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By kilax, April 6, 2009 5:33 am

Warning: There may be A LOT of posts in the “Health + Fitness” category this week. Yeah. Oops. I just gotta get a few things out of my mind. On to the post…

I ran 30 miles last week! It was my highest mileage week ever:

• Tuesday: 4 mile run outside with Steven
• Wednesday: 4 miles on treadmill at work (plus 30 mins of “hill intervals” on the elliptical)
• Thursday: 5 miles on the treadmill (and 30 Day Shred Level 1*)
• Friday: 4 mile run outside with Steven
• Saturday: 3 mile run outside with Steven – done in 25:46 min!
• Sunday: 10 miles on the frickin’ treadmill

I was talking to my mom on Wednesday and she asked what Steven and I plan to do after the half marathon. Well, quit running, of course! Just kidding. Unless we have some adverse side effect to the half marathon, our goal is to complete a full marathon in 2009. So I imagine, after a bit of downtime, we will pick a full marathon to sign up for and find a training program. We will probably do a local one for our first. Seems like registration is still open for the 2009 Chicago Marathon on October 11th, so that is a feasible option.

My mom used to be really into running, so I was telling her – I think my body is made to run. It just feels so natural and right to me. Most days, I don’t even struggle with it. So I really hope I continue to feel this way after our half marathon, and can pursue longer distances.

After my long run yesterday, I decided I deserved a little pampering, so I  finally used the Bath & Body Works True Blue Spa Suddenly Sauna for Feet and Shea It Isn’t So Shea Butter Foot Cream that my blogger sister, Gina, sent me for Christmas. Yeah. I was saving them for a special occasion. I figured 10 miles was special enough.

You put water in the booties and it activates some heat elements. While the booties are “heating up,” you put the foot cream on, then slip the booties on when they are ready. It took awhile for the booties to heat up, but once they did, it felt great. I think my feet deserved that extra attention. Thanks Gina! I am excited to use the other two pairs. Now, if only I could figure out how to get rid of my feet “stinky-ness”…

Other running news: We finally signed up for the Walt Disney World Half  Marathon on January 9! I am super excited. Our friends and their parents are going to be there, as well as a few other bloggers. Let me know if you’re going!

*Dammit, did I really only Shred ONE day this week? I need to work on that. Arg.

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By kilax, April 1, 2009 10:02 pm

I wasn’t looking forward to weighing in today for my office’s Biggest Loser Challenge. Last week, I weighed in during my “loss of appetite” phase and showed a huge loss of 2.5%. At the time, I even said “I know some of that is going to come back.” Sure enough, it did – 1.15% (along with my appetite, thank heavens)*.

You know what I say to all this? A big “Who cares?!” I’ve gotten so used to my body weight going up and down and up and down. If this challenge has taught me anything, it’s that my weight doesn’t directly correlate to ANYTHING. So I really shouldn’t give it ANY power over me. My body seems to be on a path of its own – a path that doesn’t follow a straight line and is impossible to figure out. Sure, my body generally responds well to eating healthy and exercising, but it’s been throwing a few challenges my way lately – ones that are probably not appropriate to discuss here. I’ll just say, I really want to trust my body, but I’m starting to second guess its intentions. It’s probably nothing serious, and doesn’t affect my running at all, but I think I will be seeing a doctor just to check in.

My second cousin Denise is participating in her office’s Biggest Loser Challenge as well. She’s been doing it for four weeks now, and I am super excited for her! She is making great progress in eating healthier and being more active.

She’s already had to play the scale mind games though. After a smaller loss (in comparison to a big loss the week before), she emailed me saying she was “really disappointed” because she thought she had lost more. She recognized that her clothes were loose but she still felt the disappointment.

I tried to be encouraging to her and share what I’ve learned doing this challenge – that the scale is not always an accurate representation of your hard work throughout the week. And she knows that! She’s obviously making progress because her clothes were loose**. It’s just so easy to let those numbers dictate your feelings.

I hope participating in the Challenge has as positive of an effect on her as it has on me – both physically and mentally. Already, I know her participation has helped me – it’s given me a chance to reflect on the challenges of adapting a healthy lifestyle from a friend’s perspective. Encouraging someone else, and following their progress has made me realize how important it is to have a healthy mindset about this whole process. I’m not explaining it very well, but sharing our struggles back and forth in email has given me a broader perspective on the meaning of living a healthy lifestyle. It’s also helped me learn how to overcome my own struggles.

And it’s nice to have my own cheerleader as well! Encouragement is always nice, and Denise is very thoughtful.

*My total loss so far is 11.25%.
**I much prefer kapgar’s method of following weight loss – by how your clothes fit. None of my size 12 dress pants fit me right anymore. They are all falling down and have too much extra fabric in the butt. So… time to do some more “interim” shopping.

Side Note: I published this at noon, but something was wrong with it, so I’ve republished it.

Comments (17)

By kilax, March 26, 2009 5:55 pm

My poor little baby Data-Lore has an appointment with the veterinarian on Monday to get his teeth cleaned, and probably some removed.

Who, me?

Yes, you. (My special little kitty who likes to chew on our grocery bags. And has rotten breath.)

I’m kind of freaked out, because he’ll be at the vet ALL DAY. And he has to go under anesthesia. Steven is going to be the one dropping him off and picking him up. I am just not emotionally strong enough to do that – leave him there. I have to look away now when the vet gives him shots. I even had to look away when they took his temperature! I don’t like to see his sad little face.

One time, while working on the cat shelter in Rome, I had to feed a cat with a broken jaw. We put soft food in a little plastic syringe and then would squeeze it into its mouth. Well, I accidentally squeezed it all over the cat’s face, and just starting crying.

So… I suck at stuff like this. I’ll have to keep myself very distracted on Monday so I don’t start to worry about him.

Hey, do real parents, of humans, get annoyed when people call their pets their “babies”? Tell me the truth! Muah ha ha! Because I’ve got to be honest with you, at home, Steven’s “daddy,” I’m “mommy” and Data’s “son” (and on special occasions, “shitbox”).

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By kilax, March 24, 2009 5:13 am

For your entertainment, here is a blog post I wrote about being sick while I was sick. Yeah… it kind of doesn’t make any sense.

My exhaustion finally caught up with me.

On Thursday I developed a small cough in the afternoon. On Friday, it was deeper, but I felt well enough to go to work. But by lunch time I started to feel weak. I had aches in my legs and couldn’t walk very fast. I left early and the aches spread to my hips and lower back. We had tickets to a comedy club with friends that night and were supposed to meet them for dinner first. Instead, I laid in bed all night, as the aches moved to my chest. Wonderful wife I am. $50 down the drain.

On Saturday, surprisingly, I felt somewhat better. Still weak, but not coughing as much, and not achy. We took Sir Data Lor to the vet, and cleaned the house a bit for friends to come over. I was terrified I would have to cancel our get together* with Kevin, Katie, Diane, E and Tori, but I felt great all day. Until about 9:00 pm, when they probably noticed me continually getting up from playing Wii Trivial Pursuit** to blow my nose, cough, and wash my hands in the bathroom.

On Sunday I felt miserable. I kept getting hot and cold, hot and cold. I would be shivering under the sheets, then they would be wet from me sweating too much. I had to go to Target to pick up a prescription. You know what the pharmacist*** said to me? “You look tired.” You know what it means when people say that to  you? “You look like crap.” I DID look like crap. I laid in bed all day.

I thought I may go to work on Monday, but decided not to. It’s a good thing I didn’t. I could barely stand up when I was trying to make myself oatmeal in the morning – I felt too weak and dizzy. I had aches during the day again. Felt too weak to get out of bed most of the time. But the coughing had gone down. Hurrah.

On Tuesday, I think I’ll go into the office. What the hell. Should be fun.

You know what? I have been PISSED OFF this whole time I’ve been sick. I’m angry. This stupid sickness is putting a serious hamper in my exercise plans. Taking four days off is making me crazy. And I don’t feel like I should be sick. I eat well and I exercise. I’m healthy!

I know what you’re thinking, “Um, Kim, maybe it’s because you don’t get enough sleep?” Yeah, that has got to be it. From now on, I am going to recommit to getting 7 hours of sleep a night. I will set a timer for 10:00 or whatever, and when it goes off, I’ll stop what I’m doing, and go to bed, as often as possible. If that doesn’t happen, I am going to start sleeping on the train again.

I’ll do whatever it takes to get healthy.

And yeah, that includes finally going to the doctor. I’m working on that one.

*We had such a wonderful time having everyone over on Saturday night. We rarely get to spend time with friends, so it was a real treat. And I love that blogging has given me so many “real life” friends. I never thought that would happen when I started this blog! And I must say – I have a very real blogger crush on Tori. She’s even more awesome in person.
**I sucked at Wii Trivial Pursuit just as much as the tangible board game. What a surprise! Not!
***My pharmacist is pretty funny. The last time I was there, she was so excited to enter my new government insurance info in the computer because of the “awesome low prices!”
BONUS FOR MAKING IT THIS FAR: Anyone sick of me using asterisks all the time? Muah ha ha! Blame it on diane! I copied her’s! I love it when she adds little tidbits!

Comments (24)

By kilax, March 20, 2009 5:47 am

Are you more likely to exercise if doing so with a friend or family member?

For the past two weeks, I’ve gotten up extra early (4:30) so that I can leave work a bit earlier to exercise with a coworker* in the office gym. I’ve looked forward to these days so far. Yeah, it’s a hassle to wake up earlier, take a gym bag, shower at work, and get home more than an hour later, but it’s a fun detour from my normal schedule. It’s something different. And it’s fun to chat while working out.

This coworker is also participating in the Biggest Loser Challenge. She was telling me that she hasn’t been successful, so I suggested we exercise together once a week, and surprisingly… she agreed. This made me think, maybe SHE is the type of person who is more likely to work out if she is doing it with someone else.

I think I’m different. I start by doing it for me. I’ll always be doing it for me. Seeing someone else work out isn’t going to make me do it. Steven worked out during the entire holiday season and I would just look at him and think, “Meh!” then go back to wrapping presents and eating sugar cookies.

I am more likely to meet someone to work out if I’ve already promised I would, but I wouldn’t be making that promise if I wasn’t already invested in exercise. Does that make sense? I need to make the commitment to ME, not to someone else.

I think other people may be different though. Are you?

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By kilax, March 18, 2009 4:10 am

I have to share two dirty little secrets:

1. I am a runner who NEVER does strength training. (BAD BAD BAD!!!)
2. I am a runner who NEVER gets sore from running. I push myself, but never feel the burn the next day. Lucky, I guess.

With that being said – for me to find a workout DVD that gets the strength training in, AND makes me feel sore as hell, that means a lot! And that’s not mentioning that is also gets my blood flowing and my heart rate up.

I’ve been doing Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred at Level 1 for four days now. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the DVD, it is split into three levels of workout intensity. You become comfortable with one before you more on to the next. I think the idea is that you do it once a day for 30 days straight, but it never actually explains that on the DVD… anywhere that I’ve found anyway!

Each level is a “20” minute (more like 30) workout with a warm up, then 3 intervals each of 3 minutes on strength, 2 minutes of cardio, and 1 minute of abs, and a cool down. It is fast paced and keeps your heart rate going the whole time.

Pros: Just doing this for four days has me walking around like I have stiff, sore legs. It hurts to bend over. My chest is sore. It feels great! I can really see this DVD changing my body in the next 30 days. And I like that it only takes 30 minutes of my time, can be done without leaving my house, and requires minimal equipment – just free weights.

Cons: I worry that the DVD is only going to strengthen my upper legs and chest/upper arms. I hope that we get to a calf exercise in the later levels. And I find Jillian annoying and fake. But I bet a lot of people say that. (In the last ab exercise of Level 1, she says “I know you feel that little knot in your stomach. That’s your body getting stronger.” Ugh. Every time she says that, I DO feel it. Those bicycle crunches ARE HARD.) And one more thing – the DVD doesn’t play nice with our DVD Changer. Oh well.

Overall, I really like it, especially being the first workout DVD I’ve ever tried. I hope that if I ever surpass Level 3, I will have a new found inspiration to continue strength training on my own! I really think anyone* could do this DVD – no matter what your exercise level is. It is tough at first, but even four days later, it’s feeling easier to me.

Side Note: I just remembered that Jillian Michaels has this game for the Wii. I don’t have the Wii Fit, but the game sounds kind of cool.

*Let me know how it goes if you try it! I know Tori is talking about it! And based on offline conversations with Denise, Mom, Courtney and Gina – I think you four would like it as well!

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By kilax, March 15, 2009 2:44 pm

I can’t figure out why I am so angry/frustrated/anxious this weekend. I tell myself that recognizing something is wrong is the first step in solving the problem, but I am not going to get very far if I can’t figure out what is bothering me so much.

We’ve had gorgeous spring weather here all weekend, which means I got to do both of my runs outside. Yesterday was a quick 3-miler. Today, I did Level 1 of the 30 Day Shred*, then, after my legs quit shaking (approximately 20 minutes later), I did my 8 mile run. I used a hydration belt for the first time, and even brought along some sport beans to take for energy. The park in our neighborhood has a .48 mile (thanks to Steven’s Garmin for the calculation) oval sidewalk, so I just ran that 16+ times. It was a great run, and I felt like I could keep going. I felt great when I was done. I love running outdoors. I love that the breeze keeps me cool. I love watching people in the park, to keep myself entertained. I love the warm sun on my skin.

So why, after my glorious run, did that rotten mood come immediately RIGHT BACK?

I’d like to blame it on hormones, but I think it is more than that. My energy levels have been having some weird swings** lately, and I wonder if I have some sort of imbalance that might be affecting me. Yeah. That’s be great – if I could blame it all on biology!

*I’ll try to write a review of the 30 Day Shred later on, after I’ve been using it awhile. For now, just let me say – push ups and crunches kick my butt!
**More on that later too.

Comments (25)

By kilax, March 14, 2009 8:13 am

I participate in an alternate work schedule at my office, so every other week, I get a Friday off. I use it as a day to get a lot of errands done so Steven and I can have a relaxing weekend. Yesterday, I ran 5 miles, went to the dentist*, went  shopping for a suit (FAIL), picked up a DVD (more on that below) and went grocery shopping (at 2 different stores) all before 1 pm!

Then I came home, ate lunch, walked Data, got the mail, read blogs… and passed out on the couch for an hour and a half. Oops!

Anyway, I decided to surprise Steven by getting up early and making him some of those banana donuts**  different people (Meghann and Mica) in the blogosphere have been making. Here’s the recipe, which I halved, making six donuts.

One minor problem with the recipe – it calls for egg whites, and I started mixing everything up before I remembered we used the rest of the eggs for Thursday night’s dinner. I had a little mini-panic and contemplated giving up and pouring the batter into the trash, then decided to improvise by using an extra tablespoon and a half of oil. Not the healthiest alternative, but it worked. The only other way I altered the recipe was by putting in a tad of banana extract flavoring.

I really wanted them to look like donuts, so I put all of the batter into a large plastic bag, then cut off the edge of the bag and squeezed the batter through to shape into donuts.

They look kind of “donut-y!”

I am estimating that one has approximately 200 calories.

I had to jump on the treadmill and run my 5 miles before I could try one. I was a bit worried they wouldn’t taste that good, but Steven LOVED them! He even took a couple to work so I could live up to my reputation as the wife who bakes things (formerly, “the wife who bakes cookies“). And I tried one after my shower – I LOVED them too! They make a very good breakfast, and are not too sweet.

I picked up Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred DVD while running my errands. I’ve been reading a lot of health and fitness blogs lately and I think about 50% of them are using this DVD to work out at home! I can’t wait to try it today, with Steven!

*I am SO EXCITED to have dental insurance now. I love going to the dentist. I hadn’t been since September of 2002. A lot has changed since then! Now they can take photos of your teeth inside your mouth and show it to you!
**I AM THE BONANA KING!!! If you have time, and a sense of humor, spend the 6+ minutes to watch this ridiculously silly video.

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By kilax, March 4, 2009 5:16 am

It looks like I am having another random Wednesday. Maybe I should copy Kevin and start doing “Snippet Wednesdays” if this turns into a habit – I just don’t know if I can promise snippets though!

My Office’s Biggest Loser Challenge Update: Week 6

It’s week 6 of the Biggest Loser Challenge, and I’ve lost 6.56% of my starting weight. I’ve been taking it nice and slow. So even though I am trying to lose weight, I don’t feel like I am living the lifestyle of someone who is trying to lose weight. Does that make any sense? What I am saying is, I DON’T feel like I am on a diet!

Weigh-ins Don’t Work for Everyone

Every Tuesday, the Sun-Times has a Q&A column by Mehmet Oz, M.D. and Michael Roizen, M.D. Apparently we are supposed to be impressed because the first guy is associated with Oprah, and the second guy worked at a prestigious hospital.

Anyway. Today’s first question was about programs that require weekly weigh-ins, and whether they are more successful than programs that don’t.

I found their response interesting – basically, you get out of it what you put into it. If a weekly weigh-in causes you to rethink your efforts and put new vigor into your eating and exercise, that’s good. If a weekly weigh-in causes you to “drown your disappointment in a pint of dark-chocolate ice cream,” that’s bad.

Overall, they said you should be measuring inches, not pounds. I wish I would have measured myself before I started my Office’s Biggest Loser Challenge!

Do you think weekly, private, weigh-ins would work for you?

MyPlate Doesn’t Work for Me

One week on my Office’s Biggest Loser Challenge, I decided I was frustrated (because of a very small gain!) and I signed up for the food diary site, MyPlate. I used it for three days. That was enough. I ate very well those three days, but the headache and constant stress of thinking about food was too much for me. I know that so many people recommend keeping a food diary, but I just can’t do it. It makes me want to rebel.

It was a silly three days, but it helped me get to the point of realizing that my body weight naturally fluctuates and it’s not a big deal.

The Sweet Portion of Lent and Guilt-Ridden Dreams

The Girl Scout Cookies have landed. And they’re everywhere in my office. Let me repeat: I feel relieved to walk by these and not feel tempted by them. Because. They. Are. Everywhere. I. Turn.

My first week of not eating sugary treats went very well. I shared a blueberry muffin with Steven on Sunday and that was it. I think I could have gone the whole day without that muffin, but I could tell he really wanted it.

On Monday night, I had a nightmare that I was gorging on sweets. This tells me I must be serious about it. Sometimes, I have nightmares that I am eating meat and feel very guilty in the dream. Steven has these dreams too. Maybe all vegetarians do? I’ve never craved meat the 8 years I’ve been a vegetarian, but I will have this dream every once in awhile. Well, the sugar dream made me feel the same way – guilty.

I wonder if my sister Christina, who is also a used to be a vegetarian, has had those dreams. Christina, if you are reading this, I also had a dream Monday night that you and Steven and I were at Grandma’s Pete’s old house with the whole fam. The three of us were upset because they were making huge egg mcmuffins, but wouldn’t make them without canadian bacon on them for us. Aunt Linda was making them (of course…). I took one from her and threw a egg on the ceiling and it stuck. I thought dad was going to yell at me, but he laughed. Then we got mad and left!

Thanks Tori!

Tori, thank you for sending me the awesome Thyroid Cancer Awareness wristband. I am going to wear it and tell everyone who asks about it your story and how awesome you are!

(P.S. Data is jealous)

That Nasty Bruise

Thought you’d go a whole week without a fencing post? HA! Not so fast! I was sad not to have fencing class Monday night. Although, it may have hurt if someone hit me in my bruised spot.

The first week of the bruise I thought it was cool. Now I just want it to go away so I can wear a short sleeved shirt and not have to explain to people that I am taking a fencing class (although, it is a good conversation starter!).

Bonus (if you made it this far!)

Has anyone else seen the Terminator Salvation trailer (at bottom of link)? SWEET! Can’t wait for May 21st! I love your potty-mouth Christian Bale!