So not fair!

I work in an office building that is above an open air shopping district, so being officially summer break there are many teens and college students walking around shopping. Yesterday I saw one guy walking with his girlfriend. He had cut off sleeves and walked as if he thought he was a body builder. But when I looked his arms were big, but no muscle definition. I’m not going to say he had fat arms but I am also not going to say they were anywhere close to muscular.  Only moments later I saw a group of three guys. Another cut off sleeve guy thinking he was all bad. But again no real muscles. Yes sirs your arms are not scrawny but no you are not showing off muscle. I have girls in my bootcamp with more muscular definition than you. Made me think how with size guys are viewed as muscular even if they aren’t. Um that doesn’t apply for girls. If I were to wear shorts people would think ah her thighs are big meaning muscular. Not they would say her thighs are big and she shouldn’t be wearing those shorts. Girls who have big arms who wear sleeveless are not viewed positively. But guys cut off their sleeves and celebrate their big arms. Today I actually wore short sleeves to work. A big step for me. Yes I am very self-conscious of my arms and normally wear sweaters over anything with short sleeves or sleeveless to cover my arms. Not fair boys not fair.

Here guys the video below will help you cut your sleeves off.

Another thing not fair. I have been busting my butt working out at fit by burn four times a week, counting calories, eating more often, drinking tons of water and gave up soda and I haven’t lost weight. My fiancé on the other hand hasn’t started working out(yet*, still drinks 42 oz of soda a day, but eats a healthier dinner with me, has lost 19 lbs. Are you serious!!! Again I cry not fair, not fair!

*yet because of some reasons out of his control. He is hoping to start next week.

 

So.. My red solo cup is a little different these days.

My red solo cup would likely be filled with frozen margaritas from my cordless Margaritaville Margarita machine. Sometimes filled with beer, playing flip cup or beer pong. Now my red solo cup has my protein shake in the morning. I found if I took my protein shake to work in my shaker bottle I wouldn’t go to the other side of the building to wash the bottle until the afternoon. I would forget it in the car. Or I would get busy at work and forget to drink my shake and by the time I remembered it would be gross. Now I put my shake in a red solo cup and drink it on the way to work. My goal is to be done by the time I get to work. Then I can start drinking water right away at work. So far it has worked! Too bad my old solo up concoctions use to way more interesting. Cheers biotches!

 

 

So Sorry

Sorry I haven’t posted for awhile. But my absence should tell you my part time job is going well. By part time job I mean working out and food prep. I have 6 workouts a week. And am trying to eat every 3 hours. Sounds easy right…  not so much.  Tonight it is 9:20 and I just got done working out and fixing dinner and cleaning up. I still need to shower and get to bed early (hopefully before 11 but doesn’t happen often) to wake up at 4:40am to go to my workout. Sundays have become food shopping and food prepping. Food prep Sundays have helped some of the time in the morning so I can just grab all my Tupperware containers for the day out of the fridge to bring them to work. Oh and I try to get some wedding planning and house work in here and there.

 

There have been set back like getting to work and there being no room in the fridge. Yes this is my fridge at work that I have to try and fit all my Tupperware in.

 

It hasn’t always been easy. Like getting out of bed in the morning brushing teeth putting hair up and getting back in bed to then get back up and change clothes to then get back in bed and then ugh finally rush to bootcamp to only wish I hadn’t because Mindy kicked my butt.

 

But I have had a few wins! Like going to the Royals game and not drinking those amazing blue frozen margaritas. Not drinking at all. Go me!

 

 

 

So… Yoga pants

So… Yoga pants have another purpose than going on an errand to target or CVS?

 

Last night after my workout I had a few errands and just went right after my workout. I encountered other girls in yoga pants who had full on makeup, nails, earrings, and hair. 

Hmmm I might have been one of these girls who on the weekend would go to Bed Bath and Beyond…  and Beyond in yoga pants. "Well, um, actually a pretty nice little Saturday, we're going to go to Home Depot. Yeah, buy some wallpaper, maybe get some flooring, stuff like that. Maybe Bed, Bath, & Beyond, I don't know, I don't know if we'll have enough time." Old School

But now I actually wear them to workout. Not exactly yoga… although after our boot camp and daily burn we do some yoga moves before stretching, but nothing too crazy.

Was I jealous of these girls that looked like they stepped out of a Victoria secret catalog instead of a gym? Ummm…. YEA! When the thought came to mind... “Are those your workout earrings” I knew I was being a hater. Made me think of how the first time I went hunting with Greg and his friend. When I got in the truck I had full on hair, makeup, and earrings. And his friend instantly asked “are those your hunting earrings”. LOL I was all about my tan, nails, jewelry, and outfit at the time in my life. I think I am jealous of the fact they have the time and money to do those things. Working out 5-8 times a week like I am suppose to and re-teaching myself what food is, is like a second job for me right now. By the time I get off work and change clothes and work out and get home and eat it is almost time to start thinking of going to bed so I can get up at 4:30am to work out in the morning. It will all be worth it!! It will. I am proud of myself that since April 15th I have at least worked out 4 times a week! The nails and such are just not as big of a priority anymore. Health over looks. Plus the cost of grocery shopping and fitness classes I had to give up expenses like getting my nails done. So am I jealous of how she looks yes. But I need to do these things so I can look close to as good as she does in yoga pants.  Because right know when I wear them I feel like I need to be in a people of Wal-Mart instead of a Victoria Secret ad.

So... Let's Do This... Now that I have had my last suppers

Let’s get serious.

This weekend I had my last super(s). Saturday Greg and I went to On The Boarder and I had tacos, chips, salsa, cheese dip, and a Margarita. My favorites!!! I love chips and salsa. Greg thinks I sweat salsa. When I go to Margairta's the waiters bring me my own salsa. They sometime joke about bringing the chip basket full of salsa and a straw. Okay people I get it, you are aware of my favorite food.

Sunday we went to Olive Garden and had pasta, salad and bread sticks. I could eat Mexican or Italian for every meal, everyday and not get sick of it! I love pasta. So this also had to be a last supper.

After indulging in my obsessions, Sunday night I prepped  food for this week. I have seen a few facebook friends post pictures of their fridges or counters with their Tupperware with the upcoming week’s food.  Granted these people are into fitness competitions I figured if wouldn’t hurt for me to try. Even though I am not prepping for a fitness competition I am battling myself. I baked chicken, cleaned and tore up spinach, cut strawberries, and pineapple and separated them all into Tupperware portions. Confession I didn’t cut the pineapple by hand. The future in-law's got me a pineapple slicer. It is awesome!!

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/1/1/94872-oxo-good-grips-stainless-steel-ratcheting-pineapple-slicer.html

Saturday we spent a lot of time shopping getting soy milk for protein shakes, spinach for salads, pineapple, zucchini, squash, tomatoes, corn, strawberries, mushrooms, apples, chicken, steak, pork. Basically just shopping the outsides of the grocery store.

My struggle right now is getting brave and trying other green veggies. I look at my fridge and feel guilty for the starchy veggies and sugary fruits.

The closest to green veggies I have eaten is lettuce and cucumbers.

My meals growing up, like most Midwesterns , was meat and potatoes with pizza and pasta nights. There are many veggies I never tried. If my dad didn’t like it, I didn’t like it. His ideas of veggies are corn or peas. So here I am at age 28 wrinkling my nose at the thought of a green veggie. I need to get serious and get over it and learn to like them. So I will likely be sitting at my kitchen table struggling to get the green veggies down since we do not have a dog for me to feed the veggies off my plate too.

I now use baby spinach instead of iceberg lettuce in my salads.

I have tried celery but it is a no go! GROSS. My coworker saw me try it and my facial expression. She asked, “What do you think it tastes like?” I said it tastes spicy! She about fell down laughing.” Spciy?” She asked.  I said, “ ya! Spicy!!” She thinks I am crazy. I gave her my celery. So I goggled what does celery taste like. “Celery, like some forms of lettuce, has a mild acid content that gives a tart, tangy, flavor. It is sharper than a sweet pepper.”

So, in addition to prepping for the week and trying new veggies, I am going to try to eat though out the day. Try for every two hours. And to flip my food schedule upside down. I use to hardly eat anything throughout the day and then have a huge carb loaded dinner. Now I need to eat more throughout the day and limit carbs if not eliminate them after 3:00pm. This will be a HUGE challenge since it is pretty much the opposite of what I currently do.

If you have any green veggies you think I should try please let me know!

Thanks ya’ll!

So… even my feet are fat.

So… even my feet are fat L

Tennis Shoes? I don’t play tennis. Running shoes? Who calls them that? And nope I don’t run unless Mendy makes me.  Sneakers... hmm sounds like high-tops from the 80’s. What the heck am I suppose to call these things?

I am not a sneaker/tennis shoe wearer. In high school and college I wore high heels, sandals, flip flops, boots. I was a swimmer in high school so didn’t need tennis shoes for the pool and for softball I had cleats. So I had a pair of tennis shoes just for weight lifting. In college I got a new pair, of course pink and black, for going to Wal-Mart/ errands but most of the time I wore high heels, sandals, flip flops, boots. That pair also got some use for competing in some Greek completions and campus activities. So they didn’t get a lot of use. My sister “hammyuped” me a pair she had worn. Hammyup comes from hand me down but since it was going from younger to older hand me up. And since for some reason here in Missouri we don’t pronounce whole words... Hammyup. Example: wanna and gonna are commonly used. But I cannot get started on us Missourians. But she gave me a pair of her used shoes.

So when I started this fitness challenge I had a cute pair of tennis shoes and a worn out pair. When working out the bottoms of my feet hurt. When doing planks and other exercises my toes hurt. I commented to Mendy and she looked at my “cute” pair and said “OMG those are too small”. My sister’s shoes were bigger but worn.  Mendy gave me a card for The Running Well Store in Kansas City. http://www.therunningwellstore.com/

I mentioned this to my coworker, runner and blogger http://klutzcrossing.blogspot.com/. She said she also goes to The Running Well Store. Okay so I guess I need to try this special store.

When I told Greg I needed to go get fitted for shoes and I wanted to look for something to help with balance. He laughed. He said a shoe cannot help you with that. Okay I get it; it is an understatement to say that I am not the most coordinated person. My coordination issue will be another blog. I understand a shoe cannot help me with that. But I wanted something that my foot didn’t instantly become sore when I was trying to balance on it. Well and I know losing weight will help that issue too. Normally Greg thinks custom or special stuff is “pinkies up”.  But seems he didn’t think this was “pinkies up”. He couldn’t say much when he is like a child in the fact he gets a new pair of Nikes every year. Last year we got his even during the back to school sale. Granted he wears his way, way more than I wear them. He also said “you only have gotten one pair of tennis shoes in like 9 years and need them for your workouts, so I think you are due”.  Okay even Greg is for this store. Okay I get it I need to go.

Well this past weekend my sister arrived first at the lake. When it is 60 degrees outside what is one to do at the lake while you wait for others to arrive. Ugh Duh outlet shopping. Our condo is minutes away from a huge outlet. When I arrived last Friday night she showed me her buy one get one 50% off running shoes.  I was kind of jealous! Okay a lot jealous. I am a huge bargain shopper. And her shoes were coral and the other pair was aqua. My wedding colors! So Sunday we all went before Greg and I headed back home for his mom’s mother’s Day. I found two pairs I liked. Two pairs for $65. Heck ya!

 

 

But I still knew I probably needed to be fitted by this special running store place. I did just double my workouts at Fit By Burn.

I was nervous. I heard they record you on a treadmill and analyze it and stuff. Lindsey went with me for morale support. I mean really me walking into a running store. Really? It is like me walking into a ballet/dance store. Which yea Lindsey has taken me in when she needed to check on tap shoes. OMG I am not mature enough and crack jokes because it is something unknown to me.

I was greeted by Rita. I started off the conversation with I am not a runner. As if she couldn’t tell that by looking at me LOL

I told her that I do a HIIT style boot camp and a strength training classes that sometimes these classes incorporate running. But my main issue was my feet hurting and needing help with balance.

She put me in socks and had my jog on a treadmill. Um hadn’t done that in about 6 years. AWKWARD not a fan of a treadmill. I kept envisioning this video while on that treadmill http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNPhVVjnoC0.

 

Here are the steps of the analysis

Step 1: When you first come into the store, we have a quick conversation so we understand how you exercise, use your shoes and identify your walking and running goals.

Step 2: We ask that you run, walk or jog on the treadmill while we record you from the knees down. During this phase we will record your running style, how your foot strikes and your overall gait analysis. We then explain the results so you have a complete understanding of your style and your needs.
Step 3: We size your foot for length and width and provide a shoe size recommendation based on your exercise needs.
Step 4: We bring you a wide variety of shoe brands for you to try on and try out. We encourage you to go outside and walk or run to compare the different brands. At The Running Well Store we believe there is no perfect brand or style of shoe - only YOUR perfect shoe.
Step 5: Get running (or walking) knowing you have shoe that will help you with injury prevention!
From:  http://www.therunningwellstore.com/category_s/1827.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egypPRrZcoY&feature=player_embedded

 

 

She measured me and put me in a Brooks shoe. It felt good. It was a wide. Then a shoe that wasn’t wide and it felt so much tighter compared to the wide. She put me on the treadmill again in that shoe. Another customer came in and she greeted her. I instantly panicked. And as Sweet Brown, internet sensations says “Oh Lord Jesus”.. please don’t leave me on this thing. http://www.kjrh.com/dpp/news/local_news/oklahoma-city-woman-sweet-brown-interview-goes-viral

I was looking at the controls. Do you push the down button and down a few to slow down then push the stop. If I just pushed the stop would I fly off? Then she came over rescued me.

 

So since I have wide feet, thanks mom, I had basically one choice. Lindsey laughed when I asked if it came in anything animal print or pink. Well normally I bought sneakers just on looks for example my pink and black ones. Nope it was teal or green in that one shoe. The teal was in stock. So teal it was.

I wore the shoes to my strength training class that night. Which I got the shoes just in time for a mile run then strength training followed by another mile run.

So far so good with the new “running shoes”.