Week 29 Weigh-in

I ordered a new scale about a week ago, and I was hoping it would arrive before my weigh-in today, but it's supposed to get here sometime during the day today. If I like the scale, this may be the last time you see my trusty old Health O Meter ;)

Today's weigh-in:

I was at 122, so down a pound from last week. I didn't have a big appetite this week for some reason, so my calorie intake was lower, which is probably why my weight went down. My average calorie intake was 1,744. I wish I had noticed this before, but you can see a weekly view on My Fitness Pal of your calorie intake, including the average. I always calculated it by hand!

It's interesting, because I reset my goal on My Fitness Pal to maintain my weight instead of lose weight, and they increased my calories to 1,550. Are they serious?! As usual, I ignore their recommendations, and just listen to my body.

A reader recommended a weight tracker app called "Happy Scale", and it's really neat! I spent some time inputing ALL of my old weight records, so now they date back several years. But it's kind of fun to see the trends over time. Here is the month of February for me:

The little blue dots are what my weight was on that day; the green area shows where my weight was 30 days prior; and the blue line just shows the average/balances it out so you can see the trend over time. You can view this by week, month, year, and "all time", which is pretty fun to look at. You can also set up milestones (as many as you wish) if you're losing weight, so that you can focus on one thing at a time, and not get overwhelmed. It's a pretty cool app if you're into weight tracking!

I did good on my long-term goals this week:

7,000+ steps, 6+ days per week: I got them in every day except last Wednesday.

Binge-free: Today is Day 211! It's getting much, much easier now. There are some days that it doesn't even cross my mind, which is saying a lot.

New Recipe this week: I made a couple of new things. The first was Crock Pot Spaghetti, which was not very good at all. There are some things that just do not turn out well in a crock pot, and pasta is one of them. Jerry liked it, but he likes his pasta to be soft; Eli and I are all about al dente pasta.

The second recipe that I made was for 5-Ingredient Corn Casserole, and this was amazing! I LOVE corn, so I was sure to like this; but I was the only one in the family who liked it ;) I drizzled some honey on it, and it was perfect comfort food. Now I have enough leftovers in the fridge to last all week, since my family is crazy and didn't like this.

This calorie count is for 1/6 of the recipe plus honey

Overall, it was a good week! I wish I'd done better at my race, but like I said, I'm not going to hit every goal every time I try. Here's to another week of maintenance :)

A Big Announcement

Hello! I have a big announcement today I’m pretty excited and scared and anxious and dancing around about!!! But before I share the big news I’ll share a picture of my amazing pancakes.

These babies are gluten free and have greek yogurt for some extra protein. But, I’m still working on the recipe so hang in there for that.

I also had half a cantaloupe because I love it. 

Then, it was time to run.

And do a weird dance so my neighbors know what kind of weirdo they live by…

The Big Announcement…

Now, I make a lot of less than what would be considered smart decisions in my life. A lot.

Example: run a marathon in hot weather as a ‘training run’. (see: LA Marathon and Phx Marathon)

Recently I ran the LA Marathon after saying I wasn’t going to because I needed to do it as a training run. Basically, it’s hard to do long training runs solo and I needed a good super long run. Then, SR convinced me to run Phoenix as another long run situation.

Why the need for these long runs?

Well, I got invited to run the Jerusalem Marathon March 18th!!! And after a little bit of research and bouncing it off a few people in my life I accepted this amazing opportunity.

So, in addition to thinking about the amazing-ness of traveling to Jerusalem  I needed to figure out a super quick training plan for getting ready for running 26.2 miles. Those two marathons were just the right timing and knocked off 2 quick and dirty long runs done and done.

Now that the race is just over 2 weeks away I’m going to write in my calendar the rest of the workouts until I get on a plane on March 14th and travel to the other side of the world. This is ridiculous and awesome and  a million other things.

Truthfully, I’m more worried about spending 15 hours in an airplane than running for 4.5 hours!

Question: What’s your favorite fruit today?

Any suggestions on what I can do on the plane?? Help!

The post A Big Announcement appeared first on Run Eat Repeat.

My Lazy But Healthy Dinner

Hi! I was MIA today because I’m finishing up a few projects and I got my car windows tinted. It was a gift from my brother that I had been putting off for the longest because I’m lazy. It’s so fancy on my lil un-fancy car!

In other laziness news… I bought this ready to eat turkey bacon since it was on super sale yesterday. I think it’s pretty good, but I also don’t really like ‘real’ bacon so take my opinion with a grain of sea salt on that one.

And who says fast food is unhealthy? I got these two items below and had dinner in minutes!

Again, I was feeling lazy and didn’t want to cook up a whole fancy thing, but wanted a lot of good food. <- that’s the story of my life.

Kale salad mix (comes with the dressing, cranberries and nuts) + a rotisserie chicken = Dinner.

Miracle Challenge

One of the projects I’m working on right now is with the Miracle Challenge.

 

Miracle Challenge is a 27-day wellness challenge that encourages you to achieve fitness goals, while fundraising for kids in your Children’s Miracle Network Hospital. Over the course of 27 days you will accomplish 27 different mini-challenges all connected to your fitness passion.  Along the way, you are encouraged to raise at least $10 per day on behalf of kids in your Children’s Miracle Network Hospital.  Why?  Because while we get fit, there are kids in your local CMN Hospital who can’t go for a walk, a run, or a bike ride.  They are fighting scary illnesses like cancer, or recovering from an illness we can’t even pronounce.  So let’s help them get better, so one day, they can join us on this fitness challenge! 

OC Marathon Discount Code

Get $10.00 off the OC Marathon or Half Marathon with code MONICA10Off. Valid until March 7th!

When you register please mention Monica Olivas as the ambassador who sent ya! Thank you xoxo

Question: What is your go to throw together meal?

Do you have a car?

The post My Lazy But Healthy Dinner appeared first on Run Eat Repeat.

Day Three: complete.

On Friendship

A few months ago, I took a leave of absence from Junior League to focus on being around for my mom and because of a busy work season. Last night, we had a party to celebrate the Outstanding Volunteers we’ll honor at our ball on Saturday, and I got to see lots of ladies I hadn’t seen in the month or so since I took my leave, and my heart is so full.

My Facebook newsfeed has been full lately of articles about female friendships, so I thought it was something interesting to talk about here.

The Long Game of Female Friendships

Where All the Girls Go (these first two by Felicia, who has such a way with words)

Relying on Friendship in a World Made for Couples

What Women Find in Friends That They Might Not Get From Love

Three years into my 30s, I have to say that the quality of my friendships is one of the best parts of this phase of my life.

I had some really crappy friendships in my 20s, and I also spent a lot of time trying to make some friendships work that I should have just let go. Over the past few years though, I’ve become really conscious about guarding my precious free time and making sure to spend it with people that make me happy — the ones who know me inside and out, the ones who make me laugh until I cry.

Felicia talks about friendship (in the first link) like the market, and I’ve been careful to nurture friendships that have a return on my time investment — that add to my life, rather than taking away from it.

I love all of my married friends, too, but one of the best things I’ve done for myself in my 30s is strengthen my friendships with single girlfriends.

“It’s difficult to organize your life around friendship in a world that’s built for couples, and it’s doubly difficult when your time with friends is seen as a fun extracurricular instead of a basic human need.”

The bond runs deep with my single girlfriends who understand what it’s like to be single in your 30s in a world where (it feels like) everyone’s coupled up. Who understand dating in this difficult city. Who understand the fear that we might not find our person. I need them as much as they need me, and it works. We don’t call them “girls’ dinners” or “girls’ weekends” because that’s what they all are to us. We text the way we’d text with a boyfriend — often and consulting each other on life decisions — because our friends are the most meaningful relationships we have right now.

But single or not, as I’ve gotten older I’ve appreciated the depth of these friendships. We’ve seen each other through job losses, losing parents, dealing with sick parents, dealing with our own illnesses.

And I wouldn’t trade them for the world. Speaking of, one of my good friends has been raving about the Happiness Planner all weekend, and I bought it tonight and am excited to dive into it. Also, I did some window shopping tonight, and Kate Spade has ICE CREAM STUDS. And Old Navy is having a massive sale on their activewear.

What about you? What role does friendship play in your life right now, married or not? And…any good window shopping finds lately? I’m so happy spring clothes are in the windows now. THERE’S AN END IN SIGHT TO WINTER.

Related posts:

1. Important Female Friendships
2. The Waiting Game
3. A New Chapter

I Am Turning Into Vegas The Cat

You know how they say you start to look like your dog? Well, I realized today that Vegas and I have a lot in common. We’re both kinda orange and like tuna, leaving our hair/fur everywhere, lots of attention (when we feel like it) and more. So I thought I’d compare what I love vs. what Vegas loves.

Here is what Vegas loves vs what I love….

I love yogurt. So does Vegas (but he prefers turkey). I dropped a piece of apple covered in yogurt and he licked it clean.

I love going for walks in the afternoon. He loves sleeping in the afternoon (and morning and night and always).

I love my lavender heat wrap thingy. It’s so nice and relaxing.

Vegas loves it too! I put it on to see what he would do and he just laid there and started purring.

We both love being smashed by this guy sometimes:

I love my fam, Vegas probably thinks they’re okay maybe.

I love both these guys. Vegas loves one of them.

I love cereal. Vegas doesn’t love cereal as much as he loves checking out what I’m eating because I usually eat ice cream on the couch and he will never turn that down.

Question: What is one thing both you and your pet like?

The post I Am Turning Into Vegas The Cat appeared first on Run Eat Repeat.

Leap Year 4-Miler (Night of the Glow) race report

Well, today was the second "annual" Leap Year 4-Miler race. I ran the inaugural race in 2012, and I was really excited to run it again. It happened to be at the perfect time in my 10K schedule to use as a tune-up race and hopefully see if I'm on pace to hit my 10K goal in April.

As I mentioned yesterday, my goals were:

"A" goal: If I have a REALLY good race, I could probably do sub-31:00 (7:45/mi).
"B" goal: Take 4 minutes off of my last Leap Day time, for 31:15 (7:49/mi)
"C" goal: A sub-8 pace, for a time of sub-32:00.
"D" goal: Just finish.

To spoil the ending, I will tell you that I did, in fact, reach ONE of those goals ;)

Nathan (my younger brother) said he would pace me, and I really liked that idea. Having a pacer makes it much easier to focus on the race, because then I wouldn't have to worry about looking at my watch all the time. I just had to keep up with Nathan, and I'd hit my goal. I told him that I wanted to aim for 7:45 on the first mile, and then see how I was feeling. If I was feeling good, I could try another at that pace; if not, then I could scale it back to 7:55. And just go from there.

Kendall (Nathan's girlfriend) picked up my packet a couple of days ago, so I didn't have to get there early, which was nice. I dropped the kids off at my friend Andrea's, who was kind enough to watch them, and then I went to Willow Metropark for the race. I met Nathan there, and then at 6:00, I did a warm-up (the race start was at 6:30). I ran about 1.5 miles very easy, and did a few strides and stretches. I felt pretty good, other than a stomachache that I'd had all day. 

My stomach felt like it had a pit in it all day today, and I ate more than normal, thinking it would make my stomach feel better. For dinner, I made what I thought would be a good pre-race meal: a sandwich with peanut butter, banana, and honey. It ended up feeling like lead in my stomach, but I ate it three hours before the race, so I figured there was time to digest.

Anyway, the race was a little late starting. Nathan and I stuck together at the start, and then when we crossed the starting line, my only goal was to keep up with him. I told him not to let me start too fast (something I always do), and at first, I felt like we were going so slow! But after a half mile, I was really feeling the pace, and it certainly didn't feel slow. I didn't look at my watch at all, because I just didn't want to know.

From the very beginning of the run, I just didn't feel right. Normally, when I do speed work, my legs feel springy and light (on a good day, anyway); but today, they felt clumsy and heavy. And my stomach--ugh. The pit was just getting deeper, and soon, it was all I could think about. Once I let that negativity get into my mind, I just started thinking that today wasn't my day. It just wasn't going to happen.

My first mile was 7:45 on the nose, which is what I planned, but I knew I had to slow down. I told Nathan I'd try to run 7:55 for the next one, but in my mind, I wasn't sure if I could even do another mile, let alone three. I felt really bad about it. I told Nathan that I would try to make it to mile two, but I couldn't do more than that. There was just no way. We hit mile two at exactly 7:55--seriously, Nathan is a ridiculously accurate pacer--and a few steps later, I just crashed. I slowed and spent the next five minutes trying to catch my breath. Those two miles felt much harder than they should have!

The last half mile of the race was extremely windy, and I was glad that I was no longer aiming for a time goal at that point. The wind was so strong it took my breath away. I crossed the finish line in 34:15, exactly two minutes faster than my time in 2012. So, I hit my "D" goal, which was just to finish. Hey, at least it was a course PR ;)

I felt really bad, like I completely let Nathan down, even though he kept insisting that it was okay. He said he knows I have a 10K PR in me, and today just wasn't my day. That's exactly what I would tell someone in my situation, but it's hard to believe it when it's about me, if that makes sense.

As I drove home, I was totally beating myself up about the whole thing. I kept wondering if I could have made it if I had kept trying, but honest to God, I don't think I could have today. Looking at my stats now, I am kind of stunned--my heart rate got up to 209! The only time I've seen it in the 200's is when there is a problem with the monitor; but that's always obvious from a lot of spikes and dips. This one looks pretty accurate:

Crash and burn at mile two 

I'm completely torn when I think about how this race went. I was pretty confident going into it that I would do well, based on my 5K time from the beginning of this month. Now, however, I'm questioning everything about my training and whether or not I can hit my 10K goal in April. But, here is what I know:

I know that people have bad runs sometimes, and bad races.

I know that I'm not going to hit my goal at every race. If I do, then my goals are too easy.

I know that I did try my best, and I didn't finish the race thinking that I could have done better.

I know that my speed has improved dramatically over the past four months.

I know that I still have six more weeks until my 10K, so plenty of time to work on it.

I know that I was not feeling my best going into the race today, so it just may have not been my day.

And again, I know that people have bad runs sometimes. It's a fact of running life.

So, even though I felt bad about it immediately after the race, now that I've given it some thought and wrote it out here, I am going to continue my training and just chalk this up to experience!