Regrets? New Beginnings?

I've spent the day thinking, reflecting, regretting, planning, strategizing....and the list could probably go on. 

Tomorrow is the day that I was SUPPOSED to run my first half marathon.  I registered for it at least 4 months ago (I'm thinking even longer than that).  I was supposed to start training for it in February.

But, as with the rest of my fitness, I put the training on hold due to my new job.  I had to stop and think, "If I do this, why am I doing it?"  I did want to do it, but I would have been doing it at this point simply because I said I was going to when others said I couldn't.  But I wouldn't be doing it because I was prepared.  And I decided I didn't want to risk injury.  I didn't want to prevent myself from training for other races like Steamboat and my marathon because I wasn't smart enough to say I wasn't ready for this one.  And, the half marathon was in Wisconsin, so it wouldn't be smart to get hurt there where it would be difficult for me to get home. 

I don't regret the time I've spent at work.  I am on a new account that needed (s) the time put into it.  I love what I'm doing, the people I work with, and feel greatly appreciated (most of the time).  My particular account/product isn't one that comes naturally to me, so I do have to put more prep time into it than others might.  At least for me to be comfortable.  And me being comfortable means a lot for my happiness and mood. 

I stand by something I said in either another blog post or possibly a Facebook post (quite honestly, I probably said it in both places) that it was okay to sacrafice my personal life a little bit for months, even maybe a year, if it meant then living easy and fullfilled for a lifetime. 

What I do regret is that part of what I sacraficed was my fitness which I had been finding great joy in improving.  I couldn't remember a time feeling better or having as much fun.  And the types of friendships I was making were incredibly different than any I had had before.

So, I've sat down with my Chalene Johnson Push book and I'm going to take a new look at my values and priorities.  Did they change?  Or did I just lose site of them?  Was my plan not good enough or did I just not follow it.  Did I not do enough to keep my priority statements the forefront in my mind.  I've read it recently and I still agree with it.  Do I need to do something different to keep myself reminded of it. 

What I know is that I loved how I felt when I was working hard towards my fitness goals. 

So, I'm going to sit back, read, and plan.  And the balance of work/fitness/life is going to be a little more equal going forward. 

Recipe - Layered Chocolate Banana Pudding Pie

Got the original version of this recipe out of the newest "Five Ingredient 15 Minute Recipes" cookbook by Weight Watchers.  The recipe I am posting is my own version however.

Ingredients:

1 banana (sliced)

2 low fat graham crackers sheets

1 sugar free chocolate pudding cup

2 servings fat free cool whip

Directions:

Place 1 graham cracker sheet on the plate

Spread 1/4 of the pudding cup on the cracker

Place banana slices on top of pudding

Spread 1/4 of the pudding on top of the banana



Place 1 graham cracker sheet on top of pudding
Spread 1/4 of the pudding on top of the graham cracker
Place banana slices on top of pudding
Spread 1/4 of the pudding on top of the banana
Spread 2 servings of fat free cool whip on top of the pudding.

Using the ingredients I did, this was only 5 Weight Watchers points.  Josh said if he counted points, it would have been totally worth it. 

I will be having one after dinner.  ;o)

The Fever and 2 new recipes

The Fever

I wish I could say this wasn't true, but since I've gone back to HGS I've probably not ran but 5 times.  So, with the 3 days off this week (5 day weekend) I decided that I really needed to make plans to.  Especially since I have a 1/2 Marathon in 2 months. ***I'm not worried about the 1/2 at this point, as long as I get on the ball now.  I can work up to the 6 or 7 mile point pretty quickly and then adrenaline will take me a long way.***

Yesterday I wrote Casey Phelps and made plans to meet her for a run today.  Just being in my car and on my way got me excited and made me feel better right away. 

Casey is great to run with, especially if you think that you aren't going to do very well.  She doesn't care how fast, just getting the distance. "Forward is a pace," Casey says.  One of my favorite things to tell myself while I'm running (although I can't say that I don't care about pace - I just don't get upset about it).

Todays run was awesome.  I went .78 miles before needing to stop.  We went 1.22 before we turned around.  Most of the way back was uphill, so there was more walking.  But even with the walking I averaged 12:56 per mile.  That totally makes me happy.  I was really expecting it to be upper 13:00 or even in the 14:00 minute increment.  

I'm ready to officially get back out there.  It felt so good to do somethig so healthy.  I came home and made out my grocery list of successful foods for the week.  I'm totally set up for success.  I'm very excited.

 Recipes

Tonight I tried 2 very similiar recipes.  Devil's Food & Pumpkin Cupcakes and Angel Food & Pumpkin Cupcakes.

Each one of them is just a box of the cake mix and one can of pumpkin.  Mixing the Devil's Food with the pumpkin was kind of tuff....the angel food was much easier. 

Pre-heat the oven at 400 degrees.  I was able to get 30 cupcakes out of the Devil's Food cupcakes and 33 out of the Angel Food cupcakes. 

I baked the Devil's Food Cupcakes for 18 minutes and the Angel Food Cupcakes for 10 minutes. 

They tasted delicious.  I think I'm going to get the WW cream filling recipe to make whoopie pies to go with both of them.  I was nervous about the Angel Food Cupcakes having too much of a pumpkin taste (you can't taste the pumpkin in the Devil's Food at all).  But then I thought my concern was funny cause I LOVE pumpkin bread.  The Angel Food Cupcakes are very sweet, but not too pumpkiny  ;o)

Running a Punishment?

On Monday, February 20, 2012 a 9 year-old named Savanah Hardin died of dehydration and lack of electrolytes according to the results of an autopsy.

She died days after her step-mother called 911 saying that she had had a seizure. 

What seems to have not been immediately stated during the attempted rescue of Savanah was that the reason she was sufferring from symptoms that marathon runners often experience is because Savanah had been forced to run around her house for 3 hours as punishment for lying about eating a chocolate bar.

Obviously there are so many issues that a person should have with this story, one being that a parent and grandparent's source of punishment was so extreme that it caused death.  And I am so outraged by this.

But.....I'm not a parent and there are going to be people who will say to me, "You don't know what it's like to discipline a child," and that is true.  And obviously, I don't have all the facts.  This occurred on Friday, Savanah died on Monday, and her step-mother and grand-mother were only arrested on Wednesday.  I have not seen anything about the families response to the aligations.  Not a lot of time to get much information out there, but this is a story I will be following.

So, my thoughts right now are......running a punishment?

Ironically, this isn't going to be the first time in the past month that I'm going to make this arguement.  I recently had someone tell me that when she has children, it is her plan to discipline them by making them run and she will drive her car along side them. 

My response was that running shouldn't be used as a punishment.

Let's say that Savanah hadn't passed away from this experience.  Let's say that 3 hours was exactly the plan and the grandmother had told her to stop, given her a few last words against lying and eating something that was bad for her health.  How is Savanah going to feel about running the rest of her life?

True, I used to say that running was against my religion, but that was about hard work and being scared of it.  It wasn't because I had had such a negative experience with it that would probably stick with me for the rest of my life. 

Even if running and fitness isn't something that a parent or teacher likes for themself, we should not make something that is SO GOOD for a person feel like a punishment.

It is soooooo much the opposite.  Fitness IS hard, and for that reason, there are so very few things that make you feel more accomplished than improving in fitness and meeting goals.

A person who views running and fitness as a punishment is very likely never going to change their mind and then never experience the benefits that it gives:

1) Controls Weight
2) Combats Health Conditions and Disease
3) Improves Mood
4) Boosts Energy
5) Promotes Better Sleep
6) Puts a Spark Back in Your Sex Life (okay a kid won't care about this now, but eventually)
7) Exercise Can Be Fun

I have received absolutely every single one of these benefits from running and fitness.  I think it would be very rare for someone that really takes on fitness to NOT experience ALL of them.  If you don't, it just means you didn't have a problem with it to begin with.  So imagine life with all of these aspects. 

It's AMAUZING!  I will repeat over and over that there is no world like the fitness world.  I have a very loving and supportive family, but my Sole Sisters and Turbo Kick Friends understand something much different about me and the feeling of their support is so much different. 

It saddens me to think that there are children whose minds right now are being shaped to think that exercise is a bad thing, not because of it's hard work but because they did something bad and exercise was the consequence. 

Egg Muffins

I haven't posted a new recipe in a while.  Tried one that a friend posted from pintrest a few weeks ago.  Very similiar to the egg cups that I have tried (and loved) from Hungry Girl.

I don't know what they named them on Pintrest, but Josh and I are calling them Egg Muffins.

Ingredients (for one muffin):

1/4 cup of egg substitute
1 tablespoon shredded cheese
1/8 cup of Jimmy Dean Turkey Sausage Crumbles
1 sliver of bell pepper

Directions:

Grease muffin pan
Fill each cup with 1/4 cup of egg substitute

Add 1/8 cup Jimmy Dean Turkey Sausage Crumbles

Add 1 tbs of cheese and one sliver of bell peppers.

Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 45 minutes.  I wanted to make sure most of the moisture was gone from the outside of the egg muffin and that a tooth pick came out clean.

I think I could have cooked them a little longer, but they were delicious.

Beginning of 1/2 Marathon Training!!!

I'm hoping this is the start of my re-entry into the blogging world.  I know that I have been MIA in both the fitness and blogging world the last couple of months.  However, I'm now starting to work towards something that means A LOT to me, and is going to deserve a lot of my focus. 

Today was Day 2 of my training for the Wisconsin 1/2 Marathon in Kenosha, WI. on May 5.  I am so excited to be taking on this task of training and working towards a great acomplishment.

I've know since deciding to make the decision that it was going to be a big deal and would need a lot of dedication.  So in order to ensure that dedication, I was going to need to really work on the movitvation.

I wanted something that would make me remember every day what I was working for.  During the Cupcake Classic that I ran on October 22, 2011, as a celebration of my friend Jessica McMullin and her 37th birthday I won a necklace that said, "Will run for cupcakes." 

This got me thinking that there had to be more running or motivational fitness jewlery out there and so I got to looking online.  I found and my mother bought this ring as a gift to start wearing on the first day of training.

For the next 12 weeks, I will have the constant reminder of the 13.1 miles that I want to get through on May 5.  What an awesome feeling that will be.

Day 1 of training was strength and stretching, so I just did that at home after work yesterday.  I sure can feel the lifting I did!

3 miles was scheduled on Day 2 of training.  You know, it would figure that we have had absolutely the best winter ever, but until now I have spent none of it running.  As soon as I am making it a point to get out there, it has turned COLD! 

When I got up this morning it was 18 degrees outside.  I could have gone to the gym and ran on the track, but I didn't really want to add driving time to my workout not to mention the time that I might spend socially.  So, I did what I needed to do and got bundled up and headed out.  I say bundled up, but I'm shocked how little a runner can wear outside. 

My run wasn't great.  I bet I've only ran 3 times in the past 4 months.  Not good.  So I'm basically starting over.  But that actually makes me proud.  Not that I HAVE to start over, but that I am starting over.  How many times have we set out to get fit, fallen off the wagon, and then given up.  It happens all the time; is the story of my adulthood. 

But, I now know that I can do it.  So, the starting isn't so scary this time.  It's very exciting.  Cause I know what the end result is going to feel like. 

ChaLEAN Extreme - Day 1

I have been wanting to do ChaLEAN Extreme for a year now and I can finally do it!  I am so excited.

I had meant to start it yesterday but had been sick over the weekend and didn't get my measurements and pictures taken.  I did that last night and boy was it depressing.  I purchased a cute workout outfit that I knew was going to be too small but that was totally within the realm of fitting in 3 months.  I had just eaten a large amount of carbs (Olive Garden) so that didn't help; I felt like a great big blob.

THEN!!!!!!  I got on the scale this morning.  I haven't been real good about it lately, as I just get up and go.  I have gained EIGHT pounds since going back to HGS!  Ugh!  Not happy about that. 

Josh was just trying to make me feel better and he said that I was a little bit off the hook since I had been working many hours and had not worked out very much, plus I also gained it through the holidays.  I told him that the only reason that I can be a little bit off the hook is because I made it into the gym this morning and stuck to my menu plan today.

Yes, I said that I made it to the gym today.  You are probably thinking, "I thought that ChaLEAN Extreme was a home program."  And you would be correct.  If you have weights or have the money to buy them.  (Not completely true; you can also use resistance bands.)

I do not have any weights and when looking to buy some decided that I was going to be spending way to much on individual dumbells when there are sets that you can buy that are adjustable.  Although I didn't have the money for that either.  So, I thought to myself, "I pay a monthly fee to a place that HAS ALL THE DUMBELLS I NEED! 

People did look at me funny with my laptop sitting on the table and me working out to a video when I was at the gym.  But, I look funny running too so what's the difference? 

The key here is that I didn't allow excuses to stop me from getting my workout on.  I don't have the money to buy the weights, and I really wanted to do something other than the bands even though I'm sure they work well.  My thought process is that I do pay the Riverplex to use their dumbells, and nobody is responsible for my workout other than me. 

I may have looked funny, but how many people were still in bed at 5:30am?  I know I wanted to be; almost reset my alarm clock.  But then I thought to myself, "Even if you don't go to the gym, you aren't staying in bed so you might as well go to the gym" 

My workout went well, although I could have used heavier weights.  The idea behind ChaLEAN Extreme is that you use heavy enough weights that you actually fail between the 10th and 12th rep.  There were times today that I could have gone beyond the 12th rep, so I will be upping my weight on Thursday.

Hope all my other ChaLEAN Extreme pals are loving it so far!  I think this is going to be an amazing program.  Can't wait till the pictures I took last night are REALLY before pictures!

New WRB Challenge/ChaLean Extreme

Tomorrow starts the first day of ChaLean Extreme!  I am so excited!  I have wanted to do this program for over a year and finally decided to bite the bullet.  Unfortunately I've been sick this weekend and have not gotten my pictures, measurements, or fit test done; but I do have tomorrow off and so it is getting done then.

And....upon request of Sherry Paradise-Hardy and Bekah Wheeler Dirkse, I am bringing back a simple version of the WRB Challenge. 

Challenge starts tomorrow and ends on February 29th (that's right, this year is leap year).  This is going to be a simple challenge that has the best elements of challenges of the past.

• No teams - although you obviously can reach out to others to work out with.
• Track miles of Walking, Running, Biking or minutes walked, ran, and biked.
• Note any other type of exercise that you did for the week (such as ChaLean Extreme  ;o)
• DOC of the Week
• Post fitness related pics - either you working out, sweaty you, workout gear, healthy meals....you remember.
• Key to this particular challenge - do an activity to post about every day.  ;o)  Doesn't have to be big, but causes us to make it a point to do something active every day.

Send me an email on Friday letting me know what you did and any addtional pics you haven't posted that could go into my blog.  I will not keep a running total.  I will just brag about each of the challengers in my blog that weekend. 

I asked Josh to pick a number from 1 to 5.  He picked 4 and so we will do the DOC from the 4th week of the last WRB Challenge....which was..........drumroll please........(keep the drumroll going while I go look at what the DOC of week 4 was....LOL)
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Okay...it looks to me like it is going to be 13 crunches....

Challenge on!!!!!!   Have a great first week of 2012!