Trial Run

Creme Brulee French Toast and Bacon

I slept in this morning, quiet, peaceful, dark, heaven.  I think we finally started moving around 8am but it might have been 9 for all I know.  Check-out was 11am and I know we left the room sometime before then and headed to the restaurant for breakfast.  I was going to get oatmeal but they had a "creme brulee french toast" on the menu.  With bacon.  Who turns that down?  Not me!

I didn't get to go on the run by the river because I forgot to pack any bottoms to run in.  I'm a bit stubborn at times but not so much that I'll run in jeans.  So after breakfast we headed toward home.

I was still full at lunchtime so I snacked here and there.  And I was so tired, which was weird because I got a nice full night of sleep.  Anyway, by 3:30 I dragged my half-asleep butt off the couch and went for a run.  It was a trial run in the truest sense, I had to see how I would feel before Sunday.  My Garmin was dead, which is probably a good thing, so I don't know what my pace or distance was.  According to Google maps it was roughly 3.5 miles.  I forgot to look at the clock when I got back so I don't know how long I was out there, but I know I was running s.l.o.w.  In fact, when I stopped running I wasn't breathing hard at all and hardly ever broke a sweat.

Post-run

But my stomach, ugh.  I had off-and-on cramps through the whole run.  Dammit!  It's hard to let go of my goal for Kaiser but sitting here with a stomach ache as we speak and knowing how I felt on the run today, I don't have a choice.  I'll just have to go out there and hope for being able to finish the dern thing.  My legs weren't much better than my stomach.  My calfs felt sort of crampy and my legs felt heavy.  Oh well, there are bigger things in life and more half-marathons on the schedule and next year for Kaiser.  Of course I'm still hoping for a miracle.  I had a cup of cheerios when I got back from the run.  Am I the only one that eats cereal out of a coffee mug?  It's the perfect size for a snack.

Dinner was weird.  Miguel made tipico and I didn't think beans were a good idea.  So I ate a package of frozen corn in butter sauce.  And I followed that up later with lemon sorbet.  By about a half-hour ago I'd polished off the whole pint.  Corn and sorbet.  I told you it was weird. Oh, and I ate the last chocolate chip cookie.  If this kind of eating doesn't get me loaded up for Sunday than nothing will.  I'm not drinking enough water though, I need to go heavy on the water tomorrow.

So you might recall I made a goal to blog 30 out of 31 days in January.  I didn't quite make it, posting 25 days out of the month.  Eh, close enough.  But I'm going back to my 2-3 times a week routine of posting.  I love this blog and I love writing but it's too much for me to write every day.  If you're newer in your weight loss journey I hope that the near-daily posts were helpful.  But I will try to focus on at least a daily comment on my Facebook page.  I have to get my motivational fix too!

That's about it.  My next post might just be a race report!  The only other thing is what to wear on Sunday.  I'm thinking bright pink might put me in the right mood.  With a skirt, who doesn't feel good in a running skirt?  Or maybe a blue top, blue is sort of my color.   If I decide tomorrow maybe I'll post a picture and you can tell me what you think.  Decisions, decisions. Oh, finally opened my race packet, I'm number 825.  Say "Hi" if you see me out there!

p.s.  I can't believe this is the first time I've used Trial Run as a blog post title.

Eat and Run

Ahhh, I'm writing this post from a cozy hotel bed and let me tell you, it's nice.  There's just nothing else like those crisp white sheets.

I packed my gym bag this morning and thought, "maybe today will be the day" [that I can finally get back into the gym].  But it wasn't to be.  Between a busy schedule and a testy stomach, it didn't happen. Oh, and I weighed myself this morning since I'll be out of town and away from the scale tomorrow morning.  136.8 pounds.  That doesn't bode well for my carb loading, I'm losing weight when I should be gaining.  I know it's because I was sick but still, I don't like it.  Nothing I can do now but keep putting food in my mouth and hoping it sticks.

I had a nice, full morning at work and then met a friend for lunch (Hi Mira!!).  She showed up in cute workout clothes and we talked boot camp, running and all things diet and exercise (in addition to other things of course, I do have something of another side to my life).  We met at a local cafe and I had breakfast for lunch - a mushroom, onion, avocado omelet (was supposed to have swiss cheese on it too but they forgot it), hash browns and toast.

It was a big meal and I left feeling pretty full.  I keep wondering if a big meal might help with my stomach issues, and so far it hasn't.  Not eating doesn't seem to help either so I'm at a loss. 

I snacked during the afternoon on almonds (and a chocolate chip cookie) before hitting the road with Monique for Sacramento and George Strait.  We ate dinner at our hotel.  I still wasn't that hungry but ate anyway, reminding myself I need to be eating more for Sunday so I had a couple slices of bread, then shared a spicy crab bisque with Monique and for my entree I had petrale sole.  The sole came with a lemon butter sauce but I asked for no sauce and just lemon on the side.  And it was served with rice pilaf but I subbed for the rosemary, blue cheese french fries fries I saw on the menu, that just sounded too interesting to skip.  Except I forgot to ask for my fries crispy and they were too soft for my liking so I hardly ate them.  Life is too short for soft fries.  The veggies were good, except for the cheese sprinkled on them.  Man, I sound grouchy.

The fish sort of blends in with the fries and the plate but it was a good sized portion.  I ate all of the fish and most of the veggies but like I said, hardly any fries.  I felt really full because remember, I was hardly hungry when I started.  My appetite is so much lower too when I don't exercise.

After a quick dinner it was off to the show!  Unfortunately my stomach was just too unsettled for me to drink. I had a few sips of Monique's beer but that was it.  Maybe I need to get drunk, maybe that will kill whatever bug is remaining in my stomach and making me feel like I can't run.  The good news is I enjoyed the concert just fine without a drink or three.  Martina McBride opened the show, I love that song Independence Day, I wanted to jump out of my seat.

And George was a treat.  He's such an icon that it was a bit surreal to be seeing him live.  He played songs from his new album too, which were fun. We were back to the hotel by midnight and now I'm wiped out tired.  We're right next to the river and there's a six-mile riverside path that I'm hoping to visit in the morning.  I'm not running the whole thing but I have to get up and run something despite how my stomach is feeling.  I can't let Sunday morning at Kaiser be the first time I've run in over a week, that's just too risky, even for me.

Hustle Time!

Busy, busy, busy.  Things are moving and shaking around here.  This is going to be a quick post because it's late and I'm tired.  Woe, is me, right?

I was home with the kids and my mom all morning.  I did some work on my new career project and then hit the road for a busy afternoon.  I met with Karen for the blog interview, she was great!  Can't wait to tell you all about her.  And then off for a haircut.  This pic isn't the best representation of my cut but close enough for now.  I was WAY overdue for a haircut.  I feel light and free again with the shorter hair.

Straight from there to an appointment related to my new career project.  I need a nickname for the venture.  Hmmm, I'll have to think on that.  And I'll be sure to write more about it once it's a tad bit more developed.

Just as I was wrapping up I got a call from my good buddy Michelle asking if I wanted to go to a Dailey Method class starting up in, oh, 10 minutes.  Hustle time!  This was the perfect thing for my workout needs today.  My stomach is still not back to normal and I didn't think a run was a good idea.  I sure as heck hope I can run by Sunday, I'm starting to get nervous!  Positive thoughts, positive, positive, Michelle.

The Dailey Method class was great.  It was challenging, interesting and almost meditative at times.  And it was a full body workout - legs, core, arms, back - just what I needed.  You might have noticed I haven't mentioned lunch, that's because I sort of skipped it.  Though I did have a small latte and an even smaller granola bar at midday.  My stomach is just so weird these days.

Back home and I had some pasta and chicken for dinner.  I admit, it was a pretty scant amount of food, maybe 2/3 c pasta and 1/3 cup chicken breast, but my appetite is so low because of said stomach issues and lack of exercise.  But later I got hungry and had a chocolate chip cookie followed by a small bowl of honey nut cheerios.  So don't worry, nobody's going to starve to death over here.

Tomorrow I'm off with my friend Monique to Sacramento to see none other than George Strait in concert!!  Don't be jealous.  This is his "Cowboy Rides Away Tour", which is to say he's (supposedly) retiring from touring.  But you know artists say that all the time and then they're back at it in a few years.  In any case, I've always wanted to see him so I'm excited.  And Martina McBride is opening for him, which should be fun.  The concert is in Sacramento so we're staying the night and coming home Friday morning.  Road trip!  Girls night!  Don't get me started.

And then Sunday is the Kaiser half marathon.  All my pace goals are off the table with this darned stomach problem.  Now I'm just hoping I can do the darned thing!  Ok, I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow so I'm hustling off to bed.

Dragonfly Out in the Sun

I woke up on the right side of the bed today and it sure felt good. I feel like I enjoyed the best of myself this morning.  Here's my morning FB post to give you an idea of how empowered I was feeling.

"Today is another chance to live my life the way I want to live it. No one is making me eat a healthy, balanced diet. No one is making me exercise. I do these things because I want to, and because the results give me a body that does me right."

I'm in the action stage of a new aspect to my career and I'm mentally exploring some other projects as well. To add to it, I had a wonderful conversation with a good friend (thanks, Kristy!) that was equally encouraging.  All this growth just feels right, I'm as ready as I'll ever be.  Another satisfying thing I did today was a step toward a project for my blog, something I've been wanting to do for quite some time. When I was young and overweight I had this generally unexamined, unchallenged thought that thin people were just lucky. It wasn't until I started going to gyms that I realized, "ohhh, they have to work at it." Most anyone nowadays that you talk with, even if they've never been a day overweight in their lives, will tell you that they actively manage their weight.

So what I've wanted to do is interview your average not-overweight person and see how they do it. And today I was inspired to...well, I'll tell you the story when I post the interview, which will hopefully be by the end of the week. But, it's coming, and I'm excited for both the process and the product! Hopefully you'll like it too. As far as today goes, my stomach was NOT a happy camper. I had plans to go to the gym, you know I haven't broken a sweat since last Friday (eek!) but the way my stomach was feeling, I just knew it was a bad idea. So then I planned to go just to breathe some gym air, but I had a last minute work project come up and I had to stay and complete it.  Given how I was feeling I wasn't heartbroken that I missed the gym.  That and my mom is visiting so I can go tomorrow if I'm feeling up for it.

Can I just quickly say how I'm getting a bit oddly obsessed with the Athleta catalog models?  Their bodies are ridiculous!  I actually have one pic from an old catalog pinned above my desk. And here's the one I was eying today.  I love her shoulders, so broad and strong. I would like to see a bit more muscle on her thighs, but I'm weird like that, I know it's not for everyone.  So I did a little googling and they get a lot of their models from an agency that has "sports and lifestyle" models.  I knew these were not normal models, way too much muscle for that.  Here's how the agency describes their talent:

"Our national pool of sports and fitness talent are physically and mentally capable of performing the rigorous duties often required to capture the perfect shot. Whether it involves running stadium stair steps twenty times, kayaking through class IV rapids, putting down thirty slam dunks with a basketball, climbing a 5.10 rock wall, or sliding headfirst into home plate, our talent are trained and prepared to perform this demanding work in a production environment. And, they have the ability and professional attitude to keep performing at a high level during long shoots or in poor weather conditions."

Doesn't that sound like fun? Well, all except the "long shoots" part, that doesn't sound like fun.  But the kayaking, rock wall climbing, stadium stair running...sign me up!  Fortunately I can do all that stuff, just need to find the time.  Alright, now you know my secret obsession, Athleta catalog models.  And this is getting embarrassing so let's move on.

Food-wise things were ok.  I finally ran out of soy milk so I scanned the shelves and finally settled on trying Almond Breeze Original almond milk.  And I really liked it.  Reminded me more of my 1% milk, probably due to the lack of vanilla that I'd had in the soy.  So that with my Special K and coffee/creamer was breakfast.  I had a banana with my vitamins for a mid-morning snack.  Lunch was at work - salad, 5-cheese lasagna, broccoli, veggie soup and some kind of yummy almond flaky pastry thing.  I couldn't eat all my food because of my stomach but I had no problem polishing off that desert!

My lunch, before and after.  It's not often I leave that much food on my plate.

Around afternoon snack time I ended up re-discovering some chocolate caramel squares in my desk so I had 2-3 of those.  My mom brought Chinese food for dinner (and not the healthy kind, if there is such a thing).  Oh, and I had a couple few chocolate chip cookies.  I figure I'm carb loading for my half on Sunday, which I've read is best done in the week leading up to your event, not just the day before.  Wink.  Not sure how my stomach is going to feel about all this food but I guess I'll find out.

Tomorrow is my day home with the kids.  I'll be hanging out with them and my mom all morning, maybe hit the gym, do that interview I mentioned, and then a long overdue haircut. I hope you had some spark of inspiration in your day today.  And if not, sleep on it, maybe you'll wake up on the right side of the bed tomorrow too!

A Maintenance Workout and Food Galore

Today was rough on the old body.  I had this sort-of hangover feeling from being sick and my shoulder was really bothering me.  I had my normal Special K breakfast with coffee/creamer.  Mid-morning snack was a string cheese and an apple.  I mostly ate it because I had it, not because I was hungry.  Which is fine, I guess.

And all day I got to bask in the glory of all your fabulous comments on the Superhero ad, both here and on Facebook.  Seriously, you have given me so much to think about.  I always knew there were people out there reading my blog, people who might get inspired here and there, but the comments really touched me, really made me feel so grateful to possibly play even the smallest part in helping to inspire or motivate someone else.  It's truly the best gift I could get at this stage of my journey.

I was with a client in the south bay during lunch.  I suddenly had a genius idea, Five Guys!  I saw a feature on Five Guys hamburgers on the news last night.  Apparently Kaepernick (49ers quarterback, you know we're going to the Super Bowl, right?) eats there.  So there's a Five Guys in Burlingame, perfect.  A burger and fries would go perfect with my hangover feeling.  I ordered a cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, and ketchup.  I was very tempted to get mayonnaise but I resisted.  We shared an order of fries.

It's like In-n-Out in an alternate universe

I had a "little" cheeseburger, 550 calories. 

The "Burgers" are double patty and the "Little" burgers are single.  Glad I asked.  I thought the little ones were like sliders or something.  If I weren't recovering from a stomach bug I probably would have added jalapenos to my burger.  And the regular order of fries (620 calories, btw) was HUGE.  I mean huge people.  We shared the order and still easily only ate half the order in total.  But my touchy stomach didn't stop me from dipping my fries in a mix of ketchup and tabasco, an old habit I picked up in Hawaii.

Five Guys cheeseburger and fries

I ate almost my entire burger, I think I left maybe a bite.  And I ate some fries, not sure how many but not a ton.  Of course I had water to drink.  I left feeling fully satisfied.  And the burger was SO FRIGGIN' GOOD!  Creamy, like I like 'em.  And let me tell you, I did not miss the mayonnaise one bit.  In fact, I'm so glad I skipped it.

Despite feeling tired, I went to the gym after work.  Between my stomach and my shoulder I was mostly going just to go, like a maintenance visit almost.  I had a plan to do a light bike ride and then light weights but when I got there the bikes were taken.  And then I overheard these women talking about a mat Pilates class that was about to start.  Now there's an idea.  So I trotted off to that.  Oh, and I wore my athleta tank top, if you can believe that.  I felt really weird, like I was half naked, but I tried not to let it show ;)  And catching a glimpse of my triceps in the mirror soothed my nerves.  Tee hee!  Reminds me of the first time I wore shorts to the gym and I'm so used to that now.

The Pilates class was good, lots of core work.  My abs are still pretty sore, between being sore last week and then the purging, ugh, they are all ouch, and I really felt them working.  The class was just what the doctor ordered.  I smelled some good gym air, maintained my habit of going, and didn't push my body beyond the limits given how I was feeling.  I decided this new term, "maintenance workout" is what I will call going to the gym just to maintain the habit and not so much to actually get any "exercise" done (by which I mean do my normal routine/break a sweat).  Very important part of staying on track over the years.

I was still full at dinner so I just nibbled on a few sweet potato fries and ate a couple pieces of the kids' chicken.  But chocolate chip cookies have been on the agenda for about a week so it was time to make them.  I worked on this recipe for months back in my 20's and I still love it.  They turn out just like I like 'em, soft on the inside, a little crispy on the outside, with the perfect amount of sweetness.  I had my cookie and then took a few bites of the ones the kids were eating.  And you know what?  That was enough.  Miracle of miracles.  There's more to this chocolate chip cookie story but I can't say until the article comes out (sorry for the horrible tease!).  Speaking of tease, wanna see a pic?

My super yummy chocolate chip cookies.

I really enjoyed that cookie.  And so did Marek.  Myra took one bite and passed.  If I didn't give birth to her myself I'd have to wonder...

Ok, that's all I got.  Let's hope I can hit the gym tomorrow and maybe do a 3 miler.  Thanks again for all the love. 

A Cape Free Superhero

Today was spent resting, continuing to recover from the virus that struck our family this weekend.  Out of sheer curiosity I got on the scale this morning and I was in the 135 range.  I know that's fake weight loss from being sick.  But that number inspired me to skip my normal "healthy" breakfast and eat one of the waffles Miguel made the kids for breakfast.  For lunch I had leftover chicken soup.  My stomach is still on the queasy side and I feel pretty weak but at least I seem to be freed from the worst of it.

So Mark sent me the picture for the ad.  As I said before, he called me into his office at the gym this past Wednesday.  I was having a rough day and he could see when I walked in that I wasn't my normal self.  I told him I was going through some personal stuff and he was nice enough to just let me be what I needed to be in that moment.  He then suggested I take a deep breath to center myself before he showed me the ad.  He's an enlightened type guy like that.  So I sat there, eyes closed, and took a deep breath.  I opened my eyes and he set his ipad down in front of me to show me this.

I looked at the picture, I read the headline, and I burst into tears.  I can't tell you how much this means to me.  More than I could describe here.  I had to keep looking at the picture.  Is that me?  Or some beautified version of me?   The skin on my face is not quite that perfect, and my hair is a little less gray than in real life, but otherwise, he didn't photoshop anything.  Wow, that really is me.  And a cape free superhero?  I was speechless.  Speech. less.  Of course I recovered enough to thank him and he was so wonderfully reassuring, "You created this, you earned it."

It's going up in the form of a poster in the gym in February.  I'm going to be famous!  Ha ha.  I look so NOT like this when I go to the gym, no make-up, hair back in a headband, and not in these all-black superhero duds.  Though I might have to start dressing like this all the time.  Once the poster is up I'll (of course) have to take a picture of me next to it to share, ideally with Mark too [update: done!] for the blog.  He's been so supportive and encouraging, as has been the staff there.  You might not think a gym can make a difference in someone's life but this gym has made a difference in mine.  It's like my second home, and I am so grateful for their support. 

So this seals the deal, I'm going to dress up as a superhero next Halloween.  Probably Batgirl because she wears all black.  Anyway, I'm tempted to frame this picture and put it up in my house.  Whenever I'm feeling doubtful about my ability to handle something, I'll just take a peek at this and be reminded, I can do it.  Yep, that's me in that picture, and I am capable, competent, confident and though I'm cape free, I have all the super powers I need to handle whatever comes.