Category Archives: Health

Signing Up For More Races (or Hoping To Make It To 10)

Posted on July 26, 2013 | Comments Off on Signing Up For More Races (or Hoping To Make It To 10)

So I totally conquered my goal of 5 5Ks this year. In case you don’t remember the 5 that I did, here are the races (and links to the posts):

And now I’ve got an awesome collection of medals that look like this.

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And I’m going to be adding to my collection soon! I’ve signed up for 5K #6, #7, and #8 and I’m hoping that some of you (at least those of you who are local) can come and join me for one of them!

As of right now (because I might be adding more races) 5K #6 will be the LA Cancer Challenge 5K. I’ve never done this race before, but it’s Halloween themed so I really like that! This race is on October 27th so I’ve got a while before the race to try to get my time down some more (and maybe add in another race or two).

The next race that I’m signed up for is the weSPARK 5K that is at Universal Studios. I’ve done this race before, and I’m excited to be doing it for the 3rd time! The first link that I’ve shared for this race will link you to my fundraising page. I’m hoping to raise $100 this year for the cause, so if you can donate even a dollar it will help me out! You can also register to do the race at the link as well.

And finally, I’ve signed up for the Santa Monica Venice Christmas Run. This one is in December, and I’m thinking it is most likely the last race that I will do in 2013. So hopefully this race will end up being #10 instead of #8. This is another race that I’ve never done before, but I’ve heard from friends that the course is very flat, so I’m happy about that.

I’m so excited to have 3 more races coming up this year! I’m on the lookout for the races that will help me get to 10 total, but I’m having some trouble. A lot are on days that I can’t do one (due to my work schedule). And there are a few that I really want to do, but there is a time limit for the 5K and I know that I’m not that fast yet.

Fortunately, as I register for more and more 5Ks, I get added to more and more email lists that let me know about more races. So hopefully something fun will be in my inbox in the future.

I hope that some of you can donate to the weSPARK 5K, as this is a fundraiser for an amazing organization! Also, please let me know if you are going to also do one of the 5Ks I’ve listed because I always love running into people I know at the race!

I still can’t believe that I’m this excited to do 5Ks when only a year ago I was stressed about doing 2 or 3 in a year!

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Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health

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Trying To Cook (or Eating Something Different From Day To Day)

Posted on July 10, 2013 | 1 comment

I’ve really been trying to be better with my food. I feel so much better when my food is something nutritious (and not just something that stays under my calorie goal for the day).

On the mornings that I go to spin class, I have a specific breakfast plan. I have a chai tea protein shake that I get from the grocery store that I’ll drink before class. I usually drink half of the shake before class and the other half when I get home. This way, I’m not working out on an empty stomach or feeling too full in my workout (both make me feel very nauseous). I usually have a second breakfast closer to when I go to work at noon (since my lunch break isn’t until 4:30pm). It’s been working well for me.

On the non-spin class mornings, I have been in a bit of a breakfast rut. I like to eat eggs because they keep me full and are good for me, but most days I do scrambled eggs (2 egg whites and 2 whole eggs). But I’ve been working on being creative. The other day, I made this awesome breakfast.

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Toast with mashed avocado on it topped with a sunny side up egg (with a drippy yolk). It was so simple, yet so delicious! And it was very very filling!

I’m also getting better with bringing my lunch to work with me. I’ve discovered these really amazing containers that I love to use for my lunches.

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It’s a 3 compartment container, and it fits perfectly in my lunch bag. For this particular lunch I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, sliced strawberries, and a piece of flattened banana. I’ve also brought salads in this container with fruit or protein in the smaller compartments.

It’s funny how the simplest thing can help me on my goal to bringing my lunch with me to work!

And speaking of simple things that help make big changes, I’ve been working on drinking more water at work as well. For some reason, I do fine at home, but not at work. And then it hit me. The straw in my cup at work is significantly bigger than the straw in my cup at home (I always try to drink water with a straw). Once I switched out my cup, my water intake at work got much better. It’s such a stupid little change, but whatever works! Right?

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Posted in Food, Fun Stuff, Health, Work

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7 Years (or Time Really Does Fly By)

Posted on July 8, 2013 | Comments Off on 7 Years (or Time Really Does Fly By)

Yesterday marked an anniversary for me. It had been 7 years since my hip surgery. I can’t believe it’s been that long!

The hip surgery had marked the end of a pretty long ordeal for me. Things started in September of 2005. I had collapsed in the Portland airport and had trouble walking. After that, I was misdiagnosed for several months. Finally, I got my proper diagnosis and had my surgery.

I can remember that day like it was yesterday. The nurse in pre-op hated me because I wanted my mom to be in pre-op with me with they put the IV in (I knew I had a high probability of fainting). I also remember having to sign my leg in pre-op to show that they had the correct leg to operate on. And I remember joking to a friend afterwards how I thought it was funny that I had to take a pre-surgery pregnancy test (it was negative, of course).

This had been my first surgery as an adult, so I was worried how I would react to the anesthesia. Turns out, I wake up very quickly and very lucid after surgery. In my surgery, they put my right foot in a boot to keep things stable. When I woke up, my foot was still in the boot and I asked my surgeon if they had screwed up my pedicure in the surgery (they didn’t).

Recovery was not as horrible as I thought it would be. I had been in so much pain before that I was so happy with the minimal pain I felt after. I’ve since discovered that I have a new type of pain, but again, it is significantly less than what I felt before.

I remember in one of my post-op appointments (after my surgeon discovered that I have the same defect in my left hip), that it was expected that my other hip would have to be corrected within 5 years. I’m pretty damn proud of myself that I’ve made it this long without needing surgery.

Even though my surgery wasn’t necessarily fun, I look back at it with happy memories. Both my mom and dad came to LA to take care of me (my dad took some of the only sick days he ever used in his 30+ years at his job to help me). While I was recovering, my mom and I went to Warner Bros. to take a tour (I used to be a tour guide there). And we took some fun pictures that I still love to look at.

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I still am in shock how many years ago the surgery was. It really feels like it was only maybe a year ago. And hopefully it will still be many more years before I have my other hip done.

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Posted in Family, Health, Tough Stuff

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A Moment Of Self-Consciousness (or Did I Look Like A Newbie?)

Posted on July 3, 2013 | 2 comments

Yesterday I went to my spin class. I hadn’t been to this particular class time in about a week or two (I’ve had a bit of a crazy schedule).

The class was great and I really felt the workout this time. I pushed myself a lot harder than I’m comfortable doing (that’s the point of class) and I know that I was sweating like crazy.

I felt amazing after class. I knew I worked really hard and I’m feeling a lot stronger (I still have to do the entire class sitting down due to my hip, but I’m working on it).

I was sitting on a bench outside of class changing out of my bike shoes into my flip-flops when a guy who was in class with me came up to me. He congratulated me on getting through class. I said thank you and continued to get ready to head home. Then two more people came up to me and said that I did a good job in class.

It was kind of weird. Did they think that I was having a tough time in class and needed the encouragement? Did they think that this was my first class? Did I look like I didn’t belong?

I hate having these doubting thoughts in my head, but I can’t help it. I’ve had a tough time finding a place where I’m comfortable working out and not feeling like a freak. Even though I’m probably the heaviest person in the spin class, the employees there make me feel incredibly welcome (even giving me ideas of restaurants near my work that does take-out). And most of the time, I feel like everyone else there.

But with all those people coming up to me after class, I felt like an outsider. I know that there is a chance that they were just being polite and friendly to me, but it almost felt patronizing.

I’m not going to let this get to me. It’s taken me a long time to find a workout that I actually love (and not just tolerate). Maybe next time that someone comes up to me and says something like that, I’ll try to engage them in a conversation and not just say thank you. I should congratulate them for kicking butt in class too. It is an accomplishment that not everybody can do.

And I really should be proud of myself for doing it no matter how hard it is or how much of the class I have to do sitting down.

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Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health, Tough Stuff

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Baby Steps (or Trying To Be Proud Of The Little Victories)

Posted on June 19, 2013 | 1 comment

For some reason, I can’t get it in my head that little victories are the steps that I need to take to get to big victories.

I should be ecstatic that I did my last 5K 10 seconds faster than my previous one. But all I can think about is how I am still over a minute slower than my goal time. But when I’ve talked about this with friends who run races, they talk about how they want to be 3 seconds faster or something like that. So 10 seconds (or 26 if you are counting how much faster I am now than my first timed one this year) is amazing.

I have the same issue celebrating my weight loss. I saw a friend online who mentioned that she lost 15 pounds since January and is now only 5 pounds away from her goal weight. That’s amazing! But for me, losing 20 pounds since I set my goal last year is not impressive at all. It’s a drop in the bucket for what I’m trying to do.

I know that in the past in my life, I’ve seen these victories as setbacks. Why have I only lost 20 pounds and not 60? Or 80? It’s a failure. This is why I hesitate to set goals for myself. If I don’t make it, I’ve failed. I haven’t had a partial win.

I don’t know how to change this mindset. I’ve discussed it in the past in therapy (I’ve stopped going because my new insurance doesn’t cover it and my therapist and I agreed that I was ok to stop). One of the things my therapist suggested doing was to not have goals for things related to my weight or health at all. That way, I’d never seem to fail.

But clearly, setting goals does work for me because I did my 5 5Ks in 6 months! Maybe I need to set goals that I can control more, but what counts as control? I should be able to control my weight, but it doesn’t work that way. I should be able to control my speed for my 5K, but again that doesn’t seem to happen for me.

I don’t know if I’m trying to get answers by writing this on here or what, but I needed to let it out. I know that I should be celebrating my 10 second victory this week, and I’m going to try to. I just wish that I didn’t feel like I was faking my happiness.

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Posted in Celebrations, Fitness, Health, Tough Stuff, Weight Loss

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Getting More Serious (or I Think I Need New Shoes Before Doing Another 5K)

Posted on June 18, 2013 | Comments Off on Getting More Serious (or I Think I Need New Shoes Before Doing Another 5K)

After doing 5K #5, I expected to hurt a little. It’s the reality of my life. I ended up hurting a bit more than usual because Sunday happened to be a bad day for my hip, but that’s ok.

But I was really surprised when I was getting dressed for the rest of my day on Sunday and discovered a huge blister on the back of my right heel. The blister was about the size of a quarter and it hurt a lot!

I immediately went to check out my shoes. I thought maybe there was a little pebble in my shoe that I didn’t notice or something like that. I didn’t expect to see this.

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It’s hard to tell in the photo what is going on, so let me explain. The grey part is obviously the lining of the shoe. The yellow is the foam padding that is underneath the lining. And the white is the plastic that is used to reinforce the heel of the shoe. And on the edge of that plastic there is a piece that is breaking off. And my heel was rubbing up against that for the entire race.

It’s no wonder why I have a blister! But I don’t know why I wore my shoes down like that. These aren’t super old shoes, but I’ve had them for about 2 years. And I know that you are supposed to replace your shoes every 300 miles or so, but I guess I just thought that since I don’t do distances over 5Ks, I had more time that the 3-6 months that most websites say.

I have a tough time finding shoes that I like, and sadly the walking shoes I have now were discontinued. They are the New Balance True Balance shoes (the ones that they falsely claimed toned your legs more than other shoes). I did a search online for the shoes and while I did find some on a few sites, none of them had my size.

I’m thinking of trying to go get a real shoe fitting for new walking shoes. Since I know that my New Balance ones fit me nicely, I might bring them with me to the New Balance store in Santa Monica and see what shoes they recommend for me.

Now that I’m doing more than 1 or 2 5Ks a year (and still hope to do a 10K sometime in the future), I probably should look at taking things more seriously and not just as a hobby. I do need to be more aware of the wear on my shoes so that this doesn’t happen again (blisters suck).

Hopefully I’ll be able to make it to the New Balance store at some point this week and I can update you all on some cute new walking shoes!

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5K #5 (or It Only Took Me 6 Months To Complete A 1 Year Goal)

Posted on June 17, 2013 | 3 comments

Yesterday, I completed 5K #5. I still can’t believe that I did it! I remember when I was writing this post and wondering if I would ever get it done.

At the time I wrote that post, the 5Ks I had in mind were the Color Run, the March of Dimes March for Babies (which I ended up missing because I was at the dress fitting that day), the Revlon Run/Walk, and then doing the Universal Studios one again. That would be 4 and I figured I would find another one before the end of 2013.

I never would have guessed on January 1st that I would complete my goal by June 16th. Part of what helped me get it done was just taking the risk and signing up for races that I didn’t know well. It does make me have a bit more anxiety during the race (because I don’t know the course that well ahead of time), but I’ve learned that using Google maps I can help reduce some of my panic and be more prepared.

Anyway, back to my recap of my race yesterday. I signed up for this one because it was extremely close to my house (the start/finish line was just under a mile from my front door) and there was a discounted entry for employees of the Culver City Unified School District (technically, I am still employed there as a substitute teacher).

Yesterday morning was not my best morning. I woke up in pretty bad pain. If I didn’t have a race, I probably would have spent my morning doing stretches and waiting for painkillers to kick in. I didn’t have that option, so I did some stretches and took some painkillers and hoped for the best. Because of needing to do extra stretches, I was running late. So instead of walking to the start line, I ended up driving (looking back, I wish I rode my bike as there were areas to lock bikes up right by the start/finish line).

The 5K started before the 10K, so I went to the start line and hung to the back of the pack. And of course, I took a before picture.

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I found that shirt at Old Navy and felt it was pretty fitting since that shirt expresses how I feel about finishing a year-long goal in half the time.

I was one of the last people to start the race. One of my fears is being the last person to cross the finish line, so I tried to focus on staying ahead of at least a few people. For the first 2 miles, I was in pain. It sucked, but I pushed through (I’m only regretting that a little now as I’m still in pain). But I kept going and was very happy when I could see the finish line in my sight.

I ended up crossing the finish line 10 seconds faster than the Firefly Run, which means that I’ve taken 26 seconds off of my Hollywood Half 5K time (the first officially timed race I did this year).

And my self-portrait finish picture.

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I was very happy that 4 people finished the 5K after me, so I wasn’t last. And right after I crossed the finish line, the winner of the 10K crossed. So it was pretty cool to see that.

Sorry for the short recap of this race. It wasn’t a super eventful race for me and I was by myself so I didn’t take a ton of pictures. But it did get me to my goal, and that will make this race very memorable.

So what’s next? I still have a few other 5Ks in mind, but I don’t know if I want to set another goal (like doing 10). If I do that, it will be awesome, but I also have to keep in mind that races aren’t always the cheapest things to do. I will do the Universal Studios one again, and there’s a Santa Monica one I’m looking at towards the end of the year.

But for now, I’m just super happy that I have a nice collection of bibs and medals.

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My dad hasn’t been in town yet so my super cool medal hanger that my aunt got me is still not up yet. But it will be hopefully very soon. At least I can admire my work this way for now.

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Posted in Celebrations, Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health

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Seeing Signs (or How A Smurf Put Me In A Good Mood)

Posted on June 14, 2013 | 1 comment

This week hasn’t been the best week for me. I’ve been in a bit of a funk. My eating hasn’t been that great. And I haven’t worked out in a while. Part of the lack of working out was the fact that I didn’t have a sports bra for a while, but I’ve had a new one for 2 days and I still haven’t done anything.

As much as I want to get out of the funk, something is holding me back. I don’t know what. I do have a 5K this weekend, and I will do that no matter what, so hopefully that will turn my attitude around.

But this week, I had an encounter that made me smile. First, a little back story.

I studied with my acting coach, Kip King, from 2002 until he died in 2010. I had a very special bond with him (our birthdays are 2 days apart so he called me his birthday buddy). He knew how to push me but not go too far. One of Kip’s big acting jobs was being Tailor Smurf on “The Smurfs”. So when Kip was sick and in the hospital, I brought him Smurf things I found at various stores, like a Smurf Christmas ornament.

Ok, back to the regular story. I was in Babies R Us the other day getting a gift for a baby shower that I’m going to this weekend. I was walking around the aisles looking for the perfect gift when in the middle of a diaper aisle I saw this.

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It was a set of Smurf toys that said Happy Smurfday! on them. Technically, none of these Smurfs are Tailor Smurf (who has a needle through his hat), but it still felt like a sign to me. Why would there be a bunch of birthday Smurfs in the middle of the diaper aisle (and yes, I know the reasonable explanation is that a kid put them there)?

I saw those toys and I smiled. I thought about Kip and how much he believed in me no matter what. He saw me lose and gain weight all the time and loved me no matter what. He said that he knew that I would make it as an actress as long as I was patient enough to wait my turn.

Maybe I need to have that same mentality to my weight. I’m not going to sit around and not do anything, but I’m not going to let myself get this upset and in these slumps again like this. Right now might not be my turn to lose weight, but if I keep working at it like I do with my acting, eventually it will be my turn and things will fall into place. If I’m willing to work hard and be patient with my acting career (which I’m more than happy to do), why am I not allowing myself to have that same mentality to everything else in my life?

So thank you to Kip (or the kid that stuck those toys there) for helping me to see things a little differently when I was in a low spot.

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Posted in Acting, Fitness, Health, Tough Stuff, Weight Loss

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2 Steps Forward 1 Step Back (or Going With The Flow)

Posted on June 5, 2013 | Comments Off on 2 Steps Forward 1 Step Back (or Going With The Flow)

Again, I can never depend on life just going the way it should be.

I was starting to get used to my work schedule again, then I get sick. Everyone in my office was passing around this bug and I was the 5th person to get it. Fortunately, I have a very understanding boss who let me take a day off when I had a fever. Yesterday when I got up, my temperature was 102. It finally went below 100 at bedtime.

And I finally was getting into a nice groove with my workouts. I absolutely love spinning. I just did 5K #4 (and signed up for 5K #5 for later this month). And when I went to wash my sports bra this weekend after the 5K, it died a nice gruesome death in the washing machine. What happened was the metal fasteners from the back got trapped in the machine. It got totally shredded most likely during the spin cycle (enter spin cycle/SoulCycle spin class pun here). This was my only sports bra. It’s incredibly tough to find one that works for me and comes in my size.

After these two things happened pretty much back to back, I wanted to have a meltdown. I did have a minor freakout, but in the privacy of my house. And I had to fix both problems quickly.

Obviously, getting over a sickness is not something that you can completely control. But I’m drinking a ton of water to flush this out of my system, and I’m focusing on getting plenty of sleep. And while I was home being sick, I went online and found a sports bra that I liked online. It’s from Lane Bryant, and they fit their sports bras like their regular bras (which I wear), so I’m hoping it will fit me. I thought about waiting until I had time to go to the store to try it on, but if I do that, it will be far too easy to put off for forever. According to my online order, I should have my new sports bras (I ordered 2 so I wouldn’t have this problem again) by the end of this week/beginning of next week.

Even though it might not sound like it from this post, but I’m getting better at dealing with unexpected issues. In the past, I would have seen the ripped sports bra as an excuse to not keep working out or to bail on my next 5K. Now I just see it as a minor set back that was easily fixed by doing some quick shopping online. Even though this may sound like baby steps, they are at least baby steps going in the right direction.

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Posted in Fitness, Health, Shopping, Tough Stuff, Work

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Firefly Run 5K (or 5K #4!)

Posted on June 3, 2013 | 1 comment

On Friday, I completed 5K #4 for the year (I’m almost past my 2013 5K goal!). I did the Firefly Run. This was my very first nighttime race, but I loved it!

I first heard about this race from my friend Kate. She saw a deal for the race on Living Social, so she and I both bought deals for our entries in the race

There was no pre-race pickup for bibs and timing chips, so Kate and I headed out there pretty early so we’d have time to deal with traffic and pick up our stuff.

Turns out, we got to the race 4 hours before it started! I picked up my number (my lowest race number ever!).

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After picking up our numbers, Kate and I decided to wait out the time in her car. Because we got there so early, we managed to park about 30 feet away from the start/finish line (the banner in the picture).

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When it was about 90 minutes until the start time, we decided to get ready. I had gotten a tutu and bow tie at Party City earlier in the week (I also got glow necklaces/bracelets), and I was planning on wearing a plain t-shirt. The race t-shirts were technical shirts, and I’ve never found one that fit me properly.

Until I got the race shirt for this race! It was so comfortable so I decided that it was the perfect touch to my outfit.

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Those weird yellow things at my ankles are reflective LED bands. Everyone in the race got them to wear. Right after taking this picture, I decided to use the bow tie as a hair bow. It kept getting caught in my glow necklace and iPhone headphones and I wanted to make sure nothing was in my way from having a great race.

We wandered around the start line where they had some food for sale.

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None of those things sounded like good pre-race foods. Besides, Kate and I had made a stop before arriving at 7-11 where we picked up some snacks and water.

We took some fun pre-race photos by the start line and the giant LED wall.

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And before we knew it, it was time to line up. Kate was running, so she went to the front of the pack and I hung back with the walkers. But that gave me a great chance to check out everyone else’s glowing outfits.

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I seriously loved these guys with full LED suits. They ended up passing me in the race.

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They let us go out in heats. I ended up being the very last person to go in the first heat. So I had a pretty odd experience racing. At the beginning, I was almost completely alone. Everyone else ahead of me was running, and I was walking. A few minutes later, a big crowd of runners passed me as the next heat was started. This happened each time a new heat started, so my race was both crowded and empty.

The course was pretty crazy. We went all around the Home Depot Center. We went around the soccer stadium, the track, and all over the campus. There were a lot of places that we went back and forth, and I’m wondering if that was done so we could all admire the glowing people (I personally thought that was cool).

There were only a few negatives for me. First of all, there was no mile 1 marker. That stressed me out. I was curious how on pace I was doing, and until the mile 2 marker, I had no clue. Also, there was about 1/2 mile of the course that was on a dirt track, so I tried to pull my shirt over my mouth so I didn’t breathe in all the dirt. And finally, there was a lot of times we were going up or down a slight incline. For most people, this wouldn’t matter, but with my hips it makes a different.

As I got close to the finish line, I heard someone cheering for me. Kate, who had finished earlier with a personal best time, was waiting about 10 feet from the finish line for me. I’m so grateful that I have a race buddy who is willing to wait for me to finish. I ended up crossing 16 seconds faster than my best 2013 time. I was about 90 second slower than I hoped I would be, but that’s not too bad.

We didn’t stay for any of the festivities after the race because I had to be at work pretty early the next morning. But I did take the time to take a victory photo.

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Overall, I’d say this was a pretty successful race! I had a great time, the atmosphere was wonderful and positive, and the weather was ideal! I’m already thinking about looking for more nighttime races (and doing this one again next year!).

4 5Ks down, 1 more to go to meet my goal. And 5K #5 is in 2 weeks!

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