Thanks Mid-Back Pain...

It's the perfect weather outside right now to go on a run!



But I'm hesitant, thanks to this horrible mid-back pain...

It started about a month ago when I was at Universal. I'm not sure what I did to aggravate it but the pain was there. After a few days, it slowly went away and hasn't been back...until two days ago...

I think it was the series of occurrences that re-aggravated it. On Wednesday, I ran and used the row-machine at the gym and that machine is killer on the back. Usually I would mean killer in a good way because I love rowing but in this case, I think it was bad. Then the next day, I decided to play interior decorator and helped Abby rearrange her office (i.e. move around HEAVY office furniture).

So my dilemma is: do I run through the pain? Maybe I should just stick to doing some yoga today?

The Biggest Loser, Not Just a TV Show!

I don't know about anyone else, but in order for me to make healthy eating and exercising an actual habit, I need some kind of incentive. Of course, it is great that I will be healthier and maybe even lose a few pounds but I need a little extra push. Up until this semester, my "little extra push" was that I had a great workout partner, Ingrid. If it wasn't for her making sure we were training and working out, I'm sure I wouldn't have been as consistent and I definitely wouldn't have run my second half marathon.

This leads me to my point: it is always easier to do something when you have a support group helping and encouraging you.

At the end of last semester, my boss was announcing that his New Year's Resolution would be to lose weight. And as bets started to be made about whether or not he could do it, an idea came to me. Let's have our own "The Biggest Loser"! From there, everyone agreed, we set the rules and the starting date.

Here are our rules:

Initial Weigh-In: January 3, 2011
Final Weigh-In: May 9, 2011

1. There is a one-time entry fee of $25 due on January 3rd at the initial weigh-in.
2. Heidi will serve as the competition referee, meaning she will administer the weigh-ins.
3. Weigh-ins will happen every Monday at the start of the work day.
4. If, for whatever reason, you must leave the competition, your $25 will stay in the pot.
5. At the final weigh-in, whoever has the largest percentage of weigh lost will win the entire pot ($100).
6. The usage of weight loss products is not allowed.
7. Eat healthy and exercise!
8. Have fun and encourage each other!

I created a poster to hang in our office (pardon the bad quality of the picture):



So far we've had two weigh-ins. I'm really sad to report that even with the work I put into improving my eating habits, I gained a pound between the first and second weigh-in. To be honest, it was like a slap in the face to see that one pound weight gain. I thought: Why should I even try? I'm doing the right thing and I gained weight! I didn't expect to lose a ton but maybe a pound or two would have been nice. Either way, after going through the initial emotions of gaining that pound, I know it's only week one and it's just more motivation to continue figuring out what works for me. I'll keep you updated on my progress and I encourage you to start a "Biggest Loser" in your office, with your friends, or with your family!!**

**If you would like a spreadsheet that easily calculates the percentage weight loss, email me and I would love to share it with you!**

Crock Pot = Not A Success (yet)

When I got a crock pot for Christmas, I was so excited because all I had ever heard about them were that they were so easy and everything comes out great! So I was really looking forward to Sunday because I made plans to use it for the first time. I found a recipe in the book that was given with the crock pot for pot roast. It looked fairly simple so I decided to give it a try. The recipe called for me to put all the extras (sweet potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, and mushrooms) in first and then place the seasoned meat on top. Then the beef broth was poured in afterwards. So it looked a little something like this:



My first instinct was to think that something was off and the meat should be in the beef broth to soak in all the moisture and flavor. But because I'm a rule follower, I went with what the recipe said and turned it on for slow cooking for 10 hours. I went to work and when I got home my apartment smelled wonderful. The meal looked like this:



I was still skeptical because I don't have the greatest confidence in my cooking abilities but I was hopeful. When it came time to eat, I cut pieces of the meat for Nelson and I and put some of the extras on our plates with the meat.

Final Result: The meat was dry and not very flavorful. But the extras were good! Probably because they were cooking in the broth all day...lesson learned.

But I'm not discouraged. I'm thinking it may take a couple tries before I get it right. I'm open to any recipes you all use!

Nothing Like A Beautiful Day

The weather today was perfect! So lucky for me, I got to spend the whole day outside. The entire staff went to Canterbury Retreat Center to play games, do team builders, and participate in the high ropes course. I won't even go into how I felt about my eating habits today - sometimes you have to just go with what is provided. However, I still think there was some serious calorie-burning that balanced everything out. What was great was that, I didn't even feel like I was working out - which to me is the best kind of work out.



Don't Kristen and I look super stylish in our harnesses?

Hopefully tomorrow will begin my regular working out. I will be starting Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred and Monday I will begin training for my first race of the year!

Resolutions

January is the month where everyone seems to be asking, "What is your New Year's resolution?"

According to Yahoo News, here are the top ten resolutions for 2011:

1. Lose weight
2. Be happy
3. Save money
4. Fall in love
5. Get a job
6. Read more
7. Eat, drink, try or learn something new
8. Quit smoking
9. Take a photo every day for a year
10. Run a marathon

Perhaps I will share all of my yearly goals in a later post, but one of them is to eat healthier and make a habit of working out.

So check back as I share more about my journey to eating healthier and making a habit of working out!