Monday Mix Tape

 

I can't believe it's Thanksgiving week already! I think it's my favorite of all the holidays and it used to revolve completely around food, this year it's all revolving around my half marathon. Times have completely changed.

The forecast for the start of my race on Thursday is 24 degrees and sunny. I tested out my cold weather gear on Sunday and was pretty comfortable. The waiting around to start will be the hardest part.

I'm so thankful to have the best friends and neighbors on earth to spend this favorite holiday with. We have a progressive dinner and we don't have to go further than a block away. Our house is out of the circuit this year because of the renovation but we'll hopefully be able to have the main course in our new kitchen next year. I will be making a few things to bring and I just keep have to keep convincing myself that I'm that person that can run a half marathon then bake a pie!

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Weigh in update - nothing much to see here this week!

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
Aug 2 - 158 -1
Aug 9  - 157 -1
Aug 23 - 154 -3
Aug 30 - 150 -4
Sep 6 - 149 -1
Sep 13 - 146 -3
Sep 20 - 146 -0
Sep 27 - 144 -2
Oct 4 - 143 -1
Oct 18 - 138 -5
Nov 1 - 136 -2

Nov 11 - 134 -2

Nov 18 - 131 -3

Nov 25 - 131 -0

 

119 pounds total. 6 more to goal!

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Because I was tapering for the race, I had time to do a lot more yoga. Imagine my surprise when I was finally able to do this! I've been able to do the tripod position for a while but was never able to get my feet up unassisted. Tuesday in class they just went up :) I couldn't believe it and I almost laughed out loud. I had to come home and repeat it for my husband to take a picture. I've been doing it once a day since just to make sure it really happened.

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I hope you all have a wonderful thanksgiving and I'll be back on Friday with a megapost which will included my 10 month progress pictures AND of course my first half marathon recap. I'm so excited and nervous but ready! Thank you so much to all of you for your constant support!

Monday Mix Tape

 

Hey all! I missed my Friday post again - Friday is the busiest day of my work week and it seems to get crazier as it gets closer to the end of the year!

SO I'll start with my 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
July 12 - 167 -0
July 22 - 165 -2
July 26 - 159 -6
Aug 2 - 158 -1
Aug 9  - 157 -1
Aug 23 - 154 -3
Aug 30 - 150 -4
Sep 6 - 149 -1
Sep 13 - 146 -3
Sep 20 - 146 -0
Sep 27 - 144 -2
Oct 4 - 143 -1
Oct 18 - 138 -5
Nov 1 - 136 -2

Nov 11 - 134 -2

Nov 18 - 131 -3

119 pounds total. 6 more to goal!

It's weird and wonderful and sometimes hard to believe that I'm almost in the 120s :)

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The weekend started early when the U.S. played Scotland in a friendly match and we were in the pub with all our friends by 3:00 on Friday. 

I found it really difficult to stick to just one beer but I HAD to --my official course run was getting me up at 6am the next day. Sometimes we have to do sh*t we don't want to do and that was just one of those times!

USA vs Scotland - A house divided! 0-0 was the score so they were both bad :)

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Saturday night I had a great nights sleep and bounced out of bed for the practice run. It was dark and foggy as I drove to the start and I was ridiculously nervous. Not sure why - I had already done 12 and this was only 10. I think it was the fear of the unknown hills!

I had set out with the 2:30 pace group and ended up coming in with the 2:15 group. It was easy for the most part and I felt great!

The sidewalks were tough - it's very hard on the joints to have to go up and down curbs and avoiding obstacles. I also felt like the worlds biggest b*tch running by the homeless shelter in my lululemons with my mouth covered. You forget how much downtown smells like pee until you're running through tunnels and your respiratory system is wide open. Still, I enjoyed every minute of it  - well maybe not that minute but you know what I mean! :)

I LOVE the Track Club. They take such great care of us!

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Saturday afternoon, because I worked all of last weekend, I wanted to do something fun with my husband so I told him we're getting in the car and going to Athens. We had seen on the news that an amazing little soul food place called Weaver D's was closing - they were made "famous" by inspiring the name for REM's album "Automatic for the People". That's their tagline at the place - that good service is automatic. Everytime you say thank you to Dexter Weaver, he says "automatic". He's truly a legend.

Some meals are just worth a splurge and this one definitely was. I was able to eat almost all of the chicken breast and a few bites of my mac and cheese and a few bites of the squash. 

I feel like it's important mention that I burned 1100 calories before I ate this :)

Totally worth it!

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Sunday I got up and did 90 minutes of Bikram in which I sweated out every last bit of that fried chicken and then some. I couldn't believe I wasn't even a little sore from 10 miles the day before but that's how I know I'm in good shape - when recovery is quick!

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For the week ahead, have to taper and have been told by 2 people to run 3 miles a day, every other day until the race. It's totally counter intuitive but I'm going to listen to the pros.  I will do some extra yoga and strength training to fill the void. 

I'm so excited and so ready for this race. Now I have to not get sick or step in a hole or something stupid.

Have a happy, healthy week!

Monday mix tape and the forgotten weigh in!

 

Hey peeps! I forgot to weigh in on Friday (it's getting less and less important to me!) so I did it today - even after a weekend of great food and drinks!

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
Aug 2 - 158 -1
Aug 9  - 157 -1
Aug 23 - 154 -3
Aug 30 - 150 -4
Sep 6 - 149 -1
Sep 13 - 146 -3
Sep 20 - 146 -0
Sep 27 - 144 -2
Oct 4 - 143 -1
Oct 18 - 138 -5
Nov 1 - 136 -2

Nov 11 - 134 -2

116 pounds total. 9 more to goal!

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The weekend was a mix of work and play. 

Saturday I got up and did 11 COLD miles. I got caught in a 5k and almost killed by 2 people walking with their twin strollers who wouldn't even THINK about moving for me. They obviously have no idea how hard it is to come to a dead stop on the 10th mile?!?!? I was already annoyed from having to stop to pee twice (maybe because of the cold???) and I may or may not have yelled some obscenities their way. I had my headphones on so I was unable to hear their response. bummer! :)

Saturday night was my first ever tailgate party! We went to see our NASL league soccer team play in the championship. It was cold and we lost but the food was awesome! I had a blast preparing for it - I made Elk chili (sorry vegan friends!!), cornbread and a very sinful buffalo chicken dip. 

This was one of those situations where I could have kept eating all night but my small stomach just won't allow it. It's weird and it's a bit of a challenge sometimes but I just stopped and enjoyed the company and the atmosphere.

Sunday was no workout day so I enjoyed some mimosas and had a delish brunch with friends who were in town for the game. I had work to do but luckily in my line of work, it can help the creativity flow a bit :) 

Suddenly it was Monday again! I started out feeling slow and sluggish this morning but then ended up with a PR! Funny how that works sometimes. After the first mile I was flying!

I'm feeling really ready for this race coming up! Can't wait!

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Have a happy, healthy week everyone!

Monday Mix Tape

Another weekend gone by in a flash - and we even got an extra hour! And is it really November already???

Saturday morning at 7am, I set out to do my longest run ever! I was really nervous and really cold! I decided to do a 4 mile stretch of running path 3 times so I could run to the car to refill my water and grab my energy gummies. The first 2 of my 3 trips seemed ridiculously easy but by mile 9 it started to get hard. Just in time, at mile 10, my husband surprised me on his bike and stopped to take a picture. I'm not sure I've ever been happier to see anyone in my life - it gave me the energy I needed for those last 2 miles - up hill in the direct sun!

Mile 10 - feeling like the luckiest girl in the world!

This is as close to ready as I'm going to get!

30 mile week goal achieved!!!!!!

I was really surprised at how good I felt for the rest of the day. I stretched really well with *help* from Lucy

Sunday was a day of rest and beer drinking in the afternoon which sent me to bed at 7:30. Felt really rested this morning obviously :)

My (stupid) foot felt like it needed another day of rest from running so I'm headed to yoga this afternoon. It's so important to maintain my yoga practice and my strength training but it's really hard to fit that all in with all that running! Should be easier now as I'm starting to taper down now for my race which is just over 3 weeks away!

It's funny how my life isn't so much of a mix tape but more of an extended, one track remix right now. I eat, sleep and breathe running but I will (honestly honey, I swear) not be obsessed and I will slow down a bit between half marathons :)

Have a happy, healthy week everyone!

Friday weigh in - 9 month update

Happy Friday! Hope everyone had a great halloween. I would say I ate my fair share of candy but I got up and ran 6 miles in the rain and it cancelled it out :)

I just got back from my 9 month follow up with the surgeon and everyone in the office was blown away by my progress. The coordinator/dietician who was a huge part of the process even popped in to see me. Obviously Dr. Dreamy was thrilled - my favorite thing he said was "if everyone worked out like you I'd be the worlds best surgeon!" I'm 11 pounds from my goal weight in 9 short months. Feels amazing!!

Weigh in time!
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
Aug 2 - 158 -1
Aug 9  - 157 -1
Aug 23 - 154 -3
Aug 30 - 150 -4
Sep 6 - 149 -1
Sep 13 - 146 -3
Sep 20 - 146 -0
Sep 27 - 144 -2
Oct 4 - 143 -1
Oct 18 - 138 -5
Nov 1 - 136 -2

114 pounds total! 

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

We're getting to the point where there's less of a shocking difference in the photos but I can still see some improvement - especially my muscle definition (shoutout to Karen for that one!)


At some point this weekend (most likely tomorrow morning) I'm going to attempt 12 miles. One week ahead of my training plan but I think I'm ready. That will put me at my goal of 30 miles for the week!?!

That's how you get rid of 3 pounds gained on vacation!

 I shall leave you with a smile! Have a beautiful weekend everyone!

Monday mix tape - Tuesday edition!

Hey all! Just back/recovering from my trip to Sarasota, Florida for my 25th high school reunion. The only bad thing about growing up in paradise is having to leave it!

It was a great trip - too short for sure but full of laughs and even some much needed relaxation.

I love that I love to run on vacation. I could have easily done 10 but time was precious!

Outfit night one

Outfit night two

date night dinner at our favorite seafood place

A too-short day at Siesta beach

No retouching here - just the beauty of my home town!

Sneaky Tiki's at the Bahi Hut. The recipe is a secret and has been around long before I was born!

I was so proud to be able to go to my reunion feeling better than I ever have in my life. There was a slide show and of course my before and after pictures made it in. Lots of applause and lots of compliments - even from the mean girls.

I came back 3 pounds heavier even though I ran but it was totally worth it to me. I had about 25 mojtos, Doritos for dinner, chocolate and even pancakes but unlike my past life, my vacation ended when we got back and didn't go on another week or two or five. I got right back to to it starting with a 7 mile run on Monday. I was only going to go five but I knew my butt needed a kicking after the long weekend of debauchery!

On a side note, I had to give my halloween candy to the neighbors to hold until Thursday. It was in my house for less than 24 hours and I was OBSESSED with it. At first I was disappointed with myself for not being able to ignore it but I purposely turned it around and felt good about being able to recognize it and move on. If it's as simple as not having it around, I just won't. I promised myself one fun size of my choosing on Halloween and I'm already thinking about what it will be. They don't fix your brain when you have weight loss surgery - that's totally up to you!

Have a happy, healthy week everyone!

Monday mix tape

 

Hey peeps! It started out really cold here in the ATL - fall is definitely here!

Saturday I had a hair appointment at 10 so I had to get my run in SUPER early. I was out the second it was light outside (7:22 in case you were wondering) I was surprised by a light drizzle but it seemed to be going away. Boy was I wrong. Gradually the rain was getting heavier and I was still just pushing on. By the time I stopped to fill my water bottle I was a mile away from home with 4 more to go and I had to give it up. It was pouring at that point and I was freezing! It was still 7 miles, just not the 10 I set out to do. I really didn't think it was worth pneumonia!

Sunday I went to do some cheering at the Breast Cancer 3-Day since I'm not participating this year. It ended up being a gorgeous day and I thrilled that the walkers didn't have to spend another day in the rain.

This morning I got a super fast 3 miles in. I've started running a little faster on shorter runs to try to burn some more calories. I burn about half of what I used to - which I guess makes sense since I'm almost half of what I was!

This cold weather is invigorating to me but I'm struggling with having not a lot of winter clothes - that would be fun problem IF I weren't trying to save every penny for the renovation so right now I'm just getting things I desperately need. I'm even on my second round of all new underwear!

After cleaning out my closet over the weekend I discovered I had one pair of leggings. That's it. No other pants in my entire closet ft. I will someday buy some amazing designer jeans but for now, Old Navy will do.

Shock and awe in the dressing room

Am I really going to be one of THOSE people that are all like "do you have this in a ZERO?!?" This is really weird to me. The other pair of jeans I bought were a six which seems a little more normal but still so so so so weird.

On my run this morning my pants were literally falling down and I decided it was time to give them up. Now that I've gotten used to pockets in my running pants there is no going back. Nothing else but Lulu would do. Shout out to my peeps at Lululemon Howell Mill. They have been so supportive (ha literally with my tata tamer sports bra!) in my journey and treated me just as well when I was a size 12. They've watched me shrink on down through the sizes and they help make it exciting!

Can't Stop Crop

They are more like pants than crops on me but good for winter. No matter how skinny I will get, I'm afraid my legs will never be long!

More shock and awe in the dressing room...and again, don't judge me on the price of my pants.

So that's about it! I won't be weighing in on Friday since I'll be in Florida but I'll check back in after the reunion which I'm really excited for. There are a few great friends I haven't seen since then - I really can't believe it's been 25 years. We're pretty, we're great we're the class of '88! :)