Day 4...

Another day, another run.

Stats:

Ran/Walked 5 miles (part of schedule).
My calves are SERIOUSLY hurting. It has to be my shoes and the way I roll in on my heels. I mean it feels like I am running up hill the whole way. I did my best though, and I thought my energy level was good. I didn't feel exhausted, but had to walk a few times just to let my calves have a rest.
And I need to starting adding the temperature at the time of the run to the stats.. it makes a difference you know. Today it was 91º but "feels like 99º" when I started. H-O-T!

Food:
Bfast: muffin and might mango Naked Juice (these things have some serious calories, but they are soooo good).
Lunch: Spinach salad with grilled chicken, goat cheese, sundried tomatoes, garlic. balsamic vinaigrette dressing. (one of my favorite salads from a local eatery) And a glass of lemonade
Dinner: I haven't figured it out yet.
Snacks:.. no real snacks today..
WATER!

Pretty average day around here. Now off to do some more house work.

Detox, Organics and Diets.. Oh my

So, I read a lot of blogs about people living these supreme healthy lifestyles. They eat the right thing, do the right work outs and are or have already seen amazing results and I just can't help but to be totally jealous of them. It makes me want to do extreme things, but alas, I guess I am to set in my ways.

I would love to be a person that can choose a salad over a cheeseburger, who would rather have a carrot than a cookie and could easily deny scaring down a whole plate of pasta. But sadly, I'm not that girl and I am completely envious of those who are.

I have gone on a detox/cleanse before. And strictly did it for the entire 10 days. It was hard and miserable and I was so happy when I could finally eat a piece of fried chicken again. (ever realize fried is one letter away from friend? coincidence? anyway...)

I have gone on a few diets, including weight watchers (which I think I did well on). And also cut out items for a period of time... no soda for a month, no french fries for a month... to see if anything "drastic" happened.

I have even tried to buy organic food, but that but that gets expensive.

I am pretty sure I know what to do. It's just a matter of doing it. And one of my biggest issues is feeding 2 people of completely different appetites. G works all day on his feet in the elements. I, on the other hand, work all day in an office staring at a computer. We have totally different needs when it comes to calorie intake and nutrition.

I just need some help. I would love for someone to come over and make my meals for 1 week, or give me a strict plan of meals to make myself. I want someone to really "teach" me what I am supposed to be doing. And how to make it feel like a lifestyle and not a "diet" or a "chore".

I dont know if anyone even reads this little ol blog, but I hope you do. And I hope you comment and give me some advice. This girl wants to be fit gosh dammit!

Day 3...

Today was kind of an uneventful day. But to keep up like I promised (myself?) here are today's stats:

Eats:
Bfast- nutrigrain bar (I really need a better bfast, but lack of time or resources are my main issues)
Lunch - Subway Turkey 6" on wheat (sub of the day!), no cheese, spinach, tomato, onion, green pepper and honey mustard! plus a glass of lemonade.
Dinner - soft homemade tacos (ground beef) with a little cheese, lettuce and tomato
Snacks - grahmn crackers, Yum!
And of course water. I am really trying my hardest not to have soda. It's not like I drink a lot of it, but I at least have one a day usually. So for now, I'll stick to my lemonade and water (crosses fingers)

Workout:
Clean house! (yes, I consider this to be physical activity)
3 miles on treadmill. (Originally I was supposed to do 5 miles outside, but it was raining this evening, and by the time I got home from my cousin's house, it was pretty dark out. So, I will do my 5 tomorrow. Plus, my legs are REALLY hurting, so it was probably better to have a slower day)

News:
I bought my new shoes today!! whoo hoo. I can't wait, this leg pain is really getting annoying. I am hoping that the shoes will help that. If not, next step is new inserts. If that doesnt work, I am not sure. So cross your fingers on that too!!

New Wine Cooloer

So after G and I got married, we ended up taking back some of our gifts that we decided we didn't really need. I won't go in to specifics, but we ended up having a large sum of money on a gift card to Macy's.

Recently, I bought the rest of our china bowls, so now we have a full 10 piece dinner setting for all of the fancy dinner parties we will have in the future!!

But, we still had a large sum left over too. So we decided to buy a 16 bottle wine cooler. It's made by Cuisenart. And it just arrived today! I am so pumped. Now, I just need to get some bottles to fill it. Thankfully we get a wine of the month shipment (for G for his bday) at the end of the month to start us off nicely.

Isn't she pretty!?!

Day 2...

and I am still here!! :) Can you believe it?
Here are today's stats

Ran 2 miles (on schedule)
Total time: somewhere about 19.45. Hey, I never said I was fast. And I said "somewhere" because about every other run, I have some issue with my watch where I press the wrong button and things get mixed up!

It was a hot run today, as usual. But it had just rained so it was muggy too! Fantastic
Oh and I came home and did some crunches to help with core strengthing. While laying there, I decided that I think I am going to do the P90X abs after my short run days (tuesday and thursday) then switch off between an arm or a leg on friday and sunday since they are my days off.. we will see if that actually happens, but I need some strength training and toning.

Food:
Bfast- nutrigrain bar
lunch - deli sliced chicken breast on whole wheat with a thin layer of mayo (for moisture ;) ) and a lemonade. .(let's just say I dont like my lunch selections at home, and I come up 95% of the time for lunch since I work a mile from home... I need to work on this)Dinner-- not yet, but I think it will be a salad with balsamic dressing
snacks - a handful of cheezits and a few orange slices (candy)... they are in my desk, don't judge, or do..
and WATER!!! of course.

And I'll leave you with this.. While doing said crunches, this is where the big dog chose to cool off! Right on top of me. Thanks CB!!

my sneaks...

So remember back in March when I got these:Bright and shiny, new running shoes. Asics GT 2150..

Well..

They have seen a better day.

(actually this pic makes them look pretty good)

I think it's time for a new pair. I am literally poking a hole through the top of the left shoe. And my legs are starting to hurt, especially my calves. So I figure, I better get some new shoes before the pain gets worse and if new shoes don't fix it, then we will dig further into the issue.

But, as I said in my previous post, I have been fitted for these shoes multiple times, so I am sticking with them. This time though, I am going to order them online. There are more color options (because that is important!!) than what you get at the local running retail store. I hate not to give the locals my business, but I think I can get a better deal, and a better look than the stark white things I began with.

What kind of shoes do you like? What are your go to running shoe?

Trying again... or something

Well folks,
I have decided to set another goal.. to loose some pound-age (technical term here). I can't help but be slightly disappointed with my 2010 goal of loosing just a few pounds. I feel like I have been working my butt off since the beginning of the year... with only taking a short time off, I have pretty much worked out 4-6 days a week since Jan 1.. and for some god forsaken reason, I am not a toothpick.

So, I am giving myself 2 week to loose 5 pounds.
Why 2 weeks? I'll tell you later.
Why 5 pounds? Because it seems reasonable and doable.

So seeing as I am already training for the Maui half marathon that is in September, this is obviously my main form of exercise. Each day, I am going to hold myself accountable and loyally blog my food intake and my exercise for the next two weeks. Hopefully this will help me to achieve my goal. If not, well, then, I don't know.

But let's start off with the basics.
(* to self: Do I tell my weight? do I not?)
Let's just say I am 1XX lbs. :) haha.
I am on week 8 of a 16 week training program for a 1/2 marathon.Here is my gear. (and yes, I even took pics AFTER my run today, so don't judge on my sweatyness)
Nike Tempo Shorts-- in all honesty, they don't really fit me great.. but I wear them anyway.. I am in the middle of being a small and a medium. Smalls being a tad tight, and mediums feeling like I have a little somthing extra
Men's "wife beater" tank -- I have also come to the conclusion, these are not that great for long, HOT runs. They get bigger!! And eventually feel like they are choking me, but it's all I had today.
Watch-- to keep track of my time when running, I stop it if I stop to walk (I know I shouldnt, but it makes me feel better), or if Charlie has to pee. Id like a garmin GPS watch this year for Xmas (hint, hint)
Nathan Speed 2 water belt-- This is my favorite thing right now. Since it has been sooo hot, and there aren't a lot of water stops on my routes, this is perfect. The 2 10oz size bottles are a perfect size for me without being too heavy to carry.
Asics GT 2150 -- I have been fitted for these shoes so many times, that they are my "go to" shoe for running. Iphone/Ipod -- I ususally dont have any kind of music, but I have had to do a few runs by myself lately and so I take it for background noise.
Avis sports bra-- nothing fancy
Big Dumb Dog-- my running buddy on some of the less hot days.

Today it may have been a little too hot.

Today's workout: 5 miles -- we walk/ran for the entire length, probably running a total of 4.5 (if I go by my watch time)
Today's food intake-- not great.
Bfast- nutrigran bar, sunny d
Lunch - J Gumbo nachos and coke --- I have a small excuse, I had to go get my car looked at lunch time, and didnt have time to go home, like I normally do, to get lunch, and I was starving
Dinner - haven't eaten yet, but probably the rest of what I had last night-- grilled chicken and veggies with bowtie pasta.
And lots of WATER!

So that's that.. sorry for the long post. I hope you stick around for this adventure I am on (and I hope I can keep up on it every day).

~BB

Fashionable bloggers HELP

who makes this dress?
found it on Macy's website, but there was never a listing to "buy"... who makes it? I LOVE IT. :)
I am sure it's way out of my price range, but I must know.

Hawaii

So I have a friend that works at a super luxurious hotel in New Orleans, she was VERY kind in offering to get us a great room rate at their hotel in Maui.

Here is where we are staying for our 3 nights in Maui.

That, my friends, is The Ritz Carlton.... in Hawaii.... and we are staying there. Talk about once in a life time chance!!!!!

I know it's not nice to brag, but seriously, how could I not share this?!?!?
Check out their pool
Yes, please.

"Might Could"

what the hell does "might could" mean? In the context of "I might could help out"..

I have heard this a few times recently and no matter how you look at it, it doesnt make sense. Can't you just say "I might be able to help out" or whatever the phrase is. I am not one to ever correct grammar because lord knows mine is not great.. but this is just TERRIBLE...

But I guess when you live in KY, you take what you can get...



PS.. I promise a better blog post soon. I am debating on what to write and finding the time to do it. Things are strange around these parts. :)

My blog post about Eclipse

Yes, I am on the band wagon known as the Twilight series. Back in 2008, when we took our trip to Italy, my sister was just starting to read the first in the series. This is sort of when it all blew up. She had finished the first one while we were on the trip, so I read it on our flight home. I actually finished Twilight on the 8 hour flight from Rome to Atlanta... granted, it's an easy read, but I was definitely hooked!

I ended up buying the entire series in hard back and finished them all pretty quickly, and before the first movie came out. And I went and saw the first film, and the second. And last night, I went and saw the third, Eclipse.

As much as I love the books and the story line, the movies (and maybe the books too) are SO CORNY!! I mean, the acting is so bad. I want to love the people they chose for the main characters, but it's hard when they are all so stiff. I actually had to laugh out loud in the theater last night just thinking about how silly the whole thing was. Now, don't get me wrong, I will see the final installment, but I'm just saying its so silly! lol.

Kristen Stewart is down right awkward. And I realize that is part of Bella's character, but if she is supposed to be soooo in love with Edward, why does she slightly pull back every time he kisses her!??! It's weird. And she is just sooo blah. That is not how I read the character at all.

And Robert Pattinson is sooo corny and totally not a crooner...which, again, is how I pictured him to be. He's this lanky, awkward person trying to be smooth and infatuated.

I do love me some Taylor Lautner, but only for his amazing abs. He kind of pulls off the character correctly, but there is still something really too sweet about him. Too soft spoken.

And don't get me started on how awkward Jasper is! And cut your hair, you look like an idiot!! I had totally forgotten the part about jasper being the civil war dude. His texas accent was sooo bad and annoying to say the least.

So there it is... my blog post about Eclipse. I can't wait to see how horribly bad the final movie will be. I wish they had cast the characters better. But I guess, when you aren't sure if this movie will even make $1, you take what you can get.

(side note to the image I used... if R Pattz didn't talk to the whole movie, it might work better.. the poster is hot and right on target, but he is not!)

New Coach Bag

I am not usually one to brag (ok maybe I am) on new items... but this one I had to share because of the amazing deal I got on it.

G and I went up to the Coach outlet this weekend, because we had received a coupon for an additional 20% off through July 14th (and we didnt have much else to do) (and mama wanted a new bag).

I had decided a little while back that I was in needed of a new every day purse. I have been carrying my Italian bag I got in Italy (duh) pretty much for the past two years.. only occasionally switching it out. But its getting beat up and I want to savor it for a long time. So, when we got this coupon, it was a calling.

The above bag is what I got. Now, at the outlet, they are last years styles, so I have no idea the name of it. But it's an off-white, goes with everything kind of color.

Here is the deal I got. It was on clearance to start with (at the outlet), plus an additional 50% off clearance items, PLUS an additional 20% with the coupon.. can we say D-eal! It is pretty big and a good size for me. I *heart* it.