I'm back from WA!

Hey all!  I had a relaxing and fun vacation in Washington state.  Eating is always a challenge on vacations. I did have local favorites and treats here and there, but I also walked all over and I ran 2.6 miles on country roads the 2nd day we were there. It was awesome running on a quiet road, about 60 degrees out with a mist coming down. I definitely was challenged my a slight grade hill on my way back, but that made me even prouder to have done it. I think I'm in love with running outside, now for some cooler weather here in MN and I'm going to do it again soon!

My family stayed in a beautiful beach house in Olympia, WA where we watched the tides come in and out, gazed at stars at night and saw Mt. Rainier during the day.  Ryan and I took two days on our own to venture up to Seattle so I could show him the sights, too.

Here is a little photo diary of my trip :)

Enjoying a sugar free Ring Pop!

A fav snack

Fresh clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
@Lowell's in Pike Place Market

Crab roll @ Lowell's 

My niece and mom!

Jellyfish!

Hamma Hamma Oyster Shots

3 men to BBQ salmon?

Huge pancakes, I could only eat one!

A nice harbor in Bremerton

Ryan and I on a ferry

My favorite food

The Experience Music Project
 @Seattle Center

Top of the Space Needle

View of Seattle from the Space Needle

View of Seattle from the ferry

What works and doesn't work for vacation

I have another vacation starting tomorrow, its 5 days, with my family and friends in Washington state.

On my trip a couple weeks ago to Cleveland, I was visiting my boyfriend's family for the first time, visiting Cleveland for the first time, and attending a wedding.  So a bit of uncomfortableness that could have led to eating, a wedding which usually leads to eating, and touring a city that can lead to "try this speciality and drink this specialty!"  Well guess what, I had some extra food at the family potlucks, I tried a corned beef sandwich at a special deli, I even tried local beer...and well, I had fun, didn't feel stressed out, put on about 2 lbs and lost it within 1 1/2 weeks of coming back from my trip. 

No harm, no foul? That's what I'd say!

How is Washington going to be different?

1 - I am the tour guide for my boyfriend, I can pick where we go and also what do you eat in Washington SUSHI AND SEAFOOD! I'll be in tasty, healthy heaven!

2 - I love everything in Washington, but I also grew up there and have visited every year since we moved away, there is nothing there that I feel the need to stuff in my face, gorge on, drown in, etc

3 - Unlike Minnesota the weather is BEAUTIFUL there right now, yeah it might rain, but so what, rain there is awesome...but its not all day everyday, so I can run outside and be able to breathe fresh oceany air I'm so excited!

4- My family is staying in a vacation home with a full kitchen, we will be grocery shopping for ourselves when we get there, so I don't even have to pack a bunch of safe foods, my family is a bunch of healthy eaters! YAY! (hehe, my boyfriend may OD on being offered veggies, Hahahahaha!)

5 - No stressful feelings about this vacation cuz there are no new people, my parents rented and put together everything, I just had to get my own rental car and schedule visiting some of MY friends, YAY!

So....this trip should ROCK. It is a vacation I may indulge in a couple local brews on my "treat" day, but I think this is gonna be awesome!

I may check in with some photos while I'm gone and some reports of my eating and exercise!

Coming up Next Week:
I want to buy a HRM, I'd really like one that'll do GPS...think about the ones you like and be ready to talk me through a purchase! (Oh I also have  Polar discount that I got from Jen - A Priorfatgirl so I will most likely be buying from them

I also won a prize from Kris@KrisGetsHealthy and it has lots of cool stuffs in it! I'll tell ya'all about that next week, too!

Recovered from vacation, running, treats?

Yay! I weighed myself this morning and its not an official weigh day yet (Fridays) and I'm back to my pre-vacation weight! w00t!  I still have two days to get to *this weeks* weight loss, so I'm pretty sure I'll post a loss of new weight..(well new within the last few years, hehe). I'm so glad I can make up for a vacation gain in about a week, that makes me feel more confident going forward about maintaining and vacations.

The app/website I use for food tracking is My Fitness Pal and according to the program's predictions I will be down another 5 lbs within the next 5 weeks if I keep eating the same, so I'm happy with that! That means in about 9 weeks I should be in a new decade, which makes me feel even better!

As I've mentioned before I do the Couch 2 5K program...but I'm actually using the ipod version that was done a few years ago. I do the one from http://www.ullreys.com/robert/Podcasts/ on my ipod. I'm on week 5, which started with three 5 minute runs, then two 8 minute runs, and then Friday or Saturday I will do my first continuous 20 minute run. I'm really nervous.

Does anyone have any tips about this? I think I can make it 10 minutes as I can do 8 and still have a bit of oomph left in my legs, but 8 minutes bumped up to 20....how much should I slow down? Or should I not? Hoo boy, I'm nervous!

Treats treats treats, I like treats!

I would NOT be able to keep on my healthiness journey if I didn't have treats, I would fail within days, I can go a couple days without a treat, but if I don't have something sweet, most likely chocoately after a few days I want to eat everything on the planet until I get it!

Yesterday I succumbed to a Snickers bar, but I actually had the calories for it and it was a workout day so I lifted weights and ran on the treadmill shortly after eating it.  I wish I was more prepared though, I bet a Dove dark chocolate square or a mini candy bar would have sufficed, but I didn't have time to leave my floor at work and I had nothing in my desk! 

What should I keep at my desk? (I don't have a lot of cravings, so I wouldn't just mindlessly eat stuff, so don't worry about that!)

I won the Kris gets healthy birthday contest on her blog, I am gonna get a bunch of sweet stuff, I'll tell you all about it when I get it from her, I'm sure we'll just meet up since I'm lucky enough to live in the same town! :) Thanks again Kris!

How to define successes and setbacks

I go on vacation for 5 days, I wipe out my 3 lb loss and put on an extra pound by the end of that vacation - setback?

During my vacation I log my food, try to make smart choices, limit my alcohol, and I ran on the treadmill, getting up earlier than anyone else, TWICE - success?

3 days after I get back from vacation, I'm back to one lb down, but not my pre-vacation weight - sucess? setback?

Now, I was thinking my vacation was a "fail" because I gained weight, didn't even maintain....but look what I did on vacation, I limited my intake of crap, I drank way less than everyone else, and I exercised!! Sounds like a success to me, even if it wasn't a scale success, yes?

In the past vacation would have been a free for all, and I probably would have come home feeling even more bloated and my clothes probably would feel tight by the end of the trip.  I'm working off my vacation and trying to plan for my next trip next week for how I will keep on track.

I'm thinking that my most recent vacation, while it had a weight gain, it had a lot of learning opportunities and I was pretty successful. I learned that I can be my own advocate, I can ask for what I want and I don't have to do what everyone else is doing.  My friends and my family support me, and voila, so does my new found "family" that I met in Cleveland (aka my boyfriend's family).

I also learned that its not *THAT* bad to relax a little on vacation, yeah I put on a few lbs, but I'm taking them back off and it could have been worse if I didn't exercise, and that exercise made me feel good! I wish my vacation wasn't so close to the beginning of my commitment to myself, but life happens, I just have to learn to roll with it and keep moving forward.

I think going down the line, if I learn something, use that knowledge in the future and be an advocate for myself, I will always be successful!

Okay and lets end this post with my adorable little buddies that I've had in my life for about 10 years now and what I'm going to be doing every night for the next 3 weeks, packing!



Isis giving you the "huggy purry" eyes



Shorty, looking for trouble

Tomorrow I want to talk more about Couch to 5k!

Roadtrip Recap!

Hi folks!
I went on a roadtrip for 5 days!! Not much time to sit in front of a computer and I'm not super happy with blogging on my phone, but I took a bunch of pictures and so I wanted you all to see what I was up to!

I was able to stick to my Couch to 5K running while I was out of town, two days on the treadmill!  I limited myself to no more than two drinks a day besides on the wedding night, but I only had 3 then water and coffee the rest of the night!  I brought my own food on our driving part of the road trip and while the boys ate McDonalds and some other treats, I had my sandwiches and salads! Yay me!  I did particupate in family meals but they were serve yourself homemade food so I stuck to less carbs. more salad. 

I did indulge in a couple treats not available in MN (a slurpee that I couldn't even finish, too sweet) and one specificially adored in Clevelend (corned beef sandwich!)...

What did YOU do for 4th of July? Did you stay on your healthy living plan, if you didn't, did you make a plan to splurge a little (that's okay, too!)




Cool Monument in Cleveland

Enjoy the pics!



Slurpee!!



Ryan and I at Great Lakes Brewery

Edmund Fitzgerald and Lake Erie Monster

Cleveland style grilled brat



Cleveland Skyline





Ryan, the groom, and another cousin celebrating!

Famous Cleveland Corned Beef!

I'm nervous for vacation

On Thursday evening I'm leaving with my boyfriend and his dad for a 13 hour drive to Cleveland, 3 days there, and a 13 hour drive home.

I'm not nervous about the driving, or even the pit stops/meals when driving, I will be in control, I will still be in the company of familiar people.

I am *SO* nervous about the long weekend in Cleveland! We will be with my boyfriend's family, who are all super nice people (so I've heard), and we will be staying with his grandma.  I don't want to inconvenience anyone, but I also don't want to sabotage my healthy lifestyle right when I got in to a new plan and everything!

Maybe its just my anxiety and fear of the unknown, because I asked my boyfriend if we could stop at the grocery store so I can pick up fruits and veggies for his grandma's house and he said we could. I also asked if people will be offended if I don't drink and he said they won't at all, in fact his sister is a couple years sober and so there will be definitely lots of NA options all weekend.

Its going to be hot hot hot in Clevelend and there aren't any LA Fitness clubs and his grandma/family doesn't own a treadmill anywhere. So I am worried it'll be too hot (like 90 and humid hot) to run outside, and I won't have a place to do my C25K!  If its super hot we may get a hotel room cause his grandma doesn't have AC and I'm kinda pushing for it, cause then there would be an exercise room with a treadmill, I can control my food by having a stash in the hotel and I can just be more relaxed in the mornings not wondering who else is up/using the bathroom, etc.

I am bringing my workout gear! I am not giving up on being able to workout even before I get there, but I'm still worried.

I think the rest of the aspects of the vacation will rock...speaking of I get to see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Great Lakes Brewery, taste a famous sandwich from Schleiman's...perhaps go on a river cruise. Oh and the main reason we're going, is a wonderful outdoor wedding in an apple orchard!

Okay I'm done obsessing, it felt good to write it down, I'd love to hear your thoughts.