Aug 15, 2012

Oh hello 4 flights of stairs… we meet again!

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So my mom read the blog from yesterday where I reluctantly declared that I have been majorly slacking on my running/training.

Big mistake. Huge. I’m going shopping now. Name that movie READY GO. If you didn’t get it I’m not sure we should be friends anymore.

So last night’s CrossFit classes consisted of a short list of “to-do’s” which immediately gives you the very unrealistic view that the workout will be easy or at the very least won’t make you too sore.

Wrong.

While the workout looks easy, trust me it is not…

  1. Row 1000 meters
  2. 15 Band Clap Push-Ups (you use a band attached to the workstation and put it on  your chest- yea it’s like a free boob lift- and then you do a push-up and clap as you come up)
  3. 20 dumbbell swings w/ 30lb dumbbell
  4. 10 front squats with 45 pound bar

Repeat 4 times

So if you are counting that is 4000 meters, 60 band clap push-ups, 80 dumbbell swings, and 40 front squats. Oddly enough the dumbbell swings were the toughest for me. If I am being perfectly honest with myself I think it is because I haven’t been challenging myself lately to increase my weight and have been hovering around 20 pounds for far too long. That 30 pounds felt like a freaking more like 80 if you ask me. The 1000 meters was perfect so we were able to get in that cardio I have been lacking… always feels good to get the heart rate up and the sweat dripping down your face! And then the next day when you get to work and walk up 4 flights of stairs you will be unhappily happy that you worked your butt off!

I find the band clap push-ups to be pretty fun actually. I bet they wouldn’t be nearly as much fun without a band to ensure I don’t fall on my face. This is not one of those times where I recommend trying it at home.

You should. But I wouldn’t.

I also received this text message picture from my fellow half marathon trainee and friend Ashley! We have been trying to motivate each other but have failed terribly because both of our have been slacking. She stepped it up yesterday though when she sent this and assured me she would pass along the magazine for my reading pleasure.

Photo Aug 15, 11 23 40 AM

Then she even shared this quote with me which I absolutely loved.

“talking about a half-marathon is such a beautiful thing; why would anyone want to ruin it by actually doing on.”

Well said Ashley. Well typed actually since it was a text. Just the perfect amount of motivation and humor to make me giggle and want to stop the wiggle.

Yep just came up with this right in this moment. Solid effort.

So it is 1 month until the WEDDING DAY. Can you believe it? OMG wow. So I need to STEP UP MY GAME so I started thinking about what I wanted to improve and what I am really proud of because I think it is important to remember the things you are good at and the things you love about yourself MORE than the things you wish you could change.

“Love yourself first. Do your best always. Set realistic goals.”

Yep just made that up now too. I see a bumper sticker in my future.

So here is my things of things I am proud of and love about myself to get me going (fitness related for the purpose of this discussion but I also love that I am ridiculously good at writing blogs haha *insert sarcasm here*)…

  1. My legs have really taken shape. Yep, my thighs don’t touch anymore. A+
  2. My butt is small but I’m over it. Sometimes I tell Tim that I wish I had a “juicy” butt. That’s a healthy butt that has a wiggle you can be proud of. My butt isn’t “juicy” but I love juice and I have a butt so I’m calling this a win
  3. My stamina is improving… I notice this the most when I play soccer on Sundays. I used to be OUT OF BREATH LITERALLY DYING on the soccer field 99% of the time. Now I come off to sub to grab a drink of water but I’m not dying. Major improvement.
  4. My arms look better in pictures I think. I don’t know if this is because I FINALLY found the arm trick where you pop your arm out to the side so you don’t get a huge fat arm in pictures OR if they honestly just look more tone and fabulous. Who cares- they look better.

And here are the things that I will focus on improving..

  1. My commitment to running- not much else to say here… step up Jaci and put your “big girl panties on”
  2. My back- I just realized that in 30 days 100 some people will be staring at my back for an hour in a beautiful church. Might as well give them something to look at.
  3. Abs- bathing suit season is just around the corner… well for those of going on a honeymoon it is! This is 90% diet I know that. I’ll miss you fruit snacks.

But let’s be clear  here- I realize that target exercising is not the best way to achieve results. All over workouts are where it is at so I most certainly will continue on with my cross-training the way I have been. I think I’ll just start a push-up challenge for 30 days. One less push-up a day.

Who’s with me?!

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Filed Under: CrossFit-ing · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Apr 2, 2012

Birthday Celebrations and What Happened in March?!

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You Are Special Plate

As usual this was a very busy which we kicked off in the most appropriate way… another birthday celebration for me! Every year for birthdays Tim’s mom makes whatever the birthday person’s request is. Mine is always the same.

And I think it is her least favorite birthday to cook for!

Salad (with both green and black olives please), croissants, stuffed shells, and the spinach puff (remember the puff from Thanksgiving?). This year to make things even more complicated delicious I also requested peanut butter pie for dessert!

When I walked into the kitchen I arrived to see beautiful flowers sitting on the corner which I was told were for me! TWO SETS OF FLOWERS FOR MY BIRTHDAY! Gosh between Tim and his mom I was really starting to love being 26. It was like the beautiful flower birthday or something!

Then we sat down to dinner and as you can see I was not shy! When it’s your birthday you are supposed to be able to eat whatever you want right?!

And that is not a very good picture of it but if you look at the side of the plate it actually says “you are special today” which I think is just such a nice treat for a birthday dinner. I hope I can find another one of these plates when I start having kids because it really is a nice tradition to start. Kind of like the cupcake tradition my mom starts a few birthdays ago. Then after we were done eating I got to open my presents which was just a whole other world of wonderfulness! Gary got me a nice bottle of wine (which he instructed me NOT to share with my friends haha) and Robin got me this beautiful Northface backpack I have been wanting, this beautiful rose gold watch, and 3 new dresses… I mean seriously what a wonderful treat!

It was just a fabulous birthday filled with laughter and fun! We had a pretty intense came of Farkle (don’t worry I didn’t know what it was either), drank some wine, and just had a great time enjoying each other’s company. It was a really nice way to end my birthday week!!

 

A quick run because I wanted to

Saturday at 1pm I had a very special appointment… I was going to try on my very own wedding dress for the first time! It had come in on my birthday and I was really looking forward to putting that beautiful gown on! But before I left to do that I knew I wanted to get in a little run in the morning. Now, I was short on time so a mileage goal was just waste but I wanted to challenge myself so I opted for a time/mileage goal with a faster pace. It was a really great 3 mile run where all of my mile minutes were just about 10 min/mile. Which is a lot faster than my 11 min/mile. (when I look back it makes me laugh to think that I had to run a 8 min/mile to make the varsity soccer team). But in any case- goal achieved! It is still not as fast as the Susan G Komen race I did last fall where I came in under 29 minutes but I think I could rock a 5K in that same time but more easily now. You figure if you usually run a 10 min mile or so when you are racing you are going to run faster than you usually do. That’s just a matter of fact. All of that adrenaline and the camaraderie of the event can take you longer and/or faster than you have ever gone before.

Then later that date (after the big reveal of the dress with my mom and Kara) my mom and I just started talking about body image. We were just thinking about all of the women in our lives that we admire for their positive attitudes, their love of life, their drive to succeed, and all of the things that make them so special and so inspirational. But then we got to thinking that all of those women have self-esteem issues. Just as we do. We pondered on whether or not the women of the world will ever be able to look in the mirror and say I love EVERYTHING about myself. Not I love most things about myself but wish this was smaller, or these were bigger, or this was less flabby. But truly love everything about yourself. I know I’m not there yet but then my mom asked me what I am proud of.

Well I’m proud of my body all of the time, everyday actually. I’m proud that I can set running goals and my body can achieve those goals. While my big thighs can’t always fit in every pair of pants I’m glad they are big and strong enough to take me the places I want to go. While my eye droops a little in pictures sometimes I’m glad it is open and that I can see. While every time I turned around in my new wedding dress I thought I saw back fat, I’m glad that the person standing across from me on that alter doesn’t give a crap about the back fat that is probably not even there!

When I think about the things I am proud of, it actually helped remind me that those things are often times the things I critique myself about. The things I think make me less than perfect are actually those things that help me achieve my goals… like running. My butt is flat, my legs are big, my arms are strong, and all of those things help me run 2,3,5 miles ya know. Without a strong body I would not be able to go as far or as fast as the goals I have set for myself. So it really was an interesting thought process to go through.

I recommend you think about the thing that you don’t like about yourself when you look in the mirror and remind yourself of something that one thing does for you!

Need an example… that’s easy. Let’s say “you don’t like your nose” well I bet you love smelling flowers don’t you? or chocolate? Or fresh baked blueberry muffins? You don’t like your big or squinty eyes? Well I bet you love looking at that baby girl or boy you have in your life? and I bet you love looking at your significant other before you fall asleep at night? Think your voice is too low or too high? Well I bet you love to sing in the car or shower? I bet you are glad you can tell your mom and dad that you love them?

I say we all start thinking about all of the wonderful things our  body and mind can do for us instead of thinking of all the reasons we’re not happy with them!

 

Dana’s Birthday Recap

After my run, the wedding dress shopping trip, playing with mom, and a 20 minute nap, Tim and I headed out to Parma Heights to celebrate Dana’s birthday (which is on April 1st- which is funny because Dana is funny and it’s April Fools Day).

We spent most of the evening eat Hibachi which is always a delicious treats! I got the chicken and shrimp (so standard for me) and drank a Stella. I randomly have gotten into beer a little more lately but only light girly beers haha. I’m still very picky!

I’m not sure if the best part of dinner was the food and chef

Or if it was the ridiculous amount of sake flowing

but we really did have a great time! And Dana was kind enough to share his birthday celebrations with me so we both got a birthday dessert!! He’s just so good to me!

Then we headed to the bar for some after dinner drinks and more fun! Rich and Dana were BFF with the bartender so we got a few free drinks, sang loudly to the DJ’s tunes, and laughed a lot! It was a wonderful celebration that Kara put together for her hubby’s birthday!

There were MANY funny moments but Rich and I had a few good conversations I thought I should share…

  • Rich- “Jaci, why you are wearing a Blazer”
  • Me- “Because I like it”
  • Rich- “You look like you are in a J Crew magazine”
  • Me- “Why thank you”
  • Rich- “You look like you think you are better than everyone else in that blazer”
  • Me- “Not yet (put on glasses here), but now I do”

*Note here: Dana also told me I looked like I out of J Crew- mind you I only have 1 Crew item on people*

  • Rich- “Did you buy your shoes from a stripper”
  • Me- “No, I wore these when I was a stripper”

Kara and I exchanged a very funny moment about a to-go box but I tend to clean the blog clean so I better not repeat it! haha

 

March Recaps

March was a VERY busy month I feel like! Tons of accomplishments, fun things, and all of that jazz! Below are some highlighted post from this month in case you missed them!

  1. We talked about the pros and cons of going out to eat
  2. Engaged and Running was featured on the Operation Beautiful website
  3. We talked about my favorite CrossFit workouts and my favorite playlist music
  4. I hit a running milestone
  5. A had a terrible run but learned a lot from it
  6. Recipe Updates and Favorite Foods were explored
  7. Birthday Celebrations Began and a hit another running milestone
  8. We talked about shopping in the organic section at the grocery store
  9. My actual birthday was AMAZING
  10. We talked about why I love running (and why you should too!)
Filed Under: Good Eats and Treats, Primary Menu, Random Crap · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Feb 1, 2012

Worrisome Wednesday- Positive Self Esteem

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So Wednesdays are all about talking about the tough stuff for me. Like I mentioned before one of my favorite post had to do with body image and what girls don’t love about themselves but should! I got a lot of great feedback and I realized how much people love knowing that they aren’t alone. So on Wednesday, I will bare my soul to you! I will talk about things that bother me and things I deal with personally. If there is a topic you want to discuss let me know! Just e-mail me at engagedandrunning@gmail.com

So, I am finding out that the older I get (I know I know, I am not really that old) the more I struggle with having a positive self-esteem. I know that everyone struggles with it and I know this because there are people in my life (best friends and family) that I would say are so close to perfect it’s scary. I mean perfect in the sense that I think they look amazing AND they have wonderful personalities that they should be proud of. But if we are all honest with ourselves we know that we are our own worst critic. What I see on myself to be an imperfection may not exist to other people or heck it may even be one of their favorite things about me. So today I am not trying to solve anyone’s self-esteem issues because I am not so unrealistic to think that can be done in a blog post but I am here to say that YES I struggle too and YES it sucks some days but YES I am doing everything I can to teach myself to love myself for everything I am, not just the stuff I like best.

So because I am making a real effort to improve my own self-esteem I have been reading some articles on words to use when thinking about yourself, different things you can do to help you along the way, and just some general guidelines to living a lifestyle where you learn to accept everything about yourself. So today I thought I would share some of my favorite findings with you!

First thing I loved was using “I AM” statements- this is especially good for someone that responds well to verbal techniques. These statements are an affirmation that you should be proud of you who are and it helps you to remind yourself of the things you have succeeded at. Here are

“I AM” Statements

  • I am good person.
  • I am strong enough to understand and make allowances for other people’s weaknesses, and their behavior towards me. Other people’s behavior is about them, not me.
  • I am what I eat and drink, so I eat and drink good things.
  • I am what I watch and play and listen, so I watch and play and listen to good positive things.
  • I am a compassionate and loving, caring person.

Things I love about me alphabet

Another tactic I really enjoyed was to right down the alphabet and then using that letter come up with one thing you like about yourself- this is especially good for someone that is more of a learning by writing type person. For example maybe for A you put ass… maybe you just really love your ass (swearing is OK in this exercise). For B maybe you put bubbly personality… maybe you a person who prides yourself on being considered bubbly (this is a real example for me- I have been called bubbly by multiple people and I take it as an extreme compliment). C could be caring- maybe you considering yourself to be really carrying for other people, or animals, or maybe you really take good care of yourself. Remember that caring isn’t all about external… it is an internal thing too! So you get the picture… I recommend it and if you are willing to share, let me know what you come up with!

Things I love about me craft board

For those of you that are more visual I just loved the idea of creating a sort of craft board that illustrates things you love about yourself. These could be pictures of body parts from magazines, printed out phrases or words that describe who you are, or even pictures of your friends and family because after all they are part of who you are.  I have done this in a past as an inspirational type board where I would hang things I want to do, placed I want to go but I think using this as a visual representation of not who I think I should be or who I think I want to be but rather use it as a tool to be proud of who I am is a pretty great thing!

Thanks for reading and remember…

Below are some of the sources I used when I was doing the research on ways to boost self-esteem. A few items were copied pretty directly while others were considered and interpreted differently for my use!

Filed Under: Things that don't fit anywhere else · Tagged: , , , , , ,