Why I Have To Stay Strict

Sometimes people judge me.

Well unfortunately every one gets judged at some point or another. But living healthy in a sometimes unhealthy world can be tough. I am the girl who carries a lunch bag to pretty much every where. I love my big salad for lunch, fruits and veggies for snacks, and protein. That is it. Pretty simple and I get weird looks sometimes but oh well.

But the problem I face lately is well it is the holiday season! It seems everyone wants me to have something bad like a piece of candy, cupcake etc There really is just a lot of junk out there. And then when you go visit people it is the same problem. Well I turn them down for several reasons.

One, I have celiac disease and a dairy intolerance. Both of which leave me terribly sick when I eat it. I get tired sometimes of being questioned about it so I just say no thank you to the cookies laced with wheat flour. But every once in awhile that no thank you is not good enough and I get the well why don't you want one. I'm allergic, then comes wow that stinks don't you miss bread? Most times I smile and say oh yes its tough. Because usually it is enough to quiet people. In my mind I'm like geez rub it in why don't ya?

Two, I'm an addict. This is where my issues really lay. I was addicted to cigarettes for 5 years I quit but only successfully when I went cold turkey. I became addicted to sugar sometime in my teens and my body began packing on the pounds. For me sugar is comfort. It is a cozy warm place that makes me feel at peace. I know it sounds crazy!

When I'm stressed I crave sugar. After a meal I want sugar. At night I want it. If I could live off of chocolate and sugar oh I  would I promise you. The reality is obviously I cannot. Well I cannot healthfully do so anyways. I have to quit sugar. And I have done it pretty successfully this year. I went back on some post marathon and obviously you know what happened...

So now when I turn it down and get the eye rolls it bugs me. I am tired of the oh my gosh do you ever cheat from that diet you do? Don't you miss it?

I want to smack them sometimes lol but now that would simply be uncivilized. I want to ask if they would offer an alcoholic a drink and ask them if they miss it? If they would offer and encourage me to cheat from my diet of quitting smoking once in awhile to... I'm not kidding this runs through my mind. I know it sounds extreme but then again isn't being morbidly obese unhealthy too? For me the taste of something sugary makes me want more and more. I cannot just have a bite of candy and walk away.

Maybe one day I will be able to but for now I just can't. There are other unhealthy foods I can taste and not crave more of, like french fries or chips things like this do not send me into that craving more mode like sugar. So I do what any recovering addict does and stay away from the sugar beast completely.

I obviously keep these thoughts in my head and smile and politely say no I do not miss it and proceed to quickly change the subject. But man if they only knew what swirls through my mind ;)

Week 2 Check In! Back to Basics

This is the second week of the Back 2 Basics Challenge!

This was a hard week.

There has been some stuff going on in my personal life that is causing some stress, and combined with stress of being a retail manager during out busiest month of the year, needless to say I have wanted to binge on more than 1 occassion. Because we all know chocolate can solve problems right?

Wrong.

And if I try to let it I know the scale will not lie.... And honestly, this week knowing I would have to face the scale again on Wednesday is the one and only thing that kept me from touching anything sweet. I amazed myself. I reached for a piece of dark chocolate on more than 1 occasion, I hesitated every time and pulled out my Weight Watchers weight tracker. I saw an ugly number, 162 and remembered the pretty number 152 I had celebrated earlier this year. I realized I was not hungry for the chocolate but rather for that 152 more so.

This was a big step for me. I really had to work so very hard to say no to food this week, no to eating soemthing mindlessly because I was upset. No to trying to run a bunch of miles so I would not feel guilty about a binge. No to the whole entire thing.

I ate normally. I weighed my chicken and turkey, I packed healthy snacks all day. I exercised normally, I tracked every single thing I ate, and I tracked my activity. And at my weigh in on Wednesday at Weight Watchers, I got results! Down 2.2 more pounds!!! So now I see 160.8 :)

I cannot wait to be back in the 150s, it will really be a relief!

I am so glad I started going back to meetings too. In our meeting this week we talked about the Biggest Loser and how it is inspiring to see other people succeed. Our WW leader actually asked me about my journey and says she wants to help me submit my story to Weight Watchers as a success story so that was exciting. I like talking about my weight loss and helping people understand that it is obtainable for themselves too. Honestly that gives me such joy, helping get someone else going on their on journey, to me is a blessing. 

This week my focus will remain the same. I am sticking to the basic healthy habits I worked to hard to learn these past 18 months. I know the holiday stress will still remain there but I plan to try and focus on the positive things. I do have a little girl who seems to like celebrating and Christmas lights ;)

Key words here being try. I am glad that there are only 10 days until Christmas and then the year is just about over!

I cannot wait to see what awesomeness will come my way in 2012!

How did you do on the challenge this week? Where did you struggle? How did you over come it?

Wordless Wednesday

I see so many bloggers doing this, and I usually do not simply because I just never started. But I came home Tuesday night to a small present, a gesture really that made me smile and left me wordless:

Christmas Help!

I am posting this to try and help a great cause. Please if anyone can retweet, repost, and help spread the word I would really appreciate it.  And I happen to know a drug store in everyone's neighborhood is having an awesome sale on toys this week! ;) 2 for $6.99!!! SO head to your local Walgreens and maybe pick up 2 toys and drop them off to a drop off location by Friday! These kids would really appreciate it!



My name is Stephanie and I blog at Run for Fun.   Colleen has been nice enough to let me reach out to you on her blog and I really appreciate it because I have a very important cause to talk about.

I am not one to solicit or try and take up the blog world annoying people.  We all have our own charities during the holidays and our own lists of presents right now.  But if you have a moment, I could really use your help.

I am reaching out to you all because I volunteer with an organization that works miracles.  This organization, called Christmas in the City, is a nonprofit that provides thousands of children who fight poverty and domestic violence with the Christmas experience.  For one day, these kids shine and understand the miracles of Christmas.  They make memories. At the end of the day, each child receives a personalized gift from their very own wish list right off of Santa’s sleigh. 

This year, due to a technical glitch, we are SHORT on presents, VERY SHORT, which means we have less than a week to collect thousands of presents for 8,000 children.  Without your help, we will not have enough gifts come the big day!


Ok, so hopefully you are still with me and I can tell you a little bit more about Christmas in the City. 

In 2010, more than 3,000 people attended CITC.  The children entered the event on red carpets into a large room decorated for Christmas.  Snow filled the air as volunteers,  cartoon characters, and a choir singing Christmas carols  welcomed the children.  The day was a dream come true.  It included a 7-course meal, kid friendly exhibits (e.g., a petting zoo and the Children’s Museum)and a Winter Wonderland – an area full of carnival rides, games, food and performances by dance troops and performers.  The day concluded with Santa bringing each child a personalized present off their very own Wish List as well as a gift bag with age appropriate presents such as stuffed animals, hats, gloves, and t-shirts.  The mothers also received a gift bag with gift cards, books and more! For those children who could not attend, CITC still provided them with a personalized gift, giving out an additional 3,000 presents in the last year alone! 

I can describe it but you really need to see it – check out this ABC video to really see the magic - http://christmasinthecity.org/story/#!prettyPhoto/0/  (I am serious this video makes me cry every time).


So where are we?  We are days away from Christmas in the City and we are at a real push time.  Every year it is a struggle to get present but this year we have more children than ever!!! We are looking to provide presents to 8,000 children and their mothers.  Usually at this point in the year we are well on our way to making that happy.

Unfortunately, there was a computer glitch and the presents that usually appear have not come!!  Here is where you come in!  It does not matter where you are you can help!! And we really, really need your help. 

You can donate to Christmas in the City by going to http://christmasinthecity.org/donate/.   

You can also Tweet, Facebook, and blog about it to get others involved.  Feel free to shamelessly link or take this post.  Also you can use the following:

http://www.Christmasinthecity.tumblr.com

https://twitter.com/#!/CITCBoston

http://www.facebook.com/#!/citcboston

@CITCBoston is in trouble! We are days away from the party without enough presents for our 8,000 kids! Please help us! christmasinthecity.org

Email me: 26.2runforfun@gmail.cm

Last year, CITC was saved through the power of social networking.  I know bloggers and readers can do it again and show them what we are made of. 

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LISTENING. I APPRECIATE IT MORE THAN YOU ALL KNOW J

Walter's Run 5K Recap

Well we wanted to end the year with a fun holiday run and we chose the Walter's Run 5K to do just that!

Honestly it was a crazy week work and family wise and Sunday morning I was up early and trucking off with peanut to a christmas party. I almost skipped this race because she was having fun at the party and everything. But my sister was kind enough to stay there with her and watch her while I went to race. Which brought a huge amount of mom guilt and I kind of carried it around all day. But that is a post for another day ;)

I decided I would get a lil festive and just have some fun! With my trusty Zensah calf sleeves hidden under my christmas socks I was ready to go!

I believe if you cannot have fun while racing then it is a waste of time ;)

It was pretty cold out there but I was not cold once we started moving! I lined up towards the front with my friend Lauren and her husband Matty, they came out to race too. Its so much fun being there with friends I must admit I am always happy to have someone to chat with while waiting for the horn to go off!

There was a Santa Claus directing us and once he blew the horn away we went. This race was in West Roxbury, and for anyone that knows that area it was pretty hilly! We got to running and I felt great, until I hit a half mile in and BAM a big hill. I watched my 6:10 on my garmin go to a 7 very quickly ;) I mainted my 6:50s for the first mile and then something else went wrong. My lungs. I had asthma as a kid and you always think you grow out of these things... Well yesterday I felt like I could not breathe. There was a moment when I thought I would have to stop and walk it was so bad. But somehow I kept going.

I guess running distance has taught me something, I can sike myself into finishing a 5K because it is short compared to my longer runs. I kept trying to focus on my breathing and just hurrying to finish so I could relax. At mile 2 when the hills hit again I knew I would not get a shiny new PR and got a little bummed out. When you become competitive with yourself you tend to race every race looking for a new PR. You always want to be doing better than you did last time. But today with everything combined I just could not do it.

I came in and saw 21 something on the clock and was ok. My garmin said 21:56 and the race says 21:59. I am ok with it for now ;) I placed 5th in my age group which is not so bad, though it was a small race ;) My 5K PR is 21:10 so I was not too far off but I would have liked to hit sub 21 I guess that will have wait for 2012!

I was happy to greet all of my friends as they came in. Lauren got a new PR of 23 something!!! She has had a great year good job Lauren!

We got to meet the inspiring Aja who got herself a shiny new PR!!!

Damian and Nicole did great as well!!!! I was proud of Nicole for tackling the tough hills and not panicking ;) Of course the Runkateers were happy to pose for a picture with the New Balance sneaker ;)

All in all we may not have been in a good mood but a fun race can always cheer us up! I have had a great year and been very lucky to make so many wonderful running buddies! I cannot wait to see what 2012 has in store for all of us :)