Well shit, I have a half marathon in 79 days

Procrastination wins again. I have a half marathon in 79 days and I have been majorly slacking on my training.


The good news: My bath tub is getting installed this week so I will be able to take ice baths
The bad news: I have zero aerobic base and 11 weeks to train.

This may be the smartest or dumbest shit I've ever done in my life. We'll see. I'm making the commitment to get up at 5:30 AM every day to go for my training run so that I can get across that finish line. Because there is a shiny medal. A really big really shiny medal.

And beer. There is free beer at the finish line.


So here is my training plan. It's increasing my mileage by more than 10% per week, so I'm taking preventative measures like taping my knees, wearing my shin splint boots, and of course ice baths. And if I feel a stress fracture, I'm pulling out. But dammit, I'm going to do it. Because the week after this race is potentially when we start to stim for IVF #1. And I'm going to be 30 pounds lighter in the next 11 weeks.

And yes. I will be holding myself accountable.

I also need to do a weight check, but every time I've stepped on the scale this week it's said "Lo"

So between being too lazy to change the batteries, and enjoying the scale telling me that my weight is "Lo" (LOL) I've not weighed in.

This time next year

So here's a break from my getting healthy posts to talk about TTC again. Mostly because I overslept on Monday, took a lazy day, and didn't set goals for myself... aside from not drinking a week's worth of calories while I'm in Memphis this weekend.


When you're having trouble trying to conceive, sometimes you find IF brain making you fantasize about the future. I remember how full of hope I was for my first clomid cycle. I remember how ridiculously hopeful I was that I would be one of the lucky ones with IUI.

And as we prep for IVF, I find myself once again trying to think positive and find myself saying "when I get pregnant with IVF #1".

Now I know the unfortunate reality is that statistically, MOST women don't get pregnant with IVF #1 (The live birth rate for IVF nationwide is 40%).

Both clinics I'm looking at have live birth rates of 31% and 36%. Statistically I know I will probably need more than one cycle. But damnit, I'm going to be the exception that drives those stats UP!

So I spent time thinking about what the next year will look like if our November IVF works (figuring based on my cycle that we'll probably have our IVF around the 15th).

November 2014: I'll be bloated, miserable, and fat. But I will be excited. We will have a trip to New York for our IVF, and probably stop at Niagara falls on the way home.

Thanksgiving 2014: Will probably be right around the time we get our BFP. And then I plan to not tell my mother. If she asks I'm going to lie and tell her it didn't take. Because I want to surprise her on Christmas Day. It will be double the surprise if we end up with twins. And I've resigned myself to that very real possibility!

December 2014: We'll be somewhere around 7 weeks at Christmas. We can't wait to tell the family on Christmas Day. I'm terrible at keeping secrets, but it will be so worth it!

March 21, 2015: Half baked, and the weekend I will be seeking re-election for my volunteer chair position. Could be an amusing election if I'm  half-baked with twins!

April 18th, 2015: Viability week. The flowers will be in full bloom, and we will be celebrating my blossoming belly

May 23rd, 2015: Memorial day weekend. 29 weeks. Hopefully this will be the weekend of my baby shower. My mom's already said she plans on having it at her house, and I'm looking forward to a super casual backyard holiday weekend barbeque with the whole family to celebrate Baby Dreaming!

July 4th, 2015: Happy independence day. If we're expecting twins, this could very well be our inside babies' independence days from my uterus! 35 weeks and we've hit the final countdown.

August 8th- Full term. God bless me if I make it this far!


It's really crazy to think that this time next year we could very well have an outside baby/babies! I'm going to hang on to that hope.

Down another 1.9 pounds

I just need to get excited and dance around a bit.

I'm down another 1.9 pounds, despite some poor food choices this week.

I also saw a number in the 260's for the first time since right after my dad died.

I'm really proud of myself

6/30 goals in review + new goals week of 7/7

Week 1 of "Operation: Be Less Fat" is complete. To recap, my goals were:

1) Complete all three training wogs scheduled
     Status: Completed. Went home for the holiday weekend and even squeezed in some extra long doggy walks on top of it all

2) Eat out less than 3 meals
     Status: Completed. Though the fact that we had a huge cookout and I gorged myself on some super fattening ethnic foods probably wasn't the way to go about meeting that goal.

3) Don't skip lunch at work
     Status: FAIL. I forgot lunch two days last week :(



So time for new goals this week

1) spend at least 30 minutes in my garden each  night (weather permitting)
2) go out for a walk/jog 4 nights this week
3) stock my NEW office mini-fridge with healthy foods and snacks

What does my food look like?

So one of my goals this week was to eat out less.

I'll admit- I had become lazy and complacent. My usual breakfast at work was something from McDonalds- either a sausage biscuit + frappe or a hotcakes and sausage platter + frappe.

Medium caramel frappe- 550 calories
Sausage Biscuit- 430 calories
Hotcakes and sausage- 520 calories

So right there my breakfasts on any given day were between 980 and 1070 calories. And I was paying $4.50-$6.50 for all of the gross food! Figure that's an average of $28 a week.


Excuse me while I vomit.

And then I would skip lunch because I ate such a disgustingly large breakfast. And by the time I got home I was famished and ate a ridiculous dinner.

No wonder I gained 90 pounds. ICK!

So I've decided it's time to take my meals back! Or more accurately- take my meals to work.

I spent some time on food stamps right after college and learned to shop super thrifty, so I knew it wouldn't be a challenge to get nutritious and reasonably priced food. Here's what I bought this week

8 bagels- $2.50 (on clearance at the grocery). I split them in half
     Cost per serving- $0.16
10 yogurts- $6.00
     Cost per serving- $0.60
10 pears- $2.00 (they were seconds at the farmers market)
     Cost per serving- $0.20
6 peaches- $3.50 (farmer's market)
     Cost per serving- $0.58
3 cans of Progresso soup- $4.00 (coupon+ in store sale). Each can will provide two lunches
     Cost per serving- $0.66

So my typical breakfast has looked like this
1/2 bagel with butter (180 calories)
1 cup of yogurt (90 calories)
A piece of fruit (60 calories)
Total Cost - $1.20 (average)
Total Calories 330

And a typical lunch has looked like this:
1 bowl of soup (130 calories)
1/2 bagel  (180 calories)
Total cost- $0.82
Total calories 310

So I went from consuming roughly 1,000 calories a day at work to consuming 640 calories. I'm fuller for a longer period of time, and I've literally cut my dining costs in half ($2.02 vs $4.50)

I have a fridge in my office, so I just bring all of my food in on Monday, and then I don't have to worry about it again until the following week.

I'm actually flabbergasted at how easy it's been!