No scale december

I watched a great vlog Tara Stiles posted last week about throwing your scale out and just going by how your body feels and listening to your hunger queues instead of paying attention to that number on the scale. This struck a cord with me. It's such an important message to spread to women. For someone who has battled with being anorexic for a few years and being obsessed with the scale this spoke to me and i had to share via facebook and twitter and share how my husband got rid of our scale a few years ago. At that point i was pretty much recovered from my unhealthy eating habits (thanks to finding Tosca Reno's Eat Clean Diet) however i wasn't cured of my obsession with weighing myself. I feel that there are many other women out there who get obsessed by the silly number on the scale. That number is not indicative of health. If you have muscle you will weigh more yet you will be lean:)

As long as you eat clean whole foods and work out your body will be the size it's supposed to be, whatever that may be. It's your unique shape and size and you need to embrace and love that gorgeous body of yours. And a better indication of whether you need to get a little stricter with the healthy cheats is being in tune with your body and how your body feels. Your body will tell you it needs you to be a little tighter with your diet. Maybe a few less treats (like wine or certain foods) or smaller portions are needed just to get that body feeling great as it usually does. Another indicator is how your clothes fit or your measurements. You may very well be increasing muscle and going up weight wise yet your measurements are getting smaller or your clothes are getting looser indicative that you are tightening up:)

If you have been a little too slack with the ol' clean eating lifestyle lately, remember it happens:) Don't be too hard on yourself. Especially during the holiday season. If you slip one day or aren't as tight as usual with your eating than jump right back on it at the next meal:) No point in feeling guilty or being hard on yourself. None of us are perfect! Yes it's great to strive to having a great clean lifestyle but it's not always going to be 100% and thats ok too:) Keep in mind that we are all always a work in progress in all aspects of our lives. If we were "perfect" we'd all lose our drive, motivation and determination. Where is the fun in that?

Today one of my Tone it Up girls posted a challenge for herself for the month of December which inspired me to write this post. I had challenged others to throw away their scales for good and she decided to start her own mini challenge of No scale December and asking others to join! I think this is a great idea:) If you want to join her twitter handle is @MariePOuellet & she is using the hashtag #NoScaleDecember . So i challenge you ladies to join her as a start and maybe after it's over you too will be able to Throw away your scale for good. Let me know below or on twitter if you decide to join in on her challenge. You can find me on twitter @amygrant83.

Happy December everyone:)

Race for recovery 5k/10k

 A few weeks ago when Hurricane Sandy hit NYC and many parts of Jersey it really affected me. I felt for everyone who went through it and is still going through the clean up now as we sit cozy farther up on the East Coast in Canada. I think part of why it touched me so much is that it is so close to us and i cannot imagine the chaos that ensued after the storm hit. I could not imagine seeing that damage or experiencing that storm in person.

While i love running and running races including half and full marathons the fact that NYC wanted to still run the NYC marathon after such devestation to their city sickened me. I could not believe it. There were still so many without power or running water and they wanted to birng in generators and millions of bottles of water for the race? How does that even make sense? Where was the compassion? Well at the last minute they finally showed some! But a little too late in a sense. Many runners had already traveled there to run the race. I personally would have deferred to the next year but can understand why many runners chose not to. It made me happy to read about many donating their rooms to those in need and heading home and many headed to Staten Island, among one of many of the hardest hit by the super storm. The runners ran around the island delivering goods to the drop off centers. They still got their run in but helped out as well. Many other runners even ran their own marathon in Central park looping around 4 times to create the full marathon distance!

One of the bloggers i follow NYC Running Mama  lives on Staten Island (where the marathon starts every year) and as i runner herself appeared to struggle with the fact that they at first wanted to still hold the race (i follow her on twitter as well as her blog). She like many of us runners never blamed the runners for wanting to still run their race. The damage sparked something in her and she wanted to organize a virtual Race for Recovery where anyone in the world can participate! How cool is that? The race fee is $20 which is donated directly to the Charity that was formed after the storm, Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund.  The charity is focusing it’s efforts on the NYC, Long Island, and NJ coastline which are amoung the areas most affected by the storm. You can donate the minimum $20 to register or more if you want, you can also fund raise too.

I have been contemplating for weeks whether or not i wanted to run this virtual race and finally decided yesterday that i wanted to help out:) So i registered and set up my donation page here. If you want to donate anything please feel free. It's such a great cause!

Keep in mind i am just running for a cause here. I won't actually be racing this race since when i run it Dec 8th i will be 26 weeks and just entered my 3rd trimester. Runners can run 5k, 10k or 15k for the virtual race. I am choosing to run 15km. It will probably be my last 15km before the baby gets here i imagine. Unless i continue to feel great like i have been. I have still been able to maintain 10-16km for my long runs. And 5-8km for my short runs during the week. I really listen to my body and if i don't feel like doing the distance i planned i do what my body feels like. I base it on how i feel before my run.

For more information on the virtual race if you want to sign up as well please visit here.

I also just got my Gabrialla maternity support belt a few weeks ago for running. So keep your eyes peeled for a review on that soon too:)

Have any of my fellow runners ran a virtual race before? If so what one? How was your experience? This will be my first and i will be running it with my running partner in crime, Steph.

Pregnancy and weight gain (20 weeks)

A few months ago i read a blog from one of my favorite running bloggers i follow NYC Running Mama where she blogged about all the information out there that tells us mom's to be how much weight we "should" be gaining at every trimester of pregnancy. Her blog post really touched and helped me during that time. I had just had my first OB appointment at 12 weeks and 4 days and was shocked at how much i had gained in my first trimester.

When i got to my first OB appointment I had happily stepped up on that scale at the receptionist's desk and weigh in. Something i would be doing at every appointment once a month. I knew i had gained a little weight, i was thinking maybe 5 lbs at most. WELL i was wrong i gained a whopping 11 lbs in my first trimester! Holy smokes. I knew very well from reading many articles on "suggested" weight gain i "should" only have gained 1-5 lbs in the first trimester according to the baby center (sometimes you don't gain at all if you have morning sickness) and approximately 1 lbs per week in your 2nd and 3rd trimesters Source. Now this number does change from website to website as well. However it generally says the same.

Prior to pregnancy i was 2 lbs underweight for my height due to just training for and running my first full marathon. So i accounted for that as well to try not to get too stressed about my whopping 11 lbs weight gain. I had also read that because i had been underweight pre-pregnancy i should gain 28-40 lbs according to most websites. I was scared though after gaining so much weight in my first trimester that i would gain too much throughout my pregnancy and it would have negative effects on the baby as well as me. From what i have read it can be bad to gain so much weight at the beginning. Its much better for you and baby if it is steady. However i really hadn't changed much eating wise in the first tri. So it wasn't that i was eating too much (although i was eating more carbs due to being nauseous all the time). It simply was that it appeared that this was my bodies way of preparing for pregnancy. That is exactly what NYC Running Mama's OB had said too so reading that put my mind at ease.

Bump pic at 20 weeks. I have gained 15 lbs so far.

At my last 2 month appointments i have only gained 2 lbs at each on (so now at 20 weeks i am totaling 15lbs weight gain) . So it seems to have slowed down which is a sigh of relief. According to NYC running Mama she gained 10 lbs in her first tri and then it really slowed down weight gain wise. So i was the same as her as well as other runner's who commented on the blog post. Isn't it funny that women runner's tend to gain so much initially? I was sure glad i wasn't alone. Made me feel a lot better about it. It's just me and my bodies way of dealing with being pregnant and gaining according to it. Not according to some "standard" out there. This is something important to remember for all momma's to be and future momma's to be. As long as you are eating clean and working out while pregnant (if you can) then don't worry about that weight gain, your body is doing what it needs to to make a good home for your little bean or as i affectionately call mine; Tater Tot.

Despite gaining so much my first trimester and so little since then my doctor has shown no concerns and hasn't even mentioned it. She knows that i eat well and i am still very active. So that accounts for why i am gaining slowly now. I am making sure i fuel myself and baby enough for the amount of work outs i do. While i have read that you need an extra 300 calories while pregnant if you continue to be very active i haven't been concentrating too much on this as i do not count calories. I simply listen to my body and eat more if i am hungrier. As well i ensure on my long run days that i get an extra big meal in after my long run. Then i ensure that i am well fueled for the rest of the day and i don't get too hungry. My body is always much hungrier on long run days. So now that i am pregnant i am now just extra careful that i eat more than usual on those days.

I have been very lucky thus far with working out and running. My body is still good with the amount of km's i have been running. I run 6km one day a week, 8 km one day of the week and between 12-16km on Saturdays. However if my body is saying less on a particular day i have a certain km's planned i listen. Just last week on Thur i tried to run my 8km but my body was saying no more when i reached 5km so i stopped and listened and decided that was enough for that day. And then i was able to rock out 14.81km on Saturday morning with no issues! So it really truly pays to listen. I don't want to get hurt or hurt the baby in any way so it's so important i listen to what my body says. 

For current momma's and momma to be's out there, do you agree with the suggested weight gain during pregnancy? Do you think it is something mom's to be should stress and concern themselves with?

I feel that it is merely a guideline to ensure mom to be's know roughly what they should be gaining however it's not something to be too concerned with. Your doctor will advise you if s/he is concerned with how you are gaining weght and should take in to account your body structure, eating habits and your activity level so it's more personalized to you and not just a general guideline. I think it also works to dispel the myth that you are eating for two. I am not eating for two! I am eating for one plus a little extra:) Basically just an extra snack a day. Right now i am eating every 2-3 hours depending on what my body needs that day. So instead of the pre-pregnancy 5-6 meals a day i now eat 6-7 meals a day and sometimes 8 if i really need it.

Super easy lazy tomato chickpea soup

Hi all! its me again:) I am making my quick and easy soup for supper since i didn't really feel like cooking and wanted to share with you all to enjoy too! This soup is great and even better when you are sick. I actually created it when i was sick and wanted something spicy to clear me out! And it sure worked. 



Amy's super easy lazy woman tomato chickpea soup

-1 can diced tomatoes 
-1 can tomato paste 
-1 can chickpeas 
-2.5 cups water or home made chicken or turkey stock
-1 tbsp paprika 
-1 tsp cayenne 
-1 tsp parsley 
-1 tsp garlic powder 
-1 tsp onion powder 
-2 tsp oregano 

-Add all ingredients together and bring to a boil for about 5 min then lower to a simmer and let it sit as long as you can to really let the soup soak up all the spices and for the chickpeas to get really soft.

Feel free to play with the amount of spices you use. I actually just wing the spices and add to taste however these are rough estimates of what i add to it.

Enjoy and let me know if you try it! i am making it tonight for supper! Yummy:) 

Working out pregnant (15 weeks)

Yes you read right i am 15 weeks pregnant (16 weeks on Friday) I still can't believe it some days:) I even zipped up a hoody last week and was like why is this so tight around my belly and looked down and was like oh yah...i can't believe i forgot for a split second i was pregnant. It is definitely strange going from a flat stomach and abs to a little bump. But i am loving my little baby bump.

I only just announced my pregnancy to the world via facebook and twitter at 13 weeks. It was so fun letting our secret out finally. The first trimester went pretty well. I had some major nausea all day every day and was exhausted but luckily never actually got sick. And despite the nausea and tiredness i still managed to get my workouts in and they made me feel better and energized. To deal with the exhaustion i simply went to bed earlier (and still do, i find i need 9 hours of sleep a night) and took naps as needed. It actually is beneficial for the mom to keep working out even if she feels tired as it is seen to help improve with the tiredness and nausea as well as other pregnancy symptoms.

The first thing i did when i found out we were pregnant was go out and get two working out while pregnant books. I want to do this right and not endanger me or the baby but i want and need to stay active for my health, baby's health and my own sanity. I went out and got. "Exercising through your pregnancy" by Dr  Clapp as well as "The runners world guide to running and pregnancy" by Chris Lundgren. Both books have proved so helpful. The Runners world book is based on a lot of information from Dr. Clapp's book. Dr Clapp did case studies on many pregnant women. Athletes, women who had been working out consistently for a number of years, women who just started working out while pregnant and women who didn't work out at all during pregnancy. All his research and studies show that women who work out and run while pregnant have fewer pregnancy symptoms and have a much better pregnancy, labour and delivery. I like those odds:)

I am not quite done the books yet but the main message and advice is to just listen to your body when exercising while pregnant. That is the only restriction if you can even call it that. Basically as long as you can still hold a choppy conversation you aren't pushing it too hard. And for those working out in the summer while pregnant you should try to avoid running or working out in 29 c or above as you over heat and so can baby. So this meant 6am runs for me this summer to beat the heat! Which i loved. Now it doesn't get light until 7am and i don't feel safe running at 6am in the dark:( I miss it. Now i could run on my treadmill but i do love running in the crisp fall air so i opt to run outside after work. I have been running 6km and 8km during the week with my long runs on Saturdays with my friend Steph who doesn't mind my slower pace and much needed extra walk breaks:) She's a trooper!

Now back to Dr Clapp and the method i have been using to gauge my workout efforts and ensure all is well for me and baby. I use the BORG rating of perceived exertion scale in order to measure how hard i should be working out and/or running. The heart rate measurement is outdated and should not be used anymore as it takes nothing in the first trimester to raise your heart rate and takes a lot of work in your third trimester to reach the "ideal" heart rate. So after discovering this i opted for the BORG method Dr. Clapp uses and so far so good:)

Source: http://www.nycrunningmama.com

 It is recommended to stay between 12-15 on this scale when exercising while pregnant which is what i follow. During my first trimester i found my pace slowed a lot and i found it harder to breath while running so i adjusted by doing the 10 and 1 running method. Where i ran 10 min and walked a min and for some runs i would take more or longer breaks if i needed them. I really listen to my body it's good at telling me what it needs. To me this is the hugest key to working out while pregnant. Luckily my OB agrees with this as well and said i can pretty much do anything as long as i feel ok. Even work out on my back as long as i don't feel dizzy. Dr. Clapp evens states that there only appears to be an issue when you are lying on your back and not moving. If you are moving and performing glute and/or ab exercises you shouldn't feel dizzy. If you do simply roll on to your left side until it passes. The reason why women would feel dizzy (and are told not to lie on their backs or perform exercises on their back in 2nd and 3rd trimester) is that the increased weight of your uterus presses on the major vein that returns blood from your legs to your heart. So for this i am going with what my OB and Dr. Clapp suggest. Simply stop if i feel dizzy. I want to ensure my abs are still strong for an easier delivery and don't want to neglect my booty as a strong booty, hamstrings and lower back mean you are less likely to have lower back pain.

In the second trimester i have a lot more energy and lucky for me my all day nausea stopped at 11 weeks! I am now running again straight through however i still follow the 5 min/500m walking warm up at the beginning of my run and the 5 min/500m cool down as i have since i first found out i was pregnant. I feel that this is very important as well to really ensure my body is warmed up first and has a chance to cool down. Especially important for those of us who sit at a desk all day; hello tight hip flexors!

Another thing to be careful of and mindful of when exercising is that your body is now producing a hormone called relaxin. Which relaxes a women's joints and ligaments. Therefore it can be easier to hurt yourself if things are looser. So your running gait will more than likely change which causes running to affect your body in different ways than it did before. This also means that you shouldn't practice Yin yoga during pregnancy i have learned. As that practice stretches out the joints and ligaments instead of the muscles. Which can be too much stretching for a women who is pregnant. Which saddened me last week as i really wanted to go to a class! Oh well. I can still do power vinyasa yoga, as well as running, circuit training with weights, biking and pilates. So i think i can suck it up.
 .
Well this turned into a longer post that i intended. I still have lots more to talk about however i will save that for more posts. I will try to blog more and keep you up to date with working out, running, etc while pregnant. Currently i am still working out 6 days a week. Two workouts a day 4 days a week 30 min in the morning and 30-45 after work. With Fridays being a full 60 min workout before work so i can just relax when i get home Friday night:) Saturdays are still my long runs. My current max being 16km. After 16km i feel like i have run 20-25km and i seem to need a nap after all my long runs 12-16km. So right now i don't feel like i need to push it km wise and do more. I may end up increasing at some point to test it out but not now. I am comfortable and happy with a max 16km distance. 

Life after a marathon

Yah it's summer! Moncton is experiencing the start of another lovely heat wave. The last few weeks have been fairly rainy with a few hot sunny days sprinkled here and there to tide us over. The rain was much needed and the plants and grass seem slightly happier.

My mom and a funny sign during my marathon

Since my marathon i have been keeping up with my running and workouts and gaining more and more energy. I was worn out throughout my training and could not eat or sleep enough! Now i am having to decrease my portions a bit as i don't seem to need as much fuel and while i still need my rest i don't need quite as much it seems which is nice. I am really enjoying my shorter faster runs and having the energy to put in to them. I am increasing my speed nicely and just ran a 5 km race on June 16th with my friends Christina and Steph. It was only the 2nd 5km race i had ever done and an adjustment for sure. You go fast from the get go and really push yourself unlike a half or full marathon where you go out slower and save fuel in the tank to finish strong. I ran the 5km in 26:04 the fastest i have ever run a 5km AND i won the race! WHAT?!?!? I was really shocked. It was a smaller race mind you but amazing for the running confidence to come in first and ahead of the guys! There may only have been one guy running the 5km though ha ha. More who did the 10km but hey that's ok i am still very pleased with my time.

Move to Include 5km race

I have another 5km race this Sunday. The Canada Day race! It is a hilly one. So no expectations to beat my 26:04 PB. As well i am just recovering a bout of strept throat. I think my body is still re-couping from the training and racing of my full marathon. I hope my immune system starts to get stronger soon! This sick business is starting to get really annoying:) Oh well. I listening to my body and took almost a week off. I was back at it Wednesday night with a 10km run. I hadn't run that far since the marathon. Crazy! I was craving a good slow long run and have a 12km planned for the holiday Monday! Yah Canada Day long weekend!

Post marathon

After this 5km race i may start training speed wise for my 10km race September 1st that i am planning on doing and then if i find any other 5km races along the way that i want to try PB'ing i will be more than ready! There isn't too much after this weekend that works with my schedule for 5km races. While i sometimes feel like i should be training for another half right now i am listening to my body and focusing on the shorter distances and enjoying not having to get a long run in or a certain scheduled run in i am running for FUN:) Not that i don't anyways...but it's just different not training for a long distance race.

Hope you all are enjoying your summer so far. Can you believe that it's almost July already? Do you have any summer race plans? Or summer plans in general?

Marathon weekend recap

Start line was intense and crowded:)

 Wow i cannot believe it's been over a month since i posted! The Ottawa marathon has now come and gone. What an AMAZING experience. My trip to Ottawa started off very bumpy though. I was leaving Friday May 25th for the capitol of Canada and what do i wake up with that morning? A sore throat:( I tried to find some emerg-c at 2 different stores in Moncton before we left and no dice:( I then decided at the airport (of all places) to give in and buy something a little less natural Cold Fx. It cost me $20! Would have been maybe $10 ish at the drugstore...DOH!

All day i had this lingering anxious feeling i didn't know why. We were set to fly out at 3pm getting in to Ottawa at 3:30pm their time. Well Air Canada cancelled their flight i had a moment for a second where i started to freak out. My eyes welled up and then it quickly passed with a sense of relief. It's like my body knew that the flight was going to be cancelled and that is why i was anxious! The reason they cancelled the flight was because the flight attendant jump seat was broken, and had been for days and they failed to fix it. Typical Air Canada. I must also mention that they cancelled after the Porter flight left which had room on it. Nice Air Canada...thanks! We could have flown with Porter instead.

Tone It Up Sister Maddie and i

We didn't let it phase us too much...everything happens for a reason so no need to freak out or get upset. Crappy thing was we only had two options wait and fly out of Moncton at 8pm and connect through TO and only get in to Ottawa at 1am! Yuck...no thanks OR be bused to St John and fly out of there connecting through Montreal getting in at 8:30pm. So we chose that. There was nowhere and no time to eat at the SJ airport so mom and i shared a box of my brown rice crackers i luckily brought with me for supper. There were also no options for gluten free me at the Montreal airport. Luckily i was so prepared with my food. I always travel with a lot of food. I never want to be stuck and starving!

My amazing Auntie Nell running with me for a bit

Luckily the Cold fx seemed to do the trick for the weekend it held my cold off and after sleeping 10 hours Friday night i felt much better on Saturday morning. Saturday morning i went for an easy 3km run with Brian; who is a friend we were staying with. It was a great run and hard to keep it slow and easy. Just as we got back my Auntie Nell got in. It was soooo great to see her and have her come support me! She drove in from their cottage in Peterborough.

We then went to eat The Green Door a a vegetarian restaurant that fellow Tone It Up Sister Maddie Cook suggested. My mom, Aunt, Norma (Brian's wife) and Diane met up with Maddie, her mom, sister and sister's friend. It was an amazing healthy lunch with tons of gluten free options! Yah. I had the best mocha vegan cheescake for dessert! Heaven! I don't remember what i had for lunch as it is buffet style. So i took little portions of everything to fill my plate up!

We then proceeded to the expo to pick up our race kits! We walked about 30 minutes or so to get there. It was a nice walk. Weather was great and it was sunny. After the expo we headed back to Norma's and she made a great pasta supper, gluten free pasta for me:)

Off to bed shortly after that as i had to get up at 5:40am. The race started at 7am and i needed to eat and we were to leave for the race at 6am to give me lot's of time to get there and to the start line. I ran into a little issue that morning though. I couldn't go # 2..ha ha maybe too much detail BUT hey...it's something a runner needs to do before a race or run in the morning. Well i do anyways. I tried 3 times no luck.

After one final bathroom attempt i headed to the start line about 5 min before the race started. And i was so amped up, anxious and nervous. I squeezed in with the 4 hr pace bunny and chased her for awhile and quickly lost her when i ran in to stomach issues at 20km and after 4km of them not passing i stopped at a porta potty at 24km. I then had to wait in line which sucked:( I really didn't want to but knew i had to. Finally success! Ha ha.

After that little pit stop i paced myself with the 4:15 pace bunny for awhile and then realized i needed to slow down so i didn't hit a wall. I think that may have been about 32km. I can't really remember. If you talk to anyone about a marathon they all say a marathon only starts the last 10km and boy are they right.

My amazing momma and i...much needed walk break

My Mom and Aunt met up with me at a few of the cheering stations and even took turns running with me which i really needed. They were so chatty and i just said sorry i can't talk and i really couldn't maintain a conversation. All my energy was focused on finishing that race. My mom ran the last 4km with me and that was amazing. Just having her there and her cheerful support. I took more walk breaks the last 4km and had a lot of pain and pressure in my hips and pelvis. Which was weird for me. And even though i walked a fair amount it actually hurt more to walk so i am not sure why i took so many walk breaks. The pressure was pretty intense but i wasn't going to let it stop me and i didn't.

I finished the Ottawa marathon in 4:37:25 when i first started my training i had hopes of finishing in 4 hrs but those were dashed when i seemed to get a bout of achilles tendonitis which actually surprisingly didn't bother me at all during the race. My heel felt stiff the last 10km but didn't hurt at all. I also recovered very quickly. My whole body was sore and exhausted after the race and Monday morning i was stiff but went for a 20 minute slow walk which i think helped a lot. By Tuesday my legs were pretty much all better just a little sore. And my hips and pelvis stopped hurting after i finished the race. Very odd!

Post race and still smiling

All in all the whole experience of the training and the marathon was worth it. I learned so much about my body and myself along the ride! And even though i thought it would be my first and last i now think that i may end up tackling another in the future. But not for a few years. Now it's time to work on speed and getting fast at 5km and 10km. Once i am happy with my pace i will train for another half. I love training for half's they are my favorite distance. But i really want to enjoy my summer and relax more and be finished with my runs quicker and not feel like i HAVE to run all the time. If i feel like i want to take a run off i can! As i am just working on speed and not really training for a big particular race.

I know this is a lengthy post. I toyed with the idea of doing a part 1 and 2...but nah here it all is! Enjoy. I do plan on buying some pictures from the race and will be getting the ones my Aunt took soon and i will also post those:) So keep your eyes peeled.