Simple meal ideas-for a week

Looking for simple meal ideas? Here is a week's worth of meals from a former BFL champion. I'm going to try some of them out...like the black bean chicken salad (Friday). Also I just realized that I'm only supposed to eat light string cheese. I've been eating the regular kind. So I went out yesterday and bought a bag of light string cheese (on sale at Fry's, yipee!).

http://bodyforlife.com/library/meal-plans/sarah-brown

Ragnar-Part 1

Here is the short version of my Ragnar experience:
Leg 1: 5.5 miles in 46:19 min. I think that's a 8:25/mile pace. Had cramps above my clavicle around mile 1.5 or 2. I wanted to walk and slow down. But then I thought about how hard I'd been working and training and I thought about Claire. It was really weird because I immediately got a surge of energy and my cramps went away. I picked up my speed and finished out strong & no walking. It was hard especially with the sun beating down (even though it was still freezing cold). My legs hurt and I was pushing myself.
Leg 2: 5.7 miles in 50:16 min. I was hoping to get an 8 mile pace. I was pushing myself really hard. I felt like I was running harder than my first leg. I was a bit disappointed when i found out I ran slower than my first. But I was happy that my pace was under 9 and that I killed 10 other runners. Within a half hour or so I was suffering from major stomach cramps for about 4 hours. That was miserable. I crawled up in the fetal position in the back of the van and tried to rest.
Leg 3: 7.6 miles. The last 3 miles all UPHILL. Yikes! I was scared for this one. The map showed a steep hill. I was running up that hill, my legs were really tired, as if I was almost running in place. I felt like I was running so slow. Almost cartoon like. I kept thinking, "I can do this. The hard part hasn't come yet. Don't walk, wait until the hill is steeper." I also used my technique of running past the first 2 landmarks where I told myself I was going to walk. I ran past the third and decided not to stop. And I told myself I can run one more song. And then I kept going and ran through one more song and a few more landmarks. So I ran about 2 miles up that hill before I walked. I only took 3 short walking breaks and ran the rest of the way. I was happy that I had a 10:06 min/mile pace.

 

This is the end of my 7.6 mile leg. I felt like my legs were barely moving.

 

 

Ragnar-Part 2 long version

Here is a long version of what happened. I will write it up in short version for those who don't want to know all of the gory details.
Ragnar is an overnight relay race with 12 team members running 3 legs each. The first 6 drive in a van/suburban and run their 1st legs and hand off to the next runner in order. When runner 6 is done he/she hands off to runner 7-12 and they run their first leg. Van 1 (with runners 1-6) gets a break between legs. It goes through the night until runner 12 is finished with his/her 3rd leg and the whole team runs in at the finish line. Here is how my fourth Ragnar went:
4 am: leave Prescott with Mike and head to Wickenburg.
5:40 am: Find team mates at starting point, load up my stuff in the suburban. Wishing I had brought a winter hat/gloves all the while listening to Mike say, "I told you so."
6:20am: Wait outside in what may have been 20 degree weather for our runner 1 to start. Witnessed  a lot of strangely dressed folks like the Burger King (who apparently took a picture with some random girl and then made out with her).
8  am: I ran my first leg. 5.5 miles. Within the first 2 miles I started to get cramps above my clavicle and I could feel my shoulders/neck tightening. I wanted to slow down and walk but then I thought about how hard I'd been training for this race. And I immediately thought of my baby Claire and how I was going to give it my all. My cramps went away, and I felt a surge of energy. I was able to pick up my speed and give it my best. I was still huffing and puffing and my legs felt tight. But all in all it was a great run. I decided to make it a goal to run the whole leg and that's what I did. When I found out that I completed it in 46:19 min I was happy. That is about a 8:25/mile pace.
9-1 Our team is awesome. We had a stereo tied down to the top and played music as we drove from exchange to exchange. We also pulled over on side of road to give support to our runners. We had a mic and talked to other runners. Most of them appreciated our music and our mostly encouraging comments. Some gave us dirty looks. We laughed a bunch. Some of the folks we witnessed or named: the turtle man with a big butt, the hula girl (who apparently has a coconut bra on), the dancing freak girl with a tight/shiny blue leotard, and the Burger King.
1 PM our van is finished and we went and ate at Fry's. I got a delicious panini ham&swiss cheese sandwich and Cheetos, and a diet soda (I don't recommend caffeine during a run) because I could tell I was about to get a migraine.
4 PM we went to the major exchange at a high school, changed into our next running outfit, laid out our sleeping bags on the grass field and tried to sleep. Got free mint chocolate chip cliff bars (I threw that in just for you Missa & Sian).
9:30 pm I ran my 2nd leg in Surprise, AZ. It was a 5.7 miler. I made another goal to not walk at all and I did it! I ran it with the intent of beating my first time. I was hoping to get close to an 8 min/mile pace. I killed 10 other runners. That felt great. I was a bit disappointed at the end when I found out I did it in 50:16 min. That is about 8:49 min/mile pace. Still a great time!
11 pm started to get bad stomach cramps. So much that I crawled in the fetal position in the back of the suburban and was miserable for about 3 hours. Finally took immodium and felt better.
2 am Got to major exchange and cleaned up. Laid out sleeping bags on gym floor and slept for 2 hours. Ahhhh! That felt great.
5 am Got up, brushed teeth and left for our next run.
7 am I ran my 3rd and final leg in Scottsdale on Dynamite Blvd. 7.6 miles. The last 3 miles were all uphill, no breaks or flat parts. I ran the entire first 6 miles and the last mile and a half I ended up walking 3 times about a 1/4 a track long. My time for 7.6 miles was 10:06 min/mile. That was a great time for me!!!! I was excited to end my last leg like that.
12 pm Our van is done and we end at Fountain Hills HS. I change and try to relieve the pain from being engorged. I told you this had all the gory details Yes, I still nurse my baby 5-6 times a day and hadn't nursed her for 32 hours. I was in pain and worried that I was going to get mastitis.
3:45 pm Our team ran in to finish line. I was sore everywhere. I was completely exhausted with only 2 hours of sleep. I was ready to eat. I was so drained and in so much pain from being engorged that I cried for 20 minutes.   I nurse Claire & finally feel better.
5 pm Go out to eat with Missa, Sian & families to an awesome burger place and then I got Cold Stone Oreo's filling with oreos in it. YUM!
8:30 pm Got home to Prescott, took an Epsom salt bath, took Ibuprofen, iced my neck and went to sleep. Yeah!!!!

Ragnar-post one

Yes, there's more to come. But I wanted to share a few thoughts. Ragnar is like childbirth in some ways (yes I know someone may be offended that I just compared a relay race to one of the most beautiful and astounding gifts given us...but just hang with me for a second). You see, it's painful, excruciating, hard, and nothing can prepare you for it. And there are many times during it that you think or complain,"What was I thinking?"  But then, after all is said and done and you have the memories, the pictures, the inside jokes, etc. you think "That wasn't so bad, it was actually pretty awesome".....and then you end up doing it again.

Some things that might bring me back: my awesome cousins Sian and Melissa. So glad that I got to be in the same van as them and share some insanely funny jokes with them (and I say insanely because you have to be insanely tired, exhausted, hungry, and sore to appreciate them). My awesome team mates who were nothing but encouraging, funny, and supportive. My pictures, although there are only a few, that show that I had a great time....with a genuine smile to prove it. The hard work and preparation that helped me get ready for the race and lose 9 lbs and increase my race pace and efforts. The incredibly awesome t-shirts, medal, and car decal. The free food (darn I missed out on the finish line pizza) like mint chocolate cliff bars & pop chips. The fact that my husband and kids are proud of me for doing something hard. The delicious food I enjoyed afterwards at Smashburger and Coldstone; with no guilt knowing that I had burned close to 2,000 calories the 2 days of the race.
Right now I can't say whether I'll be going back to do a Ragnar anytime soon but those would be some of my top reasons I'd sign up again for an insane relay race of 202 miles long.

Ragnar-Del Sol

By now most people know what the Ragnar is but when I ran my first one I think it was just becoming known. I had never heard of such a thing before. It sounded intriguing and yet very absurd and crazy. And here I am 5 Ragnars later, thinking that exact same thing. It is very intriguing and yet very absurd and crazy. It's also very addicting. Once you do one you want to do more. This will be my 4th Ragnar to run (I volunteered for Ragnar last year when I was 7 months preggo). I am soooooo excited. In fact, I hardly could sleep last night, and I dreamt about packing and shopping for food for the Ragnar. I'm also nervous and anxious. Because no matter how much fun it is I'm nervous before every race I do. No matter how hard I've trained, or what shape I am in, I get nervous every time. I haven't added any new music to my player for about 2 years or more. So last night I stayed up for 2 hours deciding which music I should buy from Amazon and downloading it took forever. Anyways here are some songs I added; you might love 'em, you might hate 'em.....1 Starships by Nicki Minaj. 2. I Knew You Were Trouble by Taylor Swift. 3. I Cry by Flo Rida. 4. Hall of Fame. 5. We Are Never Getting Back Together (Mike isn't very fond of this, especially when I sing it as loud as I can). 6. What Makes You Beautiful.

So I'm leaving at 4 AM tomorrow to meet my team in Wickenburg. I am runner number 2. My legs are 5.5, 5.7, and 7.6 making for a grand total of 18.8 miles. Wish me luck!!!!

My first Ragnar-my cousin Melissa came to support me at the finish line.

Never feel defeated

Now that's a title! I went back and forth, back and forth, trying to decide if I should share some of my experiences this week. With Carrie's last post I decided it's time to come clean. First I want to mention that I love Carrie's post and it is so true. When you make those little decisions to push a little harder, or go a little further, give your 100% then you will see your life start to change for the positive. I have seen this in the last 3 weeks of doing Body For Life. I've started to really push myself on my runs. I, like everyone else, get tired when I run, especially uphill. So I like to take breaks and walk. But I decided to push through my first initial desire to walk and keep running. It takes practice and a lot of positive self-talk. Now I push through the first 2 times I want to walk. When I get to the 3rd I finally walk but it feels great to look back and realize that I pushed through those first 2. I always give myself a landmark to run to whether it's a parked car, a light post, a large boulder, a street sign. So when I look back to see how far I pushed myself it's very obvious how far I was able to go. Sometimes it's just  a few feet and sometimes it's a few yards and sometimes it's all the way up that darn hill.
But now on to the part I feel ashamed about. Last week and this week (yes two weeks in a row) I took 2 cheat days in a row. Yes 2 cheat days in a row. You read it right. I'm sitting here thinking, "Carrie would never do that! She is going to be so upset and disappointed in me. She is going to look at me and only see failure." Boom, I said it. That is how I was feeling about myself. "Wow, how could you fail like that? The 2nd week of BFL and now the 3rd week. Why can't you get your act together and get it right?" But then I looked at my failure (which the 2nd day wasn't a complete failure. I did eat BFL for part of the day) and tried to think of every excuse of why I failed and tried to squirm out of my guiltiness. I had a migraine on Sunday because of my past neck injury; it flairs up when I do intense arm work and runs. And our financial stresses really took a toll on me. Cole was home all day and can be very intense and high maintenance. In fact I went to my room and cried and prayed twice in 2 hours. Man, it was a hard day! I coulda let myself drown in my sorrows about what a loser I am. I coulda let myself give up on the BFL program (I mean, come on, I can't even get it right). I coulda stuffed myself today with bad carbs, and food loaded in sugar just because. I coulda thrown in the towel and said life is too hard right now I'll try again another time. But instead I decided to make today the best day that I could make it. I went on run. I made myself a BFL approved breakfast. I packed 2 BFL meals while I was out doing my errands. I decided to look in the mirror and tell myself that I am doing awesome. Because even though I messed up I didn't give in. I didn't let those thoughts defeat me. I decided to make a change and make this day the best day I can. Life is hard right now; really, really hard. But when I am focusing on making little changes, things seem to not be so hard. So when you've had a hard day and messed up (my goal is that those days are few and far between) don't throw in the towel, don't give up and never, ever, ever feel defeated. Brush yourself off, get up and keep on going! Because we love ourselves too much not to.

Hello Jello Arms!

I just finished my upper body reps and am giving myself a giant 'pat on the back' (with my jello arms). I'm feeling proud of myself--just as you should--for making the choice to do something different. Before the BFL challenge, I would've fought internal dialogue like..."I'm too tired, I've been working all day, I'll do it tomorrow"...BUT...so many times before, 'tomorrow' became an ambiguous and non-committal excuse. Not anymore! Seemingly small choices (get up and move a little) and baby steps everyday, WILL lead to BIG changes and the cool thing is...it's up to me to make a difference in my own life. Although the scale is holding pretty strong and there's no need to purchase smaller clothes yet, it's all good...there's already been a positive change. I'm committed to improving my health and feel confident that any efforts (even the small choices) will yield great rewards.

Water

You're probably very aware that our bodies need lots of it  I love water! It helps curb my appetite and if it doesn't I drink more of it. The Body for Life recommends at least 8 cups. I probably drink 10-14 cups a day (I'm breastfeeding so need a lot of H2O). As an added bonus I've noticed that it also helps clear up my skin. So if you haven't implemented this great advice into your routine (hint hint mom.....I love you and want you to be around for a long time) start with 8 oz at each meal and build up to 16.

Advice to self....

Boy I'm on a roll here. 3 posts in a row. Just a little advice to self.
1. Don't weigh yourself after just 1 week of Body For Life, especially at night (when you normally weigh yourself in the morning). Remember that you are building muscle so you are going to see the numbers drop fairly slowly. I get a little antsy and impatient and just want the numbers to drop by twice the speed. But I need to remember that the muscle I'm building will burn more calories and will look much better on me than my pounds of fat. So just keep eating clean and exercising and building those muscles. BE PATIENT. 
2. Don't go to Target and try on all of their super cute workout clothes just for fun. You know..... the really tight purple/black running tights and the sporty halter tops (some of which you are trying on in a size too small because they don't have your size). Are you trying to torture yourself? They were the least bit flattering. However the black/purple running tights matched well under running shorts. Maybe in a couple of weeks I'll go back and reconsider trying them on (as long as thunder thighs are covered with running shorts.)

Running....taking it slowly

Carrie had some great pointers and tips for people who have never run before or are a bit rusty. This is what she said, "I'm definately NOT much of a runner...but I have been in the past. The MOST I've run is 6 miles at one time. My legs just aren't where I grow the best muscle...but for anyone ready to take on the challenge of running, the idea is to START SLOW. I think people think running means you have to run the WHOLE TIME right off the line. SO NOT TRUE. It may take months and months before someone builds up the muscle, including heart muscle to handle that kind of consistency. If you start out in intervals and walking for 3 minutes, running a minute than you can start building up the time you are running as in walking 1 minute, running 3 minutes until you are running the whole time. "

When I first started back at running when Cassideen was just 2-3 months old I remember it clearly. I could only run (jog) 20 steps and then I'd have to walk. Then I'd try another 20 steps and then I was exhausted. I decided I'd walk and get up my strength to run. So I walked for a few weeks before I tried running again. And then I started slowly and walked a lot. Heck I even walk in my races. And while other runners would NEVER EVER EVER walk in a race, I am not one of those runners. I have specific goals when it comes to running but running the whole race has not been one of them...YET...doesn't mean that won't change one day.  So if you are thinking of racing don't let what you think a "runner" should be intimidate you. There are all types of people, ages, and abilities that race.

A new favorite dinner

I have a new favorite dinner. And it's as simple as they come. A big salad with protein (chicken, tuna, or even cottage cheese) drizzled with fat free raspberry poppyseed dressing and 1/2 sweet potato (topped with a tsp of light butter....I need to buy the butter spray). I don't normally buy sweet potatoes because Mike doesn't like them. But I figured I would and glad I did it. Claire loves them as well so she gets to eat the other half.

Disclaimer: the beautiful picture is not mine, it's from health.com.

Just do it!

I like to run. Somedays I love running. But then there are the days I hate running. Yep, I said it. I have days where I HATE running. Some people may think it's easy for me to get out there and run. But I struggle with it almost every time I do it. I have an inner struggle with it; whether I'm too tired, it's too cold, it's too dark, it's too lonely, I'm too sore, I have a million loads of laundry to do, I haven't seen my husband all day, on and on and on. BUT when I finally get over those feelings and just get it done I feel amazing. The endorphins kick in and I wonder what my bad attitude was all about. I've consistently run for the past 10 years (except when pregnant and post pregnancy) whether I went out and did 2 laps around the block or 120 minutes on a treadmill or a 12 mile run. I've run in multiple 10k races, 5k's, 2 half marathons, and I'm going on my 4th Ragnar Relay. Some people wonder why or how I do it. I'll tell you a few of my secrets to my motivation: good music turned up all the way so I can't hear myself breathing ridiculously hard (I'll make a post someday with some of my favorites), signing up for a race (the commitment is a huge driving force; I don't want anyone to have to peel my butt off the road), and a little ibuprofen (3 to be exact...about a 1/2 hour to an hour before my run or race). Last Saturday I ran 3 miles at a 8 1/2 to 9 min. pace and then another 3 miles at a 10 min. pace. And that included part of Hasayampa hills-if you've ever run the Whiskey Row race you'll know those are not easy. Not too shabby for not training as hard as I'd like to (with the holidays, cold weather, and multiple commitments it's hard to find the time....EXCUSES, EXCUSES). So if you're thinking about taking up a bit of running go ahead and sign up for a race You don't need to be fast. You don't need any type of special gear. You don't need to be a "runner." So what are you waiting for.... JUST DO IT!