Category Archives: running

Day 794: Weigh In Day and Stuff about Thanksgiving

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Greetings Yo!

So the past couple of weeks have been up and down with two massive trips back to back, but things are finally getting back to where they need to be for this Fotographing Fat Kid. This week, I flippin’ lost 4.4 pounds!!! Which is insane! I know a lot of it was that I have been drinking my water and keeping my calories in check, but I also ran around 15 miles this week which isn’t a ton but more than the previous weeks! It was pretty crazy though, I bought a button up shirt last Tuesday at Old Navy and when I tried it on, it was tight in some areas. Yesterday, it was already loose. It’s crazy how much difference even just 4 pounds makes for your body!

As we all know, Thursday is Thanksgiving. A time to be thankful for what we have by eating a lot and then to go by massive TV’s at rock bottom prices…or something like that. Two years ago, I made it a goal to not gain weight on this week of gluttontastic awesomeness and I succeeded! I even lost a pound or two. But last year, it completely threw off my weight loss for a month or so. This year, I’m going back to mindful about my eating and remember that this won’t be the last time I’ll ever eat turkey dinner again (since we bought a 15 pound turkey and there are only three of us…who are all in a weight loss competition with one another.) Mind you I’m not saying this in a preachy “you shouldn’t eat a lot on Thanksgiving!” kind of way. This is just how I am approaching Thanksgiving this year.

With all of that stuff out of the way, let’s talk Turkey Trot! While I’m still stoked for the 15k, my knees are still a little sore. I’ve tried to stretch out everything, but there’s still a little stiffness. My arthritis medicine does help (oh yeah…I have arthritis. Another important reason to lose weight, because even if you are obese and have good cholesterol like I did, you are still wrecking your joints.) but it’s still there after a while. Basically, I’m going to just run as much as I can of that brutal 9.3 miles and then walk when I need to. My issue is sometimes during races I get super competitive and try to pass people even if that means completely breaking my pace. Then I end up slower and falling back behind. It’s kind of embarrassing and annoying. On Thursday, I’m just going to set my 15k record with the intention of breaking it next time. The race is projected to have more than 5,000 runners in a relatively small neighborhood so there are always bad bottlenecks (insert rant about people running with strollers even though the rules expressly forbid them here) so with that and the difficulty of the route (even though we run there every Tuesday and Thursday) it’s going to be an awesome run, not so much a race. It will also be nice when the 10k and the 15k races split off. That’s going to make life a lot easier. It’s going to feel like a normal Thursday run…minus the brutal falling.

Okay, time to take a 23 and a half hour break. Wordless Wednesday. Get stoked. See ya tomorrow.

Day 770: Sunday Funday

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Hocus Pocus is on. It’s that movie where Sarah Jessica Parker is transformed in to a horse…oh wait…she always looked like that? Geez.

So today has been pretty awesome here in North Florida! IT’S FINALLY COLD in the Florida sense of the word. It was in the mid to low 50’s all day.

Also, I broke my PR this weekend at the Trick or Trot! I ran a 27:01 which was 25 seconds faster than my PR and and did 3:37 better than last year’s Trick or Trot! I’m feeling really good about my running right now. It’s helping me stay focused on my weight loss, particularly what I eat. When I want to eat something unhealthy, I think “do you want to carry these extra calories on the half marathon?” I want to be as lean and fit as I can be by the big race in February so this mindset is going to help me out a lot for the next few months. Anyway, my next big race is on Thanksgiving. Doing the 15k (9.3 miles) Turkey Trot in Tallahassee. I’m pretty stoked. Good stuff.

Alright, let’s talk food. For breakfast, I had a SmartOne breakfast sandwich. Yum.

For lunch, we had a young pro’s event after church to get to know one another. I had  a turkey and cheese sandwich, a bowl of potato soup and 15-bean soup, and two cookies and a small slice of cake.

We decided to rest yesterday since we had ran Friday night, so we braved the cold and went for a run out at Lake Ella. The wind was whipping around off of the lake so it was flippin cold, especially in my new Under Amour running shorts. (Yeah, they’re short…) Anyway, considering the wind and the first time running in the cold since last year, I ran a 29:22 5k which was still pretty good. I’ll take it.

For dinner, Megan made her super awesome mac n’ cheese with broccoli and then made her even more awesome pumpkin pie. Pretty delicious way to end the night.

I know this was short, but we’ll talk more later. See ya tomorrow.

 

Day 694: Weigh In Stuff

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King of the Hill is awesome. That’s all that needs to be said about that.

So I knew that I wasn’t going to be down to where I was before our Disney trip weight-wise, but I was definitely shooting for at least a loss. I am definitely hoping to be back where I was and then some by my two-year blogaversary on September 18th. This week, I lost 1.6 pounds which is a pretty good lost considering the way I ate on Saturday (more about that in a bit…)

Breakfast: I had a bowl of Back to Nature Cranberry Pecan granola cereal. IT was delicious and filling. I also had a banana and drank a bunch of water.

Lunch: I went home and made a sandwich. The turkey we bought from Publix tastes the way Pay-Less Shoes smells. Anyway, I also had some chips and salsa with some Corn Flakes. I also had a Fiber One bar for my afternoon snack.

Dinner: I had some leftover chili from last night. Nothing too fancy. Then I had a banana before it was time to go for a run in Southwood.

Brutal Run: Today was one rough run. It had just rained so it was particularly humid. It felt like I was wearing a sweater when I was running. By the first half mile I was already covered in sweat. Today, I didn’t break any land speed records, it was more of a detox run. I ate a lot of junk (delicious junk that is) this weekend so it felt like my body was sweating all of that out so I could get back to my regularly scheduled weight loss. It also didn’t help that I was still sore from playing softball. My quads and groin were completely sore from sitting down all day so running was pretty rough too.
fun stuff.

Snack When we got home, I had some popcorn while watching Adventure Time (also an awesome show.)

So that’s all for today. Wordless Wednesday next. See ya tomorrow.

Day 689: Thursday Stuff

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Why hello!

Today was pretty good stuff. I did snack some, but nothing too major. It’s hard not to when you run in the evening and you come hungry. No bueno.

Anyway, let’s talk food.

Also, Arrested Development is amazing. I heart this show so much.

Breakfast: I just had peanut butter on a bagel thin because I am creative when it comes to breakfast.

Lunch: Megan and I met up for lunch at Subway and then went over to Atomic for some amazing caffeinated deliciousness (it was a busy morning.) I had a medici latte and Megan had a honey bear latte (which is deliciously pictured to the left.)

Also, this is me in a bow tie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Run: Today was Runday Thursday! We went out to Southwood when it looked like the apocalypse was about to hit (but evidently that’s coming early next week) and I went for a quick 3.5 miler. I got my mile time down which felt pretty good. I’m going to run 6 on Sunday which is going to be beastly. Also, I wore my favorite sweatband. Princess power all the way (wait…)

 

For dinner, I had some spaghetti. Nothing too fancy but it did the trick.

So that’s about it for the day. Huzzah. See ya tomorrow.

Day 675: Thursday Stuff

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Happy #BowtieThursday everyone!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alright, let’s get busy!

Breakfast: I just had an English MacMuffin. Yumtastic. 4 points

Lunch: Megan and I met up on campus (between thunderstorms) and went to Pollo Tropical for lunch. There is nothing better than chicken, rice and black beans. Fantastic. 11 points

When I was at work, I had four Goldfish crackers and a lemon cookie. Nothing major. 2 points?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner: Megan made some awesome Crock Pot Chicken Enchilada Soup for dinner. I had one and a half serving with a little cheese and sour cream. It was about 9 points. For dessert, Megan and I shared some froyo and it was only 2 points! 

SAWS: I ran a crapton today and burned 671 calories. I can’t flippin’ wait for the Trojan 5k on Saturday. I think we figured out the route and it’s going to be hilly. Can’t wait.

When I got home, I had 5 points worth of popcorn. Stellarkart.

So today I got to around 33 points so with the awesome calorie torchin’ I’m in good shape. See ya tomorrow.

Day 673: First Tuesday Weigh In!

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Why Hello!

So today was my first weigh in on a Tuesday and it officially is amazing. I lost 1.2 pounds. Not a ton right? But check this out…I HAVE OFFICIALLY LOST 125 POUNDS!!! I can’t flippin’ believe it! Awesomeness.

Breakfast: I made another Egg MacMuffin which was awesome.

Lunch: Today, my office took a tour of FSU and one of those stops was the awesome Suwannee Room! It’s an All You Can Eat place which haven’t been my best friend at this point. So today I took a new approach to the ol’ AYCE: I made a massive/awesome salad and by that point I was super stuffed. I had one piece of broccoli and one forkful of chicken. Then, I had two pickles and one lemon square. It was a good day for discipline!

Dinner: Tonight, we had the best thing from Skinny Taste ever. Megan made Crock Pot Asian Pork With Mushrooms. It was seriously the best thing I have ever eaten. Make it. Eat it. Cry from happiness.
Run Stuff: It’s Tuesday. You know what that means…RUN TIME!
We found out that there is a 5k this weekend in Tom Brown Park so we (Erin, Megan, Becky and I) are going to beast out that sucker. So today, I decided to see what my 5k time is nowadays. I was suppose to run 4 miles, so I set my Nike+ for 3.1 and then just kept going until I got to 4 miles. I went nuts. I elongated my stride and controlled my breathing.

I burned it and blew my record out to the water! If I can break 28:38 on Saturday, I will flip. Can’t wait.

When I got home, I had some popcorn. It was awesome.

Overall, it was a pretty awesome day. Wordless Wednesday tomorrow. Get stoked. See ya tomorrow.

Day 666: Happy Number Edition

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Like most of the world, Megan and I have been glued to the TV every night to watch America (and Canada) kick butt! I have a lot to say about the lackluster media coverage and the issues with our society’s need to know everything instantaneously. Today, I did my darndest to avoid finding out about swimming and gymnastics via staying off of Twitter and closing my eyes while on Yahoo!, but I was bested by my ESPN and New York Times push notifications on my iPhone. While there is now way to embargo the Olympic results from the rest of the world (especially with our connection to England on multiple levels from being allies to having relatives across the pond) it’s almost like a giant screw you by ESPN to show the results in their ticker while I’m trying to watch Around the Horn. It’s like if Good Morning America on ABC broadcasted the results of the Big Brother finale on CBS that was airing that night. There is no actual solution to this problem, but it wont be an issue for a few years. The Winter Olympics in 2014 will be in Sochi, Russia (eight hours ahead of EST), the Summer Olympics in 2016 in Rio will only be one hour ahead of the EST (btw, I hate living in the EST. It’s all about the Central Time Zone. But I digress…) and the 2018 Winter Olympics will be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea which is an epic 14 hours ahead of the EST. So until the Olympics are held in another “US friendly” country, this shouldn’t be as much as an issue until then… and we will complain all over again.

Geez… where was I going with that?

Alright, so to make this brief until the good stuff, I had some oatmeal for breakfast and some chili for lunch. Nothing too out of the ordinary. I did also have two pieces of dark chocolate before my run. It was magnanimous.

Dinner: Megan made that amazing Eggplant Parmasean from Skinny Taste so we nommed on that deliciousness before we went on our run.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SAWS: It’s Tuesday so it was Southwood run day! It had rained earlier in the day so it was actually cool outside around run time. I went a different route today which was fun but much hillier than my usual route. I ran 3.5 miles in 36:32 which isn’t bad considering I ran a 36:02 3.5 miler on Saturday. (I did stop and talk to a coworker I saw running so that might have been the difference.) I was able to get my second mile time down which I am happy about. I’m running another 3.5 miler on Thursday and then a 4ski on Saturday. Should be fun.

When I got home, I had toast with a tablespoon of peanut butter and a banana. Between that and the fact I was in pajamas by 9:00, life is good.

 

 

 

 

 

Bonus Video: So tonight I leave you with this video. When I first saw this commercial, I held back the tears. I was this kid. I am this kid (and not just because his name is Nathan). I spent so much of my life telling myself that I would never be competitive in sports or ever be happy with the way I look. At the age of 23,I had already prepared for an early death from my lifestyle. But with the a lot of willpower, a lot of sweat and a ton of support of friends and family, I have found my inner-greatness. It’s an amazing feel. And I’m just getting started. See ya tomorrow.

Day 661: Thursday Exercise Stuff

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Hey I just met you, and this sounds crazy but here’s my blog post. Read it maybe?

So today was SAWStastic. There was a lot of exercised involved which is important to get any way you can in the day!

Breakfast: I just had two servings of my favorite standby: Kashi Go Lean! It’s the most filling cereal on the market today. (On the black market, it’s this rice pellet cereal that you can only get in North Korea.) 7 points with milk

SAWS Part 1: Today, since my job is awesome, I got to check out the FSU Walking Tour. It’s your standard awesome college campus tour except that FSU is an awesome school. Anyway, it was insanely humid so I was sweating like crazy as we traipsed across campus.

Lunch: Since Megan has been under the weather for the past few days, I brought home some Jimmy John’s for lunch. I was going to have a Beach Club for lunch, which is what I ordered, but when I got home it was something completely different with their ridiculously fattening mayo and other stuff not on a Beach Club. I was kind of frustrated about it, but geez was it delicious. It was only 12 points but that’s a lot more points than I was anticipated. That’s the plight of the eating out dieter. I also had one square of that chili chocolate which was awesome.

Dinner: Megan was able to make this delicious Skinny Taste Chicken Enchilada Soup. One serving was only 5 points so I had 2 delicious servings with some cheese and sour cream. It was around 12 points. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SAWS: Today was our running day at Godby! Luckily, it had rained and cooled off everything by around 7. I was suppose to run three miles so I ran one mile to try to calibrate my Nike+, then I took it easy the second mile and then on the third mile, I decided to really push myself. On the third mile, I sprinted the straights and jogged the curves. It was exhausting since it was my last mile of the day. I ran a 8:53 mile! That was the second fastest mile I have ever ran. The fastest was 8:40 during the Trick or Trot last October and that was my first mile. I think if I can push myself like that from now on, I could really build my endurance to crank out some awesome run times.

When we got home, we did some yoga and it felt magnificent. I also had a about 3 points of peanut butter and a banana. IT was also magnificent, but for a different reason.

So that’s about all I got for today. It was pretty good stuff. See ya tomorrow.

 

Day 657: 50 Shades of Weight Loss

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(This post has nothing to do with the book. I just wanted to be topical.)

So this has been a pretty epic week for weight loss. I was able to drop 2.2 pounds, putting me at 236.6 at this point. So far, my lowest weight has been the bottom end of 235 so I’m really going to shoot to get below that this week. Like I was saying in yesterday’s post, the doctor told me to keep doing what I’m doing: that I need to keep losing weight and to keep exercising to get in to shape. I know that if I got rid of what’s left of my hanging gut that my hips would feel much better. Today we bought matching yoga mats and a yoga DVD to help with stretching and to help start building my core muscles back to where they were when I was SAWSing it up with Joe the Trainer (miss that guy. Joe, if you read my blog, thanks for being awesome.)

While I love to run, I really want to try out some new forms of exercises. If you have a class that you really like or just something that you like doing, comment below! I want to hear what gets your SAWSing goat!

Anyway, let’s talk about food and stuff…

Breakfast: This morning, I had another heaping bowl full of delicious oatmeal with craisins, sliced almonds and brown sugar. Yumtastic.

Lunch: Today, we had a going away lunch for our good friends Stacy and Emma who are moving to Memphis next week. This was the second going away party of the weekend (last night it was our good friends Daniel and Leah) so this weekend has had a certain wompiness to it. Anyway, we went to Bandido’s Burritos and packed the joint. It was even more sentimental to us because one of the first times we went there was with Stacy and Emma so we laughed, we cried and I won a dollar by bouncing a rolled up napkin in to a cup of water. Now, today is going to be my pseudo “splurge” day since it’s my rest day. When I say “splurge” I don’t mean dominating a buffet, but just eating more calories and then being strict for the rest of the week. Anyway, I got the chicken quesadilla which was massive and delicious. I also came with black beans and rice and they were awesome! I thought they were some of the best black beans and rice I had every had (really savory) but I was the only one who thought that. So while it was delicious, I still have that “I ate a lot of sodium taste in my mouth” even though I have drank easily 100 oz of water today. I’ll try something different next time, but it was still pretty awesome. (Oh yeah, I didn’t even touch the sour cream. Small changes folks!)

 

Dinner: Tonight we went to Publix and bought some wild caught Alaskan sockeye salmon that was on sale. For those who don’t know, I lived in Alaska for a summer as a youth ministry intern and while I was there, I ate salmon for about 70% of my meals. I flippin’ love salmon. I want to move the Northwest just so I can eat salmon and drink Starbucks every day until the day I die (where was I going with that? Oh yeah…) Anyway, Megan made this special Asian sauce that she found on Skinny Taste that is actually suppose to go on drumsticks. It turned out really well! It was spicy and delicious… dare I say spicelicious.
Speaking of spicelicious, we bought this dark chocolate that’s made with chiles and it was epic! I just had two squares and that all I could handle. Megan and I were both sweating by the end. Awesomeness.

So overall today wasn’t too shabby. I’m ready to continue this trend of healthy living and eating that we’ve got going. I’m really reading to break out of the 200’s. Heck, I’m only 36.6 pounds away! I’ve got this. See ya tomorrow.