What's in my headphones?

Some people run with no music at all. I am always amazed at this. I listen to music all the time. I listen to music while I'm in the shower and when I'm cleaning the house and most definitely when I am running. I have created a few playlists of music that get me a little pumped up. They're just ok. I also listen to Pandora radio. I find it convenient. I don't have to put too much thought into what music comes up. My son listened to a station on my Pandora called "Rack City Music" and I found that this station was upbeat and great for running. I started using it as my go-to station. I did have a problem with the lyrics though. I am most certainly not a prude, but I think I spent half of my runs blushing at the lyrics to some of the music. I have tried to listen to gospel or Christian music during my runs. I thought that it would be uplifting to run to. I tried Fred Hammond radio, Tye Tribbett radio, Marvin Sapp radio and James Fortune radio. While there are occasional upbeat songs, there are a lot more slooooow songs. I decided that I would like to run to an upbeat gospel playlist. I created a playlist on Spotify that now consists of about 25 songs. My goal is to create a playlist of 40 songs to use during the Rite Aid Cleveland half marathon. I am open to any and all suggestions at this point. If you have Spotify, you can listen to my playlist called Gospel Run. If you have ideas of songs to add, let me know. I would love the input! 

Valentine's Day with No Chocolate

Happy Belated Valentine's Day Everyone! Hope every one's day was full of love and light. I thoroughly enjoy the holiday. I get super excited about the gifts that I pick out for the Joes and we go to dinner at Tommy's on Coventry. This year, I decided that their gifts would be sports themed as they are both athletes. I bought them Nike athletic socks in their school's colors (Blue, white and yellow-ish) and they each got a new set of sport earphones. I also wanted to get them gift cards to purchase running shoes for track. I waited until the last minute but Achilles Running Shop was there to rescue me. I paid for the gift card over the phone and they mailed them out to my house. In the meantime, I created a certificate for each of The Joes telling them how much they were getting and the name of the store. I was excited to see that both of the Joes were excited about their gifts. The Biggest Joe had to work so the Littlest Joe and I went to dinner at Tommy's without him. Despite the fact that there are so many vegetarian options, I was still concerned because I would have to resist my desire to get my usual chocolate peanut butter shake. I get one every time I go there. Yesterday, to honor my no meat/no sweet rule, I didn't order a shake. I ordered a Fresh Fruit Freeze made of fruit and 100% pure orange juice. It was pretty good. Of course it wasn't a milkshake but it hit the spot. For an appetizer we shared an order of Broccoli Risso Soup. It's the only food in the world I know has mushrooms in it but eat anyway. It is so creamy and delicious and perfect. For dinner, The Littlest Joe had a burger (that looked delicious) and I had the Jane (an Escarole and Potato pie with Muenster Cheese and Broccoli). We totally skipped dessert. I had no chocolate or sweets all day. At work there were so many. I did feel deprived when I saw a bag of Reese's Hearts. But I am feeling great about my choice. I will not be sugar free forever but I am hoping to be able to have it under control after this hiatus. 

No meat/No sweet February

    Last Thursday, I printed my labs from Cleveland Clinic in preparation for an MD appointment on Friday with UH. I decided to print my weights as well. I was shocked to see that I weighed 135 pounds last January. Despite the fact that I have no scale, I knew my weight was far from that number. I weighed myself at work and found that I have gained 15 pounds over the course of the last year!!! I was shocked. I should not have been, but I was. I thought about what I needed to do to get my weight back under control but didn't come up with a plan. I happened to be perusing Facebook and noticed a post about DietBet. There was a challenge to kick start your weight loss in February by losing 4% of your body weight. For me that would be 6 pounds. I decided to do it. Part of participating for me was to alter my diet. I eat lots of healthy foods. But I have a sugar addiction like you would not believe. I can not eat one piece of candy or one donut or one cookie without eating many more. Last week, I ate one Reese's Cup which led to me eating about 5 bags of Reese Cups in 2 days. I was so bad that I hid bags in the car so that I would not have to share with The Joes. I also hid the wrappers in the garbage can at work so my co-workers wouldn't see the carnage. The last straw was a 3.5 pound bag of assorted Reese's that I downed in 1 day. I did share some with co-workers and The Joes, but not many. I have an issue with sugar. I lurves it!!!!! I decided that I needed to detox from it. I knew that I needed to alter my diet. For the month of February, I decided to stop eating foods with added sugars and meats. I am eating seafood, though.
     Today is day 7 of my challenge and I have already lost 4 pounds. I've also experimented with some new vegetable friendly dishes. My favorite so  far has been shrimp fried rice. It was super easy to make and quite delicious. I have not had one drop of added sugar until today. I go to Starbucks on Friday mornings with my coworker. I usually order a Chai Tea Latte. I ordered one today and drank about half of it. I've been tempted everywhere!! At home, the littlest Joe made some beautiful burgers stuffed with peppers and onions. They have also made beef tacos. I had fish tacos. I am starting to feel less like I am missing out. The littlest Joe has decided that she will join the no meat/no added sugar challenge next week. At work, I have really been challenged. On Monday, my coworker, Sheila brought in Peanut Butter squares. I love her PB squares!!! I did not eat one. On Wednesday, there were cookies and on Thursday there were donuts. I had none. People have tried to be supportive and suggest that I eat one or half of one. I know that I cannot eat one. I have never in my adult life eaten half of a donut or cookie unless it tasted like a shoe. I do not have the willpower for that... I was tempted at Giant Eagle when I discovered that the one near my house had a lot of new Talenti Gelato flavors. I stood in front of the case and read off the flavors to my friend, Shelly, on the phone. After that, I walked away. One day, I will treat myself.  

     I've also maintained my workouts. I am still preparing for the Rite Aid Cleveland Half Marathon. My first run, on Sunday, wthout meat and sugar was terrible. I ran out of energy very quickly. I had to adjust what and how much I was eating. I ran 5 treadmill miles on Wednesday and felt great the whole run. Another thing I have noticed is my awesometastic abs. They are looking mighty lovely without the meat and sugar. I might even post a pic at the end of February!!!