Liar Liar…

…Pants on Fire!! That’s what I have to say to all those people who say the last semester of college is great and you’re going to have so much fun!!

The truth behind your last semester of college is that it is as stressful if not more stressful than your first. This is because there is this big UNKNOWN of what is to come after graduation. The last semester is full of trying to get through classes you are no longer interested in (senioritis) and applying for jobs so you can enter the big, scary REAL WORLD!! Now don’t get me wrong, I am excited to become apart of this big, scary real world, just the path to get there is quite daunting and exhausting.

Today’s post will help give some clarity to all those who are asking daily as to what my path to entering that big scary place is…

Long Term Goal: 

Get a real, big girl job in a career that I am passionate about. Now I am sure many of you are laughing at that sentences and thinking “ha!…good luck.” and I can’t say I blame you. I have defiantly realized that it is much easier said than done but I am determined to find it. On that note, if any of you have experience in finding that “perfect” career, I am all ears and would love some advice. All I do know is that I want a career where I am up and moving in a fast paced environment and helping others. The two areas that (I think) interest me most are nursing and corporate wellness.

Where I am now: 

Currently I am doing all that I can to pass genetics (send prayers my way please…Final is the 9th). This is one of my last three classes that I need to graduate. Beyond getting through school I am applying for nearly every health/wellness job in Raleigh and Charlotte.

At this moment I have two part time job interviews lined up in Charlotte. One is as a Personal Trainer at a YMCA (12/11) and the other is as a Group Fitness Instructor at LA Fitness (12/5). Aside from those two positions, I have Personal Training applications in at another Y and LA Fitness in Charlotte and at a Life Time Fitness in Raleigh. I have also applied for several “Wellness” positions within Rex Healthcare and Healthtrax in Raleigh. In addition to both of those I have applied to two temporary (1year positions) at the Interfaith Food Shuttle in Raleigh. Both of these positions are nutrition education coordinator positions.

I have to admit, I never thought I would be applying for part time / temporary positions coming out of college, but like everyone says, your first job isn’t usually the perfect job or your last job. Wish me luck and send lots of prayers as I have a lot coming in these next couple weeks!

Since this post was a little on the stressful side and totally off from the Holiday Cheer that is going around I thought everyone could use a good laugh to end their night….

This is my boyfriend and I at the annual Christmas party dressed exactly the same, both of us in his clothes!!  He had convinced me that everyone wore tacky sweaters and it would be funny (I had never been to the party before) but turns out he lied…everyone else was dressed super cute and sexy! It was a night that couldn’t end fast enough for me but is funny to look back on now 😉

Lazy Days

Thanksgiving break has treated me well and I have enjoyed my few days of being SUPER DUPER LAZY! A quick recap of the week:

Monday: I made the dreaded drive home and snacked wayyyyyy to much to stay awake. I hate when you have those terrible days of driving where you can tell its going to be a long trip in the first 20-30minutes. But regardless I made it home where I was happily greeted by my mother and puppy (nothing like coming home to a pup…they are always so excited to see you 🙂 ). Shortly after arriving home, mom and I headed to pick up my grandma for a girls night. The three of us went to California Pizza Kitchen, one of our favorite girls night out restaurants since the boys aren’t so keen on it. Dinner was followed by a little shopping before heading home to hit the sack for an early bed time.

The happy puppy! This is Chase, the 100lb, nearly 9year old, big baby of a golden retriever we call family 🙂 

Tuesday: I started my lazyness…I slept in till about 10:30!!! It was great. After finally rolling out of bed I got in about a 45min workout using the Nike Fit Club app (check out Saturdays Workout Post to read more about the app). Then mom and I headed out to get our nails done. I got sheer luck on my fingers and opi red on my toes. Shortly after getting back home from our girl time my brother and the ever so cute Roxy arrived. Roxy is his girlfriends super cute 15week old puppy. Grandma and I took the pup shopping then came home for a delicious chili dinner with the whole crew.

Wednesday: Again I started out the day lazy with a 10:30ish wake up. We hung out around the house most of the day. I got in a quick 30min workout, we all ate lunch then the boys headed to the golf course and us girls headed to the craft store. We got paint and a couple canvas. Check out the final product below. Dinner was at a new restaurant, Stone Mountain Grill. Following dinner we broke out a new favorite game 5seconds. I’m not very good at the game but it brings out a lot of giggles.

Thursday: Turkey Day! Once again I slept in (probably seeing a theme at this point). After getting up, having a quick breakfast and workout it was time to get to turkey day festivities. My cripple brother, Alex, (he had hip surgery about 8weeks ago and is doing great now) and I headed to the grocery store to get all the last minute items then it was time for me to get ready and pick up grandma. We had our good friends The Tillers over for an afternoon and evening of fun. We had a great spread of food and lots of laughs to go around.

Friday: Black Friday! The day started off slow and we didn’t participate much in the normal Black Friday madness…mom and I actually only made it to the mall for a return. Before heading to the mall, mom and I stopped at grandmas to help her get Christmas out of the attic, since she has seen “fall for too long this year.” For our evening activity the family plus John (my boyfriend) went to the Bobcats game. Bobcats won and it was a great way to spend the evening. Following the game John and I came home to drinks and ping pong with my parents. Although they beat us it was once again a great way to fill the night with laughs.

Saturday: The one and only day I was out of bed before 10…John had me up at 8:30 this morning!! Probably a good thing since we ended up having a day full of company. Shortly after getting up, John and I headed to the grocery as some old friends (see picture below) were planning on stopping by for lunch as they were traveling back to Georgia from Connecticut. We have known them since I was taller than my brother…and for those of you who don’t know me that well, Alex passed me when he was in 6th grade and I was in 8th. It was great catching up with them. John and I also managed to get a few games of ping pong and rings (another great game) in while everyone was here. I am the overall champion but he defiantly had me in a few sticky places (we are not a competitive couple at all 😉 ) Saturday night finished with football and steak dinner.

Tomorrow I will be headed back to good old Raleigh. But before I do, a few more pictures from the week to send you off with….

I hope this gives you a good catch up on the week. Have a goodnight! 🙂 

Holiday Eating

It is always nice to be able to come home and rest after a few busy weeks in Raleigh. And if you are like me, home means family, relaxing, and good food and plenty of it. Today’s blog post will be about a few tips on how to eat when you have broken routine and have hit the road for the holiday season.

1. It is ok to eat you favorite holiday foods….after all they do only come around once a year!! The key to enjoying these foods is to eat them slowly and in moderation. This means, don’t eat the entire pie but rather cut yourself a small slice and eat each bite slowly so you are actually getting to taste it.

2. Watch out for liquid calories! They add up fast!!! The holidays are full of fun calorie dense beverages…be on the lookout especially at your favorite coffee shops. If you must have your flipped dipped frappa macka swoody doopdy latte be sure you are ordering the smallest size. Also be careful with the alcohol. A good option here is to have a water between every beverage. This will not only keep you from getting a little too buzzed around the relatives but also help to keep that waistline trim.

3. Holiday meal time! YUM!! So many delicious options it is hard to decide on what to start with. So I will make it simple, start by filling half your plate with fruits and vegetables. Fruits and veggies are nutrient dense and low in calories. Starting with these will help you keep from over consumption as they will fill you up but not stuff you!

4. Avoid the “Extras”…avoid the gravy, extra butter, jelly, etc. These are extra calories that can, like beverages, add up fast.

5. Eat slowly. It takes about 20min for your brain to get the signal from your stomach that it is full. A good way to be sure to eat slowly is to set your fork down between bites and have a sip of water. Also engaging yourself in conversation can aid in keeping you from eating too fast.

6. Don’t skip meals to “save calories” for the big meal. This leads to over eating at the big meal. Skipping breakfast especially will create a downward spiral for you all day.

7. When traveling be sure to pack healthy snacks. I know when I am on the road I love to have something to munch on. Some good on the road snacks include nuts (no salt/seasonings), seeds (be sure to have a spit cup if you are choosing sunflower seeds), popped plain, no salt added popcorn, bananas, carrots, celery, grapes, and apples.

8. Traveling during meal time? Pack that meal with you. Often times if I am going to be on the road during a meal I will pack a sandwich. This helps to avoid fast food which can be loaded with extra calories, fat, and salt.

9. Drink water before sitting down to a big meal. This will help you to feel full faster and keep from over eating.

10. EVERYTHING IN MODERATION.

I hope this helps you to navigate through the holiday season as you make it from the early morning coffee shop to the late night bar.

Happy Holidays Y’all!

Saturday workout

After a week of resting and taking it easy, today I made it back to the gym for a good sweaty workout. I used the Nike Fit Club app to guide my workout. This is a great app since it talks to you and keeps track of time for you. There is even a continuous countdown timer of how long you have left that is super motivating (atleast for me).  Also it has a lot of different workouts based on what you are trying to accomplish (get lean, strength, etc.) and has beginner, intermediate, and advanced options.  
I chose to do the “Drill Sargent” workout from the intermediate strength section. Although the app does do a warm up and a stretching cool down as apart of the workout, I started out on the elliptical for 5min. This helped to get my heart rate up a little but more importantly it helped wake me up a bit since I was super lazy this morning. For cool down I did the couple min of stretching that the app included but then added a few more of my own.
It felt good to get sweaty and to start working on my offseason goals. On the subject of goals… I worked on my post workout nutrition goal by having a whole wheat English muffin with almond butter and coconut shreds immediately after the workout. It was delicious and hit the spot. 
What’d you do for your workout today? 

Raleigh 70.3

I could’t hold out any longer….I signed up for my next race this evening. I will be in Raleigh for Ironman 70.3 June 1st!!

I volunteered at this race last year and it was an amazing event so I cannot wait to see what it will be like to be an athlete participating in the event this time around. I am even more excited because it is in the city I have grown to love so much over the last few years.

Until about mid January I will be in the maintaining, offseason phase of training but come mid January…Training will begin!! I will hopefully be able to start back up with my coach from last season who helped me prepare for Carolina Half back in September. She was great!!

I am so happy to have a race on the calendar for 2014! Do you have any races you are looking forward to for 2014?

Ironman 70.3 Raleigh 2013…volunteering at the 2 / 11mile run course aid station 🙂 

Off Season

Offseason…the best and worst time of the year. Offseason is great because it gives you body a chance to recover after a long grueling year of training but it is also the worst because laziness can set it. Not having a race to prepare for often times makes even the most dedicated athletes a little lazy. That is why, starting after Thanksgiving (I promised my mom I would rest and take it super easy till Thanksgiving) I have set some goals for myself for this offseason:

1. Don’t let your running base completely fade away. Currently, I can run 20ish miles without much of an issue, come the end of offseason I can usually only run 5-6miles no issue. This year the goal is to come out of the offseason with a 10-15mile base.

2. Increase strength. I am a very strong person but I have noticed that as I have been competing in these long endurance events, I am not as strong as I once was. I hope by increasing strength I am able to better avoid injuries.

3. Increase flexibility. Due to all the repetitive motions of running, biking, and swimming, my muscles have become very tight. I know this hinders my performance. Just like strength, by increasing flexibility I hope to be able to avoid injuries.

4. Work on post workout nutrition. In the past I have just eaten whatever looked good as I walked through the door after a workout, this offseason I want to work on being intentional about what I am eating to better aid in my recovery.

What are your goals for the offseason?

Morning Boot Camp

Yay for getting up before the sun again! That 5am alarm is brutal but getting to teach boot camp makes it all worth it. Today we mixed it up and had 5 rounds of different circuits. The point of this workout is to have as high of intensity as possible taking short breaks when needed. This format worked great for a group fitness class because it could be done at any fitness level since the participant could choose how fast/slow they wanted to complete the exercise and breaks can be taken when necessary (when I say breaks I mean stand for 5-10sec, catch you breath and start again). Here is what todays workout looked like….

This workout can easily be completed in about 55-60min when you include a warm up and cool down. The workout itself, taking 1min rest between rounds takes 45min. I have included a few links below on some of the exercises that may be unfamiliar. 
Push-up with row 
Lateral Shuffle with torso twist
Skaters
Bird Dog
Grasshopper
Spiderman
Happy Working Out!! 🙂 

Things I’m Loving Tuesday….Week 2!

Back again with a new list of things that I am loving….

This has been my go to wine since this summer…super sweet and pretty cheap at about $8 a bottle!! 
Lululemon headband. My mom just bought me two of them recently and they are great!! They stay put well and don’t pull your hair. I have them in gray and white. I defiantly want to get a couple fun colors. 
Delicious! And even better than the fact that they taste great, they are an easy on the go snack since they peel really easily. 
Adidas Team Speed Crew Socks. I think they sometimes look a little ridiculous on but they are probably my all time favorite pair of socks (and yes I have them in pink).
That’s it for this week’s “Things I’m Loving Tuesday” 🙂

Eating Healthy Quick

Often times I find that my life is go go go and I feel like I don’t have time to breathe let alone cook fabulous, nutritious meals. This is why I keep a few essentials on hand all the time. Below you will see a picture of MyPlate. This is what replaced the food pyramid. You do not have to have all your meals look like this plate but it should be used as a general guideline when you are planning your meals. I placed my everyday essentials on the plate so that you can see where things fit….

What are some essential that you always try to have on hand? 

FAQ

Here are a handful of questions that I get on a regular basis from friends and family…

1. What [race] is next?
Short answer, I don’t know. I am on the look out for my next half ironman and Raleigh Half (June 1st) is looking pretty good to me. 

2. I want to run a race, what do I do?
Most vague question of the century!!! However, even with that I do have a few starting points for you:
1. Get fitted for a running shoe at your local running/tri store.
2. Pick a goal race. 
3. Figure out a training plan (happy to help you here) that works for you and stick with it where you can and make adjustments when you need to.

3. What kind of running shoes do you wear? Why did you pick those?
I run in Brooks Glycerin. They are a neutral shoe with high cushion. And I didn’t pick them, they picked me. This is what happens at a running shoe fitting. They allow you to try on multiple shoes based on some initial evaluations of your feet and you pick the one that feels best.  My added touch to my running shoes are speed laces. I discovered these my first season of triathlon and will never go back to running without them. They are great for triathlons because they make your shoes easy to slip on in transition but they are even better for me because they allow your shoes to stretch. This is so important to me because my feet swell terribly when I am running and that little extra give makes the swollen feet a little more tolerable. 

4. What do you eat before you workout? After?
Two answers, if I am working out and its not going to be a super strenuous workout it is some kind of bar (KIND bars are my current favorite but this rotates). If I am going to be doing a harder/longer workout an english muffin with almond butter and dried coconut is my go to. As far as after…this is something I need to work on!! I try to eat within the hour something that has carbs and protein but what usually happens is something sugary because that is what I crave as I walk through the door. Getting better at eating post workout is a goal of mine for this off season/up coming season.

5. School is coming to an end, what are you doing after you graduate?
This is the million dollar question and I wish I could answer it. Right now I am applying for jobs in the Raleigh and Charlotte area in hopes of finding something full time. I am looking for a health/wellness position. I have applied for several personal training openings and am currently waiting to hear back from them. 

6. Why do you like running so much?
Because its cheaper than therapy 😉 Running has always been my release but I also love how it makes me feel afterwards. No matter how bad the run is, its always better than no run at all. Running has also become social for me, this is a time I get to chat with friends uninterrupted which is super awesome in todays world. 

7. My (fill in body part) hurts, what should I do?
PEOPLE PEOPLE PEOPLE!!! NEWS FLASH…I AM NOT A DOCTOR!!! My answer will always be either how I delt with that injury myself or a returned question of have you gone to the doctor. If you haven’t gone to the doctor I will tell you to do that first and if you have I am happy to help you on your recovery. Often times the “cure” is RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) and work on flexibility. 

8. What is your favorite race distance?
My favorite distance race is the half ironman. It pushes you wayyyyyyyyyyyyy out of your comfort zone but is still a do-able distance to train for with a hectic schedule. I love that it is a race where you are both strategizing but also pushing yourself to your limits. 


I hope this answers a few of those burning question. What other questions do you have?