Reset from Vacation Hangover

Today I am suffering from vacation "hangover". I had a fabulous time on vacation and stayed as active as much as I could but definitely did NOT do well on the nutrition front. On our long drive home I made the decision to do a mind & body reset. I'm going to do my own version of a detox involving LOTS of water, fruit, veggies, protein. I am also debating about attempting a sugar detox/ beginning a paleo diet and lifestyle. I have successfully given up pop but after our trip and doing a lot of reading on the road, I realized that I need to step it up, challenge myself, and create a healthier body!

I have a couple more 5Ks this summer as well as the half marathon at the end of the month. I plan to spend the rest of the week signing up to participate in other runs and events throughout the fall to make sure that goals are constantly in place. I haven't been able to attend classes while on vacation so I will also be pushing myself to attend at least four classes each week at the Y. I have a squat challenge I found online and am looking for another abs & arms challenge. I have increased my fitbit step challenge from 10,000 steps daily to 15,000 steps daily in hopes that would also motivate. I'm exhausted just typing this but hope that publishing some of my goals will hold me accountable.

As far as nutrition, besides attempting a new type of diet, I have filled my fridge with fruits, veggies and eggs. I restarted recording everything on myfitnesspal and weight watchers. I hope the double accountability and loading up on water will help me to shed my unwanted vacation pounds and put me back on course with my goals. I know that today is a new day and being home means having a routine. I love routines, being home, and having my accountability friends back in the same zip code. If anyone has any other suggestions that will help me to refocus/ reset (or perhaps someone else) PLEASE leave a comment!

Calories don't count of vacation, right?!?

I'm trying so hard to be good, I really am! It's extremely difficult to be active AND eat healthy when driving across the country, stuck in a car for countless hours, limited choices in healthy food options and numerous temptations at each destination.

I've learned many new tricks along this trip to travel as a healthier me. We have been fortunate to find a few grocery stores and load up on fruits, veggies and sandwich supplies. I've made sure to get out and walk around every time we stop. We've taken our kids to parks and played ball, tag, hide n seek, etc. as well as taking the stairs whenever possible. I have discovered the hotel fitness centers which are very hit and miss but anything is definitely better than nothing. Hotel pools have also been a great benefit. My boys love to swim and it's fun to race them and play games in the water while burning some extra calories, plus I'm not as self conscious about being in the water knowing it's great family and workout time! Having a YMCA membership has also proven helpful since it can be used at any YMCA and many of the towns we've visited have one (however class schedules haven't always worked out in the traveling schedule).

I think the most important thing that I've learned and appreciated from my new habits is finding out how much more enjoyable a destination is when you run, hike or walk through it. I'm not talking about the tourist destinations (although I greatly appreciated the trails through Niagara Falls Park) but the trails and paths they have for the residents who run and bike. I would have never thought to venture out onto my own until I had started running and now I am so grateful for the new experiences it has given me. I have found beautiful neighborhoods, meadows, parks and scenery that I would have never seen otherwise. It's so easy to bring along a pair of running shoes and go out to explore while burning off a few calories (just avoid the "sketchy" neighborhoods and try to stick to the trails and sidewalks)!

I haven't been able to make it to a Weight Watcher meeting this week, not because I haven't tried, but they all seem to be at times when we are on the road... hopefully sometime this week so I can check to see how bad the food damage is costing me! A reality weight check may be necessary so it's not so hard to say no to that extra seafood platter or dessert! Until then I'll keep focusing on how to stay active and fill up on all that water and produce... :)

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Trust the process, stay positive!

Some days it is really difficult to stay focused on the positive. My mind slowly succumbs to its past thought patterns and I let all the negativity weigh me down. I incessantly remind myself to look for the positive. Thus far this week my pessimistic feelings have come from my lack of will power against brownies, my over reactive stomach, and the incredible metabolism & will power of some individuals.

I'll start with the negatives (skip over this couple paragraphs if you don't want to hear my gripes). Last week I did so well on my own with a massive salad bar/ healthy food at my disposal. This week I'm back at home and was immediately faced with chips and candy that was brought into my house while I was gone. Immediately following that my dad came to help replace a door in our home and I bought and made brownies for him and the kids for the afternoon. Unfortunately, he was in a hurry and left without eating any and an entire pan of wonderful chocolate goodness sat on my counter, taunting me. 

Yesterday I made a date with a friend to go running (accountability/ workout buddies are awesome motivators). I was not super motivated but knew that she was waiting for me so I quickly ate half a veggie wrap before headed on our run. I made the extra effort to run down to our meeting point and could immediately tell them my stomach was not too happy with my decision of a pre-run mini meal. By the time I met up with my running buddy and started running I knew that it wasn't going to be pretty. I pushed through and achieved a good 2 miles jog but then had to walk/ jog for the rest of it. This put me in a sad funk knowing that I have a 10K coming up this Saturday and I know my body can handle it but not so sure that my stomach will allow it! I feel like having a full blown toddler tantrum when I've worked so hard, built a body that can run, lunge, squat, push-up, lift weights, etc. but is limited by my internal organs and their incessant need to create havoc! Okay, I feel a little better now...

The final nuisance to my week has been listening to others complain (as I am currently doing :P ) about their struggles when they seem to be able to near effortlessly drop a couple pounds. Here I am working out for at least an hour a day, counting calories and weight watcher points. These wonderful people "watch" what they eat (eyeball it) and go for a run and BOOM, two pounds gone...grrr.... Why don't I have a super metabolic rate? How to I get some of that amazing will power to say no to sweets and salty snacks? 

Venting is over, now for the positive spin! I did NOT eat the entire pan of brownies and I DID throw away most of the chips and junk food that was anticipating my return home. I didn't let my stomach totally turn my day upside down, I ran two miles and walked almost four miles... WAY better than just sitting on the couch AND I achieved 20,000 steps yesterday! Those wonderful people with amazing metabolisms are going through their own struggles and I can't be mad or aggravated by them. I know that my will power muscle has grown and continues to get stronger every time I throw out bad food or decide to keep walking, even if I can't run. Every time I sign up for another run or attend another class, make another healthy meal or snack I am making a better me. I am getting there, slowly but surely. This transformation is a marathon, not a sprint and I have to take a deep breath and remind myself of how far I've come. There will always be obstacles but it's how you manage and learn from them that mold you into a better person. Trust the process!

Just suck it up, change your attitude and do it!

Well I had an exhausting (but fun) weekend filled with graduation parties, playing with my kiddos, and visiting friends and family. All of these items included LOTS of food! I tried to stick to the veggie trays and fruit platters... but that just didn't cut it... I have a weak spot for potato salad and cream cheese mints, so plenty of those were also consumed. I tried to stay active. I ran before we left on Saturday but had to stop as my pants were falling off as I ran. I know that's a good problem to have and I have to laugh at it, but it cut my run short and by the time I got back and changed I didn't have time to run again. I also made sure to move around as much as I could. I was going to go swimming with the kiddos at the hotel but the water was pretty much ice water.... and I wasn't going in that craziness! We did walk around Storybook land, my favorite place of all time, and I know that helped a little.

Needless to say, I put on a couple pounds over the weekend and woke up in a bit of a funk from it. My frustration was only amplified with the beginning of the last week of school. I know I should be feeling a sense of relief and excitement as the end draws near, unfortunately, the end of the year for a teacher means report cards, progress reports, students awareness sheets, and much, much more... PLUS the students are in 'summer' mode and have no thought processes left to even complete simple lessons. So my main mission today was to keep my students busy learning as much about measurement as possible while fitting in paperwork wherever possible. I didn't leave until 5:30 and definitely could have stayed longer if my husband didn't need to head to an orchestra gig, so I headed home to clean the house and watch my kids play in the backyard.

As I ran around the house picking up and sorting laundry, I decided that I HAD to record what I ate today (even though I knew the dominoes pizza my hubby ordered for supper was going to be bad). I was grateful to see that I had only gone over by a couple points, not as bad as I had thought. This revelation made me rethink my entire attitude toward the day. I take all of my minor hurdles in my life and make them into huge mountains. These mountains seem so huge and daunting that it has a domino effect, making all other obstacles seem monumental as well. After I realized that nothing is as bad as I thought it was today, I decided that I was going to go on a run (since I was also upset that I had missed my workout class today).

I killed two birds with one stone and took the redbox movie I had gotten yesterday for the kiddos on our drive and ran it (literally) back to Walmart and returned home. It ended up being 6 miles in all. It took me about an hour and 4 minutes, so about a 5.62 mph run/ walk when necessary, up steep hills, etc. The best part of the run was the smell of the flowers and having a student scream hello as they rode past in a vehicle. I am also proud of the fact that I finished and ran most of it! That gets me almost to the half way point for my half marathon. My least favorite part of my run was my body and my headphones. I have to say that being a woman who has had three children makes things really difficult. I am grateful that I wasn't a runner in high school or college because I am sure that I would be even more appalled and disappointed with the way my body works or doesn't work now that I have had my beautiful children. Anyone who is a runner without kids, please take a moment to appreciate how wonderfully your body works and doesn't try to corrupt your running efforts... Okay, enough said. As for my headphones, I would take any suggestions for better headphones. I cannot wear the ear buds as they bug my ears and I have the ones that fit over the ears but they fall off constantly on the side away from the arm that I have the headphones plugged in on. I'm thinking I'll have to get the big headband type ones but am not sure... but I really do like listening to music, when it works!

My lesson for the day is that I need to not look at my hurdles as mountains and to push through them one step at a time. Tomorrow is a new day and I will make the most of it!