We are savages

For the past few months, Mike & I have been training for the Savage Race which my coworker roped me into participating in.  Luckily Mike agreed to join me since I'd have been terrified to run the 7.25 miles with 30 obstacles in between. 


 I'm definitely not considered a runner in any way shape or form.  I get bored easily & have never experienced the "runner's high" I often hear about.  But, it was a great motivator to get to the gym without question & get a few miles in each day as to not die on the day of the race.

The first obstacle was to jump into an icy vat of water which was positively shocking to the system.  To top it off, there's a wall in the middle that forces you to completely submerge.  Brr!!!!





It was a very filthy race that involved wading through mud & going under muddy water.  The picture above was the scariest & most challenging obstacle.  To get to the top of this huge slide, I had to scale a 90 degree wall via rope.  Lucky for me some nice guys at the top hoisted my large bum over the wall.  Going down the 90 degree slide into a vat of dirty water was pretty intimidating too.  You'll see from my face that I was a tad nervous.  It's funny though, because I never considered not doing some of the scarier obstacles since adrenaline kicks in & everyone around you is doing it too.  Not to mention, once at the top, there's no backing down!!

I was being dramatic in the picture above since the log I selected wasn't very heavy at all!

 

Unfortunately, my coworker's fiancee broke his leg during one of our obstacles.  The poor guy has to have surgery next week & can't bear weight on his leg for the next two months.  The medics swooped him away a couple of miles in, but we were left to finish the race... it was so sad to see the poor guy laying in the mud, shaking & in shock.

We plan on participating next year too, since it was both challenging & fun.  Now that we're creeping up in age, the scale is definitely creeping up too.  Gotta have a reason & motivator to stay in shape!

We'd never participated in a race before so it was satisfying to know we could do it & finish (above average time to boot!)

Nothing like jumping over hot coals before passing the finish line!

We may be getting old (and boy, did our bodies feel old the next day!), but we still gotta lot of life left in these old bones!!

Trying to bust out of my rut with My Fitness Pal

My fitness & nutrition plan has been stuck in a major rut & I'm still ten pounds up from when I stopped breastfeeding Reese about a year & a half ago.  I've been very frustrated & discouraged but this past weekend when I had trouble buttoning my jeans, I decided it was time to crack down & get serious.  I absolutely refuse to buy a larger size & accept this current weight because I do not feel good where I am right now.  It's so important to feel confident when you're getting ready in the morning.  I, on the other hand, feel like a stuffed sausage when I'm getting dressed.  That will not do!

So, to shed those ten pounds, I've started tracking each & every calorie I consume throughout the day using the free app, My Fitness Pal.  It's super user friendly & has an insane amount of foods in their data base.  Every food I've ever scanned has been in their system which makes it easy to stay consistent.  In getting serious, I've vowed to enter every bite I take & don't ignore the creamer in my coffee or the scoop of food I've snagged from the kids' plates as I'm washing up the dishes at dinner.  Using this app helps me plan ahead which reduces the chances that I'll flub up.  When you only have 1200 calories allotted each day like I do, you get a lot more creative in choosing your calories wisely as well as exercising so you can get those calories back.  Normally I don't exercise on Wednesdays since I'm home with the kids, but I got up early today & took a half hour walk before Mike left for work which gave me 150 calories back.  It also helped me reach my goal in getting 10,000 steps/day on my fitbit.

 

When I initially started My Fitness Pal a few weeks ago, I found myself being drawn to pre-packaged foods since they're so easy to scan in & stay portioned-controlled.  But, that completely jacks up the amount of sodium I should be consuming, so I've gotten back to preparing my own meals.  Yesterday I copied a wilted spinach & citrus quinoa salad that I love from Publix. 

I didn't have a recipe, but I did the best I could & it came out great.

Wilted Spinach & Citrus Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:
Quinoa, 1c uncooked
2c water
1 orange, zest & juice
1 Lemon, zest & juice
Baby spinach, heaping handful
Red wine vinegar, 1-2T
Olive oil, 1-2T
Mixed nuts & seeds 
Dried cranberries to your taste
Salt & pepper to taste

Cooking instructions:
Rinse 1 cup quinoa in a mesh strainer until water runs clear.  Bring to a boil with 2 cups of water & reduce to a simmer until water has absorbed, about 20 minutes.  While the quinoa is cooking, mix juice & zest of lemon & orange with olive oil & red wine vinegar; salt & pepper to taste. When water is absorbed from quinoa, mix with fresh, baby spinach until wilted.  Add citrus vinaigrette, dried cranberries, nuts & seeds of choice such as honey roasted peanuts & sunflower or pumpkin seeds & salt & pepper to taste.  Enjoy while hot or chill in refrigerator & enjoy cold.

Approximate nutrition information per 3/4 cup: 171 calories, 9g total fat, 3g protein.

We served the salad along with a Swai fish fillet which was baked with fresh orange & lemon juice, lemon pepper & salt.  The entire meal was under 300 calories; not too shabby!  So far, so good in keeping on track & within my calorie goals, but I have a feeling the weekends will be a bit more of a challenge.  I'm usually not motivated to workout & I'm more inclined to eat less healthfully & have that extra glass (or three!) of wine!!  The other thing is trying to be patient & not expecting the pounds to immediately come off.  I do have to say, it feels great to be actually doing something about getting back on track instead of feeling discouraged & out of control.

How to work out before work

Let me start off by saying that the reason why I've not blogged in nearly a month is that I've been in survival mode.  With us being short-handed at work, I'm running like a nut & working nearly five ten hour days.  Whew.  Anyway, moving right along, with February being heart month, I wanted to do a post about working out! Back in April I posted this about how to keep consistent with your workouts.  It turned out that evenings did not work for me & neither did the location I was previously going to.  Now that I'm working out at my hospital, I'm able to go before work, shower there & clock in by 7am.  I've tried the morning thing & failed in the past, but this time I've got it down pat.  You'd think it'd be obvious, but it took me a lot of thought to get the routine running smoothly.  For example, the first day I realized I had no eye shadow... travesty, I know!

I recently went to one of those house parties where you feel very obligated to buy something.  This one was Stella & Dot & luckily I was in desperate need of a new, large purse.  It was a definitely splurge for me, but it met all my needs & it's the perfect size for weekdays & weekends since I rarely tote around a diaper bag these days.

 

Since I wear scrubs to work, rolling my outfit & putting it in my purse is easy.  Just make sure you don't ever forget underwear... I'm telling you this from experience! I go to sleep in my workout clothes, sports bra & all, so I get out of bed ten minutes before I have to leave the house.  The coffee pot is set to brew at 5am & I'm out the door by 5:10 & to the gym by 5:30.  If your gym doesn't have TVs on every cardio machine like mine, use Netflix on your smart phone & pick a TV show series to watch.  I've gotten through Orange is the New Black & I'm back into Grey's Anatomy after a five year hiatus. 

The true reason of how my straight to work after the workout routine is working is: 1) There are totally private showers (I do not do the shared-space, look at my boobs while I change in front of you thing..)

 

2) They supply towels... this is HUGE for me.  This means I don't have to cart a towel to the gym & cart a wet towel from the gym, adding to my nightly laundry routine.  They also supply lotion, deodorant & Q-tips.  These are bulky items I don't have to worry about schlepping with me.

3) They supply a good blow dryer; another bulky item I don't have to think about.  So, what items DO I have to concern myself with?

Think all things MINI!  The under eye concealer is great for masking the signs of that early morning wake up call! That & the blush stick are Elf brand & were a dollar each at Target.  I have a mini brush & hairspray & I use BB cream which acts as a moisturizer & concealer in one.  Get yourself everything you need so you don't have to remember to put things in your purse & take them out on gym & non-gym days.  The less thinking you have to do once you've got the routine down, the more likely you'll stick with it.

I picked up a mini perfume for $5 at Bath & Body Works & the Maybelline cream gel shadow works awesome. Fun fact, did you know that Maybelline got it's name after the founder saw his sister Mabel applying a mixture of coal dust & Vaseline to her eye lashes?  Learn something new every day!  I also use Biosilk serum, so I picked up a travel container, filled it & use it before I blow dry my hair.

Last but not least, I picked up this $20 mini straightener with case at Target to get all the disgusting waves out of my bangs.  Bonus to having all the things in my purse at all times is that I no longer have to pack makeup when I go out of town or overnight & I can put my makeup on in my car when I'm in a hurry like I did on my way to church Sunday!

So, this routine has been working great for me, other than me literally cursing my alarm clock three mornings a week & having the urge to weep on my bathroom floor, wishing I could just sleep a little longer because I'm so darn tired.  Give me ten minutes, a little coffee & I'm good to go!  I recently read a quote on Pinterest, "It's easier to wake up early & workout than it is to look in the mirror each day & not like what you see."  I've always been into fitness, wellness & nutrition, hence choosing to become a registered dietitian, but fitness is just awesome because you feel powerful & have more energy after you're done with a workout.  If I can do it, you can too!