Face It Friday: Emotional Week, NOT Avoiding The Scale & Streaks

To say I didn't want to step foot on the scale today would be an understatement. Why be afraid of the scale? Well it was one emotional week which lead to some off-plan food choices and general merriment that happened over the weekend. For the first time in probably years :P I had three social engagements in one weekend. Ummmm yeah I don't normally have that many in a month. ;) Also not kidding. I don't have much of a life so really the only times I really get very off plan is sheer laziness.

But anyway... this week was a different situation. From the get go I was all over the map with happiness, sadness, anger, loneliness, boredom, hopelessness... I mean you think of the emotion I was probably feeling it.

Now the entire week was not a bust. There were a few times that I realized I was reaching for food out of anger rather than hunger. So I will celebrate those few instances.

Overall, the week was one that I couldn't wait to wipe clean. I thought I would just avoid the weigh-in and just start fresh today. Wellll while looking in the mirror Wednesday night (doing my #30DaysOfPositivity challenge), I told myself there was NO reason to avoid weigh-in and to buck up and just get on the damn scale.

I mean there is no reason I should allow this object to dictate my self-worth SO I devised a plan: accountability.

After completing #wwchat and my #30DaysOfPositivity, I vowed to make Thursday an on-plan kick-ass day! Thursday is the final day of my Weight Watchers week and I wanted to go out on a good foot.

And you know what - it worked. Every time a negative thought came in my head, I reminded myself I was only going to be positive.

I also reached out to my Weight Watchers members and told them I would get on the scale no matter what the next day. I have to live what I preach - right?

Then I set a special label for my Friday morning alarm...

Then my friend Justin made an even better one!!

I was all smiles when he texted me this! After reading these, I was actually amped to get on the scale and use THAT as my week's fresh start.

So this morning the alarm went off, I looked at the finished product of my week.

(I calculated that 92 of that 117 came from booze)

And looked at what Friday would bring...

... a clean slate!

So on the scale I went and...

it was a loss! Sssaaayyy wwhhhaaa??

I thanked the scale gods and jumped off the scale as quickly as possible.

Now I won't be going off and repeating the same actions I took this week just because the scale was kind. Instead I am learning from my tracker (hello feedback) and devising some new strategies to handle emotional eating the next time it happens.

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Since the beginning of the year I've only missed 3 weigh-ins: 2 because I was out-of-town and 1 because I slept through it. My goal in 2015 was to be more consistent with weigh-ins and tracking and I think the weight record speaks for itself that it is working!!

Consistency was also my goal in 2014 and I didn't follow through. So I'm happy to see Attempt 2 at consistency is starting off on a better foot. :)

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In addition to not throwing away the entire week just because I had some bumps in the road, I am proud of the streaks I have.

When I felt like everything was slipping away from me this past week, I knew that I had control over one thing: my streaks.

For those wondering: I use the Simple Habits app on my iPhone to track my Streaks.

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Now facing the scale when I didn't want to and tracking my choices no matter what hasn't ALWAYS been my M.O. There have been plenty of times during this journey that I skipped my meeting and waited a week so I could "lose the gain" or I knew a food choice was soooo bad I "didn't want to see it." But over time I've realized that doesn't help me change the relationship with my scale or my food choices.

Now tracking it no matter what or getting on and seeing the gain, helps the guilt or fear pass quicker then before. And it helps me get back on track faster.

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How do you motivate yourself to track the good, the bad and the ugly?

Dani Dishes: #30DaysOfPositivity Challenge... Are You In?

On this episode of #DaniDishes, I'm charging you all to join me on a 30-day positivity challenge. Each day you look in the mirror and say 3 positives about yourself! Are you in?

Face It Friday: Fighting To Positive, Breaking Even & Losing While Marathon Training

Did you know that you can train for a marathon and still lose weight? It's true! I'm living proof! :) Since we kicked off marathon training at the beginning of December I am happy to report I am down 7.8 lbs. Wahoo!

How do I do it?

Well I don't do anything crazy or out of the norm. I keep everything balanced and in check with my Weight Watchers tracking. Hey, if it ain't broke don't fix it. I find I need to use more of my extra Points (WPs and APs) to make sure my body fuels enough to train and shed weight.

Tracking allows me to keep the RUNGRY HORRORS at bay and give me a rude wake-up call when I pull out the excuse of:

Well I ran today I can have lots of XXXXXX.

Anyone else get that way?

Well the thing about always training for long distances is my body has a HIGH baseline on the Activelink. Soooo a 3 mile run isn't what it used to be on old Activity Point barometer. You feel me?

With tracking and the Good Health Guidelines I try to keep my splurges in check. To be 100% honest (as I always am with you folks), my week starts on Friday and I tend to be in the negative by Monday morning. That means I go through DPT, WPs and any APs earned.

I then spend Monday-Thursday trying my best to earn enough APs to get back into the positive.

Is this ideal? Hellz No.

BUT I find that it allows me to indulge when I want to with friends (which tends to be on the weekend) and bring it back on track during the weekdays (when I am more boring).

NOW I always listen to my body. Fueling for the race is my highest priority so I do track everything I eat during runs/workouts.

I could cut out wine, beer and fries and be set, but that isn't what I am about. And hey! I didn't lose the 83 pounds to give those up completely. That's just not how MY plan works.

So last week I had the big shocking loss which meant I FULLY expected a huge gain this week to balance it out. I mean I was sick last week so I figured that had to be it.

Well I ended up breaking even on the scale. Weighed in again at 152.

Still my lowest weight since 6th grade.

This past weekend was challenging as I was feeling healthier so I did more socializing. This meant I was in the hole Points-wise by Monday morning. So for accountability I posted my tracker each day to Facebook and Twitter for support. I didn't even care if anyone commented on it. I had to put it out there for me.

And it worked!

How about that? I even went out and splurged on St. Patrick's Day with my friend and fellow WW Leader Susan.

And there was some estimating! I didn't bring my travel food scale to the bar so we both did the best we could to put something in!

So going back to weekly weigh-ins and sharing more with friends and social media has helped me shed about 8 lbs in 2015.

For awhile I tried just weighing in once a month (minimum requirement as a WW Employee and Lifetime Member), but it didn't work for me. I wasn't keeping the balance and consistency I needed.

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Pro Tip: When I need a little self-confidence boost during the day, I'll randomly set an alarm with a motivating message! Perks up my mood and puts a smile on my face!!

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Have you ever had to fight out of the negative during a Weight Watchers week?

Three Things Thursday: Paint Nite, Boston Marathon Text Updates & A Thank You

Three Things Thursday? Hollah! Okay okay just using the alliteration as an excuse to post about three random thoughts in the same space. Not sure why I need alliteration to make that happen, but I'm going with it. I mean technically this is my blog and I can put whatever topics I want in the same post and no one can do anything about it. So there. So maybe I will. Okay. Here I go.

Wow! Not sure what sort of tangent I took there... but I digress!

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My friends and I are hitting up a local Paint Night on Sunday and I am stoked! Now I am no artist as I proved last Spring when I attended the Paint Bar for my friend's birthday. The Paint Bar is a studio on Newbury Street that solely hosts Paint parties.

But I tried. And I had a blast with folks and drank some yummy wine. Sooo overall it was a big win!

This time we are going to JJ Grimsby and Co (a restaurant) in Stoneham through the mobile company Paint Nite ($25 per person through Living Social). There are about 10 of us going show it should be a great time. If nothing else there will be a lot of laughs.

Our picture is titled: CHERRY BLOSSOM BRANCHES

And looks like something I can work with. :) I'll be sure to take progress pictures along the way so I can turn it into a nice Flipogram. ;)

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Do you want to receive text message updates during my 2015 Boston Marathon run? If so,

Text 26786 (my bib number) to 234567

and you will be set!!!

GOAL? No med tent visits!! I don't want to share any med tent selfies this year!

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I wanted to take a moment to thank each of you that watched my #DaniDishes vlog this week (which you can watch here). I always kept my dealings with depression under lock and key until I was one day faced by friends who had caught on to me. Well they started to notice that I was wearing bracelets on my wrists to hide the cutting. I thank them (they know who they are) for helping turn the first page towards dealing with depression and cutting.

Now it is a long and winding road, but as I said I see a light at the end of the tunnel. I thank all of you for helping me find that. I thank this blog for giving me a place to share those feelings instead of hiding them deep inside or shoving them down further with food.

So thank you again for watching, texting, writing emails, sending DMs and just being there in general - even if you didn't physically reach out.

And remember you are not alone!

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How was that for a mish mash of topics? ;)

Dani Dishes: Depression & A Light At The End Of The Tunnel

On this episode of #DaniDishes, I'm talking about a realization I had this week about my battle with depression.

*Announcement* I Am A Momentum Jewelry Ambassador!

Ahhh I am WICKED excited to announce that I have been named a Momentum Jewelry Ambassador!!

WWWOOOOOO!!!!

Okay can you tell I'm pumped? ;)

Momentum Jewelry is a small women-owned business which produces all of their products in the USA. Momentum offers foot notes, wrap bracelets, suede cuffs, necklaces, headbands and earrings. These ladies are blending the fitness and fashion worlds seamlessly.

With endless possibilities of sayings for the wrap bracelets I felt overwhelmed when I picked out my first bracelet last year, but knew I wanted to go with a custom saying. But what custom saying would push me though a workout or pick me up during a tough emotional moment.

Yeah I’m kind of obvious. But this blog – this little slice of the internet – has changed my life in more ways than you can imagine. Thinking about sharing my life, workouts and adventures with all of you gives me a huge pick-me-up when feeling own and out. So I knew it was the perfect choice.

The above wrap is the oval motivational wrap with custom saying and teal wrap – value $25. A Motivational wrap without custom saying is $20. But with my newfound arm candy my feet were feeling pretty lonely. Momentum Jewelry offers a single foot note ($10) or a pair ($17).

Sweet, right? In addition to great products filled with passion and love, Momentum believes in the importance of instilling a healthy lifestyle at an early age. So:

5% of our profits are donated to the national effort, Action for Healthy Kids. Founded in 2002, Action for Healthy Kids works with schools to fight the national epidemic of childhood obesity by teaching kids to live healthy, active lives. Learn more at www.actionforhealthykids.org

Pretty awesome!!

But wait... there's more!

As an ambassador I am able to offer all of you amazing folks a 10% discount when you use THIS LINK! heck yeah!

So what are you waiting for??? Go get yours now! :)

Face It Friday: Shocking Weigh-In, Being Sick & Staying Mindful

I'd been feeling pretty rough - coughy, fatigued, etc - for about four days or so before I finally took the advice of my loved ones and headed to the Minute Clinic on Tuesday. It was there I received my diagnosis: bronchitis. Oof! With a diagnosis came meds. There really isn't any way to track my cough drops or meds in eTools so I just took what was needed and trusted the process.

Another side effect of being sick: limited activity. Now I was still moving since the doctor said it was helpful to breaking up the mucus, but not like I usually do. So far in 2015, I've averaged about 90-105 Activity Points per week.

This week? 63.

So I had no idea what to expect on the scale. I assumed I'd gain since that is what normally happens when I am sick.

I made the call that I would once again step on the scale no matter what.

Annnddd....

Say wha???

I was speechless! This is the lowest weight I have been since 6th grade. Yes junior high. My previous low with WW was 153.4, which happened twice.

Now I know there could be many factors into the weigh-in this week. But for now I am going to thank the Scale Gods and move right along.

Do I know if the scale will balance back out next week? Who knows. But worrying about future weigh-ins has never helped me in the past... so why start now?

I am going to bask in my ability to stay mindful with my food choices this week. Normally when sick I use it as an excuse to eat whatever I want because my "body needs it."

How did I check in to make sure my food cravings/desires were real or not?

I took a line from one of my WW members and asked myself:

Am I feeding my brain or my stomach?

This gave me the 10-15 seconds to realize that I really only wanted X because it sounded good NOT because it would help me get better. Thank you awareness!! :)

I also give a big ups to tracking, which also held me accountable during the week when I had more downtime than usual. Man when I am not working out I really have a lot of time to mindlessly eat! :P

So this upcoming week I will stay the course and keep doing what I'm doing!

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Do you track while you are sick?

Which cities will I be Rockin' & Rollin' through in 2015?

Recently I was asked: "What goes into your decision to choose a particular race to participate in?"

Well, I would say my Top Five criteria would be:

1) Bling ... race swag in general can be considered!

2) Location ... especially if I'm considering a destination race (aka racecation)!

3) Post-race celebration ... aka beer selection (from race itself or the city)!

4) Friends ... who can I potentially run with or hang out with at the run! Oh and who will let me crash on their couch to save $$$! ;)

5) Race Atmosphere ... including race organizers, entertainment during the race, etc!

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So which race series fills each of my criteria?

The Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series, which is why I am honored to be an official ambassador for the race for the second-straight year. Heeyy-oo to my fellow #RockNBlog members.

I've been participating in RnR races since I rekindled the love of running after back surgery in 2011.

You're probably wondering which cities I've Rocked and Rolled through. Well I'm happy to share. ;) If you click on the year below, you will be taken directly to the recap for that race.

*Brooklyn (10k) - 2013 - a one time race

*Chicago (Half) - 2011 and 2012

*Los Angeles (Half) - 2013

*Nashville (Full) - 2014

*New Orleans (Half) - 2014

*Philadelphia (Half) - 2013 - where I set my current Half PR (1:44:12)

*Providence (Half) - 2012 and 2013 - no longer in existence :(

*Savannah (Full) - 2012 - where I set my current Full PR (3:58:49)

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Wow! I have really taken advantage of the RnR Series to see some of the best cities in the US.

So where will 2015 take me?

*San Diego - May 30-31 - for the 5k and the Full

*Philadelphia - October 31 - possibly. This is still a wild card. I would love to return to the city of my PR if $$ can work out!

*Brooklyn - October 10 - for the all-new half marathon!!!

*Savannah - November 7-8 - for the Full and the 5k. Excited to try and go for a new marathon PR! The city was absolutely a BLAST when we went in 2012 and I can't wait to go back.

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If you are thinking about signing up for a Rock 'n' Roll race, be sure to use my discount code to help save some $$ for the post-race beer! ;)

And now the big question... which city will I see you in during the 2015 season?

Announcing A Special Tedy's Team Sparkly Soul Headband

I love Tedy's Team. I love Sparkly Soul.

And now I love that Sparkly Soul is helping me support Tedy's Team!

How you may ask?

With a special Tedy's Team headband!

YAY!!!

How awesome is that?

It will hit the Sparkly Soul website on March 17 and be $17 each.

^^10% of each Tedy's Team headband purchased from 3/17-4/20 will go to my fundraising effort for the Boston Marathon. :)

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I will be sure to pass along the link when available! :0)