Day Ten:: Clothing Lust

Today was awesome.  I went to the mall with my sister.  We went because she had this idea that each of us should get jewelry with a purple stone in remembrance of my mom.  Just a little reminder of her because 1. Her birthday is coming up (It's Valentine's Day) and amethyst is her birthstone and 2. Purple is a color that represents lupus.

 Here's mine::

Then we went to American Eagle and Delia's so I could look around and get some further inspiration for getting back into shape.  There were so many things that I saw that I decided "next month, I'm going to be ready for new clothes."

We're in the midst of wedding fever now that we're planning my sister's wedding.  We've got the dress and whatnot but we still wanted to look at wedding stuff.  So she showed me where the ceremony will be (I was working when they went to pick it our) and also the wedding rings her and her fiance picked out. 

She came over to hang out with me and dad and we had fun laughing at some wedding cakes gone wrong before I went off for my run.  (Prior post tells about how my run went.)

After I was done running I put my aching self to bed.  It was a day truly about family and reaching my goals.  And those are the most satisfying.

Me, God, Lady Gaga, and Modest Mouse

All went for a run tonight.

Although that started like a beginning to a bad joke, the only bad joke may be my mile time::

So remember how I said I'm preparing to run the IU Mini Marathon?  I figured I should probably get on that since it's a half-marathon and I'm in no shape to run it yet. 

I meant to do 5 miles tonight, because I figured if I could bump myself up one mile per week, I'll get to my 13.1 in time.  I'm glad that I started out better than 5 miles because Bloomington has a lot of hills that I have to work to master. 

In the devotional Pray Fit that I've mentioned in earlier posts, it encourages the reader/exerciser to do your exercises "to fail".  This means you're doing pushups and you keep doing them until your arms will not push you back off the floor again.  The next day you do the same exercise only you should do at least one more rep of it in less time.  I decided I should use this principle in my run.  So I ran my five miles and then kept going until my legs just wouldn't keep going.  And tomorrow I plan to do at least 6 miles at a better time.

A lot of times when I'm doing something difficult, I mentally make deals with myself.  Like, "okay, you're going to do 5 more minutes on this stationary bike but if 5 minutes is up before a commercial break, you have to keep going until the commercial break."  Silly, I know, but usually if this happens and commercial break comes up, I go, "oh well now you've done 6.7 minutes, you may as well do 10..."

So I loaded my "On-the-Go" playlist with songs that I LOVE.  You know, songs that when they're on the radio when you pull into your driveway you will finish them out before you turn off the car and go inside. (Is that just me?)

So I had things like::

Yoü and I - Lady Gaga

Black Cadillacs - Modest Mouse

And Darling - Tegan and Sara

If It's Love - Train

Kryptonite - 3 Doors Down

Beautiful Mess - Diamond Rio

Serenade No. 13 in G, "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik", K 525 Andante - Mozart Modern

That Time- Regina Spektor

...and etc and etc.

When I had hit 4 miles, "I want you (She's so heavy)- The Beatles" came on and I pictured a darling retro, 50's-esque dress that I saw and loved when I was at the mall with my sister today everytime the song's sultury lyrics sang "I want you...I want you so bad" and then used "She's so heavy" as some negative reinforcement to keep on keeping on with my run.

As soon as that song ended I got off Abbey Road and the soulful rendition of "Let It Be" from Across the Universe played and brought me to a peaceful place.  I started to talk to God until it was time for my body to stop and cool down and walk the rest of the way home.  Earbuds in, iPod off.

One day, in a conversation about being wholly healthy, I told my pastor, Jeremy VanKley and his wife Stacey (who are two amazing people when it comes to spiritual leaders, motivational supporters, and just plain great friends) that a lot of times I run with absolutely no music but my iPod strapped to me and my earbuds in because I'm praying and I don't want anyone interrupting me. 

"God my legs are aching!

Thank you for giving me working legs.

God my heart feels like it's going to burst!

Thank you for giving me a healthy heart.

God I'm sweating a ton!

Thank you for this beautiful night.

God, I feel like I'm going to puke

Thank you for providing me with food to eat."

I'm really not the most formal prayer.  That's why I'm happy to not get singled out to pray in crowds very often.  Me and the Big Guy are cool and he knows my heart, and that's what matters.

Tonight I learned::

If you're feeling bad for yourself

Or if you're giving yourself permission to quit

You are forgetting all that you're blessed with.

Working Out on The Juice

I have been doing my morning devotional of Pray Fit.  It is a great book for Christians who want to get healthier spiritually and physically.  It starts off very slow exercise-wise.  I will be teaching this class at DeMotte First Church of the Nazerine sometime in the upcoming months.

Also I am training for the IU Mini Marathon so I am doing a little more cardio and strenght training so that I will be able to run 13.1 miles on March 31, 2012. 

This is probably not the body builder's diet, but you should be exercizing.  If you're losing weight as fast as I am...You want to look like a fit person and not a skin bag that used to hold a heavy person.

An important thing to remember is to ALWAYS BE HYDRATED!  The juice is liquid, but it does not replace your 8-10 cups a day!  Post workout, you should be drinking either coconut water, or celery juice (neither of which replace your water intake either). 

Right now I am making sure to take a walk.  Normally with this little guy::

And slowly working on my running for my half marathon.  I also do yoga, pilates, and Just Dance as more fun and centering ways to get fit. 

There are also smaller things you can do to stay a little fitter::

• Take the stairs
• Park the car futher away from the store in the parking lot
• Stand at work
• Clean your home
• Play with your kiddos and pets.
• Don't allow yourself TV time without active time (ie, only while on the treadmill or doing small exercizes during commercial breaks)
• Commit to more active dates with your partner.

Pretty much:: If you've been eating poorly, I'll allow you the first couple days to let your body detox and chill a little, but after that KEEP YOUR BUTT OFF THE COUCH!!  You are going to have a ton of energy and feel great, so use this as the opportunity to rearrange your lifestyle a bit.