The post with a bunch of collages

My runs from Sunday to Sunday...

• So this is going to be a mostly picture post with a bullet point to explain the collages. This was my week. Above are my runs from Sunday to Sunday. Sixty five kilometers in total. I'm running exclusively again and loving it. My pace sucked this week, but I'm just rolling with it and enjoying running in this much cooler fall weather. My aches and pains are being dealt with at physio and bottom line is, I need to strengthen my core to be a more efficient runner. That is where the gym comes in. Once my neck and rotator cuff are sorted, I'm going to start taking yoga and pilates classes. Should be fun, and comical if nothing else.

Sunroof selfies.

• Still in therapy. Going pretty well. Talking about your self image and how much you love yourself can be boring shit sometimes. I still heed the advice of my first therapist and take a lot of pictures. Once in a while I get negative comments via Twitter or my blog. Very few, but they always centre around me being in love with myself. Truth is, I'm trying real hard to love myself the way I should and unless you've been morbidly obese your entire adult life then lost a ton of weight, it's hard to understand. I don't take the comments too much to heart and I know that the people who leave them truly don't understand what the mind goes through when you lose the equivalent of an adult woman. I also need to take the pictures to keep myself in check. And as Sarah, loser of 200 pounds and maintainer of 10 years said, pictures help us maintain. The brain can better process a body it gets to see! One hundred percent truth! And I've mastered the selfie. An important skill to have.

Winetime

• On Twitter I do a little feature called #winetime. It's something fun I started back in the spring. I don't do #winetime everyday because I don't drink everyday. Usually Friday to Sunday and maybe once or twice during the week. Usually once. Got an extra day in last week due to Thanksgiving. I get pictures back and #cheers from around the world. And I love my red wine. One of the extras I allow myself on Paleo because I still have to live.  And wine comes from grapes...which are Paleo. Reaching? Nah:-)

Food from the week

• This week in food was not great. I did make some awesome curried chicken and some delicious turkey soup. I also broke my rule of not eating in my car and got pepperoni sticks and cashews (which was my lunch) during a long driving day because I didn't plan ahead and pack healthy snacks. And I ate out for lunch when I wasn't with a client which is something I try to avoid as well. I have to eat out with clients as part of my job, but when I don't have client meetings, I should be bringing my lunch. And I'm not eating enough. I'm going long stretches of not eating and skipping meals which is counter productive. I need fuel to run and perhaps this is why I'm struggling a lot? I vow to have a better eating week and to eat more frequently throughout the day.

Shopping and a party.

• Julien had his friend's party on the weekend. He was so excited. We did a halloween theme and four of his guests were from the neighborhood. I'm just so happy he has friends that he can play with on our street. Makes me know that even though my house is a decorator's nightmare right now, we definitely made the right choice by moving. And I found a pair of Tommy Hilfiger boots at Winners I love. But $145? Goes against all my thrifty shopping rules. It's all good, I have the photo to lust after. 
• That's all I got for you right now. I have some correspondence I am behind in...again, and blog reading to catch up on as well. I leave you with my Transformation Tuesday post from last week. Have a blessed and safe week:-)

Transformation Tuesday

The post about racing, a blogiversary, my boy's special day and giving thanks

Favorite thing about fall besides the pretty leaves? I get to
wear my leather again. Every leather jacket I own I bought
at Value Village for under $25...

• Busy time of year. And my favorite time of year. All my favorite fall veggies are in season. And cheap. Eating is good in the fall. Starchier veggies which means running has got to be on point! And it has been. I'm on my 3rd week of running 5 days per week. And just for fun, I may run 6 days this week because Monday is a holiday. Why not? A short recovery run after I do my long run later this morning.
• I have been running exclusively. No gym. No cycling. Although I'll head back to the gym once my aches are worked out (namely my neck and rotator cuff), I'm probably done with cycling for the time being. It's too dark for me to ride in the morning, and get's dark too early for me to ride in the evening. And it's fecken cold during those times. I could go on Saturdays, but I get tied up with family stuff and by the time both hubby and I run, the day's half over. 
• And I'm signing up for a couple more races. I've already registered for the Around the Bay 30K the last Sunday in March. I'm also going to do the Chilly Half Marathon on March 1st. It was my first 1/2 and I'm going to attempt to better my time. Not only was it my first half, but it was also my best time for a half. So game on! And for the 1st time ever, I'm going to run the Boxing Day 10 miler. It's a Christmas tradition for runners here in Hamilton so I am going to start making it a tradition for me too. It was almost cancelled this year due to residential complaints, but it's a 93 year old race for Pete's sake. A shame if it would have been cancelled.

My runs from this week. Still have today's 14K and tomorrow's
6K to add onto the mix. 

• So I am officially back in physio. I had an assessment with Graham at Meadowlands Physio on Wednesday. Graham was my physio guy from when I had my hamstring injury (1.5 years ago) and then my broken fibula from this time last year. He moved clinics, but I tracked him down and he's saddled with me once again. He has confirmed what I already suspected. I'm a bit of a mess right now. I don't have good neck mobility on my right side which is also affecting my rotator cuff. My vertebrae are actually out of whack, so he's working on my once again. Even with initial supervision and instruction at the gym, he suspects that I have lifted wrong and that is where this injury stems from. I need adult supervision all the time:-(
• Friday was my 3rd blogiversary. I cannot believe I've been writing this blog for 3 years...or that anyone still finds my day to day life interesting. It's not, and sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't just pack it in. But then I get emails from people telling me how much my blog helps them so I continue to write. Not as much as I used to, because truth be told, I am a creature of habit. I eat the same stuff I always have, I still run, and I stick to my eating plan 85% of the time. When I mess up (ie: the cheese incident in Europe), I need to own it. I still have no idea how much I gained over that debacle, but everything is zen again. It took a few weeks of running hard and eating like I know I should to get myself back to my happy place, but everything fits properly once again. Life is good and every once in a while I shake my head in disbelief. What a long way I have come. My former self would have taken that weight gain and rolled with it, likely adding what ever I gained x2 or three. My how times have changed.
• Not only is this Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, but it was also Julien's 7th birthday yesterday. We celebrated as a family and let Jules dictate the day. He wanted to check out the toy department at Target where he picked out a few things he wanted. Then we headed to Wacky Wings in Brantford for dinner. Next Saturday is his party with friends. It will be a Halloween themed party. And we'll have pizza and cake. I let him pick where he wanted his party and he picked at home. Surprised me. Figured he would have picked and arcade or bowling alley.
• It's getting light out and it's freaking cold this morning. I gotta choke down my sportive and get running. My family's coming by for Thanksgiving dinner later and I still have to get to the store and try to hit a pumpkin patch. I'm making pork roast and ham for today, and roasting a turkey tomorrow. I cannot wait. I LOVE turkey, and turkey soup! Enjoy your Thanksgiving if you're celebrating. I have spent the weekend reflecting on what I am thankful for. My family, my friends, my life...

Pics of Jules and I from yesterday. Rocked my Johnny Cash shirt in observation
of Universal Music Day. And Julien and me 7 years ago...I think we've both
changed a lot!

The post about some injuries, some accolades and a busy month

Pictures taken this past week. I like the way I look in all of them. I'm curvy and I think
I look strong. Strong and healthy is my goal. Big giant head in top left pic:-)

• So I touched on not feeling 100% in my last post. It's true. I have been ignoring...avoiding...pretending like they're not really there, some pains I've been having. You know, hoping they'll just go away on their own. They haven't. I go for my physio assessment on Wednesday. My physio guy Graham is no longer at Highland Physio in Dundas. But I did track him down to Meadowlands Physio in Ancaster, so I booked my assessment with him. I got discharged from physio in December 2013. I've almost gone a year pain free. But running and gym stuff does wear and tear on your body. It was only a matter of time before I had to go back. Physio is not a bad thing, it will keep me running. 
• New and improved pains include neck (can't comfortably check my blind spot) and right rotator cuff. My old left hamstring injury is back too. I can feel it quite pronounced when I run long distance. So I'm basically a mess. And even rest (2 weeks off exercise while in Europe) did not help. So I'm getting real and getting this stuff dealt with. I need to run, bottom line.
• I am still in therapy for my self esteem issues. Haven't talked about this in a while. Although I am still a work in progress and y'all may have gotten sick of hearing how much I love myself, I still struggle day to day about how I feel about me and how I see myself. Shocking, right? That after almost 2 years on maintenance, I am still struggling with the same shit. But that's my reality and the reality of anyone who has dealt with a big weight loss. It takes a lot of time for my inner self to see what you all see. And I so appreciate all your kind words. They help tremendously. But this is not something that is fixable overnight. I wish it was that easy, and I'm holding out hope that one day, my mind will catch up with what I see in the mirror.
• So this week I took some pictures of myself as per my therapists advice. Not daily like she wants me to but enough so that I can appreciate how I look. I never give myself enough credit. And I rarely know how to respond when I get credit from others. 
• One of the best compliments I can get is from a total stranger who has no idea where I've been and is shocked to find out I weighed 300+ pounds at one time. It happened on the plane ride home from London. A couple I was sitting beside and chatting with questioned why I wouldn't eat the pasta dinner or the chicken wrap option offered.  I can hide my flaws well and when I explained a bit about my journey, they were truly shocked. And the wife actually refused to believe me until I showed her my before picture from my phone (always keep one handy in case I think of eating off plan). That kind of response makes me realize that I need to give myself credit where credit is due. I should be proud of my accomplishments. There are so many others in my life who are, and I never give myself accolades when I should.
• This means I am going to work on appreciating my appearance much more than I have been. Whether I post a picture on Instagram or Tweet something I like about myself, it's important that I feel love and appreciation for me. I can see beauty in everyone...unless you have an ugly heart, but I need to appreciate the beauty in myself too. Weight loss isn't as cut and dry as I expected. Not only is maintenance a lot of hard work, but so is body acceptance. This is so different than what I envisioned in my mind when I started my weight loss journey 3 years ago. I never prepared myself for the emotional repercussions of weight loss. 
• My body is finally back to it's happy place. I've no idea what I weigh right now...still, but I can say this with 100% conviction. I feel right once again in my skin and my clothes. Two weeks of running 5 days a week has gotten me back to where I am most comfortable. That and cutting out my weaknesses...nuts and fruit. I ate nuts today, and still eat one fruit serving a day, but more importantly, my metabolism has kicked itself into high gear again and my pace is even improving. Running is what works best for me. And even though I still bike and will get back to the gym once I address my injuries, running has to be my 5-day a week activity. I can't duplicate the cardio or calorie burn in any other activity. Running is my maintenance saviour.
• October is a busy month for me. It's Thanksgiving, Julien's birthday (7 on the 11th), and of course, Halloween. Not sure what's going on with family celebrations for next weekend, but I will plan a fun time for Julien. His party won't be until the 18th but he'll still get a special day on the 11th. Time has flown by. In another month I have to start thinking about Christmas again. And, although we're moved into the new house since July, I still need to paint it from top to bottom. This is when it would pay to be Samantha from Bewitched. Wish I could just snap my fingers and twitch my nose:-)

My runs from this week. It's been a while since I had a 40K week.