Back at it...

The bar exam is FINALLY OVER (for now) and I can get back to the fitness grind. I'm going to Puerto Rico for Labor Day and like I mentioned in previous blogs, I'd like to be in a bathing suit without out making little children cry. I don't expect to lose a ton of weight in a month but but it'd be nice to drop 5 lbs.

I was able to fit in a couple of runs and insanity workouts during the final week of bar study but nothing major. I was also recently gifted a set of golf clubs and spent one afternoon walking the golf course and practicing which was a nice workout in 97 degree heat.

Now that my life is bar free, I can really get back on regular workouts and healthy eating. I'm feeling extra motivated today because its the first of the month. I always feel like anything is possible at the beginning of the month. Although I signed up for a half marathon in Minneapolis on August 21st, that's not looking realistic right now. Studying for the bar put me really behind and I don't think I can get the runs in that I'd need to be successful. So for now I'm looking for another race to do in early October. If you have any suggestions, please let me know in the comments section.

I'm also planning to start Cross Fit. The Fooler Initiative is one of my favorite blogs and its creator is obsessed with Cross Fit. Her tweets about it actually make me cringe but I've heard you get amazing results and I really want to push myself to the limit and see what my body can actually do. If you're not familiar with Cross Fit, check this out:

Yea. Intense, right?

I'm trying to find a good place in the DC area to try it out for the month. Since I need to jump start my weight loss for this mini vacation, this seems like the perfect time to try it out.

I also went H.A.M. in the grocery store so that I can make healthy meals. I've found that I do my best with eating and working out when I plan my meals and workouts out in advance. When I don't plan ahead, I almost always make a poor decision. Tonight I'm going to work on my workout schedule and meal plan and I'll post it here later.

I'll ALSO post the bikini I chose as my "don't be fat all your life" motivation.

- NASh

Day 3 of Insanity and other workouts.

I'm having a hard time studying right now so I decided to take some time and write a longer blog post.

This has been a good week of working out despite the fact that I've been extremely stressed and somewhat evil (the Bar Exam can do that to you).

Somehow in the midst of all the stress I found new ways of incorporating workouts throughout my day so that I can still study a substantial amount and not sacrifice my exercise routine. I also started Insanity and am becoming close friends with Sean T. I also want to point out that at 5'll, Sean T weighs only 20 lbs more than me. Shout out to Wikipedia for that awesome self confidence boost :/

Right.

Anyway, I've typically been the person who likes to set aside one block of time a day to get my workout in. If I'm not able to do the workout I've planned at the exact time I planned it (or my backup time), I'll generally give up for the day. This week that has gone out of the window. I've broken my workouts into smaller chunks and spread them out for when I need a break to clear my head or when I have an extra chunk of time.

On Wednesday, I got up early in hopes of doing a 3 mile run outside. At 7:30 am it was already 87 degrees and the sun was out so that run got cut short to a 1 miler quick. I did another, faster one mile on the treadmill later in the day. After dinner I popped in Day 2 of insanity (i had already done the fit test) and was dripping in sweat by the end. The workout was tough and I was pretty much wanting it to be over the entire time, but i like it because I wouldn't do that kind of training/exercise and it feels good to stretch it up. The moves will also help me tone and build more muscle which I need desperately.

Yesterday my plan was to do a run and day 3 of insanity but ended up only doing a run. It was a horrible day emotionally for me. Shout out to my significant other because I am NOT easy to deal with right now. When I was feeling particularly low, I hopped on the treadmill to clear my head and ended up doing four miles. The run felt great and really improved my mood. It was one of those runs that reminded me of how much I enjoy running, even if it has to be on the treadmill. My energy was so high after, I ran to the other room and popped in Insanity. 30 seconds in, I realized I was doing way too much and my legs couldn't handle it.

Today I studied all morning and did day 3 of Insanity during my "lunch break." The workout was TOUGH and I had to modify the walking push up moves because...yea I can't do pushups....yet.

So far this week I'm at a total of 11 miles. I hope to get a treadmill run in later today but don't know what my workout situation will be over the weekend as the bar exam is in five days. My eating....has been ok. Not totally horrible, but I have indulged in Chik fil a Chicken biscuits and..other things....

Still glad I'm 1lb down.

19 to go.

Back to studying. Keep me in your prayers please.

NASh

What he said...

RT @ThroatChopU What Barry should have said when John Boehner got up to end debt talks: "Sit your $5 ass down before I make change."

154.8 lbs

Weigh in.

Down 1 lb since I started the blog.

Long post coming soon. Promise.

-Nash

Hi Otis.

I'll be adding this to my running playlist immediately.

Otis - Jay-Z, Kanye

on their new Watch the Throne LP.

Doesn't hurt that "Try A Little Tenderness" is one of my favorite songs. EVER.

Let me go and pre-order that album ahora.

-NASh

Insanity...

is no joke.

Ay Sean T. No, YOU did deep.

I'll tell you about it later.

Great workout day for me so far. Back to studying.

Someone's shading me right now like, "I dont even know what your hair looks like"

Post work out hair. Last perm was 6 weeks ago after a year with no perm. Those ends in the first pic should give you an idea of what my life was like before. Oh and my hair has a ton of movement with the products I used.

And u gotta have movement.

- Nash

5 miles, 91 degrees and black girl hair...

So today was my second attempt at 7 miles. I didn't get up early [big surprise] so I was forced to run later in the day. I checked the hourly weather schedule several times today trying to figure out when things would start to cool off only to learn that it would never cool off. Ever. So at 7:15 I laced up and head outside to run. I forgot to charge my watch so instead i used the iMapmyrun app on my iphone which tracks your route/pace/distance. When I headed out it was 91 degrees so I knew Id have to run slow. I didn't really track my pace and pretty much just ran to the music. The first song that came on my iphone was Young Jeezy's My President is Black [Sidney Poiter, what dey do] followed my several of my favorite Beyonce tunes. This certainly helped. Unfortunately, my biggest mistake was heading out to run without a water bottle. When I got to three miles, the heat started getting to me and although I figured i could run 4 more if i really dug deep, I thought it would be better if i went inside and got some water. When I got home I drank a bottle of water and then hit the treadmill to finish up my run. While on the treadmill, I felt pretty good and did a 1.5 miles before stopping because I realized I was running over the time I allotted and needed to get back to studying since the bar exam is in 8 days. Even though I didn't hit seven, I feel good about my run and learned a valuable lesson to always remember to bring a water bottle with me on longer runs. The run def left me with a runner's high and me realize how much I really love to be outside running.

Now to the second part of my host --- this black girl hair running thing. According to the CDC, 80% of African-American women are overweight. Now there are probably a lot of reasons for this phenomenon, but I'm sure at least ONE reason has to do with hair. Now I'm not going to write a long post about the politics of black hair, but what I will say is running/working out was a lot easier for me when I wore a weave. A lovely, glorious, wet-me-down-wavy, blow-me-out-straight weave. When I had a weave, I'd rinse my hair out in the shower, let it air dry and not really worry about my hair bc most of it was sewn up anyway. I took my weave out about a month ago and since have been trying to figure out the best way to whip my hair back and forth [shout out to young willow and the pinkett-smiths] and remain physically active. For now, I've stuck to the wrapped hair, scarf, baseball cap technique and it seems to be ok. I've done the ponytail/bun thing but i hate the bump i get in my hair so I only stick to that when im close to getting my hair done.

To be honest, today was also a great running day despite missing my mileage goal because my hair stayed great after too. I washed my hair yesterday and let it air dry and woke up looking like Mufasa from the Lion King. I've been trying new products on my hair to see what I like and I think i found a good mix. When I blew dry my hair today and flat ironed it, it came out super smooth, and soft and i was dreading sweating my hair out during my run. I wrapped my hair super tight today, but on silk scarf and then a baseball cap and when I got back and showered my hair was fine. Looked great. I like to call that a black girl victory.

Anyway, if anyone's interested in trying new products, I shampooed with Joico shampoo and conditioner, used the Shea Moisture deep conditioner masque which i kept in my hair with a shower cap for about 45 minutes, and then used moroccan oil when i blew my hair out and flat ironed. I use a Sedu flat iron and a Chi blow dryer. The Shea Moisture deep conditioner masque is truly awesome, my hair felt so conditioned and soft and its a great curl definer as well.

My hair got super curly while I left it in, so I may use it as a leave in conditioner from time to time. I don't typically like to do my own hair but I'm very happy with the results and considering that my hair still looks good after my run through hades + harpo from the color purple might as well be my cousin, I thought I'd share.

If you have any product suggestions or tips on dealing with your hair and running/working out a lot please share! I get the itch to weave up daily.

-Nash

2.2 sad miles later...

As I mentioned earlier, I'm registered for a half marathon on August 21st. According to my training plan, I was supposed to do a long run of 7 miles. I had hoped to way up really early this morning and get out to run before it got too hot outside. That didn't happen because I'm real friendly with that snooze button. Since it is so hot out nowadays, running later in the day would be nearly impossible so i decided to do the treadmill. I've done a lot of running on the treadmill. The longest I've run on a treadmill is 10 miles when I was training for my first half marathon earlier in the year. There was a time when I actually preferred running on the treadmill because running outside seemed daunting and intimidating. Over the last couple months as I've done more running outside with Lola, my Garmin Forerunner watch (which I LOVE), I'd MUCH rather run outside, especially during long runs.

Despite all that I geared up to run on the treadmill and was feeling quite good actually. That all changed once I started running. Now usually the first couple of miles for me can be difficult. It takes about that time for my legs to get warmed up and for me to really hit my stride. After the first 2 or 3 miles, things get better and i can really get into the zone. Today though, the first mile hit my legs really hard and i was struggling to run at a 10:30 pace which is normally pretty easy or regular for me. After the first mile I lowered my speed some thinking that would help but it didn't. My overall body didn't feel very tired but my legs felt very heavy so after I hit two miles, I stopped and decided to set my goal on an early seven miler outside in the morning.

I have to say I felt pretty defeated getting off the treadmill and not finishing my run but I reminded myself that some exercise is definitely better than none.

Hopefully I'll be triumphant in the morning.

- Nash

P.S.

Studying for the bar is painful.

The thing is I see myself naked...

As i sit waiting for this 5 hour energy to kick in at 10:30 I thought I'd write about a conversation I had with a friend yesterday about this new blog. The friend of mine, a guy, said that my first post made him realize how differently males and females see the female body. He thought that although I looked different in the picture in the white and the picture in the orange, both pictures were equally attractive. This conversation raise a couple of things:

1) The picture in the white that I posted was me during my freshman year of college, I was around 156 lbs (the same weight I am right now although I think i look smaller now). That picture didn't however reflect me at my biggest so I thought that I really needed to find a picture that bared all. This process was quite funny because I, like many women I suspect, delete all pics of me that I think make me look fat. The only pics I tend to keep around are pics where I look normal or maybe even...deceptively skinny (yes, i've played the role of a decepticon,bamboozling people from time to time). When a picture of me does show up thats fat, I immediately detag, beg the person to remove, or do my best job of cropping all the extra body-ody-ody OUT. It's kind of funny how in the world of Facebook and twitter, you can not only "construct" a new personality, you can construct a new "body"/better "body" or appearance.

Anyway it took some time but I found this picture from December of 2006. This was right after my domestic exchange where i had gained all the weight i lost plus A LOT..

If you look closely, you can see my Spanx was CLEARLY not doing its job. You might even say it was running away. I'm not mad Spanx. I'm not mad. This pic probably gives a more accurate view of how my weight has fluctuated.

2) When I complain to my friends and throw my self pity parties, I'll say how fat and disgusting I am. Now I KNOW that I'm not really "FAT." There may be some people who read this blog or see these pics and think I look fine or OK. And maybe part of the reason why losing (and keeping off) these 10-20 lbs have been so difficult for me is because I generally get by just fine with a little extra weight. Females compliment me, men try to holler and I do a pretty good job of looking good in clothes.

The thing is...

I see myself naked and that sh-t is troubling.

I remember a conversation with a guy friend once who said he'd only seen two women in his life (out of A LOT) who actually looked better once he got them naked than they did clothed. Everyone's body is different of course. A close female friend of mine who is in impeccable shape right now would always say when she weighed more that she looked a lot better naked than she did clothed.

But me....naked....is troubling.

I want to to have tight abs, a toned and cut back, and not quite Angela Basset arms....

I want to wear a 4 or 6 again...

but really...really...

i want to look hot naked.

- Nash

the scale

This morning I decided to weigh myself so that I can have an accurate starting weight for purposes of the blog.

156 lbs. [insert angsty face]

I weighed myself with a t shirt and yoga pants on. I'm sure those items didn't weigh a lot but I'm also the same person who subtracts 1/2 lb from the scale when I'm wearing a weave because I know that's how heavy the hair is. True story.

At 5'6 and 156 lbs., my BMI is 25.2. According to most BMI charts I've looked at, a healthy bmi range is 18.5 - 24.9. At 25.2 I'm not in a horrible place to start at all, but I really want to work on making my body the best it can be.

By my birthday I'd like to be somewhere between 135 and 140 lbs. Originally I was going to say 140 but why not shoot for the stars and if I feel like my body is fine at a higher weight, I'll adjust.

If I lose 1 lb. a week, i can reach my goal by December 10th. That would require me to lose 2lbs while I'm studying for the bar and don't know if that will happen. Either way, I can lose the full amount by Dec 31st by trying to lose only 1lb a week.

As far as specific body areas that I want to focus on, my priority list is something like:

1. Abs
2. Back/Love Handles (I suffer from a serious case of flabby back which is not hot in the streets)
3. Butt (i also suffer from "noassatall" syndrome)

Now i think it's equally important to point out the areas of my body that I really do like. Those would be:

1. thighs/legs
2. my boobs

They've been good to me.

I'm going to Puerto Rico for Labor day so I'd like to set a mini goal to drop 7 or 8 lbs by then. I'd like to wear a two piece bathing suit without making little kids cry.

Thinking of ordering a two piece for motivation. If i do, I'll post a pic of it.

but NOT me in it.

- Nash

I should be studying for the bar...

I should be studying for the bar exam right now but I'm pretty damn good at procrastinating so I thought I'd write a post that dealt with some of my specific fitness goals.

Right now I'm signed up for a half marathon in Minneapolis on August 21st. This will be my third marathon in this series and I'm looking forward to it. I have some concerns because it can be difficult to train while studying for the bar exam but that's over on July 28th (please keep me in your prayers because bar exam life is M-I-S-E-R-A-B-L-E). My initial goal at the beginning of the year was to complete four half marathons. I'm planning on my fourth being the St. Jude Half Marathon in Memphis, TN in December but it's already filled. So now I'm thinking about either the Rock n Roll Half Marathon in LA on October 30th or the Rock n Roll Half in Vegas on December 4th. The one in Vegas is at night time so I think that'd be a pretty fun run under the lights. I have friends and family out in LA that I'd love to catch up with too. Maybe I'll do both:)

I have a pretty strong aversion to strength training even though I think that will be the key to really changing and toning my body. Not sure where it stems from but until I can get hooked on weights, I'm looking at other ways to get the same results. A friend of mine gave me their copy of the Insanity workout. I haven't done any of the DVDs yet but i've heard great things about it. One of the friends that I ran the rebel race 5k with does insanity and i was EXTREMELY impressed with her fitness level.

A few months ago I joined a yoga studio in Washington, DC called Stroga. Its a great place and I found that yoga did amazing things for my body and flexibility. The flexibility part was really important as i find myself very stiff from all the running I've been doing. I'm in the process of relocating to Memphis, TN and hope to find a good yoga place here to join. I have my eye on one place I want to try but don't know when I'll get the chance.

Still trying to figure out what my workout approach/plan is going to be but hoping to have it all together after the bar exam. Til then, i'll just be running to get ready for the half....

Today I did 4.5 miles on the treadmill and then had a yummy home cooked meal (i REALLY enjoy eating). BBQ pulled pork sandwich with homemade bbq sauce on a wheat bun, string beans and whipped sweet potatoes. I took the pioneer woman's recipe and tweaked it some, adding my own bbq sauce and some yuengling light beer (and one on the side:)

Now off to studying...maybe.