#kristenegetsit

[writteninthekitchensink]

allisonunsupervised said: And what is the purpose of taking something home every day if you’re not going to do it? To reinforce guilt? Disagree. Strongly.My bag full of intentions and I arrive 45 min before contract and leave when I’m ready. Sometimes, that’s 2:30. So be it.

My cooperating teacher explained the "always have something in your hand as you leave" like this: Should you run into an administrator on the way out, it's good to show that you have an intention to do work at home. I always bring work home with me, though sometimes I leave it in the car if I know I need distance for the evening. 

kristenegetsit said: I arrive between 6:45-7 AM and leave almost every day by 4. I rarely take work home, except on the weekends. I do usually 2-4 hours of work on Sundays.

And they say Sunday is a day of rest... not for teachers! Your days are long too.  

tomesaway said: Oh man, I am so the same way. I get there an hour before the first bell (me: 6 am, 1st bell: 7:03) so I can get organized and get my game face on. I rarely leave before 4 (and sometimes after 5 or even 6), and the kids leave at 2:28.

Yep, sounds like a very similar schedule to mine, except I usually don't stay after 5, though I probably would if I didn't have a 45 minute commute home. The "game face" time for me is so important. I had ONE morning when I got there after 7am and it ruined my day. I decided that an extra half hour of sleep wasn't worth the insanity of getting my brain together in such a short amount of time! Glad to know you're the same.

[knitruneatrepeat]

Tumblr Tuesday: The "I've never done this before" edition

I've never participated in Tumblr Tuesday, but as my days, weeks, and months on Tumblr continue to grow, it's about time I participate in a thing or two more than I usually do.  So here it goes:

I was kind of shocked that none of the Davis clan made it onto my Tumblr crushes because I feel like they've always been on my tumblr crush list since the beginning.

Here's the breakdown:

Rick-Does-His-Thang -- This follower is one of the newer ones on my list; definitely an interesting guy to follow--I don't follow a lot of guys, but something about his posts just hit me as showing the personal side of the opposite gender's perspective on weight loss.

Kristenegetsit -- I mentioned her in an earlier post because I stole her ABC Food survey.  This girl is amazing to me personally, because of a higher connection with going to the same university and just being at about the same point in our lives for change.  (btw, I think she has always been on my Tumblr crushes since the minute I started following her) (2nd btw, I met her on the Do Life Tour in Orlando and ran with her and her bff for a few minutes!)

Abetterbecky -- So this girl rides bikes like crazy.  You thought I was insane for having high mileage runs in my view?  Well she rides high mileage bike rides.  This is someone I aspire to in this perspective, because my ass seriously cannot sit down for nearly as long as hers does on those bike rides.

Erindoeslife -- Words cannot begin to describe this woman to me.  She's an inspiration, a wonderful person, and like the big sister I always dreamed of.  She's a TNT runner (take a look at one of my posts recently) and has 2 cute puppies.  I mean, 'nuff said! ;-)

Jonathandoeslife -- Oh Jonathan, my first follower (also my first unfollower, too -- in his defense he was weeding down his dashboard and only following established blogs, so I completely understand).  This guy was inspired by Ben Davis, so he was actually the first person outside of the Davis clan that I started following on Tumblr (all that Ben stalking on tumblr in the old days *sigh*).  He's an interesting person, works, just finished graduate school, coaches C25K running groups, has 2 little dogs....

Vigorandcupcakes -- A.) I'm in her profile picture (everytime I see her on my dash I think that!). B.) I ran with her during the Do Life 5K Tour. C.) She's has a great personality and is really a great down to earth person to talk to. D.) Follow her. Period.

Shrunken -- I also met her on the Do Life 5K Tour.  I rarely follow people who are near my goal weight just because I'm so far from it and they are so close to it.  But now after reading her story and meeting her in person, I feel that people who are close to their goal weights still have similar struggles to us heavier people who are still a distance away from our goal weights.  Plus she has VFF's. Gotta show VFF <3.

Toofatforrainboots -- I should have met her at the Do Life 5K but she opted for a nice vacation weekend with the family, so that's alright.  It's people like her that I find my inspiration from, people who have a family to raise and other things in life to maintain besides trying to lose weight. Plus she's from Florida, so we get to suffer through the heat and random rainstorms together.

Kayladoeslife -- Such a cool person to have met online.  I love all her random updates, and of course her enthusiasm meeting Ben.  Because we're all pretty smitten by Ben.  A girl that I can one day only wish to run as fast as!

[knitruneatrepeat]

ABCs of food --stolen from kirstenegetsit

So one of my lovely followers (and people I follow), kristenegetsit posted a food survey on her blog.  And since today is a pretty blah day for me in the fitness world, I figured I'd entertain my followers with this survey instead.  P.S. Ya'll should totally follow Kristene!  I think I've been following her since the near beginning of my weight loss journey and she's just an all-around amazing girl!  Plus she's an alumna of my university, so that's definite bonus points. ;-)

A is for Apple: What’s your favorite variety? 

Red Delicious

B is for Bread: Regardless of nutrition, what is your favorite type?

Jewish rye or Challah <--you know you're Jewish when...

C is for Cereal: What is your favorite kind currently? (just one!)

Publix's Lower Sugar Maple & Brown Oatmeal

D is for Donuts: You might not currently eat them, but what kind do you fancy?

The chocolate frosted ones with cream inside…not the boston creme lol <--OMG same answer as Kristene!

E is for Eggs: How would you like yours prepared?

My absolute fav is fried, but I can stand just about anything including sunny side up runny

F is for Fat Free: What is your favorite fat free product?

Umm milk

G is for Groceries: Where do you purchase yours?

Publix <--again I agree with Kristene

H: is for Hot Beverages: What is your favorite hot drink?


Hot chocolate

I is for Ice Cream: Pick a favorite flavor and add a fun topping.

Bubblegum ice cream, no topping

J is for Jams or Jellies: Do you eat them? If so, what kind and flavor?

Icky, I don't like jams or jellies

K is for Kashi: Name your favorite Kashi product?


I don't really eat Kashi

L is for Lunch: What was yours today?

spaghetti with a fruit medley for desert

M is for microwave: What is your favorite microwave meal/snack?


popcorn

N is for nutrients: Do you likes carbs, fats, or proteins best?

Toss between carbs and proteins, depends on the activities of the day

O is for oil: What kind do you like to use?

Olive <--another answer the same!

P is for protein: How do you get yours?

Primarily tilapia or chicken

Q is for Quaker: How do you like your oats?

Maple brown light sugar

R is for roasting: What is your favorite thing to roast?

Don't really eat roasted

S is for sandwich: What’s your favorite kind?

Tuna

T is for travel: How do you handle eating while traveling?

Hmm, short trips to and from school to home I have snacks.  My massive traveling won't be until end of August/September...so I'll need some fitblr help planning my meals!

U is for unique: What is one of your weirdest food combos?

Alright, don't judge me for this....peanut butter and fried egg. 

V is for vitamins: What kind do you take?

I haven't in awhile, I should be taking fish oils and multi vitamins

W is for wasabi: Yay or nay?

Nay

X is X-RAY: If we X-rayed your belly right now, what food would we see?

Spaghetti, fruit, and water

Y is for youth: What food reminds you of your childhood?

Stuffed shells

Z is for zucchini: How do you prepare it?

Cut into cubes with squash, broccoli, onions, and peppers to either steam or stir fry with meat (that'll be tomorrow's dinner actually!)

[knitruneatrepeat]

Do Life 5K Orlando Tour recap

Let me put it this way---WOW.  SERIOUSLY. WOW.  It was amazing!

Guys, really, if you were hesitant about going out and meeting Ben, Jed, and Pa--GO OUT THERE AND MEET THEM!  I knew absolutely no one in real life when I met them today.  I had friended/followed about 5 people or so (and if I left your name off the tag, I deeply apologize because I'm just getting an influx of new followers) beforehand so knew ya'll from the tumblr world.  But to put your stories into real life is amazing.  Being able to meet each and every one of you and being able to hear some of your stories in life and how you've come this far, is by far the best part of this 5K tour that the Do Life Movement is hosting.

I ran for a few with Kristene and Lindsay 1 (there were two on the tour so gotta differentiate) but it was too hot to go full throttle and since I was there for the socialization and meeting others, I decided to slow it down and ended up being able to run with Lindsay 2, Jocelyn, Holly, Rebecca, and Ben (like omg YES I RAN WITH BEN!).  It's the greatest feeling to be able to run/walk/jog with people who are in their stages of losing weight and doing life.  I think it's even more amazing to see the people behind you and in front of you who are on that same journey.  To be among 30+ people who are in some stage of their life doing life is just about as good as it gets.

Clouds looked pretty threatening when I was driving over, but the cloud coverage worked pretty well while we were waiting for 10:15 to roll around (I was the 3rd person there after the Davis clan--it wasn't too hard to find once someone posted the physical address on the page).  Got to chat a bit with the couple there before me, they were celebrating their 15th year of marriage!  Hung out with Ben who was guarding the table while Pa and Jed were packing up orders to be shipped out--Jed road his bike to the post office, so it IS true that Jed does all the work.  When more people started showing up it was really great to talk amongst everyone and realize just how far we've all come in our journey.

Had a cop take our group photo, very generous and kind bicycle cop that I guess rides the trail or something as part of his patrol area.  Someone joked about the fact that we didn't have a permit (I believe a few of us went wide eyed and were thinking "SHUT UP" but it all worked out).  And we were off.  I started off right behind 3 girls and Ben with Kristene and Lindsay 1 (if my memory is correct).  We jogged for a bit but as I said before, it was too hot so I slowed down and ended up with  Lindsay 2, Jocelyn, Holly, Rebecca, and Ben for the majority of the 5K (well, Ben ditched us at the halfway point, so it was girl power for the rest of the way!).  We talked, chatted about our lives, our experiences, and where we were with our fitness and weight loss.  It was great hearing it and being able to relate to certain aspects of our lives overlapping one another.

We finished up the 5K just when it started to drizzle a bit outside--hooray for Florida skies not pouring down on us until AFTER the race.  I went to my car to grab my 2nd water bottle and change from my Aesic running shoes to my Vibrams for the remainder of the afternoon.  I haven't had a real opportunity to break them in besides around the apartment, so I figured driving and going to a restaurant would be alright enough to break them in, and I think it was.  Followed a bunch of people to a place called 4 Rivers (long story short--had no clue where it was, saw @BenDoesLife behind me in the car but wasn't able to move over in time, ended up doing a U-Turn, getting lost, Holly and I stopped at a gas station to ask people where it was, and then we finally made it to the right place).  It's a BBQ place in Winter Garden area, never been, never heard of it, it was alright.  I'm not a huge BBQ fan but ended up with some pulled chicken, green beans, and sweet potato casserole (loved that the best).  Was able to sit down and talk a bit with Jed before people started to leave and then Ben and Lawrence joined us at the table and we stayed until the end chatting.

The people I met today hold a dear place in my heart, for 4 short hours we were a group of runners doing life, living life, learning life, and growing with each other.  For four hours we learned about each other, heard stories, met people from the blogsphere that we had only been following for days, weeks, months.  But for those four hours we were a group of people uniting for the first time and did a pretty darn good job at it (if you ask me).

I already posted my claim to fame picture (thanks again Lawrence for taking it!--I apologize for not getting your name right the first time!) with Ben, Jed, and Pa.  Mostly I socialized with Ben because Pa and Jed were working, but being able to sit down at the end and hear some about Ben and Jed was definitely worth it as well.

I have to say, after this Do Life 5K tour I feel great to be where I am today, to have the followers that I have, the support system that you guys give me, and to be able to be privileged enough to get out there and run.  So thank you to all my followers, new and old, for following me in this journey.  I wish you all the best in yours and look forward to reading, hearing, and supporting all about your stories!  

--Some people that I really didn't get a chance to talk to during the 5K or after, but they should also be followed as well (some don't have tumblr so I'm RSS feeding them): Melanie,  Carolina, Larissa, and Pasquale. --

(P.S. I apologize if I left anyone off the tag/remarks in my post, it was hard keeping up with all of the blog names!  If you can add me, I'll add you back and then edit this post)

[knitruneatrepeat]

@cupcakesandchaucer and @kristenegetsit

My toes still feel a little funny getting used to them being individualized (I've been sitting here/walking around the apartment for the past hour or so with them on, but I have a feeling in the next 20/30 minutes when I'm done with dinner they're coming off since I'm sitting on my bed doing homework).  I'm a forefront striker when I run, so they told me transitioning should be a lot easier.  Also, if you have wide feet, I'd recommend looking at Bikila LS or the speed shoes, the ones that velcro or just slip on will be too tight on your arches [most likely].  The place I went to sells a lot of stuff besides running shoes, so they can sell Vibrams easily--in fact everyone there trying on shoes were trying on Vibrams and I think there were easily 5-8 people there when I entered and another 2-3 families came in afterwards, and I went with @themoonandyou about 40 minutes before they were closing.

I was super excited to find a place that sells these!  Since TrackShack sells almost primarily shoes, their profit won't come from minimalist/barefoot shoes like other running shoes (which Travel Country told me yesterday) and when I called up FleetFeet they had the New Balance minimalist shoes that don't individualize toes.  I've read mixed reviews that they don't create the true minimalist feeling and how individualizing the toes gives you better balance and support, so I really wanted to try Vibrams.  Luckily my friend (@themoonandyou) was looking online and we ended up going up to Travel Country--which is actually before Fleet Feet up in Altamonte Springs near the mall.  They were definitely helpful and understanding about me wanting to switch AND they said they never heard of people getting heel blisters from these shoes--so super yay for me!