Brie Fit

So you know how some people lose weight/get healthy and then suddenly all things they previously liked are suddenly “oh my gosh, that’s so disgusting, I can’t imagine that I used to eat that”?

Yeah.  That never happened to me.  Which is why, when I see crap like this in the supermarket, I am still overcome with a huge sense of “whoa, that looks delicious” and not “whoa, those red dyes will make any children I have in the future nutso.”

Red velvet flavored milk, guys.  It’s the color of blood but looks so delicious and I want to buy it every time we go to Super Target.  Save me from myself.

Did you know that ever since I tried breakfast cookies a year ago, I’ve eaten them every single weekday morning since? 

As much as I love them, I’ve gotten a little sick of them and the prep work they involve (plus, protein powder isn’t cheap).  And I’ve found a substitute for a cereal I loved in my not-so-healthy days—Captain Crunch with Berries = Kashi Toasted Berry Crumble.

A bit high on sugar, but lots of protein and fiber and I find it really filling (and delicious).  Win!

I took today off work because I worked too damn much in November.  I did relatively little, although I did make myself get out for a run.   I ran two miles, and then stupid November allergens got to me and I had an asthma attack and had to go home for my inhaler.  Rather than scrap my workout altogether, Milhouse and I went for a nice long walk to keep my heart going.

Not groundbreaking, but I moved, so that’s something.

I’ve also been getting back into a hobby I’ve neglected for awhile—counted cross-stitch.  It’s totally old-ladyish, but it’s so relaxing for some reason.  Unfortunately, all the patterns I can find are…errr…not my style, so I give them away to my mom and aunts when I’m done. 

  (Nail polish is OPI’s Diva of Geneva!)

I also took Milhouse’s Christmas picture.

Poor guy is still recovering from Thanksgiving and has had some nausea today, but seems to be recovering nicely.

What foods are you ashamed to still love?  I’m pretty sure you will have to tear the occasional boxed macaroni and cheese out of my cold, dead hands someday.

I’m back from a country Thanksgiving!

We left right after work on Wednesday and made it home earlier today.  We went to stay with Tim’s parents for the holiday, just the four of us.  I didn’t take any pictures, but it was a lovely few days.  They live in the middle of nowhere (by my standards, anyway) and it’s always so peaceful and quiet to go visit them and unplug for a few days.

We ate copious amounts of turkey, various casseroles, and pie, saw the new Harry Potter movie together, and watched lots of football.

And we became an aunt and uncle again (sort of).

My best friend’s baby, Isabel Lynn, was born on Black Friday evening.  (I guess she was kind of in our wedding, in utero!)  I’ve already shopped like crazy for adorable baby girl things on Etsy, and trust me, the ovaries are aching.  Bad.  We are so, so happy she’s here! 

Now we’re back at home, and our very first Christmas tree is up, and I’ve already addressed most of our cards. 

And Milhouse is excited to be reunited with his lover.

I’m looking forward to getting back to the gym regularly starting this week—with all the travel and holiday hustle and bustle, I’ve missed regular sweating.

I hope you all had a good one!

Do you decorate for the holidays?  Any special traditions you’re getting ready for??

All day today I was so excited to go to the gym.  I only worked out last Monday and Tuesday because I traveled so much (and didn’t have time for the hotel gym, and, frankly, stayed in a damn dive one night).  I was looking forward to a nice run, or some lifting, or really, anything.

At 4:05, the power went out in our office.

At 4:15, my boss told me to go home, so I grabbed my gym clothes and headed out the door.

At 4:16, a co-worker told me that the power at my gym was out, too, and wouldn’t be up any time soon.

At 4:17, I considered running outdoors, and then realized it was 43 degrees out and all I had in my gym bag was tank tops, capris, and no Garmin.

At 4:18, I drove home, thinking I’d go for a run when I got home…

At 4:50, I realized it was cold and I didn’t feel like running half-mile loops around my neighborhood.

I’ll try again tomorrow.  Serious training starts next Monday. 

It’s always something, huh?

Earlier today, I wrote a fairly emo post about how I’m struggling—a lot—with jealousy lately.  I decided not to publish it, because…well, who wants to read me bitching and whining about something that is just a part of who I am.  I’m a jealous person, but I am going to strive to not let it control me.  It’s tough, but I can do it.

Instead, I decided think about this morning’s church sermon.  We gave an offering, and wrote down what we were thankful for, which was then read—a litany—as a part of our closing prayer.  I didn’t write anything, because I’m kind of shy in church.  So, instead of posting an “OMG I want a house and to have a baby and be naturally thin” rant…here’s my litany of thanks.

I am thankful for my family.

All branches thereof.

And friends.   Even though they’re too far away.

I am thankful for my health.

I am thankful to be married to someone who loves me, even though he says, “I just don’t know what to make of you sometimes” at least once a day.

I am thankful to be able to travel.

I am thankful to have a job, and to have food on my table and a roof over my head.

And so, so much more.

I’m irritated with New Year’s Resolutions because of their lack of flexibility, so I am resolving, right now, to try my hardest to focus on what I DO have and not what I don’t.  Focusing on what I don’t have has made the last month tough for me, and I’m ready to let it go.  Will I still wallow on occasion?  Yes, probably.  But I’m going to try, very hard, to know that there’s a plan for me out there somewhere.  Our turn will come for houses and babies and living close to family.  I will be patient.

I think that I have honestly been experiencing some post-marathon…well, not depression, but a definite funk.  I like plans.  And with all the crazy work junk going on lately, I’ve missed taking care of my body and having a focus.  So, I’ve just hit “publish” on a 20 week, low n’ slow marathon training plan.  I haven’t yet registered for the Oz Marathon, but should my body cooperate, I will.  I may not be that naturally skinny girl hanging out on the elliptical at the gym, and I may not be a super fast runner, but I can and I WILL push myself again.  I’m changing some things this time—three days of running a week—one long run, one tempo run, one hill run (including more outdoor training)—plus one real strength day a week, and one real cross-training day a week.  I will learn from my mistakes last time and become a stronger runner, and person.

Onward and upward!

How do you deal with negative character traits of yours?

Ok, so I went to Boise, Idaho for…18 hours?  I got back late last night, so I’m just catching up now.  Voila.

I flew into Boise late (I didn’t get to my hotel until 11:30ish) Wednesday night.  Apparently it is the city of trees.  Who knew? I did my work thing all morning, and then we had a lunch in the press box of the Boise State stadium, which is known for its “smurf turf.”

It was pretty cool to see!  We were served an excellent Thanksgiving lunch.  Here are the remains:

Every year, I try a slice of pumpkin pie.  Every year, I hate it.  Some things never change.  It just tastes like…spicy goo.   Pecan pie?  I can get down with that.  But pumpkin just seems like glorified baby food to meet.

After the lunch, I rushed off to the airport and waited for my flight, which was at the awkward time of 4:35.  Seriously…you can’t eat dinner before you get on the plane, but when your flight doesn’t land until 9:45…you know you need something.  So I wandered around the airport aimlessly and decided on a smoothie before my flight, and picked up a few snacks (Pop Chips and an Odwalla bar) for later.

And then I also bought a bagel on a whim.

However, nothing sounded appealing on the plane, and we thankfully had a half hour touchdown in Denver where I was able to pick up a a delicious egg sandwich on a bagel for dinner.  It was awesome!

Anyway, I made it home late last night and was so happy to see my own bed.  And the animals! 
While I was gone, Milhouse got into some mischief.

He likes to burrow under the covers in the morning, but burrowed so hard this time that he fell out of the bed!  He didn’t seem to mind too much.

And Southpaw says hi.  

Now I kind of have today off…except I’m packing for my next trip.  I fly out for 18 hours in Houston tonight.  Fantastic!

I have to say, I am just exhausted and feel generally not well.  I slept for 9 hours last night and feel like I didn’t sleep a wink.  My head hurts pretty much constantly.  My skin is half parched, half broken out.  My shoulders feel all hunched over from reading on a plane and in airports.  Exercise?  What’s that?  I miss the gym.  I miss cooking.  Sigh.

Only one more trip and then I’m done (for awhile, at least)!  Woo hoo!

How do you keep yourself healthy when you’re on the road?

Behold, the power of businesses on Twitter:

About two hours later?

I saw the words “matzo ball soup” and pretty much had to have matzo ball soup, like, yesterday.  Even though I’d packed a lunch, I abandoned it in favor of the soup and salad combo.

Unfortunately…I think I’m kind of spoiled by good matzo ball soup because this had some odd spices in it that didn’t really work for me.  But the salad was awesome!

Spinach, goat cheese, pecans, and dried cranberries with a bit of balsamic vinaigrette.  The wheat roll that came along with it was great too!  I rarely get lunch out to save money, but I’m glad I splurged a little today. 

Post-work, I worked it in the weight room, Susan-style.  I did her Full Body Workout #3 (with slight modifications due to tight space and being short on equipment) and it was fabulous, as all of her workouts are.

I did:

Front squat push press: 3 X 12 @ 40 lbs.

Superset:

Wide grip lat pulldown: 3 X 12 @ 48 lbs.

Bulgarian split squat: 3 X 12 @ 30 lbs.

Superset:

Dumbbell bench press: 3 x12 @ 20 lbs.

Good morning: 3 X 12 @ 40 lbs.

Superset:

Dumbbell shoulder press:  3 x 10 @ 20 lbs.

Static lunges: 3 X 12 @ 20 lbs.

Superset:

Bicep curls: 3 X 10 @ 20 lbs.

Skull crushers: 2 X 10 @ 20 lbs. (arms starting to fail!)

Plie squat: 3 X 10 @ 25 lbs.

Superset:

Reverse crunches X 15

Side knee drops X 15

And now I can barely walk up the stairs. 

Tomorrow begins back to back to back to back flights…I fly every evening Wednesday through Saturday.  I love flying and airports, but…I am glad this is my last week of this!  I’ve got a Nook full of reading material, though, so I’m ready to go.

How many times do you eat out every week?  When I’m not traveling for work, we eat out once a week (usually Saturday night) and that’s it.

I’m pretty much just going to start calling November “Weightlifting Month” from now on.

2.26 miles.  Asthma attack.  Elliptical.  Sound familiar?

I should really just not run until December 1st.  It’s like clockwork.

Anyway, whatever, it’s exercise.  On days like today, I just remind myself “some exercise is better than no exercise.”  I need to learn that November is just not my month for running.  I just continually feel like I’m being choked and that’s not cool.

Oh, yeah.  The weekend was good.  I got my hair cut and colored, my brows waxed, and did a little shopping.  And went on a date with my husband, and slept late, and didn’t clean my house.  Good times.

So this is my last week on the road.  I’ve been a little absent from the blog lately because, well…I’m trying to keep the rest of my life balanced.  I fly out Wednesday night to Boise, Idaho, fly home to KC Thursday night, fly out to Houston Friday night, then fly home Saturday night.  (Yes, I realize I should have just flown KC to Boise to Houston and back, but hindsight and  all that.)

And then it’s done and work calms down drastically for the holidays.  I’m taking a five day weekend for Thanksgiving (Th-F-S-Su-M off!) in which I will cook and enjoy spending time with Tim’s awesome parents and see the new Harry Potter movie and eat turkey until I sprout feathers.  I’m just feeling a wee bit rundown and stretched too thin these days!

Still waffling on that marathon.  It’s hard to commit when my runs have been so consistently sucky lately.

What’s your favorite season?   I love winter!

If you don’t want to read about periods or vag-related stuff, leave now.  It’s okay.  I won’t be mad.

Several people asked for me to do a complete review of the Diva Cup once I’d given it a whirl, and, well, now I’ve gone through one full period on it.  So here goes.  (Note: I bought this with my own money and this review was not solicited in any way.)

I purchased my Diva Cup from iHerb.   It was $26.60 there, BUT if you google for a coupon code, $5 off codes are all over the internet, so I paid $21.60 plus a measly $1.50 for shipping and handling.  Cost-wise, the Diva Cup will result in savings for me in about 4 months—I’d estimate I used to probably spend $5 a month on either tampons or pads.   It shipped to me quickly and just in time for my period to come.

I suppose I was kind of baptized by fire, as I got my period while traveling this month and all I had was my Diva Cup with me!  So…it kind of had to work.  And I had to learn how to negotiate it in public bathrooms right away.

I will say this—if you are not comfortable with self-exploration and/or getting slightly more intimate with your period than you have been before, this is probably not the product for you.  On the first day of my period, I was emptying the cup every 4-6 hours, and it’s a bit messy.   But I really don’t mind that kind of stuff, so no big deal for me.  I actually found it really interesting and informative to know exactly what was going on throughout my cycle, and I found it much easier to say “okay, today’s much lighter than yesterday",” etc.

The first few days are kind of a steep learning curve.  Read the instructions!  A few points were key for me in conquering any leaks:

1. There are four tiny holes around the top of the cup.  THEY MUST BE CLEAR for a nice, suction-y seal to form.   I had a bit of trouble with mine in the beginning as one of the four holes was not fully open.  A good way to tell this (and to clean the holes)  is to fill the cup with water, put your hand over the top, flip it, and squeeze the cup until water comes out all four holes.   I ended up having to take a small pin to the one hole to open it completely, and it made a big difference.  (Tip: for public bathrooms, that stupid Diva pin that comes with the cup is actually useful for un- blocking the holes.)
2. Make sure to turn the cup a few times so it opens up fully.  You should be able to push on the cup a bit and it will feel kind of like a filled balloon once it’s in place properly.
3. Experiment with different folds.  I found that the punch-down fold is the easiest and most convenient for me.
4. Several people recommend trimming the stem of the Diva Cup if you can feel it after it’s inserted, but I didn’t need to do this.

I did have a little bit of leakage the first few days, but it stopped quickly when I realized that the cup either wasn’t opened fully or had a blocked hole.  Since I figured those issues out, it’s been super easy and convenient.  And comfortable!  I’m not sure if there’s any correlation, but I had almost no cramping this cycle as opposed to when I used to use tampons.  Once the Cup is in place, you shouldn’t feel a thing and should have no leaks.

For the active people out there—I wore the Diva Cup while running and lifting and it was super comfortable and didn’t shift or leak at all. 

All in all, the Diva Cup takes a bit of exploration and experimentation to get used to, but I am thrilled that I made the switch.    It’s eco-friendly, cost-effective, and just plain a better product than the pads and tampons that dominate the market these days.  I would definitely give it a try!

Seriously, bananas.  It was pouring on my way to work this morning and pouring on my way home.   Maybe it shopped at some point; my office is windowless and I wouldn’t know.  But I don’t think so.

It was tough getting my ass to the gym after work today.  When it looks like this on Friday at 5:05 pm (pouring rain, much darker than it actually looks in this picture), after not having a REAL weekend in two weeks,  you can actually hear your jammies and a pizza screaming your name at home. 

Thankfully, I had a secret weapon.

I printed out Susan’s Leg Killer, Part II workout and brought it along for the ride!

I wound up doing….

5 minutes on the spin bike to warm up

Sumo Squats:

15 @ 45 pounds

10 @ 60 pounds

8 @ 75 pounds

10 @ 60 pounds

15 @ 45 pounds

(Misread the final few directions—oh well!  I’d increase this weight next time I do it…it wasn’t quite enough for me.)

Straight-leg deadlift:

4 sets, 15 @ 40 pounds

Superset X 3

Step-ups:

15 @ bodyweight (would weight this next time, too)

Dumbbell shoulder press:

15 @ 20 pounds (the Roman chair in my gym has gone missing.  Hmm.)

Superset X 3

Walking lunge:

20 at bodyweight

Hamstring ball curls:

Bodyweight

Superset X 3

Calf raises:

15 at bodyweight on Bosu ball (awkward)

Side-lying leg raises:

15 at bodyweight

My legs feel appropriately jellied right now.  I really liked all the bodyweight exercises!  It’s 100% possible to get a good strength training workout without lifting a single weight.  Just ask Mr. Walking Lunge or Ms. Squat Jump.

I am so looking forward to tomorrow—I’m planning on sleeping late, getting a haircut and my brows done, and going to a delicious and romantic dinner out with Tim.

What’s your favorite bodyweight exercise?  I love lunges…walking, jumping, reverse, all of them!

Today, post-work, I put my music in my ears and said, “I’m just going to run until this playlist is over.”

And I did.

And it was lovely.

I didn’t stress about pace, or hitting a certain distance, or really anything but not having a crazy asthma attack and enjoying the new Glee “Teenage Dream” remix.  A lot.

I’m waffling.  I really enjoy this kind of workout, and running on my own terms, when and how much I want.  But on the other hand, the itch to run another marathon is definitely there.  I want to run a race that isn’t blazing hot, where I know I can finish.  And I think I’ve picked one out.

Enter:

The Oz Marathon.  Remember my first half marathon?  Well, they did some re-branding and changed it from the (boring-sounding) Garmin Olathe Marathon  to the much cooler-sounding Oz Marathon, complete with a super-cute website that has sucked me back in.  I like the idea of a small, local marathon—part of it is on a paved trail, which I think would be nice, it’s relatively flat, and the pacers were very nice last year.  As much as I bitch n’ moan about having a set training schedule…it keeps me moving, and most importantly, gives me a self-esteem boost I’ve been missing a bit lately.

So…I’m thinking about it.  I want to do it.  But I’m not sure I’m ready to pull the trigger yet. 

Maybe I need some wine.

Also, black bean quesadillas are my new favorite food.  And Parks & Recreation is my new favorite show.

TGIAF, friends.  Thank goodness it’s almost Friday.  I am very much looking forward to two full days at home after traveling the last two weekends!

What should I do?  Jump in headfirst and deal with the ramifications or wait until I feel 100% confident and prepared?

Also…latest food/TV obsessions?