Veggie ideas and motivation needed.

I'm about to get real with y'all: I haven't been motivated to do jack crap in the past few weeks.

Climbing Mt. Everest does not
seem "Fun" to me.

I'm not sure if it's the weather, my birthday, work, or just life in general throwing me off...but yeah - I'm not interested in doing physical right now. For some reason, telling me to go for a run these past few weeks has been tantamount to telling me to climb Mt. Everest.

No, seriously.

Even when I do go run, I feel sluggish because I'm not even eating the right foods recently. I feel like I just need a swift healthy living kick in the butt.

However, on the food side of things, I can tell my body is starting to get annoyed that I've stopped eating as many veggies. I used to try to eat a veggie with every meal, and recently for one reason or another, I've stopped. My body seems to like veggies, I need to get more of them in. Maybe I'll go get a yummy salad tomorrow to jump start my crispy crunchy lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers.

What are some of your favorite ways to eat more veggies? What's your favorite veggie? Do you bring veggies for lunch at work? I eat plenty of fruit, I think (CLEMENTINES ARE MY CRACK - ooh...insert Whitney Houston dying joke here? Too soon? Sorry...), but I seriously need help on the veggie thing. Eating better should also make a big difference when it comes to feeling better - which in turn should make me more motivated.

 

This afternoon, I was thinking about ways to motivate myself and ways to make myself go workout on a more regular basis, when I stumbled upon this blog post on Pinterest - I'm pretty sure she nailed it!

Her 7 Rituals For Running When You're Unmotivated are amazing - and you should totally do each and every one of them when you're just not feeling it. In fact, I plan on trying them this week. I can't imagine that I will suddenly be super motivated to start working out this week. But it's worth a shot. I plan to come up with my own list of ways to motivate myself, but I need to figure those out first, which means I need to get motivated!

It's Valentine's Day week and my husband will be turning 33, so I have a feeling that we won't exactly be sticking to our typical routine. However, I need to be doing SOMETHING - I have a race to run in less than a month! I seriously need to get my training in.

HELP ME GET MOTIVATED!

So, It's February - and I'm officially 27.

The best Funfetti birthday cake ever.

My birthday just passed and I'm officially 27. That makes me nostalgic. I'm in my late twenties. I was in second grade twenty years ago and I've been able to get into R rated movies without a parent or crossing my fingers that I don't get carded for a decade. Eff. I'm old, y'all. Like - really old. 

Okay - now that all of the over 27 readers hate me for saying I feel old, let me tell you this: JUST KIDDING. I feel great at 27. I feel empowered. I feel...wiser (?) than I did this time in my 26th year. I feel like 26 was a big learning year for me and I'm honestly excited to learn more this year. I want to learn more about food, exercise, healthy living and life in general. I'm excited.

My 27th birthday celebration, as you can see by this picture, was awesome. I had Funfetti cake with chocolate frosting and lots of sprinkles made with love by my friend Karen - she's been making and decorating cakes forever. I need to share some of her awesome creations one day. She's a super awesome artist and even owns her own invitations/cards company - Sprinkles & Ink. Yes - I'm pimping her out. She made me a Funfetti cake - this is what happens when you make me a Funfetti cake.

Anyhoo, our friends Karen and Billy made me birthday dinner consisting of two of my favorites: buffalo chicken strips and french fries. No - this was not a healthy meal. No - I didn't give a crap. It was delicious! AND THERE WAS FUNFETTI CAKE FOR DESERT - I hope we've covered how great Funfetti is by now. It was a great celebration and I really appreciated it. My birthday present from Billy and Karen? They're going to pay my entry fee for the Ridgeland Make a Difference 5k! Race fees are expensive and I love that they know me well enough to know this would be a great gift. (Thanks, y'all. I love you more than you know!)

I'd like to share something I noticed this week as I was looking at pictures on my desktop at work - it was February 2nd, and I noticed that I had taken a picture of what I was wearing to work on February 3rd in 2011. These pictures - taken almost exactly one year apart - made me realize (FINALLY) that I HAVE made a big change:

February 3, 2011

February 2nd, 2012

Pretty cool, right?! Yeah, I'm freaking stoked about it. I look hot! I mean, obviously, my modeling skills have improved, but c'mon! LOOK! That's at least a 20 lb difference (I can't remember how much I weighed at this point, but definitely around the 218-222 mark). LOOK HOW HOT I AM NOW. LOOK! Okay, stop staring..............go back to staring. I'M HOT.

Okay, moving on. I'm officially at 198 - again. I need to work on my food and exercise situations. This week was rough because of my birthday and people wanting to eat with me, cook for me, take me to meals, etc. (what's up with that, btw? Because I've aged, I'm supposed to gorge myself on deliciousness?). Plus, I had three appointments this week after work - so my time has been monopolized by other things this week. I need to get running again. 

Recently, I've also started sharing my blog on Pinterest and Facebook. I'm pretty freaked out about showing people that I haven't seen since high school (or some since elementary school, yikes!) my gut. But, I feel like it's one of those things, you know? Hold up to your end of the bargain and hope that you don't become fodder for jokes at the reunions to come. I take pictures of myself in a sports bra each month to show myself, and the world, the progress (or lack there of) I've made. It's not a pretty picture, but hey, that's the point, right? It's not pretty now, but, hopefully one day it will be. 

This picture is just proving to me that I seriously need to get some toning in. Cardio alone isn't cutting it anymore. 

I guess I've put off my topless pic of the month for long enough, eh? Click if you dare:

Monday Motivators: Jessica (Jesse...or as she'll always be to me, Jemsey)

Everything has a beginning. That seems like an obvious enough statement, eh? Well, when it comes to this whole weight loss, running, eating better, being a happier person thing - it started with one of my best friends, Jesse.

I like to put Jesse in headlocks.

Jesse and I have been friends since I was in 6th grade and she was in 7th. I won't go find any pictures from back then because seriously, we were (okay, ARE) big dorks and I doubt either of us want proof of that on the internet for the rest of our lives. But here - this should prove to you that we're actually friends - this was taken in 2006 in front of Mellow Mushroom in Jacksonville, FL. We're really friends. You can be jealous.

When I got married in 2010, I weighed approximately 220 pounds. I wasn't feeling fat, really, but I most definitely wasn't feeling "good." My friend Jesse was one of my bridesmaids, even though I hadn't seen her in over a year, she'd always been there for me so she had to be there for me when I decided to wear a big white dress and marry a boy who likes dragons.

Jesse - pre-WW

Nothing against Jesse, but she (and I) had always been chubby, but at 5'3 (or 5'4, whatever, she's effing short) it was just more obvious on her, of course I loved her anyway. We were the ones who dressed more like boys because girl clothes just didn't work on us as well as they did on other people. We bonded over some things that we have had to go through that others haven't - and of course boys. Jesse has always been my "therapist" when it comes to boys. She's always been my "Here, help me talk this out" person - this might be one of the reasons why she's always been such a big influence in my life.

<----Anyhoo, this is Jesse back before she joined Weight Watchers and starting being all super freaking awesome about her weight and food and working out. She's probably going to want to kick my butt for putting it on here, but she'll survive. Because I'm just about to show you how HOT Jesse looked when she came to New Orleans for my bachelorette party. But not just yet.

From the moment I saw her in New Orleans I knew that if Jesse could do it, so could I. She taught me tricks about eating out, taught me about spray butter (!) and most importantly, was there to cheer me on when I needed her. I'd call with food questions and she'd give me all of the information she could. She was my first big motivator.

Jesse in NOLA! HOT!

Jesse looks so amazing now and you can tell she feels great. She's always been beautiful of course, but she looks so healthy and confident that it really just gets the emotions flowing when I think about her and what she's been able to accomplish. She runs now and completed her first half marathon on the same day I did mine (hers was at Disney though). Jesse and our friend from high school, Jen have been super tight as long as I can remember.  Jesse got Jen started going to Weight Watchers and they've both lost a lot of weight - Good Housekeeping even did an article that featured them! Yes, the one with the flamingo leg is my wonderful friend Jesse. They made her stand like that. I still think she looks amazing -
I'm so damn proud of her. 


Thank you for everything you've been to me over the years, Jesse. Thank you for pushing me when I wanted to stop and for telling me that I really could do this whole thing. Thank you for doing it first, too. I wouldn't be able to do this without someone else blazing a trail. Thank you for always being a friend, even when I wasn't in touch like I should be or when I was a pain in the butt to be friends with (let's be honest, this happens a lot). Oh - and thanks for teaching me about spray butter, natural peanut butter and the joys of almond milk. I love you Jemsy!

Us all gussied up so I can get married

Us getting ready for my wedding

Beat the workout music blahs...

I love to dance, groove, sing, whatever. I do this all of the time. I'm actually pretty awesome at dancing as this pic from my dear friend Leah's wedding will clearly show you --->

Good lord, I've got mooooooves. The chick in the leather jacket? She's one of my best friends from back home, Jessica. (She is the reason I started losing weight and running in the first place and she's the one who introduced me to spray butter. I love you, Jemsey.)

Anyhoo, back to the task at hand, people, we're talking about TUNES! In this post from October, when I first started running, I had a symphony of awesome tunes come through my headphones - as if by magic - keeping me going just a little while longer. Everyone has those songs that pump them up and will always put them in a good mood.

When I was doing my half-marathon, at about 1.5 miles in, "Jacob's Ladder" by Huey Lewis and the News came on. While I know it's not like a super "I'M GONNA PUMP YOU UP!" song, something about the chorus "Step by step, one by one, higher and higher, step by step, rung by rung, climbing Jacob's ladder" - it got me going. I guess because at that time, I was literally stepping and going one by one. Whatever, it helped. I zoned out - I felt pumped up - it was on.

Some songs recently that have come on while I was running that really got me singing along and just enjoying the moment were:

Billie Jean - Michael Jackson
Wannabe - The Spice Girls
Livin on a Prayer - Bon Jovi
It's Gonna be Me - NSync
Joy to the World - 3 Dog Night
Stronger - Kelly Clarkson (okay, not classic or nostalgic, but this song is catchy!)
PYT - Michael Jackson
New York Groove - Ace Frehley
Don't Stop Believing - Journey
Master of Puppets - Metallica

Of course, there were more, but these were the ones that came to mind from recent runs. Do you have a song that randomly pumps you up like nothing else? A special Pandora station or internet radio station perhaps? Tell me about it!

She bought me something awful...

I've said it before and I'll say it again...I have the greatest cheerleaders in the world.

One of my favorite and most hilarious friends is Mel (if you're wondering why I say she's hilarious, just check out that blog - but I suggest you pee first).

Last weekend, I'm laying in bed and my phone goes off - I have a little notification that Mel mentioned me in a Facebook status. At first, as I always do when I realize Mel has mentioned me in a public forum, I freaked out for a minute - Mel is known for surprising/embarrassing her friends with little or no motivation to do so. This is why we love Mel (perhaps we're sadists). Obviously, even in my sleep stupor, my next move is to see just what kind of damage control I'll need to come up with after Mel has talked about me in her Facebook status.

To my surprise, no damage control was needed. There was simply a link to this post on her blog. 

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but Mel? She's an evil genius.

Mel had sent me something awful as a "congratulations!" gift because I ran that half marathon but there was no way of knowing when it was coming, what kind of package to be looking for, and of course, I had no clue what it was. I was at the mercy of the United Parcel Service and my witty friend, Mel.

Of course, when someone tells you they've purchased you a gift, you get excited - anxious even! However, something about the fact that the gift giver told me it was awful just made it all the more enticing.

Lots of different "awful" gifts ran through my head for days - yes, days. I won't share them here, because honestly, I didn't even come close to figuring out how amazingly awful this surprise would be. After 6 days of coming home and searching hopelessly for a package of awful from New Jersey, I rounded the corner of my street, and I saw it. A huge box at my doorstep.

I was overjoyed! My awful present from the great state of New Jersey had finally arrived!...In Hanukkah Paper! Mazel Tov! But what could it be?

It was definitely a big something, whatever it was. And it even came with a card that had a picture of KY on it! Mel is a very lubey friend. She understands that when it comes to giving awful presents, it's important to lube your recipient up a bit first with a sweet card. 

This beast of a gift was my problem now. Wonderful! But what the hell is it!? 

The finish line is my crack - maybe it could be yours too!

That's me. Finishing my first half marathon. Note the amazing form. Note my jubilant expression. Note my boobs all the way up by my chin! Just kidding. I was effing tired!

I promise this will be my last update about the Mississippi Blues Half Marathon - but I need to make something very clear: Finish Lines? They're my crack. I tell myself that running is fun, but who am I kidding? It kinda sucks to be running for 3 hours and knowing you're going to end up exactly where you left off. I tell myself the blisters don't hurt and my muscles aching for a few days isn't a big deal, but it definitely isn't super awesome to hobble around after a race. I tell myself these things because of finish lines.

Finish lines are a destination. Finish lines are a rush. Finish lines mean you've completed something and you deserve a pat on the back - and probably a beer. Sometimes, you even get a medal - which, if you ask me is pretty freaking fantastic. I like shiny things.

I've had a lot of friends/family/randos ask me recently why I run, how they can get started running and why the hell they should run; my answer is "finish lines." Sign up for a 5K, 10K, whatever! Just give yourself a finish line. Once you cross your first one you'll feel one of two things: 1) "I'M NEVER DOING THAT SH*T AGAIN" or 2) "THAT. WAS. AMAZING! I WANT TO DO IT AGAIN!" More often than not, I'd say the latter will come soaring out of your mouth moments after you cross that line. If it doesn't, well, that's fine too! Running isn't for everyone and that's a-ok.

However, if you've been thinking "maybe I should try it" or "I really need some motivation" or "I'm so bored of the gym" - try it. Sign up for a 5k. It doesn't matter if you run the whole way (I sure don't), and it doesn't matter if you are the last person to cross that finish line, what matters is that you did it. The best thing you can do for yourself is try. See if you can make finish lines your crack too.

My favorite foods swim in oil.

When I started this blog, one of my main goals was to eat better. I wanted to step away from fried foods and gain control of my eating habits. I like to think I'm doing better with this whole eating well thing - better than before at least; however, I know I'm not really. I still have a serious love of fried foods.

French fries, onion rings, mozzarella sticks, chicken fingers, catfish, pickles, corn nuggets, fried green beans, gator tail, etc, etc etc. The possibilities are endless, really. If it's deep fried, I want to dip it in ranch and put it in my belly. There's something magical about that combination of batter, fried object and ranch dressing that makes my mouth water.

It's kind of pathetic how much I can think about food. I assume it's similar to how a junkie thinks about getting his next fix. In the car, I literally think about what the fries taste like at a particular fast food restaurant. I'm super thankful that I don't like Burger King's new thicker cut fries. Their old fries were my weakness - knowing that I'm not a fan of their newest deep fried potato creation means I can finally drive past a BK without thinking about swinging in for a small fry. I consider this an accomplishment, even if it has nothing to do with me making the change.

I'm writing this blog entry because no matter how many times I say I want to stop eating fried food, I never seem to stick to it. I had fried chicken yesterday. I'm sure I had something fried on Saturday. It's so hard to stay away from because I know it's so damn tasty!

Do you have any tricks/tips to stay away from the foods you know are horrible for you? I would say I'd try getting full off of veggies and whatnot, but I also can't seem to make myself full enough that I won't eat food if it's sitting in front of me. I think I have some serious food issues.

And I'm sorry, but does that not look amazing up there?!