What Are You Thankful For?

Over the past couple of weeks, I've had the opportunity to post what I'm thankful for each day on Facebook. What a fantastic way to start off the day...acknowledging the many many blessings that I have in my life! This is only a short list, but could go on and on...

I am thankful for:
1. My life.
2. My truly incredible fiance and best friend.
3. My family, all of them.
4. A job that I love to go to each day.
5. My students and the lessons they teach me.
6. My friends and the joy they bring into my life.
7. My faith.
8. The talents and opportunities that I have been blessed with.

Oh...and here's one last one.
9. The opportunity to spend this Thanksgiving in Maui with my parents.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Words of Wisdom from Tinkerbell

Today, I was reading the Tri-ers thread on the Weight Watchers message boards and the ever wise and wonderful Tinkerbell posted these fantastic words of wisdom that I absolutely need to remember, so I figured I'd post them here.

16 Things I’ve Learned in 16 Years as a Lifetime Member

1. Food is not the enemy and there is no such thing as a “bad food.” Food is fuel and there’s no room for cheap fuel.
2. It’s the little things that matter.
3. Your weight will fluctuate.
4. Keep a well stocked pantry.
5. Cooking and nutrition knowledge are the key to eating well.
6. Eat mostly whole foods and eat a rainbow every day.
7. Eating well is cheaper in the long run.
8. Set fitness goals each year. The difference between “working out” and “training” is that training has purpose.
9. Mindfulness is different than obsession.
10. There is a simple way to lose weight. Eat less + Move more = Caloric deficit. It doesn’t take a huge shift to lose weight, just small consistent changes.
11. Never go hungry.
12. Make subtle shifts in thinking and self talk to make big differences in behaviors.
13. Set new life goals every year.
14. You’ll have to make some rules for yourself…and follow them.
15. Camouflage is your friend.
16. There is no such thing as a “perfect woman.”

How Do I Love Thee?

Workouts and Eating

Well, Tim is in town for the next 10 days so I'm fairly certain my early morning workouts will not be happening. You know...the whole stay up late talking and hanging out and wedding planning and stuff. However, I am definitely planning on staying on track with my eating. I'm also planning on going to Weight Watchers on Thursday morning so we'll see how that goes.

I had every intention of making it to WW this morning, but didn't make it. I did however, weigh in at home and tracked my weight for the week. I haven't been drinking enough water and it showed on the scale. I think the candy bars I ate also showed up. Ooops!

Trusting in the Lord

Planning my Race Schedule for 2010

Yes...because I am a crazy person, I have already started thinking about my race schedule for 2010. I guess I'm just one of those people who have to have stuff, like races, to look forward to. So, while I'm sure this will change and adapt over the next few months, here's what I'm sort of considering. I should probably keep in mind that I have a wedding to plan (WOO HOO!) and some traveling to do as well as my job and my other responsibilities, but I do feel the need to continue to challenge myself. Oh and I love to race...so why not do what I love?!

January 23 or 30 ~ Chilly Chili Run ~ Lake Bloomington
April 3 ~ Lincoln Memorial 1/2 Marathon ~ Springfield, IL
April 10 ~ Mt. Pleasant 1/2 Marathon with Julie ~ Mt. Pleasant, WI
May 1 ~ Illinois 1/2 Marathon ~ Champaign, IL
May 15 ~ Pocatello Endurance Festival Bike 30K ~ Pocatello, ID
JUNE 5 ~ GET MARRIED
June 26 ~ Cache Valley Triathlon ~ Hyrum, UT
July 3 ~ Patriot Border Run 10K ~ Lewiston, UT
July 10 ~ Cache Valley Super Sprint Triathlon ~ Logan, UT
July 24 ~ Pioneer Day 5K ~ Logan, UT
August 28 ~ Bear Lake Brawl Olympic Triathlon ~ Bear Lake, UT
OR
August 28 ~ Top of Utah 1/2 Marathon ~ Logan, UT
September 18 ~ Top of Utah Marathon ~ Logan, UT

I'm sure I'll be adding other races here or there because that's what I do, but for now, that's sort of what I'm thinking.

See...I told you I'd be adding races... Check this out!

Goblin Valley Ultra I'm thinking I may need to do this next year! Maybe I'll try the 50k distance? Oh and apparently, there may be a trip to Disney World for the Wine and Dine 1/2 Marathon... I love racing!

Workouts

November 1, 2009 - Super Body Sculpt
I did this workout Sunday evening and planned on making it an easy workout...yeah...not easy. I lifted heavy and was sweating like crazy. I used 15lb, 10lb, 8lb, and 5lb dumbells and my muscles were definitely tired. I burned 410 calories.

November 2, 2009 - Ultimate Calorie Blaster
I woke up at 5am this morning and took my measurements, hopped on the scale for my monthly at home weigh in, and then did this workout. I used my 8lb weights for "light" four-limb cardio. I burned 498 calories and was glad when it was over. I also did full planks and am hoping to get back into that habit quickly.

November 3, 2009 - Supercharged Sculpting
Apparently, my body is getting used to waking up at 5am. Yikes! I actually was awake at 4:45am and laid in bed until a few minutes after 5. This workout went fine. My right knee is a bit sore and I'm not sure why. I may change up my workout tomorrow, but we'll see. Oh, and I used 15, 10, and 8lb weights and burned 338 calories. I should mention this is strictly strength training with no cardio intervals at all.

November 4, 2009 - Get Ripped 1000
I didn't want to wake up this morning, but I finally got up around 5:15am and started my workout. This is a tough interval workout with plyo type cardio and compound strength training moves. I burned 644 calories and drank 64 oz of water. I was definitely sweating. I'm considering doing a short cardio workout tonight since I have my weigh in tomorrow. I was feeling ambitious last night and ended up doing Maximum Calorie Burn Plus Abs and burned 465 calories. What a great way to spend the evening!

November 5, 2009 - Cardio Express + Weigh in
I hopped out of bed this morning and did my workout...only burned 345 calories, but it's only 30 minutes because I had to get ready early to head to my weigh in. I lost a very disappointing 0.2 lbs. But, oh well...at least it was a loss and while I was surprised, I can honestly say that I've been very diligent about following WW and working out so who knows what's going on. We'll see what happens next week.

November 6, 2009 - Get Ripped to the Core
I ran out of time today to workout. I woke up early to do laundry and then didn't get home after work until 9pm so no workout today. However, it was nice to have a rest day.

November 7, 2009 - Walk with Julie (10 miles)
Julie and I walked for 6 miles. I ended up with 2 nasty hamburger looking blisters so I was happy to be done walking.