Energy City Half Marathon

But those who wait for the Lord’s help find renewed strength; they rise up as if they had eagles’ wings, they run without growing weary, they walk without getting tired.

-Isaiah 40:31

Before the New Year, way back in December last year, I decided to start running a little bit over the weekends. I run the neighborhoods behind my apartments and I kept running past this sign on the side of the road for a half marathon that was coming up in just a few months and I decided that I was going to do it.

So I went home, and I thought about it some more, and then I decided to sign up Cody as well. He's ran a marathon before, so he will be fine.

The next day, I sent an email to my co-workers to let them all know that I had signed up and that they all should too. Because it's important to stay active and healthy! Plus it was a cool team building thing that we got to do. Later on that day, my boss stopped by my office and told me that he'd pay for all the employees and their spouses who wanted to participate! We were supposed to make shirts for everyone to wear, but work got busy! And we ran out of time.

So Cody, me, and 4 guys from my work participated in the race! It was definitely something that I'm glad I did, but I don't know if I will do it again. I might sign up for a 10K next time and just have to run 6 miles. My original goal for running the race was to finish it in 2 hours and 15 minutes. After several weeks of running on the weekends and observing my running speeds, however, I quickly reformed my goal to finish it in 2 hours and 30 minutes, and by the week before the race I thought there is no way I'm finishing it in 2 and a half hours. So my goal was just simply to finish.

I thought that I was going to have to stop for a walk break at 4 miles in and then run a few more, walk for a couple minutes, and so on. But when the race day came, I felt pretty good and I ended up running the first 6 miles before I took a walk break. Then we made it to 10 miles before walking again.

Up until this point I felt really good. I was like, only 3 more miles! I have GOT this! Then I started jogging again, and I was like oh heck no. I looked over at Cody and told him that I really didn't think I was going to be able to finish. I had slowed down, started noticing my toes blistering, and my legs just hurt.

Of course, Cody being the little athlete he is, was like "come on, Steph! You got this, lets sprint!" And he was SERIOUS!!!  He was all running backwards in front of me trying to get me to go faster.

HA. Like that was going to happen.

Somehow, by God's grace, I finished!! I even hard core sprinted the last 100 yards or so. My finish time was 2 hours and 23 minutes! So I did better than I thought that I'd do, and I was just so happy I finished.

So I am officially in the 13.1 club! I even got a little sticker to put on the back of my car even though I will not ever put it on the back of my car. And I got a finisher's medal and a T-shirt!

Whole30 Challenge!

After hearing about how well my sister Brandi has been doing since starting Cross Fit and eating the Paleo diet, Cody and I decided to try it out for ourselves!

We bought a book called It Starts With Food by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig, and I've been reading through it for the past couple of days. Cody's going to peruse it this weekend. The book talks about a lot of the science behind the Paleo diet, and it gives a challenge to follow their own version of the diet, which is actually more strict than the Paleo diet, for 30 days. Once the 30 days are up, a plan is laid out for you to reintroduce different food groups back into your diet so that you can see for yourself how different food groups impact your day to day.

The book has a lot of good information and it explains how different foods can mess with your hormones, causing your brain to think that your body is starving, and as a result tell your cells to burn sugar instead of fat for energy.

It also talks about your gut health and how certain food groups can lead to a leaky gut, allowing things that shouldn't be in your body to pass through your intestinal wall, causing your immune system to go haywire, leading to chronic inflammation which is not good.

It then goes on to tell you which food groups to avoid and why, and which ones to enjoy and why, and it includes a meal planning template and several Paleo recipes to mix and match.

Here are the basics of the diet:

Avoid:
   - ALL forms of added sugar, sweeteners, and alcohol
   - Seed oils
   - Grains and Legume (this includes PEANUTS!!)
   - Dairy (with the exception of clarified butter)

Enjoy:
   - Meat, seafood, and eggs
   - Vegetables and fruits
   - The right fats (cooking fats and oils, nuts and seeds)

The website Whole9 Life has lots of good references including a few different shopping lists. There is a link on the website to their shopping list which includes all the foods that you can have on this eating program, along with other helpful guides to get started with.

SO, here's to day 1 of our challenge!

The Juicer

This weekend after we got back from our trip to Fort Davis (a post on that to come...) Cody begged me to go to the store and buy a juicer. 

He's been watching documentaries about how juicing is just so good for you, yadda, yadda.

So we went on down to Bed Bath and Beyond with our 20% off coupon and bought ourselves an Omega VERT 350 juicer. It's actually pretty cool because it is vertical, it's small, and it ejects the pulp out into a separate container so it's easier to clean. 

The blade only spins at 80 RPM which is awesome because that way it prevents oxidation and the juice stays good and healthy for a full 72 hours which means we can juice at night and enjoy the next day with the same benefits of fresh juice!

When we lived in Houston, we had a juicer that we got rid of when we moved because we never used it (it was hard to clean...) so I was skeptical about spending so much on a juicer now.

But we made a pact with each other that we WILL have a juice for breakfast every single morning.

Just look at that goofy smile...he is so happy right now!

Here's the juice I had this morning:

I don't know how I let Cody talk me into this...

Next time, we'll be pouring the juice through a strainer before we put it in the jar to get rid of all of the pulp. Actually, once I got past that, the juice really wasn't that bad, a little too citricy this go round, but I did manage to drink the whole jar.

I think though, from now on we will stick to recipes to make sure that the grassy flavors don't overpower the other flavors.

Food/Exercise Diary Continued

Since I posted about my food/exercise diary a couple weeks ago, I've figured out that I want to do something with the data I'm collecting. I want to see what it means and really track it and figure out what it all means.

How do the calories we eat and the calories we burn by exercising really affect us? How do you know if you're burning enough calories to lose weight? Etc.

Being the nerd that I am, I did some research and then set up a ginormous spreadsheet on Google Docs so I can update it every day.

I can even forecast out when I should hit my goal weight by estimating exercise and food that I'll do and eat every day based on the two weeks I've been tracking so far.

I learned from this website the difference between gross vs. net calorie burn. Exercise machines like the elliptical will tell you an average gross amount of calories burned during your workout. The gross calorie burn is the total amount of calories burned during any activity you may do during the day.

But, did you know that you are continually burning calories throughout the whole day? Your body burns calories all the time to digest food and keep your body functioning properly. These calories are called your resting metabolic rate (RMR). There is another formula you can use to determine what your RMR is on the website mentioned above. I entered my info into the formula and figured out that I burn about 1560 calories per day no matter if I exercise or not.

So, if you are tracking your calories in order to lose weight, you need to know the proper way to do it. One pound of fat contains 3500 calories. In order to lose one pound, your body has to lose 3500 calories.

If you are only tracking the gross calories you burn during exercise, you will become frustrated when you aren't losing the weight like you thought you would because you have been overestimating the amount of extra calories you are actually burning off during that exercise.

The correct way to track the amount of calories you are burning (I even confirmed this with Cody and he was so proud of me!) is to follow this formula:

          Total Calories In   -   Total RMR Calories Out   -   Total Net Calories from Exercise Out

To calculate the total net calories from exercise, I use a heart rate monitor to tell me what my average heart rate is during exercise, and then I use a formula to tell me the gross amount of calories burned.

Then, I subtract the RMR calories burned for that period of time. For example if I exercised for 1 hour, then I would subtract my RMR (1560 calories) divided by 24 hours which is about 65 calories. So if the gross amount of calories I burned during an hour was 700, then I would subtract 65 and the net calories burned would equal 635, and this is the number I record.

Here is a screenshot of my spreadsheet:

If anyone is interested in this spreadsheet, let me know and I'll send a copy! I think that it's really going to help me stay motivated to keep it up and reach my goals!

It's already helped me...yesterday I worked out in the morning, and then when I got home from work, we ate a big supper, and after entering in all my numbers for the day (I apparently ate a lot yesterday) I got my butt off the couch and went to the gym for some cardio. And before looking at my spreadsheet I was NOT motivated to go.

Food/Exercise Diary

For the past few months, I've been trying to lose 5 - 10 pounds and I haven't been doing so well on my own, so I decided yesterday that I am going to do my best to cut out cheese and bread from my diet since I eat a lot of cheese and I love, love bread (and I'm supposed to be wheat and gluten-free anyway). 

I figured that a good tool to help me stay on track is a food/exercise journal.

I don't know about you, but every time I decide to start logging the food that I eat and the exercise I do each day, I always start by trying to log it on my phone. 

I have used the lose-it app for the iPhone in the past, and in college it helped me lose about 20 pounds!

Unfortunately, now whenever I try to use it, it only lasts for about a day and then I start forgetting about it. So this time, I thought maybe it will work for me if I use a good old fashioned journal with pen and paper. 

My friend went to Paris and brought me back this journal, which is nice and pocket sized so it fits in my purse, so I decided to use it. See below on how I set it up! 

For those of you who may be interested, I have also created this graphic to help, you can print it out and create your own journal, or you can just follow the guidelines and set up your own in a journal you may already have!

Here's to hoping that I can follow through...Enjoy!

Larabar: Uber

Larabar: Uber

I don't know if anyone has ever tried these before, but they are good. Really good! We started buying them a couple weeks ago from HEB, and I've been taking them to work for breakfast with me for the past couple days.

The ingredients are really good - there is still 12 grams of sugar per bar, but when compared to other bars, that isn't that bad. Basically it's a lot of nuts and dried fruit. A great snack to keep you going during the day, or in the morning!

They also come in lots of flavors: Apple Turnover, Bananas Foster, Cherry Cobbler, Coconut Macaroon, Roasted Nut Roll, and Sticky Bun. And they are all excellent.

Best of all, they're Cody approved!

Thyroid, Gluten, & Blood Type

So last week I had a check-up at the Hotze Health and Wellness Center to see how I'm doing.

I had some blood work done, and I asked for a blood type test because I didn't know what blood type I am, and I've always wanted to know! A few days later, the results came back and I found out that I am type O-Positive (the universal donor!).

The PA also talked to me about the food sensitivities that my blood work from the last visit showed and we discussed my thyroid.

First of all - apparently, I have a high sensitivity to wheat and gluten, even though I've grown up eating stuff with these things in it, and have been just fine. But she told me that if I don't change my diet now, it will lead to problems in the future that will be a lot easier to prevent if I just go ahead and cut gluten out of my diet completely now....I'm 'catching it early' is what she called it.

So last week, I tried to start cutting it out. It's actually kind of funny now, because every time I go to eat something, I lean over to Cody and go "is this gluten free??" Haha, even if it's something obvious like an apple.

;-)

But, there are certain things that it is going to be SO hard for me not to eat. For example, bread. We don't buy a whole lot of bread to begin with, but I love to eat it when we go out to eat, or if someone brings kolaches or something of that sort to work. Another example, desserts! Anyone who knows me knows that I have a large sweet tooth, and cannot say no to cookies, cake, or anything with sugar in it. I  know that sugar isn't gluten, but things that have sugar usually have flour, and flour is almost always glutenous.

So, no fun.

Second of all - even though I'm only 25, I have a slightly low functioning thyroid. Which I think is probably a common problem with people today. So I'm now taking some thyroid hormone from the Hotze Center. I am hoping that this will help me boost my metabolism and help me shed some weight that I've gained over the last year (so I can fit into my work pants again). I wouldn't have even brought up the thyroid stuff, but Cody told me that I should because I exercise a lot, I really don't over-eat, and I can't lose small amounts of weight easily. He says that's a symptom of a low functioning thyroid - and my blood tests did point to the same thing. So there we are.

But anyway, at church yesterday, Rachel gave me back our Eat Right for Your Blood Type book that we had let them borrow a while ago, and I was anxious to read what it had to say about my type O blood type.

Turns out that people with type O blood have low functioning thyroids, and need to be completely gluten free.

Who would have thought? I was so surprised when I read that!

And isn't type O blood the most common? Imagine if people would take charge of their health and learn about their own bodies. Would we have a lot less obesity, diabetes, and in general health problems in America?

I think so.

And also, Thanksgiving should be interesting. I foresee that I will be cheating on my gluten free diet a lot...I'll keep you informed.

:)

Yeast Free: Day 1

Well, today marks day 1 of the yeast free diet that Cody and I are doing.  For at least 2 months we are going to be sugar, bread, and dairy free!  I think it is going to be difficult for me to give up sugar, but I'm determined to do this diet right to get rid of all the yeast in my body so that I can be as healthy as possible.

We're also going to be recording our weight and measurements during the two months to see what changes happen!  I'm still going to be keeping my usual exercise plan which includes Body Pump and Zumba twice (sometimes 3 times) a week and hopefully also some Yoga in there somewhere.

I'm going to try and post what I'm eating for breakfast, lunch, and dinner to show everyone that it's not really that hard to eat this way.  It just involves doing your own cooking instead of getting all the frozen and processed foods.

Cody and I are prepared to sacrifice 30 minutes of sleep each morning to wake up earlier to cook breakfast instead of skipping it or choosing unhealthy options that might be hiding around the office when I get to work (do-nuts and kolaches anybody?).  And we're ready to spend that extra time in the kitchen every night to make a fresh dinner together.

This should be a fun two months!

Laptop Lunches!

Look at what I just came across!  After my doctor visit to the Hotze clinic, they gave me a copy of their Optimal Eating Program book which talks about the yeast free eating program, and they had a link to a website called Laptop Lunches.

The main product is a lunch box with smaller portion sized containers that all fit together inside the box to help you portion out your lunch to make it as healthy as possible!  And you can pick from several different colors and options of bags to carry it in.

I'm very excited to get mine!  I ordered one for Cody also, so he can have a real lunch box instead of the bowl thing that he uses to carry his lunch in now.

It is very hard for me to get motivated to do something new.  Take for example, exercising.  I have to trick myself into thinking that I want to go sometimes by buying a new exercise outfit so that I'll have something to look forward to at the gym!

I think it's the same sort of idea with these lunch boxes.  I know that I need to start eating a more balanced lunch at work, but it's so hard when I go to the store over the weekend to plan out how I am going to eat and then I usually just give up and throw a lean cuisine in the basket which probably isn't the healthiest way for me to be eating.  But now, since I'll  have cool containers to put my food in, I'll probably be more outgoing and buy more fruits and veggies to stick in them, knowing that I will actually take it with me to work and the food won't be wasted!

Maybe I'll even give lunch meat another chance.

Check out a free E-Book that they sent after I ordered a lunch box!  There are tons of lunch ideas inside for each season of the year!

The Hotze Experience

Well, it's official!  I am now a guest at the Hotze Health and Wellness Clinic!  I had my first visit yesterday, and I think it went well.  I actually learned some new things that I didn't know before.  Apparently, I have a few signs of a low thyroid...even though I feel fine.

First of all, my tongue has indentations on the sides from my teeth which is a sign of a low thyroid, and secondly, my hands and feet were cool to the touch (which I don't know if I really count because it was slightly chilly in the room I was in).  Anyway, since I feel great and I'm healthy, the doctor prescribed me with the Thyroid Support supplement that they sell at Physician's Preference.

I also learned that if you have ever taken antibiotics, or eaten meat that has been injected with them (or even taken birth control pills!!!), you should do a yeast cleanse for 3 months to get rid of the candida overgrowth that occurs as a result!

I asked the nurse how often you should do this cleanse, and she told me that you should do the full cleanse once a year, and you should do a mini-cleanse after you have finished taking an antibiotic medicine.

There is also a prescribed drug that you take along with the cleanse to help kill off the yeast in your gut.  And, if you don't want to become a new guest at the clinic, there is a supplement to help you kill the yeast along with the yeast free eating program that you can do instead of the prescription!

I also had some blood work done yesterday...I'm interested to find out the results!  I think they are running a bunch of tests to find out what foods I'm sensitive to, which will help me to plan out a new diet that will help me to feel more energized and ready to go!

But the best thing of all from my visit yesterday was that I got to see my husband in his element, doing what he does best!  There was a little luncheon going on and Cody went in to discuss three of the major supplements they sell to some women that were there, and I was so proud of him after listening!

Not only does Cody know so much about the supplements he sells, he knows how to talk to people and explain things in a way that truly fires them up about changing their habits to make their lives healthier and happier.  He answered every question that those women had about the supplements that he discussed and assured them that if they had a question that he didn't know the answer to, he would research it and find the answer and get back to them.

I knew that Cody knows about this stuff, but sheesh, he is GOOD at what he does.

And I'm a proud wife :)

And I will be remembering to take my supplements from now on.

Yoga and Sore Shoulders

I've started going to Yoga classes again at the gym!  I have become very inflexible over the past year because I haven't been stretching at all.  And I think stretching is probably important, so I decided that I'm going to get my butt back in there.

My goal is to make it to two Yoga classes a week.  So far, I've been to three classes (one on Saturday, one on Monday, and one last night) and I can already tell that I'm getting my flexibility back again.

I've also been going to a class called body pump, and we do a lot with the bar and I've noticed my shoulders being really tight and sore.  I have found that the Eagle Pose really helps to stretch that area, and whenever I do it, it feels like I'm having someone rub my shoulders (feels good).

So if you have sore shoulders, and don't have anyone to rub them for you, try out this pose!  You can even do this pose sitting at your desk (you don't have to do the full pose with the crossed legs to get the stretch in your shoulders and upper back).

Step by Step

Stand in Tadasana. Bend your knees slightly, lift your left foot up and, balancing on your right foot, cross your left thigh over the right. Point your left toes toward the floor, press the foot back, and then hook the top of the foot behind the lower right calf. Balance on the right foot.

Stretch your arms straight forward, parallel to the floor, and spread your scapulas wide across the back of your torso. Cross the arms in front of your torso so that the right arm is above the left, then bend your elbows. Snug the right elbow into the crook of the left, and raise the forearms perpendicular to the floor. The backs of your hands should be facing each other.

Press the right hand to the right and the left hand to the left, so that the palms are now facing each other. The thumb of the right hand should pass in front of the little finger of the left. Now press the palms together (as much as is possible for you), lift your elbows up, and stretch the fingers toward the ceiling.

Stay for 15 to 30 seconds, then unwind the legs and arms and stand in Tadasana again. Repeat for the same length of time with the arms and legs reversed.

Women's Health

Ok, so lately, I've been feeling like I'm gaining weight.  My clothes are tighter than usual, and I'm starting to be disgusted with myself every morning whenever I look in the mirror.  I know it's a bad excuse, but I just feel like I've been busier than I used to, and after work, I just don't feel like going to the gym anymore.  I'd rather go home and eat supper and hang out with Cody.

The other day, Cody emailed me at work saying that he wanted me to try a new exercise plan where I do short high intensity exercises instead of spending more time at the gym doing cardio (which I am learning doesn't really even help you lose any weight).  So why am I wasting all my time at the gym doing the elliptical if it's not even helping me?

Then I remembered that we bought a book a while back called The Women's Health Big Book of 15 Minute Workouts.  We got it so that Cody could get some ideas for girl exercises for whenever he started personal training people (which he never did by the way...).  But anyway, I thought, why haven't I read this book yet??  Oh yeah, because I hate reading things that don't have a plot...

Anyway, yesterday I was talking to Claire at work and she was telling me that she and her husband are going to try and start going to bed earlier and waking up earlier to go to the gym before work.

I've always thought it would be nice to be able to wake up earlier and get in a workout before my day starts, but I've never had the proper motivation to actually do it because I've felt like I wouldn't have enough time to get ready and get to work at the same time.

But now I'm motivated to get up and exercise now that I know I can design some 15 minute workouts for myself.  I can even do them at home!

My goal is to lose about 10 pounds by June or so...I just want to be the same size I was a year ago, and be able to fit into my clothes again without feeling chubby!

Yeast Free?

A few weeks ago, Cody said that he wanted to do a yeast free diet at the beginning of the year.  In case you don't know, yeast is either in pretty much everything you eat, and the other stuff you eat that doesn't have yeast probably promotes the growth of yeast, so in order to kill it, you have to quit eating it all.

The foods that are acceptable to eat are meat and vegetables.  And there are even some vegetables to avoid.  And, of course, you can't get rid of the yeast altogether by just stopping the consumption of it - there's a supplement regimen you need to do also.

I think this may just be a trick to spend money on supplements and medicine.

LOL, not really.  

The thing that I'm going to have a problem with is giving up sugar.  Everyone knows that I have pretty much the biggest sweet tooth in the planet (just ask Cody and my mother).  This means that I have to also stay away from the printer area at work because every week people bring in sweets or breakfast foods that aren't good (like donuts and kolaches).  It is very difficult for me to say no to these foods.

Luckily, this diet is only strict for a few months, and then you can start incorporating some stuff back in.  And I am sort of looking forward to it a little bit...Cody has told me that some of the women he knows from work who have tried it have ended up loosing a few lbs.  Having a job where I sit behind a desk all day long has caused me to gain just a few pounds (even with exercise 3 times a week), so I'm looking forward to those maybe going away again.  

Anyway...

To make a long story short, I can't wait for March 31st to roll around whenever I can make a big batch of cookies to eat very slowly throughout the week (as opposed to all in one night).

My First 5K!

Me and Cody Running in the Joy to the World 5K!

Over the weekend, Cody and I went to College Station to visit with my sister and also to participate in the 5K that her organization from A&M hosted.  It was the first 5K that I've ever done, and I thought that I did pretty well, considering!

Our time was 32.48 minutes, although Cody could have probably won first place if I would have let him.  He's sort of athletic.  But I wanted him to run with me and help me finish since I need motivation whenever I run.

The race was to benefit a group of kids that the Philadelphia Sisters support over in Nicaragua.  Hopefully, the race made some money!