Lumpy Bumps

Hi! My name is Ashley. But you already know that.

I run 30 miles a week most weeks and consider myself a relatively active person in general.
You probably know that, too.

In the past decade, my weight has fluctuated between 117 pounds and 132. (The former eating mostly Lean Cuisines and 100 calorie Oreo packs and the latter, which is where I'm at currently, with more muscle, but also some sugar binges that need taming.)

I've lifted weights.
I've not lifted weights.
I've done yoga, cycled, and swam.
I've guzzled water and eaten clean foods.
I've taken time off + indulged my cravings.

And no matter what size or activity level I'm at . . . or fancy + expensive creams I use, I've had cellulite and stretch marks on my thighs since high school. I've now accepted that it's just a feature of my body that -- despite previously Herculean attemps to "fix" -- just isn't going to change.

Rather, I am accepting. It's a process.

Yup. Even here, at my thinnest the day after my wedding.

Yup. Even after running this marathon.

Anyway, I'm gearing up for two weeks at the shore. (Whoa that sounds like a lot. Teacher-families must make vacations into MEGA vacations since we can't take off during the year. It's our big hurrah!) Do entire days spent in my swimsuit all day sounds appealing to me? Definitely YES and definitely NO. But, like I said, I'm slowly accepting that cellulite isn't just a fact of my life, it's a shared experience with many.

AmIright?

This article got quite a lot of love on Facebook. I thought I'd share it here, too, because it helped me quite a bit with feeling better about my, uhm, situation: The Dirty Little Secret of the Female Athlete: Cellulite.

And this topic made me remember this gem. Can't believe it's 6 years old!


You don't want no drama. No, no drama no, no, no drama . . .

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On Being a Self-Made Athlete

In our About Us section of the site, I describe myself as a self-made athlete. I didn't think much about this phrase at the time when I typed it -- mostly because it's a simple fact. But now several readers have brought up this specific way of describing myself because they say it has helped motivate them to break out of what they thought they were. Or what they had been told their whole lives they were. Or what they themselves have always felt they were capable of.

Being a self-made athlete is as much about empowerment as it is about ability.

Growing up, I wasn't encouraged to participate in sports. No one in my family was particularly active during my childhood. Really -- at least in my 10-year-old mind -- sports were for guys. My brother and cousins played baseball and basketball -- music, art, and writing were for me. I don't fault my parents in any way because they tirelessly encouraged my development as a musician and artist through countless music lessons (fun fact: I can play like 15 instruments), ensemble groups, band camps (yup -- I went to band camp!), etc. To add sports to this equation may have stretched me (and them) too far with extracurriculars.

So, as I grew, I didn't see myself as someone capable of, say, running a marathon. Nor did I care much. I was cool with my unique abilities. I was cool with my sedentary life where practicing Vivaldi for hours was my workout. But when I was in high school, I started having major body image issues. I gained weight. Most of all, I felt blah all the time.


I tried numerous diets and methods (some healthy, most extremely unhealthy), none of which actually worked at making me feel and look my best. And I struggled with my body image and eating for several years until one day, I decided to make a change. Many of you have already read the Ode to My 17-year-old Self: The Mile. I hated running with the core of my being for the longest time. But secretly, I envied those girls in my gym class who could sprint around the track at lightning speed. With my upbringing, however, I didn't see myself as an athlete. Far from it, in fact. Instead, I didn't feel I was "made" for athletics. People have different talents and strengths, I thought, and running/biking/swimming/etc. certainly wasn't in the cards for me.

But then I had this moment. This particular day I can remember, where it seems EVERYTHING changed in my perception of myself as destined to be sedentary. I'll tell the whole story next week (in our celebration of healthy living -- featuring reader-submitted posts!) . . . but there were several steps I took from that point that helped me jumpstart my journey to becoming a runner. To becoming an active person who enjoyed moving my body more than just out of pure necessity. I could run because I wanted to run. I became invigorated with motivation to get out there and accomplish goals I never thought I could accomplish.

Anyway, these three steps describe the basic process I took to start my journey. To become a self-made athlete. Even if you already are active (or perhaps USED to be active), these tips can help. But it's my sincere hope that maybe you'll pass this post along to friends, family members, coworkers -- strangers, even! Share this idea that being an athlete need not be reserved for a handful of people "born" to excel in sports. That's one of the main missions of our site -- we want to let everyone in the world know that they, too, can be active. Not only for physical health, but also -- and perhaps more importantly -- for mental wellbeing.


1.) Do some deep thinking. You need to find the courage -- yes, it takes major COURAGE -- to see yourself as a person capable of anything you put your mind (and body!) to. You need courage to take a look outside all those conceptions of who you think you are . . . and to grow and see yourself as who you WANT to be -- and maybe who you never thought you could be. Honestly, you have the power to be and do whatever you can dream up. To attain what you have always thought was unattainable.

Case in point: I never, EVER would have thought I'd be running for fun, let alone running a MARATHON for fun. But I decided to entertain the idea one day . . . and from that dream grew dedication. From that dedication grew ability. And from the ability grew even more ability to attain my goal. Think about yourself. Give yourself credit for your unique strengths and gifts. Even if you don't think you have any -- you DO! Write them down if it helps. Tell a friend.

But whatever you do, don't tell yourself that you're crazy. Don't tell yourself you can't do something. Figure out your limitations as you make your way toward your goal. Oftentimes, you'll find you can push beyond those once-upon-a-time roadblocks.


2.) That's right -- set a GOAL. This step all depends on the person. Some of us think big. Some of us think small. When I set a goal for myself starting out, I didn't write down: "I want to run a marathon." I may have thought it in some unconscious part of my brain, however -- I started with a goal that was broader: "I want to be a runner." To me, being a runner meant running several times a week, 3 miles at a time.

Your goal will most likely be defined -- in part -- by your chosen activity. There's no right or wrong kind of activity to gravitate towards. Maybe you're interested in fencing. Cycling. Volleyball. Dance. There are so many different types of ways to be an athlete -- just pick one that you find interesting. Try it out, and if it doesn't work -- set a new goal. Becoming an athlete can take some self-exploration time. You need to feel out what works best for you and your body.

If you are the type of person who sets a goal like: "I want to participate in an Ironman." You may want to break this goal into several mini-goals. For example, if you're starting from scratch -- no activity -- try out running for a while. Sign up for a 5K. Start incorporating brick workouts after several months. Add swimming after a few more months. Like with pretty much everything else, there's no perfect method. But I've found in my experience that striving toward that BIG goal is sometimes a bit intimidating. Becoming a self-made athlete is all about accomplishment. Focus on the little ones, and they'll add up to those bigger goals before you know it!


3.) Keep at it. With whatever activity you choose, you're going to have setbacks. Bad days. Good days, most definitely, too -- but the frustration can often outshine the motivation. Just know this part going into the whole self-made athlete thing. When you have these negative feelings, tell yourself to KEEP AT IT! Athletes work so very hard at their respective sports. They dedicate themselves because they have experienced that the pain and effort is well worth it. Feeling the empowerment. Accomplishing personal bests. Excelling in something that you love -- it's all worth it.

When I was running and working my way up the ladder with my smaller goals, I took a lot of pride in my journey. No one was doing this whole athlete thing for me. I was doing it for myself. Running my first 5K is probably my happiest memory in my athletic life. The first 19 years of my life, I couldn't see myself running in a race. Having a race number pinned to my shirt. Nope, I didn't think that was in the cards. But when I crossed that finish line, I knew that I could do anything at that point. I had trained diligently through mental (and sometimes physical) pain, but I had done something for myself. Not only was I healthier (with a new, fantastically muscular set of legs!), but I felt incredible on the inside, too.

If you keep at it through the rain, sleet, and snow. Through good time and bad -- you WILL succeed. Success is measured only by you. Everyone is on their own path, so define a "win" in any way that makes sense to you. No matter what it is, feeling that sense of true accomplishment will inspire you. I always describe how this feeling made me whole (as corny as that may sound).

YOU CAN DO IT!

That's really all you need to know. And I'd love to hear if you're currently trying any of these steps -- or if you're just starting out and want to know how you, too, can be a self-made athlete. We'd love to help! Just leave a comment or email us at neverhomemaker [at] gmail [dot] com.


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On the Importance of Sleep

Anyone who knows Stephen knows that he has this ridiculous amount of knowledge about marine life. The other day he mentioned something about how sharks don't sleep (well, at least not how we do) because they must keep swimming. They constantly move, rushing water over their gills to receive oxygen (yeah, to breathe under water). This whole thing blew my mind.

I can't imagine being in non-stop motion. Not sleeping. Yikes!

With all we have written about running and fitness, there's been little on the topic of rest and relaxation. Especially sleep. Sleep is not only necessary, but also amazing -- almost magical. It gives us the opportunity to recharge mentally and physically. Our bodies and minds do a lot of important work in those hours of dark and quiet. We've all read what too little sleep can do to the body -- from increased stress and weight gain to shortened life span and hastened visible signs of aging (source). And runners and athletes need a good night's rest to perform their best in the short and long term.


When I was less athletic, I stayed up late almost every night. Usually till 1:00 AM or so. I would read. Look up stuff online. Hang out with friends. Or even do nothing at all. I just didn't sleep well, nor did I care. When I became more physically active in college, my sleep regulated, but my social life worked against my natural urges. I didn't get nearly enough rest between studying for exams and partying on weekends (OK . . . and week nights). When I graduated, I slept more, but still not enough. No, it wasn't until half marathon and marathon training that I truly understood and appreciated the power of the pillow.

Now, I crave sleep. I need at least 8 hours a night to feel "normal," whatever that means. If I don't get that much time, I feel lousy. And I'm lucky. I live a lifestyle right now that allows me to get a ton of ZZZs on a regular basis. Of course, those of you out there with children are probably laughing right now, and many of the tips I provide may not work for you. For the rest of you, however, despite what you may think, you, too, can find more horizontal time each night.


(Who's that in the photo? It's Steff from Steff Says!) You just need to have the motivation. The dedication. And a few helpful tips. How much sleep you "need" is entirely up to you. The recommended daily amount is anywhere between seven and up to ten hours (depending on a variety of factors, including age and activity level). To find what works best for you, experiment.


#1: Make the commitment to yourself. Sleep is important. We've already covered that. The first step in getting more rest is reminding yourself of this fact (sleep is important, sleep is important, sleep is important) whenever something comes in the way. For example, I often get in the habit of writing posts at night, well into the night. I now have a cut-off time of 9:00 PM so that I can start to unwind . . . disconnect. If I'm not in bed by 10:00 PM on a work night, I know I won't have enough time to get in my "required" 8 hours. However, I've made the commitment to myself that because sleep is important, I will push aside other duties and pursuits in favor of more shut-eye.

Sometimes I have to actually verbalize this commitment to myself if I'm particularly wrapped up in work or another activity. But I've been getting quality rest time for over two years now, and I'm ever-so thankful. If you're having trouble choosing sleep over other stuff, just think about how much better you'll feel with the extra snoozes. Picture yourself waking up the next morning -- do you feel refreshed . . . or not? More than likely, you'll wish you had skipped that late-night celebrity gossip fest. So, turn off the TV and head to bed!


#2: Look at your routine and create a ritual. It's difficult to get in the zone if you're pushing yourself to the max until you go to bed every night. What are you doing in the afternoons and evenings? Is it relaxing stuff . . . or stressful stuff? Are you drinking coffee or alcohol (both may impact your sleep)? Are you bottom-loading your day with social activities out of your house/apartment? Basically, are you setting yourself up for a successful night's sleep? The answer may surprise you.

Along these same lines, if you create a ritual every night (like taking a warm shower 15 minutes before bed . . . drinking some herbal tea . . . reading a chapter of a novel . . . etc.) you'll get your brain in sleep-mode. If your routine involves staring at a TV or computer screen (or iPad), you may want to reconsider. Staring at an illuminated screen -- much like sitting in lit-at-all-hours casinos -- creates this false sense of time. "Melatonin signals are sent through the brain as a response to darkness, telling the body to prepare to shut down for the night" (source). So, if this is part of your night, try to limit your exposure an hour to half an hour before bed.


#3: Rearrange your day. You may save work or other obligations for the night-time hours. You may think you literally don't have time to get in those extra hours you need to feel and perform your best. But think again.

Consider creating a schedule in Excel of your day. Divide the sheet into days of the week and hours of the day. Activities and responsibilities are blocks of time -- usually one or two hours, etc. Work and other items may be constants -- blocks that cannot be moved. But look at where you might be able to shuffle stuff around. Meal times. Exercise times. Hanging-out times. Errand times. Make sure to include in this schedule a nice block of sleep time. You CAN fit it in, it may just take some creative scheduling.


Sometimes the issue is not a matter of trying to squeeze in more time for sleep. No, sometimes getting any shut-eye at all is difficult . . . for a variety of reasons. I've had my fair share of weird no-sleeping spells. In our next post on this topic, we'll cover ways to get over these issues. If you have and of your own tips to add, just leave us a comment or email us at neverhomemaker [at] gmail [dot] com.

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Day 5 in the Life of My Stomach

Now, if that isn't the picture of health . . . I don't know what is! But it's Friday, and I always, always go easy on my dinner Friday nights. Especially after a long week at work -- and a nice sweat session on our spinning bike. I'm incredibly happy it's the weekend. I can't even express it in words right now. All I want to do is relax. And show you what I ate today, of course!

Here's the day in pictures . . . (and, no, I didn't eat an entire jar of Nutella!).


And here's the breakdown . . .

• BREAKFAST: Worst smoothie ever. Tried to make the mint chocolate one again, but forgot the recipe. Yuck. 140-ish calories.
• SNACK: Double chocolate granola-ish bar. 270-ish calories.
• LUNCH: Microwaved sweet potato with pepper-jack cheese and strawberries. 400-ish calories.
• DINNER: Three slices of cheese pizza and a beer. 865-ish calories.
• DESSERT: 2 (heaping) tablespoons Nutella. Straight from the spoon. 250-ish calories.

Talk about not my best day. I came in -- even with all that pizza -- at right around 2,000 calories yet again. UGH. Have I expressed how much I HATE counting calories? And it becomes this awful habit where I am now thinking about it before every meal. The good news is that my counting stint is over! Yes. No more counting for me. The next time you see one of these recaps (Monday), it'll be sans numbers. Also: There will be a summary of my weekend eats as well. But from now on, I'll monitor my consumption with my gut and not with a calculator in hand.

Reflections about today's dietary choices. Not my best work. Definitely bottom-loaded the day. I felt full all day, though. I just think I could have topped my pizza with some veggies (Stephen piled basically a large salad on his). I went with the most classic, I'm-a-5-year-old approach. Maybe had another serving of vegetables at work (forgot my carrots at home!). I think I just got lazy. I woke up sort of late and didn't leave enough time to eat a good breakfast (1st huge mistake) and pack a good lunch (2nd mistake). Noted.

That's all from me for tonight. Except this: Do you want to win a fantastic $50 shopping spree at iHerb.com? YES, YOU DO is the answer. Why? Well, you can buy all this cool stuff . . . or whatever your might like to snag yourself!


So, visit us on Tuesday for all the details about how you -- YES YOU! -- can win. And if you need to catch up on my week of healthy eating, check out day 1, day 2, and day 3, and day 4.

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Day 4 in the Life of My Stomach

Day four. And I'm so right about staying at home being the optimal choice for healthy eating. It isn't that I didn't eat well today. I did. But, it's just so much more difficult without all my supplies and tools! My energy felt pretty stable today. I ran 4 miles in the AM, so my breakfast had to work extra hard to sustain me throughout the morning. It did a great job. In all, I consumed around 2,000 calories today. I'm surprised that number isn't more, though. I think it's all the veggies I'm eating. They're so filling, it's difficult to stuff more into my stomach!

You'll also notice that I didn't eat quite as much variety today. In fact, a large chunk of my intake was made up of those incredibly amazing double chocolate granola-ish bars. Not the healthiest way to spend my calories, but certainly not the worst way either.

Here's the day in pictures . . . (Yeah, I know I said I didn't like the collage thing, but it's easy!)


And here's the breakdown . . .

• BREAKFAST: Fabulous and creamy banana-peanut butter green smoothie that I found on Ashley's blog (Edible Perspective) this morning. Approximately 420 calories. I could hardly tell there were greens in it from the taste -- but it felt like a booster shot of health!
• SNACK: Double chocolate granola-ish bar. Approximately 270 calories.
• LUNCH: 1/2 Mediterranean veggie sandwich with 1 cup veggie black bean soup. Approximately 410 calories. Also, I got the photo above from MSN. Didn't want to pull out the DSLR at lunch.
• SNACK: Apple. Approximately 80 calories.
• DINNER: Sweet and sour stir fry with noodles (recipe soon!). Approximately 500 calories.
• DESSERT: Another double chocolate granola-ish bar. Approximately 270 calories.

Today's eating was especially challenged because I headed out to eat with a coworker for lunch. We went to Panera Bread because it's fast, but I have a problem not eating all the baked goods when I go. So, I planned ahead and checked out their menu online. They have fantastic nutrition information (check it out!) -- and I was able to craft a meal for under 500 calories that was both satisfying/filling and incredibly delicious.

I honestly don't have much else to say right now. One thing that I feel particularly proud of is that -- with the exception of going to Panera -- I haven't had any packaged foods lately. Well, some of them may have come in packages, but I think the majority of what I've been eating is made up of whole foods. It feels so good to look at these photos and know what each of the ingredients that went into them looks like. The calorie counting is still driving me mad, but it's helping my portion control. I think before I started this experiment, I was eating like double portions all the time.


Someone pointed out that, yeah, I'm an athlete. And I so agree. I need more fuel than non-athletes to get myself through the day. However, I know I've gained a solid five pounds since the marathon in November. It's because I got too used to stuffing myself silly after 20-mile long runs. I'm not doing that intensity now, so my diet needs to reflect that change in my energy expenditure. I'm getting there. Finally! And at no point have I been feeling hungry. When I "feel" like I want to eat more, it's usually some weird emptiness that really isn't hunger related. It's mostly boredom. And just love of my own kitchen creations.

Need to catch up? Check out the life of my stomach day 1, day 2, and day 3.

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