Tag Archives: summer body experiment

chloe + isabel Launch Party and Summer Body Experiment Check-In

So since I’ve started marathon training, weeknights are my new weekends, especially since I don’t have anything to wake up for in the morning. (Which is nice, but the lack of regular paycheck is not.)

Yesterday, I had an awesome freelance meeting, Julia’s birthday and then the chloe + isabel launch party. My friend and former coworker Lindsay is now heading up their marketing, so she invited me to their launch party.

chloe+isabel.jpg

As if champagne and jewelry weren’t enough, oh, this party just happened to be in Marc Jacobs’ former apartment. I was too busy at looking at pretty jewelry and drinking champagne to get pictures of the apartment, but Jordan did get some awesome pictures of the apartment.

chloe+isabel jewelry.jpg

The jewelry is absolutely gorgeous, and the company’s business model is cool: it empowers women to create their own online jewelry stores and become “merchandisers.” As you can see, the jewelry is fun and funky, and the line is targeted at young women. Most of the pieces sell for about $30-50.

DSC_0212.JPG

DSC_0219.JPG

DSC_0220.JPG

We got these pretty bracelets in our swag bags!

Afterwards, I met up with Emily for a drink and some great conversation. (And late-night pizza.)

What? This is a healthy living blog? I promised I would update you on September 1 about my summer body experiment? Oh. Okay. Below are my goals and, in bold, how I did on them.

  • pick and begin marathon training schedule by July 1. (Also considering training with a group. Does anyone know anything about non-fundraising marathon training groups?) Training. Check.
  • Get back to Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday or Sunday running schedule. Yup. And Mondays, too!
  • Mondays and Wednesdays will be strength. I’m not sure what this will look like yet, because I’m still figuring out my gym situation. Strength is still the first thing to fall off, but I’m trying.
  • Add some ab work in (maybe a la Angela @ Oh She Glows Whittle My Middle) to both tone my abs and reduce lower back pain Sometimes?
  • Fridays (and really any other time I can fit it in, too) will be for yoga. Fail. Must do more yoga.
  • The weekend day I don’t run will be for a rest day. I have never had a problem remembering to take a rest day.
  • Cut way back on wheat and dairy. (Caveat: once I finish the wheat products currently in my kitchen) Cut back on wheat? While training for a marathon? Definitely didn’t happen. I’ve experimented with dairy, and it seems to bother my stomach less than I thought but I still try to minimize it.
  • But experiment with re-adding salads (which sometimes bother my stomach) and Greek yogurt (which I miss like crazy and didn’t used to bother my stomach–so long as I didn’t eat it before running) Half-check. I’ve had salad a few times and it bothers my stomach less than I thought, too.
  • Take my vitamins. Oops. No.
  • Stick to a somewhat normal sleep schedule. YES!
  • Make the best of this time I’m not working and try to enjoy at as much as I can. After all, it is summer. Check plus! I did awesome at this.

My goals for the rest of marathon training: more yoga, more strength training. That’s about it.

DSC_0223.JPG

Oh, and after I drowned my hangover in the pool this morning (true story–awesome way to get rid of a hangover, so long as you don’t drown), I got a haricut. What do you think? I’m not sure if I’m crazy about it. I will let you know how I really feel after I spend some time with my straightener.

Did you set summer goals for yourself? If so, how did you do?

August Summer Body Experiment Check-In!

In June, after being laid off, I decided to dedicate this summer to my health, both physical and mental.

My goals for July were:

stick to 90 percent of my planned workouts. Crap. I can say I stuck with pretty close to 90 percent of my runs and most of my cross-training.

Screen shot 2011-08-01 at 11.17.08 AM.png

(from DailyMile)

In fact, I ran 85 miles this month! Had I not blown off my runs while at the beach Fourth of July weekend, I’d probably be pretty damn close to 100 miles. Last week alone, I ran 26.6 miles! As you can see from the chart above, the last time I ran 85 miles (exactly, apparently) was September, the month before my marathon. I’m definitely running more mileage this time around (or maybe just logging it more?), but my body seems to generally be okay with this so far. And if it’s not, I will sure as hell let Marc know.

do yoga at least once a week formally, and do at least a few poses at home everyday. Oops. Nope. And my creaky legs are evidence of this. Recommitting to this for August.

chill the eff out. (Please see: most of my stomach problems related to my level of anxiety.) I’d actually say I did a pretty good job of this. Yes, I’ve done some freaking out over not having a job, but I’m looking for/doing some freelance work and interviewing my ass off, so hopefully something will come through soon.

Take vitamins. Um, well. My stomach has largely calmed down, so I’ve been a bit nervous to mess with a good thing, and vitamins can definitely irritate my stomach.

Try more recipes. I’m not working and I’m not going away any other weekend in July, so I don’t really have any excuses. Um. No. I haven’t really tried anything new, but I have definitely been cooking/preparing food for myself more, which is also fine with me. Although, I did retry protein pancakes, and it turned out well.

August Goals

I like Beth’s idea of keeping it focused on just a few attainable ones, so here goes.

1. Stick to my marathon training schedule as closely as possible. Run an awesome half marathon in Portland–whether that means racing it or doing it as a long run is something I’m not sure of yet. I may wait until after the marathon to focus on speed and beating my sub-2:00 goal.

2. Don’t slack on strength. Do it twice a week and yoga once a week. Whether this means taking a class or attempting to face my weight room fears, JUST DO IT, THEODORA.

3. Begin tracking food again. I requested a FitBit for review, so once it comes, I plan on tracking food (and blogging it again, too) for the rest of the month so I can really get a good idea of calories in and out during marathon training. I think this will lead to being more

4. Get on a more regular eating schedule. The completely irregular schedule I’m on right now (every day has been a little different) and my sensitive stomach have led to waiting until I get way too hungry to eat because I don’t want to eat before an interview and then not feel well in the middle of an interview. I really need to keep doing a bunch of small meals–my stomach is really so much happier this way.

5. YOGA. (See above.)

6. More water. I was actually a lot better at drinking water when I was at work–it was a welcome diversion to get up and fill my water bottle every few hours.

What are your August health goals and how have you been doing on your summer goals?