The Next 24 Hours

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I found this image on Pinterest and it really hit home to me.  So many people focus on the end result that they can't get past all the baby steps it will take to get there.  They look at this seemingly insurmountable task - maybe it's losing a significant amount of weight or training for a marathon - and decide never to start because it seems impossible.

You know that silly question "How do you eat an elephant?"  The answer is the same as the message in this image - One bite at a time.  Focus on what you need to do in the next 24 hours to get yourself that one bite closer to your goal.

I've decided to give the new Weight Watchers SmartPoints plan another chance.  It seems impossible to stay within the tiny number of points I get now but by meal planning and focusing on fruits and vegetables, I'm planning to see another nice loss next weekend.

What will you do in the next 24 hours to get yourself closer to your goals?

Weight Loss Over The Holidays?

How many of you saw some version of this image pop up in your FB or Twitter feeds over the past week?

How about we just focus on healthy eating and making good choices?  You know, it is possible to experience weight loss over the holidays.  I'm not saying it will be easy but it IS possible.

How do I know?  I lost 1.2 pounds last week, weighing in the Saturday after Thanksgiving and the day after I was out of town and eating every meal out.  I think if I hadn't been stuck eating fast food (hello, sodium), the loss may have been even better.

Last week I wrote about how success breeds motivation and that's definitely the case now.  I want to keep seeing those numbers drop and don't plan to blow it between now and New Years.  I mean, seriously, how awesome would it be to be back in the 140s by New Years Day and then maybe even the 130s by Valentines?  I only need 5 more pounds gone to make that first goal happen.

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving and if Black Friday shopping was your thing that you got some great deals.

Motivation Monday: progress IS motivating

First off - a little bit of business to take care of!  Thank you to everyone who entered my JournalMenu giveaway last week.  I love being the bearer of good news so CONGRATULATIONS to Kay Lynn A! I hope you love your workout journal!

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming....

I don't think I've talked much about my decision to re-join Weight Watchers - at least not here on this blog probably because I rarely blog anymore.  Long story short, I got very fed up at my clothes not fitting and the awful numbers I was seeing on the scale and measuring tape.  I've tried going it on my own and it really wasn't working.  On November 7th, I hung my head in shame and walked into a Weight Watchers meeting and handed them my Visa card.  Admitting I'd gained about 25 pounds over my "happy" weight was very defeating.  So was needing to pay for meetings again (I had thankfully acheived Lifetime status back in the early 90s so I will never have to pay a joining fee.) Hopefully, I thought, the structure of WW would get me back on track.

Turns out it has.  Move ahead 2 weeks and I'm down 9 pounds and some of my clothes are starting to fit better.  I think the leader was really shocked that I wasn't more excited about getting my 5% loss charm on Saturday or the big losses I posted in my first 2 weeks, but the bottom line is I still have so far to go that it's hard to celebrate yet.

As we go into the Thanksgiving week and knowing all the travel and meals that will be included, I'm just striving to continue forward progress this week.  I won't be perfect.  I know I will not be able to stay within 26 points a day when I'm eating out while out of town or going to my MIL's for 2nd Thanksgiving (her foods will most definitely NOT be WW compliant in any way shape or form).  As for the Thanksgiving dinner I'm making, I can have a bit more control there.  All I can do is my best.

Seeing results over the past two weeks has been very motivating for me.  I've even had a couple short runs that give me hope that my running ability may be returning.  Again, I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much because I don't want to be disappointed, but a little hope is better than none.

Are you staying close to home for Thanksgiving or traveling?  What are your best tips for dealing with events such as this while trying to reduce your calorie intake?

Motivation Monday: @journalmenu #giveaway

Sometimes motivation can come from the strangest places - maybe it's a quote on a friend's FB wall, maybe it's seeing some progress on the scale, and maybe it's someone reaching out to you about new gear that gets your butt in gear.

It's not much of a secret - the "run" aspect of my blog title and life has been pretty minimal lately thanks to some pesky, nagging injuries.  Luckily, that is beginning to change and thanks to the folks at JournalMenu, I have a great place to start logging my return to running.

What is JournalMenu?  JournalMenu is a personalized fitness journal designed to match your goals, your activities and your personality.  With the ability to create your own cover and journal contents, the journals are truly unique.  Whether you are into running, weightlifting, yoga, food tracking or (fill in your favorite activity here), the creators of JournalMenu will assist you in finding the journal that is best for you.

I am loving the journal Erica at JournalMenu put together for me.  With sections for goals, training plans, PRs and race recaps, plus weekly logs, it has everything I need to get back on track.  Lucky for one of my readers, JournalMenu wants to help one of you reach your goals through a personalize journal of your choice!  Take a look at the journals available here and let me know what you would choose! This would be a great gift for yourself or one of your favorite workout buddies.  Enter through Rafflecopter below for a chance to win $25 to spend at JournalMenu on the customized fitness journal of your choice.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

fine print: JournalMenu provided a journal to me at no cost.  The opinions, as always, are my own.  Contest will run from 11/16/15 to 11/22/16 with winner announced by 11/24/16.  Winner must provide a way for me to reach them to send the gift card code and if they do not respond by 11/26/15, another winner will be chosen.  Winner is responsible for any costs above the $25 gift card amount and I (LLRB) am not responsible for anything related to the prize once I give winner the gift code.  

All Aboard!

Well, would you look at that.  I haven't posted here in over a month.  Do I even have any readers left? Here's a quick look at how the past 6 weeks or so have gone in case anyone out there is wondering:

• Moved 2 kids to college - one of them over 1200 miles away.  Thank God for FaceTime.
• Made multiple trips to closer child's college for football games (actually to watch him in the marching band).
• Blew all weight loss success from last year as reminded by yesterday's TimeHop.  The failure hasn't happened just in the last 6 weeks but more an accumulation over the past year with the summer being the nail in the coffin.  Last year yesterday, I got back into my favorite $100 jeans.  Yesterday I couldn't even get them up over my fat thighs and ass.  The number on the scale and the fat on my body is disgusting to me.  Yes, I know I should be kinder to myself but that isn't happening so long as I look and feel like I do.
• Started back to work and took on an intern (luckily it looks like she will be awesome).  The start of the school year always stresses me out.  More so this year with my house very empty.  I'm hoping getting back into a routine will help with the third bullet point there.
• Stopped running after my Labor Day Mackinac Bridge Run.  This was probably one of my slowest paced "runs" ever and barely even qualified as a run since I averaged just under a 12 minute mile pace.  (If you are this pace or slower, this is not a dig toward you - I can walk very fast so to "run" practically my walk pace is really frustrating, particularly when I should be able to average a 10 m/m pace most days.)  I'm hurt.  Injuries suck ass, especially when you really need the sweat therapy.  I haven't gone back to the podiatrist because I really don't think he would say anything other than, "you need a new pair of $500 orthotics".

There you have it.  I'm ready to get off the struggle bus and I've been logging my food and exercise old school style.  Sorta.  It's in a Google Doc.  I decided MFP also stressed me out because if I ate anything I didn't prepare, I couldn't log it correctly and the perfectionist in me thinks if I can't do something right then I shouldn't do it at all.  At least just writing stuff down is better than nothing.

Motivation Monday: a fresh start?

I stole this off of my friend, Jennifer's, Facebook page this morning.  I don't really understand why Mondays are reserved for starting over when you really can start anytime you please.

But today it works. I need a fresh start.  This weekend, one I had to buy more new clothes because I'm running out of stuff that isn't sausage-casing tight.  I found a great pair of pants at Banana Republic for about 75% off.  I bought them and I'm wearing them today, but I hate that there is a number 12 on the tag.  I know it shouldn't matter but I haven't been a size 12 in at least 4 or 5 years.

That's depressing as hell.

One of my friends asked if I was still tracking calories.  I said no.  I track for a couple days, fuck up, and then stop.

Today I started again.

Hopefully it sticks this time.

Motivation Monday: OMG!

I've had more than a few OMG! moments lately.  This past weekend I had to buy a new pair of jeans because none of my current ones fit anymore.

Do you know how hard it is to "reward" yourself with new clothes because you got too fat for the ones you already own?  Not to mention OMG they were crazy expensive.  Not cool.  I really need work pants too because I'm down to 2 pair that fit, but I can't justify spending another $100 when I really don't want to wear them for very long.

This morning I saw a number on the scale that I said I would never see again. In fact, it's a whole decade HIGHER than another number I said I would never see again.  A full TWO decades higher than where I really think I should be.

Yes, it's just a number and I know some of it is bloat from salt and whatnot this weekend, but still. It took everything I had not to burst into tears this morning.  This number is just further confirmation that I've completely screwed up several YEARS worth of work.  I can't stand what I see in the mirror and I'm so disappointed in myself.

How is this motivating?

I dusted off MFP this morning - although I'm toying with the idea of going old-school journaling a la Weight Watchers and just writing down everything I eat and drink without tracking the calorie aspect.

I'm chugging water this morning like it's my JOB.

I'm making a plan to start lifting again when my stupid back settles down (it doesn't help that I failed my long run this weekend because I couldn't last a mile without pain).

Here's hoping all this motivation lasts for longer than a day or two and that number starts going down again and my current wardrobe starts fitting.

Life Lessons from Dr Seuss

In case you live under a rock or done have children in Elementary School, today is Dr. Seuss Day! Schools all around the country celebrate his birthday (it's today!) and devote March as a month of extra, fun reading challenges.

Many important life lessons have come from Dr. Seuss. One of my twitter friends posted this and I wanted to share it with all of you.



Do you have a favorite Dr. Seuss book?  I think mine is a tie between One Fish, Two Fish and The Cat in the Hat.  We even dressed my twins up as Thing One and Thing Two one year for Halloween.  Best costumes ever :)

Motivation Monday: a virtual race reason to run

Do you need a little motivation to get through these dark, cold, winter days?  I think many of you know I write over that The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans and I'm going to take a minute today to promote our latest virtual 5k, 10k and 1-mile fun run/walk.

Together We Race is the latest in our series of virtual races.  Perfect for a time when getting outside to earn your bling might be a bit challenging in your neck of the woods.  Proceeds benefit Together We Rise, a leader in foster care innovation, and your race fee includes a custom designed medal and race t-shirt.

We will all run "together" on April 12th at the distance of your choosing.  Any of you in my immediate area - let me know you're registered and we will run together for realz (I actually have a 14 miler planned that weekend and would LOVE company for part of it)!  Click here to sign up!

post contains affiliate links - I won't get rich if you register through me but it does help keep the lights on here at Live Laugh Run Breathe.

Motivation Monday: 21 day fix reflections

Yesterday was the "end" of my 21 Day Fix experiment.  I say experiment because I really didn't have all I needed to follow the program as written.  I didn't buy the shakes or the workout DVDs, so maybe if I'd had those my results would have been better.

Basically, I had no results.  I took "after" pictures yesterday and I really can't see any changes - in fact, I think I looked worse but maybe it was the lighting in my bathroom.  Who knows. In any rate, I have no intention of posting the pictures because I really don't want pics of me in a bikini floating around the interwebs and frankly, no one wants to see that anyway.

As you can see, my weight didn't change and really none of my measurements changed either.  Maybe my hips and waist but that little of a change makes me wonder if I just had the tape measure in a different place.  It's hard to stay motivated about something when you've been working at it for weeks with no real results.

I haven't given up yet though.  I created another menu this week still in the 1500-1800 range and I've added workouts from the 30 Day Shred DVD to shake things up a bit.  The shred is kind of killing my calves though - to the point I had to bail on my 10 mile run on Saturday because they felt so off.  I'll keep with the Shred this week but I won't be doing any of it next week because I'd really like to run my half marathon.  Undecided about how much heavy lifting to do. After The Donna Breast Cancer Half, it's time to start really ramping up my running again so plans need to come together and pant sizes need to drop.

Motivation Monday: YES, YOU can run a marathon!

Spoiler Alert: HUGE PR!

If I can train for and finish 26.2 miles with a nearly 35 min PR and blow my goal time out of the water, so can YOU!  More on this later when I have time to write a real race report.

What's your big, scary goal? Make it a reality.

Motivation Monday: Inspiration

Yesterday was the Chicago Marathon. I had several friends running and they all did great. I also got to read posts from a few of my Couch to 5k runners who ran their first 5ks this weekend.  Thinking everyone racing gets me motivated and excited for next weekend.  Congrats to any of you who raced!


This will be my view on Sunday morning! Less than a week until runner 1990 runs across the Ambassador Bridge!

Did you race this weekend?

Motivation Monday: taper time!

Let the taper madness begin!

Motivation Monday: #womenruntheD goals crushed!

This past weekend I ran the Detroit Women's Half Marathon and represented Another Mother Runner at the race expo.  It was a fantastic time and I promise a full race recap when I catch my breath.

I set 5 goals for race weekend - in no particular order:

"Meet as many women as possible at the race Expotique.  One of my favorite parts of this ambassador gig is getting to connect with other runners, especially women who are running their first 5k or half marathon." - Done!  I can't even count how many women talked about this race being their first 5k or first half.  The great thing about women's races is seeing how many different ages, shapes and abilities show up.  It's very inspiring.  Jenn and I stayed until we saw some of the last girls come in on the half.  Major props to them!

"Be the sales girl with the mostest :)  Yes, I'm selling merchandise for Another Mother Runner so if you are coming to the expo, please find Jenn and I in booth 12 and shop your little heart out!" - We definitely tried!  Jury is still out on this one. 

"Treat Sunday's half marathon as a training run.  I did a great job of this at the Bridge Run 10 miler last weekend and I'm hoping to repeat again on Sunday.  The goal is a negative split, which is very tough for me, but I have a plan and I'm going to stick to it." - BOOM!  

Check out these stats!  I've never finished ranked so high in my AG or pulled off a negative split like that.  


"Enjoy my girl's weekend!  I'm bringing one of my BRFs and Fred Relay teammate, Jenn, along for the ride and we are both very much looking forward to some girl time." - Most definitely!  I mean, seriously, where else are you going to climb on a stripper pole but on the shuttle bus heading back to your hotel after running a great half and pounding 2 yummy beers?


"Have fun!!" - Done and Done :)  so much fun that re-entry to reality is going to be a bit tough today.

How was your weekend?  What goals did you crush?

Motivation Monday: Keep Moving Forward

I saw this on FB this weekend and it really spoke to me.

Keep moving forward, even if your path isn't clearly marked.

You'll find your way.

Motivation Monday: a goal reached!

Last month, I missed hitting 100 miles for the month by 3 measly miles.

This month I crushed it.  

Now excuse me while I continue to veg out this holiday weekend because the 20 miler on Saturday to get me there was BRUTAL.

I hope you all have a safe and fun Labor Day!

Motivation Monday: The Highlight Reel?

After this past week, I've really been riding the struggle bus hard.  I've been questioning my ability, not trusting myself, doubting.  Some of that comes from comparing myself with others.  I read all these wonderful workouts on DailyMile or Facebook.  I see the Instagram posts of crossfit WODs or Fitsnap recaps of stellar runs.  Then I look at what I've done and it feels like less.  Especially this past week.

It's not less though.  It's my reality.  It's my now.  I saw this on Twitter this weekend and it couldn't be more true.
Are you comparing your behind-the-scenes to everyone else's highlight reels?

Motivation Monday: Are you crazy too?

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In about 2 weeks, I'm running my next race - the Fred Meijer White Pine Trail 200 Mile Relay.  I can't wait to run through the day and night with Team Screaming Thunderboxes!

Are you crazy enough to run a relay?

Motivation Monday: patience

Had some ups and downs this weekend.

A great run where I got lost in my thoughts.

Visiting colleges with my kids.

Comforting a hurt.

Waiting impatiently until I get to see friends I've been missing.

Trying to find the motivation to stay on track (that trip in 10 days is helping).

Some days it's hard to believe that everything will be ok but I need to find the patience and faith that it will.

Motivation Monday: a serious question

I spent a good chunk of my weekend trying to figure this thing out.  I'm all about the spreadsheet and needing to have a plan.  If I don't have an end result on the schedule, it's hard for me to feel like I'm working towards anything.  I plugged in some races (currently the RBR relay, Fitbloggin 10k and RnR Chicago are the only ones I'm registered to run).

You'll see a triathlon on that schedule.  A friend who knows me very well asked whether I felt obligated to do a triathlon or if I really wanted to be a triathlete.  It's a great question.  Answering honestly, I'd say it's more obligation.  I spent a shit-ton of money on a bike (but in the grand scheme of tri-bikes, not really that much money).  It forces me to cross train.  But the fact is, I don't love it.  Triathlons stress me the f*ck out.  I'm a crappy swimmer, afraid to bike in traffic, and a mediocre runner.  Yes, I can complete all 3 events, but if I don't enjoy it, why am I doing it?

I think because of injuries, I'm questioning my status as a "runner".  I also know that without a ton of very specific training, I will not be a "swimmer" or a "cyclist".  I don't have the skills and frankly, there's too much fear there.

Thoughts?