Thankful List: 2016

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is traditionally a time when families and friends gather around a table to eat, be together, and express gratitude for all the blessings they've experienced throughout the year. For me, this year is no different; every Thanksgiving, I like to write a post about what I'm thankful for (here's 2014 and 2015). So, here's the list of all the things I'm grateful for this year- even though there's no way I can capture it all in one post- these are some of the blessings I've known in the past year.

I am thankful for...

Cold beer after a long day or a long run.

Friends we've known forever and friends we've just met.

Traveling to lands familiar and strange.

Wooded trails that go on for miles and miles. 

Thirteen happy years with our family dog Brittany, who crossed the rainbow bridge in October.

Family that supports and loves us unconditionally.

This sweet fur baby Koda that fills our days with joy.

And this moment, when Matthew made me the luckiest and happiest woman on earth.

And of course, you, dear reader. Thank you for reading, thank you for commenting, thank you for being my friend. This blog has brought so many wonderful people into my life- thank you for being you. ❤


Wishing you and yours the happiest Thanksgiving ever!

AM: 12/22/2014

You guys!! Only three sleeps and a wake up until CHRISTMAS!!

Can you tell I'm just a little excited for the holidays? I love this time of year anyway but throw in a little mini vacation from work- I don't go back until January 5th- and I'm a happy, happy girl! Matthew and I will be visiting all of our families so this means lots of traveling- and lots of time away from spaces I can control. But I've packed quite a few snacks, have a plan to be active every day, and have already mapped out the Weight Watchers meetings I'll attend while I'm away from home.

Training:
Monday- Rest day
Tuesday- 30 minutes bike, Runner's World Basic Yoga
Wednesday- Rest day
Thursday- Rest day
Friday- 30 minutes bike
Saturday- 15 minutes elliptical, weight circuit, 15 minutes bike
Sunday- 10 minutes bike, 20 minutes swimming laps

As you can tell, my training was light again this week with absolutely no running or walking. My foot has been cranky and painful all week so I backed off on the walking and running I had been doing. My follow up with the orthopedic doctor will be in a few weeks so hopefully this pain I've been having isn't a big deal and is just part of the healing process. If I've learned anything through this injury it's to listen to my body and back off when something starts to hurt.

Nutrition:
As I've mentioned a couple times on this blog, I am a HUGE fan of Panera's Hidden Menu. This week I decided to try something I normally wouldn't- the Mediterranean Roasted Turkey Bowl. With just spinach, roasted turkey, onion, tomatoes, olive oil and lemon juice, I wasn't expecting this to be that great. I usually get the Power Chicken Bowl but I figured I'd at least try this one out.

Holy hell. This bowl was so good! I was honestly shocked- I didn't know that simple olive oil and lemon would taste so great. I think fast/restaurant food in this country has a tendency to always be covered in dressings or sauces or cheese so for me, it's hard to remember what just simple ingredients taste like. Any way you look at it, this bowl was delicious and I can't wait to try it again and/or make it at home.

Panera is just 100% goodness.

Weight-loss:
145.6 as of 12/17/2014 weigh-in.
+.2 from last week
- 44.8 since January 2013
- 56.4 from HW

Yeah, yeah. My weight went up again this week. When I first saw the numbers on the scale, I was furious. I feel like I have been working so hard to get through this little "roller coaster" period but nothing is helping reverse the trend. I knew that once I got closer to goal (135) this would happen. But knowing that doesn't make it any less frustrating. To lose weight, you've got to always be doing a little bit more than you did the day before- in other words, the strategies that helped me lose the first 45 aren't the only thing that will help me lose the last 10. I've got to move more, be smarter about my food choices, and really stress my body out so it will adapt to these new routines. This means more discipline with tracking and planning my food intake, more and different ways to get activity points, and keeping up all the good habits I've made- sleeping enough each night, drinking water, not eating when bored, etc. I know I can get to goal in 2015- I've just got to power through this plateau and emerge on the other side in control.

To those of you that celebrate, Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah! Have a fabulous week!

QOTD: What's your favorite thing about this time of year?

My Losing List

Happy Friday!

Today I want to share a post with you about motivation. Not just a few inspirational quotes (which help me a ton!), but what helps me to have real, lasting motivation to keep being healthy. Shout out to Dani at Weight Off My Shoulders who shared her list last year- it inspired me then and it inspires me today!

In our Weight Watchers meeting this week, we each created a "Losing List"- all the "whys" of the reasons we joined Weight Watchers and why we continue to stay. Reflecting on those reasons and actually writing them down can help further cement the motivation and commitment to stick to the behavior changes you have made.

When thinking about my list, I had to first think about the reason I finally walked back into a WW meeting on January 16, 2013. We had just returned from Walt Disney World where I completed the Family Fun Run 5k and the WDW Half Marathon. My grandmother had just passed away on New Year's Eve. Growing up, she was the only grandparent I'd really remembered having so it was quite an adjustment coming home and not being able to share all the details of my trip with her. As she had been in declining health the last few months of 2013, she and I spent a great deal of time together when she moved into my mom's house. We'd talk about Disney, running, life, our family- all the normal things you'd talk to a grandparent about. So it was pretty hard to come home after vacation and not be able to talk to her.

Christmas 2008 with my stepdad, mom, mom-mom, sister, and brother.

I'd been putting off going back to WW for a long time. I figured, if I can run half marathons, then I must be healthy, right? That even though I was 40-55 pounds overweight, I was still working out so I should be ok. But deep down, I knew that it wasn't ok. It wasn't ok for my health. When my mom-mom passed, it kind of kick-started this idea for me that I wanted to live a long and healthy life- and that's harder to do when you're carrying an extra 40- 50 pounds of weight around. So, I knew I wanted to get healthy and I knew that WW had worked for me before. I'd been a member several times in the last 12 years and I knew that I would lose weight. Keeping it off is another story entirely. That's where the deep, lasting motivation has to come in.

For me, it wasn't enough just to lose weight. Been there, done that. This time, I knew I had to keep it off. I had to make changes that would stay with me for life. I wasn't going to gain it back. The reasons I am choosing to be healthy are much too important for me to lose sight of. 

So here is my Losing List that keeps me focused, especially when I'm struggling:

• Health- for myself, for my future children, for my family
• Self-esteem- to love myself, who I am, and all that I've accomplished
• Running- it's a hell of a lot easier and enjoyable to run without 40 extra pounds
• Role model- to inspire others to get healthy and stay healthy
• Clothes- to feel comfortable and attractive in the clothes I want to wear
• Conquer demons- to finally gain control over food addiction and destructive emotional eating patterns and thoughts

So yeah... about that last one....

For me, the mental part of weight-loss/healthy living will always be the hardest. But it's probably also my greatest motivator to stay on the path I'm on now.

One of my favorite quotes that has helped me tremendously throughout this process is one about self-love: "You can't hate yourself into a version you'll love." In other words, you can't beat yourself up with negative thoughts/words and then expect that to motivate you to become the person you want to be. 

When I was a chubby kid, I thought this would work. I thought that if I berated myself enough, I would be motivated to lose weight. In fact, I actually wrote the initials "Y. A. S. F." on all of my seventh grade school text books in an effort to constantly remind myself to not eat or eat less. If you're wondering, those initials were an acronym for "You Are So Fat." Looking back, it makes me incredibly sad that at 12 years old, I hated my body and myself. 

I never want to hate myself like that again. I never want to raise children that would hate their bodies like I did. The pain that comes with body image issues/eating disorders is intense and can feel consuming and hopeless at times. That's why it's on my losing list- to remember how far I've come and to motivate me to keep working at it.

Through personal counseling- and lots of WW meetings- my food issues are no longer the biggest obstacle in my life. But just like any addiction, I'll always need to remind myself it's there. As they say in AA (Alcoholics Anonymous), "just make the next right decision." And that's how I live now- meal to meal, snack to snack. I focus on the present day and how to successfully navigate my food choices for that day/week only. 

To me, being healthy encompasses so much more than a number on a scale or a dress size. It means loving who I am, striving to be stronger, and being good to myself by doing things my body needs- eating healthy foods and being active. That's why my Losing List is important- it's all the reasons I need and want to keep going, especially when it's tough or not going as planned. 

If you are struggling, I'd strongly suggest you write down all your "whys"- you might find that your motivation has been with you all along!

And if you're still reading, you get a gold star for finishing this long post! :-) 

QOTD: Enough with the heavy stuff, I want to hear from you- what's on your "Losing List"? What motivates you to get or stay healthy?

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope this post finds you happy, healthy and enjoying your holiday with the people you love.

Growing up, it was tradition for each person around the table to share what they were thankful for before we ate ourselves into a coma. In following that tradition, here's a list of what I'm thankful for this year:

These guys. It's a joy to come home to this little family every day. I'm so grateful for Matthew and Koda in my life.

My heart.

Best Running Friends. I would have never made it through my stress fracture this year without the love and support from some of my best running buddies. There are way too many to name here but you know who you are :-)

Ohana.

Family. My family and Matthew's family are so good to us. It's hard not to be grateful for all they've done for us. And we've made some pretty awesome memories this year :-)

Ziplining, running, and trips to NYC.

#wwchat community. It's amazing how people you meet on the internet can become such a force for good in your life. I'm thankful for the #wwchat community and especially thankful for Dani who started and hosts this weekly chat.

The one and only Dani!

A fellow #wwchat-er Jessie and me at the Jingle Jungle 5k.

Health. I'm thankful for healthy lungs, heart, and legs that carry me wherever I want to go.

Happy feet!

YOU! You, dear blog reader, are a reason I have to be thankful. Thank you for reading, thank you for your comments and emails, thank you for motivating and inspiring me every day. Y'all are awesome.


Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!



QOTD: What are you thankful for this year?

Running at Disney, Minus the Running- Final Thoughts on Wine & Dine Weekend

It's been over a week now since we returned from our second home Walt Disney World and the Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend. It was a wonderful weekend; albeit different from what I'd originally planned.

As most of you know, I had to bail out of the half marathon due to my stress fracture. I started walking again just two days before we left for Disney. It was pretty depressing to be around all the runners at the expo and race knowing that I wasn't going to be able to do it, especially because this is my favorite race in the entire world. But there were A TON of fun things that happened on this trip that totally made up for it:

Dad finished his first half marathon! He's officially a half marathoner! Even in the cold and rainy conditions, he and Matthew rocked it. I am so, so, so proud of him :-)

We got to see lots of friends that we only see at runDisney events. I finally got to meet Heather from Heather Runs 13.1, Jessie- a #wwchat friend from twitter, and Lisa- a blog reader who ran her very first half marathon at Wine & Dine! I also got to see Justin from Always Running Forward and Stephanie from Goober Monkey. And Patrick, Lauren, Nathan, Jenn, and Dave (all friends from past runDisney events) were all there and there were lots of hugs and squeals. And we got to hang with Matt from Hokey Blog and his wife at one of the best restaurants in Disney.

runDisney events are all about love and friendship. And a little bit of running :-)

I finished my first post-injury 5k! [Check out the recap here!] It took a little over an hour and we walked the whole time but we made it. Our friend Jenn walked it with us and Nathan grabbed some awesome pictures of us finishing. It truly was a magical moment. I will forever be grateful that the injury gods allowed me to complete my first post-injury race at Disney.

So grateful Nathan captured this moment!

We got to spend a lot of time in the parks with both of our families. Dad and his girlfriend Margie came on the trip with us and Matthew's cousin Bridget and her husband Alan came up for a few days. It was truly a fun vacation in the happiest place on earth. We visited all four parks and rode almost all of our favorite rides. We also got to enjoy amazing food and beverages at Epcot during the Food & Wine Festival.

Overall, it was a kick ass weekend- even without running. If you are considering visiting Disney during the Food & Wine Festival or participating in the Wine & Dine Half Marathon, I highly recommend it. It's a great weekend to be in the parks and the race itself is awesome- even with crappy weather.

In less than two months we'll be back at the World for our Goofy Challenge trip which includes Margie's first 10k and Dad's first marathon. And I know this trip will be just as awesome as the last- Disney sort of has that effect on you :-)