::weightloss wednesday::

There is nothing in the gym that frightens me quite as much as this machine:

Lady, you are smiling way too much.  I cannot walk, breathe, cough, or talk after doing only five measely crunches on this thing. It is impossible for me!  I was certain I had broken a rib after my first encounter with this torture device. I MUST be doing it wrong, right?!  I tried again a couple of weeks later after I saw an elderly man hop on this machine and bang out 20 crunches with 80 pounds of resistance.  WHAT?!? I can barely manage 5 with the lowest amount of weight that the machine allows--that would be 10 pounds. (Why doesn't it allow zero pounds?  Hmm.)
I am determined, though. 
I WILL conquer this machine! 
I WILL try again. 
Someday. 
In the future.

Probably after an ab transplant.

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So.  The spinning class!!  I am so glad my friend went with me because it was intimidating standing outside the spinning room waiting for the 5 AM class to finish.  (Yes!  There are crazy people who get up to exercise at 5 A.M.!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I walked into the gym at 5:50 and thought, who are these crazy people exercising so early?!  Every treadmill, bike, and elliptical was occupied.  Amazing.)  Fortunately, the spinning instructor introduced herself to us as she walked up to the room and showed us how to adjust the bikes and what to do.  She told us to take it easy at first because you'll pay for it later.  I really, really enjoyed the class--and I enjoyed chatting with my friend while we exercised.  Forty minutes went by really quickly!  It was a great workout, and since it was only 6:45 when we finished, I went to the fitness room and burned another 300 calories on the elliptical. 

There is MUCH to be said for getting up early!  I stink at it, but wow, it's a great idea. I had gotten up at 5 AM to have my quiet time and coffee before the class, so my morning was wide open.  Everyone was still asleep at my house when I got home at 7:15.  I had such a productive day.  However, I'd been up all night the night before (that insomnia again)...so I CRASHED at 10 PM.  I slept long and hard, which I am so thankful for.  However....I can definitely feel the burn.  My rear and upper calves are pretty sore.  (I was pretty sore at my second class today, but the class more intense, so I pretty much hurt all over.)  I did my normal elliptical warm up yesterday morning, and then ran hill intervals on the treadmill for 3.75 miles.  It was a TOUGH workout!  When you live on the flattest place on earth, running hills can be really challenging!  I burned more calories per mile than I normally do with no incline.  Following my spin class this morning, I ran 2.75 miles on hills again.  I think that's around a 600 calorie burn total today.

I've had a great couple of days nutrition-wise, and I hope I can stick with this pattern of good exercise and good-for-me eating habits.

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I wanted to share a couple of inspiring food/fitness blogs that I like to read.  I always find the stories of others who have lost or are losing weight to be great motivation for my personal plan and goals.  Here are a couple:
*Erin at For the Love is a lovely lady I went to college with.  Her goal to lose 100 pounds is part of what inspired me to get on the bandwagon 2 years ago.  If she could lose 100, why couldn't I lose 40?   She got a little sidetracked when, oh, I dunno....she had a BABY when she was near the end of her weightloss journey!!  I think that is definitely a worthy reason to take a break, don't you?!  :)  She has a beautiful daughter, and she's now back on track to losing the last 25 pounds.  I know she'll achieve her goal.

*I stumbled across Runs for Cookies on Pinterest.  I, of course, don't know this lady, but her story of 120 pounds of weightloss was incredibly inspiring.  She is currently training for a marathon and shares about her fitness and eating struggles/victories.  She blogs fairly regularly. 

Please, please leave a comment with your favorite food/fitness blog if you read any.  I would love to read some more!!

::almond milk peanut butter smoothie::

I tried almond milk today.  The unsweetened plain kind, no less. 

And I really liked it!

Less calories and carbs than milk. More protein than milk. 

I made a smoothie with it and added some peanut butter (just a half Tbsp) and some Truvia.  Topped it with a dab of light cool whip and some crushed peanuts.  Yum.  About 200 calories, 15 net carbs, and about 6 grams of protein. 

Just thought I'd share the love.  :-) 
Next time I have some spinach in my fridge I'm going to give this a go:

The Green Monster Smoothie

(Skinnytaste.com)

:'fessing up::

First, I skipped out on the gym this weekend. 
I was busy, and since I have to go when my husband can keep my son (the gym doesn't have childcare on the weekends), my time was limited to begin with.  Usually I can get a quick workout in on Saturdays, but it didn't happen.
Now, normally that wouldn't be such a big deal, but with a birthday party, church potluck, and a general lack of self-control, my calories were OFF the charts.  I tried tracking all weekend so that I could see my weakness up close, but even that went to the wayside.  It was a crappy weekend health and fitness wise. 
I thought about getting in a quick run this afternoon, but I got a sum total of about 2 hours of sleep last night (I have chronic insomnia), so I chose to rest (I don't nap well) with my husband this afternoon.  It was dreary and dismal outside.  I actually don't regret that....I miraculously dozed for a few minutes.  Hope that doesn't sabotage me tonight. 

So.  Excuses, excuses.  Understandably, I've gained a couple of pounds.

BUT---I am not going to sink into that dark place I sometimes go when I sacrifice self-control for the passing pleasure of "comfort" food (what a deceiving term!).  I'm determined to make this week a better one.  My menus are all planned out--healthy meals--and I've done my grocery shopping. 
I'm also going to try something new at the gym tomorrow!  A spinning class!  I won't lie--I'm nervous about it!  But, I finagled a friend into taking it with me, so we'll have fun even if we look like dorks.  :) 

In addition, I'm committing to pray more regularly about my issues with food.  Obviously it's still an issue, even though I've had some victory.  Food is only temporarily comforting, and to be honest, it's not comforting as much as it is medicating or numbing.  Comfort from the Lord, however, is transcendant.  How I wish I could believe that more faithfully!

I hope to update on the spinning class this week--if I can walk!  :-)  The class is MWF at 6 am.  I'm going to regret this!  ;-)

::earring holder::

I've been in search of a jewelry holder--specifically for earrings and necklaces since that's all I wear--for quite a while.  This has been my set-up for um....years.  Yep.  Years.  Unorganized chaos.

There's so much good stuff on Pinterest when it comes to jewelry organization! 

Here are some of the things I considered:

The jewelry cakestand

the earrings on a framed wire (we're getting closer here) 

Hmm...this looks really close to what I want to do!

So, honestly, I knew months ago what I wanted to do, but it took me awhile to get myself together and find the materials.  I have to give credit where credit is due.  I saw this idea on a Hobby Lobby tweet several months ago.

I started with a backless, glassless frame from Hobby Lobby. I waited for the frame half-off sale and paid about $11 for it, I think.   I found some screen material (like what you use on windows!)  that I picked up for about $6 at WalMart. 

I stretched it across the frame and used a TON of hot glue to get it on there.  Many burns later, it looked like this:

I bought some hangers for less than $1 and had my husband hammer them into the back of the frame.  He graciously agreed to hang it for me tonight and I ended up with this:

I am really pleased!  It was really simple, and cost over all less than $20. 

Now....what to do about this:

I've got the perfect pin for it.  :) 

::israeli spice chicken::

I have really been in a cooking rut.  Cooking healthfully can feel boring at times.  I mean, how many baked chicken breasts or plates of salad can I eat before losing my mind?! 

So earlier this week I was flipping through a Rachael.Ray cook book looking for inspiration.  I landed on this recipe (which also appears on the FN website).

(photo from FoodNetwork.com)

My husband loves Mediterranean food, and I knew the spices in the recipe would appeal to him.  I have a killer yogurt sauce recipe (taken from this RR recipe) so I decided to whip up some of that and serve it with this chicken recipe.  I am not a fan of normal pita bread that you get at the grocery store, and I'm always on the lookout for something similar to what the man at the falafel restaurant serves--something thick, chewy and soft.  Imagine my surprise when I found Hungry Girl Flat Out bread.  Soft, chewy the way I want a pita to be, and only 100 calories each with 16 net carbs.  We piled the spiced chicken in the pita, spooned some of the (very hot!) tomato salad over it.  Topped with the cool greek yogurt dip, it was incredibly good! 
It was so good in fact, that I made more for lunch today.  :)  I skipped the pita since I knew that I would be having a substantial amount of carbs at dinner tonight, and I just had the chicken, tomatoes, and yogurt sauce.  It was heavenly.  Spicy, but so, so good. 
If you like Mediterranean food, give this a try!  I love that blend of spices.  I will keep the Israeli spice rub on hand for sure--it is probably good on pork, too.  Since this a 30 Minute Meal, I can honestly say after making the chicken and yogurt dip twice, it is under 30 minutes to make. Butterflying the chicken breasts like RR recommends makes the cook time extremely fast.  The spices really sear when you cook the chicken in a very hot pan, and I love that. 
[ I didn't make the zuchinni salad listed with the recipe, but maybe I will next time. :) ]
This is definitely a keepr for the Marshall family.  :)

::weightloss wednesday::

Maybe I'm starting something I can't finish, but how about a post on weightloss on Wednesdays?

::finishing strong::
Today was kind of a blah day at the gym.  I had what felt like zero energy.  I was just putting in my time, burning my minimum number of calories (I do not like to leave the gym with less than a 400 calorie burn.  Optimally, I like to hit around 700 a day, with around 900 calories burned at least one day of the week.).  I have all these personal goals in my head when I come in each day.  And I have an annoying little cheerleader inside my head when I'm pounding out miles on the treadmill.  I tell myself, like a well known train from a children's story, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. 
On Saturday, I put in almost 6 miles on the treadmill. I took Sunday off.  Monday I logged 4.4  miles.  Yesterday I hit 4.4 again.  But today when I walked into the fitness room at the gym, I was already telling myself: Okay, 200 calories on the elliptical (typical warm up for me), and then 2 miles on the treadmill.  Lift a few weights, and call it a day. 
I just felt tired. 
But Thursday is my other weekly off day, so knowing that tomorrow is a gym-free day, I pushed myself ahead.  I did my regular 20 minutes on the elliptical, and then jumped on the treadmill and started jogging at 6.0 mph.  I was comforting myself with the 2 mile goal, but when I hit 2 miles, that annoying voice in my head started telling me to do more.  I moved to my regular jog speed of 6.5 mph and pushed my distance to 2.5, then 3, then 3.5, and then 4.  At that point, I had been running for 38 minutes, so why not run 2 more and even it out at 40 minutes?  So I did. (This is a game I play daily when I'm running.  Even out the minutes, add 5 more, see if I can add 10 more, etc.)  And after my cool down, I had finished 4.3 miles.  Not at all what I planned on doing when I came in, but that inner motivation is actually really helpful.  I keep telling myself over and over not just to finish, but to finish strong.  I compete with myself.  It's about the only measure of competition I have....unless I'm playing board games.  :) 

In the end, I burned about 650 calories during cardio, and did some weight training afterwards.  I'm still really glad that tomorrow is my off day, because I think my body just needs some recuperation time.  I worked out 5 days last week, and I'm looking at 5 days this week, as well.  Knowing I have a day off tomorrow was also a little extra incentive to finish strong.

The hard thing about a lot of cardio, though, is that it drives up my hunger like CRAZY. I will not leave the gym with less than 40 consecutive minutes of cardio.    But, when I crank it up more than that like I have been lately, I fight the urge to snack all.day.long.  Sometimes it's a little counterproductive because even with all the exercise, too much snacking will keep the scale from budging even a tenth of a pound.  I've been looking at my food log over the last couple days over at myfitnesspal.com, and I realized my protein has been a little low, and my carbohydrates a little high.  I'm trying to remedy that today. 
According to my dietician, I need about 90 grams of protein and about 120-150 grams of carbs.  If I eat a lot of fiber rich foods, I can count the grams of fiber off of my carb total and end up with a net carb total.  It can get old tracking food every day, and I usually miss a day or two each week, but it is helpful in understanding why I'm struggling with snacking too much.  For me, too many carbs leads me to snacking way too much. 

My brother is getting married in March, and I'd really like to have these last 6 pounds off by then. I'm still holding steady between 126-127.  When I lose these last pounds, maintenance will be my plan.  (I can't imagine what it will be like to NOT be trying to lose weight anymore!!) But until then, I'm working hard to get to my 6 pound goal.

Stay tuned tomorrow for a lower carb, high lean protein recipe that my husband and I LOVE to eat.  :)

::burlap heart::

I have an entire Pinterest board dedicated to front door wreaths.  I'm a sucker for them.  I've only made two in my whole life ever, but I have all these aspirations to make a whole bunch and change them out often.  The first one I made looks like this:

I'm not completely satisfied.  I'd like to add some fabric rosettes at some point.  :)

So of course, when I saw this Valentine's burlap heart wreath on a blog, I pinned it immediately.  I had most of the materials--all I lacked was the actual styrofoam wreath which I picked up at HobbyLobby for less than $4.  I had bought a couple of yards of burlap a few weeks ago when I tried another pin that did not work out well.  This project, however, was easy.  Just time consuming.  :-)
I'm pleased with it, however.  It's not something I would leave on my door all the time, but in this month before Valentine's Day, I'm happy to hang it up. 

If you're really, really bored, here's my Wreath Board!  LOTS of fun wreath ideas on Pinterest.  :) 

::pinning::

A break from the weight loss posts....

Are you as addicted to Pinterest as I am?  :) 

I have lots of healthy recipes I've pinned that I will share in the future, but for now, I wanted to share a Pinterest influenced decor idea. 

When my son was born, my photographer sister took this picture.

At Christmas of 2010 (yes...a YEAR ago!) she gave me a large print of the photo.  It was mounted on foam board, and large enough to hang on the wall over our bed.  When I began looking for a frame, I quickly discovered that the unusual size was going to require custom framing.  Even at Hobb.y Lobb.y, the most inexpensive route for framing--without glass--was going to be $80+.  I just couldn't justify spending that much.  So, my beautiful portrait stayed in the closet for a year.

And then...I had an idea. (Thank you, Pinterest)  Why not prop it up on a ledge over the bed?  I went back to HL, bought a ledge at half price ($25!), added some word art, and a vase from another room in my house and came up with this:

I'm not done with this.  I'll probably remove the vase when I can find a more interesting tall piece to go in that spot.  But, I am pleased with what I've got so far.  It makes that wall a definite focal point of the room, which it needed.  I hope to purchase white bedding at some point in the future, which will tie everything together.  I've got a two small projects for this room that I'll show you later. 

In a pinch, I bought a metal hook thingy (I don't know what the correct terminology is for this!) for like $6 at HL (I love their half-off sales), and had my husband hang it on the side of our bathroom vanity.  I don't have enough counter space to leave my straightener and curling iron out at all times like I've been doing.  This works well and was cheaper than even the cheapest (and cheapest looking) towel rack from the bathroom section at W*alMart.

I won't show you, however, the mess of cords on the floor.  They are hidden from view when you walk into the bathroom, but not when you're on this side of the sink.  Not sure what to do about that.

I've got a couple more projects up my sleeve that I hope to get to this week.  One of them is a beautiful burlap heart wreath.  Perfect for February front door decor.  :)  Will post pics when completed.

Oh Pinterest....so many good ideas.  So little time.  :)

::a tale of two women::

When I visited my dietician for the first time, she looked through two weeks worth of food logging and made the observation that I wasn't eating enough fruits and vegetables.  Usually this isn't a problem for me, but I had gotten in a rut of eating more processed foods than normal. 

She shared some valuable information that, when you think about it, makes perfect sense. She told a story of two clients she has had.  They are both females, around the same age, same build, with the same amount of weight to lose.  I think they may have even been related, and they came to the dietician at the same time.   After a few appointments and looking at their food logs, the dietician noticed that one woman stayed around her calorie limit, but ate mostly packaged foods, "diet" foods, and very little fresh fruits or vegetables.  Her weight loss had been minimal for quite some time.  The second woman had made drastic changes to her diet and definitely got in her servings of fruit and veggies each day.  Her weight loss was dramatic! 

The dietician said that she often tells this story as an incentive to eat fresh fruits and vegetables often--they don't cost too many calories, they are a good source of fiber and numerous other nutrients, and your body needs them.  Apparently, your body also needs them to lose weight.  When she told me this story, I had been stuck at a plateau for months.  I went home and looked for ways to add more vegetables into my diet.  After 3 weeks, I went back to see my dietician and had lost 5 pounds.  A few weeks later, the next 5 had come off.  I honestly think that this nutritional change made a difference in my weight loss.  Our bodies need the natural foods God created for us to eat!  Perhaps if you're stuck in your weight loss journey, you might examine how many servings (if any!) of fruits and vegetables you are getting each day.  Unfortunately, most of us eat little to no vegetables on a  given day. 
I'm sharing this information as much for myself as for you!  After the holidays, I've noticed I am not enjoying or craving vegetables like I was before the holidays.  I think I sort of have to re-acclimate myself to these foods when I've been eating a ton of processed and sugary foods.  I've been in a diet slump the last week or so.  I've been exercising like crazy, but the scale won't budge.  I know my diet is the problem as I've not been disciplined to eat what I know my body needs. 

One method for getting in a couple of servings of veggies is to make kabobs.  My husband and I grill these almost every week.  Just skewer what you like (and maybe some you don't like!), choose your favorite marinade, and grill them.  Make sure to add some healthy protein like chicken--your body also needs that!  :)

What are your favorite ways to get fruits and vegetables into your daily diet?

::2012--the year in which my resolutions don't include weight loss::

I unashamedly love the first of the year.  It gives me a feeling similar to opening up the first page in a new journal. A fresh start.

As a 30 year old woman, I am absolutely THRILLED to share that my list of resolutions don't actually include weightloss! For the first time in my adult life--so I'd say at least the past 8 consecutive years. Even when I was a teenager, however, I was slightly overweight, so I know that each January I made a promise to myself to lose the weight.  I never did, though.  College was about the only time in my life past childhood that I didn't consciously try (nor did I need) to lose weight. 
When my husband and I moved to Missouri almost seven years ago, we had been battling infertility for about a year, and the depression I was experiencing at the time (regarding both the infertility and moving away from everyone and everything familiar) had resulted in a major weight gain in addition to the ten pounds I'd put on in my first year of marriage.
When we first moved to Missouri in 2005, I'm not even sure what my weight was as I didn't even own a scale back then.  There aren't too many pictures of me....mostly because I knew I had gained weight and didn't want to see myself in pictures (hmmm....denial? Yes.)  But, here are a few pics from 2005-2006.  I am guessing my weight was somewhere around 170.  At barely 5'2", I was definitely past the overweight category and bordering on obese.  I just couldn't see it.  I don't know why I couldn't see it.  I'm shocked by these pictures and sad that I spent most of my 20's overweight and in poor physical shape.

(with a good friend)

(holding some friend's babies who are now 7 yrs old)

(with my gorgeous sister)

Ouch.  Now that is a reality check!
In January 2006, we somehow thought running a half marathon was a good idea.  I was in terrible shape, so it was good exercise for me, but I would go for a long run and then come home and eat like the world was going to end tomorrow.  To the best of my knowledge, I only lost a couple of pounds (I still didn't own a scale).

To my credit, though, I did finish the race.  :)
I yo-yo'd with about ten pounds over the next couple of years, finally losing them for my sister's wedding in 2007.  I think at that point I was around 150 (and blonde!).

After we brought home our son in summer of 2008, I settled into motherhood with little sleep and lots of poor eating habits.  A surgery in that year ensured a little more weight gain and little to no exercise.  By my son's first birthday, I had gained about 10 lbs back, and 6 months later in January of 2010, I finally bought a scale and it shocked me when I saw 160 starting back at me.

This picture from the previous summer was the tipping point.

I had had ENOUGH.  I started tracking my food through SparkPeople.com.  Withing 2 months, I'd lost almost 10 lbs.  When the weather warmed up, I started the CouchTo5K program.  It was HARD.  I FOUGHT for every minute I could run without stopping.  By the end of the summer of 2010, I could run almost 3 miles, and I'd lost 20 pounds total. When the weather cooled off, I quit exercising because it was too cold outside, and somehow I made it through the holidays without gaining any weight.  I really think my eating habits had changed drastically at this point. 

I began 2011 with a goal to lose about 10 more pounds.  However, I had another surgery in March of 2011, and with that setback, I actually gained 6 pounds.  I had determined NEVER to go back to an unhealthy weight, so as soon as my doctor gave me medical clearance, I laced up my running shoes and began running again.  I ran all spring and summer and into fall.  I routinely ran 5-6 miles.  And my body was FINALLY changing.  I was losing the weight, but gaining a ton of confidence.  I was losing my fear of being able to do things physically because there was not this heavy feeling of "fatness" holding me back.  When the cold weather kept me indoors, I joined the local YMCA and took my workouts into the gym.  With healthy eating habits (and tracking through myfitnesspal.com), I headed into the holidays this year at the weight of 126. 

I only have 6 more pounds to lose to reach my ultimate goal, but even if I stay at this current weight I can know that I am at a healthy weight and BMI.  My BMI in January 2010 was around 29.9---just a tenth of a point away from the "obese" category!!  It now resides between 22 and 23. 

(in jeans that are too baggy!)

(don't you love the look on my son's face?!)

It has NOT been a quick or easy process...I definitely had MONTHS where I didn't try very hard and played with the same 2-3 pounds over and over again.  But, I feel that this year I can make my list of resolutions and skip that daunting #1 goal of losing 30-40 pounds.   It feels SO GOOD!  I feel healthy, I have learned a ton about nutrition and exercise, and I'm learning to let go of insecurities that were so bound up in my weight and appearance.  No, it's not the most important thing in my life, but I have to say that living as an overweight individual who worshipped food and how it made me feel, I am thankful to have let go of a serious addiction and form of idolatry. 

I share all of this because I'd like to continue posting about nutrition and exercise.  It's interesting to me and I have found that I enjoy talking to people who continually ask me, "How did you lose the weight?!" 

I'm no expert, but I can share what I have learned the past two years.  Hopefully I can be an encouragement to others the way I've been encouraged by certain individuals who have worked hard to become healthy.  It should help me have some accountability, too.  :)

SO....Happy New Year's!  If weightloss is on your resolution list, stick around.  :)  It CAN be done!

::run away::

Right now my toes are covered in blisters.

But I am sorta proud of those blisters because they are proof positive that I am a runner.
(They also might be proof that my shoes beloved Asics are rubbing in the wrong places.  Hmm.)

I have been running almost daily for the past two-and-a-half months.   Now, I've done some running in my life.  I ran a lot in college, and a little after college, then not for a long time until I barely survived a half-marathon, then not at all for a few years, and then again last year when I finally lost about 20 pounds.  I ran most of last summer, even on July 4th when it was about 101 degrees.  And then, for some reason I quit in the fall.  Not because it got cold (because it doesn't really get cold here until December-February).  I think it was because I was scheduling my runs after my husband got home from work.  It's not a bad idea, but it was just not working out for our family.  It meant that we didn't eat dinner until after I was done running/showering, it meant two showers a day for me (time consuming), it cut into our family time, and it kind of wore my husband out to see me running out the door as soon as he walked in the door.
He asked me to consider running in the morning.
I tried.  I really tried.  I even tried it twice.  ;)

Okay, so I didn't really try.  I was convinced my joints would bother me if I ran first thing in the morning.  My knee was hurting anyway, and it seemed to hurt even more the two times I tried to run in the morning.  So I threw in the towel altogether.  I'm not real proud of that.

I managed to keep my weight at the same level all through the holidays and wrote this gung-ho post.  Then I found out I was going to have surgery, so I thought--what's the use of starting a running plan again when I'm going to be laid up for a few weeks?
I gained SIX of my twenty pounds back.  Blah.
I was angry at myself.  And I felt terrible physically--not just because of the surgery, but because of the laziness that had taken hold of me and my lack of discipline when it came to exercising.
About 2 weeks after surgery, I went for my first run.  It was tough.  (And it was still cold outside!)  But, I did it again the next day, and the next, and by the next week I was setting my clock in the morning to do it.  I can't believe this is me I'm talking about! Getting up early to run??? Not me.  Never.
But it IS me!

Over the past couple of weeks I've been working on lengthening my distance.  I've moved from my daily 3.2 miles to 3.6, then 4, and even a 5 miler thrown in about once a week.  In order to accomplish this, I have to get up even earlier, and considering that I also have my Bible reading/prayer time in the morning....this equals an early wake-up call for me.  I have been getting up at....(wait for it)....5:40 am.   GASP!  This is like, miraculous for me.  Seriously, people.

The scary thing is....I really like to run.  Like, I really really like it.  Sure, it's hard and it's hot outside and I sweat so much I have to pour about 2 gallons water down my throat each day so that I don't pass out at any given moment.  But...the solitude of the mornings, my feet pounding the pavement, the random thread of prayer that moves through my mind and heart during my runs:  love.that.

And, I can't imagine quitting anytime soon, which is really encouraging to me.  When I started at the end of March, it was still pretty cold in the mornings, so I had to layer and layer my clothes and wear a hat and gloves.  I felt pretty silly, but the perseverance paid off and now I am wishing for cool weather when I'm so soaked with sweat at 7 a.m. that a towel is no longer optional.

A lot of people tell me--especially lately when they comment on my running--that they could never run.  I totally understand what they mean.  And I have to be honest--I am not a fast runner.  While my time has slowly but steadily improved, it hasn't improved much.  I've accepted the fact that I may never be fast.  But I hope to be consistent.  And lots of people can be consistent. The Couch-to-5K plan is a really good plan for someone who would like to ease into a running plan.
Look, I am not built like a runner and I don't look like one, so I really mean it when I say that if I can do it, you can too.

Since March, I've lost the six pounds (grrr....what a waste of time) that I gained back plus two more.  I've learned that I can push myself harder than I thought.  And I'm learning (still in process) the beauty of discipline, of finishing something I've started (oh...I struggle with this one), and of taking care of the vessel God has given me.  I like to take time to pray for my neighbors as I run past their houses, for random people who pop into my head, for the things I'm struggling with that usually drives a harder, faster run. I like to listen to songs that make my heart well up with affection for my God.  I like to listen to sermons occasionally, to fill my mind with good things while I beat this body of mine into submission.  :)

What prompted this post?  It's been brewing for a few weeks.  I've got another post coming up on all the random, strange things I've seen while out running.  (Let me tell you, this is a weird town.)  But mostly, it has been something that is teaching me about discipline, about time management as a wife and mother, about perseverance (which of course moves my mind to spiritual parallels), and about finally losing the cumbersome weight I've "tried" to lose for several years.   (I have to use the word "tried" very loosely...)

I will be thirty years old in one week.  And honestly, I do not want to fight the same physical battle during the next ten years that I've fought for the last ten years.  I'm tired of it.  Therefore....I run.
And I want everyone to give it a try.  (Well, not everyone.  My husband loathes it with great passion.  But he's very encouraging to me!  Still...he'll stick to his bicycle, thankyouverymuch.)

Even so--go for it.
Run away!

-glenna-


P.S. I loved reading this post on running by one of my favorite bloggers.  You'll notice there are no cute pictures of me running on this blog.  And you probably never will.  I gotta tell you...it's not pretty.

::a sewing project even I can do::

I've had the tutorial for a book sling bookmarked for nearly a year, I think, and I finally decided to get over my fear of sewing and give it a try.  I do not sew well at all.  I barely know how to turn on my sewing machine.  My seams are crooked, I don't understand the sewing lingo, patterns make me break out in a cold sweat, and almost every project I've attempted has had the result of making me feel absolutely stupid. 

But, this project seemed so easy (or, at least not so terrifying) that I thought I'd give it a go.  I bought some material last week, and I have to say I liked the pattern much better in the store than I did when I got it home.  It didn't match my son's room like I hoped.  But, the fabric was inexpensive and the sewing part really was so easy that I could make another sling if I found some fabric I liked better.   With my husband's help of mounting the brackets, this project took almost no time at all.  That is, after I got my sewing machine turned on.  ;)

 All you need is about 1 1/3 yards of fabric plus your sewing notions, two double brackets and dowel rods (or curtain rods) that fit the brackets.   Also, a husband who is good at hanging things.  :)

 It's a great alternative to hanging a full on shelf above your child's bed, and he can grab a book to look at during nap or room time. 

Please believe me when I say if I can do it, you can too.  :)

Here's the tutorial, courtesy of Penny Carnival. 

::GIVEAWAY::

We're doing a giveaway on our family blog.  Come join us!  A winner will be chosen May 1st.

::fail::

(I found this list amidst a stack of papers this morning.)

Okay, so maybe it was a lofty list of goals....

but, I think it still says a lot about me.  :-/