Little Things

did I mention that I'm getting my running mojo back?

I think it started to end last Saturday, the excitement that those ladies felt was electric.

The new shoes and maybe the yoga have been helping my hip pain as well, I haven't noticed any major pain lately.

Source

This past Monday I ran with another group, 3 of which who are qualifying Boston Marathoners. I knew I'd be the slowest, despite others claiming they were, but I hung in there and once again, my love for the sport has been renewed.

I have to admit I am worried about my overall conditioning considering I've been averaging 1 5k run a week the past 4 weeks.

Despite my legs feeling heavy, I've already run 6 miles this week and I'm getting in another 6 before Monday. I'm definitely no where where I was prior to my Half but I'm getting there and I'm thankful for that.

It really is the little things sometimes.

Punk'd... by a nutrtition label

I'd say I've become fairly efficient at reading nutrtitaion labels, at least for the stuff that I am concerned with which is:
calories
fat
fiber
sugar
protein
actual ingredients

By no means am I perfect but rarely, RARELY do I buy something to realize I misread the label.

I was at Costco a few weeks back and they were giving samples of this tasty muffin top.

Sole muffin top in the container!

 It's been a while since I've had a VitaTop (if your reading this VitaTop, I'll gladly take a case to try!) but the last time I had it, I wasn't that impressed with them. Or maybe it was just the corn muffin that was meh.

Either way, they were delicious..moist! and a steal at what I thought to be only 100 calories!

 Truth is, I had been eating them like they were only a 100 cal serving for roughly 2 weeks before I noticed the sneaky per serving. It was then that I decided to turn the box upright and actually look at the label (yes, I sadly had not looked at the label when I put them in my cart..I was too enthralled by the great taste and only 100 calories per serving! clever marketing for sure!)

Oy vey...lets not even talk about all the ingredients but can you see... 1 muffin top/cake is 2 servings! Aaaaarrrrrrggggggghhhhhhhhh!!!!

Lets do the math: 100 cals extra per day x 7 days = 700 cals extra unaccounted for calories in a diet.

It's little stuff like that and I'm not even talking about BLT's (Bites, Licks and Tastes) and you can be in stand still in regards to your weight!

Mission: Recreate my own muffin tops without all the added ingredients!

Positive Polly

Happy Monday Tuesday peeps!

I can't believe it's already Monday Tuesday...seriously...WHERE DOES THE TIME WEEKEND GO?!

I swear, I don't even recognize my life anymore.

Last year around this time, I was beyond miserable. If you would have asked my mom or Nate to describe me in one word, it could have ranged from: negative, angry, bitter, aggressive etc.

natalie dee

I've known I've been changing, the little things that used to stress me out, still sometimes do but definitely not to the extent that they used, and if they do stress me out, I definitely don't fly off the handle like I used too. It was reaffirmed when I read all your lovely support on my last post, my positivity is beginning to shine through.

There have been several posts, on several different blogs regarding blogger envy and I have to admit I've always been one of them. I couldn't believe all the things some of these ladies were doing and making happen. I just sat there and read about it, perpetuating the feelings of resentment and bitterness. I had ideas and desires but in the end I was so busy "planning/thinking", I got stuck.

natalie dee

This past January, February I just started doing. I emailed, I networked, and in some cases pushed myself on things. Granted, not all worked out, but the things that have worked out. Have been amazing Fantastic. Awesome.

What I'm saying is this, I haven't been handed anything. I've had to step outside my comfort zone for the majority of everything I'm pursuing but I'm doing it. I'm slowly creating the life that I want for myself and it's the greatest feeling ever. Sure, there's trial and error, time to be invested and lateral steps but any progress is better than no progress

Truly, If I can do it, so can you.

Just start doing!

Doubt

I doubt myself a lot.

I'm not really sure when it started because I can think back to one particular moment in HS where I was carpooling with the other girls and I spoke so passionately about my plans, I knew I would achieve them. Needless to say, I realized in college that wasn't my passion but I want that passion that I displayed that day back.

This  past week has been a particular struggle. The nagging feeling that returning to school was perhaps too ambitious, that I should be out there working and earning an income has had me question what I've recently  committed to.

One of those commitments being yesterday morning..

I tweeted this shortly before 7am. I was supposed to meet with the Coordinator of the adult 5k running program at 7:15. I would be late because of record lows..

Despite the fact that I forced myself onto the 5K training program (although after this past weekend I think she realizes now that it's beneficial to have two people coaching) and wasn't sure what she would relinquish control over, I ended up in quite the leadership position yesterday.

The ladies asked her for a warm-up, as she stumbled for words, I piped in having them start with high knee's, wide knee's, knee-ups and then butt-kicks. Shortly thereafter, we were off wogging.She stayed back due to the temp and being pregnant, which I understood. Those 25 minutes of wogging were the fastest I've ever participated in and upon our return I led them through a quick cool-down.


I LOVED IT! 

I loved every single minute of yesterday's group run. I left the clinic with such a high that the freezing temps and early morning were forgotten. I realized on the ride back to my house, that I'm doing the right thing.

I'm achieving the right goal and that nothing has ever made me this happy.

I need to remember this.

I know now when I achieve my goal, I will be great at it!

nu shooz: Adidas Supernova

wooohooo...I finally got my nu shooz...

I must have tried on at least 12 different pairs and in the end, it was between Asics Kayano and the Adidas Supernova, which I had to specifically ask for since they weren't on display!

I know Adidas is fairly new on the scene (although it has been several years now!!) and both times when I went to get them, weren't recommended to me even though they are my favorite!

Main reason I chose the Adidas over the Asics is the cushioning. I want to feel like I'm running on clouds. I mean seriously now, if I'm hitting the hard pavement, I want something to soften the impact a little! Secondly, the color finally and last but not least the price $99 vs $140.

What's your favorite running shoe?

Nifty Running Tip I learned at my clinic Tuesday night: "they" suggested that around the 150 mile point (on your current shoes) you buy a second pair, which then you start alternately wearing.  

Anyone do that?

Capn Crunch

While down in Florida, I stumbled upon a tiny box of this while at the grocery store one day.

Seriously, how cute is this tiny 5.5 oz box of Capn Crunch and for only a $1, I couldn't not buy it?!

I think I only had 2 bowls but ya know..I'm sure 2 bowls were plenty.

What cereal brings you back to your childhood?

Yoga

Morning blends...how be you?

It's quite dreary over here in the mitten state.. I keep on trying to tell myself we need this rain and drear before it can be summer but...I'm not quite believing it myself yet!

So I told ya'll yesterday that I've been in/am in somewhat of a workout funk. Truth is that my hip is still giving my problems.. I'm beginning to think it may be my shoes, so new shoes it is today! Thanks to a 20% coupon and a gift card, cuz that's how I roll nowadays!

What's your fave running brand shoe?

I've strictly been an Asics girl but the last two shoes I've run in have been Adidas and New Balance. Let's see what I bring how today!

Source

 I've mentioned it before but I'm not a fan of yoga. Although I can't really say I'm not a fan of it because I do enjoy it, it's just that, in my mind, I havent been able to justify doing it when I'm actively creating a calorie deficit. Does that make sense?

If I workout 5 - 6 times a week, I want to create the biggest calorie deficit that I can, and if you've ever worn your HRM during a session well, you know what it's going to say.

However in my great funk, I ventured out and decided to give Bikram a try. Bikram, because I knew it would be in a hot room and allow me to sweat.

What I didn't anticipate:

• was the smell. A combination of warmed up split pea soup and co-op.
• sweaty man balls in front of my face
• obscene grunting from said man and his sweaty balls.

I thought it was rough, challenging and somewhat exciting..except that I had to go home in drenched clothes and still traumatized by the above.

I didn't go back.

Source

I skipped the first week of Yoga X, but decided to give it a try this past week.

I'm not gonna say I loved it. I did it for 45 minutes before my mind started to wander, at which I stopped the DVD.

What I enjoyed about this particular DVD is that it was challenging, fast pasted, and perhaps a tad on the cardio side? I can't really judge since I'm no yoga expert but I was sweating by the end. I liked it enough, I'll be doing it again next Sunday. how 'bout that?

Anyone else have any fave cardio type yoga DVD's they want to recommend?

P90X Lean

Happy Monday folks!!!

Hope you had a glorious weekend.. I sure did! Still can't believe it's already Monday. Who wants to petition 5 day weekends and 2 day workdays with me? ;)

I feel like it's somewhat of a confession time, although some of you may have already noticed it, but I've been in a major workout slump.

Source

It started in the beginning of February, I was beginning to feel majorly burnt out, and then add in my possible injuries, I did the bare minimum. I ran and that was about it.

 I was beyond geeked for the Disney Princess Half but given the extreme temps, I was not only grateful when it was finally over but I knew that for that week in FL, I was on an official workout hiatus.

Looking back to two weeks ago, I can't remember when I started working out again. I know I needed to start lifting again, and by lifting I don't mean getting ready for a fitness competition. I simply mean strength training. Given my body type, I now realize that it's extremely important for me to have muscle tone or else I appear somewhat 'doughy'.

I was frantically looking for a replacement to Jillian's Winning by Losing It, and I didn't want to think. I wanted someone to tell me exactly what to do, and since I already owned P90X, I went that route.

Source

Lemme preface that I think Tony, the host/moderator, can be totally annoying, but I've:

• yet to be bored
• sore for two weeks
• already feeling/seeing results

I didn't take any measurements...I can't be bothered with that right now, but I know my bat-wing jiggle is considerably down, my quadriceps muscle is beginning to firm up, and dare I say, my butt looks lifted?

I'm a fan of all the weight DVD's not so much of the cardio ones which is fine because I want to continue running so I'll run instead of do those but I'm really happy with my choice.

That, and I want to see if I can workout without a gym. I'm seriously contemplating giving up my membership to save some money and the P90X seems to give a great all around workout.

Above all though, I feel like I'm slowly but surely getting my love back for exercising...Sometimes you just gotta keep on plugging, even if you don't feel like it.

I know Lola uses P90X, but how about some of you others...
Love it?
Hate it?
Recommend something else from the Beachbody line?

Corktown 5k - Race Recap

With all the craziness of last week, I totally forgot to post last Sunday's St. Patty's Day race recap!

I waited till the last day, Thursday, to sign-up since Nate couldn't decide whether he was going run it with me or not.

The great thing about this race was that it didn't start till noon, which meant I was able to sleep in and have somewhat of a leisurely morning!

We got into Detroit around 11:30, later than we had hoped, found an alley and parked our cars with several other runners and St. Patty Day partiers!

 

in the alley

We then headed towards the start

The race started in front of my favorite building

the old train station

In my opinion, this was quite the informal race since there were no corrals and people were all just lined up behind the starting gate but it was quite a smooth starting and we were off.

Our cheering squad, right after the start and since it was an out and back course, right before the finish!

I took the first mile and a half easy, since I was doing it with Nate and he jogs/run 1 minute and then walks another and since I was doing this for the hell of it, I even took a jello shot from a spectator

As you can tell from my face, it was bad.. like wow...

If there is one thing Detroiters know how to do it, it's party. There were plenty of party tents along the way.

and some bag pipe players.

I think this race/run was my second time running since the Half and it felt great. Maybe because I had no expectations besides having fun.

and of course,  the most important part of any race...post-race fuel!

Question: is it tacky to wear your race shirt the day of the race?
I always thought it was but am realizing more and more people are doing it.

SPIBelt Winner and a special offer for you!

Is SuziStorm!

Suzi if you could email me at rebecca@thruthinandthick.com I'll get your info and pass it on.

Also, the fine folks have offered a coupon code for 10% off their product, use blog11 when checking out!

Free shipping code: ship09

and if you purchase this belt... it appears to be a single belt, half the proceeds go to the Japanese Relief Effort!

Go and stimulate the economy as well as support a great cause!

Kosmo Diner in Kerrytown, Ann Arbor

Have you registered for my SPIbelt give-away?! Today is the last day!!!

After a date mix-up, and 2 hours to kill, my dad and I ventured into downtown Ann Arbor to scout out Kerrytown.

I was expecting something similar to Philadelphia's Reading Terminal Market or even DC's Union Station , but it definitely wasn't either of those places. About a block wide, there is an open area for a farmer's market (Winter: Weds only; Summer: Weds and Saturday) as well as 1 building that houses several shops

Anyways, an hour after we finally got there we decided it was time to EAT! We ended up having lunch at Kosmo, this non-descript diner, which, for me is a huge. I have this tendency to base restaurants on their ambiance.

Order counter

Funkiness and Diner Seating

The restaurant is really small, we sat in a row of 3 or maybe 4 boothes, then the middle row of tables, and the bar.

The menu is fairly small, and somewhat difficult to read as it had a lot of doodling however we eventualy decided on

Fried Rice

Oh my gawd.. the fried rice was amazing! Seriously, I'm not the hugest fried rice fan but this stuff was amazing. There was something crunchy and sweet.. I'm dreaming of the day I can go back!

a spring roll for a $1 extra

So if you order the fried rice, they offer you a spring/egg roll for a $1 but it was pretty crappy. Seriously, it was like a cabbage roll and the best part was the crispy outside.

burger with swiss cheese, and carmelized onions

The burger was out of this world too... some of the best seasoning I've ever tasted. We actually decided that when we go back, we'd each get a burger and share a fried rice.

Come to find out...this place has great reviews and known for their B-Bim-Bop, Bulgogi, Twigim and Grilled Cheese. I love me some grilled cheese and I can't wait to go back!!!

Yay or Nay on nondescript diners?

Housekeeping

morning friends, how's everyone doing this fine Tuesday morning?

i'm doing well...glad to have a few hours where I am not rushing around. things have been/are becoming crazy busy up in herrrrrrr.

I'm trying to retain my sanity without going all out in a binge. My battle right now, to end the vicious cycle of stress = food = not working out = feeling bad about myself.

Source

I think I counted 21 weeks until my next round of Half-Marathon training begins, which means I have 21 weeks to shed this weight.

I keep on battling with picking a number. I know some people say, your set weight is whatever you can maintain for a while. Well, I maintained the mid 150's for most of the summer and now I've been maintaining the low 160's for a while. I really don't even know what a good number is for me to choose.

I do know that 136 isn't realistic, and I'm mentally at a stage where I am ready to say good-bye to that number. I felt good/great at 150, so right now my goal is 145-150. Just to get to 150, I'm basically re-losing what I gained last summer. Totally realistic and achievable and right now, my first goal. Hell, my first goal is really to get past 159 as I've been stuck at that number recently.



I have no plan. No real plan anyways. I'm trying something completely off the wall for me. Right now, I'm just trying to eliminate some of the eating out, some of the extra sweets without feeling like I'm on a diet. My entire life, even when I was successfully losing all this weight, I was ON or OFF plan and when things got rough around here last May, is when I started backsliding.

I lost 1 lb last week "intuitively", this week I'm adding in tracking while eating "intuitively", and we'll see what happens next week. My greatest struggle is balance, and I don't want to feel this constant struggle of being on or off.

I don't know how much I'll talk about weight-loss. I feel like it's a beaten horse and right now there really isn't much to report.

so instead enter my SPIbelt give-away!!!

SPIbelt Review and give-away!!!

Happy Monday friends!!

This weekend just blew by, seriously, and my Spring Break is over which means that it's back to school!

anywhoo...this review is way, WAY overdue! I received my SPIbelt back in December and am just now getting to it!

SPIbelt in action

The SPIbelt is a small personal item belt that I've used in several runs to hold my fuel. Exactly what I used it for above. Even Nate is jonesing to use it on one of his mountain bike rides so that he doesn't have to stop and grab his Gu from his camelback.

I have to admit I was skeptical about the quality but upon receiving it, I was thrilled to see how high quality it is.

The  belts have durable snaps, quality elastic and the pouches are made of a soft neroprene fabric.

I opted for the SpiBelt with Inner Pocket, but must admit that I am not overly thrilled with the inner pocket.

My reason for wanting an inner pocket was so that I could separate, keys etc. from my fuel but by how the inner pocket is attached to the interior of the pouch, my items always fall out. Oh well, overall I am very happy with how much the pouch can hold.

I filled it to the max to show you how much a belt can hold, 3 different kinds of fuel, plus that miniature Bodyglide is in there as well. I wouldn't recommend filling it to the max because the belt does get bouncy (if not worn around your waist, and it's not flattering on your waist!) but if you position the items from flattest to thickest, there usually isn't a problem.

Side view of the SPIbelt

I really want to get the race toggles and add them to the belt so that instead of attaching my bibs to my shirt (and putting holes into them) I can attach them to the SPIbelt!

and now comes the cool part... SPIbelt wants to give you one!

3 ways to enter:

1. Go to their website and lemme know which one you would like.
2. Like them on Facebook
3. Befriend them on Twitter

Hit me up in the comments as to how you enter and I will pick a winner Thursday night!

Disney Princess Race Recap

So, I left off with hearing the alarm go off at 2:45 AM.

The last shuttle left the resort at 4 but I wanted to make sure that we were on the 3:30 shuttle so I gave myself 45 mins to get ready, and that included putting make-up on.

I was torn whether or not to do that since I am a sweater and was worried it would drip off but alas, I did it anyways. I didn't regret it until the end where a combination of the sweat and make-up made my eyes burn.

Waiting in the bus line

I totally underestimated the amount of people who were also taking the bus and am glad that I wanted to be there by 3:30 because I don't think we got on the bus till around 3:45.

on the bus

The ride was definitely quick and convenient and once we got dropped off in the Epcot's parking lot, we still had to trek roughly 10 mins to the race area. There wasn't much in the race area to do, a dj spinning and a Disney Princess Marathon screen where you could have gotten your picture taken with. I was actually standing in line for it thinking it was a picture with the princesses but half way through waiting I went up front and realized it was the background. I went to the portapotties one last time.

I have to say that they had a ton of portapotties and I was beyond grateful for that but the stench of them... hot damn. It was bad.

Anywhoo, after the DJ reminding us for the upteenth time we still have to walk at least 20 mins to the starting line, I finally headed towards the starting line. Lemme tell you, they were not kidding when they said it was a 20 min hike, and seriously it was packed. I don't want to say the trail was tiny but with the amount of people heading towards the starting line, it sure felt tiny. Plenty of portapotties along the way and then I was at Corral B.

Look at all those ladies behind me

I have to admit that the 53 minute wait until my Corral took off seemed forever. I ended up speaking to two ladies who were running the race alone too, one of them a newbie and the other a veteran. Finally the fireworks went off and so was I!

I like to walk the first 5 mins of "run" and tried to stay out of the way for those people who were trying to rush past me but it was somewhat of a clusterfuck. Walkers, runners, joggers.. it was crazy, dark and hot.

Yes, record highs of 80 or something like that. I think I started sweating while I was just waiting around. I really miscalculated a) how hot it would be and b) how it would be affect me, but I'm saving that for another post titled Rookie Mistakes.

Nate and Phil were waiting at Epcot for me but due to the dark neither they or I saw each other. It was lame. Shortly thereafter we hit a hill, which was fine since I have no problem walking up them and my training included 1 min walks every 10 mins. The Galloway method without actually having ready about Galloway although now with some downtime I want to spend some more time researching his methods.

a picture i took for my bro who loves Pirates of the Carribean

Now don't get me wrong, I like Disney, I'm not head over heels in love with it like I used to be, but a lot of the characters and such on the side didn't interest me. I really only wanted a picture with Ariel and I think she was the only princess not represented. WTH?! Also, in hindsight.. they could have saved some of the entertainment for the return part of the race, where it was hot, sweaty, and peeps were getting tired.

Also, I didn't realize the long time spent on the freeways. They felt considerably longer than the short stints in the parks. Or perhaps they just felt longer because I ran by myself. I've never had a running buddy and spent training by myself but I felt somewhat alone one the run.There were a lot of groups, friends, sisters doing the race and I would have enjoyed the comradship. On that note, if anyone wants to plan a blogger event for this next year, hit me up! I'd love to do a short weekend getaway with ya'll!

The first 6 miles flew, considering the heat and that I was having major technical difficulties with my earbuds, iphone holder.

The most exciting part of the course was Downtown/the Castle and honestly, it went by so fast. There were sssooo many people!

Photo courtesy of Nate

To say I was thrilled would be an understatement...wanna see...

oh gawd, I cant believe I am posting this pic

Nate was pretty far back from the guard rail, I didn't realize that coming in and had hoped to throw him my iPod case (which is why it's in my hand!), it was causing me a huge headache!

I popped in line to get my picture taken in front of the castle, and then was off again. After the castle, we were still in the parks for mayb 10 mins and then the long haul came. Basically mile 6.5 - 11.5 was spent on the freeway. The HOT freeway.

I have to give props to Disney for the amount of water stations they had, they really had a ton. Pretty much every 1.5 miles. Gatorade first and then water. For the first few miles I took solely water as I had drunken most of a Gatorade prior to running but around mile 4, I started alternating between the two.

I think this is lovely pic of the castle, courtesy of Nate

It was getting warm though, like uncomfortably warm, sweat was dripping into my eyes and stinging them, I swear there were more hills outbound then in were and by the time mile 10 came around, I was over it. I wanted it to be over. Granted, it could have had something to do with the fact that I hadn't run anything past 10 miles before, but I kept on repeating that I could run a 5k and thats was all that was standing between me and the finish line.

It was also around mile 10 that my GI issues were beginning to intensify. This may be TMI, but, for the majority of the morning/run, I felt like I needed to pooh, but whenever I went, nothing came, and by mile 10...the last thing I wanted to do was sit in a warm portapotty! So I laid off the gatorade for the rest of the race.

Right before Epcot there was truly a huge, HUGE hill, but I knew the end was in sight and Nate would be standing right there as I would be entering Epcot.

still smiling!!!

Right after seeing mile marker 12, I kicked it up..I pretty much went balls to the wall. I should have waited till I hit 12.5 because I was truly done by the time I hit the finish.

Luckily, I never hit that wall. I paced myself. I was properly fueled. I enjoyed the race but it was so warm. That to me was somewhat of a downside.

Completing this half marathon was huge for me. I was never pushed to pursue sports, and this was something I chose to do and I have the medal to prove I did it.

I ALONE EARNED IT.

It's an indescribable feeling and so rewarding


I'm definitely not ready to start training for another race but I am registered for Detroit's Half in October!