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!!!

Volunteer Opportunities with We Run This City Youth Marathon Program!!!

 I am very excited about an upcoming opportunity to volunteer for the We Run This City Youth Marathon Program. This program offers youth from the Cleveland Municipal School District the opportunity to participate in the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon.  I first became familiar with this program when I ran the 10K in 2010. I ran with a couple of my friends and we all noticed this group of children who ran, laughed and had fun together. We also noticed that they were great competitors.  I later met Tara Taylor, the director for this program through social media and found her to be a warm, genuine person. She truly cares about the children that she works with. She has a desire to teach these children lessons that will transform them into runners and even greater humans. She and her staff work hard to teach life skills and reinforce positive values that are taught at home.  They are currently preparing for this year’s Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon and they are looking for volunteers. Volunteer opportunities include cheering, working at registration tables, running with the students and many, many more. If you are interested in assisting, your help would be greatly appreciated!!! For more information feel free to contact Sheena Tsai at sxt278@case.edu.  

From frozen to fresh in a matter of days...

The most awesome fridge ever!!

     Prior to last year I was a believer in buying in bulk. I frequented our local BJs about twice a month. I kept our freezer stocked with meats, fruits, veggies and frozen snacks. I decided that I wanted to stop consuming frozen foods in such high quantities. I knew that eating healthier would translate to awesometastic abs and improved health and ultimately improved running times. The change was difficult due to a lack of space in my refrigerator. I own a deep freeze and almost half of the refrigerator space was a freezer. It was so much easier to buy frozen! I decided to buy a refrigerator with no freezer.  I wanted  to have more space for fresh foods. I searched for a couple of months for the perfect refrigerator. I kept finding them with wire shelves and I wanted glass shelves. I finally found a Frigidaire brand refrigerator with glass shelves and crisper drawers. I bought the refrigerator but had to wait a couple weeks for it to arrive. In the  meantime, we used up all the foods in the upstairs freezer. When the new fridge arrived, there was so much room in it!!! We immediately went shopping for fresh meats, veggies and fruits. We have not purchased any frozen pizzas, pizza rolls, meat or vegetables since that time. We still have a deep freezer but have not filled it like we used to do. There have been no Market Day purchases and no frozen food hauls from BJs or GFS. At this point, the only foods in our deep freezer are frozen fish and frozen fruits for smoothies. 

     I made other changes that were not related to the fridge. During previous school years, I bought snacks galore for the Joes lunches. These snacks included but were not limited to yogurt, granola bars, applesauce in cups, chips, juices or sports drinks, packaged crackers and fruit snacks. Despite my many attempts to make the snacks last for a specified amount of time, the biggest Joe managed to scarf them down in a matter of days and this would lead to arguments and me pulling my hair out. The snack that pushed me over the edge was a box of 48 granola bars. Big Joe managed to demolish this box in 2 days. I was livid!!!! I decided that this school year would be different. I have been paying for lunches at the beginning of the month and buying fruits and vegetables for snacks at home. I still buy pretzels in bulk and the littlest Joe is a baking sensation so there are always some baked goodies around. I also have less stress about disappearing lunch snacks!!!

     The last change that we have made is meal planning. I experimented with it a couple of months ago and it has stuck. The difference now is that The Joes are more involved in the plan. The littlest Joe controls our kitchen calendar because she has the neatest handwriting. She also plans out meals on our calendar. She usually does it when we are all around and she accepts input from everyone. The biggest Joe is focused on gaining weight for football so he wants protein, protein and more protein. His suggestions are all chicken, tuna, eggs etc. The littlest Joe is rather bossy though, so, she makes a lot of decisions about what we will be eating.  When the meals are planned, we plan according to what we want to eat AND what each of us wants to cook. It seems to be working well. The littlest Joe cooks a lot. The biggest Joe likes for us to cook for him. Sharing the cooking responsibilities is one thing we need to work on.  I buy fresh groceries according to our weekly menu and waste very little food with this plan. I am very pleased that we are taking big steps towards eating clean and being healthier people. I am also excited that the Joes understand that what they put into their bodies effects their performances as athletes.

A new year of running

Happy New Year!! I am very excited to announce that I have been chosen again to be an official blogger for the Cleveland Rite Aid Marathon. I ran the 10K last year and decided this year to challenge myself and run the half. I ran my first half in 2012. A friend of mine (Nikaeda, the running diva)  told me about an inexpensive half in Youngstown and it seemed like a good idea to sign up. I ran the Mill Creek Classic in Youngstown, Ohio. If you have ever run this, you know that this is a ridiculously difficult race. No one warned me. My only goal for this race was to not walk. I wanted to be able to say that I RAN a half and mean it. I ran with a partner and we completed the race in 2 hours and 48 minutes. I am so proud to say that I did not walk a step. I would like to run the Rite Aid Cleveland Half Marathon in May. My goals for that race are to not walk and to finish with a better time. So far, a few of my friends have elected to run in concrete sneakers alongside me. The infamous cousin J will be joining me for his first half.  My friend Rebecca will also be running her first half. My friend Michele told me that she would like to run the full. She is a half fanatic and has already run one full.  The last time I trained for a half I used this training plan. It seemed to work pretty well and I increased my mileage slowly and felt confident with the distance. Are you interested in challenging yourself? Are you a slower runner? Are you interested in Running in Concrete Sneakers with us? Let me know. I would love for us to be able to encourage each other! You'll also get a snazzy little tee!! Check it out!!! The Joes will also be sporting these when they complete the 5K!

                                          

Next year, things are locking up...

     Have you ever thought to Google "beautiful women"? You should try it. Chances are the women that appear don't really look like you or your daughters. I only looked through the first 10 pages. There were very few women of color. The women of color that were pictured all had straight hair. There were no heavy, thick, curvy (whatever word you like) women. A woman of color with natural hair did not appear until page six. The first few pages display scantily clad women in underwear or swimwear. Google doesn't define beauty but it is a reflection of what society values in women.

     For the past few years, I have been on a  mission to redefine beauty for my daughter. I want her to see that she is beautiful even if she can't see herself in Google images definition of beauty. I also want my son to appreciate the natural beauty in all women.  I embraced my natural hair, I work out and embrace my curves and I started eating more clean  foods to maintain my health. There was something lacking for me. For years (probably about 10) I have been talking about locking my hair. I never did for 1 million and 1 reasons. I was never ready for the commitment. I love my hair. I love the versatility of my  hair. I loved my afro. I loved it twisted. I loved it straight. I loved it crazy.There were also so many negative opinions about locs from people in my life. I wouldn't look professional. My locs would smell. I would not be attractive with them.

               Afro                                            Straight                                                Twist-Out

  

     I finally decided that I was ready for the commitment. I also decided that I did not care about any one else's opinion. I made an appointment and prepared myself for a few months of awkward hair. I got my hair interlocked instead of twisted because I wanted to make sure that my hair didn't unravel when I exercise. I went to Donella at the Salon Lofts in Shaker Ohio. I am very happy with my hair. In fact, I can honestly say I love my hair. It was already cut in a bob so the locs looked semi-cute after they were done. The hair in the back that was shaved was not long enough to interlock. When it grows out, we will interlock those.  When I left the shop, I teared up a little. I felt free. And happy with my choice.Who knew that such a small change would impact me in such a major way?

          Day One                                            Day Two                                     Day Three