Brie Fit

2:22:not sure yet. It wasn’t my fastest half, but it was my strongest by far. I did not walk a single step and finished feeling great. I feel awesome and so proud!

Just popping in to say hi from my phone!

It’s been a whirlwind since last night.

The bad: My car trunk got smashed in by a snowplow back in KC. My luggage got lost, but then got found, so it’s ok.

The good: Beautiful weather. Awesome breakfast with Kelly and Meghann. Fun times at Hollywood Studios with my mom and sister (we slutted it up with Handy Manny!). And a good race shirt and carb loading dinner.

See you after another 13.1!

In this post, I weighed 172. 6 pounds, said I wanted to lose 10 pounds by Disney Princess weekend.

This morning, the day I leave for Disney, the scale said 162.6.  Exactly.

(My ridiculous happy dance looks much like that.)

I went to get my camera to take a picture for you all, but wouldn’t you know that the scale indicated that the act of going to get my phone from the bedroom made me gain .4 pounds.

Little fucker.

But anyway.  I only weigh myself one time every morning, so re-weighs don’t count anyway, and it SAID 162.6.  I know, because I squinted extra hard at it just to make sure today.

Onward and upward!

Shocker!  I totally braced myself for a gain this morning since I felt kind of bloated from all the eating out.  So…I’m only 0.2 pounds away from my first goal.  Eeep!

In other exciting news, I celebrated this morning by trying on a skirt I wore on my first day of work in October 2009.

I really loved this skirt a lot (it’s much cuter in person) but only wore it a few times because it quickly got too tight and uncomfortable.  Anyway, this morning it FIT, and with room to spare! 

(I didn’t wear it to work because I didn’t have anything clean that went with it.  But I will, next week.)

I also tried on another skirt with a similar plight after work and it fits as well. Hooray for non-scale victories!

I’m making my next clothing-related goal a pair of shorts I wore in summer 2009 when I was at my fittest, probably around 155-156 or so.  Bring it!

Cereal for breakfast again.

Lunch was an assortment of stuff: carrots and hummus, a mini cheese, Greek yogurt, an orange, and a mini bagel with Trader Joe’s peanut butter and strawberry cream cheeses.

The bagel was clearly the star.  Man, that is an awesome freaking combo.

I snacked on a banana almost past its prime with a little PB in the afternoon.

My original plan was to go to the gym after work and test out my new running shoes for a 3-4 mile run.

But…then it started simultaneously snowing, raining, sleeting, and hailing.  Tim’s boss told him to go home around 2:30 and I ended up leaving work at about 3:15.    This was my car:

And by the time I got home, there was definite accumulated snow and ice on the ground.  I could barely get up our driveway!

(I did stop at the store for sunscreen for Florida on the way.  The irony was not lost on me.)

So, no running.  I’m going to tough out my old shoes for one last farewell run and will start breaking in the new ones post-race! 

I thought about doing a workout DVD briefly, but lately they’ve been making my back sore and I didn’t want to risk it.  So, instead, I lounged and packed!

Dinner was already mostly ready, anyway.

I put a pork roast in the crockpot this morning with some chicken broth, lime juice, garlic, cumin, and chipotle pepper seasoning and shredded it when I got home.  We made “burrito bowls” with brown rice, cilantro, black beans, pork, and a little cheese.

Tim said the pork was “bananas,” so I think we have a winner.

For the rest of the night, I’ll be watching the snow fall and thinking of Florida!

I’ve got my magazines ready for the plane…

And my suitcase is almost packed.

(Packing a tutu is weird, man.)

I plan to pack my own dinner for the plane tomorrow to save money.  I’m leaving straight from work for Disney and might not be checking in again until Monday!  I will definitely be on Twitter all weekend, though, so follow me there if you’re curious to see how the race goes.

Do you have any goal clothing items?  What are they?

Other than that I feel particularly sodium bloated after my eats yesterday today.  Sodium is kind of unavoidable if you’re going to eat out, unless you’re going to eat a salad with no dressing at every meal!  I predict a gain on the scale tomorrow.  Such is life.

Anyway, I got up this morning and headed down to the hotel gym.  I wasn’t awake enough to run, so I did 45 minutes on the elliptical while watching A Baby Story.

And then the lady on A Baby Story was 9 months pregnant and pumping major iron and I felt like a pussy.

Oh well.

Tapering, right?  I’ll run tomorrow.

I really enjoy working out in the morning, I just wish it worked with my regular work schedule!  I’d have to get up at 5 am every day and…that’s just not doable.  I can barely swing 6:30!  I seem to be doing fine working out after work, so I guess if it ain’t broke…

Working out in the morning did make me really hungry for a bigger-than-normal breakfast.

Back to Panera!

I had some terrible customer service there (boo), but I got the breakfast “power sandwich” (egg, cheddar, ham) on a whole grain bagel instead of bread to bulk it up a little bit.  I also got coffee on the side—I love Panera’s hazelnut coffee!

It was really delicious and filling.   Usually I feel my stomach growling a bit by lunchtime, but not today!

I did my work thing in the morning and enjoyed another lunch of Subway while driving.

Since I was so full from breakfast, I had the sandwich around 1 pm…the apple slices around 2…and the chips as an afternoon snack at 3:30. 

I was in the car all afternoon.  Good times.  Two things:

1. Although I’m vehemently opposed to Jillian Michaels’ diet pills…thing, she had a podcast a long time ago that I very much liked.  It ended, but it’s back and I listened to two episodes on the drive!   You can find it here or on iTunes.  It’s a wee bit self-help-y, but she does have some interesting info and it’s good for a long drive or run.
2. I stopped to fill up the rental car with gas when I was almost back to KC.  A man old enough to be my father who was at the pump next to me yelled, “watchin’ you sure makes pumping gas more enjoyable!”  I am not certain if this was because a) I’m a hottie, and my black work pants and modest blue work top really got him going; or b) he found it funny that it took me about 10 minutes (and Google) to figure out how to open the gas tank.  He was wearing striped overalls, like a train conductor.  Surreal.

But I digress.  We had sweet potato fries and chicken for dinner…nothing exciting, but I didn’t really feel like cooking after a long day on the road. 

Today’s Sparkpeople details:

Oh, sidenote: here are my Trader Joe’s purchases from yesterday!

There may be a finger swipe or two missing from the PB cream cheese.  Heaven!  I can’t wait to pack this in my lunch tomorrow.  I’ve also never cooked polenta before, so that will be a fun adventure next week.

Also, while I was gone, my new running shoes came!

Since May of 2010, I’ve been running in New Balance 759s in a 9D (which is a wide width.)  They were the first shoes that didn’t rub giant ugly blisters on my arches.  I replaced them with the same style in early September 2010 because I was still thrilled that I was blister-free.  But, as my marathon training ramped up I became pretty certain that while the blister issue had been solved, these weren’t the absolute perfect shoe for me. 

The 759s are a neutral shoe, and I’ve always known I’m a bit of a pronator, so I e-mailed my buddy Susan who works at a running store to see what she recommended.  She suggested I go to the New Balance 760s, which are more of a stability shoe.  I’m excited to see how they feel!

I also went from a 9D to a 9.5D just on a crazy hunch—I’ve had a black second toenail (and sometimes big toenail) since I started serious distance running  last spring.  I get blisters under the nail and the front of the toe is heavily calloused.  I’m pretty sure this means I needed a bigger size, especially since my feet swell on long runs.

I thought I might be able to squeeze a few more miles out of my old shoes, but then I took a good luck at the treads tonight, and yikes!

The ball of my foot has been rubbing almost raw on long runs lately.  Now I know why.

They have about 220 miles on them now, so maybe it’s time to say goodbye.

They also are stained with red Gatorade I spilled on them once.

I’m going to run in the new shoes tomorrow to see how they feel.  I know you shouldn’t do new shoes on race day, but if I have one rehearsal run…what do you do?  The old shoes are pretty far gone at this point, and have been bugging me on long runs…but I won’t do more than 4 miles tomorrow, so I won’t be able to test them at super distances. 

Also, thanks for all your awesome comments on my post this morning!  I’m reading them and responding and clarifying and such, but it’s interesting to hear other perspectives.

So: what shoes should I wear for race day?  Would it be a death sentence to wear a new shoe with only one short run on it?

So…back at the beginning of the year, I set a goal to lose 10 pounds.

And, I did.  (ohmygodIbetternotbejinxingmyself)

(Okay, so I’m .4 pounds away right now…but you get it.)

So…now what?

Um.

Okay.  So…here is a summary of my adult life, in weight:

• 1998: Freshman year of high school physical.  Weigh in at 167 pounds.
• 1999-2008: Ignore scale altogether.  Squinch eyes shut at doctor’s office.
• June 2008:  Weigh in at 200 pounds.
• December 2008: Weigh in at 150 pounds after six months of running 6 miles a day plus workout DVDs plus too-low-to-be-sustainable calorie intake plus no rest days ever.   This is me at my lowest weight ever.  I call this my skinny fat stage.

• January 2009-May 2009: Focus on weight training, increase calories.   Get up to about 157ish healthy, fit pounds.  Still would like to be a little less hefty with the same amount of muscle.  Here’s me at that point.  Note the awesome arm definition:
• June 2009-July 2009: Bar exam.  Do not care about weight at all.
• August 2009-December 2009:  Unemployment, new job.  Do not care about weight at all.
• Januaryish 2010-May 2010:  Train for first half marathon!  Finish half marathon!  Ignore scale for the most part.  Low 160s.
• June 2010-October 2010:  Marathon training.  Ignore scale after seeing 165 in August or so, figure marathon training is not the time to worry about weight.
• October 2010-December 2010:  Recover from marathon.  Holiday fun.  Ignore weight.
• January 2011: 172.6.
• Now: 163ish pounds, so 10 pounds down from the beginning of the year.

So, as you can tell…I’ve kind of been all over the place.

Can I weigh 150 pounds?  Yes. 

Can I do it in a healthy way?  I’m not sure.

Can I weigh LESS than 150 pounds?  No clue.  I weighed in at 149.8 ONCE, after a night with food poisoning,  and then started intentionally adding muscle so I never saw it again.

Allegedly, according to BMI, I can be healthy and weigh anywhere from 114 to 154 pounds:

But the problem is that anything under 150 is uncharted territory for me, and really, anything from 157ish and under is territory that I’ve never successfully navigated in a healthy way.

When I was at 150, I still wore a size 8 jeans.  I have pictures I took in a bikini throughout the New Rules of Lifting for Women (and, HA, I’m not posting those here), and while I look at them and say, “hey, not bad,” I realize there are still things I wasn’t happy with.  There was still a good bit weight on me to be lost, namely, on my bottom half.

I’m not one of those women that’s super critical of their bodies.  I generally like myself, even when I’m heavy.   I know I’m not engineered to be stick-skinny.  But I guess I’d like to really try to be the best, healthiest, fittest version of me, and I really just don’t know if that’s going to be at 150 pounds or 130 pounds, you know?  I kind of gave up on weight loss in favor of other goals once I hit 150, and I’m glad I did because it broke me out of a pattern of eating too little and exercising too much. 

But now, I have a balance I didn’t have then.  I exercise 4-5 days a week.  I have lowered my calories, but not to an unrealistic or unhealthy level.  I strength train and do cardio and run races. 

So where do I go from here?

I suppose my next goal from here is to get to 150 pounds, let’s say, by our first anniversary on May 8…but then we’ll get into the really scary stuff.  Can I be 140 or 130?  Is it even realistic?   I know the number on the scale “doesn’t matter,” but I don’t do well with intangible measures of success like smaller pants or measurements because they can be fairly unreliable. 

Anyway, what are your thoughts?

Dudes!  I’m on fire.

Anyway.  Crazy day today.

I got up, had some cereal, and went to vote before work.

I was at work from about 8:15 until 11:45.  Then I had to hop in a rental car for a three hour work trip!

Before I left, I had lunch #1 around 11:30…a spinach salad with balsamic and Chobani:

Around 1:15, on the road, I had a piece of my homemade bread with almond butter:

And a mini Babybel:

I ate the muffin at around 3:30.

I packed an apple and an orange for the road in case of emergency, but didn’t end up eating either:

In my travels, I’ve learned that apples and oranges are the best fruits to travel with.  Bananas, pears, and peaches smush or turn black too easily!

So, I didn’t get a big lunch like I’m used to—instead I had a bunch of smaller snacks.  I was at a work event from 3:30-6 and my stomach was growling like crazy!  Happily, I was able to avoid the ROLLING COOKIE CART because I knew dinner was around the corner.

For dinner, I went to Panera.

Yeah, I know, I go to Panera and Subway a lot, but when I’m traveling…my options are slim, and I know what I’m getting at these places.  Tonight I could have gone to Cheesecake Factory or Red Robin or Fuddrucker’s or Chick-Fil-A or Culver’s…so this was my best option.

Plus, I’m kind of stupidly loyal to Panera because I worked there for a summer and it was a nice company to work for.  I was really impressed by their food safety and cleaning standards, so I keep going back.   I’ll probably go back for breakfast tomorrow, too!

Anyway.  I had chicken noodle soup, and half a ham and swiss sandwich toasted in the panini press.  It totally hit the spot.  I wasn’t planning on eating the apple, because technically I was over my calorie allotment for the day, but…I was still hungry, and frankly, I doubt one small apple is going to make any difference either way.

I then made a little trip to Trader Joe’s before hitting my hotel!  I got some fun stuff…namely, mini bagels, polenta, spicy tomato sauce, peanut butter AND strawberry cream cheese (I blame Monica), trail mix, spicy black bean dip, English muffins, and a few goodies for a care package for my favorite Canadian friend Susan during her elbow-smash recovery.

Fact: I asked the hotel people to bring a fridge to my room.  Just for the cream cheese.

No exercise today…I’m exhausted!  But I’m planning to hit the hotel gym in the morning before I have to get to work.   For now, a brownie, Teen Mom 2, and a giant hotel bed all to myself are calling. (Tim is totally anti-TV-in-bed, so I have to soak it up while I travel.  Sad.)

PS: I’m editing my blogroll tonight, check it out!  –>

Do you have any odd brand/company loyalties?

Uh, what?  I got on the scale fully expecting to see a small bump after a weekend of relaxing.  Instead, I lost another pound.  I’ll take it!

That means that I am .6 pounds away from reaching my goal of losing 10 pounds (172.6->162.6) by Disney Princess weekend.    Bananas!

So breakfast was the usual this morning, but I had a lunch date with some lady co-workers, which was nice.

I got a big old honkin’ salad, dressing on the side.  Specifically, this gigantic bowl contained field greens, grilled chicken, carrots, black beans, roasted corn, queso fresco, and jalapeno lime vinaigrette.

Allegedly.  I think I found about 5 beans and 10 kernels of  corn.  Pretty disappointing, although the vinaigrette did have a nice kick and I very much enjoyed the seedy multigrain roll on the side.  (Seriously: what restaurant thinks it’s a good idea to add beans and corn to a salad using TONGS?  I dare you to attempt to add one tongsful of beans to a salad and be satisfied.  Come on.)  I ate less than half because sometimes, crappy salads are just not worth the effort it takes to chew them.

Since it was pretty paltry, I snacked on a small blood orange and a banana/pecan/maple/chocolate  chip muffin I made yesterday.

After work, I skedaddled to the gym.   I decided to make this my only “push yourself hard” run until race day on Sunday, since it’s taper week and all.  I did 3 hard miles on the treadmill like so:

• Mile 1: 0.5 miles at 10:00/mile pace, 0.5 miles at  8:57/mile pace
• Mile 2: 0.25 miles at 10:00/mile pace, 0.25 miles at 8:57/mile pace, repeat once
• Mile 3: 0.1 miles at 10:00/mile pace, 0.1 miles at 8:57/mile pace, repeat X 5

I don’t want to jinx myself, but after a few crappy months of slow running, I’m starting to feel light and fast again.  I read that article in Runner’s World last month about mantras, and while I don’t have a mantra, per se, I do repeat the word “stretch” a lot in my head while I run.  I tend to have a very short, tense gait that’s more of a shuffle, but when I think “stretch” I actually stride much better.  I don’t know, it works.

I’ve also noticed that there is a direct correlation between the size of my afternoon snack and how good my after work run is.  Larger snack=better run.  Hm.

Dinner was leftover ‘loaf and soup.

And I realized that I never post my dessert, but I do eat it every day, just usually after I hit “publish.”  I have a small ramekin of ice cream with a few chocolate chips or a dark chocolate square nestled in.  It’s all about portion size!   I’m totally conditioned to have a treat after dinner.  Eliminating it would make me a resentful disaster, so I just keep it small and it all works out fine.

Details from Sparkpeople:

Tomorrow I’m on the road for another overnight trip!  Whee!

Do you eat a daily dessert or treat?  What is it?

!

Okay, okay, no complaining.  Slow progress is tough, though, as I’m sometimes losing so slowly it barely feels like anything at all.   When I look at the weekly progress, though, it’s nice to see pretty steady declines.

• Monday, 1/3/11: 172.6 (start!)
• Sunday, 1/9/11: 170.6 (-2 pounds)
• Monday, 1/17/11: 170.6 (same)
• Sunday, 1/23/11: 168.8 (-1.8 pounds)
• Sunday, 1/30/11: 167.8 (-1 pound)
• Sunday, 2/6/11: 168.6 (+0.8 pounds)
• Sunday, 2/13/11: 165.8 (-2.8 pounds)
• Sunday, 2/20/11: 164.2 (-1.6 pounds)

Because I like graphs, here’s what that looks like.

I also had some fun today while trying on clothes for Disney World this weekend. 

I decided to lose weight for the first time in June 2008.  About three months before, in March, I’d bought a brand new suit from Ann Taylor.  I LOVED it.  It was gray pinstripe and for the first time, I felt kinda sorta like a real lawyer.   It fit perfectly—I had the pants altered so they weren’t too long, which I NEVER do.

I lost 50 pounds and immediately gave all my old clothes to charity because I didn’t want the temptation to backslide there.  (I’m glad I did, because part of the reason I started losing weight again was because my pants didn’t fit, and I was too cheap to buy new ones.)

But I kept one pair of pants, just so I wouldn’t forget how big I’d really been.  It’s been a long time since I’ve tried them on, but today I did.  And I took pictures.

Please note how long these pants are now.  I swear I have not shrunk.  (Shrank?  Shrunken?)

And here’s my token side shot.

I sometimes get emo (obviously) about not being super duper skinny, but…man, I really have come pretty far.   Sometimes I forget that.

Also, I would like to thank these pictures for reminding me to maybe bust out a little self-tanner before this weekend.  Yikes.

Anyway.  I had some cereal before church this morning but didn’t photograph it.  For lunch, I made myself an omelet with a slice of bacon and some cheese and 1 egg and two whites.    I also had some toasted homemade bread (the best!) and a yogurt bowl.

For a snack, I felt like baking, and I wanted to use up some bananas in the freezer.

I used this recipe from Emily as a base, but modified it quite a bit.  Her recipe calls for:

• 3 medium ripe bananas
• 1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1/4 cup canola oil I used 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup sucanat (or organic cane sugar)  I used 1/2 cup regular sugar
• 1 tablespoon molasses I used 1 tablespoon of maple syrup
• 1 cup peanut flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour Instead of peanut and regular flour, I used 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips I used 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• And I also added about 1/4 cup chopped pecans.

The instructions in Emily’s recipe are more detailed, but I just mixed everything together and put it in muffin papers in a 350* oven for about 20 minutes.

These were really good!  I love baking, obviously, and it was nice to make something for once that I didn’t feel terribly guilty about eating.  Yum!

For dinner, I made another recipe from Skinny Taste—petite meatloaves! 

I followed this recipe almost exactly, except I used lean ground beef instead of turkey.  We’ve tried the turkey instead of beef thing, and…while it’s edible, neither of us are really crazy about it.  We really enjoyed these! 

We had some roasted fingerling potatoes and carrots on the side.

Fitness-wise, I’m not totally sure what I’m going to do this week.  I should probably taper for my race next week.  I think I’ll do some short runs on Monday and Wednesday, and cross-train Thursday.  (I won’t be able to do anything Tuesday—traveling again for work!  And I fly out Friday right after work.)

And just because I like this picture:

Buckley says hi.

Anyway, I’m not fortunate enough to have President’s Day off tomorrow (BOO) so time to go get ready for the week!

Do you keep clothes that don’t fit or give them away?

Right direction, at least.  That’s something!

Thanks for all your comments last night.  This journey (ugh—I hate calling it a journey, but…whatever) isn’t going to be easy.  When I lost weight the first time around, I had 50+ pounds of extra fat that my body desperately wanted to get rid of, so I lost a lot of weight, quickly, without any major setbacks or stalls along the way.  And I wasn’t in shape, at all, so I could make gym gains quickly, too. 

This time…I’m already in good shape, and 10-15 pounds overweight isn’t the same as 50+.  It’s going to be harder, and slower, and I’m just going to have to come to terms with that.  (That’s what she said.)

Anyway. 

I woke up this morning to Tim shaking me awake, telling me “I made waffles!  Come see!  They’ll get cold!”

And then I fell back asleep and he came back 20 minutes later, saying, “Dude, the waffles are cold.”

So I got up and ate some waffles.  With REAL maple syrup.

Honestly…I didn’t get the big fuss over real maple syrup.  It tasted fine.  Meh. 

We spent the morning doing some boring errands and then I had breakfast for lunch: eggs, cheese, yogurt mess, and toast.

Side note: we watched the series finale of The Wire this afternoon.  If you haven’t seen this show yet, you must.  It’s complicated, but absolutely the most well-crafted television show I’ve ever seen.  It’s even better than Mad Men, which I also hold in high esteem.  And Tim even ranks it above The Sopranos.  It’s evocative, it’s horrifying, it’s funny, and just generally gut-wrenchingly awesome.  Seriously, a must watch.

Anyway.  While we watched that, I had a loaf of fresh bread in the bread machine, and afterwards, I made a batch of Skinny Taste Baked Potato Soup using the entire head of cauliflower we got from our Door to Door Organics box this week.    I added a side salad with balsamic just to up the veggie count!

This soup was really, really good.  Frankly, cauliflower is another one of those farty smelling vegetables I am not a big fan of raw, but this tasted 100% like a potato soup!  I will definitely make it again.  Tim really liked it, too.

Otherwise…I’m really getting excited about the Disney Princess Half in a week!  I haven’t raced since October, but will be racing the next three weekends in a row and I can’t wait.  I’m looking forward to seeing my mom and sister AND Kelly and Meghann!   Wheee!

What’s your favorite must-watch TV show?