Thursday, February 26, 2015

We Went to Disney!!!


Last weekend Erick, Christine and I headed to Orlando. Christine was going to run the Princess half marathon and Erick and I went to spectate and drink around the world at Epcot. It was quick trip- we left Friday, drove back Sunday (Orlando is a 6.5 hr drive and in a different time zone) and it was totally worth it! 

Road trips are awesome!




We hit up Downtown Disney soon after we arrived...

LEGOS!!!



Dinner and beers with the crew- featuring Heather who was also in the Shape magazine article with me :)



Heather and I found it quite amusing how bad we both are at having our photos taken. And at how ridiculous it was signing model releases for the Shape article. 


SATURDAY

We hit up the tweetup before making our way to Epcot

Not the best picture of me but it's the only one I have with Dani 







Disney really is the happiest place on earth...


My phone died very early on in the day so this is where my Epcot photo recap ends. We had such an amazing time and I cannot wait to go back!!!


Sunday- Race Day!


5am in the Magic Kingdom



I was in the Magic Kingdom early enough and long enough to grab two awesome pics- one daytime and one nighttime :)

Christine around mile 5.5

...and at mile 13. Still smiling!


And like that....our trip was coming to an end. A stop for dinner in Tallahassee at the Tin Cow (the original is in Pensacola) for a burger and a beer and then we were on our way. 



It was such an amazing weekend. I am so thankful to be able to travel and spend time with friends, old and new. It was just so perfect- start to finish! 

Love and hugs,
Dacia
xoxoxoxo

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Self Care

As part of the wedding planning I had to set up a beauty and fitness plan. Now I think I mentioned before that my beauty plan is pretty minimal. It's basically just making sure I moisturize daily and to always wear sunblock.

As part of my fitness plan I mapped out the year (well now months) leading up to the wedding to determine when I will be training for races and when I will be focusing on completing fitness programs, like PiYO. That was a pretty big deal for me, to create a year long fitness plan. It's something I had never done before. I don't usually think that big picture. I am more of a monthly or weekly planner but a year. Sheesh.

Anywho, since I am more of a month by week by day kind of gal I am also focusing on creating goals for each of these and tracking them in a google doc. I am now into month two, which started on Monday the 23rd. I am using Brooke's goal tracking sheet (that I have recreated in excel) and have created my goals.

This month's goals are very similar to last month's goals with the exception of adding in two new ones. Primarily my goals have been focused around eating (tracking, meal planning, limiting eating out) and training (30 minutes of activity daily, following half marathon training plan, cross training) and that works ok, But these goals aren't all encompassing enough for what I need right now. These goals are missing the mental/spiritual portion of my life. I was missing self care. 



So, in order to try and create goals that better represented the balanced life I am hoping for I added in a new daily and weekly goal. 

Daily: 30 minutes of me time - this could be 30 minutes spent reading, listening to a podcast, taking a warm bath, meditation, etc. This does not include time spent on social media. To me, that is just not relaxing. I need to carve aside time that is spent just focusing on me, not time spent distracted by other people's lives. 

Weekly: Self Care - each week I need to get in self care activities such as rest days, ice baths, epsom soaks, yoga/stretching, reading (not for school). Basically I need to make sure I am taking time every week to take care of my body and my mind.



It will definitely take time to get used to setting aside 30 minutes a day of just me time but I think the benefits received from it will be exceptionally great for me. What may seem like a sacrifice at first will probably end up feeling like a gift in the end. Which is exactly what I need.

I love this little infographic...life is more than just food and activity!

Do you practice daily or weekly self care activities? What is your favorite way to focus on your mental well being? 

Love and hugs,
Dacia 
xoxoxoxox

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Four Years...

When I think back on my life four years ago it almost feels like I am watching a home movie but of someone else’s life. That can’t be me. That person I see is so different from the person I am today. And I don’t just mean the weight thing. The weight loss thing is secondary, at best, to the story of transformation that has occurred between then and now.

If you asked me to describe the person I was back then I would probably say something like ‘I was someone that was scared, ashamed, hopeless, sick and was overwhelmed with the feeling of defeat’. Today, well today I feel the complete opposite way. I feel full of hope. I am confident, proud, scared at times (but for different reasons- like stepping outside of my comfort zone), and healthy. I am happy.

It’s not to say that I haven’t always lived the good life. I have always had so much to be grateful for; a good job, a roof over my head, loving friends and family.  I've never had to want for much, definitely never for a necessity. But back then, I took so much for granted and I squandered away this amazing gift (life) because I was weak (physically and mentally), I was afraid, for the most part I was clueless and because I wasn't my number one priority. I lost my identity and sense of self and was just aimless. And it wasn't just because of my weight, my weight just added to the mess. I had made a series of decisions in my life (career-wise, relationship-wise) that left me feeling less than thrilled with where I was. *No blame here (well, maybe a little blame on myself) because, honestly, at the time I always thought I was making the best, the right decisions, for myself and my family. And of course I am thankful now for those series of ‘missteps’ because they led me here. But my point is there were many factors in my life, in addition to or aside from the weight thing, that made me the person I was four years ago.

Like I have said many times before (sorry to sound like a broken record) if weight gain was the only  problem then weight loss would have been the solution. But for me, that wasn't necessarily true. Weight gain may have been an issue but I strongly believe it was a side effect of years of not giving a crap about myself. And why didn't I care about me? Because I was miserable over my circumstances. And why was I miserable? Because I felt like a failure in work, my marriage, pretty much life. And why did I feel like a failure? Because I had a job not a career, a marriage that was unsalvageable…etc., etc.

You see I can keep asking questions and get closer and closer to the root of the problem. And that root cause is what made me the person I was. I had so many issues because of those underlying problems (emotional eating, low self-worth) that even if I fixed the surface issues (or what I call the side effects) I would still have ended up feeling weak, scared, ashamed and hopeless.

I wanted to change my life. I wanted to be healthy. I wanted to be active. I wanted to be a participant in my own life. Most importantly, I wanted to live.

I needed to take a good hard look at my life and let the overhaul process begin. It was time to take ownership of where I was in life, acknowledge that I could not change the past and the circumstances that led me there, accept all the mistakes I had made, and move the eff on.

It was time for me to identify the areas in which I was unhappy and make changes to rectify that.

Bitching and moaning, although it is one of my favorite pastimes, wouldn't get me anywhere. It would never change anything. It was nothing more than wasted breath. I needed, for once in my life, to take some action.

Every choice I made came with consequences. Not all of them bad but sometimes they weren't great. I  had to learn how to make concessions and be ok with the fact that it couldn't always be exactly what I wanted all the time. I had constraints and I had to be understanding of that.

My transformation, my weight loss journey, my revolution or recreation, whatever the hell you want to call it, came because I finally had the understanding and enough strength to be introspective, to take ownership and to take action.

So when February 20th rolls around I get a chance to reflect back on that date in 2011 and what happened then that triggered all of this. Because of those changes and because of the realization I made in that moment and, of course, the hundreds of other realizations I made along the way, I am able now to be thankful for the person I am, the person I was, and the person I will be. I am still, and will always be, a work in progress. But I am now someone who can live (like actively live) and enjoy their life and can continue to make changes and alter my path in order to continue to do so. And that my friends, took four years to get me here. Yes, I may look very different on the outside but I am far and beyond, a million times over different on the inside. And that, to me, will always be the biggest and best transformation of all.

Thank you all for being here with me. Guiding and supporting me along the way. To those of you that have been here every step of the way- you will never know how much that has meant to me, you are my pillars of strength. To the people I have met because of blogging/social media- thank you for being my beacons of hope. I cannot wait to see what the next year brings. Thank you for being a part of this crazy journey with me.



Love and hugs,
Always.
Dacia
Xoxoxoxoxo


P.S. I wrote this in my journal on February 20th (my actually four year blogiversary which is also the date I decided to take my life back) and was only now able to type it up to post. Sorry for the delay. 

Monday, February 23, 2015

90% Baby Goats

Once in awhile I am Inspired to write something meaningful, maybe even a bit insightful. You get a glimpse of the thoughts in my head or my struggles or even my reaction to my 'victories'. There's depth and meaning. Complete honesty.  I love those posts and I feel proud of myself for having a bit of courage to be able to write openly and of course I feel amazing if something I say encourages, inspires or comforts someone else.

But as you know, this blog is not filled with those posts. Those posts are the 10% that make up MRTG. For the most part my blog is 'fluff' pieces, writing from the surface - what I'm training for and how it's going, what I did over the weekend, wedding plans, puppy life, gardens, etc.


Do you know why? Because this blog is 100% reflective of me. I always write with my authentic voice.


And my authentic voice just happens to be 10% introspective , 90% surface because that is me. In real life.


I am that person that will (sometimes) remember to be encouraging and uplifting and be good friend. But most of the time I am baby goats and fluffy puppies. That's just who I am.


Would I like to have a blog where it is 100% inspirational/introspective posts? Of course. But in order to do so I would only be able to write every few months. Because I am just not that person with a mind filled with deep thoughts. They don't consume me. Posts like that just happen randomly, I can't force them.


And maybe that blog (that would be comprised of 5-10 great posts a year) would be better than what I have now. I'm sure of it actually.


It might even be great.


But it wouldn't be me. Not fully, at least. And that is not what I want. I want to be 100% Dacia all the time, fluffy puppies and super cute baby goats and all that jazz. I want to be true and authentic and write what is me...even if it's not great. Even if it is mediocre at best. I may never conquer the interwebs or become a household name (for those few houses discussing bloggers over dinner) but at least I know I have stayed true to myself and my voice. Whatever that my be.


Don't get me wrong, I love the inspirational stuff. The posts that leave you questioning life or your path or push you to kick ass and take names. They are the shit. But honestly though, couldn't we all use a bit more baby goats???



Love and hugs,

Dacia 
xoxoxox


Best baby goat video of all time....

Monday, February 16, 2015

Super Quick Post

I would love to stay and chat but life right now....well, let's just say I am operating on very limited free time.

This week...

Is the last week for one of my grad classes and I have a paper and project due Sunday. STRESS!

AND I am going out of town Friday so it needs to be finished by Thursday. More STRESS! (Always, even when I know it will get finished in time and it won't be that bad- the days leading up to the end of a course are always stressful to me)

Crazy cold front moving in and it will be in the low teens (possibly lower) with the windchill in the mornings...might not seem too terribly bad for most but we were enjoying our 70 degree temps this weekend, I can't handle 12 degrees. All running this week will be done indoors- BOOOOOOOO!

Half marathon training, as always it seems. No complaints though. Next one is less than 2 weeks away. I have been supplementing my training with some Les Mills Combat (love it!) and have even taken a few Barre classes this past month.

Gordie is doing awesome. We actually ran into the owner of Gordie's two sisters Friday night while we were out at the brewery (aren't dog friendly places the best?) and we have a plans for future play dates/doggy family reunion.

He's getting so big! Not even 6 months yet! 

Wedding planning has slowed significantly...we have so much already taken care of we are kind of on a break until it comes time to order the invitations in April. Yay us! Go team La-Root!

Getting ready to build my third garden some time in early March. We dumped our first batch of compost from our yard into garden one, which is currently empty (all foods have been harvested and enjoyed), in preparations for planting. We have some big plans this spring for the yard and the gardens. I cannot wait to share them all with you!

Last week I got some really shitty news that broke my heart. One day I may share here but for now lets just say I am devastated, sad, angry and racked with guilt. It's been a really rough week.

BUT- as much as this past week wore me down and left me with not a single tear left to cry I am so thankful for the people in my life that were there to help pick me back up and take my mind off of the bad, even if it was just temporary. Thank you all for your love and support!

Enjoying some of the Mardi Gras festivities...





Love and hugs,
Dacia
xoxoxox


Thursday, February 5, 2015

Plans and Lists and Lists and Plans

Under normal circumstances I would say that consider myself a planner. I like routine (with a dash of spontaneity) and I like having control of my life where I can – diet, exercise, sleep, etc. I wasn't always this way but it is the person I have become and it is the lifestyle that works best for me.

Now that I have thrown wedding planning into the mix of my normal busy but planned out life things have gotten exponentially crazier with the planning and the lists. It’s a good thing (great thing actually) but I also know I am walking a fine line between being in control of my life and my life controlling me.

I have many google sheets and docs set up in my wedding folder. I have budgets and timelines and to-do lists. I have address files and guest list tallies. Every detail regarding our wedding exists somewhere in this folder and, I think, it’s a good thing. Trust me when I say, I am not trying to overdo or over-plan the details of the wedding. That is not my goal AT ALL. BUT I am trying to make sure our guests have food to eat and some beer to drink and someone to take our pictures. Our end goal is to have a beautiful wedding ceremony followed by an amazing reception/party that is fun and comfortable and represents Erick and I as a couple. And as easy and carefree as I want the party to feel I still need to make sure most everything is planned out in advance in order to do so. It’s a tricky situation.

I am very happy to report that we have crossed off every big item (venues, caterers, music, etc) off of our list and now all that remains are the details…which I am totally not going to lose sleep over. The big decisions are behind us and now we can just relax (relax-ish) and let everything else fall into place.

That being said….I still have a lot of plans and planning left to get me to October 17. One of the things the website ‘The Knot’ (this is what I used to build my timeline from) said to do is to create a fitness and beauty plan. Well, anyone that knows me knows that a beauty plan isn't really my thing but I do plan on making sure I moisturize every day and where sunblock all the time- two things I already do pretty much every day.

The fitness plan, however, was right up my alley. Especially knowing that originally I was thinking of training to run a full marathon in January 2016 and then realizing there is no way I wanted to be running that much (mileage/time) during my wedding and honeymoon time. So I did want to create a new fitness plan that would help keep me working towards different fitness goals throughout the year but that was also realistic to my schedule. It was kind of strange planning out for a whole year but I think it will be good. And of course, I will tweak/change/adapt however I need to help keep me sane J This is what I came up with….

  • January through April- half marathon training (I have two more coming up- 3/1 and 4/12) with spinning, DVDs (loving Les Mills Combat) and Zumba for cross training
  • April-May- Ragnar training. Similar to above but the focus will be on running on tired legs. Like running at night and then again the following morning to help simulate the conditions of a relay race.
  • May-July- PiYo (my goal is to complete the entire program) with cycling as cross training
  • August-October- half marathon training and back to my twice/weekly sessions with my personal trainer
  • October/post wedding I am planning to run two half marathons; Pensacola (November) and Louisiana (January 2016). Both I ran this year and I really want to run both again. 
So that’s the plan. Running, running, running, with cross training thrown in, PiYo and then more running.

I have also set some ‘rules’ to follow throughout the year:
  • Limit processed food intake
  • Limit beer to one (max two) days a week
  • Limit eating out to 2-3 times a week
  • Track daily
  • 30 minutes of activity daily- walking counts!
  • Don’t stress about the wedding!

That’s my plan. I am going to try to stick to it best I can but I understand how tricky it is planning out this far in advance. Things change. I’ll change. Who knows what lies ahead of me but as long as I keep moving forward I will be one happy bride J

Love and hugs,
Dacia

xoxoxox

Engagement/Family Photos