Free from Excuses!

Tonight was a run night so naturally something had to go wrong:).  It seems like my world has been hit by the plague or something.  Everyone seems to be getting sick in one way or another.  Several people at work have been off and half the people in my house have been sick. Today was Christina's turn.  As any mothers reading will likely agree there is nothing sadder than a 4 year old that is sick.  Christina is full of energy all the time.  She is usually wound up so much that she can't sit still for more than a minute.  Today she didn't leave the couch for hours.  When I got home from work she was curled up on the couch, bright pink cheeks and warm to the touch.  I have a hard time leaving them when they are not feeling well.  Luckily for me we now have the lovely (old and rickety) treadmill.  So the computer came with us, Christina curled up on the bed and I put on Netflix for her.  We found an alphabet show with animals and singing that was 34 minutes long.  I started it, started the treadmill and before we knew it her show was done and I was beyond done:)

Before the treadmill I would have very quickly decided that I didn't need to run and would have stayed on the couch feeling guilty all night.  Today I was tired and didn't really want to run but knew I would be unhappy if I didn't.  Thankfully I no longer have the excuse of not being able to leave the house to use.  All it took was a little creativity, the beauty of laptops and Netflix and this momma got her run done:)

A Special New Goal

Today while I was at the gym I started thinking about goals.  I have lots of big goals but not many small goals. I think small goals are important to prevent getting frustrated when you don't meet the big goals as fast as you want.  So I decided I needed to set some small goals around my weight loss but I didn't want them to be number goals.  You know the "I will lose 10lbs by Christmas" kind of goals. Those aren't bad goals but not everything needs to be about weigh lose. I just needed to think of what those small goals could be!

Then when I was getting my stuff from my locker a small  goal came to me.  It's small and huge at the same time.  Nine years ago I got married. For the last 7 years I haven't been able to wear my rings on my ring finger.  They fit my baby finger, may even be a little big for it.  On a good day I can squeeze them on my ring finger but never leave them there long or they start to hurt as my hands swell through out the day.   A sane person might have had them sized by now but that's just not me.  We got it priced out once and the price wasn't too bad but  I have always had the goal to lose weight which would then mean they would get too big and have to be sized down again. It just didn't make sense to spend the money twice.  So tonight it came to me that one of my tangible and realistic goals will be to be able to wear my rings on my ring finger.  I suppose it has always been a goal but not one I have seen as a goal more of a want.  So given the fact that they can go on now, I don't think it needs to take a long time to reach this goal which makes it a small goal.  I feel like if I work really hard I might even get there by Christmas.  Officially I will say that the goal is to be able to wear my rings on the proper finger by my birthday which is just over three months from now.

As for my workout today it was spectacular!  I did my usual routine but found I felt much stronger.  Maybe it's the fact that last weeks was more difficult because I was fighting this throat infection before I even knew it was there.  Maybe it's because I have been eating better.  Maybe it's because I am actually getting stronger.  I don't care the reason right now I just care that it felt great.  I am very much the person that is motivated by things that feel good and discouraged when things are hard.  Running being the exception to that I guess because running is always hard!  

An Interesting Development

Tonight I ran!  I know, I know what's the big deal?  I have been a runner for 3 years but anytime I have been sick I end up out of running for at least a week.  This time I missed only one run!!  This is huge for me.  I didn't do a huge run but did what felt good.  I might have been able to go longer but my throat was starting to hurt pretty bad so I thought I would stop.  The rest of me felt great though!  The other thing I would like to mention is that I did this run without my inhaler.  It is in my car which is at work with Adrian.  I have never run without my inhaler.  I have only needed it a handful of times but I always use it 15mins before I start. That was what I was taught by the Asthma Educator about 12 years ago so that is what I do.  For anyone with asthma you may know that totally psychological reaction to knowing you don't have an inhaler, It's panic!  Shear panic! As soon as I don't have it I think I need it.  I've gotten pretty good at teaching myself that I don't but have never had to run without one.  I'm happy to say that I really, truly didn't need it.  

I'm full of surprises tonight!!  Go me:)

Sore Throats and Smoothies

Just when I think I am on track I get thrown a curve ball.  This time in the form of Strep Throat.  Saturday I spent the day in PJ's huddled under a blanket fighting a fever and chills along with a terrible sore throat.  Sunday when I woke up and my throat felt worse I knew it was time for a trip to the doctor. I always second guess myself when it comes to going to the doctor.  Am I being silly?  Am I really sick enough to go?  Is he just going to look at me and say you wasted an hour of your day sitting here because there is nothing I can do?  Well this time was no different until he pointed that light in my mouth and said "Oh goodness that is bad".  So off I went with a prescription for some antibiotics and instructions to take acetaminophen and ibuprofen (alternating between the two) for the pain and swelling.  Great I thought, I'll get these drugs started and be ready to go to work tomorrow.  Since I am sitting here writing this when I should be at work it is clear that I was wrong.  I feel somewhat better today but it still hurts right up to my ear when I swallow and feels tight and dry all the time.  So I called in sick today (except for one meeting late in the day that I can't miss) and will spend the rest of the day on the couch relaxing.

This weekend wasn't all bad though!  I started a 30 day smoothie challenge on Saturday which is fun.   They send me 5 recipes a week for the month and the idea is that you will then repeat two of them.  I have tried three so far and they have been great!  Smoothies are nothing new to me.  I have been drinking them for breakfast nearly everyday for a couple of years but never try anything new so I thought this might be a way to add a little variety.  Some of the recipes look kind of scary, some I am really excited to try and one is almost exactly the  same as the one I normally drink.  Today was "Great Ginger Zinger"  I thought it would be a good one for my throat.  I has spinach, ginger, pear, oranges and avocado.  I don't have the greatest blender on the planet so the texture wasn't as smooth as it could have been but it still tasted great.  I'm hoping the ginger and all the vitamin C will help to blast this throat thing out the window.

I mentioned in my last post that I was going to start weekly weighins again.  I was going to do this on the weekend but decided it would be better to do Mondays since that is generally when I weigh myself anyway. I had to look way back in my posts to see what the last weight I posted was.  I don't remember the exact number but it was 235.something:)  I said my hope was that I would be about the same as I was then and I was so happy to see that I was less!!  Today when I hopped on the scale I was 231.2 which is wonderful!  I have been weighing myself semi regularly but it has been a couple of weeks so this number was quite a surprise.  My first thought was that it was just because I have been sick but then I realized that being sick has nothing to do with it because I have still been eating regularly, soft foods but still a normal amount of food.  So I will take this number as what it is and go with it.  I would love it if by next week I can record a number in the 220's!!!  I haven't been there in a very long time.

Happy, Healthy and Back on Track!

The last couple of weeks have been pretty stressful so naturally I have been working out more.  I do that when things get stressful, it's my favorite way to let go and forget about things for a little while.  I shut everything else out and focus on me. This week has been a great eating week too considering it was Halloween and the candy was flowing!  I have been very careful to make sure I have been eating healthy so that I don't ruin all the work I do while exercising.  All in all it's just been a good week despite the stress.

I try really hard not to let things beyond my control freak me out but sometimes they just get to me.  Things like feeling questioned or not trusted, not being chosen for something I really wanted to do or people freaking out around me.  That gets to me the most especially at work.  I work in a very small office with 4 other lovely ladies.  Most times it's great, sometimes it's hard.  When someone else gets negative I have to work very hard not to become negative too.  This week I haven't done the best job of it but my workouts have been better because of it so that is the silver lining I guess.

I'm excited for the next few weeks.  I signed up for a 30 day smoothie challenge that a friend did a while back.  She posted pictures of her smoothies everyday on instagram and they all sounded so good that I thought I would try it.  I recieved all the recipes and bought all the ingredients for the first week.  I have a smoothie most mornings but it is always the same so this will be a nice change.  I'll be sure to take lots of pictures and share them:)

I think I will get back to sharing my weekly weigh ins too.  The nice thing is that while I haven't been working out or running as much as I once was I have pretty well maintained all the weight I lost.  I'll have to look back to see what the last weight I posted was but I think it is about the same as what I will post.  I will start tomorrow:)

Snack time:)

Old habits die hard but when the do they need to stay dead!  I have always been a snacker.  I grew up in a home where we had good meals and lots of snacks.  Now as an adult I find myself every evening looking for that "bedtime snack" like I had as a kid.  This is my undoing.  I can eat fantastic all day but as soon as the kids are in bed the rails fall off and the eating starts.  

For some reason this last few days something has clicked though.  I still grab the snack but it has been healthy. I have been working out more again and finding that I want nutrient dense good for my body foods.  Stuff like homemade granola and yogurt or apples and natural peanut butter.  The peanut butter itself is a huge thing!  I love it but have always bought the sugar and junk filled kind.  In the summer I discovered a natural one that had honey in it that I love.  Then I ran out and bought just regular natural peanut butter.  It is so much better!!  I love it!  

The more healthy food I eat the better I feel and the better I feel the more I want to do what is right.  I need to bottle this new inspiration and keep it going!  Unhealthy snacking needs to stay dead!

Treadmill Affair?

Today I didn't get to run with the two ladies that I have been sort of coaching because I cannot do mornings right now and they could not do evening.  Near the end of the day I was quite hyped up (maybe too much pre-Halloween candy?) and was so excited for my run.  The problem was that I was really cold and dreading the layers.  Then it came to me!!!

I own a treadmill!!  

It is very old and makes a lot of noise but it works great.  So when I got home I changed into my summer running gear, grabbed the laptop and headed downstairs.  I rigged up the laptop so that it was high enough to see, threw on some Netflix and fired up the treadmill.  I have never loved running on the treadmill because I find it boring.  Today I got so involved watching the laptop that the time flew by and before I knew it the time was up and my kids were asking to have a turn.  While I still prefer to run outside with fresh air I think I could enjoy this treadmill when the snow is flying this winter!