Busy month!

Wow, looking at my blog post list tonight is making me feel guilty....this will be my first post in the month of February- and probably my only one!  I'm so sorry that I've fallen off the face of the blog world this month- I wasn't home for 2 weeks and had very limited access to a computer.  Then I came home and was swamped with work...I know excuses, I'm

And the reason being was because, I was in....

Magic Kingdom with Adrian!

If it looks like we were cold, it's because we were.  Apparently February in Florida can actually be cold at times.  Yeargh.  The day that picture was taken it was around 40 deg F with winds blowing all day.  I was wearing a winter hat and gloves all day, and was still cold.

I was actually mostly in Disney for work.  I know, such a hardship...

My view from my balcony at the Dolphin Hotel

Coronado Springs Resort

The second picture is the main resort I stayed in- Coronado Springs Resort.  I also stayed 3 nights in the Dolphin Hotel for another work conference.- which had a MUCH better gym since it is owned by Westin, not Disney.  Although Westin chain hotels are typically out of my traveling budge for work, I stay there when I can because I LOVE their gyms.  They all are really great and have updated equipment like foam rollers and massage sticks at every location.  It figures, that the only disappointing thing about Coronado Springs was the TINY and poorly equipped gym- and I was there for 8 days!  It did give me more incentive to run outside, and around the beautiful lake you see above- obviously a hardship. ;)  In all reality, though it does get rather cold in February in Orlando.  We were lucky during the conference to have higher than average temperatures, but then we were inside all day, unable to enjoy it....

Animal Kingdom with Heather

Except, they gave us some time to play- we had a night in Animal Kingdom that we had the park to ourselves!!! It was so cool, we were set up in Africa and there was live African musicians, dancers, flame eaters and throwers, stilt walkers, and of course- Mikey and Minney!!  Then...the icing on the cake....they opened up this roller coaster just for us for an hour!!!!!

Expedition Everest in Animal Kingdom

If it seems totally incredible and you are insanely jealous....it was and you should be! :D

We also had an afternoon in Epcot and then had front row, saved seats for the Epcot Illuminations light show.  Unfortunately it rained most of the afternoon, but my friends and I enjoyed some delicious food in Mexico before walking around in the rain, jumping in puddles, and having a grand old time getting wet before having another big group dessert and cocktail reception while we waited for Illuminations to start.  I love my job! :D

After the end of the conference, Adrian joined for 4 days, which was AWESOME!  We had a great time going to a fancy dinner at a South African restaurant, enjoyed the wonders of Epcot and had great Moroccan food and entertainment, felt like kids again in Magic Kingdom, and discovered the wonderful world of MagicQuest!  Downtown Disney has so much to offer, we were shocked- we even saw some live Irish dancing, had fresh made sushi at a luxury bowling alley, and listened to live Australian music on the street!

Disney does Morocco!

All in all, it was an amazing time, but we were also very happy to come home to this little bundle of joy:

Ding! <3

So, tell me- where have you been lately?  Ever go somewhere really cool for work?

Hello from Long Island!

Hello again from another airport! This entry is from ISP, the Long Island, NY airport.  I'm trying to kill some time while I wait for my flight, which was delayed an hour this morning for some reason- probably weather related at a different airport.

The weather was really crazy this morning....wild wind and lots of rain.  Made the roads dangerous and us get started a bit late waiting for everyone to arrive.  But, the EXCEED session today in West Babylon went off without a hitch today, and even ended a few minutes early! I love when I can wrap it up early and still get the full impact.  It's nice for the associates attending but also me!

There has been lots of continued stress over the past 3 days....continued delays at each airport which involved waiting on the tarmac, some issues at each conference room, and a TON of driving.  I drove over 500 miles total between Wednesday and this moment.  Yeah, that's exhausting in case you weren't sure.

I can PROUDLY say that I did NOT turn to food to help cope with my stress.  I had tons of opportunities with all the trail mix and M&Ms that were abundant in my sessions.  But I left them in the trunk after I left each one and munched on fruits and veggies instead on my LONG drives.  My "dessert splurge" last night was a fiber one 90 bar, a little individual packet of peanut butter (less than 1 Tablespoon) and a 100 calorie pack of pistachios.  Delicious treat and healthy.  I had more opportunity to go crazy at each of my hotel breakfast lineups because they both had my Achilles heel when it comes to bread....biscuits....

Tasty devils

Biscuits aren't quite the same as stuffing for me....but I LOVE biscuits and they really provide little nutritional value and pack a lot of points in, so I try to stay away.  Like those yummy cheddar and garlic biscuits that a few restaurants serve....very tempting and hard to pass up. Yummm

Instead, for breakfast yesterday I had a couple tablespoons of oatmeal (it was kinda blah, I had to mix some walnuts in just to make it tolerable), a small scoop of scrambled eggs, and a banana.  Then today I had an egg white omelet with lots of veggies and no cheese (eek gad, crazy I know!) with salsa on top.  I love when hotel's have omelet stations- so awesome! I also went to town on some melon and pineapple.  Y'all know I love melons of all kinds! ;)

I also tried out the recumbent bike with my darn foot on Thursday morning.  Although it's still quite painful to walk in any type of sneaker, I was able to get through a 30 minute workout on the recumbent bike- thanks to a good book to keep me company.  I repeated that again for a 35 minute random hill workout this morning on the recumbent   Also did my progressive clamshell sets (make glute work) and some nice, hard ab work.  I always feel better after a good sweat.  It's vital for my sanity.

My foot this morning. Ouch!

Since the world has officially not ended....we are celebrating tonight with a formal party at a friend's house- I can't wait!  Now I just have to get my butt home and figure out which dress to wear....

Just breathe

I am sitting here at BWI airport feeling like I am about to come out of my skin in frustration.  So I thought maybe writing about it would be constructive and help me calm down.

So you know already about my stupid foot.  Which is presently being elevated on my suitcase.  My doctor would be so proud.... It's not very painful anymore but I am still limping a bit and am supposed to minimize impact on it for another 2 weeks.  Can I just- 2 WEEKS!?!?! REALLY?!?!

Ok, breathing.

Yesterday, on my way to an EXCEED (4 hour client experience workshop) session that I was facilitating in Germantown, MD (think DC area) I got into an accident on I-95.  It was minor, luckily nobody was hurt and it wasn't my fault.  There was heavy traffic, I had to slam on my brakes and the car behind me didn't stop and rear-ended me.  I actually did feel a jolt from the impact and there is a little damage on my bumper from it.  Her car though, looked pretty mangled. Yay for my Honda to the rescue!  Because of getting hit, I then hit the car in front of me.  Luckily the other two drivers, both women, were very nice and friendly and we quickly exchanged information.  Then one said that since the back car had to be towed, we would all need to wait because the police needed to be called and a report written up.  Fantastic.  So 45 minutes later we are finally all leaving.....and I am about 20 minutes late to my session and still have to set everything up because I'm the one leading it.  On a side note, I will say that Geico is really easy to work with around claims- I was very impressed with their speed and professionalism.

thanks Geico!

After the first 20 minutes or so of feeling guilty and upset for being so late (even though it wasn't my fault and I was all set to be there 30 minutes early actually), I got into a groove and started having fun like I always do during EXCEED.  This is no doubt my favorite training sessions to give and I know it like the back of my hand.  That makes me very good at it, too.  I'm not bragging- it's just the truth, and I've heard it from several associates that I've never met before in different markets.  I just facilitated two sessions in the NJ market and received several acknowledgement emails from the associates that attended which made me feel really special. :)

So....after the session I had a conference call, had to stop by a hospital to deliver some supplies (I won't have to do that again come January 1st!), and then picked up Ding to bring him to our local Banfield in White Marsh.  He has been scratching at his scar on his neck and has even opened up a new wound above it.  His fur is so thick that I just found it on Monday.  They did a fungal culture, shaved and cleaned the area, and gave him a depo shot to help with the itching.  He also needs antibiotics twice a day, which luckily can just be mixed in his food.  Poor Adrian has to take responsibility for that one since I will be gone from home in the NY market for 3 days.

Ding exploring in the exam room

In he goes! Glad he was having fun!

While I waited for him to get shaved and treated, I went to a weight watchers meeting since I won't have any time while in NY.  I was expecting a little gain because I had been sedentary for 2.5 days due to my foot.  What I wasn't expecting was a 3 LB GAIN!!!  I've been cutting down on my food to counteract my decreased activity so I was PISSED.   The meeting was ok, and I am glad I went because I need to stay accountable, but I was so frustrated the whole time it was hard to focus.

And now that brings us to today....My flight is now scheduled to leave at 11:10am as of the last update call I received.  It was supposed to leave at 9:30, arriving in NYC, LGA around 11:00am which gave me plenty of time to get my rental car, pick up snacks for the session, grab a quick lunch, and get all set up before the 1:00pm start at the location that is about 45 minutes from the airport.  Luckily, I just got a hold of the leader there who I am helping out by spending 3 days in her market delivering this training.  I will also be driving over 10 hours when all is said and done over the 3 days because I need to also deliver training near Ithaca, NY then come back to Long Island.  Basically- she owes me. Big.  She's a good friend and a great leader and I respect her greatly, so really she owes me nothing but maybe a strong drink. lol.

So, she is taking care of finding somebody that will be getting snacks there, I'm going to try to find some type of to-go lunch at this airport so it'll be ready to eat in the rental car on the drive to the location.  If you have ever flown into LGA you know it is a tiny, crappy airport with very little food.  And...we postponed the training to 2:00pm.  That means it will run 2:00-6:00pm.   Afterwards I need to drive nearly 4 hours to Ithaca. Fantastic, huh?  I'm so looking forward to checking into my hotel no earlier than 10:00pm tonight......Sarcasm people, sarcasm.

Understand perhaps why I am frustrated?  I will admit, that did really help to type it all out.  Just keep swimming....

New shoes!

Here I am, again writing from 10,000 feet.  Today I am flying to Portland, OR for a Women Leading Powerfully conference being put on by Mars.  It’s being held at the Heathman Hotel (the hotel where Christian Grey always stays in the “shades of grey” trilogy)….aka highest lap of luxury in Portland and right in downtown.  Exciting!

So this past week has been wild, and I have been a sucky blogger and not posted in forever.  There is so much to catch up on; I don’t even know where to start.  So I’m going to go a little backwards and update first with running stuff- since this is supposed to be a fitness blog and all!

Monday I finally got to see Barb again at physical therapy after a couple weeks with Mark.  They are both awesome physical therapists, but Barb has more experience with running injuries and running form specifically.  After lots of chatting about new shoes and going more minimalist, she had me take off my shoes and did a bunch of stuff with my toes.  Stuff that felt weird- bending my big toe around and testing it’s strength.  Big surprise- the way I stand is also a mess in that I grip with my toes and am not balancing my center of gravity correctly.  Also my big toe curves in and is overly flexible in the wrong way.

Not so happy toes

She thinks this all stems from my huge weight loss and the fact that my body still has some old habits from 250+ lbs ago and needing to compensate for the extra weight I was carrying around.  It makes sense and all but sometimes I feel like I will forever pay for the damage I did to my body by being obese.    I know my body is thanking me for shedding all the extra weight because I desperately needed to, but sometimes I feel like I’m going upstream with a spoon as a paddle as I try to figure out the form issues that are plaguing my entire body from the top down.

So she taped me running again and we watched it and compared it to my first taping.  It was great to see some significant improvement.  I’ve developed a pretty decent forward lean, my cadence is faster and lighter, I’m not swinging my arms as oddly towards one side, I’m picking up my feet significantly better, and my heel strike is less.  Having said all that, I am still heel striking.  Also, apparently I have no upper body strength and I’m very stiff in my shoulders while pumping my arms an unnecessary amount.  BOO!  So I’ve made some progress but….I still suck. Lol. 

So having said all that and after confirming that my hips are much more flexible and mobile Barb wants me to start walking/standing/doing as much as possible in bare feet or flats.  We talked about what shoes to look at and she recommended a local Severna Park, MD running store to eventually get new shoes– Spark Running that really knows there stuff.  She said I didn’t have to start with new shoes yet but I could start working them in. SLOWLY.

So I went the next day. Lol.  You think I could wait?!?! Colleen doesn’t do waiting when it comes to things I love.

Katelyn, the owner of Spark Running was totally fantastic.  One thing I really liked is that she basically said a lot of the same things Barb had said which made me feel pretty confident in her knowledge.  I tried on 5-6 different pairs and styles of minimalist shoes.  Including Newton Gravity’s,  Merrell Pace Gloves, a zero drop shoe by avia?!?! With some cushion, and another avia pair that were more sandles than sneakers and as barefoot as you can get.  She didn’t bring out Vibram 5fingers and I don’t think she sold them (I didn’t see them anywhere and I looked) but I didn’t bring it up because I know of many good running shoes that have taken them off their shelves.   Beware here are my personal thoughts on each below.  These are simply my own personal experiences.

The Newton Gravity’s felt WEIRD.  I went in thinking this was the kind of shoe I was going to go home with but when I ran in them I couldn’t get off my toes, even after looking at the video and trying again and for a longer time frame.  Katelyn explained that this can actually be worse than heel striking and causes serious Achilles issues and plantar fasciitis.  I had read that before as well and this just made me feel better about Katelyn.  When we watched me run in them on the tape my heels basically never hit the ground.  Imagine running a half marathon like that…..my legs would be trashed completely. 

Newton Gravity

I ran in the Merrell Dash Gloves next.  I immediately felt like the same weird (and awesome) feeling that I had when I ran on the treadmill during Rick’s running clinic barefoot.  This time I kept it in my mind to hit with my fore- to mid-foot, not my toes.  It felt great.  After a couple minutes, I could feel myself heel striking a little but my foot immediately told me NO and really wouldn’t let me so to speak.  In this shoe it has not only zero heel drop but also zero padding- just a simple rubber sole to protect you from the elements.   When we played back my running I couldn’t believe it was my feet we were watching.  Showing it side by side with the Newtons (she had some rocking recording equipment!!) and frame-by-frame it looked like a different foot running.  Incredible!



Merrell Dash Glove



Next I ran in a zero drop shoe that had some cushion, I think it was the Altra Intuition, but I'm not sure.  They were very comfortable, but I found myself naturally heel striking more and then running on my toe to compensate.  Upon comparing recordings, my form was somewhere in between the Newton’s and Merrell’s in quality.

Altra Intuition



Next Katelyn said that perhaps I needed the zero cushion to truly not give my feet a choice but to run correctly.  So, I put on these crazy sandal type shoes that had Velcro straps to close then and you pulled them on like a water shoe.  I looked them up and found them- Altra Eve.  When I walked in them all I could feel was the darn Velcro strap pressing against the top of my foot, and even more when I ran.  I ran for the least amount of time in those because the Velcro just felt so weird and I was basically switching between toe running and mid foot running but it never really felt good.



Altra Eve



 Not like the Merrell’s! They felt awesome and I am wearing them right now.  I also brought my Asics with me for this trip if I want to switch off a bit because she said to do my first run in them for only a half a mile, and then use the 10% rule for adding mileage week by week in the shoes.  But since Barb said it would be good to walk in these as well to get my foot out of the heel striking mentality that is VERY strong when I walk I’m wearing them all week in Portland.  I never thought marching band could influence the way I walk so much but I was taught to walk with toes up to the sky.  This apparently is just plain bad for your feet and Achilles.  We can get away with it because shoes today are so bloody padded- like walking on marshmallows.  Well, today I walked around the Minneapolis airport for an hour waiting for my flight. Win.



MY Merrell Dash Gloves!



Today I continue the long journey towards better running form and I think these Merrell’s are going to help me.

WHAT SHOES ARE YOU WALKING OR RUNNING IN?

O Nashville...

This week I've been in Nashville for work.  It's been exhausting, enlightening, rewarding, and full of good food.

Waaaay too much good food.  Went over my daily WW points plus values each day, but you know what...when in Rome, right?  I made good choices and chose healthy whole foods and enjoyed each bite, even if they might have been a little higher in calories, I knew they were nutritionally good choices.  Sometimes just a salad just isn't enough to sustain you for a day full of traveling and being on your feet.  I even tried my hand at a vegan burger that was a black bean, sweet potatoe, and cashew patty with hummus and more veggies on focaica bread.  This was a leap for me because I have never liked sweet potatoes (unless they were sweet potatoe fries) and only mildly into black beans- but so glad I tried!  The combination was amazing! I had no fried, smothered, or any other sinfully delicious southern foods.  Only splurged once with 2 delicious peanut butter cookies.  Super soft, delicous pb heaven.  Worth every sinful calorie. 

My coworker who I was working with this week and I did go into downtown Nashville one night for dinner and had some great food at this microbrewery, including probably the best quacamole I've ever had. Delicious, and you could taste how fresh the avacodo was.  We then strolled the streets of music city and certainly heard a lot of music....most pretty good but it is a little unnerving to literally pass beggar after beggar for blocks- even if it is in the form of musicians. 

The best night hands down though was at this awesome restaurant called Ellendale's that specializes in all farm fresh, organic, eco friendly and incredibly delicious food.  They have a huge and beautiful vegetable and herb garden surrounding the restaurant that you can stroll through after dinner.  They also have live music every night.  We went there Wednesday and tonight because we liked it so much, although the atmosphere was the best on Wednesday with a husband/wife duet that were super talented, both with beautiful voices and hauntingly romantic original songs.  I bought their cd they were so good. :)

In workout news, I did get my butt down to the gym every morning like a good girl.




Did you have doubts? I really hope not people.  If you thought I was going to be away from home so therefore wouldn't work out you are nuts. lol. 

Tuesday I did a solid 4 miles. Wednesday I just couldnt get into it because I wasn't running and there was nothing to use for strength training (big pouty face).  I did 30 minutes on the elliptical and got a decent sweat on but I never really got the normal buzz out of it.

This morning was really my shabam workout- 8.25 miles on the treadmill!  I started out with half a mile of walking and then HAD to go to the bathroom (annoying!!!) so after dealing with that, my run was solid but meant that I didn't have time to get the full 9 miles in that I wanted to do.  In the end, it is still my longest run to date so I am thrilled!  My coworker gave me a great comment (she was running next to me for a while) afterwards.  She said I looked very relaxed and was moving like it was effortless with great form.  Also that it looked like I was really enjoying the run.  I had no idea she was even paying attention to me! lol.  She is a long time runner so it made me all giddy inside when she said this. :)  And I really did enjoy the run, even though I was flinging sweat all over the place and was hot. O wait, that's normal. lol.

Tomorrow I get to head back home...where I will then be promply leaving for our NYC and Boston trip early Saturday morning with Adrian.  I can't wait but I am kinda nervous about how/when I'm going to be able to get workouts in.  Jen H and I will be running together Sunday morning and once we get to Boston I will have the hotel gym, but I'm not sure about when we are chilling with George and Kyle.  I'm sure I'll figure something out! :)

Trip to Portland

This past week I have been in Portland, which is why I haven't posted in a while, so let me catch y'all up...

I was in Portland all week for work and LOVED the weather (never got above 80 degrees and no humidity), and got to work with great people, as per usual.  Of course, as during all these trips, there was a lot of work related stress that fed my need to exercise.  Unfortunately, I wasn't really able to workout as much as I wanted to, which is another norm during work events. 

The hardest part of these long trips is the food, no questions.  There is always too much everywhere and very few good choices.  So I overloaded with fruit (apples, oranges, and bananas, how boring!) to keep me from eating non-stop M&Ms.  There was so much trail mix and M&Ms, it was overwhelming.  Mars candy is always plentiful at work events because they are our parent company, so this is not going to change, I just have to learn to deal with chocolate everywhere! lol
 

Who doesn't love M&Ms?

So, Tuesday I arrived at the hotel and did a hard core snoopy dance when I found out they had a FOAM ROLLER and MASSAGE STICK!!!  When I saw those in the little hotel gym, my left hamstring was literally tied up in knots and I was limping.  Darn sitting on a plane all day will do that to you.  So I walked, stretched and foam rolled/massaged for almost half an hour and was able to walk it out enough to get a 2 mile run in.  In beautiful 65 degree weather.  It was awesome!  There is proof in the pudding on foam rollers and why I will continue to roll every day.  Also realized when rolling that my IT band was where the majority of my tension was.  If you have never rolled this area or any area that you are tight before...hold onto your britches cause it HURTS. If you are a baby like me there might be tears, groaning, and cursing at the foam roller.  Then you will kiss and make up because you will feel better.  This was nowhere near as bad as that one time my calves were so tight that foam rolling made me actually yell and cry.  Adrian seemed quite worried as I rolled around on the floor of our living room in agony.

So freaking true....and that is one hard core roller!

So in preparation for a long run the next day, I went back to the gym after dinner and walked, stretched, and foam rolled for another half an hour at least.  Wednesday morning I woke up feeling like a freaking rock star, no joke!

So I went out and ran 5.5 glorious, pain free miles. Temperature when I left the hotel: 47 degrees F.  On June 20.  HELL YES!!!  I ran on this beautiful bike/running paved trail right on the riverfront. Literally.  The river was actually just a pile of rocks away, down a little bank.  It was no doubt one of the most beautiful runs I have ever had the joy to experience.  Not only was the temperature PERFECT for a nice run, but the sun was just starting to peak over the horizon and there were birds were chirping and playing in the water.  Seriously picturesque, people.

For dinner that night, we took the scenic route to Multnomah Falls in Bridal Veil, Oregon.  It took us through the mountains and gorge and it was completely worth it, even though it added about 30 minutes to the drive when we were all starving and exhausted.  Supposedly it's the tallest year-round waterfall in the country.  I REALLY wanted to hike up to that bridge in the picture but nobody else in my group did so alas, we headed into the lodge in front of the falls for dinner.  And dinner was DELICIOUS!  I got the petite filet with double veggies and a side salad.  The bread was also to die for and we demolished it as a group quickly because we were all starving.  I had the running munchies and bad, but I am glad I made the right choice instead of the pecan crusted salmon that I really wanted. Just too much fat with the salmon and pecan crusting!

beautiful Multnomah falls in OR

So the smartest thing I did during the 3 days spent sitting basically the whole day- I wore my compression socks all day, every day.  I washed them each night in the sink and they made SUCH a difference- no hamstring tightness even with all the sitting, including the TERRIBLE plane ride home.

Thursday I warmed up on the elliptical and then powered through an awesome full body strength training workout and a long stretch and foam roll/massage stick afterwards.  I might just need to pick myself up a massage stick, it was a nice addition to rolling.  Thursday night's dinner was a disaster of epic proportions, particular the portions of the food I ate.  We were all mega stressed after a bad day and we went out as a huge group.  With about 8 appetizers ordered, it was overwhelming and we were all so hungry, so we feasted.  I ordered the most delicious veggie burger ever with a side salad so my dinner was very smart- just not what I ate before hand.  I tried to count everything but I am quite annoyed at myself for this dinner.  And the trail mix I had earlier in the day, too.  If I gain this week on the scale- it will be because of this day, no doubt about it.

Friday I took a very purposeful rest day since I knew I would A- be up until 2am the next day traveling home and walking a lot in the airport. B- then would be running the Spirit of Gettysburg 5k on very little sleep.(Race recap to come soon)  C- desperately needed the extra sleep after a late and stressful day.

Friday night's trip home was a nightmare.  Friday morning I got a call from the airline that my flight from Chicago, Midway to BWI was delayed 2 hours (REALLY ALREADY?!), what a terrible way to start your day.  In the end it ended up being delayed about an hour, which wasn't too terrible because I got to have a nice sit-down dinner (fish and veggies) with a work friend and I walked around the airport for 30 minutes to make up for the rest day. The sucky part came once we landed in Baltimore.  First, we circled the airport for 15 minutes before landing.  Then we had to sit on the tarmac for 20 minutes more before getting to our gate. THEN we waited for 45 MINUTES for the luggage to come through the carousel.  SERIOUSLY?!?!  Of course, my luggage was last to come out, and then I had to wait another 15 minutes for a shuttle to my car.  I actually almost broke down in tears while waiting for the luggage, I was so exhausted and frustrated and knew I had an hour+ drive home.

And then.....about 30 minutes from home, I got pulled over and got a ticket for speeding.  SERIOUSLY?!  I had been so careful up to that point.  I kept setting my cruise control so I wouldn't let my lead foot take over and the one time I didn't, I got nailed. GARRRRHHHH.

So I finally got home at 3:30 AM.  My darling husband was so happy to see me, even though I couldn't have been grumpier and just wanted to head straight to bed since I was waking up in a little over 3 hours.

More to come about my weekend, which was FANTASTIC!!

Flying then and now

The below entry I wrote on the flight from Kansas City, MO to Portland today...

While I sit on this (what seems like) never ending flight to Portland after a 3 hour layover in Kansas City I’ve had a lot of time to just think and look back.

While emailing Jen H back and forth in the Kansas City terminal she said something that really struck me, in a good way.  She said that during our hs reunion next weekend I should be voted “most changed,” both on the inside and out.  I couldn’t agree more.   As I sit on the plane with lots of room between me and each arm rest, typing away with perfectly manicured fingers and flying across the country for work that I love doing, I am struck by how different I am than a particularly painful plane ride Christmas 2007.

Riding a plane at over 400 lbs is a nightmare.  Even at this weight a small part of me liked flying because it was exciting- and that’s the front I would always put on to friends and family.   But the reality was I would dread the flight for weeks leading up to it and feel embarrassed and depressed for weeks after because guess what?  I was still morbidly obese and flying was horrendous.   I don’t think my husband ever realized how difficult flying was for me at that weight.  How humiliating it was to need a seat belt extender.  How painful the seats were.  The arm rests would dig into my hips and a trip longer than an hour would not just leave sore and sensitive spots, but bruises.  Let’s face it, a plane is not designed for the morbidly obese, and nor should it be.  That’s why now many airlines require you to purchase 2 seats.  Even though this in itself is humiliating- it’s better than the alternative.  The whole time you are aware of spilling into the seat next to you, no matter how hard you try to hold yourself rigidly with your arms crossed against your chest.  As if that would make you smaller, but we all do it.  Sitting next to a loved one makes this slightly more bearable, but I would always feel so guilty for Adrian.   I wouldn’t have wanted to sit next to me at that weight, and I hated subjecting him to that.

And there was something about that Christmas in DE….I really, truly saw myself and how I had ballooned since my grandmother’s death.  It freaked me out and rightfully so.  If only I had started with weight watchers then, I might already be at my goal weight and getting skin removal surgery now….or maybe not.  Things happen for a reason and click when they are meant to.  

I hit a different kind of rock bottom in October 2009.  One that allowed me to act on my feelings and not just sink further into depression to consider other alternatives like stuffing my mouth with more food.   I have always called October 2009 my rock bottom but I don’t think it’s fair that I call it that, it was more of a tipping point.  I hit the bottom WAY before that fateful day I stepped up to Joni on October 21, 2009 and faced the reality of what eating myself to death had done to my body.  Whenever I am getting down on myself I come back to that day and the courage it took me to walk into that first weight watchers meeting.  The old adage that the first step is the hardest was SO true for me.   I was actually scared the scale wouldn’t go high enough to weigh me.  How pathetic and sad is that? But it did and I saw that number, 399 lbs, and Joni simply said “You will never see that number again” and sure enough, I didn’t.

So, needless to say, riding in a plane at 187 lbs is like…..a dream come true. Even 125+ lbs more than I am now, it was so much easier, less painful and embarrassing.  The first trip to Pittsburgh in October 2010 was amazing and eye opening and spurred me on.   On this 4 hour flight where going to the bathroom is not just an option but a necessity, my body (and the other plane riders) thank my fitness regime.  Because now I can waltz down the aisle, not having to go sideways or shimmy or thinking about who I am going to wake up as my big butt goes by to try to squeeze into the tiny bathroom.   Trying to use the bathroom on a flight at 400 lbs…..you might as well just give up and hold it and pray you can and won’t have to get up because the stall is so tiny.   Now my size 10 butt fits just like it should down the aisle, not having to shimmy or slide and going into that bathroom is easy.  I see myself in the mirror and I can’t believe my eyes.  Yeah, that’s me, at 187 lbs.  I can’t help but smile and be so grateful where my life has taken me in the past 3 years.  And I know, without a shadow of a doubt, I will never go back to that unhappy girl I once was.

Healthy lifestyle while traveling? Totally!

Sometimes traveling while trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle is challenging...but you can do it!

I went to a local Pittsburgh chain tonight for dinner, right next to my hotel because I hadn't tried it before and I figured there was probably at least ONE decent option for me there. I can pretty much make any restaurant work for my lifestyle.

Yeah....this restaurant is now on my "avoid like the plague" list that includes ALL fast food restaurants (I don't count Subway as fast food), any buffet restaurants, and pizza joints. The one thing I could make work- a chicken salad. First, I had to pay extra to have grilled chicken breast instead of fried and then I had to say remove the french fries (yes french fries- who puts french fries on a SALAD?!?!), cheese, and eggs (these aren't bad, I just don't like hard boiled eggs). Apparently because they couldn't believe that I could just want a small amount of ranch as I asked for, they brought me a BOWL overflowing. Really?!?! I actually started laughing when she put it in front of me. Could there possibly be a person that would use all this ranch? The sad answer- there probably is, which is why she brought it out like that. Gross.

In the present state of our country, with continued attention given to the obesity crisis, I'm surprised and disappointed to see that such a place still exists in such a blatant form. Almost all restaurants- even McDonald's (shudder) has a "healthy options" menu. I tried to modify a different meal- but they didn't serve non-breaded fish and all their vegetables are cooked in butter and they wouldn't cook it without. Really?! I should have walked out at that point, but I was determined to prove the point I have made to several friends and family members that you can create a healthy option at any restaurant, even if you have to modify it a bit.

Well, thank goodness this isn't a common problem I have! While on the road especially, I avoid my trigger restaurants and foods. Between Panera Bread (O how I love you, Panera), Subway, Applebee's (holy weight watchers menu, batman!), Ruby Tuesday's, and some others- I have plenty of yummy options to chose from. What helps me is planning and knowing exactly what is a true healthy option for me and then sticking to it. Also, I refuse to stay at a hotel that doesn't have a gym, even if it's just for one night. Luckily, my company is able to accommodate this request- which is awesome! A nice bonus- the RVP (boss of the Northeast region) is a big gym rat along with me, so we always workout next to each other during regional meetings. Basically the entire high teer of management in my company consist of big fitness nuts which is a great continual motivation when the CEO of your company is working out in the gym with you at national meetings. I love my job!

Bottom line is, if you want it bad enough, you can keep losing weight while traveling. My coworkers especially seem to be in disbelief of my continual weight loss. My job has me on the road driving at least 1.5 hours each day, 4 days a week. It means a lot from them because they truly understand the demands of the job- which are often exhausting and stress filled. Often times I am gone from my house 3-5 days in a row at least 1 week a month, often 2 weeks a month. Sounds like fun, huh? You try it and tell me what you think ;)