Accountability Monday: 10/24/2016

Hello and top of the mornin' to ya! I am writing to you today from Dublin, Ireland!

We are in town so my super talented husband can present his research at the Ireland International Conference on Education- how cool is he?!

We arrived yesterday and already we've had two pints of Guinness, Irish soda bread, and have been asked lots of questions about the US presidential election by the local folks :-)

YUM.

Not much happened this week in terms of training and working out. It was an incredibly stressful week at work because I work for an institution of higher education where all the faculty went on strike. Thankfully, the strike started last Wednesday and ended on Friday so it was short and a successful resolution was reached for all parties. However, it was still an anxiety-provoking time for myself and other colleagues.

In times of stress, especially stress I cannot control, it's easy for me to use eating as a way to distract myself from the real issues of feeling distress or feeling uncomfortable. I'm pretty proud of how I stayed on track this week with eating, but not so much working out. Between lots of stuff going on at work and getting ready for Ireland, I did not make running/working out a priority. But, Matthew and I are planning on running while we're in Dublin so that will help get marathon training back on track.

Consistent healthy eating these past few weeks has resulted in some payoff- I lost .6 this week (even with our trip to Cape May!!) bringing my total weight back down to where I was pre-wedding! Now, this trip to Ireland will probably result in a gain but hopefully it's something manageable :-)

Since not too much happened this week in terms of marathon training, here's a few random pictures of our trip so far!

The fall season here is gorgeous but it's FREEZING!

Our former-monastery-turned-hotel.

Being a tourist at Trinity College.

Soup and beer for lunch- I can get used to this.

The beer here is 1000% better than in the US.

 


Ok, I think that sums it up for now! Have a fabulous week! 

Accountability Monday: 10/17/2016

Hello from Cape May, NJ!

Matthew and I are still on vacation for one more day so here's a short and sweet Accountability Monday post!

He's my favorite. Cape May, NJ is a distant second :-)

Training:
Monday- PT knee/strength workout
Sunday- 4 mile walk
Monday- 17 mile run, 13:28 pace

Today's 17 miles felt AWESOME. So much better than the first long run we did a month ago (13 miles). We kept the pace slow and steady, hovering between 13:30 and 13:45 for the first 13 miles and then picked up the pace for the last four: 13:12, 13:03, 12:53, 12:09. I am so proud of us and our progress this training cycle!

Celebrating 17 miles with post-run beer and pool/hot tub time!

Food Find AND Non-Scale Victory
Eating at restaurants has always been a challenge for me. I find that the desire to overeat is strongest when I'm out instead of eating at home. Last Thursday, Matthew and I went out to eat at Carrabbas and I was nervous about finding something within my point range to eat. Surprisingly, I found their six ounce sirloin to have nine Smart Points (looked up the nutritional information online) and I chose to have it with steamed zucchini, no butter. I did also have a glass of wine and a cup of soup bringing the whole meal to 16 Smart Points. I left the restaurant feeling confident and in control, instead of bloated and irritated with myself. I call that a huge win :-)

Sirloin and zucchini from Carrabbas.  

Weight:
+.2 this week.

After a big loss last week, I'm totally ok with a little gain!




Have a wonderful week, friends!

Five Things Friday

It's finally Friday!

I don't know about you, but this week has been draaaaaaaging!

Here's five things that are making me happy and looking forward to the weekend:

1. We leave for Cape May in three hours!

As a reader of this blog, you know we adore Cape May, NJ. It's a beautiful, historic seaside town with tons of shops, wineries, and festivals. We are headed down for an extended weekend with M's parents and can't wait to explore all the off-season fun at the shore. We've also got a 17 mile run on the calendar so we are looking forward to running somewhere other than our neighborhood.

We love Cape May.

2. StrideBox sent me a fun package to review. 

The super awesome folks at StrideBox sent me a cool box filled with samples of running products that I will review in full next week here. I can't wait to try out some of the bars they sent this weekend on our long run. Look for the full review coming soon!

All kinds of goodness.

3. We've got another awesome trip coming up- Dublin, Ireland!

Matthew and I are crossing the pond very soon to visit a place that's been on my list for years- Dublin! To do while we're there: drink authentic Guinness, tour Trinity College, and sing along to some jaunty Irish folk song in a hole-in-the-wall historically old tavern. Can. Not. Wait!

The Ha'Penny Bridge at sunset. Source

4. My running and weight loss story is being featured in a book: "Run Your Fat Off" by Jason Karp, PhD!

About a year ago on Instagram, I connected with a fellow runner and writer, Jason Karp, who was looking for runners who had lost weight while running to profile for his upcoming book. Well, the book is finally being published! You can pre-order the book on Amazon here. It will be published in March 2017. Jason has written a ton of other books about running and healthy living; I'm sure this new book will be full of information and inspiration like his others :-)

Can't wait to read it!

5. Fall is the BEST season for running.

Cooler weather + leaf-changing = best training runs of my year.

As seen on our usual running route.

What five things are rocking your world this Friday?!

Accountability Monday: October 10, 2016

Good morning, friends!

Let's recap the last two weeks of WDW Marathon training, shall we? :-)

Training:
Wednesday, 9/28- PT strength workout
Saturday, 10/1, 5.5 mile walk
Sunday 10/2- 15 mile run, 13:48 pace
Wednesday, 10/5- PT strength workout
Friday, 10/7- 30 minute run, 13:21 pace
Sunday, 10/9- 4 mile run, 11:47 pace

As you can see, the long runs are starting to get longer at this point in my training cycle (I use Jeff Galloway's plans for runDisney events). This upcoming weekend, we have a 17 mile run on the schedule- we'll also be in Cape May, NJ from Friday- Tuesday so at least we'll get a change of scenery! The 15-miler last week felt 100% better than the 13-miler a few weeks ago- I think adding the strength training is helping significantly.

Food Find of the Week:
I am a HUGE fan of Quest protein bars- especially if you warm them up in the oven or microwave- yum! So I found a recipe last week for a Quest bar hack that looked awesome: split a banana down the middle, put a Quest Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough bar in the banana, add chocolate chips and PB2 (powdered peanut butter), and put it in the oven at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

It was just ok. Not worth 8 Smart Points, that's for sure. There are TONS of other hacks out there so I'll probably try a few more out.

Weight:
-2.2 from last weigh-in.

Hooray! I finally lost all my honeymoon weight! It may have taken five months to lose five pounds but I did it. Losing/maintaining weight is HARD, ya'll.

Non-Scale Victory:
Looking through some old pictures this week, I found one from five years ago with Matthew and I first started dating. Because he's wonderful, he took me to a Ravens/Eagles preseason game at Lincoln Financial Field in August 2011. I found the picture below and was so shocked at how different my face looked back then! Sometimes I get so discouraged with where my weight is now (versus my lowest in summer 2015) that I forget all of the progress I've made over the last few years.

Seeing this picture helps me honor every part of my journey and be proud of how far I've come in taking care of myself.

2011 and 2016

Have a fabulous Monday and a wonderful week!