Recipes and new happenings.

I hate not having a pc handy to me anymore. I really miss writing these blog posts. I share them, but look at  them like a journal to see my progress, my highs, and my lows. The end of 2012 was really rough. After my shoulder surgery I lost a little motivation. I got "cocky" and started eating what I wanted thinking that I wasn't going to gain any weight back. The holidays came and went and after many cookies I found myself back up to 182 lbs again. I had gained back about 13 lbs from my lowest weight. I hate to focus on weight so much when there is SO much more to think about than weight, but I'm a woman...it's what we do. That "little" number on the scale seems to define us somedays. I try not to stress over it too much, but at the same time, you have to keep some account or you'll end up in the situation like I did and gain a lot back. When it comes back on slowly you don't think about it too much until you realize you're struggling to get a pair of pants on that fit very nicely only a few weeks ago! I knew it was time to do something about it. My shoulder is still giving me some trouble, but time for the "no excuses" approach. I downloaded myfitnesspal on my phone and decided to give it a try. I've really focused on eating "clean" or mostly clean in the past, lots of whole foods and the carbs I eat are all complex. I never really focused on calories. It put me on a 1200 calorie diet. TWELVE HUNDRED CALORIES!! What the heck am I going to live on lettuce? I flipped out a little when it gave me this number, but decided that maybe that's what I needed to do. I've plateaued with my weight for about a year, staying right around losing about 60 pounds. I know that I have much more muscle mass than in the past, due to the fact that I'm wearing clothing in a size I wore previously at about 15 lbs lighter than what I am now! (I find THAT extremely cool....again...don't focus so much on the number on the scale!) The diet really has NOT BEEN BAD! I have 300 calories for each meal and then 300 calories for snacks. If I exercise, it takes into acccount the calories I burn and it all gets added back into my allowance for the day. Some days I find myself training to eat, but that's ok if it gets my butt in gear! I'm now down about 10 lbs since starting a few weeks ago and almost back to my lowest recent weight. I'm PRAYING that I can keep losing and don't plateau again! You HAVE to keep track of inches when you are losing weight as well, and I am also doing that again. I've had to get a LITTLE creative with my meals and have really learned a lot about calories/fat/protein/carbs. I've done lots and lots of research in the past with nutrition, and also work in a doctor's office where I'm constantly talking nutrition to patients. I LOVE it! It fascinates me. There is SO much to learn about how your body uses food for fuel and what each little component does for you....or doesn't do for you! I also have a huge passion and love for cooking and took some time this weekend to prep some chili's to have on hand. I'm usually a "dumper" when I cook, a little of this, a little of that, not measuring anything as I go. I have found now that I need to keep track of every....little....thing....I eat, I HAD to measure everything out as I went and wrote it down. I can then load it into myfitnesspal in "create a recipe" and it calculates everything out for you! How freaking cool is that?!! I have 3 original recipes that I came up with that I'll share on here for you to try. They are all around 300 calories each and VERY filling at 1 cup serving sizes. The biggest thing to keep in mind is that food is fuel. You really don't need it for any other reason. Not to make you feel better, not for something to do when you're bored, not because you're having a get together with friends. It is to sustain us...nothing less, nothing more. The healthier the food, the better the fuel.



Some people "diet" thinking that the less they eat, the better and end up starving themselves. WRONG thing to do. Without enough calories your body goes into starvation mode and ends up holding onto fat which is counterproductive for weight loss. You NEED food, it's all about choosing the right ones! I hope these recipes are helpful and that some of you might try them. They are filled with beans for fiber which is very filling and 2 of them have chicken in them, a lean protein to also help you stay full longer. 

 

Here they are.

Spicy Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili

1 medium sized sweet potato cut into inch size chunks

1 TBSP EVOO

¼ tsp sea salt

½ tsp paprika

¼ tsp chili powder

Coat potatoes and bake at 450 degrees for about 12 minutes, or until soft, then set to side.

1 TBSP EVOO

1 cup green onion chopped

4 cloves garlic, crushed by hand then chopped

1 Tbsp worcestershire sauce

1- 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes

1-15.25 oz can of black beans

½ cup diced tomatoes

¼ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp oregano

¼ tsp crushed bay leaves

½ tsp paprika

¼ tsp sea salt

½ tsp chili powder

¼ tsp curry powder

¼ tsp black pepper

¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

 

Saute onion and garlic in evoo. Add remaining ingredients and let simmer for about 10 minutes. Add sweet potatoes.

 

Makes about 4-5 servings

Serving size 1 Cup- Calories- 287

Total fat 7.9gm

Total carbs- 44.5gm Dietary fiber-12.7gm

Protein 10.8 gm

White Chicken Chili

1 TBSP EVOO

1 cup chopped white onion

6 garlic cloves crushed

1 Swanson flavor boost packet in chicken flavor mixed with 1 cup water

2 cans northern beans (1 can gets pureed with water/flavor packet)

1 can pinto beans

½ tsp parsley

½ tsp oregano

¾ tsp ground cumin

¼ tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp sea salt

1 tsp chopped jalapeño pepper

1 tsp chicken boullian

3 cups water

4 cups shredded chicken

Saute garlic and onion in evoo. Mix flavor packet with water. In a blender blend 1 can of the Northern beans with flavor packet/water. Add to pot. Mix in other ingredients and let simmer for about 10 minutes.     ** for more "kick" add more jalapeno pepper**

Makes about 9 servings

Serving size 1 cup- 368 calories

Total fat- 6.1gm

Total carbs-34.4gm  Dietary fiber-7.7gm

Protein-35.6gm

 

annnnnnd...my favorite, because it has "bacon" in it!!

3 Bean Bacon Chicken chili

1 TBSP EVOO

2 cups onion chopped

2 cups tri colored peppers chopped

7 garlic cloves crushed

2 cans 15.25oz black beans (drained)

1 can 15.25 oz pinto beans (drained)

1 can 15.25 oz dark red kidney beans (drained)

1- 28 oz can crushed tomatoes

2 cups diced tomatoes (about 1 ½ cans)

2 tsp taco seasoning

1 tsp worcestershire sauce

¼ tsp paprika

¾ tsp sea salt

½ tsp black pepper

¼ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp garlic powder

3 cups shredded chicken

10 pieces crispy turkey bacon crumbled

Saute onion, peppers, garlic in EVOO.  Add the rest of ingredients and let simmer for 20 minutes stirring occasionally. **To add more “kick” add in crushed red pepper flakes, more chili powder, jalapeno pepper, hot sauce, etc.

Makes about 11 servings

Serving size 1 cup- Calories- 309

Total fat 6.0gm

Total carbs- 37.0gm  Dietary fiber- 10.3gm

Protein 25.3gm

 

 

 

 



 



Simple Brandz, Inc. and Team Simple



A few weeks ago I officially became an ambassador for a company that I highly believe in and became a part of Team Simple! Simple Brandz, Inc. was founded by Sherry Post. I got to know Sherry through a mutual interest of obstacle course races. I have "Facebook known" Sherry for over a year now. I met Sherry when she was well under way to getting Simple Brandz, Inc. up and going. I have been able to see her highs and lows and watch her dream blossom into reality. My husband and I tried starting a company that didn't go very far. I have seen first hand how hard it is to get products developed and made, market the products, and do a lot of promoting, usually losing money in the process.

Simple Brandz, Inc.kept growing for Sherry until she was able to purchase a building to use for manufacturing product and a patent was approved. Simple Brandz, Inc. now sells itself! I have personally used the Simple Granola during my runs and trainings. Sherry uses only whole foods in her products. Nothing chemically processed, dyes, or artificial ingredients. Here is an overview from Simple Brandz, Inc. Facebook page  http://www.facebook.com/#!/simplebrandz/info

Simple Brandz, Inc. is an all natural food manufacturer and innovator. The health conscious product line features Simple Granola and Simple Fuel. Both lines include a proprietary combination of healthy grains and super foods while remaining gluten, dairy and soy free. The Simple Brandz philosophy stands for basics, going back to the roots. Survival. You only need what nature has given to nourish your body.Simple Brandz mission is to feed people's body and soul and in the process pay it forward for community and country.

ALL NATURAL BODY FOOD:
SIMPLE FUEL
SIMPLE GRANOLA

SIMPLE FUEL is...
All-Natural Nutritional Supplement:
Wheat Free, Gluten Free
All Natural Ingredients with a Proprietary Blend of SuperProteins, Natural Healers, Natural Metabolizers, Fibers, Minerals, SuperGreens, and SuperFruits

SIMPLE GRANOLA is..
Raw, Gluten, Dairy, Soy Free, Smart Portions, Energy & Protein Rich in Omega's, All Natural, Great for Hydration! Moist Granola Rounds are great for popping on the go!

 

 



 

April 2012 I ran the longest run to date, ALMOST 12 miles. It wasn't without some help. Just one Simple Brandz, Inc. granola piece was perfect to keep me fueled on my run. I love that they are small enough to pop into a plastic bag and carry with you on a long run. They easily fit into a fuel belt to use when needed. They can be popped in your mouth as running and are VERY easy on the stomach. I have never had problems with my stomach being upset after using Simple Granola.

Sherry is also a female veteran having served in the United States Army from 1992-2000. She is a strong supporter of anything involved with helping out veterans and active military personnel. One of Sherry's biggest philosophies is "paying it forward". Sherry and I share this idea immensely. Sharing my love for fitness by inspiring others and showing my strengths and weaknesses through my blog and my Facebook page Real Fitness, is another thing that has brought Sherry and I together. My weight loss journey has been shared with many people and Real Fitness was developed to help pay it forward, to help and inspire others to develop a healthy lifestyle. Simple Brandz, Inc. is just one of the things that has helped make that possible for me personally, which is why I was honored to take on a position of ambassador for the company and join Team Simple!

For more information, or to order and try some Simple Brandz, Inc. products, visit their website at
http://www.simplebrandz.com/       to "like" them on their Facebook page and keep up to date on new products and where you can meet Team Simple visit http://www.facebook.com/#!/simplebrandz?fref=ts

3 days post-op update....snails pace...

Surgery was Monday and didn't go too bad. I was most nervous for 1. the nerve block and 2. going under general anesthesia as I haven't been all the way under before. I was also hoping that the nurse listened to me and didn't put the IV in my hand..I HATE that..always hurts. All the nurses and staff were very nice. The nurse actually asked me if I had a preference or any ideas on where to put my IV. I told her if she can get it in somewhere other than my hand that'd be GREAT! After slapping my arm around a little she found a good vein on my forearm that seemed it would work. Success!! She did an awesome job, I didn't even feel it! Next was off to the anesthesia room to get my block. The anesthesiologist gave me something to relax me a little through my IV first. Then he had me turn my head to the right and gave me a general anesthetic to numb the area...just a slight burn..not bad at ALL. Next they hooked these pads up to me to stimulate my nerves to figure out exactly where to place the block. That was a very odd feeling but didn't hurt. My arm started flopping around like a fish outta water! They administered the block and I didn't feel anything at ALL as they were doing it...thank goodness!

They took me back to the pre-op room to wait for my surgery. ONLY complaint that I had is that they told me if there was time in between the block and the surgery they would send John back in. The Dr. came in and marked my shoulder and told me that it would probably be about a 1/2 hour to an hour until surgery. I didn't see John again....

From the beginning of the day I had a headache, I think mostly from not being able to have my morning coffee. It kept getting worse until it finally turned into a full blown migraine about 2 hours before actual surgery. I obviously couldn't take any migraine meds and didn't know how they'd react afterwards with all the other pain meds and anesthesia. I remember the last thing I said after I was in the surgery room was, "I figure I'll ask all of you guys since you're all here, can I take a Maxalt when this is all done to get rid of my migraine?" LOL...I remember the nurse saying, "We're gonna give you something here in a minute that will get rid of that headache for you". I said, "ok" thinking that she meant for good!

Coming out of anesthesia I remember being very restless..and STILL with a migraine. WORST FEELING EVER. First thing I asked OUT of anesthesia was if I could take a Maxalt. The nurse said shouldn't be a problem and just at that moment the Dr. was walking by, quick told me everything went well, no surprises, and YES I could take a Maxalt! wooohooo. I got my grape juice and pretzels, John was called in to go over discharge instructions and I was wheeled down to the car...where I took a Maxalt! Longest car ride home EVER! Came home and crawled in bed...just wanted my migraine to go away! John had to run out to the dollar store and get me one of those "beauty sleep" masks, so I could keep all the light out as best as I could that was coming through the blinds

 

Sleep the first night was rough, I got about 4-5 hours of very broken sleep. I am to be taking my pain pills every 4 hours round the clock. We have our alarms set so I take at 8pm, 12 midnight, 4 am and 8 am....so I'm waking up through out the night to take a pill and eat a snack so I don't get sick.

 

After my migraine was manageable John had to laugh at me, I wanted to sit up and come out to the living room, but without having any lights that dim, they were still just a little too bright for me..therefore I had my sunglasses on as I was talking to my mom on the phone. Told me I look like a redneck diva in my flannel with sunglasses on and on the phone....and the lovely bag of frozen veggies!

 

Last night the block finally started to wear off, the numbness and tingling was horrible, but now the pain is pretty intense. I was in tears last night and broke down and took 2 pain pills instead of just 1. I'm allowed 1-3 pills every 4 hours..and have been trying to stay with the least amount possible. I took my pill at 8pm and at 8:40pm I decided I was taking another and going to bed. I slept all night waking at 12midnight and 4am to take 2 pills each time.

 

Physical therapy started this a.m. They took off my bandages. I have 3 incisions with steri-strips over them. I went into p.t. with the saying, "no pain, no gain" in mind. I know that's usually what they go by. I was fully prepared to be in some pain. I had my pain pill at 8am with a bowl of oatmeal and was feeling ok...weak, but pain wasn't TOO bad. He told me we are NOT looking at my situation as, "no pain, no gain". The bone was cut...therefore I will have a LOT of pain, but at the same time, we need to let that bone heal a little before we can really start messing with it. I got hooked up to a stimulator and a cryo wrap. The cryo wrap puts compression all around your shoulder to try to promote circulation all the while it's forcing ice cold water through the wrap so your whole shoulder is encapsulated in cold...it felt GREAT! He explained to me how to be holding my arm and placement with sleeping and sitting. Really cool thing is that I can have my arm placed just so and still type without moving my shoulder and FINALLY have MOST of the feeling back in my hand...finger tips still tingling but getting better.



 

I was told by the p.t. that this will be a very slow process of first healing, then range of motion, then strengthening. He told me it will take me about 6 months to get back to the strength that I started with! Guess I'm in it for the long haul...moving forward, even if at a snails pace. 

Surgery, smurgery...time to move on like a warrior!

Tomorrow is the big day...shoulder surgery. I've been all kinds of messed up this weekend on an emotional roller coaster. When you're in the medical field you know things sometimes that you just wish you didn't know. Some situations are better to be stupid about than have a lot of knowledge. So they're doing a "Resection of my distal clavicle with acromioplasty" in Lehman's terms means, they are cutting off the last 1/2 inch of my collar bone that connects at my shoulder, which is your AC joint and then going in and cleaning out my joint space. I have really bad arthritis and my bones are clicking and rubbing together. They cut off the bone so it will eventually build scar tissue and make it stop rubbing, preventing more deterioration and arthritis. There, now you all had your health lesson for the day.

I've been REALLY slacking lately...eating horribly and not working out like I should be. I've been trying to rest my shoulder as best I can. I feel really weak at the moment and just want this surgery done and over with. I think ever since I actually scheduled it, I've had it in my mind that I could let myself go and I'll rebuild everything back up after surgery...wrong way to look at things! I AM SO excited though to get to physical therapy and start working on getting back on track. I've really been trying to think about how far I've come on my journey thus far, and keep in mind allll the other things I have on my bucket list (which is A LOT) and realize that the Spartan race wasn't my, "ok I've done what I've come to do, now let's pack it up and call it a life of  fitness." I've really been struggling with that. I think somewhere in the back of my mind I feel like, "ok that was enough, it was a struggle and I don't want to rock the boat more than what I did." I've got to keep reminding myself of THIS

Just because I have a before and after HERE, doesn't mean I can't make ANOTHER before and after!! I took off a lot of the weight now it's time to really crack down and make things better!! I want muscles, I want definition, and I want my strength back!! It's extra hard when you're not seeing results almost instantaneously like you did in the beginning. Back when I started this journey it was nothing to shave off a few inches and go down about 5 pounds in 1 week. Now those inches slowly creeeeeeep off over a few weeks to months, and the weight just kinda stays around the same. I know better than to let that get to me and make me give up! Why in the world would I let myself feel sorry for myself and slowly fade back into my former self! NO, we are NOT going there!!

I've let my mind go and my body has followed. It's time to get back on track, jump off the pity train and crack open that inner warrior voice telling me to STFU and MOVE!! Surgery day is almost here...I WILL be fine and I WILL move forward, cause baby there is NO, NO, NO, going back now!

YES HE DID!!

YES HE DID!

 

 

Today's race wasn't about me, it was all about John. Today we did the Yes I Can 5K at Gring's Mill to benefit the Special Olympics. If you've read my previous posts you know that John has quit smoking about 2 packs per day for over 20 years and started running just 7 weeks ago. He's been training really hard and actually keeping me motivated to run as my motivation has been lacking lately.

 

 

We were up early this morning and John was busy running around trying to make sure he didn't forget anything. He finally realized the feelings I've had on race day mornings, and especially my first race. He likes to pick on me though and pointed out that he wasn't in his words, "crying and crapping" LOL!! Yes as a woman I'm much more emotional and yes I have a nervous stomach, TMI, I know...get over it. My first few races were just that. Tears and bathrooms. I could tell that John was nervous on the way there by the continuous sighs he was letting out in the car. My sister met us to come along with her son, my 3 (almost 4) year old nephew. He was so excited from the time that she told him he was going to the race. He wanted to race along side Aunt AA and Uncle John.

Taking a walk over the bridge before the race with Uncle John

Austin taking everything all in.






 

We took some time to walk around and check everything out, hit up the bathrooms, eat our cliff bars, banana, and G1's. Then it was time to make sure we had our numbers on. I don't know what John was more nervous for, the race, or me pinning on his number!

 

 

We also had someone leading us in pre-race warm-ups and stretching. We decided sure why not...we had fun TRYING to do some of the poses they were leading us through. I think the woman leading it is a yoga instructor, can you tell?? haha

 

 

Now that we were all warmed up we made our way to the starting area. Alana had the camera so unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of her, but she was having fun taking pictures of everyone else.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just a few minutes left to go. We made our way to the starting area and took a real quick jog to loosen up a little. I told John not to get caught up in the crowd and start at your own pace. We had decided from the beginning that 1. If I get out ahead of him I WILL NOT cross the finish line without him and 2. If he got out in front of me GO FOR IT!! I wasn't sure how I was going to do, training has been a little rough. Getting back on track after my ankle injury hasn't been going so well. I realized today, my last race was a while ago, the end of April when I did my 10K. I had a fever last evening and haven't been feeling well. I took some Tylenol this morning and figured whatever happens, happens.

 

 

John cheesin as we start off. The run wasn't as flat as we were told. I've run Gring's Mill a few times, but always went the opposite way of what we ran today. There WERE a few small hills. John and I started off together and I wasn't feeling too bad. John was keeping a good pace. The trail is narrow and it was very hard to pass people, especially when the fast runners started coming back around the opposite way for the out and back course. I eventually got into a good pace and decided that I better keep it up or I'm just going to stop. I knew John wasn't far behind me, at the turn around I shouted out some motivation to him as we passed. It felt like the race went on FOREVER today. As I came close to the finish line I ran up far enough that I could see the timer, it was right at 40 minutes. We figured there was about a 15 second delay at the starting line, so I'm thinking my time would have been right at 40 minutes..NOT BAD considering all the factors of not racing for quite a while and having a fever (which was confirmed when I came home ugggh). I stopped in my tracks...turned around and started going the opposite way to go find John. Just as I was getting back over the bridge I could see him coming up around the little hill to get onto the bridge. I told him to push it out and he tells me, "my legs don't have anything left." I told him, "yes they do! Mind over matter, you GOT this! Push it out...let's go" I was yelling at him all the way to the finish line where he finished, his watch time saying in 41:24!! A GREAT time considering it was his first 5K, and only had 7 weeks to train and JUST quit smoking!!

 

 

 

 

 

What an awesome day, watching my husband cross the finish line of his first 5K. Next weekend is a 5K mud run!! I am so excited to do another race with him. I LOVE that we now have more in common and a shared love for running and fitness. From losing 60 pounds regardless of multiple health problems, to quitting smoking, being a very bad addict (2-3 packs a day at times for over 20 years) OH yeah...and John's a juvenile diabetic too!! We all have obstacles to over come...what's yours and what's stopping you from becoming more healthy, active and happy with a sense of accomplishment??!! I, and now John too, can tell you, there is no greater feeling than crossing that finish line!! Get over your fear that you can't, and start saying, YES I CAN!!!

 





Who is this man...really?? Once again Glory to Him!

Yep...that's John signing an application for a 5K. WHAT??? Yep! There's gonna be some unseen tears for those of you reading this. For those of you that follow my journey, you've heard recently of my wavering faith, my frustration in our current financial situation and even in my blog posts been able to tell the mention of the "big guy upstairs" has kinda gone to the way side. It's there, He's there, it's just been a tough road lately. I in no way shape or form have lost my faith...it's just on a back burner. I KNOW that's not a good thing, but as any athlete has their trying times and ups and downs of training/motivation, I fully believe that Christians will have the same with their faith. I continue to struggle along at the moment, but have had some recent answered prayers. 

Back when I started my weight loss journey, I had sent a prayer request to the Joyce Meyer prayer team. I had asked the girls in my Bible study to pray for me and also close friends. It took a couple of months but then it happened! After receiving a mailing from Joyce Meyer about "Finding the Power to Do What You Cannot Do" (wow just realized something with that) I sent another prayer request for John. I told them of how I've had great success with my weight loss and am now down over 60 lbs and running all kinds of races. I asked them to pray for God to help John quit smoking. I told them of his health problems because of it and asked to give him strength and a willingness to make health a priority.

A few months back when all of our financial struggles started I really had to think, "hmmm is God giving him no choice but to quit due to finances". I kept TRYING to keep a positive attitude about things, thinking, "this is what it's going go take". Things kept going haywire and struggle after struggle SOMETHING kept pulling us through the hard times and every time we needed something, something OR someone helped us out! (thanks to all of you who have helped in one way or another) Alas, John kept smoking...he'd talk of quitting here and there and even gave me all the cash/debit card several times, but would give in and even smoke halves of cigarettes he had left in the ashtray. I kept the peace about things and kept falling back on my faith that God will make this happen in HIS timing and will probably make it some amazing way.

Most of you know now, that I ran my Spartan Race July 14, 2012. It was July 20, 2012 that John smoked his last cigarette. 2 1/2 weeks ago now, and started RUNNING. He was so inspired by the race that he wants to do it next year. Yeah God, amazing that you used MY journey to inspire John. Not some dumb financial situation or something that just didn't mean much....Your timing....and making it something amazing! In the meantime, John has started working out...not JUST running...we made Bulgarian bags and he started working out with one of these on the days he doesn't run.

I told John he needed to make a goal. This is what I say has helped me immensely, to keep me motivated and to help keep off my weight. I never had physical goals in previous weight losses. Making goals keeps you going, it gives you something to work towards. John decided to do a 5K in September. So my earlier "(this made me realize something)" was that the topic I was reading about with Joyce Meyer was, "Finding the Power to Do What You Cannot Do" and the name of the first 5K John will be running is, "Yes I can". Coincidence?? I'm LOVING the runs that John and I get to do together now, and I think it's drawn us closer. I love hearing him asking if I'm ready to go run! I can't wait to cross the finish line with him....he might not cry, but I MIGHT!! None of this is our doing.  Yes, we get it done, and we need to keep ourselves motivated and we always have a choice...but the ultimate One pushing behind us is God and I once again need to give the glory to Him!



John's story..the first week..He's going to kill me haha

I never thought I'd see the day where my husband is asking me if I'm ready to go run....telling me, "Hunny, let's go do this!" or "How many burpees should I do to complete my work-out?" REALLY??

It's been 1 week...a whole week that John's gone without a cigarette. 1 week that we started running together. John downloaded the C25K program on his phone and is beyond motivated to push forward with it. It tells you to do the runs 3 times per week...he's going every other day.

Let me tell you a little about John. I know he won't like this, but I need to explain some things about him, so everyone can appreciate this as much as I have. John is a type 1 diabetic, which means he was diagnosed as a child, 10 years old to be exact. As a juvenile diabetic you automatically are placed on insulin- your body doesn't have any natural insulin stores to counteract sugar. That means at least 4 shots per day. John's always been a brittle diabetic, meaning his sugars have a tendency to run very high and drop very low without much warning. He's been to a dietitian and we've worked together in the past to bring his sugars under better control. I've been able to see first hand how incredibly stressful this process is. Counting carbs- meaning keeping track of EVERY carb you put in your body and then using a calculated process to figure out how much insulin to take. Sometimes he would take the correct insulin, we'd think it was down to a science, and then his sugars would drop and he'd go into a hypoglycemic episode, meaning that his body over-reacted to the insulin. These are scary to go through with someone. They can get slurred speech, extreme fatigue, pass out, convulsions and say and do things they don't remember later. I've been through a few of these with John.

John's other health concern is his breathing...which stems from his nicotine dependence. He realized that he has smoked for more than half his life! He started smoking at 16 and just turned 40. At one point he was almost up to 3 packs per day. Recently he was able to cut back to 1-1 1/2 packs per day. Mornings are rough. He wakes up hacking and coughing feeling like he can't catch his breath...but NEEDING a cigarette. He had a scare about 2 years ago now where he was diagnosed with emphysema in the ER. Later he saw a pulmonary Dr. who told him it wasn't emphysema, but he was just under the COPD "umbrella" of diagnoses.  Anyone that has dealt with addiction of any kind can relate. Addiction is defined as, "Addiction is the continued use of a mood altering substance or behaviour despite adverse dependency consequences." He knows it's bad for his health, he knows that it was costing us a couple hundred dollars a month, but when you're addicted...those things don't tend to matter.

 John has been coming to my races for almost a year now and after every race, has said, "wow I would love to start running and do that with you". 2-3 days later and the feeling has faded and he's back to being ok with his sedentary lifestyle. Something with Spartan was different. Maybe it was seeing me reach a goal that I've worked so incredibly hard for. Maybe it was seeing everyone else also reach that goal, and watching them cross the finish line. Maybe it was the undeniable camaraderie that is seen within the Spartan community. Maybe it just looked like a kick ass good time!! WHATEVER it was....John has decided he wants to run a Spartan race with me next year! NOW....do I think the race itself will be the hardest thing he's ever done? NOPE!! The hardest thing that John will do, is GET himself to the race. The hardest thing he's had to do...he's doing right now.

John put down the cigarettes a week ago...a week and a day now to be exact! He started running and doing the Couch to 5K program. Yesterday was especially bad. This past week he's been sleeping in late and going to bed early. He figures if he's sleeping he won't be craving. Yesterday we got up early to go do something we enjoy together, yard saleing. Normally when we go yard saleing he smokes like crazy. He was GOING crazy yesterday. It was yesterday morning that he told me about another new app he downloaded on his phone called Quitrunchill. It's an app specifically for smokers trying to quit who are also starting to run. I went to the website and the numbers are pretty incredible.
"Running is a great way to get healthier; and if you decide to quit smoking, running can help you succeed at that. For example research shows:

• about 4% of smokers who quit without help of any kind become long-term ex-smokers ¹
• about 15% of smokers who use nicotine meds (like patch or gum) become ex-smokers ¹
• about 18% of smokers who use the Smoke|Quit booklets quit smoking ²
• about 25% of smokers who take up running in order to quit become ex-smokers ^{3, 4}
• about 30% of smokers using stop-smoking prescription drugs quit smoking ^1"

Here's a link to the website http://www.quitrunchill.org/

I have to say, I never thought I'd see the day where John would actually quit. I don't feel bad in saying that, because I don't think he did either. He's tried many times in the past and failed. The reason he thinks he failed before is that he wasn't doing it for HIMSELF! I understand that. I've been down the same road with my weight loss. I've tried before and failed. It was always for dumb reasons. This time it's not to fit in a little black dress, or look good in my bathing suit...it's to get healthy. It was waking up and realizing that I couldn't go on living the way I was. This time for John, it's not about saving money, or because the doctor told him to. It's to get healthy. It's to reach a goal...a physical goal, and revel in all the other things that go along with it!

I am so incredibly proud of all that he's accomplished in just this past week. For him to not have a cigarette in more than a week is a miracle in itself, let alone the fact that he's been running every other day on top of that...and each run/walk is approximately 1.65 miles. The other night we got home from our run and he actually asked me, "How many burpees should I do to complete my work-out?" REALLY?? Who ASKS to do burpees?? haha. Yesterday we went hiking and there was a flat rock and he starts doing box jumps!



I keep telling him that his story will inspire a LOT of people! What he doesn't realize is that even though I may have inspired him, right now he's inspiring me. I've been in a funk ever since my Spartan race and knew that I would be. Hard times financially are preventing me from making any big plans for future races (they're NOT cheap), but since he's made a goal I'm getting off my butt and helping him train. I honestly don't know that I'd be out there doing much of anything at the moment if it wasn't for him. I love going running with him!! Right now I'm not so focused on me, but I'm starting to be focused on getting others to reach their goals and to see how awesome the feeling is!

It's been rough...even though it's been over a week now he still has REALLY intense cravings for a cigarette. He talked about making his goal race the Yes I Can 5K at Gring's Mill to benefit the Special Olympics. This is the same day that the Super Spartan is scheduled for in NJ and also the same day as the half marathon that I wanted to do. I've given up on both of those and put them to the side for the moment. Right now I want to make his goals happen! We just looked at his training schedule and he would be more than ready to do that race...maybe not run the entire thing, but more than ready to do 3.1 miles!!! He joked about doing that race because of the title...but I fully believe in him to make this happen. Yes HE Can is more like it!!

Now I have to publicly apologize to John for this, because I'm sure he's not going to be real happy with me for sharing all this. I'm just so proud of you for taking this first step to better health, and I've really enjoyed our runs together and look really forward to so many more. I really look forward to running across the finish line with you....or after you, I know that competitive Warren side of you!! Love you with all my heart and just so excited to share your story, because I KNOW without a doubt it will inspire others!!