Hi all! Yes, this makes two posts in two days. It must be a new record :) Today I'm linking up with OliveToRun and completing this fun running survey! I love these so much so if you ever come across any, send them my way!

#1. Would you rather run in a thunderstorm or a snowstorm? 
A snowstorm, although I'm not a big fan of running in the cold yet. I prefer to snuggle up and watch a movie during a thunderstorm.
#2. Would you rather breathe through your nose or breathe through your mouth?
I'm pretty sure I do both but I prefer through my nose because my mouth gets dry. Breathing through my nose also calms me down and keeps me at the correct pace.

#3. Would you rather do 100 squats or 100 crunches? [Now take a break and go do them. ;)] 
I could do squats for daysssss! Crunches don't do anything for me - I already hate working my abs directly so crunches are usually a no-go for me.

#4. Would you rather have a baked good for dessert or an extra serving of your favorite entree?
Probably another serving of the entree. I certainly love sweets but I'd much rather have something savory, salty, crunchy, etc. I love comfort foods like BBQ, meatloaf, pizza, etc. with yummy sides like mashed potatoes. I could probably live without cake and cookies for the rest of my life.

#5. Would you rather run on a treadmill for an hour or run around the same street block for an hour? 
I'd rather run outside, even if the surroundings are less scenic. I HATE the treadmill. I get so bored and I don't think it mimics true running conditions. I've started only using it for incline walking and sprints during my lifting workouts.

#6. Would you rather have a headache during a run or a side stitch?
Headache - I can fix that with a little OMM. (Well, I could probably work on the side stitch too) but side stitches are by far more painful for me.

#7. Would you rather have a rest day on a work day or a day off? I kind of neutral about this but I end up taking a rest day on weekends when I'm busy or go home for the weekend. I like breaking up going to class & studying with a workout just to get out all the pent up energy. (I try to do this but usually I'm pretty hungry by 5pm).

#8. Would you rather be a race director or a race volunteer? I really enjoy volunteering at races! Before I started running, I volunteered at quite a few races including the (half) marathon I'll be running in May. For cheerleading in high school, we would go downtown for the Flying Pig Marathon to cheer on the runners. I really enjoyed it (and every year after I said I would run it one day)! Now hopefully they will be cheering for me :)

#9. Would you rather spend your money on running gadgets [HRM, GPS watch, Headphones] or running shoes? Running shoes! I do want a GPS eventually but I love running shoes. There are so many crazy colors and styles! Thankfully I can usually find size 13s if I order through zappos or amazon. My favorites are the Ascics Gel Blur!

#10. Would you rather run in a relay or do the run portion of a distance triathlon? I want to do both one day! I think both would be fun because I could do it with friends. So far I haven't really had anyone to run with at some of my races so running with friends would be more motivating and enjoyable!

Happy Thursday!  I don't think I would know what day it is unless I was blogging so thank you for keeping me sane, blog world.

I signed up for TWO Diet Bets last night. I was feeling ambitious.  If I'm gonna lose weight, I might as well make some money off of it!  The last time I did one, I got super close to the 4% but didn't end up winning. I need to win so I can put the money towards my massage fund - I want to have a mini relaxation day before school starts.

If anyone is interested, here are the two bets.  I'd love to see some fellow bloggers on there!  Email me or comment here if you decide to participate and we can cheer each other along :)

Do Life Diet Bet
Runtastic Diet Bet with Lunden

I also decided to try something new to keep track of my fitness progress.  I'm using a modified Chalean Extreme fitness test (another thing I bought that I never finished...shopping addict & inconsistent aren't a good combination).  I plan on doing this every two weeks to see my progress.  I need to figure out an easy way to keep track...I think I can record this somehow on MyFitnessPal.

The one mile is self-explanatory.  For pushups, I did traditional "boy" pushups, not modified.  Situps were Crossfit Situps:

For squats, I'm trying to improve my form so I used this video and technique for the test.

For planks, do any plank you feel comfortable with and hold it as long as you can.  (I hate planks) For shoulder press & bicep curls, record the amount of weight you use for each and how many reps to failure.  The goal with these is not to  increase reps but to increase weight overtime.  You should be able to do no more than 10-15 reps at a time to failure, like you couldn't do another rep. Women should lift heavy...you won't bulk up!

For sit and reach, technically you need a box and ruler.  I just used a tape measure and put my feet at 12 inches.  Reaching past your toes is just a bonus.  

Here are my results!  We all have to start somewhere. I can't wait to see the progress.  June 6th will be the next check in.

Finally, in honor of Throwback Thursday and Prom season...My senior prom! 5 years ago. AHH 

 

The awkward prom pose

I need a spray tan...

Quick post here for Wednesday!  

I just weighed in and I was up +0.8 lbs, overall loss 8.2 lbs.  I wasn't surprised since I let things go last week eating wise and I didn't stick to my workouts.  Why? I caught the lazy bug. 

Can we talk about temptation for a bit?  I am a glorified child & adult babysitter  for 60 hours a week (48 with oldies & 12 with kids) which means I'm not home a lot.  First, what is it with elderly people and their desire to keep four types of ice cream, cakes, chips, cookies, and sugar sculptures in their house?  What's worse is they want to offer it to me multiple times a night despite the fact that I've told them I'm trying to eat healthier as I sit and munch on my celery sticks and pretend they are peanut brittle. Let's not even get started on the kids...they eat pretty healthy but they still love fruit snacks, pb&j, and the almighty Cheez-its. Homemade cookies are everywhere but don't mind me...I'm eating my enormous salad.  

Enter these babies: 

Look!  They are even "natural."  No, I didn't give in.  But I did eat some Lay's last night.  I couldn't take it anymore. I was starving at 3 am & that little bit of salt hit the spot.  So much for standing up to those cravings.  

Temptation is a tricky thing. I don't know whether it's better to indulge or to build up my "willpower."  It's something I'm trying to figure out.  Any advice?  How do you deal with temptations and cravings?  I realize these first few days are going to be the hardest - hopefully it will get better.  It's just really hard when you do decide to give in and end up feeling so crappy. Ugh.

Enough of the negative...I'm reenergized & doing MUCH better this week (handful of Lay's aside).  I even did an impromptu workout yesterday just because I had a little extra time to work with than usual.  It felt GREAT to move just because I wanted to instead of because I "had to." I'm super sore today (I really need to do a better job of stretching) but I'm determined to get a run & boot camp in today.

My workout from yesterday:

I started my watch too early - only a 30 min workout

 I did a 15 minute HIIT with Chalene on Turbofire.  In college, a few of my friends and I would do her Turbo Jam workouts in our sorority living room.  It was hilarious!  That's when I decided to buy TF but I never actually completed the whole program...consistency is an issue for me.  I don't really enjoy working out alone so it was kind of depressing to do the workouts in my room everyday. Whomp Whomp.  I also did the Summer Arms with the TIU girlies from their Beach Babe DVD!  

Here's to a better week!