I didn’t die on this run. That’s about all I can report.
Definitely looking forward to October and the relief from humidity.
How was your day? How do you deal with the humidity?
Cheers!
Michelle
Tag: running
Labor Day laboring.
We got rained out today and I was initially pretty bummed to spend a day inside. But when my youngest daughter came home from the mall with a gift for me, I was instantly cheered up.
Once our groceries were delivered via Shipt, I dove in for meal prep and dinner prep. I chopped a bunch of veggies, made some baked chicken and made turkey burgers for dinner. I also made egg, spinach and mushroom “muffins” for quick easy meals this week.
Here’s to week three of our Keto diet! I am shooting for another good eating week and 3 runs this week, weather permitting. I was so pleased I had two good runs last week and a 6 1/2 mile walk at Epcot over the weekend.
What are your week goals? Do anything fun for Labor Day?
Cheers!
Michelle
Goals and self resetting
So I am realizing blogging on a regular basis without a laptop/computer is tough. That coupled with a few hiccups in life have led me to a lack of posting since January. WHA?! Yikes, I sure fell off the writing wagon, and quick.
With that, I’ll say I really want to start making more time for doing the things I love. Writing, cooking, running, and creating things in general. The book I am listening to, during my commute said that we need to write our goals down to help make them real. So there it is, in writing.
Ive committed to losing my post turning 45 weight (ok, it started at the age of 40 but who’s counting…) and am down 6-7 lbs give or take. While that doesn’t sound like a lot, I can feel a difference in inches which makes me happy. How am I doing it? A combo of intermittent fasting (fasting 18 hours with a 6 hour eating window), carb cycling, running/exercising 3 times per week has seemed to finally done the trick. While my weight loss has plateaued, my body fat and inches are steadily decreasing. #winning
We’re six months into our new Florida life, and I figure since I am making some big life changes, I might as well work on myself, too.
How do you balance your “things you love” and things you are required to do, you know…job, house, kids, hubby etc.?
Cheers!
Michelle
2018 goals
It’s been a while since I’ve posted. We’ve been so busy getting acclimated to our new home and I’ve got so much to learn at my new job. I no longer have a computer, either, so posting from my iPad mini can be a challenge.
That being said, I really want to commit to some solid goals this year. Here’s my list, in no particular order:
1. Start writing again…maybe even start the book I’ve been talking about for years. 3 days a week I want to commit to at least 30 minutes of writing, but hopefully more often than that. I also want to post 2x per week on the blog.
2. Run at least 3 races, but more would be great. No time goals, just more running. Lift weights 3x per week.
3. Lose 10 lbs and keep it off. Menopause has reared her ugly head, and my body isn’t responding well at all. Once we get settled I plan on seeking healthcare, but for now its eat less and move more…
4. Get back in the kitchen. Once each week work to create and/or learn a new recipe or technique.
5. Continue to explore Florida and all the beautiful things it has to offer. So far we’ve visited Disney and Epcot several times, attended the food and wine festival, been to Siesta Key beach, St. Pete beach, Clearwater, Tarpon Springs and Anna Maria Island. Anna Maria is by far our favorite but for a quick trip to a more local beach we’ve been going to Pass-a-Grille beach in St. Petersburg. Here’s a few pics from the past year!!
Highlights from 2017 are:
1. Hubby returning from deployment
2. Disney world family vacation
3. Getting a job at the VA in FLORIDA
4. Moving to Florida (obv!!!)
5. Exploring Florida with my family…
6. Being able to go to Florida in December-sure don’t miss the snow!!
How was your 2017? Have you set goals for 2018?
I hope you all had a great year, and are enjoying the holiday season!!
Cheers!!
Michelle
November 1st! Winter goals!
Winter months have always been tough on me, and with the days getting even shorter this weekend I am soaking up every ray of sunshine I can get. Today it’s 75 degrees out and It’s November 1st, so I will be outside planting some lilies a coworker gave me, and hope to get a couple miles in with my mini before dark.
Because winter months have been hard for me, I thought I’d make a list of some “winter goals,” so here they are in no particular order:
- Take one day at a time. The holidays are going to be hard without my husband, but we WILL get through it.
- Drink all things peppermint. Because isn’t that one of the best things about winter?
- Wear all the boots. I love boots, leggings/tights with cute tops or dresses.
- Continue to run at least 2 days per week on the treadmill and TRY to get outside weather permitting for 1 day.
- Yoga, at least once per week…I suck at sticking to this goal so I’ll keep putting it out there to keep me accountable.
- Continue to strength train, and ramp up the weight workouts. I love muscles LOL.
- Watch my diet and caloric intake. We are having a “Biggest loser” challenge at work for the next six weeks and I’d LOVE to lose a few more lbs before my hubby gets home next year.
- Track my food on MyFitnesspal. EVERY day…not just when it’s convenient. Follow my progress if you use MFP, I am chelled73.
- Cook more food…I’ve been taking the easy way out for a while, so last week I made this yummy beef stew in my crock pot. 2 cups of red wine, 4 cups of water, 2 lbs. of cubed sirloin steak, 2 sweet potatoes cubed, one onion sliced, 2 carrots cut into ¼ inch disks, 3 cloves of garlic minced, dash of Worcestershire sauce, 1 packet of onion soup mix, salt, pepper and a bay leave—throw it in your crock pot on high for 4 hours. I DID season the steak with salt and pepper generously and set aside while I was chopping the vegetables.
- Call/text my parents more. At least twice a week…I miss them very much and we only see each other 2-3 times per year so I need to be better about communicating with them.
- Celebrate the good things, every, darn day…be it a good conversation with my teen, or a load of laundry I actually PUT AWAY right away after folding…#celebratethegood
- Continue to work towards my goals of moving back south (we moved to the Chicagoland area after I retired from the Air Force in 2011, we previously lived in Texas), and with that, LOOKIE LOOKIE what came in the mail last night?
- And ultimately, keep movin’ forward…because isn’t that what life is all about?!
How do you keep busy during winter months? What’s your favorite thing about winter minus the holidays themselves? Tell me something good!
Cheers!
Michelle
Sycamore pumpkin 10k recap and weekly wrap up! 10/24-10/30
I am happy to report that last week I ran THREE times, did yoga once (hey, that’s a lot for this non-yogi) and did weights twice. Here’s a couple of my workouts:
We watched the Cubs take the pennant and have watched all the games since…and yes, I am very tired from staying up even later than I normally do, LOL!
My mini was sick with a low grade fever so we hunkered down and rested this weekend so she’d be better for Trick or Treating tonight. #priorities We did manage to carve pumpkins, which is SOOOOO not my thing (I am not a fan of Halloween in general, I know, bah humbug) but I put on my happy face for my youngest. My oldest had no desire to carve pumpkins with us this year…her friends are more fun, ya know? The best part is that my hubby Facetimed us while we were carving pumpkins and having not been able to talk to him since the end of September, this MADE OUR NIGHT!!!!
I also ran my very first 10k (yes, I know I’ve ran 3 full marathons and I’ve lost count of half marathons) on Sunday and it felt great to be racing again (even though my pace wasn’t really fast, it was fast for me not running for several months and just starting back a couple weeks ago). The race was the Sycamore 10k pumpkin run and many people were dressed up in costume. They had same day packet pick up, and a nice area for us to hang out inside while we waiting for the race to start. The race went pretty well, despite some CRAZY winds the last 4 miles. The first 2 miles were glorious as we ran through wooded neighborhoods. The Fall colors were brilliant! I was afraid if I stopped to take a picture I wouldn’t be able to stop again though, so I have only my memories to share with you, LOL. But as we hit mile three and turned left to make the first turn of the loop, the wind literally smacked me in the face and I got a little nervous. Would I be able to finish this race with this wind? Ack…I kept positive though, thinking as soon as we turned the wind would ease up…I was wrong, it just blew you sideways, LOL…So I stopped to walk the 4 mile water stop, and walked for a good minute to catch my breath. I really wanted to finish the race strong. So I slowed my pace, and just settled in. I saw my friend Mark at the 5ish mile marker, and he ran me in the last mile or so giving me encouragement and cheering me on. It was just what I needed! I finished in just over an hour (1:03) and for not having trained really (2 weeks of running) I was quite pleased.
Overall it was a pretty good week which will hopefully carry over in to my 6 day work week this week.
How was your week? Any races to report? Do you like carving pumpkins/Halloween festivities?
Linking up with Holly at https://hohoruns.blogspot.com and Tricia at http://www.misssippipiddlin.com for the weekly wrap!
Cheers!
Michelle
Bite the bullet
Last night I went to dinner with my running friends to celebrate my friend Christine’s birthday. I hadn’t seen most of these friends since before my husband left back on my birthday. In January. Sigh.
When you’re not running, training and/or racing it’s hard to keep in touch. Of course I’m thankful for social media and texting etc. but it’s not the same as physical interaction. So to sit with these awesome people for two hours made my day. It also made the fire for running burn again in my belly. They are all doing a 10k next weekend and encouraged me to sign up.
And you know what? I couldn’t sign up fast enough. I’ve not run a single race this year. And that sucks. Of course my priorities are elsewhere right now. But I need to make time for me too before I internally combust.
So first thing this morning I signed up.
Yay!! This fueled me to run tonight. I ran FOUR miles after work today with my mini. She scootered along with me!!
We finished the day with a yummy salad. And what makes this even better is that it was my mini’s idea. Kale, romaine hearts, red onions and grilled steak topped with blue cheese crumbles and a little oil and vinegar.
How was your day? Ever bite the bullet and sign up for a last minute race?
Cheers!!
Michelle
Weekly Wrap 10/10-10/16
Last week was a busy week but a good week overall. Today I am linking with Holly from hohoruns.blogspot.com and Tricia from misssippipiddlin.com for the weekly wrap up. I love this linkup, and the wonderful women behind it. Even if I don’t have much to report, I love visiting their linkup. Please check it out if you can.
I am proud to say I am still planking every day since my husband arrived in country. Tomorrow marks the 32nd week since he’s been gone, and I’ve planked daily since May 1st which is when he arrived in country. I also made myself run last week, TWICE. YAY. While I still struggle with just a couple miles, I am happy to at least be doing more exercise. My mental health has really been tested these last 7-8 months, and I just need to find time for me.
Here are the highlights from my week:
I finished staining my deck on Monday. It doesn’t look perfect, but with the harsh winter we’re due to have it’s at least protected.
Tuesday I celebrated my 2 year anniversary of trying out for MasterChef. One of my proudest memories.
Wednesday we had some crazy storms but I caught this beautiful double rainbow from our administrative office window.
Thursday we were feeling pretty stressed. This pic of my daughter says it all:
Friday night I babysat my neighbor’s 3 month old baby boy. Let me just tell you what an honor it was to give back to a family that has done so much for us while my husband has been deployed. They’ve plowed my driveway last winter and mowed my 1.5 acre lot the entire time he’s been gone and at NO charge. Like, who does that?!?! These people…so when she asked if I could babysit I jumped at the chance. This family not only said they’d be there for us over this last year, but they’ve shown it and it made my heart happy to snuggle with this little cutie for a few hours to show my appreciation so they could get out and have some adult time.
Saturday I was invited to a corn maze (Richardson’s corn maze) up in northern IL by my neighbor’s friends. What a blast. We all brought food and cooked over a campfire, and then headed in to the maze. It was dark…and I had a couple glasses of wine, but man was it fun!! The kids had a blast too.
Sunday was my lazy day where I catch up on laundry, do some cooking for the week but mainly just relax. I had missed my goal of running 3 times last week (to be fair I made that goal mid-week, LOL) so last night I threw dinner in the oven and hopped on the treadmill for a couple miles. #winning
What were the highlights of your week? Do you have any good casserole or cook ahead for the week type recipes you’d like to share? How many times per week do you try to exercise?
Have a great week, y’all!
Cheers,
Michelle
Going on 6 months…
Well gang, we are just about at the half way point of my husband’s deployment. Sadly, keeping up with a career, a home, 2 kids, a dog, and everything in between has left little time for blogging. But, I’m still here!!! If you’ve been reading here lately, I’ve discussed that I am keeping the faith for a career change in the future and that hasn’t changed. Nothing has transpired as of yet, but the magnetic pull I feel every single day that there IS something more is so strong I find it’s tangible.
I HAVE started running a little again, just a couple 2 milers last week, but it’s something. I’ve also started cooking again, which makes my heart just happy. Moving forward I am going to try a new recipe that will challenge my skills-every week-and I’ll highlight what I made for you as well as critique how the dish turned out. I’m a huge collector of cookbooks and cooking magazines, so it’ll be fun to try out some new recipes! I figure it’s a good challenge for me, and it will keep me accountable here in blog land. More to follow on that…
With that, I think I’ll just give you a snap shot of my week in pictures which include my beautiful daughters, (S is starting 5th grade and had band camp last week, and J is going to be a JUNIOR…sigh) some of the dishes I cooked, and a couple of my work outs.
LOVE these two!
Cheese and Charcuterie from Hache’
Scallops from Hache’
Band camp!! Love this smile!
My mini and me, planking!
More workouts! I ran twice!
My sous Chef
She was quite proud of her plating!
My bacon wrapped turkey breast over sweet potato puree
I am linking up with Holly @https://hohoruns.blogspot.com and Tricia @http://www.misssippipiddlin.com (Will WordPress EVER let us link anymore?) for the weekly wrap. Please make sure to check them out! ❤
How was your week? What is the longest distance you’ve ever been on your own with your kids (if you have them, dogs/cats count too!)? Have you been cooking anything interesting lately?
Hope you are all doing well! Cheers!
Michelle
Weekly wrap-July 4-10
Last week was pretty uneventful to be honest. We had a blast on 4th of July, I’ve started cooking again, and I am holding strong on my planking every day for the remainder of my hubby’s deployment. I was in a funk last week, and decided I need to try and figure out a way to get outside and run. The treadmill and basement workouts are a great alternative, I simply NEED to run. So my youngest will either accompany me on her scooter/bike (we need to get her a new one as she’s grown SOOOO much), or I’ll work around my oldest daughter’s social schedule, which can be challenging, LOL!
Here is my week in review in pictures. I’d have to say the highlight of my week was having my coworkers over for the Outlander season finale. I forgot how much I love entertaining, and of course I went way overboard with food and wine, LOL! The lowlight of my week was my youngest getting sick yesterday. We think it was something she ate at a birthday party Saturday, because within 24 hours she was feeling better. Goals for this upcoming week are to workout more consistently, and stay on track with my eats.
I’m wrapping up with Holly @https://hohoruns.blogspot.com/and Tricia http://www.misssippipiddlin.com/ for the weekly wrap! Please make sure to check them out!!! (Sorry, I can’t seem to put links in anymore)
How was your week? What are you goals for the upcoming week! Do you like to plank?
Cheers!
Michelle
Movin' it with Michelle 