My Road to Dopey

(Andrea)
         As most of you (and now all of you) know I am training to do the Dopey Challenge in January. For those that don’t know, the Dopey Challenge is a Disney race. I will run a 5K on Thursday, 10K on Friday, a Half Marathon on Saturday and a Full Marathon on Sunday. This will total up to 48.6 miles in 4 days. I am not concerned with the first 3 races, I know those are going to be manageable. I am concerned about the full though. I know I will finish it but I don’t want to just finish the Challenge. I would like to finish the Full in 5hrs or less. For those who have never ran a marathon, that will not be an easy feat, with the running that will take place 3 days prior. With each race I will receive a finishing medal. I will also receive a Goofy medal for completing the Goofy Challenge (the half and full) and a Dopey medal for completing all 4 races. Yes I am a bling junky ;)

Yesterday in preparation for this race I ran a 10k and today I ran a half. For those that don’t know the Secret City Half Marathon race it is a flat and fast double loop course, and very easy for someone to PR (Personal Record) on. It’s not really flat but by East TN standards its flat...haha I could have very easily PR’d but I did not push myself. I wanted to see how I would do after running the 10K yesterday. I’ve never run 2 days before a half. I always take them off to rest my legs. This makes my legs feel fresh and crave the run. If I had done this I could have very easily PR’d. I may have been able to PR today regardless but I wasn’t sure how my legs would do if I pushed myself in the beginning. So instead I held back and took a picture of the beautiful scenery and walked every water station.

On the second loop, I picked up my pace and I did not walk the water stations. I did however stop and take a picture with these two turkeys.

On mile 10 I noticed my left calf was tightening up and my hips were feeling that all to familiar pain from running long distances. Knowing that I was not going to PR, I did set out to finish it in less than 2 hours and that’s exactly what I did.

I know now I still have a lot of work, to do to prepare me for Dopey next month. My calf and hips still hurt, which is not normal for me after a half. In two weeks I have another half marathon. I will do 2 long runs next weekend and leading up to the half I will run a 5k, 10k and then the half. I am hoping that I will see some progress with the next half. Our bodies are amazing machines that with proper training can accomplish amazing things

If its not broke...don't fix it!

     I learned a valuable lesson this past month. I've preached before the importance of finding a good pair of running shoes and sticking with them. I'm a perfect example of why. As most of you know I have a history of knee problems. Two of my three marathons I had to have steroid injections just so I could finish. Back in March I went and saw a specialist and found out my problem was my feet, so I had custom insoles made.

I was pleasantly surprised when the insoles fixed my knee problems. When it was time for new shoes, I felt with the insoles I no longer needed stability. Boy was I wrong!

     The knee pain started pretty early but I was in denial. I ignored the pain that was starting to rear its ugly head because I didn't want to admit where it was headed. I kept wishing it away. After my runs I would ice my knee. I kept my mouth shut and never complianed about what was happening. On my 15.5mi run I tripped and busted my knees. During my run, I felt the familiar twinge and promised myself I would take a few days off and baby it. Which is exactly what I did. Then that following weekend I had a half marathon. At this point I didn't realize I had the brusitis. I pushed through the challenging course and ended up winning overall female.

 During that run the pain got worse and I could no longer ignore what was happening. That Monday morning the brusitis decided it was really going to rear its ugly head. My doctor told me when I fell I broke a bursa sack in my knee and the half marathon was the straw that broke the camel's back. I could no longer ignore what was happening. I was finally forced into taking some time off. So I kept my knee tightly wrapped and was consistantly icing it down. About a week later I attempted a run. From the very first step it was extremely painful. I kept thinking as soon as my body warmed up, it would feel better. But I was wrong and .75mi in I made the decision to turn around. I talked to my doctor about it and he told me to keep resting, keep it wrapped, keep icing it and if it wasn't better in another week then we may want to consider another steroid injection so I could finish my marathon.

     This was very discouraging. I didn't and don't want my goal for this marathon to be "just finish", I have my eyes set on BQing (Qualifying for Boston) in March and that won't happen if I can't do a marathon where I can actually PR (Personal Record). The thought at this point still had not occured to me about my new shoes. I was so use to a knee injury occuring every time I get over 15mi that I didn't think it could be my shoes. So I rested another week and then ran 3mi, the brusitis was healed and I was able to get through it relatively pain free. However afterwards, not so much. Walking up and down my steps and driving my Jeep was excruciating. So I finally gave into the realization that I was going to need another injection, just so I could finish my marathon. I made my appointment with my Sports Medicine Doctor and went back to resting and icing. The weekend before my appointment, my son and I had our 5k race.

The competitor in me wanted to race it so bad so my husband said he would run with Aiden while I raced it and after I finished I would come back and finish Aiden's race with him. My knee held out pretty well until after the race. This is when I felt my Sub 4 slipping away. I mean if I can't run 4.5mi pain free, how was I going to run 26.2? So with my appointment set for Thursday, I knew there was no way out of the injection.

     On that Monday I was at the gym, pedaling away on the incumbent bike, when a thought occured to me. What if its my shoes? I wasn't having any problems until I switched to these shoes.

So I decided the next day, I was going to test my theory. I decided to go back to the gym and run on the dreadmill. I figured I would play it safe. I could make sure and keep my pace at a nice easy speed, no hills and most importantly; if I ran into any problems with my knee I could just hop off and not have to worry about how I was going to make it home. So I laced up my old shoes and I ran 6 PAIN FREE miles!!!

I could not believe it. I was in total shock, I could not believe that changing back to my old shoes could make such a huge ddifference with just one run. I wanted to play it safe so I went home and iced my knee and I even took the next day off. I kept waiting for the pain to rear its ugly head but it didn't. I wanted to push myself a little further and see if I had actually found the answer. So I set off early Thursday morning and ran an easy pace 9 miler...PAIN FREE!!!!

 I was ecstatic! I knew I had found the answer to my problem. I had planned on running 10mi the next day but my son got sick and I had to postpone my run to Saturday morning when my husband would be home to take care of little man.

     My training schedule called for 16mi at my marathon race pace. I didn't want to push myself to hard, to fast; so I decided I would take it one mile at a time and do my best to at least keep it a sub 10 pace. That is exactly what I did. There were times I would look at my Garmin and I was sub 9 and other times I was barely sub 10. As I got closer to the 16mi a huge grin spread across my face.

 My confidence was BACK! I knew I was going to be able to reach my goal.  I may not get my sub 4 next month but I feel confident enough that I will PR. At the end of my run, I felt strong enough that I could have ran another 10mi. I can not wait to kill this next marathon. T-minus 19 days. Bring it Savannah! I'm ready for you!!!!

The Importance of Carbs, Fats, and Proteins Part 2 Fats

FAT!

FAT!

FAT!

     The word alone has been ingrained in us to make us cringe. We should not be scared of the word or what it means. Fat in itself is very important for our overall health and well being. We all have believed that in order to lose weight and keep it off, we need to cut out the fat. It makes sense to cut the one thing from your diet that you want to lose. To a certain extent this is correct, we do need to cut out unhealthy fat and consume more healthy fats. Having some fat in your diet is actually vital to not only helping you lose weight but keeping it off.

Here's why:

      There are 4 types of fats: saturated, polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and trans-fatty acids. Each of them give the foods we eat different flavors. When you see something that is labeled "Fat Free" stay away from it. Yes they've taken away the fat, but this takes away the flavor so in order to make something taste good they add sugar. This is bad, because if you remember from the Carbs post a rapid increase of sugar causes our body's to release insulin which stores it as fat and leaves us hungry again.

      Saturated Fats:  are found in items like coconut oil, butter, beef fat, and chicken fat. They are solid at room temperature. Up until very recently it was believed that these fats were bad for us. In a sense they are; considering too much of any thing can be bad. But consumed in moderation, they are good for us. Saturated fats found in healthy organic foods like, coconut oil, butter, heavy cream, and lean cuts of meat have been proven to be beneficial. Including saturated fats in your diet reduces the levels of a substance called lipoprotein, which reduces your risk for heart disease. Eating saturated fats raises your HDL, the "good cholesterol." Adding this fat to your diet has been shown in medical research to encourage the liver to dump their fat content; which helps keep the body from storing fat in the mid-section. Additionally, saturated fat has been shown to protect the liver from damage caused by alcohol and medications like NSAIDs and Tylenol. Saturated Fats also keep our lungs healthy. For proper function, the airspaces of the lungs are coated with a thin layer of what's called lung surfactant. The fat content of surfactant is 100% saturated fatty acids. Replacement of these critical fats by other types of fat makes for faulty surfactant and can cause breathing difficulties. Some researchers believe the foods that have been replaced the hydrogenated Trans fats is playing a major role in the rise of asthma among children. Saturated fats found in butter (real raw butter), coconut oil, and palm oil; function directly as a messenger to the body on when to release insulin. Without the correct signal to organs and glands from healthy saturated fats the body won't get the job done or it’s done improperly. They play a direct role in our metabolism. Saturated fats found in butter and coconut oil play key roles in immune health. Loss of sufficient saturated fatty acids in white blood cells hampers their ability to recognize and destroy viruses, bacteria and fungi.

      Monounsaturated Fat: These fats are typically liquid at room temperature. They are almost solely from Oleic acid.  Olive oil and cocoa (real chocolate) are excellent sources of oleic acid. Monounsaturated fats consumed in moderation have been proven to be beneficial to our health. They help reduce LDL (bad cholesterol) levels and lower your risk of heart disease and stroke. They provide nutrients to help develop and maintain your body’s cells.  Monounsaturated fats are also typically high in vitamin E, an antioxidant that most of us need more of. Examples of foods high in monounsaturated fats include vegetable oils such as olive oil, and peanut oil. They are also found in avocados, peanut butter, nuts and seeds. Macadamia nuts contain the highest amount at about 80%, while almonds come in second at 60%. Other nuts that are good sources are hazelnuts, pecans, peanuts and cashews. Good sources of seeds include cumin, sunflower (which is excellent on top of your salads) and sesame seeds. Pay very close attention to serving size though, nuts and seeds are very high in calories.

      Polyunsaturated Fat: These fats are considered essential fatty acids because they cannot be synthesized in our bodies, we can only get them from outside sources. They are essential as hormone precursors and as components of cell membranes. There are two essential fatty acids, Linoleic and Linolenic acid, also known as Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids or PUFAs. These fatty acids are necessary for normal growth and for healthy blood, arteries, and nerves. They keep our skin from drying out and getting scaly. They are necessary for the transportation and breakdown of cholesterol and for the production and balance of hormones. Polyunsaturated fats have a beneficial effect on your health when consumed in moderation and when used to replace Trans fats. Foods that are high in polyunsaturated fat include a number of vegetable oils, including soybean, corn and safflower oil, as well as fish such as salmon, mackerel, herring and trout. Other sources include some nuts and seeds such as walnuts and sunflower seeds.

      Trans Fatty Acids: This is the unhealthy fat that we need to eliminate or at least reduce as much as we can from our diets. Trans fats were invented in 1890 and began making their introduction into our foods in 1910. The use of these fats really took off in the 70's when it was believed that saturated fats where bad for us. Scientist believed because it was derived from more healthy vegetable oils, that it would be a much healthier alternative to saturated fats. Vegetable shortening and margarine have undergone a process called hydrogenation; the process turns unsaturated oils to a more solid fat. These fats are found in all kinds of processed foods and are listed on the label as "partially hydrogenated fats" and they are more dangerous to our body's then saturated fat. Ingested in small quantities, our bodies will burn them off as energy and conserve the natural fatty acids for more important functions. However, if there is an over consumption which exceeds our bodies ability to break them down, disease begins to manifest because our body attempts to use altered molecules for vital structures and functions. Trans fats increase total cholesterol levels and LDL (bad cholesterol) and even worse it lowers HDL (good cholesterol). They also interfere with the body's ability to use omega-3 fatty acids, which are important for heart health.

      Fats are the most concentrated source of energy in the body. For every one gram of fat there are 9 calories, that's twice the amount of calories per gram over Protein and Carbohydrates. According to the American College of Sports Medicine we should consume 20-30% of fat daily. In addition to providing energy, fats act as carriers for fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. By aiding in the absorption of Vitamin D, fats help make calcium available for our bones and teeth. Fats help our bodies turn beta carotene into Vitamin A. Vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant and is found in healthy high fat foods such as avocados, almonds, and sunflower seeds. Fat surrounds, protects, and holds our organs in place; such as the kidneys, heart and liver. A layer of fat also helps us preserve body heat and gives us our shape. Fats prolong the digestion of our foods, which in turns slows down the release of glucose into our bloodstream, which helps us feel fuller longer.

So don't feel guilty about enjoying those fats! Just keep a close eye on serving size. The key is moderation.

Stay tuned for Part 3 Proteins!!!!

The Importance of Carbs, Fats, and Proteins Part 1 Carbs

You've heard me preach many times of the importance of Protein, Fat and Carbs at every meal. Well now I am going to tell you why these 3 are so important for you. To make it easier I am going to break them down and then wrap it all up at the end.

Before you can understand the importance of Carbs, Proteins, and Fat you need to first understand what Metabolism is.

"Metabolism is the process by which your body converts what you eat and drink into energy. During this complex biochemical process, calories in food and beverages are combined with oxygen to release the energy your body needs to function. Even when you're at rest, your body needs energy for all its "hidden" functions, such as breathing, circulating blood, adjusting hormone levels, and growing and repairing cells."

Many of you have heard of the terms BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) or RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate). BMR or RMR is the amount of energy used to support metabolic work of body's cells. It is typically about 60-70% of the body's energy supply. This is the energy used to regulate body temperature, your heart beating, your lungs breathing, etc. A person who's body requires 2000 calories a day; will burn 1200-1400 calories to support their RMR. Your RMR can be influenced by a number of factors; your age, gender, height, environmental temperature, exercise and diet.

Gradual weight loss of 1-3lbs per week is ideal. Anything over 3lbs tends to be water loss; which is the water the body is forced to excrete when it is relying on the body's protein and fat for energy. When regular eating and drinking are resumed the lost pounds are regained and rather quickly.

So now that you understand what Metabolism is, lets dive into the importance of Carbs, Fats and Proteins.

First up CARBS!!! I hear so often people saying they are cutting carbs to lose weight. Yes you will lose weight but not in a good healthy way. Unless of course you are cutting out bad carbs. What are "bad" carbs? "Bad" carbs are found in processed foods and refined sugars. There are two types of Carbs: Complex Carbs are foods that are referred to as "starchy" foods. They are found in naturally occurring foods (good) and in processed foods (bad). These carbs are considered good carbs because the body breaks them down slowly, leaving you feeling fuller longer and the release of their sugar is slow. Simple Carbs exist in both natural and refined form, as well. Natural simple sugars are found in fruits and vegetables, these are GOOD. Refined simple sugars...BAD.

 Here is a list of Bad Complex carbohydrates as refined starches are found in:

• biscuits, pastries and cakes
• pizzas
• sugary processed breakfast cereals
• white bread
• white flour
• white pasta
• white rice

Do your best to stay away from or at least limit your intake.

Here's a list of Good Complex carbohydrates as natural starches are found in:

• bananas
• barley
• beans
• brown rice
• chickpeas
• lentils
• nuts
• oats
• parsnips
• potatoes (eat the skin)
• root vegetables
• sweet corn
• wholegrain cereals
• wholegrain breads
• whole wheat breads
• whole wheat flour
• whole wheat pasta
• yams

The reason why I say these are good complex carbs is because they are naturally occurring. Naturally occurring is good for our bodies. Our bodies know how to break them down and use them efficiently.

Refined sugars...BAD are found in:

• biscuits, cakes and pastries
• chocolate
• jams
• jellies
• brown and white cane sugar
• pizzas
• prepared foods and sauces
• soft drinks
• sweets and snack bars.

So do your best to stay away from those as much as possible.

Good Simple Carbs:

Are found in fruits and vegetables

Carbohydrates are the primary source of fuel in the human body. So why would you think it would make sense to cut out this very important source? According to the Institute of Medicine we should consume between 45-65% of carbs daily and for every 1g of carb there are 4 calories. I've heard some people say they don't eat a lot of sugar, but when I see them eat, they are chowing down on high carbohydrate foods. Carbohydrates are sugars. So if you're eating a something with carbs, you're eating sugar. There are 3 types of sugars: Galactose, Fructose, and Glucose; with glucose being the most abundant. Carbohydrates are the chief source of energy for all body functions. Carbohydrates also help with protein and fat metabolism and fats requires carbs for their breakdown in the liver.

To understand Carbohydrates it is important to understand what Glycogen is. "Glycogen is a multi branched polysaccharide that serves as a form of energy storage in animals and fungi. In humans, glycogen is made and stored primarily in the cells of the liver and the muscles, and functions as the secondary long-term energy storage."

So how does it get there? When you eat, your body releases the glucose from the food into your blood stream. Your liver senses the rise in glucose and tells your pancreas to release insulin to get rid of the excess sugar and restore your body's glucose level. Insulin is like a key, and your muscles are a lock. The insulin "unlocks" your muscles and liver and stores the now glycogen for later use. The rest of the glucose is stored as fat. So to much sugar at one time can cause a vicious never ending cycle. When you eat something like a candy bar, you feel great for a short while from the burst of sugar in your blood stream. However our bodies do not like having all that sugar so it releases insulin which gets rid of. This is when you return to feeling tired and hungry, so you eat a bag of chips and maybe have a coke. Rise in blood sugar, feel energized, body takes away sugar, you are back to feeling tired and hungry...this continues to happen over and over again.....Never Ending Vicious Cycle!

This is why it is so important to eat the right kinds of foods throughout the day. Your liver serves as the major metabolizer and regulator of carbohydrates. One of the principal metabolic of the liver is to act as a blood glucostat; converting excess glucose into glycogen during times of plenty and reconverting glycogen into glucose during times of food restrictions, there by maintaining an adequate level of glucose in the bloodstream. This is why eating every 2-3 hours or 6 small meals (how every you want to phrase it) is so important. The key to any weight loss program is keeping your blood glucose levels, stable. Although everyone wants to blame carbohydrates for obesity, it is important to not jump to conclusions. Any excessive amount of Carbs, Fat or Protein can cause obesity.

Carbohydrates are the most important source of fuel for athletic, fit people. Carbohydrates are so important to muscular work that when our muscles run out of there storage, the muscles stop and you "hit the wall". The human body fuel stores are 76% fat, 23% protein and only 1% carbohydrate. So even though an athlete may still have plenty of fuel stored, if they do not have the carbohydrates, the fat can not be metabolized. Our bodies can only store between 200-500 grams (800-2000 calories) of glycogen. Because our bodies can only store this very limited amount and because we tap into this supply so often throughout the day; it is very important we consume an adequate amount throughout the day. A well-trained athlete can only store about 2 hours worth of carbohydrates (glycogen) in their muscles. An untrained person only stores about an hour to 1 1/2 hours. After the body uses its glycogen storage, the body will begin to "cannibalize" itself.

When someone does not consume enough carbohydrates, several things occur; dehydration, poor performance and a catabolic state. The brain relies on glucose for its fuel source. Normal brain functions require 6g of glucose per hour, which can only happen when your blood has 50mg/d. When there isn't enough sugar the brain will tell the liver to release its storage of glycogen. However muscle glycogen can not be used to replace blood glucose. Muscle glycogen is sensitive to only its own energy requirements. When the liver's supply is gone, the liver begins Glycogenolysis.

Glycogenolysis is the synthesis of glucose from non-carbohydrate sources: lactate, pyruvate, glycerol, and certain amino acids. All of these processes require lots of water and a lot of vital fluids are lost. Also, they are not efficient fuel for the muscles. Therefore the body becomes dehydrated; which explains the rapid drop in weight in carbohydrate-restricted diets and a quick drop in performance for endurance athletes. Restricting carbohydrate intake not only puts a significant amount of work on the liver and kidneys, but they but the whole body into a state of catabolism. This lowers the rate of metabolism of foods at some point to counter the catabolic state. Once you resume a normal diet, the body will be more inclined to store it as fat. Why will it do this? The body has developed an innate primal defense mechanism to protect itself. It needs us to fed it healthy Proteins, Carbs and Fats. They all play a vital role in our bodies.

Our bodies need carbs but only good carbs, so choose wisely and ENJOY!

Stay tuned for Part 2 Fats

Butter, Good or Bad?

I have had many people ask me about butter and why in "my opinion" do I think its good for you. Well to be honest up until very recently, I was like most of you and believed that butter was bad for me. Then I saw a friend sharing blogs from Dietitian Cassie and my eyes were open to the error of my ways. Don't get me wrong to much of a good thing can be bad. However butter, especially butter that comes from grass fed cows, is in fact very healthy for us. Before I get into the health benefits of adding butter to your diet, let me first explain a little bit about what exactly Fat is.

We need fat, yes I know sounds crazy. How can we possibly need fat when that is the one thing we are trying to lose. Fat is a high source of energy, yeilding 9 calories per gram. In addition to providing energy, fats act as carriers for fat-soluable Vitamins A, D, E, and K. Fat helps our bodies absorb Vitamin D, fats help make calcium available to body tissues, especially our bones, and teeth. Fat surrounds, protects and holds our organs in place; such as the liver, kidneys and heart. It insulates our bodies and perserves body heat. Fat prolongs the digestion of our foods, which help us feel fuller longer.

Now that we've touched the surface of why fats are important for us. (I will discuss in greater detail the importance of Fats in another blog, when I discuss the importance of a good balance between Fats, Carbs and Proteins) Let me expain why butter is so good for us.

We as a species have been consuming butter for 1000's of years. It wasn't until around the 60's that butter recieved its bad reputation. At the turn of our century, heart disease in America was rare. By 1960, it was our number one killer. During this same time period, butter consumption had decreased - from eighteen pounds per person per year, to four. Yet the notion that a healthy diet is one with minimal fat, particularly saturated fat, has persisted. While we have reduced our intake of natural animal fats like butter, the processed food industry, particularly the low-fat food industry, sky rocketed. Since the early 1970's, Americans' average saturated fat intake has dropped considerably, while rates of obesity, diabetes, and consequently, heart disease, have surged. Butter is a natural food source, with so many health benefits that we can reap the rewards from and yet many people believe that it is unhealthy for use.

Here are just a few of the health benefits we get from butter:

1. Butter is rich in fat soluble vitamins A, E, D and K
2. Contains anti-oxidants that protect against free radical damage.
3. Has anti-oxidants that protect against weakening arteries.
4. Excellent source for the very important mineral selenium.
5. Butter, especially the type from grass fed cows, contain Conjugated Linoleic Acid, also known as CLA, which is a potent anti-cancer agent, muscle builder, and immunity booster
6. The cholesterol found in butterfat is essential to children's brain and nervous system development.
7. Is a source of quick energy, and is not stored in our bodies adipose tissue.

Whoa, SHUT THE FRONT DOOR....what was that last one? Butter is not stored in your adipose tissue? That's right and here's why. Yes, butter is a fat but a fat that is primarily made up of short and medium chains fatty acids. What does this mean? Well short and medium chain fatty acids are not stored in adipose tissue, which is a fancy way of saying the fat in butter will not be stored in your fat cells. Before people jump the gun on this butter on its own will not make you fat, spreading it all over white bread will. Apply some common sense, butter on white bread B.A.D, butter on steak, veggies, and used to cook your eggs is.....AH-MAZING!!!

So there you have it! Go out there and enjoy butter to quite literally your hearts content!

       I was just like everyone else. At my heaviest I was 170lbs. The top two pictures were taken of me in 2005 and 2006 when I quit smoking the first time because I wanted to get pregnant. My husband Aaron agreed to having a baby but only if I quit. Well I got pregnant had my beautiful son and dropped down to 150lbs because of breastfeeding. When I stopped breastfeeding and stopped losing weight, I started smoking again. My thinking was I would rather be a smoker and skinny then a nonsmoker and overweight. (Yeah I know, not very smart on my part.) Smoking made me drop down to 130lbs. Then I came to a point where I was tired of smelling like cigarette smoke and not being able to walk from the parking lot of my job with out being out of breath and the amount of money I was spending on them, was ridiculous so I decided to quit again and for the last time. However we all know what happens when you quit smoking..... :-(

        The third picture is me back up to 160lbs, so I started the wonderful (I use that term loosely) phentermine to help me lose the weight. Well as most of you know the stuff works awesome and you drop the weight fast. But the bad part is, as soon as you stop taking it the weight comes back. I did this several times, I would get down to 130 then stop taking and shoot back up to 160.

        I finally got tired of being on the weightloss/gain rollar coaster ride. I decided I was going to change my life and get back into shape. You always hear people saying the only way to get weight off and keep it off is to change your lifestyle. First thing I did was change what, how often, and how much I was eating. I always heard to help you, you should keep a food diary; so I downloaded an app to my droid called FatSecret.com. Keeping this food and exercise diary was one of the many keys to my success. It helped keep me accountable for everything that I put into my body. I began to ask myself "Do I really want that bag of chips that has 300+cals in it that will satisfy me now but will leave me hungry and wanting more 30mins from now? Or do I want to have some Chobani yogurt that only has 140cals and is good for me and will not only satisfy me now but because of the 14g of protein will fill me up and keep me full for a couple hours?" Another thing I did that helped me cut my calories was to eat every 2-3 hours. Eating this way not only helped me cut my portions (because I knew I was going to eat again in a couple hours) but it also prevented my body from going into starvation mode.

      

        A lot of people are in starvation mode now and don't even realize it. Our bodies are so afraid of starving to death that the person who only eats once or twice a day will not lose weight. Your body will hold onto everything you put in it because it doesn't know when you are going to feed it again. After about week your body will say to itself "hey, I can dump some of this fat because she is giving me food all the time." The first week is actually hard. Even though your body is not use to eating more then once or twice a day, you were most likely consuming well over 2000 calories when you did eat. I also weened myself off of cokes and started drinking coffee sweetened with skim milk and splenda, I had one cup in the morning. On occasion I would have a Diet Coke but other then that I only drank water or Powerade Zero. Now I only drink my coffee black, our bodies really do not need all that sugar. For those who do not like plain water add a lemon, lime ot some other type of cut up fruit. I also started eating a ton of fruit and fresh veggies. Espcially salads!!! However if your eating a salad you have to be careful with what you are topping it with. Replace the croutons with nuts or seeds and if you must have them have 1
serving which is usually about 10, not 20! Also watch your dressings, vinaigrettes are the best. Adding fresh fruit is another wonderful way to add toppings without all the calories.

     I also started EXERCISING!!! My main form of exercise was running and let me just say I was NOT a runner. My original goal was to be able to run for 30mins without stopping. I asked my friend, who is a Marathon Runner how I can acheive this. He told me to start out by walking for 1min then jog for 1min, I did that for a couple days, then I kept increasing the time between running and walking till I was running for the full 30mins. After I achieved that goal I changed it to picking up my pace and working on running for 3miles without stopping.

      

I began this lifestyle change on March 2, 2011, at that point I had gotten back up to 150lbs. By July 21st I had reached the goal that I had set out for myself which was to get back down to 120lbs and I had lost 16" from around my waist! Why did I pick that number; because that's how much I weighed when Aaron and I got married.

Now here I am 3 years later and I can happily call myself a long distance runner. I've ran 5k's, 8k's, 10k's, Half Marathons, 30k's and Full Marathons! This year I was asked to be part of a Racing Team!!!

To date I have ran 3 marathons and I am currently training for my 4th!

 My first Marathon Knoxville 2012

 My second Marathon Disney 2013

My third Marathon Nashville 2013

I am also really big into yoga and weight training. I also decided to get Certified as a Personal Trainer in hopes of helping many people achieve their lifestyle dreams! People refer to me as a health nut, which is alright in my book! However on occassion I do splurge and eat a handful of oreos or a bowl of ice cream or a bag of popcorn. I can do this now without guilt because I know that I don't have to worry about the weight anymore. I feel better and that comes across in everything I do.

I hope this post will help encourage you to get out there an make your lifestyle healthier!

Stay tuned because there is more to come!!!