Recording Again....

This will be short and sweet....

Here I am. Recording again. My Fitness Pal, measuring cups, and my food scale are once again my best friends. I freaked out on my poor husband last night because he made me a wonderful dinner, but didn't measure out everything before assembling my plate. (Note to self- it's not THAT big of a deal! You did not get fat eating an extra ounce of cheese.)

How am I feeling? 

Great, of course! When I'm not recording I tend to graze and never feel satisfied. Never. Recording forces me to think about my meals and snacks because I want to optimize every single calorie.

The good news is that I feel full once again. I look forward to the next meal/snack but am never starving. 

I don't want to record forever. I need to record for now. 

~Kari

Intuitive/clean eating fail

You know the girl who talks about food casually? The only that turns down chips because she brought carrots to eat. The one that preps all her food on Sunday so that the rest of the week she can take healthy lunches to work. She's the one that broke up with her scale years ago and has never turned back. 

I want to be that girl, but I'm not. 

Not yet! 

I've left the world of recording my food some time ago in search of a better method. I want a way to control my food and my cravings without having to monitor, measure, weigh and scoop my way through life. 

Someone close to me had decided to start recoding food on Sparkpeople in an attempt to lose weight. I offered to record too as a support. 

I weighed myself today to see where I was at so that I would know how many calories I needed to be successful. 

The scale was up 6 pounds. 6 pounds. I know it doesn't matter to you how much I weigh so I am going to leave that number off. 

I've cleaned up so many things in my diet. I've been drinking a ton of water. I'm eating less felt like I was eating less. The fact that my pants don't button and the 6 pound gain tell me that I am eating too much. 

What's a girl to do? I pick up and go back to what I know- recording, weighing, measuring my food. I stopped recording because I had become obsessed with it. I actually turned down times out with friends because the food choices scare me. I feel more in control of my food than ever before. I'm hopeful that this go around with recording will not be one of fear, but rather celebration of how far I've come. I'm not stopping the clean gains that I've made. I'm not going back to diet coke. 

I will not buy larger pants. Will.not.do.it. 

So....I'm back on MyFitnessPal. Come join me! My username is fergukj. I'd love to be your friend and support you in this journey. 

~Kari

Spartan Giveaway #2!!!!

During my triathlon there were some *tough* spots. Thankfully, right before the race the husband reminded me that I can do anything- I AM Spartan. The tag line for Spartan Races is "You'll know at the finish line". I thought that was so cheesy until I crossed the finish line. :)

Did you hear that Spartan Races has partnered with NBC sports???? Here's a snippet from their website:

"Spartan Race and NBC Sports Network are collaborating on a television special which will feature the World Championship and focus on the sport of obstacle racing. This event, the culmination of the 2013 Reebok Spartan Race Series, will take place on September 21-22, 2013, in scenic central Vermont, near Spartan Race HQ in Pittsfield.

Tens of thousands of obstacle racing competitors and enthusiasts from around the world will converge on New England, where$250,000 in cash and prizes will be on the line. At the World Championship, top-ranked Reebok Spartan Race athletes, Olympians, and amateur athletes alike will compete side-by-side, assuming they have the brawn, guts and intestinal fortitude.

Spartan Race has partnered with NBC Sports Group to chronicle the amazing people and stories behind the race series and the World Championship, culminating in a 90-minute TV special that will air on the NBC Sports Network on October 19, 2013.

Share your story about how Reebok Spartan Race has changed your life, for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to represent Spartan on camera at the World Championship Race in Vermont!"

I've already programed October 19th into my phone because I don't want to miss the TV special! 

If you are in the Vermont area (or just want to go visit!) they added a sprint distance (the one I completed) to the course and if you sign up before August 17th it's only $40 which is a fantastic deal. 

I was super excited when Spartan contacted me and offered me a code to give away to one of my readers! This code is good only for a race in the 2013-2014 racing year. Enter! It doesn't hurt to enter. :) 




a Rafflecopter giveaway

~Kari

If I never lose another pound.....

The scale was unkind to me this morning. I think my body is worried that I'm going to go all crazy and do another Triathlon so it's holding on to every ounce of fluid and food that it can get. 

I want, at times desperately, to be back to the 193 pounds that I was last summer. 193 bothered me. I wanted more. I wanted to no longer be overweight (172 lbs if you are wondering). I was constantly striving for something that may never be. 

Since Fitbloggin much of my time has been spent evaluating my food choices. Choosing cleaner meals and healthier snacks. I'm not perfect. I make "bad" choices and full accept that it is my choice to make. Eating healthier has made me feel healthier and I love that. It has not, however, made the scale take giant leaps downward like I think that it should.  

The gym was calling my name extra early today. We have a full day ahead of us and the only time it would fit was 1st thing in the morning. I went in to do Stage 1, Workout A, Session 3 (that's a mouthful!) of New Rules of Lifting for Women. Half way though my workout I caught myself in the mirror. Myself today, not the 356 pound myself that I normally see in the mirror. I'm going pretty good! I'm not where I want to be, but I am doing what I want to do. 

What if I never lose another pound? 
What if I am as fast as I'll ever be? 
What if I am always "overweight" on the BMI chart?


I am developing forever habits. 
I am not changing my life for the scale. 
I am changing my life for me health, for my family, for me. 

So.... even if I never lose another pound, I am still headed in the right direction. My kids are flourishing in the health deptartment. We even did a fun run together this past weekend.

I had to weigh Sissy the other day to see how much medicine to give her. Before I weighed her she asked me if she was suppose to be losing and gaining weight. My answer? "You are suppose to be growing into a healthy young woman". That's what it's about. It's about growing. Always growing.


~Kari

Iron Girl Sprint Triathalon

I am a triathlete!!!

Wow! I can't believe I really did it.

On Sunday I participated in the Iron Girl Triathlon. We headed out early (4:30 AM) for the race. Parking was at a totally different location so we had to park and then take a shuttle to the course. At 5:45 we arrive the course.

  

I set up my transition stuff. Thankfully there were a bunch of other ladies around that we able to help me know how to set everything out. Next was porta potty time.

 Now the waiting.... I thought my heat was at 6:45, but it was actually at 7:15. I waited...I updated my status....I waited.....we took pictures....more status updates.

At 7:10 we were allowed to get into the water. I had *intended* to do an open water swim before the event, but never quite go it done. At the last second another athlete mentioned that if I start to feel like I can't breathe that I should go onto my back. The water felt good. They announced that it was 73 degrees. I started to swim and instantly started to freak out. I tried to put my head under water and could not do it. It's hard to explain, but there was this pressure on my chest that made it impossible to breathe. I remembered what that lady had said and on to my back I went. Now what? I was just starting! There were 3 buoys. I just had to make it to the first buoy. I started doing breast stroke with a crawl stroke kick. It was totally ineffective, but I was moving. THEN it hit me! I can do backstroke. DUH! I only practiced crawl stroke, but have a strong backstroke. The only problem with backstroke was that clouds don't make a great line to follow. Thankfully there were kayaks in the water that kept me headed the right direction. I ended up doing 20 strokes backstroke and then a bit of my crawl/breast hybrid and made it to the 2nd buoy. I asked a kayaker if I was at least 1/2 way. Thankfully she told me that I was close to 3/4s done. SWEEEEET! I finished up the 1/2 mile swim in 25:56. This was great for me since most of my pool swims were right around 25 minutes.

Transition 1- Out of the water, across the street and in to transition. This took me forever (9 minutes!). I could definitely do this better next time.

The bike portion was really uneventful (thankfully!) The only exciting thing was when the lady in front of my dropped her water bottle going down a steep hill. Thankfully I saw it or I would have totally met the pavement. I swerved and avoided the bottle. 12 miles= 53:35 minutes. I was expecting close to an hour, so I was delighted with 53 minutes.

Transition 2- Off the bike, ate 1/4 of a cliff bar and I was off to the run. Much faster! 2:59. Ironically, my best "overall" placement was in T2. More on that in a bit.... 

I started off walking. My legs were jello. I missed my music. I was getting TIRED! I can do this. I thought about so many friends that I knew were cheering me on. I thought about the medal at the end. I thought about how far I've come. I didn't have music, but I did have cones. There were cones placed down the middle of the run course every few feet. I decided to run 10 cones and walk 10 cones. This helped me to pace myself and distract me while running. I counted and counted and counted. Finally the finish line was approaching. I rounded the corner and there was the husband. He was my champion today. Out of the water, back from the bike, and ending the run- he was there! It was nice to see a friendly face. Normally I run a 37-38 minute 5K. Today I ran a 41:16 and that is just find with me.

Overall I finished with a time of 2:13:31! I am ecstatic!!!! My goal was 2 hours 30 minutes. I met or exceeded my goal for every single part of the triathlon (except that first transiton- WOW). My "overalls" aren't very impressive. 149/174 in my division and 959/1144 overall. Here's the thing- I'm not fast. I am determined. I finished strong. I am proud.

 I am a triathlete!

Thank you to everyone that sent messages of encouragement to me over the past few days. They meant the world to me and pushed me through some difficult spots during the race. We did it! :)

~Kari

A Good Season

This has been a good week. 

A really good week. 

I've made healthy choices when it comes to snacking and meals.

I'm back to weight lifting. (Which is really exciting to me!)

I was sick, but didn't let it derail my healthy living.

Work started up again and it has been nice to see my co-workers.

Bug is doing summer school and loves his new teacher. It's a new school and I was worried about how he'd adapt.

Sissy is doing round 2 of swim lessons and is starting to make progress.

My Tri is on Sunday and I feel ready.

This is Week 3 of being pop free and it's starting to get easier. I actually crave water.

The scale is down for the first time in months.

I was reminded of this clip from The Office (who doesn't love the office?!) on Michael's last day. Our lives are definitely made up of seasons. The past few weeks have been good. Weight loss/maintenance isn't always like this. It's good to celebrate the good weeks to remind us when the weeks don't come as easily.

What's new with you? 

~Kari

Back to Weights

Whoop! Whoop!

I found myself back in the weight room again yesterday. The plan was to return to lifting after my Tri this weekend, but once I decided that I wanted to get back into New Rules of Lifting for Women you couldn't keep me away from the gym.

I've missed lifting! I've missed lifting a little bit more ever few weeks. I've even missed running my arms and feeling new muscles emerging. :)

I decided to start back over with NROLFW in Stage 1. Why go back? I decided to start over again because I wanted to work beyond where I ended. Stage 1 workout A calls for weight squats, push-ups, bent-over rows, step-ups, and prone jackknife.  It doesn't seem like a lot, but I kicked my own butt quite effectively. 

The best part????? Ok, 2 best parts???? I was able to lift WAY MORE today that I did last time I started New Rules. Also, I am sore today. I forgot how good it feels to be sore. Not sore like hurt, sore like I worked hard. I love how I feel.

Balance. I've got to find balance between cardio and lifting. 

I can not invest more time in working out, but I want to do it all. 

~Kari