Peace. I'm out!

So, I leave tomorrow for my hometown in Pennsylvania for a week!
A WEEK!!!!

This is a super last minute decision.
I was just planning on going up there 2 weekends in a row.

This weekend we are celebrating my Grandma's 80th birthday.

(And she works her way around Facebook pretty well so I hope she's not savvy enough to find my blog cos the party is a surprise!!)

And then next Satruday the 9th is my Half up there!

But the hubs suggested I just stay for the whole week rather than have to travel up twice.
He wasn't able to get off work this Friday, so he decided to forgo Grandma's partay so he could come up the following weekend to cheer me on for my first Half Mary
(I know, right?!? Sweet!!)

I just hate that I'll be taking Royce away from Da-Da for a whole week.
I could not do it.
(Another reason the hubs is a keeper!)

And my work worked it all out so that I can be away for the week and still work and get all my stuff turned in for our busiest time of the month.
I'm blessed y'all!

So, my posting may be limeted/sporadic as I will be getting in as much family and friends time as possible while still working, holding down single mom status, and taking next week super serious with my training!

I'm sure I'll be blowing up Instagram (@kbeavtann)
Especially on Saturday, the 9th!


One more thing...
A bunch of you commented yesterday on the Fila workout shirt I got from Kohl's

For $8.00
Well, my friends, you can use the code: LAMB at check out for 15% off!
Link for shirt HERE

Happy last day of February, bishes!

Weigh-In Wednesday 2.27.13

Good morning you fine ladies!!

(Please excuse me if you are a dude reading this. I do not mean to leave you out, but I also truly do not believe a male is out there reading this. If you are...HI! I love you! Tell me you're here so I don't rudely leave you out next time!!)

Ok, so where were we, ladies?!? ;)
Oh yes...it's that time of the week that we all either love or hate.
 

I can't lie...I'm loving it right now!
I saw 155 on the scale this morning...down 2 pounds from last week.
And down 35 pounds since starting this journey 7 months ago.

Here's what I'm currently doing at the moment to shed the weight...

Still training for my Half using the Hal Higdon Novice 2 training plan (and I seriously love it!)
I'm in Week 11 which tells me one thing...that half mary is right around the corner!
"Stoked" does not even describe!

I'm also just really strict on eating well as of late.
Skinny Meg posted this little diddy on IG a week or so ago.

So, by my calculations, I should be eating 1635 calories a day plus half of the workout cals I burn.
I already had mine set at 1500 so I stuck with that but have been more diligent on eating back half of the calories I burn on my run (workout).

It's so crazy to wrap your head around eating MORE when you're trying to lose weight, but it works.

(Well, as long as the more of what you eat is healthy...that doesn't mean more BK Whoppers or Arby's curly fries or cake...mmmmmmmmmm. Cake)

And I eat basically every 2-3 hours.

I did, however have a NSF (Non-scale FAILURE)
As most of you know, Operation Red Bikini is in full effect.

I decided that I was going to go with a sexy-fied one piece.
And I'm totally into fringe.
So I found this simple, yet fun and flirty for 30 suit:

Cute, right?!?
...on her!
See, mama has some love handles.
They're not as bad as they used to be (35 pounds ago...)
But I still got 'em.
It's one of those things that I feel I'll always have. No matter how much weight I lose.
Just like my stomach will never be flat.

So when I tried this suit on, the love handles stood out.
Poor hubs...I asked him if it looked bad.
He knows I appreciate an honest answer, so he graciously told me,
"Well, it doesn't look good."
I looked in the mirror and saw it wasn't the most flattering suit, but I needed someone else to tell me it wasn't the perfect suit for my body.
So back I go to return it.
And the hunt is still on for my sexy one-piece!


Yesterday it poured with rain all day.
3 miles was on my agenda but due to the rain, I decided to try the treadmill interval workout that I've seen on Pinterest and that Elle Noel raves about.

I.
LOVED.
IT.
I did not get bored at all and the 30 minutes FLEW by.
After I'm done with the Half, I may try to incorporate this at least once into my weekly running routine.

(I adore running outside, so that's why I'm only willing for one day out of the week!!)

But I'd like to reconfigure it a tad to make it a touch more challenging for me, personally.


I'm also super excited about this Fila shirt I just ordered from Kohl's

It's only $8.00 here!

I think this will be what I wear as my top layer for my half.

(Cos sadly I don't think it's going to be but so warm on March 9th in Pennsylvania...GAH!! Is anyone else ready for some spring weather?!?)

Of course, my second layer will be my customized Ruffles With Love shirt...I promise to post a pic just as soon as I get it.

(UGH!! I'm so anxious to get it!)

Welp...I do believe that's all for now!
Have a fantastic day, my dears!

#OOTD

It's Tuesday so I'm in the office!
(Mel, I don't get your hatred for Tuesday...It's probably my favorite day...after Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, of course!)
I did a post about a month ago talking about how the only time I really shower and put myself together is when I go in to the office.

So, I've been taking the ever-so-not-so-clever mirror pics of my #OOTgo into the officceD over the past month.

For your veiwing pleaseure:
(Yes, get excited!!) 

Obsessed with lace!

New shoes...$9.00 at Target

Love this silk shirt dress from VS

The details for shirt dress outfit above! ;)

Channeling Vday

Slightly obsessed with peplum

Channeling Spring-time

Feeling casual in my purple pants!

Now, if that's not a shit-ton of shameless selfies, I don't know what is!


And lastly, this made me so happy so I had to share...

Now, off to work to be Gone with the wind, FABULOUS!

Making Monday my Bitch

Good morning fine people of the world!

I'm in a pretty excellent mood this morning.
Not sure why, but I'll take it!

My weekend had no set plans and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

I made these bombass energy bites courtesy of Elle Noel

Seriously. SO GOOD!

Saturday I was set to do 12 miles.
In the back of my mind, I was kind of nervous about it...
Given the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad run I had last Saturday.
I knew I had to kick those nasty thoughts (Oh, Vanilla Ice, how you encourage me!) so I put on my new BIC Band for some power.

And I think it worked!! ;)

9:21 average WHAAAAAT?!?!?!?!
Half Mary in 2 weeks!!!!


Yesterday was the best weather we've had in a long time so the little man and I went outside to mow the street...

And, this morning, I felt good about catching up on some blog reading and not neglecting my son...

I was sitting there reading when I hear "Up. Up."
So I snuggle with the bambino while he watches Mickey and mommy reads.
Man, I love my little cuddler!

Happy Monday y'all!!

Now go out there and make this day your Bitch!

In a funk

A HUGE welcome to all my new followers.
(Thanks for pimping me out, Holly!)

I feel like I've read some posts before along the extent of,
"Hey, welcome new followers and sorry you joined the action right in time for me to be in a funk" 
But that's totally me right now!
WOMP WOmp womp...

I am in a funk.
I don't know exactly why or how or what about.
But it's there!
Lamesauce!  

I do know one thing weighing heavy on me...
I'm really struggling with how I manage my time.
I'm feeling guilty about where I place my time.

I have a 17-month-old son who I stay home with 5 days out of the week
I have a job (30 hours/week) that I do from home, except for the 2 days I go into the office.
I can't seem to find the balance between my son, working, my DVR, blogs and Instagram.
(poor hubs just fits in wherever he can!) 

Yes, I do understand how absolutely silly this sounds.
But it's an honest struggle for me right now. 

I haven't read any blogs since Monday.
My DVR has only 30% available to record.

(y'all, there are 19 episodes of Ellen on there yet to watch! And I love that woman - no, not like that, Portia - so if I'm neglecting her...you know that's bad!!) 

I've basically given up on Facebook.
The only time I get on there is if I post a pic or have a notification for something.
I have to admit that I actually don't miss scrolling through everyone's statuses.
I kind of backed off cos I realized how angry I was getting after reading stupid, mindless, annoying shit!

I don't, however feel guilty about my workout/running times.
I know those moments are me bettering myself, so I know they are necessary.
I know I want Royce to see my example of making time to be active, exercise and be healthy.  

I have a guilty conscious by nature.
So I'm struggling with anything else that consumes my time that may take away from my son.
I turn on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse so I can read a few blogs, get some work done, scour IG...
And while he loves those crazy animated animals, I get so wrapped up in what I'm doing that I don't even take the time to watch him enjoy their antics.
So it's bedtime and as I put him in his crib, I feel as though I haven't seen him all day.

This makes it sound like I am totally neglecting my son.
And I assure you, I'm not!
I do take time out and get down and play with him. 
Nurture him.
Take care of him.
Love him.
Kiss him.
Hug him.
Read to him.
Chase him. (his new fave thing!)
I know that he feels loved and cherished.
I know that I'm spending ample amounts of time with him.

 
I just don't ever want to think back on this time and think, "Gah, I was so wrapped up in insert here that I feel like I just missed it all."
      
I have a "Mommy Board" on Pinterest chalk full of stuff that I want to do with Royce.
I just looked at this board and forgot all the cool things I had on there.
I don't want to miss out on different opportunities, adventures, memories with him cos I was too busy with "stuff".     

 

Just my raw, honest struggle with balance.
I know I'm not alone in this.
So thanks for listening, friends!

I promise to snap the eff out of it soon...ish!

For now, I'll just leave you with this...

Weigh In Wednesday

157 this morning and down a pound from last weeks Weigh-In.
Being in the 150's feels so good, I can't even lie!
(PS...I've been meaning to mention that I am 5'3)


Thanks for all the encouraging words in response to my post on Monday
I'm super hard on myself and you girls flat out told me to just stop it!!
I went for my 3 mile run per schedule yesterday and felt better after completing it in an 8:53 per mile average.
The honest truth is that some days will be kickass and others will just suck ass.
And that's life.
Period.

Always after the latest trend, I ordered my 10-Day AdvoCare cleanse.
After hearing Holly's rave reviews and anxiously awaiting Mel's results, I decided it was time.
I talked back in December about wanting to do a cleanse of some sort.
Not entirely for weight loss, but more so just to get rid and start over kind of thing.
I'm super excited!

I'm sure most of y'all have heard/read that Mama Laughlin and Skinny Meg are doing this cleanse starting March 4th, however, my best gal-pal, Meredith and I had already planned on starting March 11th.

(uh, Holy name-dropper, batman!!!) 

My half marathon is March 9th and there's no way I'm going to attempt the start of a cleanse the week of my first HUGE race!
I may not be the brightest crayon in the box, but I ain't stoopid! ; )
So, March 11th we start!

Happy weighing-in and such!!

(who says shit like that?!?!)

My Big Fat Bitch of a Run

So, if you've been around here a few times before, you know I'm training for my first ever half marathon!
I'm totally stoked about finishing the half marathon and crossing something off my bucket list and buying one of those 13.1 stickers to rock the shit out of on the back of my car!

The training plan I'm following is the Hal Higdon Novice 2 training plan and it looks a little something like this:

I'm a planner so I work veeeeeeery well with a schedule to follow.
I  have been loving this training plan/process and look forward to my runs.
(every time I write "my runs" I always feel like I'm talking about diarrhea...)
Until this weekend.

I have to admit, I get nervous about the long runs on Saturdays.
But only because, with each added mile, I don't know what to expect.
I don't know how I'll feel throughout the whole distance or what my average time will be for each mile or the total time when finished.
I am really hard on myself to get a time that I am pleased with.

(Which is under a 10 minute average mile for the half...but, realistically, I think it's probably more like a 9:30 average mile that I'm really hoping to get.)

The "being hard on myself" is an advantage as well as a disadvantage.
Advantage...these bombass times I never EVER thought I would never EVER see. EVER.
(Oh lawd, now I'm channeling Taylor Swift)

Disadvantage...quite possibly pushing myself too hard which results in resenting/dreading my run.

Last week was Week 9 in the training plan and as you can see in the training plan pic above, it called for a 10K (6.2 miles)
These are optional. They are suggested during the training plan to get a "feel" for how races work and to help in seeing how you might fare at the actual half.
(We all know the race day high puts a little pep in your step so you typically run a bit faster at races!)

Well, Miss BadAss right here didn't want to back off on miles, so I planned to keep going up on the mileage every Saturday.
The training plan also never has you running 13 miles until race day and homegirl didn't like that either.
Remember...I like a plan.
I like going in knowing how 13 miles has felt before.
So, if I ran 12 miles this past Saturday, then that left me with 2 Saturday runs before the half that I would do 13 miles.
And I liked that idea.

I'm already dragging this out long enough...
Saturday came and so did the snow...we're talking big ass snow flakes.
So I took the liberty of cross training with Jillian on Saturday and would do the 12 miles on Sunday.

Sunday came, and so did my period.
And cramps like a bitch.
So I decided I was going to go by the actual training plan and do the 10K and rock the shit out of 6 miles to get a PR on that!
After popping some Midol and stretching and trying to get my head right, I headed out.
And did my first mile in 8:17.
I didn't feel like I was going that fast so I first thought the calibration was off on Map My Run but then got excited about how fan-freaking-tastic my end time would be!

Then the wind picked up. And it was ice cold.
I ran with my head down...like a bull charging the red cape, I was charging into the wind.
At about 2.70 miles my chest was severely hurting.
Like stabbing pains all on my upper left side of my chest.
It's happened before.
But it really hurt this time and it scared me.
I've known 2 people that have died having a heart attack while they were running.
Both were older men (50+) and in great running shape.
But I got a little nervous.
I stopped and walked it off.
(Okay, and cried a little)
I contemplated calling my husband to come pick me up but as I walked, it got better.
I decided that I was going to start back up jogging towards home.
At this point I wasn't sure whether I was going to try to complete the six miles or not.
But then, after falling into an ice puddle, I knew I was done.
I ran 1.30 miles home for a combined total of 4 miles.
I could not get out of my head and it was my worst run to date.
I was pissed.

I think I'm more pissed because I'm scared of dreading more runs.
I'm scared of the chest pain.
I want so badly to complete this half in my goal time (under 2 hrs 10 mins) with no pain or injuries.

My head. My thoughts. My fears.
They're starting to take over the adrenaline and satisfaction of accomplishment.
I need to get out of this funk!
I'm praying it's just the Debbie Downer bitch that is my period that's to blame...
And that my runner's high will start kicking in again.


On a lovelier note...perhaps my recent purchases could help my funk!
I purchased a Ruffles with Love shirt!
Vanessa, the owner and creator is super sweet and awesome to work with.
Together, we came up with a customized shirt that I cannot wait to see and wear at my first half!
Pictures to come when I get it!!
Use code MAMA15 to get 15% off of yours!!

And, I placed a BIC Bands order!
Use code SRfeb in the month of February to get 10% off

(I really am curious though...I've heard people talk about BIC Bands and Brady Bands and I'm just curious to hear your opinions about which are better!! Anyone care to share?!?)

Happy Valentine's Day to all my Hookers!

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey, sexy laydeeeees!!

Happy Valentine's day (and hearts and kisses and shit!)

The hubs and I don't really celebrate Vday too much.
We usually just give little gifts and make a special meal.

On tonight's menu...
I'm trying this Crockpot French Onion Soup and the hubs wanted to make Chicken Parmesan.
(Mine, of course on a bed of spaghetti squash cos I'm so cool like that!)
And probably some festive red, pink, and white pudding parfaits

Classy and shit

And, of course, to keep with all the fancy, I'll be drinking my wine in a can from Miss Marcia!

I got the hubs a ticket to see Florida Georgia Line with Luke Bryan!
(Cos the hubs got me my ticket for my birthday....but I'm 100% primarily interested in that sex-on-a-stick that is Luke Bryan!!)

And he got me a 24-count box of Sport Beans!
(Which I am honestly and truthfully totes excited about!!)

And can't forget my "box of chocolates" from the hubs! ;) 

Cute, right?!?!

To know me is to know I love a theme.
You give me a holiday and I'll take their colors and shapes and run with it!
Hence...

Baby boy's breakfast!

Work day attire on Tuesday

Accessories ARE a girl's best friend!

What I'm wearing TODAY:

My totally handsome, daytime date:

"I'm a lover not a fighter"

We're going to pass out cupcakes to my coworkers.
These are so cute and of course I found them on Pinterest!

"cute" little creation I gave to the hubs with some of the cut-out cake hearts

He said yes! ;)

Sending loads of Smoocheroo's your way, lovelies!!!

Happy Valentine's Day, beautiful people!!