21 Day Plan: Day 2...I'm HUNGRY

Day 2 is OVER. It wasn't too hard. I was better prepared after going to the grocery store. If you have an Aldi near by it's the place to go. You'll save a ton of money.  Especially on produce. 

Same breakfast with the waffle and pb. Instead of preworkout I had coffee and added a splash of unsweetened vanilla almond milk and this super yummy syrup I found at Bed Bath & Beyond. It MAY not be great for me. I read the ingredients.  But it's better than the gas station coffee I was getting 4 times a week. And cheaper. 

Day 2 workout

Step ups w 15lbs 3 sets of 15 on each side

Squats with 15lbs x2 and 20lbs last set 15 reps each

Sumo squats w 30lbs 15 reps

Incline leg lift

Lateral leg lift with 7.5lbs last set 12.5

Bent leg lifts 12.5 last set 17.5

Thrust with 60lbs

Stiff leg dead lifts with 20lbs

10miles on bike start at level 4 and up a level every 2 miles. 

Lunch was leftovers from Monday. Spaghetti squash and sauce. I was still hungry like an hour later so I made another banana shake. Then I was still hungry so I ate an apple. It was a little apple. I promise. 

And then I was hungry again.  So I had another banana. With too much peanut butter. There's my weakness. The freakin peanut butter. 

Now here's where the real struggle came. I went to a basketball game and I usually have a sundrop and popcorn. It smells soooo good! Instead I threw an apple in my purse. Because I KNEW I would want SOMETHING. So while I watched my kids inhale Hershey's bars I drooled a little and then ate my apple.  (Yes this is the 4th fruit I had today. I SAID the apples were small.) It was okay. I tried to pretend it had chocolate on it. It didn't work. 

Dinner was one of my all time faves. Enchilada soup that I found a recipe for on Pinterest a couple years ago. That with some wheat crackers and sprinkled with cheese was perfect. 

Thennnnn I fixed my husbands lunch and had some of my trail mix since I I had it out to put in his lunchbox. Just a few tablespoons. I made sure to get a good amount of m&ms in there though. I'm not gonna lie about it.   

The day ended well.  As far as the scale goes this morning I'm down 3 lbs in 2 days. Not too shabby. 

The only thing that kept me from grabbing something quick and unhealthy today was knowing that I was being totally transparent and putting it on my blog. Maybe 5 people will read it. Maybe not. But it helps me hold myself accountable. 

On to Day 3. 

21 Day Plan: Day 1

One day down out of 21. I can do this because I've done it PLENTY of times. 

Started off with my wheat waffle and peanut butter. Went to the gym and did the following routine:

Day 1:

Workout- 

shoulder press on smith machine - bar-15, 5's-15, 10's-8

Bicep Curls w 30lb bar 3 sets of 15

Single arm bicep curl w cable at 12.5lbs 3 sets of 15 each side 

Hammer curls 15lbs 3 sets 15

Upright rows w 15lbs 3 sets 15 (last set with 10, losing form)

Side bends on incline w 10lbs 3 sets 15 each side 

Incline abs w no weight 3 sets 15

Cardio-

8 miles on bike starting at level 3 and up a level every 2 miles.

Made a peanut butter banana chocolate shake and was doing just fine. But I didn't have time to go to the store. So there was crap at the house.  I grabbed about a heaping tablespoon of my homemade trail mix (cheerios, peanuts, sunflower seeds, m&ms and raisins)...okay I had 2 heaping spoons. We're being honest here right?

I was super hungry for an afternoon snack and had some chicken I made...last week. We're being honest! Remember. I ate it. It was older than I prefer but it was that or something not on the plan so I risked it. 

Dinner was a cinch and I didn't eat my nightly vanilla wafers and peanut butter. Mostly because we were out of the cookies. I ate them all over the weekend. No glass of wine like usual either.  I didn't eat enough today. I DID drink a gallon of water so I wasn't overly starving at any point other than actual meal times. 

Day 1. Done. And when I weighed in this morning I was already 2lbs down.

Why I Need Santa to Suck

Christmas morning 1991. No snow. It's North Carolina. No smell of a tree. Ours is fake. There IS the smell of coffee and a fresh lit cigarette though!  Santa's already been here and I'm about to see what an awesome kid I have been all year!

I remember walking into the living room and there it all sat.  So many brand new Crayola boxes of markers and crayons and paint. Name brand!!! Not the super waxy crayons! Cabbage patch dolls with their very own birth certificate and Barbies that actually had elbows unlike the stiff armed ones from the discount store!  Santa. Was. Awesome. 

That's not a wig. I had woman hair by the time I was 5!

I knew good and well my parents wouldn't spend money on that name brand stuff!  Only Santa could afford that!  Not that they didn't have it. I don't know. They didn't let me in on finances at age 7. But we had Ross blood running through our veins which meant if we didn't need it or it was expensive it wasn't going to be ours. But not Santa! Nope! He wasn't a Ross and he didn't care about price! He brought us the good stuff!

Now it's 2016. 25 years later. Im the adult now. And Santa isn't gonna steal my glory ANYMORE!!  Those gifts aren't from him! I need a thank you and you need to tell me how much more you love me since I bought you nice things.  And tell me I'm pretty while you're at it!
 



But for 2015 we tried something new. We decided to do less Santa. He brought the trampoline and some toys. But instead of him bringing ALL the fun stuff I wrapped good stuff from us!  Not just clothes and socks.  I was a nervous wreck for weeks. So worried the kids would be disappointed Christmas morning when they walked in the living room and there was a lot less. Not crayola and cabbage patch galore like all the years before. But guess what?  It never even phased them. Not for a second!  And guess who got the credit for the awesome new blue ray players (thanks Black Friday deals) or the fun games they got? That's right. Not the fat guy!  It was me and the husband. And we smiled like monkeys and enjoyed the fact we had just bought their love.


Do they look sad?

Santa is the same in the eyes of every child. He's a magical person that brings happiness and gifts to Christmas. If my kids got markers and paper for Christmas and one of their friends got an Xbox, new bike, iPod and Beats that doesn't make much sense to kids. To adults it does. It's as simple as the fact they spent more money on their kids than we spent on ours. But as kids it looks like Santa possibly liked them better. Or makes them wonder if they did something to not deserve those kinds of things. Let Santa have a little glory but not all of it. 

No one will ever be financially equal with everyone else. I'm very okay with that.  Before you say "Everyone can't get a trophy" I agree.  I am in no way saying that all kids should get the same things or same amount.  But think of when you were a kid for a minute.  When finances and house size and bills meant nothing.  And Santa meant everything... 

So let those pricey gifts come from you. The hard working parent that put a lot of effort forth to provide for the family. Let Santa be more simple.

And finally, a big thanks to my Mama and Daddy.  You always made my Christmas everything I could ever want.

Charlotte Half Marathon

I did it. I ran 13.1 miles and didn't die. And here's how it went:

My running buddy and I got in line for the bathroom to try to squeeze out anything that may be in our bladder since we wouldn't want to stop the next 2 1/2 hours. The line was looooonnnngggg.  Only for the ladies room though. Of course.

We pee, come out and those hundreds of people that were mingling in the park just a minute before had vanished! Like the rapture had occurred and we were left behind!  Then we walk fast.  In no particular direction. Because we have no clue where we're going. So we followed people that looked like THEY knew where to go. Eh.  We were in the right vicinity at least. But we had to RUN to get to the starting line so we could RUN our race.  So. Annoying. 

We start. We're off to a good pace. Going with the crowd. 

Mile 1- In the bag. Easy peasy. 

Mile 2 & 3- Feeling good. Smooth sailing so far.  

Mile 4- Getting a little anxious but alive. 

Mile 5- I'm getting slightly bored.  

Mile 6- I'm focusing on people's shirts and what they say or the signs the spectators are holding. Burping up strawberry flavor from the energy chews I ate back between mile four and five. 

Mile 7, 8, 9- Were stupid. I didn't like them. I wanted to quit. I was ready for someone to come with a car and take me home. I wanted to flip everyone off. Then came mile ten. 

Mile 10- I was well over halfway done and on my second pack of strawberry gummies. I found myself focusing on someone, anyone's butt. Jiggly butts. Little butts. Big ones. I ran an entire mile with my mind on butts. At some point I was running and zoned out and forgot I was running. I guess that's the runners high I hear about. But it didn't last long. Maybe because I was being distracted by the butts. 

Mile 11- At mile eleven I started seeing people really struggling. And I was happy that I was still going. The end was less than a 5k away. And I knew I could do it. 

Mile 12 & 13- My running app told me I was at 13.1 wayyy before the finish line. Someone's wrong. I choose to believe it's not my app. But if I wanted my fancy medal I had to cross their finish line. 

Then I saw it. I saw the finish. And I wanted to try to run faster to get there but my body was like nah girl. You ain't going any faster. So I kept my pace and kept on digging. And I made it. 

 

And then every feeling and emotion imaginable hit me. I was excited to finish. My legs were shaking and all of a sudden I didn't know if I would be able to stay standing. Then I hugged my running buddy and cried! Because until the moment I crossed the finish line I didn't know if I could make it 13.1 miles. I hadn't run that far in my training.  I totally chanced it at the end of training and never got past 11 miles. Then I felt sick. My stomach hurt and I didn't know if I wanted to run to the bathroom or puke. It was like having a hangover. I drank a Gatorade, nibbled on a banana and sipped on water. It took a good 10 minutes to get myself under control. So many emotions!

 

I drove there by myself. And drove home by myself. And I cried on the way home. I was proud of myself. I felt accomplished. It's safe to say this may be the most rewarding thing I've ever done next to giving birth to my kids. I didn't know until it was all over how much it all meant to me. I did something I had never done before and put in the hard work to achieve it. I haven't decided if I'll do it again. My brain says yes. My hips and knees say no.