Ouch, that hurts...

Epiphany moment...

Yes, I track my food on myfitnesspal.com.

No, I do not measure everything out- that would make me crazy.

I guesstimate, and I'm pretty sure I give myself the benefit of the doubt... most of the time.  Ouch.  Those few pretzels don't count- they weren't anywhere near a serving!  A couple M&M's (Elena's potty reward) won't make a difference.  Granola?  That only a 1/4 c.  Maybe even 2 tablespoons....

I think I need make this into a poster, and hang it in my kitchen- anyone else?

Mind Games- (1)

A friend once told me that running was as much as a mental exercise as a physical exercise.  That advice has proven itself over and over again in my training and learning how to run!  That's what helped me make it through the C25K program.  Going from an 8 minute run to a 20 minute run was quite the jump for an un-athletic person that could never run more than a 1/4 mile in my life!  And now that advice is going to help me get to the half marathon!  I'm going to need a lot of tricks to get me through that!

A Peek My Bag of Tricks:

• Focus on something other than the run- like planning an event that you are excited about, or listening to music
• Just make it to a certain point nearby- a stop sign, a tree, a car.  When you get there, pick another point- divide your run into managable sections.  
• In a race, pick one person in front of you to pass.  Pass them and pick another.
• Run each mile for a person important to your life.  Example: I read an article, once, about a girl who worked in the Twin Towers when they were destroyed.  She survived but many of her co-workers did not.  She chose to do a half marathon, and run 1 mile for each friend lost.  I have to find the link, it was a great story.
• Feeding your brain with healthy thoughts and VISUALS!  
• I love "Biggest Loser"!  It is so encouraging to me- sometimes, in the last leg of a run, I tell myself, "Come on, Amber- LAST-CHANCE-WORKOUT!
• Blogs!  My favorite running/health blog right now is fANNEtastic Food.  Her visuals, experiences, and recipes get me really motivated-- AND make me want to eat healthy!



Carrie- Pittsburgh Marathon 2011

• Friends.  Family. Workout buddies!  They're a great source of motivation and inspiration... and competition, if you're into that sort of thing ;-)
• Reminding myself that there's an iced mocha waiting for me when I get home!

• To be continued.....

Jen- Miles for Smiles 5 Miler

There are so many mind games that you can use to get you focused!  So I'm going to start a "Mind Games" series of blog entries.  I'm constantly looking for new ideas.  Would you please share some of your ideas so that I could use them in future posts?

My Baby Sister, Taylor- Great Race

Beth- SuperHero Race

Scott- SuperHero Race  

Princess Charm School: Balance

One of my girls' favorite movies is:  "Barbie: Princess Charm School", and I couldn't help but think about it as I was doing by balancing exercises this morning!

According to WiiFit Plus, I learned that Balance training is as important as Cardiovascular and Strength training.  Did I ever focus on it?  Nope!  But, my coach does.  And since all of this stuff happened with my ankle, she's showing me one reason why.  Not only does it help with injury prevention (though it wouldn't have helped this time, darn ditch), it would help with recovery time.  By balancing on one leg, small muscles in my leg, that aren't otherwise used as often in things such as running, would be strengthened.  I would have had more strength to compensate for my sprained ankle.  It wouldn't have had to deal with all of the pressure and strength to keep me upright, because other muscles would have taken over some of the work.

Because I never put much attention to it, my balance abilities are pretty sad!  It's surprisingly hard to stand on one foot with your eyes closed!  Here are my exercises from this morning if you want to give them a try!

Banana Spinach Smoothie- UPDATED

Since I'm on the smoothie kick (and trying to get some veggies into my kids!)- we tried out a new one this morning from one of my favorite health blogs- fANNEtastic foods!

A Banana Spinach Smoothie!  Spinach, Banana, and Milk!  Simple, yet delicious!

I subbed Vanilla Almond Milk for the milk, and added a few ice cubes because I like my smoothies pretty cold- but it turned out great!  I was really skeptical when Anne said that you couldn't taste the spinach at all-- but you truly can't!  It tastes like a banana, vanilla milkshake (depending on how much ice you add).  This is a great Green Starter Smoothie, if you're hesitant about going green.  (cough cough, MOM)

And by the way, the kids did like it, but I may try Chocolate Almond Milk next time.

Note:  I added some Ovaltine to the last few bits of their drinks to get them to finish up.  Although it wasn't a pretty green anymore, it tasted pretty good!

UPDATE 10/12:  I tried this with Dark Chocolate Almond Milk instead of Vanilla, and added 2 tsp of instant coffee---- FANTASTIC!  


Basically, I just combined my Iced Mocha with the Banana Spinach Smoothie.  The reason I did this is because I was reading in my RunnersWorld magazine that bananas are good for fluid transfer within the body, in addition to other things.  (Not the article I read, but a goodie on bananas)  Apparently, I have some trouble with this, as I tend to get dizzy/faint when standing up/ changing positions a lot of the time.  First, the doctor told me to drink more water... which I thought was crazy because I was drinking 8-12 cups a day at that point.  THEN she said to drink LESS water, increase the sodium!  A little contradictory, eh? (Apparently, sodium helps with fluid transfer as well)  So I tried to focus a little more on gatorade, a little less on water.  It helped a little, but not tremendously.


Recently, I've been really bad at getting my water in... maybe 3 cups a day?  Of course, I haven't been doing as much cardio either because of the ankle... but I've been drinking the green smoothies (with added water) - all of which require a banana, in my book.  It occurred to me one day, that the dizziness has really subsided significantly!  Coincidence?  My guess is 'no'.  So, bananas it is!  


Update: 10-15 - Just made it again this morning, this time with nonfat milk and 2T Rich Chocolate Ovaltine... also fantastic, and more protein.  (1g in Almond Milk, 8g in milk)  I still can't get over the fact that I can't taste spinach AT ALL!

My Favorite Recovery Drink!

Amber's Iced Mocha  

• 1c. Silk Vanilla Almond Milk  (or skim milk with with a little bit of vanilla extract added)
• 4T Rich Chocolate Ovaltine
• 2 tsp. Instant Coffee
• 4 Ice Cubes

Put all ingredients in a blender, and blend to the consistency of your liking!  (I prefer small ice chunks in mine!)

So, over this passed year, I've been learning about what kinds of food are best for you to eat, and when to eat them.  My favorite discovery this summer was chocolate milk!  Knowing I had some waiting for me at home when I got back from a run, gave me that extra boost I needed to keep going!  

And then, I found out that  adding caffeine WITH the carbs from the chocolate milk helps to restock your muscle glycogen storage even faster than carbs alone-- so why not add some coffee and ice cubes-- no calories, and it practically DOUBLES my after workout treat!

Yum!  Give it a try, and let me know what you think!

Nutritionally Challenged.

So, yesterday was my nutrition meeting with my coach, as she has been looking over my food logs for the past 4-5 weeks.  Um, #FAIL!

She said she couldn't believe how many carbs I eat... and I knew I ate a lot, but I didn't think it was THAT bad!  After all, I cut WAY back from what I used to eat!  Why can't we lose weight on relativity??  Compared to how much I used to eat, or compared to how much others around me eat and I-pass-up??  HUH?

Obviously, I've got to focus on the protein, fruits and vegetables-- consistently through out the day- not just in one meal (my beloved Green Smoothies).  This is WAY hard when it comes to eating with extremely picky, young children.  One really good idea Joella suggested was a "Snack Plate".  She's really big on snacking through out the day, as long as you balance it out-- some proteins, some fruits and veggies,  a little carbs.  Put together a snack plate with things such as: cheese, yogurt, pretzels, baby carrots, hummus, nuts/seeds, fruits, veggies, granola- and when my kids (or myself) get hungry, choose what I want, already prepared, but once the carbs are gone, they're gone.  Having it accessible makes it an easier choice, and keeping my blood sugar stable will keep me from going carb crazy later.  Let's start with that and see how it goes.

Here is a list of Meal Ideas from my coach.

Suck it Up, Amber

Background:  I'm recovering from a sprained ankle- and a torn ligament, as I found out yesterday from the physical therapist.  So, running is out for now.  Between that, and missing my first 10K today, I've been pretty down all week.  (and emotional, and extremely cranky, as my family will quickly attest to).  I've had trouble falling asleep without my daily dose of cardio, to burn up some energy and stress.  Throw in the additional stresses of finances and Christmas coming, and my inability to cook (hence screwing up almost ALL of our meals this week) I guess "down" was an understatement- more like miserable.

Long story short, my coach asked me if I wanted to spin with her on Saturday morning, but didn't get back to me to let me know if there was a bike available. (not being a member, I can only go if there's an opening, and have a guest pass)  Now when I say Saturday morning- this is 5:30am.  Not a huge deal for me to be up that early to exercise, but getting up at 4:30am to arrive and not have an available bike would have been pretty disheartening.  I made the decision in the middle of the night when I woke up (2am... remember, not sleeping well...)- shut my alarm off.   5 minutes later, I said, "Suck it up, Amber.  If you can't spin, deal with it.  If you can, it will make you feel a whole lot better about yourself - especially having to miss the race today."  And I turned the alarm back on.

I got a text from my coach as I was driving there.... we were all go!  Glad I didn't sleep in!

I was feeling good- no ankle pain!  And then I got another surprise... this class was in place of their Saturday morning ride, which tends to be a very long distance.  An hour into the class, having no idea how long I had left to ride, I said, "Suck it up, Amber!"  I was doing well... not dying or anything, I was just nervous about how my ankle was fairing.  Then, 90 minutes in, my coach announced that "this" was her last song, and then Jeremiah would take over, and anyone was welcome to stay.  I chose to leave at this point, but let me tell you, after 90 minutes of spinning, I feel awesome!  It truly was the highlight of my week.

I'm so glad I sucked it up, and didn't stay in bed.