Cutting the Fat

Now that we have some ‘fans’, we should probably elaborate on what we are trying to achieve here. We LOVE food. However, loving food doesn't generally do such great things for our waistline. So, we are trying to make healthy lifestyle choices without suffering. This could be anything from low fat sour cream to whole wheat pasta or smaller serving sizes. If diets work for you, great. Diets don’t work for us. As a matter of fact, we HATE diets. The problem with diets is that you have to stop dieting at some point. Thus, the yoyo effect. We believe in lifestyle changes that don’t make you suffer. After all, who doesn’t love to go to Taco Bell and order a crunch wrap supreme, two tacos, an order of nachos and finish it off with French vanilla ice cream from Cold Stone. However, there are always regrets afterwards. So, what we are trying to do is mix in healthy decisions (food and physical activity) so that we can indulge from time to time with minimal guilt.


What you are reading now is our journey to shake off the winter weight and to get ourselves back into better shape.

Chad: I want to lose 20lbs. I could shoot for 30lbs but that would put me back to my high school weight and I think most of you who knew me back then would say that I was a string bean. So, I am shooting for 20lbs of loss.
Julie: I'm trying to veer away from focusing on weight loss, but rather on improving my health and working on improving my race times. With that, there should be some weight loss; but I will consider that icing on the cake.

We want to share some of our favorite recipes along with some new ones we have never tried. Some may be healthier than others, and some may be more delicious than others; but either way, we'll let you know what we think.

We will also be tracking our progress as we start our running program again this year. Last year, we found that when combining running with healthier eating choices, we were consistently seeing improvements in our health.

Most of you probably hate running.

Chad: I hated running. However, I hate lifting weights and working out in the gym even more.
Julie: I also hated running... actually... some days I still hate it.

Last year we started training in April and ran our first 5K in June. Our first month of running was horrible. We couldn’t hold a steady pace for more than a couple of minutes. We found a app to put on our iPod that trained us to get from the couch to a 5K (called C25K) in 10 weeks. We highly recommend it to anyone that is just starting. It breaks you in gently. By the end of that program though you will be able to run a 5K without problems. We went from hating running to really enjoying the time spent outdoors together. It doesn’t hurt that we have a converted railroad trail to a very nice paved running/biking trail about 200 yards from our house. So not only is it flat and paved but the scenery and ease of use helps.

We didn’t finish very well in our first 5K; but we did achieve our goal of not walking at all during the race. We continued to run throughout last summer. We raced in several other 5Ks and we achieved our goal of improving our times each race. In September we ran our first 10K-- We both finished first in our age bracket!!!
Julie: But we should probably mention that we were the only ones in our bracket (there was one other guy in Chad's).
Chad:  Let’s not get lost in the details.

Our goal for that race was not only to finish but to finish in under an hour so that we could qualify for a better starting position for a half marathon in Disney in early October. We did it. We both ran the half marathon in Disney and we finished. However, we definitely were not ready for that long of a race.

Chad: We aren’t breaking any speed records and I think it is safe to say that Julie is slower than I am, but I enjoy running by her side. If I had to run alone, it would not probably be as much fun. So we run all of our races together. Even though I could pull away and smoke the pack, I don't (HAHAHA). So for those of you looking to start running, it helps if you have a partner to run with that will not only push you but will also run with you and be understanding that you are a fat lard and are out of shape.
Julie: It's also great motivation to have an accountability partner to force you to go out running on those days that you'd rather be eating Taco Bell and Cold Stone than pounding the pavement.

The point of all of this is that we feel if we blog our progress, it/you can help hold us accountable for our progress. We also hope to share some of our favorite recipes and fitness related products along the way. We occasionally throw in some random thoughts on anything from the upheaval in the Middle East, to vacations, to our puppy, Teddy. It is our hope that you at least enjoy hearing our struggles and victories and maybe get a few tips for your own journey along the way.