2015 5k #4: BGSU's Freddie & Frieda Falcon Homecoming 5k

On Saturday, October 17, 2015, I completed my fourth 5k race of the year. It was cold - only 37 degrees! - and I was fighting either allergies or a head cold. It didn't stop me! I was able to jog the entire distance without walking and I got my best time EVER!

2015:

Bib: #1150

Category: Ages 1-99

Net Time: 36:31.2

Overall Position (BGSU Student List): 43

Category Position (Female, Age 1-99): 35

2013:

Approximate Net Time: 52:40

*I didn't make the results list, so my time is approximate.*

Fall colors, friends, sunrise, and the finish line! :)

Me, Jen, Ingrid, and Burt, posing with Freddie Falcon!

Three-Day Juice Reboot

With only 3.4 pounds left before reaching my 17.1-pound weight loss goal and after being recently inspired by my Mom's 41-day juice-only reboot, I was curious about going through my own three-day juice reboot in the Joe Cross style. I decided to try it over Labor Day weekend, before my life got busy again with grad school classes and homework. Here are some notes about my experience.

The Prep

Technically, the lat meal I ate was on Friday, 9/04, around 4:00pm. At the conclusion of a short road trip (around 8:45pm), I stopped at the grocery store to buy my juicing supplies. Luckily, I was able to find everything I needed relatively quickly with the help of the app, 101 Juice Recipes. Within the app, you can create your shopping list and mark items off as you put them in your cart/basket. If two different recipes require different amounts of the same vegetable, the app will do the math for you!!

I stayed up late to wash all the produce I purchased and I juiced enough Triple C ingredients (recipe below) to use the entire cabbage.

Day 1
Saturday morning, I had the recommended hot lemon water instead of coffee as soon as I woke up, and followed it with a 16-oz jar of Triple C juice. It surprised me how I didn't actually miss having my coffee!

Activities: 
- Juiced enough to fill a few more jars
- 13-mile bike ride
- Lunch with boyfriend's parents (I drank Kombucha while they ate)
- Quick trip into Whole Foods (where I found the all-natural coconut water)

How I felt:
- Surprisingly good
- Slight headache (possibly from no caffeine and/or allergy medicine)
- Tired (I went to bed at 6pm and slept till 6am on Sunday!)

What I learned:
- Bringing juice along in a cooler when doing exercise is a GREAT idea!
- Drink lots of water. It was really muggy for the bike ride and I sweated a lot. I didn't drink enough water throughout the day to make up for it.

Day 2
Activities: 

- Breakfast with boyfriend (I brought juice with me)
- Went shopping for bike shorts
- Sorted my books (KonMari style!)
- Took a 40-minute nap
- Helped boyfriend prepare macaroni and cheese dinner for our guests

How I felt:
- Tired (physically)
- A little weak (while running errands)
- Once people started to arrive for dinner, I felt close to giving in and having some macaroni and cheese. I texted my Mom and she said, "Drink a green juice and it will pass." It did.

What I learned:
- Take it easy (physically) while doing a juice reboot.
- It's okay to take a nap.
- I don't NEED coffee to function.

Day 3

Activities: 
- Sorted photos from Friday's road trip
- Lunch with boyfriend and his friends from college (I brought my coconut water and had hot lemon water)
- Tidied up the apartment
- Laundry
- Around 3pm had my first food since Friday afternoon

How I felt:
- Tired (physically)
- A little weak
- Awake
- In need of 'real' (aka 'solid') food to complete the laundry chore

What I learned:
- It's okay to conserve your energy.

Results
- Weight = -3.5 lbs from Saturday morning to Monday morning
- Non-Scale Victory = I was able to fit into some smaller-sized jeans I found in my closet, and a dress and shorts that I wore last summer!

What I Learned Overall:
- It really makes a different to drink plenty of water, coconut water, herbal tea, and Kombucha in between all the juices.
- When in doubt, "Drink a green juice and it will pass".
- Only juice enough for about 1 day at a time, otherwise the juice will go bad.
- I bought enough produce to give me juice for more than 3 days.
- I am capable of doing a juice reboot for (nearly) three days!

Afterwards
I notice that I am reacting to foods in a different way. My coffee doesn't seem to taste as good. I felt like crap after having crackers for a snack at work and I CRAVED vegetables (i.e., salad) for lunch like I never had before. After work on Tuesday, I did a quick 2-mile jog before class. I had a jar of juice and I could only finish part of the quinoa and lentils that I had prepared (i.e., I am eating less).

Cost
Total Cost = $68.67 + tax

Cost Breakdown
By Category

Vegetables - $18.13

Fruit - $13.82

Juice containers - $7.49

Additional fluids - $29.13

By Item

Apples, Gala - $0.95

Apples, Green - $3.89

Broccoli - $1.69

Cabbage - $1.50

Caffeine free herbal tea - $3.69

Carrots - $3.18

Celery - $5.07

Coconut water (pure) - $14.97

Cucumbers - $2.36

Ginger Root - $0.56

Fennel - $1.99
Kale - $1.78

Kombucha - $10.47

Lemons - $3.99

Mason jars - $7.49

Oranges - $3.99

Pears - $0.47

Tomatoes - $0.53

Recipes

I used recipes found in Joe Cross's app: 101 Juice Recipes. 

Caprese Salad

(makes 2 servings)
3 plum tomatoes
1 fennel
1 small handful basil
0.5 lemon
1 pinch sea salt
0.5 tsp olive oil

Go-To Green

(makes 2 servings)

2 handfuls spinach
2 carrots
2 apples
2 ribs celery
1 cucumber

Green Carrot Ginger

(makes 2 servings)

1 inch ginger
1 cucumber
4 carrots
3 leaves kale
0.5 pear

Oh, Sweet Broccoli

(makes 2 servings)

2 oranges
1.5 head broccoli
1 cucumber
1 carrot

Triple C

(makes 2 servings)

0.25 head cabbage
3 carrots
4 ribs celery
1 green apple
1 lemon

A Motivating Benchmark, Plus Healthy Snack Ideas

For the past three weeks, I've been trying to get back into a more regular workout schedule. I notice that when I skip workouts, my lower back and shoulders feel tight and uncomfortable, and I really have to watch what I eat. When I exercise, my muscles feel looser and I have a little wiggle room in terms of my calorie intake.

A discovery I've made this week is that I've found some time-saving healthy snacks to eat. Before, I would spend a lot of time preparing smoothie bags for the week - and I think I've found a time-saving alternative to throw into the mix (i.e., I plan to still find time to make smoothies for breakfast occasionally).

Here are a few healthy snack ideas:

• sliced cucumber and hummus
• sliced bell pepper (I prefer orange, red, or yellow)
• sliced or whole apples (I prefer Honey Crisp, Pink Lady, or Jazz)

Current goal: Lose ~15 lbs.

Current loss*: 10 lbs.

*For a more current amount, see the icon in the top right corner of this blog.

This step toward my weight-loss goal has earned me a badge on Fitbit.com!

Found: New Tasty Food

Today, I re-discovered that it's not okay to go to the grocery store before a meal. I also discovered something in Kroger's sushi section called Vegetable Rolls. They are veggies wrapped in lettuce leaves and tapioca something-or-other instead of rice and seaweed. Therefore, less carbs and calories than the other "sushi" I usually get: California Rolls. They were super tasty and came with a packet of sweet chili sauce to dip them in. For a me-sized person, they were pretty filling, too. Although, I should have had a glass of water instead of 3/4 cup of Special K, Cinnamon Brown Sugar Crunch cereal. (But there are worse things I could have eaten!)

Photo from this website

Earn that shower!

I wanted to take a shower to 'freshen up', but I knew if I did, I would not do any exercise today. Instead, I made myself 'earn' the shower by doing this workout first.

Extra Motivation

As another way to motivate myself in the weight-loss department, I created a digital 'vision board' that I will see while at my computer. Because I'm going to be in a friend's wedding this summer, wearing a strapless dress, I want to have toned arms and to be thinner around the middle. I also added some education-related photos because I've been struggling with being motivated to get my homework and studying done in a timely manner this semester. I'm hoping that seeing these images will make me want to get up and exercise more - - and, hopefully, I'll spend more time at my computer getting homework done, too!