As a (mean) yoga instructor once told me, "noone kicks up to a headstand in my yoga class"

What is more important to you?  The journey or the end result?  This is obviously a very important question to ask yourself when making the decision to try and get healthy.  This is usually the difference between the “I am going to take my time and do it right” and the “I need to do whatever I can do to lose the most amount of weight in the least amount of time” (picture me wearing one of those plastic sweat suits that wrestlers wear to drop pounds before a match, peddling furiously on a bike, sweating, red faced – not pretty).  Well, I am a libra. My whole make-up is literally (and astrologically) about balance.  Unfortunately, I am constantly trying to get it and most of the time I am weighted to one extreme or the other.  So, the patience that is required to “do it right” is not in my dna.  You will most likely either find me ellipticaling at high speeds drenched in sweat or sitting on the couch too lazy for even a bathroom break.  There is no happy medium.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, I am now practicing yoga.  Perfect for me because it pushes me to my limit, gets me soaked in sweat, and is spiritual all in one.  $13 well spent.  A few weeks ago I went to a new class.  The instructor was pregnant, which didn’t stop her from doing the class, which actually made me a little angry.  Nothing like a pregnant lady in a backbend to remind you that you’re out of shape. Anyway, I could tell right off the bat that she was tough.  During the class, the woman next to me was trying to get in to her tripod headstand.  For the yogis out there, you know that this headstand itself isn't the difficult part.  It's the way that you are supposed to get in to the headstand, by raising your legs up together as opposed to kicking them up individually, that is tough.  Some yoga instructors think that getting in to a headstand anyway that you can is a success. Not this one!  She wouldn’t let the woman do her headstand the “wrong way”.  I am no instructor but I have been perfecting my headstand and I think that it would be an accomplishment even if a crane picked you up, turned you upside down and placed you on your head.  So it made me think about my own approach to getting healthy. 

If I don’t start to think long term, I am never going to get anywhere.  We all know that 1 week of extreme exercise is easily cancelled out by another week of crappy food and no exercise.  I have to decide what’s more important to me.  The journey or the end result.  And I have to learn how to find some balance in my otherwise unbalanced life.

By the way, in the case of the woman next to me she did kick up to a headstand and once she got the feeling of being up there she was able to learn how to do it the “right” way. Take that preggers.

Until next time…

So I took a little break from blogging..but I'm zen and I'm back:)

So it has been a few weeks and I'm sure that you have really missed hearing from me:)  I can just picture all of you eagerly checking your email everyday just hoping to find a new blog entry from me.  Well today is your lucky day!!  I'm back and I'm zen.  Nope, not crazy.  Zen.  I recently started practicing yoga.  Power yoga, in fact.  And I love it.  The "love it like a fat kid loves cake" kind of love.  I don't love running. Hell,  most of the time I don't even like running unless I just finished one.  Yoga offers me the same feeling of accomplishment and strength that I get from running without all of the...running! 

A few weeks ago, right around the time that I stopped blogging, I started feeling really down.  I have been struggling with some stomach pains from complications that occurred when I delivered my oldest daughter.  Trying to raise two babies, work full-time, and take care of myself while being in pain has made life really hard over the past couple of years.  I felt really sick one week and it just put me over the top.  I just realized that I was struggling just to get through the days.  I wasn't taking enough time for myself.  Sure I was running when I found the time and I was trying to watch what I was eating.  But I was just not in a good state of mind and I had to do something about it.  Fast.  So I signed up for yoga at a place that I found online.  I just needed to do something outside of the house for an hour or two a week (I love running with the girls but it isn't exactly "me" time) and it had to be something physical because I wanted to exercise more.  I thought that it was important for me to go to a class where I would be held accountable and where there was some social aspect as well.  I have practiced yoga here and there in the past and liked it, so it seemed like the perfect choice. 

I loved it right away.  It is a little bit painful, which I loved (call me a masochist).  It is very peaceful, which Steve loves (he says I am much nicer now that I am practicing...go figure).  And not to toot my own horn (toot, toot) but I am actually pretty good at it too.  I catch on pretty quickly and my body seems to remember all of the balance and flexibility lessons that it learned so long ago when I danced and cheered.  I am excited to go to class and even found myself at a headstand workshop this weekend.  Crazy!!

This blog and everything that comes with it is in an effort to make myself feel happier and healthier.  Yoga does just that.  If I hadn't felt so horrible I may never have taken the yoga class.  I would never have been inspired!  Yoga makes me want to be stronger and to feel better.  That is amazing.  It even makes me want to run more.  So my message here is never stop trying to find inspiration.  Don't get stuck in a rut.  Whether it's a workout regimen, a diet, or the lack of both be prepared to switch it up once in a while.  Never limit yourself.  Go ahead and join me in the next headstand workshop (especially if you want to watch me rock the crap out of that pose) or do something a little more low key.  But try something new and different.  It may change your life.

Until next time (namaste)...

Is your reflection a friend? or a foe?

Last week I was on the elliptical for an hour and I kicked a$%.  I had a great workout and it felt great.  Prior to going to the gym I looked in the mirror and was horrified by the 13 extra pounds that I have acquired thanks to my 2 beautiful girls (they'll get theirs someday).  I can finally admit to myself that those 13 lbs have not manifested themselves in the form of huge boobs or bigger feet.  Unfortunately, the weight has evenly distributed itself around my middle, in that little wing that hangs down when you lift your arm to wave to someone, and in my bum. Any leftovers have rounded out my face.  Lovely.  But at least my horror motivated me to get to the gym.  I really, REALLY needed to work out.  So, I did.

After my workout, I came back upstairs (I was traveling for work, so I was at a hotel) and hopped right in the shower.  When I came out I was faced with one of the cruelest design decisions that every hotel interior designer seems to have made...the mirrored closet doors.  My first reaction was to look away but eventually I forced myself to take another look. And, you know what?  I actually looked better than I did before I went to the gym.  A little thinner.  A little more toned.  Those 13 pounds looked more like 10! 

I am a very smart girl.  So, I obviously knew that I didn't really shed any pounds on my hour-long cardio craze.  My abs were not any toner and my butt was not a little tighter.  I just felt better and therefore what I saw looked better to me.

What I see when I look in the mirror depends entirely on how well I have taken care of myself and how good I feel.  That in and of itself is motivation to make healthier choices.  Feeling good boosts my self-esteem which in turns makes me feel even better. 

For those of you with good memories, I realize that I haven't posted my weight yet.  I still haven't gotten a scale, but I will give you the weight from a dr's appointment this week...143.  It is going to take a lot of workouts for me to look in the mirror and see 115, huh?  UGH!!!

Until next time...

I want to be runnin' when the sand runs out...

Today I was inspired by one of my favorite bands (thank you Rascal Flatts).  I woke up this morning with a slight headache due to a few glasses of vino with some co-workers last night and I missed my morning workout.  Not my best day.  But, I was reminded that my goal to feel better goes way beyond a dinner plate or a gym.  The Rascal Flatt's song "Sand Runs Out" came on the radio.  The concept of the song is that some of us go through life without ever living it and before we know it, our time has run out.  Usually I just hear the tune of a song and don't pay much attention to the words (for example, I caught myself singing "sticks and stones may break my bones, but chains and whips excite me" during a recent dance party with Mia...going to have to watch what I listen to from now on).  But today I really heard the message of the song.  The words really struck me.

The thought of running out of time and chances really scares me.  I always tell myself that I am going to make changes and then I don't make them.  I don't know why I don't make them.  I just don't.  I could tell you that I'm just too busy with a husband, and kids, and a full time job. A house, friends and family to see, and then there's always sleep.  And it is true that I am busy.  But I know from experience that when I want to do something, REALLY want to do something, it gets done.  Just ask my husband.  It drives him crazy.  So I have to wonder, does that mean that when I don't follow through that I didn't really want to make the change in the first place?

There is one part of the song that goes as follows:

Cause people do it everyday
Promise themselves they're gonna change
I've been there, but I'm changing from the inside out
That was then and this is now
I'm a new man, yeah, I'm a brand new man

I realize that making a lifestyle change has to go way beyond what I put in my mouth or sweat out of my body.  Taking better care of ourselves has to come from caring more about ourselves.  Otherwise, what will make the resolution stick? 
Until next time...

I wouldn't expect to run a marathon without training...

I have to be honest (afterall that is the point of the blog), I am really struggling to live healthier.  Yesterday I got Wendy's and today I have eaten about 15 tootsie rolls.  I had to physically put the tootsie rolls in the trash and cover them with other trash to stop myself from eating them.  I covered them with other trash  because I actually contemplated taking the tootsie rolls out of the trash to eat more.  They are wrapped, after all, so the other trash wouldn't really "dirty" them.  Right?  Even as a type I am wincing at the thought of eating candy out of the trash (I do have 2 babies in diapers afterall...wouldn't be pretty).  Why is this so hard??  When I eat better and I exercise I feel so much better, physically and mentally.  So why can't I just make the changes that I need to be better everyday?

Making any life change is extremely overwhelming and can be very intimidating.  Fitness and health are particularly hot topics and there is no shortage of books, websites, tv shows, concepts...all with different things to think about and interesting pieces of information.  Where do you even begin?  Do you go to a meeting and count points?  Do you just start focusing on portion sizes?  Is organic the way to go?  Should you order meals that come to your house pre-cooked?   And, what do you do at parties or on vacation or at a night out with your friends?  What if your married and your husband or wife doesn't care to join you (or even worse eats like crap and stays skinny)?  There is just too much to think about.  It is just easier, at least for me, to revert back to what I know...eating like crap.  But this time I am determined to make a change.  I have been making small changes, little by little.  And I know that eventually those small changes will add up.  Even if I do have the occassional tootsie roll binge.

I wouldn't expect myself to run a marathon without training for it.  How can I expect myself to make a major life change without the same amount of hard work?  When training for a race there are learning curves and growing pains.  There are weeks when you do a little more and weeks where you just don't feel like doing as much.  But, you try to stick as closely as possible to your training schedule and just keep pressing on until race day arrivesObviously in my real life scenario there is no race day, but the idea is still the same.  You have a goal and you work towards it little by little.  You start out with a single mile and before you know it you are running more than you ever thought that you physically could. 

Writing today's blog made me realize that I may need to have some measurable goal to strive for.  I said that weight loss wasn't my motivation and it still isn't.  But maybe monitoring it will help to keep me moving forward and give me an opportunity to celebrate real, tangible victories. I plan to post my current weight in the next few days.  I am not psyched about it since I have just had two babies back to back.  But, I think it will help if I can publically track my progress.  I just have to buy a scale (no - I am not kidding.  I don't have one).

And, who knows, if I could eat like crap and be in moderate shape maybe I can really work at it and look like a freaking rock star!

Until next time...

Sure I could be a little better. But I could be a lot worse too. I’ll take a little over a lot, thank you.

Like most of America, I have been on vacation celebrating the fourth of July. Happy Birthday America!  Vacation is wonderful but it is not the ideal time to be practicing a healthy lifestyle.  And since I only recently started my journey, I really didn’t want to screw up.  I was extremely optimistic that I could stay on track while we were away.  I packed lots of healthy foods and workout clothes (although the truth is that we were in New Hampshire and workout clothes tend to be what I would wear anyway).  I brought my sneakers and my ipod.  I made Steve make room in the car for the jogging stroller.  I had big plans.  I envisioned cooking at home every night; fresh fish and locally grown vegetables.  I saw myself running along the beach with the girls in the morning and taking long strolls through the neighborhood with the whole family at night.  I even contemplated looking at local yoga studios to see if I could take a class or two while I was there.  Things didn’t exactly happen the way that I hoped.

Instead, I spent a lot of time lounging on the deck at the house or on a raft at the beach.  I ate a burger and fries when we went out to dinner one night.  I kept the maker of Corona in business.  I only took my sneakers out once…to get to something else in my suitcase.  And, the jogging stroller is still packed in the car (Steve is still annoyed with me for making him pack it so I don’t think he is going to be the one to unpack it).   

I was feeling really guilty about the fact that I have made this resolution to get healthier and yet I wasn’t being very healthy.  I realized that guilt wasn’t going to help me to get back on track, so I started to think about all of the things that I did right this week:

I made it a point to snack on lots of fruits and vegetables throughout the week.  Whenever I drank coffee, I held the sugar.  I didn’t drink soda but I did drink lots of water.  And, a benefit of vacationing in New Hampshire, a lot of the food that we bought was locally grown, raised, or produced. 

I realized that there is no doubt that I could do a little better.  But, I could also be doing a lot worse.  I’m not saying that as long as I don’t have to be hoisted out of bed by a crane that I am going to be happy with where I am at.  What I am saying is on my spectrum of best to worst, I am a hell of a lot closer to being my best than being my worst.  

Until next time…

Even on a sunny day your run may end with a hailstorm...

I have started out on plenty of runs fully prepared and ready to run forever only to find out about halfway down the block that what I planned to be a "long" run will more likely be a "slightly more than short run".  Despite the fact that I am fully hydrated (and made a point to "go" before I left), and that I have eaten plenty of healthy carbohydrates, and that I am wearing very expensive and incredibly supportive running shoes, and that I have filled my ipod with some really good pump-up songs, and that I have really cute running gear on, and that I have slept the prescribed 8 hours...I am just not feeling it.  My body and my mind are just not on the same page. 

No matter how well we take care of our bodies, there are just days that we can't run as well as the others.  Days where we are mentally not ready to run.  I have talked to a lot of other runners about this.  Some more hard-core than others.  The general concensus is that for the most part the way that we take care of our bodies will attribute to our ability, or lack thereof, to run well.  But, there is no doubt that every runner has that inexplicable bad run now and again.  Sunday was mine.

I will admit (mostly because I have to because some of the people reading this blog were with me) that I had a couple of cocktails on Saturday night.  However, I am old enough and unfortunately experienced enough to know what a hangover feels like and this wasn't.  I just felt zapped of energy and pretty down.  This is especially strange considering that it was the first nice day that we have had in a while.  Usually the sunshine perks me up.  But, instead I felt awful and as a result I couldn't run. 

The point of today's blog is that no matter how perfectly we take care of ourselves, we will have off days.  And the truth is, running is about 75% mental and 25% physical.   So, while it is a necessity to keep the body in good shape it is also important to be in the right frame of mind.  Realistically, we can't predict and prevent every illness.  We can't be aware of every change in our body's chemistry.  We have no control over how well our kids slept the night before.  And, we can't prevent the many fire drills we face at work.  All of these can knock us down and sabotage what could have been a potentially good run (or for non-runners, a potentially good mood).  But despite the occassional bad run (bad mood) we need to keep taking care of ourselves and remember that tomorrow's run will be better.  Tomorrow's run will be sunnier.

It has taken me a couple of days, but I got caught up on sleep, have been eating well, and I'm ready to go for that run once again!!

Until next time...

I'm not ready to run a marathon, so I'll eat a donut???

It would take me at least 5 months of solid, consistent training to be able to run a marathon.  Hands down. It would take a lot of hard work, a lot of dragging myself out of the house or on to the treadmill, a lot of talking myself through the difficult runs and pushing myself to run "just a little" bit further.  I think you get my point.  Getting myself physically and mentally ready to run twice as far as the longest that I have ever run,  wouldn't happen overnight.  My progress would be gradual. 

I feel like I can wrap my head around this concept.  Whenever there is a physical feat that I am trying to overcome, it is a no-brainer that it would take some time to prepare for it and be able to accomplish it.  So why is it that when I am trying to make other changes to improve my health (um, eating better for example), I feel like those changes need to occur overnight? 

The truth is I was feeling pretty bad about the slip-ups that I had through out the week.  I made some bad food choices and I was disappointed with myself.  On top of that I didn't run this week.  It was crappy all week and I just didn't take the initiative to get myself on the treadmill.  I am not sure what happened, but I do know that I felt pretty bad about it.  I was feeling bad. I was disappointed.  That is until I realized that I did a lot of things right this week.  I ate breakfast every day.  I drank a ton of water.  I tried to eat as many fruits and vegetables as possible.  I didn't eat any sweeteners.  I read labels.  All good things and all things that I should be proud of.  Overall I did better this week than I did last week.  If I were to let myself dwell on all of the things that I did wrong then I would most certainly not get back on track next week. 

Whenever I am getting down on myself, for eny reason, I always allow myself a brief period of "woe is me" time.  Once that is done I try and figure out a way to fix whatever is getting to me.  And, usually, I end up better off than I when started.  So, for now I just have to keep reminding myself that I will get back on track!!

But, since I already messed up, one donut won't kill me.  Right?  Just kidding!!!

Until next time...

I really want to give up running, but I will give up sugar instead:(

I haven't run all week.  I just haven't felt like it and since I am not training for anything at the moment and haven't been in the mood, I haven't gone.  But I can feel it in my bones.  I just don't feel as strong and I have been kind of down the past couple of days.  Damnit running.  Why does something so hard have to make you feel so...healthy?

Running and I have a love-hate relationship.  I love the way that I feel when I finish a run.  I love training for and finishing a race.  I love being in shape.  I just HATE the physical act of running.  In talking to other runners, they feel the same way.  Exercise is an amazing thing, but it isn't always fun.  I love the results of it without loving the act.  

I also have a love-hate relationship with sugar.  I love kit kats and chocolate cookies, especially.  I love the fun of knowing even after your meal that you still have dessert to order.  I even love the feeling of sugar when I eat it (I could probably eat a teaspoon of sugar. No problem!).  Unfirtunately, I HATE the physical effects of sugar.  I hate the way that I feel when I finish eating the sugar.  I hate the fact that it causes me to gain weight.  I hate that it can rot your teeth (ok - I never really thought about this before but I should have because I have had a million cavities).  I love the act of it without loving the results. 

Why do the act and the result have such an inverse relationship?  It makes getting healthy really difficult for people like me.  I am a pretty impulsive "instant gratification" kind of person and it is really hard for me to grasp the positive or negative effects that something might have in the future despite how it might make me feel today.  I recognize this and I know I need to figure out a way to work with this if I am going to get healthy.  Because, if the two above examples didn't convince you, most things that supply instant gratification aren't good for you and vice versa. 

In the meantime, to address my clear sugar addition, I am going to give up sugar.  I actually plan to start with sweeteners.  I am giving up sweeteners.  All things Splenda, Extra, and Sweet and Low.  This will mean that when faced with the choice of "original" or "low fat" I will most likely have to go for original.  But, I am ok with that.  Weight loss isn't my motivation and as long as I am not downing sticks of butter I am pretty sure that the benefit of not eating chemicals (which is exactly what those sweeteners are) will outweight the extra calories.  I have already started omitting sugar altogether from my daily cup of coffee and I have been adamantly reading the ingredients in everything I eat to make sure that I don't see some of  the key words (i.e., aspartame, sucralose, neotame).  The scariest thing about these sweeteners (specifically aspartame) is that it took over 15 years for the FDA to approve them.  And I was eating them every day.  Like I said, instant gratification!

Until next time...

"Holding it" can't be healthy, but sometimes it's necessary...

I refuse to take a bathroom break when I go for a long run or the few times that I have run races.  For those of you who run distance, you truly know the horrors of this.  For some reason running kick-starts your system.  I don't know the science of it, I just know from first-hand experience that this happens.  It's not fun and it can't possibly be healthy but, for whatever reason, it doesn't stop me! 

Beyond the obvious inconveniences:
- this always happens at the most inopportune times
- it is not easily explainable to people why you are stopping by their house mid-run
- you don't exactly blend in to the local restaurant crowd when you are dripping in sweat and smelly
I just don't want to stop!  

As I mentioned in one of my earlier blogs, I have a keep it moving forward rule (whether it is running, jogging, walking, or crawling I make sure that I am constantly moving forward on all of my runs) and I stick to it.  Maybe I have a fear that if I take a break I will lose momentum and either short-cut the run or, even worse, call someone to come and get me (I have only called someone to pick me up one time and that was a long time ago - thank you Karen:).  Or maybe I just don't want to run for any longer than I have to. 
Regardless, once I set out on that run, I can't stop until I reach my goal.  I am only focused on getting to the end.  In fact, this isn't uncommon for a lot of  runners.  Rumor has it that Uta Pippig "pippig-ed" herself when she won the Boston Marathon in '96.  I don't claim to be anywhere near her caliber (she finished that marathon in under 2:30 hours, about the time I would be hitting mile 14) and I am not willing to pippig myself...that's going too far. 

So you may be wondering am I telling you that there are no bathroom breaks in the sport of running??  Where am I going with this?

My intention is not for this to be a bathroom discussion.  My point is that anytime we are on track to achieve a goal we will experience a little bit of discomfort along the way.  And sometimes we have to just deal with the discomfort because in some sick way it may push us to reach our goal faster and even more successfully than we thought that we could.  I use this example because you can argue that "holding it" can't be good for you (and, I can't counter that argument).  But, there will always be a valid excuse. You just have to decide what's more important (in Uta's case, it was either winning the Boston Marathon and appearing in every search engine when someone types in "marathoner + pooped" or stopping for a bathroom break - I think she is satisfied that she made the right call!).

Until next time...

I only run as fast (or as slow) as my running buddy

I recently discovered the benefits of running with a buddy.  I had been feeling a bit unmotivated after Sophia was born and I solicited people to run with me...via facebook.  Cheesy, I know.  But I was desperate.  I got a taker (shout out to Lindsey if she ever happens to read this blog!) and now I am hooked.  Running with someone is an opportunity to catch up with a friend and sneak a workout in, without your body even realizing it.  It is also a great way to stay honest.  Who wants to be that girl (or guy) that bails on the run?  NOT ME.  I am that nut at the gym that creepily looks at the machine next to me just to be sure that I am running or ellipsing (word??) faster, longer, or at a steeper incline.  (It is really a sickness and I am sure that I developed quite a rep at the gym that I used to go to.)  It is that competitive spirit that makes me really push myself when running with a partner. 

Don't get me wrong.  It's not that I don't love an occassional solo run with my itunes on full blast and in my own little zone (it is amazing to me that I haven't been hit by a bus because I am truly oblivious on those runs) or an adventure with my girls and the jogging stroller.  I love both.  But, I am the type of person that needs a positive, external influence (a pace-setter, if you will) every now and again to get me moving faster.  Sometimes to get me moving at all. 

Unfortunately, the opposite can be true.  Just like a running buddy can help you to move faster, the wrong running buddy can really slow you down.  Not good for a slow poke like me.  The other day I was on the phone with a friend and we were gossiping about something or other when I realized that whenever we spoke I became pretty judgmental and caddy (hate the thought of that!  Yuck.).  Apparently the ability to be motivated by external influences in my workouts applies to other areas of my life as well.  As I mentioned in my first blog, I am trying to get to a healthier space both physically AND mentally.  And the type of negative energy that comes along with judging others and being caddy is just too much for this girl to bear.  And truthfully, I am not an authority on...well, anything.  I am a very smart girl and I know a little about a lot of things (e.g., I don't watch sports but it amazes my husband that I can carry on a conversation with someone that doesn't know me about Thomas's amazing save during one of the Bruins games or the audacity of Lebron to leave Cleveland the way that he did) and a lot about a few things.  But, sadly, I am not an expert in anything.  This has come as quite a realization and has really made me think a lot about what right I have to judge someone else's decisions.

So my new goal is to be aware of what I am saying, stay positive, and speak positive despite who I am around.  This also means surrounding myself with pace-setters and potentially kicking a slacker or two out of my running club.  You can keep the complimentary t-shirt of course.  HAHA.

And, who knows?  Maybe I can start to be the pace-setter (possible in this scenario but not probable if I run with Lindsey again;)

Happy Father's Day!! 

Until next time...

Mile 1 is the hardest...

Every run I go on, no matter how many miles I am running, the first mile is always the worst.  It is obvioulsy a mental thing.  I don't know if it just takes me that long to get my mind in to running mode or if it takes my body that long to warm up, but it is pretty miserable.  I would actually prefer the last mile of a long run over the first mile anyday. 

I have tried several times to be healthierbut I really struggle to get going.  Typically the whole process goes as follows:

Day 1:  Decide that I will eat better.
Day 2:  Read every nutrition lavel and barely eat because there is nothing healthy in our house.
Day 3:  Go grocery shopping and get a bunch of "healthier" (Read: anything that is lite or low-fat) food. Continue to eat little to nothing because I have no clue what I should eat, which leads to...
Day 4:  By this day I usually give in and just go back to eating whatever I want.

Apparently, I have that same "mile 1 mentality" when it comes to things beyond running.  The way that I handle it on a run is to just think about moving forward.  I have a rule that I don't have to keep running if I get tired, but I have to keep moving forward.  Whether it is running, jogging, walking, crawling...I am moving forward.  That mentality has gotten me through a lot of difficult runs.  I have decided to apply this mantra to my newest endeavor and just keep moving forward.  There will obviously be lots of days that I am crawling (hello, glazed donut that was just calling my name) but as long as I keep moving, I won't beat myself up about it.  Eating a little better tomorrow is better than eating the crap I was eating yesterday!

On a side-note, I was exhausted because I had the girls for most of the day today all by myself and they can really wear a girl out!!  But driving home from a family get together tonight they both started giggling their head's off.  I don't know who started first, but I realized that one giggling would in-turn make the other giggle. They just went back and forth for a good 10 minutes and I was laughing pretty hard myself.  It made me realize that nothing can give you a better "boost" than those precious moments that can't be found in a gym, a health food book, or a vitamin:)

Until next time!

Fueling up!

So I have decided to take a more hollistic approach to how I eat.  Anyone that knows me well knows that my eating habits are horrible.  I LOVE all things unhealthy and I have an endless appetite.  So, making a change in the eating department won't be easy.  But I feel like I never have any energy.  I started to research ways to increase my energy levels (i.e., I googled it.  I google everything.).  Exercise was obviously a common suggestion.  Since Mia was born, I haven't been working out as much as I used to but I think I move enough.  Another suggestion that I saw on several sights was sleep, quality sleep.  Um, I have an almost 2 year old and a 6 month old..,."good" sleep will have to wait.  And, of course, the most recommended way to boost energy...eating a healthy diet.  I googled and googled for some site somewhere that would tell me otherwise.  That would tell me that I could continue to drink my daily mocha lattes and eat my nightly bowl of sugary cereal and wake up every day with a ton of energy.  Some nutrition blogger that would know of a pill that I could take so I could continue to eat McDonald's french fries and actually lose weight.  But, there is no site to find.  No blogger to follow.  No pill to take:(  Eating things that are good for you are necessary to boost your energy.  Food is our fuel.  DAMN!

Now that I know what I need to do to become a more energized person how do I actually get started?  What is a diet, anyway?  Do I monitor calorie intake?  Fats??  Catbs??  Sodium??  Do I need to join one of the groups?  WW?  Jenny Craig?  Do I buy lots of health-conscious magazined and study them?  WHAT DO I NEED TO DO?

There is so much information out there for someone who wants to get healthier, it is overwhelming.  I have decided that the main purpose of me eating better is to feel better physically and mentally.  Weight loss would be a nice bonus, but it isn't my motivation.  Knowing my motivation has helped me to determine what approach I want to take and what information I need to get started.  The word hollistic has a very soothing tone to it, so I have been googling hollistic eating.  I also asked some of my healthier friends (don't be offended if I didn't ask you, there's still a chance that you are healthy you just didn't answer your phone;).  I learned about some really interesting sites/books/blogs.  The concept that really struck me was the concept of "clean" eating.  That can be interpreted a lot of different ways, but for me it means eating as much natural foods as I can and cutting out processed foods.  Essentially, I will be going more organic.  Hopefully by putting more natural food in my body, I will feel better.  The best part of this for me is that I don't intend to limit how much food I put in my mouth, just be more conscious of it.  

I have been looking at the ingredients in the food that Steve and I buy...it is absolutely gross.  I thought that buying low fat and lite foods was good for my family.  I was so wrong!  I plan on taking a trip to Whole Foods this weekend to stock up on some quick and easy foods...I'll let you know how that goes.  I am not a fam of the typical whole food shopper but maybe they have the right idea.

Now before I wrap this up, let me tell you about a few essentials that I will NOT be giving up. 
1. Iced Coffee
2. Margaritas - I would walk around in a sleepy haze before I would give marg's up
3. McDonalds fries

Until next time....:)

On your mark, get set...

Go!  As you can see, I have decided to start a blog.  You might be wondering what I have to offer that is "blog-worthy".  To be honest, I don't know the answer to that yet.  Although I do think that I am pretty amazing (wife, mother of 2, full time career woman, friend, runner, and this list goes on), I wouldn't say that I have anything extraordinary to say.  Not yet anyway.  I have decided that it is time that I really focus on becoming the woman that I was intended to be.  To get my act together, figure out exactly what it is that I want out of my life, and go for it.  Now, this is a very lofty goal.  I am aware.  But, I think that there are lots of things that I can do an a day-to-day basis to work towards that goal.  And that is where the blogs comes in.  I am hoping to use the blog as a tool to share some ideas, get some ideas, and keep me honest.  In the meantime, I am sure that you will be mildly entertained by the insanity (literally, at times) of my life.

Since my plan to is kickstart my life and move in to a better, happier space and since I like to run and I anticipate that running will have a lot to do with accomplishing my goals, I decided (with a little help from a friend:) to call the blog "Picking up the pace".  Unfortunately, for you, this means that you will see lots of cheesy references to the art of running. But, if you can get past that, I think this will be a blog that you will really enjoy!!