How to look good naked

I love this show. I caught my first episode last night. I think it's a great concept and I love the host. I think great messages are coming from this show and I feel like I can really understand how these ladies feel.

Catch it if you can. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhmKSIdGdio

If you go to the website, you can watch full episodes.

So how's this blog work?

Just checking in with you all.

Are we still blogging about our healthy lifestyle journey?

I've lost 5.4 lbs. in 3 weeks on Weight Watchers. I've been going to the gym 5 days a week and doing yoga and running long runs on the weekend. I feel great! I'd like to lose about 15 more pounds and I think I'm feeling like its totally doable.

I'm working with weights again. Muscle memory is amazing.

How's everyone else?

New Year, New Me Challenge

A lot of people think new years resolutions are lame, but I happen to think sometimes they can be used for the positive to motivate and get things going. Aside from the the 1/2 marathon in Vegas, my overall 2007 year wasn't too swell. So I would like to get into a great healthy and fit mindset for 2008!

This weekend I am going around to various gyms in my area to start a membership. I have a pretty good idea which one I will be joining, but it's good to get a tour and ask questions.

I am also going to be joining all the new years resolution folks at weight watchers next week. I feel like that accountability really worked for me and just need to suck it up and go. It's the program that really worked with my schedule and eating habits while giving me the best weight loss.

I'd really like to work out at the gym 5 days a week. I'd like to do strength training 3 or 4 times as well. My 6th day I'd like to take a long rigorous hike, go for a long bike ride, or just pound out 5 miles of running. I'd like my 7th day to be easy going and just do some yoga or swimming.

As far as eating, I want to try something a little different. Since I'll be on the Weight Watchers point system, I'll have my calorie intake fairly monitored. One thing I realized when I was previously doing WW is that they advocate eating a lot of processed foods to make things easy and simple. Even though the calories and the fat are low in the processed foods, I'd like to try and eat more wholesome, organic type foods. I realize that this will require more of me and my need for quick eats, but I think I'd like to try it out. So with that, I will get reacquainted with sparkpeople.com and track my calories along with my WW points. I am aiming for a mostly veggie/fruit and protein (fish/tofu/poultry) type of diet, with minimal carbs.

I am down with starting a Saturday morning blast out. We could all get together and do a fabulous hike, bike, etc. somewhere. Anyone?

5 Week New Year New You Challenge - Who's In?

OK - this is a self-created, self-regulated challenge beginning tomorrow, ending January 23rd.

Why? Well for me, its my Cayman's bikini final push. But its just as good for not gaining weight over Christmas and New Year's, and for starting the new year off with a bang.

Here's what it looks like - a next-level kind of push - working out regularly is great, and we've all been doing that. Eating well is super - and we've all been working towards that as well. But now its time to shake out of that rut and (if you've been relaxing since the race) get back into a fitness health goal and buck it up for 5 weeks. Or, if you really want to do it in 4, that's cool too.

So who's in? Here are some preliminary guidelines for gameplay.

Rules -

• You set your own goals - if you need help planning we can help, but your goals are totally self-defined.
• Accountability - you put your goals out here on the board and then update weekly
• Proof - take before and after photos - you don't have to post/share, just take so you can see the raw data. Also take measurements (weight, inches, BF, dress size - whatever is really pertinent to you) weekly and post. The proof is for you - no one is going to call you out, but its both motivating and helpful to track your progress. :-)
  
• Reward - You have to set a reward for yourself that you really want. Something that is really going to motivate you. For me, new bikini in Caymans.
  
• Any other rules? Add them here
• Other People Too - I'm going to open this up to whoever wants to do this thing - I think its the perfect time for it, and if you have a friend who wants to do it, please invite them!

Here's what my next-level training commitments look like:

Exercise -
5 days at the gym (3 weight days, 2 HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training, ie BFL type cardio)
6 evening workouts at home (3 low intensity cardio workouts, 3 Superset training workouts using compound moves and bodyweight)
1 long run (5 - 8 miles preferably outside)
1 Yoga workout per week

Food -
5 meals totalling 1500-1700 calories per day - no whole "days off" - 3 cheat meals per week
No caffeine/stimulants
No alcohol (possible exception of a glass of wine socially at christmas and new years)
No fried foods
No crazy sugar bombs
Fiber! And how - 30 grams per day as per recommended daily allowance
Water! You betcha - 3 liters per day minimum
Veggies - 5 servings per day

Goals -
Weekly - achieve daily fitness and food goals, lose 2.5 lbs per week
Overall - Get to ideal weight of 133 - 12 lbs fat lost
Strengthen and tone butt and legs and abdominals
Eliminate back pain due to weak abs and tight/weak hamstrings
Lower BF to below 30%

Rewards -
Weekly - massage, beauty treatment, bikini or clothes for trip
Final - hmmm.... all new hair including color? A little makeover from Cam... That sounds awesome.

OK, who wants in? I want you all with me for company!!! heh heh, but seriously. Are you ready to boot-camp yourself?!?!

Love and Light,
AMY

Veni Vidi Vici

We came, we saw, we conquered!

Alright people, that was incredible. We did so well, all of us.

Michelle - we kicked ass, it was awesome. If anyone wants to check their time they can go here.

One thing that occurred to me as I was finishing the race was that next time I really want to do it for time, not just to finish. I got the fever! Not cause I care about beating other people, but cause I really want to see how well I can do when I shoot for my BEST. It was funny, I totally pulled out a crazy long strided sprint at the end and I was hauling ass across the finish line. I passed two people too. Hahahaha - that was wrong, I practically pushed them out of the way... I just remembered that...

Running in a big race is tricky that way - making sure you don't run people over, getting through the walkers, avoiding getting run over. One of the annoying parts of the experience was the bathroom problem - between flying the day before and waking up so early, my body just kept having to pee constantly. The port-o-potties were way crowded and I waited a solid 10 minutes for the first one, and then over 5 minutes for the next 4. I NEVER have to pee that much. WTF?!? And because it was so cold, I think Tom's theory is right - we weren't really able to sweat all the excess fluid out the way we do here. I wonder if there are tips and tricks for this kind of thing. My chip time would have been almost 20 minutes FASTER if that hadn't been an issue. Hmmm.... Depends?

But live and learn. I want to continue to keep my running up to a 6 mile long run each weekend just to stay in shape, and then I think the next half marathon we should all do should be the San Jose Rock and Roll 1/2 Marathon next October!!! That's 10 months away and I know we can ALL do it.

And lastly, Lisa, sorry about not being able to get ahold of you before you left yesterday - I got a horrible case of food poisoning that I am still experiencing today. Let me tell you, flying and food poisoning is not a pleasant experience. I'm weak like a kitten today and am focusing on trying to take in some food for the first time in 24 hours. Apparently a LOT of people got diarrhea, at least from my informal auditory survey in Vegas' bathrooms yesterday. I think I should probably report it to someone, but regardless, it was great to see you and Rachel after the race and I'm sorry I wasn't feeling more up to hanging out and dancing! See you in 2 weeks though, WHEN YOU MOVE UP HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)

Love to everybody and I'm looking forward to doing a training run in a couple of weekends on West Cliff with all of you. - AMY

PS - Ideas on the future of this blog? I was contemplating archiving all the Las Vegas 1/2 Marathon entries in one area, and then starting a new section - what do you all think? And what are your fitness goals coming up? Anybody else ready to start bikini madness?

PPS - Ok, maybe this is a little kooky, but how about we do this for 2008: http://www.eliteracing.com/heavy_medals.html Takers? Anyone? Everyone? C'mon, it'll be a blast!!!

Hello Everybody! Where We At?

I'm ready to do this thing! I mean, I'm kind of tired and stiff, but no injuries and I'm ready to tackle and conquer this race and enjoy that awesome feeling of accomplishment. And then get cracking on my next physical goal - BFL before we hit the Caymans in mid-January.

I've learned however that I'm more able to do either a focus on endurance running or a focus on weightloss and weight training, but not really both. Too exhausting and too different. Limiting my caloric intake is not always helpful when doing these long runs - my recovery takes way longer.

But I'm ready for Sunday - even if I walk it, I'm still gonna finish it. And I think I won't have to walk it. Or at least not ALL of it... hahaha. seriously though. How is everybody else doing?

Any last minute questions? Words of wisdom? Freakouts?

Can't wait to see you all on Saturday. Love AMY

Sometimes its hard to get up to go to the gym

Which is why there are cats....

Beat your personal best: the right way to make speedy gains

Hi all,

I'm an avid reader of Shape Magazine and I came across an good article (by Sara Bodnar) I wanted to share. I found this especially timely since we just ran a long run yesterday. Here it goes:

While simply finishing a race is an achievement, imagine how great you'd feel if you one-upped your own speed record. Here's how to do it: Two weeks before he big day (that would starting today ya'll), cut back your weekly mileage by 40-60 percent, but cover the distance in the same number of workouts and at your usual pace (i.e., if you usually run 20 miles a week over four days, do 8 to 12 mils over four days). Researchers at the University of Montreal analyzed 27 studies and found that using this tapering strategy - as opposed to running fewer days or at a lower intensity - can improve your time by 2 percent. "It lets you maintain your fitness level yet still gives your body a rest," says study author Laurent Bosquet, Ph.D. Try it and found out what you're really capable of.

So I'm going to try this out since I would like to run the half marathon in 2.5 hours (less than 12 minutes miles). I feel like our run yesterday wasn't a good indicator of my pacing as I was just completely out of my element. I felt like I was all over the place.

Anyway, I'm glad that I was able to get together and finish our long run yesterday. I've been drinking lots of water and my body feels great. My muscles feel like how they would after an intense weight training session, so I think my main deal yesterday was lack of water.

I hope your Sunday is happy, restful and full of recover.

Are you Ready?

this post is about ME (ten miles)...

i tried to think about the planet...
but damn i'm hurting today...!
my left knee doesn't bend, i ache like i'm an old lady and i'm sleeeeepy. i think its the double shot of training hard at the gym on saturday followed by running TEN MILES (woo hoo) on sunday.
My recovery this week was better than last - doing regular shots of GU really helped me not have achy crampy stomach like i did after the 8-mi last week. i felt ok the rest of the day yesterday - i'm just so beat today. and oh yeah - i gave a 1.5 hr lecture to 50 new sales trainees today, which added to my exhaustion.
during my runs i listen to dance music on my iPod - some is really inspirational. the beat really helps me keep going. dance music has been my workout partner for many years. looking forward to going for 12 next week - are we running on sunday? (let me know b/c if its saturday, it will conflict with my personal trainer time).
love yall,
teresa

This Is a Great Point

Fighting Fat and Climate Change

By SETH BORENSTEIN

The Associated Press

November 11, 2007

America's obesity epidemic and global warming might not seem to have much in common. But public health experts suggest people can attack them both by cutting calories and carbon dioxide at the same time.

How? Get out of your car and walk or bike half an hour a day instead of driving. And while you're at it, eat less red meat. That's how Americans can simultaneously save the planet and their health, say doctors and climate scientists.

The payoffs are huge, although unlikely to happen. One numbers-crunching scientist calculates that if all Americans between 10 and 74 walked just half an hour a day instead of driving, they would cut the annual U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide, the chief greenhouse gas, by 64 million tons.

About 6.5 billion gallons of gasoline would be saved. And Americans would also shed more than 3 billion pounds overall, according to these calculations.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is considering public promotion of the 'co-benefits' of fighting global warming and obesity-related illnesses through everyday exercise, like walking to school or work, said Dr. Howard Frumkin, director of the CDC's National Center for Environmental Health.

'A simple intervention like walking to school is a climate change intervention, an obesity intervention, a diabetes intervention, a safety intervention,' Frumkin told The Associated Press. 'That's the sweet spot.'

Climate change is a deadly and worsening public health issue, said Frumkin and other experts. The World Health Organization estimated that 160,000 people died in 2000 from malaria, diarrhea, malnutrition and drownings from floods _ problems that public health and climate scientists contend were worsened by global warming. Officials predict that in the future those numbers will be higher.

The American Public Health Association, which will highlight the health problems of global warming in April, is seeking to connect obesity and climate change solutions, said executive director Dr. Georges Benjamin.

'This may present the greatest public health opportunity that we've had in a century,' said University of Wisconsin health sciences professor Dr. Jonathan Patz, president of the International Association for Ecology and Health.

The key is getting people out of the car, Patz and Frumkin told the public health association at its annual convention. Reducing car travel in favor of biking or walking would not only cut obesity and greenhouse gases, they said, it would also mean less smog, fewer deaths from car crashes, less osteoporosis, and even less depression since exercise helps beat the blues.

In a little-noticed scientific paper in 2005, Paul Higgins, a scientist and policy fellow with the American Meteorological Society, calculated specific savings from adopting federal government recommendations for half an hour a day of exercise instead of driving.

The average person walking half an hour a day would lose about 13 pounds a year. And if everyone did that instead of driving the same distance, the nation would burn a total of 10.5 trillion calories, according to the scientist, formerly with the University of California at Berkeley. At the same time, that would cut carbon dioxide emissions by about the same amount New Mexico produces, he said.

'The real bang for the buck in reducing greenhouse gas emissions was from the avoided health expenses of a sedentary lifestyle,' said Higgins.

But it's not just getting out of the car that's needed, said Dr. Robert Lawrence of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. A diet shift away from heavy meat consumption would also go far, he said, because it takes much more energy and land to produce meat than fruits, vegetables and grains.

Recent studies support that argument. Last year the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization reported that the meat sector of the global economy is responsible for 18 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. Much of that is indirect, including the fertilizer needed to grow massive amounts of feed for livestock, energy use in the whole growing process, methane released from fertilizer and animal manure, and transportation of the cattle and meat products.

Similar calculations were made in a study in September in the medical journal Lancet.

The average American man eats 1.6 times as much meat as the government recommends, Lawrence said. Some studies have shown eating a lot of red meat is linked to a higher risk for colon cancer.

As for fighting obesity and global warming by walking and cycling, don't expect people to do it easily, said Kristie Ebi. She's a Virginia public health consultant and one of the lead authors of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report.

Citing the decades-long effort to curb smoking, she said, 'It turns out changing people's habits is very hard.'

___

On the Net:

American Public Health Association: http://www.apha.org/

National Center for Environmental Health: http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/climatechange/

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.

Gah. I mean Gah! We ran 11 miles!

Tom and I are writing this post together - we are both completely exhausted but very satisfied with our run today. We ended up going about 11 miles of running in around 2 hours. Tom a little faster. Hooray!

So I'm pretty wiped out, but that's after cleaning the house and grocery shopping and cooking all day after the run. But I could definitely feel a difference between this long run and our last one which happened 2 weeks ago. It occurred to me that this would be a good time to bring up recovery strategies as well as find out what everyone is doing for fuel on these long runs. I had a double quarter pounder with cheese and 1/2 a large fries from McDonalds. That sat pretty well for a recovery meal, but I definitely needed more fuel later... During the run, we both ate 2 Gu's and started the run with 1/2 a liter of Cytomax (similar to Gatorade) and drank water on the way.

On the actual run, there will be water stations, but it will be important for us to make sure we get fuel in on the way - and discovering what you feel comfortable eating on a long run shouldn't happen during the actual event. So I'd like to encourage all of us to figure out what we can eat before, during and after our runs so that we don't bonk and can really enjoy our celebration time afterwards. Please post what's been working for you. :-)

Also, what's everybody running to music-wise, I could use some ideas...

3 weeks dears, WooHoo! Love and Light, Amy and Tom

1/4 mile - WHOO HOO!!!

Hello everyone. I'm super excited for you all and very proud!!! I am finally finding my way back to the regular workouts. I've been staying somewhat active, but haven't been doing serious workouts nearly often enough. SO, this week I decided that despite everything that's gone on or is going on, I want to emerge from the holiday season healthier than when I started. So I've been in the gym EVERY day this week, and will again this afternoon. I feel great physically and I FINALLY ran yesterday on the treadmill. No pain. It was only a 1/4 mile. But until this week I couldn't run more than several paces without feeling the discomfort. I'm going to take it really slow and work in short treadmill runs with my workouts. BUT, I feel good and I really was beginning to feel like I'd never get back there. It's less intimidating now though. I know I can run faster and farther, even though it will take some time to get back there. Being able to workout around my injury has helped a great deal too. So I haven't lost all my progress. Anyway, I was feeling good physically for the first time in a while and wanted to share. I'm super stoked for all of you and if there is any way I can be there to cheer you guys across the finish line, I will. If not, know that I'll be cheering you on from wherever I am.

Love to you all!

~Michelle~

Quote of the Day

Well, they're really lyrics, but Dolly Parton is such a wise woman I had to share. She's another inspiration of mine.

DOLLY PARTON - Better Get To Livin'

People always comin' up to me and askin' "Dolly, what's your secret? With all you do, your attitude Just seems to be so good How do you keep it?" Well, I'm not the Dalai Lama, but I'll try To offer up a few words of advice. Chorus: You better get to livin', givin' Don't forget to throw in a little forgivin' And lovin' on the way You better get to knowin', showin' A little bit more concerned about where you're goin' Just a word unto the wise You better get to livin'. A girlfriend came to my house Started cryin' on my shoulder Sunday evening She was spinnin' such a sad tale I could not believe the yarn that she was weavin' So negative the words she had to say I said if I had a violin I'd play. I said you'd better get to livin', givin' Be willing and forgivin' Cause all healing has to start with you You better stop whining, pining Get your dreams in line And then just shine, design, refine Until they come true And you better get to livin'. Your life's a wreck, your house is mess And your wardrobe way outdated All your plans just keep on falling through Overweight and under paid, under appreciated I'm no guru, but I'll tell you This I know is true. You better get to livin', givin' A little more thought about bein' A little more willin' to make a better way Don't sweat the small stuff Keep your chin up Just hang tough And if it gets too rough Fall on your knees and pray And do that everyday Then you'll get to livin'. The day we're born we start to die Don't waste one minute of this life Get to livin' Share your dreams and share your laughter Make some points for the great hereafter. Better start carin' Better start sharin' Better start tryin' Better start smiling And you better get to livin'...

My current personal fitness hero

Aside from all of you, cause I'm so inspired by you guy and gals too... but outside of our blogspot, my personal fitness hero is Kae Whang on The Biggest Loser. She inspires me because of her consistent focus and determination and her personal integrity. She just keeps chugging along (she's lost 28% of her bodyweight in 9 weeks) and works hard and never whines and doesn't act like an idiot because she's on national tv and she just has so much integrity. I heart her and I think she is a wonderful role model. Oh yeah, and she's Korean American! Holla...

Costumes and Training

As promised, I have some Halloween pictures to show. They aren't as raunchy and fun as the one's Amy posted, but what can you do? San Diego just doesn't party as hard as you guys do!

I present Keg and non-alcohol St. Pauli Girl:


The hostess, Mrs. Claus served jell-0 and test tube shots in addition to the 4 kegs (5 including Kevin). And yes, that's a French maid with saw through her middle!


And lastly, non-alcoholic St. Pauli Girl touching the San Onofre Powerplant:


To go along with Teresa's post, we had an amazing 8 mile run (9 miles if you include our warm up and cool down). We both kept the spirits up and felt really good afterwards. I am totally psyched up for Vegas now. I know that 8 miles isn't 13, but I feel so much stronger and confident that I'll finish after doing the 8.

Eating is going well. I've been having a salad everyday. It's really adding the fiber that I needed in my diet. I haven't started the Weight Watcher's thing yet. I'm procrastinating and I know it.

This is my last week at work. I start my new Scotts Valley job on Monday. I am super nervous and excited. Tom & Amy, I am counting on a 12 miler the weekend before Thanksgiving!

I am totally hooked on....

Bikini Destinations. I'm not kidding - its like taking a cotton candy covered valium AND its motivating seeing all these beautiful women in bikinis all over the world. That might sound weird - but I totally find it inspiring not intimidating. Every time I watch it I end up doing walking and crunches and calisthenics. I highly recommend. Plus its really soothing - beaches and waves and fun adventure sports and bikinis. Here's the Vegas edition in honor of our trip in a month. :-)

8 miles

no it's not an eminem reference - its how FAR Lisa and i ran on Sunday!!!
i feel like i hit a personal milestone - i saw myself finishing in Vegas!!
i felt strong in my running and Lisa took me to an awesome bayside park trail with lots of water fountains along the way - sweet.
WE ROCK!!

Lisa - i'm coming to san diego

i'll be one of over 25,000 nerdy brain scientists invading san diego for the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting. i'll arrive friday afternoon and leave wed AM.
i've got an all-day meeting on saturday, but i'm fairly flexible after that - i still need to do the schedule, but i know i need to spend time on my computer working and can't do the meeting hardcore this year. so--- any chance you'd be up for a run on sunday morning??

A week off....

Well, it's been like a friggin week since I've worked out at all. Started with a party weekend where I was too hung over each day to do my long run and kept getting pushed out. A day of beer drinking and TV on Sunday didn't help set me up for success on Monday... but I had a lot of fun :-)
And then... I guess I've basically been low-grade sick since then cause it's been like waking the dead every morning this week. I kept 'snoozing' till 10AM (yeah... the alarm starts at 6:30am!). But today I was able to roll out of bed at 9 so I think I'm on the road to return. I guess I have to be gentle and keep giving my body the sleep and nurturing it needs so that's what I'm doing. Unfortunately, we have about 4 weeks till the run so I'm a bit stressed about that. I guess I just have to keep moving forward...
So I hope everyone is healthy or getting there and that your training is going well. Wishing everyone good health and good luck! see ya in a month :-)
-t

Halloween Training

Teresa the Dark Fairy Makes All Your Dark Wishes Come True...

5th Chakra and Marlena Dietrich Get Busy


Our little fallen angel....

Flaming Fires

Hi Everyone,

I'm sure you all have heard about the crazy fires that are happening all over SoCal. Kevin and I are fine and don't think we are in any immediate danger. This is the first time we've been happy to be surrounded by concrete. The air is completely toxic and visibility is horrible. Our school is closed for the week and I am doing some work from home.

We have been watching the news throughout the day to stay informed and trying to diffuse our anxious boredom.

Please join me in a rain dance!

my longest (and hardest) run ever

yay- i did 6.5 miles today! the best motivator for me now is saying that i will do something and then i do it - or do more! i did the treadmill at the gym at the hotel on friday - i told myself i was going to run saturday morning, but i found time in between the meeting and dinner out on friday. after sitting so long on the plane and in the meeting it felt good. my goal was 2 miles, but i felt so good that i did 3.5. the other factor is continuing to stretch myself - especially since that 13 mi goal is looming. today my goal was 5 mi - although when i got in my groove on mi 2 i thought i might be able to do 7, but after mi 3.5 - holy crap did it get hard!! - but it really helped to walk a minute every mile like hal higgens said. i did this by time, since my usual pace is 16 min. At mile 4 I found i had some new time/distance related issues including: my left arm got incredible tired, i got chafey under my right arm, and i got pretty snotty as my head was draining. At around mile 5 i bonked and stopped running nonvolitionally - it was weird that i stopped even though i didn't tell myself to stop. i let myself walk for 1.5 min then got back to running - slowly (oh also the sun was BLAZING). after that i walked a little after every half mile. i thought i had hit 6, so i was surprised that when i mapped it - 6.5 - whew. the trouble with out and back is that i wanted to leave room to do more, so i went out 4. when i got back - i still had to walk about a mile and a half. i'm so glad to be HOME! - i feel good for the accomplishment. tomorrow i rest, but i think i should start a light weight routine to assist my training. might help with the arm thing.
we can do it!!

Weekend Survival Guide

I have been struggling with weekend eating. I get regular emails fro Spark People and thought that it really hit home for me.

Please read the article. I even printed out the little Weekend Survival Guide to stick in my purse.

Also, I am starting to go to Weight Watchers meetings. I've reached a lifetime goal with Weight Watchers before and I really feel like I need something to push me along.

also checking in

Hi guys -
I'm getting back into running - i did 2 miles on Saturday - trail run, and went to the gym on monday evening and did 2 miles. knee gives me twinges, but is holding out. i thought the germ battle was over, but in fact is still ongoing -- i had to get up early tues and today, so less sleep and drained - teaching the new sales reps - takes a lot out of me and my throat is sore and i'm stuffed up - slight fever. still can't get rid of the bug - or keep getting new ones? AND - flying tomorrow for business, back Saturday (not as glamorous as one would think, jet-setting around, although i will be staying at a nice hotel). i went to east west bookstore and check me out - i bought a travel neti pot made out of space-age plastic! so i'm packing. i pray that my health will improve and not get worse and i will try to be gentle with myself. i plan on using the hotel gym on saturday morning. great work you guys - you inspire me!! in fact, you ROCK - Lisa and Michelle and Amy and Tom !!

Just Checking In...

Not much - feeling kinda poopy, but just started my period (TMI?) so that's probably to be expected. Positive note: I ran 9.5 miles on Saturday and Tom ran 10! Not so positive news - ended up totally gluttoning on food and alcohol Saturday and Sunday.

Have to have a new routine for these long runs and my recovery afterwards. Anyways, kinda depressed but I just wanted to see how everyone was doing and let you all know I'm still here.

Love AMY

PS - Lisa, I have a crazy long post in response to your question, but I haven't finished and right now I don't have the energy to do it - but hang in there and I hear you, that's the question right? More in detail to follow. ;-)

Checkin' in and Re-Evaluating

Hi Everyone,

First off, some really good news: Kevin and I will definitely be moving up to your neck of the woods by year's end. Both of us have officially been offered amazing jobs and are really excited to be heading out of San Diego. I will be up in Scotts Valley in mid-November for a week-long training and looking for housing and then working from San Diego until we move in December. Kevin is going to be working in Moss Landing at the Marine Laboratory/Station starting the first of 2008! I know that several of you have been keeping your fingers crossed for us, so I wanted to thank you for your support over the last month or so.

Amy's last post really motivated me to re-evaluate my health and fitness goals. So I'm going to put it out there for ya'll to read.

Lisa's Number Goals:

• Lose 12-15 pounds
• Achieve and maintain 15% body fat

Lisa's Eating Goals:

• Drink more water
• Add more fiber to my diet
• Eat less beef
• Limit my frozen yogurt treats to once a week
  
• Eat more veggies
• Eat consistently
• Track calories consistently
  

Lisa's Fitness Goals:

• Strength train 2 times a week
• Two 30-40 minute runs a week
• One long run/hike a week
• Cross train 2 times a week
• Ideally I would like to move my body 30-40 minutes everyday.
• Sign up for another half-marathon

Overall, I just want to be happy in my own skin and push my body, within reason, to do the things that I know I am capable of doing. I don't want the way my body feels to hinder me from doing the things that my mind wants to do. I want to build a strong foundation so that I can continue to achieve my health and fitness goals throughout my life. I want to keep evolving!

Question for you all: Why is it that exercise and eating healthy are the first two things that we choose to let go of during times of high stress/travel/when we're tired, {insert any feeling here}? For me personally, I know that even though I know how good exercise makes me feel, I still won't go to the gym when I've got a busy schedule. I'll push everything else in front of exercise without thinking twice about it. I know what it feels like to accomplish my eating and fitness goals and I've been proud of every single one I've accomplished, but that alone isn't enough to keep me motivated to commit to making regular exercise and healthy eating a lifestyle. Do you guys have any thoughts about this? How do I make these two things a priority with myself?

Changing the Focus (this is a long one, but I hope you read it)

Hello all,

First a check-in - where's everyone at? I didn't work out Monday or Tuesday morning but then Tom poked me into getting on the treadmill last night while we watched The Biggest Loser, so I ended up walking for 51 minutes, which was great. This morning we went to the gym (its been really hard to motivate myself to wake up in the morning recently - but I made myself turn on the light when the alarm went off which helped) and I did a super-hard, super-fast upper body workout BodyForLife style and walked 15 minutes on the treadmill. It felt really good to push myself and reminded me of why I started this whole process in the first place - to feel better!

My goal for this week is to lose 4 lbs. That sounds like a lot, but when I weighed in Sunday at 153.5 I hadn't been drinking enough water for 2 days, so I was retaining a lot. So I'm positive that with accountability, eating well and exercising I can achieve my goal of 149(.5?) by next Monday.

Which brings me to my next item of business - it sounds like we have ALL been struggling with our motivation and bodies recently. I know Michelle has been feeling like she has to completely get out of the process, and I know Teresa has been battling several colds, Tom and I have been feeling poopy and stressed and Lisa has been traveling.... so........ I want to put out a clarification on what I would like this blog to be.

I don't see this blog as only for the Las Vegas Half Marathon training. The whole reason I decided I needed an event-specific goal at all was for motivation to get off my ass and lose weight and get active again. That to me is THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THIS!!! For me, having you all to hash out some of this stuff with (my frustrations with myself and my lack of motivation/ability to wake up in the morning or desire to proceed or body limitations/injuries) is really helpful. I'm wondering if maybe some of you think that you shouldn't post if you aren't training (Tom and me last week) or like Michelle, feel like you can't participate in the LV 1/2 marathon. I think the idea of doing this resonated with all of us because we were all feeling like we wanted to get healthy and in shape and lose extra weight and feel better in our bodies. So... I would like to open up the blog to expand the posts to include WHEREVER we are in our own personal journey of health and wellness. And yes, I want to know about your training. And I also want to know if you realize you can't run but that you CAN do weight workouts and yoga. What is your process like? I also want to encourage all of us to re-examine and share our personal fitness and health goals. Its really helpful to get BACK in touch with WHY we want to do any of this in order to keep up the momentum. I know for me its imperative.

If this is just annoying to you and I'm really pissing you off with all this, you could put that up too. Well, I hope everyone knows I'm not trying to piss them off, but if you are having a strong reaction to this maybe there's something to look at. Personally, I'm noticing that I have been building up this resistance to change the closer it comes - the more I train, the more effect my choices have on my abilities to do the training and the more resistant I've become. For example - not going to bed early, drinking etc., not eating enough food during the day, eating the wrong kind of foods, not drinking water, etc. ad nauseum... Tom was mentioning this feeling that comes up for him whenever he starts to lose belly fat - a deep desire to overstuff himself with food, liquor, drugs, whatever. Its these boundaries that we hold that keep us where we are all at - and changing our actions and bodies brings all of these things to the forefront. And it can be UNCOMFORTABLE when these emotions come up - obviously, I didn't want to address these feelings before, that's why I freaking swallowed them, hello! So I'm trying to be really soft and compassionate with myself on this emotionally by acknowledging that I don't suck because I don't want to get up and work out, that its a part of my emotional process that I can look at and move through if I realize that I really DO want to change. All the while persevering through my internal kicking and screaming to make myself get out there and do SOMETHING even when I don't want to. Maybe its not a fast run or even a run, but its doing SOMETHING to shift my energy, to move my physical body and therefore to move myself forward emotionally.

I hope you find this helpful and that it encourages you to connect with yourself and your community here. I love you all and I really want ALL of us to be successful with EVERYTHING we want to achieve. And I definitely know that this physical energy is one manifestation of our whole lives - one that we actually do have some concrete control over. That can be hugely empowering - and by remembering that, maybe it can help with other areas of your life that you don't feel so empowered by. Ok?

We did it - 8 miles

So despite kind of slacking on our running training the last 2 weeks (we did hiking, walking and weight workouts, but not much actual running), Tom and I made a commitment to ourselves to keep up with the long runs - no matter how long it takes us. So Saturday we ran 8 miles (well, we walked some of it, but we went 8 miles overall). I definitely could feel it, although part of what I was feeling was joy. It was a lot of fun. I listed to Justin Timberlake's FutureSexLoveSounds and just jammed. That is a great album to run to. Towards the very end (last mile) I was getting a not-quite right feeling in my legs (as in injury could happen, better adjust). So I walked some and then changed my stride to really engage my butt and arms to push myself off rather than clodding down with my knees and flat feet (I tend to clunk a lot when I'm tired and don't use my muscles). My legs felt better, and then when I got back to the car I stayed and did a lot of stretching as I cooled down which helped immensely the rest of the weekend. I wore my heart rate monitor and that was a really big help - I wasn't trying to keep myself in a % heart rate, but I did pay attention to my perceived efforts and how that correlated to my heart rate beats-per-minute. And it was nice to see the amount of calories burned at the end.

Hi Everyone

This is way overdue. Life has been tough lately. I went to the doc a few weeks ago about my leg. Nothing too informative. Prescribed some physical therapy that I can't afford, so trying to figure that out. It doesn't look like I'll be running with you in Vegas, which really bums me out more than I can say. I'm still anxious to get back out there and running, but I can't yet :(. Besides that, the rest of my life is all upside down and changing and scary and hard and it freaks me out so I haven't written about it or checked in for a while. I hope everyone is doing great and avoiding injuries and having fun. I've been nursing an injured heart (emotionally, not physically) the last few weeks and I hate to admit that that's interrupted my exercise schedule more than my physical injury. I've been walking and done a lot of garden work and managed to stay physical, but I finally managed to get 30 min on the stairmaster yesterday. That felt good. I want to know how all of you are doing too. Teresa, did you do the 5k? How'd it go? How is everything going for everyone?

Where's Dancing Nancy?

Hey Gang - we haven't heard from Michelle in a while. Should we send out a search party? She's either a) feeling so fabulous she's too busy dancing and cavorting to post; b) feeling so crappy she's hole-ing up in her apartment knitting a sweater out of cat hair; or c) somewhere in between. Personally, i'm hoping its a)....
love you michelle!! :')

Knee Injuries

I found the following article from SparkPeople.com a great read, especially for the strength and stretching exercise.

Enjoy.!

http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/fitness_articles.asp?id=363

Adding Links

Hey everyone,

Teresa brought it to my attention that you guys can't add links to the sidebars. It turns out that cause I'm the admin I can add links, but apparently y'all can't cause you're authors, but not admins, sooo..... if you want to add some links, let me know - Got good sites? Good vids? Let me know and I will put it up. :-)

I'm also working on getting it so that recent comments will show up on the front page, so we can track if an older post gets a comment in case people respond to each other.

I really appreciate all of your efforts on this. :-)

Love AMY

Still Sickie...

Hi Everybody -
I got the flu on sept 10th and then i got a cold after that. work's been really busy. i got a massage, because my knee was troubling me - turns out that my very tight adductors were pulling on my knee, so i've been studiously stretching those muscles after working out. trouble is, i wasn't working out. i flew to detroit on sunday - got in 2 hours before my meeting - so i worked out!! (i was proud of myself for packing my workout clothes). got on the treadmill and after a few minutes realized how ill i still was - my lungs really hurt and i got that sick feeling. totally sucks, but i thought i was well enough to get some exercise anyway, so i stopped after a mile and then walked for another 20 min. felt good, and i'm glad i did! late flight back yesterday so i'm really tired now, but <> i will walk for 20 minutes when i get home tonight. i think moving around is better than laying around for getting better at this point. the palo alto moonlight run is this friday - i signed up for the 5K. i'll just run until i think i shouldn't and then walk. does anyone know what remedy is working for this particular bug going around?
hope everyone is doing well.
take care!
Teresa

This Video Is Totally AWESOME

A little long, but so worth it. I love her and such a good point for all of us, obese or not. We are multi-dimensional and perfect!

Hello? Is There Anybody Out There?

I'm going to work now, but then I'm coming home and going to bed relatively early in preparation for our 6 mile run tomorrow - who's in? And what's going on with all y'all? Injuries do not put you out of the game people - lets get this board back on track. This week, Tom and I both did our runs (ok, yesterday I somewhat lamed out with only about 20 minutes of running and 12 of walking, but I was on a treadmill) and we are gonna take our measurements and whatnot this weekend and set short and medium term goals. What are YOU gonna do?


Follow up - WE DID 6 MILES YESTERDAY! AND.... it was raining so we went to the gym and did it on the treadmill!!! Wow. Very much a mental exercise as well as a physical one for me. I brought some fitness magazines to read, and switched the location of the treadmill that I used to one that didn't face a wall of tvs and it really helped. I can't stand being in front of the tvs in the morning with the news on of all the negative crap going on in the world. I'm very proud of myself for doing it. :-)

Recommitting to the Goal

Hello all,
First off, I have been lurking and reading posts, but this last week I was going through a tough time with my motivation and progress. I was feeling a bit lost and disconnected and I had to do some soul searching and reminding myself of why I got started on this to begin with. Tom and I both realized we needed to get back on track with the training program and get more consistent with our running workouts and get started again! So we went on a 5 mile run on Saturday and then (despite being hungover Sunday morning) went for a very strenuous 6+ mile hike Sunday. It felt really good to loosen those muscles up again and as it turns out, it was the perfect cure for a hangover.

Which reminds me - after taking a month off of drinking, I got buzzed on Friday and drunk on Saturday night - it doesn't take much especially after not drinking for a while, but I completely overdid it Saturday night. I'm ready however to go back on a low to no-drinking habit again as I could see the effects in my skin, my mood and my weight. Oy. So in the interests of achieving my bikini body by January goal and my 1/2 marathon by December goal, I'm back off the sauce I think until Halloween. Occasional social sips notwithstanding... ;-)

My goals for this week are to run twice during the week, do weights 3 times, and do a long run next Saturday. I will not drink any alcohol during the week, and I will eat cleanly during the week. I would like to lose 2 lbs this week. And I will check in with my progress on this blog several times this week and read and respond as appropriate to your blogs.

Also, I wanted to put an idea out there for all of us - Lisa is going to be coming up for a visit on Sunday September 30th in the morning (her flight gets in at around 9am) and I thought it would be cool if we all got together for our long run and possibly lunch after. I think it would be a good opportunity for us all to connect as a group and talk about what we're going through. And we can do an out-and-back route to make it so that we can all go at our own pace while still doing it as a group. If this seems like something you would be interested in doing, we can meet at Tom's and my house maybe at 10 on Sunday the 30th and go to the beginning of the Los Gatos Creek Trail near our house. No pressure on time or pace, just go out and have fun and run. Let me know if this sounds like something you'd like to do and we can make a plan of it.

Love you all, I look forward to reconnecting with you and with my training in the week to come. AMY

Long time, no check-in...

Hi everyone. Thought it was about time I checked in. Things are not going so well, but could be worse. My training was going great until 3 wks ago. Went out for a shorter run after two 5mi runs that week. Pain in my calf/lower leg. Thought it was torn calf muscle or just really, really tight. Gave it a couple weeks to heal, but kept moving and stretching as much as I could and also tried to rest it too. It feels better overall, but it's VERY slow going. I think it's time to see a sports doc. Not a big deal, I'll get back out there. I'm determined to keep running after seeing and feeling the results. But it came at the worst possible time, or at least it feels that way. Right before training officially started. I was running more than 3 miles at a time...ready to train. And now EVERYTHING in my life is changing and up in the air and it's very overwhelming and running was actually the one thing that was going really well and was a great way to relieve stress and get my energy out. So I'm bummed and discouraged about a lot of things, but I'm also trying my best to focus on the fact that it's not as bad as it could be. On a positive note, since I am so worried about losing my overall progress, I've been back in the gym doing weight training, and even stairmaster. 30 minutes on the stairmaster yesterday, injured......piece of cake compared to when I started. Managed to allow myself to feel good about that.

What do you all think about this?

Although, truthfully its not any more restrictive than what my goal calories are supposed to be anyways, but....

http://www.calorierestriction.org/Home

Las Vegas - Luxor

Hi all,

Just wanted to check in and see where y'all are staying during the our super cool half marathon.

Kevin and I booked a room at the Luxor (right next door to Mandalay Bay) for Saturday and Sunday night.

I'm getting excited!

How's the training?

Also, what is considered cross training? Does yoga count, or should I be doing something more like weight training or an alternate cardio activity, like biking or rowing.

3-day weekend

I'm happy that I get three days off and I hope you are happy as well. I know for me that three day weekends = food, lounging and being comfy cozy at home. I plan on doing that this weekend, but want to spice it up a bit and integrate some movement and healthy energy.

My ideas for breaking up the fatassness:

• Take a yoga class on Sunday and do some rowing.
  
• Coming up with 3 new healthy meal ideas for the following week
• Spend some time “cleaning house." This is intended to be both literal and figurative. My house has started to become a cluttered mess, it’s impossible to function well. Ditto for my work and school schedule too.
• Re-evaluate and stock up my healthy snack options at home, in the car and at work. I'm way more likely to eat healthy snacks when I don't have to choose healthy versus non-healthy.
  
• No sleeping in. I want to see how many hours my body actually needs so that I can go to bed and wake up at the same time, regardless of what day of the week it is.

I know that I don't want to overindulge in "bad" food, so to keep things balanced I will allow myself some goodies. I have been trying to not beat myself up over eating certain foods. This type of mentality isn't good for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I've been trying to be more in tune with how eating certain foods make my body feel (full, gassy, bloated, sluggish, energized, etc.). This has helped me over the last few weeks to train my mind to think about food differently, but to still enjoy it.

Happy three days, folks! I leave you with this image for the start of a wonderful weekend:

HEY?!?! WHO'S FIRED UP?!?!

C'mon people, how are we doing?!?! This blog is not just for the good things, but for the tough times too - what's going on people? Would you share your experiences? Please? I'll start. Oy, I'm crampy. But on the other hand, I haven't been drinking any liquor for several weeks now, so I think I'm probably LESS crampy than I would have been. My period seems to be lighter which is good. I crawled to the gym this morning, but did my second official training workout. Woohoo! I do need new shoes, but that may have to wait a little while until I get more money. I'm down 7 lbs since we started the blog, but still over my old set point of 150 by 5 lbs. Slowly but surely getting there. And I'm sweating disgusting amounts every day. I guess that's my metabolism kicking up, but its totally gross. But my skin looks great. So everything's good and bad and up and down. What is going on with y'all?

14 Weeks Today

Hey Friends,

Today is the first day of the 14-week half marathon training. I know I've been getting my body moving and into the rhythm that is running, but I haven't really buckled down and committed myself fully to it.

Today I am committing. I have printed out the training schedule and am ready. I've started my day with a protein shake and am committed to mindfully fueling my body to the best of my ability. I've stocked up on an extra pair of running shoes and insoles. I AM READY!

How are you guys doing?

A cool new documentary in production

The website is www.inspiredthemovie.com and I liked the blog section. Plus in the media section there are some interesting interviews from the movie. Cool stuff.

Laser time again - plus my progress

HELLLLOOOOO Folks!!
Haven't posted in awhile. Glad to hear everyone's doing well again. I'm a little disappointed that i haven't been able to increase my mileage of late - I've had to regroup so as to not injure my knee, which was protesting the running. I've been steadily running at least 2X week, with some other exercise about 1X week. i guess that's ok, but i need to kick it up to make progress. i had a 2 hr walk on saturday and was going to run the distance on sun, but had to bail b/c of potential heatstroke!!! i was really about to lose it - i was so hot - couldn't get rid of the heat. but i got in a 3.4 mi run nonetheless... i probably would have run slower if alone, but i was with my friend jackie, so i pushed myself a little harder. i think that's something i need to be aware of in the future - really listen to myself and go at the pace that will let me keep going!
I got back on it this tuesday - went to the gym after work (first time in the gym in months) and ran the treadmill - 2.0 mi at 15 min/mi pace!!! interestingly - i went to the gym b/c i wanted to weigh myself, but the scale wasn't there -!
i've been tracking everything i eat on sparkpeople - for the last 2.5 weeks - this is a pretty major deal for me. even on the days where i keep going back to the fridge at night. thanks Lisa for introducing me to that site!
i'll be taking it easy this weekend. today i'm getting my right eye LASIKed to retouch from my surgery 3 months ago. i have to be careful about getting sweat in my eye for a few weeks. imagine me running with one one of those big ole 70's sweatbands on my head... DYN-O-MITE! maybe i'll get one in red white and blue!!
keep up the good work gals - and guys.
WE ROCK!!!!

Marathon Gear

Check out the link below and buy some gear! It's on-sale, but some of its from 2006.

http://store.devinesportsstore.com/lasvegas.html

Where My Peeps At?

Hello sucka mc's - where are all the postings?!?! OK, I'll start.

My knee is feeling MUCH better - finally. I went for some long walks and a strenuous 3 mile hike with Lisa when I was in San Diego and that helped push things along, and then yesterday I went on an 8 mile/3 hour very steep hike with my friends Sandra and Annette and that was great. It kicked my butt, but totally doable and I was able to get up and go to the gym this morning and do my first upper body workout in forever. Then I did 3 massages today in my new studio. So lots of exercise!

My back is a bit sore, but my legs feel good - tomorrow I'm gonna go for a run outside with Tom in the am. I'll let you all know how running goes. BTW - official start of the training program is I think next week - where are we all at? Teresa and Michelle have both been struggling with some injuries, how are those coming along? Lisa, how's running when its hotter than hell? Tom, wake up and post! I'm looking forward to hearing from you ALL.

PS - I had a really good time in San Diego with Lisa Lisa (formerly of Cult Jam). It was very healing for me and we had a great time together being girlie. Just what I needed and I got to get firmly anchored in my not drinking. I've been feeling really toxic and the fall I took was a big reminder that I have goals that are not furthered by drinking, overeating and being hungover. I'm really enjoying the subtle and not-so-subtle differences in my body and sleep and mindset while not drinking or drugging. So that's where I'm at. And thanks Lisa!

Well I should probably post...

I've been struggling over the last week since I hurt myself - I went to the gym once last week and barely moved on the bike, and that was a lot of effort. My hands healed and the skin on my right knee is better, but my left knee that I wrenched has been giving me problems even walking. So yesterday I went to the gym and walked and today I went to the gym and started walking and I was in pain just on that knee. So me being me, I start to track down what the muscle is that's hurting and I realized that it feels better when my knee is bent and moving, so I started a slow slow run and that was less painful than walking. I ended up increasing my running speed to a normal run and did 2 miles of running, but afterwards I couldn't walk so well. So I worked (massaged) the attachment site for one of my quadriceps muscles (vastus medialis!) and it loosened up quite a bit. Still sore and tight, but I can walk on it again. I think I just tore one of my quads and its gonna take a while to heal. But I don't want to lose my training, so I'm going to continue to move, stretch, ice and massage. But its been pretty frustrating. But you all doing so well with your training is really helping me to remember to STAY ON TRACK!!! Even when I really don't feel like it. Thank you!

OH YEAH - I have been really struggling with the diet thing too - mainly in the arena of alcohol and nighttime eating. So, I realized I gotta lay off of that stuff. The alcohol is completely detrimental to my training and recovery. And I don't even drink that much - but I think I'm so toxic right now that anything puts me over the top, you know? Last night I didn't have a beer at the end of the night and this morning, it was easier to wake up and my joints weren't sore. Other than the obvious injury. I think I'm allergic to that shit... Which kind of sucks.

I just ran 5 miles!!!

Yay!!! It's no half-marathon, but I'm super stoked. I had a little walk warm-up BEFORE I started the 5 miles. Ran 2.5, quick bathroom break or I would have kept going. Then another 2.5 miles and a little cool-down and some stretching. About 2 miles into the running I was thinking of a quick break. Just then, a man running in the opposite direction put out his hand to give me a "hi five" and said, "Keep it up girl!!!" What a boost, just when I needed it :). And I didn't even have my mp3 player which usually helps with the mental stamina of it.

I really need to get some cross training back in the mix and some weight training too. However, my weight is still dropping. I'm the lightest I've been in probably a decade, or close to it. AND, I when I put my belt on this morning, I had to go down to the next smallest hole. Whoo hoo!!!!

I still get wary about 13 miles, but I'm trying not to think about that too much. Just my next step and my next one and so on. I need new shoes though. Now that I've been doing longer runs, I've realized my shoes might not be supportive enough. How is everyone else doing? I'd be down for doing some group runs too, if anyone is interested. I know Amy and I talked about it too. Okay, a shower is in order. Hope everyone is doing great!

Why do we overeat?

Here's an article that talks about a hormone that may trigger overeating.

YUMMY!

How's everyone doing? Any goals for the week that people want to share? I would like to consume more water and get more cross training in.

my new motivation to get up

i'm making a deal with myself that if i don't get up and exercise in the morning, then i must bring workout clothes to work and go at lunchtime. way more painful - its hot, for one thing, plus i'm not that keen on my coworkers seeing me all sweaty and in my stretch capri workout pants --- and --- it messes up my hair for the rest of the day! i was able to rinse off, since we have a shower.
i'm on day 4 of tracking food intake and exercise on sparkpeople!! there's something about this site that really drew me. i'm not really doing their plan, but there's all sorts of ways to make sure that my diet is balanced - it breaks out the fat/carb/protein and gives me a range to shoot for -- also a range of calories, which really helps.
i registered for the paloaltoweekly moonlight run - its only $20, and you get a T-shirt.
next step - conquer my fear of Gold's Gym!!!!

Obviously this cat overtrained....

The Hacker's Diet

Cause sitting on your ass all day in front of a computer totally contributes to fatassidous...

some good links though

Article is here

also, don't do the Master Cleanse diet. See here for why not.

4 miles!!!

Hello everyone. If I don't blog about this Amy will come after me. I ran 4 MILES on Friday! Whoo hoo! That's my longest run yet. I parked, and walked a little to the "start" point, 2 miles from Natural Bridges. So I ran the 2 miles to NB and the 2 miles back. I only slowed to walk maybe 3 times and just long enough to drink some watter and catch my breath a little if I needed. But that was kept to a minimum and I'm super stoked, considering not that long ago I ran my first mile EVER.

I also managed to get in some exercise while visiting family this weekend. Which is harder than it sounds, because they aren't exactly active. My oldest nephew wanted to come with me, which was great. I just made sure he knew I wasn't going for a leisurely stroll. But I did map out a shorter route. About 1.6 miles, slightly more. We were out in the country near their house, so it was nice to run off the pavement for a change. Still got the exercise, but a little break for the knees was nice :). I went sort of slow. He walked when he needed. He'd run to catch up if I got ahead or I'd jog ahead and jog back to him. It was great. Later that day was a huge pool party for my other 2 nephews. And by huge, I mean the pool, more than the number of people. They rented the town pool where they live for a private party, so we had this HUGE nice pool all to ourselves. I even had a huge section of pool to do some laps and no one even came near me. So I got a little bit of an upper body workout that day too. So even though Sunday was kind of easy going with the exercise, it felt great to get out there and move and to have fun while getting exercise in the pool. I need to make an effort to do more active fun things. Even though I love the feeling after a good hard workout, it can really feel like a chore while you're doing it. But it's easy to forget that exercise doesn't ALWAYS have to feel like a chore. So yeah, that was my weekend. I overcame that 4 mile mark and I overcame the inactivity that so often sucks me in when I visit family.

My focus now is to keep up with the running and to get my weight training and crosstraining back into the mix. Hope everyone is having a fine Tuesday!

Oh yeah, just on a personal health/goal note: I have been focusing my thoughts whenever I can on fitness rather then weight loss. But I do get on the scale here and there to keep myself updated on where I'm at. As of this weekend, my weight is the lowest it's been in YEARS. At least 5 years, maybe as much as 8. I've got a ways to go for my ideal weight, but I'm very close to passing a huge milestone in the weight category. But this time, the numbers are going down instead of up :). Several people I saw this weekend noticed and commented on the changes as well. That was nice. I made sure to mention that I've been running and exercising. I'm all for the healthier food choices, but I wanted it to be known that activity was a part of my improving fitness. Okay, I maybe I should do some actual work now...haha.

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY LISA!!!!

Ahem, it came to my attention this morning when I was looking at the calendar in the kitchen that AUGUST 1ST was Lisa's Birthday. CONGRATULATIONS MISS LISA - on being alive and healthy and well and no weird brain viruses!

Much love (and chagrin at missing it) for your birthday. :-)

Amy Fall Down and Go Boom

Well, as it turns out, I am kinda clumsy when I'm hung over and trail running...

Saturday - went on a long hike and run with Tom and a new friend.
Saturday night - invited new friend over and drank margaritas and ate chicken fajitas made at home (yum!)
Sunday morning - hmmm.... no headache, but feeling kinda foggy and slow - lets go for another hike run
Sunday afternoon - finally get out there and climbed up steep ridge - nice view, want to hurl, feeling shaky but good to be outside, running down the other side (after the steep part, during the long part) - I go to pass a couple walking on the trail, say hi, do a little maneuver and BAM!

So I wrenched something in my left knee and my right calf is all scraped up and my hands are roughed up too.

But I ran all the way back to the car (2+ miles). Which makes me a super stud.

Today I'm pretty sore, and a little bit concerned about the left knee. And I had to reschedule my massages for the day (what with the open wounds and all). But I'm moving around and that's good.

And apparently the 5 lbs I lost last week was entirely water weight, cause now I'm back up. What.Ever.

Fear of Exercise

Yep, folks - i've got it bad... Fear of exercise. woke up in a sweat just thinking about it... Not waking up to my alarm clock, just so i don't have to do it!!! i do realize it's holding me back. i'm not exactly sure what i'm afraid of - i suspect that i'm afraid of injuring myself and never getting in shape (isn't that a roundabout way of thinking...) or maybe afraid of just plain hurting - even though i always recover pretty quickly. its been difficult getting my runs in the AM because its hard to get up early and its hard to go to bed early (ok - "challenging")!! and i do want to be at work before 9:30 - because i feel like everyone looks at me funny when i come in at 10 - even if i worked until 9PM last night!! so i just have to 1) pat myself on the back every time i get it done, 2) be gentle with myself when i can't, and 3) kick my own ass when i'm too gentle on myself - man, all 3 are most important!!! i smudged and meditated this morning - Yay me!

So - anyone interested in doing the Palo Alto Weekly - Moonlight Run with me?
I'm up for a 5K!! Friday, September 28th.
http://www.paloaltoonline.com/moonlight_run/index-before.php
We rock!!

Past Week

So here are my stats:

• Monday: Overall my eating was pretty good.  I didn't get enough water or protein though.  It was a rest day, so I didn't do any training, except for a 20 minute walk in the park for the doggie.
• Tuesday: Eating was a little higher than my upper limit.  I did do a 2.25 mile run and then did an upper body weight session.
• Wednesday: I ate too many fats and not enough protein.  I went to the gym and did 30 minutes of cross training on the bike.
• Thursday: A little high on the calorie intake and again, not enough protein.  I did 2 miles of running and a lower body weight session.
• Friday: Way too many calories.  Kevin came home and surprised me with In-N-Out for dinner!  I should've just had the cheeseburger and I would've been fine, but no, I ate the fries!  I found out the burger and fries were almost 1000 calories. I ate too much and I felt bad, but was ready to go to the gym on Saturday.
• Saturday: Eating went well.  Kevin and I went to a BBQ and I didn't stuff my face!  Sometimes awkward social situations make me eat more, but I refrained and made myself talk to Kevin's labmates.  I started out the morning with a good workout.  I did 30 minutes of biking and 10 minutes of rowing and finished off my gym session with an upper body weight session.

Next week's goals:

1. Drink more water!
2. Eat more protein.
3. Don't eat In-N-Out

I also wanted to let you guys know of a really great site that I've been using: sparkpeople.com I have been using it to track my caloric intake and exercise session.  You can set a lot of nutrition goals and exercise goals and it's has a lot of valuable information.  I am using it to track my calorie intake, fat, carb, protein, fiber and water intake.  You can even get weekly meal plans and exercise plans based on what you like or don't like.  So if you're vegan, you can get a weeks meal plan made for you that is in your calorie intake range and the other ranges you've set your for yourself.  I really think you guys should check it out if you want to keep track of what your eating and in my case, not eating (damn protein).

How was your week?

So I'm spinning positive on this one

And saying that if it works one way, its gonna work the other - I'm really glad my friends are totally fit and active peoples that inspire ME to get fit and active! Thank you dears. :-)

When one person LOSES weight, their close friends tend to LOSE weight, too, Amy found.

Yesterday

I really didn't feel like running. I felt really sluggish, like my legs were made of stone. I didn't have a good run on Thursday. (see "Couragement"). Friday was swimming and Saturday hiking. Both good workouts, but not running. SO, yesterday I decided to go out and do 3 miles, running 2 & walking 1. I wasn't sure I'd be able to do it, but I even exceeded my goal. Yay. I walked .5 mile (warm-up), ran 1 mile, quick bathroom break, ran 1 more mile and decided just before I reached the end of mile 2 that I was going to go a little further...to the stop sign I saw ahead, then realized the stop sign was in the middle of a hill so I might as well keep going until it flattens out. When I got to the top, I realized I had covered another quarter mile. AND, most importantly, there was the noticeable difference that my lungs were having an easier time than usual. That was great.

I'm not experiencing "pain" in my knee, but one of them does feel like it's taking a bit more abuse than the other. I know there are things I can do as far as getting better shoes, and stretching and such. But I also wonder if anyone that used to live in this area...ahem...I guess that means most of you...would know any good places to run "off road". I want to run more often, but also want to alternate on a softer surface while my joints get more and more used to the impact. Any suggestions?

Monday Check In

Hello Everyone!
How was your weekend? What are your training goals for the week? How is your training going?

I went on a long hike Saturday with Tom and Chris and Shelly - fun. Hot. Ate pretty extravagantly all weekend.

Tom and I took all our measurements this morning, and figured out our lean body mass and how much fat we want to lose to get to our goal weights. I have 27 lbs of fat to lose to be at my goal and maintain my lean body mass and get to my ideal BF%. That is going to be achievable provided I continue exercising AND continue to address my food intake. Small changes though - I'm focusing on frequent small meals and I am well aware that alcohol doesn't do anything good for weightloss. So, this past weekend I ate off 2 days and I really felt the difference - mainly in my attitude. One free day is enough to throw me off track for the next day, and two days off makes it really hard to motivate. Plus going back to the gym this morning felt like I was starting completely over. So, one free day from now on.

On the other hand, I DID get up this morning and went to the gym and worked my back and chest and walked a mile on the treadmill and did some ab exercises. I also am working today, so that's some more physical exercise.

Lastly, I voraciously read the last Harry Potter book, so I'm sure I burned a bunch of glucose thinking so hard. :-)

couragement

discouragement:

I was reminded yesterday on my run/walk how important it is to eat, hydrate, sleep well. I'm sure I didn't get enough good sleep, and I KNOW I didn't eat often or enough. Same with hydration. And it was HARD. I started out pretty good, but before I was halfway through, I was already crashing. I did have water with me but had not had enough throughout the day. I barely ate anything during the day. My energy was totally zapped. The last 2 miles (of 4 total) were mostly walking with bursts of running, but I rested when needed and pushed when I could. Most importantly, I finished. Stretched.

encouragement:
So after my exhausting (but OMG, West Cliff is f'ing beautiful) run/walk. Although feeling discouraged by my performance, I found some encouragement. In the shower. My apologies if it's too much info, but it made me laugh out loud..and feel better about my overall progress. So...as I was lathering my arse in the shower, I noticed a firm mass in the middle of my buttock. For a split second, I wondered what the hell was wrong with my arse...before I realized that was MUSCLE! Sure enough...there was another to match on the other side. Whoo hoo!

So despite my discouraging workout, and even though my arse and I have a way to go...I still feel good about my own personal progress. So I'll be out there this weekend enjoying the fabulous weather and some exercise! Ahem...if anyone wants to join me....

Quote of the Day

"How you do anything in your life is how you do everything in your life." - various people


What does this mean for me? As y'all know, I'm actively engaged in energy shifting - for my clients, for myself, for the world. And what I have noticed is that the same pervasive energy shows up in multiple areas of everyone's life. Now what "energy" or emotion shows up in your life may be different than mine, but pay attention to what kind of energy is showing up in YOUR life. None of us operate in a vacuum, and no one area of our lives is truly separate from the rest - every part of our lives, every action, every experience is joined by the common thread of the Self that is experiencing it. So, rather than focusing solely on the specifics of changing the immediate situation, if you find yourself in a rut, look deeper - what is the common thread that is showing up here that shows up elsewhere in your life?

And, to approach this from an affirming viewpoint, pay attention to the means by which you start changing the REST of your life when you change one area. One of the common themes of Body For Life participants that always inspired ME, is this realization that although they started the contest to win money and lose weight and get fit, the positive repercussions of setting and attaining goals spilled over to every area of their lives. The way they did one thing in their life became the way they did ALL things in their lives.

This is how we shift - one step at a time, one choice at a time, one day at a time, until we have become who we set out to be. Each mouthful is a choice, each workout is a choice, each stretch is a choice, each drug is a choice, everything we choose to focus our energy on is a choice we are making - every time. That can be overwhelming or it can be empowering. And that's also a choice! ;-)

Choosing health and salmon today. Love you all - AMY

My First Time

So I finally gave in...I signed up for a gmail account. It's not the best email address, but I think it will serve it's purposes. Hi folks, it me, chinky nutts!

I've been reading the past entries and have become encouraged with all that you guys are writing. It is so great to read what everyone is doing for their half marathon training. Now that I've read what you are up to, I feel like I should start off my first post with how I've been doing with my training.

I started a few months ago and decided to aim for a 5K goal. I've meet that and now I'm training for a 10K goal. To solidify my 5K goal I am going to run the Ryka 5k race. I'm not shooting for a best time, but just completing the race all the way without walking. I'll sign up for a 10K within a few weeks to help me solidify that goal. After that, I'll be training half marathon style.

I was bummed a few weeks ago as I was having some medical issues. Some wacky virus attacked my head and I was having all kinds of issues. But now I'm back on track and back in the groove that is running.

I'm thinking about getting a massage this weekend. My hammies are killing me! Amy, know any good stretches to loosen up those hammies?

Also, I've been running three days a week and doing 50 minute training weight training sessions three times a week. I walk my dog every day for about 30 minutes, even after my workouts, so I feel like I'm really getting my exercise ya-ya's out. Sundays are my long walk/hike days and yoga, if I can squeeze it in. Wednesday's are my off days and I don't do much of anything after work.

My eating has been alright. It's really hard to resist all the great fruit that is in season right now. My local farmers market has a lot of delicious stuff right now and I find that I am telling myself that fruit is good for me, that and frozen yogurt. I need suggestions for dinner ideas. The chicken breast, brown rice and broccoli is getting old

I think that's about it now. I'm so excited that all of us are doing this together. This is awesome! I only hope that I can provide some sort of inspiration and help other through this training adventure.

I'll add a quote...

Here's one I like. And it's a good reminder to challenge yourself.

"The only person standing in my way is me; and I think I can beat her."
--unknown

Accountability Partnerships

Hello dears,
I was talking to both Teresa AND Tom about this yesterday, so I thought I'd bring the concept to the table. Have you heard of having an Accountability Partner? The idea behind this kind of relationship is that making specific commitments helps all of us to achieve our goals. These are YOUR goals, and you determine what they are. An accountability partner is someone with whom you have an agreement to follow up on your progress in achieving your goals. Together you and your accountability partner make an agreement of what kind of help you would like, and what you may need help on to achieve your goals and they agree to be a sounding board for your progress.

You may choose to make a list of your goals, some specific parameters that let you know if you've reached those goals, steps to take to achieve them, and timelines to be met to keep you on track. If you know that you operate well from a weekly confessional, or need someone to question you about your progress, this is the time to express that. What would help you to reach your goal?

Your accountability partner is not there to judge you or berate you. They are also not there to set the terms of your success - only YOU do that. But what an accountability partner CAN do is help you to give expression to your goals, and to give the extra accountability that you need to achieve those goals. Although you will set the terms by which you are supported, I would encourage you to commit to at least a trial time period to receive the support - maybe 6 weeks? That is enough time to see the results of your labor, and to not immediately quit based on your old patterns showing up.

So... does anybody need an accountability partner? If its me, let me know. If its everyone, this is a great forum for that kind of support! I'm looking forward to helping and being helped, people!

BTW, Lisa (in San Diego, you all know her) is going to be joining us here at 6 Months 13 Miles Unlimited Potential ASAP. Her signon is chinky_nutts.

Quote of the Day

So I dunno if we'll really do this everyday, but.... I was talking with a friend of mine about health and a book she is reading called "How We Die" and it talks about how everything we put into our body is a choice we are making to die or live. And that resonates with something I've been focusing on recently - my undetermined mortality. I've decided I don't want to get old and I don't want to die. I have no desire to be creaky, wrinkled, immobile, incontinent or in pain. I'm not buying into it any more. That's it people. Every moment, every second, every action, every inaction is a choice and I am making the choice to LIVE and LIVE WELL. So the quote today is this:

"It comes down a simple choice, really. Either get busy living, or get busy dying."
- Andy Dufresne (Shawshank Redemption)

So lets get busy living people!!!

Quote of the Day

This is now going to be a new feature - which everyone must contribute to! Hahaha. But I did like this quote:

Don't borrow someone else's spectacles to view yourself with.
Simon Travaglia

Checking in, etc.

Hello all. Checking in. Had some days off for camping last week, but we ended up getting in some good exercise too. A moderate 5 mile hike and some arm/back exercise from tubing down the river. Not to mention the great run/walk Amy and I did this weekend. I did the same 4 mile route today, BUT I ran 3 miles of it!!!!! WHOO HOO. Feels great. Hungry now :)

Progress and Weekly Plan

Hello all,

First off - big shout out to Michelle for yesterday! We walked 2 miles and RAN 2 miles yesterday on West Cliff!!! We immediately followed up with margaritas at the Palomar, but STILL... ;-)

As for my weekly plan - I'm doing 2 days of shorter cardio workouts, 3 weight/resistance/core workouts, and 1 long run/hike on Sunday. I'm going to be eating 5 small meals each day and drinking 3 liters of water per day, and I'm going to take a women's multivitamin daily and an Emergen-C each day. And Saturday is going to be my free day.

Tom and I are going to be fining ourselves for any missed days of workouts or eating off plan. $5/day for missing a planned workout, $5/day for eating crappy or (in my case more likely) not eating enough during the day. And I'm going to make up a box to put said fines in - and its going towards our vacation fund.

What are you all up to this week?

is this clock working?

2.4 mi at 15.24 min/mi - i think my timer was fast, but i WAS pushing myself...
gonna try to do a long one tomorrow, then i check in on my physiology with marina on sunday!

Back on the Road

Thought I'd share my progress - after i congratulate Michelle on her awesome strides and Amy on her training through her bloatiness... YOU - GO GIRLS!!!

I had a personal best on Saturday - 3.8 mi at 16.2 min/mi, with high fives from strangers on the trail - especially at the crest of the overpass bridge. I had a most awesome massage on Monday - by Amy (she's the best!!!) got my legs worked on, and it felt good to work out kinks and knots that were earned by sweat!

then i just couldn't get myself out of bed in the AM, or get home in time to do a run in the PM (excuses, excuses...). i was totally sick of letting myself get away with it, knowing it would be harder and harder to get back into it. So i MADE myself go for a run this morning (no more excuses), even though i barely had time for a shower by the time i got back. and it totally hurt and sucked and my time was bad and i didn't even do 2 miles (1.89 mi at 17 min/mi) -- but in some respects more victorious that had i beat my Saturday time. well, actually i was just starting to get in the groove on the way back.

WE ROCK!!
love,
t

MICHELLE'S BIRTHDAY!

Hey everybody its Michelle's Birthday today - what a great present - health and fitness! Congrats on chronologically getting older and physiologically getting younger.

Crampy McCramperson and the Bloated Bellies

I love being a woman. Really. What with the raging hormones and the severe bloat...
Couldn't handle running this morning, but I went to the gym and powerwalked a mile on incline on the treadmill and then 3/4 mile on the stairclimber. Worked out for 28 minutes, and burned 225 calories. Better than nothing. Which is what I wanted to do.

Yesterday however, Tom and I and our other friend Tom went on a 2 hour hike. Followed by lunch at the Poor House Bistro in downtown San Jose. Mmmm.... good Louisiana style food. The hike was strenuous and I was sore this morning. Although that could be due to the most annoying period ever.

How's everyone else?

My first mile.

Today I ran my first mile. Ever. I've walked or jog/walked several miles before. BUT, I have NEVER, in my nearly 33 years, EVER run a mile all at once. Without stopping. I did a total of at least 2.8 miles today. I forgot to time myself, but I don't care what the time was. That last mile was a HUGE personal milestone for me. I was SO happy! I laughed. I cried. It was better than Cats.

Oh yeah, and I got new shoes that don't suck. :)

Would you like a side of PMS with your new running shoes?

So I finally got some running shoes last night. I tried on a gazillion pairs and ended up buying the first pair I tried on. They were supportive and my feet felt great during my in-store test. I was really excited to test them out, so I went for a 2+ mile test walk. About 1 mile in, after my feet settled a bit more into my shoes, I noticed the left shoe was rubbing my ankle bone. By the time I got back to my car, it was pretty bad. I tried them on today with new inserts, but it was still rubbing. I was ready to burst into tears this morning. Discouraged about my running progress, I finally get shoes and they hurt, convinced that there was NO way I'd be able to return them (used), and that I'd be stuck with shoes I couldn't wear. I decided to call and find out the return policy before I let myself completely freak out. Of course, I can take them back. Deep breath. I'll try again :).

Oh, yeah, we went running again!

So, to recap my trip to Chicago - got here last Saturday, totally chilled out that night. Sunday went for a 2.5 mile walk/run, Monday went for a 3 mile run, Tuesday went for a 4-5 mile walk/run, Wednesday, tired and hung over, BUT went for a great 3 mile run along the Lake shore downtown, and then walked around doing the Taste of Chicago for another 3 miles. I was exhausted by the end of the day and my knees were pretty sore, but I feel good now. I think the sore knees are due to a combo of being dehydrated from drinking so much the night before, and cause my shoes are a little overdue to be replaced or have the inserts replaced. Tomorrow we're gonna do a 2 mile run before we fly out of town. I really enjoyed running outside btw - I had been a little leery to start, I guess because I don't really have a great route right out my front door, and I also like treadmills for starting my training. Anyways, its been really nice to get outdoors and feel sun and air and get all that good chi flowing. And I am REALLY looking forward to coming home.

UPDATE: Ok, that last day, we went for a walk around a long block, but that was it - and that was a lot - I was not feeling it, but kudos to Tom for getting me off my ass and out the door to at least just shake my blood up before getting on a plane for 5 hours. Got back and I ended up being nearly the same weight as before I left (well, I'm the same weight as when I started exercising again, but I had lost 2 lbs, and that's back, but no MORE than that), so that was VERY good. I wasn't planning on losing any weight, I just wanted to burn enough off to cover the food and drink excesses of the trip and apparently I basically did. I'm so bloated its hard to tell if those 2 lbs are really extra fat or just water, but either way I'm ok with it.