Las Vegas Food and Paris Hotel Photos from the Half Marathon Weekend

Hello! I just ran the Rock N Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon and have so many tips, pics and fun to recap! I’m going to start with the race expo and hotel – and I’ll be back soon with the run, what I ate and other thoughts on the race known as Strip At Night. Did you run it? Let me know! [ This post is about the travel side of my race weekend. Running and nutrition ifo is coming soon – plus a video. If you want more on that now check out my insta @RunEatRepeat ]

Okay… now let’s talk travel, hotel, logistics and food in Las Vegas.

I flew from Orange County to Las Vegas no problemo. It’s a 1 hour flight! (Or a 4 hour drive.) I’ve done both the drive and flights before – going to Vegas is a common road trip when you live in Southern California. Flying vs. Driving depend on who I’m traveling with. There are pros and cons to both.

Packing for Las Vegas and packing for a half marathon… since it was trip for RUN and FUN stuff I had to make sure I had everything I needed for the race PLUS stuff to go out. Usually when I travel for a race I keep it simple with comfy, casual clothes. Vegas sometimes requires un-comfy shoes and 4 different kinds of eyeliner.

In my suitcase (clockwise):

Brooks Happy Pace bag – used as my purse for the plane // floral body suit // belt // comfy jacket // gallon sized bag with running essentials // running shoes // comfy clothes // nude heels // all packed in my pink carry on for short trips.

* Check out my Race Day Packing List for more on how to pack for a destination race *

When I got to Las Vegas I went to the hotel to drop off my stuff before hitting up the expo.

I stayed at the Paris Hotel & Casino on the Strip. It’s a super fun hotel right in the center of the strip – prime location for almost anything you want to do! The room was standard – big bed, desk, sitting area, mini-fridge, iron, hair dryer, shower & tub (my last few hotels have only had a shower and I brought Epson salts for a bath – this time I didn’t bring them).

 

Pro Tip: Unpack when you get to where you’re staying BEFORE going to the expo. Lay out what you’ll wear for the run and from head to toe check that you have everything. This way if you forgot anything you can try to get it at the expo.

A lot of people lay out their “Flat Runner” before a race and share it on Facebook and / or  Instagram. You don’t have to wait until the night before to do this and it gives you the chance to make sure you have everything…

The Rock N Roll Race expos are always pretty big and exciting!

And Brooks is a main sponsor of the RnR Race Series so they have an entire store of running shoes, running gear and stuff with the race location/name on it. I’m a big fan of Brooks so I loved this!

The tie-die rainbow shoes are still one of my favorites and I saw them everywhere!

Hello and the Night-Life Gear! Make sure you have running gear that’s visible in low light and dark conditions – be safe!

After the expo I took my stuff back to the hotel then it was time to enjoy Las Vegas! There’s so much to do and see and EAT in Vegas!!

The Paris Hotel has a ton of amazing food and drink options. (So many of the hotels do – there are tons of options!) You can sit outside for dinner and watch tons of people pass by – everyone’s in a fun mood. I’ve had a lot of delicious food in Las Vegas on past trips – it’s definitely another reason to visit.

Love when the garnish is edible! My fancy drink had an edible flower in it!!

There’s a restaurant in the Eifel Tower too! They have fancy cocktails and an amazing view of the strip.

This cocktail has egg white in it – I figured that meant it’s healthy…  

Fun fact: I’ve never been to a big Las Vegas show like Cirque de Sole or Britney Spears or J Lo… I’ve visited Vegas so many times I’m kinda surprised.

Next time. Maybe. Tell me if there’s a MUST SEE show I have to get tickets for next time.

Speaking of next time…

The race and what I ate on race day before the half marathon post is coming up next!

Question: Have you been to Las Vegas?

What’s your favorite thing to do there??

Want more? Check out these posts for more tips and info:

Half Marathon Training Plan & Packing List

Last Minute Race Day Tips – post & podcast episode 21

Travel Tips for Running an International Marathon or Half Race

The post Las Vegas Food and Paris Hotel Photos from the Half Marathon Weekend appeared first on Run Eat Repeat.

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I broke through all the “boss babes” hawking weight loss products and convinced a friend to try CICO

Like many of you, my social media newsfeeds are filled with people, typically stay-at-home moms in their 20s and 30s, trying to sell their MLM products. I’ve seen it all- Lularoe, Essential Oils, Mary Kay, Younique, Rodan & Fields, you name it. Weight loss MLM products have gotten very popular among the circles I run in (many of my friends have had babies and are trying to lose the baby weight).

One of my friends made a post about how she was uncomfortable with her body and wanted to lose weight but had no idea where to start. Of course, all the “boss babes” jumped in immediately- “Come talk to me about Smart Coffee! It’ll change your life!” “Message me about Herbalife!” I cringed thinking that my friend might lose a ton of money on these fad products that really don’t even work.

So I posted about CICO and how it’s helped me drop over 20 pounds. I told her all she would need is to download an app like MyFitnessPal (free), start tracking her food and reading food labels (free), and start measuring her food using measuring spoons and measuring cups that she already owns (free) and buying a basic food scale ($10 or $15 at Target or Amazon). She has kids and a full time job so finding time to exercise is a challenge, but I said that losing weight is 80-90% in the kitchen, and that she could still lose weight without doing any exercise. I emphasized how simple of a method it was, that I still eat what I want (even things like chips or candy on occasion) but that I mostly choose to eat minimally processed, fresh foods.

I was still afraid she was going to fall prey to what the “huns” were selling, but she messaged me today and said she downloaded MFP and is being more careful about what she’s eating! CICO and communities like r/loseit have totally changed my life, and I’m hoping to encourage others that you can lose weight with CICO. I’ve already converted my dad and he’s down 30 pounds.

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Maintenance is tough

Stats: 30F, 5'3", SW 158.8 lbs, CW (3 month average) 135 lbs. Lowest single weigh-in was 129.9 lbs. Lowest weekly average 131 lbs. Goal met in April 2018.

I understand the mechanics of weight loss and maintaining a lower weight. CICO works beautifully for me. It allows me to have higher calorie and lower calorie days, to eat some of my treat foods sometimes, and to have a huge portion of something low calorie and nutritious when I want to eat a lot of food. The flexibility is great for me.

So I know what I need to do to maintain. I have gained an average of 4 pounds since April. If I keep going this way, that will be 8 pounds in a year, which is not what I want to see. And I know exactly what I need to do to get it off - back to eating at a deficit to get my average weight back down.

However, I'm having such a hard time switching back into the mindset of losing. I knew I'd have to keep working and tracking in order to maintain, but I think the long term reality is hitting me and maybe I'm having a hard time really accepting this.

The other thing that has been difficult is exercise. I'm exercising more than ever, which should be a great thing. But now I'm hungrier. It was almost easier to lose when I didn't exercise as much because the hunger was less persistent. So I'm trying to eat more to compensate, but then I'm not seeing results. It was easier when I could just stick with 1200-1300 cals as my range and move on. Now it's tough to figure out the calorie range that will really work with the added exercise.

And then there are just the days when I want to eat more and not care. Which is theoretically fine (if I eat at a slight deficit a lot of the time, a day of overeating won't cause weight gain) but hasn't been working in practice.

So I need to change... And I think that's the part I'm having trouble accepting. What I'm doing is not working. I'm going to regain, slowly but surely, if I keep doing what I'm doing.

I need to...

1. Find a way to get back into the mindset of losing. I am up on average and I want to get back down, which will take work.

2. Have less treat days - maybe 2x per month like I did when losing before. I have a form of PTSD and I find that letting go a little bit helps manage my symptoms.

3. Be compassionate with myself. Maintenance is hard. It's ok that it's hard. I'm learning how to do this and that's ok.

Any other advice or feedback would be greatly appreciated! I am feeling like I need some extra support to get back on this train.

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[6'1 18M] My 100 lb weight loss journey

Progress pics: https://imgur.com/a/AO86VAq BMI: 40.3 (morbid obesity) -> 22.7 (normal)

Hey guys. I made one of these threads a few weeks ago, but today I finally hit the milestone that in the past I thought was absolutely unobtainable. Like actually impossible due to how lazy I thought I was. The fact that I'm making this thread is proof that you can do it too, because if this was possible for me, it is for you.

Almost my entire life I have been fat as hell. Maybe not when I was a little kid, but I started getting heavy around 6-7th grade. I love food and my mouth fucking vacuumed up ice cream, candy, chips, and other bullshit on a regular basis. I would rather eat an unhealthy option than a healthy one just off the basis that I assumed everything that wasn't junk food tasted like shit. My mom hated it and food/my weight became a pretty sensitive subject around the house. At a certain point in high school, I weighed 273 lbs, wore my dad's 42 waist khakis (which had to be hemmed to like a 42x30, because I hadn't grown yet, wtf), and had a BMI of 40.3. One year I had to go to my great grandfather's funeral wearing a pair of my dad's pastel pink chino pants because I literally couldn't even fit into one pair of khakis I had.

Last year, fast forward, I'm in my freshman year of college. I was still fat as hell the entire year, but ended up getting mononucleosis and missing close to a month of classes. Being sick caused me to lose 25 lbs, and despite my body being fucking ravaged by this virus, I noticed that I was receiving some compliments on my weight loss. I went through the rest of the year still eating like shit (pint of ice cream a night, etc) until I reached the summer, where on one morning I made the greatest decision of my life.

I woke up around 8 one morning this summer and woozily started watching some YouTube videos. Somehow, after a bit I ended up on the weight loss part of YouTube, and started watching the various transformations of people once morbidly obese. I looked at myself and realized, why the fuck can't I do this too? I went to the NYSC website, signed up for the monthly package, closed my laptop, and went to the gym.

Little did I know that would be the start to the greatest decision of my life. I developed a cardio routine at the gym, typically trying to burn 250-500 calories a day through treadmill and elliptical. Because I was working so hard at the gym, the last thing I wanted to do was completely waste my time by eating like shit. I became obsessed - never had I ever read the nutrition facts on a food in my life, tracked my calorie/carb intake, and even weighed myself at home (was too scared to see the number). I owe most of my progress to CICO - learning that all you need to do to lose weight is burn more that you intake made me realize that this didn't have to be so hard after all.

Today, as of November 14th, I weigh 172 lbs with a BMI of 22.7. I have lost 101 lbs and knocked almost 18 pts off my BMI, as well as went from a 42 inch waist to a 33 inch waist. I went from having to wear size XXL to being able to comfortably fit a Medium shirt size.

You can do this. It will be hard sometimes, but always know that no one can do this for you.

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A first on my weight loss journey

This week, I had to stay overnight in London for work. The hotel I was staying at had the most terrible room service menu (and I’m not brave enough to go out to eat alone) so I walked to a local supermarket and bought houmous, carrots, celery, olives, etc, and had hotel room tapas. Although it was the healthiest option I could find that didn’t need cooking or cutlery, it still took me over my CICO target. The next day, a colleague who is leaving invited me out to her farewell lunch at a pizza place. I stressed over the menu for ages before eventually just ordering a marguerita. I only ate half, but again, I went over my CICO limit for the day. I was so angry with myself for my lack of willpower, but then I thought about it some more and reminded myself that I’m in this for the long haul. I haven’t gone above my CICO target in three months; two days isn’t going to undo all my hard work. Life will always happen and it won’t always be possible to manage my calories as strictly as I’d like to. The important thing is that I chose relatively healthily and didn’t use it as an opportunity to binge eat. I just thought you guys would understand where I’m coming from.

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A noob question

Hello, first time poster. I started my weight loss journey just over a month ago and have lost just over 10 pounds. I am happy with my progress, but I’m noticing a lot of changes in my body and I’m wondering if it’s typical to notice so much change from just 10 pounds? For example, I notice I look slightly different and my clothes fit nicer but I also feel that my bones are more prominent if that makes sense? I can feel my ribcage again and my hips seem to be bonier as well as my wrists and calves. I’m not complaining by any means, just seems like a lot of change to notice for losing just 11% of my goal. (I have a 90 pound goal overall to lose). So basically what I’m wondering is if this is something other people experience as well or am I just over analyzing my body and noticing things I just haven’t before? Thank you for any personal experiences or insight you may provide, as I find this sub extremely informative and motivating :)

F/24/5’7 SW: 234 CW: 223 GW: 140

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Being lazy doesn't help me getting anywhere - and that annoys me

When I count my calories and plan healthy meals and push myself to be more active, I always lose some weight. When I'm just lazy and eat whatever I want, I gain all the weight back. WHY CAN'T IT BE THE OTHER WAY ROUND?!

No seriously, I have a huge problem with discipline and staying motivated. I always feel like my progress is too slow, no matter how hard I'm working on my weight loss, and I never had that "aahhh it finally paid off!" moment. I fall back into old habits way too easily.

What is your motivation? How did you overcome those annoying "I'll never see any progress, I might as well stay in bed" thoughts, if you had any?

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