I Quit Sweets Cold Turkey

Miles today: 3.5
Miles this week: 3.5
Miles in 2010: the rest of the year + 3.5

Met Austin this morning at the Greek Church to run a few. Forgot that the path would be snowy, but we ran there anyway. We had some solid snow and solid ice patches, and then some completely clear patches. We were getting tired, though, dodging the crunchy parts, so we didn't run very far. Plus it was cold and windy.

The best part about the past two months...I know you're not going to believe this...but I gave up sweets. On Halloween, after eating as much candy from my niece's stash as possible, I decided that the next day, Monday, November 1st, would be a good day to give up sweets.


Gregg said it wasn't possible and that I shouldn't give up all sweets. It would be too much to quit cold turkey.


I disagreed. I knew I had to do it. I had to give up the sweets...all of them.

So on November 1st, I quit eating candy, cakes, cookies...anything that was sweet. And I made it my goal to get to Thanksgiving without a sweet. Then, if I made it to Thanksgiving, I'd be allowed to have sweets on just Thanksgiving Thursday, and then go back to no sweets.

Guess what?


I did it. I made it all the way to T-giving without a sweet. Then, after the Turkey Trot, I marched right into a little chocolate shop in Greensburg, bought some chocolate covered Oreos, strawberries, raspberries, and chocolate Oreo bark, and started my sweets day off right.

When I got home, I had only eaten some of the Oreo bark, so I shared my confections with the fam, and ate a chocolate covered Oreo (or two) throughout the day. After our big Thanksgiving extravaganza, I ate a piece of apple pie, and then said good-night and good-bye again to the sweets of the world.

Since then, I continued on my no-sweets trend into December, with Christmas Day being the only day I would be allowed sweets. I did have a minor mess-up one night at Mi Patron a few weeks ago (I forgot and bought a York peppermint patty by accident and ate it)...but other than that, haven't eaten any sweets. Pretty good, huh?

I'm proud of myself. It's the first time ever in my life I've been able to do it. And it's really really hard.

Kind of like training for a marathon...maybe I'll do one in 2011?!

Sarah's Baby Shower!

Miles today: 3.64

Miles this week: 25.3

Miles in 2010: 241.9

Today after work was Sarah's baby shower. Sarah and I taught 2nd grade together for two of the four years I was a teacher at Thomas Jefferson Elementary. She was there the whole time I was at TJES, but taught 3rd grade before. She was the best teaching partner anyone could ever ask for. I really miss teaching with her, but I had to leave teaching because I was pretty unhappy there.

I was pretty psyched for the shower because A: I love Sarah so much and am so excited for her and baby A. B: I love baby things and C: I couldn't wait to see everyone.

Ashley, a friend, and Emily, Sarah's sister, hosted the shower at Ashley's house. It was beautiful and fun and emotional (I think I cried twice just during the gift-opening)...

I bought Sarah some little sweet baby girl clothes and socks and towels, as well as a Bumbo seat. (see photo) Bumbos are made in South Africa and are very popular. They help your baby sit up as long as she holds her head up...so even before a baby is strong enough to sit on her own, she can sit in a Bumbo seat.

Anyway, we had a blast at the shower...including my personal favorite game, where we passed diapers with melted candy bars inside and had to guess which brown melted bar was in each. :)

Afterwards, I changed at Ashley's house and headed out for a run.

I'm going to go ahead and say now that I've become pretty accustomed to always having a bag of running clothes and my kicks with me at all times. It's kind of funny, but it also makes me feel very accomplished as a runner when I can just pull out my bag from the backseat and throw on clothes for a run. Is that strange? On top of that, I had a few errands to "run" and just happend to actually run to the places where I had to do errands. I love an "errand run."

Anyway, the Carters live at the far end of Riverside Drive near the James River, so I ran out of that area up to Rivermont, and down to the store. I had left my phone there in a hurry this morning at work, so I stopped by to pick it up.

Turned around at the store and then ran up to Rowland (across from the Cavalier) to stop by Sarah and Ryan's house to see the baby's nursery. They just finished painting her room pink, so I really wanted to see it. Everything looks gorgeous. I love baby stuff. I love all the pink ruffles and bows and squishy blankets that come with having a baby. I'm really excited for Sarah and Ryan to be parents. And I'm also excited that she'll be on maternity leave from the time she has baby A (she's due at the end of this month) until this summer.

My biggest new goal for after the baby comes: I will go to Sarah's house in the morning before work to help her out with her new little bundle so that we can spend time together like old times.

One of the hardest things about being on a different work/retail schedule is that I don't leave the store sometimes until 7:30pm. That means that most people are wrapping up and putting up their feet. I feel like I miss out on a little life and that's what's been hardest about not teaching and not seeing Sarah. I really want to make it a big goal to spend a lot of time with her in the coming months. Hopefully, it will involve taking walks with her, and maybe eventually runs (with a baby jogger, of course!).

Anyway, after stopping at Sarah's, I ran back to Ashley and Jimmy's house and headed home. I ran just over 3 miles, felt good, and enjoyed the gorgeous 50+ degree weather.

When I got home, I had a quick shower, and then Gregg and I headed out to Mi Patron (new Mexican restaurant in Boonsboro by Kroger shopping center) to meet my parents, brother-in-law, and niece. Ella loves Mexican. She calls her food there "meat and cheese" and she loves it.

We had a yummy dinner and then went to hang out with my family at my sister's house. Mom made chocolate peanut butter cupcakes for my birthday yesterday, so we had leftovers. Mmmmmm...they're topped wtih my Aunt Beth's famous Peanut Butter Icing. So so good.

Super day!

MY CHEATING CHOCOLATE HEART!

Miles today: 3.1

Miles this week: 8.9

Miles in 2010: 204.9

So about a week ago I told you that I was going to give up sweets for Lent. I celebrated my first Ash Wednesday with Gregg, and no sooner had I made my pledge to give up my ultimate nemesis, I cheated.

Yup...you got it. I'm going to be honest and tell you that just about everyday since last Wednesday, I've cheated on my Lenten promise. Now, I've had plenty of excuses, and many twists of what I really meant my Lenten sacrifice to be...but all twists and stretches aside, I just plain cheated.

Here's kind of how it went.

Wednesday, February 17: I ate a box of chocolate mint candies from Magnolia Foods...because they were in my purse from after Valentine's Day and I thought, "Well, I'll get rid of them now so I won't be tempted the rest of the time during Lent."

Thursday, February 18: I ate a piece of cake leftover from my birthday. It was in the fridge. I had to eat it. I told Gregg I'm changing my "giving up sweets" to "giving up candy."

Friday, February 19: Gregg and I went to Olive Garden for dinner with my birthday gift card. After our meal, I really wanted dessert...but I resisted (mostly just because Gregg said he was giving up sweets when I made my Lent decision, so he wouldn't eat dessert with me...and what girl wants to eat dessert by herself?!) and then had a big ole temptation slapped down in front of me when the check came...the ever-loved and always desired Andes mints! I mean, is that even fair?! So, I made the excuse that I had to eat it because of tradition and came up with something like: "oh, you're allowed to skip your Lent sacrifice on Fridays..." and ate not one, but two Andes mints. There goes the: "give up candy" part of the Lenten sacrifice. BAD ME.

Saturday, Februray 20: First, I ate a powdered sugar donut at Josh's race at Snowflex, then after dinner, Gregg and I both ate a piece of leftover birthday cake (see, he didn't keep up with the promise either!)

Sunday, February 21: After church at Holy Cross, there's always a big ginormous plate of donuts sitting on a table as you go out the door. Can I ever resist those? You guessed it: NO. Did I resist this Sunday? NO! When we got to Bethesda, ate our Benihana, and made our way back to the hotel, you would've thought I'd be so full and wouldn't need any sweets, but for some strange reason, all of that salty food made me want need have to have some mini Oreos from CVS. I ate them right before bed...and yes, I brushed my teeth.

Monday, February 22: I did not eat sweets all day on Monday...I even stopped in a funky bakery in Bethesda that makes glorious cupcakes that I really wanted to taste, but I resisted. I made it through lunch...no sweets. Dinner at Panera...no sweets...impressive, huh?

Tuesday, February 23: After dinner, Gregg got me a piece of birthday cake. I didn't say no.

Wednesday, February 24: I was very bad today. I ate a donut from 7-11. That's a sweet. I can't give up sweets. Then when I got home, Gregg and I finished the cake from my birthday.

So now, here we are, I made it through day #53 of running...but I can't make it through day #8 without a darn sweet to eat. WHAT IS MY PROBLEM?!

Part of it might just be that Ash Wednesday this year just happened to fall about a week before my period, and you know that pretty much meant that I couldn't possibly go without sweets in the pre-menstrual week...but at the same time...I feel like I've given up on a lot more than just my waistline. I can't follow my promise to God to give up something...to sacrifice for Him. So, I need some accountability I suppose...and I'm going to try again. We'll see how it goes this time.

On a lighter, happier note...tonight after our wedding sesh with Anne, Gregg and I ran at Lynchburg College. It was rainy and yucky when we started, but it ended up being not so bad. We ran a mile around the track, a mile on campus, and then another mile on the track...and I even pushed it in the last mile. Gregg got my splits (and all you fasties out there, don't laugh at these...PW!)...something like 2:03, 2:00, 1:57, 1:52...which made me happy because I wasn't even trying that hard. Fast as fast can be...watch out when I start doing speed work, huh? Just kidding. I'm not fast...never will be. But I do like getting better, that's for sure.

Ash Wednesday

Miles today: 3.0

Miles this week: 7.3

Miles in 2010: 177.1

I'm going to say that I had two firsts happen today and then I'm not going to really talk about much else.

My first first is that I went to my first Ash Wednesday service at Holy Cross today. I didn't grow up Catholic, so back home in my church we didn't get ashes on our forehead in honor of Ash Wednesday.

Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent and occurs 46 days before Easter. Usually, people who celebrate Lent give up something during the 40 day "fast" between Ash Wednesday and Easter. I haven't always done this, but I think it's a good time to commit to something as a spiritual and personal sacrifice. So, with that, I'm giving up sweets for Lent. (yes, that includes cupcakes from Magnolia) 

I think it's a really cool tradition, reminder, and symbol. The ashes are from the burnt palms from last year's Palm Sunday. Church members are encouraged to bring in their palms (which they save for a year!) and then they burn the palms and use the ashes for the service.

The symbol of the ash is partly to remind us that we came from dust and we will return to dust (Genesis 3:19)...that our bodies are not what connect us to God, but rather our spirits. The ashes also serve as a sign of repentance by that who recieves them. I like that symbol and reminder.

Gregg and I sat next to my friend, Sarah, during the service. I LOVE Sarah so much and used to teach with her...but don't hardly get to see her anymore. She's expecting a little girl on March 30th! We sang Servant Song, one of Sarah's favorite hymns, which always makes me happy to hear. I think we may use that hymn in our wedding like she and Ryan did.

I used to wonder why people had a dirty mark on their foreheads on this day, but now I have a dirty mark and I've learned this tradition.

My second first is that tonight when I ran after church, I did the Boxwood loop, and I ran it under 28 minutes for the first time...which means I bested my pace by 30 seconds per mile since I ran the loop last (which was last Tuesday, February 9th). I think that's a pretty good improvement in a week and it was windy and cold out tonight. I ran 3 miles and felt great.