PB&J.

Workout;

3.5 mile run

20 minutes arms & abs

opening a new jar of pb. (counts for something, right??)

 

HAPPY NATIONAL PEANUT BUTTER & JELLY DAY!! 

Today we celebrate the marriage of two of the most delicious foods known to man. Yay. Today gives us official license to eat like a two year old, no questions asked!! :) You can even cut your crusts off, although who would do such a thing??

 

I don't know what rock I have been living under, but I did not realize such deliciousness existed- Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars. Wow.

 

Who needs Gucci or Prada when you can have a PB&J wallet?!

 

During her childhood, my Mother ate a PB&J sandwich every day at school. By the time she was in 2nd grade, she hated them so much she vowed that she would never feed her children a PB&J sandwich. So during MY childhood, we only had PB&J on the rare occasion that we were left with a babysitter or grandparent. A National study states that American children eat an average of 1,500 PB&J sandwiches before the age 18. I'm definitely behind, so I'm trying to make up for lost time with a PB&J in each hand. Who wants to be below average, huh??

 

 

Fun Peanut Butter & Jelly Facts:

It takes 540 peanuts to make a 12oz jar of Peanut Butter.

Women & children prefer creamy PB, while men favor chunky. (Not this woman!!)

The most popular flavor of jelly is Grape. (yuck! wouldn't touch it!)

Arachibutyrophobia is the fear of getting Peanut Butter stuck on the roof of your mouth.

 

Fun facts about ME and PB&J:
I prefer to eat my PB&J on a day old pancake instead of bread.
If I do have it on bread; I grill it. best.thing.ever.
I'd rather eat PB&J for dessert than most regular dessert foods (inherited this from my Dad)!
PB&J is my favorite pre-run fuel.

Now tell me;

 

Crusts-on or do you cut your crusts?? on, most definitely.

 

Favorite jelly/jam? strawberry.

Do you make GRILLED PB&J? yes!
 

How often do you have a PB&J? 5x a week.

 



(in case you were wondering, this post DID worsen my already ridiculous craving for PB&J. Per my current Paleo restrictions, PB is a no-no. Enjoy one for me today, pretty please!?)

Goals for April.

Good Beautiful Morning to you!

It's absolutely lovely here in Kansas this morning. I think Kansas weather gets a bad rap most of the time but days like today remind me why it's the perfect place to live!!

 

This morning I am setting a couple of new goals for the month of April. Training for the marathon and dealing with these health issues has kept me kind of preoccupied and I haven't been seeing the forward progress that I would like to. It's push time. :)

 

April Goals;

 

1. Increase my water intake.

I've been averaging between 1/2 to 1 gallon of water a day, but I'd like to focus on making sure I'm hitting a gallon, if not more, a day. Dehydration has always been an issue for me and it sneaks up on me easily. Especially as the weather gets warmer, I really want to make sure I am maintaining this habit. I plan to run my little heart out this summer and I want to stay on top of my game- be well hydrated and stay well hydrated!!

 

 

2. Stretch before I run.

As I've trained for this marathon and felt no aches or pains- not even a little- and bounced back after my long runs with little to no soreness, I really value running injury-free running. Anyone will tell you that stretching/warming up is vital for injury-free exercise. I've chosen to be stubborn and not stretch because I hate it so much, but I'm only asking for trouble. I'm that girl who meets a friend to run and stands there waiting and rambling on while they stretch. So, here's my (non-optional) goal-- stretch before I run. Every time. 

 

 

3. Finish my first Marathon.

I'm not going to lie, my heart is in my throat on this one. I know this will be the biggest and hardest thing I have yet to push my body to accomplish. I vacillate between "oh my gosh I'm going to die at mile 2, what the heck am I thinking?!?!" and "girl, you've got this, show 26.2 who is boss!" 20 days and counting.......

 

4. Daily Hiit

Something FUN and KILLER. :) In addition to my regular workout schedule, I'm going to do a daily hiit (formerly bodyrock.tv) workout every day. For those of you who aren't familiar with body rock, they are short, intense workouts. Anyone can find 12 minutes a day to hiit it. I've chosen to do this because I want the extra challenge and variety to my workout routine. I'm in a bit of a rut and I definitely want to keep things fresh and switch it up a little bit!  

(Please note that I am not endorsing dailyhiit, their method, message or their apparent allergy to wearing clothing while they work out.) :) 

 

5. Say NO to Negativity.

Something I've really struggled with the past few months is really hammering on myself because of my imperfections. As I continue to get stronger, run faster and change my body, I'm finding that instead of being estatic about how far I've come, I'm beating myself up about how far I have to go.

I would never, ever talk to my friends the way I talk to myself- this needs to change! It's important to build ourselves up and remind ourselves that we are valuable. We are enough. We are a work in progress.

 

 

 

I'm looking forward to a great month!! I'm hoping that you will hekp me stay accountable to these goals. I welcome nagging comments inquring if I'm stretching. :) 

 

What are your goals for April?

 

Are you a body-rocker/daily-hiiter?

 

How do you plan to stay motivated?

Laughter is the Best Medicine!

happy Wednesday!!

I am a firm believer in the saying "if you can find the humor in a situation, you win."

There is a lot in life that happens that we cannot control, but we can always, always control our attitude. Our attitude is not and SHOULD not be based upon our circumstances!!

There is always something to laugh about, you just have to look for it!!

 

Take-along-picnic pants. Oh my goodness.

 

Classic.

 sometimes family doesn't operate in your brain-width.

 

 

 

Tell me something that made YOU laugh today!?!?

Just Two Thoughts

Workout;
4 miles
20 minutes arms & abs circuit

Normally I set my alarm 20 minutes ahead of the time I actually need to get up. This allows me to snooze 2x and use that 20 minutes to wake up and be somewhat functionable by my actual rising time. This morning I rolled out of bed the instant my alarm rang.
This is never a good thing.
While I can't really recall what exactly I did while moving around my house in a very zombie-like fashion this morning, I DO remember having two very distinct thoughts;

1. I am actually becoming a protein pancake making master-- I've finally can make them without them being a complete wreck.

2. What's the big deal about snow on the ground? Everyone is whining about it and I don't see why. Snow hasn't caused me any issues this winter.

fast-forward twenty minutes;
 I eat my protein pancake out of a bowl with a spoon because it didn't just crack on me, it splintered into about 1500 pieces. #1 thought goes down the drain.

fast-forward another 30 minutes and I'm doing one of these in the gas-station parking lot.

The good news is- I didn't spill a drop of my coffee!
I had to chuckle because I am usually the ONLY person in the entire parking lot when I fuel up, but of course this morning, every possible parking spot and fuel pump was occupied and there were only a couple of dozen people on scene to witness my clutziness.
(The truck full of construction workers next to me unloaded the instant my rear made contact with the ground and they all offered to carry me to my car in case I broke something.)

fast-forward another 20 minutes;
I'm sitting in the middle of a cornfield with tears streaming down my face while I laugh uncontrollably. Icy roads-1, my driving-0.
Thought #2 becomes oh so terribly ironic- this snow is now causing me issues on foot or by car.
 

Amazingly enough neither my rear or my vehicle were damaged. I was able to eek out of a tow bill by flirting like a mad woman with the driver calling a neighborly farmer dude who got stuck himself and then rescued me.

Have you ever gotten stuck in the snow?? Did you laugh or cry??

Spring may be here, but I'm rocking my boots for the last little bit that I can. I figure as long as there is snow on the ground, I can get away with wearing them, no??
(oh, and if there is anything better than purple skinny jeans; I don't know what it is. well, maybe skinny legs in purple skinny jeans.)

Would you be scared of me?

Every runner has a love hate relationship with hills. Somedays you can eat them for breakfast and take those back to back hills like there's no tomorrow. Other days the very thought of a hill send us curling up in the fetal position.
Just north of where I grew up there is an amazing 1.5 mile stretch of 3 killer hills. Yesterday, I ran them and logged one of my fastest 3 mile runs ever. #Winning.
I really pushed it on this run and I felt amazing. I am starting to feel a little bit better/back to normal this week, and this run was a reflection of that. This was definitely the best run of my year so far!!

Are you loving or hating hills right now??


This run also reminded me of how FAR I've come- how much I've changed. I can remember growing up I couldn't walk up the first hill without stopping to catch my breath. And now I can run them!! Sometimes I get so focused on how far I have to go to reach certain goals that I forget how much has changed- how close I actually am!! It has not been an easy journey, but I am stronger, faster, bolder, happier and more dedicated than ever!! I look back and I am grateful that I was once weak- it makes me appreciate and value my strength and the hard work I am doing!!

When I got back from my run my 8 year old brother said "you look like a gangster. If I met you on the street I would be scared of you!!"

Hmm.....if you met me on the street would you be scared of me??

 

 Post-run I had a protein pancake (2 egg whites, 1 scoop protein powder, cinnamon, salt, raisins and shredded coconut) topped with an apple I cooked in some cinnamon. Delicious.
 

Great Run & Paleo Day One.

Workout;
4 mile run @ 9.12/mile
40 minutes cardio/strength circuit

This morning I felt completely unmotivated to do absolutely anything. I decided to just go out and get in a good, slow run. Slow run?? I didn't push, just ran conservatively the entire time and ended up running faster than I have been for the past several weeks! Yay!! Some runs just click, and this was a great one! I enjoyed every minute of it. Hello, running- yes- apparently I still do love you!!

When I left for my run, the sun was out and it was pretty nice out. At mile 3 it started to rain and I got SOAKED!! By the end of mile 4, the rain had turned into big snowflakes. Gotta love Kansas weather!
Are you running today? What weather are you running in?


Post-run I had me some corned beef & cabbage and a sweet potato.

I was surprised how easy it was to skip my oatmeal this morning. I was at a little bit of a loss what to have pre run- I normally have some pb or almond butter on an ezekial tortilla or english muffin. I had a handful of walnuts and raisins instead.

This afternoon I made a batch of Oatmeal Chocolate Cookie Bars for my brother's Bible Study. When I reached for the oats, I couldn't figure out what in the world happened to them- they were all gone and I NEVER run out of oats!! It took me a few minutes to remember that I hid them in my porch freezer. haha.

Talk about tempting!! They smell delicious. They better disappear tonight because they are NOT staying in my house!!

30 Days of Paleo.

For the past several months the health and fitness community has been ablaze with the Paleo Lifestyle/Diet. I've read countless blogs and articles about the benefits, the super awesome results, the HARD work that it takes to make the change. I've considered trying the Paleo Diet before, but it hasn't been a priority for me. (Honestly, it's a bit of an 'extreme' and the only times that I have tried strict eating guidelines, they have triggered unhealthy disorders for me.)

One of the recommendations from my health professionals has been to adopt the Paleo method and see if I experience any relief from the health struggles I have been encountering. Initially when they suggested it; I didn't even want to consider it, but I'm trying not to have such a thick head and be a little bit less headstrong. 
If you are NOT familiar with Paleo, you probably don't have Facebook, Pinterest, a gym membership or read very many blogs. I kid, I kid. If you haven't heard of it before- Paleo is also known as the 'Caveman Diet' or 'Primal Eating'. Meat, vegetables, healthy fats, nuts and fruits in moderation while avoiding all grains, dairy, legumes, natural/unnatural sweetners/sugar and caffeine.

I've decided to take the next 30 days and give Paleo my best shot. I'm not going to wade in half-heartedly; I'm jumping in head over heels. Hard-core Paleo.
Call me crazy. Yes, it's crazy.

I am NOT trying Paleo for weight loss. While I still have weight to loose in order to reach my goal (healthy) weight, I am not focused on the scale right now. My main objective in life is to be healthy and fit, which includes a healthy weight but is so, SO much more than numbers on the scale. If I end up loosing weight in the next 30 days, that's awesome, but it's NOT my priority.


I know without a doubt the hardest thing for me to give up will be oatmeal. I eat oatmeal for breakfast almost every single day. I just love my oatmeal. Taking a break from my oats is not going to be easy. I will also greatly miss my greek yogurt.

The easiest thing about Paleo will be that I love all vegetable and fruits. Vegetables and fruits make up about 50% of my regular diet, so I won't have to force myself to choke them down. I know this is a difficult thing for a lot of people, but vegetables are actually some of my favorite foods.

It's a little bit overwhelming to look at all the little factors that this change is going to require. I'm typically a very organized person, but I'm going to need to be especially particular and prepared. Having ready-to-go approved snacks and quick grab meals will be super important because my schedule is so unpredictable. I don't want to find myself stuck with the option of not eating, or eating something that's not approved.

I'm excited and nervous about the upcoming 30 days. I had my 'good-bye' bowl of oatmeal tonight and then I moved the oats from my kitchen out to the porch freezer so that they don't even tempt me. :) I also did a quick clean out of any foods that would be problems for me that were lingering in my fridge or cupboards. I was surprised to see how few foods I had that were not Paleo approved. (Or maybe it's just grocery day tomorrow. haha!)
I'll be sharing the details of this change with you over the next 30 days.

Do you eat Paleo?
Have you ever altered your regular diet for health reasons?
Paleo friends-- please share your favorite tips to avoid 'cheating' and your favorite recipes!