"You may think you’ve got a long way to go, but you need to look back at how far you’ve already come." Chef LaLa



Hello Blog Peeps!!!  I have much to blog this week since I am a bit behind.  I will be posting in sections because this is a long one!

RACES/WALKS

I will start with  Sunday, April 29th and the 4 Mile Trolley Run that benefits Childrens Center for the Visually Impaired.  This is a huge race.  Over 10,000 participants every year and this year was no different even in the cold and rain. I felt like I raced conservatively because the ground was wet, I was afraid of my knees swelling and keeping me from my ultimate goal of weight loss.  An injury would really set me back at this point.  But I did push hard and there were some parts I actually ran, like running.  It felt good but it still scared me.  I couldn't believe I could go for as far and long as I did without getting winded or out of breath.  So that was my accomplishment during that race.  I actually finished with the almost IDENTICAL time as I did last year.  1 hour 3 minutes and 47 seconds.  It was actually 7 seconds slower than last year but with the road conditions and my fear of injury it is understandable.  I can talk about it positively now but I was pretty bummed out that I didnt finish this race in under an hour which was my goal.  Plus a side note- my registration never got there from my work who sponsors the race so I had to race under one of our HR peoples bib and time chip.  So here is my time and results under Andrea McHardie.  Trolley Run 2012 Results  Here are also action photos of the race of me also under the same name Trolley Run 2012 Photos

On May 6th I participated in the March of Dimes 1 Mile walk in Downtown Kansas City.  My good friends Heather and Dusty Blegstad organized a team for their son Omi called Omi's Homeys.  I walked with them last year for the same race.  This time we had a thunderstorm complete with pouring rain and thunder and lightning... But we braved it and made it through the walk. I purposely parked far from the walk site and made 3 trips back and forth to my car besides the 1 mile walk so I know I had logged close to 3 miles for that afternoon.  Thankfully I have an awesome BIG umbrella.  And what is cool is that I fit under the umbrella!  Here is a pic of me after the walk.

I am walking tomorrow in another 1 mile race but I intend to walk 3 around the track for the Promise Walk for Preeclampsia Awareness.  This is also in honor of Omi who is such a wonder kid and his parents are the BOMB!  It will be fun! 

I signed up for two more races coming up outside of the ones that my place of employment sponsors.  I signed up for the Hospital Hill 5k in June and The MLB All-Star 5k in July.  Kansas City is the host of the All Star Baseball Game this year and this one promises to be a fun one!  Work sponsored ones that are next are the Susan G. Komen Walk for the Cure in August and the Broadway Bridge 5k, for Special Olympics in September and the Riverside Riverfest Levee 5k and 10k benefiting Northland Animal Welfare Shelters also in September.  My goal is still to get in 10 Races/Walks for the year. If you live in the Kansas City area and are interested in the Hospital Hill or the MLB All-Star 5k, here are the links.  Both Races will fill so definitely get your registrations in.  MLB All Star 5k in Kansas City Hospital Hill 5K and Half Marathon in Kansas City

INSPIRATION FROM ALL SOURCES

Jennifer Rumple the Season 12 At-Home Winner of the Biggest Loser is one of my biggest inspirations and I just love her.  She keeps inspiring her followers on her Facebook page through her video posts, her commentary on her life and struggles.  She responds personally to her followers including me.  Here are a few exchanges I chose to share here because INSPIRATION COMES FROM ALL SOURCES.  You must surround yourself with positive energy and encouragement if you are on this journey ESPECIALLY through rough patches where the scale isnt moving, injury is keeping you held back, whatever it is.  You also need that "at-a boy!" when things are going good and you are working especially hard.

Jennifer:  4/25/12 Checking in with everyone! It's been a crazy week ... hope everyone is sticking with it! Hope you feel me sending positive vibes to GO HARD, KEEP FOCUSED and STAY STRONG as you fight for you! :) When it comes to nutrition, exercise and motivation ... which one is hardest for you and why? I bet I can guess! :) x #INSPIRE

Me:  4/25/12  Nutrition for me too. Portion control, measuring, counting, tracking everything, cravings but only during pms BUT i have been fighting those and winning this month. Like Marie I have learned to love working out. I tried my very first PiYo class tonight and Monday I will try my first Kettlebells class. I also struggled with motivation but like I said yesterday my motivation has been renewed.

Jennifer:  4/25/12  so incredibly proud of you girl! LOOK HOW FAR YOU HAVE COME! You are an inspiration! Keep going! Let me know how you like your kettle bell class - @MyTrainerBob would be proud (you should snag his DVD by the way - he's bad ass as you know! :) )

Me: 4/29/2012:  I did the 4 mile Trolley Run/Walk in the cold and rain today. I was hoping to finish the race in under an hour but the wet conditions made me fear injury so I got practically my identical time from last year and finished in 1 hr 3 minutes and 47 sec pacing a 15.57 min mile. I feel as though I could have done better but I am happy to have finished and gone ahead in such icky conditions. Doing these races is tough after having worked a 10 hour shift the whole night before so it makes me wonder sometimes how I would do fresh without having been up all night working. Anyhow I did something good for my body today. My right knee is killing me but hopefully with rest I will be ok for work tonight. Have fun at the finale! I posted a blog this week that is very detailed about what I have been up to and of course I mentioned you! Have a great week. :)

Jennifer:   Gina Lipari:  you are such an inspiration lady! When you do something even though you don't want to do it, but KNOW you should or need to do it ... that's character building! That's called DIGGING DEEP! Good girl! Send me a link to your blog again - MUST bookmark it this time! :) BE sure to ice! ICE is your friend! :) 

On May 11th Jen posted a pic of herself sitting in a school desk chair with arms.  You know the ones- wooden, metal arms, scary if you are overweight.  She posted how sitting in this chair made her feel.  It was the most awesome heart-felt and visual post.  I felt as though I was in the room reading it.  I posted in response to this pic.

Me:  5/11/12   I still overcompensate for space I dont need, pulling miles of seatbelt when I no longer require that amount. I can get into my car holding my purse AND bags of groceries and fit :) there is space- lots of space between me and my steering wheel; my gut no longer sits rubbing the bottom of it! And yes when going out to eat I can sit in the booth and not have to scope out what other seating there is in the restaurant. WONDERFUL FEELINGS! Thanks for sharing you look great in that desk chair! :)

How can you not be inspired by someone like this who genuinely wants to continue to inspire others and just wants everyone to feel as good and be as healthy as she is???  I cannot wait for the day I am at that level.

Ok, Ali Vincent the First Female Winner of the Biggest Loser Season 5 is another inspiration of mine.  As you know I met her back in April and she challenged me to lose 40 lbs by September.  So far I have been killing myself but to no avail.  But I havent given up and I will lose as much of that 40 by the time she returns as is possible.  I participated in a Twitter Party she had a few weeks back and I won an autographed copy of her book "Believe It Be It".  I received it at my doorstep the other day and here is a pic of it!  So cool and really gave me a boost!

Its hard to read from the scan but it says "Gina- Thanks for all your Support!"  LIVE BIG!  Ali Vincent FFBL (first female Biggest Loser)

I met a great new friend when I met Ali back in April when she visited Kansas City.  My friend Melinda and I have been walking on Fridays together and today when we met for our walk she had a birthday gift for me.  I was OVERJOYED at this gift.  Bob Harper, trainer for the Biggest Loser has a brand new book out called "The Skinny Rules".  It just came out and needless to say I was thrilled.  Here is a pic of me and my book and the nice things she wrote to me inside the book.  Can you say INSPIRE?  Again, INSPIRATION COMES FROM ALL SOURCES.

Ok, now a couple of weeks ago I was busy being involved with my Cousin Payton's "Flat Payton" school project.  While doing that project I was at Crown Center after visiting the Sea Life Aquarium and wandered into the Crayola Store.  The girl behind the counter I recognized immediately as one of my former Girl Scouts.  I was a leader for 12 years.  Anyhow, I purchased 2 postcards in the store and she rang them up, politely told me thank you and SHE DID NOT RECOGNIZE ME!!!  That is until I smiled.  I have trademark "Rodriguez Family Teeth".  When I smiled she ran from around that counter and hugged me and it was the greatest feeling.  I was totally inspired by her reaction and getting to see her again, whole and healthy instead of old frumpy and 300 lbs!  Thank you Gina!

Last week I was running errands for my mother and while at my old neighborhood grocery store, I was leaving and there was a woman with her two children I recognized immediately as another one of my Girl Scouts.  She had seen me a few years back and I was over 300 lbs and pretty miserable.  I got out of my car and greeted her when she saw me and she went on and on about how great I looked.  That felt amazing to me and she did my heart good to see her.  Thank you Tara!

EXERCISE CLASSES, ETC.

I am still loving my PiYo class and last week I noticed a definite difference in my flexibility and ability to do more in the class.  I am so glad I stepped outside of my comfort zone and decided to do this.  Katie my instructor is very happy go lucky and physically a rock and understanding of everyone's capabilities.  Its an awesome class and I highly suggest taking it if it is offered where you are somewhere.  I am also LOVING my kettlebells class. Jessica is an awesome instructor and we do a circuit training that is familiar to me from my days of boxing circuit training with Franchesca and Paul.  A half an hour class that really delivers.   For those of you who dont know what Kettlebells are here is a pic of one way they are used. I also added a pic of a PiYo exercise that we use too. I noticed my strength has improved in the 3 weeks I have done the class just by being in Jazzercise and doing a tough strength routine and it didnt even faze me.  And I even went up on weight for that class.  Truly an awesome feeling. 

I also got to go for my gym orientation and got a list of machines to use, how many reps, etc.  So now my strength training will really begin.  I cant wait to try my list out tomorrow at my gym.  I know this will help me over the hump/slump I am in.

There are times lately when I am in Jazzercise class that I get very emotional.  I find myself holding back tears because there are times when I am hopping, jumping and dancing that I am in awe and disbelief of what my body is now capable of.  There was a time I could never have dreamed of making my body move in such a way.  I love it when it hits me like that.  I truly appreciate the body I have and what it is becoming.

I am currently Jazzercising at least 3x a week, PiYo 1x a week, swimming 2x a week, walking 2-3x a week, kettlebells 1x a week and now I hope to be using the machines at the gym 2x a week as well.  I will keep you updated on my progress.

WEDDINGS, BABY SHOWERS, MOTHERS DAY AND MY 40TH BIRTHDAY! 

This week has been tough as far as my food intake.  It started Saturday with my cousin's wedding.  It was a BEAUTIFUL wedding and I had a great time.  I made sure to dance and have fun.  They had a buffet with rice, beans, pasta, pork and chicken for burritos, tortillas, salad and fruit and of course alcohol and wedding cake.  I skipped the rice, beans and pasta and went strictly for the pork and chicken with 2 corn tortillas, salsa that was hot and out of this world and the salad and some watermelon.  I did have a slice of wedding cake and one vodka and soda with a splash of cranberry.  I felt good about how I did.  Here is a pic of me at the wedding with my cute cousin JJ.



the wedding cake

 A week before that I had attended my cousins Baby Shower but I did not have cake or any snacks there and was very proud of how I did.  Here is a pic of me with my cousins at the shower.

I feel skinny in that pic!!



Mother's Day my mom and I went to the Golden Ox, a Kansas City steakhouse for dinner.  I could have done better there too and indulged in dessert. 



Me and my mom at the Golden Ox

My gift to my mother for Mother's Day came on Tuesday night when we I took her to see the movie Dark Shadows.  It was so awesome!  Anyhow we went to the dine-in Cinema Suites at the AMC theater in our Power and Light District downtown and again, appetizers, dinner, dessert..... YIKES!  But the movie was great and we had not experienced anything like that before. 

Wednesday I turned 40.  Yep I am there but I feel as though I am in the best shape and health of my life.  I had a blast with a good friend and we went to see the Royals play.  I had an amazing time.  But of course I had a Royal Blue Margarita and a hot dog and funnel cake fries.... again this vacation has been restful for me but the food has been a definite issue.  I cant complain it has been fun and now I just need to get back to my discipline.  I did notice how I didnt have to worry about getting through the turnstiles at the ticket gate at the game.  It was weird.  I just walked through and as I exited on the other side, I realized what I had just done.  I walked through the turnstiles without worrying if I would fit through there or not.  AWESOME!!

 

 A View of the K (Kauffman Stadium) for the Royals vs. Orioles 5.16.12

I went walking yesterday and today in my park.  Today my friend Melinda joined me and we had lunch at our Organic store Green Acres Market.  Our choices were sensible and we enjoyed the time together.  I am blessed to have great family, good friends and have had an amazing week off.  I still have 2 more days.

WEIGHT LOSS RECIPES, LINKS, ETC.

I will close with links to some of my favorite finds as far as links to good tips, recipes, etc. as of late.  Here are some awesome recipes from Chef Lala Chef Lala, Rocco DiSpirito Enchilada Recipe by Rocco Fitness Magazine Fitness Magazine Healthy Recipes

Also dont forget to check out the latest episodes of LIVE BIG!! With Ali Vincent on the Live Well Network.  Her shows can be seen online here http://www.livewellnetwork.com/

The new season of Extreme Weight Loss Makeover Edition starts Sunday, June 3rd on ABC with Chris Powell.  I love that show.  Its no Biggest Loser but it does well to keep me going until Biggest Loser Returns. Extreme Weight Loss Makeover Edition

They have already cancelled The Revolution on ABC but they had some great weight loss success stories.  If you didnt catch it on air take a look at some of these peoples successes here The Revolution Success Stories

There is also http://www.sparkpeople.com/ and http://www.spryliving.com/ that have great tips, recipes and are two of my favorite go to websites. 

Well, that finally wraps up my blog that has been overdue for the past two weeks.  I am off to live life outside of the internet and spend the rest of my day shopping for some cool new things.  Until we blog again!  MUCH LOVE!!  GET YOUR INSPIRE ON!!