A Challenge?? Yes, please!! :)

a year ago, i never would have guessed i would be wanting to challenge myself with anything, especially having to do with anything athletic! but now that i like to consider myself somewhat of a "runner," i've discovered this crazy, (and actually kinda scary and *#&chy) competitive girl inside of me. i've said on facebook before that if someone beside me on the treadmill is running faster than me, i have to go just as fast and that's just ONE slightly non-embarrassing example of what i mean. :)

anyway, a friend of mine told me about this race series in rutherford county so thought i'd check it out. in a nutshell, there are 10 races to pick from and you have to at least run 5 of them to be considered for any prize. if you place overall or in your age group in any individual race, you get a higher number of points and the top point earners earn prizes at the end of the year ($$ and gift cards...HELLO??!!) :)

so i'm very excited about this next exciting challenge. along with the Reedy River Run 10K in Greenville (which is march 3), i now have several great races coming up! here's the link to the rutherford county outdoor coalition race series page.

The Reason I Run...

• i mentioned in my first post that my first 5K was last May. it was the "Caped Crusaders 5K" which helps raise money for a high school friend and his family who lost their sweet little girl to cancer. a lot of things stand out about that day because it was such a huge deal that i was actually RUNNING a race for the first time in my entire life. but the thing that stays with me was starting the race with my precious daddy. he's not a man of many words and doesn't express how he feels outwardly very often (he also happened to pass down that trait to his daughter!) :) but he and i both knew this was special.
• he has been running since i was born. i've never known him not being a runner. when he couldn't run because it was raining, he would run in place inside. when we were going somewhere and my mom wasn't ready to go (which was a lot..) he'd say, "i'll start walking and ya'll just pick me up." bless him, sometimes he'd be halfway to church before we'd get there! we'd travel to places all over NC, SC, and even went to Washington, DC for races when i was little. so for me to do this with him was one of those memories we'll both hold onto forever. my goal in life is to be just like him. he is an absolutely incredible Christian example, daddy, granddaddy, teacher, friend, and husband. so i guess in a way i feel like i'm making him proud every time i run and that makes me feel pretty dang good...and when i finished several minutes ahead of him in the last 2 races we ran together, he didn't have to say it to me out loud and we could go the rest of our lives without him saying it, but i think he was pretty proud of his little girl...

Pinterest "food" board

• it seems like the new fad among girls of ALL ages is Pinterest!! i mean, come on now, who wouldn't love to sit and look (and dream!) of incredible food, clothes, vacation destinations, dream homes, cute crafts, amazing inventions (who would have thought you could cut a baby shampoo bottle, slap some fabric on it, and all of a sudden it's a cell phone dock to use while you're charging it??), teacher ideas, etc??
• so here's my "food" board. i just can't believe all the mouth-watering (1 zillion calorie) foods that people pin but i try not to look at those because i'm still working on that thing called will-power! rather, i look for the healthy but yummy recipes- i.e. the to-DIE-for cake batter dip that is less than 200 calories per serving! hope you enjoy it! if you've not joined Pinterest, check it out and get ready to discover the all-time girly-girl HEAVEN!

http://pinterest.com/dixieshields/food/

sports bras??!!

i don't know about ya'll, but i have a hard time finding a good sports bra. still don't have one that i really love and is just the perfect fit. saw this article on facebook and thought it sounded like some helpful info!

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/the-best-sports-bras?cm_mmc=Facebook-_-WomensHealth-_-Content-Fitness-_-BestSportsBras

I'm attempting to attach a link with what is probably my favorite recipe from the "spark recipe" site. however, i love just about everything i've tried. i LOVE crock pot meals for a couple of reasons #1- they're so super easy: throw everything in and press on!, #2- i'm kinda weird but i think it's fun putting everything in there, mixing it up, putting on the lid, and then checking back every so often to see how it looks (and smells!!), #3- a lot of times, crock pot meals aren't thought of as healthy so when i can make a meal around 200-300 calories i'm all about it!!

http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=224194

• well here goes nothing! i've been encouraged by a few people to write a blog about health related stuff..recipes, etc. since i have absolutely no idea what i'm doing i just decided i'm going to write what comes to my mind and hopefully ya'll will enjoy it...
• i thought it fitting for my first post to be a little backstory and let you know about this journey we've been on. throughout this past year, i've changed my lifestyle drastically (and that's putting it mildly). i'm a huge snacker...i'm talking poptarts, chocolate, chips, basically anything yummy and terrible for you!! last january, i started back exercising a little bit but didn't see much change on the scales (still eating about 4 poptarts a day by the way) :) so in april of 2010, jeremy and i decided to start the south beach diet. we were hardcore- either no or low carb for about 2 months. now i'm all about this diet but i learned that this is a short term fix and is a great "starter" diet but isn't really a long-term fix. in april, i started back going to the Y on a pretty regular basis. one day on the treadmill i was walking and i thought to myself, "i wonder how long i could run without stopping?" that first time was rough..i remember i put the speed on 4.4 and ran till i was tired then walked and repeated that. this was a huge deal seeing as i had never been a runner at all! when i ran outside at home, i did the same thing, rotating between running and walking. gradually over the next few weeks, i worked my way up to running the entire time (very slowly still).
• i heard about a race in may and thought i'd try it. my friend shannon had also recently started running and gave me some great advice that i'll never forget. she told me that when she ran her first race, she told herself that her goal was to run the entire time. even if that was very slowly, just not to stop. i went into that first race with that in mind...and did it!! my first race time was 35 minutes, which i was THRILLED with! i just wanted to be under 40 minutes! anyway, after that race i developed a love for running that i never knew i could have. i try to get to the Y at least 6 times a week. this is a sample of my weekly workouts for those interested (i had a few people ask..)

• Monday- spin class (AWESOME workout by the way and burns about 700 calories an hour), floor exercises (crunches, push ups, side bends)
• Tuesday- run 2 or 3 mi, walk 15 min at an incline of 10, rowing machine for 10 min
• Wednesday- elliptical for 30 min, rowing machine for 10 min, weights (i only do a few machines, not all)
• Thursday- same as Tuesday OR a class
• Friday- same as Wednesday
• Saturday- either a spin class or run
• Sunday- rest

• Other than exercise, which has made the biggest difference, jeremy and i discovered an app for our phones (and website if you don't have an iphone or droid) called "myfitnesspal." you simply put in a goal weight and your current weight, choose how much weight you'd like to lose per week, then it tells you how many calories and other nutrients you need each day. all you have to do is enter the food you eat, which sounds scary, hard, and tedious, but i promise you it's the complete opposite. the database is huge- has pretty much anything you can think of that you eat on a daily basis. it was very eye opening for me to see how much i was eating before compared to how much i actually needed. it's also neat because when you exercise, you log that too- which takes away calories!! now that i'm maintaining my current weight, i still use the app because for me it keeps me accountable and helps motivate me to keep up what i started.
• i've had lots of people say to me, "why are you still eating like you're dieting?" this kind of bugs me because i don't understand what is so bad about wanting to eat healthier and not stuff my face with junk like i used to. i'm a very compulsive, emotional eater and if i don't watch myself, i'll be right back where i was. i still eat sweets; in fact my favorite thing in the world to eat is peanut butter and chocolate chips. i just don't eat as much and as often. we don't eat ANY ground beef- switched completely to turkey. it's so much better for you and tastes just as good in my opinion. since i've started cooking with turkey, i've noticed they make turkey everything: turkey bologna, turkey bacon, turkey burgers, turkey hotdogs, etc. a great website with healthy recipes that i use all the time (they also have an app for iphones/ipads, which i use a LOT) is "spark recipes."
• so that's it for my first post. when i can figure out how to post links and such, i'll start posting some recipes and any good exercise info i happen to run across on the world wide web:)
• thanks for reading and forgive me if this is terribly boring! :)