Sometimes you need to be reminded

There are those times that you just need to be reminded about how far you've come. 

I am reminded.

Evolution of Blogging

I think my blog is going to be going through a transitional phase.  It will still be Fit with a Purpose but it may be having a more equal portion of Purpose rather than all Fit.

that's all.

Insanity Day 1 Fit Test. After Dark 5k.

So, I did Insanity Day 1 today. I did the Fit Test and it kicked my butt!

I felt like I started out hard but I barely had anything to finish. I get that's what it is suppose to be like. I just hate to run out of energy.

If you look to the right sidebar of the site you will see a shoutout to Kerri for her sharing of awesomeness (in the form of Insanity). Go check out her site and follow her too!

I do, however, feel pretty good right now even after I was exhausted this morning. My legs are a little sore but I believe that to be from the other night at basketball. We had some good competition! Here are my results for Day 1!

1. Switch Kicks = 75
2. Power Jacks = 30
3. Power Knees = 60
4. Power Jumps = 25
5. Globe Jumps = 5 (20 floor-to-sky jumps all together)
6. Suicide Jumps= 6
7. Push-Up Jacks= 15
8. Low P Oblique= 34

I feel good about the first day fit test. I would've liked to have produced better numbers but I am doing this for a reason :)

AFTER DARK 5k

I don't think I let anyone know that I ran another 5k since the ankle injury. I ran the whole 5k with no stopping and my ankle felt great! I even surged at the end to pass up this girl that had been in front of me for a long time. My first 5k (Lub Dub 5k) since being back at running was a 34:15. This last race, S-C After Dark 5k, I finished in 31:22. That cut 3 minutes off of my first 5k since the ankle injury. I am beginning to feel more at ease with running again and a little like my old running self. I'm hoping that through some running and Insanity that I can get back to my sub 30 runs.

It'll feel good when I do.

Putting on Glowsticks!

I love signs!  I can't wait until Blake can write his own!

A group of friends that I ran with - this was before the race.

Some friends after the race! 

This is why I like running. Eyes are open.

I ended up going for a run yesterday evening after my meeting. No excuses right?!  I was surprised when I got out of the meeting and that it had only lasted 45 minutes.  Those aren't the meetings that I'm used to.  I loved it.  There was daylight still to run in and quite a bit of it.

So I ran.  I'm almost ashamed to admit it, but that was the first time that I went out for a run in a long time.  I've been playing a lot of sports like tennis, volleyball, and basketball weekly - but going for a run hadn't happened.  It felt good to be out.  I stopped by an outdoor basketball court at the park and it is a tough crowd.  I don't mind the toughness.  I don't talk a big game, I just play.  Unfornately, I didn't get to play though.  There were a ton of guys, and a few girls, out there but I can tell that it's a "you gotta earn the respect by the regulars before you play much" type of environment.  I'm game with that - like I said, I let my game talk for itself rather than my mouth.  I like that moment when guys size me up and then get burnt by me - it's an instant show of respect when they play you tighter.  It's also a way into their lives.

My job is all about making relationships with people.  I'm a minister and I believe that showing people that someone cares about them, despite who they are and what they've done, that's when they may change their lives for the better.  They might think it's just a basketball game, but the basketball game just broke down the barrier between two very different lives.  There is a common ground and even if nothing ever grew beyond the common ground of sports - two very different people found a way to interact in a positive form rather than filled with negativity.  I don't like that they may have just smoked weed in the car in the parking lot, I may not like that they used the f*bomb four different ways in one sentence, and I may not like the choices that they make; that doesn't change the fact that they are still human and are capable of making good decisions when invested into.

My plan isn't to pry into lives or go change everyone to fit my view of a solid life, but to invest into people.  Right now - that way to invest into people at that basketball court is to keep my mouth shut and to play pick-up basketball.  It's happened before and maybe some day I'll have another opportunity to positively invest into someone that I've played basketball with and encourage them to better themselves in all facets of life.  I'd say that's a pretty cool way to break down walls between what may be a variety of different cultures.

Isn't that what we are trying to do with this whole health journey?  We're trying to better ourselves and today I'm challenging myself, from here on out, to seek out opportunities to encourage others while trying to better myself as well. 

I'm human.  You're human. 

Why can't we better ourselves together?

I'd say that was a good first, eye-opening, run.

Energy. One Thing.

You know when something clicks - it just feels right?!  That’s what I’m feeling like right now. 

I’ve been eating much better and staying within my calorie goal.

I’ve lost that ‘bloaty’ feeling.

I’ve been much more active these past two or three weeks than I have in a long time.

Last night, I was able to play some basketball and I had so much energy.  I had been missing that energy.  I just felt that I could run circles around the guys last night. * I love that feeling.*

So – I will keep going full-force ahead with this better health (as if I was going to stop anyways).  I plan on getting a run in today at some point.  I meant to get up this morning to do a run, but my phone died or something some time throughout the night because I woke up an hour later than what my alarm was set for and my phone was not on.  It’s nice to have a park across the street with a running path though – so I really have no excuse for not getting something in today.

I Do have a Question for you all though: 

If there was ONE THING that you could conquer in your better health journey (i.e. running, situps, pushups, etc.) – what would it be?

These are a few of my Favorite Things

I have hit 50,000 views!!  This may not be much compared to some of you, but I'm pretty stoked about it for some reason.  To celebrate the last 50,000 views - I give you some of my favorite things in the form of pictures!

Just wanted to say thank you to all of you who helped me to this point on my better health journey.  It is never over and I hope that you continue to give encouragement and support as I hope to do for you! Thanks!

(last 3 pics not mine - using from google image search)

fitness pals

My wife and I enjoy good food and it is seems as of late that we enjoy good food too much!

We have some friends that have lost a lot of weight as well and they turned my wife to "myfitness pal" app.  I believe that I have used it before but I don't remember it being this good.  I went ahead and signed up so my wife wouldn't be alone in this and I am thoroughly impressed by it.

I've counted calories before and it was tough, but this makes it so easy to keep track.  Instead of having to manually type it (you still can easily), it has the QR code reader and it scans it (if you have a camera that reads them) and automatically enters the serving size.

Another thing that I've been doing is playing a lot of variety of sports here lately.  I haven't been able to do a lot running, but the other exercise defintely helps getting back in shape.

I really do enjoy being able to play sports and be active again.

A night in the E.R.

I went and played some basketball on Sunday night after church. It had probably been a year and half since I played an actual game against other adults. With my job, I play pick-up games and such with students all of the time but to play against adults is a bit different.

I was sore when I got home. Not that it was rough play, but running up and down the court is a lot different than running long distances. Anyways, I got home and was sore but didn't think much of it because I just played 2 hours of basketball. I went to bed at 11 something and woke up around 1:00am with some crazy intense pain in my back and right below my stomach. No matter what position I was in, if I tried to massage the pain away, no matter the amount of muscle rub applied - nothing was working to get the pain to go away. I put up with the pain for 4 hours before deciding to go to the hospital. After they did some tests, they believe it was another kidney stone. At about 6 something, my pain went away for the most part (and I didn't have any pain meds). No stone or abnormality showed up on the x-ray either. They believe the stone passed from the kidney to the bladder (which is the hardest part). I'm praying that the hardest part is over! I wouldn't wish kidney stones on anyone. They are not fun and they disrupt your activity level.

I took yesterday off from work and tried to sleep as much as I can, but I am not one that is able to sit or stay still for too long. My body will begin aching if I choose to do nothing. I woke up this morning with a little pain in my lower back, but I do believe that it is because of the amount of time I laid down between yesterday and last night.

I have changed my diet to be more of a kidney stone prevention diet since the last stone, but maybe it wasn't enough. I've decided that I am going to be more strict with the preventative diet because that pain is not fun and if I can do something to prevent it - then I need to.

One thing that I've been working on already is going most of the week without meat. Meat isn't the cause of the stones primarily, but does play a factor due to all of the animal protiens. It is okay to eat meat if you get kidney stones, but I don't suggest to overdo it. I really don't mind not having meat in my diet as long as I get my protein and such from other sources and vegetarian dishes are actually pretty good.

Another thing that I've decided is that I must get my activity level up. Being sedatary for such a long period of time with the ankle issue and the last kidney stone (one I had to have surgery for) probably hasn't helped with my body being able to fight or break up any stone formed. Hopefully, that was the last stone that I'll ever have.