I write about my Health Because...

For the month of April, I've committed to 30 days of posting!

Join me, and go HERE for more info.

Day 4

I write about my health because...

I write about my heath for others to read, because at one point, I looked like this...

Disney 2006, the trip I decided to be a runner

I was overweight, and unhealthy. I remember that year at Christmas (just weeks before), I would stuff my face with as many christmas cookies as I could find during breaks at work. I had troubles with binge eating at night, and worked out only on occasion.

I had worked through Weight Watchers several times in the past and always gained the majority of it back. After returning home from this trip, being motivated to start running and seeing myself in the vacation photos, I promised myself that I would go forward to health & not look back.

I rejoined Weight Watchers, and started running. I ran my first 5K, I trained for my first half marathon & finished it in beautiful Hawaii. The weight started coming off, and my confidence grew, along with my ambition to enter more endurance events, including my first Triathlon.

Divas 1/2 Long Island 2011

CT Women's Tri 2011

I write so others can see that its possible to turn yourself around from a lazy, depressed, overweight, self-conscious girl into a empowered, strong, healthy woman.

I also want others to see that even once you've lost some weight, or run some races, that health isn't necessarily easier. For me, it it always a struggle to remain consistent with my health goals. I want women to know that they are not the only ones! Staying healthy requires us to make constant decisions (even ones we don't want to, like skipping a cocktail), that either help or hurt us. Difficult decisions like wanting to sleep in and skip a workout, eat dessert after dinner. Sometimes decisions are made for us, like when work or family prevent us from making the best choices. Its important for us to do the best we can and never give up.

Since starting my weight loss journey in 2006, I have kept off 25 pounds. I have struggled with 15 that I had previously lost over the last few years, and I'm working on the motivation to get that and more off. Since starting my running journey in 2006, I have run many 5ks, a few 10ks, 9 half marathons, 1 marathon, and a few sprint triathlons. This year my focus is on the big 70.3 in September. 

I used to be the girl that couldn't run a lap around the gym at cheerleading practice in high school. I tell everyone who thinks running longer distance is unattainable, that if I can do it, anyone could do it.

I want everyone to stop thinking they can't.

can't eat healthy.

can't lose weight.

can't finish a race.

Start thinking CAN.

You are Stronger than you think.

Don't forget my Raw Threads giveaway ends 4/8... enter HERE

>>>READ MORE

Endurance Racing and Body Image

This is a repost of guest blog I did back in March, and thought you would enjoy...

I admit that a major part of my start with running was because of my weight. I was desperate to lose weight, and heard running helped melt the pounds off quickly. Couple that with my yearning desire to earn a Mickey Mouse medal at the Disney Marathon, and that was it. I had decided to learn to be a runner.

I started running a little bit at a time, increasing it as I could. You may have thought that body image issues disappear after middle & high school, but for some of us, they linger on. Seeing thin women at the gym sprinting on the treadmills at times inspired me to do more, and other times made me depressed to think I’d never get there.  Even though running and using weight watchers helped me lose about 30 pounds, I have yet to make it to my goal. Even then, my goal weight is 150. 150, which sounds like heaven to me, is the Athena category for racing, and nowhere near what most endurance athletes are.

Advertisements for clothing, and endurance gear features slim, fit women. As inspiring as it is to see these muscular, toned, bodies wearing the gear I lust over, I feel sometimes like I don’t belong in this sport. Trying on triathlon suits & wetsuits was an eye opener, as even the XL was tight enough to make me feel like an overstuffed sausage. Horribly unflattering, and destroying to my self-confidence. Looking at pictures from my first triathlon, I am ashamed at what my body looks like.

Yet, I love my body. Those large thighs are what power me up the steepest hills on the bike and trek through the end of a tough run when I just don’t want to go any further.  Those curves allow me to look shapelier in my swimsuit. The thick arms help propel me through the water. I love my body but long for the discipline to fine-tune it to make myself more efficient. I’ve heard it estimated that you are about 2 seconds slower per pound of fat for each mile run. If that is the case, I could have ran yesterdays 10K , 7.23 minutes faster, since I have 35 pounds that I would love to lose.

I’ve tried hard to change my attitude on my body image since embracing a healthier lifestyle of running and multisports about 5 years ago. I try to see my goal as getting healthier, improving my body to improve performance, losing weight to feel better, rather than working to be thinner to fit a certain mold. It’s a hard attitude adjustment to make, but a necessary one in order to repair our relationship with our bodies. After all, “Your body is a gift and you’re fully responsible for its upkeep. Try to accept it for what it is, and reward it on a daily basis with proper food, exercise, and gratitude.”

What are your thoughts on body image and endurance sports?

Have you ever felt out of place in this endurance world?

Don't forget to enter my Gummy Multivites giveaway HERE

&

Ask me more Questions HERE!

>>>READ MORE

My Epic Run....

Yay new followers! Welcome!

My weekend was Epic.

I did a 16 mile long run.

After Run Sweaty Shot, bad self portrait!

yes, that is correct.  On Sunday I mapped us a 15 mile route, but after another miscalculation in Forest Park, a missed re-start on the Garmin, we finally finished at 16.15 miles in 3:23, exhausted and ready for Panera. I absolutely could not believe that I had run that far, but I had barely a minute to let it sink in, since I only had 30 min to shower & get ready to head to Boston for the Red Sox game!

Asiago Cheese Bagel Breakfast Sandwich

After a quick shower, I grabbed my makeup and food to go & jumped in the car for the ride to Boston. Thankfully Kevin was driving, so I had time to twist, turn & stretch, and most important, EAT!! The game was fabulous, we had amazing cup holders to hold our beer, which is a first for me at Fenway! I have always wanted to sit in a seat with a cupholder for my booze.

Amazing & convenient!

We had a bunch of home runs, a little back and forth with the score, and my favorite pitcher Papelbon closed the game for a win.

After a slightly disatrious dinner (WTF Irish Nachos?), we headed home!

The rest of the weekend was busy too. Friday we cooked dinner in & watched the game on TV, and saturday night we went to Hartford to enjoy the Riverwalk festivities and fireworks with some friends. This has left me little time for blog reading, so I am far behind! I hope to be able to catch up tomorrow after my group ride. YES, I am planning on riding with the group again tomorrow!

Weigh in today = -.6 . Again, disappointed. Usually my scale & WI scale are the same, but today a 2 pound difference, I think maybe because I was so busy all morning I had no time to drink my water. At least I am moving in the right direction. I had another killer bootcamp workout this morning & did some RevAbs tonight. Speedwork in the morning, wish me luck at keeping focused!

>>>READ MORE

weigh in tuesday...

weigh in today.

After a week of eating healthy and exercising like mad, I am only down .8. The only unhealthy food I had all weekend was some wine slushies with the girls saturday night, and 2 1/2 MGD 64s on saturday at the beach. Even on 4th of July, I only had salad and fruit, no cocktails. I'm aggravated that all that sacrifice only went so far!

At our meeting today, we talked about Dreams vs. Reality.

The If only... statement.

If only I was thinner I'd have so much more fun on vacation

If only I was thinner I could finally dress in cute outfits

If only I didn't have to work, I'd have plenty of time for working out & eating healthy

The reality is, I still have a great time on vacation, and can find clothes that are fun (although I have asked my roomate to help my style deficiency), and I can still maintain a healthy lifestyle while working full time as many people do.

Sometimes there are specific things that need tweaking. Like making better choices at parties or events, getting our workouts in, cooking healthy meals. My thing to tweak is eating well on a consistent basis, and making smart choices when I go out. I'll have another option to work on this at the Sox game on Sunday!

What do you need to tweak?

our leader gave us a quote:

"Some people want it to happen, some people wish it would happen and others make it happen."

I want to be one of those people who make it happen.

So I'm going to try really hard to make it happen.

What kind of person are you?

>>>READ MORE

Bootcamp and weigh in...

Bootcamp yesterday morning was a fabulous workout. 

We started with a basic assessment of how many pushups, squat jumps, burpees, jumping jacks, mountain climbers we could do of each in a minute. Then we did circuits with the TRX, jump rope & running. There was a good size group (about 11 of us), and the next group had 20! I'm glad fewer people like waking up early for a 5am workout.

The Burpee: I'm certainly feeling it today!

It was also weigh in day yesterday. I had done really well this past week at eating healthy, working out, but was feeling bloated & puffy. I think from Monday's dinner of Sloppy Joe's. I was praying I wouldn't have a gain, because I worked really hard this week! I knew it would probably come off when I'm better hydrated and have the sodium flushed out, but sometimes a gain really screws with my head. Luckily it was a bust, no gain, no loss. I turned it into motivation to stay on track and drink 3 gallons of water.

Had an easy day at work (what?), then came home to make a yummy dinner of grilled shrimp, asparagus, and quinoa. My energy level was so great (and I was so motivated to have a loss next week), so I decided to work on some hills after dinner. So at 8pm, I drove over to Forest Park and did what I think a hill repeat is. I've heard people talk about hill repeats, and I figured it just must mean repeating a hill over & over. So I would run up the hill, then walk back down. I did it for 20 min before heading home. Is that how it works?

I have a pitcher with lemon water in the fridge, a new workout schedule made to accommodate bootcamps, and was super pumped to see a 2 pound loss on the scale this morning. I guess I successfully flushed all the bad stuff out!

Now I need to keep things consistent!
How do you keep your motivation consistent?

>>>READ MORE

Back on track!

Good News!

Even with 2 dinners out (Hibachi & Sushi), I managed to stay healthy and on track for the majority of the week and weigh in this week down 2.6 pounds!

On Sunday, my running partner Shelley took a HUGE digger around mile 12, which luckily was right around the corner from her mom's house. She was bleeding like crazy from a big scrape on her arm (she wouldn't let me take a pic haha). Thankfully I was able to call her mom to come get us so we could get her cleaned up, then get a ride back to our car. We only missed 2 miles, so no big deal. Shelley screamed like a girl being murdered as her mom cleaned her up, but thankfully she's feeling a lot better now.


Did I tell you Shelley is thinking of becoming a nurse too (even after the fall lol). Licensed Practical Nurse is a helpful resource for people who also have a passion for
leading a healthy lifestyle and want to help others in their pursuit of
being healthy, as well. People who take bad falls while running sometimes
need nurses, too.

Right now I have a loaf of Kari @ Running Ricig 's banana bread in the oven. Can't wait to taste it, YUM!

Check out the recipe HERE.  

The bike went into the shop today for a tune-up. I've been having problems clicking the gears fully into place for a while now. Found out today that my chain is really stretched out, and the teeth are worn down. It looks like a new chain is in order. Can't wait to get it back, just in time for saturday's triathlon!

Back to last night's Bachelorette!

>>>READ MORE

Today is my friday!

and.... 

I have a 5 day weekend! Love it!

What are my plans? Nothing specific. Pretty much gym time. Working out, and getting used to this new weight watchers plan. So far I think I like it. Definitely puts an emphasis on healthy, whole foods, which I had been trying to do anyways. I had a 1 pound loss this week, which was fabulous I thought after thanksgiving. Now, my plan is to really buckle down, learn the new program & kick into gear. The more weight I can lose, the less I have to carry through 13.1 in new orleans & disney.

My other plans include finishing my christmas shopping, wrapping & decorating. Still not sure of what to get everyone, so I'll need to do some browsing and figure it out. My mom had me order this beauty to arrive under the tree on christmas at her house...

Thats right, Kurt Kinetic Road Machine Indoor Trainer! So excited, and I know this will help me get some bike miles in over the winter. I really want to improve for tri season next year, and this will help me avoid biking at the gym and in the snow. Now... to get to the pool more often.

Today is mine & Kevin's 6 year anniversary. We're celebrating on sunday, since he has class tonight. I have a busy weekend ahead. Dinner with friends tomorrow, and a beer & wine tasting party on saturday night. Plus 2 road races! The Springfield Jolly Jaunt 10K is to benefit Massachusetts Special Olympics on saturday & the Hot Chocolate Run 5K is to benefit Safepass on sunday. I feel good that they are both to benefit charities, and it helps me get my miles in with my long run parter away. I'm secretly hoping to PR on at least the 5K.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway for Inperspire towels HERE!

>>>READ MORE