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.

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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 China to try lots of different things. I have some limits though: no snakes and no chicken feet! We poked around the store for a little bit. There were lots of things gelled in cans. Lychees, coconuts, mangos, all in cans with gel. I was mystified. Also, apparently you have to have your Pat O’Brien’s hurricane mix with your meal. I thought it was kind of random to see there so I had to get a picture of it.

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Willie was on the search for something. He looked all official with his pen and pad. I don’t know what he was looking for, but I promise he picked up almost everything in the store.

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While I waited on Willie to check out I spotted shrimp chips! I don’t know about these things but on the back it says, “a toasted light snack, with a touch of shrimp.” I like shrimp but I’m not too sure if I would want to try these. But to each his own…

As for training, I’ve just been doing my regular cycle classes with probably a little bit more resistance to build some leg strength. Willie has been nursing a hurt knee, but he’s been rolling and trying to get it back to working normally. I have two marathons in 6 days coming up so I’m laying off the running until Saturday. I’m not really interested in breaking myself.

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On Saturday I ran 5 miles and Sunday I ran 8.5 miles. We had to make some training stops along the way. The wall isn’t going to climb itself, so I had to take on a smaller challenge so I’m ready to conquer The Great Wall of China. In all seriousness, the trip is getting closer and I’m excited and scared at the same time. I’m so excited to have the opportunity to do this because most people will never be able to do what we’re doing. I’m scared because I’m going to do something my physically challenging than I’ve ever done before. My thing is pushing past the limits I think I have to become stronger mentally, but that doesn’t mean I don’t give myself a mental beat down on that journey. I’m always willing to try new things but I’m always so afraid. I guess that last little part doesn’t matter as long as I don’t let that fear stop me from trying it, right?

So this is where we are right now as far as getting ready! We still have so much to do like learn a little bit of the language, research some things to do and places we want to visit. But we are all about going off the path to find the hidden gems of the city.

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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Motivation Monday to get back on track

Motivation Monday to get back on track

It’s Monday and all the blogs I read do motivation Monday. I don’t really do that because everyone else is doing it. Today, I needed a little motivation. I’ve been off track. I haven’t felt like myself and I know I haven’t been holding myself accountable. I’ve been stuck in a rut because I’ve been resting for the marathon and then I ran another marathon two weeks later. It’s really left me feeling weird because I’ve been in a constant taper. My working out was limited…and I felt the need to carbo load. In New Orelans all I ate the…

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In the defense of the Biggest Loser Winner

In the defense of the Biggest Loser Winner

Last night the winner of The Biggest Loser was chosen and people don’t seem to be happy.  I will admit, I don’t watch the show.  I really don’t like how the show doesn’t take it’s moment to educate the viewers on losing the weight, it strictly about the game.  In the end, it’s all about it being a reality show and game and there’s nothing wrong with that.  I know a lot of people look to show for a source of inspiration and motivation so I just wish there was just a little bit more education going on sometimes. So…

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The deal with changes

The deal with changes

Change is a part of life that we can’t really avoid.  Things change on a constant basis, including the weather.  I can’t believe we were hit with two ice events in 6 days here in southeast Texas.  I was cooped up in the house for a couple of days which really gave me a chance to think about the message I want to send out to the world.  Things changed for us a when we decided to lose the weight, our appearance changed,  our life changed, our activities changed and all of the sudden people are asking us to speak about…

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The deal with meal prepping

The deal with meal prepping

Meal prepping is a great tool in just leading a healthy lifestyle.  It’s great for time management too because you won’t have to worry about cooking something because it will basically be done.  I was reading a site recently and the subject was meal prepping but they were charging people for the information.  I won’t do that too you because it’s not that difficult to meal prep. I always meal prep breakfast and dinner for the entire week.  For lunch, I will have leftovers or a frozen meal.  When I say we eat the same thing every week, I really…

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Playing catch up

Playing catch up

I’ve seriously fallen behind in life since Willie has been sick. Last week I split my time between the hospital, work and home.  I was totally out of my routine.  I didn’t get to work out that much and I was seriously tired.  No matter what I did, I couldn’t seem to get some sleep.  I know a lot of it was stress induced, but I was really really tired.  Good thing Willie’s hospital visit occurred the week after the marathon because I probably needed to rest days. The one thing I learned is the hospital doesn’t really serve healthy…

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The Willie Update

The Willie Update

If you haven’t been keeping up with me on social media, you have no idea that Willie has been in the hospital.  He’s been dealing with stomach problems for a while now but lately it’s just gotten worse.  The past 9 days have kind of become unbearable for him so when we got back to town he went to the doctor…who then sent him to the emergency room. He had a a few  gall stones blocking his bile duct and one was rather large.  They sucked those suckers out yesterday.  Today he had his gall bladder removed and he’s feeling…

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Race Recap: The Louisiana Marathon

Race Recap: The Louisiana Marathon

I love this race because it’s a pretty course, the people are friendly and it’s just an all around good time.  I am so happy to share this race recap with you because this was a very positive experience for me. The morning started off well. I had gotten a good night’s sleep and I woke up in a very positive attitude. After battling some bad mental running issues since Memphis, waking up and feeling this good and excited meant I was already a winner! We arrived at the race and did all the necessary things but we lined up…

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