Monthly Archives: May 2012

Eating Clean- A Book Review

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Recently I read a book that may have changed my life forever- The Eat Clean Diet by Tosca Reno. Please don’t be deceived by the title- this is not a fad diet (I would never endorse one of those), this is about changing the way you eat and maintaining it for the rest of your life. In the book was nothing that I didn’t already know deep down, but for some reason the information finally clicked for me and I wanted to put it into action.

I decided that I had been kidding myself into thinking that I was a healthy eater. I gave up most fast food when I was still in my twenties. I rarely drank sodas, I avoided obviously “bad“ foods like hot dogs and fried chicken- but after reading this book I realized that just because I eliminated certain foods from my diet, it didn’t mean that what I was eating was necessarily healthy.

Before I go any further I want to confess: I cannot claim to have fully embraced all of the recommendations that the author makes, but can say that I have made major changes- and will continue to make changes as time goes on.

A few of the main points that Tosca Reno makes in the book that I have taken to heart:

1. What you eat affects your physique much more than exercise does. This was a hard pill for me to swallow. For a while there I was running upwards of 30 miles per week and just couldn’t understand why my clothes kept fitting tighter and the scale continued to inch up. Now that I think about it, eating from the fabulous taco shops we have here in Southern California way too often were counteracting any miles I was racking up on the treadmill!

2. For many, many reasons, sugar is bad for you. And what’s worse, it’s in a lot more foods than you probably realize! I have become an aggressive label reader- if I see that something has any type of sugar, whether its high fructose corn syrup, natural sugar or even honey- I look for an alternative that doesn’t have it. What I am finding is that most processed foods of any kind contain sugar- and all sorts of other ingredients that I do not want in mine or my children’s bodies. You can avoid sugar, and all the other “junk”, by eating food in it’s most natural state- avoiding anything that has been processed.

3. Eat the right kinds of foods, more often. This one was really easy for me since I have always been a snacker. I am now in the habit of packing healthy snacks whenever I leave the house ( not just for the kids anymore!), and making sure I am eating a combination of protein and complex carbs every 2-3 hours. This keeps the metabolism moving, and also prevents overeating if I let myself get too hungry.

So, those are just a few of the basics from the book. The other thing I have been doing, which is more of a mental exercise, is asking myself these questions before I eat: “ What will this food do for my body? Will it provide me with the lasting energy I need to keep up with two preschoolers? Will it help me build the muscle I need run my first marathon? Am I going to feel good after I eat it?” If the answer to any of those questions is “no”, then I have to decide how badly I really want it, and why? If it’s a special occasion I certainly won’t deprive myself. But, let’s face it- most of the time when I get a craving for a cupcake or ice cream there is no occasion at all. And if I still choose to have it, at least I made an informed choice on what I am putting in my body, rather than just mindlessly eating food that has little or no nutritional value.

I started on the journey to eating clean just a few months ago, and I have already noticed significant changes in my body from the adjustments I have made. Although losing weight was not a goal of mine when I started this process, I have gotten leaner and the scale no longer fluctuates the 5 or so pounds that it used to. I firmly believe that by eating clean I will be able to maintain my ideal weight for the rest of my life and also be healthier and happier because of it. Eating clean is not about depriving yourself- it is about putting into your body what it needs to stay strong, fit and healthy for a lifetime.

My Running Story

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I never considered myself to be athletic and I am not particularly coordinated. About my sophomore year in high school, my idea of physical activity became shopping at the mall and talking on the phone with friends.  This sedentary lifestyle continued well into adulthood. It wasn’t until my late 20′s that I started to have any desire to exercise, and that was only after I noticed my metabolism slowing down, which resulted in adding on a few pounds.  Thus began my slow fitness journey.

So there I was, in my mid-20′s, experimenting with fad diets and finally deciding to join a gym. I was intimidated by all the gym equipment, with the exception of the treadmill. I didn’t want to go to a group class all by myself, so I decided to run. There was no rhyme or reason to how often or to what distance I ran, I just went when I felt like it and ran until I wanted to stop. For the next few years I was anything but consistent with exercising.  When I got pregnant with my first born I thought I had a free pass to eat whatever I wanted.  The only exercise I got was the short walk I took the dogs on.  After my son was born the weight came off fairly quickly.  Without much effort,  I was back down to my pre-pregnancy weight.  Shortly thereafter, I got pregnant with my daughter.  Again, I thought I had an excuse to eat whatever I wanted.  Since I was chasing a 2 year old around, I was a little more active than I was when I was pregnant with my son.  At first, the weight I gained while pregnant with my daughter started to come off pretty easily, but then I hit a wall with about 15 pounds to go. I was not running anymore, my gym membership had expired, and slowly the pounds started adding on.  At one point, I weighed as much as I did when I was 9 months pregnant with my son! As I moved up clothing sizes, I knew I had to do something, and so I began running sporadically. Then in March of 2010, Erika (who was living in Virginia at the time) and I decided to run a 5K together while she was home visiting. I enjoyed my race experience and it marked the first time I thought I could actually be a “runner”.

Inspired by my marathon running dad, I decided to sign up to run the 2011 Houston Aramco Half Marathon. Since he would be recovering from the Marine Corp Marathon that takes place a couple of months prior, my dad decided to forego the full and run the half with me. This time it was totally different, running had changed for me. Armed with a training plan and a goal, I found myself looking forward to my runs.  It had become “ME” time.  As with any type of training, there were challenges, including getting a horrible stomach bug about 3 weeks before the big race.  It was hard to recover from, but I had a fairly solid foundation of training and was able to complete my first half in a respectable 02:26:29.

Feeling great after finishing my 1st half-marathon with my dad – January 2011

Following this race is when I began to get serious about running. I started learning more about the sport. I took up cross-training with classes at my local YMCA, and I continued to run 5K’s for fun. I signed up to run the 2012 Aramco Half Marathon, with the goal of running a sub 2:00.  I started a training plan and was on schedule to do so, when I went off track for a couple of reasons – one of them being an unexpected trip to Guam for my sweet grandma’s funeral.  It was a very long trip, but I was able to get in a long run and a couple of short runs.  I even ran a 5K with my family members in honor of my grandma.  It was one of the most fulfilling races I have run because it was with the people I love in honor of an amazing woman.

Me and my family on Guam after the Spirit 5K. We all wore purple arm & wristbands in honor of my grandma, whose favorite color was purple – January 2012

I returned home from a 16 hour flight, 3 days before the half.  Since I was dealing with jet lag, my goal changed from a sub 2:00 to beating my time from last year.  Luckily, my months of speed training payed off and I completed the race with a PR (personal record) of 2:08:07.  Invigorated by this race, I planned on running the full marathon in 2013.  As I mentioned before, I am expecting my 3rd child,  so I put this dream on hold for now.

Me and my friend Eliza after finishing the Houston Aramco  Half Marathon – January 2012

I don’t know when it happened, but at some point along the way running & working out changed from something I had to do into something I wanted to do.  If I don’t get a run or workout in, I feel bad. Not because I didn’t go, but because my body and mind literally crave it.  The more I run, the better I feel. It has helped me in so many ways and parts of my life, including empowering me.  I honestly can’t imagine how I ever lived the life I did before all this.

A Family Affair

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My kids have grown up thinking that physical activity is just another part of life- practically since birth they have been going to the childcare at the gym while Mommy takes a class, or tagging along with Daddy in a bike trailer while he rides the trails. A normal Saturday for us might be taking a trip to the running store for a new pair of shoes, or picking one parent up at the end of a long run and then having a family breakfast. They have been spectators at many a race, and always get excited seeing Mommy or Daddy cross the finish line. They think, like all small children do, that their parents are the best and always want to know if we won! (no, we never win- but we don’t mind if they think we did!)         

Now that we are past the baby stage with my youngest, I have started looking for acitivities that we can  participate in as a family. Running seemed like a logical place to start, so several months ago I did a Google search for family fun runs in our area. Luckily I came across the Run Like A Mother website ( http://www.runlikeamotherrace.com/ ) and found that they were hosting a women’s Mother’s Day 5k close to my home, with an accompanying kids 1 mile race.

My girls were so excited about the idea of running a race with Mommy! My oldest ( 4 yrs) talked about it for weeks- she told all of her friends and teachers at preschool what we were going to do on Mother’s Day, and repeatedly wanted me to verify that she would get a medal at the end (a medal is VERY important when you are 4).

Me and my girls in our new race outfits

When the day of the race finally came, the three of us put on our new running skirts, numbers and timing chips ( the organizers of the race made the kids 1 mile just like the real deal- timed age groups and all) and let my husband chauffer us to our first family running event. This race was great from start to finish- they had an instructor led yoga warm up for the kids before the race started and I have to say, seeing my girls try so hard to stand in Warrior Pose was a very proud mommy moment. The girls had such a great time running the kids 1 mile- they both surprised me by running most of the way (I pushed the jogging stroller just in case, and only had to use it to go up a small hill on the course). Of course, the highlight for them was receiving a ribbon at the end- they really felt as though they had “won”. (neither seemed to mind that they didn’t get an actual medal!)

The girls trying to perfect their yoga poses

Proud finishers of the kids 1 miler!

As for the 5k, it was a really lovely women’s only event- all shapes, sizes, ages and abilities were represented. It had been a long time since I had run a race at that distance, and I must admit that I did not feel that great. I am not used to pushing myself so hard, so I really thought that I was running close to 10 minute miles. I remember about ¾ of the way through, I saw my kids and husband cheering me on, and before I passed them I was thinking to myself “Come on, Erika, Speed Up! Give them a show!”- at that point I was finally able to pass the woman I had been trailing for the entire race.  To my surprise, I finished the race in 24 min 12 seconds- a personal record for me and a time that really makes me feel validated as a runner. Never in my life would I have expected to run sub 8 minute miles! Having my family there made all the difference in my motivation and self confidence.

And here I am at the end of the 5k, speeding up to make my kids think I’m really fast!

I plan on making the Run Like a Mother race a yearly tradition in my family, but I am certainly not going to make that the only thing we do all year. I am already looking into more races we can do together- and I also want to make sure we trying new things too. With the beautiful weather we have been having, I hope to start going on some nature walks with the girls, visiting the pool at my sister’s apartment, and also doing some mommy and me classes at our YMCA. If you are not a runner, even if you have never run a mile in your life- I encourage you to sign up for something with your family. A 5k race is a great place to start- with a little training, 3.1 miles is a very doable distance for almost anyone. Look for one in your town that encourages kids participation, and if they are a little older  you could even get them to train and run with you. There is a great training plan called couch-to-5k that many people have had success with- you can get the training plan for free here ( http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml).

Getting active together as a family is good for our physical health, brings us closer together and it is also a whole lot of fun ! These are memories that we will cherish for the rest of our lives, and I hope that this encourages you to start making healthy memories as a family too!

About Us

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My name is Erika- I am a stay at home mom of two preschool age girls. I am not crafty, I am not an aspiring gourmet chef, I can’t teach you how to save a fortune by clipping coupons, nor am I very organized. Actually, I am probably alot like you- a mom doing her best to raise healthy, happy children while not losing herself in the process.

Since having children, my health has become incredibly important to me. Not only do I want to be a good example for my girls, but I also want to do everything I can to ensure that I am around for them as long as possible. In recent years, I have taken up running as my primary source of excercise- in the blog you will learn how badly I hated running most of my life, and how I finally learned to enjoy it. You will also read about my struggles with food- I am a picky eater who wants desperately to eat and enjoy clean, nutritious foods and cut out all of the junk. You will probably also hear about my slight obsession with Lululemon, my love of reading, my frustrations with home remodeling and of course, my beautiful daughters and fantastic husband!

Erika, covered in mud after the SoCal Warrior Dash – March 2012


My name is Christina- I have been married to a wonderful man for 12 years and we have two (soon to be three) beautiful kids who are my world.  I am a professional photographer who loves coffee, reading, shopping, and going antiquing. I may or may not have a small obsession with Pinterest, Instagram, Lululemon, and my iPhone. I mean really, how did one ever live without these things?

Although I come from a family of runners, I wasn’t a runner myself until a couple of years ago.  Since then, I have run numerous 5K’s and 2 half marathons. I had plans to train and run a full marathon in 2013, but that had to be put on hold for baby #3. I also enjoy staying fit by cross-training with classes at my local YMCA.  Right now my biggest challenge is realizing the limitations of pregnancy, while coming to terms with what I can and cannot do.  I am by no means an expert on running, fitness, or healthy eating. In fact, I learn something almost daily and my hope is to share these things with you through this blog.

Christina, 12 weeks pregnant with baby #3 – April 2012


The two of us met in kindergarten in Houston, TX and managed to stay friends even when thousands of miles separated us. Though we currently aren’t close in distance (Christina is back in Texas and Erika is now living in Southern California), we are actually closer than ever now that we are both moms. We share texts and emails nearly every day, and  decided to start this blog together because quite often our discussions are about the same things: how to stay fit and healthy while juggling family obligations and raising kids.

We both seemed to start taking a greater interest in our health at the same time, which more or less, began with our first 5K that we ran together.

Erika & Christina after the 1st 5K they ran together – Houston Area Women’s Center 22nd Annual Race Against Violence – March 2010

We had both given birth to two children, and like many moms were struggling to get our bodies back into shape. After this race, we both started running more- Christina ran her first half marathon the following year, and Erika followed suit the year after that. We also both started paying closer attention to nutrition, and placing a greater emphasis on our health in general.

Each of us has come a long way since then, although we are still most definately works in progress. We hope you will enjoy this blog, our  labor of love- and also hope that you find some inspiration in our struggles and triumphs.