Monday mix tape - I can't believe it's Tuesday alread edition

I cant believe I didn't do my Monday mix tape yesterday. It was 9:30 by the time I go home from a busy day then my support group and I just didn't have it in me!

I'm back from Florida and happy to be home! I miss my pool that I had there but I don't miss the heat. The weather here is so nice right now - almost cool in the morning - so I got back to running my hills in my 'hood right away on Monday. It was one of the best runs I've ever had and if it weren't for the fact that I had work to do, I would have kept going. I never ever ever ever thought I'd get to the point where a 5k isn't enough of a work out but I have. My calorie burn is down to 350 for that run where it used to be 500. It's guess it's not as much of a burn now that I don't carry around an extra 90 pounds :)

My heel pain in my left foot came back suddenly after being cured for almost 2 years so I called my foot doctor right away and got in for this morning. I knew I was going to be getting a shot and I was not happy but I didn't want it to interfere with my running so I put on my big girl pants and went. I thought it was funny that the doctor said "When people ask for a shot in the Plantar Fascia I know they are serious because this is the most painful shot we give in orthopedics." barf. I just laid down, did my yoga breathing and bit down on my sleeve. The cortisone takes FORever to go in but then it's almost instantly feeling better.

Headed back to yoga tonight and the rest of the week will be preparing for my longest run ever - I'm going to try for 7 miles on Saturday. If the weather stays this nice it should be totally doable and maybe even fun!

I know you all are sick of all the media blitz but here's another article that came out while I was away. http://bit.ly/152fqGc
This was for a neighborhood newspaper. I love the picture!

6 month update post with pictures and measurements coming on Friday!

Have a happy healthy week everyone!

Friday weigh in

Hey all! Still in Florida so my 6 month update post will be moved to next Friday.

I'm excited to get back - my friends miss me (and my guacamole obviously) I miss them too!!

Jan 14 - Start of liquid diet - 250
Jan 29 - Surgery weight - 237 -13
Feb 8 - 231 -6
Feb 15 - 222 -9
Feb 22 - 220  -2
Mar 1 - 218  -2
Mar 8 - 216  -2
Mar 15 - 213 -3
Mar 22 - 209 -4
Mar 28 - 208 -1
Apr 5 - 206 -2
Apr 12 - 199 -7
Apr 26 - 196 -3
May 3 - 193 -3 
May 10 - 190 -3
May 17 - 187 -3
May 24 - 186 -1
May 31 - 184 -2
June 7 - 177 -7  
June 14 - 177 -0   
June 21 - 175 -2
June 28 - 171 -4
July 5 - 167 -4
July 12 - 167 -0
July 22 - 165 -2
July 26 - 159 -6
91 pounds total!

I have shrunk out of my bathing suit I bought for this trip. That's a first!

I will admit I have had some food anxiety while I've been here. Yesterday I was out shopping late afternoon and when I got a little dizzy and realized I needed to eat! (time flies when you're bra shopping. Not!) Right then I would have loved to be able to just grab whatever I wanted to eat - Five Guys, pizza, Chinese food or any of the other millions of delicious things I was surrounded by. I think (ha, who am I kidding I KNOW) that if I still had the option I would have gone crazy and consumed 1,000 calories in one sitting.

Instead I sat in my car and looked up nutrition info for Pei Wei (PF Changs fast casual place) looking first at what I wanted (Orange Peel Chicken 800 calories!?!?!) and settled on the healthiest thing (Ginger Broccoli Chicken 240 calories). I took it home, ate a quarter of it (without rice!) and it was awesome. I'm so thankful to have had this surgery to keep me in control. My body has this down. My brain, not so much. Maybe it won't always be a fight - maybe it will but I now have what I need to win the battle.

You know what else really helps? All this running! I haven't stopped my half marathon training even though the humidity here is off the charts. I have to be careful as my heart rate is up about 10 bpm just from the heat and even though there are no hills, it gets to my max quickly and I have to slow down a little. Luckily I've had some great views

The only hill in this town is the bridge out to the beach. I did 5 miles at 9:00 a.m....sooooooooohot.

View this morning out in the country - I ran 3.2 miles at sunrise and it helped kinda....

I went to hot yoga once while I was here. I thought I would go more often but being indoors in Florida is just a shame really! It was an okay studio (makes me love mine more) but I loved the teacher and the class was good and hot and really challenging. The room was full of Florida "cougars" - makeup and midriffs. Hilarious! At one point I was one of 2 people still standing making me feel like quite the bad ass :)

I'm coming back to the ATL on Sunday. Thursday I meet with the surgeon for my 6 month follow up. I'm sure he will be thrilled that I'm 34 pounds away from my goal (maybe even closer by then!)

 Have a great weekend everyone!

Monday mix tape - Florida edition

 

Hello from sunny Sarasota! I love this place so much but I do miss my husband, my dogs and my best friends/neighbors.

Apologies for no weigh in on Friday but I didn't have a scale!!! I totally forgot about that until I got here. I went and bought a cheap one and was happy to check in after a weekend of drinking.

Jan 14 - Start of liquid diet - 250
Jan 29 - Surgery weight - 237 -13
Feb 8 - 231 -6
Feb 15 - 222 -9
Feb 22 - 220  -2
Mar 1 - 218  -2
Mar 8 - 216  -2
Mar 15 - 213 -3
Mar 22 - 209 -4
Mar 28 - 208 -1
Apr 5 - 206 -2
Apr 12 - 199 -7
Apr 26 - 196 -3
May 3 - 193 -3 
May 10 - 190 -3
May 17 - 187 -3
May 24 - 186 -1
May 31 - 184 -2
June 7 - 177 -7  
June 14 - 177 -0   
June 21 - 175 -2
June 28 - 171 -4
July 5 - 167 -4
July 12 - 167 -0
July 22 - 165 -2
85 pounds total!

I have been running like a mad woman here on the flat roads. SO NICE!! I feel like I could just keep going and going. I did make myself go and walk the big bridge with a friend which is the only hill in town. Tonight I'm trying the hot yoga studio here so all is pretty normal on the exercise front.

I'm finding it a lot harder than I thought to control my food outside of my normal environment plus everyone wants to hang out and it's easy to party too much! I've still logged everything in My Fitness Pal and am sticking to mostly seafood. I did treat myself to a rum runner which was sugar overload but worth it. It's about 2 miles of running for one of those which is why I'm only doing that once.

It was interesting when I went to my favorite seafood place -  I was a little disappointed to only eat 2 oysters and about 1/3 of my meal of grilled lobster, shrimp and scallops. My mouth wanted more but my stomach said no. I really missed being able to eat it all plus dessert plus drinks. Then I saw this enormous family waddle out after eating pounds of fried food and I didn't miss it at all. Instead I got on the boat in my tankini and enjoyed that instead.

I'm currently reading my blog from the beginning in preparation for the writing of the book. It's hard to face those older posts but oh so therapeutic at the same time. This is my view as I read and write. Not bad eh?

Finally, today I saw my reflection in the glass doors while wearing my bathing suit. I freaked out for a second because I thought it was someone else. LOVE THAT!!

Have a great week everyone. I will weigh in again this Friday - hopefully I can stay away from the tropical drinks!!

Monday mix tape - short and sweet

 

Another great weekend - still raining though! Yesterday I thought it was hilarious that everyone in the neighborhood is so over the rain that they just started ignoring it and kept sitting outside at bars or walking or running or whatever it is we normally do on a sunny day. I did a lot of yoga and a lot of running!

I'm off to Florida for 2 weeks to dog/house sit with the intention of having some time to write a book based on this here blog. I have no idea how it will go or if anyone but me will ever read it but I think it will be therapeutic regardless. I'm working and working out while I'm there and have no intention of straying from my normal routine - well except for the fact that I will have my own pool :)

Have a happy, healthy week everyone. See you back here on Friday from (hopefully sunny) Florida!

Friday weigh in

Happy Friday!

Not much excitement to report on the weight loss front this week - it's my second zero loss week but I have a feeling that's going to start happening more and more as I get closer to my goal.

Jan 14 - Start of liquid diet - 250
Jan 29 - Surgery weight - 237 -13
Feb 8 - 231 -6
Feb 15 - 222 -9
Feb 22 - 220  -2
Mar 1 - 218  -2
Mar 8 - 216  -2
Mar 15 - 213 -3
Mar 22 - 209 -4
Mar 28 - 208 -1
Apr 5 - 206 -2
Apr 12 - 199 -7
Apr 26 - 196 -3
May 3 - 193 -3 
May 10 - 190 -3
May 17 - 187 -3
May 24 - 186 -1
May 31 - 184 -2
June 7 - 177 -7  
June 14 - 177 -0   
June 21 - 175 -2
June 28 - 171 -4
July 5 - 167 -4
July 12 - 167 -0
83 pounds total!
  
I will just keep looking at my photos I just got back from MarathonFoto. This makes me happy! 

 
 have a great weekend!!

Watch me sweat on TV part deux

Y'all are never going to get tired of seeing me on TV! ;) See what my trainer Karen the Fitness Girl has to say about the importance of strength training for women!

Monday mix tape

 

I almost forgot to blog today - I STILL have my days mixed up because of the holiday! Speaking of the holiday, I will admit that it was difficult not to extend my 4th of July celebrations beyond the 4th. There were food and drinks around every corner. I said no to a few things and was happy with myself for noticing the danger signs.

Friday was my day off after the race but I was right back to a treadmill 5k on a rainy Saturday (rain was the theme of the whole 4th of July weekend). Sunday I skipped Wimbledon brunch to go to 90 minutes of Bikram. These are the choices that I will ALWAYS be faced with and I'm just trying to keep a good balance that will work for me for a lifetime. Ha! Aren't we all?!? 

I'm now officially training for the Thanksgiving Day half marathon here in Atlanta. I wanted to to do Savannah for it's flatness but I have my high school reunion the week before and that's just not going to work. I also feel pretty strongly that my first half should be in my own city - hills and all! I'm ready for a new goal to crush!

Have a happy, healthy week everyone!

Friday weigh in and Peachtree Road Race Recap

I'm so confused - today seems like Sunday but it's only Friday! Hope everyone had a great 4th! I ate and drank more calories than I ever have post-surgery but then again I burned 1336 which cancelled it all out :)

Let's start with the weigh in:
Jan 14 - Start of liquid diet - 250
Jan 29 - Surgery weight - 237 -13
Feb 8 - 231 -6
Feb 15 - 222 -9
Feb 22 - 220  -2
Mar 1 - 218  -2
Mar 8 - 216  -2
Mar 15 - 213 -3
Mar 22 - 209 -4
Mar 28 - 208 -1
Apr 5 - 206 -2
Apr 12 - 199 -7
Apr 26 - 196 -3
May 3 - 193 -3 
May 10 - 190 -3
May 17 - 187 -3
May 24 - 186 -1
May 31 - 184 -2
June 7 - 177 -7  
June 14 - 177 -0   
June 21 - 175 -2
June 28 - 171 -4
July 5 - 167 -4
83 pounds total!

Hello 160s! Happy to see you. What's almost scary is that I'm only 17 pounds away from reaching 100. Again! This time, I swear I'm NEVER going back - mark my words as my grandma would say!

If you haven't already, Watch me sweat on TV.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me watching me on TV! Such a weird thing.

Now on to the RACE!!

I was one of 60,000 runners that woke up to POURING rain. My stomach was in knots over the weather but I was holding out hope that it would stop as daylight came. I got on the train and was smashed up against some young, cool twenty something kid who wasn't going to the race. Poor thing had no idea he would be in an intimate relationship with a 43 year old married lady by the time he went 4 stops to work! By the time I got to the start, the rain had miraculously ended and the Twitter told me the winner had already crossed the finish line in 28:07. You can't drive a car that far in this city that fast :)

On my way to the start a woman stopped me and said "aren't you the lady on TV?? I love you take your picture with me!" How cool is that?? I so badly want to inspire people and it's working!!

photo from ajc.com

The race is so well organized and all the start waves were moving through flawlessly. I was crossing the start exactly when I was supposed to and the temperature was almost 20 degrees cooler than last year. Doesn't get much better than that!

Because of the weather, I knew I was going to have an easier run so I took the time to look around and enjoy the view along the way. Watching the Peachtree is as big of a deal as running it. People go all out with the side of the road and balcony parties. Definitely lots of entertainment! I was even tempted to grab a beer at one of the many beer stops but I hadn't had any beer while training so I wasn't going to take the risk :)

I was blown away by how different it was from last year. Last year I suffered through it and couldn't wait for it to be over. This time I was flying down Peachtree, enjoying the view and having a BLAST. This is what living is.

This was SO fast for me. 12'11 was my fastest mile. No wonder my heart rate was up. I knew it was too fast and I just couldn't slow down. It was just too much fun. About a hundred yards from the finish line I had to stop to walk for a second when I passed a breakfast place and the smell of food almost made me hurl! Other than that there was no damage done by running overly fast and finishing 30 MINUTES FASTER THAN LAST YEAR!!!

My feet stayed pretty dry until we had to go into the park to get our shirts and our water and our FRESH PEACHES! 

Luckily I was at the end of my shoe mileage.

Friends and husband at the finish.

Hopefully Marathon Photo got a better shot of me than my husband and his thumb! For now this will have to do!

Our attempt to re-create last years picture - with my friend, neighbor and running inspiration. 55 minute finisher!

Side by side with last years pic. XL tshirt 2012, M tshirt 2013! Loved walking up to the Medium table :)

Just a few of the many calories consumed and the best friends a girl could ever have!
Do I have the best looking entourage or what??

I'm STILL smiling today after such an amazing day. I feel great and will probably be back at yoga tonight already. I'm not going to stop running - in fact, I THINK I'm going to attempt my first half Marathon in Savannah in November. That's like finishing the Peachtree then running back to the start which is mind blowing to me but definitely not impossible. I will never say never again!

Have a happy, healthy week everyone!!

Watch me sweat on TV!

http://bit.ly/17PCDjo
 

Monday mix tape

Another great weekend here in the ATL! I can't get over how awesome life is at the moment. Long may it continue!!!

Friday was the start of the "Tina Tait media blitz" :) The hospital where I had my surgery released my article on their website and social media. I read it over and over and I love it. I'm so honored to be representing their bariatric program and I vow to continue to be a success story! Click here to read the article >

Saturday it was time for the last of my on-course training runs for the race which is THURSDAY already! I was meeting some friends and I was running late already at 5:30am. I skipped breakfast (big mistake) and had only a few sips of coffee (another big mistake) but was running by 7:15. First 3 miles were pretty good. My legs felt heavy and my heart rate was way up and I didn't realize why until my Nike app said "1 mile completed - 11 minutes and 42 seconds". Ummm no wonder I felt worn out. That's WAY too fast for me and I didn't realize how much I was trying to keep up with my friends. I like to settle in at about 13:30 pace these days (which is something I could never have imagined in my past life!). The last 3 miles are the hardest due to the hills and I had already done myself in. I chugged way too much water which made me really nauseous so I walked cardiac hill then ran in spurts the last 3 miles - desperately out of water and getting the chills. Finally we got to the car and went for breakfast. Whew, that was a tough one.

Sunday I got to go back to the W Hotel in Midtown for a roof-top yoga class. There were 75 people in this gorgeous room overlooking the whole city and it was one of the best classes yet! I did wheel pose for the first time ever.

Never could have imagined doing this but I tried it and there it was!

After we got a vodka and lemonade and some pool time. Even better? My amazing and beautiful instructor for the last 3 years Astrid handed me a bag from #lululemon along with a huge hug saying how proud of me she was! She is (rightly so!) an ambassador for them and told them about my journey.

In the bag were the most awesome pants I've been coveting! Lord almighty do I need free pants right now!

and also one of the most awesome cards ever!

LOVE the "Keep on goal crushing". This is SO motivating and I'm feeling more inspired than ever. It chokes me up a bit!!

Because I never got in the water at the W, my husband and I decided to brave the public pool with a hundred million kids just so I could wear my new bathing suit. It's my first tankini (no you're not getting any pictures of me in it) but I will give you a shot from the neck up :)

It was weird and wonderful to wear a bathing suit that wasn't a black one piece for the first time since I was a toddler!

Today started off with a great run - my usual 5k route and my usual pace of 13:30. Glad my training has ended on a high note. I think it's interesting how I had two crappy course runs and two fabulous ones. I think the crappy ones have to happen so we learn what not to do and also to touch base with our egos. 

Tonight is the big night - my story airs tonight on Fox 5 news news at 5. I'm nervous about seeing myself on TV but excited too. I will be with a group of friends in my local bar trying hard not to have more than one drink!!

I will make sure to post the link as soon as it's available. I will also have a race update on Friday along with the weigh in which is already looking pretty good! Happy 4th of July everyone!