Nini and I will run our last outdoor 5K for 2017 this Saturday. It’s predicted to be cold AND maybe snowy which we don’t want but we’re committed to putting on our Christmas decorative running gear and doing it. This one is to benefit a toy drive in our neighborhood.
“That voice in your head that says you can’t do this…is a liar.”
(in Virtual Strides card I received with my 5K metal today)
Low key but exciting day! I came in from a 3-mile run out in the cold but sunny yard to find some great things. But first about the run. Last night after dinner, my husband and I were discussing building up speed and he being a musician and knowing about metronomes was better acquainted with cadences and running beats per minutes. So I programmed one on my Seconds Pro app to warm up and cool down for 2:30 minutes and run 160 BPM for 25 minutes. Michael was right! I did log in more miles (according to both my phone and new Fitbit) in a shorter period of time than I normally do. Plus with paying attention to my breathing, that helped tremendously too. I also had another app going, the Audible listening to a book about the neuroscience of naturally thin women’s brains versus overweight and former overweight women’s brains and the neuroplasticity of the brain to change to the former (more about that in another post after I’ve read it all).
So after coming in, several packages arrived. My Engine 2 For Life Harvest Hustle 5K bib and metal for the 5K I did last week arrived! Love it! THEN, my sweatshirt “Eat Plants and Move Your Body, All Ya Gotta Do Is A Little More Than Ya Did Yesterday” that I ordered from Fatmanrants.com arrived! (The mug had arrived the other day.) My daughter Nini looked at it and said it looks so small! (I ordered a size small.) I put it on and it fit perfectly. Then I went into our small home gym where Michael had just finished running. He was sweating buckets, hence the not too close and cozy pic. 😆
So my motto today is borrowed from Tim over at Fatmanrants.com—Eat plants and move your body….
#Grateful
#BackyardRunner
#TreadmillDad
#WeightliftingDad
#PlantBasedGodsGrace
#ThrowbackThursday
#PlantBasedGodsGrace
Me (left) about 120 pounds heavier at amusement park with two younger kids. Yesterday my older daughter reminded me how I used to have to take a break and sit down a lot when we went to amusement parks. On the right is me and my younger daughter Nini about to cross the finish line at a 5K November 18, 2017. Her smile in that picture on the right meant so much to me for all she has accomplished. ❤️
Me wearing my size 6 jeans today 11/30/17 while holding up my former size 24 pair of jeans.
There was one day this week that Nini and I ran INDOORS! It was freezing outside that day so we opted to stay in. It was Tuesday. I ran in the morning and Nini ran after school on the treadmill. I did 30 minutes but she did a whopping 40. But today we were back outside. It was really cold again and I started coughing but I remembered what a friend had said about proper breathing for fatigue and apparently it works well for keeping the lungs warm too (thanks Tim)! Breathing in through my nose deeply then out through my mouth helped tremendously. Nini had wanted to do 20 straight running before walking and today was the easiest for the both of us and I credit the proper breathing. Who knew?! I always tell my students that a good teacher is a good student.
Also, after work I added 30 minutes strength training. I normally don’t have time after work to exercise but my husband gave the idea of besides the weekend for lifting adding Thursday afternoons for weight lifting and having it be “make your own dinner day” for everyone so that I could have the time to do this. So they’re working together in the upstairs kitchen to do that and now after lifting, I’m downstairs doing a quick stir fry that will go on top of spinach with 1/2 of a baked sweet potato. Now everyone is saying my food smells great. Lol. But I promised them the banana nice cream for dessert so that pacified them a bit. 🙂
#TreadmillMom
#TreadmillGirl
#BackyardRunners
#PlantBasedGodsGrace
#Backyardrunners = #MarathonRunners? Time will tell, by God’s grace.
I’m proud of my older daughter Mika for stepping up her game! A few weeks before the Best Buddies 5K she finally realized what we had been discussing since the summer: If you don’t train consistently, you won’t perform at your best. So she started to get more consistent. But she wasn’t satisfied with her run because she knows she’s done better when trained. So since then she has been even more consistent and even started on a strength training routine. She’s also motivated by our good friend who was her guide at the last 5K (thanks Ms. Heather!) who is an awesome runner. Running with Heather was great for Mika for a lot of reasons. Mika has a great respect for her as a caring person and as a runner. Also, Mika felt protected. She (and the rest of us) didn’t anticipate the rough, potholed streets, in some areas as well as the allowed car traffic so she was happy Heather was there and made her feel safe. Mika also realized that she may use a tether the next time like her sister and Dad did (or have it handy just in case) because of all those possible unknown variables in a race. Lots of lessons learned.
The other night before and during dinner we were all discussing possibly doing a half marathon 😮 next year (2018) in preparation for a full marathon the year after (2019). The logistics for next year I realize are daunting (fees are one thing but there is training and the time for it in my incredibly busy, responsibility-filled life, guides for safety most importantly, etc.) so I’m still not sure…. But I’m praying on it and looking into it. Last Sunday I was on my knees in church and praying and saying to the Lord, “I still feel like my body is broken, not 100% there, much better but still some residual hip pain sometimes and I’m not sure….” Then the verse came right into my head, “This is my body, broken for you.” I don’t know exactly what it means for me but it stunned me in my prayers and I’m still praying and discerning.
Friends, it’s never too late to become consistent in your healthy eating and movement. Whether you’re running or walking on a treadmill, running in your backyard, or moving your body in some other way, consistency counts. And consistently eating fruits and vegetables as well as other healthy plant foods fuels your body well for that movement!
#RunningGirl
#PlantBasedGodsGrace
Looking for a healthy Christmas and Holiday present or stocking stuffer (it’s small enough to squeeze in one 🙂 )? Please consider purchasing my book for yourself or a loved one. I won’t make much from this self-published book but I hope that my health testimony and tips will be able to help others in their journeys to weight release and vibrant health! See the link below and order soon as printing and shipping can take about a week from TheBookPatch. 💓🙏🏿🎄❄️
Engine2’s Harvest Hustle 5K to benefit the Whole Kids Foundation done! In my backyard! I was sore from my full body weight lifting yesterday, including 100 squats with dumbbells but I’m grateful to be able to 🏃🏾♀️ run! Michael was like, wait, you’re going to do a 5K NOW, in the Yard?! Lol. It was well past 11 AM and I wasn’t even dressed yet since we hosted Thanksgiving family potluck at our house and I was up way past midnight cleaning up. I was going to do a shorter run but after seeing Rip Esselstyn’s video on this run I decided to run for a cause (besides my physical, mental, and spiritual health).
Hey, you can run/walk and sign up to do this too here:
https://www.virtualstrides.com/product/harvest-hustle/Harvest Hustle 5k
#Grateful
#HarvestHustle
#BackyardRunner
#PlantBasedGodsGrace
I know that video about making a gluten free, dairy free, healthy vegan dessert (and it’s nothing but air the whole way) is supposed to be a joke. But guess what, our health is NOT a joke. The fact that most heart attacks and strokes and deaths from them happen between Thanksgiving and New Years is NO joke. The fact that we’re getting fatter and sicker from preventable lifestyle diseases is NO joke and the fact that we’ve lost too many friends and family from those diseases because of our obsession and addiction to all this processed food-like substances is NO joke! So here’s my response to it:
I was a junk food vegetarian for my whole life but over four years ago went whole food plant based vegan. Released pain, sickness and over 100 pounds. Went from a size 24 to 6. Gained health, strength, gratitude, and self published a short book on my journey where I include this recipe in the picture below for a sugar-free (fruit sweetened), gluten free (ground oatmeal), dairy-free, oil-free, salt-free cake recipe that I developed for special occasions and which even my meat-loving friends know isn’t close to tasting like air. But besides that, nothing tastes as good as healthy—real foods like fruits, vegetables, beans, yams, seeds, nuts and Not plantation foods and fake foods that we’ve been killing ourselves with.
So I don’t eat air. But it feels great to be able to BREATHE air well while I’m running and moving and able to do SO much more by God’s Grace.
🥦🍠🍇🍎🍐🍊🍓🍅🍌🥒🍑🥗🏃🏾♀️🙏🏿
#Grateful
#PlantBasedGodsGrace
Nini and I were in the Yard running in surprisingly balmy but cool weather! It was 50! It felt awesome and I even shed my sweater halfway through. Rain drops started falling at the cool down and Nini got even happier because she loves rain. Mika slept in and plans to run on the treadmill later.
#Grateful
#BackyardRunners
#DownhillGirls
#PlantBasedGodsGrace
…And in other Plant Based God’s Grace news, Michael Besson Sr. continues to do fabulously on his health with great blood pressure (no meds) and continued weight loss. Last year I bought him Extra-Large sweatpants as a gift. Last week I bought him Medium ones! And this past Saturday he just completed his first outdoor 5K with our good friend Tim Kaufman guiding him in 35 minutes! Now he’s talking about a future marathon! Oh man… 🙂 Go Michael! So proud of you!
Plant Based God's Grace 