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6:03 AM. Alarm clock goes off. Grunt. Hit Snooze. 6:12 AM. Alarm goes off. Grunt again. 6:15 AM Get up. Not a morning person. It’s Now or never. Bathroom Duties. Eat or Not Eat? Can’t rememeber which is best. Grunt. Dog has to potty. Too Early to think. Radio weatherman says “Tomorrow will be a delicious day, sunny no rain with a high of 74.” Aggghhhh!!! He said that just for me! He even used my word “Delicious” to describe the weather. I was totally awake like I had a shot of caffeine. I could think in complete sentences. I picked up the little sister and we were on our way to the park. We realized that we forgot the race route map. You would think I learned my lesson about jumping in the car with a lot of ambition and no map. My Dad said you should always run the race course before the actual race. We look at it yesterday, and hoped that we would remember the directions. I got out of the car and started jogging, I kinda shocked myself, since I’ve only been walking. I jogged and walked, and jogged, we discussed allergies, and how we should take our medicine early to get ready for the outdoors tomorrow. And we talked about random topics like whether room temperature water is better for you than ice water. She told me that she “waited on me today, but to expect to be left behind tomorrow.” Anyway it was a great way to start the day. After work, I picked up our race numbers and then went to get my personalized t-shirt that I ordered. I was sooooo upset when the guy told me it wasn’t ready, and that there wasn’t anything he could do without the manager. I was so mad. I just kept thinking why wouldn’t they tell me it wasn’t ready? There are a 100 t-shirt shops I could have gone to. He printed the back, but couldn’t “vectorize” my logo for the front….ugh…So my mind told me ice cream makes everything better. And I caved in and went to the ice cream shop next door. Yes, the night before my race. And you would not believe who walked in…..MY LITTLE SISTER! LOL! She said “I caught you!” I said “What? we caught each other!” Anyway…I went to the store and bought an iron on and Mom helped me put it on the front. So it worked out okay after all. Well I’m tired, and need to rest for my race. Wish me luck!
I’ve been going back and forth for days now, trying to figure out what to do about my half marathon (13.1 miles) race planned for Sunday. I called again to double check, and they said you must keep up the 13 minute per mile pace for the first 8 miles, or get in the sag wagon, because they have to open the streets back up to the public. The nice lady on the phone said “honey just do the best you can.” That was sweet, but I’m not going to embarrass myself in front of 12,000 people. Not gonna happen. I wish I would have known all of the requirements before I had my grand idea to do a half marathon. Silly me, I thought I might really be able to cram for a half marathon. Lesson learned: You can NOT! That being said, I was really ready to do a race, so I decided to participate in the 5K (3.1 Miles) on Saturday. It’s the same race I participated in for my first 5K last year. If I had known that I would end up doing a 5K again, I would have focused more on increasing my speed instead of distance…. Hindsight is always 20/20. But, the good thing is that now, I walk almost as fast as I “ran” this time last year. I worked so hard for my first 5K; I rarely ever even missed a day of training. That’s the kind of dedication you need to succeed. Since that time, walking 3 miles has become a regular part of my work out routine. But, I was still looking for something to make this 5K different and exciting. So, I decided to ask my little sister to join me. She agreed! I was so excited. She walks with me all the time, so it shouldn’t be too hard for her. I told her we could race each other, but I’m telling y’all now, she’s going to leave me in the dust. She’s a shot putter on her school track team, so she’s really in good shape. I think it will still be a fun competition; nobody wants their little sister to beat them in anything….especially a race! So there is my race day plan, I’ve made peace with it, and I’m excited about my 4th 5K. I went to the gym today with a better mindset, not feeling like a failure for not being able to do the half marathon. It was almost dark outside by the time I finished running errands, so I got on the treadmill instead of walking in the park. I did a brisk walk and finished in 58 mins. My mind told me; now that you’re done working out, go get fried fish down the street. Geez…I still have to fight that naughty little voice all the time. I came home and made some chicken quesadillas on whole grain tortilla. It was good, and much better than fried fish and French fries.
What Did Carli Eat Today?
B- Giant bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal mixed w/ Fiber One…..way too much fiber…I felt like a bubble was stuck in my butt all day (was that too gross? sorry)
L- Santa Fe Chicken Salad and some tortilla chips
S- Popcorn and Green Tea w/Splenda
D- Roasted Chicken Leg and a Chicken Quesadilla
Ladies and a few gentlemen who tolerate my excessive girliness, I’m wiped. Work is kicking my whole size 18 behind. I might have lived it up during my work-cation in Los Angeles, but I quickly learned that they are going to make me earn it. Working for lawyers is already a full time job, but my boss told me and I quote “you haven’t began to know what over-time is.” I work with a good group of people and I have a job that I love in this tough economy…so no complaints from me. I just wanted to let you know why my blog posts might be a little sporadic. That being said, I’m just now blogging about Saturday’s work out. That’s crazy huh? Anyway, I was being so lazy on Saturday, I got out of bed and laid on the couch and watched like 4 hours of TV. I didn’t even eat….Then one of my friends text me saying “Get up!” over and over. Your real friends will always look out for your best interest. Y’all know I have a secret fear about sitting on the couch for too long anyway. So I got and up and told my fur baby, let’s go for a walk. She was so excited, because most times I leave her at home because she doesn’t know how to act around other dogs. We had to move out the door fast before my tiny bit of motivation left me. We walked along a less traveled path to avoid as many dogs as possible. After about 3 miles, I was ready to quit and go back to my car, but my Mom called and asked to join me! How freakishly cool is that? I’m about 99.9% sure that I would not have walked the whole 6 miles if she didn’t come and join me. Yay for Mommy! I haven’t had time to work out since then, but I’m promising myself that I’m going to try to get it in as much as possible. …FYI…I’m still cookie-free!
I went to boot camp class last night. I pretty much limped the whole way through it. I tried to run, but my left knee was killing me, so I just walked during the runs. I was so happy that class wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. My body isn’t used to working out almost everyday like I’ve been doing. So, I decided that it would be best to take a day off. That was until one of my best friends called and asked me to walk with her in the park. How could I tell her no? I always ask somebody to walk with me, when I need motivation. She said she wanted to walk 3 miles. It was so nice outside today, there was no good reason not to be outside and take advantage of the sunshine. My friend is a curvy girl like me, and when she stepped outside she said the weather was just delicious. LOL, only a thick girl would describe the weather as delicious. 
I liked her description so much that I decided to call this post a delicious walk. I was so proud of her because she normally doesn’t walk for 3 miles, and she finished the whole walk. But that’s the good thing about working out outside. Even if you feel like quitting, you still have to walk back to the car. It made me think back to how hard 3 miles used to be, one time I almost had a panic attack because the car was no where in sight. But, now I’ve walked the same path so much that it was routine. My knee gave me a little trouble on the hills, but for the most part we walked at slower pace than I normally do, so I was okay. It was fun to take a stroll with my friend having good girl talk and work on getting healthy at the same time. I was truly a delicious walk.
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I lost 3.4 pounds at my Weight Watcher’s weigh in today! I was honestly quite shocked. I didn’t know what to expect. I’ve been mostly eating right, sorta tracking my food, but totally getting in activity. Oh yeah, and I gave up cookies. I guess all of that equals weight loss. I’ll take it! The topic of the meeting today was “From Opps to Wow.” I thought that title was kind of silly, but what we discussed was important. Basically we talked about letting go of the past. Even though we might have an “opps,” if we keeping working at it, our little stumbles can be corrected and turned into a “wow.” I’ve had my share of poor food choices and bad weigh ins, but tonight I finally had a “WOW moment.” After the meeting, something inside me said, “Yay, go celebrate with pizza from Pi Restaurant!” That’s really what thought was in my head. I even justified it by telling myself that it was okay because even President Obama likes pizza from Pi. I had to snap out of it, and get back focused. I came home, made a little sandwich to hold me over and went to the gym. I walked 3 miles around the indoor track. Both of my knees were hurting and my lower back was tight. I was pretty much limping around the track for 3 miles. It was much like the other day when my body was completely fighting my positive thoughts. I was listening to Joel Osteen’s new Audiobook, which was so encouraging. 
It was ironic that he also talked about moving forward and letting go of the past. Joel put it as only he could, “you can’t unscramble eggs.” What’s done is done. Each day we get to start over and work towards a new “WOW.”
What Did Carli Eat Today?
B- Bowl of Rasin Bran Cereal
*Sucessufully avoided the homemade cookies in the office*
L- Chicken Ceasar Salad w/ a small breadstick
S- Granola Bar
S- 1 pt Weight Watcher Bar
D- Shredded Beef on a English Muffin & later I after the gym I made Sweet potato fries
My body, wasn’t sore today, so maybe it is good that I took the day off and went on my shopping adventure. I love walking in the park, but it was so gross and raining outside that me and the little sis were forced to go to the gym. I’m already praying now for good weather on race day. Anyway, I was supposed to walk 7 miles today. The thought of walking around the indoor track 133 times was less than exciting. I decided to do the treadmill instead. I watched Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End 
on the treadmill TV, but it was still boring. When you get used to walking outside, and actually seeing how far you’ve really gone, it’s hard to adjust to walking in place. I walked about 5.25 miles. I could’ve done more, but I was just sick of being there. I felt like a hamster on a wheel. My little sister said, “I’ve worked out on every machine in here can we please leave?” I was ready to go too, so we did. I recently downloaded Joel Osteen’s latest audio book . I think I might try walking with that and see how that goes. I’m so used to a quick workout, I’ve got to find new ways to get through longer distance programs as I prepare for my half marathon. I think next time, I might do half on the track and then the other half on the treadmill to break up the monotony. You guys and gals who do longer runs and walks…How do you stay motivated?
My Body is telling me no…..But my Mind is telling me Yessssss! My half marathon is less than 1 month away, and I know I need to be really consistent with training if I’m going to finish that race. I missed boot camp class yesterday, because I was so tired and had a ton of stuff to do at home. Sometimes life just gets in the way. But today, I had to walk. In my mind, the most logical distance after tackling 5 miles was 6 miles, and that’s just what I did. I mapped it out and planned to walk 6 miles with my little sister. Thank God she agreed. We walked around the entire park which is roughly 6 miles. I said to her, ”hey did you read my blog?” (she never does even though I talk about her almost everyday). I told her that I gave up cookies. She smiled and clapped and gave me a hug, I was happy she was so excited, but I thought her reaction was a little extreme. She said do you still have that box of Girl Scout cookies? I proudly said yeah, I didn’t even it open it. She said “Oh, Yes! I can have them.” She was excited about getting free cookies, not about me abstaining from them….But I can’t throw her all the way under the bus, because she’s the one walking with me and supporting my goals…. My iPod was on random, and when we were about half a mile from the car, that old R. Kelly song Bump N’ Grind
came on and, he sang the unforgettable lyrics…”My mind is telling me noooooooo, but my body, my body is telling me Yessssssss!” I thought how ironic, right now my body is telling me no Carli you can’t do this, but my mind said yes! I think the mind is far more powerful than the body. My theory must be right because despite the pain in my lower back, feet and ankles and knees, we finished. By the end, I was walking like a rode a horse for 2 hours but I finished all 6 miles and that’s what counts.
Today was great! I walked a half mile to the training center from the hotel, like I’ve done everyday since I got here. The training session was soooo super boring, I needed toothpicks to hold my eyes open and I wonder how I’ll stand another day of this. I learned a lot, but you can only take so much of talk about servers, gigabytes and tiffs for 8 hours. Lunch was sadly the highlight of the work day, they ordered Chinese food. Of course along with Chinese comes fortune cookies. And if you read my post from the other day, you know that I just gave up cookies. So I asked myself, is a fortune cookie really a cookie? Then I said to myself what are you doing? what are you thinking? If it’s called a “fortune cookie“ pretty sure its a cookie. I stuck with orange chicken and left the cookie alone. After class I was drained from forcing myself to stay awake, but when I got back to my room I just felt bad for not working out in so long. I got dressed and went over to Gold’s Gym that was attached to the hotel. On my way over, I felt so intimidated…what if I was the only fat girl in the gym? Isn’t everyone in California already skinny? What if look out of place? I was literally scared to go to the gym. Then I had to snap myself out of it, I was going to get healthy, so what if I’m fatter than everybody in there! The gym was huge compared to the little YMCA I go to at home. There were like 50 or 60 machines, plus tons of weights. The ellipticals and treadmills were lined up facing the floor to ceiling windows with a beautiful view. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical as I looked at the palm trees and people jogging along the beach, and figured I should join them. I power walked along the path with the rocks and the waves, it was so beautiful! After about half and hour, I hurried back to the room and showered for dinner with my Aunt, Cleo King, and her best friend Leslie, who you all might know as “Stanley from the hit TV show The Office
!” Everybody liked sushi, so I decided to try it. I invited my co-workers and we had such a fun time. It was truly a star-studded dinner. To me they’re my family, but to my co-workers, it was a chance to dine with celebrities. It was absolutely fantastic. We shared fun stories and good time was had by all!
