Check-In Time & Return of Face It Fridays

Hiya Everyone! Checking in from Salt Lake City, Utah where I am visiting my best friend and her family. It is awesome to hear "Aunt Dani, I love you!" from Jo and see some baby smiles from Abe.

My BFF and her family moved out here in June so it has been quite an adjustment. They had been living in Maine and Massachusetts since the wife and I arrived back from Chicago in 2012. So they were always a close drive away, which led to seeing each other at least once a month if not more. I remember being able to hold and meet Jo the second day she was born.

I am lucky to have been able to make it out to Utah November 12-17 to meet two-week old Abe. :) I needed some baby snuggles. Now we need to start figuring out when the wife AND I will be able to get out here next year to visit.

Since the wife wasn't able to join, we made sure to Skype with her last night. Jo has been reading a lot of Batman and Superman books so she had a ton of questions for Aunt Tori! 

Today the BFF and I took part in the local Donut Dash 5k, which was actually a 3-miler. But apparently 3-miler doesn't work very well on advertising or a t-shirt design so they called it a 5k.

During the race there was a spot at the turnaround, where you could eat donut holes/munchkins. For every donut hole you ate, you had 60 second deducted from your time. If you hit 10 donuts, you had an additional minute off of your time.

Look at those numbers. Needless to say the ladies' winner was not us! :P We each had 4, but opted to keep moving along since we needed a port-o-potty stop.

Overall the trip so far has been exactly what my body needed - a recharge of the mind, heart and soul. Let me just tell you I am catching up on some serious sleep with these early bedtimes! :)

Now before I headed out to Salt Lake, I was in Savannah for the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon, 5k and 1-miler. It was an amazing weekend with friends and some serious heat. The race was rough and tough! We saw a lot of people collapse, a ton of ambulances on the course and unfortunately two deaths. Rock 'n' Roll made the right decision cutting the course. It was just poorly communicated to the folks where we were - past Mile 20. We had 2 miles cut off our course so we opted to make those up on the course before hitting the Finish Line. So Joe & I hit the Mile 26 marker, turned around, ran back to Mile 25, turned around and then proceeded to finish 26.2 miles. Many folks are saying that wasn't smart because of the heat. But we knew our bodies and how we were feeling. We were staying properly hydrated and were making up the 2 miles on the shadiest part of the course. Had I not been feeling up to it - I wouldn't have done it. We had slowed our pace down throughout the race to keep our bodies in check and to focus on the FUN around us! Hi mimosas! :)

In between my trips to Savannah and Salt Lake, I made the decision to finally face that scale that I had been avoiding all Fall long. Why do it? Because I was feeling uncomfortable in my own skin in Savannah, hated how I looked in every picture and could tell I wasn't focusing on making the healthy choices my mind and body needed. 

I stepped on the scale for the "reality check" I needed. 

And there it was. Up about 20 pounds since the last time I checked in around my birthday. Ouch! Not something I wanted to see, but it gave me the kick in the butt I needed. I want to feel like the me I am when I am in the 150s. It isn't about the number on the scale, but the feeling I have. 

So my goal is to work on making those healthy choices to make sure I head into my next big race week - Disneyland Star Wars Weekend (January 2016) - the best me I can be then. No number on the scale goal, but the feeling. 

I faced this battle in early 2014 when I shifted to a desk job and I will win it again! I know what to do, but now I need to hold myself accountable. Therefore Face It Fridays will be returning to the blog and I will figure out how to keep myself motivated and committed.

When I first joined Weight Watchers, I had huge success because of the support system I felt from the meetings. Well now I find it harder to attend meetings as 1) I am no longer working there and 2) I have led or subbed all of the meetings in my area. Now I could make the commitment to trek farther away, but I would rather use that time to work out or hang with my little family. So trying to figure out what is next for me in the accountability department. 

Cuhlearly spilling my guts to all of you that read the blog help. Since I KNOW I have more success when I keep consistent with blogging and with my weekly or at least regular check-ins either on the scale or in the Face It Friday post.

You see the pattern is once I stop sharing, I start cheating myself and the scale starts creeping up. I see the pattern yet for some reason ignored it this Fall. I was in a bad mental space and I know that had a lot to do with it.

But for the past month, my head has never been clearer, my heart has been fuller and my emotional status more level. I put myself first a month ago and it was one of the best decisions I have made recently.

With that it is time to get back to my little visit. I stole away a few minutes to write this while the little loves were napping. 

Get excited for more blogging, more sharing and more accountability! 

For now, I will leave you with a picture of Lady Bug Girl enjoying some Reading Rainbow...