Homemade Date Night

Hey- it can't all be about fitness and weight loss, right? Life certainly isn't!

Last night I got a wild hair up my rear and decided I was going to make a special dinner for the hubby and I. No reason, just cause. So I stopped by Whole Foods and picked up some fun stuff. Definitely had a splurge night in the Grady household. 

Fancy dinner started with fancy salad, made with and organic herbed baby greens mix from Earthbound Farms. I added some mushrooms and edible flowers. It was a tasty salad. I didn't notice any different flavor from the flowers, but it was pretty to look at! I steamed some asparagus for a side, as well 

 

I semi-homemade some marinara sauce. Took canned crushed tomatoes and added it to sauteed onion and garlic, threw in some white wine and spices and it turned out pretty good, I think. Hubby said it was the best marinara he had ever had.  I put the marinara on fresh garlic parsley linguine (that I did not make) and added pan-seared shrimp and sea scallops. I also toasted the lovely organic tuscan bread, rubbed with garlic and butter in the oven. And of course there was a lovely vidal blanc to drink with it, from one of my favorite wineries: New Kent Winery. 

 

I'm excited to see how the leftovers taste, now that that marinara has had time to marinate. I went a little over board last night, but it was so good! I was surprised I was hungry this morning after all of that! Sometimes you need to live a little. And it's good to celebrate each other sometimes. It made me happy to surprise hubby with a nice thing that I made.  

On 30 Pounds

WOW! I didn't think I was EVER going to hit this one! I've been waiting anxiously for a couple of weeks for it, because this is the most weight I've ever lost in one go. I am now only six pounds away from having lost 10% of my original starting weight, which is my first major SparkPeople goal! I talked about this a little bit in a message board post on my Healthy Living Challenge board this morning. I chose 10% as my first goal, because that's where you start seeing the real health benefits. SP has a great article bout losing 10% of your body weight:  http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/wellness_articles.as p?id=528

 I'd like to profess that maybe I've finally gotten the hang of this thing, but I don't want to jinx myself. I'm still struggling with most the weekends now. Even my evenings have gotten much better. I still have that urge when I first get home to make a run for the pantry and find something to snack on, but if I pet the kitty, go straight to the bedroom, pet the kitty, repack my gym bag, pet the kitty, get tomorrow's gym clothes laid out, and change into my civies, and of course- pet the kitty (she's very needy when I first get home) by the time I make it to the kitchen to fix my breakfast/lunch/snacks for the next day, I'm usually good. If not, I'll grab the orange I keep in the fridge (and replace it with a new one) for just that very reason. I think not having a schedule on the weekends end up being my undoing. And I do still fall victim to the "well I've done great all week and worked hard- I deserve a reward!" I need to remember the words of a lady from the gym about what junk food not being any kind of reward for your body. I've gotten up "early" the past couple of Saturdays to be active, and I think that really puts me on the right path for the day. I'm definitely one of those people who is motivated by a good start.

 So, what have I learned in 30 pounds: -consistancy pays far more dividends than random spurts. -bad days happen, one meal/crappy workout is not going to ruin a week of good work. Just like a week of good work is not going to reverse years of bad habits. -just showing up doesn't cut it after a while. You really do have to push yourself out of your comfort zone to see real results. -support is everything. Between SparkPeople, my gym family, my family and friends and making this whole thing a public affair on Facebook, not only have I given myself tons of accountability, but also tons of support. It's that support that I can never thank anyone enough for, and the only way to pay it back it to pay it forward.

Movin' and Groovin' 2 miler

Good Saturday evening!

I did my first walk today since this past April, when I did the Ukrop's 10k and the Ashland Railroad Run 5k. Today's race was a small local event to raise money for Pancreatic Cancer research. Apparently that is one of the cancers that there is no real early detection tests for. Which is why I guess that it seems to take people so quickly, because it's usually fairly advanced before it's discovered.

It was a beautiful day for a walk in the park. I signed up for the two mile option. We had a team from the gym, and I thought we were all going to walk together, which was the main reason I took the 2 mile option, because most of them did. But since we didn't walk in a group, and several of the ladies ran the 5k, I think next year I will choose the 5k. It was cool at first, my hands were actually cold walking from the parking lot to the starting area! And the humidity broke a little after the front that moved through yesterday, so it was great. The majority of the course was on a trail through the woods, so we weren't even in the direct sunlight. 

I need to get out on the road once a week or so. Gimpy foot has not been overly happy with me once I got off of it and it cooled down. I believe I am going to sign up for the training team when I sign up for an 8k that is part of the Richmond Marathon in November. The Sunday runs are outside and will definitely be time spent on pavement. I did find it interesting that considering I was running this week and gimpy foot didn't complain, a little two mile walk bothered it. I guess it really does show you the difference between treadmill running and road running. 

I completed the two miles in 36:58, so my pace is still about the same from April, which is great because a) I haven't been training for any races, including this one and b) I haven't spend as much time walking as I used to, I had been doing other cardio instead.It's kind of exciting, personally. I'm signed up for The Color Run in September, and since I'm working on the C25k program, that means my time should be even better! I don't think I'll be running the whole thing I'll only be on week four of the program, of course, adrenaline can make you do some crazy things. 

I ended up taking a nap this afternoon, which NEVER happens anymore. Crazy. I'll probably be up all night, but you never know. I could have just needed the extra rest, with adjusting to the running and all. Tomorrow is a rest/ schoolwork day So that will be nice. We're looking at a very pleasant, mild week here, and after a grey dreary week I can't wait for some sun!

I hope you have a great week as well! 

Happy Friday, Peeps!

From my SparkPeople blog:

I fully intended blogging more during this challenge, but my work week picked up a little bit, and so did my evenings. But I have so enjoyed reading and commenting on my challenge mates' blogs. 

Yesterday was my first day of school. I've never done online classes before, so I'm both excited and nervous. I did the first of three assignments for the week, and that one was super easy! We just had to get on the class discussion board and introduce ourselves to the class. I'd say at this point I'm pretty comfortable on a message board. Thanks Spark! 

I had been experimenting with new tracker this week, since you can go back and forth between them, now, and I really feel like it was giving me too many calories a day. I was always under, because it was recommending 2700-3000 a day! OMG! So I put it back to the old way, and I just let the fitness tracker yell at me for having too many calories burned. Since my FitBit is synced up to it, I rarely go over there anywhere. It's like the online version of sticking my fingers in my ears and shouting "LALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" Food has been overall good this week. I've stayed in my calorie ranges, even though a couple of the meals weren't strictly healthy. But that's real life, you know! 

Exercise has been wonderful! I finished the first week of my C25k program yesterday, and I'm looking forward to starting week two. I have realized that I could proably bump the speed up a little, but honestly, I'm going for time more so than distance right now. I'm finishing each session, and that's what I need, just to finish. I can work on speed later. Today's little win was taking two minutes off my stationary bike 10k. My gym has bikes from the Octane brand, and they have a program that instead of doing your workout for X amount of minutes, you just keep going until you "ride" a 10k. today I got it done in 26:35!  

Did a little mid-week peep at the scale, and if I can maintain where it's at until my official weigh-in Monday, I'll have some very exciting news! I should really make my offiical weigh in days on Thursdays. I always have the best numbers on Thursdays! 

Tomorrow I am walking in Richmond's "Moovin' and Groovin' event. There is a 2 miler and a 5k. While I am more than capable of completing a 5k, there is a whole group of ladies from the gym walking in the 2 miler, so I am doing that race with them tomorrow. I'm super excited. If I get out of work on time, I'm going to go ahead and pick up my race packet tonight, so I don't have to fool with it in the morning. 

Welp, my desk is picking back up, so I should go for now. I'll tell you guys all about the race tomorrow. Hopefully all the rain that is falling right now is getting it out of it's system and we have a dry morning! 

Have a wonderful evening, everyone! 
Smooches!! 

Weekend update/Healthy Living Challenge

Today was my HLC kick off. I've been having a lot of fun reading posts and blogs and trying to get to know the people participating. I'm looking forward to the next few weeks!

I'm so close to the 30 pounds down mark. It will be my first major milestone hit, so I was a little bummed when I got on the scale this morning and I was actually three pounds UP this week. I didn't think I flubbed this past weekend that badly, but apparently I did. That's ok, though, I'm just going to keep working the process, and trust that the process with start working for me. I know that slow and steady is better than dramatic anyway. It's like waiting for Christmas morning to come though- when you're this close!

I started a C25k program this morning. It was actually one that I used a few years ago with a small degree of success. I'm so different than I was then, though. I've spent the past four or five months exercising consistently, so I think I'm really ready for such a huge endeavor this time. We shall see, won't me. It certainly felt good to jog this morning, that's for sure! I'm going to have to do Day Two tomorrow, though, because there's a class I want to take at the gym Wednesday, and I won't have time to do both.

Did a little bit of shopping this weekend, and we wandered in to Old Navy, since they were having a killer jeans sale. I knew I really wasn't going to actually fit in any pants in-store, but I went ahead and grabbed a pair of size 20 skinny jeans, and they got up further than I anticipated them going, so I'll take it. Since I couldn't get any jeans, I picked up two pairs of desperately needed work out pants. I was happy this morning when I put on the first pair, and they fit just perfect. Most XXL work out pants I can swing no problem, but these were compression pants, and I wasn't sure how they were going to work. So yipee! New workout clothes. Now it will take me a few days longer before I'm back to being the smelly girl at the gym. (We don't have a washer/dryer in our apartment, so I tend to stretch things a little past when I shoud before hitting the laundromat)

I've been worried about my best friend. She's going through something, and I know she's not in the greatest of places right now. Unfortunately there's really not much I can do until she's ready to reach out, other than just keep reminding her that I'm here for her, and worrying about her. It's tough when you can't help someone you love.

I didn't get everything accomplished this weekend that I wanted to. One of these days I'm really going to get around to cleaning the bathroom. And bathing the cat. I swear it!

the first day of this challenge has gone well, here to many more successful ones! Go Storms!

Catch up post

I've been so neglectful of my little blog here lately. Mostly I've just been busy... getting healthy! After I completed the 10k I still continued going to the gym. I have found that for whatever completely mental reason that going to the gym in the mornings works for me. Cause I'm not a morning person. I have to MAKE myself go to bed early enough to make sure I'm getting at least six hours of sleep. I love the morning ladies, and the morning staff (if you can call the one woman there in the morning staff ;)) I love love love starting my day off on the right foot. It makes it so much easier to make better choices during the day. I love knowing that whatever else happens that day, I made my work out.

The down side was that for a few months I did get caught in that trap of thinking, "I worked out today, so I can eat whatever I want". Couple that with some looooong days/weeks in the office, barely leaving my seat, and the 25 pounds I had lost came right back over to say hi. I like to tell people that I am a walking example that is doesn't matter how much you work out, it really is much more important what you put in your face.

Fast forward to July. I signed up for a four week boot camp at the gym. They gave us a food and exercise journal to track with during the boot camp. Since I didn't want to get out of my morning routine, or give up my sacred mornings, I decided to keep that part of my routine, and just come back for a second dose for the boot camp classes, which were in the evenings. We also had Saturday and Sunday classes. The gym isn't normally open on Sundays, so that was a special thing, just for us. I only ever missed the 15 minute Helix sessions, because they were always full, and the first Monday class (I signed up late, so that class was full by the time I made up my mind to sign up). So I exercised every day, and four times a week twice a day, for an entire month! I was definitely ready for a rest day, and that is not something I could do all the time, but I'm so glad I did it! It really helped jump start me back on program. I also discovered that even though I track on SparkPeople, that the act of physically writing down my food and exercise on paper, seems to really work for me. So even though boot camp is over, I'm still using the journal. It's got something like five months worth of weeks you can fill out. I don't know what I'm going to do when it's full! I'll have to find another one!

So where am I at today? I'm back on a steady losing streak. I'm 27 pounds down as of this past Monday. I'm pretty sure I've never lost this much weight before without backsliding. I'm knocking on the door of 30 pounds lost, which I'm waiting to hit to really get excited. I took a sneak peek on the scale Thursday, and if I don't totally blow it this weekend, then I should be there Monday! I've never been so excited for a Monday before!!

Monday also officially starts a Healthy Living Challenge that I signed up for on one of my SparkPeople boards.I'm really trying to participate. Not just in making sure I do whatever challenges they have for us, but really invest myself in my team and get involved with the other people participating. Maybe I can make some new friends by the end of this.

I'm not a success story yet. Yet. However, I have such a positive outlook, and I want to share it. It's amazing how much just taking care of myself has brought me back to my natural optimistic ways. I know people have to think I'm obnoxious. I can't help it. As cheesy as it seems, it's really in my nature to try and find the silver lining in everything. I'm pretty sure that's why my old team hated me so much at work, because I wouldn't get bogged down in the negativity and commiserate with how "terrible" everything way. Or because I'm a bitch. You know, one or the other.

But that's not why we're here, now, is it? I took a class this morning at the gym. The owner is the instructor ( I soooo want to be her when I grow up) and she calls it Cardio Party. It's just a good, back to basics floor aerobics class. No steps, no equipment, no gimmicks. Just moving your body and having a good time. I got 6,000 steps in that 45 minute class! Then she followed it up with a core class. There is so much joy in just using your body and working up a good sweat. And while I was by no means any kind of coordinated in class, about half way through I noticed that I felt so light on my feet today! What a wonderful new experience! I need to remember that feeling Monday, when I work up the nerve to start a C25k program. It is time. I know it is. I just need to bite the bullet and get over the fear.

I suppose I have rambled on enough for one blog. I'm looking forward to getting back into it, now that I've gotten myself back into a more sane routine. I hope you have a wonderful day!