The Color Me Rad 5k

So, if you're my Facebook friend (which I can't imagine anyone who reads this isn't), I'm sure you've seen the pictures from the "race" this past Saturday. My dear new friend (and Ph.D. student from the lab) Christina and I decided a little over a month ago to run the Color Me Rad 5K supporting the Blair E. Batson Children's Hospital here in Jackson. (This is the place where they cured an infant of HIV, folks!) As this was my 2nd 5k, and Christina's first, we decided to just do the Couch to 5K to prepare ourselves. And let me tell you guys, waking up at 6:30 AM, working 'til 5ish then having to have the energy to go run is difficult. But we did it, and Saturday came quickly. We drug my wonderful boyfriend, Mike, along (so he could take pictures, of course...), parked forever away, then put on our "tail-feathers" and sunglasses and got ready to go!

As we walked up, colored corn starch was flying everywhere, and excitement was in the air. Also, people. People everywhere. So, we eventually push our way to the start line and we're off!

We ran and ran, color flying everywhere, through some really pretty neighborhoods, and finally crossed through the hot pink finish line. It was a spectacularly fantastic experience!

Then, photographer Mike, took a million and one pictures.

So I'll close out for the evening by saying, that if you're looking for an incredibly fun race (as in, most of the people were walking) to participate in, look no further than the Color Me Rad 5K! 3.1 miles is definitely doable, and I promise, if I can run a 5K, absolutely anyone can. So get out there and run - the hardest steps are the ones out the door. And for one of my favorite running quotes, "No matter how fast you're going, you're always lapping the people on the couch."

Now, I've gotta get back to cleaning my room.....*sigh*

Let me tell you a story....

It's a glorious tale, involving whales and sushi and engineering.......

Once upon a time, there was a girl, losing weight like a champ. Then one day, she turned 21.....

Then, with the help of some "friends," she pretty much quit caring about fitting back into that little green dress. She started working at a local restaurant, where CocaCola was free and fried rice was abundant. Then, before she knew it, she was in her senior year of college! It was an incredible year, full of "Ambulatory Infusion Pumps" for Senior Design, late nights with fraternity brothers (Yeah Theta Tau!), constant stress and no time. As senior year passed, she didn't care too much. School work, waitressing, and good times were more important than eating right and working out. Then.....

She graduated, and on that day, a big, black whale stood on the front grass in front of the ABE building.....

Since she had decided to attend graduate school at Mississippi State in Biomedical Engineering (while doing research down in Jackson), she decided to stay in the glorious Starkvegas over the summer and make some more money waitressing.

On a hot, hot day in July, she realized that she was consuming probably 2000 calories alone from fresh, cold Coca-Colas, and that was the last one she had.

A few weeks later, she moved in with two amazing friends, and they all decided to go all in together to get into shape. The weight came off, a 5k was ran, and before she knew it, it was time to move to Jackson.

Down 46 pounds, weighting a few pounds less than she did at the end of her freshman year in college, she finally has the gall to pick up the blog again.

So here we go, on this glorious journey together two years later, to keep going this time, to not give up, to know it's for real this time, to fit into the little green dress!

Couch to 5k

Soooooo...........

I am sure everyone has thought that I have completely gone off the dieting deep end and quit but NAY I tell you! I have been so super busy these last few weeks, I have barely found time to get on my computer, let alone blog. But it's Spring Break (woohoo!!) so I will do my very best to start blogging regularly again. I promise!

But any who. Am I the only person who sees someone (who is in totally great shape) running down the road and thought "Oh how I hate you"? No? I didn't think I was the only one! Well my soul patch, Lana, and I decided to do the Couch to 5k running plan. And my first one was today. And my legs absolutely feel like Jello. So, we're really excited to be *hopefully* be running a 5k by summer time, and I'll make sure to blog about this journey.

Also, my weigh-in for last week showed I (finally!) lost my next 10lbs (for a total of -33lbs)! So, we all know what that means.... new nail polish! Yay!! I brought it home with me so that Mom could give me a mani, and it is definitely one of my favorite colors. I will post a picture as soon as I can redo it, because I did a great job of chipping Mother's beautiful work while in New Orleans.

And one more thing. The more weight I lose, the harder it is to come off. I know that this is typical for everyone, but it really is frustrating. So, I decided that now instead of a new nail polish every 10lbs, I will reward myself with a new nail polish every 5lbs. Frankly, a month to lose 10lbs and get a new nail polish is a long time, even though it is healthy. So I'm hoping that setting these smaller goals will help keep myself motivated!

Falling off the Wagon...

For those of you who didn't know (and I'm not sure how you couldn't know - since I made sure everyone knew), that Friday was my birthday. So of course, last week was my birthday week - and starting the week I told myself "I'm not going to let my birthday week mess up all this hard work I have put in." Yeah... that lasted 'til about Wednesday. So since last Thursday, I haven't exercised, and I most definitely haven't eaten well. (I even had a piece of cake! *gasp*)

So, I am telling all of you this so we can all learn. Just because we fall of the wagon for the weekend, it doesn't mean we can't just hop right back on!

So I am jumping back on full-force this morning! I am super excited and ready to get these last couple of pounds off so I can get my new nail polish, and hopefully soon get out of this awkward "in-between" size where none of my pants fit right. The bigger size is too big - smaller size too small. I need like a half size or something - but fingers crossed I won't be here for long! (but I digress...)

Lesson to be learned? Don't let a bad day or weekend (or even full week) knock you off your diet. It's really easy to have the mindset of "well I was bad yesterday, so I might as well give up." But I say NO! Know that your goal can be reached, just keep working hard for it!

The Importance of Breakfast

So, what is the most important meal of the day? Breakfast! We've been told this since we were just youngen's, but if you're like me, you never really payed attention to it. My morning schedule is pretty hectic. I *try* to wake up at 6:30, get dressed, put on make up, make my bed... etc. I absolutely must leave the house by 7:25 or I will be late for class - thanks to the oh-so-lovely red light with 7 minute cycles at the end of my road. Like I already said, I have never really eaten breakfast, not in high-school, and definitely not while I have been in college - until this semester.

What's the problem with not eating breakfast? One less meal means less calories right? Nah, not really. First, we'll look at it from your metabolism's point of view. Let's say you're like me and you wake up at 6:30. So, again, like me, you have class until 11. Then you go change clothes, head back to campus for the noon spin class. You get out and it's time to eat - and it's one o'clock PM. You have been awake for over 7 hours, but your metabolism is running at the same pace as if you were still in bed. Why? Because you didn't feed it! Whenever you skip out on waking up your metabolism, you skip out on giving your body the fuel (glycogen) it needs to provide you with energy for physical activity.

Point 2 - If you eat breakfast, you will be less hungry throughout the day, and less likely to overeat. I can tell you that this is true, just from experience. How many times have we skipped on breakfast, then by lunch time, we're so ravenous, that we eat until we have to unbutton our pants "Frank-style." So, for the moment, you might be "saving calories", but throughout the day, you're more likely to eat the calories you should have eaten at breakfast - and then some.

So, I hope I have convinced you to eat breakfast tomorrow morning! I try to make my breakfast full of fiber and protein, so that it will keep me fuller, longer. I love, love, love a honey whole wheat bagel from Einsteins! Also, Nutella with banana slices makes for one heck of a good English muffin. So find something that's easy and healthy to eat on in the morning, and notice your change in energy and food choices throughout the day. I truly believe that one of the reasons for my success so far can be credited to eating breakfast!




This has absolutely nothing to do with weight-loss... BUT. I just want to vent how angry it makes me when I say "thank you" and the person replies "uh-huh." I notice this a ton more in Mississippi than I do in Alabama, but still. It takes everything in my being to not turn green and shout "You mean 'you're welcome,' right?"  "Uh-huh" is NOT an answer to thank you. I am sure that your mothers have raised you better than that and that I'm preaching to the choir, but just in case anyone has forgotten a nice reply would be "you're welcome" or "anytime, friend!" or "no problem." So there, I'm done... thanks for sticking around and listening to my problems :)

How Hard are You Working Out?

So, how hard are you actually working out? You think you are busting your butt on the treadmill everyday, but you're not really seeing results. Let me be the first to say, it's pretty easy to fool yourself. And I will tell you, I am phenomenal at it. But working out is like a church service and a bank - you only get out what you put in. So, if you think that you are working out strenuously, but you're barely getting your heart rate up, you're not only not reaping the benefits of exercise, but it's probably pretty discouraging as well.

So everyone has a different body and we're all different ages, which means everyone has different heart rate we want to reach. Well, you can look at those charts they have up on the gym walls, but they're not very accurate. "What's a better way to tell my intensity?" you ask. And I reply, "The Sing-Talk test!" This has been pushed on us WWs, and it seems to be a pretty effective way of measuring intensity.

This is pretty much it:
             - if you can sing, you're at a minimum elevated heart-rate and at a low intensity
             - if you can talk in complete sentences you are at a moderate intensity (this is recommended for older people and people who are just beginning to get active)
             - if you can only talk in short monosyllabic sentences, then you are at a high intensity (cardio level)

So, if you're out for your walk and singing like Christina Aguilera, then you need to step it up!

And if you're super out of breath, make sure that you are at the level of fitness for your body to handle it! It is really a great idea to have an exercise partner. This person can keep you accountable to make sure you push it your whole workout, and they will be there to bring you back down if you're going too hard! And hey, that's what friends are for, right?

So make sure the next time you're working out to use the Sing-Talk Test, and make sure you're getting the most out of your workout!

P.S. So today I start Week 8 of Weight Watchers - and I've lost a total of 27 lbs! So I'm three lbs away from my next nail polish (I've already got it picked out and in a shopping cart online!) and about 5lbs away from what I weighed at the end of Freshman year! I know that most people don't care, but I was just really excited about that this morning!

Here, Have Some Fries!

Hey guys! Sorry I've been lazy this week - won't try to justify it (but this weather sucks and makes me lazy)! But anywho, one of my biggest weaknesses is french-fries! I love, love, love them. I mean, I LOVE them. And we all know, french fries are bad, bad, BAD! So, how do we fix this? In short, you don't. BUT, you can whip up some pretty tasty "fries" right at home!

To me, one of the biggest things about food is texture. If I don't like the way it feels, I'm probably not going to eat it. So, fries = greasy, chips = crunchy, and so on and so forth. So tonight I'm going to tell you how I make a potato (5 pts WW) into mock fries & chips.

For fries:
Take a cookie sheet and spray it lightly with olive oil. Then take your potato and cut it as thinly as you want your fries to be ( I like mine like McDonald's fries). Then lay them out on your cookie sheet, spray them with olive oil, then sprinkle them with season salt to taste. Broil them in the oven for about 15 min (this will vary with how thick your fries are). Pull them out and enjoy!!

For chips:
Take your cookie sheet and lightly olive oil it. Then slice your potato as thinly as possible (I go the opposite direction that I go with cutting fries). Olive oil them, sprinkle salt, broil until golden brown and crispy. Take them out (I salt them a little bit more) then crunch away!

I really love both of these variations of a potato, and I hope you do, too!