Arts And Crafts With Lock Laces

Once again, the meteorologists were wrong and people in central Iowa are digging out from what was supposed to be 1-2 inches of snow.  Tuesday afternoon while I was minding my own business at work....Stop laughing!  I really WAS minding my own business!  Anyways, we received word from the Nation Weather Service that we had been placed in a Winter Storm Warning.  I'm sorry, a what?!  What happened to the couple inches of snow we were supposed to get?  Wasn't this the storm that was supposed to hit south and stay south?  Guess it's still winter in Iowa, huh?  The snow fell, the wind picked up and we had ourselves a pretty good last minute snow storm. 

I'm taking full responsibility for this last storm...I even fessed up about it on Facebook.  I was leaving work Monday night, talking about how nice it was going to be to get up Tuesday and run outside before work.  Because it was SO nice out Sunday, I knew I could do it again Tuesday.  Well, Mother Nature must have heard me and decided to show me who is boss! 

The good thing that came out of this latest snow storm?  I got my hot pink Lock Laces in the mail yesterday.  Wahoo!!!!  I've been waiting for these and I can't wait to try them out...just as soon as this snow goes away LOL  Anywho, before I went to bed last night, I thought I'd do some arts and crafts and lace these bad boys up!  Very simple, very easy...very hot pink! 

Here's What You Get!

My Sweet Ass NBs Before Lock Laces.

BAM!  Sweet Ass NBs and Lock Laces!

Easy peasy!  Now, don't go making fun of my super clean shoes.  I've had them for over a year and still avoid running thru puddles so they look all nice and new.  I know, I'm a dork!  Anyways, moving on!

If you go over to Facebook and like Lock Laces, they have an offer you can't pass up!!!  But if you're not a Facebook user, I'll post the info below.  K?

Spring Training Special Offer: Send your old shoelaces to: LOCK LACES™ Shoelaces Exchange, 2225 Sycamore Street; Harrisburg, PA 17111 with a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope and we'll send you a coupon for a free pair of LOCK LACES™ redeemable @ locklaces.com now thru March 31, 2013. (shipping and handling not included)

So, there you have it....go and rip out your laces and send those bad boys in!  There's no better time than now to try them!!!!  Let me know if you try them out and how you like them.  When I get to run again, I'll let you know how I like them, but I walked around a little in my newly locked laced shoes (say that 3 times fast!) and so far, so good!

Until next time!

HECK YES!!!!!

Big news for this kid!  I shaved a minute off my mile today!  It may not seem like much to some people, but for this MFFG (Midwest Former Fat Girl) it's huge!  When I started the C25K 3 weeks ago, my time was 15:42 min/mile.  Today was....14:42!  Not too shabby since it's cold out+I'm still sick+I've been off for almost 2 weeks+I'm only at the end of week 3.  That's a lot of +'s!  I'm pretty much on cloud 9...and yes, I did brag about it on Facebook LOL

It's about 35 degrees out right now in Iowa, which for this time of year is kind of mild, but it's still winter so I bundled up.  I had on a compression tank, a long sleeve Omni-heat Columbia shirt, a long sleeve running shirt and a fleece coat.  Oh!  And some running pants and knee braces...those were pretty important!

My Running Aftermath Minus the Fleece

After my run/walk, I realized I need one of those ear warmer band thingies (technical term there), so that's going to be my next "investment".  I may or may not have done a little running shopping this week online and found a couple sweet ass things!  I ordered this shirt from One More Mile and I can't wait until it gets here!  Go check out their website and like them on Facebook, they run some pretty sweet 20% off deals!  I also ordered a pair of hot pink Lock Laces to try out.  Now I'm in the market for a new pair of ear buds, but I can't decide on what ones.  HELP!!!!

That's pretty much my big news of the week.  I'm still sick and blowing snot rockets, so I've been laying pretty low.  I have BBQ Beer Chicken in the crockpot for dinner and plan on just relaxing the rest of the day/night and do some laundry.  Not real entertaining, I know. 

Before I leave for the day, I of course HAVE to post the best song of my run/walk.  Today, there were 2 of them!

 

Until next time! 

Feed A Cold? Starve A Fever? Justin Bieber?!

I am the world's worst sick person.  EVER!  In fact, I think I'm worse than a man!  I know, you're thinking it can't be?!  But it is!  I'm crabby, whinny, sleepy, bitchy...I'm well on my way to being all of the 7 dwarfs...if crabby, whinny and bitchy were dwarfs. 

I thought it would be super fun to find a cute feed a cold, starve a fever pic to post on here.  I opened up a new tab, hit me up some Google and found this:

Wrong kind of fever Google!

It's almost like Google was mocking me!  Although I will admit I used to rock the Bieber-do (post-op hair loss is a bitch!) but you better believe I rocked it better than that little dude! 

Now, back to my regularly scheduled post.  I can never remember which you're supposed to do, feed a cold?  Starve a fever?  Sleep it off?  Take a shot of whiskey?  I'm really digging that last option.  But if you're like me, when you get this crud, you don't feel like doing or eating anything.  I'm even having a hard time getting down my Click and you all know how much I LOVE my Click!  I can't do my C25K (I don't think my parents would appreciate me blowing snot rockets on the basement floor), I'm too lazy to do my laundry, heck, I didn't even put anything in the crockpot!  I'M SICK!!!!  *In my best whinny voice*

So, my answer to my own question you might ask?  Well, I'm cruising the Internet looking for some running blogs, looking for things I don't need on Amazon and watching T.V.  Oh!  And listening to my little dogs bark and bark and bark.  Did I mention them barking?!  It's actually my male Chi who drives me nuts with his barking.  He has a bark collar, but I feel like the meanest doggy mom when I put it on him.  It's a catch 22 really.  My other little one is curled up on my legs while I type this.  She's usually my naughty one, but when I'm sick, she's my little princess that won't leave my side.   Sister (Stella) is the one in the pink sweater below.  Mister (Quincy) is the one in the red sweater, looking all...pissy.

Mister and Sister (don't pay attention to the dog hair).

I suppose I should wrap this up, it's time for another dose of my cold meds, so I'll have myself a nap in about 20 minutes and wake up wondering where the afternoon went.  Have a good evening!

Until next time!

MIA aka Out Sick

I am once again, battling another round of the flu....or a cold....or something!  This makes the 4th round of this crud for me.  Yeah, 4.  I feel like I've been hit by a bus, except for my head, which feels like a huge balloon.

It all started Wednesday when I woke up with a scratchy throat.  I had it again on Thursday and woke up yesterday with a stupid cough.  Now today I have the cough and a drippy nose (you're welcome) and just want to sleep. 

Sorry this is so brief, but I wanted to check in real quick.  I didn't want you guys (even though there aren't many of you LOL) to think I just up an left the blogging world.  Have a great night!

Until next time!

Are We Too Hard On Ourselves?

How I Felt Yesterday

Yesterday was not one of my better days.  I was all excited to get up, finish Week 3 of C25K, move onto Week 4 and have a kick ass day!  But what really happened was I woke up still sleepy, my head was full of thoughts from the past and I just wasn't mentally in the game.  But I thought to myself that I would still rock out my run and feel great.  WRONG!!!!!

I got all geared up and headed to my parent's for my treadmill workout and failed.  Miserably!  I couldn't even finish.  Week 3 goes as follows (for those of you that don't know) Walk for 5 minutes, run for 1 1/2 minutes, walk for 1 1/2 minutes.  Then run for 3 minutes, walk for 3 minutes.  Repeat that and then cool down for 5 minutes.  I made it thru the second run/walk for 1 1/2 minutes and that was it.  I hit that brick wall that everyone fears.  And I hit it hard!  I was so mad at myself, I had to walk the rest of the workout.  This was the first time since I had started the C25K program that I couldn't finish!  WTF?!  To say I was pissed was an understatement and that feeling stayed with me the rest of the day!  I just couldn't shake it!  It didn't matter what people said, I remained in the funk until about 11pm last night.  I hate that!!!!

And then, for some reason, a light bulb came on.  GET OVER IT, KATE!  It was one bad workout in the last 3 weeks!  3 weeks you big baby!  Look how far you've come and you haven't quit!  Usually by now I've given up on exercising and losing weight.  And I've been losing weight for over 2 years!  You can still do this!  After yelling at myself and picking my mood up off the ground I felt SO much better.  I was right (for a change)!  Who cares!  It's one day!  Everyone is entitled to one bad day every now and then.  That's what makes us human.  Right?

I guess you could say I gave myself a pep talk in a round about way.  A much needed pep talk.  I'm going to re-do Day 3, Week 3 of C25K tomorrow...and ROCK THE HELL OUT OF IT!

Until next time!

Are They Really Judging Me?

**I need to add a quick disclaimer before I get started with this one.  As a weight loss surgery patient, I didn't do the right thing nutrition wise, but I did what I felt was best for me in this particular moment to make it thru the night.**

I am 2+ years post op and there are still many aha moments, many embarrassing moments and many WTF ones as well.  I still have moments when I see myself as the 300 pound person that doesn't fit in.  I still shy away from pictures, from social gatherings and I still get my "fat girl feelings" hurt often.  Sometimes I find fat jokes funny, other times they are offensive.  And what's worse is there's no rhyme or reason as to why I feel this way.

One of the hardest things for me to deal with is eating in a social setting.  I'm always very aware of who is around me and who might be looking at me.  I'm always wondering if they are thinking, "why is she eating that?!  She's going to gain all of her weight back!".  Or I'm thinking, "Should she really be eating that?  There's a much better choice out there".  In fact, I actually had a person tell me that "people" at work were concerned about my eating habits (last summer) and that "some" of them were noticing that I had gained some weight back.  "They" were concerned that I had ruined my surgery and that I wasn't eating right.  The result of those comments?  I stopped eating in front of people for a very long time.  Those comments cut me off at the knees and still sting to this day.  Some days I think, "How dare you talk to me that way!  When you get your weight under control, then you can come at me!".  And other times I think, "Maybe they are right.  I'm out of control again".

But because of comments like that, I have developed an even more sense of awareness of people watching me...or so I feel.  So much so, that on Saturday night, I ditched dinner with my best friend for her birthday because there were going to be new people in our group and I didn't want to eat in front of them.  I don't get like this all the time, just when I get outside of my comfort zone, which is now a large group of people.  If there are more than about 4 people around (including myself) I get very nervous, very uncomfortable and just want to go hide in a hole.  This is something that I've noticed has come up in the past couple of months and I just don't know how to shake it.  I met up with them later with my date.  In which I again opted to skip dinner and not eat in front of him either because I was afraid he would judge me too and he doesn't even know I've had weight loss surgery.  So, long story short, Saturday night, I skipped dinner and opted for a Diet Coke.  Was it a good nutrition decision?  Absolutely not!  But was it a good mental decision?  For me in that moment, I think it was.  I spent the rest of the night feeling overweight, uncomfortable and just wanting to go home because I didn't feel like I fit in, which wasn't even true.

I guess you could call it a funk that I have gotten myself into.  Or maybe it's some social setting phobia.  Whatever it was, it's something that's only come along since weight loss surgery.  Does anyone else feel like this?  What do you do when you start feeling this waay?  Is it a feeling of being overwhelmed?  Have we as a society, created another type of eating disorder, an anti-social one?  Saturday night, I never did eat.  I had a protein shake and a Diet Coke all day, that was it.  I didn't come home and binge eat, either.  I didn't even have a glass of water.  I just went to bed and started a new day.  But this has bothered me since, so I thought it was blog worthy.  I would like to hear what you think about it.

Until next time!

Where Did This Weekend Go?

This weekend went by so fast, I'm left wondering where did it go?!  But then I'm also sitting here wondering, did I really do that much?  Let's see...I worked my regular shift until 10pm Friday night and then went out for a few vodka/lemonades.  And by few I mean 3 or 4....I think?  It doesn't matter, moving on!  Then Saturday night a bunch of us went out to a dance club in Des Moines and I didn't get home until after 3.  We had SO much fun, but the drive home was a different story.  The roads were slick and the D.O.T. was out, but it didn't seem to help much. 

This morning I got up and did Day 2, Week 3 of C25K at my parent's house and then started a Sashay Scarf.  Have you guys seen these yet?  They are sooooo cool and super easy to make.  My mom is also making one and she's the one who actually found this video on YouTube.  It's very easy to follow along with if you're looking for a new craft.

Super Cute Sashay Scarf!

Let's see, what else did I do today?  Oh, did 5 loads of laundry (how does a single person have so much laundry?!) and put most of it away, went and met my best friend Gina for a little snack at our favorite place here in town and ran out to Wal-Mart.  I have needed light bulbs for above my sink for a of couple weeks now (yep, I was being lazy) and I'm hooked on the Crystal Light drops so I picked those things up. 

And last, but not least, I loaded 62 new songs into my running list on my phone.  I now have 237 songs on shuffle.  I don't know why I need so many, but I guess I like to keep my options open.  You just never know what kind of a mood you're going to be in when it's time for a run!

And as usual, what would one of my blog posts be without my favorite songs of my workout?! 

Until next time!

The Columbia Running Fairy

For those of you that don't know, my dad owns a clothing store in our city.  It's called Peoples Clothing (coming online soon!) and it's been open since 1922.  It's been in our family for years and is a men's big and tall clothing store.  He has many different name brands, including Columbia and New Balance.  Since my weight loss surgery, my dad (and his store) have been my saving grace for clothing, since he can special order women's clothing as well.  He has kept me clothed while I shrunk out of my size 28's and finally settled into my size 14's (hopefully to be 12's before long).  Without him I don't know what I would have done.  Thank you, Dad! 

Since I have decided to start running about his time last year, both he and my mom have supported me 110%, not only emotionally, but with my running gear such as shoes, pants and shirts.  And this time around is no different.  I normally wear New Balance shoes and pants and then Fila running tops, but this winter/spring Columbia had come out with some new active wear that I wanted to try out.  My dad was nice enough to let me cruise thru the women's catalog and pick a few things.  And by few, he let me get 4 new things!  So, here's what I got, which was delivered by my mom (the Columbia Fairy) last night while I was at work!  I'm telling you, I have the BEST PARENTS EVER!!!!

Back Beauty Capri

Women's Back Beauty Boot Cut Pant

Women's Reel Beauty Print Long Sleeve

Women's Benton Springs Full Zip

 
All of those are the colors I picked out except for the fleece coat.  That of course, I got in bright rose (aka bright pink) because as you know, pink is my favorite color.  Tomorrow I'll be trying some of it out as I move onto Day 2, Week 3 of C25K.  I'll let you know what I think of them!  Have a great day everyone!

Until next time!

Pain, Lots Of Shoulder Pain

Today has not been all rainbows and unicorns for me.  I was the lucky recipient of a cortisone shot this morning in my left shoulder.  When I had my surgery in 2010, my arm was hyper-extended for over 2 hours and while my surgical team moved my arm around, it just wasn't enough.  So, since then, I've been having some pretty serious shoulder issues.  Today was my 4th shot since 2011 and for some reason it was the worst one of the bunch!  I may or may not have waited way too long this time around.  The pain came back around Thanksgiving but I got busy with the holidays and then back into working out so I basically just put it off.  BAD IDEA!  It's my own fault, but still.  I've been on ice all day, only this time it's been on my shoulder, not my knees. Weird.....

I'm sure you all will never guess what I have in my crockpot right now.  Yep!  You guessed it, Crockpot Taco Chicken Chili with a twist.  I used fire roasted tomatoes and then added a brick of cream cheese about an hour before it was done cooking.  I still used the frozen chicken and cooked it on low for 10 hours.  I'm pretty excited to see how it tastes. 

And last but not least...since I've been down and out today, there's been a lot of Pinterest time for me today (looking for a new short pixie cut) like Pink's and a lot of looking for some funny quotes.  I came across the below picture and just have to share it.  Only, I don't think I like it...I know I love it!

Until next time!

Ice Packs, Knee Injuries and Week 3 C25K

I've been MIA for the last couple of days and judging from my post title, you can tell why.  Saturday evening was not a good evening...AT ALL!  I finished week 2 of C25K without any problems at all.  Ran on the treadmill at my parent's house, made my dad some of my "famous" homemade blue cheese dressing and just lounged around their house with them for most of the afternoon.  I came home and started my usual post workout protein shake and decided to take the garbage out.  That's when it all went down hill.  I slipped on the ice and fell on my knee.  It hurt like a bitch, a son of a gun, but I got up (looked around to make sure no one saw me fall) and limped into the house.  I grabbed my ice packs out of the freezer and started the usual icing of the knees.  I usually ice my knees after I run anyways, but after falling I really kept on top of it.  As the night went on, my knee got bigger and bigger and more purple.  Then my mom called and she was taking my dad to the ER.  He had laid his right hand on a hot burner and had huge blisters on the palm of his hand.  Long story short, he has 2nd degree burns to the palm of his hand but was lucky.  The Dr. said if the burns had been up on his fingers, we would have been going to see a burn specialist.  We got him home, got him settled in and I ran around getting his medications and whatnot (my dad is doing great, by the way and will be good as new in no time).  By the time all was said and done it was 9pm and I hadn't had anything to eat all day.  Popcorn and Diet Coke for dinner?  Sure!  Why not?! 

So, fast forward to Monday when I was supposed to start week 3 of C25K.  I was heading over to my parents to run on the treadmill again and BAM!  I fell AGAIN!!!!!  What.The.Heck.  Really?  And I fell on the same knee!  So, I pulled myself up and came inside and hit the ice packs again.  This falling and hurting my knees is getting really old!  I didn't get to run Monday, had training at work yesterday (does one person really NEED 8 computer monitors at her desk?  Yes, the answer is yes) and iced my knees last night when I got off at 10pm.

I wish this was mine!!!!

Well, finally, today I was able to start week 3!  Wahoo!!!  I was pretty nervous about my knee and it hurt a little bit, but I made it thru it.  I didn't think I would, but I did!  And now, I sit here typing this with...wait for it.....wait for it....ICE PACKS!!!!  Hopefully I'm over my little run of bad luck and falling, just in time for the next batch of bad weather to come in on Sunday.  Figures.  To say this week has been the week from H. E. double hockey sticks is an understatement.  Keep your fingers crossed that it's all over!

And last, but not least, the best song of my workout.  It had an awesome beat and kept me going, like most of her songs do!

Until next time!

Another Week Is In The Books!

Week 2 of the C25K is in the books!!!!  Go me!!!!  As you can guess, it's still chilly in Iowa, so as usual, I hit my parent's treadmill.  It has been my saving grace these last 2 weeks.  Although as I'm sitting here typing this and watching some random snow flakes fall, I've also watched a woman run by 3 times.  She's all bundled up, head to toe...good for her!  I'm too much of a wimp...it's chilly out and I might freeze!  I'm pretty delicate you know...Okay, stop laughing!

I don't have much planned for the rest of the weekend.  I need to take down my Dept. 56 winter village and put it back in the basement and do a TON of laundry.  That's about it.  I haven't decided what I'm going to do tomorrow for the Super Bowl, but I have a couple different options. 

As usual, here's my favorite song of the workout.  I LOVE me some Pink...I totally want her hair do!  I think I could pull it off.  My bosses might not like it though LOL

Until next time!

Just A Few Changes...

With a new year and a new me, I decided it was time to change up my blog just a little bit.  For starters, I changed the name.  When I started this blog, I was 300+ pounds and just starting my weight loss journey.  Well, now I'm well over 2 years post-op and while sometimes I still think, "Is this for real?!" I felt it was time to shout out who I REALLY am.  Which is a former fat chick from Iowa.  So, after much thought, I came up with A Midwest Former Fat Girl.  What do you think?  Too much?  Do you like it?  Should I change it back?  Do you have any other blog name ideas?  I'm open to suggestions, so let me know!

Also, as you can tell, I've changed some of the font styles, colors and sizes (for us older readers) and I am kinda digging it!  I also added a new pic under the About Me tab. 

Check it all out, let me know what you think.  I can't make any promises I won't still mess with the fonts and colors, but I think I'm done for the night.  This former fat chick needs some Zzzzzz's!

Until next time!