Six More Months ’till 30

Today marks exactly six months until I turn the big 3-0.

Surprisingly, I’m not TOO freaked out about the notion of only having six months left of my twenties. My husband and most of my friends are already in their thirties, so to be honest, I kind of feel left out!

Another reason why I’m not too sad about leaving my twenties is because I feel like I’ve accomplished the majority of things I wanted to do during this time: I graduated from college, I lived in another country for a year, I traveled a lot (both locally and internationally), I got married, and I even ran a half marathon. My twenties weren’t perfect; there were some low points in there and some things I would change. But for the most part, I’m happy with how I spent the majority of my twenties and everything I accomplished in this time.

My twenties aren’t over yet, though. I have six more months to accomplish a few more big goals of mine. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you probably already have a good idea of what these goals are, buuuuut let’s recap anyway:

Get a Big Kid Job

I’ve been looking for a Big Kid Job (full-time, salaried job with benefits) since I moved home from South Korea in March of 2012, but it’s been a lot harder than one would think. Not only is the job market extremely competitive right now thanks to the economy, but I changed my career path from teaching to non-profit work, so I had to start over from scratch when it came to gaining relevent work experience. Thanks to all the volunteer, intern, and temp work I’ve been doing for the last 2 1/2 years, I have a lot more non-profit experience now, but I have yet to find a Big Kid Job in the non-profit sector. I just had a phone interview for a non-profit BKJ yesterday, so hopefully I get an in-person interview, and then the job itself. It would be amazing to go from working two part-time jobs to one full-time job and FINALLY start my career.

Improve My Finances

At the beginning of 2014, I was unemployed with over $27,000 in debt and no money in my savings. I’m happy to say that, a year later, my financial situation is in better shape, but it’s still a work in progress: I still have debt to payoff and more money to save. I’d like to have all of my credit cards paid off and $3,000 in my savings account by the time I turn 30, which may or may not be doable depending on how disciplined I am with my spending in the next 6 months. (My spending habit is also a work in progress.)

Get In Shape

I’m about 20 pounds overweight, and I have been for the last 2-3 years. I have STRUGGLED to get back down to my normal, healthy weight on and off again since I gained the weight in the first place, but no matter how much I exercise and how much weight I lose, I always gain it back thanks to my less-than-stellar eating habits. However, I’ve recently gained new motivation for getting in shape: Chris and I decided we are going to “start trying” this time next year. You know, GET PREGNANT. While I’m excited about the idea of me getting pregnant and us starting a family, I’m also terrified of how my body will change during this process A.K.A all the weight I will gain! I can’t imagine already being 20 pounds overweight now, and then gaining another 20-40 pounds from growing a baby in my stomach. I don’t want to imagine it, and I most certainly don’t want this image to become a reality; therefore, I need to start getting serious about losing weight this next year. I know it might sound silly trying to lose weight before getting pregnant, but I don’t care. I need to start this process now before it gets even harder to lose weight post-labor. So bring on the yoga, running, and healthy eating because I have 20 pounds to lose, and I’d like to lose it by the time I turn 30.

I think I may have my work cut out for me. Three big life goals to achieve in 6 months! It won’t be the end of the world if I don’t accomplish these things by then, but it would make entering my thirties exponentially better if I do. I think the fact that Chris and I want to start trying in a year will really help me focus on these goals. We’ve always known we want to start a family someday, but now that we have a specific time frame in mind, I’m realizing I need to kick my ass into gear when it comes to starting my career, improving my finances, and getting healthy. My future depends on it!

What are some goals you want to accomplish before you turn 30? What was one of the biggest accomplishments of your twenties?

On Running My First Half Marathon

Well, I did it. I’m back from San Francisco and I can officially call myself a half-marathoner. I’ve been wanting to call myself that for so long and it feels so good to finally be able to do so.

Like I’ve mentioned before, run a half marathon has been on my Life List for over two years now. I decided I wanted to run a half because I had started running 5K’s when I moved home from South Korea and it seemed like a good running goal to work my way up to. Plus, I actually didn’t hate running (it was always my cardio of choice) and was decent at it (I’m pretty athletic thanks to playing sports when I was a kid). So run a half marathon went on my Life List, but it went unchecked for a long time. Instead, I kept running 3 miles on the treadmill a couple times a week and signing up for 5K fun runs every few months.

When I turned 29 in May, I decided this would be the year I finally train for and run a half marathon. It would be The Last Big Thing I Accomplish During My Twenties. It would help me get in shape for my thirties. It would get me off the treadmill and running for longer than three miles at a time. It would establish me as a real runner.

In June, I signed up for the Nike Women’s Half Marathon SF through Team In Training. I chose Nike because it’s the largest women’s running race in the world and I’d heard it’s THE half marathon to do if you’re a female runner and you live in Northern California. I chose Team In Training because the program allows you to fundraise for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society while simultaneously training for the race. Since my mom and grandma both lost their battles to cancer a few years ago, I would fundraise and run in their memory.

My training was challenging at first. It’s hard to transition from running on a treadmill to running outside, on your own, with no machine doing the work for you and no TV to entertain you. Trying to run more than three miles was hard, too. Before I had started training, the farthest I had ever run was 6 miles and I had only done that a handful of times. I had no choice but to break that record though if I was going to run 13.1 miles, and I did. I still remember the day I ran 7 miles for the first time: it was really fucking hard. I had chaffed in between my thighs during the run and ended up with blisters on my feet, and to top it off, it was mid-July, so you know it was hot outside. Even though that run was one of the hardest runs of my life, I was still in awe of the fact that I HAD JUST RUN 7 MILES. That was the day I thought, “I just pushed myself to run 7 miles. If I can do that, maybe I really can run a half marathon.”

After that first 7-miler, I started getting serious about my training. I had discovered that I run better in the mornings than I do in the afternoons/evenings, so I started waking up early before work to run. I made sure to do my long run on the weekends and eventually ran 8 miles, then 9 miles, then 11 miles. I went from a 12-minute mile to an 11-minute mile to a 10-minute mile. I started using Body Glide to avoid chaffing and Balega socks to avoid blisters. I began to use a foam roller to make my legs less sore after running. I officially said goodbye to treadmills and 3 miles went from being my maximum to my warm-up.

Fast-forward to race day: IT WAS AMAZING! I was definitely a little nervous leading up to it, but I guess that’s to be expected. When I got to my corral, my nervousness turned into excitement and I could feel an adrenaline rush coming on. My excitement and adrenaline seemed to sky-rocket once I turned on my iPod and actually started running. “This is it! I’m doing it! I’ve been waiting for this day for four months and it’s finally happening!” I thought to myself while “Eye of the Tiger” kicked off my running playlist. As I ran, Team In Training coaches spread out along the course yelled “Go Gina!” and high-fived me as I passed them. Heck, even non-Team In Training spectators were cheering for me (a benefit of having your name printed on the front of your shirt). I have to say that hearing so much encouragement, reading all the spectators’ funny motivational signs, and thinking about my mom and grandma while running is what kept me going, even when I was at my most tired. What helped even more was seeing my family and coworkers along the course! Chris, my dad, and stepmom saw me off at the start line, my family took a shuttle to mile 7 and cheered for me there, I saw my coworkers at the end of mile 10 (right after running up a huge hill), and Chris greeted me at the finish line with a bouquet of roses and a box of pumpkin donuts. As for my finish time, I finished in 2:14:26 averaging at about 10 minutes and 16 seconds a mile. Considering my goal was to finish in 2 hours and 30 minutes, I’m very happy with my time!

Three days later and I’m still in awe of what I have accomplished, and amazed at what I am capable of when we I just put my mind to it. It’s so crazy to think that four months ago, I was a woman who would only run three miles on the treadmill. Now? Now I’m a woman who has ran 13.1 miles through the hills of San Francisco and is currently planning her next half marathon. I feel like a completely different person. I AM a completely different person: a person who believes that if she can run a half marathon, she can do anything.

Some Thoughts on Completing My First 10K

Yesterday morning, I ran my first 10K ever! Like I mentioned in this post, I’d been meaning to run a 10K for a while, so when I found out last Tuesday that there was one happening in Sacramento over the weekend for only $30, I decided to sign up. I didn’t train at all– I hadn’t even worked out in a couple weeks! I just signed up on a whim because this is something I’ve been wanting to do, so I decided to finally do it.

Because I didn’t train at all, the run was tough. After the third mile, it started to feel really long. And don’t even get me started on all the unexpected hills I encountered! (I learned that running uphill makes my knees hurt.) But I managed to push through the challenges. I ended up finishing the race in 1:07:16 and placed 24th in my gender/age category, which is way better than I thought I would do considering I didn’t train. I was hoping to finish the race in under 1:10:00, so that time worked for me.

Even though my legs are killing me today, I’m so happy I finally ran a 10K. Running a 10K is a big deal, and I’m proud of myself for doing so. Plus, completing that 10K yesterday has inspired me to challenge myself by running more 10K’s in the future instead of staying comfortable in 5K World.

I feel like I’m now one step closer to running a half-marathon someday (one of my Life List items) and becoming a real runner. Since I actually enjoy running, I’ve always felt like I have the potential to be an actual runner; I just need to be more proactive about getting there. I’d say running that 10K yesterday was a huge step in the right direction.

What did you do this weekend? What’s a goal you’ve accomplished lately?

St. Patrick’s Day 5K

On Saturday morning, Chris and I ran the Shamrock’n 5K over in West Sacramento. This was my first time participating in this particular 5K and I really enjoyed it! The St. Patrick’s Day theme was fun and the race itself wasn’t too crowded. (In the last two 5K’s I ran, there were over 20,000 participants each.) As for my time, I didn’t do too great: Chris and I both finished in about 37 minutes. Typically, I finish 5K’s in about 30 minutes, but for this one, I wasn’t feeling very competitive. I just wanted to stick by my husband and have fun, and that’s exactly what I did.

Even though I didn’t PR or anything, this race has inspired me to get back into running and start working on my fitness goals of completing a 10K, and eventually, a half marathon. I’m thinking this summer for a 10K, and the Shamrock’n Half Marathon in 2015. Or who knows? Maybe if I get good enough at running, I’ll be ready for a half marathon by THIS fall!

Are you a runner? If not, what’s your exercise of choice?

Eat Like a Girl

It’s been a while since I’ve written about my fitness journey; I guess I was just so burnt out from training for Tough Mudder that I needed a break from clean eating and working out every day. Also, the holidays. We all know how hard it is to eat healthy during the months of November and December. Am I right?!

Now that it’s January, I’m ready to start working on getting back in shape again. Besides, I don’t really have a choice: my clothes are snug because I’ve gained EIGHT POUNDS since my job ended two months ago thanks to stress eating and sitting around in my apartment all day long with nowhere to go and not a lot to do. However, I’m going to approach my weight loss goal a little differently this time around. I’m not going to workout every day and beat myself up if I miss a workout. I’m not going to eliminate almost everything from my diet that’s not “clean.” And I’m not going to post weekly updates to show what little progress I’m making.

What I am going to do is change my eating habits. I’m guilty of stress eating these last few months because of my unemployment/money situation, but I’m also guilty of something else: stressed or not, I eat a lot. Often times, more than I should to the point where it becomes over-eating.

This is something I’m not proud to admit, but it’s true, and I’ve known it for a long time. I’m known as a “good eater.” In fact, I eat more than the average female typically eats. Sometimes I eat the same as Chris does– sometimes more! And you know what else? I eat my food rapidly, so I’m usually done eating before the people I’m eating with (especially if I’m eating with other women). So not only can I go to The Cheesecake Factory and finish a whole entree on my own, but I can finish it before everyone else has even asked for their to-go boxes. Both of these eating habits are embarrassing, and they’re probably the main reason why I’ve always struggled with my weight.

It’s common knowledge that it takes the human brain about 20 minutes to register that the stomach is full, so if I’m finishing my food in about 10 minutes, it’s no wonder I still want more. I’ve been doing some research these last few days on portion control and how eating slowly can help with weight loss. Here are some tricks I’m going to try in order to help change my eating habits and hopefully shed some pounds:

• Take half of my meal home in a to-go box. American restaurants and eateries are known for serving huge portions. These portions are typically twice what the average person needs to consume. When going out to eat, I’ll ask for a to-go box as soon as the server brings my food.
• Try to split an entree with whomever I’m dining with. This keeps the portions small AND the cost cheap.
• Stretch out my meal as long as possible. Take smaller bites. Finish chewing and swallowing my food before taking another bite. Take sips of water in between bites to slow down the eating process.
• Eat five small meals throughout the day to ensure I’m never starving. If I’m starving, I’m more likely to overeat when it’s time for dinner.
• Use My Fitness Pal to measure/weigh my food and count calories. It’s tedious, but it’ll definitely keep me on track with how much I eat and to not go overboard.

I think that changing my eating habits (along with what I eat) has been a long time coming because these bad habits are contributing to my weight gain. Plus, it’s not very lady-like or attractive when I can out-eat my husband, and finish my food before him, too! I’m hoping that after I’ve been practicing these new eating habits for awhile, they will become normal for me, I will no longer eat like a man, and I will have lost some weight. Of course, I’m going to exercise daily as well, but like I’ve said before, weight loss is 20% exercise and 80% diet. Along with consuming healthier foods, I’m hoping to slow down and eat less resulting in some much better eating habits once and for all.

Now that the holidays are over, are you getting back on track with healthy living? What are you trying in order to lose weight?

Fitness Friday v7

Healthy food I’m loving: protein shakes and protein bars. They’re quick to make/grab and an easy source of protein!

Food choice I’m changing: Fall is here and winter will be here before we know it. This kind of weather always puts me in the baking mood: pumpkin bread, sugar cookies, apple pie–oh my! However, this season, I want to try to find ways to make my baked goods a little healthier. Gluten-free flour? Sub applesauce for oil? Add protein powder? I need to research this.

Moment of weakness/Cheat Meal: Mac n’ cheese. In n’ Out. Breakfast burrito. Yeah, this hasn’t been a very healthy week…

Current workout routine: Running longer than three miles. Three miles has always been the average distance I can run without feeling tired or like I’m going to pass out, but now I want to push myself farther. I’m planning on running my first 10K next month, and I’d like to do well, so that means working my way up and making six miles my average running distance.

Current challenges: Trying to get back into my normal work-out-and-eat-healthy-every-day routine. I gave myself a week off after Tough Mudder, but since then, I’ve had a hard time trying to get back on track. So far this week I’ve worked out once and eaten three unhealthy meals. Not good!

Current inspiration: My new running shoes (pictured above). After Tough Mudder, my running shoes were trashed, so I decided a new pair was necessary. I bought the Reebok Real Flex Scream 2.0 and I love them!

Tough Mudder: Indeed the Toughest Event on the Planet

Two months ago, Chris announced he wanted to participate in Tough Mudder: a 10-12 mile hardcore obstacle course that’s designed to test your all-around strength, stamina, mental grit, and camaraderie. Chris told me that he wanted to do this event to celebrate his 30th birthday, and he wanted me to do it with him.

At first, I said, “HELL NO! Why would I want to run through fire, jump in an ice bath, and get electrocuted?!?!” But after some more research on the event (and pleading from Chris), I begrudgingly agreed. He really wanted to do the event in celebration of turning 30 years old, so in an effort to be a supportive wife, I let him sign us up for the event in Tahoe.

We started hardcore training: strength training, cardio, yoga, circuit training, you name it. We worked out twice a day and watched what we ate. Chris booked us a hotel in Tahoe and bought us new clothes for the event (wicking shirts, wicking pants, compression socks, etc). Last Saturday, we took off for Tahoe excited, confident, and ready to successfully complete our first Tough Mudder event.

I wish we could say we came home just as happy and pumped up as we were when we arrived in Tahoe. After only making it three miles into the course and completing five obstacles, Chris dislocated his shoulder! He did it while doing pull-ups, which is crazy because he does pull ups all the time with ease and has never hurt himself. We think his accident had to do with the fact that Tahoe’s freezing temps did a lot of harm by numbing our muscles while we were out on the course, especially after completing these obstacles.

Chris was in so much pain after dislocating his shoulder, we had no choice but to quit the course and head down to the emergency first aid center. Once we got there, the doctor was able to pop his shoulder back into place, put his arm in a sling, and prescribe him some Vicodin. Even though Chris’ shoulder was back in place, he was still in a lot of pain afterward. In fact, he said it was the most pain he had experienced in his whole life!

We were both disappointed that we went through so much preparation to complete our first Tough Mudder and weren’t able to finish the event. Chris was especially upset; I mean, what a way to end his 30th birthday month. But the important thing is he’s okay. I had never seen him in so much pain before; it was really scary!

Even though Chris’ shoulder needs to heal for a few months, he is already planning to sign us up for another Tough Mudder event. He’s thinking the Nor Cal one in April 2014. I’m actually 100% down to attempt Tough Mudder again; what we were able to accomplish in those three miles was challenging, yet still doable and invigorating. I’d love for us to be able to complete the entire course next time, only WITHOUT hurting ourselves.

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PS – It’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month! In honor of my mom and women everywhere, I’m raising $1000 for the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk coming up on October 20th! If you can, please support me by making a donation here.

Fitness Friday v6

Healthy food I’m loving: fresh summer salads made with organic produce and balsamic vinaigrette. The salad pictured above is one I made for myself a couple nights ago when Chris was working late. It felt so good to eat a fresh salad after a weekend of cheat meals. No croutons, no cheese, just chicken, veggies, and a light dressing. YUM.

Food choice I’m changing: Not waiting until the weekends to eat cheat meals. I’ve noticed that when I hardcore restrict myself Monday through Thursday, I tend to go overboard on the weekends and binge. So I’m going to try the 80/20 method where I eat healthy 80% of the time and eat what I want 20% of the time, and that 20% doesn’t HAVE to be on the weekends. I think I’ll regain some of my sanity by making this change.

Moment of weakness/Cheat Meal: Pizza! I hadn’t had pizza in over a month, so I decided to finally kill my craving. I might have had a burger and curly fries over the weekend, too.

Current workout routine: Just running. I’ve put strength training on hold for the time being. I did more research on trying to lose fat and fain muscle at the same time and it’s basically pointless unless you want to run in circles and get VERY SLOW results like I have these past months. The reason for this is because if you want to lose weight, you have to consume less calories, and if you want to gain muscle, you have to eat more. See what I mean about trying to do both at the same time? Yeah, it doesn’t work that way. Once I’ve lost a good amount of fat, I’ll focus again on gaining muscle and toning my body.

Current challenges: Listening to my body when it needs a break from exercise. I typically take a rest day every week and a half, but really, I should be doing it once a week. I think I’m just so focused on being in the best shape possible by Tough Mudder (three weeks away!), that I’ve been forgetting to let my body recover when it needs to.

Current inspiration: I know I haven’t seen a ton of results lately with fat loss, but I have to keep in mind that I made this lifestyle change for other reasons, too, and I’m seeing results in those areas. I FEEL healthier and more energetic because I’ve reduced the amount of crap foods and have increased the amount of healthy foods I feed my body. My skin is clearer than it’s been since pre-puberty because all I drink is water and green tea. I can run longer and faster. I’ve had a lot of medical appointments lately and the doctors keep telling me that everything looks A-OK. These results make me happy, and I’m glad to know that my hard work is paying off, even if sometimes it doesn’t feel like it. It motivates me to keep going and maintain this new lifestyle for good.

Fitness Friday v5

Healthy food I’m loving: wild salmon filets, organic white quinoa, and organic green beans. I’ve been rotating these three dishes into my weekly meal plans every week because they are clean, healthy foods. Chris loves them too, and he’s a picky eater, so that says a lot!

Food choice I’m changing: Less sugar. I’ve been working on my sugar intake a lot this summer because sugar instantly gets stored as fat in our bodies, but now it’s time to take it to the next level. I started by reducing how many sweet treats I was consuming; I went from eating sweets almost every day to once or twice a week. Now I want to focus on monitoring how many grams of sugar I consume a day. I read that if a woman wants to lose weight, she should only eat about 25-30 grams of sugar a day. I’d been consuming about 100 grams of sugar a day, even after lowering my sweets intake! A lot of that sugar was coming from Cliff Bars (21g of sugar), 3-4 cups of fruit daily (10-20g/cup), greek yogurt (14g), and the granola (10g) I was buying. So I’ve stopped eating Cliff Bars, reduced my fruit intake to 1-2 cups a day, and stopped eating granola with my greek yogurt. I’ve been doing this for about two weeks now and have lost two pounds. Crazy how when I finally reduce the ingredient that instantly gets stored as fat, I lose fat. I should have started doing this months ago!

Moment of weakness/Cheat Meal: A chorizo breakfast burrito from one of my favorite little Mexican food stands in Sac. It was heavenly, especially since it had been months since I’d eaten one.

Current workout routine: Right now I’m focusing more on high intensity interval cardio than strength training. For most of the summer, I’ve been focusing on trying to build muscle while losing fat at the same time… until I realized how difficult that is. So for now, since I’ve already gained a lot of muscle these last few months, I want to focus on losing fat. In the past, running was always what helped me to lose weight, so my plan is to not only run, but to do high intensity interval running. High intensity interval training and running are both known to blast fat away, so I’m hoping that by combining the two, I’ll be shedding fat in no time.

Current challenges: Today I calculated my BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) and found out that I need to be eating way more than 1200 calories a day. It turns out for my age, gender, weight, and height, I need to be consuming 1400-1500 calories a day JUST TO LIVE. Figure that number in with how much I workout, and I got a whopping 2000 calories that I need to consume daily in order to lose a pound a week. My mind = BLOWN. This might be one of the reasons I’ve been having such a hard time losing weight: On average, I haven’t been eating enough, which has been slowing down my metabolism. Again, something I should have figured out months ago!

Current inspiration: Our Vegas trip is coming up in three weeks, so I want to look good! Soon after that is our one year wedding anniversary. It would be nice to be able to fit into my wedding dress again. All it would take is to lose 10 pounds by October 26th…

Fitness Friday v4

Healthy food I’m loving: Greek yogurt with granola. Greek yogurt is a great source of protein!

Food choice I’m changing: I need to get better about having only ONE cheat meal a week. Since I’ve started this journey, it’s been about three cheat meals a week. That’s a vast improvement to how unhealthy I’ve eaten in the past, but I think if I want to start seeing better, faster results, I need to try and cut back on the cheating.

Moment of weakness/Cheat Meal: A margarita during happy hour and LOTS of tortilla chips… two days in a row.

Current workout routine: I’ve graduated from 5 lb. weights to 8 lb. weights for my strength training exercises. It’s crazy to think I started with 3 lb. weights– they seem so light now!

Current challenges: I’ve been feeling a bit of frustration with this process these last couple weeks. While I can see and feel myself gaining more muscle all over my body, I’m not seeing a lot of fat loss. This is proven whenever I step on the scale to weigh myself: the number on the scale is moving down VERY SLOWLY even though I’m working out every day and eating healthy 80% of the time. It’s been five weeks since I’ve been seriously working on losing weight; I was hoping to have lost about 10 pounds by now, but instead, I’ve only lost 3-4.

After experiencing my recent frustration, I did some weight loss research. So many sites say to “throw away the scale” and “the scale is useless– judge your results based off of how you look and feel.” More specifically, one website I found suggested I start saying, “I want to lose body fat” instead of “I want to lose weight,” because when we weigh ourselves, we are also factoring in water retention, muscle mass, etc. So, one of the reasons I’m probably not losing weight according to the scale is because I’m gaining muscle mass (which weighs more than fat). A better way to measure my progress would be to measure my body fat with a caliper. So from now on, I’m going to stop stressing myself out by weighing myself every day and buy a caliper to see my results instead.

Current inspiration: I have a little bit more than six weeks until Tough Mudder. I still feel like I have a ways to go, so time to kick my ass into gear.