July 27, 2011 - My Healthy, Happier Life

Hi guys! I’m Theodora, and I blog over at Losing Weight in the City about how I maintain my 50-pound weight loss without sacrificing any of my fun, single girl in NYC lifestyle. I’ve loved reading Ashley’s Marathons and Moderations series and am happy to contribute to it.

While I usually like to approach everything in moderation, including moderation, training for a marathon makes this difficult.

I mean, seriously. Try going out for a night of drinks the night before you’re going to run 20 miles. Or after you’ve run 20 miles. Neither are particularly fun.

This picture was obviously not taken before or after 20 miles.

But as a single girl living in NYC, my social life (and alcohol) are things I refuse to give up during marathon training. But in order to not die while running, some moderation and making your training social is definitely needed. Here’s how I do it.

Happy Hour. Happy hour is my best friend during marathon training. If I don’t have a run planned for the next morning (and sometimes even if I do), you can usually find me at happy hour. It is much easier to recover from a drink or two and run six miles than it is to recover from a drink or two and run twenty. Plus, I can still get into bed early after happy hour and get plenty of sleep.

Sunday Funday. Really, finding different times to be social is the secret to my not going crazy during marathon training. If I’ve stayed in on Friday night and Saturday night because of my running schedule, I’m usually raring to go on Sundays. Sunday brunch or a Sunday Funday is a great way to feel like I’m not missing out on fun just because I don’t want to go out on a Friday or Saturday night.

Train with Friends. I don’t know if I would have been able to get through training for the Chicago Marathon last year without Ashley. We did most of our long runs together, chatting for hours and hours as we covered miles and miles. It helped me to think of marathon training as something fun and social, rather than something taking me away from my social life.

Don’t Miss Important Events. Unless you’re getting paid to run, it’s really not worth skipping important events to work in a long run. You can move around your schedule and find time to get your run in. I promise. Missing something important to get your run in will just make you resent running. I know it’s not always fun, but nursing a drink, or even (gasp!) drinking water beats missing out.

Embrace Step-Back Weeks. When you’re running 18 or 20 miles, a step-back week with a long run of 13 miles scheduled seems like a short run. (Because marathon training is crazy.) So, while I still don’t advocate going out and getting drunk the night before a 13-miler, go ahead and embrace it. Stay out a little later. Enjoy yourself.

One Glass is Probably Okay. This totally depends on the person, but I’ve found that, for me, I can handle a glass of wine the night before a long run without becoming too dehydrated. In fact, the night before my first 15-miler, I was way too nervous and one little glass of wine totally took the edge off.

Overdoing It Once in a While Won’t Hurt. A week before my marathon, I had a very late night. While I probably *shouldn’t* have done that so close to the marathon, I don’t think it hurt me much in the long run.

Plan Something Fun for After the Marathon. Or lots of something funs. Ashley and I got to know Fun Theodora and Fun Ashley very well once we finished our marathons. For me, crossing the finish line was well worth the months of sacrifice, but having lots of Fun Ashley and Fun Theodora nights after our marathons made us appreciate our free nights (as weird as they were at first) more than we ever had before.

So, while it does take quite a bit of sacrifice to train for and run a marathon, I think it’s totally possible to achieve moderation and keep an active social life.

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Today marks the 7th birthday of Bo’s that we’ve celebrated together.

We’ve been through a lot over the years.

While we graduated high school together, we weren’t close friends in high school. In fact, I may have asked him to the prom and been turned down. What can I say, he was that cool and I was that uncool. Oh high school, how I don’t miss it.

But, as they say, things happen for a reason and 18 months after high school graduation our paths crossed one Thursday night during my sorority’s Fall crush party. There was no reason that he should have been there. He didn’t go to UGA and he only knew a few people in my sorority. But, as luck would have it his good friend was dating my sorority sister.

The roles had reversed by now and I was the one who wanted nothing to do with him. I was in the midst of finding myself and had a new confidence that I never had during high school. I didn’t want to talk to someone who had previously treated me like dirt.

Luckily, he was smarter, and gave me some line about maturing and growing up and I accepted it in a slightly tipsy haze. Over the next month we chatted on AIM daily since we were 100 miles away apart, sophomores at University of Georgia and Georgia Tech.

The rest, as they say is history.

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We enjoyed every minute of our time in Athens and Atlanta, enjoying weekend trips back in forth to each city while allowing each other the space to grow and focus on college during the week. We never suffocated each other which is one of the things that I look back upon so thankfully. Over those three years of college that we were together we still evolved as individuals. In fact, you can read more about Bo’s evolution at his Healthy Tipping Point on Caitlin’s blog. bopost1 (604x453) (604x453)

Over the year’s Bo has taught me a great deal about life and how to truly enjoy it. He is the primary reason I’ve been able to find balance and enjoy each day.

He taught me to dance.

He helped me embrace the chaos of New York versus letting it scare me.

He shared his passion for food and cooking.

His love of the water has allowed me to explore Anguilla, The Bahamas, Bermuda, Miami, Seattle, and the Eastern Shore by boat.

He’s a great sport, even when I con him into attending Healthy Living Summit.

His signature moves never get old, especially with a side of beer.

He knows when it’s okay to have some fun and be a kid, whether in Disney World or our own kitchen.

He appreciates and respects the women in his life.

His sense of adventure has made every one of our travels more interesting.

While we’ve already completed many a race together, I look forward to many more.

I couldn’t be happier or more thankful that on November 13th, 2008 he asked me to be his wife.

At the behest of our photographer, we shared an ice cream cone immediately following our wedding on November 21, 2009.

Happy 27th birthday Bo!

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First of all, thank you so much for the sweet comments, emails, and notes about the changes taking place right now in our world.

It was definitely unusual waking up alone this morning for my workout. I’m accustomed to having a gym and commute buddy each day so it was a bit lonely. To avoid hitting the snooze button since I don’t have anyone to hold me accountable, I may have set my phone alarm for 5:40, 5:42, and 5:45. Success!

Due to a change in schedule with my trainer, I did my 3 mile run and spin today. There wasn’t a class that worked with my schedule so I just hopped on a spin bike and did my own thing for 20 minutes.

My legs felt a bit tight this morning after the workout so I spent a few minutes icing with vegetables because I’m classy like that.

The rest of my day was uneventful, other than the fact that I captured a picture of EVERYTHING I ate for the first time in ages. A few readers have requested that I make my daily food a more regular feature on the blog. I’m going to give it a try for a few days and see how I feel. I’m also definitely open to feedback.

Breakfast included oatmeal, banana, cinnamon, and 1/2 scoop of vanilla protein powder. I also enjoyed a cool and refreshing iced green tea on the side. Did you know that if you save your cup and you have a Gold Card, you get free refills at Starbucks?

My stomach was growling 30 minutes before we stepped out for lunch so I enjoyed my homemade fruit cup of strawberries and grapefruit.

I tried a new salad combination today at lunch and loved the heartiness, flavor, and variety.

Today’s mix included grilled chicken, beets, baby spinach, 1/2 portion blue cheese, red onions, chopped tomatoes, celery, salt, pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. On the side I enjoyed Baked Ruffles.

I knew Bo and I would be eating dinner later tonight since I had an after work appointment, so I bit into a juicy peach around 4!

My after work appointment was a facial!

Melissa makes fun of my spa obsessions but appointments like this are a great way to relax. Also, I wouldn’t say getting a massage once a month makes me an addict, but if it does, I’m okay with that. I only get a facial once or twice a year so it’s a relaxing treat that also has wonderful side affects. In full disclosure, I’m working with Equinox to put together a special promotion for local New Yorkers but will also be doing a more in depth post regarding skin care and some of the things I learned today. The good news is a lot of the tips and tricks were free or very inexpensive!

The best part of the day though, was walking through the door to the smell of grilled chicken! Holy goodness! Who knew you could make beer can chicken in your oven?! IMG_3392 (640x478)

Tonight’s dinner included:

Butter lettuce salad with chopped tomatoes, red onion, salt, pepper, and Trader Joes Parmesan Ranch dressing
Beer Can Chicken made in the oven using our cast iron pan
Grilled squash and zucchini

Clearly it was a delicious dinner enjoyed by both of us.

Last but not least, a portion controlled dessert to answer my screaming sweet tooth.

Question: Do you enjoy the more thorough food pictures which document everything I eat?

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Marathons+Moderation: Guest Post #10

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Happy Birthday Bo

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Oven Beer Can Chicken

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