The ABCs of ME - Part I

Since becoming more active on Instagram over the last few years, I have made a ton of friends and have felt more acceptance for all of my quirkiness than I ever have in "real life".  I've never really had a ton of friends - my circle has always been small - and I'm ok with that.  My true friends are the ones who know the nerdy freak I am on the inside and still like me.

One of my favorite things on Instagram that has really helped me learn about others - things you wouldn't know just by looking at their day-to-day posts - are the "About me" posts that people occasionally write.  I have read some of the most random, awesome, hilarious facts about the people I follow, and I love it!  We are human, after all.  We're not all running and workouts and filters and macros.  We're everyday people, and no matter if you want to admit it or not, we're all weirdos in some way and sometimes not what others expect.

I've posted an About Me or two over the years but decided I was overdue for another, in more detail apparently, because the amount of useless information about myself far exceeds the number of characters Instagram allows.  And honestly, if you manage to get through this entire long ass post (and the next one, because who wants to read 26 paragraphs in one sitting?), you the real MVP.  Because seriously, it's a lot of random BS.  

So here it is, the ABCs of Becca - Part I.  Enjoy!

A. AWKWARD.  Let's just go ahead and start with the main adjective for myself.  I grew up shy and awkward, and it bled into adulthood.  I laugh at inappropriate, uncomfortable times (i.e. if someone is ugly crying, and once even laughed during prayer at a funeral...my mom was pissed), I say stupid things in moments of nervousness, and eye contact is not my favorite.  I fake it to make it daily at my job.  People think I'm super outgoing. I am not.

B. BBG - the main reason I became active on Instagram.  I found out about BBG from hashtags on Insta back in 2017.  And the rest is history.  It has been my go-to workout program since then.  I'm old-school and have always used the PDFs. It is NO JOKE and you WILL get results if you put in the work.  As I sit here unable to cough or move or breathe because my abs are crying from week 2. These are a couple of my Before-After pics.

C. Cats.  If you've followed me for more than 2 seconds, you know I am a cat freak.  I have 3, one of which I am probably a little too obsessed with. I've had cats my entire life.  I spent the majority of my childhood in my closet with my cats dressed in baby pajamas so they couldn't run away. (See A above.)

D. Donuts - I freaking love donuts!  One of my favorite memories from childhood was weekend donuts from either Ryke's Bakery or Wesco in Muskegon, MI. Donuts bring me joy. I had a coworker/friend who always brought Friday donuts to work, and to this day, he is my favorite former coworker. 😂 I think he did it because he knew my grumpy ass was DONE with that place by Friday morning. I'm going to need my future husband to wake me up on a Saturday morning with a dozen donuts and a hot black coffee.  This is the way to my heart.  There, now you know.  I really am easy to please.

E. Enneagram 6 - THIS IS ME TO A T. Which Enneagram are you?

F. Food.  My Instagram handle literally has the word FOOD in it.  I have been obsessed with food since birth.  I've always been a big eater and I get overly excited about my next meal.  I eat ridiculously fast and have to force myself to eat at a normal pace when eating with others. When I was in 6th grade, I got so excited for lunch every day that my teacher told me since I kept running to the door at lunchtime, I would be the last one out of the room the next day. Well, I showed him.  I waited until he was standing in the hall and I booked it through the classroom...and immediately tripped over a desk leg, busted my face, and ended up covering my pink cat sweater in blood.  I needed several stitches to close the gash above my eye.  My sister has never let me forget this.  She has also never let me forget the time I barely chewed my burrito, and then threw it up all over my bedroom floor, practically still whole. I have a problem.

G. Gassy.  I have no shame.  I am the son my dad always wanted and the brother my sisters never did. I belched so loudly in my car today that I looked over to the car next to me to make sure they didn't hear me through 2 layers of closed windows and traffic noise. Not sorry.

H. Humor.  I pretty much think everything is funny.  Gross humor, sexual humor, bathroom humor, inappropriate humor. More than a handful of times a day, I read something hilarious and while laughing out loud, I say, "OMG, that's terrible!"  The more terrible, the harder I am probably laughing.  I am a child.  I am a huge fan of memes, and will send you funny memes based on what I think you can handle.  Once I determine that you won't be offended by me, the memes progress. I also think I'm hilarious, even though my friend, my sister, and my kid tell me otherwise. Whatevs... I'm a hoot.

I. Independent.  I'm extremely independent.  I've been single for a year and a half, I've gone to the movies by myself, I've taken a weekend trip alone, I'll eat in a restaurant alone.  Doesn't bother me!  I've been told I'm "too independent", but I don't think that's a thing.  I still PREFER to do those things with someone I enjoy being around, but I honestly don't mind being alone.  I think that's healthy.  But on the flip side of being independent, when I'm in a true relationship with someone I really like, I'm all in.  I'm not distant and avoidant of time spent with them whatsoever.  But I know who I am and what I like, and I have no qualms about a Friday night spent alone in my underwear, beer/wine in hand, Hallmark movie on the tv, food I don't have to share in my lap. Not sharing my food is my favorite.

J. July - my favorite month of the year. It's the middle of summer, all sunshine and no rain in Texas.  Pool days, the middle of baseball season, Thirsty Thursday at the ballpark lazy river when 2020 isn't ruining the minor league baseball season, the 4th of July (my favorite holiday), cookouts, paddleboarding on the lake, flip flops, tan lines.  I am truly happy in July.  💓

K. Kid.  My favorite person on the planet and a favorite amongst even the least kid-friendly adults.  He's easy-going, witty, smart, sarcastic, kind, and not a parent-teacher goes by where they don't tell me how funny he is.  The kid has no filter and some of the things that come out of his mouth shock me into silence before making me laugh out loud.  He roasts his mom like a champ. 

L. Lake.  I grew up on Lake Michigan and my happy place is on any body of water.  I love cruises, beaches bring me peace and calm, and I am fortunate enough to live 15 minutes from a large, clean lake that is perfect for paddleboarding. The hardest part about 2020 was cancelling our December cruise.  I NEEEEEED to be on a beach or by a pool right now.  Also why I am not a fan of winter.  I already miss the lake and can't wait for paddleboarding days with my Sweat girls and some beers.

 M. Motivated.  I've always been highly motivated to succeed in my life.  I always loved school and tried to get the best grades.  I went to college for 7 years instead of  4 so I could make more money in the long run.  I worked hard to buy homes on my own for my child.  Having a good, happy, comfortable life has always been my motivation.  This has carried over to fitness to some extent.  I'm not ALWAYS motivated on a day to day basis, and was very UNMOTIVATED in early 2020, but I always get it together eventually and remember the main goal - health and happiness. I can't be my best self and the best mom when I don't take care of me.

*****

Thank you for getting through the first half of the alphabet with me.  You now know way more about me than you ever thought you wanted to know...and there's more to come!  I love learning about people, especially the most random, weird facts.  The weirder, the better.  Tell me something interesting or super quirky about you!

How To Be A Runner

How to become a runner:

Lace up.
Run.

That's it. Congratulations, you're a runner.

But in all seriousness, it can be daunting for someone who has never done it. Scary even.

I was that person in 2009. I was 185 lbs and decided I wanted to go from being 100% sedentary to training for a half marathon. And I really gave it my best shot for all of 2 months. But my lack of education on the topic of running, combined with being grossly out of shape, led to severe tendinitis in my right leg and sidelined me for another 2 years. Because after my leg and ankle healed 6 months later, I had decided I "wasn't good at" running.

Fast forward to 2011. I promised my sister I would do a 5k in September 2011. I thought:

1) 3.1 is way better than 13.1 so how hard could it be? 

And

2) I have PLENTY of time to train.

Except I didn't. I continued to sit on my couch and eat Chinese food and entire boxes of Swiss Cake Rolls.

September rolled around, I was reminded of my promise, and I decided to just suck it up and do it, even if I walked the whole thing.

So I did it. And it sucked. And, shockingly, I was addicted to racing at that point. I was 3 months out from my 30th birthday so I decided that I would stick with it and do a 5k every single month while I was 30, until the end of 2012. My goals were a) improve my time by ANY amount each race, and b) don't ever be last.

That's when the learning curve began. Sure, I had survived that first 5k. But I wanted to do more than survive. I wanted to see my time improve and I wanted to do it injury free. I am the QUEEN of running injuries. I've had almost all of them at some point.

Here's what I learned during the process of becoming a runner:

1. Shoes are EVERYTHING. I wore too small shoes in the beginning, followed by shoes that were terrible for my feet. 

A. I always buy a size up. I wear 8.5 in regular shoes. I buy 9.5 for running.

B. Running stores can be your best friend. They will help you find a shoe for your gait. I personally need stability shoes vs neutral shoes, which sucks because neutral shoes are way cuter.

C. More than one pair is ideal. They last longer. Aim for 300-400 miles max before you retire them.

2. Don't over-train, especially in the beginning. Just because your Instagram runner friends can run 63 miles in a week, 5 times a week, etc, doesn't mean you have to. Start out with a couple miles a few days a week. Increase as your body tells you to. Just because an online training program you find starts you out at 3 miles doesn't mean that's right for you.

3. Pain vs soreness. This one is tough for someone new to working out or running. I've had to gradually learn the difference over the years. You can be sore and not be "injured". But you can also be in pain and need to rest up to prevent something much worse. You have to learn your body. You also will learn what shin splints feel like and when you can run through shin soreness vs stop and ice.

4. Cross training really helps. Building lean muscle and gaining strength helps with endurance. Don't have to do anything crazy, I didn't really "workout" other than running until 2017, but I did do some leg work like squats and lunges.

5. Hydrate and fuel properly. It will be extremely difficult (and dangerous) to run on a 1000-1200 calorie diet. Food is fuel, so eat up. When I first started running, I did South Beach, which is basically zero carb. But I ate a lot to sustain myself. I was able to lose weight while not passing out while running from lack of food.

6. You do not have to run your entire distance to be considered a runner. There are plenty of great programs out there (C25k, the Galloway method, etc) that encourage walk breaks in order to ease you into running. I STILL do a run/walk combo 9 years later. But I started out only running 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off. Now I do 2 miles straight through with more frequent walks after that. Progress, not perfection.

7. YOUR PACE DOES NOT DEFINE YOU AS A RUNNER. Read that again and say it louder for the people in the back. My first 5k was 42:40. My PR is 32:52. Sure, I shaved off 10 minutes, but will I ever run one in 25 minutes? Likely not. And I'm ok with that. Some people are naturally fast runners. Others work hard to become faster through special training or coaching. Either way, YOU ARE A RUNNER. BE PROUD.

*ALL ADVICE IS SIMPLY FROM MY EXPERIENCE OF BECOMING A RUNNER, NOT FROM A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL.*

Felt like I needed to add that part in. 😂

So in summary, if you've considered running and a 5k is something you've wanted to try, do it!! I promise you won't regret it. Do some research, ask questions, lace up, and get out there!

Hopefully 2021 will bring lots of races to choose from. And when you cross the finish line, no matter if it takes you 20 minutes or 50 minutes, you will be so proud of yourself. And if you're just starting out and need some support or someone to be at your finish line, I will gladly fly to where you are and take that first memorable finish line picture for you.  Just give me some notice. 😁

Single AF

 As you can see by the date of my last post, I'm pretty terrible at being consistent with this blog like I was several years ago. 

Last time I posted, I was less than a year into what ended up being a 2 year relationship. Great guy, but in the end, we wanted different things.

So here I am 2.5 years after that post and almost 1.5 years after the end of that relationship, happily single but occasionally wondering if I should make an effort to open myself up to another attempt at dating.

Since the end of that one, I've had a variety of first dates. Only one went beyond a first date.

I watched a romantic comedy the other night where a guy sued a dating app for not finding him love after 1,000 dates. He had a "Friends"-type name for every date (The One With All The Cats, The One Who Brought Her Parents, etc), and I thought I'd give you a rundown of some of my dates, maybe make you laugh at my expense, maybe make you appreciate your significant others little more. Because it's a shitshow, folks.

1. The One Who Took My Chick-fil-A Points (aka The Bro, aka Dumbface) - This is the only one in the last year and a half to go beyond a first date. He wasn't bright, he was loud, he acted like a frat boy, and he would ask me to pay for our food at Chick-fil-A, but USE HIS APP TO GET THE POINTS. Lasted 6 weeks. Never referred to him as my boyfriend. I couldn't see myself with him long term. Intelligence is important to me. So is food.  No nugs, no hugs.

2. The One With Daddy Issues - I liked this one. Super fun to chat with before we met. Good conversation before we met, lots of laughs. At dinner, he told me all about how his dad was a famous dude who left his mom and had other kids but didn't want him. Lots of personal details for a first date.  Talked the whole time, barely got a word in.  Then he walked me to my car, said "Thanks for coming out", and never called again. Thanks for the autobiography, I guess? 

3. The One With One Foot Out The Door - Good convo with this one beforehand, too. Super funny guy, chatty, seemed fun. He arrived at the restaurant and I could see it on his face that he wasn't happy, like when your food arrives at the table and they forgot to leave the onions off. He looked as though he was expecting Angelina Jolie and got Shrek. And my pics are recent and look like me, soooo... not sure where his disappointed look came from. But he didn't make eye contact, barely spoke, then never called again. Wasted my skinny jeans and good hair on that one. But I got free Texas Roadhouse rolls and a Dallas Blonde, so there's that.

4. The Delayed Ghoster - I had a great first date with this one. It lasted like 5 hours. He wanted to keep hanging out, so we did. Walked around, grabbed drinks and food at 3 different places, talked for hours. Heard from him the next day (that was a relief and a new feeling), and made plans for a 2nd date. Day before 2nd date, nothing. Ghosted. Just disappeared. Changed his mind and bolted.  My guess is he met someone else that he clicked with better. I've been there. Still unexpected. 

5. The One Who Had Diarrhea of the Mouth - This guy had no filter and it was bad. He admitted that he had zero experience with women and it showed. He said some really dirty things to me before we met. I told him I didn't want to go out with him anymore. He sincerely apologized, so I gave it another shot. Had a great date and I was glad I had gone after all. Then 2 days later, he took his grumpiness out on me by snapping at me and being rude and sarcastic with me while trying to plan our 2nd date. Buddy, it's too soon to show your ass. Show your crazy a few months in like the rest of us.

That was the last one in early July, although it feels like it was 6 months ago because 2020 is never-ending. Dating apps have been paused since. Been interested in someone since, but just seems too complicated. And I don't have the energy or brain power for complicated right now.

If this post has made you feel better about your love life, my work is complete.  If you need an extra push, here's a post from 2013.  Hopefully I'm not writing another in 7 years.  Time will tell!