The Life and Times of an Athlete on a Budget

Oh December. Nothing like holiday travel, parties to host, shopping, and year-end sales to make you think about money. I recently got a better handle on my budget by working with a personal financial planner at LearnVest. I felt kind of like an idiot for waiting so long to find a financial planner. Strangely, I'm really excited about everything we talked about. As I expected, I'm better off than many people who made a lot of poor financial decisions....and I could also BE a lot better. Talk about new years resolutions...

A little backstory... I didn't sign up for Ironman Florida this year because it was just too expensive (and there are too many variables in my life for 2014 to be sure that I could train appropriately) and because of my ankle issues. When Jeff looked at my spending, he said I needed to cut back on extras. You know, dinner out or "wow, x person would love that! I'll buy it!" but, when we started tallying up other areas of my life for discretionary spending, we realized that my fitness budget is outrageous.

I offered up a challenge he could "task" me with - cut out the majority of my fitness spending. No gym membership, no box membership, no regular active release therapy, no regular yoga...nothing, if it didn't fit into my weekly "discretionary spending" - which brings me to about $80 a month. I'm not including the cost of my coach in this $80, so keep that in mind - my coaching budget was something I was unwilling to budge on. I was willing to cut our cable to make that happen.

I figured that there are certainly ways to do most of my training without paying for it. This makes *me* accountable for stretching, for pacing, for pushing myself, instead of relying on something or someone else.

Here is how I intend to do it.

1) Running. This is free. Get off the treadmill and go outside.

2) Biking. With a bike (derp), this is also free. As it gets colder, instead of opting for the spin bikes at my former gym, I'll use my trainer, even if it is a demon piece of crap. If any millionaires trainer making companies out there would like to sponsor me, I will sing the praises of your bike trainer product if you give me one. I'm looking at you CycleOps. I'll shill for a product I want/need/use.

3) Swimming. Thankfully, DC has indoor, free to residents pools. Time to fall in love with my swim cap hair again.

4) Body weight exercises. I want to pick up heavy things. I want to be encouraged by my coaches. I want to be with other people who almost kind of like burpees. But I can't afford the $190/month. I just can't. At best, I can afford a drop in class here and there. For now, I'll use my trainer brain and do body exercises. I am always interested in these "30 day challenge" workouts. So, to structure my workouts, I'll be using these:

• 30 Day Push Up Challenge
• 30 Day Plank Challenge
• 30 Day Squat Challenge
• 30 Day Ab Challenge

Last night, I ripped out this:

10 rounds of:

- 30 second planks

- 20 sit ups (I wound up doing variations to keep from going insane)

- 10 leg lifts

- 5 pushups (low because my shoulder is still unhappy)

- 10 lunges on either side

- 15 squats

That totals to:

- 5 minutes of planks

- 200 sit ups or variations

- 100 leg lifts

- 50 push ups

- 100 lunges on either side

- 150 squats

Honestly...not a bad workout and my cats were excited to try and screw up my workout whenever possible.

5) Yoga. Because my ankle seems to do a lot better with yoga, this is where the majority of my budget will likely go. I am going to go once a week and then practice on my own at home and really invest my time with my foam roller, the stick, and active stretching band. 

We'll see how this goes and if I can actually work out as well as I did before without a strong budget for the gym.

Anyone else scaling back on fitness expenses while ramping up on workouts? I need your tips. 

Mia Cooks - Pork Tenderloin, Green Beans, Scalloped Potatoes, and Gravy!

Alright! I'm injured. Still injured. My ankle was swollen to the size of my biceps Saturday night (only slight exaggeration). Until my health insurance kicks in...Coach has mandated (wisely) that I am NOT allowed to run or do anything resembling impact. Blah blah blah, Coach is right, blah blah. Running resumes March 1.

In the mean time, I figured it was time to dedicate myself to some time in the kitchen! One of my goals for these two weeks with Christine has been to make a food plan at the beginning of the week and cook more of my meals. Normally, I'm really good at this, but probably one week a month, I fall totally off the wagon. We'll be out of food, I'll be too tired to go to the grocery, and face it, tomato soup from Cosi sounds SO good right now...

But this weekend, we hit up Costco and Safeway and Washington's Green Grocer delivered an abundance of beautiful produce. The freezer and fridge are PACKED, and mostly with produce!

And so, in the frustration of being off my ankle, I decided to cook! This episode of Mia Cooks focuses on how to cook a pork tenderloin. The best think about this dish is that the meat is craycray cheap. You can get a two pack at Costco for pennies.

Below, I've got my recipes and step by step for pork tenderloin, green beans, scalloped potatoes, and gravy. If you decide to make everything, here is a list of what you'll need in total:

Tenderloin:
- Pork tenderloin(s)
- soy sauce
- sherry cooking wine
- rice wine vinegar
- vegetable oil
- orange juice
- shallot
- fresh or ground ginger
- rosemary
- italian seasoning
- butter
- salt, pepper, garlic salt, seasoned salt
- garlic cloves

Green Beans:
- green beans
- onion
- powdered chicken bouillon

Scalloped Potatoes:
- 5-8 small potatoes (enough for 2-3 c. sliced)
- chives, bacon, cheese (optional)
- powdered mustard, paprika, salt
- 1 1/4 c. milk and cream

Gravy:
- broth (optional)
- flour
- left over juice from cooking tenderloins

1) Optional Trimming I thawed the tenderloin out over night and then, mid afternoon, I trimmed up the tenderloins. This is optional. I recently had the opportunity to observe an incredible chef cook - during this time, he demo'ed how to trim a tenderloin. I will admit, I am not nearly as adept at it, but here is the general gist, via video:
 (video coming shortly)

Basically, take off the fat and the tendons (anything white). You can do this with a sharp knife and some patience. If you're lazy/time crunched, don't bother...though I REALLY do recommend doing this.

2) Marinade. Then, I marinaded the meat for a couple hours. My marinade recipe is:
- 1/4 c. soy sauce
- 1/4 c. sherry
- 1/8 c. rice wine vinegar
- 1/8 c. veg oil
1 tbsp orange juice (or just a splash)
A couple dashes of rosemary
1 chopped shallot
Dash of powdered ginger (it's preferable to have about a tablespoon of chopped fresh ginger, but use what you've got.)

You can put this in a big bowl or dish, but I prefer the "no clean" option of a plastic ziplock. Easier to move the meat around the marinade this way.

3. Wait. Let it sit in the fridge for however long, but 2+ hours is preferable. Overnight is even fine.

4. Crust. (ps. now is the time to preheat your oven to 400). I like seasoning the outside of the tenderloins in addition to the marinade. Here's the "no clean" way to do it. Pull out foil and grind a good layer of salt, pepper, seasoned salt, herbs (italian blend works fine), and garlic salt. Then roll your tenderloins over it (that's what she said). Then, I have slices of garlic cloves (thin) and put small knife cuts into the tenderloins and insert the garlic slices.

5. Sear. I like to sear the outside of the tenderloin to lock in the flavor. There are more technical terms for why this is a good idea, but I don't know enough to tell you why. Go with me, here.

Just melt about 2-3 tbsp butter in a skillet that can go into the oven (which should be preheated before you sear the meat.) Make sure the butter is hot enough that when you put the meat in, you hear a sizzle, but not too hot that the butter browns before you put the meat in. On my electric stove, this is a 5-6 on a scale of 1-10. You can test the butter by dripping a tiny bit of (like, a drop or two) of water or marinade.

Cook each side of the tenderloins for 1 minute - just enough to sear the outside.

Don't worry if some of the red at the ends isn't gone. It's thinner and will cook just fine in the oven.

6. Cook. This is a tricky one. If you get the normal sized tenderloins at costco or wherever, then this is a decent cooking time: 

• 8 minutes - mostly raw
• 6 minutes more - smaller tenderloin is done
• 3 more minutes - larger tenderloin is ready

These cooking times are for a "pink" tenderloin. If you prefer yours well done (???) or have family members or small children who can only eat well done meat, I would add another 3 minutes to these times. The key, really, is to have an instant read thermometer. I've seen a range of temperatures, so I may be wrong, but 155-160 appears to be the right internal temp. 

The biggest mistake I made when I was learning to cook was taking the meat off when it was exactly where I wanted it to be. WRONG. Meat doesn't stop cooking the second it is out of the heat, so make sure you take it off a few minutes before it appears "done" (whatever that "done-ness is to you.)

Here is what "done" is for me:

7. Rest. Yes, rest. Rest, for meat, is just as important as rest is for athletes. Take the meat out of the skillet (watch the handle, it IS hot and will sear your flesh off). For the no-clean method, put each tenderloin on it's own sheet of foil and loosely wrap the foil around it. This will keep it warm and allow the meat to cool, finish cooking, and have the juices set. This will keep the juices from spilling out all over everything (and drying your meat) when you cut it. I let this happen for about 10 minutes (or while I'm finishing making dinner.)

Sides

Yes, I know we can all live on meat alone, but it's SO much better with some sides. Normally, I'd make something a lot more healthy, but I was feeling indulgent. I added scalloped potatoes, green beans, and gravy.

Scalloped Potatoes

Recipe adapted from Joy of Cooking

I tend to make these when we have some potatoes have seen better days - usually, smaller potatoes. Some of them are starting to sprout and all that. No matter. Take enough to fill two cups with slices (this will be between 5-8 smaller potatoes).

1. Peel them. You can do this with a knife a little more effectively and easily than with a peeler, but it's chef's choice.

2. Slice them. The more thinly and evenly you slice them, the prettier and more evenly cooked your dish will be. I recommend going for something around an 1/8th of an inch.

3. Prep your secondary ingredients. And preheat your oven to 350. Chop up about 1-2 tbsp butter. You want smaller pieces you can "dot" around the layers of the potatoes. Grab about a 1/3 cup of flour and have that on the side. If you want to add some new flavors, grab some chives, a half an onion, or some bacon (or all of them!) Some people also use cheese. 

4. Layer. Cover the bottom of the pan with one layer of potatoes. Dust with flour and with a few pieces of butter and whatever extras you'd like to add. Keep layering until you're out of potatoes, but don't dust the top with flour or any extras. 

5. Mix liquid. Depending on your level of decadence, heat up a mixture of 1 1/4 c. milk and cream so that it's about bathwater temperature. Sometimes, I add more milk or more water to have more liquid. No more than an extra 1/4 cup, though. 

Mix in 1/2 tsp. of paprika and another of powdered mustard. I add salt in at this point (about a teaspoon). Make sure it's really mixed up or you just get a lump of seasonings in the bottom of the pan.

6. Pour liquid over the potatoes. 

7. Bake. Cover this bad boy with foil and pop it into the oven. In about a half hour, take off the foil. Cooking it with foil for the first half hour keeps it from drying out or burning on the top. Let it bake for another 45 minutes to an hour - but check it at a half hour. I just told Chadd to take it out after an hour while I was at a meeting, so ours came out a bit more "done" than normal. 

Green Beans

I assume most people know how to make green beans, but if you don't - or you want a new twist - here's how we make them in our house.

1. Heat water. Put about an inch and a half of water into the bottom of a larger pot. Add two heaping tablespoons of chicken bouillon and half of an onion, cut into large sections.   

2. Clean the green beans. Rise, then chop off the ends of each green bean. I'm not meticulous about it, don't let yourself spend way too much time doing this.

3. Cook. With about 6-8 minutes left on the rest of your meal, throw in the green beans and just keep an eye on them. Take them out when you can pierce them with a knife, but before they turn brown. They will look vibrantly green when they're done. If you like your green beans soggy - don't come over for dinner. 

Gravy

Recipe non existant, but mad props to my dad for teaching me how to make gravy.

When you took the tenderloins out of the oven and moved them to foil, I'm sure you noticed that you had a lot of extra juice and stuff floating around in the bottom of the pan. This is good. 

1. Thicken. Toss a tablespoon or so of flour into the juice in the pan on medium low heat. If this makes paste, add some water, broth (any kind, really), or left over marinade. Your choice. If you use the left over marinade - match that 1 for 1 with water since the marinade will be very strong in flavor. Don't over do it.

2. Simmer. Bring gravy to a simmer. Too thin? Add flour a spoonful at a time to avoid lumps. Too thick? Add water, marinade, or broth. Stir continuously so you don't burn the gravy.

3. Repeat. Until you have the consistency you like. A word on using the marinade - that has raw stuff floating around in it. Make sure your gravy simmers (bubbles) for a bit if you've decided to use that as a loosening agent. 

Timing

I think timing is probably the hardest thing for people to master as they are learning to cook. Here is my cheat sheet to make everything above and have it all finish at roughly the same time.

Earlier in the day: prep tenderloins and marinade them

2 hours before dinner: prep scalloped potatoes

1.5 hours before dinner: put in scalloped potatoes

1 hour before dinner: take foil off potatoes, prep green beans

30 minutes before dinner: sear tenderloins and place in oven

15 minutes before dinner: boil water for green beans

10 minutes before dinner: put on green beans, take out tenderloin and let rest

5 minutes before dinner: make gravy

And voila:

The meat is a little pink for my taste, but Chadd likes his tenderloin more rare than I do. 

Success!

Questions? Mia Cooks requests? Soup recipes coming soon!

Wednesday Motivation and Affirmation

Just a quick post on this rainy day to remind you that whatever it is that you are chasing, be it a 5k, a marathon, an Ironman or any other goal in life that you can do it if you dedicate yourself to it.

I strongly recommend signing up for daily emails from Tut's Adventurers' Club. It's a little new agey sometimes for my taste, but then I get emails like this:

The presumption, Mia, at all times and under all circumstances, should always be that you are good enough, worthy enough, and lovable enough. And that you are exactly the right kind of person, in the right place, at the right time. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been instilled with such dreams in the first place.

Ain't that the truth.

From the girl who never thought she'd run more than a 15 minute mile, let me promise you that amazing things are possible if you believe you can do it.

Happy Wednesday!

Schedules, arms, shoes and other things

My abs are burning as I write this.

So far, my "back to normal" routine has been going pretty well.  I'm not as tired as I was in the beginning stages of recovery and my strength hasn't disappeared too much.  Last week:

Monday: Rest
Tuesday: A.M. Cardio and Weights
Wednesday: Fleet Feet running group (see below)
Thursday: Rest
Friday: A.M. Spinning
Sunday: 20-20-20

This week/Accomplished and Planned:
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: A.M. Cardio/Weights, P.M. Cycle
Wednesday: A.M. Cardio
Thursday: A.M. Cardio/Weights
Friday: A.M. Spinning
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: 20-20-20

And I just sneezed and it burned.  Clearly, I got a good workout on Sunday.

Teaching again is really great--a lot of my regulars were there and were clearly happy to see me (even though I had awesome subs).  I had a great time and made a special effort to make sure everyone is in just as much pain as I am...

(one week later)...

I need to get better about hitting "publish post"...because this has clearly been sitting around for a bit since I wrote it.

Continuing the workout trend has been good--I took Wednesday and Thursday off because I was lazy and slept in, and had Restaurant Week dinners both nights, but I made up for it by working out on Friday morning (am cycle) and skipping out a bit early on work and hitting the gym before date night with Chadd.

This morning I taught 20-20-20 again, which was awesome.  This week we did an arm burn out, which is my new favorite workout method:

10 exercises, 1 minute each.
Arms:
- bicep curls/hammer curls
- upright rows
- shoulder press
- triceps kickbacks
- deadlifts
- pull over (lie with shoulders on ball, squeezing glutes, holding weights above chest, then over head, then back to over chest)
- bear hugs on ball (shoulder still on ball, arms out with weights, to center, back out, repeat)
- pushups (can be substituted for "pyramid" pushups--10 basic, 10 with one hand on top of step, 10 straddling bench, 10 with other hand on bench, 10 basic)
- weighted jumping rope (act like you're jumping rope weights in hand)
- triceps dips

Do that 2x through, broken up with 10 minutes (or more) of cardio (Good time for speed work on the treadmill, to be honest) and the finish up with the 10 minute ab routine that will slice you up:

1 minute each:
- basic crunches (no cheating)
- leg lifts (don't swing the legs, even foot prints towards the ceiling)
- rope climbers
- leg scoops
- bridge
- side shoelace grabs
- double crunch
- the "row" (sit on tailbone, feet off ground, holding a weight, scoop from side to side, fully rotating body)
- low plank
- high plank

voila.

Now, I need to get around to creating a lower body workout that will be just as painful and effective.

Gym routine this week looks like:
- Monday: Evening group run with Y (likely to be a minor workout for me)
- Tuesday: Morning leg routine, evening cycle
- Wednesday: Morning Cardio, evening running group with Fleet Feet
- Thursday: Morning upper body routine
- Friday: Morning cycle
- Saturday: Rest
- Sunday: 20-20-20

Changing gears, fun new subject: Shoes!

I am sad to announce that I've decided to break my many year streak of wearing Nike Max Motos.  I love those shoes and strongly recommend them to anyone looking for a good, light weight, neutral running shoe.  However, after roughly 4 years (probably more) of only using motos, I've decided to try something a bit different.  I will likely keep purchasing the motos to teach in, but since I've vowed to take running seriously this year (something that people think I'm kidding about because how can one not be "serious" about running when training for a marathon), I've decided to get a pair of shoes dedicated to running only.

When I was at Fleet Feet the other week, I had some time to kill before the running group.  I met Phil, one of the guys who works there, who talked to me about shoes. I thought I knew about shoes, and boy was I wrong. Phil knows shoes. If you're looking for someone to tell you about running shoes and what you need, ask Phil at Fleet Feet, though I'm sure they all know their stuff. Bottom line, we decided that if my then-current shoes (motos) were on the scale of Good to Best, mine were somewhere between the line of good to better. Looking to work with a shoe dedicated only for running, he let me try on about 7 different pairs of shoes. I took 2-3 of them out of a test jog up and down the block. I tried everything from Nikes to Brooks to Sauconys to Asics, and there I found, in the last pair of shoes, something miraculous: Ascis Gel Nimbus 12. Yes. Please.

I've been running with Nikes that use air technology (which keeps the shoe very lights) and since I wear orthodics in my shoes, the lighter the better. However, they cushion just a little less. I really have liked the gel nimbus in the week or so that I've had them. I can definitely tell the difference with the gel (better shock absorber), and the fit is just a bit more suited for stability. On top of that, the shoe laces come around on a slight "s" curve to better bind the shoe to your foot.  Better yet, Phil taught me how to tie my shoes just a little differently so that the shoe better connects with my heel.

I've been cautions since I haven't run out of a moto in so long (basically my entire running career), but so far, just doing 3-4 miles, we're off on a good start.

Also related to shoes:
Last tuesday at my first cycle class in quite some time, I realized that the instructor bike at the Y only accommodates clips (yikes). The instructor before me kindly help me take the bike off the stage and change it for a bike with cages. Then, someone in the class asked me why their clips weren't fitting in our bikes (???). She said she had "egg beaters" (over my head like a flock of geese) and thankfully someone stepped up and said "oh, those are the types our bikes don't handle, they're really only made for mountain bikes."

I don't mind being ignorant about something fitness related, God knows there is more to that subject that I'll ever have a handle on, but something that is pretty basic to what I'm teaching...I can't ignore it much longer. I haven't ever invested in a pair of clips, simply because it's just that: an investment.

Chadd and I went over to City Sports in Georgetown (which is launching a running club that I am seriously stoked about) and I talked to one of the guys and basically owned up to the fact that I am a clip-ignorant cycle instructor.

They only carry two pairs (both Shimano). He grabbed each for me and I tried them on. It's tough to say "wow, that's a comfortable shoe!" when trying on clips. Clips are essentially made to be supportive (read: stiff) along the bottom of the shoe to act as an extended pedal. You clip into the pedal, making your foot much less likely to slide off/out of the pedal.

They didn't have my size in the older version (read: cheaper) and since the difference was only $10, I figured what the heck, and grabbed the newer version: http://www.bicyclebuys.com/shoes/ShoeMTB/SHWM61PART

Pretty slick.

Report to come on how those work out on Tuesday, though you should have seen me this morning. After teaching 20-20-20, I figured I better try them out before I taught with them. I found a bike on one of the floors that was a spinning bike and clipped in. Ok. Not too bad. Pedal pedal pedal, awesome, we're good. Now to dismount.

Oops? I finally gave up (I was feeling fuzzy after a lack of food and teaching) and took my shoes off while still attached to the bike. Note to self: release by moving heel to the side and then release.

Also this week: aiming to get 8 hours of sleep a night--no more, no less. Which means, in order to be up at 7:15, I need to jump in bed.

Btw, stick to your resolutions and outlast that dude at the gym who doesn't know the unspoken rules. You're better than that.

Wanted: Fail Proof Way to Get Up

You guys, I'm losing my mind.

Help.

I need to find a fail proof method to getting my butt out of bed in the morning.  Things I have tried?
- Setting an alarm in another room (get up, turn off, go back to bed)
- Setting several alarms (turn both off or hit snooze on both)
- Setting alarm an hour before I have to get up (snooze...snooze...snooze through time I meant to get up)
- Two alarm clocks of the feline variety with a non negotiable wake-up time of 5:30 (locked out of bedroom after feeding)
- Morning gym routine (mild success)
- Signs (epic fail, I can't read in the dark or without my glasses)

Chadd says that the real problem is that I KNOW that I can get ready in about 10 minutes.  And it's true. I don't like it, persay, but I don't need more than 10-15 minutes.  I would much rather have an hour to take my time, have breakfast, etc.

The other problem, too, is that I can't really spend a whole bunch of time in the room in the morning getting ready, since Chadd's still sleeping.  I would RATHER sleep, too.  I can't turn on the tv, or the radio, or music while I get ready...

The final problem is that I don't really have a time that I have to be at work.  8:30?  Sure.  8:45?  Okay.  A little after nine when the world goes insane at home?  Sure.  It's a double edged sword (one I'm glad to have, so don't see this as complaining) but it doesn't help when I'm like "augh, got four hours of sleep...must hit snooze."

I guess that last sentence betrays me.  I never get enough sleep.  A lot of it is that when I pick up Chadd, I'm forced into losing a couple hours of sleep.  Unfortunately, there isn't really a way around that one that doesn't break our budget or force me to quit teaching.

I'm making an effort to get up at least 30 minutes before I have to leave from here on out.  Which means I need to be up at 7:45 every day.  Shouldn't be that hard.

Any suggestions?

Weekend of Car Problems

Hello from hot and humid DC...I had intended to spend this Saturday morning getting up early and getting out for my first long run...but in case you weren't aware, we're in the middle of a sever heat wave.  It literally says on the weather map "oppressive" across the DC area.  I didn't even know that was a category...

Anyway, it doesn't matter anyway because I had to take the car to the dealership at 7:30 for repairs (sigh.  $$$$$) and I'm still there right now.  It's only been an hour, but it feels like some sort of time warp.  And place warp.

I'm not kidding, the guy to my right is drawing some sort of psychadelic butterfly woman with a rainbow background.  Not like doodling, either, like full on massive sheet of paper with pastels.  Sooner I can go home, the better.  There are at least three other people in the room with me who are conversing with the tv.  Not in a crazy kind of way, but in the way that they're literally having a conversation with the today show.  Example: TV: "If you have an allergy to wheat gluten...it can cause *list symptoms" Person: Mmmmmhmm, sure nuff!

I'm in a real conundrum.  I took about a week off of working out.  Mostly because this week was hell on wheels at work.  Don't get me wrong, unlike my last job, I actually enjoy my work and so it hasn't been horrible, but it's taken a toll on my exercise and sleep time.

But that's not the conundrum.  The real reason I've taken a week off is because I really hate running on a treadmill.  Really hate it, but it's been too hot to go outside unless I'm up really early, and I've been too tired to do that.

I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to motivate myself to get up and get out there.  I have a marathon AND a Ragnar relay breathing down my neck, so I really don't have a negotiable way out.

Since Chadd's out of town this weekend, I have plenty of time to plan.  What do I do well?  I plan.

If I ever get to leave the dealership, then I'm going to go home and after some fun time with my weightloss buddy, start doing some planning.  I'm going to come up with my meal plans again, I always prefer to do that because it takes all the last minute what to eat guess work out of my nights, especially when making a quesadilla sounds like the only option.

I'm also going to brainstorm things to do instead of running ... maybe it's that I have to go and spend an hour on the bike or cross trainer (x-train), maybe it's that I go swimming at the Y (in this heat? yes please...), or a walk.  It's still hot outside, but I could probably manage walking (knowing that I'll likely jog)

So.  That was written a while ago, in between then and now, I stopped by the diner next door for food, then walked the mile to Ikea to look for a new solution for our desk (we're getting rid of it, since we never use it...) but we need something to put all the stuff in that was in the desk.

Can I just tell you....it's ridiculously hot outside.  I literally was sweating through my shirt walking the mile back from Ikea.  I'm sure I looked like a crazy homeless person, walking down the highway, but whatever, better than sitting here in the mechanic's...which is playing some terrible 3-d animated kid's show about dogs that race car.

Okay.  Thank God.  I'm writing this at 10:45 at night...the car is almost repaired (a long story that isn't worth getting into) and my weightloss buddy and I had a great day at Joann fabrics, crafting, eating pizza, and chatting.

Hopefully I'll actually get my food/workout plans together tomorrow.  I'll share them soon, whether it's tomorrow or the day after...or the day after that!

Old Habits, New Ways of Life

I had some awesome ideas on what to blog about today, but go figure, they literally flew out of my head.  So instead, I'm going to talk a little bit about how I'm trying to stay healthy with my new life.

When I joined my last job, I was more focused on the fact that I was working my first full time job and that I wanted to make a good impression.  My focus was entirely on my career, which was the right mindset...but it blew up in my face because I neglected everything else.

Over the course of two years, no joke, I gained nearly 20 pounds.  I can't even tell you how hard it is to write that.  We've all read those magazine articles about how if you do x (ex: drink a whole milk chai latte) x times a week (how about 3 times) over the course of x years (let's say 2), you will gain x pounds (how about 20?).  My downfall was not chai lattes (at least not totally), it was the general lifestyle where I didn't focus on the pizza, the happy hours, the venti coffee drinks...and then I woke up one morning (when I started this blog) and asked myself "what have you done?"  I lost 8 pounds.  Then I celebrated and crapped out.  Gained the 8 back, plus 1.

About the time that I began to realize I couldn't be happy and stay in my previous job, I also began to realize that I couldn't continue to treat myself the way I was treating myself.

You've read the story of how I managed to get through those months before I joined my new company, so now you know it's possible, but I was really worried about the transition.  As unhappy as I was, I had a schedule I knew how to maintain, but I also had horrible habits.

If I didn't get up to go to the gym, I was usually up about 15 minutes before I had to walk out the door.  I was hitting the right caloric intake, but at the risk of of getting the wrong nutrition.  How do you make a day's worth of food in 5 minutes?  Easy!  You throw a lean cuisine, a 100 calorie pack, and some other processed stuff into a bag and off you go.

I promised myself when I started this job that I would live my life in a way that I was enjoying it.  Every minute of it.

I have promised myself to do the following:
- Make a meal plan every weekend that does not involved processed food
- Wake up an hour before I have to leave
- Eat breakfast EVERY morning
- Make my lunch every day or have a plan if I have a client lunch meeting
- Make a gym schedule and stick to it (schedule must be flexible)
- Enjoy every meal that I eat (because calories suck if they taste bad)

I know it's only day three, but I've gotten up consistently an hour before I had to leave for work, gotten to work early for 30 minutes alone to have coffee and watch the news.  I made a menu plan, cooked on Sunday, and have stuck with it.  My gym schedule hit a bump tonight, but because it was flexible, I'm going tomorrow night and taking tonight to relax.

I have 8 pounds to go--I added two pounds to my goal weight loss, otherwise, I am proud to say that I've maintained my weightloss for the past two months and that as soon as I sign up for my trainer, I'll be back on track with all systems go to burn off 8 pounds by the middle of June.

I think the bottom line of this meandering post is this: if you're unhappy with where you are, nothing says you cannot change that.  I know that I need milestones to help me change things, but think about what it is that you're dissatisfied with.  Do you rush in the morning?  Skip the gym?  Rely on take out?  Make an action plan and change it, because from where I'm sitting, and maybe it's the new job talking (it's so awesome, btw, I love being there), but changing something that makes you unhappy, as small as it may be, magnifies in how happy it makes you when you change it.

My Second RD Appt and the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run

I met with my Registered Dietician (RD) last Thursday after many a rescheduled appointment.

I have to say, if you've never sat down with an R.D., stop what you're doing, stop reading this blog, and go make an appointment. Get 4 sessions, and trust me.

The last time I met with my RD, I had brought her a food diary from about a week to two weeks of eating.  I'm fairly meticulous with writing down what I eat, so that was the easy part.  We talked about my goals, my life style, and some general rules, then she asked me to write down the emotional feelings I had every time I ate until our next meeting.

While that went out the window when I got busy, I did make note of my emotions while eating enough that this picture became clear:

- I woke up not hungry (even before and after a morning workout), got the office and wanted a cup of coffee, no food.  Halfway into my coffee, I wanted to eat my desk and the hunger came out of no where.
- I ate again around 10:30 because I was starting to get the munchies.  Usually a piece of fruit cured this.
- Since my team tends to eat together at noon, I was never hungry at the beginning of lunch.  The hunger picked up halfway through lunch, then I finished ready for a food coma nap.
- 3:30 I get bored and want to snack.  Has to be a slow to eat food--popcorn, grapes, anything that requires time to eat.
- Not hungry when I get home and especially not hungry after I workout.  At all.  I have to force myself to eat after a workout.  But about an hour after my workout, again I am ready to destroy an entire pizza.

My RD and I went through discussing that pattern and it basically followed exactly what she suspected/had seen in my food log:

I'm not eating enough.  Hi, shocker!  I'm a really big proponent of calories in, calories out for weight loss and while it still holds through, I'm highly active and not fueling my body to that level. Am I starving myself?  No, but is my body going "eh, let's not burn off that fat, we're a little worried about our caloric intake?" in a word, yes.  It sounds a lot more like a bad thing than it actually is. 

Think about your body as a car.  Let's say that the gas tank can fuel for the energy needed for exactly 1 day, plus a little bit of top-off fuel.  When you wake up in the morning (start your car) without eating breakfast, you're essentially running on fumes till you hit the gas station (first meal).  If you're like me and try to get in a few morning workouts, you're running on fumes, then pushing your car to the gas station if you fail to eat before hand.

Of course, you want to fill up the gas tank all the way (stuffing yourself).  Same thing happens if you decide to put in more miles in a day than your gas tank can hold (second workout) and you wind up filling up again before you take your car home and putting it in the garage.

Essentially, I burn on fumes, over load on food, get really tired, burn all my food off again, then eat a ton or not at all, then pass out and repeat.  My consumption looked more like a tiny hill followed by a valley, then a big hill, a steep valley, a little hill, then a huge hill, then right back down and repeat.

My R.D. says that I need to fuel before and after my workouts and definitely eat a breakfast and fuel through my day.

I don't have the papers in front of me, but she outlined the amount of stuff I need to be getting in these food groups:
- Grains
- Protein
- Dairy
- Fruits
- Vegetables

It's a LOT of food.  I know she was thinking that I'd be mentally tabbing up the calories from a sample meal, so she said something that I guess I knew in the back of my mind, but hadn't actually fleshed out into full thought.

I might have been eating the right amount of calories, but the nutrients? Who knows. I mean, what do you REALLY get out of a 100 calorie pack of chocolate pretzels?  Probably not much.  So we turned the attention to what kind of calories I was actually eating.  Cutting out a lot of prepackaged frozen junk and turning to "whole" foods.

While I'll be eating a lot more food, I'll probably be eating the right amount of calories, with all the nutrients.  I added milk back into my diet, which hasn't been there in years.  My stomach and I are still trying to decide how this is going to work out, but it has been nice to induldge in a big frothy glass of milk, especially post workout for the perfect blend of carbs and protein (and it cuts off that huge hunger pang I have about an hour post workout).

I'll post the sample menu that my RD gave me when I get home.

We also talked about setting SMART goals.  I think I've talked about smart goals, so I won't go there again, but if you're interested, just google it.  We  wound up setting two SMART goals for me with three supporting goals.

I'll post those, too, when I get home so I make sure I have them down right. 

So far, so good. I'm on 5 of eating more like the way we discussed and I feel really full all the time and I have energy.  Double win.

In totally different news,

The Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run was this weekend.  This was my second 10 Miler, my first one, I came in with like a 1:26 something because I was running with my friend, Maureen, from work and she pushed the hell out of me. This year, by total accident, I ran into her among 15,000 people.  We wound up running together again, all the time pushing the other by total accident.  We each thought we were slowing up the other, so we kept pushing and pushing and pushing.  Before I knew it, we'd crossed 4, just after mile 5, I saw Chadd where I handed off my jacket, then 6, then 7 (oh man, just a 5k left), then suddenly 8 and we only had about 17 minutes left to endure.  Then 9 went by and holy moly there was a hill.  Maureen put the pedal to the medal, and amazingly, my legs kept up with her.  We crested the hill to see the arches were not exactly right around the bend.  Falling back a bit, we tried to pick up the pace again and flew through the finish line. 

Time: 1:21:29; Pace: 8:09

And just like that, another PR this year. 

I can tell you that one of the most beautiful sounds to me in the world is the sound of silence and a thousand runners shoes hitting the pavement all around you.

Resolutions Checkpoint

I was reading through back posts of Diets are Crap last night and I came across my post about new years resolutions--specifically what mine were and I figured it might be a good time to review them, assess progress, and make adjustments if necessary!

Here's the post if you need a refresher.

1) Finish my weight loss to my ideal (and healthy) weight by the end of February and maintain it.
Status: Yellow light.  While I'm 14 pounds into that 22 pound goal, I likely won't make it to the full 22 pounds by the end of February...you know, unless I donate a kidney and half my liver.  I'm okay with this progress so far.  My clothes are getting bigger, my hip bones have made their presence known (especially when one collided with the table the other night.)
Updated Resolution: Finish the 22 pounds by the end of April.  Giving myself 2 more months allows me to work on taking out 1 pound a week and finishing easily.  While my caloric output has recently jumped up, it's still not enough to make it easy to blow through 2 pounds a week.

2) Get pricing for new counter tops for Ikea.
Status: Green Light. While I haven't gone to Ikea yet, I still have about 10 months to get out there. After the month of March (which is going to be insane), I have some plans stirring for April--and a lot of them involve home improvement (closets, desk, counters)

3) See my two best friends in their respective cities. I'm on my way to one in a few weeks--Vegas, baby!

Status: Green Light. I had a great time with J in Vegas last month...now all I need to do is get to NYC to see my other J!  Again, I have plenty of time.

4a) Continue my savings/investing pattern that I established this year.
Status: Green Light.  Yaay financial security!
4b) Make and following a cleaning schedule to avoid stressing myself out.
Status: Red Light. To be quite frank with you, I didn't even make a schedule.  Bad bad bad.  Maybe I'll get to that this weekend...I also have intentions to delegate chores. 

5) Have 1 date with Chadd a month.
Status: Green Light. It's been pretty easy to do this since our birthdays are in January and February.  Hopefully we'll keep the pattern up through the year!

6) Study for and take my personal training certification exam. Also, stick with the yoga.
Status: Green Light. My personal training study stuff gets here tomorrow afternoon and aside from the snow delays, I've been good about going to yoga every Tuesday morning! 

On the To-Do List (the post following resolutions), I just started to chip away and got in touch with one of my Group Fitness Coordinators to find a good Registered Dietitian.  I'm dropping by the gym tonight to fill out the paperwork for getting probably 4 sessions with her.  Since I'll be starting my personal training soon, I want to make sure that I'm pairing it up with the right nutrition.  Review to come!

How are you doing on your resolutions?  Do you remember them?  Do you have new ones?

There Is No Finish Line

Today begins a new month and according to a variety of sources, this is supposed to be a month of great change and new beginnings and wonderful things happening.  Whether or not that's true, focus on it and it will happen.  "Thoughts become things, so choose good ones."

Keep in mind that health and fitness is not an end goal, it's a way of life.  Weightloss may come to an end and maintenence may begin, but that doesn't mean to abandon everything.  This is one of my favorite Nike ads:

Make health and fitness a way of life this month and you'll never have to worry about it again.

Second post coming later today about how I got to where I am!

Guest Blogger Mondays - The First 5k

Everyone!  I am happy to announce a new series that I am [attempting] to bring to DietsAreCrap--Guest Blogger Mondays!

Every few Mondays I'm going to have a guest blogger share a personal weight loss/fitness/athletic story with you all.  I hope you enjoy and pass the blog on to your friends.

Shameless plug: I'm trying for 300 followers by the end of the year (you can also feel free to follow me on Twitter, that counts!)

Today's Guest Blogger Monday post comes from my mom, the talented artist behind her blog NiftyArtGirl.  May her story inspire you to try something new!  Additionally, please contact me if you're interested in sharing your story and being a part of the Guest Blogger Mondays. 

September 15th my daughter announces she and her brother are going to run the Seniors First 20th Annual Turkey Trot 5k. Not wanting to miss any time with my children I thought I will do this too. I will walk it and meet them at the end. I go on-line, fill out the form, a very simple one, type in my credit card number and bingo! I am in. Fast forward a month to a conversation with aforementioned brother, my son. He is the 19 year old college student in Colorado. He is a fit, lean, strong rock climber, snowboarder, and can breathe at high altitudes, the altitudes that come with very little oxygen. While visiting him in the beautiful foothills of the Rocky Mountains, he says, ”Mom, you can run a mile.” Something very endearing about your teenager giving you confidence with a pronouncement like that.


I came home, and got on the treadmill. It was nice and cool outside so I had the door open in front of me. I put some music on my ipod, MC Hammer’s greatest hits and got started. I was watching the calories and not the distance so didn’t know I had run 1.22 miles. Was I panting? No. Was I hurting? My hip did a little. Was I tired? No. Hmmm? The air is nice outside, remember? I went out and went another mile. I kept asking myself if I was tired. I wasn’t, I wasn’t bored. I was so happy and it felt so good.


Nobody home to exclaim to. I called my children. They shared the happiness I had, they were preparing for said race too. Now Daughter has run a marathon and can easily sprint 3 miles in the evenings. She is a fit, lean exercising machine. And she is an aerobics instructor who really understands the value of encouragement. She did her job, “That’s great Mom. If people realized it was only 15 minutes to do a mile, they would do it.” I must say the thought that in 45 minutes I would be done was pretty enlightening. Those 45 minutes will come and go whether you run or you sit at home in front of the tv eating bonbons. She continued to encourage me through the next month of self training. I called aforementioned children’s dad and my husband and shared the news. If he was out of town I called him to say the distance, if he was home I would walk down the hall to his office to deliver my new information.


A nagging hip pain had me stretching once in a while when I jogged, but I really didn’t want to stop. I was so afraid of losing momentum that I didn’t want to get off the treadmill for a minute. I know myself, I am easily distracted and can convince myself that there are other more pressing things for me to do…laundry, dishwashing, really? Are those things pressing? At the conclusion of each run I would sit in the pool. The water is cold, it will reduce any swelling or pain. It probably would have if I had stretched at the conclusion of every jog.


I was persistent and made myself jog almost every other day. I had a date and a distance to achieve. I would run at least thirty minutes and about 2.5 miles each meeting with my treadmill. One night I pushed and made 3.5 miles. I called the kids to brag, they were constant ears for me. Daughter said, ”Then you can run the 5k easily. It is only 3.1 miles.” What a sense of relief, for some reason I was going with 3.5 miles in my head. Now I knew I could do it, the nerves settled immensely.


One of biggest boosts in this preparation was my friends disbelief that I could do this. One said, “That is farther than I run.” Another said, ”How do you do that?” Smug is the definition of how I felt.


I continued with my “training”. I experimented with music. I sang with Joni Mitchell, was serenaded by John Mayer, and was pumped with MC Hammer. He would accompany me on my 5k.


Two days before the race I took a little jog with Daughter. I found immediately that I have to go it alone. I was trying to pace myself and wanted to run with her at the same time and I couldn’t. While on the treadmill at home I would try to watch my shadow. I learned the rhythm and my own pace that way. I am very visual so could call that up to determine how fast I should go. Daughter sprinted ahead and ran back to meet me. I was able to restart and focus on the memory of my shadow.


The morning of the race we got up early. I had a bowl of protein packed cold cereal and a little to drink. Fearing a lack of bathrooms I stopped with that. We drove to Lake Eola and easily found parking having chosen to arrive early. We locked our wallets away and the car key was hidden in an ipod armband. We walked with other sporty folks, track teams from high schools, and people who obviously had done this before. The crowd was growing trying to sort itself out. There were a few runners with turkey headgear, it was after all Thanksgiving morning. We had a lot to be thankful for. We were healthy and capable of being a part of this.


We girls had on spiffy running gear. Black running capris and hot pink long sleeved tops. Brother was in cool blue shorts and a sushi restaurant t-shirt. We were hot! Well, now we were a little cold. The air was chilly and the skinny runners were there with teeth chattering. One more bathroom stop at the line of port-a potties. We walked a little distance in the park and stretched, my kids were doing real stretching, I had no idea what to do so followed their lead, hoping nobody would get a back view of me in my stretchy capris. We were pretty quiet. Other people in the crowd were chatting and enjoying the camaraderie. The kids went to the front of the group at the starting line. They were racing, themselves and each other. I wanted to be near the slower folks, but not with the walkers.


They were off, the crowd slowly moved forward to the starting line as the first runners could be seen way ahead going up the first little hill. We eased up a step at a time. I started jogging as the group beside me did likewise. Under the clock and gone. I was about 5 minutes after my children had set off on their race. I did not take note of the exact time on the clock as I went under it. I should have because that would have determined my precise finishing time. I felt as if I had a mission. I was not jubilant, I was serious and focused. Clearly I wouldn’t be fun to run with. It takes a lot of my concentration to breathe, I cannot do the in through the nose out with the mouth thing. I am in and out of the mouth. My mouth gets dry I freak, will I choke. I forgot the mouth moistening spray.


I see early that you must navigate around other runners, walkers, strollers (really a bad idea), parked cars, uneven pavement, and bricks. There was a never a time that I was in a group of runners going the same speed as I. Once in a while one would wander up and honestly it was irritating. It was similar to driving 65 on the interstate and realizing you can’t go around or stay behind the person in front of you. The only way to get away is to rev up and floor it and go around. That is what I did. There were a few places where the crowd was thick, people going along together talking. Squeezing between them and other talkers took some maneuvering and passing sideways, “Scuse me, scuse me.”


Ahead I could see tables lined with paper cups manned by kind volunteers. That was a great treat. Slowing to a walk I grabbed a cup, I did drink it, not just swish. Then as the pros on the televised runs I tossed my cup to the street. I had more important things to do then worry about littering.


At one point a man’s voice came out of the blue. I could discern words not just a blur of crowd sounds. The things he said became repetitive, he was right beside me, who is he? Was he some endorphin flooded runner coming to encourage me. No, it was my loving husband. He jogged up beside me and chatted a second, encouraged me to keep going, gave me a kiss, and waved good-bye. I figured he was on his way home to continue the roasting of the turkey.


I could use a little walk. I slowed down for about 10 feet of walking. That really felt good and even that small amount helped me to regroup. It is only 3.1 miles. I missed the mile markers so had no idea if I had gone one mile or two or three. I saw a few people who had completed the race walking down the sidewalk coming from the opposite direction. The end must be near or they were extremely fast. I started looking for my children thinking they might come back and jog with me. We went around a turn and I could see a crowd. It was the finish line, the same place we had started from. When I saw it I knew this was a done deal. I was not going to fall like some of the people I had seen earlier. This was the best part of the race. As we got closer there were people standing on the sidelines cheering us on. The most beautiful sight at that point was my two children. They were leaning from the right side and looking around the crowd watching for me. They came running out to go across the finish line with me. Daughter said, ”Smile, they are taking pictures.” I think I did. One of Brother’s friends called out to him. We crossed together. They ate bananas, I wanted coffee. We meandered through the glowing, sweating, happy people.


We walked to the car, settled in, and started driving home. Luckily Brother was watching the scenery go by and saw his car parked on the street. Needless to say when a 19 year old male sees his car miles from home and he isn’t driving it an alarm goes off. We turned around, parked, and began a search for Dad, the driver of said brother’s said car. We found him. He had been waiting to see us cross the finish line. Somehow without cell phones or earlier made plans we did find each other. We were victorious and could share it with one more person we loved. I called my mother to share the news. We had been up for hours and it was only 9:00.


My children and me. What a shining moment in my life. We shared an accomplishment. Daughter had her personal best time (24:28), Brother beat his sister in his first race ever (23:28), and I my first 5k at the age of 50 (39:45). When my father was alive I had told him I wanted to run a 5k. I had always said, “I wish I could run.” He said, “Then do it.” “Daddy, you aren’t here, but I think you know I did it.”

Get Over It

I think most people know that I'm a nice person.  And if you're one of my regular followers who doesn't know me in person, I hope that you assume I'm a nice person.  But I have to tell you.  Sometimes, I'm not.

In fact, sometimes I'm humorously sarcastic, a little judgment, and to be frank, I call people on the carpet, a la Jillian Michaels (who I love. a lot.).  Today I don't feel like being nice, I'm going to rip this whole thing to shreds.

This article...blew my mind.
http://media.www.gwhatchet.com/media/storage/paper332/news/2010/01/14/News/Study.Exercise.Regimens.Are.Harder.To.Keep.For.Obese-3853266.shtml?reffeature=textemailedition

Really folks?  Are we dumb?  Choice quotes:
"[A} new University Medical Center study shows those who most need a fitness regimen have a harder time adhering to it"

....wouldn't that by why they're the people who need it most?  People who don't need it probably don't have a hard time sticking to the maintenance regiment they already have.

"It's not all body image issues. It's issues with being uncomfortable; uncomfortable with exercising in front of people who are more fit; with exercising in front of people of the opposite sex; with the equipment," Miller said."

I think this is a lot of horse crap.  Let me tell you why.  I am the first person to admit that it can be intimidating to walk into a gym for the first time, fit or not, and go work out.  People like to look like they know what they're doing, especially when sweating and panting.  I get that.  Gyms get that.  Which is why there are a billion and one ways to over come it.  I became an instructor for that reason.  People become trainers to teach, not to condescend.  If you've had a condescending trainer, so help me God, I will hunt them down.  Clubs station people everywhere who want to help you if you ask.  And lemme tell ya, that chick on the treadmill who weighs 105 AFTER consuming Chipotle, honey she is too in her own head to notice you beside her.   I PROMISE. 

Also.  If it really matters to you, you'll get over it or you'll find a gym, trainer, fitness DVD, that makes you more comfortable.  But don't ever tell me that your health matters to you then crap out when you are uncomfortable.  I'm uncomfortable doing things.  Snowboarding, for example.  I suck at it more than most people.  I'm also very uncomfortable.  But when a 3 year old zooms by me, I don't quit.  I keep falling my way down the bunny slope.  GET OVER IT or don't whine about the consequences.  Get out of your comfort zone and get healthy.  Huge pet peeve of mine.

"The study showed that those who were overweight or obese often ranked exercise as more important to a healthy lifestyle than others who were already fit."

Because fit people don't need to prioritize it.  Or they already have and it's part of the routine.  Also, that's crap.  That's a verbal study, because if people who are overweight or obese really DO rank exercise as more important, its lip service.

Do me and you a favor.  Be honest with yourself, don't tell me, don't tell your spouse, or your best friend.  Write it down for yourself.  Name your top three priorities for me.  And don't' tell me "Husband, Kids, Job" as in things you do for other people.  I mean things that you do for you.  Name them.  They do not have to be ranked.

Mine?

1) My health/sanity.  I'm not kidding.  This means my happiness, and what goes into that: eating well, being active, sleeping enough (which I need to make a bigger priority), and staying emotionally healthy and spiritually focused.  If I don't feel good, nothing else can function in my world.
2) Chadd.  He's my partner.  If he doesn't feel good, I don't feel good. 
3) My relationships.  Family, friends, coworkers, my classes, etc.  My relationships are extraordinarily important to me.  I am a people person.

"The research shows that they have issues centering around negative emotions," Miller said about why obese people have a harder time keeping resolutions to go to the gym despite their knowledge of the importance of exercise.

Miller's study also came to the conclusion that college-aged students were less susceptible to the lack of comfort and negative emotions associated with the gym environment."

The one positive thing about this study is that it proves that if fitness is a focus growing up (my generation), it's part of daily life.  Gyms are a relatively new phenomenon.  My generation grew up comfortable with them, and despite record obesity records and childhood obesity records, I hope that it will decrease due to this comfort level.
 
Augh.

Little Revelations

I desperately want a career (full time, with benefits, and a path forward) in fitness.

I'm sure this surprises none of you.

I just had to bring it up due to two incidents in the past 24 hours.  As you may or may not be aware, the 9th season of The Biggest Loser started last night and you can bet all billion pounds that America itself needs to lose that I was there, cuddled up in bed, computer on lap, ready to live blog.

Instead, I basically cried my eyes out.  I always forget that the first episode of each season is one of the hardest to watch.  My heart breaks for these people in a way that perhaps only someone in the fitness industry can experience. 

I think that many people cry watching the show because you're watching someone who really feels like they're at death's door, have hit rock bottom, are lonely, are scared, etc.  It's easy to identify with someone who openly puts everything about themselves on national TV.  I know there are some criticisms of dealing with issues like that, but I can't knock it.  They made that decision.  No one forced them.  And in some way, I think almost everyone can identify with someone's story.  It becomes a network of support.  And I support that decision that each contestant makes.

But as an aerobics instructor and hopefully soon to be trainer (anyone want to sponsor my NASM certification fee?), my heart breaks because I see the short fall in this country.  I don't know if there is really a place to put the blame, because at my core, I'm a believer of self responsibility.  You have brought yourself to where you are, at least for the most part.  I see the gap in knowledge with the contestants every season.  The information is out there and it's available, but there is so much of it, that I see how confusing it can be.  I know I've talked abut how weight loss is a very very sensitive issue for people, so I can also see how crash and fad diets are so seductive and how we do chase after the next all in one machine, exercise, diet, etc.  In reality, I believe that the Biggest Loser is the epitome of the truth of weight loss.  Calories in  must be less than calories out.  Bingo weight loss. That's the only formula you need.

I sat there last night crying because I wasn't helping.  When two teams were sent home before things even got started, I cried and cried and cried.  I wanted desperately to get on a plane and go to where they were and to help, to teach, to support.  It's that feeling that wells up in your chest when you have found one of your life purposes (this is the second time I have felt this way, the first time is not at all career related).

I know Chadd has sat through many BL episodes of me going "I have to find a way to do this.  This is where I belong, my heart is there."  And every time, he says "then make it happen."  Last night, he didn't even have to say it, while I was typing out that message via gchat, I went "I know what he's going to say." And then it struck me. 

How many times do you see Jillian and Bob get in someone's face and say "if you really wanted this, then you'd be doing something about it?"  ALL THE TIME.  EVERY EPISODE!  Bob and Jillian would say the same thing to me about my goals, about my desires.  So why did it finally click?  I have no idea.  But I went to bed hopeful last night, brimming with possibility. 

That was the first incident, the second was all too much of a coincident to not be a little nudge from God.

I was never meant to have the job that I have right now.  I don't want to knock it because my company treats me well and, bless their hearts, encourages fitness.  But I am at a desk all day, 5 days a week, talking about well...nothing fitness related.

Today I was leading my first meeting with my new client.  After we took care of business, we started talking about something--I think Wii Fit, which lead into talking about the new Biggest Loser Wii game, which lead to me showing off my BodyBugg (see link to the left), which lead to a 20 minute conversation about fitness.  I could feel myself light up.  One of my clients said something that made me feel like I was about to take flight, that happiness welling up in my chest again.  She said, quite simply

"Well it seems like you're in the wrong industry.  You're clearly supposed to be in fitness.  Looks like you found your calling!"

She was genuinely excited for me, which caught me off guard.  The next thing I said was a bold faced lie about how I love my job now and that fitness is a hobby, which I had to say considering my clients pay me an exorbitant fee to have me create useless documents about processes that will never really happen.  But I think everyone there knew the truth.

While normally that would have depressed me, this time it invigorated me.  I have ideas, I have great business ideas.  I'm learning and training to become a good trainer and to be that person who people who need help can come to and will come to when they feel the same way so many of the contestants on Biggest Loser feel.  I can't wait for the day that it all changes...and to get there, it's just one foot in front of the other.

Have you ever had that moment of clarity?  What was it about?   How did you act on it?

Starting on the List

So, I know I said I spent a few days working on my resolutions, and I did, but I seem to have forgotten a few things, specifically, things that are more of a to-do list. In doing so, I learned something interesting about my health insurance coverage: specifically, that it does not include a dietician.

I'm a little surprised, and kind of a bit outraged. I can understand not covering a nurtitionist...but a dietician? Really? (Note: In case, you didn't know, the difference between the two is that a dietician is similar to a registered nurse (RN). in that certification is standardized. See this article for more info).

Regardless, it is on my list of things to do this year, specifically since now that I have a good handle on my caloric intake, it's probably a good idea to check in about my actual nutritional intake/needs.

I just did a very quick search at the American Dietetic Association's website, which can be found here and found 15 RDs who specialize in some of the topics I'm interested in, specifically weight management, sports nutrition, and meal planning.

While I was looking around the website, I found an interesting article on who should visit an R.D.: http://www.eatright.org/Public/content.aspx?id=4294967631 Basically....everyone.

Myself included. More info to come!

Resolutions!

Welcome to 2010 everyone! This year, despite the fact that its the first time that I've been to an actual bar for new years (last year we had a blast at an all ages party in Cocoa Beach), I actually don't feel like it's a new year. Instead, it feels more like a random day where a smattering of stores were closed. But no matter, it seems that I usually crap out on resolutions created out of tradition instead of a real burning desire to make them and accomplish them.

After a few days of thinking and honestly assessing my goals, I decided to make resolutions out of them. So, while you build your new years resolutions, consider the following strategies:

1) Choose a goal that you really WANT to achieve--not something that you feel would be a good idea. By choosing a goal that is important to you, you're more likely to achieve it.

Mine: Finish my weight loss to my ideal (and healthy) weight by the end of February and maintain it.

2) Make 1 big resolution, if any at all. Instead of tackling, say, a 50 pound weight loss, and a kitchen remodel, and learning french, choose 1, that way, you're more likely to focus your efforts on the one instead of getting overwhelmed and quitting. If you can't decide, pick one and then make small steps towards the others.

Mine: See 1, and, get pricing for new counter tops for Ikea (a step towards maybe remodeling our kitchen.)

3) Make 1 fun resolution. Why? Sometimes we need to make ourselves do something fun.

Mine: See my two best friends in their respective cities. I'm on my way to one in a few weeks--Vegas, baby!

4) Make one responsible resolution. Why? There's always one simple, responsible thing that nags us. Stop the nagging! Make yourself do it.

Mine (I admit, I have 2): 1- Continue my savings/investing pattern that I established this year. 2) Make and following a cleaning schedule to avoid stressing myself out.

5) Make a resolution that you can do with someone else. This will boost accountability and strengthen your bond.

Mine: Have 1 date with Chadd a month. Since we live in DC, we have access to a great website called Groupon.com. Groupon is active in a ton of cities these days, so check it out to see if your city has groupon! Essentially, for a discounted rate, you can purchase gift certificates to restaurants, attractions, spas, gyms, etc. Example: Chadd and I are trying out Posh downtown. I paid $15 for $35 to Posh. We'll try out new places and spend time together.

6) Learn something new. This could be anything--take golf lessons, take a cooking class, learn how to sew, etc.

Mine: Study for and take my personal training certification exam. Also, stick with the yoga. It's a fun challenge and good for my muscles after a run.

So, there you go! What are your resolutions? How will you achieve them? Look for my plan of action coming up soon