Dunks'

It's National Donut Day again. Feels just like yesterday I was fighting the urge to stop at Krispy Kreme, Wawa, AND Dunkin' Donuts to take advantage of free donut offers.

Well, let's be honest. I fight the urge to eat donuts every single day. Much harder to do when they are FREE!

Donuts are definitely not part of my meal plan on the Never Binge Again protocol. And they certainly aren't allowed on the Whole Life Challenge, an 8-week healthy living challenge I'm currently taking part in.

But I've decided to lose some points on the WLC and loosen up on my meal plan to take part in this annual "holiday." I just decided I was only going to indulge in ONE donut, not one at every single place that was offering free donuts... and Dunks' won out. I thoroughly enjoyed my indulgence, but I must cage my inner pig and get back on track immediately.

I'm otherwise kicking ass and taking names on the WLC. Well, sort of. I'm in first place on my team, which consists of my mom and my husband's family. They were the ones that invited me to participate, I think mostly because they wanted me to encourage HIM to participate. I couldn't get him to commit, though, and now I'm demolishing them all. /bragging. I don't think I'll be invited to participate in the next challenge.

I may be doing well on my team of ten, but compared to the rest of the world, I rank right around 3k out of the 14k people who are participating overall. So really, I'm doing kind of... meh.

A nice long run tomorrow should certainly undo the donut damage I did today. I've got a brand new pair of kicks I'm sporting these days*:


Mizuno Wave Inspire 13

If you've been following me for a while, you might remember I've been married to my Saucony Hurricanes for a long time now. When I went shoe shopping this past weekend, however, I tested out the current model and was not thrilled. My local shoe expert suggested I go with Brooks Adrenaline instead, but I was hesitant because that was the shoe I was using years ago when I experienced some knee issues. So he then laced up a pair of these Mizuno Wave Inspire 13s for me, and I decided to give it a go.

I broke them in with 10k steps around Disney on Sunday to check out the new "Pandora" world at Animal Kingdom, and then ran 5 miles in them yesterday. I think they are going to work out just fine. We'll see how a longer run goes tomorrow.

*Amazon Affiliate Link. This means that if you click any of the links to Amazon through my site and buy something, I may earn a commission. Much obliged.

Are you asking for a challenge?

If only I could run like Homestar Runner.

This week, I'm participating in the "Arms, Abs, and Clean Eating" Challenge, hosted by my friend Danielle of Sunshine and Situps fame. The timing works out perfectly for me, as this 5-day challenge falls right in between a Mother's Day super-not-clean brunch buffet and the Whole Life Challenge, which starts on Saturday.

Danielle first invited me to participate in a similar 5-day challenge last month, but it was a rough week for me since my in-laws were visiting. I ultimately decided that trying to adhere to the challenge rules while entertaining family would add more stress than I was comfortable taking on, and asked her if I could postpone participating until the May challenge.

The challenge rules are simple, though: eat foods from a prescribed grocery list, exercise at least 25 minutes a day, and drink half your body weight in ounces of water. Everyone participating needs to check in daily in our Facebook group to report on progress. Danielle gives you resources to succeed daily, including the day's menu (using items from the grocery list), an exercise plan, and coaching support. Part of the challenge includes taking measurements before and after to see what a difference 5 days can make, which could motivate participants to continue healthy behaviors well after the challenge is over.

So Monday went really well for me, with the exception of having some crazy sugar cravings around 2pm. I chalk this up to the nutritional off-roading I experienced over the weekend during Mother's Day. My diet has been gluten/soy/dairy/sugar-free for a few solid weeks, during which I never experienced cravings. So I'm sure I'm paying for my diet transgressions now, as my inner sugar dragon is roaring. Therefore, I have not been following the menu as prescribed because I think it's important for me to go back to G/S/D/S-free asap, and some of these items are included in the daily menu. But I'm all over drinking the water and doing the exercises.

But on Tuesday, I failed.

The call to Dunkin Donuts butter pecan coffee - with cream - was too strong. I need to be very careful not to let one day of unrestrained eating turn into a full week of poor decision making. I made a commitment, and I need to stick with it.

Part of the trends I'm noticing is that I have a much easier time staying on track when my husband is traveling for work. He doesn't eat anything that resembles a vegetable, and it's really hard to remain committed when you've gotta watch someone else eat potato chips and candy.

So I'm not sure what I'm going to do during the Whole Life Challenge coming up if I can't make it through even a five-day challenge with him being home. He doesn't have much business travel scheduled during those two months. Maybe I'll have to move in with my mother, who is doing the WLC with me, during that time.

Anybody have any suggestions? Leave a comment below! (Which, by the way, would count towards your entries towards winning my Kitchen Scale Giveaway! Don't forget to enter before 5/27!)

Overzealous

This weekend was the St. Anthony's Triathlon here in St. Petersburg. I first learned about it last year, but wasn't able to attend as the entire month of April 2016 was kind of a shit storm for me. So I made it a point to get downtown yesterday morning to check it out. Yesterday's races were referred to as the "Meek and Mighty" races, and I noticed people of all ages, shapes, and abilities participating. I had no idea there was a mini-triathlon offered - I've only heard of a sprint triathlon, which is still a bit intimidating to me. But the Meek and Mighty race was shorter than a sprint:

• Swim 200 yards (in the town swimming pool - NOT in the bay)
• Bike 5.4 miles (some of the athletes were riding beach cruisers!)
• Run 1 mile

Guys, I could totally do this! I've always thought about triathlon, but have never jumped in because I'm not a strong swimmer and I didn't want to shell out $$$ for a road bike. The bike I have now is great for commuting - it's not as leisurely as a beach cruiser, but not as competitive as a road bike. But I see I could easily fit in with the other Meek and Mighty competitors. So I'm adding this race to the bucket list.

There's also a relay option for the triathlon. My husband hates running, but he doesn't mind biking or swimming. I'm sure we could easily find a third not-so-competitive team member. So that's something that sounds really appealing too.

But this won't be happening in 2018. I've already got the Princess Half marathon scheduled for February, and plan on doing the Tinkerbell Half in May. I don't want to risk injury in April next year. Plus it's better for my budget if I wait until 2019. 

Still, watching some of the races yesterday was super inspiring, and the race expo is one of the best I've been to. While wandering around the vendors, Ben and I were intrigued by a tent labeled "St. Pete Run Fest." We learned this is an inaugural running event that is finally bringing a half marathon to St. Petersburg this November! We have our fair share of 5ks here, but it's been ages since a half marathon has been run here.

The organizers enticed us with discounted registration rates, complimentary tickets to a Tampa Bay Rays baseball game, free sun visors, and images of the inaugural medal (it's a spinner!)

So I'm sure you see where this is going.

I signed up for a half marathon in November. (If you're wondering, I couldn't convince Ben to do the half with me, but I'm proud of him for signing up for the 5k.)

Shit. So here I thought I had ten months to train for a half.

And now I've only got six and a half.

This may sound like a long time to the average runner, but my followers know how I feel about preparation. There's just never enough time. 

On turning 21

I'd be disappointed about turning a year older this week if it wasn't for the freebies I get at this time of year. It's the bargain addict in me. I've signed up for so many restaurant "birthday clubs" that, five years ago, it got to a point where I realized I couldn't use all of my birthday free food coupons before they expired unless I started eating two dinners each day.

My husband's birthday is almost exactly one month after mine. Since many of these birthday clubs send birthday freebies one month in advance, the restaurant free-for-all typically spans from early August to late September for us. Two months of dining out is actually more stressful than you'd think.

So now, whenever I sign up for a new birthday club, I tell them my birthday is in April or October. I'm shameless.

This year feels a little bit different, though. I'm not sure why, but I feel like I haven't received as many birthday freebies as I have in the past. Maybe these restaurants have somehow gotten word that I've formed new eating habits and either are doing me a favor or don't want to deal with all of my pain-in-the-ass questions about what contains wheat and what cooking oil they use. I've been holding off on posting this list because I feel like more should be coming - but with one week left, I guess maybe a lot of restaurants aren't giving away birthday freebies this year.

Or maybe I've just forgotten the extent to which I've lied about my birthday... Should I expect an ambush of freebies in October? Well, if you are interested, here are the restaurant birthday clubs that have sent me something so far this year. Most of these I can't actually use because these are restaurants that are in the Northeast, and I moved last year.

• Applebees - Free dessert
• Baskin Robbins - Free sundae AND a $3 off ice cream cake coupon - This cracks me up. Should I buy my own birthday cake?
• Bonefish Grill - Free Bang Bang Shrimp
• Cold Stone Creamery - Buy One Get One Free Any Size Creation
• Dennys - Free Grand Slam- They'll substitute something of equal value
• Dunkin Donuts - Free Coffee
• Friendly's - Free medium sundae
• Houlihan's - Free Entree
• Kahwah Coffee - $3 towards purchase
• Panera - Free Coffee - They used to give out a free pastry. Happy they made the change!
• Red Robin - Free burger - Hello, lettuce-wrapped Royal Red Robin burger!
• Ruby Tuesday - Two Free Cupcakes
• Starbucks - Free beverage
• Sweet Tomatoes/Souplantation - Buy One meal w/ drink, Get One Free
• Ted's Montana Grill - Free Dessert

Any birthday clubs I'm missing out on? I'll probably want to go out to eat again sometime in January.