Love Love Love Beer Beer Beer

I love beer. Writing that does not begin to convey the relationship I have with beer. Over the years, beer has marked many occasions in my life and feels like a good friend. If I have a long day or I’m working hard, beer is often my reward. Each year as Christmas inches closer, my husband and I try and enjoy every seasonal microbrew we can find. One of the reasons I started running was to balance my fondness for this drink and maintain my weight. I am sure that if I give up drinking, I would probably lose weight. I don’t drink every night and try to only have a few on the weekend, but if I’m on vacation all rules are off. Holiday beer can average 200 calories for a 12 oz. beer. So when I drank three Celebration Ales last Saturday, I drank 600 calories! 642 to be exact. That was spread over the entire day, but 642 calories is a lot of extra calories. 

So while I am participating in the Holiday Booty Challenge, I have decided to try and scale back my intake of beer. The challenge started on Monday, November 19, and the goal of the challenge is to get us through the holidays with no weight gain. My goal for the challenge is to maintain/increase my fitness level during the challenge AND improve my diet by getting at least 7 servings of fruits or vegetables a day. I am generally a pretty healthy eater, but eating 7-9 servings of fruits and vegetables has been challenging. As for the beer, it has been a vacation week for me and I have definitely not deprived myself, but starting tomorrow my beer challenge begins. No beer. Ah, that’s a bit severe. Let’s say less beer. Only one per WEEKEND day and none during the week. That’s a beer relationship I can strive for. 

Saturday: 1.5 mile walk with the dog - rest day

Sunday: 2.8 mile run, 1 mile walk, 10 minutes stretching

Thankful Living

I drove down to Yelm in crazy weather on Monday to meet up with my family. My sister and brother-in-law and their six year old daughter, Katie, were in town for Thanksgiving. Leaving the house at 7:30am trying to beat the traffic did not work. The rain was steady and traffic was a mess. Once I got through Seattle though, it was free sailing - literally. I felt like I was on a sea several times during the drive. It couldn’t be more ideal WA weather for my sister. 

It’s been a busy week, visiting and Thanksgiving. I’ve been able to maintain my activity level to some degree (thanks to my very fit brother-in-law), but getting all the veggies and fruit in will take some planning. My sister made her “green” drink for me on Wednesday and Friday. She purees a banana, carrots, spinach, kale and ice in a blender. She usually strains it at home using a painters bag or a french press, as I didn’t have either we drank the pulp. It’s a good way to get several servings of fruit and veggies down and taste pretty good, depending on how ripe the bananas are. I might try it with 1/2 an apple and 1/2 banana, instead of one  whole banana. 

Monday: 15 min stretches, 5 mile run, 30 min stretches with kicks

Tuesday: 2 mile run, 30 minute stretches

Wednesday: Cooked 

Thursday: 5K Turkey Trot, 15 min stretches

Friday: 15 minute circuit, 10 minutes of stretching 

My daughter did her first full real 5k, our local Turkey Trot, yesterday (she did the Zombie Run in October, but became a zombie before she finished, so I'm not counting that). I am so proud of her! My brother-in-law graciously ran alone and I was able to run/walk the race with her. It was a blast, with lots of happy people (and dogs) around us. I’d love to make it a yearly event. She and I finished in 41 minutes and I couldn’t be prouder of her. 

I’m so very thankful for having time with my sister; she is one of my most favorite people in the world. I’m also thankful for my daughters, who constantly amaze me with their abilities and goodness.