Skip to content

Eat, Lift & Be Married

healthy recipes, fitness tips, wedding inspiration, and adventures in married life

Eat
Lift
Be Married
Adventures
Personal Training
Bridal Fitness
About
Contact

About me

Hi, my name is Paula Dubovoy and I am so glad that you are visiting my site. I have a passion for fitness and event planning and would love to help you feel AND look great for your big day! Crash diets and extreme workouts are not an option- I'm all about helping you live a healthy and balanced life. I'd love to hear from you!

Search for:

Follow Me!

Enter your email address to receive new posts directly to your email.

Join 134 other followers

Instagram

I got as far as drawing out the categories for my 2019 goals earlier this month, but never made the time to fill them out. Which goes to show in itself that I was doing waaaay too much. And I really was. My days were jampacked from 5am-11pm. I was working out multiple times a day some days - not because I felt I had to, but because I truly loved the workouts I was doing. But rest days? Not nearly often enough. Sleep? 6-7 hours on a good day. I don’t know if that was the cause of my Achilles tear, but that’s one thing I’m going to take from this experience, when setting new 2019 goals. More doesn’t equal better. Sometimes less is more. Less commitment, less clutter, less to-dos. (Exception: less avocados and peanut butter does NOT equal better)

Anyone else save the best bites for last?! Saving that cashew butter and those cacao nibs for the final spoonful. 🤤 #bondibowl #barebowls #paloaltoeats

Welcome @thefreckledfitgirl to @runarete_sfpen!! We may not be able to run with our pups like we originally planned, but thankfully we can still drink wine together! 🙌🏼🍷 As the new South Bay chapter lead for @runarete, I originally thought that my injury would make me the worst leader EVER. Would they even still want me as a leader? How could I even contribute anything if I can’t run?? Should I step down? Well, first things first, @jbirdruns shut those thoughts down immediately. And now I’ve realized that I can still offer so much to my teammates - more than if I was just a member. If I was just a member joining for the runs, then maybe it would be harder to be involved. But as a leader.... I’m going to be organizing weekly runs. I’m going to be scheduling events. Taking splits at the track. Bringing coffee to the start of long runs. Cheering them on at races. Eventually biking next to them on their runs. The best part is that throughout the entire time, they’ll be motivating me to get back on my feet until I’m eventually back running right there with them. #runarete

#flashbackfriday 💗 Focusing on how far I’ve come, rather than how far I have left to go. TRY IT. One thing I’ve learned is not to compare where I’m at now to the day before my injury (prol the fittest/fastest I’ve ever been), but to compare where I’m at to the day of my surgery. That slight shift in my perspective makes all the difference between feeling down/depressed and encouraged/hopeful. Progress inspires more progress! I am sleeping through the night, pain free and haven’t taken a pain killer in 3 days. I’m so much more mobile thanks to my sexy scooter - bonus is my new nickname, “scoots” 😂 thanks to @lawrence.stu I’m getting back to short, minimal workouts. My nutrition is on track and I’m optimizing food to help my healing process. Baby steps. Small victories. Celebrating every one of them. 🎉

HARDCORE ✔️ 30 minutes of core today, thanks to @smarik2001 programming her class to be cast-friendly! I now have a list of 10 exercises to can do to keep my core strong. And so do you! Slow sit-ups Leg drop + hip raise Single leg lifts Superman Windshield wipers Starfish crunches Penguins Alt. V-ups Lateral crunches - right Lateral crunches - left 45 seconds on, 15 seconds off. Repeat 2X. Let’s do this. 👊🏼

“Although my body might be limited, it’s my spirit that’s unstoppable.” I am incredibly honored and excited to share that I recorded a podcast with @rambling_runner! Often we hear stories of the comeback, or hear the perspective of an injury after the fact. Matt came to me, asking to share my mindset and perspective while going THROUGH the challenging time. We also cover what got me into running, working at LinkedIn and why I LOVE my job, how the injury happened and what’s getting me through this trial. Oh, we also jab about the Patriots and Steelers.... just just remember Matt who beat who this year. 😏 I’m so excited for you to listen - and I hope my story can encourage and inspire anyone who has been through a tough injury, is going through one now, or maybe will be in the future. We never know when life is going to try to knock us down, but we don’t have to stay down. Take the hit, and keep moving forward. 💙 LINK IN BIO!

The words themselves spell it out for you! DIEt = a slow, painful death of foods you don’t like/get tired of, short-term results, and a constant mind game with your body image. HEALth = realizing food has the power to heal, fuel, and nourish your body, while eating foods you enjoy, and making good habits a lasting lifestyle. Going from someone very active, to not active at all has definitely been a challenge for me... physically and mentally. I would be lying if I said weight gain, loss of muscle, increase of body fat percentage, etc. hasn’t crossed my mind. #realtalk It would be all too easy to want to diet, count, or restrict calories with the fear of gaining weight. But I know those choices would ultimately set back my recovery. And my recovery right now is my TOP priority! That doesn’t mean, however, that I have to gain 20 pounds in the process! I was so used to nutrient timing and choosing what I ate/when I ate around workouts. Obviously that has to change now! I was fortunate to get nutrition advice yesterday from a physical therapist/mentor/friend and am following her suggestions starting today. Key takeaways: SLEEP is so important because it is when my body is doing most of its recovery. 8-10 hours is my goal. COLLAGEN to rebuild and repair muscle - found in bone broth, collagen peptides, etc. VITAMIN C helps your body make collagen and strengthen tissues. Increasing my intake with a supplement + adding eating foods such as citrus fruits, kiwi, Brussel sprouts, and tomatoes. TIMING - high fat/high protein in the morning, low carbs in the afternoon and moderate carbs in the evening. I don’t need as many carbs as I was previously having since carbs are a source of fuel, and I needed a lot more when I was so active than I do now! But my body also needs them to heal and eliminating them altogether is not the solution... I also would be MIZ without carbs let’s be honest. 🥞🍞🥐🍿🍕🥔 🤤 So here’s to day 1 of incorporating some new habits, centered around healing and recovery!

Soooo I may have been going so slow that the bike screen didn’t even turn on HAHA, but I got my 15 minutes of movement! Followed by 3 sets of: Seated cable row x 15 Seated DB curl and press x 15 Laying DB skull crushers x 15 Modified tricep pushups x 15 HUGE thanks to @smarik2001 doing this workout with me, encouraging me, and always making me laugh. 💗

P is for _________________. Perseverance Perspective Positivity Patience Passion Power 💗 PS. Guess who got cleared to stationary bike for 15 minutes tomorrow?!

She said look ma' no hands, she said look ma' no hands 🎶 #wakaflocka

Something amazing, and even indescribable starts to happen when you shift your focus from “why me?” to “why NOT me?” 💥👊🏼✨

f i v e • y e a r s Through think and thin, there for each other every step (or crutch) of the way. ♥️

You guys. If you could see past my puffy eyes, you’d see my heart exploding from the love I’ve gotten. ❤️ I am honestly blown away by how much encouragement and support I’ve gotten these past 24 hours. I can’t thank you enough for every text, call, comment, DM, thought, prayer, I’ve gotten from you. I’m not going to lie - it’s been a roller coaster of emotions. One minute I’m crutching around, smiling, joking, and the next I’m unable to hold back and stop the tears from flowing. When I told Mo what the doctor said about not being able to run for 6 months, I looked at him and said, “Mo. No running. But that’s what I do...” . But what I think I really meant was, “That’s who I am.” Running is what I had put my identity in. I’m learning now - the hard way - that there’s more to me than running. I’m more than running to myself, to my family, my friends and my followers. In fact, my value has nothing to do with my abilities, but in my identity as a child of God. Who HE sees me as. The plans HE has for me. It’s hard to imagine starting back at square 1... six months from now. It’s hard to not think that all the time and effort I’ve spent building my endurance and my speed will be gone. All for nothing. But more than the speed and the endurance that I gained, I also gained the mental strength and capacity to get there in the first place. And that’s not something that can be taken away.

This wasn’t the way I envisioned the start to my year. In fact, what I did envision was running and hiking all over New Zealand and Australia in two weeks, participating in the next F45 8-week challenge, breaking in my new Muay Thai gloves, running the Napa Half Marathon in March, running a 3:19 marathon in May to get my ticket to Boston, leading @runarete_sfpen team runs twice a week... You get the idea. But instead, I will be spending the next 6-12 months recovering from a ruptured Achilles. While throwing a knee in a Muay Thai workout yesterday, I heard a loud POP. The kick was nothing new, I’ve done it hundreds of times, I wasn’t feeling any pain or tightness, and I wasn’t even very cardio-fatigued. It just happened. Fast forward to me sitting in the doctor’s office, getting told I need surgery and won’t be able to run or jump for 6 months... WHAT. I made him repeat that to make sure I heard correctly. When I asked the doctor why it happened, he said there’s no real reason. He called it a “freak accident.” That’s what he may think, but I know better than that. There IS a reason it happened - I just don’t know it yet. But what I do know is that I’ll be the best damn Achilles comeback there’s ever been. I’ll be the loudest cheerleader on the sidelines for my team. And I WILL come out of this stronger than ever.

When you look in the mirror, what do you say to yourself? The words that you say in your head over and over and over are the words you’ll start to believe. Negative or positive. If you only see all of your imperfections and tell yourself, I’m not good enough, strong enough, small enough, big enough, tall enough... THAT is what you’ll see. But when you see yourself and say, I have a purpose. My scars tell a story. I am strong as hell. THAT is what you’ll see. So say that. Over and over. Until you see it. Because the love that you so freely give to others, is the love that you owe yourself. 💗 “No number brings joy, self-love, or contentment. Those things don’t come in the loss or gain of pounds, they come with the deep acceptance of your own worthiness.” - @chinaealexander

Why nobody has opened a fast food avocado toast place yet blows my mind!! AVO-TO-GO. I found @reinventjuicery for my lunch break today and got this deeeelish avo toast + their matcha bowl (base: matcha, spinach, kale, strawberry, banana and homemade almond milk base, topped with banana, coconut, strawberries, slivered almonds, and chia seeds) . Made it back home - barely. I hit a TON of rain and gusty winds! Usually my resting HR is in the 40’s and I checked it at one point of the drive... it was 110. 😳 PS. Someone PLEASE open an avocado toast fast food restaurant! I’ll be your best customer!!

BEST part about early morning runs: it’s quiet, you’re in your own thoughts, and get to see sunrises like this. WORST part: smelling everyones breakfasts when you run through neighborhoods and past restaurants. 🤤🍳🥓🥞 Also... the safety factor. I love running pre-sunrise and in new places, but that can also be a little risky. I learned this the hard way when I had to run a 22-miler in Salt Lake City when Mo and I moved to California. I looked up a trail online, read some good things, but didn’t factor in the roads I would have to take to get to the trail, what part of the trail I was running, what it was like early morning, etc. and I found myself in a not great situation, calling the police. I learned from that situation and since then I do a lot more/better research. I knew I needed to get runs in this weekend in a new place, so I called a local running store, asked for trail recommendations, asked about safety, and drove to the trail (and parked conveniently at a Starbucks). It was a great bike path, lit with street lights, water and bathrooms along the way, and even emergency phone stations. Get those early runs in. Explore new places. But always safety first. 🚨

Drove past a Jamba, Chick-Fil-A, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, Chipotle and countless other fast food restaurants on my 3 mile drive to Whole Foods during our lunch break today. It may be primarily a grocery store, but it’s also a great place to pick up a quick, healthy meal on the go! I got zoods, tomatoes, roasted butternut squash and mushrooms, buffalo chicken and artichokes. I also picked up the @eatingevolved dark chocolate coconut butter caramel sea salt cups (ARE YOU DROOLING YET) and ate one tonight... and I will be using the second as motivation to get me out of bed tomorrow morning, after the coach’s social tonight, for my ten miler... they’re so good it’s actually worth the 6AM alarm!

Day 1 of the @usatf certification has me reminiscing about the glory days! 🐯 I almost didn’t end up attending this weekend course because let’s be honest, I don’t plan on coaching a track team anytime soon. But I did anyway because: I LOVE learning about this stuff - coaching, exercise psychology, biomechanics, program design, track events, etc. It will further my knowledge to improve my own running. It will be helpful to know for when I start leading track workouts and long runs for @runarete_sfpen. It will be beneficial if/when I start accepting online running clients. What I didn’t expect was how similar being a COACH to ATHLETES is to being a MANAGER of your EMPLOYEES. In tonight’s portion of exercise psychology, I was mentally applying almost every scenario to my current role/team at work. Examples such as “know your athlete”, help them set and achieve goals, focus on a team mindset, create a relationship of trust, how to handle disappointing situations, the importance of celebrating victories, addressing poor self-image, when people around you don’t support your goals... those ALL not only apply on a track, but at the office. 🌟 This may be a track certification, but I can already tell I’ll be taking a lot more from it than that!

Let this hereby document day 1 of operation booty gainzzz. Running is great for some things anddd not so great for others, if ya know what I mean! Our bodies adapt to the training we do... and since I’ve been doing mostly cardio focused workouts for the past 10-12 weeks, it’s time to shake things up and switch out some of those cardio circuit days. This means more strength-focused days at @f45_training_northsunnyvale and some extra 🍑! If you’ve been doing the same program, the same classes, the same runs day after day after day, I challenge you to switch it up. Get out of your comfort zone and try something new. It most likely will be just what you need to bust out of your plateau, see the results you’re looking for, and start the new year off right!

Tag: Transformation

F45 8-Week Challenge Recap and Results

F45 – have you heard of it? Unless you’re living in Australia where it originated, there’s a good chance you haven’t. Up until this summer, I hadn’t either. But when a former coworker of mine told me he would be co-managing a location in Sunnyvale, I knew it was something I had to try out. […]

Read More F45 8-Week Challenge Recap and Results

Blog at WordPress.com.

Post to

Cancel