Week 1 of Half Training Done - check!

Week 1 of training plan - done! 3 three mile runs and 1 four mile run in Saturday.  I was procrastinating getting my run in Saturday morning and my friend Erin text me & told me to get my ass in gear :)  My 4 miles Saturday felt pretty good & I ran a lot faster than usual...

I was very happy with that! Me & Charlie cooling off - I have tried to run with him a couple times but he is still in puppy phase and zig zagging around and looks back at me like 

"WTF are we running from?!?" :)

So this week will be a repeat of last as far as training goes - 3 three mile runs and 1 four mile run. And....I will actually register for the race on June 1st as there is a discount on this day. It still is a little daunting to me but - just tackling it one week at a time.

As far as my nutrition - I have splurged a bit on the holiday weekend. We did a beer brunch yesterday morning post-run at Brasserie with Perennial beer pairings. It was delicious but... I think the Side Project pairing was a little bit better.

So we split everything... half the calories half the fat, right?  I will share my two favorite dishes from he brunch.

These beignets were the first part of the meal (not on menu) and wow, these are so very fluffy - amazing!

 Poached eggs over asparagus and a hollandaise mustard sauce & crispy potatoes - so very rich but so good!

I was very happy that I got my miles in before brunch....definitely helped put a dent in the calorie damage for the day. Today will be some food prep for the short week ahead (off on Friday to take Charlie to the vet) - Hope everyone has an awesome holiday weekend.

Training Plan & the Struggle Bus

One of the roadblocks I have always had while training for a half is how daunting 13.1 miles sounds to run - all at one. A friend said to me once "so that's running for over 2 hours straight...you realize that right?" - well that sounds super fun. Not. That actually sounds heinous to me!

So the mind game I have to constantly play is tricking myself into NOT thinking of it like that. Set out a plan, get my miles in for the day & focus on the week ahead. Be proud of what I have accomplished and not freak out over the work ahead.

Yesterday was one of those days where I had to convince myself to just put one foot in front of the other and move my ass. After a long day at the office, I was tired mentally. I was a little stressed. It was the final Blues hockey game. It was Wednesday before a long holiday weekend. It was hot out (no, it was not but I was justifying my 'not today' argument). Truth be told - I wanted to put on yoga pants, pour a glass of wine & lay on the couch. Truth.

After tossing around my options in my mind for a good 30 minutes and lots of pouting to my husband. I decided to just suck it up buttercup, throw on my Brooks & hop on the treadmill.
After getting my 3 wee miles on the treadmill I felt great, relaxed, more energized & centered. And - I was happy to have a glass of wine guilt free :)

In the spirit of keeping it real, I fully admit during my run my mind was also racing - I couldn't stop thinking that WOW if I am struggling this early in - how am I going to feel when I have an 8 mile run, a 10 mile run, etc.  The more I thought it over - I am just going to have to do it. A friend put a comment on my IG account regarding the struggle of getting my run in - "No Excuses. Play like a champion." So this will have to be my new mantra - NO EXCUSES!

My other thought is - damn I need to learn how to be a "wake and run" kind of girl. I have always preferred running later in the day but - living in St Louis - it gets muggy as fuck in the summer. Like terrible awful humidity. So I am either going to have to run in the AM or research running in the humidity. And just do it - No excuses :)

Here is my training plan I am following....

Right now I have to focus on the first few weeks and not look ahead and freak out about the Saturday runs in my future. No excuses, right!

Food Prep Sunday

Sunday is the day I typically hit the grocery store to stock up on healthy eats & food prep my meals for the week. It takes a hunk of time out of my day - like today is absolutely gorgeous and sunshiny and I would much rather be out and about but.... when I meal prep it makes my week go so much smoother & controlled. Makes it much easier to stay on a healthy path.

This week I tried two new recipes - both from this really cool website - My Body My Kitchen. This guy is the king of healthy food prepping - lots of really great ideas and super healthy recipes - love!

So lunches for this week - Turkey Meatloaf, Creamed Cauliflower & steamed green beans. Both of these recipes can be found on the My Body My Kitchen site. I have been meaning to experiment subbing cauliflower for potatoes - really just out of curiosity! I have had many people tell me it is very similar so a healthier, less starchy alternative to white potatoes. I will let you know my official review but - so far, it tasted pretty good as I sampled as I cooked ;)

Both recipes were really easy and pretty quick to prepare- I sautéed green onions, white onion & garlic for the Turkey Meatloaf....

Added to the rest of the ingredients - 1 lb lean ground turkey breast, panko, bbq sauce, egg, pepper, salt & chili flakes.

Here it is going into the oven....baked for 50 mins on 400 and it was done - easy peasy! Makes 5 servings.

For the Creamed Cauliflower - I steamed 2 heads of cauliflower...

Sautéed more yellow onion & garlic in EVOO...

Added steamed cauliflower to the onions & used my immersion blender to cream the puree the mixture....

Mixed in some plain greek yogurt, parsley, chili flake, salt & pepper and a bit of honey - and here is the finished product! Tasty healthy creamed cauliflower!

Then I just steamed some green beans in the microwave and YAY - five lunches ready to go for this week :)

I cannot stress how much this simplifies my mornings & my week - yes it takes time up on a Sunday but it is so worth it during the week if you are a working chick like myself. Although I could see how this would make things much easier even if I did work from home again.

In other news - my plan was to run 4 miles yesterday. This would be the farthest run for me in ....wow I can't even tell you. Years! I was  a little nervous about it but - I just took it REAL slow & kept going - one foot in front of the other. I kept thinking "run the mile you are in" and tried not to think "ugh i have 3 more to go" or "I am only half way there" - focusing on the mile I was in really helped me stay committed and finish strong. And.... I actually ended up running 4.5 miles! YAY!!! This was me after my run yesterday and I was feeling pretty awesome!

I had a really active day yesterday according to my fit bit :) Trying to get as much movement as possible in....love days when I am all in the green!

I feel pretty good today - maybe a bit sore and my left knee feels a little wonky - I told my sister today, it feels a lot different running at 41 versus 21 ;) but - I am very proud of myself :) Official training starts tomorrow - 20 weeks out! I will share my training plan in a future post and how I am going to tackle it.

And I am going to keep it real here - I did pick up a chocolate cupcake at the store today :) but! just buying one is a huge improvement (i would usually buy four to eat on for a weekend) and  I am going to split this one with Chad. Baby steps :)

Happy Sunday Sunday & cheers to a productive & healthy week!

New Finish Line!

Time to blow the dust off my bucket list..... again! Third time is the charm, perhaps?

I am registering this weekend for a half marathon this fall - yikes! I am excited, nervous, scared & wondering WTF all at the same time. I have actually registered for 2 in the past and something has always come up that has prevented me from completing my training. This time I am really determined to stick to training, build up my mileage and endurance SLOWLY (no shin splints please) and complete my first half.

I don't know why but this is just something I want to do. The distance to me seems daunting although I know people that run marathons and ultra marathons. But for me - this will be the longest distance I have ever run. So far - that has been 6 miles. Gulp.

Please wish me luck and send positive thoughts my way! I will need it and yes I will be posting a lot of boring "hey I ran today!!" posts because that will be motivating to me :)

There are a few races to choose from in the fall but I decided to pick a local one (less stress with travel) and one with good reviews and swag :) Also - this race goes right by the end of our street so - my hubs can set up shop with the pups and cheer me on around mile 11. So... this fall I will be running the Rock n' Roll St Louis Half on October 16th!


My friend Erin will be running with me too - she has done a few and also at least one marathon but - I am excited she will be training and running with me to keep me accountable. And when i say she is running with me - I mean she will be running the same day as me :) She is a wee bit faster than me as I am SLOW but.... still running nonetheless ;) This was us (me, Erin & her hubs) at the STL St. Patrick's Day race a couple years ago...5 miler.

Right now I am running about 2-3 miles 3-4 times a week. This weekend will be 4 miles. And so it begins :)

Slow & Steady

Time has just been flying - I have thought about blogging quite a few times but obviously have not made the time. Tonight I am multi-tasking....blues playoff hockey and blogging :)

So the past few weeks have been a mix of healthy days and not so healthy days as far as my nutrition. When I am on - I am so good! But when I am not feeling it - watch out. And - I had a girls weekend in Atlanta and a couple girls night out and well.... I am not at the point that I am going to skip wine on my GNO. Not sure if I will ever be there but - that's another blog post entirely :)

I AM trying to celebrate the small victories more as I know they add up. For example today - lunch was ordered in from one of my favorite delis/bakeries and I said no thank you. I ate my healthy lunch I packed of grilled chicken, green beans & sweet potatoes. I passed on what I would typically order here - a grilled cheese sandwich (blue cheese, bacon & honey) and a fat ass sugar cookie with about 3 inches of icing on top. Yup. I was very tempted as hello... 3 inches of icing and bacon? But - I was proud of myself for sticking to my healthy eats. And you know what - i survived. I didn't really miss it or have lunch regrets. YAY - go me!

Running has also become more commonplace for me - I am up to 3 miles with no stopping... at a snails pace BUT hey, slow is better than no, right? I have never been overly concerned about my pace and more focused on upping miles & endurance. I am thinking of a race this fall but I will share more of that in my next post :)

Anyway - Amy Schemer posted this on Instagram today and it made me laugh....this is so me.....

More so that I go to the gym once - or work out for a week - and I am like hey.... where are the results?! I am trying to focus on consistency and the journey and not get overly hung up on the results (or lack thereof). Slow & steady baby - slow and steady!

Heavy Bones

In my experience, when I am on top of my nutrition game -  i.e.  sticking to healthy choices, being more active, basically feeling in control - it comes down to tracking my food.  The good, bad and ugly. I have been wavering back and forth the past few months between Weight Watchers (WW) and My Fitness Pal (MFP). I do like the message of the current WW plan - more real food, less crap, figure your mental shit out - but...their online tools totally suck. Like bad. And if you decide to splurge and have something that is a bit more on the processed side or a cheat meal - the "points" associated with it seem kinda punitive and discouraging. So - I have decided to just go with MFP. It is really intuitive and easy to use. It's based on calorie in/calorie out but I do have nutrition ranges for carbs/protein/fat that I try to aim for. Anyway... the whole point of this rant is - MFP is where it's at for me right now. And.... I have been tracking all my food on there this week. All week. All weekend. YAY!

Yesterday I hopped on the scale and was encouraged by the number I saw.... it is going down :) Hoping that was not a fluke...trying not to get too hung up about a number. Although to be 100% honest, I clearly am hung up on it as I am way too embarrassed to put my weight out there. I have always weighed a lot more than people think. When I tell people what I weigh they are typically surprised and then follow up with "wow I would never think you weigh that much" or "wow, you carry your weight well". OK - thanks y'all for being polite yet confirming I need to drop some pounds.  Personally, I like to think it is because I have so much muscle mass. HA. I wish. My mom always said "we just have heavy bones". Yeah, ok Mom, thanks for trying to make me feel better but I don't think that is it. More accurately, I am 5'8", I have broad shoulders, I am extremely blessed in the chest, and I like to eat. Oh and I have heavy bones, let's not forget that part ;)

Today I am going to take "before" pics and take measurements. I won't be sharing those pics though - more just for my own reality check and motivation. At least - I won't be sharing them now.  I know it will take time to see results as it took some time to eat all the cupcakes and booze that resulted in where I am now.

One of the things that also helps me stay on track...food prep. Doing this so I don't have to at least thing about breakfast and dinner during the week is a life saver. Just grab and go as I work in an office about 80% of the time.

Here are some of my eats for the week.....

 Left is an egg white frittata with spinach, turkey sausage & a little cheese. Right is roasted sweet potatoes, broccoli & chicken breast. I will be something similar to this again this week.

 I am loving this yogurt - Oikos Triple Zero - all flavors I have had are really delicious. The consistency is very thick & smooth. I can't imagine going back to eating regular yogurt. Our dog Bebe also approves :)

This weekend - rosemary chicken salad has been my lunch staple. LOVE this stuff. It's pretty simple mix of chopped grilled chicken, green onions, almonds (i used pecans as I was out of almonds),  mixture of greek yogurt/light mayo/dijon mustard and fresh chopped rosemary. It is an older cooking light recipe and still is a favorite

 I busted out the Kitchenaid Spiralizer attachment my husband gave me for Christmas - finally! When I first opened the box.....it was a bit intimidating but, after a quick read through of the directions....it was actually really easy to use. I made noodles - zucchini noodles - for the first time. They were AMAZING!!!!

 OK I also spiralized the last half of a sweet potato I had in the fridge from this week as well :) I had to resist the urge to spiralize every veggie in the fridge.

I loved the cool shapes left over :) The dogs were happy to snack on these.

I made Zucchini Shrimp Scampi - it was FANTASTIC! The recipe was very simple - sautéed garlic and red chili flakes in a little butter, add shrimp with some chicken stock & lemon juice

I have read a lot of hype about this ice cream  - how tasty it is and healthy to boot. I admit I was skeptical. I have tried a few other brands with similar claims and they just taste....meh. I tried this for the first time last night and WOW! They need to sell this by the gallon! It was so lemony & creamy. Didn't taste like fake diet ice cream at all. Go buy this NOW. You will not regret it. Go buy all the Halo Top Ice Cream NOW. Before I beat you to it :)

 I just had 1/2 a cup and crumbled a few graham crackers over it - was heaven!

 I also had to try this coffee creamer this weekend. I am somewhat of a coffee creamer hoarder. I usually have about three bottle in my fridge at once. I have been on a "sugar free" flavored coffee creamer kick but - I started thinking about a lot of the chemicals in it and decided to go back to Coffee-mate Bliss brand - very simple ingredients. And I am a sucker for anything salted caramel. So.... not sure how much this actually makes my coffee taste like salted caramel but - it is good regardless and without all the chemical junk. I've tried to drink my coffee black but, it is one thing I just cannot let go of  so, I will make the best choice I can instead.

Yesterday was spent doing yard work and hanging with these two sillies.

Was a fantastic weekend spent by myself - well and the pups. It was a perfect weekend by myself - some exercising, made the back patio pretty again, got an overdue pedi, squeezed in a run and several walks, got some shopping in, and had time for binge watching a new tv series. Pretty awesome weekend! My husband comes home today from his trip to DC and I feel rejuvenated & focused on the week ahead.  My goal is to stay as focused as I was this past week. 

Cheers and happy Sunday!

Starting Fresh....

I have been toying around with starting another blog for a few months now....my other blog I talk about well...pretty much everything. I started it almost 9 years ago....holy wow is that possible?? Wow time flies! So much has changed and evolved since then and I wanted to start a blog to focus more on my nutrition, health, exercise.... and sometimes my lack thereof. Really this is for selfish reasons -  to help me stay motivated & accountable!

The past two years have been stressful. I won't go into everything here but between work stress, losing a pet, dealing with some personal health issues, etc etc etc... I have dealt with my stress by drinking all the wine and eating all the cupcakes. No amount of gym time can balance that diet plan out. Just recently I have come out of this sugar booze fog and realized I was medicating myself by giving myself permission to drink/eat whatever because... hey I deserve it dammit!  

Made it through that stressful business meeting? All the gooey butter cake! 

Missing my sweet dog that passed? brownies & vino for dinner - why not!?

Bad day at work? Wine...stat! 16 oz is a glass, right?

Thinking about all those years of birth control pills that apparently was not necessary?! wings & a bucket of beer anyone?

And of course the flip side of that is that I also celebrated a lot of good things over the past 2 years in the same fashion. Basically... there was no chill on the steady stream of sugar & booze. I still was squeezing in a salad or a workout or water here or there but to be honest - I have been off the nutrition track for a solid two years. And I've got the muffin top.... or really more of a jumbo cupcake with extra frosting barrel... to prove it.

So I have just felt like it is time to start fresh, get focused, clear the cupcake wine haze & get accountable.

I went with Wine to Finish Line as - I will always love a nice bottle glass of wine and running is my therapy. My mission is to enjoy these both & balance them out. And hopefully drop some weight in the process. I hope you will follow me along this journey.... I will need your support, encouragement & general harassment.