chia seeds | Outrunning Doubt

Days 28 and 29

Posted on November 26, 2014 by kalynsara

So I know I promised that I would not allow life to get in the way. But last week it did. I had some exciting news at work and it sort of threw me for a loop. In such a good way. But it left me in a whirlwind of figuring out how to manage my time. I gave myself the rest of the week to figure it out (and cheat a little. Ok, a lot). But don’t worry, I started yesterday off on the right foot. I gave myself some short-term goals to stick to.

First, I am going to run/walk (but mostly run) 55 miles by Christmas. This may not sound like a lot considering I have 30 days to do this, but remember I am trying to get in better running shape the correct way all while nursing an IT band injury that I have had for over a year. So this goal is going to help keep me motivated, but still allow me to become a better runner.

Second, I am going to go three days a week (until Christmas, then reevaluate) with absolutely no bread, sweets, pasta and chips. This is going to be hard for me. I love all of those things. A lot. And although I have been a lot better about not eating sweets, the no bread thing is really going to get me.

So here goes my recap for days 28 and 29.

Yesterday was an OK day in terms of fitness. I went to a wedding on Saturday night and so I was really feeling bad on Sunday. Yesterday I could definitely feel it in my workout.

I walked 1/4 of a mile and ran 3/4 of a mile (which brings my goal to 1/55). It was slow. And painful. But afterward I did some squats, biceps and triceps reps on the TRX bands (I just learned how to use those things and they are killer). I also did two swinging planks with the bands. Those are hard. I did one for a minute and one for 45 seconds. I stretched and rolled afterward.

For breakfast I ate a bowl of cereal with two handfuls of blueberries. For lunch I had the most incredible salad with romaine, cucumbers, green peppers, onions, tomatoes, artichokes (words cannot express how much I love artichokes) and feta cheese. All with a little bit of ranch dressing. I had two fresh rolls on the side. For snack I had a greek yogurt. For dinner I had a sandwich with rye bread, pepperoni, spicy mustard, ham, swiss cheese and tomato. It was awesome. The tomato was a vine tomato from the Farmer’s Market. Best tomato ever.

Today I did not hit the gym. My day at work was a workout in itself. Trust me on this one. I am exhausted.

For breakfast I had some oatmeal made with a teaspoon of brown sugar, a teaspoon of chia seeds, cinnamon and a splash of vanilla extract. For snack I had a greek yogurt. For lunch I had a huge grilled cheese with a small bowl of tomato basil soup. For dinner I had rice, steamed spinach and a little bit of grilled chicken.

I am planning a really good workout for tomorrow and Thursday. I need to go ahead and work off my calories now.

Days 17 and 18

Posted on November 14, 2014 by kalynsara

Yesterday was blah. I had energy and felt great from eating so healthy on Tuesday, but for some reason I had no motivation to get to the gym. I ended up doing only 20 minutes of Jillian Micheals’ 30 Day Shred Level 1. Does anyone have any tips on how to stay motivated to go to the gym every day? Even thinking about my goals weren’t enough to get me moving. And I am afraid that as it gets colder and colder I am going to find it even harder to get out of bed, get out of my PJs, or even leave my warm home just to hit the gym.

My nutrition wasn’t perfect either. It went something like this:

Breakfast – one cup of oatmeal made with Nutella and chia seeds
Snack – a handful and a half of Cheez-Its
Lunch – two slices of pizza (one with broccoli and one with green peppers and both dipped in a little ranch)
Dinner – leftover grilled chicken, steamed spinach and rice along with a half of a sweet potato and some Farmer’s Market tomatoes with a little organic balsamic vinegar on top

I have no pictures from yesterday, but I will say that I am extremely proud of myself for resisting cupcakes at work. I did not even have a tiny bite. Not even a single taste of frosting. Nothing. It was hard.

Today was a little better. I got a great workout in at the gym.

I did a 1.25 mile run followed by a half mile walk. I did some squats (I doubled up and did some bicep curls with a 5lb weight in each hand), some tricep extensions, three minutes of continuous abs (it hurt) and then this machine (for three sets of 15):

I am not sure what this machine is called, but every time I do it my outer thighs and butt are sore the next day. It is awesome.

My nutrition wasn’t so good today either. I actually feel kinda sick writing it. It went like this:

Breakfast – one cup of oatmeal made with Nutella and chia seeds
Snack – half of a honey greek yogurt
Lunch – an everything bagel with a slice of provolone cheese, two big slices of Farmer’s Market tomato and some oregano
Snack – a few Triscuits dipped in hummus
Dinner – homemade sweet potato and black bean quesadillas. These were actually really good! I used the leftover sweet potatoes from last night (I just baked them last night) and stuck them in a bowl and microwaved it with a teaspoon of organic, unsalted butter. I then mashed them up with a little sea salt and chili powder. I spread it on a flour tortilla and put some grated cheddar cheese and black beans and cooked on the stove until done. We dipped them in organic salsa. I wish I had pictures, but they were so good we devoured them.

Day 15 and Reality

Posted on November 11, 2014 by kalynsara

There is nothing like looking at the pictures from your sister-in-law’s wedding and realizing why you haven’t been able to meet the goals you want. My sister-in-law got married the week before the marathon. It was a perfect wedding, the pictures are incredible and I definitely had a lot of fun. But looking at those pictures made me realize I am not physically fit enough to be running a marathon. Don’t get me wrong, I do not think I am fat. However, I do think that I have a lot of work to do in terms of losing excess fat and building and maintaining muscle.

I have always been naturally thin and I have definitely let that dictate my nutrition choices in the past. It has always been easy for me to eat a piece (or 50) of candy or order dessert after I had a big, carb-filled dinner because I know deep down that I am not going to really see any weight gain from it. It’s the reason it was so easy for me to eat so much candy these past couple weeks. And all I am doing to myself is canceling out all of the hard work I put in at the gym. Feuling my body with empty calories and tons of sugar is doing way worse than I am probably accounting for.

So, with that said, I am going to really pay attention to every single bite of food I put in my mouth the rest of this week and really push myself at the gym. It will be the only way I can meet my running goals this year. It will be the only way my body allows me to keep running for years to come. How can I expect my body to get through a 26.2 mile race (at less than a 4.5 hour pace) and the countless miles and strength training leading up to the race if I don’t treat it properly?

Today I took a rest day. I got a headache around mid-afternoon and it is still lingering. It is probably because my body was craving processed sugar and I refused to give in to my cravings.

My nutrition was decent today and I plan to be even better tomorrow and the rest of the week. I started the day with the special breakfast I was talking about last week: overnight oats. Has anyone ever tried these? I used this recipe and substituted the almond milk for regular, organic 1% milk. It was so easy, tasted incredible and I (and my husband) felt really full until lunch!

For lunch I had a salad with mixed field greens, spinach, red onions, cucumbers and carrots. I put a little bit of ranch dressing on the top and had a freshly baked roll on the side. My snacks included a handful of Cheeze-Its, a Farmer’s Market apple and a cheese stick. For dinner I had three small slices of a Trader Joe’s organic, frozen pizza. Not the healthiest dinner, but my day was not too bad.

And let this be my promise that I will wake up for a 7:00 am toning class in the morning and follow it up with a run.