60 to Zero

[PSA: "like" my blog's Facebook page to get tips and updates on my blog posts in your news feed.]

Whew, what a week! It's been hectic and lots of stress but I've been doing my best to prioritize and remind myself that I can only do what I can do. Last night I prioritized sleep over working on the bills...so that will be on my list for this weekend.

BUT...this weekend will also be all about Ahhhh.... Which means relaxing. My mother has so graciously decided to take me to one of my favorite places on earth, Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa for a girls night. We're staying tonight and getting massages, relaxing by the pool and drinking champagne all day tomorrow. The weather here is GORGEOUS right now, supposed to be in the 80's tomorrow even! so I'm really looking forward to this. It's our family celebration of my whole TV/magazine thing :) My sister and aunt are coming as well.

I just finished work and I can't wait to hit the road! Obviously this will be a short post.

My eating has been strictly eh. Too much crap. But I decided somewhat at the last minute to do the Across the Bay 12k this Sunday so I've been calling it carb loading. Again, the weather should be pristine for the run. My nearly non-existent training means I won't be breaking any personal records but the fun factor should be high because I'm running it with some fun mommy friends.

Exercise remains the highlight of what I'm doing right. I made it to the gym as planned each day this week. Unfortunately with Marek's birthday party last Sunday I didn't get any weekend exercise but that's ok. The party was a HUGE success. It didn't rain and Marek was in Lego heaven. As was I. Here are some pictures...

Chocolates I MADE for the party favors. Crafty, yes?

Our Lego play tables. All the kids were outside when I took this.

Kids lining up for the Lego head pinata bashing. See it hanging from the tree?

Aforementioned party favors. Check out the GIANT lego decoration.

And...cake! The second best part of the party, after the pinata (according to Marek)

Like I said, a good time was had by all. My little boy is 5 and starting kindergarten soon and my love for him and his sister is almost more than I can bear sometimes. It's going by fast, just like all parents tell you it does.

Well, I think that's it from me. Oh, I'll share the picture I posted on FB this morning. I'm super excited to be wearing spring clothes!

Happy girl :)

And with that, I am checking out. I plan to go from 60 to zero in approximately 5 seconds!

Exercise is the Star

[PSA: "like" my blog's Facebook page to get tips and updates on my blog posts in your news feed.]

My last post was Sunday...today is Friday. Yep, I warned you I might be silent for a bit given all the party planning. Marek's 5th birthday party is only a couple days away and we're all very excited! This week I did some cake sampling, chocolate making and decoration making. It's a Lego themed party and I love Legos so I'm having a good time with all of it.

My next post will hopefully include pictures of the above mentioned items. I have to include a picture of the chocolates, they are so cute! All this stress and busyness has been a fine excuse to eat, well, too much of not the best stuff. Nothing crazy but just more than I need and not-so-great choices. Don't worry, I'll give a few examples of the debauchery.

And so, exercise remains the shining star of operations. Monday I hit the gym and rode 25 minutes on the upright bike followed by back/biceps/core. I'm looking at my gym-log and I wrote a big DONE! on that page. Must have been feeling good. Tuesday was a day off from exercise. I think that was the evening I almost took the kids to In-n-Out for dinner but then thought better of it.

Wednesday was back to the gym. To give you a sense of how I was feeling, here's my FB post from that afternoon.

I love my FB folks, always so supportive! So despite my dragging I managed to get myself outside for a run. I knew the treadmill would just crush any life I had left in me. I ran with my Garmin but purposefully didn't look at it, I just wanted an easy, no-pressure run. I finished and looked at my time, 28:25 for a 9:28 pace. Awe-some! That's an amazing time for a run that felt very doable, not pushing it, just running at a comfortable pace.

After the run I did chest/triceps/core. That evening I made a bunch of chocolates for the party. And I might have had a piece or seven.

Thursday was an all-day training at work. And as has happened in the past I gave in to all sorts of "bad food" urges. I had a healthy breakfast and then proceeded to eat both my morning and my afternoon snack before 10am. Lunch came and I got fried chicken and onion rings with vanilla pudding for dessert. Yep, you read that right. And the onion rings were perfectly bad. Yum! I also got a bag of "trail mix" (read: candy in parts) of m&m's, nuts, and other bits of goodness. I ate almost the whole bag (which was decidedly not a single serving, more like probably 4-5) throughout the afternoon.

Whew, glad to have that off my chest. Come gym-time I was tired and felt crappy. I'm pretty sure the food contributed to that feeling. But I hopped on the bike and rode my 25 minutes at level 8. Followed that up with legs/shoulders/core work. It feels so good to have the weight training feel mostly easy/moderate again.

Today was more chocolate sampling and a too yummy restaurant lunch of a salad and pizza with sausage, goat cheese and kale. Work ran late and I didn't have time to go to the gym. But I knew/know I needed it so I decided to go after dinner. I got there around 7:45pm and started with a treadmill run. After that lunch and my eating in general this week I was determined to run my full 3-miles on the treadmill.

I started at 6.0mph and eventually did intervals between 6.0 and 6.5mph. I ran the last tenth-of-a-mile at 7.0 just because I thought I could. And I was right. Whew, that was tough! After the run I did back/biceps/core for strength training. I was very pleased that I went, especially given that I might get no exercise this weekend because of the party.

But I'm reminding myself it's all within my reach. If I want to I can get up early Sunday morning and run. Nothing stopping me but me. So we'll see. But you know how I feel about early morning runs. Here's a hint: not good. So don't hold your breath, I'm certainly not holding mine.

Oh, before I close...I got a new haircut and had her go shorter than usual. You might not be able to tell but I also got highlights again. I have quite a bit of gray and it felt like time to do some blending. We'll see if I keep it up. I'm not a big fan of sitting in a salon chair so more time doesn't really appeal to me.

I guess I could mention my weight. It's a hair below 145. With the eating this week I might even go above that. Gasp! It's ok, I know I'll be ok. Because if I'm not, I'll make changes to get back to ok. I love that concept.

Ok, it's 11pm...off to bed!

Time Flies

[PSA: "like" my blog's Facebook page to get tips and updates on my blog posts in your news feed.]

It's Sunday already?! This weekend went by way too fast. But the better news is, I still have all the mojo I was rocking on Friday. BTW, do people still say mojo or am I out of the pop-culture loop? Just curious.

Anyway, Saturday was a lounger. I slept in a bit late, then ran some errands, mostly birthday party related, then had a lovely dinner cooked at home of steak, broccolini and roasted bell pepper. Yum! Oh, and I might have had a couple glasses of wine.

I had a small box of chocolates that a friend brought back from a trip so I had a few of those after.

Today, Sunday, involved a bit more activity, though I started the day by sleeping in and having brunch instead of breakfast and lunch. I used that as an excuse reason to have a more calorie-heavy meal than usual.

Omelet (made with leftover steak and bell peppers + cheese), home-style red potatoes, toast and an apple

That, plus a latte and a half-glass of prune juice. Prune juice? Yes, I'm getting old.

So I dawdled on going on my run and didn't get out until near dark. I planned to do 3 miles because I knew it would be too dark to go longer. In the end I went just a bit further and did 3.45 miles. And I was running. I wish I could say it was easy but my average heart rate was 165 so no, not easy, but for whatever reason I really wanted to push it.

Check out that third mile pace! 8:52, and the last half-mile was also in 8:52. No wonder I felt like I might throw up. After the run I hit the gym for legs/shoulders/core. Normally I don't go to the gym on the weekend but since I'd only done a short run it seemed like a good idea.

After the workout it was home for dinner. I had another real-life meal. With a glass of wine too.

Swordfish, potatoes with garlic and salad. After dinner I had a meyer lemon cupcake. My mom's been sending me tons of pictures of idea cakes for Marek's birthday and it made me crave cake. A cupcake is close. And then I got into the chocolates again. Wine, cupcakes, chocolate...good thing tomorrow is Monday.

Well, there you have it. Next week I might be a tad more silent than usual as I go into serious party-planning mode. We like to have big parties and are expecting about 50+ people, evenly split between kids and adults. I know, yikes!

On Point

[PSA: "like" my blog's Facebook page to get tips and updates on my blog posts in your news feed.]

I think I can officially, finally, after the sickness, the slump, the whatnot...I can officially declare...

I AM BACK!

And let me tell you something, it feels good. 

The last time I blogged was Tuesday, which was a day off from exercise. Since then...

Wednesday:

Gym - 25 minutes on the upright bike level 8, legs/shoulders/core

Thursday:

Gym - I was pressed for time so I could only run 2 miles. Given that, I did intense intervals, 2 minutes at 6.5mph followed by 1 minute at 7.0mph. I did those 3 minute cycles until I'd run 2 miles, which I think was around 18:30 or so. Just as I stopped running a regular gym-guy got on the treadmill next to me, I was panting and felt faint, "long one, huh?" he asked. "No, just intense." Whew. After the run I did back/biceps/core. That was a tough workout, partly because I was moving so fast and partly because I don't friggin' know.

Friday:

Gym - 25 minutes on the upright bike level 8, chest/triceps/core

I can't tell you how good it feels to be doing my weight training and have it not be painfully difficult. That's how I know I'm back. I'm feeling so good, I even snapped a gym pic to share.

So my gym mojo is on fire. That, and my eating is on point. 

I mean, On. Point. I have some examples for ya...

Last night I apparently felt like SuperMom so I took the kids to a local pub/restaurant that had a singer/guitar player guy doing all John Denver songs. I love John Denver and I thought it would be a fun adventure for the kids. But it started at 8:30, half-hour after the kids bedtime. So the adventure was stay up late, go to the show and have desserts while we listen to music. Here's the thing...none of the desserts interested me. Not even after a glass of wine. None of them really appealed to me and I had no interest. None. 

Not the bread pudding, not the chocolate brownie sundae, not the pecan tart... I didn't even know what to make of that. I didn't want any of it and I even thought, "Well, maybe after the wine something will sound good." Nope, it didn't.

The kids ended up asking for a plate of mac-n-cheese and since they'd already had dinner I split an order between them. Turned out to be a big order so I had some of that, which actually did sound good.

The second thing is today. I had lunch plans at a burger spot. Come midday a burger was sounding delicious! I ordered this...

A hamburger with jack cheese, bacon and avocado. And we also shared an order of these...

with ranch dressing, which I also used on my burger. You might be asking yourself, "How does eating a burger and fries prove she's eating on point?"

Because I planned it, because I stopped when I was full (I ate half the burger), because I knew in my heart that I was enjoying an indulgence and not eating out of emotions or any other unhealthy motivation.

Finally, my weight is dropping, I was 141.8 this morning. Getting back down, though my body fat was 30%, I'm ok with that. I just need to do what I know is right and good for my body and my weight/body fat will fall where it does. 

I wish I had time to write more about how great I'm feeling but I have to wrap this up. 'till next time!

What? You want one more gym pic?

Booya!

Cooking Up a Storm

[PSA: "like" my blog's Facebook page to get tips and updates on my blog posts in your news feed.]

Anonymous

Love that you are getting back in the groove. I miss you when you are out of 

your groove and not your normal self in your posts! 

That's the first comment I received on last night's post. And my response? ME TOO! I miss me too when I'm out of my groove. The secret to dealing with the down times is a combination of patiently waiting for my mojo to return while simultaneously seeking it out, if that makes sense. You can't force it but you also can't sit on your rumpus and wait for the magic to happen.

Today was good. It was a day off of exercise and I've stayed focused on my eating. I got hungry in the afternoon and struggled to find satisfaction. I had an orange, a string cheese, some carrots...still hungry. My energy was dragging so I decided to kill two birds with one stone and have a soy latte before picking up the kids from preschool.

After picking them up we ran a couple errands, including buying chocolate to use in favors I'm making for Marek's party. Once we got home I was still hungry and found myself taking a few bites of banana raisin bread and having another string cheese.

The bread reminds me, I've been focusing on cooking this week. I'd gotten really lazy in the kitchen lately and decided to try and spruce the meals up a bit. To that end, early this morning I put all the ingredients in for a white bean dish with smoked chicken sausage. Very much in the comfort food category.

And the good thing is, the kids liked it too. Part of my lame cooking lately has been because they weren't eating anything. But cooking the same foods over and over for them is exactly the wrong thing to do. Their poor little palates won't develop that way.

And I've got all the ingredients ready for tomorrow's dinner, lasagna made with ground turkey and eggplant. Yum! Now, if I can just keep my hands off the banana raisin bread I made over the weekend.

Alright, that's it from me. I'm off to SLEEP! Tomorrow is a gym day, looking forward to a bike session and weights. 'night!