These are a few of my favorite things....

Not to go all Sound of Music on you, but there are two things that have recently come into my life and changed it for the better and they have quickly become two of my favorrrrite thingssss! 

CSA Share
A Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) share provides members with a box of fresh, locally grown produce every week. This box is full of random produce—some I have never seen or heard of before. When Corey and Jamie signed up for it this spring, and asked if I wanted to split it, I decided against it because I didn’t think it would be worth it for me. However, there have been a couple weeks the two of them haven’t been able to get there share and I picked it up (and used it) in their place. At first I had no idea what to do with things like Swiss chard, kale or lemongrass. I looked up recipes so it wouldn’t go to waste—soon, cooking new things with fresh produce became addicting. Even without the CSA produce, I’ve continued to buy my own fresh stuff (sometimes even at the farmer’s market) and experimenting with ingredients and recipes like never before. I feel healthier and putting together creative dishes helps boost my confidence, as cooking is now one of my best skills!

I also have to give a shout out to Pinterest. I refused to join another social networking site, but when I finally caved I realized how many amazing recipes and cooking ideas I had at my fingertips. I’ve been printing them out like crazy and have even tried several of them, some successfully (homemade ice cream sandwich substitutes) and so not so successful (beet chips—burned)!

And I already decided that next year I will definitely sign up a CSA share for myself! I’m also thankful for my job, which has allowed me to spend a little extra on better food ingredients! Peace out, Healthy Choice meals and rice and beans!

Heart Rate Monitor Watch
I had been looking into getting one of these for a while, ever since my doctor told me last year that in order to lose more weight I needed to elevate my heart rate during my workouts. I’m bad at making big purchases, so I kept putting it off. Then a couple weeks ago I received a package (I love getting mail!)—it was the watch, a belated birthday present from Sean and Monika.

I’ve started wearing it all of the time. Even my trainer loves it—after a set of exercises she asks to check my heart rate to see if she is pushing me hard enough. Sometimes it works against me and I end up running up and down stairs with a medicine ball…

But it really come in handy during my cardio workouts. During a run or spinning class I know if I need to push harder or if I’m slacking. After a few times of pushing my heart rate and upping my effort, I feel so much better! I had definitely been running too slowly for where I needed to be and the heart rate monitor is helping me make the most of my workouts every time. There is nothing worse than putting in the effort to a workout but not getting all you can from it. For this reason alone, my new heart rate monitor watch has been invaluable.

Knowing I am eating more healthfully (fresh ingredients, homemade) and pushing myself harder at the gym, I have deserted counting every calorie I put in my mouth (wait, did someone say dessert?!). I still keep an eye on portions and have learned a lot of the last year about what I should and shouldn’t be indulging in, but if it gets out of hand I’ll have to go back to counting, even though it drives me crazy! Until then, I’ll continue on this path with my two new favorite things as my trusted companions.

Paying it Forward and Playing in the Sand

This weekend, I ran my first race of 2012. Kind of hard to believe that with all the running I’ve done this year it’s the only official race I’ve run. And it was on the beach.

 On Saturday, two coworkers and I took on the Beach Dash, a 5K obstacle course run put together by the creators of the Warrior Dash (the military-style mud runs with crazy obstacles). I figured this wouldn’t be as tough as the Warrior Dash seeing it was on the beach and the beach is always fun. And I had seen pictures of previous Beach Dash’s in other cities that included a beach ball pit and a water noodle forest.

Neither of those things was there. In their places were large wooden structures you had to run, jump and climb over. Not to mention flat wooden slabs you had to slide down once your got to the other side (I was mostly worried about getting a splinter in my ass!), rope blankets you had to army crawl under, sand mounds you had to climb, and water pools you had to wade through and then continue running with now water-logged sneakers that felt like cement shoes.

Oh yeah, and it torrential down poured for the first mile, so fierce and so sideways that it whipped and stung your skin like pieces of hail. After the down pour let up, the steady rain felt good on our sweaty bodies and washed away the sand and grass that had started to build up. 

Me and Elizabeth posing post race.



This felt like the longest 5K I’ve ever run (no wonder you got a medal and a beer at the end!). I can’t imagine how my coworker Elizabeth felt—it was her first race ever. At the time we registered, she had wanted to get more involved in fitness activities and she agreed to do it with me. My philosophy was that everyone has to start somewhere and this seemed like a fun place to begin. I never would have started running half marathons if it wasn’t for the encouragement of my former coworkers Kristin and Abby, so it was time to pay it forward and help someone else achieve something they never thought they could do.

All three of us in our fancy new hats.

I ran with her the entire time and she did great. She pushed herself to run after taking brief walking breaks and conquered all but two of the obstacles (I didn’t do one of them either). And when she came down funny on her ankle after one of the last obstacles, she walked it off and came running across the finish line like a champ. I was so proud of her!

And then we all drank beer and played in the sand for a few hours in our new pineapple hats … and lived happily ever after.

As an extras bonus, the race officially put me over the halfway mark of my New Year’s Resolution to run 500 miles—I currently have 247.54 miles to go! I think I’ll avoid the beach and any wooden structures in the next half.

I'm Back.. and Bigger and Better

So, it's been a longggg time since my last post (sorry Monika!), but a lot has been going on. Just as I had one foot out the door and on the way back to Massachusetts in February, I was offered a job in Chicago and decided to continue to be a Boston girl in the Windy City.

And I've been rewarded for remaining Chicago Hopeful. My new job has been busy yet fulfilling, and I even had the opportunity to spend nearly two weeks in Bangkok for work. I have since learned more about myself and my abilities than I even knew were there. But that's enough of that.

Through it all, it's been a little difficult keeping up with my weight-loss journey. I got stressed and burned out from counting calories so I stopped, this time for my mental health. I decided to enlist the help of a trainer in February and have since been working on my strength and toning. My hope was that my three sessions a month (in addition to the workouts I follow and do on my own) would help boost me over the plateau and catapult me back into the weight loss battle.

I've also stepped up my running. Instead of making my New Year's resolution something like "lost weight," I followed Jamie and Corey's goal of "run 500 miles in 2012." This goal--and a very mild winter--have kept me moving all year (with the exception of being sick a couple times and working 24-7 in Bangkok for two weeks) and I am about halfway through the 500 miles! I've haven't been running as much seeing it's been 100 degrees and humid since mid-June here.  

I haven't lost much more weight according to the scale, but I think my body has started to change and look more toned and in shape. I feel guilty paying for a trainer and having my gym membership as one of my most expensive bills each month, but I'd never do this on my own.  And like someone said to me when I was signing up (and it kind of stuck with me): There is no better investment than your health.

Here's to being healthy.. and some more regular blog posts!