Friday Mishmash - We've Got the Blues!

Sometimes, a theme for the day presents itself so clearly that you just have to go with it, and such was the case on Wednesday, when Barbara, Theresa and I had a visit to the Blue Bell ice cream factory on the agenda.  We dressed in blue and headed off to our first stop - Blue Baker, for breakfast:

A hearty breakfast to start our big adventure, plus how could we not get a shot of our blue flip flops on the painted blue floor?

 Fed, hydrated, and ready to roll!

Then we were off, in our blue car (OK, that just happened to work out, I didn't go buy a new car for the theme), to Brenham, Texas - home of the Blue Bell ice cream factory!  For $6, you get a guided tour of the factory plus a big scoop of ice cream afterward.  Picture-taking wasn't allowed on the tour, but we took plenty before and afterward.  The tour was fascinating!  We watched them make Strawberries and Homemade Vanilla, Cherry Vanilla, and Cookies n' Cream, as well as ice cream sandwiches and some sort of cone treat.  We knew we were in for some fun when we pulled into the parking lot and opened the car doors - the place smelled amazing.  We had a great time on the tour as well as poking around the grounds - it's a charming place and I can't believe I've never been there before now.

Scenes from our visit to the factory...

After the tour, we were ushered into the ice cream parlor, where we got to sample some flavors before choosing what we wanted as our treat.  We each chose different flavors so we could share - Krazy Kookie Dough, Moo-llennium Crunch, and Mocha Almond Fudge were the winners for us:

Ice cream happiness!

Then we visited the gift shop:

In keeping with the theme, here's a couple of blue ice cream scoops.

Wearing Blue Bell logo glasses - they were bizarre!  I did not purchase them, but I did take home that cute orange logo mug!

One set of elevators - have I mentioned how charming the building was?  I have?  Well, it really was!

Outside of the factory was a statue of a cow and little girl, just like their logo.  Naturally, we couldn't leave it alone:

The great thing about Theresa is that she doesn't even get embarrassed when we pretend to milk the cow - she just kept taking pictures and laughing!

After our tour, we shopped and ate lunch in Brenham.  Then we got on the road for home, as Theresa serenaded us with the "Dinosaur Blues" song.  We planned on stopping in the town of Navasota on our way back so we could visit Blues Alley, but she fell asleep in the car, so we just paused for a quick photo of the sign:

An apt spot to finish out our blue day!

Wednesday Workout Update?

Have I mentioned it's been a crazy couple of weeks?  Add to that a case of bronchitis and the lovely wheezing that accompanied it, and not a heck of a lot of exercise has been happening.  I didn't end up doing the nighttime trail run - Jeff went, and enjoyed it, although I am still not sold on the whole idea of running in pitch black darkness with only a headlamp for light, among trees and dirt and whatnot.  Not every race is for everyone.  Here's a couple of pictures I swiped from their website - you can see how dark the race was, except for at the finish line:

Beginning of the race - everyone was required to wear headlamps.

 

Jeff coming in for the finish - it looks funny to see him run without his sunglasses.

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Yesterday I ran for the first time in a week and it went well, all things considered.  My parents left on an early flight so I convinced Jenny (she's such a good sport!) to meet me at 5:15 am to do our run.  The newer part of the park where we've been running our quarter mile intervals is brightly lit and out in the open, so we didn't get the creepy sensation that's happened when we've run in that park super early in the past.  Plus, another group of runners was gathering there for their run - they were waiting for everyone to arrive, and we ended up running "through" them twice - second time I raised my hands and called out "woohoo, finish line!" as we ran past them since they looked like spectators.  Fun times, fun times.  We ended up doing five quarter mile intervals, plus walked another mile - I'm still coughing a bit but I made it through the run feeling really good, so I can't complain.

Tomorrow Erica and I will run, and then this weekend Jeff and I will go for a run on Sunday morning (Barbara and Theresa are leaving midday on Saturday, so I don't want to miss the last hours they're here).  I think by next week I'll be back into my exercise groove, and hopefully my chest congestion will be all gone as well.  Hey - life happens...both events and illness, and you do the best you can, right?  It all evens out over time.

The Turtle!

(At the moment life is pretty crazy/busy, in a fun way, with all of our visitors - this happened a couple of weeks ago, but I saved it for when I knew I wouldn't have time to write a real post.)

We had a different visitor in the backyard this week - Paco was the first to spot it as it walked by my office window:

 A turtle!  With an orange head - I've never seen one like this before.  

I went outside with my camera, making Paco stay inside the house (he wasn't very happy about that).  I zoomed in to get another picture, when suddenly, very stealth-like, Kip appeared:

The turtle opened his mouth - I wasn't sure if he would try and bite Kip or retreat into his shell, but I wasn't taking any chances with either of them.  I grabbed Kip and put him into the house, then went back to taking more turtle pictures:

The turtle looks mad that his walk was interrupted by all of us...

Someone else was mad, too.

 Yep.  That is the face of one pissed-off cat.

At this point, angry turtle would like for the paparazzi to go away...

Of course we couldn't leave him alone.  Well, I could - I was keeping a healthy distance from that thing and letting my zoom lens do the work.  But Jeff came home and wanted to move it:

 But not before taking a closer look...

This is where his head is - sealed up nice and tight!

Jeff put the turtle in a little grove of trees, and we let Paco out:

 Not sure who was more scared, the turtle or the dog.

 Sniffing, sniffing...

...and he licked it.  Ewwww!

A few hours later the turtle was gone.  And then Kip killed a lizard, I guess in retaliation for not getting to "play" with his reptilian cousin.  Animals.  They're such...animals!

Friday Mishmash

The winner of the Krill Oil is:

Spunky Suzi!!!

Congratulations!  Please send me an email (40somethingsjourney@gmail.com) with your mailing info so I can give it to my contact.  If I don't hear from you within a week, I'll have to choose another winner.

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I wanted to thank you for the wonderful comments on my five year post - you guys are awesome and every time a new comment would come in, my day was made anew.  Honestly, I didn't know where I was going when I started this blog...but I'm really pleased with where it's at right now, and I love the interaction that I get from you, my wonderful readers!

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My parents have been in town since last Wednesday (which is why I've not had time to respond to comments, much less comment on most of your blogs - sorry!).  We got to watch our youngest kid walk the stage at graduation, and had a little party afterward:

The graduate looking toward the future...and tassle-hat man, and cupcakes!  We all got a kick out of that crazy yellow hat - one of the academic advisors or professors, I'm not sure which.  This kid earned two degrees; one in computer science and one in mathematics.  I know not from whence those smarts came from, but they sure weren't from me!

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Last year when my mom was visiting, I sent her home with my favorite race t-shirts so that she could magically turn them into a memory quilt for me.  I love how it came out - she picked a bright orange fabric that is printed with Hawaiian flowers, and edged it with blue - I think it tied all the shirt colors together very well.  It's so fun to look at this and remember my earlier races - the pale yellow shirt in the middle of the top row was from my first-ever 5K...ahhh, such good memories:

So cute, right?!  I love it!  

And if you're thinking that I look sick in that picture, it's because I am.  I started getting a cold on Sunday and yesterday woke up with my chest burning and congested.  Went to the doctor and got a diagnosis of sinusitis AND bronchitis.  Yay me?  Anyway, he gave me a steroid shot along with some antibiotics and prescription cough medicine, so hopefully I will be 100% really soon.  Big weekend ahead, lots of fun stuff going on (that I'll blog about soon), and I don't have time to be sick right now!

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I don't know how it is where you live, but around here, renewing your driver's license in person is a royal pain.  So I just kept doing it online, even though I didn't resemble my picture after I lost weight.  But this go-round, I got a letter saying that I HAD to go in person to renew.  Two hours later, here's my new license (along with the old one, for comparison):

Yeah, I guess it was time for an update.

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I may or may not be running a nighttime trail run 5K tomorrow night - depends on how my chest congestion is doing.  I've never had to miss a race due to illness, but I am quite beat and don't want to overdo it just for a little race.  Playing it by ear at this point.

Have a great weekend!

Wednesday Workout Update - Perceived Exertion and Guilt

I didn't start out exercising a lot when I began my diet - riding my bicycle a couple of laps around my circle (not a block - just the circle of my long cul-de-sac) was a huge effort for me in the beginning.  Quite honestly, it took a lot for me to ride four laps, which was a mile.  I was rubbery-legged and exhausted when I was done...when you aren't used to doing any exercise at all, even a little will make you feel like you've practically run a marathon.

Within about nine months, I progressed from simple bike riding to working out with trainers and a small group of people.  In the beginning, those workouts also left me rubbery-legged and exhausted - truth be told, pretty much every time I did those workouts, I was left in that condition, because as things got easier for me, my trainers increased the weights or reps or intensity.  Then I started running, worked my way in mileage up to running a half marathon, became injured, started swimming, and finally got back to running.  So you'd think, with all of that under my belt, that I would kind of have this whole exercise thing understood at this point.  Well, no...apparently not.

I've been struggling with perceived exertion - the act of doing something that takes a lot of effort, and the way you feel while you're doing it. The background for this is that Jenny and I have been running quarter-mile intervals for a while now, and while we are doing them, I'm breathing hard, working up a sweat, and, most significantly, feeling out-of-shape and disappointed with myself that it's taking so much effort. I feel like I've done something wrong; I've let myself go and I've lost my conditioning.  It's funny, because when I worked so hard, say, during my group workouts, I felt accomplished afterward - yes, I was breathing hard, sweating like a fiend and exhausted when I was finished - but I was proud of myself for managing to make it through the workout.  So why the negative feelings when it comes to running these intervals?  

This isn't the same thing as negative talk - it's not like I'm thinking "oh, you're so slow and such a bad runner" - no, absolutely not. I guess when I put out the extra effort with these intervals, I feel like it shouldn't be so hard for me at this point, and of all the things I'd be struggling with when it comes to running, feeling guilty at being winded seems kind of crazy to me.

It's obviously a head game, and I'm sure it harkens back to me being overweight and sedentary for so many years. As soon as I sense that I’m working hard physically, I instantly get the perception of how out-of-shape I must be. I guess I spent so many years struggling through the most simple of things (like climbing a flight of stairs) while I was overweight that I don't always know how to translate the feeling of putting out physical effort in a good way, like pushing myself during these fast-paced intervals.

And here's the kicker:  afterward, when I check the stats* on my Garmin, each and every week I've been surprised at how well we did. Plus, we're consistently improving our times. You'd think I'd remember this while I'm running the intervals, and give myself some credit for pushing myself, but no...my brain doesn't work that way.  I wonder if I'll ever move past some of this mental madness that stems from being overweight for so long?

*(In case you're wondering, the way the Garmin is set up for intervals, you can't see your pace while you are running that program - otherwise, you know we'd be checking during the workout).

Krill Oil Review and Giveaway!

A few weeks ago I posted about my fish oil tasting fishy.  I asked for recommendations, and several people mentioned that they used krill oil, which is supposed to have even more benefits (including heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, PMS and joints) than fish oil.  As someone who does not eat seafood at all, I'm not super concerned about one over the other, because for me, anything is better than nothing, which is what I'm getting if I don't take a supplement.  Honestly, the first and foremost thing I'm looking for is to not taste the fish.  Second thing is the price.  But nothing is worth a good deal if I burp fish.  That said, in the midst of my search, I was contacted by Everest Nutrition to try their Krill Oil, and after quizzing my contact about fishy burps (yes I sound crazy but I REALLY hate seafood), I agreed to try a bottle.

My contact said that as long as I took the krill oil (two capsules) after I'd eaten, I shouldn't have any issues.  I have to say, it took me a couple of days with the bottle sitting on my counter to work up the courage to trying it.  I finally threw caution to the wind, and guess what?  No fishy aftertaste, no smell, no burps.  Huzzah!  I was very relieved.  I did have an issue one day, but I was rushing to get out the door on a spontaneous visit with a friend and didn't eat breakfast - but I did take my morning vitamin/krill oil/allergy meds - and oh how I paid for that.  Let me just say that when you detest fish as much as I do, burping it really makes you hate yourself.  But that was the only time I had that issue, so I'd recommend this product.

Krill Oil is available via their website for $29.95 plus s/h, but I also found it on Amazon for $25 (free s/h).  Or, you can win a bottle!  Everest Nutrition has offered up a bottle of Krill Oil for giveaway - just leave me a comment saying you'd like to win - I'll announce the winner on Friday's post.  Open to U.S. and Canada residents only; please make sure you leave an email address in the comments if your name isn't linked to a blog.  Good luck!

Comments are now closed as this giveaway has ended.

FTC disclosure:  I was sent a bottle of Krill Oil for review; opinions expressed are all my own.  Everest Nutrition will fulfill the giveaway.

FIVE YEARS - My Diet and Blog Anniversary!

With the exception of my marriage, I don't tend to stick with things all that long.  So I'm quite pleased to report that tomorrow will mark five years since I started this blog, and my weight-loss journey.  And I'm still going strong with both!  Well, the weight-loss has turned into mostly maintaining that loss, but I've changed my eating habits drastically from where I was over five years ago, and that is why I've been able to keep most of the weight that I lost off.  And blogging - wow.  I started this blog to have a record of how hard I was working to get the weight off, so I could go back and be reminded of the effort and hopefully not return to my old ways of eating.  I never thought it would blossom into what it is today, and for that, I have you, my readers, to thank.

Today, five years after I started what I hoped would be my last diet, I'm a normal-sized person.  I haven't had to shop at Lane Bryant for years (and I finally seem to be off their mailing list, lol).  Not only do I exercise regularly, but I don't think twice about doing something as simple as going for a walk or climbing a flight of stairs.  Losing over 100 pounds has changed my life in ways I never could have anticipated, because I was overweight for so long that I kind of forgot that it was possible for me - ME - to join in so many fun activities.  I'm the same person I've always been, but now I'm also the person I used to only envision.

In previous anniversary posts, I've posted my before-and-after pictures.  Here's two befores that I've never posted, and they're pretty awful.  But I think it's important to not only celebrate the body that I have today, but to also remember where I was - the saying "Those who cannot remember the past are condemed to repeat it" is very applicable to me.  Apologies for the poor quality - these are scans, as they were taken before the digital camera era.

This is me in 1998 - 10 years before I started my diet:

Taken during our trip to Washington D.C. - I thought I was going to die with all the walking we did.

This is me in 2003 - 5 years before I started my diet:

Taken during my trip to Oregon - I thought I was going to die with all the walking we did.

This is me in 2013 - 5 years after I started my diet:

Pretty happy with myself!

Year four
Year three
Year two
Year one
Very first post