They Say It's Your Birthday

How was your weekend? Mine was fabulous! It was my birthday weekend, ya know, part of my birthday month! It all started with a shortened work day on Friday. A few of us went out for a late lunch at The Gate House. I had a burger with brie and apple slices, yum! I also started the weekend with a blackberry pear cider, double yum!

We followed lunch with a short walking tour of some art around Village Gate.

New Paley sculpture at the MAG

One of the Wall Therapy murals from 2012.

After the walking tour I headed home and met Molly for a run on the canal. The weather was perfect, the leaves were colorful and I had a blast. When Rob got home he presented me with my birthday gifts.  Even though my birthday was still two days away, neither of us are patient when it comes to giving (or getting) gifts.

A new juicing cook book, sweaty band and a gift card
for a massage from my favorite place, lucky me!

My first wife card!!!

On Saturday I woke up and Rob offered to make me breakfast. Oatmeal, sweetened with blue agave nectar and raspberries.

For the past three years we have spent my birthday weekend at the Hunt Races in Geneseo tailgating and celebrating with Rob's work. It was super sunny and hot this year, we both got a bit of sunburn.

After the Hunt Races, Rob and I drove from Geneseo to Watkins Glen where my parents were camping with the Wright family. This is the third or fourth year they have participated in their Halloween weekend. Basically they decorate the two campsites like crazy and hand out candy to the camping trick-or-treaters. Of course I forgot to take pictures of how cool it looked, but it was sort of like this...

Actually this is way cooler!

After a great campfire and a cruddy nights sleep, thanks loud neighbors, I woke up to "Happy Birthday" being sung to me. We ate breakfast and shortly after Rob and I decided to go to Watkins Glen State Park to hike the gorge.

I thought this was as exciting as it got!
I was impressed right away.

I didn't know there was so much climbing
involved. 832 steps, woah.

Birthday girl and her husband.

These photos don't really capture
the grand scale of the gorge.

After we got to the end/top we took
a different trail back. There were
a lot less people and it was much
drier, and sunnier and prettier! 

After hiking the gorge we headed back to the campsite to enjoy a yummy homemade lunch with the folks and then we made our way back north to Fairport. The drive home was beautiful, Rob slept, I had the radio off, window down and just enjoyed the sunny, fall day. A great way to start my 32nd year.

I'll come clean, I'm on the juice.

Over the summer I fell in love with juice. Specific juice. I visited Breathe Yoga and Juice Bar in Pittsford and got hooked on some of their cold pressed juices. They also offer juice at their juice bar that you can have made to order while you wait. The cold pressed juices are prepared ahead of time, bottled and they last for 2-3 days. Even though they are pretty pricey (9-10 dollars for 16 oz.) I got them semi-regularly and used them for breakfast. I have my favorite flavors, my two favorites contain pineapple and are on the sweeter side. They have a filling, lasting effect and they are a cool, refreshing treat on a hot summer day.  

Cold pressed juice on the left, juice bar on the left.

This got me thinking, would I be saving money if I actually bought a juicer and made my own? Would they, could they, taste just as good? Would I actually use it or would it just sit in the cabinet collecting dust? I started doing some juicer research, compared different brands, checked out consumer reviews and decided if we bought one it would be a Breville juicer. The price was way more then we could afford though.

Breville for sale at Macy's

Around the same time I was doing research, I started seeing those commercials on TV for the documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. Even though I haven't seen the documentary, the commercials made me curious and so I went to the website to check out what the big deal was. While I was on the website I noticed that "Joe the Juicer" uses Breville juicers exclusively. I also found this helpful page for describing the different styles of juicers and helping you choose which type of juicer would be best for you. The website also has great recipes, healthy properties & benefits of different fruits & vegetables and an EZ prep guide for tons of fruits and veggies for when you are actually ready to juice.

I found the juicer that worked best for us for sale at Macy's for $250. Yea, big bucks. Even though it was on sale for less and we had a wedding gift card it was still way too much. We also had some wedding money/discounts at Bed Bath and Beyond so I thought I'd check them out. The same exact juicer was sold for $100 less at BB&B!!! The juicer shown above started at $149.99. With the discount from our registry and gift cards, the juicer would cost us around $90. I probably spent more than $90 at Breathe this summer, so I totally justified that it would be worth it. I asked the hubs if I could use our wedding gifts for it and he gladly obliged! I was going to do it even if he didn't agree, but now that we are married I figured I should probably ask!!

Here she is!! 

When we did our weekly grocery shopping I picked up some apples, prepped pineapple, mangos and lemon juice. I have since experimented with pears, carrots and strawberries. My first juice was apple, pineapple and mango, with a hint of lemon juice. This was a bit too sweet. Since I wasn't following an exact recipe and I didn't quite know how much juice would be yielded I just kinda tossed stuff in. I was pleasantly surprised that it made more then I thought it would and it tasted good! Some fruits and veggies take prep work, others you can toss right in. The juicer has a lot of parts and it looks confusing, but it is really easy to assemble and use quickly. Clean up is also pretty easy. When doing my research I found that this juicer is almost entirely dishwasher safe, which is a big bonus in my book. Even though I have only hand washed it so far, since it is so easy. I have gotten into the habit of making my juice while I am cooking dinner. I refrigerate it over night and it is cold and ready to go to work with me in the morning. I am not a huge breakfast eater, especially during the work week, so this is an easy, portable, healthy alternative. It also keeps me pretty full until lunch!

For strawberries you have to remove the greens.

Small apples and carrots get thrown right in!
Normally I would use two carrots but I only had 1. 

Somewhere in my research I read that if you
use produce bags to catch the waste from
the food that it makes clean up a lot easier.
It really does!!!

This juicer has two speeds. Low for softer food,
like the strawberries and high
for harder food like the apples and carrots.

In goes the carrot, out comes juice!

In goes the apples, out comes a lot
of juice.

Last to go in is the strawberries.

Time to clean up!

The waste in the produce bag, remove
and toss into the trash.

Juice and the froth on top. This batch
didn't make as much as other batches
have, but since it is the end of the week
I am running out of produce.

The catcher/dispenser has a separator
built in to remove the froth.

Finished juice in my fancy juicer/travel
cup. It isn't that fancy, it cost $5 at
Wegmans and we bought it for
the wedding.

If you have any juicing questions let me know! Since I am pretty new to it I would recommend checking out the website links I shared above. I plan to get some more veggies when we go shopping this weekend. I also hope to try some of the actual recipes I have bookmarked on my computer. My juicing plan has kept me out of the Dunkin' drive thru this week and I am pretty sure it helped me be successful in the Ton of Fun challenge.

Do you own a juicer?

What are some of your 

favorite fruits and veggies to juice?

Ton of Fun- Week Two

How has it already been a week since I last posted?! I have every intention of doing a post on my experience thus far with our juicer, but every time I am done and washing the juicer, I remember that I wanted to take photos of the process. Hopefully now my post can live up to the hype, whenever it gets done. But anywho, we are really here to discuss week two on the ToF weight loss challenge. To find out how week one went, click here.

Week one wasn't perfect and I really wanted to try to make more changes for week two, since I am sort of getting into a good groove. I have officially logged in and tracked for 13 days in a row on My Fitness Pal, if you haven't downloaded this free app what are you waiting for? Go ahead, check it out, I'll wait. Also, you can just go to the website if you don't have access to apps. There are some extra bonus features there that you can't get on the app.

So back to trying some new things for week two... I figured since I polished off a half gallon of ice cream during week one, maybe I should just not buy the ice cream in the first place, that way I am not tempted. Mission accomplished! I also decided to be more diligent about juicing, since I am using it as my breakfast to avoid the Dunkin' drive thru. On Saturday, Rob and I went to the farmers market in Fairport to get some veggies for dinner and to use for juicing experimentation. Week one I had only juiced with fruits and my sugar intake was really high. I also decided instead of juicing every night for the next morning, to make a double batches instead. I went four days in a row with no trips to Dunkin'! I hope they don't forget my usual.

Yes, I have too much time on my hands.

As far as my weekly exercise I really slacked off over the weekend so I hit the ground running Monday. Instead of yoga I went to the gym and did 45 minutes of hard cardio. On Tuesday I returned to my former Tuesday tradition of the Cobb's Hill run and I brought Rob. This was very eye opening. Cobb's Hill is always pretty challenging, but during half marathon training I got pretty good at it and even enjoyed it occasionally. Well on Tuesday I couldn't make it up the hill without a walk break. I figured this is a good gauge of starting over and it can only get better from here. Wednesday was my usual spin class, we had a sub, but she was pretty good.

4.6 pounds lost so far! 

Must be all the changes I made helped because according to the FF scale I lost over 3 pounds!!! Way better results compared to week one. I think I have found my groove for sure. How did I celebrate? My favorite Half Moon salad and I splurged and got a Mountain Dew. I really like to live on the wild side.

Looking ahead to week three I hope I can continue to stay in the groove with these changes and make healthy choices overall. It might be hard since my birthday is coming up and I am a fan of sweets, maybe I'll make a special birthday cake juice...carrots, pineapple, mango and some sprinkles? Maybe I'll just stick a candle in it!

Ton of Fun- Week One

Last week I wrote about my latest personal challenge, which is Ton of Fun. Click here in case you haven't been stalking me as much as you should! Well the challenge started Saturday and Molly and I had our first official weigh in. Of course we went to Fleet Feet together, to keep ourselves accountable and we even dragged Rob along. When we arrived at the Brighton store, the two locations are having an East vs. West contest, I'm an East-sider all the way, the line stretch a third of the way across the store! The line moved pretty quickly and we got to catch up with lots of familiar faces and do a little window shopping. When we got to the front, Kim offered to take our "before" picture. Seriously?!? I know what I look like, that is why I am in this line, but I obliged anyway. Molly went into one room and I went into the other. Kim took my measurements and recorded them into a program on her tablet. I then swapped rooms with Molly and another FF staffer weighed me. The scale at the store had me slightly lower then our scale at home. After the relatively quick and painless process, we were off to conquer the week.

Sorry for the lack of photos, I forgot what being
a blogger was all about. Don't worry I'll make up
for it shortly!

I have heard amazing things about the My Fitness Pal (MFP) app from a huge range of people, and Rob is currently using it, so I went home, downloaded it and got to work. I like that it has so many foods in the database, including everything Wegmans. I also like that it gives you so much more then just calorie count. I have used it consistently every day! One day I even tracked my breakfast and lunch the night before.

In addition to using MFP and making some changes in food choices, I started using our new juicer as a morning treat switcheroo so I can avoid the Dunkin' drive-thru! I plan on doing a post on this very soon. I also got back into my weekly fitness routine. Sunday, I got back into running races with the Iron Angel 5k. Monday I went to Molly's Yoga Corner, where I have practiced yoga for over two year. I've had to cut back my spending this year so I go less, but it is worth it every time. Especially the day after a hilly race! Tuesday Molly and I got back into our weekly running ritual. We were planning on attending the hill workout at FF but her work meeting ran late. So we ran around our hood, the weather was amazing. On Wednesdays I take Trish's spin class at the RAC in Pittsford. It is a crazy, killer good work out and I missed her torture over the summer.

Smiles for being done with week one.

Which brings us to today! For the Ton of Fun challenge you get to pick your weigh in day and time. Basically you can go whenever the store is open. Molly and I decided we would try to weigh in together, ya know for moral support. We also decided that Thursday would be the day! So even though it hasn't quite been a week we headed to Fleet Feet to face the scale.

Pulling up my stats!

When we got there we were met by one of the lovely FF employees, who was super nice and didn't mind my crazy photo requests. She pulled up my data, I confirm and we headed to the scale. The scale is located in one of the dressing rooms so it is really private. Unless you bring your own personal photographer.

Here goes nothing!

I have to admit, since I cheated and used my scale at home throughout the week I was pretty excited about getting weighed, but the result was just a tiny loss. Now, I know this is better than gaining so I don't want to sound whiney, but since my home scale showed a 2.4 pound loss (wooohooo) over what I weighed on the scale right before weighing in at the store on Saturday, I was expecting to see something similar. Improvement is improvement so I'll take it. Cheers to being less of a fatty!

I feel like I look like I am in time out.

Molly had an amazing week too. I know her weight loss challenge is a personal journey so I wont share  too many of her details, but if you're wondering how much she lost, this photo may be a clue...

Ready for week two!

I feel like I am off and running, pun intended, with getting things back to the way they were earlier this year. In fact I just signed up for my first, post marathon, half-marathon. The Lake Effect Half Marathon in Syracuse, February 2014. I ran it this year and PR'd!! Watch out week two, here I come!!!

Race Report- Iron Angel 5k

Well I did it, my first official race as a Warchol! That's my married name, just in case you didn't know. Yup, I got to go to the second half of the alphabet line at pack pick up, exciting stuff. It did dawn on me that when my dad and I run the same race that our numbers wont be consecutive, so that is a little. Any who, back to the race report...

About 14 months ago a local teacher, triathlete, mother, wife, etc. was hit and killed by not one, but two drunk drivers while out on an early morning training bike ride. This incident affected the community immensely and the trial and the out come was just as disheartening. Last year a small community run/walk was held in her honor, but this year the group of women she trained with, Moms in Motion (MIM's), held a larger, timed run and walk as a fundraiser for the trust for her two small children. To check out more info or to donate go here. I found out that some of my friends were running and I thought this would be a great jump back into running since it was for such a great cause. The race was capped at 500 and I signed up after the deadline to get a shirt, but I went to packet pick up on the first night and got a shirt anyway!

Great shirt, a little big and white, but happy to get one!

On Sunday morning I woke up and got ready. There is so little prep that is involved when preparing for a 5k, I love it! Plus I now realize how much I over did it when I was a newbie. I swung by and picked up Molly and then I headed to the Tucker house to pick up Evan and Abby. The four of us arrived at center park, we were greeted by smiling volunteers and a parking spot, nice! We walked to the main building at the park and caught up with fellow friends and runners and chatted while we waited for the pre-race ceremony. 

Gathering for the start. Great family atmosphere race!

Molly and I ran into three of our girls who participated in Girls on The Run this spring and it was great to see them out at a race. As an additional fundraiser MIM's was also selling HFB memorial items.

Around 8:50am Heather's husband spoke and a letter from one of her friends was read, also two of her colleagues sang the National Anthem. There was a solemn tone, but it was clear that everyone who came was there to fight the good fight. Everyone was so positive and supportive, I wish all races had this kind of vibe.

Evan & Abby

Me and Molly, back in the game!

At 9am the gun went off and down the field we went. I have neglected to say that the course was a cross country course. I had heard at packet pick up that the course was very challenging and I was a little hesitant about running on the hilly, damp grass. The weather was amazing and the course was partially shaded so that was a bonus. The course was hard for sure, but it was lined with smiley volunteers, both MIM's and the Fairport Cross Country team. Everyone was so encouraging, cheery and happy to be out there. Even though my time was pretty slow and I did walk a few of the hills, I was so happy to be out there. As Molly and I came into the finish line our friends (and strangers) were cheering us on, love that feeling.

Only missing Thea who couldn't wait for us slowpokes!

I honestly can't say a bad thing about this race. Except for maybe that the course was challenging, but that probably has something to do with the lack of running lately!! It was a great morning and I am so happy to be able to help a worthy cause.

Ever run a memorial race?

Baby I was Born to Run....slowly

I'm back baby and pretty sore! Thursday I dragged Molly to the Fleet Feet Pub Run at Char at the Strathallen hotel. They had a 3 or 5 mile option and even though a few months ago I would have chosen the five, I was hoping to just be able to go the distance at 3. The weather was amazing Thursday night and I was so excited to be back out there.

Alright guys, summer vacation is over!

I actually couldn't remember the last time I used my running sneakers, until I saw all the dirt on the bottom and realized I used them hiking in Lake Placid about two months ago! We were all in for a rude awakening. I picked up Molly and we were down right ecstatic on the drive there, kinda like some middle school girls on the way to a One Direction concert. Since I have been away from the Fleet Feet family for a bit there were lots of new faces, but a ton of familiar faces too. It was like coming home again and we picked up right where we left off. 

Proof that I ran! Or stood around with a bunch
of people in running clothes!

We got the 3 mile route from Ellen and we off and moving. The majority of the group were off and in the distance in no time. Molly and I pulled up the back and pacing us, without really knowing it were Amy and Dave. After a half mile or so I couldn't believe how good I felt and even though we weren't going as fast as I have in the past, I was going faster then I thought I would be able to go. I was also shocked at my endurance level, my heart wasn't beating out of my chest and my breathing was surprisingly controlled. When we hit 1 mile I was so happy that I didn't need to walk and this kept me energized for mile 2. During mile 2, I started to feel some aches and pains in my knee and legs but nothing bad enough to make me stop or slow. Molly dropped back a bit and I ran and chatted with Amy and Dave. We caught back up with each other at a red light and I told her my goal of running to one of the last streets, take a short walk break and then run the rest of the way. Even though the route was 3 miles, Fleet Feet always gives you the gift of going slightly farther without officially saying it so the route was more like 3.4ish. As we made the final turn on to East Ave to head back to the hotel we chatted about our surroundings and past runs and how good it felt to be back out on the streets. When we returned to Char we hung out for a bit and then headed home.

Slow but steady and got it done!

My final pace on the Garmin was 13:29. I did forget to pause it for a couple red lights so really it was slightly better then that! By the time I got out of the car my usual running pains were back, but I wore them like a badge of honor. Turns out you can jump back on the wagon and I feel like I appreciate my body and mind more now for it. Now I am recharged and ready to go for my first weigh in for the Ton of Fun challenge and my first 5k as a Warchol. I'll be posting about both soon.

Ever take a break from exercise and are shocked by your progress when you return? Either good or bad. 

Having a Ton of Fun

So I mentioned in my last post that the spark is coming back! I am actually excited. Some may say giddy! You know how deep down you know all the right things you NEED to do, but sometimes your brain likes to play games? That is how I have been feeling lately. Hopefully at some point you are finally strong enough to over take it and say, shut up this is what I am doing. I decided that to get back into the groove and community atmosphere, I would join the Ton of Fun challenge at Fleet Fleet.

Courtesy of FF website.

It is a 12 week challenge to lose weight and be active. I thought it was just the right thing I needed to get in gear. The program costs $50 but you have the opportunity to earn it back through store credit by losing weight. There are other fun prizes along the way. You know I am game for anything that involves prizes, sticker charts and goal tracking. I have enjoyed FF training programs in the past and have met some of my closest friends by participating in them. It can be intimidating at first, but quickly it becomes your favorite thing in the world. I plan to post updates throughout the 12 week program. Not sure just yet if I am comfortable putting my weight on here for all to see, but I do want to cover the ups and downs.

Actual weight...of a small child.

One of our wedding gifts was a new, fancy, bells and whistle scale so I am excited about using it and seeing some change. A benefit of running is that it helps your body to be more toned. One disadvantage  to less running is more jiggle. In addition to maybe losing a pound or two, I hope this challenge can help the jiggle reduction.

That wont ever happen, let's not be too lofty with our goals.

So I hope you join me over the next 12 weeks to track my progress, root for me, help me celebrate my success and keep me out of the Dunkin' drive thru! Seriously, I could really use your help on that last one, anyone available between 6:30-7:00am?

Ever had success with a weight loss challenge?

The Runner Who Doesn't Run

So truth be told I actually created this post back in June! Three months later and I am still a runner who doesn't run. But that is all about to change, I feel the fire and excitement coming back. In case you don't know, I ran my first full marathon in May. Then I got completely burned out and tired with training and running. I became a machine who ran because a piece of paper told me to do it, not because I actually wanted to. I guess part of me liked being out there or I would have given up before I even crossed the start line, but you get the point. Summer vacation and the heat started to kick in and then the stress and busyness of wedding planning kicked into high gear and I just had a million reasons to not run. Plus I just didn't really want to. I ran the Boilermaker with my Dad in July and ran every now and then on the treadmill at the gym, but nothing more then a 5k and that was it. I did spend the summer in the AC of the gym and got really into strength training and taking multiple spin classes each week.

I didn't win the challenge but those darn stickers did
keep me pretty motivated!

I also maybe got into the Fro-Yo craze that seems to have taken over the Rochester area recently. I guess it is better for you than Coldstone though. Hopefully.

Strawberries, graham crackers and
cheesecake & strawberry fro-yo.

Now that the wedding is done, the school year has begun, routines have reappeared and the weather has cooled drastically I am ready to get out the running gear. My first step? I signed up for a 5k in 6 days!! Yea, maybe this was a bit drastic, but drastic times call for drastic measures. Plus the race is for an amazing cause. I love the fall/winter race calendar and am looking forward to some more 3-peat races in the upcoming months. I am also missing my running girls terribly and am hoping we can reconnect soon.

So for now I'll leave you will some gratuitous wedding photos, but come back soon for more running chit chat!!

Have you ever fallen off the running wagon?

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