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Just a reminder...Awesome by August weigh ins are due to me by tonight (Friday the 30th) by midnight. We've had a few people drop off each week and I've only received a few weigh ins so far...get them in!! :)

I've been lurking around the blogs this morning (lurking because every time I go to leave a comment I get an error message, something with my browser me thinks) and I came across something that set off bells, whistles, and alarm sirens in me : " It occurs to me that this is the point in the program where I usually start my inexplicable, out-of-control ascent back to obesity. This is generally the point where all the good work I’ve put in goes out the window. Not this time. Not   this   time. Not this time." Um, yes. This is the point in my weight loss where I generally regress and gain like 50 pounds. This is the point I usually give up. This is the point I usually get frustrated with not seeing quick results and belly up to the blizzards and peanut butter cup ice cream; the point I drown my sorrows in iced caramel macchiatos and lots and lots of buttered toast with strawberry jam on top. This is the point I usually stop working out and just hang it all.  T

I am living my life. I am living it out loud. I am living it right now. That is my battle cry. I have spent so many years waiting, hiding, looking to the future. The thought pattern was: well, when I reach X weight I'll...or can't wait until I fit a size X jeans, then I'll...or if only I wasn't so fat I'd... I have spent years hiding myself and my body. Years planning what I'd do when. Years feeling bad about myself in the meantime. NO, NO, NO. I am living my life. I am living it out loud. I am living it right now. No more waiting. No more hiding. No more shame. I only get one life and I do NOT want to look back on it and feel it's been wasted . I do not want to look back on all the missed opportunities, all the wonderful things I could have done with my kids, all the places I never went...and REGRET. So, I go to the beach or the pool with some flab, extra skin, and stretch marks hanging out...so what?! What's the worst thing that cou

Yesterday I ran 7 miles.  I not only ran 7 miles, but I ran them fast (for me) on a hilly route. I ran a one mile stretch back and forth, it was basically uphill a mile, then turn around and downhill for a mile. It was an awesome run. I pushed and felt spent at the end. Some of my downhill miles were 9 minutesish, 9:30. Compared to last year's long runs my times rock. My muscles are SCREAMING at me today.  I haven't been this sore from running in longer than I remember. But at the same time it feels good. Stay with me here, lol. It feels like I ran hard, like I pushed and wiped the floor with that long run.  If there's such a thing as good sore or good tired, that's what I am today. It's a complete different feeling from feeling fatigued and sluggish from being so overweight and filling my body with crap food, sugar, and caffeine just trying to get through the day. That was miserable tired. Today I feel like I worked hard and I'm sort of relishing

I love to grill in the summer. I mean how can you separate summer and grilling, they're like peanut butter and jelly!  On nights when it's just too hot to think about cooking (we don't have AC) I love grilling instead. But summer isn't the only time we grill, we have been known to grill with snow flying! I love looking for new flavorful yet healthy grilling recipes.  This evening I tried two new recipes I received from I Can't Believe It's Not Butter: on the grill yummy and done Rosemary-Orange Grilled Chicken & Veggies   and Buttery Grilled Corn .  They were yumazing. (click on the links to go to the recipes) You can find more grilling recipes and tons of other great recipes at:  http://www.icantbelieveitsnotbutter.com/Recipes/ Tomorrow, Monday,  July 26 th , 7-9pm CST I will be participating in an I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Twitter Party : The Taste & Tweet will be a fun evening of eating, Tweeting and sharing grilling and entertaini

If you're participating in the Awesome by August challenge don't forget to get your weigh in pics to me by tonight (Friday the 23rd) midnight.  How'd you do this week?

I think (read hope) I have figured out the stall in my weight loss. I have been tracking consistently with my fitbook for about four weeks now and it has really opened my eyes. First, I've been eating too much. Too much of good healthy foods, but too much. Especially nut butters, hugely overdoing it there. Second, I was so focused on strength training I wasn't getting in enough cardio. Third, about once a week or so I am having a no good, incredibly awful, terrible, outta control eating day. Not sure what's up with that. I think I have straightened out the first two. I am trying to be much more mindful about my portions, just because it's good healthy food doesn't mean I can eat 'til I'm stuffed! Also I need to pay more attention to my hunger cues. I have been so dysfunctionally disconnected from those for too long. My half training has upped my cardio naturally and I'm adding a short cardio session to strength training days. I'm shooting f

So...I'm excited and a little afraid. My sister/ beach body coach is coming down for a couple of days and bringing Insanity.  For those of you not familiar with it, it is a crazy intense, all out, sweat pouring cardio program.  I am excited because I've always wanted to try it and I could really use a boost right now. (Awesome by August look out!) I'm a little afraid because I've watched the infomercial! It looks intense.  But, hey, I'm in good shape? Yes? Guess we'll see.  Plus, I'm afraid I'll want it after trying it, LOL. I already really want Turbo Fire . I love changing up my workouts and trying new fun ones.  I'll let you know how it goes and what I think of it.  You can check out descriptions of the workouts by going to my sister's site and clicking on 'shop team beach body'. Have you tried Insanity or Turbo Fire? Details, I need details. 

Awesome by August challengers: weigh in post is over at Brooke: Not on a Diet today. Training for my marathon I did a little cross training, but didn't really understand why I should, or what benefits it held. This time around in my half marathon race training I am a huge fan of cross training. I am witnessing the impact it can have on my running much more than ever before.  I have read a lot about strength training and running. There seems to be many for it and some against it, especially when talking lifting heavy and not just light weights at high repetitions. I however am definitely for it. The strength training I have done the past few months coupled with the weight loss I've achieved and the speed work I've been doing has had great impact on my speed. During my marathon training my long runs were soooo slow. My average pace was 13-14 minutes per mile. Now on my long runs my pace is 10 1/2 to 11 1/2 minute miles. On shorter runs (about 2 miles or so) I can ho

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR CARLA-MIZ-MIZFIT HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!! Thanks for all you are and all you do, I hope your day is superfantabulous!

Just a couple quick reminders for those participating in the Awesome by August challenge: Weigh ins must be in to me by midnight tonight (Friday) to remain in the running for prizes Mondays official weigh in post will be over at Brooke: Not On A Diet! You can check out our awesome prize sponsors through the links in my sidebar Good luck everyone!

Was going to save this for part of my Monday Miles post, but couldn't stand it. I JUST REGISTERED FOR MY HALF MARATHON !! And, I may be a teeny bit superfantastically excited about it.  Funny how my mindset is so different from when I ran my full. That race seemed daunting, this one seems exciting. That race I wasn't sure I could do it, this one I know I can. That race was filled with inner fat chick battles , this one won't be ! Training is going so well I think I'll definitely beat my goal of coming in under two and half hours. Yay for speed work. I'm super happy with my Pumas on my long runs. They are working out famously! I was curious how they'd hold up for longer runs and couldn't be happier. Now I just need to find a good hotel deal in Fort Collins for race weekend! Awesome by August challengers remember your weigh in pics need to be to me by tomorrow midnight . Early is OK, but if you're late you can still play along but won'

Yesterday my 16 year old son came home after spending the better part of the weekend with one of my family members. This family member was quite negative and said some unkind things to my son, including that he was 'worthless like his mother'. Or something like that, I paraphrase.  Now, obviously, this is someone I will be limiting my son's time with from now on. I had a long talk with my son about the whole thing, but my lesson from it was this:  In the past I would have been angry or crushed; I would have obsessed about why my family treats me how they do, or has the opinions of me they do, blah blah blah. Now I see it for what it is, this person projecting their unhappiness with the state of their own life onto my son and myself. Wrong, yes. Sad, yes. Having anything to do with me, nope. When we change our lives everyone isn't going to be happy .  There will be those that see our success as a spotlight on the situations in their lives. There will be those

Note: If you're part of the Awesome by August challenge you can find our first official weigh in post over at Steve's place . We're still working out all the kinks, so if you emailed me and you're not in that post, please let me know ASAP. Remember you have to have this weeks weigh in pic to me by Friday midnight . We let it slide a little getting started, but will have to stick to the midnight deadline from now on. Good luck everyone! Prize Sponsors : there's still time to sponsor a prize! email me at: katdoesdiets@gmail.com I really enjoy my long runs. Speedwork can be fun, and shorter runs are OK, but I have really missed my long runs. Crazy as that sounds it's absolutely true.  This weekend my long run was 6 miles. I haven't ran 6 miles in over a year. After getting in the groove it was an awesome run. Definitely the fastest 6 miles I've ever ran.  I've been playing around with what to consume on longer runs. Last time I trained I did th

Thanks everyone who's already entered our challenge! If you haven't yet, go here: for details on entering the Awesome by August weight loss challenge . Due to schedules some people emailed me yesterday, and some can't do it until Sunday, so we're allowing that to include as many as possible. I thought I'd just give a quick list of the prizes we've drummed up so far. I'm still talking to a few companies and haven't decided what I'm throwing in. Hopefully I'll have a full list and how they'll be awarded (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc) by the time Steve posts the official first weigh in on Monday . In no particular order, the fun swag we have so far: Experience Life Magazine is giving a one year subscription to their awesome magazine. 265andfalling.com is giving a 30 Day Shred DVD and a set of 1 pound weights. Iamsucceeding.com is giving a Hot Bod in a Box. runmommarun.com is giving a runMOMMArun T-shirt .  thejourneytv.com is giving a jou

I am amazed at just how many of us are struggling with our healthy living/weight loss efforts right now. Around the blogs and Twitter I am constantly running into friends that are just...struggling. So a few twitter friends and I cooked up a little challenge to spur us on! Introducing the Awesome by August weight loss challenge. (I know we're already awesome, but it was a catchy title) #awesomebyaugust on twitter. Basically it's a 4 week weight loss challenge. Whoever loses the highest percentage of weight in the next 4 weeks wins. The focus of course is on healthy weight loss , no crazy antics here. I think we're all over that anyway, yes? If you want to join simply take a picture of your feet on your scale (showing the reading) tomorrow morning with a piece of paper with the date written on it showing in the pic also. Email it to me by tomorrow, Friday the 9th, midnight (mountain time) katdoesdiets@gmail.com with the subject line: "Entering Challenge". L

image via  http://www.healthybirds.umd.edu/BasicMangement/RaisingYoungBirds.cfm I am struggling. Yep. Struggling. I'm not losing weight. I feel like that little duck in the picture, struggling so hard, I can see what's over the ledge, but just can't quite get my footing. My positive attitude will not falter, but I feel I can still be honest and real about my struggles without being negative...so, here's whatsup: I haven't lost any weight in several months.  It's not a plateau.  It's not just the scale being fickle either.  No excuses here. My clothes fit the same, my body fat is the same, I have stayed the same. It's my eating.  I am eating good things, but obviously too much of them. I have stopped counting calories and am just trying to watch my portions and eat good whole 'clean' foods. I am still tracking my food intake via my fitbook and really want to transition away from obsessing over every calorie I e

If you haven't yet visited funandfit.org you definitely should. Alexandra and Kymberly serve up fitness advice with a healthy side of humor over at their place. I love their quirkiness on Twitter and thought my blog could use some humor so I asked them to do a little Q & A with me. Alexandra and Kymberly, Q1 Tell me something about yourself that you think the world simply must know. A: Must know? Um, I am hot and have super powers. I can make my own mind disappear, then replace it with carbonation just to hear the fizzy popping sounds. I’m a pretty good baker and have an organic garden that I am exceptional at almost killing. My husband sneaks out and rescues it on a regular basis. K: I really have no twin. She is a figment of someone’s imagination. Oh, and if anyone is that imaginative, can you please imagine me as super fit and beyond buff? One other thing the world must know is that I speak 5 languages, so don’t mess with me. Well, do mess with me as it will be fun. La