tabata time and a little motivation to keep going.

I'm starting to feel that "I wish I had done more" feeling that I got the week before TM last year. Even though there are still 88 days left until the event, I can't help but feel like I should be doing MUCH more.

But as I enjoyed Cheerios for one this morning, I was reminded that that was exactly the reason I didn't set specific goals other than feeling prepared to complete the course. So I took inventory of the past couple of weeks. Am I choosing to eat less "bad" food and more "good" food? Yes. Am I getting a solid workout four days out of the week, even if it's not Friday-Tuesday? Usually. Am I drinking more water? Heck yeah. I am on track, folks. I'm chugging along below the speed limit, but I'm still on the track.

I don't like specific diets for the same reason I hate the stupid phrase "No matter how slow you're going, you're still lapping everyone on the couch." (<-- if you've ever posted that on your wall, I've probably cringed) Just like comparison never fails to make you feel worse about yourself (comparing your job, looks, talents, etc. to someone else), comparing your fitness goals to someone else won't be a solid motivator or make you feel any better about what YOU'RE doing. Following a regimen and not taking into account YOUR lifestyle is still just like trying to follow someone else's fitness goal. At least, it is in my mind.

jumping off my soapbox...
from Life With My Special Ks

One of my favoritest ways to work out is to do high intensity interval training (HIIT). I started following Jillian Michaels' routines last year and I saw amazing transformation that I had never seen before. The idea is that you do quick workouts at different intensities so that your heart rate is constantly changing. You also work multiple muscle groups at a time with her workouts. Tabata is a variation of HIIT. With tabata training, the intervals of intensity have a longer duration than your periods of rest, whereas HIIT intervals of work and rest are usually the same amount of time. Tabata training is usually done with just free weights and/or body weight, but the same benefits apply when done in a cardio workout.

I often look for different workouts on Pinterest to keep my workout routine anything but routine. But I also enjoy creating my own workouts based on the principles I know. Today I had a great easy-intermediate tabata treadmill workout. It went something like this:

(bear with my formatting ignorance...)

Time	Incline	Speed
0-3:00	1	3.5
3:00-5:00	8	4
5:00-5:30	1	3
5:30-6:30	1	6
6:30-7:00	1	3
7:00-9:00	8	4.3
9:00-9:30	1	3
9:30-10:30	1	6
10:30-11:30	1	3

Repeat 3:00-11:30 until you complete 30 minutes.

Cool down for 5 minutes.

On the last stretch of any workout I always push myself just a little harder. I can hear coaches throughout my lifetime reminding me that you tell your body when you're done (or other coaches that took a slightly different approach: if you slow down before you cross the finish line, we're doing this whole set over again).

My encouragement to you is that no matter where you are on your fitness journey, 1) you have to actually get started! and 2) you tell your body when you're done. Yes, you're going to feel tired. But that mental game is tougher to beat than the physical one. If your body wants to quit, raise the incline. When you honestly believe there is no possible way that you can finish your set, give yourself 30 more seconds. For me, this kind of attitude makes all the difference during a workout... and it's the most important part of the TM training!

the plunge.

Just so we're all clear, we dropped the ball for two weeks in a row. Ate garbage, no workouts, the whole nine. Back on track today with some power yoga and a fresh set of groceries.

Moving on...

This week marks one year that A.J. and I have been working at The Chapel - Barrington as Campus Youth Pastors. This has been one of the most rewarding, trying, incredible things we have ever done- together and individually. Two weeks ago we had a milestone experience in ministry; we got to baptize our first student together! Words really fail me as an experience like that is supernatural. To come together as a church and watch a young person dedicate her life to the pursuit of Christ is incomparable.

Check out this clip of people from our church being baptized. We're at the end with Katherine :)

http://vimeo.com/85555456/download?t=1391347751&v=224001367&s=24588ca057afea994f73effb2ddaafae

butter lettuce actually IS a thing.

Week two of training. Last weekend, I didn't do so awesome. I skipped two of four days at the gym, but A.J. did all four. This weekend, we got a new bed and mattress on Saturday (!) so we spent pretty much the whole day doing that and pretty much no time at the gym. But Sunday, yesterday (double gym trips for me) and today were/will be pretty intense workouts for both of us. We're both feeling great!!

A.J.'s snoring has decreased SIGNIFICANTLY since we started training. We're eating better, we're more active, and we're only drinking alcohol on the weekends. According to the Mayo Clinic, those are a few of the  risk factors for snoring. That, and our glorious new mattress will hopefully set me up for sleep success in the very near future.

I am so excited that my new schedule will permit me to be home by 3 on Mondays! Last night I got to cook dinner, and we got to actually sit at our dining room table and eat it! This has been a rarity in our home for the past year or so. I wanted to kick off our Monday nights at home by trying a new to me recipe that falls in line with our better eating.

I went to Mariano's to get the items I needed for dinner, because Mariano's. I wanted to base my recipe loosely on this one for lettuce wraps. When I got to the produce section, I picked up a small bunch of this lettuce:

I continued throughout the store and gathered the rest of my ingredients. By the time got up to the checkout, I had enough groceries to feed an ogre for a week-ish. It was one of those times when you definitely didn't want to be the person behind me. But since EVERYONE does their grocery shopping mid-day on Mondays (I never knew), someone took their place behind me almost immediately. The cashier started ringing up my treasures and when she picked up my lettuce, she looked at it like it was a little shrunken head. "What is this?" I told her it was butter lettuce. She flipped through her picture book at all the produce, their names, their codes... no butter lettuce. I said, "I'm pretty sure it's called butter lettuce." She continued to look through all of her many cashier spellbooks and encyclopedias but could find no butter lettuce.

Finally, after a good three or four minutes of me awkwardly smiling at the, now two, people behind me, I asked her if I could just go to the produce section to double check the name. No need. The man two people behind me shouted up, "It's BOSTON lettuce!" Indeed it was. And thank you, sir, for waiting patiently for just the right time to grace us all with your produce knowledge. Heaven forbid it had been three minutes sooner.

BUT. Look at butter lettuce:

They're freakin identical!! I know I didn't just make that up. I had to have seen the name somewhere. Maybe it was just on Chopped. But I swear, I've seen butter lettuce at Mariano's before. Can anyone confirm??

Anywhose. Here is the recipe I made and how our lettuce wraps turned out.
SPOILER: they were divine.


Thai-Style Lettuce Wraps

wraps:
1 shrunken head butter/Boston lettuce
1 bag shredded broccoli slaw w/ carrots and cabbage
1 can water chestnuts
1 can bamboo shoots
1 handful cashews, chopped
1 large chicken breast, shredded (this recipe for shredded chicken will make you drool)

sauce:
1 bottle sweet chili sauce
1-2 tbsp peanut butter
a couple tsp of soy sauce (don't go crazy, huh?)
lots of finely minced garlic
1/4 diced jalapeno
1/4 cup diced cilantro
red pepper flakes to taste

Stuff your little lettuce wrap until it's about to burst, pour sauce on top, roll it up and pop it in your mouth.

These things were awesome. Very easy for feeding a lot of people, because I shredded the whole pack of chicken breasts and we have tons of sauce, slaw, cashews, bamboo shoots and water chestnuts leftover. You would probably just need to buy two or three shrunken heads instead of one.

Guess what I'm having for lunch today...

the first post in all its fatty goodness.

I never thought I would have a blog.

I enjoy reading people's blogs and their thoughts on life from time to time, but I certainly wouldn't consider myself part of the "blogging community." And yet, here I am writing a blog. Am I automatically in the club? I fully support frilly toothpicks.

The main reason I wanted to start this blog was to have a sense of accountability. I wanted to document my progress as I train for TOUGH MUDDER PART DEUX. But the more that I think about it, I am kind of excited to share my thoughts on the rest of my whirlwind of a life. I am a follower of Christ, a pastor/English teacher/aspiring stylist/soon-to-be substitute teacher, I love to make just about anything, and A.J. and I are entering into a very new season of life. I gots lots of thoughts. The accountability is for more than just weight loss or fitness. It's to simply hold me to who I was made to be.

Will you take on that challenge with me? Be who you were made to be, embrace that person from every direction, and put your doubts about your true self to rest.

ALRIGHT. Here's the most juicy of all first blog posts.

I am a lot rounder and heavier than I was the last time I did this stupid race. I love it, but it's stupid. It's insanely painful and sucks the life out of you but fills you with crazy adrenaline and makes you think you're this powerhouse of a person that can conquer electricity and next, the world. It really is terrible and incredible at the same time.

But between the last race and now, I've been pretty lax with my health. I haven't had any fitness goals and I didn't prioritize smart eating habits. So here's where I'm at now:

arms: 14 in (I'm not sure if I measured this one right. haha)
chest: 36 1/2 in
waist: 30 in
hips: 39 in
thighs: 25 in
weight: 151 lbs

sad face no muscle

armpit pudge

 




             






THERE SHE BE.

The formatting of this thing is not YET my forte, but I really don't appreciate anything with poor formatting, so I'll get the hang of that.

I don't know what my specific fitness goals are, but I do know how I need to feel to do the race well. I didn't want to set a pound goal because I do want to pack on some muscle, and I honestly don't care what the actual number is as long as I am healthy and feel stellar. I am not following a super strict, regimented diet, because that has never worked for me, nor is it really sustainable for our lifestyle. I just want to eat more of what's better for me and less of what's not. Hoping to share some of those recipes with you along the way. We're also committed to going to the gym Saturday-Tuesday.

I guess this has been long enough for now. I'm excited to update you on my progress, even if it sucks, and share my thoughts, even if they're wrong :)