felt like my whole body was jelly.  I made it through the workout, but it wasn't pretty.  I was struggling with things I haven't before.  I'm trying to decide if this is my body's way of saying that I need to slow down or if this cold is impacting me more than I thought.  All I know is that I'd really like it to stop!!

Every Day is an Accomplishment

I made it to the gym today, not until 8:00, but I still made it.  It's now 10 and I'm just sitting down to relax for the first time since 6 this morning! It was a long day, but that's ok.  It's days like this I normally fall apart.  I give in to the temptation of the snack machine when we have to stay after school for a meeting, or give in the ice cream aisle at the grocery store.  But none of that happened today, in fact as we speak I am forcing myself to eat just so I get to 1200 calories for the day. 

It wasn't my best day at the gym.  I made it 45 minutes on the treadmill before the girls next to me got too annoying and I decided to leave.  But I still made it.

On a good note, I did talk to one of my co-workers today about running.  She has lost a good amount of weight in the past year, and has become quite the runner.  She has been arranging these "wine runs" and invited me to the next one.  Basically they start at one winery, taste a little, then run to the next one.  Normally they are about 6 or 7 miles.  The next one is at the end of the month.  Right now, I'm running about 4 miles, so I've got a bit of work to do, but I'm excited.  Wine and running? It doesn't get much better than that!

Aspartame What?

So last Wednesday I decided to kick my diet pop habit.  I was up to 8 or 9 cans of diet pop a day (ridiculous, I know) and was starting to feel as if maybe that was a limitation in my weight loss.  I knew it wouldn't be easy, but I decided it would be worth it.  So I quit, cold turkey.

A week into it, I think the worst is over.  Many may find this humorous, but I swear I went through withdrawl.  Wednesday night was fine, and even all day Thursday wasn't too bad.  Thursday night it hit me, out of nowhere.  Chills, hot flashes, nausea, dizziness, headache, tingly fingers....I had no idea what was going on!  It wasn't until a good friend of Tim's mentioned that the same thing happened to a girl he knew when she kicked her diet pop habit.

Turns out, aspartame is somewhat like a drug.  Your body gets used to it, and when you take it away it doesn't know what to do.  Luckily, I did some reading and found that lots of water and exercise help to clense your body of the residual aspartame.  After about three days of feeling like my head was in the clouds, I finally got back to feeling normal.  Now, I crave water with lemon instead of pop.  I've also found that I don't crave sweets anywhere near as much as I did before.  I'm hoping I can continue on this new path, because I'm starting to feel great!

Gym'n It

So after I finally came to terms with the fact that the snow is not going away any time soon, I broke down and went to the gym.  I've never been a big gym person.  The thought of other people watching me work out gives me the heebie jeebies.  I'm sure that other people aren't really watching me, but it feels that way. 

I decided that the best route for me was the monthly membership.  We just had a SNAP Fitness open and chose that over the Y.  My thinking was, none of my students will be there.  If there's one thing I dislike more than random strangers watching me sweat, it's my current or former students watching me sweat.

So I get there, and I can't get in.  Now I get the whole key card, come in whenever you want, 24-7 thing, but there were employees working the desk and it was only 4:30!  How do they expect to get members if they lock them out? Once I finally garnered the attention of said employees, I come to realize its a girl I swam with in highschool.  I almost turned around, this whole sweating in public thing was sounding less and less appealing.  But I trudged on.

After signing my life away I was given my key card and the go-ahead to work out as I please.  No tour of the place, no explanation, just a card and a nod.  Being a complete gym novice, I was totally intimidated.  I looked around for something familiar, found the treadmills and headed over.

Of course, the first treadmill I try doesn't work.  Out of the eight treadmills lined up, I pick the broken one.  So I attempted to move over to the next one without looking like the idiot who just picked the broken machine.  This embarrassment was calmed later when another person did the same thing.

Anyway I started moving and quickly realized the flaw of picking the treadmill, the TVs are directly overhead.  Knowing my incredible grace, I knew it would be impossible to watch TV and run at the same time without falling over.  So, I resorted to staring at myself in the mirror.  At first I was even more creeped out by watching myself sweat, but I got used to it.  Looking in the mirror also allowed me to check out those around me without staring at them directly (you know they were doing the same thing too!).

After an hour on the treadmill I decided it was time to go.  At that point I had had my fill of the gym.  I can't gurantee it will be a daily adventure for me, but at least next time I can go when there will hopefully be less people.

One plus of the trip to the gym was the website that comes along with it.  Every member gets set up an account at truestar.com, a nifty little website for health and weight loss.  Though they are trying to push their brand of supplements and vitamins, there are some pretty useful tools on there.  They offer meal plans for weight loss and all kinds of conditions.  They also create an exercise plan based on your needs and equipment you can access (complete with examples so you know what you should look like).  I haven't had a ton of time to check it out, but so far it looks promising.

So now I'm an official member of the gym, I just have to get my butt there enough to make it worth my monthly payment.

Food Tracking

I've learned throughout my adventures that I am the type of person that needs to keep tabs on what I eat.  I swear my parents were gracious and handed down the "overeating" gene.  There are times I seriously don't know when to stop.  Tim makes fun of me all the time because I will get to the point where I am sick, but if it is something I like I'll keep going!

Me at my heaviest

When I first started trying to lose weight for my wedding back in 2007, I started with Sparkpeople.  I got pretty involved with SP, posting frequently and having quite a few people that I communicated with regularly.  I found the site easy to use, and stuffed to the gills with helpful information. 









I lost 50 pounds before the big day, and actually got so small they had to practically make me a new dress.  **Word of advice - Don't go out and by a wedding dress 10 months before the wedding, especially if you plan on losing weight!**  In the end, I actually paid more for the alterations to my dress than the dress itself.  But nonetheless, I credit Sparkpeople with helping me stay on track and get to the smallest I've ever been!


Smallest I've ever been



Shortly after Tim and I married, we found out we were pregnant.  Happy news, but terrifying at the same time.  I had just lost weight, had lived for eating right and exercising, and now I was faced with inevitable weight gain.  To make it even worse, complications in my third trimester led to three months of "light duty."  A beautiful daughter and 75 pounds later, I was back to where I started.

Two weeks after baby

This time, I turned to My Fitness Pal.  I found the tracking to be easier than on SP.  Although it does not have the amount of information that SP did, I've found that the users on MFP are wonderful.  They are on way more than those I communicated with while on SP.  They are incredibly encouraging, and are constantly helping to keep the motivation going.  The fact that I have access to it on my phone is a huge help, as I can "track on the go."



So now I'm about 20-25 pounds away from where I want to be.  My goal is lower than I was on my wedding day, but not so low that it would be unhealthy.  I'm hoping that by tracking my food and getting back to the exercise, I can finally (after 3 years) say Bye Bye Baby Weight!

INSANITY!

So I decided that since I was serious this time (I started a blog and everything!), I would seriously restart Insanity in all it's wonderfulness.  This is not the first time I've "restarted."  Since I first got the program in May, I've probably started at least 8 times.  Everytime I started something would happen that would pull me off track:  we moved, my ankle/heel injury, getting sick, the holidays, etc.

I decided this time I would not allow myself to get derailed.  If anything, I want my T-shirt!  So I restarted Insanity on Sunday (2/2).  Tim helped with my "before pictures" and the whole 9 yards.  I'll post all that jazz at a later time.

Needless to say, 3 days in and I can barely move!  Hard to believe that only a month ago I was close to finishing the program!  I hate to make excuses, but I think part of it is this cold, I still get coughing fits from time to time.  I'm just hoping that I can stick it out and keep up with it!