#100SummerMiles, injuries (again) & good news for slow runners ... that'd be me

So I have to say, I was thrilled to see the latest news on running...

A new, large study has found that even just a few minutes of jogging a day — no matter how slow — can significantly help your health.

& then they said this as well

the surprising finding in this large study was just how little running it took to see a benefit. Researchers found that the lowered death risk was similar across all types, from those who ran more than 150 minutes a week at a fast six-minute-mile pace to those who ran 50 minutes or less a week at 10 minutes per mile or slower. The authors concluded that just five or 10 minutes a day of running at any speed — even slower than six miles per hour (10 minutes per mile) — led to "substantial and attainable" affects to life expectancy.


I had to laugh when they said "slower" is about 10 minute miles... I'm going with the 'or slower' part of that statement.

This makes me feel good about running up & down my driveway to get a mile in.  I did that one time.  Tried for 30 days to get at least 1 mile in a day.  Looks like that's the way to go....

& today is the link up to the #100SummerMiles over at Mind of Kiwi

 

Trying to get in some miles this summer.
Walk, run, do what you gotta do to move... & if you hit 100 miles, awesome. If not, you moved some.

I've been doing this (this is week 2) but didn't document it the first week.  This week, I made sure to take some pics...

I even RAN for the first time in forever on this mile
... knee did decent...
but read below what's happened now...

Even doing #100SummerMiles during lunch & walking in skirts
...whatever works...

So it's been great getting in these miles.

& as I've mentioned, I've been doing the Nike Kinect Training.  It's been pretty neat feeling & seeing the difference in my body.  I am doing more push ups, my squats are getting deeper.  Feeling strong.

.... & then last night, on one of the moves where they have you jump from a squat, my knee popped & had this excruciating pain... I mean, the kind where I fell on the ground, held it & rocked & cried.

It was doing so good. 

I want to break my Nike Kinect disc into a million pieces.

I did walk last night (no pic) & my knee was aching, but dang it... I feel like I'm back to square one.  I had that little taste of running & feeling like I was going to get back there... & BAM. A few jumps & looks where I'm at...

Time is ticking closer to suck it up & go to the doc....

 

All about Love today ....

It was fun to put some of the things I hate yesterday.  Love when I feel like I'm not alone & get the "I'm totally with you on that one"

& some of you asked me how the 'no complaining' thing went?  Well, it lasted for about 2 minutes.

I'm not even joking.

I was at work & my boss called because Humana was canceling his policy.  It's my job to keep all invoices paid- & that was paid... so what was the problem?  Anyways, sit on a phone for 15 minutes with recordings from a health insurance company & then finally talk to someone who is clueless & see if you don't complain.

But what I did notice was how easy it is to complain about things. 

I started over again as soon as I got over the health insurance company bozo's & tried again... & I think I lasted another 10 minutes.

WOW... this is hard....

By the end of the day, I was VERY aware of the complaining & trying to reel it in.  & I think that is the point - to be aware of complaining.  I'm going to try again today & know I'm going to complain, but I'm going to see if I can complain less...

& in honor of all this, I'm changing my tune... I'm making a list of things I love.  Yesterday was the BLAH day... today is all about rainbows & butterflies... so here we go.  A much brighter list.

Things I love:

(& to be fair, I'm keeping people out of this or I'd have a top 50 before I even got to anything other then people in my life... so everyone I know?  It's a given I love you)

1. Doggie snuggles
2. Saturdays with no plans
3. The smell of burning leaves
4. Having my hair straightened at the salon
5. Payday

6. Fun surprises
7. McDonalds Iced Coffee
8. Reading on the porch when its raining
9. Clean sheets on a bed
10. My Kindle ... (I'd panic if I didn't have it with me)
11. Websites that show tv shows for free

12. Insulated cups
13. Nature Box Sriracha Cashews
14. Friendships that develop with blog friends
15. Laughing
16. Going to the movies & the theater being empty

17. Running shoes
18. When all the lights driving in downtown are in sync
19. Being in the office all by myself
20. Trying a new recipe that tastes delish
21. A perfect day in the 70's & sunny

22. Crossing a finish line in a race
23. ipods
24. Having personal conversations with the youth kiddos
25. anything Beauty & the Beast related (not counting the new TV show that is stupid)
26. My written in, torn pages Bible
27. Camera equipment
28. A clean house

& on this blog, WTF always stands for What the Fudge!
... or as Phil Dunphy says, "Why the face?"

29. yummy smelling candles
30. Old navy flip flops
31. Bullet Journaling (... I'm going to make a vlog on this soon)
32. Instagram
33. Eating outside on a beautiful day
34. Singing loudly with the radio

35. Riding with the windows down on a cool day
36. Halloween
37. Cadbury Eggs at Easter
38. My Nutribullet
39. Pearl earrings
40. Maxi skirts all year round

41. Looking through old pictures
42. Taking a day off work
43. Good comfy running shorts
44. Holding new babies
45. Game nights

46. when my cabinets are full & there are tons of food options
47. Target clearance
48. Women's Running magazine
49. laying in bed watching tv on a Saturday morning
50. Disney World

So what are some things that make you happy?

Haters gonna hate....

Anyone else seen these things going around Facebook?

No complaining...

Its funny because I saw it & thought, "I don't complain that much"... & then noticed how much I complain in a day... or an hour...

So I wanted to give it a try.  Not complaining.  But that doesn't mean I can't complain in my mind, right?  Because I'm still totally going to do that... but maybe not giving it a voice is going to make a difference.  We'll see.

We'll see if I can even do it 24 hours... doesn't that seem hard? 

Anyone else a complainer?

I know quiet a few... I won't name any names ;)

I like this

It's funny too because my adorable blog friend over at Mind of Kiwi just did a post on things she hates.  So in the spirit of getting out all my complaining before my 24 hours starts, I'm going to list some of the things I hate.... tell me if you agree... or if I'm just weird...

 

1. Restless sleep

2. Knee Injuries

3. Back pain

4. Cancer

5. Dishes in my sink

6. A dishwasher that needs to be emptied

7. When I don't have time to read

 

 

8. Bicep Tendonitis

9. No closet space

10. Unloading groceries

11. Two-faced people

12. Below freezing temperature days

13. Above 90 degree days

14. Tight pants

 

15. Drinking glasses with finger prints on them

16. Corn

17. Flying

18. Traffic

19. Car sickness

20. When there's not enough time in a day

21. Forgetting what I was going to say

 

 

22. Eyesight after 40

23. Metabolism after 40

24. Root canals

25. Dogs wanting you to love them when you're wearing black

26. Good hair days when you have no where to go

27. Rare days when I could sleep in, but the dogs think otherwise

28. Germs ... especially during cold/flu season

 

 

29. Clothes on the floor

30. Disgusting breakfast foods that shall not be named

31. When people think I'm joking about the disgusting breakfast food & continue to talk about it

32. Missing friends

33. When the DVR doesn't record what you set to record

34. Rudeness

 

 

35. That size small is always in abundance & on the clearance shelves.  Make more XL people!

36. The hunt for a new purse. (I'm picky)

37. Sagging pants on guys

 

 

 

38. Anxiety

39. The question, "How many kids do you have?"

40. PMS

41. Dirty public restrooms

42. Food touching

 

 

43. Animal Cruelty

44. Swimming in water where creatures live

45. Sand

46. Cleaning a counter or a room & 20 minutes later, the counter is covered & the room is trashed

47. Cell phone batteries that last 2 hours

 

 

48. Having to stop & get gas

49. Touching grass

50. That I haven't been to Disney World in 15 years

 

What about you? 

Before you stop complaining along with me (right?)

... what are some things you hate?

 

 

Ups & Downs

Where we look at how the weekend went

Well, this is 2 weeks without a work out vlog...

mainly because I was probably home just long enough to sleep this weekend.  No time for a vlog... but it would have been fun to make one while my latest bride was walking down the aisle :)

Let's look back at the weekend

UP // Survived my last wedding!! Survivor is a good thing

DOWN //  On my feet from 8 am until 10:30 pm

DOWN // Messed up my 10,000 step streak on Friday after 10 days!  DANG IT!

UP // Hit over 17,000 steps on Saturday.  That should make up for Friday - right?

UP // a fun bridal party.  When you have such a large one (it was a bridal party of 20 people) it can get out of hand. They were great though.  & only a handful of complainers.  All men.

UP // while they said it would feel like one of the hottest days of the year, I honestly didn't think it was that bad.  I also didn't have on a suit & tie & jacket

UP // my flash started having major issues right before the actual wedding. REALLY?  Then my 2nd flash started having issues. I don't know what the heck happened.  Thank you JESUS I had a 3rd on.

DOWN // I'm going to have to shell out money for new flashes... or new camera?  Please no.

UP // My assistant was back after having her baby.  It was her first day away from her sweet baby for that long of a time.  She was a super trooper. I would have been crying the whole day.  Look what being busy does - helps you forget things.

UP // This bride was STUNNING... her dress... goodness gracious.  I think I may have drooled over jealously over her body....

DOWN //....her body that was 20 years younger.  I'm old.

DOUBLE DOWN // Her parents were my age.... I'm older then I think.

UP // My photos I took of the couple 2 weeks earlier were up larger then life.  It made me proud to see them so large & looking beautiful.

DOWN // I literally only peed once the entire day!  That is so bad on your body.  But I only had one sugar cookie the whole day & about 5 cups of lemonade.  I only started drinking the lemonade about 5 & that was to make sure I didn't pass out when the bride walked down the aisle.  Someone suggested a camelback pack to wear on wedding days.  I wouldn't have time to pee if I wore that though.

DOWN // I was so dehydrated Sunday (day after wedding) - my lips are still feeling like I lived in a desert for 2 weeks.

UP // had a baby session on Sunday.  Sweet baby that slept the entire time.  Give me babies like that every baby session please.

DOWN // I'm tired of looking at my camera right now.

How I feel about my camera right now

UP // I don't have a session until 2 weeks.  Whew

DOWN // I only have about 2,500 pictures to go through now... my bicep tendon arm is already killing me.

UP/DOWN // Its going to be beautiful this week so the struggle of being outside walking or being in editing is going to be tough. I have no time to waste either on pictures.  It will totally be a struggle.

How was your weekend?

Friday Five: Goals

Today's topic is all about goals...

which it seems I am a failure at most goals...

but you keep making them so when you do hit them... JACKPOT!!!

So 5 goals I have for myself lately

1. Keep Steppin' it up!!!

I am now on day 10 of being over 10,000 steps.  I'm loving the challenge.  I do find myself every night marching in place when commercials come on.  Do you know you can get in about 500 steps during a normal commercial break!  SCORE!

This is NOT how I get extra steps in
... but it would be pretty cool if I did..

2. Lose Weight

Duh...

3.  Relax a little more

I am running like a crazed woman... CRAZED!  I have a wedding tomorrow.  A baby session Sunday, AFTER a youth camp meeting... oh yeah, I'm going to camp with a bunch of middle school kids... AND I have 2 photo sessions right after that... Oh yeah... add in a baby shower that family is begging me to come to.

I'm dying...

4.  More Fruits & Veggies

Goodness gracious - I slack so bad at this. I need to start smoothing-it-up again to slide some greens in there.  My body needs some photosynthesis happening.

5. Let it roll off my shoulders

I let others get to me so bad.  Whether it be comparison... or whether it be stupid people who just get on my nerves... or mean people who don't know what they're doing... I just need to take what people say with a grain of salt.  Take advice from Elsa & just... all together now... let it go!!!

 

What are some goals you're setting for yourself lately?

I am addicted....

I just realized I have an addiction...

No, its not to smoking.  Never had a cigarette even close to my mouth.

No, its not drinking.  I got slightly buzzy one time when I was in my 20's & that was enough for me to ever drink again.  I never have had more then a sip of beer in my life. Disgusting.

& no, its not to anything strange like "My Strange Addiction" on TLC...

Have you seen some of these things???

umm... that's cat fur she's eating...

It something that I realized while I'm reading a devotional called "Fit for my King"

I met the author, Sheri Shepherd at a women's conference & she was awesome. I really appreciated her because when we took our picture together, she made sure that the person taking the picture took it from above, not below, which makes a double chin effect.  Being a photographer, & her knowing this, I totally gave her props.  She is a former Miss America so girlfriend knows her angles.

Today's devotional said these words...

"I am a food addict.  The only thing I love doing more than talking is eating.  One of my greatest joys in life is food.  When I'm celebrating, I eat.  When I'm tired, I eat.  When I'm sad, I eat. When I'm anxious, I eat.  When I'm in pain, I eat.  I have spent years running to the refrigerator for refuge. And when I get hungry, my personality actually changes - from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde!"

I stopped & laughed actually because I had to check the cover & make sure this wasn't my diary.  Those words could come out of my mouth.  I am the same way. 

Every emotion?  Food comes to mind.

I totally want food when I'm stressed... when I'm happy... when EVERYTHING...

It was so eye opening to me to realize it was an addiction.

I have family members & friends who I've seen deal with other addictions & being someone who had never had a stronghold on me like they do, I've given advice.  How to walk away, how to deal with it...

& now, I need to look in the mirror.

Addiction is addiction, isn't it?

I like she suggests not bringing food into the home that tempts you.  That's a good step.

I need to find a way to get my emotional pull over food in check.  So when all those feels hit, I want something else besides food.

Addictions are struggles... I'm going to battle my own here...

Anyone else a confessed food addict?

Why its hard to see beauty {Hump Day Blog Hop}

I don't know if any of you have been tagged on Facebook or not on this "beautiful" thing.

The point is you are tagged by a friend & you are supposed to post 5 pictures of yourself where you find yourself beautiful. 

When I first got tagged, I was like, I can't do this.  I honestly thumbed through pictures & found absolutely nothing beautiful about myself.  I just felt sick to my stomach. 

 I saw others posting pictures & they all looked so beautiful in their pictures... & I just wanted to have something to post that I was proud of.

But then I read what most of them put on their pictures... "This was hard to do... " .... "I don't find myself beautiful BUT...." .... "I find beauty in myself when I'm around family"...

similar comments of people that you can tell they struggled with it as well.

So I took the plunge. 

I found some pictures & put them together. 

& it wasn't that I found myself "beautiful" in them. I look at them & see every flaw. 

Those crooked teeth.  That sideways smile.  The extra weight that I could get off.  The skin that is blotchy & freckled.

But I also see happiness

Marrying the love of my life
Making my half marathon PR
Getting to be a princess in little girls eyes
Enjoying the breeze from an ocean
Spending a day at a wedding where I got to dance in the mother of the groom dance in honor of my friend

Moments....full of beauty...

It was a challenge... & maybe now the challenge is to find more beauty in myself...