Saying goodbye to artificial sweeteners!

For several years I have been excusing my use of artificial sweeteners by saying, "It's the only thing I do! I don't drink alcohol (I don't like the taste), I can't eat gluten (celiac disease), and for a time I wasn't eating dairy (my infant son had an intolerance)! Drinking Diet Coke, ice tea with equal, and Crystal Light are my guilty pleasures!" One of my favorite things to do when I'm stressed is to get a large fountain soda from Circle K. 

I knew deep down that I needed to stop drinking these things. When I began 21 Day Fix in March I decided that I was going to give it all up. I thought I'd have some headaches for a day or two and then be fine. Boy was I wrong! I ended up going to bed really early on day one because I was so sick to my stomach, which I attributed to my lack of artificial sweetner. I guess I was going through detox! I stuck with the no artificial sweetner for about a week and a half. Then I fell back into my old excuse. Diet Coke was my only crutch and I wasn't giving it up, which also led me back ice tea with equal. 

       

Fast forward to last week...I began 3 Day Refresh on Monday and I was giving up artificial sweetner and caffeine. I have done really well. I have not had ice tea with equal. I have switched to iced green tea with lemon. I have had one Diet Coke and one Diet Pepsi (anything in moderation right) and honestly, they didn't do much for me. 

I've noticed that I am not as bloated, my clothes are fitting better, and I just feel better overall. Not to mention that I don't feel guilty for drinking things that are so bad for me. What I am struggling with STILL is dehydration. I am not a fan of water, but I'm working on it! 

Right now I'm focusing on eating less CRAP and eating more FOOD!

                 

Running Scared

On and off for the past 15 years I have been running through the streets, trails, and woods of my hometown in the early morning, mid afternoon, evening, or even late at night. Never have I thought twice about my safety while running. My biggest concerns have always been the wild animals I encounter (the ones that usually get me to jump are the squirrels and chipmunks that scurry through the leaves as I run by.) 

This morning I left my house at 5:15. It was a perfect running temperature, somewhere in the low 50s. The wind was gusting (not something I enjoy because I like as little resistance as  possible), and the cloud deck was incredibly low. I had my music on normal volume, quiet enough to hear my footsteps and traffic, but loud enough to keep me motivated...everything was pretty normal...except for a heightened level of anxiety.

A national news story broke out yesterday that hit pretty close to home, approximately a mile and a half too close. For the first time ever, I was nervous about running on my own. It is a completely irrational fear because the person who is causing my fear is now in jail. I really should have been afraid for the past however many years he has been living in my town, but didn't realize it until yesterday.

The situation has me thinking of what I need to do to keep myself safe while running. I could get a running partner (I have not found many willing candidates for that, but I'm still accepting applications), I could carry my phone with me (but I really enjoy the feeling of being disconnected), and/or I could carry mace (but how much is that really going to help me?) 

The safety and security of my small "It doesn't happen here" town in northern New Hampshire was taken yesterday by one person. It will take a long time to get that back...

But in the meantime, I refuse to stop running...

Pacing...Why is it so darn hard?

I cannot figure out how to keep a steady running pace for anything! Ideally, I would like to run my slowest mile first. This way I would have the energy to make my run last longer without feeling like I might die of a heart attack along the way. It never fails that I leave from my house and by the time I reach mile 1 I have run a mile under 9 minutes. I don't recognize that I am running this quickly because I feel great! About half way through my way to mile 2 I begin to feel the fatigue from running such a fast first mile. My second mile ends up being closer to a 10 minute mile. By mile 3, I am tired because I am reaching the end of my comfortable running distance at this pace, but I'm motivated to not see another 10 minute mile, so I push myself to run faster. This usually results in a mile that is somewhere between 9:15-9:30 pace.

I have a Garmin Forerunner 10 that I use to help mark my distance and to check my mile splits. I have not explored the technology enough to figure out how I can keep tabs on my pace. Right now I occasionally check my time to see how I'm doing, but doing math and running at the same time is not a multitasking skill that I have conquered yet. My husband has told me that there is a way to keep track of your pace on the watch and that it will beep to keep track of where I'm at.

Why do I care so much about my pace? I am hoping to run a sub 2 hour half marathon at the end of October, which means I need to be running 9 minute miles. 

I'm looking for advice and tips on how to keep track of my pace. What works for you?

3 Day Refresh Day 3 and Done!

Holy guacamole Day 3 is done and I woke up looking like this! 

Okay, so maybe not and it's not entirely fair that you (probably) didn't know what I looked like 3 days before I started 3 Day Refresh. (I promise I didn't/don't look anything like her!)

All kidding aside, three days done, 4 pounds gone and an inch off of my waist. I'm pretty happy with the results. I'm not going to lie and say that it was the easiest 3 days of my life. I was tempted the entire time to:

(1) Give up 

(2) Eat a little bit more 

(3) Put artificial sweetener in my green tea

(4) Have a Diet Coke

But I didn't! I stuck to the program and found out that even in stressful situations eating away my emotions is something that I can avoid.

If you are looking to start over, break bad habits, or jump start your weight loss journey, I recommend this program. How awesome would it be to begin your weight loss journey with a 4 pound weight loss in 3 days? Things to think about before you begin the program:

(1) Planning: it's important to have everything you need ready and waiting for you!

(2) Timing: Fit it into your schedule so that it will work best for you. Maybe trying it on a long weekend would work best because you wouldn't have to worry about work. Or maybe doing it during the work week would be best so you'd be distracted by work and not thinking about food so much.

(3) You are ready to commit: this program is great, but it took me a bit of mental toughness to get through it. You need to be ready to pass up on things that you are craving and be ready for the feeling of satisfaction instead of fullness when you are finished eating (believe me there is a difference!).

(4) You want/need to feel successful: seeing results is the best way to get on the fast tract to making a difference. By doing this program you will see results in 3 days. 3 DAYS! How motivating is that?

Interested in learning how you can fit 3 Day Refresh into your life...comment below.

3 Day Refresh Day 2

With all new things there is an adjustment period. Day 2 was a bit easier than Day 1. I didn't find myself thinking about food as much throughout the morning. In the afternoon, I struggled with thinking about food again, but I found a very satisfying and filling dinner on the dinner recipe list, which made a great ending to Day 2.

I am a volume eater. I want to feel like I'm eating a lot of food even if I'm not. Recently, I bought smaller plates so that when I plated my food it made it look like I was eating more. I'm trying to trick myself into thinking that I am satisfied with what I am eating. Whatever works, right?

The recipe I chose last night was the spinach salad. Making this salad includes 2 cups of spinach, half a tomato, half a red pepper, half a cucumber and sunflower seeds. Not only did this salad offer a lot of food, but it had seeds in it so it had a crunch to it! I felt very satisfied after I finished eating the salad and had to wait to drink my Vanilla Fresh shake because I would have been too full.

I had planned on eating asparagus with almonds for dinner tonight, but I might go with the spinach salad again. Something about eating 5 asparagus spears just doesn't seem as satisfying as eating that delicious salad!

One thing I have struggled with over the 2 days is drinking half my body weight in ounces of water. This is a daily struggle for me. I am definitely drinking more water than I normally do (this is measurable due to the amount of trips I'm taking to the restroom!)

Overall, I am pleased with the program so far. I am down another pound this morning, I am feeling better, and I am finding new things that I am enjoying eating. It is taking some mental toughness to get through it, but I am proving to myself that I can make the correct food choices!

Interesting in learning more about 3 Day Refresh...comment below!

3 Day Refresh Day 1

How often do you find yourself wondering if you are really hungry or if you are just wanting to eat because it's something to do? After Day 1 of the 3 Day Refresh I found myself thinking this same thing throughout the day. The 3 Day Refresh is a 3 day program that provides you with a fast, clean break from bad eating habits, while dropping a few pounds in the process.

The benefit of this program is that you are cleansing your body while being able to eat light and sensible.  Each day begins with a Shakeology shake, followed by a mid morning tea, then an 8 ounce fiber sweep drink. Lunch is a Vanilla Fresh shake and one serving each of a fruit, vegetable and healthy fat. That is followed by a mid afternoon snack, and then a dinner consisting of a Vanilla Fresh shake and a meal made from the dinner recipe list. An optional evening tea is also part of the daily program. 

After completing Day 1, I can say that I was not starving all day. I was, however, questioning whether I was hungry or if I wanted to eat just because my kids were eating. Breakfast was not any different from my normal breakfast, a chocolate Shakeology shake. I enjoyed the mid morning tea, but found it a bit different from my normal tea because I could not use any sweetener. (One of the reasons I chose to do this program was to try and get away from using artificial sweetener and drinking Diet Coke!) The Fiber Sweep was not my favorite part of the day, but it is only 8 ounces for 3 days so I will suck it up and drink it. I really enjoyed lunch and was surprised by the portion that I was able to eat. For a mid afternoon snack, I made homemade hummus and had 2 tablespoons of that with 2 stalks of celery. For dinner I had coconut steamed veggies with the Vanilla Fresh shake. The veggies were delicious and something I would add to a regular dinner!

What makes this program worth it? After Day 1, I slept great and woke up this morning with no bloating and 2 pounds lighter than I was yesterday morning.

Exercise...what about exercise? Light to moderate exercise is recommended with this program. Last night I went for a 3 mile walk with my dogs and a friend. It was a nice way to get my mind off of eating because night time snacking is definitely a downfall of mine.

Check back for my updates on Day 2 and Day 3!

Interesting in learning more about 3 Day Refresh...comment below with your email address. 

A much better use for nutrition labels.

How often do you find yourself bored and craving a delicious and naughty treat? In your head your probably thinking, "That scoop of ice cream can't be too bad for me. I can walk that off..." or "One beer after work would taste so great!" If you are like me, you can usually talk yourself right into eating that delicious and naughty treat without much coercion because I'm not thinking of how much work it would take to get those extra calories out of my body!

I found this photo today and got to thinking...If all of my food had the calorie equivalent of exercise needed to burn it off listed on it, it would be much easier to avoid the food. Maybe nutrition labels should include how many miles you would need to run in order to burn off the food. If you picked up a container of munchkins from Dunkin Donuts and the serving size read 10 miles (as in you need to run 10 miles to burn these calories) you'd probably think twice about putting it in your mouth! 

What do you think...would exercise equivalents on nutrition labels mean more to you than the number of calories, fats, etc. per serving that you see now?

It definitely isn't pretty, but I run!

      

Last week I participate in a 5K+ race (because it was 3.8 miles) in my husband's hometown. I don't usually sign up to race because I'm really competitive, but not a very strong runner. Those two things together usually lead me to feeling incredibly frustrated and defeated at the end of a race...and why would I pay money to feel like that?! 

My husband has been trying to help me realize that it isn't about winning or losing, but working to beat my time with each run. (He has been telling me this for 10 years because his first cross country meet that I attended I pointed out that I didn't see how he could be so happy with his results because he didn't win!) In an attempt to do something together (and by together I mean we ride together, register together, and hang out together until the start of the race and then we meet up at the end...) I signed up for this race telling him that I would probably finish last, but hey, someone has to...right?

The night before the race we ran the course together so that I knew where I was going and what I was getting myself into. I was fairly impressed with my time in the trial run and thought that I might do okay the next day.

I ran the race and finished a minute faster than I had the day before, which I was excited about. I came in 10th from last, which I can't stand the thought of, but it isn't about that (right...). I also continue to run each mile faster than my normal 10 minute mile pace. I actually ran my first mile in 8 minutes, which nearly killed me, but holy cow I ran an 8 minute mile! 

                                     

I had to take the week off from running due to a bloody blister, but I went out again today and ran my first mile in 8:50. I thought, "Woah, slow down that is way too fast for you!" But then I ran my next two miles right around 9 minutes...maybe I'm not giving myself enough credit...maybe it isn't too fast for me...maybe this running  thing isn't pretty while I'm doing it, but at least I'm out there getting it done!