I apologize for the delayed post, but my face has been stuck in food for the past two days – not even kidding. My little “only indulge on Thanksgiving and on Friday” rule didn’t really go according to plan. Anyway, let me start with my first 10k Turkey Trot!

I woke up around 6 am – this time fully rested – changed into my running gear and headed to the kitchen to brew some coffee and make toast and peanut butter (my running fuel.) Georgia got to my house right on time at 7:15 and I had her folded piece of toast with peanut butter in a zip lock bag for the road. The race was about 45 minutes away in a north suburb of Chicago. I looked at the directions online, but apparently didn’t study them enough because at 8 am  (the race started at 8:25) I realized that I was oh, about 12 miles too north (you’d think I’d put the address in my gps system, but I guess I was just too excited to be thinking clearly!) So, we turned around and made it to the nearby parking garage with 5 minutes to walk run to the start line. Guess you could say that was our warm up!

The course was beautiful, but entirely  uphill and downhill. We started off faster than we anticipated (I guess that typically happens from your excitement.) We managed to run to mile three at a sustainable pace with no walk breaks.

 We kept an average of 11:50 pace throughout the whole race – no walk breaks!

At the 6 mile mark we decided to just sprint the rest of the way to the finish line – I actually captured the sign too and the photographer was making fun of me thinking that I was texting (wouldn’t be that surprising if I was.)

We obviously had to take a picture with the giant turkey…

We could not have asked for better weather! Such a perfect running day – especially because of the amount of food that I was about to consume later on. I started my food-for-all with a peppermint mocha from Starbucks – sugar.com. Got all dressed up (thinking it would prevent me from eating too much – false) I then went to Georgia’s house for pre-appetizers.

New you new “do”

Appetizers included: Tiropites (Cheese Pies)

Homemade real Southern Corn Bread: (the missing piece is mine of course)

Followed by a traditional menu of turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, veggies, corn bread, mashed potatoes, stuffing and the Greek item Mousaka:

and this…

and this…

and it keeps on coming…

The moment I have been waiting for (can you feel my excitement)… Dessert: Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Cheesecake, Coconut thing

Cookie Platter: Peanut Butter, Chocolate Truffle, Pupmkin Cookies, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip

Amazing Pumpkin Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting:

As you can see, I was set up for failure. There was no escaping this paradise! The good news is I did run on Saturday and today. Starting tomorrow there will be no more of this food nonsense! Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving mini-vacation!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! First and foremost, I want to say that Georgia and I completed the 10k Turkey Trot with zero walk breaks – I’ll elaborate more on this topic tomorrow!

Things I’m thankful for:

• My health
• My loving family
• My fantastic boyfriend & friends
• Georgia – for waking up early and running with me
• Living in this wonderful country
• YOU! My fabulous readers who keep me motivated.  Hopefully, I am  inspiring some of you to pursue your goals too

What are you thankful for?

Alright, so week 1 of October has gone by – already!! I guess I can’t complain at how I did considering my circumstances (friendly monthly visitor symptoms, busy weekend etc. etc.) Last week I accomplished a few of my stated goals: workout most days of the week – I was hoping for 5, but 4 is still most days of the week Cook more meals at home – I brought my lunch to work every day but Friday last week, and also to wake up before work and get an early workout in. I’ll be honest, it’s really really hard to stay as motivated as you were in the beginning, but I think that’s where self-discipline comes in (which I have zero when it comes to food – still a work in progress.)

Whether your goal is to lose weight, tone up, eat better or exercise more, they all require consistency and discipline.

Here are some tips I like to use to help keep me in check:

• Robo-mode trick
• Focus on the goal: weight – loss, run time etc etc.
• Write down your plan and stick to it
• Switch up the routine so you don’t get bored
• Buddy system – find a friend to join you on your quest
• Register for a race – that will definitely kick up your motivation!!

Speaking of race, my friend Georgia and I are going to registered for the 10K Turkey Trot. I don’t know how wise this is given Chicago weather, but I guess I might as well get some exercise in before I stuff my face!

We are going to follow Hal Higdon’s 10K Training Program: (Meeting up for the long runs)

http://www.halhigdon.com/10ktraining/10knovice.htm

This excites me and helps keep me motivated. Plus, it gives me an excuse to go and buy new running shoes. Yay!

Let’s talk about weight-loss since we’re on the goals topic. I know weight-loss is a common theme for most people. We always need to lose “5 or 10 more lbs” because we’re never satisfied. The body works really hard to maintain its weight, so if weight-loss is your ultimate goal you need to work that much harder.  Keep in mind, weight-loss is 80% diet and 20% workout, but you already knew that my brilliant readers! Don’t be afraid to step on the scale because denial will only hold you back, but don’t go scale happy either and weigh yourself 3 times a day because the body fluctuates all the time and it’s easy to get discouraged.

How often should you weigh yourself?

That all depends on what your goals are. For weight-loss, I have found that weighing myself once or twice a week has worked best because it keeps me motivated before the “weigh-in” and sometimes keeps me from cheating too

Here’s a good article on it:

http://www.fitsugar.com/How-Often-Should-You-Weigh-Yourself-19475333

A lot of times we are our own worst enemy and criticize our every flaw. The truth is, most people don’t notice half of the things that we notice about ourselves, and if they do then they have way too much time on their hands. If we spent half of the time we bitched about our extra 5lbs on something meaningful the world would be a better place

With that said, I want you to start being thankful for everything you have and everything that you have accomplished. Start noticing all the qualities you possess instead of all the flaws. Sometimes the trick to weight-loss is simply being positive and happy with yourself. A positive mental attitude really goes a long way!!!

I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes:

“I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.”
- Martha Washington

AMEN!