Dance Fitness & October Challenge w/ SkinnyMeg!

Hellooooo

So I've gotten back into lifting since the half marathon. I truly do love running, and it'll always be a great form of relaxation to me, but girrrrrrl I love the feeling of being strong. I love seeing my muscles flex in the mirror while the boys look on like, "this hussy can't possibly shoulder press those 35s.." OH BUT I CAN. I love it all. So I'm feelin pretty sore today since I haven't done much lifting in the past month or so.

I really wanted to rest today, but then I weighed in yesterday for the October Challenge with SkinnyMeg and apparently I was the biggest loser percentage wise for my team!! So duh, I wanna keep this momentum going, so I picked a low impact class at my gym. It said Zumba on the listing, and I've done that before so I thought why the hell not. That was a lie. It was not Zumba. It was "dance fitness".

HOLY BABY JEEBUS IT WAS AMAZING.

It was a mix of loud, Hispanic, full of bass music and we did lots of booty shakin, jumping, footwork, arm swinging aaaand sweating. It was the greatest rush and I will definitely be back. At first it was kind of hard because it's set routines that everyone knows and ya girl was fumbling for a bit. But I've danced my whole life, up until I graduated highschool, so I'm reasonably good at picking up choreography. The funniest part about it was that the instructor walked in, and she's this TINY little white lady, around 35-40 years old and she just didn't look like the hip-hop/latin dance type. I dont know, I just expected some loud, curvy woman. Do not ever judge a book by its cover. I've never seen ANYONE, white or black, move like she does. I didn't know butts could move like that. I also didn't know feet could move like that. I just feel like I want to be her best friend now.

So back, to the October Challenge w/ SkinnyMeg. It is so great. It's like a smaller version of the Summer #SMChallenge. It's only around 150 people instead of the 1500, so you can see the familiar faces and whatnot. We're all split up in teams, and there's different goals each week . First week was water intake and tracking food, this week is HIIT workouts and protein intake! I'm not really learning anything new, but it does feel really good to feel like someone might call me out for slackin on tracking food or not losing any weight.

Also I have no pictures because I'm a shitty blogger. Workin on it...

-Crystal

Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half - Recap!

Thank the sweet 6 pounds 4 ounces baby Jesus in the manger that half marathon is OVER! I mean yea, I love running, but uhhh yea, half marathon training is no walk in the park. I've been training since freakin July.

Ya girl is tired.

A little recap shall we? Ok great.

I woke up at the buttcrack of dawn. Literally. 4:30 AM my Ellie Goulding alarm went off because its the only one (besides my Sara Bareilles alarm) that I can stand without wanting to stab someone. But I digress. I go "try" to try and avoid tummy troubles later if you catch my drift, but obviously my body was like "bitch, it's 4:30 am, the only thing we need to do right now is sleep." So I ate my half bagel, got dressed, and dragged Leon out the door with me at 5:20. Took my happy ass to the shuttle bus, and of course we got lost on the way, but whatever. There was some hussy on the shuttle laughing hysterically with her friends about whatever the hell could possibly be funny at 5:45 in the morning and she was getting some dirty looks. I'm all for being a morning person, but really, its before 6 am. Chill homie.

We got to the start line at o'dark thirty and it is FREEZING out. My phone said it was 45 degrees and felt like 36, so naturally everyone was in a super mood. More like everyone is huddling around for body heat while the folks who came alone...ME... are standing alone and cursing the heavens for not running with a friend. When it got close to start time I did some jumping jacks, high knees, and generally just bounced around like a dumbass trying to get warm. Got in my little pace area (I chose the 10-11 minute one), and BOOM HERE WE GOOOOO.

I knew at some point my body would give me a big ole "fuck you" and I'd have to go numba 2, so I figured I need to start out fast in case I need to slow down later for tummy troubles. My first 3 miles were all around 9:30 which was quite surprising. Granted the first mile is all downhill, but still, I take what I can get mmkay? Around mile 4 the cramps set in and I'm cursing under my breath about how I just wanted one good freakin race, like seriously? I got up early to make sure I could go, and NOW I have to go!? Nope. Not stopping. I'll hold it. And so I held it.

It was a beauuutiful course. Sorry, I was really trying for a PR so stopping for pictures was not happening. But we pretty much ran the length of the GW Parkway in Northern VA, along the Potomac River. And because it was so cold, fog was coming off the water as the sun rose and it was just amazing.

Found this online. Gorgeous right?! Seriously. One of the best courses I think. It had rolling hills, but you could barely notice them because of the major downhills every couple miles. There was a sufficient amount of water stops as well. It seemed like every other mile honestly. And gatorade at every water stop! I had my handheld so I didn't stop, but if I didn't, best believe I'd be all over that. The only thing I heard people complain about was the lack of porta pottys at the start. There was around 10-15 I think, and there were around 5000 runners. Yea, bad.

After accepting my tummy troubles, the miles kind of went by quickly until mile 9. Apparently the major change this year was extending the race a mile into Old Town Alexandria so that we didn't have to run on gravel. It seemed like the mile into town was never freakin ending and I was getting frustrated. At that point my stupid shot bloks were hard from the cold and ineffective, so I was just ready to be done. Then came the bridge. I had practiced running it before, but when I did I was only at mile 7 or 8 of my run. For the actual race, the bridge is at mile 11. Big difference. That's the bridge from the Parkway view. We ran on the pedestrian pathway that runs on the side of the bridge so they didn't have to shut it down. There was a pretty obnoxious hill at the end of the bridge that you have to run up to actually cross over the bridge, so that was SUPER at mile 12. 

Like so.

After that we finished the last mile along a paved/gravel path to the finish. My mom, brother, and boyfriend were all there and it made my whole day to see them. Pretty sure my mom was crying. She's never seen me run before so I'm sure it was a proud mama moment. I finished that sucker in 2:35:04 and I was happy as hell. I wanted to finished in 2:30 or better, but considering the tummy troubles, my right headphone not staying in my ear at all, and my bib ripping on both top holes (took some walking/fixing/pinning), I'd say 2:35 is damn good. 

My brother looks is 6 years younger than me and 6 feet taller than me, so that's great. Sorry you got cut out homie. My mom is precious. And clearly I have a gatorade addiction. Went home and napped with my dog and my man, and then Leon wanted to go shopping so I got my happy ass up. Didn't buy anything by the way, because I'm trying to save for my trip to Boston, more on that later. I ate Chipotle and it was delicious and I had froyo later on. I do what I want. Woke up a pound heavier and I said "I don't give a fuuuuuck because I ran 13 miles yesterday. *insert middle finger and dancing*"

And then I put on my sexy new boots and went to work. 

-Crystal

Macros Schmacros

Heyy friendssss

So yea I was gone last week, besides my mandatory FALL IS HEEEERRREEEE post, because priorities.

Buuuut mostly because I fell off the cliff. Yea, not the wagon this time; a whole mother effing cliff. I felt like a big ole hyprocrite talking about my workouts and food and blah blah blah when in real life I was eating any and everything in sight, and not working out. It is a vicious cycle that no one should have to witness. Let's just say when I throw down, I throw DOWN. Hence why I used to be 234 pounds.

True life: that XXL Christmas sweater for the ugly Christmas sweater party aaaactually fit. Akward.

Anywho, it all started when I finally got out of the freakin 170s. That didn't last long, because the next weekend I took my happy ass to VA Beach for some sorority sister bonding, read: eat Mexican and Sushi and Cookout and drink alcohol and give no fucks. Ugh, such is life. Came home and tried to get my shit together aaaand that didn't happen because Leon wanted to go back to VA Beach for a friend's baby's birthday. So yet again, more eating delicious food that isn't in Northern VA. That was my excuse for eating a heavenly 1/4 pound burger with cheddar cheese and mushrooms w/ french fries. Judge me. I'm judging myself. Got home, and literally said, "yeaaaaa I'm not feelin the whole working out thing.." 

So I didn't work out that day. Or the next day. Or the day after. This lasted for 2 weeks. That is the longest I hadn't worked out since I've started this lovely little journey. Mind you, I was eating according to my macro plan for breakfast and lunch, but come dinner, all counting went out the window. Want pizza for dinner? Suuuure. Mediterranean Kabobs tomorrow? Suuuuuure. I'm thinkin Chinese tonight? Sounds gooooood.

 I had obviously lost my mind.

One day Leon became a little concerned with my eating habits that were obviously pointing towards becoming not so great, and asked if I was ok, while staring at the 2 pieces of pizza on my plate. Aaaand then I snapped, because obviously when you eat bullshit consistently after eating healthy consistently, your mind/body isn't alllll there. I was embarrassed. I was ashamed that I had fallen back so hard. Of course pizza is fine in moderation, but ya girl was working on piece 3 and 4, plus the wings I had just downed. I should have been glad that he was concerned and loved me enough to say something, but of course I took it as an insult and flipped shit. Sheesh Crystal, calm down and eat some broccoli. After telling him to not judge my food, whether it be pizza or salad, I calmed the fuck down and realized that I needed to get it together.

Needless to say, the next day I ate according to my macros and got my happy ass outside for a run. It really is that easy to slip back into old habits, and honestly it was a little scary. I most definitely cannot go back to the overweight, self conscious girl who broke out in a sweat from trying on clothes, but I've realized that it no one will hate me if I share my highs AND lows. Honestly, I hate reading about people who never struggled and never had an off week (or two..oops), because it's like shit girl, why is your life so perfect? Tell me the truth and tell me your struggles! I don't mean that in a "I hate you because I can't be you" way, but in a "I can't connect with you" kinda way. Whatever. I'm back on track, and doing the "October Challenge with SkinnyMeg" to get into the 160s and STAY there. No celebration for hitting 169 this time. Need to keep chuggin along.

Dec. 2012 and Sep. 2014

I'll get there! Hopefully sooner rather than later..

-Crystal

Race Recap! I'm alive!

Helloooooooo out there! I do realize that I haven't said anything since last week, more on that tomorrow. I was in a bit of a slump, if you will. But yes, back to this past weekend. I hung out with my mom all day Saturday so that was glorious of course. I live 20 minutes away from her now that I've moved out, but it's still so hard to see her during the week because I'm so busy. She's also really busy, which is very odd to me. She turned 49 this year and she goes out more than I do! She literally asked me if my brother could spend the night one Friday because she wanted to go out drinking with her coworkers. Mind you, her coworkers are all my age. WHAT.

I woke up and ran 3 miles, since I was running 10 the next day. It was an average run, nothing special. Then I watched Tiger play with her gigantic bone for a while, because it was actually pretty hilarious. The bone is literally as long as she is. We had to get her a giant one because she goes through the little ones SO fast.

But I digress. This weekend mama bear and I had planned to go to Old Town Alexandria; totes cutesy little shops, cafes, and restaurants, but it really turned into run errands with mom and go see Grandma. This is also totally fine in my book! When I was little we would go see my Grandma, along with the rest of my family, every single Saturday and it was the greatest. I have 13 aunts and uncles on my mom's side, and an absurd amount of cousins, so it was always entertaining. So this past Saturday was like old times and I really like spending time with feisty grandma, especially now that she's getting older.

After leaving Grandma's we went to Mike's American Grill for lunch and I swear they have the greatest food in the world. I'm a bad blogger so I have no pictures. What else is new. Whenever I go there I get the Jambalaya Pasta and eat all of the sweet bread in the little baskets because it's freakin delicious. But Crystal who didn't wanna shit herself on the race course the next day new and improved Crystal ordered sauteed chicken with red peppers and angel hair pasta with brown butter sauce AND only had 2 pieces of bread. BOOM BITCHES. I probably shouldn't have tried something new before race day, but it was pretty light and it fit my macros, soooo it happened. Mama Bear dropped me off at my car and we went our ways and I went home to get some rest.

RACE DAYYYY

I did the Perfect Ten - 10k/10 Mile Race in Reston, VA (about 30-40 minutes west of DC) on Sunday. I could've sworn it was a flat course. This was a lie.

I went alone for this one since my beloved boyfriend is waking up at 5:00 am next weekend to drop me off for my half, so I awkwardly hung out in my car till about 20 minutes prior to start.

I hung around and some little old lady came up to me and we were chattin it up and THEN she says, I live in this neighborhood, these hills sure won't be fun. WHOOAAAAA WAIT WAIT WAIT. HILLS!?!? Fuckin shit man. So the race starts and I get in the 10-11 minute pace area. Everyone started together, so it was pretty crowded, but it thinned out quickly. We literally made it about .30 miles before the first hill. I still had a lot of energy at that point so I took it like a champ, but goodness those hills just kept coming back to back. I kept a steady pace for the first 5 miles or so, but after the hills, plus the sun in my freakin eyeballs, plus picking a grossly sweet flavor of shot bloks (strawberry), I was just ready to get the shit over with. It didn't help that the 10 mile people had to watch the 10k people veer off to the finish line. Cue depression and longing glances. Once all the 10k folks were gone there was basically no one on the course. AWESOME. I swear all the 10 milers were like elite runners because I saw like 20 people, tops. The little old lady from before caught up to me and THEN she passed me. Sheesh, way to make me look bad Margaret. Towards the end it weaved through a parking lot of a highschool and it was pissing me off. I was literally dodging spectators and yelling "Excuse me! Still running here! Excuse me!" and it was getting frustrating. That's really my only complaint. There was also a hilarious lady cheering people on at the end, and she saw my shirt and yelled, "HASHTAG STRONG! HASHTAG BAD ASS! YOU GOT THIS GIRL!" I loved her. I sprinted to the end when I could see the finish line and it was the devil. Official time offffff 1:59:40 hahah I'll take it. 8 minutes slower than my fastest 10 mile time, and I'm totally blaming the hills for that shit. But I got a medal, and that's all that matters my friends.

Afterwards I hung around to hear the awards and eat all of the bananas and drink all of the Gatorade. Pretty sure the volunteers gave me dirty looks for taking 2 of everything, buttttt ask me how many fucks I gave? Because I just ran 10 miles, so hop off teenager with braces. Anywho, the fastest woman finished in 1:05 and the fastest man in 1:01. That's freakishly fast. Why are people so weird? Ugh. I'm just bitter and jealous, don't mind me.

When I got home I took a long ass nap that was glorious, and then Leon and I went to IHOP for our post race tradition. I got an egg white omelette and pumpkin pancakes, because fall. duh. It was delicious and awkward because our waitress told us all about her Saturday night while the couple next to us argued about car insurance. I came home and napped some more, and here we are. Monday. Such is life. The only good thing that happened was that these beauties came in the mail. Almost tackled the UPS man when he came in my office.

Aren't they just freakin sexy? Yes, yes they are. I got them from UrbanOG.com at the recommendation of my blogging fav, Laura at Life with Lolo !!! She's the greatest, so if you're not reading her shenanigans, I'm not really sure what you're still doing..I'm about to go full fall, leggings, chambray shirts, and infinity scarves all over this bitch. Get ready my friends.

Chit Chattin about my latest not-blogging-for-a-week thing tomorrow. Hope you kids had a super weekend!

-Crystal

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Yearrrr

I'm like a kid on Christmas right now. It's the first day of my favorite season ever - FALL!!!! Yessssss.

I'm more than ready for the season. Pumpkin all erry day erry thang. Last night I ordered my cognac color riding boots from UrbanOG at the suggestion of the fabulous Laura at Life With Lolo, because what is fall without boots? Not fall, that's what. 

Leon and I were out of town for the weekend for a friend's baby's birthday (yea we're getting old) and when we got on the road to Va Beach we stopped at Wawa to get breakfast and gas, and guess what I had....a pumpkin muffin. And it was AMAZING. If you don't live on the east cost you have no idea what Wawa is, and that is a sad thing. Then before we left the beach we went to Ihop, and guess what I had? That's right, pumpkin pancakes. And they were delicious and I slept like a baby while Leon drove home.

I didn't have time to go grocery shopping after we got home, because it was around 8:30 pm, so I stopped by the store this morning on my way to work to grab a salad, some fruit, and yogurt, and gueeeeess what I found in the dairy aisle? PUMPKIN FLAVORED CHOBANI. Yes. Yes, I did. I debated grabbing 5, but I didn't wanna get too crazy incase I didn't like it... Silly right? Because of course it was freaking delicious. I'm going grocery shopping tomorrow after my run, and you best believe I am stalking up since it's a limited edition flavor.

Last fall thing that happened in the past week: leggings bitchessss. I'm not gonna lie, I've always loved wearing leggings, even when I was, ahem, not fit and definitely self conscious. But whatever. Lord knows I wore them anyways. Now that I feel more comfortable in leggings, I'm all about leggings as pants. So I ordered some fleece lined black leggings for fall/winter from Hazel & Olive Boutique and I'm so freakin excited. All of their leggings sell out in minutes, especially black and navy, but I guess I got them right after a restock! I have quite a few pieces from this shop and I wouldn't definitely recommend it. Yea, it is a little pricey, but they have free shippping! And ya girl only shops clearance with a discount code, if available, soooo yea. I rarely buy full price. That's silly. 

I'm still on the hunt for some slouchy cable cord sweaters and infinity scarves. I LOVE fall. 

Just call me Pumpkin Spice.

-Crystal

Crafts and Dumpster Diving

Sup suckaaaassss!

Today is Monday and I'm just like ughhhh kill me now. This past weekend was reckless/amazing and I wish I had more time to lay in my bed. Let's do a little recap, shall we?

1. Friday night le boyfriend and I went to my baby brudder's football game with my mom. My brother is actually turning 17 next month so he's not a baby but whatever. He doesn't get much playing time since he hasn't played in like 3 years, but it keeps him busy and out of trouble sooo win win. It was still a lot of fun to watch a highschool game, mostly because I was people watching/creeping/being weirded out by the high school social scene. Kids in high school are so freakin weird. Everyone is trying so hard to fit in and its almost painful to watch them interact with each other. Plus I cannot even comprehend the clothes they wear. I saw a LOT of spandex shorts on people who were just spectating and even a bikini top? Just regular students. WHAT. I cannot deal. Thank goodness it wasn't like this when I was in highschool.

2. Last week I hinted around about wanting this gorrrgeous watch with my sorority letters on it, thinking nothing of it. 10 minutes later I had a confirmation email in my inbox, showing that my boyfriend had bought it without saying a word. SWOON. It came in on Friday after work, so naturally I squealed like a freak and didn't take it off till I went to bed. Need to master the art of stacking them now..

Isn't she precious?

3. Saturday morning I fully intended on waking up early and going for a long run. Really, I did. But then I realized that it was my first Saturday not working a part time job and I just wanted to freakin enjoy sleeping in. It. Was. Glorious. I felt so well rested and I got my morning snuggles from Tiger while Leon was still passed out.

Best cuddler ever.

4. After I got up, like ten years later, I got all Pinteresty and decided that I wanted to work on a project. So. I picked a gallery wall. Ya know, like this. 

So I took my happy ass to the Goodwill down the street to get some frames. I already have a few brown frames and one teal fram from college, plus a mustard/cream chevron canvas from Target, so I'm gonna stick with chocolatey brown/teal/mustard/gold/grey themes. I'm super excited for it to come together. This is what I have so far. Gonna need to spray paint/paint over some of those!

5. After coming down from my pinterest high I was feeling even more crafty, so when I noticed a table/chest out behind our apartment next to the dumpster, I made Leon drag that sucker inside. Ohhhh yes. Come to mama. Those square details aren't around the whole thing, just on the doors. Weird though, only one door opens. The other one doesn't have hinges, so I guess it's not supposed to open. Dumb. I think it'll be used to put Leon's record player on, once we get one (he keeps harassing me about it, so it'll be soon) and I'm pretty pumped to paint it another color and see what we can do with it. 

I also decided that I need to make my own necklace holder since I can't find one that I like in stores. Mind you I can't even find a freakin stud in the wall, but I somehow think I can work a drill. Not. Will the nice folks at home depot drill some holes in wood for me? Is that a thing? Or do I need to buy one....? I'm just tryin to make cute shit ok?! I'm thinkin one of these beauties.

#sendhelp I have no idea what I'm doing.

Hope you guys had good weekends filled with animal snuggles and dumpster diving!

-Crystal

Sports Bra Struggles

This is a sponsored blog post. Influenster provided me with complimentary Victoria's Secret products to test and review as part of a contest. 

Now that thaaat part is out of the way, let's get to the good stuff. So have you guys heard of Influenster? If not, you should go sign your happy ass up right this second. I've been apart of the Influenster community for about 2 years now, and it is hands down the easiest way to review products/try out new products to see if you want to buy them in the future all for free! It can be kind of confusing at first trying to figure out what you're supposed to do to get points, but after some time it becomes a great way to pass the time. Go to Influenster.com if you're interested in joining the site!

But I digress. Yesterday I received the Victoria's Secret Sport Box and to say I was excited was an understatement. I may or may not have stalked/harassed the mailman AND called the local post office..twice.. to make sure they hadn't lost it. I do not mess around with VS. 

It's like Christmas up in the bitch. And then the heavens opened up..

I got a sports bra AND pants!! I saw a lot of people who got this box got a bra and a water bottle, so I definitely lucked out! I tried both of them on immediately and they were so freaking comfortable. I've heard people say in the past that VS is more for show, not for comfort and not for realistic use. That is so far from the truth. This isn't my first VS sports apparel either. I've purchased a workout tank from them before and the quality is great, so no worries, not biased or anything just because I received it fo free. 

Of course the bra, which is the "Incredible Bra" is cute, but it was also created for larger chested women in mind. It has molded cups, keeps the girls high without over the top push up, is fitted without smothering, and is still functional! What more could I ask for? And the workout tights are perrrfect for upcoming chillier workouts. It's still a little hot to give them a try outside, but I did a quick HIIT workout in them in my room, and I can tell I will love them for runs and for bootcamps. They survived burpees, squats, jumping jacks, and mountain climbers, all with no sliding down, no chafing, and no awkward swishing noises when they rub together. No noise is important to me, ok?!

Now, onto the bra review. I'm in love. Go buy one. Right now, preferably. 

Post 5 mile run and this bra is still lookin hella cute on ya girl.

I decided to go for a run to test it out because that's when my boobs are all over the place. I'm a 36D, formally a 42DDD, sooo yea I need a lot of support. I've said it before, but after losing 60+ pounds, I have pretty much no boobs and a whole lotta skin. Yea I can still fill out a 36D bra so I shouldn't complain, but that's because my boobs used to be freakin gigantic and skin doesn't just disappear. I'm rambling again, sorry friends. Anyways, I really love this bra because it doesn't just suffocate your boobs like you're wearing duct tape. This bra still recognizes the shape of a woman's body and doesn't just want to tie everything down. The Incredible Bra ties everything down and then gives you some oomph to still feel freakin sexy while you're working out. I know that's not important to everyone, and that's A-OK in my book, I just like that VS gives you a 2 for 1 instead of saying, "look bitch, either sexy or sweaty. ya can't get both."

Another note is that I had come to the conclusion that men were always gonna stare at my boobs when I ran because they obviously move around a bit. There's a lot of male runners in my area, but I do have to say that the girls definitely didn't move as much. Also my chest didn't hurt at all today. Usually, I can feel a slight pull in my chest from the bouncing and it is most definitely not comfy, but I thought that was just the cards I was dealt. No! The Incredible Bra has underwire along with the molded cups, so no more slinging your boobs around like  peaches in a grocery bag. They will stay put! Effortlessly! 

No more flat smushed boobies!

Lastly, because this bra has underwire, and keeps the girls sitting up high, this bra can be worn as a regular bra for racer back tank tops! I'm all about some versatility, read: I'm too poor to buy more bras, so every bra needs more than one purpose. Because it's not too tight and suffocating like other sports bras can be, it could most definitely be worn on any occasion without giving you uni-boob or making it look like you're wearing duct tape under your shirt. I mean, more power to ya if thats the look you wanna rock with your racer backs, but I've worked hard for these ta-tas to chill out and shrink, so I'm makin them sit high and pretty whenever I can, and if a sports bra can do the job, uhhh YES PLEASE.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I thought sports bra were just a one size fit all kinda thing and that I was stuck with bras that tied everything down and sent you on your way. After trying out the Incredible Bra by Victoria's Secret, I definitely am breaking up with my old bras. It seems like VS put the time and effort into the technology and design behind each different sports bra to make sure that it fit each customer/body shape/bust size, and ya girl appreciates the heck out of that.

Also I received a small handful of VS Sport coupons for 25% off! They expire on Sept. 21, but if you think it would make it to you in time through snail mail, I wouldn't mind sending a few out! Email me your mailing address if ya want! Cljones.773 (at) gmail (dot) com.

-Crystal