Marathon Makeover!

My marathon training started yesterday! I'm excited! I'm following an 18 week plan for the Cross Timbers Trail Run at Lake Texoma in February. I'm so ready to get back to 'me.' I'm not happy with 'me' currently. My weight is at an all time high...where it was when I graduated college, which was ugly and I never wanted to go back there, but here I am. Why must weight be such a battle?? For me, it comes down to food because I have no issues with working out, I love it, although I've really put it on the back burner for too long. But food, oh how I love thee! While I only have myself to blame for my poor food choices, our culture certainly doesn't help the situation. We are completely surrounded with commercials, billboards, restaurants, etc. promoting unhealthy food. Our culture is so centered around food...food for rewards, food for celebration, food for bad days, food, food, food. It attacks our willpower, because you can only say no for so long before you cave.

Things are changing in the Bolton household though. Time for Paleo eating! Essentially, cutting out the processed junk and dairy (that's the short version of it). I did this for a few weeks last year (before the holidays pulled the rug out from under me) and felt great! Whole foods were tasting great! Cravings for sugar and processed stuff were going away. Weight was dropping off. Anyway, I was too weak and crumbled. I hope to be stronger this time. Clint is much more onboard this time which will help. I'm so ready for this healthy lifestyle makeover as I like to call it. Once this eating becomes a lifestyle, we'll be less vulnerable to all the NOISE out there.

And I know those evil holidays are looming, but I'm prepared this time. I know I won't be perfect through them, but I will be cautious and sparing in my indulgences. Plus, I plan to learn how to make some new foods, healthy foods, that can become holiday traditions. Like I said, once you get away from processed foods, it's amazing how alive your sense of taste becomes, everything 'healthy' that once had a dull flavor is now full of life!

I'll keep everyone up to date on our progress. We bought some paleo cook books and already on our first day yesterday we made a yummy dinner AND a good chocolate-banana cake. We were skeptical about the cake, but couldn't believe how well it turned out. So, see, we can have our cake and eat it too! :)

In other news, Clint and I officially joined Mobberly Baptist Church this weekend. We had ben visiting for awhile. I'm glad to feel settled in a new church home rather than in limbo all the time. We are loving the energy that is in this church and can't wait to get involved!

Super Size Me

Clint and I finally watched this documentary this past weekend. Yes, I realize we are a little late to the party since it came out back in 2004. And while I have read and heard reviews about how the guy took things to extreme, it's not comparable to real life eating, yada yada, it was still so alarming. Some of the stats are just so sad. What are we doing to ourselves?? Surely people KNOW fast food, etc. is bad for them, right? Clint and I do know it's bad for us, but still find ourselves eating it. Not as much as the 'average' consumer, but still WAY more than we should.

I think one of the saddest parts of the documentary was when they were showing a young girl and her mom talking to Jared the 'Subway' guy. Jared had come to a local school to give a speech on eating right/weightloss. The girl/mom duo got the chance to talk to him afterwards. The mom was concerned for her daughter because she was obese and her daughter couldn't lose weight. Well, mom was obese too...and mom is the one who feeds daughter. I will boldly say that I think obesity in children is a form of child abuse. Yes, I know there are the RARE medical cases that obesity is a side effect of the condition/medication, so I'm not talking about those situations.

I worked at the McDonald's PlayPlace in high school, doing birthday parties and monitoring the children/cleaning up the area. I would see so many of the same families week after week. The place reeked of ketchup. I saw kids get refills on soda time, after time, after time...many being 'forced' to stick to the orange soda or sprite since those didn't have caffeine. Umm yeah, that's a better solution. And yes, I know even McD's can be eaten in moderation, but I don't think that people know what moderation is anymore!

Anyway, the documentary told us mainly what we already knew. Processed food is bad and it expands outside of just McD's, which by the way I was never a fan anyway. I may have worked there, but I didn't eat there. Now, Whataburger...lol. Clint and I like to think that we are doing good, but we're not. It's time for us to buck up and change that! Last year I went Paleo eating for a few weeks. It's amazing how great I felt! Sadly, I let it all crash and burn during the holidays and it went by the wayside. Well, Clint and I are both ready to take it on. I hope I can make it a lasting lifestyle. I'll let everyone know of our progress. We have a book with many Paleo recipes and I am getitng some more. Really, it's not hard to eat Paleo, the food is good, it's simply a matter of taking some planning time until it becomes more natural. I wish we had better grocery store options such as a Whole Foods, but we'll just have to work with what we've got. I think changing our habits to the healthier now will be so beneficial to when we add a new addition to our family so that we can teach our child how to eat well through example as well. I know we can't cut out all the bad 100%, and I'm not trying to, but we can certainly get away from the American lifestyle.

In other news, Clint and I went out to the Hamby Trails this past weekend with some of the bike club members to clean up the trails to get them ready for this season of mountain biking and trail running. The trails really weren't in too bad of shape...it's been so dry this year so I don't think things have grown as much. I'm excited! Just in time for me to start my training for my trail run in February. My plan officially starts on the 18th!

Things are Looking Up!

So, after my downer of a post on Friday morning, things really didn't improve. After work, I checked the mail and discovered that Clint got a red light traffic ticket. I hate feeling like we are just throwing money away. Then, a little later we got a call that Clint's mom had fallen in the bleachers at a football game and was being transported by ambulance to the hospital. She's fine. Well, she did scrape up her knees pretty good and they were already swelling, but nothing broken or requiring stitches. The frustrating thing with the situation was the lack of communication; therefore, not knowing what was going on.

However, this week, we are back on track! It's been a nice week so far and the cooler temperatures are so refreshing. I am loving running right now. I start my marathon plan in 2 weeks! I'm a little nervous about it because I picked a pretty aggressive plan with 6 days/week running. We'll see how my body holds up, I may end up backing off to five days/week.

Clint and I are also approaching the end of our 4 week budget (right now we rotate on 4 weeks rather than monthly, but plan to go to monthly next year). Doesn't mean much to most, but to us, it means we get to make a big payment to Clint's student loans! I know I was just complaining in my last post about paying towards debt, but while we hate it, we love seeing the huge drop each month. Freedom from debt is within our reach and each time we get to make the 'big' payment, it gives us a boost.

So, while October started off in a slump, it's back to being its usual greatness. October is by far my favorite month of all!

In a Slump

Clint and I have been feeling a lot like the picture on the left lately. To say we are in a slump would be an understatement. We're doing good things and headed in the right direction, but I tell ya' the getting there can be such a drag! So, allow me to rant, or let it all out if you will...

We started the Dave Ramsey plan about a year ago now. It was/IS awesome and has totally turned our lives around. Not that we thought life was bad, but man, our outlook sure did get much brighter. However, we've been paying off debt, paying off debt, paying off debt. Seems like we watch the rest of the world go by. We know we're doing the right thing, but the right thing certainly isn't always the easy thing. We hardly race because that costs money, no vacation, and the list goes on. And while I know we aren't exactly living on beans and rice and cutting off the power to pay things off, we are in such a rut right now: go to work, workout, sleep, repeat. And then on weekends, try to get caught up on the house because we were too tired during the week to do anything.

Work is slow and uneventful. No exciting projects right now. I get frustrated at times with my co-workers/boss for this and that. Meaningless stuff really, but this slump/rut has me on edge.

I hate that I've let myself get so out of shape and put on so much weight. I need that spark again, but with the slump, I just want to come home and space out.

I have a to-do list a mile long and a reading list that's even longer.

My Leadership class met for a lunch meeting yesterday and I was going to go...all the way up until Wednesday afternoon when my boss said we had to go out of town for work. :( This meeting they basically assigned responsibility/tasks to everyone...except for those 5 of us that weren't there. I'm scared that now I'll just merely be 'present' rather than active and I hate that. Of course, the e-mail said that we could nominate ourselves for a position (we officially vote in a couple of weeks). But how do you nominate yourself for something when you weren't even there and attempt to take it from someone who was there??

To sum it up, I'm tired, bored, cranky, mad at myself, ready for a change.

However, I am not going to let myself go down this spiral any further. It's easy to get caught up in this 'woe is me' outlook. I have so many things to be thankful for and really, my life is pretty darn sweet! I need to remind myself of that daily! I've picked a race, found a plan (starts in two weeks), and am ready to take things one step at a time. We are headed in the right, beautiful direction.

A Dying Breed

Last night Clint and I attended the monthly bike club meeting. I am the current president and Clint is the ride director. However, we look forward to turning these positions over to other people, and luckily the club was able to scrounge up enough people to fill the next slate of officers for next year. Sadly, this club is dying.

When I first started riding with the Longview Bicycle Club way back in '02 it was a very active group! Monday night rides would average over 60 people, they had time trials and a 12 hour ride, get togethers for cookouts, prizes at the meetings, etc. etc. It was great! However, as the years have passed, less people come to events...then we stopped having events at all, no more time trials, no more 12 hour ride. We average about 15 at our meetings. Hardly anyone comes to the Christmas parties. While the group naturally divides into slower and faster groups, a riff of some sort has developed and Saturday rides now start in two different places.

All of this is really heartbreaking really. I love the bike, I love the people who bike. But the fact is, the older people have done their share and the newer (my) generation don't want to step up to the plate. I don't know how to change that. Our generation has kids etc., which the old people claim is no excuse because they still did it back in their younger years with kids. However, I was reminded by a fellow Leadership Longview classmate that todays world is so fast paced and we have much more commitments. Heck, we're over committed! People can't go without their cell phones; carrying work, etc. around with them at all times. All so true! It's hard to remember life before this technological age, but I do remember it...and I sometimes miss it. I miss how people used to actually TALK to each other, connect with each other. Seems like today is just thousands of short texted phrases to one another while dashing to the next commitment.

So, I understand people struggling to be active participants in things they care about. However, I don't see the bike club lasting much longer. The club has already divided into it's cliques anyway that send out texts of when, where, and who is showing up to ride. Eventually, I see it dissolving into a few just getting together to ride. I'm thankful of the people I have met though and I know I'll always have riding partners.

Sharing the news

I have already spilled the beans to my mom and sister and of course they are super excited about our adoption decision. Clint felt it was time to share with his Dad. So, yesterday we went over to his house to eat and tell him about our plans.

I had no idea that Clint was going to go into detail about us trying to have kids for several months, yada yada. In retrospect, I wish that we had talked beforehand about how he was going to present it to his dad. Because of course, the first thing his dad says, "Well, you'll get pregnant as soon as you try to adopt." I don't think he truely understood that pregnancy is NOT our hope or ambition and that adoption is somehow a 'backup' plan. It's THE plan, the one we want and have prayed over! Of course, not to say that we'll be sad in anyway if we do get pregnant. I just wanted him to understand that adoption is what we want and that we are so very happy. And he seemed perfectly fine with it, but again, I guess I'm already turning into Mama Bear and don't want anyone to even think that this child(ren) is somehow second best.

At this time we are going the route of not trying/not preventing, but it's something I will be discussing with my doctor. I was on medication for years to prevent/slow the process of endometriosis because both my mom and sister have had issues with it. So, I may be going back to it if it will help keep me healthy and pain free, therefore, back to preventing and Clint and I are A-okay with that!

Anyway, back to his dad...we were surprised to hear that Clint's parents had gone through the licensing process to foster kids because they tried for three years to have kids. They even fostered a couple of kids! Clint's dad had the same issues Clint does so the cycling, while surely wasn't helping the situation, by not doing it, chances are it wouldn't have changed anything. Clint was a little upset that his dad never shared any of this with him. The whole conversation was akward really. Clint's dad is one of the nicest guys, but Clint doesn't have a very close relationship with him. His dad worked as much as possible just to try to make ends meet for them growing up and so was not around much. Plus, Clint's dad didn't have much of a relationship with his own father so I think he really didn't know how to be a father to his own kids. We hope that we can break that cycle! Clint so much wants to be an ACTIVE participant in his child's life and I know he'll be a great dad. And I dont say any of this in a mean spirited way towards his dad, there is so much more to the situation and his dad is a good, hard-working person. I just simply wish that Clint and he were closer. However, Clint has to do his part as well. All in all, I think his dad and step-mom are happy for us and Clint feels lighter having shared the news.

Sad Statistics

Last night was the informational meeting on Hannah House. Most of the information I had heard when they came to speak to the board of our Homeowner's Association and close neighbors. However, I didn't mind hearing it again. I still think this is such a great ministry.

Something that I heard that was new was that 750,000 teen girls get pregnant EVERY year in the Unites States!! 28,000 in Texas alone. That is mind boggling to me. The worst part, 40% of that number choose to get an abortion. Just breaks my heart. I am obviously pro life, but I can't even imagine for those that are pro choice having to make such a difficult decision. And sadly, 1.1 million couples apply annually to adopt. Which is kind of scary when we think of our own journey to adopt. With so many people wanting to adopt, why do we feel we need to? There's not enough to go around! Well, actually, the sad fact is, so many of these couples are wanting a newborn, while children sit in foster care and orphanages. So, I pray that we will be doing a helpful thing by giving a child(ren) a loving home and removing them from a bad situation. Everyone deserves a chance.

After meetings like this I am so pumped up and rah rah sis boom-bah! But I am still unsure of how I can help. But I am putting my information on the volunteer list because I still want to be involved. They are putting on a golf tournament to raise funds at the end of October so I plan to volunteer at that, the very least. I'm trying to get Clint to organize a 4 man team to compete. He likes golf and never gets to play. However, his brother kind of took his clubs and lost/destroyed them so he'll have to see if he can borrow some. It's just not worth it right now to buy new ones when they are so expensive and he just doesn't get the chance to play that often.

Right now, Hannah House has found a house they love on Sam Page (right around the corner from us, lovely area) and the best part, no HOA to deal with! The problem, they need $20,000 for a down payment. I'll definitely be talking it up!

Change of subject, but somewhat related to the whole baby/family thing: After my 100 mile run, I was ready for a break, took the rest of 2009 off. At the beginning of 2010, it was about paying off debt and not doing anything too strenuous in case I became pregnant and not wanting to sign up for anything...in case I got pregnant. Well, sadly, I didn't eat less to correspond with my working out less. So, I need a game plan, something to work towards. Another downfall and the reason for my ultra 'sickness' to begin with is that I am terrified to compete at a distance I have already done because I am afraid I will have a slower time. Ridiculous, no?! I mean, even the same race is different from year to year due to weather, sickness, stress, etc. And the truth is, I AM getting older, the times ARE going to get slower. I need to learn how to focus on doing the best I can given the circumstances. I know it, I just need to believe it :) With all of that said, I came home yesterday evening and sat down and picked out an event! I love trail running so I picked out a trail marathon! I was hoping for a 50k, but Clint and I weighed travel distance to the race site, cost, the amount of loops (I don't want to do multiple loops, been there, done that! I want to GO somewhere!) and this particular race just had the best of all of our criteria. It's the Cross Timbers Trail Marathon out by Lake Texoma. They claim it's the 'hardest' trail in Texas. Looking at the pictures, it does look like a challenge and I am excited! So, next up, a training plan to execute!