Hi

Morning lovelies! It’s Sunday morning and I’m in a great mood. I’m FORCING myself to hit up a body pump class in a little bit because I really need to start doing something other than cardio. My arms need some help in a bad way. HELP ME DREAD THIS LESS!! No really, what motivates you to strength train?

Our ten-mile run was really successful. We ran a different route which involved hills. If you live in Boston you know that hills are rare. Because I was so stuffed from the night before, I was only able to get down three luna moons prior to the run. At mile 7 I ate my very last chocolate mint GU. I hope this flavor is not just seasonal anymore because it’s SOOOO amazing. Think fudge. I also  carried a Gatorade with me during the run which was my absolute life saver. Typically I refuse to drink calories. I can eat 15 cupcakes but don’t dare hand me a coke. Makes no sense. Yesterday I would have married that fruit punch bottle of heaven.

Post run I had a healthy breakfast of quinoa, corn, beans, avocado and salad. Strange maybe but delish nonetheless.

The highlight of my afternoon eats involved Uncle Sam cereal, Banilla Stoneyfield yogurt and peanut butter. The star of the show was DEFINITELY the yogurt. Holy hell. And the peanut butter mixed in? I should win some kind of award.

I always feel torn about eating flavored yogurt because the cal count is high and there is added sugar. What I’ve found is that regardless, yogurt is not a binge food for me. This is good news and I shall keep it around. At least it’s not artificial sugar, right?

Len and I went to a party last night for our friends Heather and Randy who are getting hitched today. Actually, Len IS marrying them! Crazy, right? He’s been friends with Randy since high school and Heather since college so they are all very close. Apparently it’s a pretty easy process to get licensed for a day. I would be crapping in my pants if I had that job but Len is really food at public speaking so he’ll be fine. Below is the beautiful bride Heather with our friend and her new sister in law, Melissa. Randy and Heather got engaged in December and planned a wedding in eight months. Wow. I always imagine a long engagement for me.

Melissa, baby katie and Heather

Len was a hurtin’ unit because he celebrated hard the night before. Think  no dinner, liquor, late night chinese and toilet bowl. Poor bastard. Off to the gym!

workout guilt and my new girl crush

Everyday I  mark down my workout on the calendar. It allows me to see the micro and macro picture of my training. This morning I woke dreading my workout. This is 3/4 laziness and 1/4 heat factor. Today is a day when swimming, biking, running, body pump and strip dancing have absolutely no appeal. Well, strip dancing is up in the air. Anyway, looking back at my calendar, it tells me that this week I’ve done 2 long bike rides, two runs, and two days of swimming. I should be able to take today off without feeling workout guilt. Here’s the problem– I did a pretty bad job of eating well this weekend. Between the beers, late night desserts (somehow the scone and chocolate croissant made their way into our bed last night), and  mexican food (my attempt at fighting off the restaurants chips and salsa was a complete bust) I’m feeling less than stellar. The logical part of me knows that even a 3 mile walk will make me feel much better. Still, I’m not interested. I need to give myself permission to take the day off guilt free and I don’t know how to do this. Help a sister out. If Ellie could talk I would totally take tips from her since she seems to know the secret.

Confession–I have a new obsession and her name is Christina Perri. Besides the face that she’s absolutely adorable/hot, her voice is out of this world. If you haven’t heard her latest ballad, Jar of Hearts, get on it asap. Over the last three days I’ve listened to the song at least 200 times. She might have some competition on her hands. Just sayin’.  I also may have stalked her many youtube videos for an embarrassing amount of time yesterday. Have a listen and before you know it you’ll be  flailing your arms and legs around in an interpretive dance. Promise.

Beer + Baked Goods = VERY happy blogger.

Well, I’ve officially lost ten pounds since starting my weekly weigh-ins on the blog last October. If I was at a Weight Watchers meeting this morning I surely would have gotten a 10 pound pin or something…. maybe a key chain?  Now I know 10 pounds in 9 months isn’t a lot, but the cool thing about it is that I lost the weight from exercise only. I wish I could say that I’ve stopped bingeing and that my eating habits have gotten significantly better but the truth is they haven’t. At all. I can say that I’ve never felt so invested in exercising and most days I don’t even dread it anymore. Since I started weighing in on my blog, I’ve run in three half marathons and a 10 mile race. These events definitely encouraged me to workout pretty regularly but for the most part I was only running (with some booties camps mixed in here and there.) Signing up for the sprint triathlon is what has really helped jump-start my exercise routine and some weight loss. For the first time in my life I am mixing up my daily workouts and it’s actually fun because there are three different options to choose from on a daily basis. If I wake up and dread the idea of a run, I’ll hop on the bike. If the thought of biking and running make me want to delay getting out of bed, I’ll simply swim some laps. I DO need to be more consistent with Body Pump since it’s my only source of strength training but I’ll work on that soon.

Earlier in the week I made it my goal to hit the 10 pound mark but I’m shocked that last night’s Len and Lindsay Brew and Food Festival didn’t do me in. We had tickets for the Sox game but chose to hit a local bar instead. I started out with a Cherry Wheat beer. So SO good. That was followed by  a Black & Blue (Guinness and Blue Moon). Typically I love my Black & Blues but after the sweetness of the Cherry Wheat it didn’t taste as desirable. Back to the Cherry Wheat I went.

It was pouring on our walk home so we sought shelter at a bakery. How convenient. Athens sells everything from cookies, and cakes to gelato and pudding. As usual, it took  me 76 minutes to decide and I’m pretty sure to worker wanted to shove an eclair up my ass and send me packing. I went with the Jamaica, a dark chocolate cake with chocolate mouse and cherry things. At the checkout there was a tray of free goodies and we were told to help ourselves. Oh F! This was like a binge made in heaven. Clearly I couldn’t pass up that little bastard tray even if I tried. I took one of each and we went on our merry way.

Some puffy thing stuffed with chocolate, raisons and nuts. A scone. A chocolate croissant. Right to my ass ladies.

My Jamaica and Len's poop log.

This is was three beers and a sweet tooth looks like:

chocolate teeth! Ellie wants some too.

Oh the gluttony.

Going to bed feeling like a bloated slug is never fun but I’d say it was worth it.

Tri- Training

I just completed my second week of triathlon training, with six weeks to go before the big day. As I’ve said before, I am most scared about the swim. Since it’s in August, I’m assuming I wouldn’t wear a wet suit, correct?  My goal for any race is never about time, it’s about the training process and finishing. The bike and swim will be difficult but at least I can take a break if needed. The swim on the other hand– stopping means treading water and if I really need to stop and hold onto something, I’ll be disqualified. Ideally I should practice swimming in open water but I’m totally freaked out by the idea and probably won’t get around to it. This means that race day will be my first open water swim. Oy vey.

Anyways, back to the training. Though I printed out a plan, I haven’t followed it at all. I’ve sorta been waking up and doing whatever the hell I feel like for a work out. My activity has included swimming, running, biking and body pump. The problem with varying my workout everyday while training is that I feel like I’m just okay at everything. With half marathons, you run. Run, run and more running. With a tri, we must do it all so it’s hard to gauge improvements. The bonus is that I feel less bored, sometimes even excited to work out, and I’m finally getting some balance in my routine. This body pump class is the missing link to my regime. Love it.

Yesterday I went to body pump and then rode 15.5 miles along the Charles River I saw a PIG getting walked!!!?!! Unfortunately I couldn’t pet him (her?) because the owner said it might bite me. ouch! My legs felt tired after the ride but it was my butt and vageen that hurt the most. Bike seats are not easy on our ladies parts, are they?

Well, I’m off to work. Have a great Monday!!

Yesterday..

yesterday was one of those days. You know those days when irritation gets the best of you and you can’t be bothered to see or talk to anyone. The kind of day when you shouldn’t get behind the wheel because it might just feel really good to ram an idiotic driver or run over a biker? Okay, I’m not that out of control but you get the idea. (Lord- I was only kidding. Hitting a biker would not give me any pleasure whatsoever.)Anyways, it was that kind of day so I isolated myself and missed out on my friends b-day party. (Sorry Mikaela.) What I should have done was strap on my sneaks and hit the pavement. Exercise IS my prozac and had I worked out, I would have felt so much better. Period.

Today started off better when I hit my first Body Pump class. Call me pathetic but I had never so much as picked up a barbell until today. The class was AWESOME and it’s the perfect way to get my strength training in. I mostly used 10-15 pounds (total) throughout the entire class and my arms were shaking at points. Barbells make me feel like a total bad ass. The class was packed and the teacher came straight from the set of Rent. (I’ve actually never seen Rent but I imagine he’d be the leading star.) He was so theatrical, passionate and full of body pump energy.

My friends and I are hitting up Toy Story 3 at Imax today because that’s what you do when you’re unemployed. I’m really looking forward to spending time with the ladies but job searching should be my top priority. Sigh.

Totally off topic but I need tips to lose belly fat… any suggestions? And honestly, what the hell is up with cellulite? Cellulite= Dimples of the devil.