Kicking *kitten* In Our Twenties - February Challenge!!

Morning everyone and happy Sunday :happy: Wow what a busy weekend! I've spent so much wonderful time with the boy, running, driving into the city, doing some food-experimentation and working and I really haven't had more than a spare min or two to log my food (on my phone) and post a status update here and there. Been really wanting to catch up with all you wonderful ladies. I feel like I'm going through withdrawal - And as usual, I've missed so much!

This weekend has been SIGNIFICANTLY less stressful and anxiety-ridden than last weekend, so that's a major bonus. I'm feeling good about my food intake and about not stressing when I have something that doesn't exactly fit my eating regimen. Definitely doing well at giving myself a bit of a break and being a little more lenient. Not perfect, of course, but better. I treated myself to some very yummy coffee at a Toronto cafe yesterday (times 2), including a soy latte, and didn't stress when we made dessert on Friday night. I also went to the grocery store before getting to Ty's place Friday night and brought over a bunch of fruit, yogurt and cottage cheese so that I have options while I'm there. Makes me feel a little "safer" being out of the house...

Works been keeping me exhausted. 5 hours of sleep per night, max. But despite my lack of sleep I managed to run my FASTEST 5K TIME EVER yesterday :drinker: :bigsmile: :drinker: WOOT! Holla! I was sooo thrilled. I felt amazing once I hit the streets and decided, "Meag - today's the day. You can do this." And I did. Sure, I only beat it by 8 seconds. But that's OK with me! Felt great averaging a 9:34 pace, especially since I had to contend with traffic lights and idiot pedestrians (unlike race-day). My last mile was UNDER 9:00 -- a friggen miracle! haha It felt amazing knowing I could keep up that pace and speed up as I fatigued. A definite sign that my training is working :bigsmile:

Melissa - Posted on your wall in a hurry, but for anyone else that wants to know they are Kellog's Frosted Mini-Wheats, Blueberry Muffin flavoured and they are SO good on their own or with milk. Yummy!

Kan - Cottage cheese, ground pepper, and fresh veggies is an awesome snack! I love it with grape tomatoes, cukes, bell peppers, anything salad-y :happy: Just toss it allll in a bowl. And if you're feeling like a little extra something on top, have 2 Tbsp of hummus mixed in with it. So many good flavours going on.

Spellbinder - Wonderful accomplishment on your 5K lady! You must feel great :happy: Be careful with the shoulder/back injury though because running can really aggravate your upper body as well. The impact of running combined with your arm swinging can be surprisingly hard on your shoulders, especially if you tense up at all when you run. Make sure to keep your shoulders and back completely relaxed as you're running and try not to "bounce" as much as you can. Stay low to the ground and take short strides - definitely want you staying injury free! And LOVE that you are totes ready for the WD now :drinker:

Tj - Mmmmm sushi! Jealous! Glad you liked it. Sushi is one of my faves but I never get a chance to grab any! It's been on my "to do" list for months...

Rachel - Awesome compliments and great job on the water! Wish I could manage to drink that much...Usually I get comments about how much COFFEE I drink. Not nearly as complimentary hahaha Sounds like if lightly active is working for you, then stick with it, and treat every day as a work day, I guess. I'd only really worry about it if you're feeling like you are starving (not emotionally hungry but legit hungry) or not losing at all. Just be sure to eat your cals and log all your food and exercise. I'm sure you'll be successful!

Melissa (again) - Missing runs is TOTALLY like being a smoker with a 12 hour shift and no smoke breaks! Makes ya crazy and irritable :laugh: At least it makes me! But the rest allowed me to have a super great run yesterday and so maybe it was worth the time off... Love your meal planning and hope your 10K "race" today goes well. I'm sure you'll blow me right out of the water! I'm used to it by now No harm no foul, girl.

Aly - Good luck on your duathlon today!! I'm sure you'll do great :bigsmile: Not sure how to respond to you comments about your bf... Ultimatums, in my experience, usually have pretty mixed results. You really can't anticipate his reaction and they tend to come off as being quite aggressive/inflexible. Maybe your best bet, instead, is to have a really genuine serious talk with him about how you feel instead of forcing him to make a decision he might not be ready for. Ask him how he feels, what he thinks about it, etc and maybe there's a very legitimate reason he hasn't popped the question - Men have feelings too! The last thing you want is to start off that convo on bad footing and have him feel attacked or go on the defensive. Instead of making it a me vs him thing, try to talk it out as partners. That's just my advice... I know that any time I've been given an ultimatum it's immediately made me resent the other person for not taking my feelings into consideration. Should be about "us", not just about them. Hope you take this advice in the spirit it's intended. Definitely just want you to be happy and not needlessly stressing - and it seems like your bf is usually there to help you cope with stress and make sure you're happy, so I'd hate to see that ended on account of something like this <<hugs>>

kbell - Sorry to hear about your continued troubles finding a vehicle - that sounds incredibly frustrating. But I know you'll pull through and manage. These struggles in life help to build character and make us stronger and more resilient. Just keep reminding yourself of that. You'll look back on this and see how much you've grown. Lean on your husband when you need to and keep your chin up. That's the best we can do. I know I've been struggling to find meaningful, field-specific work for about 18 months now with no avail and sometimes I feel totally helpless but I just have to remind myself of all the good that's come from this experience. You're going to come out the other side feeling stronger - Promise :flowerforyou:

Gonks - You're like an MFP buddah... So wise! Loved your post to Kandace and I hope that others read it (myself included - I need a smack upside the head sometimes too!) Thanks for that! And love having you back. Update us with YOUR stuff sometime soon.

Guam - Hope you had a great weekend with the boy and that the kids V-day prep went well! Can't wait to hear about it today/tomorrow :happy: Keep kicking *kitten* and stick with the C25K - You're doing great!

OK that's all I have time for right now. Heading out in a little bit for my run. Pork tenderloin, roasted buttercup squash and green beans for dinner tonight. Yum! And then heading over to the boys to have a little date (billiards - yay) and maybe watch a few Eps of "Louie" if we have time. Love spending my weekends with him and really just can't get enough - I am amazed every I see him with how perfect things always are. So incredibly happy :bigsmile:

Have a great Sunday everyone. Much love