{Clean Eating & Bunny Bolt 5k}

Yesterday, I was very productive and made 2 meals ahead for this week (and possibly the rest of my life).
Seriously, for only feeding one person, this stuff will last me forever.

I made a healthy version of Fettuccine Alfredo and a mis-mash spaghetti squash meal.

The spaghetti squash alfredo is delicious!

I've made homemade Alfredo before and there's only one recipe I really cared for, but this one is easily beating the other in yummy goodness.  Creamy, garlic-y, amazing. The spaghetti squash worked really well with it also.

Spaghetti Squash with Chicken & sun-dried tomatoes was absolutely probably one of the best meals I've ever made. I can even say I liked it better than the Alfredo dish above.

I've never eaten a dish with sun-dried tomatoes in it (at least, I don't think so anyway) and they really enhanced this dish.  I thought it would be bland and boring. It was anything but.

Try it. I dare you. 

haha

So, all this food prep gives me lots of food. Like 10 days worth of food.

It's insane and awesome.

Later today, I'm also going to make a quick avocado chicken salad.

You know, just to have something to mix it up a little bit.

So, today is the 3rd race to my goal of One 5k Race A Month for 12 Months goal.

It's the Bunny Bolt.

Today was a fantastic run! 

Well, other than the fact that I got there 10 minutes late.

Yeah...

I don't even know what happened. 

I looked at the clock and it said 9:24. 

I should have left then but I did not.

The next time I looked at the clock it was 9:35 and I said oh shit and ran to my car.

The race began at 10 and was 35 minutes away.

So, I get there and park and, by the time I begin running, the race had been going on for 10 minutes.

I kind of knew where the start line was from running my first race here, so I just started there.

I probably was the last runner for the 5k.

My official time for the race is 45:06.

I ran the "Map My Run" app while I ran to see what my time would be according to it since I knew it was going to be off from the official time.

I also was just shy of 3.1 miles.

I'll let the picture speak for itself...

Say What?! Right at 3 miles in, we'll just say 35 minutes!

And a pace of 12:01?!

Talk about extremely happy.

That's a PR for the win.

It probably was because I had to pee so badly.

I did stop at mile 1.7.

At a porta potty.

Gross.

Yes, that definitely happened.

So, what's a girl who just ran a 5k do?

You go to the gym and do the lower body workout you missed yesterday.

 And really, I didn't miss my workout yesterday.
I went there.
I got on the elliptical for my 10 minute warm-up.
I finished the warm-up.
I left the gym

I absolutely did not feel like being there.
I wasn't feeling well or like myself at all.

So, I came home and then made those two meals listed above.
Good deal.

{If you fail to prepare...}

Tonight, I'm going to Old Chicago's for dinner with a group of co-workers.

I never would have planned my meal prior to going. 

I know, however, that Old Chicago is loaded in fat and all that stuff I've been trying to avoid.

So... I went to their website and picked out my meal ahead of time.

I already know I'm going to get the Spinach, Chicken, & Avocado salad.

It's the most nutritious meal I found I would enjoy.

No beer. No alcohol.

I've done well in avoiding it.

I'll do well in avoiding it tonight.

Ugh. Ok, well maybe just one.

The workout tonight is upper body and 20 minutes of cardio.

I am extremely tired from working last night and not sleeping well once I got home.

I plan on killing it at the gym anyway.

Movie after dinner? 

I think they're going to see the new GI Joe movie.

Eh. I haven't even seen the first one. haha

It depends on how I sleepy I am.

I'm older now, what can I say.

Wish me luck. ;)

{Who does 2 a day full-body workouts and then runs the next day?}

Apparently, this girl.

Sunday, I barely made it to the BodyPump class. 

Barely.

When I got there I was #8 (and the last one) on the wait list.

I wrote about this workout here though.

Later that night, I found a full-body workout on Pinterest.

{Feel free to Follow Me on the good ole Pinterest.}

So, I headed to my work gym since it was Prison Yard time (you know, the time where everyone and there mother is at the gym) at all my favorite gyms.

I only did this workout once instead of the suggested twice.

After just one round, my entire body was shaking and I'd reached muscle failure.

I did find out I'd reached muscle failure when I attempted to do it twice.

Yesterday, was C25K day. However, because of the ridiculous amounts of snow dumped on us this past Saturday and a little on Sunday, none of my trails outside were clear.

Dreadmill it is then.

Instead of following C25K on the dreadmill, because it sucks balls, I decided to just run it out.

I ran at a 12:00 pace for 20 minutes straight. 

After that, my head got the better of me and I decreased it to 4.3 (I didn't even look to see what that pace is, just know this: slow). I even walked for a minute. I finished slow, but only walked a minute.

I'm okay with that. My body hurt from the day before.

You can't really tell from the picture but my face was extremely red after this run.
It also seemed fitting that the first song Pandora played from the "Hard Rock Strength Training" station was Another Way to Die

I also went back to work last night after being off on vacation for 7 full days.

I sit at a desk for 12 hours. 

I can't get away for long.

Quick breaks here and there.

Do you know what sitting for 12 hours does to your body after working out like that 2 days in a row?

It hurts.

I was in so much pain last night.

Like I knew I needed to stretch but that stretching would hurt also.

It was a good pain though.

A pain I'm proud of.

Today, I decided to make my "off" day.

I'll hit it back up Wednesday night at our work gym with a co-worker for Upper body & Cardio.

Saturday is the 3rd 5k race of my goal {One 5k Race A Month for 12 Months}

It's the Bunny Bolt.

I'm pretty excited.

It's been forever since my last 5k race!

I'm also craving Reese's Cups!! o_O

Thank you, monthly friend.

It makes me happy to know you remind me each month that you are indeed there for me.

{You fall and you get up...}

"You fall, you get up. You fall, you get up. You fall, you get up. The point is you keep getting up." 

- Jillian Michaels

Seriously, was The Biggest Loser not spot on for ALL of us trying to lose weight? Whether it's one pound or 100 pounds. We all go through the same emotional process.

I almost did not go to the gym today. I worked nights these last two nights and today is my first day off. It's always extremely hard to get in the gym on days like today. You work 12 hours, from 5pm-5am. You get to sleep by 6am, at the latest. You wake-up the first time at 10am. Fall back asleep. Wake-up at 1pm. You feel like ass. The last thing you want to do is leave your bed, much less go to the gym.

I was talking to a friend of mine, who works the same schedule as I do, and he gave me some motivation. He didn't even really do or say anything. He just mentioned that he woke-up at noon and went running 10 minutes later. Even just that little bit got me the motivation I needed to head to the gym.

Once I did head out it was 5pm. That means my normal gym, and any other gym in America, would be insanely busy. I hate busy gym time when I can barely get a bench to do my workout. My friend suggested our work gym. I normally don't like going there. It is 24 hours also but not many people use it. I don't like going there because I spend enough time at work. I don't want to be doing my "fun" time there also. Work is not fun. Working out is. They should be separate. Separate enough anyway for me to enjoy it. Haha! Anyway, I digress. :) So, I get there and there's only 4 of us in there working out and I'M the only one using the weights. SaWeet!

It actually ended up being a great an amazing workout.

Stretch it out, home slice.

{Weigh-In Wednesday: The Ugly Truth}

150lbs is an official number. 150.192 lbs to be exact.
The picture below, the one that slaps me in the face, tells me it's official.

So, this result was a big ole slap in the face...

To begin with, I went to the base gym to have my Bod Pod measurements done yesterday. They, awesomely, do it for free for military members. Yay, for having my reserve ID until October! The experience, overall, was really good. You're only in this egg-shaped tube for a total of 1 minute. Two times at 30 seconds a piece. If you're claustrophobic it's really not that bad. It's supposed to be pretty accurate. This is what the machine looks like...

You wear a swimsuit and a swimmers cap but you don't get wet at all. The tube gets air compressurized and that's how it gets your measurements. Here's Med Terms definition:

BOD POD: A method for determining the lean body mass. The BOD POD is a computerized, egg-shaped chamber. Using the same whole-body measurement principle as underwater weighing, the BOD POD measures a subject's mass and volume, from which their whole-body density is determined. Using these data, body fat and lean muscle mass can then be calculated.

Anyway, so you get a print out with all your info on it. My % Body Fat number...that's in the highest range.

I didn't think it was that bad but turns out it's worse.

I'm so happy I've started Operation Red Bikini. While I knew I was going to begin a weight loss journey, it gave me the push to actually do it and strive for something. I had 3 goals.

1. Get in the best shape possible within 12 weeks

2. Do well and hold myself accountable with Operation Red Bikini

3. Run one 5k race a month for 12 months

I've just added a 4th goal...

4. Lower my fat percentage to a healthy range

So far, I'm doing well with #3. It's the other 2 that I'm slow on. Since the beginning of the year I've not ate "clean" often and I pretty much stopped doing strength training since I began running. With the new 12 week plan I'm working on, strength training is incorporated into my running routine.

Now, I've got to focus more on "eating clean."

Here are some photographs of yesterday's attempt at it all...

For all of  yesterday... 

12 Week Plan Day 2: Cardio Only (576 Calories burned)

Eggs/Spinach/Turkey/Rotel

Berries with breakfast

Chicken Gnocchi Soup

Avocado Chicken Salad

The Soup made me 7 servings at 360 calories for each serving.

Banana, PB, Dark Chocolate
Seriously, delicious! I made 4 of them a serving in little baggies.

So, there ya have it. I'm going to do the Bod Pod once a month until the end of my 12 weeks to see if there are any changes and to see results, if any.

I am also going to hold myself more accountable for the food I eat. I will try to use the 'Lose It" app more, it's just hard those 4 days I work since I can't have my phone with me. I will write it all down and add it later. OR since I always pack my food for work, I'll add it all before I even leave the house.

{WOD}

Today I thought I'd just run around my complex. Ha. Idiot. 

What I didn't think about was the huge ass hill I had to run UP because of the route I chose.

I grabbed the best running partner ever...

We headed West...

Beautiful views running this way!

After that it sorta went downhill...er, well uphill.

FML.

Lucky for me about 1/3 of the way up Gandalf stopped to eat what looked like gum. Turns out it was just nasty tissue. Gross. Do you know how hard it is to start running up a hill after you stop? I didn't do it, I won't lie. Today was supposed to just be an easy run, something to just keep me active but not kill me before Saturday's race. 

Overall, it was a decent run except the hill part. It was also very slow because I stopped and walked up the hill. Boo. 

I'm in Denver/Aurora, so yes the elevation is rough.

This shouldn't have been a 20 min run/walk. I suppose it's not too bad though.