The other half in moab!

This was my first half marathon! I say that as if I know for sure there will be more to come. I trained hard and worked hard and I did it! It was amazing. The course was extremely hard with miles of steep hills. But my goal was to not walk up any of those hills! AND I DID IT! There were times I had to talk to myself to keep my legs going. I am glad I kept going! I have experienced some hurtles to get to run this race so it seemed even that much more important to run it! I got tendinitis in my ankle and knee a week before and had to have my first run back besides a quick ten min on in the physical therapist office the MARATHON! I also have had runners trot during all my long runs so I was extremely scared of what was to come. I was so nervous and excited the night before and even the day of I had the worst butterflies waiting to go to the starting line. I remember the thought process well. I remember thinking am I sure I'm ready for this? Am I sure I can run this? I was terrified and then the race began and I was feeling good staying on pace and enjoying some very small hills think oh I could run like this forever. Then mile 7 came and the hills got steep and very long! I watched people fall back and start to walk! I thought oh I could just walk it would be OK but I struggled with the thought and decided no I WILL RUN THESE HILLS! I looked down to my feet on every hill not to be intimidated by the length of them. I also DID GET THE RUNNERS TROT by mile 8 and had to stop at every porta potty they had until the end! But I didn't quit running! My time was 2 hr 20 min 31 sec. I think I would have been faster if the trots hadn't made me stop! but still over all a great experience!

120 pounds gone baby!

So I have lost quite a bit of weight but there is one thing I would like to address. Sure I look better I feel better but I still have days where I feel HUGE! There is a mental battle you still have to face. Every day I take steps of letting go of bad views of myself but it dosent happen over night. I often think I have kicked the negative self talk in the butt to find my self slip into those bad habits. It gets easier to recongnize and to let go but you will always have those habits and you will always have to deaft the negative self talk.

Life gets busy!

Life is busy but we have to find ways to live our life while maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Work, school, Kids, vacations, Friends all are a part of our life. You can't avoid it and I don't think we want to, But fail proof your life. Always look at your goal and with each decision you choose think first is this choice going to help me obtain that goal or set me back and then go from there. If it is going to help you great! If it is going to set you back evaluate whether you are ok with that set back or not. If you are ok with it then choose it and move on. Its what we do most consistently that matters its not the one meal we ate to much at or the day we skipped a work out. Its what we did before that day and after that choice we made to do that.

Tips to fail proof your life.

1. Have a supply of healthy snacks in your car. So when you are busy running around and you get hungry you have something there that will keep you from stopping at McDonald's.

2. Have nutritional facts of your favorite places you stop at in your car when your on the go so that you can pull them out and make a better choice when you do eat out.

3. If someone asks you to go out to eat never say YOU DON'T CARE WHERE! You do care give them 3 suggestions of places you know there is something you enjoy and can eat.

4. Before going out look up the menu online and decide at home what you are going to eat before you even get there.

5.When going to a friends for dinner bring something! That way you know you can at least eat that.

6.Schedule your work outs! If you miss it find another time in that same day to do it.

7. Enjoy life! don't panic if you made a poor choice move on immediately and let it go.

Baked Chicken Chimichanga

1 pound chicken breast cooked and shredded
1 can fat free refried beans
1 16 oz jar salsa
8 oz fat free cheddar cheese
2 tbl per serving fat free sour cream(optional)
1/2 c chopped scallions
fresh cilantro to taste ( optional)
10 med whole wheat tortillas ( I use the whole wheat dunford because they are zero points)

Combined in a pan over med heat the chicken, beans, salsa , cheese and scallions. Heat until cheese has melted. Then using a measuring cup put 1/2 c of mixture in each tortilla folding to make sure all edges are enclosed. Spray pam on casserole dish and place chimichangas with fold down in pan. Bake at 350 degrees until shells are golden and crisp to with sour cream and cilantro and any other toppings you want. Each chimichanga is 4 points. Add additional point for other toppings.

My first Race! The wasatch womans love your body 10K

This race was amazing! It meant a lot to me! I would like to publicly thank all my fans who showed up to my race! My mom , Karen(my mother in law), Grandma Warner, Yannick( my brother) Ethan ( my brother) Erin, Cora , Eason, Brevan and I can't forget my hottie Matt. Also want to thank my other supporters who couldn't make it to the race but were there in heart, Jeannie and Neil and their family and all my good friends! I love you guys!

So I wanted to share my experience with you all. I have been training for a few races over the past few months. The Wasatch woman's love your body 10k was my first race! I was so excited for this race because it was my first and what it stood for. It was a charity race where it was raising money for girls with eating disorders and teen suicide and self esteem problems. It also stood for loving your body! Where most of you know through out my life I have never loved my body! I loathed it for years!( I might even say for 27 years lol) But I broke through that self hatred and learned to love my body! And by loving my body I take care of my body! This race was the perfect race to be my first.

The night before the race I felt like I did the night before I was going to be induced with my first child. I was excited and nervous and didn't know what to expect. I had been training for this for months but I was still scared. I thought what if I don't finish or what if the hills are so bad that I have to walk. The morning came fast and matt and I went down to sugar house park I had my number and all my gear (ipod, Knee braces, Powerade and fruit). The time seemed to fly by and there I was standing in the back of the crowed for the 10k race to start. I felt tears start to well up I wasn't sad I just couldn't believe that me Celeste was about to run 6.2 miles in a race. I started off in the back because I didn't want to feel bad if people passed me I wanted to do the passing. When he said go everyone started to take off some sprinted some walked and I just kept telling my self pace your self slow down if you need. I started to pass people and it felt amazing, not that it was about winning or losing it was just about my own personal success. There were a lot of hills in the run and I had run hills in training but not as many as there were in this run. I kept my pace and I was feeling amazing. Each mile was dedicated to a person or people I loved. And each mile had a meaning to me. As I ran each of those miles I tried to think about those people I dedicated them too. As I ran I noticed a lot of people stopping and walking and then running again. Which is fine but it was my goal to run the entire thing NO WALKING! When mile 4 came it was a big deal because mile 4 meant a lot to me but it also was the steepest hill in the entire race. I think that that hill was meant to be in mile 4 just for me. I have to say it was pretty ironic. Well all the woman I could see immediately in front of me started to walk up this hill. I again started to cry and a surge of empowerment hit me and I ran and I ran past those woman and As I came down I saw the sign Mile 5! I perked up and my speed increased and as I came along that last bend I saw my little brother and him smiling at me and the I just stated to sprint and I sprinted till I passed the finish line. I could hear my family screaming for me but I didn't see them I was so focused on sprinting. When I crossed the finish I was catching my breath and the lady who was helping take the timing chips off our shoes said you did awesome and then I started to ball and she asked are you ok. All I could say is I finished! It felt good to finish something I started. I have always been a person who starts things and has great ideas but doesn't finish them. BUT I FINISHED! I also Killed my average time! I don't know how I beat my time considering all those hills and the fact that I felt like I had to keep slowing my self down. But I ran it in one hour and 3 min and I thought I would do it in 1 hour and 15 min. (because of the hills) My average time with out hills would be 1 hour and 8 min.

Now I'm excited for my next race! Also Look for me in Wasatch woman's magazine. My story is going to be featured there!

Things I can't Believe I can do!

(these are the pics for 24 hour fitness!)

So besides the scale success I thought I would mention a few other victories! One I can run!!!!!!!!!Long distances! And I love it! Two my Blood pressure is 106 over 62! Three My resting heart rate is 58! I can do guy Pushups! In my entire life I have never been able to do that even when I was thin before. Four I have confidence. That one is a biggie. I have never had confidence. It is an amazing feeling to feel good about your self and not need as much out side aproval! I have learned that if you put your heart and mind in it you can achieve what ever you want. Over all I am a much happier person. I have gained my life back!

shepards pie

1 pound lean ground turkey
1 med onion diced
1 small package frozen pea's and carrots
1 can turkey gravy
3 tbl worchesier sauce
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
3 cups mashed potatoes ( mashed with sour cream and fat free milk) (add oregano to potatoes)
1 cup fat free shredded cheddar cheese

Saute turkey and onions. Add worchesier sauce saute 2 min. Add carrots and peas and seasoning. Heat until carrots and peas are warm. Add gravy and coat meat and veggies evenly. Transfer meat to baking dish. Cover meat with mashed potatoes using a spatula. Top with cheese. Then Broil on low for 5 min until cheese is melted.

This serves 8 and is 7 points each serving. This is a recipe I made up. There are a lot of shepard pie recipes out there I just tried to make one low in fatand with veggies my family likes. So enjoy! I wrote down the calories a while ago to figure out the points but I need to do it again so I can post the exact calories.