Sorry y'all, it's been a minute since I've written! I had planned on it over the summer, but it just slipped away from me! I've been up to a lot, but most recently I ran the Chicago Marathon!! I was very excited when I found out I got in and was even more excited to actually be there! This was my second Abbott World Marathon Major (WMM) and I wanted to crush it! Last year I ran the New York Marathon with Team Ultra, which was my first Abbott WMM, and I really enjoyed that whole experience. When a few people on that team said they were signing up for Chicago, I thought I'd give it go. To my surprise I got picked my first time!! I was so excited, especially since so many of my Team Ultra teammates were running with me! The marathon couldn't come fast enough! I was really proud of myself for training for it. I actually stuck with it and only missed one long training run, it was my 20 miler, but I still ended up running 10 the day I was supposed to do it. (Summer's here are ridiculous, so the fact that I stuck with it as long as I did was a miracle!! lol) I followed the Nike+ Training Plan for this one and really liked it. It was a good mix of cross-training, speed work, and long runs. I recommend this app for anyone needing a free plan! I was excited to run in the weather because anything was better than the heat/humidity here! It was supposed to be chilly and cloudy. It was chilly, but it ended up starting to rain as soon as our corral started! It rained off and on for about the first 2 hours, but stopped when I got to about the half mark. I surprisingly didn't mind the rain too much. It was cold and slowed me down just a little bit, but I was still happy with my time, so I can't be mad! My biggest issue with the race was that everyone kept saying how "flat" Chicago was. Um, sorry guys, but y'all aren't flat!! lol If I can look at a street and see the hill or I have to finish going uphill, you are not a flat city. Come to New Orleans, we are a flat city!! I once again traveled with my sole sister Lauren, who is a great companion to have on a runcation! She's up early with me on race days, meets me at different spots on the course, holds me gels and bananas, and has everything ready for me at the finish!! Let me know if you want to rent her out for one of your runs!! lol We took in a few sights and tried all the Chicago foods we were supposed to try. It's always an adventure with her! I did get to have a quick meetup with my Team Ultra fam, so that was a nice! It's amazing how people who barely knew each other a year ago can form the bonds that our little family has! We met up the day before the race, so it was a nice way to relax before the big day!! Overall, I was very happy with my race. I would recommend this race to anyone though who wants to do it. It's a great course and "flat" compared to other cities, and a lot of supporters out there with great signs. I was actually surprised at how much the crowd rivaled New York's. I finished in 4:02.48, which was another PR for me. I took 20 minutes off my time from New York! I still need to shave 32 minutes off to try and BQ, but one race at a time!
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I didn't realize that I've gone a whole month without posting! The end of the school year gets so hectic that time just gets away from me. But, I'm back and have more things to take on!
Part of my summer plans always include working out. I know, pretty obvious right? However, over the summer I like to really dive into it. I've been known to do 2- or 3-a-days in the past. This summer I just wanted to make everything really count. Training for the Chicago Marathon has officially started, so I'm making sure I try to stick to that 100%, despite the heat and humidity we all know and love in the South. I'm also making sure that I keep up with ClassPass and continue my yoga/Pilates/cross-training routine. The one thing I haven't done in a while though is get some bio-metrics done. A few times in college I was lucky enough to be able to use a DEXA machine to get a full body scan for body fat and muscle mass. (If you've never had one, I highly recommend it. It's one of the most accurate tools out there.) So when I came across a studio in New Orleans that offers them, I jumped at the chance to do it again. Now, let me start by saying that I have a Garmin scale and will use it once or twice a month to keep track of progress. It does body fat and bone weight and all the other stuff, but I wanted to see how accurate it can be. Turns out, pretty darn close considering. Another thing about me though is that I hate seeing the results. I've dealt with disordered eating and body dysmorphia most of my life. The body dysmorphia started before the disordered eating, but both were pretty bad for a while. I still deal with the dysmorphia, but not so much with this disordered eating. (If you are unfamiliar with both, here are some links to check out: www.eatright.org/health/diseases-and-conditions/eating-disorders/what-is-disordered-eating and https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/related-illnesses/other-related-conditions/body-dysmorphic-disorder-bdd ) I'm much better compared to what I was in college, but things still arise that trigger old habits. I saw some therapists in college, but stopped to try and deal with it on my own, which isn't always the best of ideas. Anyway, I went to Dexafit New Orleans to get the DEXA scan done. (They also do VO2 max testing and resting metabolic rate testing. (I'm going to go back for the VO2 for sure!) It seems to be a "chain", so there may be ones in your area too! It was a super simple process: You show up in workout clothes (no medal) and lay on the scanner. It takes about 10 minutes to do a full body scan and then the specialist goes over the results with you. It took all of about 15 minutes total. I loved that it was so quick and I was in and out. My only issue is that for someone who has never had this done or doesn't understand everything, they may need a more in-depth session to help them understand. He went over my results (posted below, which to be honest, I struggled with posting because it's such a sensitive item in my mind) and I was feeling a little deflated afterward. My weight was a few pounds more than I was hoping for and my body fat was much higher than I wanted to see. And while both of those numbers are in a normal range for my height and age, I just didn't like them staring me in the face. I could only think "I run and workout too freaking much to be average!" Once I calmed myself down I had to remember that while, yes, running is helping me build more lean muscle, in addition to a ton of other benefits, I'm not doing as much strength training as I used to. In my mind though, it's very disheartening when I see these numbers. I default to "you're not working hard enough" or "you aren't making any improvements." I even had a few days last week that were pretty self-degrading. I took a deep breath Sunday and said I'm turning it around. I'm promising myself that starting this week I'm going to work on changing these numbers and taking more control of the "situation." I'm going to add more strength training to combat the body fat. I'll work it into my day in a way that doesn't seem tedious. I'm also going to go back before school starts and get another reading to hold myself accountable. It's most likely going to have to be one day at a time, but I'm committed to making it work! Hopefully I can keep up with posting this summer, but definitely keep track on Twitter at @rachaelversus Meal kits are so trendy right now! It seems like everyone is rushing to create one to get in on it. I have my personal favorite, but decided to give a few others a try to compare.
When researching which other ones to try, I came across at least 10 to choose from. Martha Stewart's looked nice, but some recipes were a tad fancier than I wanted to try on a week night lol. She did have a good mix of choices and calorie options though! Her price was high too, but it's probably worth it because I'm sure her food is fabulous. Plated was even more expensive and didn't have as many lighter options. Home Chef had a lot of options but again, expensive. Sun Basket was the same, but had more worldly recipes. I settled on three, but as of now, have only tried two. I tried Hello Fresh and Blue Apron because they are the two most popular. I want to try Freshly, because it's the same price, but you can pick any combination of meals you want. If you order six meals, you can have six different ones, or three different meals with two servings each. This one seems ideal for roommates splitting a box or a single person. I definitely wouldn't be making two different meals in one night! Below is my comparison of the two meal kits I tried. (For each one, I tried the regular plans; not vegetarian or family plans, so those may be a little different.) Blue Apron- $66/week for 3 servings for 2 people. The selections weren't bad, you had 8 choices with a range of options, but it was hard to find the calories and nutritional information. They also tend to have higher calorie recipes. Not a bad selection of different proteins either. Most of the recipes were pretty easy to follow. Again, not much nutritional information provided. Packaging was weird though. It came in a box, and within that box was a big "cooling" bag with all the ingredients for everything in there. (See pics below) You kind of have to dig through for the ingredients you need that night. The only cool thing was that the little extras, "knick-knacks" were in their own bag. Blue Apron also provided you with things like butter that Hello Fresh normally makes you have on hand. The packaging overall didn't seem as practical as Hello Fresh's. Cooking was pretty easy and self-explanatory, with most meals taking 30-40 minutes. I had one steak meal that was really awesome! I also had a taco meal that was very good and came with a side. Hello Fresh's tacos rarely come with a side, so this was nice because usually my husband is still hungry from 3 tacos lol. Overall the food was good, some was awesome, some was nothing memorable. You can skip any week you like, so if you don't like the menu that week, you don't have to get it. Cancelling was a little annoying though. You have to email them to find out how to cancel. It's just an extra step that shouldn't be there. Hello Fresh- $59.94/week for 3 servings for 2 people. There are usually 8 choices a week to choose from with a nice selection of calorie ranges, 20 minute meals, seafood, and other options. Their packaging made more sense. (See pics below) It comes in a box, but then each meal (minus the meat) is in a recyclable bag all together. It fits better in the fridge this way in my opinion. Again, cooking was easy, with some 20 minute meals and most about 30. Nutrition information is on the recipe and easy to find online as well. There's always a premium dish you can get for an addition $10, but it's something like duck or filet or something worth the extra money. I rarely had food I didn't like. You can skip as many weeks as you like and if you need to cancel, it's a one click system. They will often also send reactivation codes for a certain amount off a box to reactivate. Overall I prefer Hello Fresh. It's a little cheaper and a little easier to use overall. Don't let me sway you from trying other ones though! If you want to check them out, use my code below for $$ off your first box!! Hello Fresh: use code RACHSWANS or copy link below https://www.hellofresh.com?c=RACHSWANS&utm_source=raf-share&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=clipboard Blue Apron didn't give me a discount code, but you can sign up directly with them for money off your first two boxes! Did everyone follow through on their Lent promises?? If you read my Mardi Gras post, you may remember me talking about giving up rest days for Lent. I decided to try a run streak to help with it! I kept track of all my days and decided to make one big post about it. Here are all 46 days! (Yes, Lent is 40 days, but I didn't want to give in to temptation and take Sundays off!) Some days were better than others, there were definitely days I wanted to give up, but kept on pushing through. Over the run streak I PR'd 4 times!! I also noticed that some of the slower paced runs helped in the long run, so I shouldn't be so hard on myself when I'm not constantly running super fast. I'm also not going to lie, but I kind of miss running every day lol. Even just one mile helped give me a purpose. I might start it again for the month of May! You definitely don't have to read all the days, it was more of a journal to make sure I kept track of everything!!
Day 1- Ash Wednesday. I'm starting my streak today even though I technically started yesterday with a 4.5 mile run. I'm counting them separate though for now. I did a Cycle class this morning taught by a coworker that was a really great class! After class (and buying JT concert tickets!!) I did a fast 1 mile run; 7:46 to be exact. I probably won't run all the 1 miles at that pace, but I'm trying to work on qualifying times, so some of my 1 miles may be faster. I feel good today! Ready to tackle this streak, but I can all ready feel the summer heat and humidity creeping in! Bring it on summer! Day 2- Is it possible to be over it already lol. I'm not over it, but I had a meeting this morning and by time I got home it was almost 2. I hate afternoon running. I prefer morning runs or evening runs. I did 2 miles though at a decent pace. So far so good! Day 3- Well I was supposed to do Hour Blast this morning to get my running in. I got there and the class was cancelled. =( So I decided to do Jazzercise instead!! Because of that, I had to do a run separate from my workout. Mentally I was like "UGHHH, this is why I planned Hour Blast!!" lol but I still got it done. Just 1 mile though because I had other things planned for the day already. I had a decent mile time (8:08) so I wasn't mad. I'm going to start picking up the mileage soon, I just want to make sure I am sticking to it early on. Day 4- Today was a rough day. I had planned on running 3 miles, but I ended up working a 9p-6a shift last night. Came home, slept until 9:30, tried to go to my godson's soccer game (but missed it because I had the wrong time), came home, napped for maybe 2 and half hours, then went back to work to try and finish what we did last night. By time I got home it was dark and I was exhausted!! I made myself do 1.16 miles though. It was a slower time, but I pushed through it! Tomorrow I'll go for a longer run after I've had time to rest up! Now it's time to crash! Day 5- Finally I got an actual run in! 5 miles this morning was daunting at first since I was so tired the past few days, but it worked out! I was a little slow getting started, but settled in by mile 2. It felt good and I'm glad I got it done! Day 6- Back to school after a week off. Not so fun, especially since we added 20 minutes to the school day for the rest of the year to make up 3 weather days we had =( This is where the runs are going to get harder. I tried waking up in the morning to go, but slept through the alarm. I also couldn't do it on my off period because I was subbing for another teacher. Right after work I had to go to my part-time job. I knew it was going to be a rough day, but I stuck it out and went on a mile run when I got off. At 9:24pm I went for a run. The weather had actually turned nice and breezy and was only about 70, so conditions were perfect. My husband wasn't going to let me go alone, so he skateboarded with a flashlight and we went through the neighborhood. It was kind of nice and peaceful! I just don't think I want to make a habit of it. I was tired so I was a little slower than normal! Day 7- This morning I tried a Versaclimber class before work! I'm proud of myself for getting up and getting it done! I ended up only doing a mile when I got home because we were going to see The Color Purple. At least I got 2 workouts in today! Day 8- Another crazy hectic day had me running after work at 9:30 pm. My neighbors must think I'm nuts! I will say though, hubby wasn't too thrilled about going this time. I guess third time isn't the charm for night running!! lol Day 9- I kind of got a break today. I had work all day followed by a meeting, but I got home at a decent time and got more than a mile in. Day 10- Leaving for Disney today!! We have an early flight so I got up at 5, did a mile and headed to the airport!! Day 11- Today was the Disney Princess 10k race! Other than getting up early, it was a great experience! I got to start in corral A and even PR'd my 10k time! Day 12- Today was the Disney Princess Half Marathon! I completed the Fairy Tale Challenge! It was rough though! No one warns you about the early start times, walking around, and fatigue lol. I was hurting a bit, but still managed to pull out another PR, even with stopping for a character photo! Day 13- This mile was ROUGH!! I hurt from 2 days of running and park hopping. My joints feel 80! I did it though!! Day 14- I had work all day today so another late night mile, but it's done. Still doing recovery runs from the weekend lol Day 15- I decided to do today's run by running .5 mile to the studio to workout and then ran back the .5 to get my car. It was nice to just go and leave and not worry about carrying everything! Day 16- Another jammed pack day, so another mile down. We had a cool front come through, so it made the run so much better! Day 17- Got a mile run in followed by a 30 minute HIIT class that had me squeeze in another .5 mile run outside. Felt good to get back to weights after this week! Day 18- Squeezed in 2 miles today before running around setting up for a Sweet 16!! I think I'm ready to get this running game back up to speed!! Day 19- Well I planned on going more than a mile today, but the Sweet 16 had me up until midnight and I had to be up at 5 to volunteer at the Rock N Roll New Orleans Marathon! I got a mile and a nap in, so I'm ready to go tomorrow! Day 20- Today's run was 2.6 miles on the treadmill because I decided to cross train with a HIIT/circuit class. It was a nice change of pace and I'm glad I got more than a mile in!! I've been so busy I can't squeeze anything in! Day 21- Another jammed packed day, so another mile around the neighborhood. I'm over the short distance and want to run more, but I've been pulled in every direction lately so it's tough. Hopefully the weather holds off this weekend so I can finally get more than 3 miles in! Day 22- Today I got up and did a boxing class before work. I had planned on running, but was behind, so the only morning run I got in was the run from my car to the studio lol. It was .2 miles though! So when I got home at 9:30p I did another 1.1 miles just to make sure I got it in! Day 23- Today was rough. I was gone from home from 6:45 a-10:30p. The only run I got in was at school with the kids for about .5 miles. Worst part was I forgot to turn my watch on!!!!!!!! Does it even count?!?! lol Day 24- Ran a freaking 5k on my own and felt so good!!! The short distances are fine for recovery, but I felt so out of it!! I took advantage of some time off from work and got it done!! Day 25- 4 miles!! What?! lol Again, felt so good to get some miles in! I missed it! Day 26- Did something a little different today. It was definitely more of a recovery run, but I jogged 1.5 miles and walked 1 mile while my husband skated with me. It was a nice slow pace I haven't done in forever! Day 27- Another week swamped with work, another late night 1.1 miles. Day 28- Today was supposed to be a day off from the part-time job, but guess who got called in! lol that's okay, I got my workout in before! I ran 1 mile and then took a HIIT class before going in. I'm just glad it was done early enough! Day 29- Did some treadmill running today. I got in about 2 miles on the tread in the class I was doing. Day 30- While I appreciate the cold front that has come through this week, it has made for some chilly night runs! Once again I was working both jobs and had to do a night run with the hubs. Tonight though I could only muster up a .6 mile run. That's because I already had 19000 steps before I ran, so needless to say, I was exhausted and just wanted to run something!! I didn't anticipate being this busy during the Lenten season!! lol Day 31- Today I actually got 3.22 miles in! It was nice to once again get a "longer" run in than I have been; it felt great! Day 32- Another 3 miles logged today! Stretching my legs!! Day 33- Today I got some yoga in and a 2.56 mile run in. I still can't decide if I like running before or after yoga. Day 34- This morning I did a megaformer class for legs and they ARE JELLO!!! I need to do this more often! When I got home I ended up doing 2 miles as well. I wanted to go at least 3 but the wind on the lake was out of control! I was super slow the first mile because of it. Day 35- Another yoga class today and another 1.35 miles. This time I did yoga after the run and I think I like that a little more than before! Day 36- Today I got 2 miles in at school since I was meeting free for once! It made me remember though how much downtown running can suck! Too many red lights, cars, people, and other obstacles in the way! Day 37- Another late night mile! I'll be so glad when these are done lol. I much prefer my sun (or even sunrise) runs! Day 38- Got a quick 1.15 miles in around the neighborhood! Day 39- Another 1.15 miles and some yoga to loosen up for tomorrow's half! Day 40- Half marathon time! Number 11! I PR'd on this one as well with 1:50:12! I was hoping to get closer to 1:45, but there was an unexpected bridge I had to go over twice that I didn't know about until the night before. Oh well, still PR'd!! Day 41- I did a recovery run today, only .57 mile. I didn't want to hurt myself before the CCC on Saturday! Day 42- I allowed myself one more .57 mile run to recover since I was getting a little sore and didn't want to cause any injury! Day 43- 1 mile run and a 30 minute HIIT class today that involved a little bit of sprinting. Day 44- 1.16 mile run when the rain stopped and a little barre3 to round out my week. I'll do one more run before the Crescent City Classic this weekend! Day 45- 2 mile shake out run today. Spring Break has started and I'm ready for tomorrow!! Day 46- The END!!! I made it!! Today was the Crescent City Classic 10k. It's a great race; nice and flat and fun! It's always a great time! I also PR'd with 49:07 AND finished 193 out of all females! If you're top 500 you get a CCC poster and I got one!! I also found out that I earned one last year by being 438 out of 500! Sometimes I feel like all this running is just me being crazy, but then I see the progress and how far I've come and I realize that all of this is worth it and maybe I can achieve the goals I want to achieve!! I obviously prefer running over most other activities, but I enjoy mixing it up and cross-training as well. Years ago I managed a gym and would just workout there with friends to get my weight training done and go to the occasional yoga or Pilates class. After I quit there (and started running more often) I was without my cross-training element. I stopped doing strength training or would do it maybe once a month at home with body weight exercises. It definitely wasn't enough though.
I had joined Orangetheory when it first came to New Orleans and found it was a great mix of cross-training that helped me stay on track for a while. I eventually had to quit though because I couldn't make it as often as I wanted (and all the good teachers were leaving). So after I left them, I needed to find something that would hold me over. That's when I found ClassPass! I first heard about them through my part-time job at Athleta. They had sent us codes to use for half off the first month, so I figured I'd give it a try! I'm glad I did too, because I love it! If you aren't familiar with the app, it's a great concept! Depending on your plan, you get so many credits a month. You use those credits to go to classes at local studios that are a part of ClassPass. The classes range from cross-fit to yoga to cycle and everything in between. You can even use it when you are traveling to other cities who have ClassPass! It usually works out to be cheaper than most studio packages too. There are a few restrictions to it though. You can only go to the studios three times a month or they charge you more credits per class after. There are also premium spots at studios that will take up more credits if you select them. These aren't huge deals for me though. If you only use it for yoga, you can find different studios all over town to use without going to the same one 3 times. I have even received emails from different studios offering supplement packages at cheaper rates if I wanted to use their studio in addition to ClassPass!! I think the biggest thing for me is the cancellation window. I totally understand the need for it, but if you don't cancel within 12 hours they charge you $15. (If you are a no-show to the studio it's $20.) My biggest gripe with that is, shit happens! What if I get sick an hour before class? What happens if a mom has to go pick up her child from school because they got sick? Things happen unexpectedly. I personally think they should follow the studios cancellation policy, but if you really are unsure of what the day will hold, just wait to schedule the class an hour before! The app has allowed me to try some things out I never would have paid for (Jazzercise!!) and I've found some new classes I want to continue going to! It's also helped me do more yoga and stretching to help with my running. I never get bored! If you are the type of person who needs some variety or doesn't want to commit to a gym, I highly recommend trying this app out! If you need some (financial) motivation, here's a link for $30 off your first month!! http://class.ps/hAEQk Give it a try and let me know what you think!! This experience was so much FUN! For those of you not familiar with Disney World and their events, they put on a ton of different races through their RunDisney program. This weekend I did the Princess Half Marathon Weekend Fairy Tale Challenge. It consists of running a 10k on Saturday followed by a half marathon on Sunday. This was their 10th Princess Half Weekend, their 5th Fairy Tale Challenge (formerly the Glass Slipper Challenge) and my 10th half as well!
I've been wanting to do the Disney Princess Half for a few years now, but never had anyone to do them with or the timing wasn't right. So last year I was talking to my running partner who has done 2 before and we finally made it work! We even decided to be charity runners for it to use this as an opportunity to give back. Another friend ended up being able to come and run the half with us! Being a charity runner is very hard but very rewarding. Our goal was to raise $1200 each for the challenge. I find it's hard to get people to help you out when you are doing this which is very sad. I had a couple family members help, but luckily I had some great restaurants as well as a LuLaRoe consultant who were very willing to help fundraise. I also had some students who were very eager to help me and were selling candy and snacks to raise money for it! The biggest life saver though was Gap!! I work part-time for a Gap company and they match any money donate up to $1000! They came through big time for me! In the end I ended up raising a little over $1300!! My goal for this challenge was just to complete it. I heard that the character lines can get long so it slows people down. I was there more for enjoyment than anything. So when I PR'd BOTH races, I was genuinely shocked!! I even stopped during the half to get a picture! My 10k time on my watch said 50:56, but I stopped my watch when I hit 6.2. Other runner said their watches read 6.4 when they finished. Even with Disney's official time of 51:40, it's still a PR for me!! I figured it was just the excitement carrying me through! The course was cool because I love the countries in EPCOT and you get to run through them all lit up! After the 10k we went to 2 different parks and had a blast. I ended the day with 34,971 steps! Bedtime came early though because getting up a 2:30 am for a race two days in a row is not easy! Sunday it was a little harder to wake up. I was stiff from running and then walking so much. I figured it would just be an easier run for me since I wasn't trying to prove anything. Once we started though, the excitement took over again and I took off! I was keeping a pretty nice pace, trying to stay around 8:30 most of the time. I was excited about this course because you got to run through the castle in Magic Kingdom! I started in corral C, so some of the lines were getting a little backed up when I went through. I told myself I was only stopping for one princess!! As I ran past the castle I was on the look out for Sleeping Beauty. She's my all time favorite and my costume was modeled after her. When I finally came upon her, it was her and Prince Phillip as well as Cinderella and Prince Charming. I had to wait about 2 minutes in line, but this was the only shot I wanted! It got a little rough towards the end, but when I looked at my watch and knew I could potentially PR, I kept moving! I ended up stopping my watch at 13.1 giving me a time of 1:52.38. Disney was about .1 off and their time was 1:53.41, but both of those are still faster than my last PR of 1:53.49!! Once everyone finished and we got a start to our day, I ended up with 41,767 steps! Even though it was a very busy and hectic weekend, it was a fabulous run-cation! There was a lot of friend time (old and new), lots of Disney time, and lots of indulging in deliciousness because we ran SO MUCH! I think if people are looking at a good first half marathon to do, RunDisney can provide you with that. It's magical and family friendly! The best holiday by far (in my opinion) is Mardi Gras. If you've never been to a real New Orleans Mardi Gras celebration, I highly suggest coming down. It's a very family friendly time (if you want it to be)! It's such an exciting time filled with non-stop activity and anticipation for the bigger and better.
Believe it or not, this holiday has roots in religion. In case you don't have time to look it up, Mardi Gras, also called Shrove Tuesday or Fat Tuesday, refers to events of the Carnival celebrations, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday. Here in New Orleans we party until midnight on Mardi Gras and give it all up starting on Ash Wednesday. It's popular to give something up during Lent as well, so this time generally turns into New Orleans' New Year! This year for Lent I think I want to give up rest days. (I was going to give up sugar, but I know when I'm in Disney for my race, that will be a hard thing to do!! I am going to restrict my intake though.) I'm going to give up rest days because I find myself during Mardi Gras saying "I can't fit a workout in today!" "The studio is on the parade route so I'm going to get stuck!" "Traffic will be a nightmare!" etc etc. So this is going to be my chance to try a running streak. 40 days of running any mileage I can get in; visiting as many studios as I can and making more time whenever possible for just 1 mile and sticking with it. There won't be any more parades holding me back! I can literally fit in a mile in my work clothes (yay PE teacher clothes!) so I have no excuse. My biggest obstacle during Mradi Gras though is the king cake!! I will try anyone you put in front of me!! They are all so different, so it's fun to try them all! I have my favorites and the ones I won't eat again, so if you need suggestions, let me know! I have tried to scale back how many we get during the season and how much I eat, but man, I LOVE them! Dough, sugar, cinnamon, frosting; how can you resist?!? While king cake is my #1 during Mardi Gras, parade food is also hard to fight off. Usually you bring Popeye's or finger sandwiches and chips out to the route. It's hard to eat healthy when you're stuck in one spot for hours at a time with no where to go. You are stuck in this box that you can't get out of until the parade is over. On the plus side of this, it generally involves a lot of walking around to not go stir crazy, so my steps are through the roof! Running along the parade route is a fun way to get a run in too if you don't think you'll be up for the actual parades. I hope all the locals have a wonderful Mardi Gras and I hope everyone else gets to experience it at some point! It's so much fun and you can find so much to do. Happy Mardi Gras!! "Every year on your birthday you get a chance to be a new you." Wise words by Sammy Hagar.
Today's my 33rd birthday. I was planning on taking the day off from work, but after last week's "Sneux-cation" here in the South, I decided not to. I'm glad I didn't though. Work has proven to be a little better than expected! Having students freak out over your birthday and bring you cards and candy is a sure fire way to cheer you up! It's nice to feel so loved from a group of people who are generally only concerned with themselves! I even got a note from one of my students that reminded me why I became a teacher; to help show these kids they are better than they think and can be more than what people have told them they can be. Having a birthday in January has its pros and cons. Con- FREEZING weather! No fun outdoor birthday parties. It's less than a month from Christmas, so you don't get as many presents. Pros- It's King Cake season in Nola, so my cake is usually my favorite one. Usually people take the day to bum around and not do much. I'm definitely going to eat a ridiculous dinner and dessert, but if I had my way, I'd work out all day long to negate those! The one workout I plan on doing for my birthday is running 3.3 miles. Since joining all sorts of running groups on Facebook, I've noticed runners doing these type of runs for their birthdays. (If you're turning 20 = 2.0 miles, 21 = 2.1 miles, etc.) I think it's a fun way to get in some miles and stay on track since the New Year is only 3 weeks in! The last few years I have really learned that people generally do get better with age. We've learned from our younger selves and grow into better people. Like most women, I dreaded being anywhere near 30, but I think (so far) my 30's have been my best yet! I've learned a lot about myself and what I want to do and who I want to be. While I don't necessarily want to be a new me, I want to be a better me. I want to be a better runner, a better athlete, a better friend, and a better person. I want to use 33 to grow a little more and discover myself a little more along the way. Ah Nutrition. Everyone's favorite love-hate relationship. Well, it's my favorite love-hate relationship! The New Year brings about most people's desire to change their nutritional habits, but some choose to take extreme measures. As a nutritionist I follow trends and research in nutrition pretty closely. (I should note that I am NOT a Dietitian. I studied Nutritional Sciences in college but did not do my dietetic internship. I hope to soon, but for now, just a nutritionist!) I try to follow as much as I can myself, but sometimes it's hard. This is good, this is bad, never mind this is good again! I get it. It's important to remember though that there are no quick fixes in life. It takes time and commitment to get into a healthy routine.
Fad diets are rampant this time of year, Paleo, Atkins, Keto, etc. I HATE these. Yes, you can lose a ton of weight on these diets, but how long are you going to stick to them? The rest of your life? No. You lose the weight you want and go back to your old habits and gain it all back. You can't be restrictive forever. You need carbs, fat, and protein to function properly. 45-65% of calories should be from carbs, 25-35% from fat, and 10-30% of calories from protein. You can usually find an app or website to figure this out for you if you don't math! lol It also helps to figure out how many calories you actually need a day because everyone's needs are going to be different. Certain apps will have a calculation to figure it out for you or you can Google it. I'd be lying if I said I've never tried any of these. I did 21 Day Diet for a bit and a few juice cleanses, but nothing works quite like portion control and exercise. Yes it takes longer, but I promise it will all be worth it when you have healthier habits that will (hopefully) last you the rest of your life. Breakfast to me is the easiest meal to manage. Coffee, green tea, and I usually grab a piece of fruit and either some toast or eggs or even an oatmeal with berries. I can throw this in my bag at night or grab and go from the fridge in the morning. The only thing I don't pre-make are my drinks. My schedule right now only allows running and working out in the afternoon, so I'm usually going from work to workout to home to cook. It gets old and I get tired, but I recognize that it has to be done. The biggest thing that helped me was meal prepping lunches. Usually Sunday night I cook some type of whole grain (brown rice, quinoa, etc), a vegetable, and lean protein. My default is chicken breast or thin cut pork chops. I measure everything out (usually 1/2 c of vegetable and grain and 4 oz of protein) and put them in these awesome containers (https://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-cm-freshware-meal-prep-bento-lunch-box-food-storage-containers-30-piece-set). This way I don't have to worry about lunch at night and can grab and go in the morning. Dinner is another beast! This one sucks my energy sometimes lol. I started taking one day a month to plan an entire month of dinners. Pinterest and MyHappyPlates.com have been huge helps with this! I can pop on and search for almost anything. I plan all nights I know I'll be home and make my list each week based off of that. Sometimes it's a slow-cooker meal, sometimes it's a 30 minute meal, sometimes it's a soup and sandwich combo! I just try to stick to a well-balanced meal; more veggies, less grain, lean protein. It helps keep me from repeating meals so I don't get bored, and helps me manage time. If you can't commit to a whole month, try planning one week at a time. Even meal prep companies can be worth the money in some cases, but I'll talk more about that later! If you snack, which I encourage, keep the snacks simple. I do an apple and 10 almonds for my 1st snack and usually a Greek yogurt with chia seeds or granola for a pre-workout or afternoon snack. String cheese is always a good choice as is plain popcorn because it's a whole grain! I try to eat every 3 hours to keep from getting super hungry and keep energy up. My biggest struggle is sugar. I LOVE it! Dessert after dinner is my favorite. I know I have to break it, but I try and manage it as best as I can. I've cut out sodas almost completely (I'll admit it though, I have a Diet Coke once a month or so, or a sip of Dr Pepper); I try not to buy candy or sweets to keep in the house because I will be the only one eating them; King Cake is my cheat during Mardi Gras and I try not to eat too much. I am a sucker for it! I've learned that you can have your cake and eat it too, you just have to balance it. If I want a "bad" dessert, I make sure it's on a day where I've had a hard workout or haven't eaten enough calories for the day. I'm not going to replace dinner with cake, but if I've had 2 salads all day long, cake is my treat. I try to replace this with hot tea, Halo Top or Arctic Zero ice creams, or some fruit after dinner. I am totally open to more healthy dessert suggestions though if y'all have any! Fitness apps are a huge help in all this too. I use MyFitnessPal and a friend's app Eat2Win to log my meals. MyFitnessPal let's you log calories and nutritional information from almost every food imaginable. You can input recipes of your own and get the nutritional values for them. It's very easy to use too. Eat2Win though keeps me a little more on track. To log food you take a picture of your meal and dietitians look at it an evaluate. Take about nerve racking! I can log anything and any amount I want in MyFitnessPal, but it's harder to fake a picture in my opinion. This app is still in it's beginning phases, so I'm excited to see what it's full potential will be. I encourage you to check it out. Nutrition is a constant battle. You don't want to be that person who is at a party sighing in a corner because you can't eat anything. You've got to find your balance; find what works for you. I know everyone is different and has different needs or diets, but I encourage you to seek out an ACTUAL Registered Dietitian and talk with them if you are struggling. Trust me, they know what they are talking about! 2018. A new day, a new year. A new opportunity to better ourselves. But why should we have to wait until this day to make a promise to ourselves that we will be better? Shouldn't we be making that promise when it originally comes to us? Michelob Ultra recently did a campaign of Anti-Resolutions and Living Ultra about this same idea( www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lcs6QJn9HE ) and it's what I was doing for 2017 without realizing it. I was living for the day and not waiting to put it off until the New Year.
After my marathon in Jan 2017, I thought, "Okay, I can do this again. I can mentally handle this." I kept up with running to keep improving and keep up my health. Then when I got chosen to run NYC, I made a commitment to push myself through the training despite the 90+ degree heat and 100% humidity that comes with South Louisiana summers. At time I told myself "I can run, why push yourself training so much?" but then would remind myself that you can't improve if you don't work at it. So I worked at it. I missed football games with friends to run for 13 miles alone. I missed family pumpkin carvings to run 20 miles alone. Just me, my music, and my thoughts. No one was going to make me better except me. Why should a date on the calendar matter so much to starting something? Since I started "Living Ultra" in 2017, I decided not to make resolutions for 2018, but promises. I promised myself that I'm going to continue working hard (or harder) to improve my running. I promise that I will work on getting another World Marathon race entry. I promise that I will live my life to the fullest and not let others change my mind. (If I want to skydive, then I'm going to skydive; if I want to try something new, I'm going to try it!) I promise to make time for friends. I also promise to be more disciplined. I want to stick with my routines and good habits. I hope 2018 brings about great things though. I am hopeful that this year will be my best one yet. I'm running Chicago, Disney Princess, Best Damn Race, and hopefully a few more. Maybe we'll start a family this year. I'm hopeful new opportunities will arise as well. Whether you have resolutions or not, the year is what you make it. If you start 2018 off positively, I believe that can help carry you through the year more optimistic. Make this year YOUR year. Be the best version of yourself that YOU can be, don't try to be someone else. And remember to Live Ultra. Have a Happy 2018 y'all! |
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