Snooze Button, How I Love Thee

I am struggling with waking up for my morning workouts. The first two weeks I did pretty well, but ever since then it has been hard to drag myself out of bed when 5:45 or 6:00 a.m. rolls around. As a result, I haven’t made it to the gym very many times but instead have ended up working out at home, which is fine, but it is harder for me to do intervals without a treadmill to help me gauge my speed. This week I even tried scaling down the days I wake up early, planning to get up early only on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. So far, though, I still haven’t gotten out of bed until 6:05 or 6:10 (and today I may not have at all if Stephen had not sent in Bailey to come and wake me up with a bunch of doggie kisses). :) I definitely don’t want to workout at night because I am tired by then and that is the only time I have with Stephen, so the alternatives are 1) become a lazy bum or 2) get my act together and wake up when the alarm goes off. Obviously I’m not choosing option 1. :) For you early morning risers, how do you make sure you get up when the alarm goes off? I read something recently about how sleeping in your workout clothes helps motivate you to get up in the morning, but I'm a little skeptical. Has anyone tried this? Does it work?

Birthday Blessings

Yesterday was my birthday, and I woke up bright and early at 6:02 for my workout. As soon as I left our bedroom, I was greeted by a happy birthday balloon. A couple more were hanging on the bathroom mirror, and then I saw that the whole living room and dining room was decorated in honor of my birthday! What is super sweet about this is the fact that Stephen worked from 8-12:30 a.m. that night and then came home and decorated so I would see it when I got up!

Stephen got up around 7:30 so I could open my presents before work, and he got me some Yankee lavender aromatherapy candles and another present which made me giggle immediately. Let me show you why:



He got me a Snuggie! I will totally use this, even though it looks completely ridiculous. Commence with the mocking if you like. :)

After work Stephen surprised me with another gift: Blushing Cherry Blossom perfume from Bath and Body Works. It smells so pretty! He also got me these:



Aren’t they perfect? Then we went to dinner at Red Robin. Stephen had never been, and I got a coupon for a free burger since it was my birthday. I got the Bonzai Burger, which was delicious and enormous, and I ended up not finishing it or my fries. Then we went to Kohl’s to shop because my lovely in-laws gave me a gift card, and I had money from my brother and Stephen’s grandmother. Stephen faithfully accompanied me while I visited pretty much every department of the store. I tried on a bunch of stuff and modeled it all for Stephen, who provided his very helpful feedback for me. I ended up getting a new purse, new boots, several new sweaters, and another water bottle (I know, I know, I have an illness, but it was on clearance for $2.59! Plus I'm getting rid of one that's not BPA free, so it's a net gain of zero, really).

After shopping we had ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins, and it has cookies and cream ice cream and chocolate cake and zero calories (haha, just making sure you’re paying attention).

All in all, I had a great day, thanks to my wonderful husband. Even though Stephen doesn't get very excited about his birthday, he knows I am all about celebrating mine, so he always makes them special. I love you, honey!




Do you get excited about celebrating your birthday?

A Clean Slate

Has anyone else ever gone on autopilot while eating? I did tonight. I was still hungry at 8 p.m., which is my self-imposed curfew. I had already eaten blueberries and we had no other fruit in the house (sad, I know), but I really wanted to eat something, so I had a handful of tortilla chips. Then another handful. And then two cups of chocolate chip ice cream.

All while watching The Biggest Loser. Yes, I am THAT person. Jillian would eat me for breakfast.

The whole time I was eating, I knew I needed to stop, but I didn't. It was almost as if I just turned off my brain and let my mouth take over. Now I feel sick and gross.

Why did I do it? Should I not be past these kinds of binges? Should I not be able to resist these urges to snack? Yes, but as I've realized, that doesn't always mean I will make the right decisions. Gluttony is a sin I will probably battle to some extent for the rest of my life, and I need to always have my guard up and remember to take captive those wayward thoughts and make them obedient to Christ. The challenge is to move past it, not dwell on it and pout and use it as an excuse to make MORE bad decisions. Every day I have to choose to live a healthy life, to love God and not my stomach, and every day I have to accept that I am responsible for the choices I make, whether good or bad. Today was not so great, but as Anne Shirley says, "Tomorrow is a new day, with no mistakes in it." I am going to make the most of it.

Praise God, whose mercies are new every morning.

Haircuts and Ribs and Clothes, Oh My!

This weekend I visited a true Memphis gem: Charlie Vergos' Rendezvous. The restaurant has been featured on The Food Network and I'm sure in countless other places, and even though I lived in Memphis for most of my life, I had never been. When my parents offered to take me out for a birthday dinner (my birthday is on Thursday), after much thinking, I decided on Rendezvous. We went early (around 4 p.m.) so we wouldn't have to wait forever, and we stopped out front for a photo op:



Rendezvous is most known for its ribs, so I decided to order a small order of those, while Stephen got BBQ nachos, my dad got beef brisket, and my mom got the pulled pork shoulder sandwich. The food did not disappoint. Rendezvous serves their ribs dry, but I added some BBQ sauce to mine, and they were delicious. I ate every bit, but only sampled the beans and slaw that came with them.

After dinner, we headed back to my parents' house for cake, specially ordered from Brown Baguette. My dad called me earlier in the week to pick a cake, and after much deliberation, I settled on the Raspberry Ganache ("A rich chocolate cake filled with seedless raspberry marmalade and chocolate buttercream then covered with creamy chocolate ganache."). It looked divine. See for yourself:



It also tasted delicious. Mmmm good! You'll be happy to know, however, that I left the rest of the cake with my parents. Of course, Stephen is going to have a birthday cake for me on Thursday, so I won't be without for too long. :)

I also got a haircut Saturday morning before we went to Memphis, and while I didn't love it on Saturday after I fixed it (I worked out after I got it cut so couldn't take advantage of professional styling), but I felt better about it on Sunday, so here's a pic:



It's super easy to fix, which is just what I need, and I didn't lose much of the length, which also makes me happy.

Finally, to end a great weekend, my mom took me shopping so I could get some new clothes. I pretty much had no winter clothes because everything was too big, so I was definitely in need of a wardrobe haul. We found lots of great stuff, and I am so thankful to my parents for outfitting me for the fall. I also have money from my brother and a gift card from my in-laws, so I should be more than covered as far as clothes go. It's so fun going shopping now because there are so many options and such cute clothes!

So that was my weekend in a nutshell. We had a great time in Memphis, and I can't wait for my actual birthday. Stephen has some surprise gifts up his sleeve. :)

Good News and a Conundrum

I have wonderful news. I’m overweight!! That may seem an odd thing to be excited about, but this morning I weighed in at 184.8, which means I am officially out of the "obese" BMI range! I don’t put a ton of stock in BMI as a measure of health, but I am glad to no longer be in that category, even if I haven’t felt obese in quite a while.

When I set my goal to lose 100 pounds, I knew that even reaching 161 wouldn’t put me in the "healthy" BMI range. For my height (5'6"), I would need to weigh no more than 154 to be in the healthy range, and while that’s only 7 pounds less than my goal weight, I don’t see myself reaching and maintaining that weight because I don’t think I’ve been that small since who knows when. Because I’ve been overweight for most of my life, I have no idea what a realistic weight is for my body. At this point, I’m not even sure I’ll ever get to 161.

If I’m honest with myself, these past few months I haven’t been 100% committed. I’ve allowed myself to eat things I know aren’t the best, and I actually skipped workouts two mornings in a row this week. That’s certainly not going to get me there. I do know I don’t want to gain weight, so I now need to decide how much work I’m willing to put into losing more weight. The truth is, I’m pretty comfortable where I am right now, but does that mean I stop trying for the goal I originally set? I can't seem to make up my mind.

Negative Nelly

The fabulous Jen left the following comment on my last post: "Lady lady lady, so many people are reading your blog right now and are thinking 'wow, I wish I could run a 5K.'" I immediately felt bad for whining about my time, especially when I was so annoyed by the woman at the race who talked about her "slow" time. I should be thankful I had the chance to run at all. I should be thankful for what my legs have gotten me through, for all the miles I've walked and run. Considering the fact that a few years ago I never would have even considered running, I've come a long way.

One of my biggest flaws is my tendency to dwell on the negative, and I need to be more aware of how this negativity manifests itself, not just in weight loss but in all areas of my life. If I am anticipating an event in my life, I usually don't expect much beforehand because I am too busy thinking of all the things that can go wrong. I used to tell myself that not getting my hopes up about things just protected me from disappointment, but really, I'm just not brave enough to dream. I'm too scared to truly let myself imagine great things. What does this say about me and my faith in God? Certainly nothing good. I want to know and believe deep deep down that He is able to do "immeasurably more" than all I ask or imagine. I don't want to be plagued by doubt and fear. That is no way to live life, especially not a life that is meant to glorify God.

Are you brave enough to dream?

It's Fun to Run at the YMCA

I ran in my second 5k race on Saturday, and it took place at the local YMCA. I was really excited the night before the race and took great care in selecting a playlist that had the perfect blend of uptempo songs to carry me through. I wasn't too worried about the race itself but was anxious to beat my previous 5k time of 34:19. I felt that my chances of this were fairly good, since I am a more experienced runner now, and the weather was predicted to be cloud and cool--great running conditions.

We got to the race site around 8:30 a.m., 30 minutes before start time. After checking in and getting my free stuff, including a long-sleeved shirt (score!), we hung out for a while, I went to the bathroom twice (just to be sure!), and I realized that it was quite chilly outside. I had a debate in my head about whether or not to wear my jacket on the run, but I finally decided to go without it and hope for the best. Around 5 minutes before the race, someone called for all the runners to head to the starting line, which was at the base of a small hill by the Y. As we were walking down there, I heard a woman talking about how she was sure the men were just going to breeze past her as she "trudged" across the finish line in 27 minutes. I turned around and said, "I"m a lot slower than that, so you'll be fine." I know that for experienced runners, 27 minutes isn't a great 5k time, but it would be a DREAM time for me, so it kind of annoys me when people talk like that's a turtle pace or something.

Anyway, there were only about 50 people at this race, so we just kind of assembled in a random bunch, and then we were off. Just like last time, I started too fast, but I tried to then slow up a bit so as not to wear myself out. I definitely felt the chill in the air as I ran (I think it was about 50 degrees), and the wind blowing didn't help matters, but I just hoped I would warm up (and I did--fairly quickly). When the second song started playing, I realized I had forgotten to take my iPod off shuffle, so none of my carefully selected songs played in the order I had intended. Oh well!

It wasn't too long before I realized that something odd had happened: I was practically running by myself. There was a group of runners ahead of me, barely within sight, and then there was a group of runners behind me, and then I was all by myself, apparently running at some bizarre, in-between pace! It was like that for the first 15 or 20 minutes, and while it was a little weird to me, I didn't mind it too much. The first mile came and went, and when I realized I had completed it in 10:30, I was elated. I was sure to beat my previous time if I could keep up this pace.

Then the hills came.

I thought the last 5k I ran had some bad hills, but this course had even steeper ones. There weren't as many as in the last course, but the ones there were were long and steep. I started out trying to jog up them, but had to stop to walk a bit, and then I would try and run really quickly down them. As I was going down a particularly steep hill, I saw the first of the runners coming back up, and I groaned inwardly, realizing that I too would have to go back up the hill. I hit mile 2 at exactly 22 minutes in, and I realized I was losing ground, but I knew I had to deal with more hills, so I just focused on my breathing and tried not to be discouraged. Mile 3, just like my last race, seemed to last the longest, and technically it did because it was my slowest mile. The hills just took it out of me, I once again choked on the water offered at the water station, and my chest started burning from the cold. I took several walking breaks and began to wonder if I would even finish in under 36 minutes. When I rounded the final corner and saw the end of the course in sight, I just made myself run as fast as I could, determined to at least finish strong.

I crossed the finish line at 35:34.

I'm not gonna lie, I was really disappointed in this time and completely frustrated after I finished. I felt like I should have easily been able to beat my previous time, but I didn't. Still, I tried to remind myself that I finished, and I had now done two 5ks, but I still haven't managed to run an entire one.

When I crossed the finish line, I was given a card with my place number (#34) and took it to a table, where I filled in my name, age, and gender. I wrote my last name a bit sloppily but told the woman, "I don't think it matters that you can't read this because I doubt I placed." She said, "You never know because we give prizes according to age group." I just laughed and went inside. There was a pancake breakfast (I had one pancake and doughnut hole), and we waited for the awards. A man brought in the board with all the age ranges and the cards attached to them, and I was trying to see if by some miracle my card was up there, but a man was blocking it. Then he moved, and I told Stephen, "I think I see my card up there!" And sure enough, when the winners in the 25-29 age group were announced, I won second place in my age division! I got a little trophy and everything! I couldn't help but laugh to myself about it because I thought my time was completely terrible and was so unhappy with my performance, and yet I got a trophy for it. Life is funny sometimes, isn't it? All in all, I'm glad I did it, and I am determined to do better in my next race!

Here are a few pictures from the day.

Waiting to start:



Crossing the finish line (Stephen took one of me running, but it came out blurry):


My fabulous trophy:



And here's my playlist, for those of you who are curious:

1. "Mother, We Just Can't Get Enough" by The New Radicals
2. "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay
3. "Spotlight" by MUTEMATH
4. "Girl Named Tennessee" by Needtobreathe
5. "Sahara" by Relient K
6. "Clocks" by Coldplay
7. "Control" by MUTEMATH
8. "Burn Out Bright" by Switchfoot
9. "The Nerve" by MUTEMATH
10. "The More" by Downhere

Get Your Body Running, Head Out on the Highway

Today I signed up for my second 5k! It’s benefiting the local YMCA, and it’s on Saturday. I was a little hesitant to sign up for one that comes up so quickly, but I think I am ready for it. I’ve been running steadily since my last 5k, so it should be easy, right? :) I would LOVE to beat my previous time of 34:19, but I also feel a little nervous about making that a specific goal because I don’t want to be disappointed if it doesn’t happen. That’s lame, I know. I just know that my speed hasn’t increased much, if at all, so I don’t know if I can beat that time or not. For now my goal is to finish it under 36:00. I will walk through the water stations because running through them just caused me to choke on the water last time, but I am hoping to run the rest of it. I don't know anything about the course, so if it's hilly that may change, but I am just going to have fun.

I also think I am going to run in the Memphis Race for the Cure at the end of the month. I have friends whose relatives have been affected by breast cancer, and so I am glad to have the chance to run for such a worthy cause. Last year I wanted to do it but knew there was no way I could run a 5k. This year I know I can because I already have!

Now all that's left to do is put together the perfect playlist for my 5k on Saturday! I will definitely post an update after the race.

Update and October Goals

I can’t believe it’s been almost a week since my last post. My apologies. I haven’t quite figured out how to fit blogging into my new routine. I started my new job as a receptionist at a local law firm last Wednesday and had training last week with the receptionist I replaced, but this week I’m all on my own. There’s a lot to learn, but I think it’s going well so far.

The biggest adjustment for me has been working from 8:30-5. I was used to a university teaching schedule, where I had free pockets of time throughout the day and wasn’t glued to a desk. I would teach classes, keep my office hours, then either stay at my office or run errands if I needed to, but those days are gone. However, I realize that most of the world has this schedule, so I need to get over it, right? :) The benefit to working all day is that I am not at home where all the food is, so snacking is limited to the one snack that I bring (either raisins or a FiberPlus bar). However, I am STARVING by the time I get home, so the key will be not to go overboard with dinner. I am going to keep my 8 p.m. food curfew in place in the hopes of curbing any nighttime snacking urges.

I did fairly well with my September goals. I kind of dropped the goal of running 120 minutes a week about halfway through the month and am okay with that. I'm focusing more on intense, shorter runs. Aside from the one ICEE slip-up, I drank nothing but water all month. I did immediately drink some Coca-Cola on October 1 (and also had some on Oct. 2 and 3 and today), however, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. :) I still plan on drinking mostly water, though. I did a great job of tracking my food and not eating after 8 (I think I only ate after 8 twice, and I tracked all of my food every day). I faltered a bit in my Bible reading plan last week, but I am just continuing with it and trying to read as much as I can on my lunch breaks. I only read one book. I lost 3.4 pounds, and though it wasn't quite 4 pounds, it was close enough. :)

Even though I didn’t post about them, I did set goals for October. Here they are:

1. Complete two High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) runs per week, for a minimum of 25 minutes per session. I have been using a modified version of a plan I found in Fitness magazine, and it is TOUGH! It gives me something to work up to, though, which is what I need.

2. Complete one Pilates session and at least one weight session per week. Ideally I’d like to do two weight sessions, but I am going to aim for just one because I want to see how my schedule works for me. I am really enjoying the Pilates workouts.

3. No eating after 8 p.m., except for fruit (but only if REALLY hungry). This worked well for me last month, so I’m going to continue it.

4. Run in at least one 5k race. I have my eyes on a few, so I just need to pick one (or two) to run!


Those are my only goals for the month. I’m trying to keep it simple as I adjust to my new schedule. I really have no idea how much I’ll be blogging, but I am trying to keep up with your blogs, even if I don't comment!

Do you have any October goals?