The state of the union: recovery, weight loss and loose skin

There’s only one thing that you need to know: I’m tired! I feel like I finally hit the limit of doing too much and not getting enough rest.  Yesterday, “Dr. Dawn” told me to take a break and she’s right.

Recovery is important but it’s not something I’m good at.  I like to be moving and doing something.  When I’m not moving, I don’t feel like myself. There’s probably some psychological thing I’ve also programmed in my mind about not being active too that comes into to play but that’s buried in the back ends of my mind.

All I know is, all the training and running and teaching and working out along with the busy daily life things including the time change has left me exhausted.  It’s been a long 8 months that has led me to this point but every minute was worth it but now it’s time to take a break. But there comes a time when I must listen to my body and right now it’s talking to me.

This is why I don’t recommend anyone working out 7 days a week. When does you body get a chance to recover?

At the beginning of the week, I was miffed at Willie because he asked me not to do a race this weekend.  He’s the only one who can ask/tell me not to run so when he says that I listen.  I may not like it but when he says it I will do it!  Now, I’m thanking him because I’m just too run down to even think about it.  All running with have to be on the streets this weekend and I don’t mind it.

I’ve been getting a lot of questions in my e-mail and I thought I would answer two of the biggest questions in my state of the union post.

1. Can you please tell me exactly what to do to lose weight? Simple answer: no.  I can’t do that.  Many people have written me talking about their medical problems and their need to lose weight.  I’m not a professional and even if I was, I would have to access you before lending you any advice.  Here on the blog, I’m not really telling you how to lose weight, I’m just going through the things I do on a daily basis.  If you’re trying to lose weight, the first thing you need to do is consult a physician to find the ways that will work for you and keep you healthy!

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2. What are you doing about the loose skin? I’m really amazed people are that worried about having loose skin. My question to all you asking is: would you rather be overweight or have loose skin from losing the weight? Yes, I have loose skin. I lost 200 pounds, it’s be expected. The loose skin doesn’t bother me. Yes it’s nuisance sometimes, but I would rather deal with that than not be active or worried about it. The truth: some of it toned up. My arms still have some lose skin (I really only notice it at rest or relaxation) but for the most part my muscles shine through.

I’ve put the picture in above because you can see it here! People sometimes think we’re lying about our weight loss because we don’t have loose skin…but there it is in all of it’s glory. Arms and legs! There ya go!

Willie has a lot of loose skin and as time goes on, I realize he might have to get it cut off because I see it hampering him in the future. Loose skin is to be expected when you go through weight loss, but it’s really not THAT big of deal. We look at it as our battle scars and move forward. Nothing special!

So those are the two biggest questions I get in my e-mail. I hope people actually read this post.

I’m looking forward to weekend of relaxation because a lot of weird things have happened this week. Hopefully, I’ll get a new phone today after my NEW phone (15 days old) hit the fritz! That’s why I haven’t done much posting on social media lately!

How many rest days do you have a week? What is your favorite thing to do to relax?

Why goals are VERY important

Why goals are VERY important

It’s that time again where I start looking forward to the future. I want to know what my next big thing is going to be so I can start working on it now! This morning when I was teaching my cycle class I thought about goal setting. My goal for this morning was the teach a successful class! When I finished the class, I felt good because I knew I accomplished my goal. Goals don’t always have to be a big ta-da in life! There are long-term and short-term goals! Short term goals are the perfect way to help you…

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I’m Strutter of the Year!

I’m Strutter of the Year!

It was a busy weekend! I planned to post on Friday but I decided to volunteer my time for the race instead. I hope you guys understand! I didn’t get a chance to help out a ton this year so I wanted to do my part to help out. On Friday night, we had our annual running group pasta party! A lot of people showed up this year which made me happy. We got there early to order off the menu before the masses arrived. So glad we did that because a bunch of folks were there to enjoy the…

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Try this vegetable soup on a cold day!

Try this vegetable soup on a cold day!

I’ve been sick but I’m trying to get on the mend quicker so I can run my second marathon in 6 days on Saturday.  I’ve been overloading on vitamin C and medicating up.  The Gusher will be my first TEXAS marathon and I’m glad to say it will be run in my hometown!  Things are looking better but on Monday I decided to make some veggie soup. Here’s what you need for the soup: 1 package of frozen chopped spinach 1/2 white onion, diced 1 red bell pepper, diced 1 green bell pepper, diced 2 stalks celery, diced 1 cup…

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HELP! I need to lose weight.

HELP! I need to lose weight.

Every time Willie and I end up in the media, the Facebook and e-mail messages start rolling in with people saying the same thing.  “HELP! I need to lose weight.  Please tell me what to do.” I try to read the messages but honestly it’s just a lot of messages saying the same thing.  Reading the messages makes me feel helpless and at a loss for words because I don’t really know what to say.  Correction:  I know what to say but I know that’s not what you want to hear. I am not an expert on weight loss.  I’m…

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Little Rock Marathon Weekend

Little Rock Marathon Weekend

The next two weeks are big for me because these are the two events I’ve been waiting for since November!  This weekend I am running the Little Rock Marathon (and Capital Hat Trick (5k, 10k, plus my marathon)!  Next weekend it’s The Gusher Marathon!  So you know what that means? It’s time to hydrate and carb up! Nuun is my electrolyte drink of choice! I discovered it last year at an expo and I’ve used it ever since. Nuun is “light flavor, no sugar or carbs” and it’s good. It’s a little harder to find but I see it’s showing…

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Let’s Move! Turns 4

Let’s Move! Turns 4

The First Lady’s big push to end childhood obesity, Let’s Move!, turned 4 yesterday! On Wednesday I had an opportunity to speak with Executive Director of Let’s Move!, Sam Kass, about the program and where they want the program to go in the future! The childhood obesity rate has decreased since the start of the program and this is something they want to keep going in the future.  It’s the gift that keeps giving! Childhood obesity is something that weighs heavily on my heart! I was always the “bigger” kid growing up and it was cool back then, but when…

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Travel Tuesday happened on Wednesday

Travel Tuesday happened on Wednesday

Yesterday was supposed to be travel Tuesday but I missed it. My intentions were well but it just didn’t happen. So y’all want to know what we’ve been up to concerning our trip to China? Yesterday we did passports! No picture for this one, but this was something that should have been done long ago but we didn’t. NOW it’s done though. On Saturday, Willie and I ventured to the Asian market to see what we could get into! I love Asian flavors and we pretty much have something Asian influenced every night. We are wicked excited to go to…

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That proud feeling

That proud feeling

People often ask me why I run.  I run because I love it.  People never ask me why I run so many races but I know they always wonder.  I run the races because it’s about pushing past boundaries for me. Every time I line up at the start and cross the finish line I know I’ve accomplished something.  Those are the moments I use to motivate myself to keep moving past those boundaries and push toward new goals! I’m using my running a race as a way to explain the thoughts in my head today, not because I think…

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Interesting read about calories and strength training

Interesting read about calories and strength training

When we started the weight loss journey it was all about calories.  We counted those suckers like we counted pennies out at the register.  We used Lose It! to help track our calorie intake.  In the beginning we had a lot of calories to eat, but as the weight came off the calories we were allowed inched down.  I remember the day my calories reached 1300.  I remember struggling during that time because working out as much as I did and just eating 1300 calories wasn’t working. My friend Aimee posted a link from Sophieologie about 1200 calories and I…

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Not the best day

Not the best day

Today hasn’t been kind to me. The day started out great but it went down hill shortly after I taught my cycle class this morning. My ankle has been bothering me but I trucked through the class. I really enjoyed teaching the class this morning and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Teaching this class was probably the best thing of the day.  I don’t know why I was so excited but I woke up at 3 am for my 5am class.  I was an eager beaver to motivate those who came to class this morning. Things started to go down…

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