Feeding my face

After hearing so many recommendations about keeping track of what you eat, I decided that it was time to make the commitment and just do it. 

My weight fluctuates all the time.
Mostly I think its because I eat whatever I want.  I eat good during the day for breakfast and lunch, but when I get home it all goes to crap.  I end up grabbing fast food on the way home or before softball practice.  Or I make quick meals at home which are not the best thing for ya.  Then there's my sweet tooth.  I love me some cookies, cake, chocolate.  If it's sweet I want to eat it. 

Healthy lunches packed for me and the girls

I really only have 10 pounds or so until I reach my ultimate goal weight.  135lbs!!!  I've lost 40 pounds fairly easy.  I didn't really have to work at it.  I just ate better, and exercised a little.  I've had to work a little harder to lose these last 5 pounds and I know the next 10 will be tough. 

I need to hold myself accountable as to what I'm putting in my body.

I started using MyFitnessPal on Friday.  I downloaded it 2 years ago when I got my iPhone and have used it maybe 5 times in those 2 years.  It was kinda rewarding to look back 2 years ago and see that I weighed 152 pounds and that I've lost 7 pounds since then. 

I realized real quick from just tracking food from Friday that I eat way too much. 
But I love food!!

Like I said yesterday, I did horrible this weekend.  But Monday was a new day.  I turned things around and actually was under my goal for Monday and Tuesday. 

If you want to follow me on MyFitnessPal...look me up. Username: vikingchic213

Tuesday was absolutely beautiful here in Georgia.  70 degrees in January.  Can you believe it?

I had some time to kill between work and picking Madilyn up from her dad and taking her to softball practice so I headed out to a local park and hit the trails.  It was nice to get off the road for a change.
I mixed it up a little so it wasn't just a 4 mile run. 

Mile 1 8:04 then 30 burpees

Mile 2 10:06 then 30 jumping lunges

Mile 3 9:56 then 30 squats
Mile 4 8:49

I was exhausted afterwards.  I felt like I was running way faster than 9:14/miles, but I know Garmin does not lie.  However, I'm a little skeptical cause when I checked out my work out specs on Garmin Connect it said that I only had a 240 foot elevation gain.  I'm telling you those hills I ran were way more than 240 feet.  No matter what the data shows, I had a great run yesterday.  And I'm feeling it today.  My thighs are on fire! 

38 days until Spartan Race!! 

Weekend Rewind

I know I'm a little behind getting this out.  I typed it out yesterday, but couldn't get my pictures to up load.  No one wants to read a post with no pictures, so I'm just gonna have to be late. 

Friday I can home to a package with my name on it.  I love getting mail and it's even better when it's in a brown box. 

I ordered some new sports bras from Moving Comfort on Wednesday and they came on Friday.  That was some quick shipping.  Moving Comfort had some bras on sale so I thought I would take advantage of the discount.  I love the one I bought at Big Peach Running, but I can't afford $50 + for sports bras, I don't care how good they are.  I originally ordered a Juno and another Rebound Racer on Sunday, but on Monday I received an email that my items were no longer in stock.  So back to the drawing board.  Wednesday I tried again and crossed my fingers that what I wanted wasn't totally out of stock.  But it was.  I decided to venture out and try a new bra.  I ordered the Chill Out, and while its listed as Medium Impact, I ran 7 miles in that thing on Sunday and I had no bounce at all.  It was great!!  I also, ordered the Fiona, because the reviews were good and it was listed as their best seller.  I was not impressed.  It did not fit me well at all.  I did not feel supported.  There was no way that I could run in that bra...not even to the mailbox, much less several miles.  Luckily Moving Comfort has a great return policy and I can send it back for FREE!   I love free. 

On Saturday, we went over to Eddie's brother's house to shoot our new gun.  With all the talk of gun control and outlawing guns and ammo, we figured we needed to go ahead and get one before we couldn't get one.  We bought a 9mm handgun.  Think what you want.  I know everyone has an opinion on guns and gun control, whether you should have a gun in the house with kids or not.  But I know what works for our family and I know our needs and limits.  I grew up with a gun in our house.  My parents had a small .22 caliber pistol.  I knew it was in the house, it was no secret.  But I was also taught from a young age that we didn't touch the gun. We have lots of hunters in our family as well, so I learned to shoot shotguns and rifles as a teenager.  Saturday was the first time I've ever shot a handgun though.  I'm a good shot.  I know how to handle a gun and I know gun safety.  We already teach that to our kids and when they are older, much older, we will teach them to shoot as well.  Being very safety conscious, we are leaving our gun at my brother-in-laws house until our gun safe arrives.  I'm not bringing a gun into my house until I have a way to lock it up. 

Let me get off my political soapbox, now and on to other things. 



Washing the last load of dishes in our crappy old dishwasher

While Eddie ran the girls to softball practice Saturday afternoon, I stayed at home to wait on our new dishwasher to be delivered and installed.  Yay!!  I've been counting down the days.  I hate our old dishwasher.  It works, but it just barely. 

Sunday, I decided to load up the new dishwasher and try that bad boy out, when disaster struck. 

Water started pouring from the ceiling in our playroom.  We're still not exactly sure what happened but there's something very wrong with our new dishwasher :(  Between Home Depot and GE, someone is coming out this week to replace the dishwasher and fix the damage. 

After practice, Madilyn and I went out for a girls night.  Just the 2 of us.  It's nice to have some one-on-one time with the girls.  They too often get lumped together.  We went to Red Lobster, her choice.  We had nice conversation, as nice as a conversation can be with a 9 year old.  We talked about her friends, school and softball. 

She's such a silly girl

On Sunday I got out and went for a long run.  Got in 7.25 miles with an average pace of 8:20/mile.  My fastest mile was mile 7 at 8:08, but my slowest, mile 3 was 8:28.  I felt great running.  Despite the fact that I was pushing the pace a little, the run felt easy and very natural.  There was never really any point where I struggled or wanted to turn back early.  In fact I could have kept going and probably did 8 or even 9 miles, but we were suppose to have lunch plans and I didn't want anyone waiting on me. 

Thankfully, I got my run in on Sunday to balance out all the calories and bad food I ate this weekend.  I know you can't out exercise a bad diet, but I sure tried. 

Back to School??

Early morning run:
On the treadmill
30 minutes
3.5 miles
7.0 MPH @ 1.5% incline = 8:20ish pace

I set my alarm for 4:45 am last night and actually got up when it went off the first time.  It probably helped that the hubs was running late for work and was still there to drag me out of bed.  Either way, I got up early this morning to run. 
I hate and almost dread running on the treadmill.  It's so boring.  My treadmill is set up in our garage, so there's no TV or anything other than the music from my iPod to distract me.  I cannot seem to run for more than 30 minutes on the treadmill before I am absolutely miserable.  So that is exactly what I did this morning.

I'm a sweaty beast.

Last week Skinny Runner posted a link to a website that broke down treadmill speed with incline variations.  I printed that bad boy out and have it hanging by the treadmill now.  I suck at math and can never do it in my head, especially while I'm running to figure out my pace.  I think in mile pace times not miles per hour and this chart made it easy to translate.

Here's a section of the chart.  You can see the entire chart here

Treadmill MPH setting	Pace per mile	Equivalent paces by incline
		0%	1%	2%	3%	4%	5%	6%	7%	8%	9%	10%
5.0	12:00	12:31	11:44	11:05	10:32	10:03	9:38	9:16	8:56	8:38	8:22	8:07
5.2	11:32	12:02	11:18	10:42	10:11	9:44	9:20	8:59	8:40	8:23	8:08	7:54
5.4	11:07	11:35	10:55	10:20	9:51	9:26	9:03	8:43	8:25	8:09	7:55	7:41
5.6	10:43	11:10	10:32	10:00	9:33	9:09	8:48	8:29	8:12	7:56	7:42	7:29
5.8	10:21	10:47	10:12	9:42	9:16	8:53	8:33	8:15	7:58	7:44	7:30	7:18
6.0	10:00	10:26	9:52	9:24	9:00	8:38	8:19	8:02	7:46	7:32	7:19	7:07
6.1	9:50	10:15	9:43	9:16	8:52	8:31	8:12	7:55	7:40	7:26	7:14	7:02
6.2	9:41	10:05	9:34	9:08	8:44	8:24	8:06	7:49	7:34	7:21	7:08	6:57
6.3	9:31	9:56	9:26	9:00	8:37	8:17	7:59	7:43	7:29	7:15	7:03	6:52
6.4	9:23	9:46	9:17	8:52	8:30	8:10	7:53	7:37	7:23	7:10	6:58	6:47
6.5	9:14	9:37	9:09	8:45	8:23	8:04	7:47	7:32	7:18	7:05	6:53	6:43
6.6	9:05	9:29	9:01	8:37	8:16	7:58	7:41	7:26	7:13	7:00	6:49	6:38
6.7	8:57	9:20	8:53	8:30	8:10	7:52	7:35	7:21	7:07	6:55	6:44	6:34
6.8	8:49	9:12	8:45	8:23	8:03	7:46	7:30	7:15	7:02	6:50	6:40	6:29
6.9	8:42	9:04	8:39	8:17	7:57	7:40	7:24	7:10	6:58	6:46	6:35	6:25
7.0	8:34	8:56	8:32	8:10	7:51	7:34	7:19	7:05	6:53	6:41	6:31	6:21
7.1	8:27	8:49	8:25	8:04	7:45	7:29	7:14	7:00	6:48	6:37	6:27	6:17
7.2	8:20	8:41	8:18	7:58	7:40	7:23	7:09	6:56	6:44	6:33	6:22	6:13
7.3	8:13	8:34	8:12	7:52	7:34	7:18	7:04	6:51	6:39	6:28	6:18	6:09
7.4	8:06	8:27	8:05	7:46	7:28	7:13	6:59	6:46	6:35	6:24	6:14	6:05

Now on to the real important stuff...

I've been wanting to go back to school for some time now. 
I have about 2 years under my belt towards a bachelor's degree and then life happened and I was forced to grow up and was unable to finish college.  Fast forward 10 years and I am still not a college graduate. 

It's been something that I've talked about and briefly looked into a few times but never really took it serious because, 1.) I could never really afford it and 2.) I didn't have the time. 

But now that I'm married to a wonderful man that believes in my dreams and is willing to do anything to help me achieve them, the idea of going back to school is looking more like a reality. 

We sat down over the weekend and looked at our budget and we may have just found the funds for me to go back to school. And maybe start taking classes this summer!!  It would be a slow process.  I would still work full time, and only take one or two classes at a time.  This will help me keep my sanity, and still help with the kids.

That makes me super excited but also so nervous. 

Weekend Wrap Up

So while most people got a long weekend due to the MLK holiday, I am one of those that actually has to work today.  So here I am at work while my husband hangs out at home watching movies and doing as little as possible.  The girls are visiting with their dad and will be back today.  Yay!

Now, back to my normal 2 day weekend. 

Saturday was "date day".  Eddie and I went to the Georgia Aquarium.  He had never been before and it had been years for me.  They have added new exhibits and animal/fish since the last time I was there.  The big addition is the Dolphin Tales show.  It was really cool.  A little cheesy with all the singing, but the dolphins made it awesome.  This is probably the closest I'll ever come to Sea World so it was neat to see the dolphins do flips and tricks.  Everything was super crowded and hard to see some of the exhibits. 

In the tunnel in the Ocean Voyager



Sea Otters...they were super cute



Giant Octopus



Dolphins



Beluga Whales


While we were at the Aquarium we stumbled into Radio Disney's Party.  I got my picture taken with a giant penguin.  I'm pretty sure I was the only adult to do so, but who cares. 

After the Aquarium we grabbed lunch at Willy's.  I love this place.  There's one right by my office and I eat there all the time.  It's quick (most of the time) and cheap.  Again, a first for Eddie.  He's heard me talk about eating there all the time and wanted to know what the rave was about. 

After our late lunch we went car shopping.  We aren't buying a car anytime soon, but it's fun to look and talk about it. 

Sunday, I got up and went for a run.  6 miles, well 6.22 to be exact.
Winter Runnerland 10K

I signed up for this virtual race back in December as motivation to run through the cold months. I counted this as my 10K.  This was my first virtual race, so I'm not really sure what happens now. 
I'm kinda frustrated with my running though.  I thought I had kicked this pain in my foot, but it seems to be back.  I don't have time to deal with that right now, I have races to train for.  I'll be looking into other solutions for my pain if this doesn't go away. And go away soon!!

Other than getting my run in, I had a pretty lazy Sunday.  We ordered 50 wings and a large pizza from the local pizzeria for lunch during the Falcon's game and then had the leftovers for dinner.

I weighed in at 143.5 Saturday morning, but after gorging myself on all that food yesterday I weighed 145 this morning.  I have been drinking a ton of water today, hoping to flush out all that high sodium food. 


I have ugly man feet and desperately need a pedicure. 

 Despite the pain in my left foot, I will work out this week and I will continue to train and be more healthy

Early morning WOD

It hit me yesterday that my Spartan Race is less than 2 months away!!! That's got me a little excited, but nervous too.  It's a 3-4 mile obstacle race.  I'm not worried about the running part at all.  But I've got to beef up my muscles.  I little to no upper body strength.  Ok, maybe not none, but it's definitely lacking.  

With softball ramping up, that leaves me with little time in the evenings, after work to get my runs and workouts in.  So rather than just let my busy life distract me from getting in my workouts, I'm just gonna have to make time. 

It's crunch time now.  I have 4 OCR's already on the calendar between March, April and May.  

March 11 - Georgia Spartan Sprint

April 13 - Warrior Dash

April 27 - Superhero Scramble

May 11  - Savage Race 

This morning I had the hubs wake me up at 4:45AM so that I could get a jumps start on my day.  And let me just say I am not a morning person at all!!  But once I got going on the treadmill I started to wake up and started feeling good.  

Today's WOD:

I  altered mine a little...

10 min warm-up on the treadmill

Main Set: Repeated 4 times

1 min plank

10 burpees

20 squats with 30 lb sandbag

8 overhead lifts w 30 lb sandbag

20 jumping lunges

10 push ups

Cool down:

Stretch

I just have to keep this us.  No Slacking!!!

I'm pretty much dead after my first early morning workout

Snow Mountain

One new thing that we, as a family, have instituted in 2013 is to hold a "Family Day" on the weekends that we have the girls with us.  Our lives are so crazy busy that sometimes time together as a family gets pushed to the side to make room for all the other things that we have to do. We decided that we would make "Family Day" a big deal, put it on the calendar and talk about it the week or days before to get the girls excited about spending time with the family.  As kids get older, they get involved in other things and spending time with their family becomes less cool.  I don't want that for my family.  I want my kids to want to be okay hanging out with their parents or their siblings.



Madilyn playing the the falling snow



So this weekend was the first weekend of 2013 that the girls have spent with us, so that meant the first Family Day.  I've be wanting to go to Stone Mountain Park for their Snow Mountain and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to go.  We live in Georgia, where is almost never snows and when it does, it's not enough to really play in it.  You can't go sledding and there's barely enough snow for a snowman, so it's quite something to see that much snow in one place in Georgia.



It's quite pricey for one day in the snow, but I found a discount on Facebook for $19.99 pp on Sundays only. So with tickets bought in advance and bags packed with dry clothes and snacks we headed out to Snow Mountain on Sunday morning. 



We're having fun!!

 With each ticket you get 2 hours on the slides but unlimited time in the Snow Zone.  Our slide time was between 11-1.  So we got settled in and headed to the slides.  They had a family type slide called Avalanche Alley.  And individual Tube Runners where you ride down by yourself.  We had a blast on the rides. 

You rode a moving sidewalk up to the top of the hill with your individual tube in tow. 

And then rode your tube back down to the bottom. 

Yeah, I'm a big kid, screaming all the way down like a little girl!

Riding Avalanche Alley with the girls.

After riding the slides, we took a break for lunch and then headed to the Snow Zone to play. I honestly thought the kids would get bored with the snow and be ready to go home within a hour, but after 3 hours, we had to drag them off the snow. 

We (mostly the girls) just loved throwing snow balls and having a snow fight.  I ended up being the target most of the time. 

There were little slides in the the Snow Zone, but honestly they sucked.  I got my workout in by either pushing or pulling them down the hill.
Who would have thought that in 70 degree weather we'd be building snowmen and making snow angels?  The warm weather made the snow bearable.  We had so much fun playing in the snow.  It's probably not something that I would do again, but definitely a fun experience. 

Finally a feeling of accomplishment!

I finally have a feeling of accomplishment after this past weekend.

After 2 weeks of forcing myself to study, I am proud to say that I passed my COA exam.

On my way home from taking my test, I stopped in Atlanta and finally bought me some new running shoes.  (and a new sports bra...I've heard so much talk about how great Moving Comfort bras are, but I now own one and yes, they are great!)



And now that I have new shoes and a swanky new sports bra to keep the girls in check, I went for a nice 5 mile run Sunday morning. 

It was so nice to get back out there and hit the pavement without pain.  I did start to feel a little something in my left foot around mile 4, but I kept going and it never turned into anything more.  I have been fighting a nasty, lingering cold, so breathing proved to be a little difficult, but the cold air was a welcome change.  Now that I have new shoes, I will get back on track and start running more.  I need to register for a race to hold me accountable and make me reach my goal.

I finally went grocery shopping and I am now loaded up on healthy snacks.  Time to get back on track and stop eating everything around me. 

Lots of Protein Bars

I know that it's a lot of processed stuff, but that how my life rolls.  Fresh fruit and veggies do not keep well in my desk drawer or in the glove compartment of my car. 

The hubs and I went on a "date" on Saturday as well.  It wasn't what I thought it was gonna be, but it was nice to just spend time together.  We went to lunch at our favorite local BBQ place, then we went to a car dealership to look at new cars.  No, I didn't get a new car, but we are looking at buying one once we pay his car off.  Then to Wal-mart to return a crap load of unwanted Christmas presents and grab groceries.  After we went home and put away groceries, we headed back out to Home Depot and bought a dishwasher!  While ours still technically works, it does a piss poor job. We end up having to either pre-wash everything before putting dishes in or re-wash dished once they come out.  And who has time for that crap.
We also returned Christmas stuff to the mall and Kohl's and then had dinner at Five Guys Burgers.

Sunday we stayed at home and the hubs watched football while I cleaned, straightened up the house, and did laundry.  The only thing on my to do list that didn't get done, was take down my Christmas decorations.  (don't judge)
Finally 6:00 rolled around and my girls were dropped off by their dad and all was right in my world again!! 

It's that time of year again....

Not only is it back to school for the girls, its back to softball!!

(The girls showing off their new outfits from Christmas.   Styling and ready to head back to school!) {Thanks Gran for the cool clothes}

I'm kinda feeling bitter-sweet about softball starting back.

I LOVE watching the girls play and doing something that they love (and I love), but it's a time suck on our family.

Spring season officially starts with practice sometime in February, and games start in March and run though May. 

However, Audrey's team starts Winter Conditioning today and will practice twice a week from here on out.  And Madilyn's coach also called last night to make sure we are playing and to inform us that sign-up start Saturday and practice will start next week for her.  Madilyn was also asked to travel and play tournaments as well.

That's 5 months of softball people! 

5 months of practices, games, tournaments, muddy cleats, washing uniforms, cold nights and hot coffee.

Softball takes a lot of sacrifice on us as parents.

Because Eddie and I both work, and work over an hour away from home, school and the ball fields.  It puts a lot of pressure on our schedules.  We (and my we, I mean Eddie) rushes home from work, to grab the kids from the after-school program at school, swings by the house to have the kids change clothes, and shove food in their mouth and then run back out the door to get to the field for practice or games or whatever it may be.  Then I usually meet him at the ball field to relieve him so he can go home and get ready for bed since he gets up at 4 AM.  If the softball scheduling gods smile on us, then we might have practices on the same day or even at the same time.  But in years past the girls would practice and play on different days which meant I was usually at the ball field 5 or 6 nights a week.  Kinda makes it had to have a life outside the gates of the park. 

This year because Madilyn moved up to 10 & U, ALL her games will be played in the late time slot at 7:30.  There's good and bad to that.  The good side is I will rarely miss one of her games due to Audrey having a game at the same time. But the bad side is games won't get over with until at least 9:00 and because we live in the next county over, we won't get home and the kids won't get in bed until 10:00, on a school night. 

All complaining aside, I am really looking forward to getting back out there.  I'm ready to see my girls perform well, to see their teams win, and to have fun. 

Let's go Jr. Aces and Warriors!!

LOST: Ashley's Motivation, If found please return ASAP

So Friday has finally made it here.  Though its been a short work week, with having Tuesday off, I am glad to see this week come to an end. 
I had big plans for this week. 
I had plans to be productive and get things accomplished. 
Yet nothing on my to-do list is done.
My motivation has got up and left me.

I have my big test tomorrow, yet I've barely studied.  I've found other things to occupy my time, and those things haven't been productive.  I've sat around and watched hours of TV.  Some thing I rarely do. 
My Christmas tree and decorations are still up.
My kids rooms are exactly as they left them when they went to their dads on Christmas day.  I planned on cleaning and organizing each bedroom while they were gone. 
And I have not run or worked out once this entire week.
The only thing I have managed to do off my list was clean the kitchen.  But right after dinner last night, it was back to being a mess. 
Part of me wants to say that I'll get it done this weekend, but in reality, I know that it's not true.  There's just not enough time in the weekend to get it all done. Because on top of my already existing to do list, I have to get up early Saturday to take my test, which is 3 hours and the testing center is an hour away.  I am going to buy new running shoes this weekend if it kills me.  My husband is taking me on a date Saturday night. Isn't he sweet?  And I have to go grocery shopping so I have something to feel my family next week. 

I'm really hoping that when the girls come back home on Sunday, my life will feel more like normal and I will find the motivation to do all the things that I know I should do.
It will be back to life as we know, school starts back, and the boss is back at work so back to normal hours and schedule for me.
It's gonna be a transition for the girls, getting back into routine.  I know for a fact that they have been staying up late and sleeping in while they've been away.  It's gonna be a shock on Monday morning when alarms go off at 6:15 am.

Another Year in the books

So the New Year is here. 
It's 2013
It still feels the same though to me.  I didn't do anything noteworthy on Monday or Tuesday.  I was one of the few losers that actually had work on Monday.  But the traffic in Atlanta was AMAZING.  I was able to stop for coffee and still got to work in 45 mins.  That NEVER happens.  I was hoping that Monday either during my lunch break or on my way home I could stop by Big Peach Running Co to get fitted and buy some new running shoes.  That did not happen.  First, I didn't get a lunch break and then, last minute dinner with the family meant that I couldn't go on my way home.  I'm dying to get some new shoes.  My current ones are killing my feet.  So, on the last few runs I've worn my work shoes, which are Asics, and I like them, but I have to keep them some what clean since I have to wear them inside an OR.  I'm gonna try to get to the store this week and buy some damn shoes.  It shouldn't be this difficult, but it is.

After dinner with the fam, I pretty much went home and went to bed Monday night.  No staying up to ring in the New Year for this chick.  I've been fighting this nasty cold since Christmas and it's kicking my butt. 

Then Tuesday, on New Years Day, I stayed in my PJ's all day, until it was time to go to my parents for dinner.  It was a rainy, nasty day and nothing better than staying in my PJ's all day.  I woke up at 8:00 and was prepared to go run through the neighborhood to get the New Year started off right, but when I heard the rain pouring down I climbed right back in bed.  I stayed curled up under the covers watching Parenthood on my Kindle until 11 or so. 

What I really should have been doing was studying.  I have my big certification test coming up on Saturday and I need to be studying around the clock.  It's been about 9 years or so since I last took a test or even studied for that matter.  I'm not used to having to glue my butt to a chair and read for hours on end.  But just for a few more days. 

We had all the traditional food for dinner at my parents.  Ham, black eye peas, mixed greens and spinach, yams, fried okra, corn and cornbread.  It was so nice to have a home cooked meal.



New haircut, but no makeup (yuck)

 Over the weekend, I finally got my hair cut and my highlights touched up.  I had gotten to the point that my hair was getting on my last nerve.  It was too long to do anything with.  My hair is so thick that it wouldn't stay in a pony tail if I pulled it up and when it was down it just got in my way.  So I had my hairdresser, Melissa cut about 4 inches off and then add a lot of layers back into it since she cut most of them off with the lenght.  She also thinned it out, which make it so much more mangagable. 

On Friday night we headed out to a hockey game.  This was a first for Andrew and Eddie.  I got a heck of a deal on the tickets on Half Off Depot.  I paid about $5 each for the tickets.  The only bad thing was because I ordered them over the phone, the tickets were being held a Will Call and when we arrived at the Arena the line for Will Call was ridic.  It moved pretty fast, but we still missed the first 10 minutes of the game.  We had a great time and the boys loved it.  The last period there was lots of fighting, which is why I got watch hockey.