My First Stitch Fix!

I was so excited to get my first box in the mail on Tuesday from Stitch Fix.

It's a really cool premise - you fill out a questionnaire with what types/styles of clothing you like, preferences for what they send you, and rate pictures of outfits based on whether you love/hate them. Then, you pick a date, and they send you 5 items!

I was excited to get mine this week, when I had requested, since I could get some new pieces possibly for the summer, perhaps to wear to my 5-year college reunion which is coming up this weekend.

When I opened the package, I first took everything out and looked it all over. I was happy to see some cute pieces... however, I wasn't quite as impressed with the prices. I feel like for what they ask for a lot of the pieces, I could find something equivalent for much cheaper at TJMaxx. I mean... everything was definitely cute and my style, I'll give them that. But - I feel like it was all stuff that I might pick for myself. (For cheaper.) Maybe I should have filled out my questionnaire differently, that I wanted styles that were more different from things that I already have.

Then again, A reminded me - the point of all this is that you DON'T have to go to TJMaxx in order to get these things, it's the convenience of having cute things delivered straight to you. So there's that. It was definitely really fun to have that box with a surprise in the mail!

It was still super fun to get the package and new surprises in the mail, that's for sure. I decided to look everything over and give it a try. Since I don't have a full-length mirror, I requested that my trusty assistant (boyfriend) take some pics so I could see how it all looked.

The first pieces I tried on were a long gold circle pendant, and dark wash skinny jeans. The Stitch Fix "stylist" told me that she saw similar necklaces on my Pinterest - so true. And the jeans, although basic, are a classic piece and go with everything.

The jeans just fit like a dream. I didn't want to love them, since they were the most expensive piece I was sent ($88) - but I totally loved them. A liked that they were tight. They also have a little stretch, which would be nice for work and moving around a lot with the kiddos there. I also loved the necklace, another piece that can go with a lot, and would look really cute layered.



The next piece that I tried on was a split neck patterned top. I loved the style and the pattern, and could wear it to work or with shorts on the weekends. However, I waffled back and forth on whether to keep it or not due to the price - $65.

I also was sent another top, a sheer polka dot blue blouse, with a cami that goes underneath. I loved the style, but felt that it was a little too short on me. Also, for the price ($68) it was hard to justify keeping it.

Finally, they sent a dress. It wasn't my favorite style, with stripes, but I thought it could be cute on. It fit really well, but when I saw the pictures of myself, I felt like it gave me the illusion of a little belly where I don't really have one. I did like the view from the side. At $54, it was the cheapest piece that they sent me, but I didn't love it.

So, all in all, I ended up keeping the jeans and the necklace. The blouses I just couldn't justify for the amount that they wanted for them, but it was so much fun getting them and trying them on. I was amazed that everything fit, and loved the personal styling aspect of getting my "Fix" in the mail. :)


If you want to try it, use my link, and I can get $25 credit! Get yo fix here.

Not that I've given it the most rousing recommendation or anything... but it was definitely very fun. I *may* try it again!


What do you think?
Would you have kept the same pieces that I did?
Gonna try it? :)

Women's Fitness Festival 2014, or Why I am Never Again Running a Half Marathon in Sacramento in the Summer

This past weekend, I did my first half marathon in which I was NOT trying to get a PR or achieve a certain goal. My goal was to run the 13.1 and consider it part of my training for the San Francisco Half Marathon at the end of July. Since I struggled so hard with my long run last week, I was nervous about how I would do, but excited to complete another race. My mom, sister and I did the Women's Fitness Festival 5k last year and had a great time, so mom and I signed up again this year - she did the 5k, and I did the (inaugural!) half marathon.

Since this was the first year the half marathon was being offered, I was not sure how many ladies would be signed up, or how different things would be from the 5k setup from last year. We headed to the state capitol downtown, and saw all of the vendor and sponsor booths being set up. The whole festival is put on by Kaiser Permanente, and they had all sorts of fun stuff set up - prizes, body composition testing, sports medicine, nutrition, and more.

Nice Scenery!

What I did notice right away was that it was already warm. I wore a sweat jacket, but I was already comfortable in my tank - yikes. Mom and I looked around a bit, found a spot to meet up afterwards, and then I said goodbye and jogged up and down the street a couple times to warm up. There were a lot of women ready to go for the half marathon - turns out it was over 1,000! There were a few in costumes or matching outfits with friends, which was cute. The best part was definitely the pacers - although men are not allowed to run in the Women's Fitness Festival, the pacers are men dressed in women's running clothing and wearing wigs. Hilarious!

We were off right on time at 7:15, and I started going at a comfortable pace of around 10:15/mile for the first few miles. A lot of the course was in the shade, which was awesome. There were water stations at miles 1 and 3, which was pretty comfortable.

By around mile 4-5, I definitely noticed that things were heating up. I could feel myself start to slow down, and was wishing for water almost immediately after leaving mile 3. I hate carrying water with me in a race - I figure there should be enough stations throughout the race course for what you pay for these things, but in this case, with the heat, I should have brought some with me. There were only stations every 3 miles for the rest of the race: miles 6, 9, and 12. I brought some Clif Shot Blocks with me too, which definitely helped keep me going.

I told myself to just keep running between the water stations at Miles 6 and 9. It was awesome that some families that were watching out on their front lawns had hoses and were spraying us as we went by. It felt great! However, I definitely wished that I could take the hose and spray the water directly into my mouth!

I was definitely feeling super slow by Mile 9. I (finally) got more water, and slowed to a walk through the water station so that I could drink it all and not spill. It was tough to get going again after that, but I did. At that point, I was definitely going 11:00/mile or slower, but I made myself keep pushing through.

Finally, at mile 11, I tried to focus on intervals rather than how hot I was and how much I wanted water. I made myself run my regular 10:00/mile pace one block, then run the slow pace the next. That helped me finally get to the next water station at Mile 12! It was actually right after Mile 12, and I was running towards it like, GIVE IT TO ME NOW. I walked through that one and took my time having water there as well.

The last mile was SO hard. I was crawling pace-wise, and sweating all over the place. I was so excited when I made it to the home stretch - hearing all the people cheering gave me a little mental boost. My mom made friends with a group of ladies there to cheer on Kaia runners, and they all cheered for me as I went by. Stepping over that finish line, and grabbing my medal and WATER, felt amazing!

I was so proud of myself for finishing, and doing the best I could throughout! I think next year, if the heat is the same, I will probably plan on doing the 5k again. It's a great event, but don't know if I want to do 13.1 on a day with a high of 106 again. Yikes!


My official results were:

Time: 2:20:34
Pace: 10:45/mile
Place: 355/1143
Age Group Place: 54/141

My mom finished the 5k in 35:09! Yay mom!


I felt awesome that I ran the whole way, and finished another half. I think this will make me much more confident for the rest of my training for the San Francisco Half!

Mom and I hit the free Asics photo booth on our way out:

I didn't feel like eating a ton when finished - I had some banana and a few bites of a Luna Protein bar (they gave out lemon flavor... I thought it had a funky aftertaste and I much prefer the chocolate ones!). Instead, Anne and I got lunch at Jack's Urban Eats - I had Chinese Chicken Salad and Mac n' Cheese. YUM.

It's the last week of school here - happy (almost) summer!

On Walking

So my mom, sister, and I are planning to do this fitness festival 5k/Half Marathon next weekend in Sacramento, which I'm really excited about! I waffled back and forth between signing up for the 5k, and signing up for the half. I ended up signing up for the half, and I'm going to treat it as part of my training for the San Francisco Half in July.

Since I signed up for the half, my mom and sister are both doing the 5k, and my mom e-mailed me since she's feeling the pressure to run the entire 5k. "I don't like running!" she said. "I like running, then walking, then running."

So, I said, do that! There's not any pressure to run the entire thing. You shouldn't do something that you don't enjoy!

And now, I'm trying to take my own advice.

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Since I signed up for the half marathon next week, I have started to increase mileage throughout the week. My friend that I do track workouts with and I have started increasing our reps and intervals, and I've started to bring up my mileage of runs during the week. I also started increasing the length of my long runs. Two weeks ago, I did about 8, last week was 10, and this week, I thought, maybe I should go for 12!

In retrospect, that's way too fast for me to up my mileage that much, but we'll get there.

I also got an annoying cold this week. I felt it coming on Tuesday, and ended up taking a sick day on Friday to rest. I've continued to work out throughout my cold though - I just don't feel like myself when I don't work out at all! I know I should take it easy. A yelled at me (via text message) when I was going to go to an abs class at my gym on Friday, and told me to rest. (I ended up at the gym later in the day anyway... oops. I mean, it was an easy workout.) And even though I didn't feel 100% yesterdat, I decided to run anyway. And try for 12.

Now that I read that, I'm like, okay. Why did I try and do this??

Anyway, I did.

Mile 1 was hard. My shoulder started cramping a bit, I was already feeling a bit of a side stitch... I should have been a little more in tune with my body. By the time I got out on the trail 5 miles, I desperately wanted to turn back. I would have been okay with 10 or 11 miles. But no, I told myself, keep running!

And then by 7.5 miles in, I was done. Congested and snotty, breathing too heavily, and with tired legs, I kept going back and forth. "Should I walk? No, if I walk, I'm going to keep wanting to walk and not run. You don't walk, ever! But I want to waaaaalk. Can I blow my nose yet?"

Ugh. And I walked.

I ended up doing intervals: run .1, walk .4, and then walk .15, run .35. I don't think I could have finished the 12 miles without doing those intervals. My body was just not having it. And although I know it's amazing to do 12 miles at all, part of me feels guilty, or something, for walking. I've never given up and walked before in a long run. I guess that's what it is - I feel like I gave up. And I feel like the reasons I've given for walking (being sick, increasing mileage too fast, body generally not feeling good) are excuses. I mean, I ran a half marathon PR while getting over a cold, so why not now?

Then, I think about it and try to take my own advice.

The reasons I didn't run the entire 12 miles was not because I didn't have the mental strength to. I have done it before, and I will do it again! It's because physically, I just couldn't. I know now that I need to give myself time to work back up to a half marathon distance, and to forgive myself if I have to walk or go a little slower sometimes. Yes, I had a cold when I ran a half marathon before, but your body responds to each virus or whatever illness differently - and this one just happens to be a little rougher.

For my half/training run next week, I'm going to try wholeheartedly to take my own advice! It's really important for me to keep enjoying my running - I do it because I love it. Not all the time, but I want to keep making sure it's something that brings me happiness :)


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Now on a totally different note, food/eating has been great the past few weeks. I'm really feeling better with cutting out a lot of sugar from my diet - I'm less tired during the day, and I'm loving trying new recipes involving fruits, vegetables, and whole foods in general.

One thing I've been obsessed with recently is Beets. YUM. I've been making them this way, marinated with fresh orange juice and zest, and it is SO good.

I also made a trip to the farmer's market this morning, and went a little crazy with the fruits and veggies. But hey, could be worse! Believe it or not, I bought all of the fruits pictured below! (Well, not all of them... but some of each!)

Happy June (can you believe that?!)! I'm excited for the LAST day of school next week, and Summer to start!


xoxo
S

Finishing Two Weeks with No Sugar

Well, I did it! Kind of. I managed to eat without added sugar completely for 12 days, then I was out of town and not eating at home much this past weekend, so I wasn't completely sure about whether or not I ate added sugar (in fact, I'm pretty sure I did). And then yesterday, I may have had a few bites of Andrew's milkshake, and a lollipop. So, you know, challenge mostly complete.

Here are some main points I've gotten out of this though:



1. EVERYTHING has added sugar or sweetener.

Seriously. Having more of an awareness of eating less added sugar has made me realize how many things that I don't normally think about that have added sugar do have it. I knew things like tomato sauce and frozen dinners often had added sugars, but some things I was genuinely surprised about. Sliced turkey breast for one - brown sugar or cane syrup! Gah. And chicken sausage! Sugar. So lame.




2. I do need to cut out artificial sweeteners.

Yep. Bye, diet coke, powdered Crystal Light packets, and sugar-free jell-o and pudding. I'm really realizing that by eating these things, I'm driving my own craving for sweets. Now that I've cut those things out, I feel a lot healthier and am already craving sweet things less... although I am still craving them. I'm happy with using fruit-sweetened waters that I make, seltzer, iced tea, and coffee for "special" drinks.



3. I need to make rules for myself.

I've found that over the past few weeks, it's much easier to say "no" than to constantly contemplate whether to eat something or not. So for me, I think in the long run I want to make some rules for myself. I've realized that when I find something that works for me, not that is part of some other diet or even Intuitive Eating (which I think has some great principles, but when I look at that system as a whole, I still feel that I'm following someone else's plan), that I'm more successful.

I've realized that a lifestyle with much less added sugar really does work for me. I'm eating more whole foods and less processed crap. I'm going to try to continue this, but to give myself a little flexibility to have some treats here and there, too. I'm hoping with some more concrete rules, like one dessert item per week, I'll be able to still enjoy desserts but limit the amount of grief I can cause myself mentally about whether to eat something or not!





As you guys know, I've tried to figure out over the last year something that will work for me, so we'll see how this goes! If you want to know any more about my "rules" that I'm making for myself, let me know, but I don't want to post everything on here. These are going to be something that I want to abide by, but don't think I should put upon anyone else. But I'm happy to talk with any of you about this :)


Happy Monday everyone, I hope you all have an amazing week!

Sugar-free Days 5-7

You guys! I've made it ONE WEEK without any artificial or real sugar! Amazing.


Day 5 - Friday May 16th

It is definitely a fight with myself after I finish lunch each day. As I'm taking that last bite of lunch, my brain just goes to that craving for something sweet, and I know I want it. Even gum. SOMETHING sweet.

I have caught myself reaching for gum at least 4 times today, just as that substitute for something sweet, I think. If I keep having gum (or sugar-free jello, or diet coke, or other fake-sugary things), even as a place-filler for desserts, it's not going to help the problem. I'm starting to see why they say artificial sweeteners can be AS bad for you as real sugar - it satisfies that sugar craving, while not totally satisfying it, and makes you want to go back for more and more sweets. I really feel like I'm in the process of breaking that cycle now, though.

Progress!

My therapist told me it takes 90 days to break a habit. Having a little treat, even something tiny, after I eat lunch and dinner, is such a habit for me that I think my body knows what it wants before my brain even does! Breaking this habit is going to be tough, that's for sure - since sometimes, or often times, that one little sweet for dessert perpetuates the need for more sweets! For now, I'm sticking with it, and desserts will be had with much less frequency.

Sigh.

9:00pm

I made fro yo! Without ANY sugar or sweetener. Nothing. And it was DELICIOUS! My first sugar-free dessert was a total success.

Since it was eyeballed, I don't have an exact recipe. But more or less, here's what I did:

3/4 frozen banana
3-4 frozen strawberries
~1/3c nonfat greek yogurt
~1 Tbsp almond butter (the kind that is just made with raw almonds)

Put in Cuisinart. Mix. Voila!

(This is the only pic I got before I ate all of it. YUM. I know the color looks weirdly pinkish brown but that's the lighting... it's really just pink!)

I may try the same thing with greek yogurt, banana, a larger quantity of almond butter, and some cocoa powder for a chocolate peanut butter kind of thing!


Day 6 - Saturday May 17th

I feel like I'm starting to break the dessert habit. Over at A's house today, I had dinner, and didn't feel the need to scrounge around his kitchen looking for something for dessert. So that was nice! Even though I said I'd allow myself dessert on the weekends, the opportunity didn't come up today, and I didn't feel like I needed it! PROGRESS.

I also made a delicious brunch after a long run:

Avo Egg, Sweet Potato/Bell Pepper Hash, Fruit Salad with Part-Skim Ricotta, Vegetarian Refried Beans


Day 7 - Sunday May 18th

Today was a good day. My choir had a concert, and it went well! My mom, sister, brother, and family friend came for lunch, and we went to LYFE kitchen, which I wrote about previously here!

They went to CREAM (another favorite) to get some gluten-free treats... and amazingly, I just stuck with my abstinence from sugar plan, and didn't have anything. No arguing with myself about it. It's really nice to not have to deal with that whole dialogue, honestly - it's much easier to just say no to the sugar.

As I have to figure out how, after these two sugar-free weeks, I'm going to do things, I've discovered this week that I might need some solid rules for myself that I can follow, that are not up for compromise. It will make it much less exhausting for me to say, for instance, I can have dessert twice per week - one dessert, not multiple sugary/snacky items - rather than debating with myself for whatever amount of time about whether that dessert I want fits in my plan or not. I'm coming up with some rules that are mine, not part of some diet that someone else devised, but just mine that I can follow, that will work for me. After this, I think that's what I'm going to need!

Sugar-free Days 3 and 4

Day 3 (Wednesday 5/14)

I had a headache from mid-morning until mid-afternoon - quite possibly from staring at a computer screen, as I had several meetings throughout the morning, but also perhaps from sugar withdrawal? I'm not sure exactly what my body will feel as I get off sugar, but I'm sure it's not going to be entirely pleasant. A giant iced coffee with 2% milk got me through my afternoon (of more meetings).

I appreciated for our Special Education staff end of the year meeting and party this afternoon, there were quite a few fruit options for snacks, as well as cake. I didn't feel deprived at all skipping the cake... but it was plain chocolate/vanilla cake with whipped frosting, which I'm not a huge fan of in the first place. If this was chocolate chip cookies, it may have been a different story. I had brought a homemade "trail mix" of almonds and raisins just in case there weren't any good options available, but I was happy to supplement with a tangerine and some strawberries.

Finally, I went to Whole Paycheck Foods last night to pick up some more staples to help get me through the week. I got some plain 0% greek yogurt and put together overnight oats for the morning (oats, nonfat greek yogurt, almond butter, almond milk, chia seeds, and 1/2 chopped banana to add a little sweetness). I also picked up some more fresh fruit, dates, and dried mango to bring a little more natural sweetness into my diet over the next couple weeks!



Day 4 (Thursday 5/15)

The overnight oats I made last night were delicious! Definitely not as sweet as I'm used to, as I usually add some stevia in the mix, and top with some maple syrup or honey. However, I did put some chopped walnuts and a generous topping of raspberries and blueberries on top, and ended up with an awesome, filling breakfast. I wonder if I'll start getting used to things being less sweet as I continue this challenge, and start to crave that super sweet taste less and less.

Update, 3:00pm: EVERY TIME I PASS A MCDONALDS I WANT DIET SWEET TEA I WANT IT DAMN YOU MCDONALDS *shakes fist*.

Realizing how much I really crave that artificial sweetener, not just sugar, is kind of alarming. It's just that need for something sweet, ya hear?

Oh Geez

I haven't been very good about writing here recently, have I? Sheesh.

(thx lizlemongifs.tumblr.com)

Blerg.

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Well, in food world, I've continued to struggle with my love/hate relationship with sugar. (Surprise!) It's just that the boundary between not wanting to deprive myself and not wanting to go overboard seems to shift quite a bit. In the past two weeks or so, I've seen the number of treats I'm eating creep up, which came to a head over the last weekend when my family and I headed to Nashville to see my sister graduate from Law School (Congrats, girlllll). But many desserts were had.

I mean, they were good desserts.

And for the record, the ice cream was from Jeni's, and ABSOLUTELY AMAZING.

But as I've said before, for me, desserts tend to propagate more desserts. When I allow myself to have something, this internal dialogue goes on: "Like, okay, I might feel deprived if I don't have one. I'll have one. Oh, now I want another one. No, you shouldn't. Well, maybe I'll feel okay if I have two. Two is not too bad, that's a good amount. Oh, those were good. But you can have more anytime you want, you're not depriving yourself. But it was good! So maybe just one more is not bad. No. We're not having more now. We're not going to have any more. Not today. You need to not eat those. Ugh, those candies are going to stare at me from the table. Mmm, sugar. Yum."

Do you see how that dialogue wold get exhausting?

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So I'm off sugar, all forms of sugar - including agave, maple, honey, raw honey, brown rice syrup, stevia, what you will - for two weeks. That started Monday. No sugar, and (GASP) NO ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS EITHER. No sugar even in things in any form.

It started with this challenge, and I've decided to do two weeks rather than 10 days though. I've never totally cut out sugar, not completely, and I feel like I need to get it out of my system completely and then see how I feel. I've always known that I have this mental and physical dependency on sugary things, so I feel like everything has just come to this point of cutting it out entirely. I feel like it's the right thing for me to do.

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Whelp, we're on day 3, and I haven't died yet. I will continue to update you as the two weeks go on!