My New Normal

A bit of a random post but here it goes....

The hubs & I are trying to start a family so I went to the dr to talk to her about fertility and making sure I am trying to do whatever it is I need to do to put as in the best possibly situation to start a family. The dr decided to do blood work and out of everything that came back, my glucose levels are high and a cause for concern. My grandparents on my dad's side both died of diabetes but no one else in my family has issues. Therefore my new normal of eating has just become 100% Paleo/Diabetic to make sure I can control this without meds.

If you have any favorite recipes that you want to share please do! I am going off my Everyday Paleo cookbook, Nom Nom Paleo, and I am waiting for MG Paleo to become available.

So now for the weekend recap!

Lunch on Friday before I hit the road to head north to Georgetown to visit my parents.
A smidge charred salmon burger atop field greens and half a cup of mixed veggies.

Dinner at my parent's place....YUM!
Salmon filet (yes I love salmon) topped with poblano pesto with four sauteed shrimp and a salad.

Berry Springs Park...About 10 minutes away from my parent's place. Ran the trails/paths until I ran out of them to follow. 

Saturday night was spent celebrating one of my friend's wedding in Frisco. Such a great couple and a beautiful bride!

Lunch today - Chef salad with compliant dressing that I found at Monument Market in Georgetown over the weekend. 

Needless to say you will now be seeing more food porn as my meals will have to be more creative than what I am used to. And if you are so inclined.....keep Dave & I in your prayers for a Baby H soon!

Baby Oinkers

Dave was off this past weekend so our friends invited us up to their family ranch to relax and float the Frio River. Of course we didn't say no and Dave just HAD to drive the Jeep! Their ranch is in Leakey which is about 3'ish hours away from us and their property is just beautiful. You cannot beat the Texas Hill Country!

Saturday morning after breakfast the guys and I went down to the hog trap to see what we had. It was a beautiful thing when 5 little piglets were stuck. Now for those who don't know, Dave and I process our own meat that we hunt during season. We make sausage (all kinds) and save the rest for chili meat and ground meat for burgers. IF we have enough pork he will save me the shoulders to cook in the slow cooker which are some of the best eating ever! 

We thanked the Lord for the food, loaded them up and headed back to the cleaning shack. When it came time to leave, Dave and I were lucky enough to leave with three of them!

Now not sure if it was the tubing on Sunday or sitting in the Jeep for 3.5 hours but my lower back was killing me Sunday night and on into Monday morning so yesterday's run was a no go. But this morning's run was good. I am getting up a little earlier so I can start hitting my 5 mile mark and maybe have a little bit more time for stretching. 

Just over 4 miles this morning (plus ab series).....my legs were doing great, it was breathing to keep up that was though. It is progress not perfection so I will just keep going to try to hit my goals one run at time!

Fartlek Friday and more pork

Since Wednesday night was church night I didn't cook so that meant that lunch yesterday was a Bistro Salad and I added egg and avocado to it. I love the salad bowls from HEB because they have a good variety, they are affordable, and more than enough to fill you up as a meal. 

A friend from church happened to have buckets full of extra limes so she brought me some. My first thought - I need more beer! HA! But I looked up a few recipes to use some of the limes and I found a great chili & lime chicken recipe. I had leftover shrimp that I had been eating all week for dinner so I threw those in there too. It was delish! I think I used the Betty Crocker recipe, just an FYI. Next time I want to try the honey ginger and lime recipe that I found as well. 

Too bad we don't have an ice cream man otherwise I might have more motivation to run outside in the summer heat. 

After my disappointing run yesterday I was really hoping today would go much better and it did! Such a great Fartlek run this morning. If I eat dinner early then I notice my tummy isn't rumbling in the mornings.

Tomorrow the plan calls for 4 -5 miles and if this week is any indication of how it will go, I should have a successful run outside for the first time in a few weeks.

Boston Pork Butt.....yum! HEB had them on sale for $1 per pound so I got one to cook now and one that was cryovacked for later. I rubbed Dave's seasoning and Saltlick Garlic Dry rub on it, seared the sides, and it is now slow cooking allllllll day. I am beyond excited about this. I usually only buy chicken because we have a stand up freezer full of homemade sausage but when good meats go on sale that I cannot just pass up, it is nice to have a little variety in my meals. 

A bat & a toad!

After weighing in yesterday, weight loss is on the fore front of my brain! I told D that he is now my accountability partner and if he needs to be mean to me to help me reach me goals its ok! I may regret that later but I need all the help I can get! 

Lunch yesterday was a field green salad with pouch salmon and then topped with Seasnax crumbles. It was delish! I forgot I still had some Seasnax in the pantry so it was a good find. I had to go to the store to buy more lettuce since for some odd reason my big box of field greens froze over the weekend while I was visiting my parents. HEB even had a coupon for green lettuce leaves so it was a bonus!

Dinner was solo since D is working so I had a salad, a Bai5 Mango, fiesta salmon burger and 10 sauteed shrimp. Totally filled me up. I sually like to eat by 6 or 6:30 at the latest. I do not like eating late because my stomach usually doesn't like me in the morning if I do. I also noticed I usually don't sleep as well. 

While making dinner I was also making my lunch and dinner for today and some snacks. Sauteed chicken with bell peppers, onions, and a jalapeno; green leaf lettuce salads, mixed fruit, cheese square and celery with peanut butter. I even found some great meal prep containers online at Amazon. My MIL has prime so they should be here by Thursday. 

Tempo Tuesday started off very interesting. First I found a baby bat injured in my covered patio. Pretty sure the dogs might have gotten a hold of it. I never thought I would ever get face to face with a bat. He was pretty pissed! Then as I was trying to leave I had to shoo a giant toad out of the garage and out from underneath my truck so he wouldn't get squished. Once I finally made it to the gym, with no animals being harmed in the process, I had a pretty good run. 

1 mile warm up at 6.0

2 min at 6.2 

2 min at 6.4 

2 min at 6.6

1 min at 4.0

Repeat three times

1 mile cool down

And yes I am a hot mess in the morning when I get to the gym. I try to match my clothes but the hair lately has been a whole nother story. 

Monday miles and some honesty

I spent the weekend in Georgetown visiting my parents and it was a nice needed mini vacay. I took Bailey with me and she always enjoys to travel. Downtown Georgetown is so quaint and the antique shops are full of some pretty amazing things. But my favorite part is there is a satellite location of Grape Creek Vineyards there. I have to stop in every time and pick up a bottle or two. You cannot buy their wines anywhere but the wineries or you have to be a wine club member. 

Saturday we also made our way to the Round Rock Outlet mall so I could get my very first pair of Chucks! I am getting used to them, as I normally only wear running shoes. They kinda feel like I am wearing skis or something but I bought them to wear to work. I like that I can wear them with skirts, casual dresses, and pants. 

I told myself I would run while I was in Georgetown but it was nice to not have a schedule so I took the weekend off. But this morning it was back to it. I had a great run this morning. Other than my SI joint acting up since last week, my legs and shins felt amazing! I am looking forward to increasing my mileage to 5 this week if this keeps up. 

I found this on Pinterest and I thought it was pretty funny! During the hot months in South Texas, a treadmill for me is an essential piece of equipment however it can get so boring after a while. 

So after the wedding I tried to stay to my good eating habits but it seemed all I did was worry about what I was eating, how much I was working out, and how the house always seems to need to be cleaned. I told myself I was going to stop worrying about the need to look a certain way. Well, that in-turn made my eating habits head off into left field and as of this morning I have reached my highest weight of my life. With that being said it is back to better eating, drinking, and better sleeping habits. I am going to start keeping up with my weight loss here as a way to hold myself accountable and to have a record of it. 

Right after college (almost 10 years ago) I got up to 185 (my current weight) but I started working out with a trainer and eating right and I got down to 155 or 160. It was awesome! I felt great. Now I am not so sure that 160 would be attainable but if I can get back down to 170 or 175 I would be stoked. So here it goes. My path to lose 10 to 15 pounds starts today! 

TGIF!

The electricity was out at my house yesterday morning for 2 1/2 hours so I wasn't sure if the gym had power which means I didn't make my morning run. I told myself I would run after work but by then I am worn out, hot, and my husband came back home from the yard so it turned into an "oh well" kind of day. 

Kicked off my Friday with a 4 miler of hills on the treadmill....level 4 to be precise! It felt good but I definitely had to talk myself into finishing. I am having a hard time adjusting my body to 4 miles consistently which means next week will be another minimum 4 mile week as well. I am hoping to get up to 6 before the trail run but not sure if I can handle it in a short amount of time. T-minus 4 weeks. 

Sweaty Gym Selfie

I am ready to be out of work all ready and on the road north to Georgetown to spend the weekend with my parents. The only perk of them living in Georgetown (because it is so much farther from me now) is that Grape Creek Winery has a satellite location on the square! SCORE! I always stop by and pick up a bottle or two and this Saturday they will have live music and cajun food tasting so you know where I will be. 

I did find out that there is a monthly 5K run that takes place only a few miles from their place so I am going to check it out tomorrow morning. I am looking forward to new scenery and running with people instead of solo. 

Hump Day!

It was good to get back into the gym after the fun weekend I had but it definitely caught up with me by Tuesday. I didn't hit my 4 mile mark but did get in a 5K tempo run without puking so that was a success in my book. I upped my pace on the tempo run this week and I think I can keep up with it for a while so that was "thumbs up" progress for me as well. 

Today was off day from running but cross training. I would love to be able to do the bootcamp class but they don't start until 6 AM and it is about 30 minutes later than what I need to be able to get home, shower, eat and get to work on time. So I made up a ladder workout to do after I woke my body up with 15 minutes on the elliptical.  

 The 15K trail run is exactly 1 month away! I need to start kicking up my mileage to be able to survive that run. It will be the farthest I have ever run......race or not.

Monday Miles & Beer!

Over the weekend the America On Tap made their stop into good ol' Corpus Christi. Needless to say we were excited! Our friend Val made the awesome pretzel necklaces which was a genius idea. She should have brought more to sell because everyone was asking about them. 

The main reason we all went (besides the beer) was that Val is making the move, again, to Alaska at the end of the month and it was the only weekend we were almost all able to get together. Dave was off which was great! We were missing two gal pals though...one recently had a baby and the other couldn't get off work. 

Monday means back to the grind. I am still working on my consistent four milers. It was a little tough after taking a few days off to have fun and get stuff done around the house though. But I pushed through and I am looking forward to Tempo tomorrow since it is more fun that just plain running. It seems the more miles I do the more boring the treadmill becomes. 

I just got my email about the registration opening! Has anyone ever done this before? My sis did San Diego not long ago and she had a blast! I am hoping I can get a few girl friends to tag along with me because I am so signing up right when bibs are released tomorrow!

Ice Burns?

Tempo Tuesday and it was a good run!

1 mile warm up at 5.8

.5 at 6.0

.5 at 6.4

.5 at 6.0

.5 at 6.4

1 mile cool down at 6.0

Did 3x20 sit ups and I figured why not try to kill two birds with one stone and use the foam roller at the same time. Worth a shot but totally not the same. I rolled out my calves once I was finished.

I am hoping to be able to make my warm up and cool down paces above the 6.0 mark this month.  

Excuse my blurry selfie pictures as I am usually not working out with any buddies at 5:30 AM.

I ran out of eggs so I have to wait until pay day, Friday to get more from my farm egg hook-up. Until then I have plenty of smoothie stuff to get me through refueling in the mornings. Made a green protein smoothie and drank it while I iced down my shins. 

However late on in the day I couldn't figure out why my legs were itching.....this is what happened! 

The only thing I can think of is I burned myself with my ice pack. I have never had this happen and it was quite uncomfortable. I really think I will stick to my Dr Cool Wraps as much as possible. Has this ever happened to anyone else?

One of my favorite dinners this week, that is why I had to share. Two salmon in a pouches mixed with salt, pepper, lemon pepper and flax seeds on top of a field green salad with a sweet potato on the side. It was so good!

4 on the 4th & Monday Miles

The Corpus Christi Road Runners put on the 4 on the 4th every year and this was my 2nd year to participate! The route was a little different but as always, I enjoy running along the bayfront of Corpus Christi. 

Dotted along the bayfront are these little pergolas that you can hang out in and people watch, that is what I do atleast. We have one that is dedicated to the memory of Tejano star Selena so if you haven't found it yet, it is along there somewhere. 

Our little city doesn't have a whole host of things to do but when they built the splash park I thought it was such a neat idea. The concrete running path is right along side this. Normally in the early morning when we run it isn't up and running but if you are ever in the downtown Corpus Christi area, you should check it out! It is near the visitors information stand.

Just as last year, my Nike GPS fouled up and I didn't get a super accurate reading from it so I went off the race clock to sync my run. If you lock your phone before the run begins it won't really start tracking your run. Slower than last year but I am OK with that. I have decided I am running for mileage not speed. Either way, I had fun, enjoyed the scenery as well as the company of other runners. 

Monday miles in full force today. After sleeping on and off for almost 14 hours Saturday night my body was recharged for this morning. Living in a small town that I am not from means not too many friends and my only close one here just moved to Montana Saturday. 4 miles is the minimum for runs this week. The 15K trail run will be here before I know it so I have got to get my mileage up.  

I did a little run/walk scenario this morning which made the run much easier. Burned over 600 calories which was a bonus too! Looking forward to my tempo run tomorrow with this mileage. 

One for the books

It is all downhill from here! The second half of this year is going to be awesome!

The struggle Tuesday morning was real. I did crawl back in bed for a hot minute before I realized I would not be doing what I said I was going to do. Out of bed I got for my tempo run and reached my goal of 4 miles. The plan is to keep my minimum runs at 4 miles for a week or two before upping it again. 

I do like tempo runs. They are great for slowly making me increase my pace and not peeter out just because my head thinks I am tired. It is easier on a treadmill....I haven't tried a tempo run outside yet. 

I was killing time on Pinterest the other day and found this. I saved it since I seem to have so many problems with shin splints. I was told it is because I have high arches hence the inserts in my Asics. So on rest day tomorrow I am going to re-lace my shoes and see if I can start to feel a difference in my runs. 

My mid year progress. Most mileage for a month and over 170 miles for the year so far. I am pretty proud of that right there! I lost about 3 weeks of my life in April due to the vertigo so I know I would have been at an even better total mileage number if I had been able to run without running into something. 

Beach To Bay 2015

 This was my third Beach to Bay Relay to participate in and I have run a different leg each time. This year I took the 4th leg...the base leg. It runs through the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station.

Becky had our shirts made and I love them! This is the back. The front says WTF!

We ran in honor of a guy named Christopher Harlan who our first leg runner served with in Afghanistan. He was a machine gunner and a purple heart recipient but he took his own life. I researched how often that happens and the numbers are so high. According to the stats, 22 soldiers take their own life each day. If you want to help stop that you can go to stopsoldiersuicide.org  and donate. 

Waiting in line with Becky for the bus to her leg. The sweet girl that took this picture actually just found me in Instagram so that was pretty cool! Unfortunately she is headed back to California this summer otherwise I might have had a new running buddy! But I have heard the bay area is nice and maybe I will just have to find a run out there to do!

My race day outfit! I pulled out the flag capris that I usually wear on the 4 on the 4th run since I was running on base. I tried to say thank to every military person who was working our run on the base. I got pretty close to accomplishing that. 

Chute selfie! Finished my 4.83 miles...not as fast as I wanted but the humidity had to be in the 80 something percent. Overall we finished with a 4:33 times for the relay. 626th place overall out of 2046 teams. In our division of odds and ends we placed 225th. 

Until next year Beach to Bay!

Sunday Funday

I love Sundays! When we are not out of town, Sundays start with Church at Cross Trails Cowboy Church. Yesterday's service was about grief/mourning and how God blesses the brokenhearted. If you have never been to a Cowboy Church, you should check one out! When my parents recently moved to Georgetown I made sure to find one within ten minutes of them. 

Our Pastor David Cole and his wife Tina

After church was a short stop by HEB to grab some veggies then home. My favorite bootcamp instructor was holding an Ambush workout at the park so I decided that would be a great change to my normal workouts...plus it was free! The park isn't very far and it was around 65 degrees yesterday so I ran up to the park.....why waste the gas? 

After I finished my 3+ miles with my workout I decided it would be even MORE fun to run to the reservoir to hang out with my friend Robyn and her family at the baseball fields. 

All in all I got in just over 4.5 miles. I was pretty stoked with the since all week was a bust for me. That usually happens when Dave comes in town. He is gone for 2, sometimes 2.5 weeks at a time so when he comes in we usually have lots of stuff to try to get done before he head back out on hitch. 

Snacks for the week. I haven't tried to Pro Bar yet. A guy at the hunting
camp last weekend gave it to me to try.

Dinner: lightly coated with coconut flour and Old Bay cod fish and shrimp,
quinoa, half of an avocado, and yellow bell peppers/cabbage sauteed together.......
So delish!