Motivation? Inspiration? Perspiration?

I've had more than a few friends tell me I inspire them.

Some said I inspired them to start watching what they ate and maybe start to exercise a bit.

Some said I inspired them to eat a cheeseburger, sit on the couch, and be happy that way.

Either way, it's nice to know I'm an influence on someone.

Over the past 11 months, my husband has continually told me how proud he is of me. That he really didn't think I had the willpower to accomplish what I have. He says I motivate him and inspire him to get healthy.

A little background on my darling spouse. He is not overweight. He smokes, he drinks, he spends a lot of time on the computer. He also spends a lot of time walking at his job. He likes to eat, but not excessively. He also does not like diet food. Low fat anything does not pass his lips. It had better have real butter and possibly some bacon somewhere. Interestingly enough, he loves salads and regular fat cottage cheese. He played basketball in high school and was a very active kid. Point being, dude is not that far off the healthy track. And lately he's been talking about running. He has seen the positive side effects in me and I think he wants a taste. He also thinks having a physical hobby might help curb the smoking. As I tell him all the time, "You can't smoke and run. I tried. Didn't work."

This morning my handsome hunk of a husband hopped on the treadmill and asked me to write down W1D1 of C25K for him. I did, and then sat back and watched him complete it. I was seriously impressed and proud.

I hope I don't jinx it but here is hoping I can have my husband as a running partner some day.

I'm Fine. Really.

Hello there! I'm doing much better! Even sans makeup and on the INTERNETZ I am happy happy happy!

What? You didn't know I wasn't doing so hot?

It was really more of an internal turmoil, not so much external. Although the last time we chatted I was bummed about my missed long run.

Folks, I was totally beating myself up for falling back into really terrible eating habits. Hence the reworking of goals and yada yada yada.

I am proud to say that the last few days I've stayed on track, gotten in all my exercise, and am pretty pleased overall.


And now on to address an email and a comment I received.

First up, I received an email from a lady who basically wants to know how I lost all my weight. She says she has been a runner for a good amount of years and is currently in marathon training but she isn't losing any weight. I have no answer for this. At least not for her. I am a firm believer in everyone is different inside and out. What works for me won't necessarily work for you.

But, to answer the how did I do it question....I did it through good ole' fashioned calories in versus calories out. Expend more calories than you take in. Get yourself a daily calorie intake of what is best for you. Try this calculator to figure it. Then go to SparkPeople, get a free account and record every single thing you put in your mouth! When I started my health journey it was with walking and reducing calories, but not by an extreme amount. Then I did get kind of extreme. When I started running and losing weight, I wanted to lose more weight. So I made my daily calorie limit 1300. Pretty low for an active person. Some months the weight would fall off. Others it stood still. I took cheat days and would absolutely gorge when I did. Eventually I evened it out to eating around 1500 a day and still losing weight. Actually when I increased my calories a bit I lost those last 10 I was trying for. Lately I've been around 1600-2000 a day. Some days more. Which is why I am back on track and trying to keep it at 1500 to lose another 4 lbs.

All this talk of extreme calorie counting brings me to the comment I received. A reader asked how I had the energy to run only eating 1200 or 1300 calories a day. The answer is... I didn't. I often felt very sluggish on my runs and couldn't seem to break past the 3 mile wall. Only when I increased my eating to 1500 or so did I see an improvement in my running and weight loss.

So it seems I am a swinger. I swing from one extreme to the other and have a hard time finding a happy medium.

For now, I am going to keep increasing my mileage, keep my calories somewhere in the middle, and just be super duper happy with my body because I have worked hard for it and it is mine!

And one reason I love this body is because it carried me through 6 whole miles Monday morning without complaint. This run was pretty good overall. The first three miles were like running underwater. Arkansas humidity is insane! At mile 3.5 we took a 2 minute walk/water/Sports Beans break and the remaining miles were a piece of cake! Mmmmm, cake. Sorry, I got distracted. Anyhoooo....it was a good run and I am pleased with my miles. Tuesday I hill walked on the treadmill and did SparkVideos and this morning I did a easy mile warmup and then two miles of intervals on the treadmill. Despite being inside in my chilly house, I was sweating like crazy. Those intervals kicked my butt!

Tomorrow I will rest. Rest as in, deep clean my house, take the kids swimming, and hardly sit down. Friday will be 3 miles on the treadmill and Saturday another long run. I can't wait! My husband laughs when I say I can't wait to run 6 miles at 6am on a Saturday morning.

Hope you are having a healthy happy mentally stable week! Happy running!

Let's Talk Ta-Tas

I was born or blessed or cursed with a quite large set of boobies. One minute I love them, the next can't stand 'em. But it doesn't really matter whether I like my breasts or not, they are there and not going anywhere.


So when I jumped on the exercise bandwagon they were one of the first things on my mind. Quite literally in fact, because exercising without fully supported tatas hurts. Bad. Very bad. Not to mention, it is kind of embarrassing. No one wants to see that kind of mess moving about. And I actually read last night that the average breasts moves up and down a full 8 inches if you are running. Yikes!


When I got serious enough about running that the two sports bra method wasn't cutting it, I did some research. And I landed at Enell. The reviews alone sold me, even if the price was a little scary. As luck would have it, I got on the trusty old standby, E-Bay, and located some factory seconds. I was able to score two white Enell bras in my size for $70. One bra on their website runs $64. I was prepared for these factory seconds to have flaws, but I was pleasantly disappointed. There was some small discoloration on one and the other one I could never find a thing wrong with. Enell's standards must be very strict for what they will sell. Their product is exceptional and their customer service is outstanding.


Now, let me just say...these aren't pretty bras. You won't be wearing one of these babies without a shirt. They also come up pretty far in the front and have wide straps. I've found a few sleeveless shirts I can wear with them but most running tanks are out, including racerbacks.

What they lack in appearance they more than make up for in function. My ladies have never been more supported and every bit of backache I used to experience during a run is gone. Enell did not pay me for this little spiel. Enell has no idea who I am. I just absolutely love this bra! I want any woman who thinks her breasts are too large to exercise to know that there is a solution.

Do you have a favorite sports bra? Please share in comments so that readers of all sizes have access to our most favorite and most personal piece of running gear.

Confession #2

I have yet to run a race.

You would think by now, after graduating C25K in January and beginning to increase my miles that I would have at least done a 5K. You would think. But you would be wrong.

The main issue for me has been location. I live in a very rural area and the closest races this year have been at the very least a two hour drive. Now that in itself isn't so bad. Finding childcare during the race is bad. My husband works irregular hours and I just haven't made it a point to coordinate my life enough to enter a race.

I know I can finish a 5K. I don't know what I can do it in. I'm sure the adrenaline will help and of course it's going to be a PR for me because it will be my very first. But I am super excited to even have the chance to do it.

Can you tell by my grin?

Here I am with my very first race entry form! Completed and ready to be returned. I've got until June 5th to prepare for my FIRST 5K! I am amped, pumped, over the moon, you name it.

Any suggestions for a first timer?

Mileage Report & Running With Babes

{My daughter Stella & I gearing up for a jog.}

This morning I met up with my good friend Dala at our local park. The plan was for her to complete C25K W1D2 and for me to tag along. We finished her 20 minutes and walked another 1/2 mile. It was a good, easy day for me and I am glad to have the opportunity to get in more exercise and motivate a friend in the process. If I keep going with Dala for easy days that will have me being active 7 days a week! Whoa! Who would have thought? I was such a couch potato a year ago, now I can't wait to get out and do something.

Yesterday I logged 4 miles. Sunday was an easy 2.5 with Dala on her first day of C25K. With today's mileage I'm up to 8.5 miles for the week and its only Tuesday. This may not seem like a lot to you hardcore runners, but for me...it's a lot! I'm slowly and steadily working on increasing my mileage and I think this is a good start. Tomorrow I have 3 or 3.5 on the schedule.

Also yesterday was the day I chose to resume my strict eating. I cheated my booty off the past few weeks way more than I am usually allowed. So this week I am back to 1300-1500 calories a day and one cheat day after six good days. I did well with 1347 calories yesterday and I've already mapped out my calories today and it's coming in right around 1150. I might have to find a snack after dinner, maybe some yummy super low-cal strawberries just to put my calories at 1200. I don't want to eat too little and suffer from lack of energy on tomorrow morning's run.

What do you do to keep your calories low?

Confession #1

I love running.

But I hate running every step of the way. It's like this seriously whacked out relationship. I actually do something willingly, that I really don't want to do. And I feel like I'm doing it for someone else. Someone who is not me. I'm doing it for who I want to be.

See I know I've always lacked consistency and follow through. Oh and major lack of motivation. But I seem to have stuck with this torture because on the other hand, it makes you feel so good. And you know, it feels good to feel good. I really never imagined how much different I would feel. I feel light.

But sometimes, I really really dislike the act of running.

How about you?

Hello There!

Welcome to the opening post of Run Fat Girl, Run! My intent with this little blog here is to chronicle the journey from un-fit to fit, track mileage and talk running, provide fitness and food tips, share recipes for healthy eating and maybe even throw in a giveaway or two.

This site spawned from the fact that I felt like I was talking about my fitness journey too much on my personal blog. I didn't feel like it was that interesting to my readers there but it was always on my mind and I always wanted to share. Now I have a place for this and look forward to joining the club of my favorite running bloggers, health bloggers, running mommy bloggers, and everyone who falls somewhere in between.

Please check out the pages at the top. I titled the about page Fat Girls Running because my good friend Dala completed Week 1 Day 1 this morning with me and I hope to convince her to co-author this blog so we have a perspective of just beginning a fitness journey and the perspective of succeeding and trying to maintain.

Until then...healthy eating & happy running.