Category Archives: Uncategorized

M.I.A.

For the past week or two I have been a little M.I.A.  But I have had to loosen the reigns on somethings in order to make room for life’s ever changing path.

As I progress through the the 40 day “May Cause Miracle” book and 8 Weeks to Wellness Program, I have found the easiest thing for me to stay focused on progress is to disconnect for the internet.

Work is crazy, having a two year old is crazy, and making sure you are making healthy food and exercise choices is time consuming.  But add in meditation, journaling  getting in those damned 10,000 steps a day, running and 5 barre/Pilates classes a week- I realized I am insanely busy.  To add insult to injury on top of that- I have a horrific math course for educators that I am dreading to take part in both weekdays and Saturdays -I  know I am uncomfortably swamped.   But it is important to be present in what I am doing and not just going through the motions to get through it, but it is not easy.

What would be easy, is to block and tune out to the internet and the TV and ignore all the things going on around me.  In order not to do that I am making a conscious effort to do this program 100% as well as everything else I can’t change (work and class) and if that means I need to be a little less regular on here, so be it. For now.

But when I come back (so soon) I have some awesome things for you guys including an amazing giveaway from Sports Line fitness!

So stay tuned and stay calm and until then…keep active through these chilllllyyyyy days   :)

You know what assuming does…

it makes an ass double in size!

Credit: Reality TV GIFS

People often get frusterated because they are working out and not seeing progress.  However, it is easy to forget that you can easily undo all the progress that you are making in the gym by over eating.  .

People often overestimate the amount of calories they are burning and in turn eat more than they should.  I have to admit, when I am not careful, I am often guilty of not heeding that age old saying “don’t eat away your progress in the gym.”

I try not to, I really do -but I will catch myself mindlessly snacking, often.  I will snack out of Cooper’s leftovers, mindlessly nosh on half a box of wheat thins or slowly pick away at any type of cheese I can get my paws on.  Whoopsie.

I hear ya Boo Boo
Credit: Reality TV GIFS

Then, at the end of the week I get annoyed I haven’t been making much physical progress.  And honestly it is my own fault for assuming.  I, like many others overestimate the calories I burn and underestimate the calories I eat!

Photo Credit: pFIT blog

For a long time I always figured the general rule of thumb was 100 calories burned per mile.  I judged my eating on that.  But I always knew deep down it could vary depending on the person and body type.

So I decided to play a little myth busters.  I took my heart rate monitor out for an 8 mile run.  I was expecting to see somewhere a little lower than 800 kcals burned.   However, my heart rate monitor gave me a much different number!

What I assumed was around 800 calories burned was only 578.  That is a 222 caloric difference!  That could be the difference in gaining or gaining two pounds a month!

I guess the watch could be off as well, but it was such a different number than I expected. That is why we should never assume or necessaitly trust what the machine at the gym is telling us how many calories we are burning.

It can become frusterating and defeating when you eat everything you worked off and don’t see any progress.  During the holiday season it is important to have fun but stay active and recognize if you are over eating, so not to get discouraged that you aren’t seeing progress in the gym! 

Question:  Do you find yourself ruining your gym progress in the kitchen?  Do you wear a heart rate monitor?  

 

#RWRunStreak: Day 5 (5 miles) Day 6 (6 miles)

Running towards Chocolate and Inspiration

Yesterday I got an email from the lovely people at Runner’s World.  They wanted to challenge me and some of my blogger friends to the second annual Runner’s World Run Streak 2012.

Challenge accepted (I was going to do it anyhow).  So there.

Most of us are guilty of indulging more around the holiday season than any other time during the year.  People’s well wishes often come with cookie tins and chocolates.  I accept them on the account that I am polite and I am hungry most of the time.  I definitely like to see those treats but I don’t like to see a change on the scale.  The Run Streak is a great way to stay motivated and keep that fat at bay.

I know I talked about it briefly before but I wanted to go into it a little more.  Here’s RW’s take on it:

One way to make your December training log entries look less like a string of binary code is to join our second annual Holiday Running Streak. Pledge to run at least one mile every day, from Thanksgiving (that’s Thursday, November 22) through New Year’s Day.

Often, you’ll find that once you get going, you want to go farther than a mile. Sometimes, you don’t, and those are your “rest days.” (In fact, it’s smart to take as many easy one-mile days each week as you’d ordinarily take rest days, to avoid overdoing it.)

Either way, you’ll get pulled in—you won’t want to break the streak, even if that means getting up super-early before a long car ride to squeeze in your mile. If you do this Streak, and do it smart, you’ll emerge from the holiday season unscathed, and maybe even fitter than you were before.

I want to challenge you my friends to the streak as well.  If you aren’t a runner. Walk a mile, elliptical a mile!  Moving is moving!

If you need a little inspiration to lace up those sneakers do yourself a favor and pick up My Life on the Run by Bart Yasso.  I have been reading it for the past week or so and I feel renewed and ready to run.

Photo Credit: Pavement Runner

This book is not only funny but it is a fascinating tale of how running can shape one person’s life and the adventures it lead you to.  It is a definite must read for anyone who needs a little spring in their step.

So are you guys up for the challenge?

I will be posting my miles everyday on twitter and on the bottom of my blog posts!

If want to talk more about the challenge and connect with others, here is the group Runner’s World created. On twitter we are using the hashtag #RWRunStreak.  So lace up and get involved!

Question: How do you motivate yourself through the holidays?!

Mommy Mondays: Cooper,Super Fan.

This weekend Cooper’s Auntie and my sister Jamie was playing her very last soccer game.  After 22 (long) years of soccer Jamie played her farewell game as Captain at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA.

Cooper and Jamie. Throwback circa 2011…hehe

Cooper loves his Auntie Jamie because they are the same.  Messy, lazy, and a lot hungry!

Cooper wanted to go cheer Jamie on this weekend and he was scared to be outdone by other babies.  Therefore, he made her this superfan poster!

Rainbow Cooper, I bought non-washable Crayola by accident. Whoops!

As much as I despise watching sports, I have to admit I am excited for Cooper to get into sports because although, it is not the sport I like, I certainty love watching him.  Sport parents on the other hand, are much too aggressive and I think some Xanax in their water bottles would not be a bad thing.  Cooper is adverse to confrontation as well, so we decided to take watching breaks and play a little soccer on our own!

Cooper is so cute and SUCH a cheater!

Anyways, Jamie played a great game and they won 1-0 against Regis College.

Note the sour puss’s on the right. If looks could kill.

They were really excited and it was a great way for Jamie to end her college soccer career.  Somehow, Cooper ended up with their trophy and clearly claimed his place as the rightful winner of everything!

Question: If you have young kids what sports do you hope they play?  If you have older kids how do you deal with aggressive parents or are you one!?!?

Putting Zero Drop to the Test!

Tonight was my first night back in business since the Runner’s World Half Marathon and Festival.  I hit up cross fit  and was so excited to see a serious track workout.  It is just what I needed to run out all the gunk that had built up in my muscles over the past week.

By the end my legs were shaking but I felt great.

I have to admit I owe part of my workout’s success on my experience at the RW Half this weekend.  I was lucky enough to meet Golden Harper the CEO of Altra Zero Drop shoes and these shoes helped me rock it.

I will let Golden explain the benefit of Zero Drop shoes to you.

I have to admit they are not the prettiest shoes.  And since I clearly have a Lululemon addiction (I am a little bratty like that) I was honestly not sure they were for me.  HOWEVER, I decided to give them a try while I was at home yesterday.  I definitely felt a difference in the first mile from my normal Mizunos, not bad, not good, just different.  BUT the second mile things turned around and I suddenly felt more comfortable than ever.

I decided to try it out them out today on the road.  As stated above it wasn’t a long workout but it was all out.  I felt it would be the perfect place to really put these shoes to the test.

I have to say I felt like these shoes helped my form which in turn helped my run.  If these shoes do what they say they can do I am going to be looking at a much longer running career.  Since injuries are the number one reason runners get sidelined could we have stumbled upon that magic bullet?  I hope so.

I am planning on slowly transitioning to these shoes.  Since they have less foam they break down less and can last over 1000 miles!  I am going to run my first road race in these at the Edaville Rail Run in Carver, MA.  I have to say I think I have really drank the Altra juice and I like it!

Check them out here!

 

 

***Sorry!!!

I was just informed I mixed up the name and links of Altra.  It is Altra Zero Drop (not Drop Zero).  Sorry for any and all confusion!

 

 

***Disclaimer: Altra Zero Drop provided the sneakers at no cost. All opinions are my own.