healthy living | Outrunning Doubt

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.

Day 11

Posted on November 7, 2014 by kalynsara

What a day. I am exhausted. Today was one of those days that I got so much done, but still have a to-do list a mile long. I managed to get in a killer workout today. I took an hour long cadio sculpt class. It was rough. Especially after my toning class yesterday. The instructor called me out a few times.

I am still loving my headband.

After class I got on a treadmill and ran a mile at a 10 minute pace and walked a slow quarter mile. It felt really good to sweat and push myself after such an intense class. Also, I had no knee pain! I am excited to get another mile in on Saturday (tomorrow is my rest day).

For breakfast I had some old fashioned oats cooked with a little Nutella. For lunch I had a mint chocolate Luna Bar while I was doing our grocery shopping followed by an apple with PB. For dinner I had leftover spaghetti, a piece of garlic bread and a side salad. Snacks included some hummus with thin pretzels and a cheese stick. As always plenty of water. On a typical day I do not drink anything aside from water. I don’t even drink coffee.

My goal for tomorrow is to be a lot more healthy than I was today. I am planning something fun for tomorrow’s breakfast and I cannot wait to see how it turns out.

Days Nine and Ten

Posted on November 6, 2014 by kalynsara

Tuesday was a fun day. I slept in a little bit and felt too lazy to get to the gym so I did this workout video at home. It is a great video and she has all three levels on YouTube for free. YouTube has some other great videos that I have done in the past (and will share later). They are perfect for anyone that doesn’t want to pay for a gym membership or is just feeling to lazy to get to the gym. Back when I used to live in NYC, I did YouTube videos a lot in the winter because it was always way too cold (in my opinion) to get to the gym before and after work. For this particular video I use a yoga mat that I bought at Target and some weights I bought on Amazon for around $15.

Nutrition was pretty good (aside from the tremendous amount of candy that I ate). I had organic cereal with organic milk and two handfuls of blueberries for breakfast.

For lunch I had a salad with spinach, mixed field greens, red onions, tomatoes and cucumers and a little ranch dressing. I also had two freshly baked rolls. For dinner I had half of a salad and half of a pizza from Brixx Pizza. Like I said before, if y’all only knew the amount of Halloween candy I ate it would completely blow your mind. I had a banana for a snack and drank a ton of water throughout the day.

Today was much better in terms of candy. I had none and it is officially out of our house. Phew. For breakfast I had organic cereal with organic milk, a handful of blueberries and a banana. For lunch I had an organic bean and cheese burrito, hummus with thin pretzels and a pumpkin greek yogurt. It was OK. I am not a huge fan of pumpkin flavored things, though. I thought the Limited Batch Watermelon this past summer was incredible.

For dinner I had spaghetti with steamed green beans and garlic bread on the side. Just one cheese stick for a snack today. And as I look back I wish I had incorporated a little more protein and veggies into my day. I think that is going to be a constant struggle for me this next year.

My fitness included a toning class, a half mile walk around the indoor track and two miles on the stationary bike. I stretched and rolled for a bit. My knee has actually been bothering me today and I cannot figure out why. It better be better tomorrow because I have an intense day planned for fitness.

Day Eight

Posted on November 4, 2014 by kalynsara

Day one of my second week was a long one. I woke up early to get my pup walked and to get ready for work. I had a busy day at work and then had a business meeting after work. I was tired. I wanted to have a rest day, but I knew that I needed to push myself to get to the gym. I went and now I feel so much better for going (and so much more excited to get in bed!).

The gym was an easy one tonight. I walked for a half mile on the indoor track and then ran for a half mile at a 5:00 minute pace. I was expecting to go faster, but the gym was unusually busy tonight so the indoor track was pretty crowded. I think the weather finally getting cold and the fact that it gets dark at 5:30 pm may have had something to do with it. I stretched and then did two different leg machines and some free weights for about 15 minutes. No knee pain and my run felt pretty good.

I stopped by Target on my way home from work and got a new sports bra. These are my absolute favorite sports bras (I think I own about five of them) and I don’t know what I will do if they ever stop making them. I also got a new workout headband. The headband is incredible. It stayed in place for my entire workout and kept all of the hair out of my face. And it is super inexpensive.

My nutrition was great today! For breakfast I had cereal with organic milk. I never drink the leftover milk. For lunch I had a Which Wich veggie sandwich. I always get a small tomato and avocado on wheat. I have them “skinny my which” (they just take the extra bread out of the middle). Then I add hummus, provolone cheese, spinach and pickles. I skipped out on the chips and a chocolate chip cookie because I had a fun-size pack of Skittles and two Starburst out of the Halloween candy bin. For dinner I had grilled chicken, steamed green beans and rice. For a snack I had a cheese stick and a small slice of homemade banana bread. Not too shabby for a Monday. Tomorrow I need to step it up in the fruit department.