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By kilax, April 30, 2009 7:08 am

Hey ladies (or men, what the hell!), where do YOU like to paint your nails?

1. At home
2. At the salon
3. On the train
4. Other

To the ghetto fabulous woman on the train painting her nails this morning – what the fuck hell is wrong with you? I don’t want to smell nail polish at 6:30 am in the morning! Paint your goddamn frickin’ nails at home! Sure, it may be convenient to paint them on the train, but it’s also very convenient for me to get out of my seat and punch you in the face. Take your pick.

And this is me in a GOOD mood.

I guess I should just be happy it was her fingernails and not her toenails. And that she was sitting on the complete opposite side of the train. I feel worse for the people closer to her. Smells like that bother me (I get migraines). Would it bother you?

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By kilax, April 29, 2009 6:43 am

Look! Another meme! I’ve seen this one going around the internet A LOT lately, and I finally got tagged for it… by Bethany!

I have to be honest. I usually skim memes. Or just mark them as read. So if you do the same for me, I understand.

Although, this one was interesting to fill out, because I really had to think hard about what to put on these lists! And I am sure as the day goes on, I will think of even more things to add.

8 Things I am looking forward to:

1. The Kenosha Half Marathon this Saturday!
2. Seeing my parents this weekend.
3. Going to SELF’s Workout in the Park with Diane on 5/16.
4. Spending time on the Mississippi River this summer.
5. Going to Disney World in January.
6. Doing the 30 Day Shred for 30 consecutive days (starting 5/1) and getting shredded!
7. Trying a vegan diet.
8. Seeing X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Star Trek, Angels & Demons, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Terminator Salvation this summer.

8 Things I did yesterday:

1. Got caught up at work!!!
2. Blogged. Read blogs. Added new blogs to my reader. Felt guilty for being addicted to blogging.
3. Talked to my coworker about doing a sprint triathlon.
4. Listened to Jillian Michaels’s podcast.
5. Ran 4 miles with Steven.
6. Ate homemade Mexican Food for dinner.
7. Got sick and spent a lot of time on the toilet.
8. Started watching Lady in the Water and wondered, “Is this lame movie going anywhere?!?!”

8 Things I wish I could will do*:

1. Run a marathon in 2009.
2. Finish logging in my IDP** credits.
3. Learn how to style my hair.
4. Work harder at communication with Steven.
5. Experiment more in the kitchen.
6. Try yoga. Try slowing down.
7. Maintain my weight loss.
8. Get more sleep!

8 Shows I watch:

1. I don’t watch television, but I do own all 6 seasons of Sex and the City.

Play along if you want!

*Modified that one a bit!
**It’s an architecture thing.

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By kilax, April 28, 2009 6:53 am

I’ve been tagged by Mrs. Smith. Here are the rules:

1. Take a pic of yourself right now.
2. No primping or preparing.
3. Just snap a picture.
4. Load the picture onto your blog.
5. Tag some people to play along. I don’t tag, but participate if you want!

This is me, when I woke up at 5:00 am, sans makeup! (See how wavy my hair is, Denise?!)

Of course, Data saw that I was snapping pics with my phone and wanted to get in on the action. I think he cheated though – he was definitely licking himself before he jumped into the photo!

See how tired I look? I look this tired ALL DAY LONG. Even though I put on makeup, try to get enough sleep and drink lots of water… I always look tired. Even when I don’t feel tired.

And… more blabbing – I love Jillian Michaels’s* podcasts. I often feel like she is speaking directly to me, about something I am personally struggling with. Already, I have been able to apply something I listened to last night to a situation this morning. More below…

Continue reading 'No primping or preparing / Why I love Jillian Michaels'»

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By kilax, April 27, 2009 12:11 pm

Do you ever worry about becoming someone you don’t want to be? Maybe you have a specific person in mind, whose actions you simply abhor… or maybe it’s just a collection of traits that you worry about.

I have both – certain influential people in my life, as well as a list of various traits I try to avoid accruing.

Lately, I haven’t been giving my emotions the attention that they deserve. I’ve been very quick to react to things. Rather then stepping back, observing and evaluating, I hastily make decisions, just to try to keep up with the pace of things. I’ve become incredibly impatient. I don’t want to sit still or slow down for a minute.

This is adversely affecting me at work and at home. And I am beginning to worry more and more about turning into someone I don’t want to be.

I know who I want to be: happy, healthy, someone that people think of as “nice,” fun to be around, a good listener, hardworking, reliable, friendly, funny, intelligent, approachable, attractive, easy-going, patient, understanding…

But how do I get there? And QUICK! before I go to far in the other direction!

I’ve noticed that when I actually do slow down and take time to think about what is going on in my head (why I am reacting to things the way I am) I find the cause of the “problem.” But sometimes I just want to ignore it. I just want to avoid it. How awful is that? Here, let me just shut my brain off for awhile and go on autopilot. Let’s see where that gets me. I don’t like where that gets me.

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By kilax, April 26, 2009 7:29 am

I used my last pack of Berry Blue Sports Beans during my 12 mile run on Friday. I later drove to Sports Authority to buy a few more packs for next Saturday’s race, and… they were out. I actually said “shit!” when the sales clerk told me.

Since we’ve decided we like them so much, we looked into buying a case of them online (we’ll be using a lot once we start training for a full marathon!) yesterday morning. Then, we actually compared the nutritional label for Sports Beans versus regular Jelly Belly Jelly Beans and found out the differences are some added vitamins, potassium and sodium (electrolytes)  in the Sports Beans, and less calories in the Jelly Belly Jelly Beans. That’s it.

We basically just need them for the sugar/energy during endurance runs (I mean really, do you actually expect to get vitamins from candy?), so we decided to just buy regular Jelly Belly Jelly Beans for awhile and see how those work out. We’ll get to eat more. Ha!

Our Target has a HUGE Jelly Belly selection. So it was fun to pick and chose!

There are actually more jelly beans not shown in the photo!

I decided to try one of the Cold Stone Birthday Cake Remix Jelly Beans, because they made me think of my sister. They were okay, but I know I wouldn’t like that taste in my mouth during a run!

I chose (starting on the right): berry blue, kiwi, and watermelon*. Steven made two mixes: lemon drop with lemon lime, and orange juice with tangerine and orange crush. I put the Sports Beans in the picture below for comparison.

I am not sure what those last things are on the left? They don’t look like Jelly Beans.

When we went through the checkout, I started chatting with the cashier about Sports Beans, and how we were buying these instead, and blah blah blah. She said  (something like), “It looks like you got a lot of healthy food, so it’s no big deal you are getting these!” Then I explained to her that we actually eat this while running. She was nice to me, but I think she thought I was crazy. And Steven probably did too. But you know what? I try to talk to the cashier, to be polite. Even if I don’t make sense (that’s often). What’s the point of acting like they aren’t there?

If we end up liking using these, it will be a huge cost savings. Sports Beans cost $1.00+ for a 1 oz. pack. Jelly Belly Jelly Beans cost $7.49 a lb. That is a saving of .53¢ an ounce!

So… we’ll see how it goes! Has anyone else tried doing this? Probably. It’s not that novel of an idea.

Kenosha Half Marathon Weather Watch Day 4:

Steven asked if looking at the weather every day was making me feel worried. Actually, it’s not. I am just looking at it for humorous purposes. It is what it is on race day!

*What’s funny is, these can sit in our pantry forever, and I won’t touch them unless I am running. I’m not that into jelly beans! But that peanut butter… oh, no.

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By kilax, April 25, 2009 8:39 pm

Peanut Butter is a trigger food for me. It can sit in the pantry for weeks and I don’t even think about it, but once I open it, I eat WAY too much.

We had two containers in our pantry from November – creamy and crunchy. They were both half full this week. They are now gone – mostly because of me.

We went to Target today to get groceries, and even stopped by the peanut butter, but I didn’t say that we needed any, because I didn’t want it in the house. I was being selfish.

Steven noticed we were out when we got home. He was upset that we didn’t get any. I can understand that. He likes to have it every once in awhile. And it was wrong of me to only think of myself when making the grocery list. I told him I would go pick some up, but that it is a trigger food for me, so I had no idea how long it would last. And I have no idea how long this overeating/binging phase is going to last for me. Why do I go through phases like this?

So now I feel guilty for eating too much AND for not getting any more peanut butter for the pantry. Yay.

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By kilax, April 24, 2009 8:09 pm

Today, I learned two things about my running:

1. My pacing sucks: Jack*, Steven’s Garmin Forerunner 405, accompanied me on today’s 12-mile run**. WOW. I am a sporadic runner. My first few miles kept going back and forth between 8:00 and 9:15. Then my later miles were between 9:00 and 10:30! Boo! I still finished in 1:48:43, but I hate those positive splits! I am happy Steven will be wearing Jack during the race.
2. I cannot predict my pooing patterns: I have a very real fear of having to go poo while I am running the half marathon. Today “nature called” around mile 5. I ran all the way to the public restroom (I was running in a Forest Preserve) and… it as closed for cleaning! Now, for me to stop running to go to the bathroom is a pretty big deal and I was looking forward to that relief. I think my sprint to the other bathroom made that one of my fastest miles! I wish I could figure out what is causing this (cutting out dairy has only helped a little bit). It seems so random. I will be really upset if I have to stop during the half marathon. I am the type of person who would not be ashamed to go in the woods (yeah, I said it!) but Steven would kill me if I did that. So I am hoping I will have an empty bowel that day!

Kenosha Half Marathon Weather Watch Day 2***:

Lame… see how much it has changed since yesterday? Why do I even look at this?!

*Steven’s GPS Car Garmin is called Jill, so I brilliantly named his Garmin GPS watch Jack. As in… Jack and Jill! Yes, Steven has to put up with my lame-ness on a daily basis. Poor guy!
**Yes, I know I should not be running 12 miles so close to my half marathon. But I HAD to get it in. Every day I had a long run scheduled it rained or snowed. So I watied until we had GORGEOUS WEATHER – today!!!
***I am posting this for my amusement, to see how much the forecast actually changes between now and race day!

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By kilax, April 23, 2009 5:32 am

Update: Aron is right – the Chicago Marathon is now closed. Funny thing is – it was open this morning when I checked it. Total bummer. Steven wanted our first full to be local – time to look into Wisconsin!

Earlier this week, a coworker (who is also a runner) asked if I will be excited when the May 2nd Half Marathon is over.

No way! I will be SAD when it’s over! I am having so much fun training. I love being on a schedule. I love having a race to look forward to.

And yes, I am a little bit worried of keeping my mileage up when I am NOT training for something specific. I feel great when I get at least 25 miles in a week.

My guess is, I will spending most of May 3rd convincing Steven to sign up for the Chicago FULL Marathon before it’s too late. (Wait, is it a good idea to give away my reasoning for signing up? Ha ha.)

Related story: On Saturday, after I got my medal, Steven said to me, “That medal is pretty cool. A lot better than a block of cheese.”

Ha ha. Yes, the Kenosha Half Marathon Medals are blocks of cheese:

And… today is the first day that weather.com is showing the forecast for race day. Let the worrying begin! I have absolutely NO faith in weather predictions. But I still look at them, and somewhat plan my life around them. Why? I am not sure.

Looks good so far…

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By kilax, April 22, 2009 5:48 am

Even though I’ve been losing weight, I’ve still been struggling with some food issues. I forced myself to think about it and try to get to the root of the problem. And I think I actually began to figure a few things out.

I am afraid of hunger. I am afraid of being caught unprepared. I am afraid of the unplanned.

What does this mean? I worry about becoming hungry, I am scared I will be unprepared and have to eat something unplanned. I am afraid of the unknown. I hate being out of control.

So here’s what happens. I always have a ton of healthy snacks with me. I stick to my grazing plan and eat something almost every 2-3 hours, sometimes more frequently, especially at work. I never let myself feel hunger. I worry about fueling before a workout, so I always make sure I have something in my stomach. I try to prevent hunger.

It’s not a super big issue. The snacks are usually healthy, I never feel full to the point that my stomach hurts, and I’ve only had a few out of control moments (more the last few days).

But still – what’s the deal? Why am I not listening to my real hunger signals? I think I’ve lost touch with hunger, and it’s time to try to find it again.

Glamour photo gone wrong?

I think that this photo of Data requires a caption and submittal to icanhascheezburger… I just can’t come up with anything clever? Can you? (diane, I’m looking your way!)

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By kilax, April 20, 2009 5:03 am

How ripe do you prefer your bananas?

I am a #7 – I like my banana a bit brown and lightly bruised. I think Steven is more of a #4 or #5. So at the beginning of each week, we buy about 15 bananas in different stages of ripeness. Every once in awhile, we end up with some “leftovers” at the end of the week that are even too ripe for me to eat (although, I probably would have eaten one of them in the photo below).

I usually make banana bread or banana donuts when we have leftovers, but we were already using the bread pans to make granola bars and it was too late in the day for donuts, so I decided to try Jen’s Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies.

I’m pretty new to the idea of mixing bananas and chocolate, and I’ll admit, it’s taking me awhile to get used to it. BUT, I thought this recipe was cool because it’s fairly healthy (no added sugar!).

Waiting to go in the oven…

Finished! They didn’t change shape at all while they cooked!

I tried one right away when it came out of the oven, but the chocolate had too strong of a taste and was too hot. Even though I put less chocolate in it, I still think I put in too much. Next time I make them, I will probably add a bit more cinnamon, less chocolate, and try some without chocolate completely.

Jeez. I can’t believe I am complaining about too much chocolate. What has happened to me? Ugh. After not eating sweets for so long, sweets taste too sweet.

The cookies did have a nice chewy texture, and a yummy banana flavor! If you are into the chocolate/banana combination, they are worth a try! They are pretty good for a “healthy” cookie.

See the recipe in the extended post below.

More Rainbow Cake Photos: I thought I would share the photos of the inside of Christina’s Rainbow Cake with you! It’s so colorful and fun!

Continue reading 'What to do with super ripe bananas'»