Happy 2015

I had a week and a half off work during the holidays, which I ended up taking full advantage of to sleep, rest and just relax. It was definitely needed, I didn’t realize how overdue I was for a vacation. Still it was far too short and the last thing I wanted to do this morning was go to work!

I had a great break and a lot of fun over the holidays. Now that it’s the new year I was being cliché and reflecting on the past year and thinking about what 2015 would bring. I’m not usually one for making new year’s resolutions, so I won’t. Let’s call them my 2015 goals:

1. Become a morning runner – I’m already well on my way to achieving this goal. The move to Rockville, gives me an extra hour in the morning, meaning waking up earlier before work isn’t such a burden.
2. Run a half marathon this spring – I have yet to decide which marathon to choose, but I want to run a half by the spring, in addition to the Baltimore Running Festival Half Marathon. I think this is totally possible, it’s just going to require some dedication on my part.
3. Continue my healthy eating – I have done so well with making my own meals and indulging only on special occasions. That isn’t to say that I didn’t throw caution to the wind and eat whatever the hell I wanted over my time off during the holidays (because cookies! So many cookies were consumed in a week and a half!). It does, however, mean that I have more confidence I can get back on track and continue with my healthy habits that I started last year.
4. Make strength training fun – I said earlier that I want to introduce strength training into my fitness routine, and I did, but to be honest I didn’t do a great job of keeping up with it. I find strength training so boring, so I’ll always find an excuse to do something else. Therefore, instead of making a goal of doing more strength training, I’m going to try to make it fun, so that I’ll be motivated to do it more often.
5. Read – I know this isn’t fitness related, but it’s something I think I need to do more of. I used to read voraciously, but I stopped a while ago. For Christmas my boyfriend got me the Kindle Voyage, which in my opinion is the perfect excuse to read more books this year! My ambitious goal is 20 books in 2015, but honestly, I’d be happy with 15.

Well, that’s it for my resolutions. Comment below and tell me what your resolutions for 2015 are!

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MERRY CHRISTMAS!

It’s Christmas! If you celebrate Christmas, I hope you have a fun and relaxing day with your friends and family! This post will be short and sweet and just a few of my favorite Christmas things (to the tune of Julie Andrews in the Sound of Music of course!).

Christmas trees and lights

I haven’t driven around to see Christmas lights yet, something I try to do every year, so for now the lights on the Christmas tree will have to do! There’s something about Christmas lights that just instantly make me happy.

Holiday Accessories

So pretty!

I have a collection of Christmas socks and jewelry that I make sure to break out at least once during the season. (Which isn’t to say that I don’t wear the socks all year round) And being as obsessed as I am with all things nail polish I can’t forget about my nails!

Cookies!

My mom makes two kinds of Greek cookies every Christmas, Kourambiethes and Finikia, they’re full of too much butter, and sugar. Lack any sort of nutritional value, and are insanely delicious. I look forward to them every year!

Most importantly though is getting to spend the day with my family and friends. Hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Mr. Snowman!

What’s your favorite thing about the holiday season?

Best Buddies 5k Race Recap

I am happy to report that after all my reservations in my last blog post about the cold temperatures on Saturday morning I made it to the race and survived the Best Buddies 5k despite the below freezing temps.

I knew that the race was going to go well when I managed to get a really great night’s rest the night before. I don’t know about anyone else but I never seem to sleep well before a race. I don’t know what was different, but Saturday morning I woke up completely well rested. I had set out my clothes the night before and so after I put on all the different layers that I had planned I was ready to go!

When I stepped outside I was so grateful for all those layers. It was just as cold as I had thought it would be! I got a text that morning from my friend who was also running the race declaring that “It’s freezing!!!!!!!” My sentiments exactly.

Once I got to the park where the race was held I picked up my packet and then caught up with some old coworkers that were there either working or supporting the event. It was so great to catch up with everyone, and I even ran into my old coworker Jen who I didn’t realize would also be running the event. Turns out we run at the same pace so we decided to run together!

All bundled up before the race!

Before the race an instructor from Brick Bodies led a warm up for all the runners. I am so glad they did! I think it would have been a lot harder to run after just standing around being cold for a half an hour. Right after the warm up ended all the runners lined up at the start and the race started.

I was so glad that I had a friend running with me! Having never run in the cold I wasn’t prepared for how different it feels. However, being able to chat with with Jen distracted me and even though I ran slower than I normally do I felt like the miles were flying by.

The course was great, a little hilly but not bad. It was a straight 1.5 miles one way and then you turned around and back tracked. at the 1.5 mile marker they had a water stop set up, which I took advantage of and promptly choked on the water and had to stop for a little to catch my breath. That’s what I get for trying to drink water while I run! Despite that minor hiccup the rest of the race went great!

It wasn’t timed but they did have a clock at the finish and someone at each mile marker telling you your split time as you ran past. Jen and I finished at around 36 minutes. Definitely slower than my normal pace, but we weren’t focused on time and factoring in the cold I am so happy with how I did.

After the race I spent more time catching up with my former coworkers and enjoying the post-race bagels. I was so glad I thought ahead and packed a blanket in my car and a thermos of hot water with lemon and honey for after because it helped warm me up so much.

Overall, I thought the race was so well planned especially for their first year. Best Buddies Maryland had over 300 runners which I felt was the perfect number. My only complaint was the weather, but I’m a baby when it comes to the cold. I’ll definitely be planning to do this 5k again next year!

 

I Was Not Made For Cold Weather

Tomorrow I’ll be participating in the Best Buddies Maryland 5K. I’m excited to participate. I worked for Best Buddies Maryland for 4 years before my current job and I had volunteered with them in high school. They’re a great organization that provides one to one friendships for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

This is their first year doing the 5K and when I heard about it I had to sign up, and I’ve been counting down the days. However, when I signed up I don’t think I registered that it was happening in the middle of November, which means it’s going to be freezing. Correction, below freezing. Saturday morning it’s supposed to be 29 degrees, and saying that I’m not looking forward to it is an understatement.

Now I approached the cold weather optimistically. I bought some cold weather gear, I was fully prepared to go running outside in the weeks beforehand, so I would get used to running in the cold.

Yeah, that didn’t happen. I am a wuss. I have not run outside at all recently. The second the temperatures dipped below 50 I was running inside on a treadmill, using the fact that it gets dark earlier and I don’t feel safe as an excuse. Let’s be honest though, I am not Elsa from Frozen, the cold has always bothered me, and I don’t think there will ever be a time that it doesn’t bother me I could be completely bundled up a la a Christmas story and there is still a very high likelihood that I will not be running outside.

At least it’s warm!

Needless to say when I stepped out last night after work and it was 34 degrees and I realized Saturday morning would only be colder I entertained thoughts of not showing up. However I do think I’m amply prepared for the race, even if I don’t want to be. I’m just going to think of all the volunteers on Saturday that don’t get to run to keep themselves warm and how cold they must be. So THANK YOU volunteers!

You can find me after the race, I’ll be the one wrapped up in the blanket I kept in my car for after the race.

Yeah…okay

Whole30 is Over!

Yesterday was day 30 of my Whole 30 which means it’s over! I am excited it’s to be over, but to be honest I don’t know that there is going to be a huge change in the way I eat. I did this for the second time to reset my eating habits. I had started giving into my sugar cravings, and while my habits weren’t the worst they’d ever been I wasn’t always making the smartest of choices. With the holidays, and all the delicious food that comes with them, fast approaching I wanted to make sure I was ready.

My takeaways from my second Whole30:

1. This is a whole lot easier the second time around! This was the case for a number of reasons. To start with this time was a lot shorter because I decided to do it for Lent the last time so my Whole30 was actually a Whole48 the first time. Plus the second time around you know what to expect, and since I still largely follow a Whole30 way of eating in my day to day life with some exceptions it makes it much easier.
2. I have never wanted sweets more than I did on Halloween. While my sweet tooth is still alive and strong, I don’t eat candy nearly as much as I used to even before I did this Whole 30. If I’m going to eat something sweet I will almost always choose a baked good than a piece of candy, it needs to be worth it. However, when Halloween rolled around and there was candy everywhere all I wanted was a Reese’s peanut butter cup. I’m happy to report, that I did not give into that urge!
3. I am bored of chicken! I had so much chicken this past month because it’s cheap and it’s easy to make. However, by the end I had had enough. I mixed things up with some chicken salad made with homemade mayonnaise that definitely helped, but I think I’m going to have to start experimenting with new recipes, that still involve chicken, because I still have so much of it left haha.
4. Quiche is my current favorite way to have eggs! In looking for a quick breakfast that I could also take to work, because heaven knows I’m never waking up early enough to make anything morning of, I started making quiche with a potato crust. This is my go to breakfast for now, and I don’t think that’s going to stop when the Whole30 does, although I may make it with a traditional crust a few times.
5. I miss bread. I don’t normally eat a lot of wheat and I have never been a huge fan of pasta (shocking I know) but I have been craving pasta. Give me some goat cheese ravioli in a creamy sauce with no redeeming nutritional values and I’ll be in heaven, until I start to regret my choices with a stomachache that is.

 

All in all I enjoyed my experience these past 30 days and chances are high that I probably have a third one in my future, but I’m not thinking about that quite yet. Right now all I really want to do is go out to a restaurant and order whatever I want on the menu without having to quiz the waitress on whether the dish has added sugar!

 

Non Scale Victory Update

It’s been a little over six months since I threw away my scale started this blog and started non scale victory Friday. A lot has changed since then, and not just in relation to this blog.

I started grad school, I’m going to be moving soon, so that I’ll be much closer to work (YAY!), and I’m doing my second Whole30. Plus my thinking has changed dramatically. I’m finally able to start seeing the effects the positive changes I’ve made are having on my physical and emotional well being little by little, which is huge.

When I first started this blog I was scared. I was throwing away my scale, and the main way I measured my success (or lack thereof). I needed another way to measure success in my life and so Non Scale Victory Fridays were born. They forced me to seriously think about the successes in my life and write about them weekly.

Well I think it’s run it’s course. It’s getting harder and harder to try to come up with major successes once a week, and not because I’m lacking them or feeling any less positive. Instead, I’d rather write about them as they happen, than wait at the end of the week to include them in a bullet point.

So I’m making a change. Last weeks will be the last Non Scale Victory Friday for this blog, which isn’t to say that Non Scale Victories are going away completely. When I have them I’ll write about them, and give them the recognition they deserve, and if you have victories? Share them in the comments or shoot me an email at scalesdownlacesup@gmail.com. My goal, eventually, will be to have a reader’s post series where people talk about their successes in health and fitness, whether you use a scale or not.

How do you like to measure your success?

Whole 30 Hump Day!

It’s officially day 16 of my Whole 30!! I’m over the hump and I’m excited! I may or may not be having dreams on a regular basis that I’m either knowingly eating non compliant foods (HELLO cupcakes!) or that I’m eating things I think are compliant but actually have sugar in them. Luckily none of this has happened in real life, so I’m on a great trajectory to finish strong!

The thing about Whole 30 is that it’s super easy for me to maintain it during the week.I already cook all my meals anyways so it doesn’t add a huge amount of change to what I make or how often I cook. The weekends are tough though, and this weekend is going to prove a particular challenge. It’s Halloween weekend, and while my boyfriend and I are going to skip the bars we are going to go to some Halloween parties where I’m sure there will be candy and treats, and there will definitely be alcohol. I’m less worried about the alcohol and more worried about the food. Still my goal is to eat before hand so I won’t be tempted.

The next step is to figure out our couples costume for this year. I know, I know I’m down to the wire with the costume. I think I have something figured out but we’ll see if it comes to fruition. If I don’t I’m just going to be going as Elizabeth, which is SUPER original I know, but it may end up being what has to happen!

Have you figured out your Halloween costume yet? Or do you have any ideas for me?

 

Non Scale Victory Friday!

I would normally be very excited that it’s Friday (because, Friday) but I, unfortunately, have to work tomorrow morning. On the bright side I’ll only be working a half day so the rest of my Saturday will be free! On to non-scale victory Friday!

1. I’m on day 12 of my Whole30 and so far everything is going great. According to the Whole30 timeline I should be experiencing boundless energy and lots of cravings. I don’t know about the boundless energy (I didn’t really experience a huge increase in energy last time and I don’t really expect to this time either) but the cravings thing is entirely accurate. The food I’m eating is delicious, don’t get me wrong, but what I wouldn’t give for a cupcake, or pie, or a cookie, or….okay I’ll stop. I may or may not have spent an hour looking at various dessert recipes on Pinterest last night.

2. My work pants are far too big! This is both a victory and a problem though. Victory because, YAY, my pants are too big. Problem because, I cannot afford new pants and other than the size my pants are in perfectly good condition. I’m going to be researching how to alter dress pants to make them smaller, aka call and ask my mom.

3. This comic is a thing that happened and made me laugh hysterically so I have to share for some Friday cheer!

I hope everyone has a great weekend, hopefully you don’t also have to work on Saturday like me. Don’t forget to share your non-scale victories in the comments below!

Baltimore Running Festival – Team Relay Recap

This past Saturday I ran in the relay for Baltimore Running Festival. I was nervous, so nervous. Mainly I was nervous that while waiting for my teammate to come to my exchange point I would not see her, because I’ve only met her once. Then in the attempt to seamlessly take the timing chip from her and begin my leg of the race I would be trampled by another runner, causing myself to topple over in all of my clumsy glory and land flat on my face.

These are the things I worry about before running the relay, not the fact that I picked leg three to run, aka the hardest leg of the Baltimore Marathon, 6.5 miles completely uphill. Okay, there were a few downhill parts, but they were few and they were short and they barely counted if I’m going to be honest.

The starting line!

Needless to say, none of the things I was concerned about actually happened. Contrary to the vision I had in my head, the exchange point was not a crowded mass of people. It was incredibly well organized, and I was able to recognize my teammate almost instantly thanks to the fact that we decided as a team to wear purple shirts, she texted when she was a mile away, and my memory is not so bad that I completely forgot what she looks like the one time I met her.

I also did not collide with another runner and fall flat on my face (although with my general lack of balance and grace, I don’t actually think this was an unreasonable worry on my part).

I have heard so many good things about the Baltimore Running Festival and I have been several times for work that I was so excited to be a participant this year. I got to my leg of the relay about an hour to an hour and a half early, and I was so grateful my friend Anna came by to keep me company before I had to start. Talking to her really helped to calm my nerves and make me not stress to much about the impending collision I was convinced would happen.

Anna and I before my leg.

 

Ready to run!

Once I did the exchange seamlessly I was off. Despite it being the hardest leg and mostly uphill I felt great! After my run last week that went less successfully than planned, I was worried. However, my legs didn’t feel tired and I felt energized. Plus there is so much support along the route! At one point I was about to lose steam, turned the corner and there’s a DJ blasting music with people up and down the street yelling and cheering. It gave me the boost I needed at that moment!

And I’m off!

Aside from the dead rat that was squashed on the route, yes, a dead squashed rat, that made me want to puke I felt great the entire time. About midway through the race I noticed my knees and ankles were really bothering me. I pushed through but couldn’t figure out why they were bothering me when they never have before. Later that day I found out why. Apparently when I grabbed my running shoes the night before, I grabbed my first ever pair of completely worn out running shoes, and I didn’t add my arch support insoles in them either! They’re the same shoes as the current ones I have so it’s an easy mistake that I’m usually very careful about not making. No wonder I was in pain!

I never realize what a mess my hair becomes!

The one thing I didn’t like was not being able to cross the finish line. However, I had a great time at the Running Festival that now the half marathon is definitely on my to do list for next year. I’m more confident I’ll be ready for that distance next year!

Whole30 Day 2!

My eating has gotten lazy recently. Granted it could be a lot worse, at least I’m still practicing moderation. Still, my sweet tooth has managed to win more often than not recently and I’ve been eating out a lot more than is normal for me.

This past weekend, for instance, I had fried chicken and a milkshake in one meal. It was delicious, and I don’t regret it. I can’t remember the last time I had fried chicken, and this was definitely the best I’ve ever tasted. Still, definitely not the healthiest of choices.

About a year ago I learned about this diet called Whole30 I was intrigued but thought there was no way I’d have any interest in doing it. I decided to learn about it and everything in entails. It sounds daunting, you spend 30 days eating no added sugar, no alcohol, no grains, no dairy. It makes eating out next to impossible, and means you’re reading so many labels. In practice, however, it’s not nearly as bad as it sounds. You eat, a protein at every meal, vegetables (SO many vegetables), and then a fat. Three meals a day with no snacking, and as long as you’re choose good recipes, of which there are many, you’ll find you’re eating tastier food than you did before, and definitely a lot more of it.

I’m not, by nature, a label reader. I try to be healthy, but I’m not a health nut. I don’t try to convince people to follow my version of healthy. I’m not one to participate in fad diets, and believe that when it really comes down to it, moderation is key. I still believe that.

However, as I was running more and more I became more concerned with what I was putting into my body. Whole30 isn’t something you do permanently and its focus isn’t on weight loss (You’re not allowed to weigh yourself, or count calories while you’re doing it), but it does force you to take a serious look at what you’re eating and focus on adding more whole foods into your diet.

It’s definitely restricting while you’re doing it but, overall, I loved it. My headaches went away, and I definitely wasn’t as tired. Well it’s been almost six months since the end of my first Whole30 and I started my second yesterday! So far so good, but then again it’s only the second day haha. I’m hoping to reset my eating habits just in time for the holidays that are just around the corner!