Eat.Scrap.Run

We've Moved

2010-03-19T08:40:00.000-04:00

Time Saver!

2010-03-18T19:03:00.000-04:00

I have been absolutely swamped this week and my workout schedule has switched from early morning to late evening unintentionally. I blaming it on the time change, but regardless I needed to fit in a workout tonight and an easy dinner. First I did Jillian's Last Chance Workout on Exercise TV.

I liked this was because it had last season's contestants on it. They are my favorite! I burned 302 calories and 27% fat in 31 minutes. Not too bad. I also noticed that Exercise TV added one of the Yoga Meltdown workouts if you want to try it. I really like it!

This workout is hard. I should know by now that all of Jillian's are, but I used 8lb weights this time instead of 5lbs and it made a big difference. Not to mention the mountain climbers and push ups get me everytime. I am wondering if those will ever get easier.

Has anyone else tried this workout? What do you think?

After the workout it was on to dinner. Thankfully I had planned on Burtolli Whole Wheat Pasta. All I needed was a quick sauce.I combined olive oil and red wine vinegar, plum tomatoes, red pepper, garlic, green beans, sea salt and pepper. I am guessing it was about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of red wine vingegar. I just went with what looked right.

The result was pretty good. I think I may have gone a little overboard with the red pepper because the fam's mouth's were burning but I would definitely make it again. It took me about 20 minutes to make!

Overall, working out and dinner prep took me 55 minutes. Not too bad!Now its off to watch some basketball (Go Bobcats!) and plan our meals for next week! TGIF!

Sunglasses, Tank Top and a little Buffett!

2010-03-17T20:08:00.000-04:00

...yes, I am still in Ohio, but it is 65 and sunny, and I had Jimmy Buffett and the Zac Brown Band on my iPod. ! I decided to leave work and head to my favorite running spots which one of my girlfriends introduced me to a few years ago. It consists of 8 hills and is conveniently on the way home. Here is a breakdown of the run...

- Approximately 4.7 miles
- 8 hills with the longest hill averaging approximately 3 minutes. (Some are so steep you are starring at your feet as you make your way up!)
- Great interval training

I walk for about a minute at the top of each hill, give or take a few. The longest hill is at the beginning and end of the workout and is followed by about a 5 minute run back to the start. (You repeat 4 hills twice.) Its a tough workout. No matter how many times I run it, it always kicks my butt! Its in a great city neighborhood so there are lots of runners outside and lots of fun restaurants and shops to look at.

I haven't done this run in about 6 months because of the weather and I was reminded of how great interval training is. Overall I burned 586 calories in 52 minutes with a maximum heart rate of 182 and a minimum of 112. Not too bad!

How do you get your interval training in? Do you think its beneficial?

I am hoping that it helps me up my mileage past my 6 mile comfort zone. I plan on having a date with the hills next week too! Now its time for a few green beers (or maybe just a glass of wine!)

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Weekly Favorites #5 - Eating, Scrapbooking, Running

2010-03-17T10:19:00.001-04:00

Here are my newest favorites sites for eating, scrapbooking, and running...

Eating:
WebMD Superfoods

These superfoods on WebMD help you lower your cholesterol, reduce your risk of heart disease and cancer, and, for an added bonus, put you in a better mood.

Scrapbooking:
Scotch Tape Runner

These tape runners are great for all kinds of crafts. It's so nice to not have to worry about glue showing through the paper when I use too much.

Running
http://www.cityrunningtours.com/

I stumbled onto this site last week and I think these running tours look like so much fun! What a great way to see and learn about a new city while getting some exercise. I can't wait to try this next time I am visit one of the cities with the running tour: NYC, Chicago, Charleston, DC, and Austin.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Are you wearning green today? I didn't wear green to work today, but I did pack a green tank top to wear to yoga after work :)

How Much is Too Much?

2010-03-16T16:22:00.000-04:00

I have planned out my workouts for the rest of week. It's "crunch time" now that I know I have only 41 days until the triathlon. I am going to wait and see how this week goes before planning out the rest of my training. I don't know how much is too much, and I don't want to get burnt out.

This week will be:

Monday: Swim 1 mile (done!)
Tuesday: Run 4 miles
Wednesday: Yoga and/or Cardio Tennis after work
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Swim 1 mile
Saturday: Run 5 miles (still working towards the 15K on April 10)
Sunday: Bike 15 miles

This puts me at two days of swimming, two days of running, and one day of biking for the week. Plus Wednesday will be a cross training day. I really want to run 3 days a week, but I will proceed with caution this week and see how it goes.

Because I do my hardest training on the weekends, I would prefer that Friday be my rest day. But, Thursdays are notoriously bad days for me, when I tend to skip workouts, so I am making Thursday my rest day. At least I know myself well enough to plan accordingly :)

It's almost time to leave work and go for my run!

Modifications

2010-03-15T20:09:00.001-04:00

As promised, here is how I modified Rachely Ray's Tortilla Bread Pudding recipe.

First, I browned the onions in Flax Seed Oil. I have been trying to use this in recipes where I don't think you will notice the taste. I also preheated the oven and greased the 8x8 baking dish. I substituted Lean Turkey Italian Sausage in place of Chorizo.

I then took all the remaining ingredients (corn, tortillas, milk, eggs) and threw them in the food processor. I used egg beaters instead of eggs, skim milk and whole wheat tortillas. I only used 1 cup of skim milk given its a lot less thick than whole milk.

I combined everything in the sauce pan, stirred and then baked for 25 minutes. The end results was delicious! We ate 1/2 of it last night and the other half for dinner tonight.

This is the picture from the Rachel Ray magazine, mine was pretty close!

This week I am back on track from my sickness last week. I cannot tell you how much better I feel. Like a new person! According to the 15K schedule I am supposed to run 6 miles tomorrow. I am pretty sure that is not going to happen so I am aiming for 4 and a quick 20 minute Jillian workout on Exercise TV. My goal is to run 7 this weekend to get back on the schedule.

Here's to a good week!

The Fast ApproachingTriathlon

2010-03-15T09:21:00.000-04:00

I woke up on Sunday morning excited to read Caitlin's blog about her triathlon that was happening on Sunday. It's weird to feel like I know someone who I have never even met, but after following her triathlon training on her blog for the past few months, I was really excited to her how her race went. I am happy to report that she did GREAT!

It was also interesting to me because I have signed up for St. Anthony's Olympic Distance Triathlon, which takes place on April 25th in St. Petersburg, Florida (which is about 30 minutes from my house). I signed up for this race back in December because it always sells out fast. I knew the 0.9 mile swim would be challenging for me, but I like to push myself and have new challenges, so I decided to sign up.

At the time, I was training for the Gasprilla Half Marathon, which was on February 28th (read about it here), and my theory was that I would already have the running endurance needed for the 10K during the triathlon, so I would just have to spend March and April focusing on the biking and swimming portions of the race.

I didn't do a very good job on allowing myself time to rest and recover from the half marathon, so here it is, mid-March, and I am trying to decide whether to do the race. Decisions, decisions. Really it's just the swim that scares me. I know I can get through the bike and the run ok.

After reading Caitlin's post yesterday about her triathlon and facing her fears, I suddenly became super-motivated to start training for my triathlon! I decided that the weather was nice and it was the perfect day to hop on the bike and go for a short ride. My husband even came along for the fun.

Thanks to the Garmin Forerunner, I know that we did 11.57 miles in 1:02:53. We went at a very leisurely pace, but it was still nice to get myself out on the bike. The bike path near my house was packed with people today due to the nice weather and the start of "spring break season", so I know that slowed us down a bit too.

I was actually feeling really good during the ride, and I am looking forward to my next ride when it's less crowded to get a feel for what my race pace could be.

There was one last thing that I did this morning before making my final decision on whether to do the triathlon....I went to the pool to see how far I could swim doing breaststroke. I am not very good at swimming freestyle, and I get tired really quickly. I know breaststroke isn't as efficient, but I feel much more comfortable doing it, and I wanted to get a feel for what I could do currently, and if I thought I could work up to the 0.9 miles in time.

I am happy to report that I was able to swim one whole mile doing the breaststroke in about 45 or 50 minutes. I definitely have some work to do because I did stop a few times, and I put my feet down on the bottom of the pool each time I turned, but overall I am very happy with my swim today.

I came across this quote today, and find it to be the perfect for my current situation:

It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.

-Theodore Roosevelt

Do you have a favorite quote or motivational saying to keep you motivated?

Back to Healthy!

2010-03-14T10:40:00.002-04:00

After 6 days of not working out (the longest I have gone in 3 years!), two ear infections and a sinus infection, I mustered up what strength I had left and convinced myself to run yesterday in Columbus's St Patricks Day 4 Mile Race. I was a little nervous about how the run would feel, not to mention it was pouring ran! As I was waiting in line to start, I just decided to just get it done! Apparently that was the best thing to do because I finished in my best time ever - 35 minutes and 49 seconds. That isn't the official time, but for me its a personal best.

I think these results just prove that if you continue to lead a healthy lifestyle and take care of yourself, its amazing what your body can do. I am pretty tired today and my hips are sore, so I am going to do some yoga and take it easy. Tomorrow its back on track for the 15K training.

In addition, I discovered a cool planning tool at Target.

I always plan our meals for the week but this lets you plan what days you are going to eat what for two meals a day. I used one column for breakfast and the other for dinner. I am hoping this will help me better manage the days I need to cook and the days we are eating leftovers. Today I am making Tortilla Bread Pudding.

This is a Rachel Ray $10 or less meal, and is pretty high in fat. I am not sure how I am going to modify it yet, but will post the modifications once I figure out what works!

I'm Bacckkk

2010-03-13T14:05:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning dehydrated and hungry. That's never a good way to start the day.

My husband I had dinner at a bar last night, so I had a few nachos as an appetizer while we waited for our friends to arrive, and as a result of eating nachos, I ordered a salad (with no protein) for dinner because I felt guilty for eating nachos. That was a bad decision. Add to the fact that I had 4 beers throughout the night, I am pretty sure that explains how I felt the way that I did this morning :)

I decided a green monster would be the perfect way to start the day and get some healthy food into my system. Today I used a whole banana, skim milk, vanilla yogurt, and approx two cups of spinach. I really like having the yogurt added for some extra thickness. I was still hungry later in the morning so I also made a bowl of oatmeal (just instant oats and water and a little sugar -- boring, I know).

Now on to the fun stuff...I ran 3 miles this afternoon and it felt great! I missed you running, and I am happy to be back!

I was really surprised how "hard" the 3 miles felt today, but I am still happy with my run and I am pretty sure once I get back to running 3 days a week, that my endurance will come back to me quickly.

Remember that long list of things I wanted to get accomplished this weekend? So far, so good. Next up is grocery shopping and cooking!

What are your plans for the day?

Weekend Plans

2010-03-12T14:11:00.000-05:00

TGIF!

We didn't get many responses to our reader poll yesterday. Please stop and say hello if you get a chance. We received one suggestion to post on using the Garmin Forerunner, and I will post that very soon. Thanks for the idea!

So the planner in me likes to look ahead to the weekend, and set some goals for myself in what I want to get accomplished over the weekend.

This weekend's list is looking like this:

Run at least 3 miles, depending on how I feel. I think I am finally recovered from the Gasparilla Half Marthon.
Do at least one session of yoga, most likely at home with either Jillian Michaels:Yoga Meltdown DVD(read Holly's review here), or something on Exercise TV.
Figure out a workout schedule for the upcoming weeks as I train for the Iron Girl 15K. It's looking like I may not do the triathlon as originally planned on April 24th, but I really need to decide for sure this weekend. I got a few workouts in this week with no set schedule, but it works better for me to know in advance what my workouts will be for the week.
Go through the huge pile of mail that has been gathering the past two weeks.
Laundry (and lots of it)!
Grocery shopping, and some cooking. I probably shouldn't have told my grandmother I was going to mail her cookies, because now I have to actually make them :)
Have a "fun day" with my husband. I think we may go back to Disney for the day like we did last weekend.
See friends tonight and Saturday night in Dunedin :)

I am getting tired just looking at that list, but at least I have a goal for the weekend, and if it all doesn't get done, then that's ok too.

Do you make lists for the weekend like I do, or do you take a "spur of the moment" approach?

Reader Poll

2010-03-11T10:14:00.000-05:00

Happy Thursday everyone!! Are you as ready as I am for the weekend? I feel like this week has been dragging on way too long!

Holly and I would love to meet our blog readers and learn a little more about your interests. Please post in the comments section with the answers to the following questions if you want to join in...

1. Where do you live. Do you like it there?

2. What are your hobbies?

3. What posts do you like to see the most - eating, scrapbooking, or running/workout posts?

4. Is there anything else you would like to see us post about?

We look forward to "meeting" all you!

Doctor, Recipes and Wednesday Links!

2010-03-10T19:17:00.000-05:00

Doctor
Random title I know, but its been a random week. I am still sick, actually waiting to go to the doctor as we speak and haven't worked out since Sunday! I am a little freaked out by that but given I attempted to make it around the block yesterday and had to sit down after a dizzy spell, I decided my body was telling me to rest! So I am listening for once. So we'll see what the doctor says, hopefully I can at least work in some end of the week workouts!

Recipes
Before the sickness struck I made a really good chicken recipe that we have been eating this week. Thankfully I still have a little bit of an appetite.

The recipe called for 4 pieces of chicken but since these were big pieces I only used 3. The Cooking Light recipe is as follows:

Ingredients

1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled blue cheese
1 tablespoon reduced-fat sour cream
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons 2% reduced-fat milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
1 1/2 tablespoons butter, divided
6 tablespoons finely chopped drained bottled roasted red bell peppers
2 teaspoons water
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Combine first 4 ingredients in a small bowl. Cut a horizontal slit through thickest portion of each chicken breast half to form a pocket. Stuff cheese mixture evenly into pockets.
3. Place flour in a shallow dish. Combine milk and egg in a shallow dish, stirring well with a whisk. Place panko in a shallow dish. Working with 1 chicken breast half at a time, dredge chicken in flour, then dip in egg mixture; dredge in panko. Repeat procedure with remaining chicken, flour, egg mixture, and panko.
4. Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon butter to pan; swirl until butter melts. Arrange chicken in pan; cook 4 minutes or until browned. Turn chicken over; place skillet in oven. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until done.
5. While chicken bakes, combine remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons butter, bell peppers, water, Worcestershire, and garlic in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer; cook until butter melts. Remove from heat, and stir in hot sauce. Serve sauce with chicken.

Mark Scarbrough, Cooking Light, MARCH 2010

Instead of the bell peppers, I used a mix from Trader Joes called "Harvest Hodgepodge" get more veggies per serving. I also eliminated the butter all together and used a tablespoon of flax seed oil. I would definitely make this again!

Wednesday Links
Each week we have been featuring our favorite websites on Wednesday. Here is what I have been reading this week...

Eat
"My Recipes" includes recipes from Cooking Light, Sunset, Southern Living, All You, Real Simple and Health Magazines. They have a Dinner Tonight section which has some great ideas!

My Recipes - Dinner Tonight

Scrap
Scrapbooking has really taken a backseat lately. I have made a goal to finish my 2009 scrapbook by the end of the month. I am so close to being caught up! I started to look for some inspriration online and found the following site. I have never seen this magazine before but they have some really cute spring layouts!

Scrapbooking and Beyond Spring Layouts

Run
I am getting creative on this one. I have really changed my skin care since I have been running outside more as the seasons change. My skin gets really dry and red in the winter and then breaks out in the summer from the humidity. I have found that the Clinique SPF 25 Superdefense does the trick and helps with the dryness but doesn't over do it in the summer. Its expensive but usually lasts me about 6 months if I use it once a day. In the winter I combine it with the Pore Minimizer Refining Lotion which helps my pores stay tight. I love that this combo has sunscreen, anti-anging and a moisturizer all in one. On the weekends I usually just wear this but its light enough that you can wear both under your everday makeup.

Green Monster + Raspberries = Brown Monster

2010-03-09T21:05:00.000-05:00

Snack Time

I normally do most of my grocery shopping on the weekend, but somehow this weekend I never made it to the store. As a result, I have very limited food in the house and I had to improvise to make a Green Monster.

See that huge bag of spinach? I bought that at Costco last Thursday, and I am disappointed that it's already starting to get slimy. This weekend I did take a lot of the spinach and wash it and freeze it, so I am hoping I can use that for my Green Monsters for the rest of the week. Even if I have to throw away the remains of this bag, it was still way cheaper than buying the spinach at the regular grocery.   Next time I will be more proactive about freezing the spinach before it goes bad so I don't have to throw any away!

Tonight I decided to chance it and use the slimy spinach since I can't really taste it anyway. Plus work kind of sucks right now so I wouldn't mind if I had to take a sick day tomorrow :)

I only had 1/2 of a small banana, so I decided to add some raspberries that I had in the freezer, along with 1 cup of milk.

The result...a Brown Monster instead of a Green Monster!

It wasn't even worthy of a picture :)

The raspberries tasted ok, but I probably won't add them again. Next time I buy bananas, I will cut up a few and put them in the freezer so they are ready for my next Green Monster. I also like having something from the freezer to make them cold like a smoothie.

Workout Update
I still have not had a good run since the half marathon that was now 9 days ago.   My only attempt at running was this past Saturday, and my knee still hurt so I came back home. I really miss running, and I still want to do the Iron Girl 15K with Holly in April, so I am going to give it another try tomorrow morning and see how it goes.   The plan is to run 1 mile and see how I feel afterward.    Keep your fingers crossed that it goes well!!!

Are you currently training for any races or events? What keeps you motivated?

When to Rest?

2010-03-09T08:20:00.000-05:00

So the past two days I have come down with some sort of cold/sinus infection which has really brought me down. I knew I was fighting something but usually I can fight it off. This time however my sore throat has now become a full fledged cold with body aches and pains.

I get so frustrated when I am sick because I want to do everything at a normal pace. I know a cold is your bodies way of telling you to get rest, but when is the right time to rest? For me, there is really no time!

I took yesterday off from working out and made sure I ate healthy and went to bed early. Today I slept in as well. The weather is actually nice in Ohio this week (almost 60 degrees yesterday) so I am going to try to get a quick run in this afternoon after work. Sometimes just being outside makes me feel better.

If you are sick, how do you determine if you should workout? I am on my second green monster for the week so I am also hoping that spinach power kicks in! If you haven't tried Catlin's recipe you should...its great!

My adjusted weekly workout is as follows:
Mon: Rest
Tues: Run 2 miles/Jillian
Wed: Metabolism Boost
Thursday: Run 5 miles
Friday: Run 3 miles/Jillian
Saturday: 4 Mile St. Patricks Day Race
Sunday: Spinning (A two hour class this week! Hopefully I am up for it!)

I am supposed to be up to 7 miles for my 15K training but given I have been sick I am cutting back this week with the hope that next week I can catch up. I am starting to love the 15K mileage, its just past my comfort zone (5-6 miles) but enough of a challenge that I have to plan my workouts. Whats your favorite race?

Healthy Eats at Disney World

2010-03-08T08:10:00.000-05:00

Yesterday my husband and I spent the afternoon at the Magic Kingdom. We have annual passes, so we can make the 90 minute drive, park for free, spend a few hours in the park and come home. It feels "free" but really we already paid for the annual pass. It still makes for a nice afternoon!

The entrance to the Magic Kingdom...

Cinderella's Castle while walking up Main Street USA...

Since moving to Florida and having our Disney annual passes, Space Mountain has always been closed any other time we were at the Magic Kingdom. So today that was our first stop.

Recently it was refurbished, and all I knew is that it was supposed to be darker inside now while on the ride. I remember riding Space Mountain in the 90's and being able to see the track the whole time.

Here we are, ready to start. They still have the single seat cars that they used to have.

I am happy to report that the ride was much darker this time! It was fun to be in the dark and not know where we were going. A few times I stuck my hand up to take pictures, and I would get nervous since I didn't know if there was anything above me or not.

This is the picture they took of us on the ride...

The girl in the front looks bored, I am taking a video of the ride, and my husband looks like he is screaming, and I can attest to the fact that he was. Well, more of a laugh/scream, but it was funny whatever it was.

Next up was the Buzz Lightyear ride. We had a bet on who could get the highest score (you are shooting at targets the whole ride) so we were both concentrating...

I lost big time, so I think I had a defective shooter gun on my side. LOL

After a few rides we stopped for our healthy lunch that I packed.

It was so nice to have food from home, plus we didn't have to spend $20 on lunch. For lunch I had a sandwich on whole wheat bread with turkey, cucumbers, and spinach, and a side of grapes and the remaining cucumbers. Dessert was one cookie :)

We didn't even get to most of the grapes, so they became our afternoon snack while we were still in the park.

We ended the day with a ride of the Riverboat, which was actually pretty boring. But at least now we know not to do it again!

Tomorrow I will be planning my workout schedule for the week. I am still nervous to run, but I will find some other ways to get in my cardio. I also have the St. Anthony's Triathlon coming up at the end of April, and I was planning to start my training this week. I am not sure that's going to happen, as I am still waiting for my knee to heal.

Only time will tell what's in store for the next few months. I just need to stay flexible and stay positive, and I am sure everything will work itself out.

Yoga Meltdown

2010-03-07T13:09:00.005-05:00

This weekend we are dog sitting which meant we had a wake-up call at about 7:00am this morning. I decided since I ran 5.5 miles yesterday outside that today I was going to wrap up my weekend with some yoga because I am a little sore and coming down with a cold. I have been waiting to try the Jillian "Yoga Meltdown" all week!

First let me say that this yoga DVD is not traditional yoga. While you do do a few sun salutations and you basic poses, Jillian works in her cardio by adding movements to the poses. I did not wear my heart rate monitor, but my guess is in 30 minutes you can burn about 200 calories. Here are a few few things I enjoyed.

1. The workout is tough. There is a lot of core work and just enough movement to break a sweat. This is not as hard as her other DVD's, especially the Metabolism Boost, but its not easy. Lots of planks and side planks for you yoga followers.

2. The DVD comes with 2 workouts, easy and intermediate. I did the easy one and there are still ways I could make it more difficult which is nice when you want to change it up.

3. You don't have to be super flexible to do this. They show different varations for all levels.

4. The penguin is my FAVORITE running pose and she does a great stretch at the end that incoprorates this along with some other basic stretches. This is great to stretch out your hips.

5. I learned a new move, the Dolphin. It was actually fun! You go from an ab hold on your elbows to a downward dog, keeping your elbows in the same place. So it really works your entire core.

Overall, I will definitely do this again and start incorporating it into my "3" Jillian workouts a week. I am a little bummed because Exercise TV took away some of her workouts this month, but hopefully they will post some new ones! The other workouts that I have done of hers are the following:

Metabolism Boost - Bought the DVD
No More Trouble Zones - Exercise TV
30 Day Shred - #1 and #2, Exercise TV

My running increases this week for the 15k in April so I am still trying to figure out how to fit everything in. I'll post my workout later this week. Enjoy your Sunday!

If you have tried the new Yoga Dvd, let me know what you think!

Trial Run

2010-03-06T20:28:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning, excited for my first run since the half marathon last week.

Unfortunately my knee that I injured during the race last weekend started to hurt right away. I decided there was no reason to push myself, so I came back home and will give it a few more days rest. I am also trying to decide whether to break down and go to the doctor next week so I can get a real diagnosis.

Once back home, I decided to do a little cooking. I bought a bag of peppers at the grocery on Thursday, and I know they usually don't last very long, so I decided to make stuffed peppers.

First, I cut the tops off and boiled them for about 5 minutes.

While the peppers were boiling, I browned 1/2 pound of lean ground beef, and added the following:

the tops of the peppers, chopped
1/2 cup cooked brown rice
1/4 box of frozen spinach
scallions (since they are now free since they are growing on the windowsill)
three cloves of garlic, chopped
tomato and basil pasta sauce

I put a little pasta sauce on the bottom of the pan, and then stuffed each pepper with the filling, and cooked 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

I always cook in individual containers, so I can freeze the leftovers. That way I don't have to eat the same thing for 4 days straight :)    I had one of these for lunch, and they were good, but next time I need to add some more spices.   I don't usually cook without a recipe, so considering I was just throwing together what I had, they didn't turn out too bad.

Tomorrow I am going to Disney World for the day with my husband. I have already packed our lunches (sandwiches on whole wheat bread, grapes, and pretzels) and will also bring carrots, grapes, and popcorn in the car for snacks.   It's about 90 minutes each way from our house, so it's not too far of a drive, but it's still nice to have a few snacks.

Tomorrow also happens to the be the Princess Half Marathon at Disney, so I am excited to see all the finishers at the parks with their medals!

Power Breakfast

2010-03-06T10:10:00.002-05:00

I have been getting a lot of articles/emails about breakfast lately. I pretty much stick to 3/4 cup of granola and 1/2 cup of greek yogurt with flax seed everyday but have been feeling the need to change it up. Here are a few recipes I have found and am trying. Whats in your breakfast? I feel like a good breakfast alone will motivate me to get up and get going!

Green Monster (from Healthy Tipping Point)
1 cup of Rice Milk
2 cups of raw spinach
1/2 banana
- I am excited to try this one because I keep reading about how great spinach is for you! Plus I have a ton of frozen bananas I need to use!

Breakfast Sundae (I got this from a Runner's World Article)
Slice a banana over eight ounces fat-free vanilla yogurt. Mix with two tablespoons peanut butter and 1/4 cup high-protein, high-fiber cereal with at least five grams of protein and fiber per serving, such as Kashi Go Lean Crisp. Sprinkle with two teaspoons cinnamon.

Protein Shake Recipes
Sometimes I make these ahead of time and put them in the freezer. Then in the morning when I work out I let them defrost! These are from my favorite Biggest Loser - Tara Costa.

Protein Shake Recipes

Oatmeal Custard
I have posted this one before but its REALLY good and super easy to make. I make it on the weekends and then eat up single servings when I am ready to eat it.

2 3/4 c. water

1 cup uncooked rolled oats ( not quick cook or instant)

1/2 c egg substitute (or 2 eggs)

1/4 c. sugar or sugar substitute

1 1/3 c. skim or fat free milk

1/2 t. vanilla

1/8 t. salt

1/3 c. dried, fresh or frozen fruit ( I have used fresh and frozen peaches and berries)

1/2 t. cinnamon

Boil 2 3/4 c. water and stir in oats. Return to boil, reduce heat and continue to boil. Cook uncovered about 1 minute, stirring. Remove from heat, cover and set aside.

Exercise and Stress

2010-03-05T14:08:00.000-05:00

For those new readers, you may not know that I was recently laid off from my job, and my last day of work will be May 14th. The past few weeks I have had my hopes set on a new job at my same company, but I found out today that it isn't going to work out and I am back to job searching.

Did I mention that I hate looking for a new job? Even the thought of it stresses me out. At least in the past when I have been looking for a new job it was my decision, which made the process at least a little more bearable. But now I am forced to find a new job and it's stressing me out - big time!

Now that I am almost fully recovered from my half marathon, I am hoping to get back into a regular exercise routine next week, and I am hoping that it helps with my stress levels.

According to the Mayo Clinic website, Exercise Reduces Stresss in the following ways:

It pumps up your endorphins. Physical activity helps to bump up the production of your brain's feel-good neurotransmitters, called endorphins. Although this function is often referred to as a runner's high, a rousing game of tennis or a nature hike also can contribute to this same feeling.
It's meditation in movement. After a fast-paced game of racquetball or several laps in the pool, you'll often find that you've forgotten the day's dilemmas and irritations and concentrated only on your body's movements. As you begin to regularly shed your daily tensions through movement and physical activity, you may find that this focus on a single task, and the resulting energy and optimism, can help you remain calm and clear in everything that you do.
It improves your mood. Regular exercise can increase self-confidence and lower the symptoms associated with mild depression and anxiety. This can ease your stress levels and give you a sense of command over your body and your life.

I will start by going to the gym on the way home from work tonight and try to start the weekend off with a stress-free outlook! My plan is to run a few miles in the morning and see how my leg is feeling. I am getting antsy after doing no workouts all week!

How do you handle your stress? Are you able to stop stress before it happens, or do you have ways in which you deal with your stress once it starts to set in?

How much is a gym membership worth?

2010-03-04T14:13:00.003-05:00

So I offically have quite the the gym! I am not really sure how I feel about this yet, but we'll see how it goes. Lately my schedule demands have really changed my workout times so I have been doing more at home than usual. Given the high monthly fee, we decided that one class every week wasn't worth the monthly family membership. Plus, I hoping the weather gets warmer and I can do a lot more outside!! My at home workout plan now includes the following:

- Jillian Metabolism Boost DVD (They took it off Exercise TV!)
- Jillian Yoga (Still waiting on the DVD to be delivered)
- Running
- Exercise TV/Random Workout DVD's
- Spinning (At the rec center, you don't have to be a member!)

SO, I am hoping that my $16 DVD purchases will be worth it now that we are saving our monthly gym fee. I unpacked my gym bag for the first time in two years! Actually getting ready at home in the morning is a big change, but so far I am embracing it and really enjoy it.

Change is good, we'll see how long I last! I am still trying to figure out how much is a gym membership really worth?

Weekly Favorites #3 - Eating, Scrapbooking, Running

2010-03-03T20:48:00.000-05:00

How does Wednesday always come so fast!?!

Here is the latest edition of our Weekly Favorites List...

EAT

http://www.weightwatchers.com/community/mbd/index.aspx

The Weight Watchers website has message boards that are full of valuable advice, motivation, and recipes. The message boards are free for anyone to use, even if they are not a paying member of Weight Watchers. It's a great place to get new ideas for a meals if you are stuck in the same routine and looking for something new and healthy.

SCRAP
http://inchmark.squarespace.com/

This is not a strictly scrapbooking website but it is my new favorite craft website. The creator of this site, Brooke Reynolds, is so talented and I am inspired every time I read her blog. I can't even remember how I found it now, but I was searching something on Google and happened to find it. Lucky me!

RUN
http://www.nike.com/

As you have probably seen from my other posts, I am obsessed with Nike clothing. I can't get enough of their clothes and I feel like they were made perfectly to fit my body. Every time I am within a 30 mile radius of a Nike outlet, I feel the pull and I have to get there!

For my half marathon this past weekend I was wearing a Nike Livestrong tank top, a Nike jacket, Nike capri pants, Nike socks, and a Nike headband! Obsessed, I tell you! I almost feel bad for wearing my Saucony shoes, but I love them too much to give them up :)

My Own Indoor Garden

2010-03-03T13:30:00.000-05:00

Hello!

I am happy to report that I am now only minimally sore after running the half marathon on Sunday. I think by tomorrow I might even be ready for a short run to see how it feels.

In my latest edition of Cuisine at Home magazine, I found a very useful tip about scallions - you can grow them yourself!

I don't have a green thumb, so I never really thought about this, but when I buy scallions at the grocery, they have the roots on the end of the bunch.

According to the magazine, after you cut the roots off the scallions, you just place them in a glass of water and they grow back. I had some at home so I decided to experiment. I only cut half the bunch, and I put them all in a glass. Here is what they looked like after only 36 hours...

Can you see how the shorter ones are growing from the inside layers? I can't believe how fast they are growing!!

I always hate spending money on scallions because I never use the whole bunch, but now I know I can keep a growing supply at home. The only other advice was to change the water quite often in order to keep it fresh.

Do you have a garden or grow any of your own food?

15K Training

2010-03-02T08:32:00.003-05:00

Last night I realized that not only was it March 1st, but also a mere 6 weeks away until the 15k. So I put together a new training schedule. I love the first of the month because to me it represents a new start. Each month I print out a new calendar with my workout goals. Sometimes its blank and I fill it in as I go, othertimes it has a specific training regime. This time I filled it in with the 15K training I plan to accomplish. There were a few things I want to incorporate in my training...

1. 3 Core Jillian Workouts (including one Metabolism Boost - the hard 47 minute one)
2. Spinning once a week
3. Yoga

I had a hard time fitting the yoga in but am going to count it as a Jillian workout once my new Jillian Hot Yoga DVD gets here in the mail. (Yes, I know, I am still obsessed with her workouts, but they work!!)

This week my workout looks like this...

Monday - Rest
Tuesday - Metabolism Boost (Jillian)
Wednesday - Run 4 miles
Thursday - Run 2 miles/Jillian
Friday - Jillian
Saturday - Run 4 miles
Sunday - Spinning

I took my running days from the Hal Higdon Intermediate schedule. It really jumps around a lot which I like. Some weeks are much harder than others. Next week is brutal, but at least I am easing my way into things.

http://www.halhigdon.com/15Ktraining/15Kintsch.htm

I am excited the Biggest Loser is back on tonight as well. This is when it starts to get exciting (at least I hope so!)

Recovery Day

2010-03-01T16:13:00.000-05:00

I took the day off work because I thought it would be nice to have a recovery day after the half marathon yesterday.

I slept until 9:30am this morning, so I must have needed the sleep. I guess it's a good thing I didn't have to drag myself out of bed this morning to go to work.

I literally had nothing planned for today, but I realized I was in desperate need of a haircut and it was a good day to suck it up and go get my hair cut. For some reason, I hate getting my hair cut. I think it's because I am forced to sit in the chair and just do nothing while making small talk with someone I don't know.

Here is the before picture:

And after (ignore my weird smile, I am still perfecting the self portraits LOL)

I also stopped at the grocery on the way home since I needed food to pack for my lunches this week. While at the grocery, I decided to buy spinach so I could try the "Green Monster" that I have seen all over the blogging world lately.

My Green Monster contained two cups of packed in spinach, half a banana, and one cup of 1% milk, all mixed together in the blender. The outcome...

It was actually surprisingly good! It really tasted like banana, and I could barely taste the milk or the spinach. I know others make this with vanilla flavored rice milk, so next time I will try adding a little vanilla flavoring to the mix to give it a little more flavor. I wouldn't say "I love the taste" but it's a great way to eat a lot of spinach and there will definitely be more Green Monsters in my future!

For anyone who does not have pets this may seem gross, but I let my cat Max lick the jar that I use to make smoothies. He loves yogurt, which is what I usually use to make smoothies, so he knows the sound of the blender and knows he is going to get some yogurt. Well, today I thought I would test out his kitty taste buds with the Green Monster.

I couldn't believe it, but he liked it too! Such a well rounded kitty.

I am about as sore today as I expected to be, with the exception of my right knee/leg that was bothering me during the race, which is still pretty sore. I have been trying to walk a lot today, and I am planning to do yoga this afternoon for a good stretch.

I also have a volleyball game tonight, which sounds painful right now, but I know from past experience that it's actually a great way to force myself to move and stretch my muscles, and once I start playing, my soreness usually goes away.

Do you force yourself to workout even when you are sore, or do you take it as a sign that your body needs rest? I think it's ok to workout when I am a little bit sore, but I don't feel bad about taking a few days off after running 13.1 miles yesterday. I was hoping to start the swimming portion of my triathlon training plan tomorrow, but I am going to wait until Wednesday and see how I feel.

Oh the Samoa

2010-02-28T19:41:00.004-05:00

So the girl scout cookies have arrived and I have had more than my fair share today. This year we limited ourselves to Thin Mints and Somoas, however since my step-daughter sells them we have quite a few boxes!! I am a sucker for goals!

Anyways, I decided to let myself enjoy them today after an intense spinning class and after a few Thin Mints decided that Sunday's were going to be my "Cookie" day at least until they were gone. So the Thin Mints are back in the garage freezer until next week, but boy are they good!

What is your favorite cookie? How do you balance too much of a good thing?

While I was searching for the calorie content of the Samoas I had eaten this afternoon, I came across these Samoa Bars. Boy do those look good!!

Gasparilla Half Marathon Race Recap

2010-02-28T15:39:00.000-05:00

I did it!!!! I completed my second half marathon!

I had two goals for myself for this race:

Beat my time from my last half marathon, which was 2:38:49
Feel strong at the end of the race, since I didn't have Holly there to carry me across the finish line like last time :)

I am happy to report that I met both of my goals, but only barely...My chip finish time was 2:38:20. So technically I beat my time, but I was really hoping for a finish time of around 2:30. More importantly though, I felt strong at the end of the race, and I feel great about that.

Here are my splits for the race:

Mile 1: 12:34 (too many people, we had to stop and walk when the road narrowed at 0.6 miles)
Mile 2: 12:02
Mile 3: 11:44
Mile 4: 11:48
Mile 5: 11:38
Mile 6: 11:51
Mile 7: 11:58
Mile 8: 11:46
Mile 9: 11:48
Mile 10: 12:49
Mile 11: 11:57
Mile 12: 12:23
Mile 13: 11:01
Remaining 0.28 miles(race course was long): 2:56
Total: 2:38:22

Mile 13 was my fatest mile, and that feels great!

Here is a quick chronological recap of the morning:

5:10am: exit of the interstate into downtown Tampa
5:45am: we sat in traffic for 30 minutes and moved about 0.2 miles that whole time! Found parking about 3/4 mile from the start line and ran to the start line!
5:55am: I got out of the port-a-potty while the national anthem was playing
6am: race starts. I made it to the start line, but never found the pace groups
The first few miles were good, but I noticed early on that my right leg was really tight on the outside of my knee. I experienced this during a few training runs early on, and it isn't painful, just annoying. I suspect that the sprint to the start line is what caused this, but I really don't know.
Somewhere around mile 5 I started stretching at almost every water station. It helped my knee/leg to stretch, and then I could run a little easier.
I also stopped to walk a few times later in the race to try to try to stretch out my legs.

Overall, it was a good race, and although I wish my leg would not have been bothering me, I still I feel had a good race.

I had planned to take a few picutres at the car once we were parked, but due to the traffic and almost missing the start, that didn't happen.

I did take a few pictures in the car while we were stuck in traffic:

I was prepared for the cold weather with my big gray hoodie.

My husband was looking ready for his first half marathon with no training!!!

There were a lot of professional cameras on the race course, so I am hoping that I can buy a few pictures of the actual race and finish since I didn't get any others.

The plan for the rest of the day is to lay around and be lazy and I am getting ready to order us some pizza. We are hungry!!!

Ready to Go

2010-02-27T19:54:00.001-05:00

I have everything laid out for the race tomorrow and I am ready to go! Luckily Ross is sleeping on my pants from the goodwill that will only be worn to keep me warm at the beginning of the race :) He was so happy I decided to let him stay.

Look into the mirror and you can get a glimpse of Max. I didn't even know he was behind me.

The most exciting news of the day is that my husband decided today to sign up for the half marathon tomorrow! He was a runner in high school, and was able to run half of a half marathon (on a relay team) with no training last summer, so he has decided to try for the full 13.1 tomorrow. I am excited to have him on the race course with me, although I doubt we will actually run together.

Time to get ready for bed. We are leaving the house at 4:30am!

Half Marathon Weekend is Here

2010-02-27T11:19:00.000-05:00

Race Expo

Yesterday was the official start of the Half Marathon weekend because I told the day off work to volunteer at the race expo. I am excited that race weekend is finally here!

Tampa loves pirates, and has pirate themed events during January and February called Gasparilla. There is a Gasparilla parade, a Gasparilla children's parade, a Gasparilla night parade, a Gasparilla art show, and this weekend, the Gasparilla 5K, 15K, Marathon, and Half Marathon.

They even had pirate decorations are the expo yesterday:

So cute!

At the expo, I worked at packet pickup from 10am - 1pm. It was so much fun to talk with all the race participants and wish them luck in the races this weekend. The time flew by because it was so busy and my legs were tired afterwards. It makes me appreciate my boring job where I can sit all day.

The expo is huge. This is just one aisle and there were probably 6 full isles of vendors in the convention center.

There are a lot of good deals on clothing and shoes, along with a lot of overpriced runners gadgets. One vendor was selling no slip headbands that were $16 each. No thanks!

I did spend some time at a booth full of running clothes that were $9.99 each. Who can pass that up?!?! I told myself I could buy one thing, and ended up with a Moving Comfort Long Sleeve Shirt. There is a tag on the shirt that says regular price $55.99, our price $9.99. While I wasn't going to fall for that, I did still feel like it was a good shirt for the price. Plus the sleeves are extra long and there are thumb holes at the end of the sleeves. I felt good when I came home and found the same shirt for $40 online. I love a good deal!

Usually I don't get excited about race shirts because they never seem to fit right and look good. But I think the Gasparilla Half Marathon shirt is the exception.

It's long sleeve, Nike, Drifit, and it actually fits! Plus I like the green color. I tend to buy everything in blue so it's nice to have some other colors.

Pre-Race Day Plans

The plan for today is to eat nice, healthy meals full of fruits, vegetables, and healthy carbs. Plus I will make sure to drink plenty of water today and stay hydrated.

The half marathon starts at 6am tomorrow, which means I need to leave my house around 4:30am. I made myself get out of bed at 9am today even though I was tired, because I know I will need to go to bed early tonight. There will be no napping today!

The weather is going to be in the mid-40's tomorrow morning, which is cold for me, but it's similar to the temperature for all my training runs the past two months. The good news is that there is no rain in the forecast for race time, and less than 10 mph winds. A lot of the race course is along the water, so it will be nice to have minimal winds.

Look for my post tomorrow afternoon with a race racap!!

What's your ideal running temperature? Mine is 60s and sunny, with no wind! :)

Schedule, Snow and Good Cookin!

2010-02-27T09:07:00.007-05:00

I cannot believe it keeps snowing here. I don't think I can remember what it was like without snow on the ground. Yesterday skiing was a success however and I am not sore! Tired, but not sore which is a good sign. I had mastered the mountain by the time we left. Time to plan a trip out west!!

Today I am making one of my favorite recipes....Pot Roast! Its 426 calories a serving and and a super easy recipe in the crock pot.

Ingredients

2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix
1 1/4 cups water
5 1/2 pounds pot roast
Bag of baby carrots
One onion, chopped
3 large potatoes, chopped

Its super easy and usually lasts us a few days. Its one pot of goodness! I am looking for a healthy dessert to make too. Any ideas? I might just have to modify a few recipes I already have.

I also decided today that I am not going to run the 1/2 marathon here in May. Last week was the first week that I didn't do the Jillian workouts 3 days a week and I really missed it. So I am going to pursue that goal again and run in the Aflac Iron Girl 15K race with Megan in April. That way I am enjoying my workouts and still challenging myself to run. I ran two 1/2's last year and hope to run the Columbus 1/2 in the Fall.

Happy Saturday!

Hitting the Slopes!

2010-02-26T08:20:00.004-05:00

I took the day off to go skiing with my mom today. I haven't been skiing in about 9 years, but used to be pretty good at it. As luck would have it it snowed again last night so hopefully we will have good conditions! My husband is betting me that I will not be able to move tomorrow so we'll see how in shape I really am. My plan was do run my 5 miles early on Saturday instead of Sunday. Wish me luck!

I ate a BIG breakfast today of greek yogurt and Frosted Mini Wheats. I am taking a Mojo Bar with me to snack on. Hopefully all my healthy eating and workouts will pay off!

Cookie Willpower

2010-02-25T22:07:00.000-05:00

Tonight I decided to bake Snickerdoodles to welcome my husband home from a business trip, and also so I can send a few to my grandma in the mail.

I have a really hard time with baking and eating way too many cookies and dough in the process. But tonight, I only had one bite of the first cookie I gave to my husband, and I didn't touch them again.

Yea for me!

I did put the remaining cookies in a tupperware container and told him to put them somewhere in the house where I don't have to look at them. I know if they are sitting around in plain view I will end up eating way too many of them. At least I know my limitations, right?

After the cookies where done I treated myself to an orange that I bought it the grocery today. It was actually so good that I am glad I didn't fill up on cookies, or else I would have missed out on the orange!

The Great Recipe Binder

2010-02-25T12:37:00.000-05:00

Remember a few days ago when I said my fridge was empty? Well, it's still empty!

I have started my grocery list and I have a lot of cooking planned for the next few days. I needed some ideas for new meals, so I consulted my recipe binder:

I subscribe to a lot of magazines, and instead of keeping the magazines so I can refer back to them, I tear out the pages that I want to keep, and get rid of the magazine. I keep the recipes in this binder, and I have another folder for any exercise or home decorating items that I want to keep.
I started the binder with empty page protectors, and I can slide in any recipe that I tear out from a magazine or print from a website. If I try a recipe from a website without printing it, I try to hand write or print it and add it to my binder so I have everything in one place. I am normally not a "paper person" and I like to keep everything electronically, but I make an exception for my recipes.

My binder is currently organized into the following categories:

Salads
Appetizers
Chicken
Entrees ( everything with the exception of chicken)
Bread
Breakfast
Side Dishes
Dessert
Drinks
Tips (includes recipe substitutions, cooking times, grains 101)

Eventually I would like to further separate the Entree section into Pork, Beef, Non-Meat, etc, but I just haven't ever done it.

I decided to try two new recipes from my binder:

Dry-Rubbed Baby Back Ribs ( I have had this in my binder since July 2008!)
Crustless Spinach Quiche (this will be for my husband, too many eggs for me)

I will post reviews of the recipes in the next few days once we actually get to eat them.

How do you organize your recipes?

First Triathlon Club Meeting

2010-02-24T21:19:00.001-05:00

Tonight I attended my first meeting of the Palm Harbor Tri-Warriors Triathlon Club.

I have been on their email list for over a year, and there is so much knowledge amongst their members, I was excited to finally make it to a meeting!

The meeting was very informal, as there was no speaker for the meeting this month, but it was so much fun to interact with a group of people with similiar interests to mine.

I did a few sprint triathlons last summer, but my decision to sign up for St. Anthony's Olympic Triathlon on April 25th has me a little scared. I felt much better after tonight's meeting because:

Their knowledge about the sport of triathlons is priceless to someone like me who is relatively new to the sport. They answered so many of my questions and I learned so much in just one hour. I learned valuable information on buying a wetsuit, and what I should keep on my bike in case of a flat tire (a spare tube, a patch kit, and a pump). Good information to get me ready for all those long bike rides!

They do a lot of training together. Every weekend there are bike rides, open water swims, group runs, and even mock triathlons. I was always nervous to join them in training because I am not very fast on my bike or running. The members assured me today that people of all abilities are welcome and now I am excited to start training with them.

I am so glad that I found this group of people and can't wait to get to know them better! Do you below to any clubs or organizations? It's been a long time since I have been part of club like this that isn't related to work or school. It's exciting!

Weekly Favorites #2 - Eating, Scrapbooking, Running

2010-02-24T16:05:00.003-05:00

As part of our weekly Wednesday updates, here are a few of my new favorite sites.

EAT
http://www.clifbar.com/food/products_mojo/

These have become my new favorite treat this week. Especially the Mojo Dipped bars. Today I had the Peanut Butter and Jelly one as my afternoon snack. I find the more protein packed snacks the eat the less ravenous I am when it comes to dinner!

SCRAP
http://www.etsy.com/

I love this site for creative ideas. If you ever need inspired, this is the place to come. I have ordered a few handmade cards from this site which make great gifts!! They also provide great ideas for scrapbooking pages. My sister in law turned me on to this site and she sells her handmade lotions/soaps here. Check her out too!!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/LotionsandPotions

RUN
I stumbled on this this week when I was tracking my calories on Livestrong. This blog is written by Kristen Armstrong (Lance's ex-wife) on Runners World. Its called "Mile Markers" which I think is a great name. I have read it a few times so far and find her interesting to follow. The Runner's World website is always a great source of information too!!

http://milemarkers.runnersworld.com/

Happy Reading!! I am off to watch the Olympics and do some Wii Ski Jumping. I am addicted!!

What Next?

2010-02-23T08:25:00.002-05:00

I am still debating whether I should run in the Columbus 1/2 Marathon, but I did start the training to prepare. I am in my 3rd week already. My schedule this week is the following. I am trying to keep up with the Jillian workouts as well because I enjoyed them so much and really loved the results!

Monday - Run 4 miles
Tuesday - Jillian (Hoping to use the Wii Fit!)
Wednesday - Run 3.5 miles
Thursday - Spinning
Friday - Skiing!! (Going skiing with my mom for my bday!)
Saturday - Run 3.5 miles/Jillian (These combo days are the hardest!)
Sunday - Run 5 miles

I have quite a week ahead of me so we'll see how it goes. How do you plan your workout weeks? I try to plan on Sunday or Monday so I know what is ahead of me and can make it work with my work schedule.

Easy Does It

2010-02-22T20:33:00.000-05:00

The fridge is almost empty, and so is the freezer. I decided to throw together an "everything but the kitchen sink" soup to eat for lunch this week with whatever leftovers I could find.

The contents of my soup as seen above:

Frozen Peas
Cauliflower
Carrots
Celery that I sliced and froze when I had extra awhile back
Brown Rice that I cooked and froze when I had extra awhile back
Not pictured: boneless skinless chicken breast and chicken broth

I also have 4 small sweet potatoes in the oven to eat with my soup. I don't know when I should start to carbo-load for my race this weekend, but it can't hurt to start early!

I enjoy cooking, but sometimes it's nice to take a break from buying groceries and try to eat what's in the house. Now I know I will have healthy, nutritious meals to eat this week.

My husband and I don't have a specific budget for groceries, but we don't buy many extravagant items when grocery shopping. I figure it's cheaper to buy groceries than to eat out, so I have never taken the time to figure it out. Do you have a grocery budget for yourself?

Win a Garmin Forerunner 305 and Donate to Charity

2010-02-22T13:49:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite bloggers is Caitlin at the Healthy Tipping Point. She is raising money for cancer research by raffling off a Garmin Forerunner 305. I have this GPS watch and it's amazing!

For only $5 you can enter for a chance to win this watch, and your money goes towards Caitlin's goal of raising $3000.

Click here for details on how to enter at HealthyTippingPoint.com.

The winner will be chosen on Thursday, Feb 25th, so act fast!!

Good Luck!

Superheros!

2010-02-21T21:45:00.000-05:00

As promised, here are pictures from Saturday night's Superhero Bar Crawl.

I have not had time for much scrapbooking lately, so it was nice to use the Cricut to make our costumes! I won't go into details on our actual superhero names, but you can probably figure them out from the pictures :)

Here is my "superhero husband" having "superhero Subway".

The letters and the shapes were all cut out with the Going Places and Disney Mickey Font Cricut cartridges. Who knew that the Cricut had some many uses!?!?

Here is the back of my cape:

And my husbands...

Overall it was a great night and it was so much fun to be in the bars with 20 other superheros. We got so many comments while walking around downtown before bars!!

Do you like to dress up in costumes? I obviously do! My 30th birthday was 80's themed and everyone dressed up and we went to the bars!

Wii!

2010-02-21T08:19:00.004-05:00

Yesterday for my birthday, my husband got me a Wii! We got the Wii Fit Plus and the new Jillian 2010 Challenge. I am so sore today I can barely move. I don't think the Wii Fit Plus is any huge calorie burner but its great strength training and a lot of fun! I think I have mastered the Ski Jumping but still have a while to go on the Obstacle Course.

The Jillian 2010 Challenge allows you to set monthly goals and do combinations of pre-defined circuits or create your own. I started with hers. Overall they were very similiar to the 22-27 minute programs I have been doing on Exercise Tv. I think they will be a good supplement to my running and then once a week I plan to the the Metabolism Boost workout and some yoga. I am convinced the variety of the moves really helped me get the results I posted yesterday.

Do any of you use the Wii to workout?

Now if I could just stay away from those birthday cupcakes!! We go to a place called Pink Moon in Powell, Ohio. They are amazing!!

Happy Birthday Holly (And a 10 Mile Run)!

2010-02-20T13:30:00.000-05:00

Birthday Wishes
Happy Birthday to my blogging partner, Holly!

Holly is an amazing friend and inspires me to be a better person every day. She is such an inspiration the way she balances her demanding job, her family life, her workouts, and her healthy eating.

I hope you have a great day Holly!

10 Mile Training Run
I woke up this morning excited for my 10 mile run, especially after missing my 9 mile run last weekend due to not feeling well. Today's run was great!!! I often have problems with negative thoughts during my long runs, and I will try to talk myself into doing a shorter distance, or taking more walking breaks than I really need, but I managed to keep all those things out of my head today and I enjoyed my run.

I kept telling myself that I was so lucky that I am able to go out and run 10 miles with little to no pain, and I know how great it will feel to complete my second half marathon this weekend.

My stats for today's run:

Distance: 10 miles
Total Time: 1:56:27

Mile 1: 11:41
Mile 2: 11:38
Mile 3: 11:47
Mile 4: 11:37
Mile 5: 11:35
Mile 6: 11:49
Mile 7: 11:43
Mile 8: 11:56
Mile 9: 11:25
Mile 10: 11:09

I would still like to take advantage of the 11:30/mile pace group during the race next weekend, so my goal for today was to stay as close to 11:30/mile as I could. I also kept my watch running each time I stopped for water, which was about 6 times.

Today was my "dress rehearsal" for the race next weekend, so I decided to try out my SPI belt (which stands for Small Personal Items belt) to hold my Luna Moons. It's been so cold during my training runs that I always have a jacket with pockets, but there is a chance it may be warmer next weekend which means I can't rely on having the jacket.

I am happy to announce that the belt stayed in place the entire 10 miles and I barely even knew it was there. I wish I would have tried this earlier as it would be a nice place to carry my cell phone and keys while running.

I plan to also use this to hold my race number next weekend so I don't have to keep moving it as I shed layers of clothing. The race starts at 6am so I know I am going to dress in layers. I will be hitting up the Goodwill this week to buy some "throwaway clothes" to keep my warm before the race starts. Any clothing left on the side of the race course is picked up, laundered, and given to charity. It's nice to know that I don't have to spend the whole race with jackets tied around my waist.

Superheros
Tonight my husband and I are participating in a Superhero bar crawl. I am very excited, and I love any excuse to dress up. I have to finish my costume this afternoon and I will post some pictures tomorrow!

And the measurements are in....

2010-02-20T09:22:00.004-05:00

Here are the results from my Jillian Challenge...

Goal: Complete 3 Jillian workouts a week. At the end I also started 1/2 marathon training so the training schedules overlapped.

Results:
Bust - 37 to 36.5
Waist - 33.5 to 31.25
Hips - 41 to 40.5
Bicep - 12 to 11.5
Weight Loss - 6 lbs

I gained a pound this week but I am pretty sure it has to do with the fact that I haven't worked out yet today and ate a cupcake last night at 8pm. Overall I am pretty happy with the results and plan to keep it up! Exercise TV just removed my favorite Metabolism Boost workout so I am going to have to order it to keep it up. I guess that is how they make money.

If you are out to improve your shape, this is a great challenge!! I am definitely going to keep my measurements for reference when my 1/2 marathon training gets into full swing. I can also do more push ups then I ever could before :) That is an accomplishment!

Avocados

2010-02-19T08:12:00.004-05:00

I have been on an avocado kick lately...perhaps its my love of Mexican food or my desire for warm weather (which makes me think of Mexican food), but pretty much everything is better with avocados!

Guacomole would be my first choice if I have some extra calories to use. Its simple and easy to make.

1 avocado
1 tablespoons of low fat sour cream (This can easily be skipped if you need to save calories it depends on the consistency you like. Most of the time I skip it!)
1 tablespoon of garlic
Squirt of lime juice
Optional: Sometimes I add diced tomatoes with a dash of olive oil to make it a more salsa like topping.

Sometimes I make this and eat it plain or with blue corn chips. Other times I make a taco bowl (minus the shell) and just have meat, cheese and my avocado salsa on top. Its YUMMY!

Lately I have just been taking 1/2 an avocado, slicing it into tiny pieces, mashing it together and eating it plain or putting it on my sandwhich at lunch. Its the easy and a normal size avocado is only 50 calories. The fat content is high, but its healthy fat. As long as you eat it in moderation (which is hard sometimes) its great to work this into your diet.

Avocado Facts
Did you know that the avocado has over 20 beneficial nutrients in it? According to Healthy Living avocados also have the following benefits.

- Avocados contribute nearly 20 vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. Phytonutrients are thought to help prevent many chronic diseases.

- Avocados contribute nearly 20 vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients, including 4% of the recommended Daily Value (DV) for vitamin E, 4% vitamin C, 8% folate, 4% fiber, 2% iron, 4% potassium, with 81 micrograms of lutein and 19 micrograms of beta-carotene.

- Avocados act as a "nutrient booster" by enabling the body to absorb more fat-soluble nutrients, such as alpha- and beta-carotene as well as lutein, in foods that are eaten with the fruit.

So have yourself a fiesta this weekend and enjoy some healthy fats. My avocado is waiting for me with my weekly skinny maragarita tonight.

Tomorrow is the last day of my official Jillian challenge. I am excited to re-take my measurements!

Running Tights

2010-02-18T18:35:00.000-05:00

Due to the long streak of cold weather this winter, I decided to order running tights from Zappos. I know that I will be able to wear them not only for running, but also while biking as I train for my triathlon (more details here on my training plan).

Today is the first day that I opened the package to see the three pairs of tights that I ordered. All three were CW-X brand, but the tights were different price levels based on the compression technology (I think). Without even trying on all three pairs, I decided to keep the CW-X Expert Tights simply because they were the only ones that were all black. It's probably not the best way to make a decision, but the other two had bright blue stripes and stitching and I just couldn't see myself wearing them as often.

Here is what they look like, except picture a two inch gap of skin showing at my ankles. That's what happens when you are 5'10".

Next came the great debate as to how to wear these tights in public for my run tonight.   The three options that I came up with were...

1. Sport the tights on their own with only my shirt and jacket to barely cover my ass.

2. Wear running shorts over the tights and look like someone who is too self-conscious to wear the tights on their own.

3. Wear pants over the tights so no one could see them.

Go ahead, take a guess as to what I did....

Did you make your guess....

Ok, I wimped out and went for option number 3!   At least they were comfortable and I appreciated the extra layer of warmth.

Does anyone else wear running tights?   Do you wear them on their own, layer, or cover up like I did??

Lucky Me

2010-02-17T08:55:00.000-05:00

Good morning!

When I got home from work yesterday, I had a birthday package waiting for me from my friend Lori. Lori is one of my best friends from college, but she lives in Denver so we don't get to see each other very often. Although there is a good chance that she is coming to visit in May!!! :)

It's so exciting to get a package when you have no idea that it's coming. Look at all the great scrapbooking supplies Lori sent me...

This was the perfect gift for me because I have been trying to use my current supplies instead of buying anything new, so now I have this great supply of paper and stickers to use.

Lori even gave me a few cat things, which is funny considering Holly's post last week about scrapbooking the family pets.

Timmy, Max, Chandler, and Ross (yes, there are four of them!) often get left out of my scrapbooks, so now I have a good reason to include them!

Thanks Lori!!!!

Lasagna Time!

2010-02-16T16:39:00.005-05:00

Working from home has its perks. I used my lunch break as an opportunity to make Crock Pot Lasagna for the next few days. The recipe I used is Weight Watchers recipe and is 7 points a serving. You have to brown the ground turkey first and mix it with onions and spices.

Then you create a cheese mixture...

After that you layer in the crockpot with no-bake noodles and let it cook on low for 4-5 hours. Here is the recipe.

Makes 8 servings, 7 points each.

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs lean ground turkey

1 large onion, chopped

2 Tbsp minced garlic

1 lb fat free mozerella

12 oz fat free cottage cheese

1 tsp Italian seasoning

salt & pepper to taste

8 oz no-bake lasagna noodles

30 oz tomato sauce

6 oz tomato paste

1 cup mushrooms, sliced

1/2 green pepper, chopped

Instructions

In a frying pan, brown turkey with onion and garlic. Add spices and tomato sauce and paste, stirring over medium heat until warm all the way through. Mix cheeses in seperate container. Layer 1/3 meat sauce, 1/3 noodles, 1/3 cheese, and 1/3 vegetables in crockpot. Repeat 2 more times until all ingredients have been used. Cook on low 4-5 hours.

I think you could substitute chicken or beef here for the meat. I also would like to try a veggie version with lots of vegetables!

Let me know what you think! I am off to rock out with Fergilicious :) I hope they play some of their old songs!!

Sleep

2010-02-16T08:40:00.003-05:00

Today I got up at 5:15 am, ran 3 miles and did my Jillian Workout (this time the 27 minute Trouble Zones program). Once I got done I found out we are on a level 2 snow emergency which means I get to work from home... I could have slept in!

Granted, I feel better and started work earlier so I can hopefully rest this afternoon a little more than usual, but SLEEP is so crucial for me. I need at least 7 hours to function, 9 would be ideal. They say 8 it is average, but I think I need more! I am also going to the Black Eyed Peas concert tonight which means a late night.

Ironically,this article was posted today on Jillian's blog. It talks about the benefits of getting the right amount of sleep and how too much sleep can really impact your overall metabolism.

From LOSING IT! With Jillian Michaels
Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Are You Getting Too Much Sleep?

"Are you one of those people who likes to brag that you get by on very little sleep? Or do you love to sleep the day away? I've told you before that too little sleep can mess up your weigh-loss efforts, but did you also know that when you sleep too much, your metabolism can also be negatively affected too?

If you sleep 10 hours a night, you might face some of the same hormonal risks as those who sleep too little. A recent Canadian study found that people who sleep fewer than seven hours or more than nine hours weigh an average of four more pounds (and had wider waists) than people who sleep eight hours every night. Researchers believe that having too much or too little sleep interferes with your ability to control your appetite, because it simultaneously increases hunger hormone ghrelin while it decreases satisfaction hormone leptin.

Want to be sure you are getting all the benefits of a good night sleep? Get your rest! Shoot for a consistent eight hours of sleep and stick with the same bed time and wake-up time each day — even on the weekends!"

How much sleep do you need? Do you always get up at the same time?

Getting Rid of Bad Habits

2010-02-15T18:09:00.000-05:00

The past few days I have fallen back into bad habits such as skipping my workouts, not planning my meals, and eating unhealthy foods. It started with feeling sick on Saturday, and then my birthday yesterday, and today I can't seem to get back on track.

At least for me, even two days of this behavior makes it hard for me to stop and go back to my "healthy lifestyle" that I prefer to live. It's amazing how easy it is to fall back into old habits.

The funny thing is that I have felt tired and sluggish the past few days, and I miss the way I feel when I am good to my body and treat it well.

So I resolve right now to give up the bad habits and focus on living a healthy lifestyle!!! Plus, I have a half marathon coming up in 13 days. This is not the time to loose focus on my goals.

Do you find it hard to give up bad habits, or at least limit them?

Thank you Ipod!

2010-02-15T18:04:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I ran 6 miles in 22 degrees. Yet another personal record for me. I am attributing it to my new playlist. I was inspired to update mine after reading Caitlin's blog.

Here is what I ran to...

1. Apologize - Timbaland
2. Breakeven - The Script
3. Bad Romance - Lady Gaga
4. Live Like We're Dying - Kris Allen
5. Carry Out (feat. Justin Timberlake) - Timbaland
6. Beautiful Day - Timbaland
7. Fallen Angel - Poison
8. Sweet Surrender (DJ Tiesto Mix) - Sarah McLachlan
9. Rock and Roll Jesus - Kid Rock
10. The Climb - Miley Cyrus
11. Toes - Zach Brown Bag
12. Run This Town (feat. Rihanna)
13. Disturbia - Rihanna
14. Possession (Rabbit In the Moon Mix)

I have 70 songs in this playlist and this is as far as I got. I LOVE Sarah McLachlan and the the techno versions are great for running. What is on your ipod?

Happy Birthday to Me

2010-02-14T20:12:00.001-05:00

Thanks for the birthday wishes Holly! Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

Weekend Running Update
This weekend I took an unplanned hiatus from running.   I normally do my long runs when I first wake up on Saturday mornings, but due to the cold weather, I postponed my 9 mile run for a few hours so it would be warmer outside.   During the few hours before my run, I ate more food than I normally would if I just woke up and went running...

When I left the house to do my run, I very quickly felt sick and had bad cramps, so I decided to stop at mile 2. I am not sure if it's due to not letting my food settle, or if I have a little bug of some sort that is making me feel sick. I didn't feel well the rest of the day so I slept and laid around the house. All while trying not to get frustrated that I didn't get my run done as I had planned.

I set my alarm for 7am this morning with intentions of doing my run if I was feeling better, but I still didn't feel that great, and I decided it was my birthday and I was going to skip my run! Instead I went back to sleep for three more hours!

Birthday Day of Fun
When I woke up for the second time this morning I was feeling a little better, and knew I wanted to spend the day doing fun things with my husband.   We started off the day with brunch at one of our favorites restaurants in Dunedin, called Kelly's. I had my usual: yogurt with granola, a fruit cup, and the muffin of the day (which was Raspberry Nut). It was the perfect way to start the day.

Next, we drove south about one hour to Anna Maria Island.   We have been wanting to visit for awhile now, and decided it was a good day to make the drive.

It was kind of cold today, but at least the sun was out and it was nice enough to walk around the beach and the small downtown area.

Our reflections in the water from a bridge :)

Now we are back home and I am making Magic Cookie Bars, a.k.a Five Layer Bars, since my in-laws are coming to visit tomorrow. They are staying in a hotel near by, and I thought it would be nice to give them some cookies to keep as snacks in the hotel room.

And how I can forget to mention that we have a white cake, with white icing waiting in the fridge. It's my favorite kind of cake and I am very excited to have a piece. It will be the perfect end to a great birthday.

What's your favorite kind of cake? People think I am crazy for not preferring chocolate cake, but I don't care. White cake is the BEST!

Happy Birthday Megan!

2010-02-14T08:41:00.003-05:00

Cheers to my Florida friend :) Happy Valentines Day too!

We got up early and made blueberry pancakes this morning! Yum. They were whole wheat and contained a serving of fruit.

Whole Wheat Pancake Recipe

Winter Games/Rewards

2010-02-13T15:28:00.007-05:00

Did anyone stay up to watch the Opening Ceremonies last night? I LOVE the Olympics. I think they are so motivating!! I have already logged 2 plus hours today watching skiing. Thankfully some of that was on the treadmill. Today I did 2 miles plus a Jillian workout. The running and Jillian combo still pushes me way past my comfort zone but I feel pretty good today. Tomorrow is a long run - 5 miles. (The training schedule says 4, but I figure since I am comfortable at 5 and its decent outside I should go for it!)

Rewards
Since I have started the Jillian Challenge, I have lost 7 lbs! Granted, some of it was cookie weight from the holidays, but I am impressed. One more week to go and I will re-take my measurements. I am amazed that you can get a solid workout in, in 22 minutes!

Today I reward myself with my chocolate milk smoothie and a valentines surprise!

Smoothie
1/4 cup of low fat chocolate milk (You can add more if you don't like it as thick)
1 medium banana
6 ice cubes

I eat this all the time in summer, but it makes me feel like I am drinking a chocolate milkshake and is a great protein boost after weight training.

Valentines Day
Tomorrow is Megan's birthday!! :) Last year at this time we were prepping to run in the Disney Princess 1/2 marathon! Check us out...

Today I came home to find a nice Valentine's Day surprise from Megan...Twilight Sweethearts!! Did you know 40 sweethearts only have 160 calories? A good snack to keep around! I might have to watch the original Twilight tomorrow. Its been a while! I hope New Moon comes out on DVD soon. Oh Edward....Which team are you?

Busy Week

2010-02-12T20:00:00.000-05:00

TGIF!

It's been a busy, yet productive week for me. I stayed on plan and completed my two 5 miles runs this week, and I am ready for my 9 mile run tomorrow. I am too scared to actually check the weather for tomorrow morning because I am pretty sure it's going to be some combination of cold, rainy, and windy. Definitely not ideal running weather, but I will just have to suck it up and do my run anyway.

I am very fortunate that I get to watch the sun rise while driving into Tampa for work each morning. I saw something yesterday that I had never seen before....a rainbow on the edge of the clouds as the sun was rising. How cool is that!!! I had to turn off my flash since I was in the car, but you get the idea.

I prefer to do my running before work, but it's been so cold this week, that I have switched to running after work. Even yesterday at 5pm, I had to wear my hat and gloves to go out for a run. Brrrrr!

I actually had the fastest run that I have had in a long time, maybe throughout all of my training so far. I did 5 miles in 56:00. I now have my Garmin Forerunner set up to track one mile splits, so here is a look at my 5 miles from yesterday:

Mile 1: 10:41
Mile 2: 10:47
Mile 3: 11:23
Mile 4: 11:47
Mile 5: 11:21

I can't believe the half marathon is getting so close. I feel like I have been thinking about it for so long! I am really pleased with the progress of my training, and it's a great feeling to feel like it's going to pay off.

I will leave you with this random picture. I pulled over on the drive home from work today to take a phone call, and I was sitting there the whole time while on the phone thinking about what a beautiful view I happended to stumble upon.

Do you always have your camera with you? I like to keep it in my purse because I never know when I am going to need to take a picture.

Snow Dog

2010-02-12T08:55:00.008-05:00

Our dog Gracie, LOVES the snow. She hates summertime and lives for the 15 degree weather when she can lay in the snow and cool off. In fact most nights you can find her laying on our deck licking icicles, which we call popcicles. It amazes me that the cold does not bother her!

This weekend I thought my scrapbook challenge would be to create a fun page for Gracie. She gets left out of the pictures sometimes and really is part of the family!

I looked through some of my scrapbooking magazines and found this layout from the February, 2010 edition of Scrapbooks etc. It features some fun embellishments, which I am not sure I have, but I am hoping the cricket will come in handy here. I also liked the layering of the paper. The different designs always make the page look much more polished.

Have any of you done "pet themed" pages? How do you make sure the whole family is incorporated into your layouts?

Sigh

2010-02-11T19:47:00.005-05:00

I am not sure what to call this blog posting except that I am just taking a deep cleansing breath and am thankful that the week is almost over. I have had a hard time finding energy to keep the overdrive in full gear this week....case in point, I forgot to set my alarm for spinning this a.m. and slept right through it! I guess I must of been tired. Unfortunately in the IT world, there is not much of a chance of a snow day!

Sometimes I wonder how much is too much...
Ironically today I got two emails that motivated me to keep going and to not fret over my sleep in incident.

1. My Runner's World Quotes. You can go to http://www.runnersworld.com/ and sign up for the daily motivational quotes. Here is today's. And yes, I could use a 25 hour day, but the morning workout is a little piece of heaven when you are done.

"When you run in the morning, you gain time in a sense. Its like stretching 24 hours into 35. You may need to sleep less and get up earlier, but if you can get by that, running early expands the day." - Fred Lebow (Founder of the NYC Marathon)

2. Jillian's "Losing It" Newsletter. Yes, I subscribe to it, but you should expect that from me by now. Most of the time I just browse through it, but today's was about over training.

http://www.jillianmichaels.com/fitness-and-diet-tips/overtraining

It was nice to read a reminder about the importance of rest and overdoing it. I am still going to get all my running in and my planned weight training workouts, so I am taking a "sigh" and moving on.

Quick and Healthy
Tonight for dinner I really wanted to watch my calories since I didn't work out. We made a quick simple recipe which is great for the entire family and makes plenty of leftovers.

Rachel Ray Green Rice with Chicken Peas and Almonds

Whats Next?
This weekend I am on a mission to find some creative/healthy valentines day treats (I waited until the last minute) and search for some fun scrapbooking layouts. I feel like Scrapbooking always becomes the last priority so hopefully I can give it a little attention this weekend! (Even if its only planning, its a start!)

...and of course a Skinny Girl margarita, which I have been patiently waiting for all week!

Back in the Pool

2010-02-10T20:07:00.000-05:00

Last night I stopped by the gym on the way home from work for a swim. As I mentioned in my post about triathlon training, I am doing a six week swim program to build my endurance so I can swim one mile prior to my Olympic Triathlon.

I don't officially start the swim program on my training schedule until March 2nd, but I currently don't have enough stamina to complete the week one workouts, so I decided to get my butt in the pool as often as I can between now and March 2nd.    The good part of this is that I am still so bad, that a quick swim makes for a good workout for me, so I don't have to be at the gym for long periods of time for swimming!

I learned a few things while at the gym yesterday....

1. I need to not only build my endurance, but also work on my stroke. Luckily Caitlin, from Healthy Tipping Point, had her friend Ryan, from Greens for Good, do a guest post on learning to swim.  I will focus on one of Ryan's pointers each time, with the hopes that improving my form will help make it easier to swim longer distances.

2. I need to buy a swim cap. I already have the one piece suit and the googles, so I guess it's time to suck it up and wear a swim cap.   I had some nasty tangles in my hair by the time I was done with my swim!

Overall, it felt great to get back in the pool and find something new to challenge myself. Plus I am getting nervous thinking about the triathlon at the end of April because I am not prepared to swim .93 miles. The longest swim I have ever done was 1/3 mile in a triathlon last summer, and I thought it was so hard. So obviously I have some work to do in the next few months.

Swimming is a very different type of exercise in my opinion because I am not listening to music, there is no one to talk to, and I can't even people watch while I am swimming. The whole time I am swimming my focus is 100% on swimming. That doesn't happen to me with other sports.   Do you ever have 100% focus while playing a sport or working out?

Weekly Favorites List #1: Eating, Scrapbooking, Running

2010-02-10T12:23:00.001-05:00

Eat.Scrap.Run has a new weekly feature, the Weekly Favorites List!

Each Wednesday, we will post links to our favorite new eating, running, and scrapbooking websites. I tend to always go to the same websites for information, so it will be fun to expand our "internet" horizons and see what else is out there.

For today...

Eating
Did you know Williams Sonoma has recipes on their website? For me these are not "everyday" type recipes because they are often labor-intensive, but it's a fun site for searching for a meal for a special occasion.
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/

Scrapbooking
My favorite place to get ideas for scrapbook layouts and card ideas is Scrapjazz. You can also upload your own pages and other people can leave comments for you. It's a great way to share your work with other people instead of just keeping it at home in a book like I usually do!

Running
One of my favorite running websites is Active.com. It's my "go-to" place to check for races in my area. They also have great newsletters that are sent through email. You can sign up for specific newsletters that interest you here.

What are your favorite websites for eating, scrapbooking, or running?

Birthday Month

2010-02-09T16:07:00.004-05:00

My family refers to "February" as "Birthday Month" in our house because my birthday is in February and I tend to over do it with the goals this time of year. I think of my birthday as a reminder of everything I have accomplished in a year and I try to make up for any slack the last few months.

This year I ran two half marathons, got glasses and had my first cavity. The last two were some what traumatizing however I'd like to think that in my 30th year I have grown and am continuing to move ahead with a healthy lifestyle. My husband an I also got to see U2 in concert and spend two weeks at the beach. Both activities that make for a happy, healthy year overall.

This time of year I also try to make sure I have had all my yearly check-ups. I had a cavity free dental checkup yesterday, got a physical etc. I personally believe that this type of maintenance will end up paying off in the long run. Perhaps 30 more good years!!

How do you measure a good year?

Challenges
Now back to the challenge. My first challenge was to lose a few pounds (most of it gained this summer during our two weeks at the beach). I am accomplishing this through my 3 Jillian workouts a week.

Today however I started a new additional challenge. I am going to be joining Megan in the Iron Girl Clearwater 15 K Challenge. I am still contemplating whether or not to run in May in the Columbus 1/2 Marathon, but regardless I started the training today and can officially sign up once I know how my work schedule plays out. (Refer to "To Run or Not to Run"). I am trying really hard to not over schedule myself. So if I don't run in May, I will catch the 1/2 marathon in October. I thought the 15K was a good middle ground to start with and allows me to go see Megan!

I am a little unsure how the challenges are going to work out together, but today was my first try at combining them. I keep track of my workouts on a bulletin board in our laundry room. I am doing pieces of the 1/2 marathon Novice program
along with my Jillian workouts.

Today I ran 3 miles and then did a 25 minute weigh/circuit workout. I almost threw up. It was really hard!! My schedule for the rest of the week is as follows:

Wednesday: Metabolism Boost
Thursday: Spinning
Friday: Run 2 Miles/Circuit
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Run 4 miles

I am taking it week by week as far as combining goes. My goal for the race is to simply improve my overall fitness level and not necessarily my time. I think its really important to have a goal in mind when you sign up for something. I'd like to incorporate some sprints into my workout as well as they really helped me the last running season. Perhaps that will be next week! T

How do you set challenges for yourself? Do they ever conflict?

Two more weeks and we can compare the Jillian before and after results...Are any of you tuning into the Biggest Loser? I keep giving it another chance but am just now sure. I wonder when Jillian's new show is supposed to start.

Triathlon Training Schedule

2010-02-08T15:36:00.004-05:00

Today I created my training plan for my Olympic Distance Triathlon on April 25th, St. Anthony's Triathlon. The race distances are:

Swim 1.5K (.93 miles)
Bike 40K (25 miles)
Run 10K (6.2 miles)

This is the first time I have done an Olympic Distance Triathlon, so my goals for this race will be to finish (but not last!) and to have fun with the training. I know there are much more intense training schedules out there, but this is what I am planning to do, with the hope that it "gets me through the race". I am not trying to win any awards or anything crazy.

Here is my overall training plan for each leg of the race (along with a few pictures from triathlons last summer):

Swim (that's me, #229)

The biggest concern for me is the swimming portion of the triathlon, so I have decided to follow the >Zero to 1650 plan, which is a six week program to build you up to one mile, or 1650 meters, of swimming. I have decided to follow the plan as written, and commit to swimming three times a week. My six week time period will start on March 2, and will end on April 11 with my one mile swim! At this time, I will still have two weeks left before the race to taper and focus on some open water swims.

Bike (before buying a road bike)

I will do one "long" bike ride each weekend. My official bike training will start in March with a long ride of 10 miles. My plan right now is to increase my long bike ride by 5 miles each week, with a peak of 25 miles at the beginning of April. I wanted to space out my 25 mile bike ride and my one mile swim to make sure that they didn't occur the same weekend in the training plan. I am also hoping to fit in one other biking workout during the week. I have no idea if 5 miles extra a week will seem easy or hard, so of course this could change as I get into the training.

Run

My training plan for the run is still loosely defined at this point. I want to see how I feel after the half marathon on February 28th, and I will continue to do a "long" run on the weekends throughout the triathlon training. If I am feeling up to it, I will peak with a 15K run for the >Iron Girl 15K in Clearwater on April 10th, which is two weeks before the triathlon. Because I need to focus on biking and swimming during my training, if the runs become too hard, I will stay with a max run of 6 miles throughout the triathlon training. I am also hoping to fit in one other running workout during the week.

Transitions and Bricks
The weekends on my training schedule are the only time during my training that I will work on the transitions between swimming and biking (is there a name for this?), and biking and running (called bricks). Saturday I will swim and bike back to back, and then Sunday just run. The next weekend, I will swim on Saturday, and then bike and run back to back on Sunday. Sounds easy, right?

Looks like I need to warn my husband that I am going to have no social life for the months of March and April. Right now it looks like I am going to need lots of healthy food and a lot of good sleep.

How cold is too cold?

2010-02-07T19:34:00.006-05:00

What temperature is too cold for you to run outside?

Today was a record for me. The coldest to date that I have ran outside. It was a nice crisp 19 degrees and the run was perfect! I had not even planned to run today but kept gazing outside wanting to go check out the scenery. The trees are amazing right now. We had a mix of snow and ice and every inch of the tree is now covered in white. Thankfully Santa was nice this year and got me some cold weather gear so I was prepared... 3 shirts, 2 pairs of pants, gloves, hat and scarf and I was ready to go. 5 miles later (in record time for me, 53 minutes), I was feeling revived, and excited that I pushed myself past my comfort zone. The cold was worth it and one of my best runs!

On a side note yesterday I did Jillian's Last Chance Workout which is why I thought I would need a lighter workout today. It was 29 minutes of intensity. I can't even imagine what a 2-3 hour session with her would be like. I have to say though, going into my 3rd week of the challenge, I am able to keep up. It is still one of the most difficult things I have done, but I am getting through it! I took measurements of my body prior to the challenge so I am interested to see if anything changes. Two more weeks to go!

What healthy Super Bowl treats do you make?

Tonight we made Jambalaya. Its a super simple crock pot recipe that is great for a cold day. I have made this several times with different versions of sausage.

I also made my cherry cookies again but this time used 1/2 raisins, 1/2 cranberries. They were still really good!!

Winter Mishap...

This has nothing to do with eating healthy or running, however I think this will make a pretty funny scrapbook page when I get to it. The snowplow ran right over our mailbox. It is propped up right now because of all the snow, but pretty soon I am guessing we will have to actually fix it!!

Mini-Goals

2010-02-07T08:23:00.000-05:00

Good morning!!!

I am so excited to go to Sarasota today and spend the day with my dad and step mom. Their flight was delayed out of Ohio yesterday, but they still made it to Florida last night. Unfortunately it's not beach weather today, but we are going to meet for lunch at St. Armand's Circle and do some shopping. It should be a fun day!

I haven't mentioned this on the blog yet, but I am trying to lose a little weight right now. It's really hard for me to do with all the running, because it makes me so hungry. The more I run, the more I want to eat!

I decided I needed a mini-goal to motivate myself this week. While going through the mail yesterday, I found a catalog from Athleta. I love their clothes, but they are expensive in my opinion, so I have never ordered anything.

I decided my reward for losing at least two pounds this week will be permission to myself to order some fun things from the catalog!! This goal will also coincide with my birthday, which is next Sunday, so this will be like a birthday present to myself :)

The other thing I really liked about this catalog, which was actually called the "Yoga Edition", was all the yoga pictures they included in the magazine. This makes me want to become a Yoga Superstar!!!

Do you keep yourself motivated with mini-goals and rewards? I find that it's hard to look at weight loss over the long term, but smaller, mini-goals make it more manageable.

Running Posture

2010-02-06T13:19:00.000-05:00

I have never really thought about my posture while running, but in my every day life, I know I have bad posture, and I tend to hunch over and not sit with my back straight.

During my 6 mile run this morning, I found a way to tweak my posture and it was much easier to run! Around the start of mile 5 I was starting to feel tired, and somehow I straightened up my posture while running, and it actually felt better. It never even crossed my mind that I could run faster by changing my posture!

I don't have splits set up on my Gamin Forerunner, so I can't tell how much faster my last two miles were, but I know there were faster than I normally run. My overall time for 6 miles was 1 hr 8 minutes. That's fast for me!!

I found a few articles online related to running posture. I plan to read more on this in the upcoming days.

The Perfect Form, from Runners World

5 Things You Need to Know about Running Posture, from Livestrong.com

A Whole Website on Natural Posture Running!

Have you ever changed your running posture to make your running more efficient?

It's the Weekend!

2010-02-05T21:22:00.000-05:00

Work has been stressful lately with all the talk of finding new jobs, so I am very happy that it's Friday evening and I have the whole weekend ahead of me! Usually my weekends are pretty low key, but I feel like I have a lot planned for this weekend.

Tomorrow morning I will do my "long run" for my half marathon training, but it's a taper week so I only have to do 6.2 miles. It will be a nice break compared to my 8 miles last weekend and my 9 miles next weekend.

Tomorrow afternoon we are supposed to go to the beach and play volleyball with friends, but I don't think the weather is going to cooperate. Instead I will probably do laundry, make a few birthday cards, and do our taxes. Definitely not as fun as going to the beach.

Sunday my husband and I will drive to Sarasota to spend the day with my dad and step-mom, who are in Florida on vacation. Well, they will be on vacation if they can make it out of the snow in Ohio tomorrow!

I went to Costco after work and accidentally stumbled upon a 5.5 lb bag of frozen stir fry vegetables. I was planning to make vegetable soup tonight, so this was the perfect way to avoid cutting up all those vegetables!!

I made a huge pot of soup using the vegetables, and then added chicken broth, a few scallions I had in the fridge, and garlic. It turned out really good. I ate two big bowls for dinner, along with a wrap of roast beef and laughing cow cheese.

YUM!

Tonight I also made the Cooking Light Chocolate Cherry Cookies that Holly posted about awhile back. They were really good too! Although the recipe says it makes 30. That makes each cookie really small!!

I used the Cherry Flavored Craisins because they were half the price of the dried cherries. I was lazy and made them "bar cookies" because I didn't want to roll out the dough. It tastes the same whether it's square or round, right?

Now I just have to cut up the cookies and put them away so I don't eat them all. How do you keep yourself from eating "treats" that you have in the house?

Ohio vs. Florida

2010-02-05T16:24:00.002-05:00

I'll let you choose, but by February I am ready for some sunshine! The snow is pretty and I got a good workout in shoveling the driveway, I am just hoping we are able to get out this weekend! We are supposed to get 8-12 more inches tonight so I have a date with Jillian and the treadmill in the basement tomorrow morning.

I am also currently making a new oatmeal dish. I loved eating my custard this week (even managed to eat it in the car!) Today as I am attempting to work at home and conveniently not able to connect to our network, I am making crock pot oatmeal. All you do is combine the following ingredients...

- Regular oats (not quick oats, I used 6 servings)
- Water or milk (according to directions)
- Mix of sugar, vanilla, cinnamon ( I used a tablespoon of each)
- Cut up apples (I used one and cut it very small)

My sister in law gave me this recipe and she makes it over night on low heat. I just put it on low and am going to monitor it until I go to bed. You can obviously adjust this depending on your taste!!

I managed to make it to Whole Foods today before the storm so I am going to pretend its warm and eat my organic avocado and have myself a skinny margarita by the fire! TGIF!!

What would you do if you were stuck inside?

National Wear Red Day is This Friday!

2010-02-04T19:31:00.000-05:00

Today at work I had the opportunity to attend an informational session on heart disease to raise awareness on how it is the #1 killer of American women. The session focused on what women can do to understand their risks and work to prevent heart disease.

On National Wear Red Day, Friday, February 5, 2010, millions of people will choose to wear red and speak up against heart disease. It gives women and men everywhere a way to show their dedication and support of the cause, and empowers them to take action for their health.

For more information on Heart Disease, check out this presentation from The American Heart Association. They say it much better than I would!

I also learned about the food pyramid today, in realtion to eating a heart-healthy diet. Did you know that the food pyramid guidelines are updated every 5 years? I had no idea!! The current food pyramid is below:

Each color represents one of the guidelines, and activity was added to the logo. Pretty cool. A new food pyramid is due out in 2010. It will be intesting to see how it changes.

Go to MyPyramid.gov for more information on the food pyramid.

Please wear red tomorrow and spread the word on the importance of heart health to your family, friends, and coworkers.

4:55 am

2010-02-04T12:32:00.004-05:00

Yep, that is what time I got up this morning, all so I could get into the kick-butt spinning class at my gym. There are only 30 spots and they fill up FAST! Even when I am training for a 1/2 marathon, I like to incorporate spinning because its a great way to burn a lot of calories and keep your heart rate up. Today I burned 756 calories in 60 minutes. Here are a few other reasons spinning is a good running substituation when you need a break...

Benefits of Spinning

Weight Loss
In order to lose weight, you must create a caloric deficit where you are burning more calories than you taking in. Cardiovascular exercise is efficient at burning calories which can lead to weight loss. This can be done on the spin bike by riding for 45 to 60 minutes at a steady pace, or alternating between high and low intensities.

Muscle Endurance
Muscle endurance is characterized by doing consecutive muscle contractions for a long period of time. When you use a spin bike at a moderate intensity, you can increase the muscle endurance in your legs

Posture
Having bad posture can lead to muscle imbalances and slouching. When you work out on the spin bike, you need to engage muscles in the hips, trunk and shoulders to stabilize your body. This will improve your posture and your balance at the same time.

Strength
Working out on a spin bike utilizes a lot of muscles. The glutes, quads, hamstrings, calves and even abs are all targeted. Working out on the bike can help tone and strengthen these areas, especially if you turn the resistance up high so you have to stand to pedal.

...and did I mention 756 calories! I had to call on my "inner Jillian" to get through some pieces of the class. The whole class was one big hill, but I feel back on track again after my "guilt" day earlier this week.

I also made a Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe in the Crock Pot yesterday so we will be eating that for a few days. Its my favorite. Its so easy and is really good. Hopefully it will keep me on track for the rest of the week!

Finally, Some Craft Time

2010-02-03T21:12:00.000-05:00

When I got home from work, I tried to make myself another sweet potato for dinner to go with my leftover chicken, but I got freaked out by this white stuff oozing out of the potato when I cut it open.

I searched online to try to figure out what it was and if I could still eat my sweet potato, but decided it was best to trash it. Believe it or not, I found conflicting information on the internet :) Does anyone know what this is and if it's ok to eat it next time????

I ended up with a pseudo-pizza made with a low calorie tortilla, pasta sauce, two wedges of laughing cow cheese, cut up leftover chicken, and black olives. It was really good so I don't feel as bad about my sweet potato.

Tonight I finally had some time for a little scrapbooking. I didn't do much, but I finished a layout that I started awhile back from a trip to Charleston, SC last summer.

It's hard to see in the picture, but I got to use these travel embellishments that I have had forever and never known how to use. I put them right on the pictures, and I am happy with the way they turned out.

My husband came home from work at a decent time tonight, so we decided to have an impromptu movie night. We have very different tastes in movies, so we don't sit down and watch them together very often. Tonight was my pick so we are watching Whip It. It's a good kick-ass kind of motivational movie. I hope it's good motivation for my 5 mile run in the morning!

Grillmaster

2010-02-02T20:54:00.000-05:00

Today I left work and came straight home so I could cook dinner on the grill! I used to use the grill all the time, but somehow I got out of the habit. On the menu tonight was grilled chicken and one very large sweet potato.

The chicken was seasoned from a grinder of salt, garlic, sugar, onion, bell peppers, spices, paprika, natural smoke flavor, and paprika from Dean Jacobs. I recieved this as a Christmas gift and this is the first time I have used it. It was really good!!

Here is a close up of the sweet potatoes.

Next time I would slice them thinner in the hope that they would come out a little more crispy. Has anyone figured out how to make sweet potato fries and actually have them crispy? I have tried many times in the oven too, but I can't seem to perfect it.

In Case You Were Wondering...

2010-02-02T19:32:00.003-05:00

In case you were wondering...my day of sleeping in and feeling guilty did not get much better and I am just now getting home from work. My wonderful husband greeted me with a skinny margarita. So at this point the run is just not going to happen. I still feel guilty however I planned out the rest of my week so I still stay within in my challenge goal and I still stayed within my calories today. All good things.

Wednesday: Jillian
Thursday: Spinning (If I can get in the class...if not run)
Friday: Run/Weights
Saturday: Jillian

I have 4 hard days in front of me but for now I am going to try to relax and move on! Not to mention I have to make something for a Pot Luck tomorrow. I am not the biggest fan of a pot luck because I like to know what I am eating. Anyone have any good healthy recipes?

Cheers to the end of a long day and a few minutes to watch the Biggest Loser. It better be good tonight!

Guilt

2010-02-02T10:46:00.002-05:00

So today I am feeling guilty...I was up late last night working, went to bed late and slept in this morning!

My alarm went off this morning at 5am and I turned it off and slept until 6:30. No Jillian, no running, nothing. To make matters worse is snowed 1/2 an inch last night and I needed to get gas so I was rushed all morning and the guilt keeps getting worse!

My original plan to get back on track this morning was to run tonight outside when I got home because I thought it was going to be warmer...I guess I was watching the wrong weather channel! At this point I am hoping to still run tonight and take tomorrow off which was my original plan. I just HATE that I didn't get my butt in gear this morning. Not to mention the Biggest Loser is on tonight and I will feel even worse when I see them getting their butts kicked on tv! (I tend to put myself into every reality tv show...kind of a bad habit!)

Do you ever skip a workout and can't get rid of the guilt? How do you get back on track?

Wish me luck on my night time run today!

Forgetfulness

2010-02-01T21:47:00.000-05:00

I have been playing volleyball after work for about eight years, and I did something today for the first time ever...

See this nice, overstuffed bag of clothes that I packed this morning for volleyballl?

I totally left them at home this morning when I left for work, which means I had to play volleyball in my black work pants and I made my husband give me his huge t-shirt to wear. I am not one to care what I wear to exercise or play volleyball, but this was so bad! I am sure I will never make that mistake again!

Since I got home late tonight I will not be able to watch the Bachelor until tomorrow night. I am tempted to turn it on now, but my 10pm bedtime is calling. I am planning to wake up at 6am to do the Jillian Beatdown that Holly has been doing.

Does anyone else go to bed early like me? I wake up at 6am, and I only feel rested if I sleep 7.5 to 8 hours (or more!)

Run, Run, Run

2010-02-01T14:39:00.000-05:00

It feels like all I do lately in run!

Saturday's run of 8 miles was really good. I was expecting rain and wind, and I only had to deal with the wind, so I was happy to stay dry while running. I planned to do my run on a two mile stretch of road along the water, and just run it a few times, but it was so windy, I decided to change my route and ended up running on the Pinellas Trail.   My total time was around 1:40:00 but that included a few water stops and stop lights. I also stopped to have one pack of Luna Moons around mile 4.   Overall it was a really good run.

This morning I ran 5 miles before work, and again just barely avoided the rain. I was very happy with my time of 57 minutes this morning, which is faster than I usually run. It's getting easier for me to wake up in the mornings for my workouts. Today I didn't even hit the snooze button!

In case you missed my post on Friday, I was laid off from my job and my last day of work is May 15th. I had a feeling the layoff was coming, but it was still hard to take the news. I spent a lot of time this weekend stressing out about the upcoming job search, and I also used it as an excuse to not eat healthy this weekend.

The plan for this week is to figure out how to manage my stress, but still continue to exercise and eat healthy.  I also need to make sure I am eating enough during the day and not letting myself get too hungry, because that's when I tend to start making bad decisions.

I know that I started the day off well with my run, and packing my lunch and snacks for work. I also have a volleyball game (actually a double-header) after work tonight, so I will pick up a salad or subway once I leave work to eat before volleyball.

What are your favorite healthy fast foods? I like subway, grilled chicken salads from McDonalds, or the Southwest salad from Chick-fil-a. Yum!

Pie!

2010-01-31T16:36:00.006-05:00

For those of you who keep reading, I did not eat pizza last night however did have two skinny girl margaritas... After two of those I decided I wanted pie for dinner tonight....not your normal dessert pie, but some sort of pot pie. I decided on a Rachel Ray recipe. I love Rachel Ray but there are two things you should know when you start making her recipes.

1. They are not healthy (most of the time) and you need to modify
2. The average time to bake/make them is 45 minutes. (At least for me.)

The recipe is called Beef Cheddar and Potato Pie. I am hoping with my modifications its enough for 2-3 meals and is a "healthier" version.

The ingredients are listed below.

2 pounds ground beef
2 carrots, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1 large onion, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
2 stalks celery, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
1 large baking potato, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1/2 cup dark beer
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
Salt and pepper
2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed but cold
1 large egg yolk, beaten with 1 tablespoon water

Modifications:

2.5 lbs of 92% low fat beef.
Bud light instead of dark beer
1 sheet of puff pastry (I used Pillsbury crescent rolls, which now conveniently are sold in a flat dough sheet)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375°. In a skillet, combine the beef, carrots, onion, celery, garlic and potato and cook, breaking up the meat, over medium-high heat until the beef is cooked through and some liquid has evaporated, about 15 minutes. Lower the heat to medium, add the beer and cook for 10 minutes. Add the cheese, 2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Let cool.
On a floured surface, roll 1 puff pastry sheet into a 12-inch round. Place in a 10-inch skillet or deep pie dish. Roll the remaining puff pastry sheet into an 11-inch round. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the meat mixture to the skillet. Lightly brush the edge of the crust with some of the egg wash, then place the second sheet on top. Press the edges to seal, then trim to a 1/2-inch edge.
Place the pie on a baking sheet. Brush the top with more of the egg wash and cut an "X" into the pastry. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Bake for 45 minutes, tenting with foil if the crust darkens too quickly. Transfer to a rack to cool for 15 minutes.

Modifications:
I am making a bottomless pot pie and only putting one sheet of puff pastry on the top. I also used a casserole dish instead of a pie dish so that the overall portion sizes were easier to figure out. Since I used more meat, I also needed more room.

I am guessing this is about 8 servings at 320 - 350 calories a piece. Modifications are hard to measure so I am counting 400 calories for my portion tonight.

Week Ahead...
My weekend has been filled with eating new recipes and catching up around the house. My double workout yesterday has left me pretty sore so I am switching my days off so they are further apart. This week I am taking Sunday and Wednesday off. My workout today consisted of walking around the outlet malls! :) Tomorrow is back to the kick-butt Jillian Metabolism Boost. Stay tuned for the weekly workouts. So far the challenge is on track!!

Clean Eating?

2010-01-30T16:08:00.007-05:00

Over the past year or so I have been trying to adjust my diet to be more "clean." I recently read Jillian's (yes I know, I am a semi-stalker) Master Your Metabolism book and part of it talks about the effect of fake ingredients on your body and how it makes your body respond. I know this is the "trendy" diet these days, but it does make a lot sense.

For example, when you eat something like is sugar-free or fat-free, not only are non-natural ingredients added in the product to make it that way but your body focuses on the fact that there is sugar in those products and craves more, especially if the product is low calorie. So you really are getting nothing out of your low calorie snack.

For the most part I have tried to cut these type of snacks out, however there are a few that I can't cut the habit on...

1. Diet Coke
2. Sugar Free Pudding
3. Cool Whip

Last year I gave up Diet Coke for 3 mos and then just couldn't take it anymore. I am like the old Diet Coke commercial when the woman watch the construction workers. Everyday at 1pm I need my break. I stick to one a day and in the summer I try to substitute iced tea or green tea. This is something I need to work on...

I have cut out all other snack bars, processed foods etc. with the exception of Kashi bars, Luna Bars and my Lara bars which are at least 80% organic. Now critics would say that this isn't really "clean" but its a start I guess. The biggest change for me was breakfast and bread.

For breakfast I almost always eat granola, oatmeal or greek yogurt. I cut out all light/fat free yogurt and make sure that the granola is organic (thanks to Trader Joes). For lunch I take Dietson Watson lunch meat, which is the healthiest, most natural I can find and Pepperidge Farm Whole Wheat bread. I only take one slice of bread since its not low calorie, but is made out of real ingredients. Sometimes I skip the bread and just make a wrap with low moisture swiss cheese.

For a snack its usually Wasa Crackers and peanut butter or my Lara Bars. Lately I have switched it up with some trail mix too.

Switching to a "clean" diet wasn't a big weight loss tool for me, however I will say my cravings are much less. I still need to work on the sugar free products and Diet Coke but I would like to think that I am working towards living a healither life!

With all that said, I am looking for ways to spice up the daily eating. My sister-in-law who follows a similiar eating style recently sent me this Oatmeal Custard Recipe. Its delicious and super easy to make. I am still trying to figure out how I can eat this in the car on the way to work in the morning, but if not its a great weekend treat!

Oatmeal Custard (A Weight Watcher Recipe)

2 3/4 c. water

1 cup uncooked rolled oats ( not quick cook or instant)

1/2 c egg substitute (or 2 eggs)

1/4 c. sugar or sugar substitute

1 1/3 c. skim or fat free milk

1/2 t. vanilla

1/8 t. salt

1/3 c. dried, fresh or frozen fruit ( I have used fresh and frozen peaches and berries)

1/2 t. cinnamon

Boil 2 3/4 c. water and stir in oats. Return to boil, reduce heat and continue to boil. Cook uncovered about 1 minute, stirring. Remove from heat, cover and set aside.

In large bowl mix, egg, sugar, milk, vanilla and salt. Add the cooked oatmeal, fruit and cinnamon. Pour into 8 inch square pan coated with cooking spray. Place pan in larger pan of hot water ( this is what makes the custard consistency). Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until set.

I used organic frozen rasberries and Truvia, which is supposed to be a "natural" sugar substitue. The picture above shows the pre-cooked custard in the "hot water bath."

The calories are as follows:
156 calories ( if using sugar), 2 g. fat, 7g protein, 30g carbs, 3 g. fiber

Tonight is pizza night in my house because my step-daughter is having a sleep-over. My goal is to a eat a Kashi Frozen meal and have a "skinny margarita" as my treat. (For those of you reality TV fans out there this is Bethany Frankel's recipe from The Real Housewives. The goal is NO pizza! I have worked too hard this week with my Jillian Challenge to blow it. My husband and I are on season 3 of Entourage so I am pretty excited to watch it tonight and relax! Today I did a Jillian workout and 60 min of yoga. I am ready to sit!

Let me know if anyone tries this oatmeal custard recipe....I am interested to see if others like it!

Thankful

2010-01-29T16:28:00.004-05:00

Today I am thankful for many things...

My wonderful husband who is so supportive of me, and always willling to try any new recipe that I make (and sometimes they are really bad!)

My wonderful friends and family!!

(too many of them to add pictures!)

My wonderful cats...and the fact that Timmy and Max are both so excited when I fill the food bowl that they share and eat at the same time...

And I can't forget about Chandler and Ross, because they are wonderful too...

I am also thankful that I live in such a beautiful place that feels like vacation every weekend!!

Why all the sappiness today? Well, I found out today that I am being laid off from my job, and my last day of work is in May. I am not surprised by this, but it's still strange to actually have this in writing. I am not happy with my job right now anyway, so I am looking at this as a positive thing in my life, and I really hope that something better is waiting for me down the road.

Due to the news that we got at work today, we were told to go home and take the rest of the day off. So I headed straight for the beach!! It seemed like a perfect way to relax and let the news settle in.

It was kind of chilly, but still nice to be outside and get some fresh air. I kept busy reading Runners World, which happen to come in the mail today. Talk about perfect timing.

I even had a few annoying seagulls to keep me company.

Now it's time to continue on with weekend and prepare myself for my 8 mile run in the morning!

Chocolate Cherry Goodness

2010-01-29T09:36:00.006-05:00

Last night I decided to de-stress by baking. I tend to do this when I am super busy because it makes me feel like I can still fit everything in. I made Cooking Light's Heart Smart Chocolate Cherry Cookies. (Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner; Styling: Melanie J. Clarke )

The recipe makes 30 cookies and as of 8am this morning, there were only about 15 left. They were AWESOME! I did go over my calories by 200 yesterday however, the cookies were well worth it and so far my only splurge of the week. Here is the nutritional breakdown which makes them even more worth while.

Nutritional Information
Calories: 94
Fat: 3.2g (sat 1.6g,mono 0.6g,poly 0.2g)
Protein: 1.5g
Carbohydrate: 15.7g
Fiber: 1.3g
Cholesterol: 10mg
Iron: 0.6mg
Sodium: 88mg
Calcium: 15mg

The other thing that amazed me about this recipe was it had very little sugar. It only called for brown sugar and a very minimal amount. I made these and cleaned up in less than an hour. I even had my laptop out and worked while they were baking! How's that for mult-tasking!

Try these out this weekend!

Yoga Meltdown

2010-01-28T12:23:00.003-05:00

How ironic that after Megan made her post today I get an email at lunch announcing Jillian's new yoga dvd! Its called Yoga Meltdown. I am interested to try it! My guess is its HARD and will burn more than 130 calories! :)

It doesn't come out until March, but look forward to a post of me trying it! I guess it is coninciding with the Biggest Loser episode of course. They always have to get their marketing plugs in these days!

I Survived Yoga Class

2010-01-28T11:48:00.000-05:00

You may have seen in my previous post that I was going to my first yoga class last night. I am happy to report that the class was great ,and I felt very comfortable the whole time. Here is the description of the class:

The instructor was great, and talked through every movement for the full hour. I was expecting the instructor to just call out names of poses, but this really helped me since I didn't know what I was doing.

The other funny part is that I didn't even consider that I live in "land of the retirees" down here in Florida, and that there would be old people at the class - but they were there in full force!   That made it easier for me to feel relaxed too because I knew they were not going to do everything perfectly. The class was a mix of beginners and experienced people, and there were even 3 men in the class which surprised me. Although I am pretty sure one of them was just there to flirt!

Overall it was a really good class, and I quickly learned that I have a lot of work to do on my core - I was so wobbly on some of the positions. It's very hard for me to leave a one hour exercise class and only burn 130 calories, but I also have to remember that there are other benefits such as the core work and stretching. I was jealous of the women who could do downward dog with their feet flat on the ground. I guess that gives me something to work towards!

I will go back to this class, but I would also like to try the yoga class at my gym, to see if there is a little more of a calorie burn combined with the yoga.   I can see how this is a great supplement to running.

And speaking of running....

I was scheduled to do 4.5 miles this morning, but ended up only doing 3.5 miles. I had to get into work a little early and ran out of time to do the extra mile. I decided to mix it up this morning and see if I could go back to my 12 min/mile pace and run the whole time without my usual walking breaks.

The good news is that I was able to run without stopping, and it felt like such an easy run because I kept my heart rate lower the whole time.   It's hard to see my pace on the Garmin when it's dark in the morning, but I stayed right around my 12 minutes/mile pace because the total run took me 42 minutes. I still feel like I am "cheating" when I do my 4 minute run/1 min walk intervals, but it's good to know that overall my endurance is still getting stronger.

It was chilly out this morning, which worked out well because I got my new Old Navy Yoga Pants in the mail last night and I wanted to try them out. The length is great (I am 5'10" and ordered the tall) and they have a comfortable waistband that stayed in the place the whole time I was running.   I may have to order a few more pairs the next time they have a sale!!

Zen

2010-01-27T18:16:00.005-05:00

Yoga
In celebration of Megan's first yoga class, I decided to do a little research on the overall benefits of yoga and how it can help aid in weight loss given its my current goal to shed a few pounds. I have practiced yoga for many years, although not an expert, I truly enjoy the practice.

Do you know there are different types of yoga? My favorite type of yoga is Power Yoga. The class I do is very modern (www.vpoweryoga.com) and you actually practice yoga to music. I also have tried it at home with Brian Gest's Power Yoga series. I like to burn the maximum amount of calories I can at each workout and to me, power yoga does the trick. According to a Livestrong Article yoga can not only be used as weight loss tool but an overall way to de-stress and build strength. These are a few types of the more intense methods of practicing yoga.

1) Vinyasa-Style Yoga: Vinyasa is a flowing style of yoga based on the performance of a series of poses called Sun Salutations. Vinyasa includes many popular, athletic, sweat-drenched yoga styles. You can find Vinyasa yoga classes at your local gym and studios. It is the most popular of yoga practices.

2) Power Yoga: Power yoga is extremely popular, and one of the reasons is that it provides a very vigorous cardiovascular workout. You will walk out of a class drenched and feeling light and strong.

3) Ashtanga: Ashtanga yoga is a very vigorous style of practice with a few distinct advantages for those who want to lose weight. Most Ashtanga classes attract a very dedicated group. Many of these styles of classes are held early in the morning, and this is a great way to start your day and rev up your metabolism. Another advantage is that Ashtanga yoga is ideal for the home practitioners, and can be easily done on the road. The result is that many practitioners become very religious in their practice. Becoming routine or religious about any type of physical practice results in losing weight and leaning out your body.

I will say I have done less strenous types of yoga and the overall affects are still the same. The calorie burn is just less. I guess it just depends on your personal preference and overall goal. In the end any yoga practice will leave you feeling fresh and revived. There are many other benefits including flexiblity, core strength, overall toning and overall detoxification of the muscles.

What is your favorite yoga pose? Have you tried different styles?

Zen
My little piece of "zen" tonight is my dinner. I ordered Chinese last night because our left overs did not hold up so well in the fridge. I ordered steamed shrimp and broccoli with no sauce and brown rice. I then add a serving of low sodium soy sauce. I split the order into two servings.

I also made myself a little brownie treat. I took a 100 calorie VitaBrownie and added a side of 15 calorie cool whip.
On a side note I have to comment on the Biggest Loser. I am a huge fan however cannot get into it this season. Last night I ended up just fast forwarding to the end. Am I missing something? I love Jillian and Bob (as you can tell from my slight Jillian obession), but I am just not getting as much out of it this season...

Random Thoughts

2010-01-26T22:10:00.000-05:00

Running for the Week
I completed my 4.5 mile run Monday before work, and will do another 4.5 miles on Thursday morning. Saturday morning I am planning to run 8 miles. That sounds long, but I know my training will pay off and I will be able to do it. I stocked up on Luna Moons for my next few runs.  I love the pomegraante flavor - Yum!

Lately I have been thinking about buying a running water back pack, but I really don't know anything about them. On my morning runs, I have to stick to a certain area that has water fountains, but I often wish I didn't have to worry about that. I do have a Nike water bottle waist pack, but I have to wear it on my actual waist, which feels really high up and uncomfortable, and the single bottle is heavy on my back when it's full.   I am hoping to do some research this week and try to learn more about them and see if it will fit what I need.

Triathlon Training
I have not done well with using my cross training days for biking and swimming, but I am not stressed about the triathlon training (yet). I have been thinking about buying a wetsuit since the water temperature will still be chilly in April. It's another thing on my list to research since there seem like so many options.

Yoga
Tomorrow I am going to my first ever yoga class! I am really uncoordinated and so not flexible, but I feel like I can try anything at least once. I am going with my friend Jessica, so at least I will have some moral support while I am there.   Thanks Jessica!! :)

My Reality TV Addiction
Tonight I watched last night's episode of the Bachelor and today's The Biggest Loser. Whew - that is a lot of really bad reality tv, but I am hooked!    I can't believe Jake is sending home so many women - he must have really strong feelings for one or a few of the women that still remain. So far I really like Ali, she is my favorite.

The Biggest Loser has always been on of my favorite shows because I find it so motivating (even though I know some of their tactics are not the healthiest) but there seems to be a lot of fighting this season. I hope as the group gets smaller, people start to focus more on their weight loss and less on the drama.    And the product placement ads are really starting to get to me, but I still watch so I guess it's not that bad.

Do you watch any reality shows? What is your favorite one?

To Run or Not To Run....

2010-01-26T16:39:00.005-05:00

The past two weeks I have been focused on by 31 day challenge to lose a few pounds and increase my weight/circuit training. I have tried two workouts so far the Metabolism Boost and the 30 Day Shed. The 30 Day Shed on Exercise TV is only 25 minutes (they have multiple versions), but let me tell you, its just as hard. I had no idea you could sweat that much in such a short amount of time.

I have a long term goal to run a 1/2 marathon each year as a way to maintain my fitness level, however I can't decide when to sign-up for one! I have really been enjoying the flexiblity of changing my workouts around and not being tied to a training schedule. Plus my work schedule has been a little demanding. There is a 1/2 marathon in May and October in Columbus.

Should I sign-up for one in May or wait until October? My training would begin next week if I choose the one in May, although I am a little ahead of the Beginner schedule because of my current challenge.

The last 1/2 I ran I did the intermediate schedule and hated it. I loved the interval training but missed my cross-training days. Does anyone have any schedules that include more cross-training?

I love the feeling when you work so hard towards a goal, plus I have some cute running clothes that are waiting for me to run outside in...is that motivation enough? I guess I will have to decide soon!!

Water Consumption

2010-01-25T18:53:00.000-05:00

This morning started off with an unevenful 4.5 mile run. It's still hard to believe that I am doing such a "long run" before work, but I love the feeling of starting off my day on a healthy note.

One of my goals for the 31 Day Challenge is to drink at least 48 oz of water each day. I know that water is important, especially on days with an intense workout, but I never really took the time to understand why water was important for my body.

So I decided to look it up online and now I will share with you what I found:

According to the Mayo Clinic Website, "Water is your body's principal chemical component, making up, on average, 60 percent of your body weight. Every system in your body depends on water. For example, water flushes toxins out of vital organs, carries nutrients to your cells and provides a moist environment for ear, nose and throat tissues. Lack of water can lead to dehydration, a condition that occurs when you don't have enough water in your body to carry out normal functions. Even mild dehydration can drain your energy and make you tired."

When I first read this, it really caught my attention that mild dehydration can drain your energy and make you tired. Maybe this is why I always get tired around 3pm at work!

I am one of the few people that I know that has no problem drinking tap water. I even know people that will only drink certain types of bottled water! I don't understand it at all. What about you? Will you drink tap water?

Productive Day - Part 2

2010-01-24T18:17:00.006-05:00

This weekend was one of those weekends where I just needed to push through to fit everything in. My work schedule has been a little demanding lately so most of this weekend was spent catching up unfortunately with work.

Yesterday I did manage to fit in my Jillian workout. The 3rd one of the week so I met my goal this week! This is the third time I have done the Metabolism Boost workout on Exercise TV. I made myself do every move at the level they showed it this time and while I almost passed out (I say that every time), I got through it. I am still amazed how hard and challenging a 55 minute workout in your living room can be without weights. Maybe after 3 more times this week I will be a pro!

I also made a trip to my favorite store, Trader Joes. I picked up some new versions of my favorites. This weekend was about efficiency so I just stuck to what I have used/made before.

1. Clementines - A great snack!
2. Baby Broccoli - Eating for dinner tonight)
3. My staple breakfast - Greek Yogurt
4. Lara Bars - Trying a new flavor, Cashew Cookie!
5. Monterey Jack Cheese Sticks - I usually get swiss but thought for 80 calories I couldn't pass this up...
6. Lowfat Granola - Another breakfast staple, this time berry instead of pumpkin.
7. Green Protein - This is a new version of my "green juice" with extra protein. We'll see how it goes.

Of course today for my planned run it rained, so it was the treadmill and yoga for me. I ran 3 miles in 30 minutes with a 5 minute warm-up and then a 25 minute yoga routine on Exercise TV again. This one was my favorite. It was called yoga.sunset (I couldn't find the link online). It was a great after run stretch. I highly recommend it. It actually takes place on the beach so the woman teaching it is a silhouette, but if you know the basic poses you can follow.

Tomorrow its back to Jillian and back to work. I tried some of Megan's recipes this weekend so we will be eating those all week. We made both the Laughing Cow Chicken and the Potato Soup!

Productive Day

2010-01-24T15:20:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning with the urge to bake, so I made two loaves of Poppy Seed Bread. There is nothing healthy about this recipe, but I knew I could take the leftovers to work tomorrow to get them out of the house.

Poppy Seed Bread
3 c flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp poppy seeds
1 1/2 tsp almond flavoring
1 1/2 tsp vanilla flavoring
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/3 c canola or vegetable oil
3 eggs
2 1/2 c sugar
1 1/2 c milk

Spray Pam in loaf pans and cover with a small amount of flour. Mix the above ingredients and pour into the pans. Cook at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes. Let cool in pans.

Once cooled, melt 2 tbsp of butter, and then add 3/4 c sugar, 1/2 tsp almond flavoring and 1/4 c orange juice. Poor over top of loaves while still in the pan.

While I was making the bread I realized that I didn't have any orange juice for the top. And then it hit me - I have orange tress in my backyard!! So I went out back and picked an orange.

Our tress are not in good shape and you can see there are not many oranges growing, but I did manage to find a good one.

My friend Ines came over with her baby, Emily, this afternoon and we went for a walk along the water. It was windy, but really sunny and warm.

We walked for about 45 minutes. It felt good to get out and stretch my legs after my 7 mile run yesterday. Surprisingly I am not sure from my run yesterday.

I knew after Ines left that I wanted to do some cooking. Pork was on sale at Costco a few days ago, so I ended up buying a 6.16 pound package. My husband likes pork tenderloin made with EVOO and garlic and BBQ pulled pork in the crockpot, but I really don't eat a lot of pork, or crave it any way.

I searched online for recipes so I could try something new. I found a Sweet and Sour Pork recipe that looked easy, only had 8 ingredients, and had good reviews, so I decided to try it.

After reading the reviews, I decided to add red pepper and pineapples to the pork. It was so good, I had some for lunch! I will definitely make this again. It's a good thing I have 5 more pounds of pork in the freezer :)

The rest of my day will be spent during laundry and picking up things around the house. I am hoping to get to the gym this evening for a swim, but my husband is fixing something on my car, so it depends on what time he is done. It will be a light workout regardless, as I have a 4.5 mile run planned for the morning.

Seven Miles Isn't So Bad

2010-01-23T12:01:00.000-05:00

Last night's low-key dinner out with friends turned into multiple beer pong games at the bar continuing way past midnight. I was so determined to do my run this morning, I stuck to my original plan of one glass of wine with dinner, and I sat and drank water while watching all my friends play beer pong. This was especially hard for me to do because I love beer pong! How's the for willpower? I was quite pleased with myself.

I was hungry when I woke up this morning, so I had a piece of toast with peanut butter, and a few extra tastes of peanut butter while the bread was toasting. I have learned to keep fiber intake to a minimum before running :)
The weather this morning was perfect for a run: 60 degrees, partly cloudy and a little wind. I felt like an ad for Nike today. Can you spot the 5 Nike swoosh symbols on me?

My 7 mile run took me 12:24:52. I did my 4 minute run/1 min walk interval for the full 7 miles. There were a lot of people and cars around today so I had to stop running few extra times due to traffic or blocked sidewalks.

I took my phone on my run today so I took a few pictures. This is my favorite path to run on. I run 1.5 miles down this stretch of road, and then turn around and come back for a total of 3 miles. There is so much to look at while running, it helps to distract me. Sometimes I see dolphins right along the edge of the water, but none today.

Here is a view of the water along the same road. That's the north end of Clearwater Beach in the background.

My snack when I got home was 3 clementines. They are not as juicy as I would have hoped, but considering the huge box of them cost me $7, I am going to eat them all!

What are your go-to foods before and after workouts? I also like to eat bananas after a hard workout when I know I need to get in some calories for a quick recovery.

Get up Early This Saturday!

2010-01-22T19:53:00.001-05:00

That is my goal anyways...here are a few motivational videos.

I am a Runner

I can do this!

Good luck reaching your goals this weekend!

TGIF!

2010-01-22T18:15:00.001-05:00

I worked from home today, so I was able to cook myself a healthy lunch. I wanted to try a new recipe - a chicken breast cooked in lemon juice and EVOO and stuffed with vegetables.

.This recipe called for shredded carrots and onions, so I decided to use the shredding disc on my food processor. It actually worked really well, except for the few pieces of carrots that didn't get shredded all the way.

Here is the final outcome.. I actually wasn't very impressed with it, so I am glad I only cooked one piece of chicken as a trial run. It tasted ok but I just didn't care for the carrot and chicken combination. I also added mozzarella cheese to the top, instead of the feta that was in the recipe. I liked the cheese part :)

I hoped to get some organizing done around the house after I was finished working, but I ended up working late and now it's time to shower (yes, I am still in my pj's!) and get ready to go out to dinner tonight. My house is pretty well organized but I have one room where all the junk ends up, and it's starting to get to me. It will be a low key night so I am rested for my 7 mile run in the morning!

If you try a new recipe that you don't end up liking, do you force yourself to eat the leftovers? I do, unless it's really really bad or burnt. But otherwise I usually suffer through eat it because I feel guilty throwing it away.

Unplanned Rest Day

2010-01-22T08:23:00.002-05:00

Today was an unplanned rest day. I had intentions of doing another Jillian workout because I had an early morning meeting, however I slept right through it. I started to feel guilty and then I reminded myself that I still had a rest day to take this week and I needed to move on! The positive side is I hope is that I will feel better tomorrow and its going to be warm enough this weekend to run outside!

Challenge Update
I have one more Jillian workout this week...I did one Sunday, Wednesday and will do one tomorrow. I plan to run on Sunday as its going to be 40 degrees outside! Whoo hooo!

How do you plan your workouts? I usually take 1-2 days off a week depending on my schedule.

Motivation
For all you runner's out there, I get the daily "Runner's World Quote." Here is one of my favorites from this week.

"At first an ordeal and then an accomplishment, the daily run becomes a staple, like bread, or wine, a fine marriage or air. It is also a free pass to a friendship."

I remind myself that I choose to run and it is my friend because it takes me to another place to make me focus on whats important.

TGIF!

Laundry and Dishes

2010-01-21T09:25:00.002-05:00

I can always tell when my husband and I are eating healthy meals at home and exercising, because I can't keep up with the amount of laundry and dishes! Has anyone else noticed this? By cooking meals at home, and eating them at home, and packing lunches, the amount of dishes is so much more than when we are eating out a lot or eating frozen meals at home. With each of us working out 5 to 6 days a week, the laundry is piling up quicker than ever.

It's been a busy few days of workouts. Yesterday I ran 4 miles before work, and it was only 48 degrees. That is cold for a Florida wimp like me.

I did get to wear my new Nike jacket that I bought at Kohl's last week. It doesn't have fleece lining like the one I returned from Zappos, but this was perfect weight for this temperature. The best thing about this jacket is the pockets. It's kind of hard to see in this picture, but there are inside pockets where I can keep my gloves and not worry about them falling out. I think this will also be the perfect spot for my cell phone while riding my bike.

And check out the built-in strap for my iPod, to keep it snug in my front pocket. This is so much better than having the iPod on the arm band I usually wear, which gets bulky when wearing it over a jacket.

I was happy to have a lazy Ross waiting on the sofa for me when I got home.

My husband has been requesting Bean Kielbasa Soup, so last night I made it for dinner. Normally I make this in the crockpot, but since we wanted to eat it for dinner I made it on the stove and let it simmer on low heat for about an hour.   I also added cauliflower to the soup.

Slow Cooker Bean Kielbasa Soup
58 oz fat-free chicken broth, four 14.5 oz cans
16 oz low-fat sausage, smoked, or reduced-fat kielbasa, cut in half lengthwise and then sliced
15 oz canned pinto beans, rinsed and drained
15 oz canned black beans, rinsed and drained
4 medium carrot(s), chopped
3 medium celery, stalks, chopped
1 large onion(s), chopped
1 tsp thyme
14 1/2 oz canned diced tomatoes, undrained

Instructions

Mix all ingredients, except tomatoes, in a 5 to 6-quart slow cooker (crockpot). Cover and cook on low-heat setting at least 6 hours or until vegetables are tender. Stir in tomatoes; cover and cook on high-heat setting until heated through, about 15 minutes more.

Today is strength training day, and I decided to try a workout from Women's Running Magazine called "Building a Strong Core".   The exercises were demonstrated with a medicine ball, but I used a 3 lb weight instead.  Exercises included:

Single-leg balance with medicine ball
Wood Chop
Rotational walking lunge
Torso rotation
Abdominal crunch with a twist
Lateral lunge with rotation
Knee kick with rotation
Stationary lunge with overhead ball
Hip twister

The focus was on core training, but it also included lunges and squats, and my shoulders felt it too. It took about 20-25 minutes, and I burned around 100 calories. I may supplement this with some yoga on the Wii Fit Plus tonight if I am feeling ambitious.

Have you seen the Women's Running Magazine? I get excited every time it comes in the mail. I just saw on their website that they have a newsletter which features health and fitness tips, nutrition education and profiles of real women runners. Sounds good to me - I just signed up for it!

One final note, a friend sent me this video this morning called "The Day after the Marathon".  For those runners out there, you will appreciate this video.

Quick, Easy, Dinner!

2010-01-20T18:04:00.002-05:00

This is going to be a quick post as I have been swamped this week but thankfully coming home tonight to a pre-made dinner. I made Cooking Light's Spicy Turkey Meatloaf on Sunday and froze it to eat later in the week. Tonights the night!

The calorie content is pretty low so I may splurge and have one and half servings given my appetite today!

Here is the recipe...Have a good night!

Spicy Turkey Meat Loaf with Ketchup Topping
from Cooking Light, October 2009

1 tablespoon butter
2 cups chopped onion
1 (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms
3 garlic cloves, chopped
3/4 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
1/4 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon Sriracha (hot chile sauce, such as Huy Fong)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 pounds ground turkey breast
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Cooking spray
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon dry mustard
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion, mushrooms, and garlic to pan; cook 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; cool 5 minutes.

Combine mushroom mixture, panko, and next 8 ingredients (through egg) in a large bowl; stir well to combine.

Shape turkey mixture into a 9 x 5–inch rectangle on a pan coated with cooking spray. Combine ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, and nutmeg in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Spread ketchup mixture evenly over top of meat loaf.

Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until a thermometer registers 160°. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 8.

What Challenges You?

2010-01-19T09:29:00.002-05:00

Today I did the Jillian Beatdown as I call it again, which is really one of her Metabolism Boost workouts on Exercise TV. I had a meeting at 8am today so I woke up at 5, skipped the mile run this time and went right into her workout. I managed to burn 533 calories in about 50 minutes. Not bad for quick workout...and it was HARD!

31 Challenge
Jillian's workout has insprired me to re-think what my goals are and how in shape I really am. I can run 5 miles no problem, but am about to pass out during her circuit training workouts. I am convinced my body is used to my program and its time to change it up! So in celebration of turning 31, its almost 31 days away, I have decided to create my own 31 Challenge!

The program will consist of the following:
1. Eating 1,357 calories a day (calculated by Livestrong to lose 2lbs a week) plus additonal calories if I work out. I usually add 1/2 of my workout calories. So today for example I would add 250 calories additional to the 1,357.

2. Completing 3 of Jillian's workouts a week for at least an hour at a time. Some of the workouts are only 30 minutes so I would need to do two programs to complete my 60 minute circuit training goal.

3. Maintain a 10 minute mile, 5 mile run pace. My running is spurratic these days but training for the Columbus 1/2 Marathon on May 1st would begin after this challenge if I offically sign-up! I need to be comfortable at 5 miles to jump right into the training.

Goal
I am hoping this program allows me to be flexible enough to fit some spinning in there sometime because I really do love it and work around my work schedule. My focus is going to be core circuit training to see how it improves my overall fitness level. I also want to lose a few pounds before the 1/2 marathon training to help with speed.

Next Steps
I'll have to figure out where to track this on the blog this weekend. I took pre-measurements of my body to compare after the challenge is over as well as pictures. Not sure the pictures will ever make it to the internet but we'll see.

What challenges you? Anyone want to join me? Create your own challenge!

A Planner at Heart

2010-01-18T13:45:00.001-05:00

For those of you that don't know me, I am a planner at heart. So it shouldn't be surprising that every Sunday I sit down and plan my workouts for the week based on my work schedule and other commitments that I have during the week. Here is my plan for this week:

Monday: Run 4 miles, volleyball league after work
Tuesday: Cardio for at least 30 minutes
Wednesday: Run 4 miles
Thursday: Strength Training
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Run 7 miles
Sunday: Cardio for at least 30 minutes

I started off the morning with a 4 mile run outside. I didn't leave the house until 6:30 am, and it was still dark outside, but luckily I live near a hospital where there is a lot of activity early in the morning with people changing shifts, so I feel safe running outside. My run stats were:

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 45:20
Average pace: 11:20/mile

This is right on track with my goal pace of 11:30 for the half marathon. I used the Galloway method again this morning, running for 4 minutes and walking for 1 minute. After 3 miles I was getting cold from being sweaty and running in the wind, and I considered stopping, but I knew I only had to run for 11 more minutes, and I made myself continue. Of course afterward, I was happy that I did my full distance and didn't cut out early. I still need to work on those negative thoughts I get while running!

A few weeks ago I ordered a new bathing suit to begin training for the swim portion of my triathlon that's at the end of April. At 5 '10", it's very hard to find a one piece suit that actually fits right. After reading a ton of reviews on Zappos, I finally found a suit that fits really well - the TYR Diamondback.

I would like to start using my cardio days for either biking, spinning, or swimming, but I also want to be careful not to push my self too hard with my training, as my running is really my focus right now. The problem is that I get bored with swimming very quickly, so I don't really look forward to a swim workout. My goal this week will to be get in one day of swimming, either Tuesday or Sunday.

Do you plan your workouts in advance? Do you find that it helps you to stick with a schedule?

The D-Factor

2010-01-17T15:03:00.010-05:00

Run
Today I woke up at 7:45 on a Sunday to make sure I made up for my "rest" day yesterday. A little crazy I know, but I had a scrapbooking date at 10 so I needed to get my run in. I started out around 8:15 hoping to run 1-2 miles and then do a Jillian Michaels workout on Exercise TV. For those of you that live in Ohio, it was a balmy 36 degrees which was great because it allowed me to run outside. I was motivated already this morning because I had a busy day but about 1/2 way into my run it started to rain/sprinkle and I was ready to stop. That is when the D-Factor as I call it set in.

I call it the D-Factor but it is really short for Dad. My dad passed away 6 years ago this week and I have been internally processing it a little more than usual. Sometimes when I run I remember when he first got sick he would always tell me, "Holly, do what I can't do." I don't think about this often but it hits me every once in a while when I am in a quiet zone, which is usually when I am running. One of the great benefits I think of longer runs. I call it the D-Factor because after I get to this internal place which is sometimes uncomfortable, I get this unbelievable push of motivation. Today I ran 3.5 miles on a drizzly day and felt like it was perfect out. I followed it up by a 22 minute Jillian Michaels workout and the enthusiasm from my great run this morning has lasted me all day.

Biggest Loser Power Sculpt
The workout I did today was the "Biggest Loser Power Sculpt workout on Exercise TV. It was 22 minutes led by Jillian and much easier than the last one I tried. My heart rate stayed up because of my run however you focused more on actual weight lifting mixed in with a few vinyasas which was a nice surprise. I think I will go back to the longer "beatdown" the next time. In my mind its more bang for your buck.

Scrap Date
After my run, I continued my scrapbooking mission to finish 2009 in January when its cold outside. I am close but have a few more pages to do. I posted the two pages I did today along with an additional Christmas one from Megan's visit. I used the Celebrations Crickett cartridge which I think I could do a lot more with. Thankfully I have one more birthday to scrapbook this year so I can play with it some more. The cupcakes were so cute! The other letters were done with the Lyrical Letter cartridge. Also on of my favorites because you get 4 fonts in one cartridge.

These pages show us in Tampa at the U2 concert :)

Dinner
Tonight for dinner we are having leftovers. Last night I continued with the planning for the week and made a Cooking Light Chicken and Dumplings Recipe. I am posting an easier recipe because the one last night took me two plus hours (you had to back the broth from scratch) and was WAY too time consuming. I will be using this recipe next time. The dumplings in the end were very good and worth the wait, but if there is an easier way, I will take it!

Quick Chicken and Dumplings

I also made turkey meat loaf which we'll eat later this week when our schedules get crazy again. It has a little spice to it so I am excited to try it. For now its in the freezer waiting for the stress of the week to kick in.

Its back to work now this afternoon for me, but the D-Factor definitely led me to an insprirational today. Thanks Dad :) I hope you enjoy the recipes and the scrabook layouts.

Hungry Girl Recipes

2010-01-16T19:05:00.005-05:00

Today I tried out two Hungry Girl recipes from my "200 under 200" cookbook that Megan got me for Christmas.

I made Gooey Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Icing and Freezy Cool Whoopie Pie. The cinnamon roll recipe is attached below. They were so good they tasted like Cinnabon's and were only 126 calories. They are smaller than a Cinnabon, but amazing. They are for breakfast tomorrow but my husband and I split one. They also have 3g of protein so you are getting a little nutrition. The hardest part was rolling out the dough. When they say to press hard, they really mean it. I almost gave up!

Cinnamon Roll Recipe

The Whoopie Pie's were made out of cool whip and Vitamuffins. You can buy these at most health food stores now, however I order them online in bulk and eat them for a snack every once in a while. The chocolate ones are my favorite. The whoopie pie is simply a 100 calorie Vita-top (the top of the muffin only) sliced in half with two tablespoons of fat free coolwhip. You then make a sandwhich and put them in the freezer for an hour. Super simple! Its a 110 calorie delicious chocolate dessert.

My soreness got the best of me today so my husband and I went to see "Its Complicated" and did a lot of chores around the house. I am jealous of Megan's Twilight viewing today. LOVE that movie. Tomorrow I'll tackle my postponed run/Jillian workout Part 2 followed by some morning scrapbooking. Stay tuned for the results.

Any Hungry Girl readers out there?

Saturday Morning 6 Miles

2010-01-16T14:26:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I opened my new Kitchenaid Artisan Mixer which arrived in the mail earlier this week.

Even Timmy and Max were excited:

And here she is....

Yes, I got white which is so boring, I know! But I didn't want some color that didn't match my kitchen, and I heard these last forever, so who knows what my kitchen will look like in 20 years! I can't believe how heavy this mixer is.

Hopefully I will get a chance to use the mixer this weekend. Yesterday I also made Wild Rice Turkey Bake to take to a friend's house. They just had a baby, so I figured they could use some extra food in the freezer :)

And on to today's run...

This morning I woke up 9:30am, and I could have fallen back asleep, but I knew I had to get up and do my 6 mile run. I ate a few almonds and checked the radar, and there was a lot of rain headed this way. I knew I had to get dressed and get out the door fast!

The run was good. I haven't run outside in almost a month, so I didn't even mind the wind and chance of rain. I did get lucky and I didn't even get rained on! My time was 1:12:30, which included a few walking breaks to drink water, and I also had one Gu packet around 3.5 miles.

I often find myself thinking negative thoughts while running, such as I can't do the whole distance, or getting frustrated that I am tired or out of breath. Today I really tried to focus on the positive things, such as being excited that I was running outside and I am lucky to live in such a great place like Florida where I can be outside in the winters. I also have to keep reminding myself that I chose to sign up for this half marathon, and I should be excited about my runs to prepare for it.

Now I am watching Twilight and going through weeks of mail while relaxing on the sofa. Tomorrow I am going to see New Moon with my friend Shelley :)

Are you a fan of Twilight? Have you read the books and seen the movies?

Jillian's Beatdown

2010-01-14T12:39:00.006-05:00

Part 2 -
I woke up this morning thankful that it was my last 5am wake-up call for the week and that I wasn't sore! I cannot believe I am not sore from the workout yesterday however I did fall asleep on the couch at 8:45. The workout really did kick my butt!

The idea of Jillian's workout and the same concept she uses in her 30 Day Shred book is circuit training. You confuse the muscles by switching between groups quickly. We started with a warm-up and then did 6-8 circuits (I lost count at the end) two times each. There were NO breaks between the circuits. Some of the moves included...

- Jumping Jacks
- Kickboxing
- Burbees
- Mountain Climbers
- Planks
- Lunges

Individually these moves can be challenging (Burbees get me every time), but when you heart rate is already up it is even more difficult. You didn't need any weights or equipment. Just your body.

Since I am feeling good today after running 2 miles and doing an arms/abs/glutes class at the gym, my goal tomorrow is to run outside (a nice 42 degrees hopefully) and take another challenge with Jillian. I am still bothered that the gym is SO crowded. Sunday is rest and scrapbook day so you can look for some more layouts!

Still working on my next challenge....What are your goals for the weekend?
TGIF!!

Part 1
For all of you Biggest Loser fans out there, I did Jillian Michael's Metabolism Boost on Exercise TV this morning, aka the morning beatdown.

Let me leave with a few highlights...
- 705 calories in 58 minutes (I added a mile run to the beginning thinking it wouldn't be hard enough...bad idea there.)
- I no longer think I am in shape. I could barely keep up.
- If you had Jillian at your side for the duration of the Biggest Loser, you to would lose 100 lbs. I am amazed how motivated she was through the TV!
- I am not sure I will be able to walk tomorrow we did so many squats and pliometrics. Not to mention two rounds of kickboxing!

Has anyone tried one of her workouts? I have her 30 day Shred book. Perhaps I should finishing reading it!! I will post a full review later today.

Breakfast of Champions (and a good dinner recipe!)

2010-01-13T18:33:00.004-05:00

Breakfast
This week I have continued with my pre-packing on Sunday and modified my breakfast to include more protein and fiber to keep me full. I do not eat anything after breakfast until lunch which is usually around 12:00 or 12:30. Breakfast is usually around 8:00 am on my way to work after the gym.

The breakfast includes the following:

1 tablespoon of roasted flax seeds (1/2 a serving)
1/2 serving of Oikos Vanilla Greek Yogurt
1 serving of Trader Joes Country Pumpkin Granola

I pre-measured the flax seed and granola in 5 containers on Sunday and then add the yogurt in the morning before I leave for the gym. If I am hungry when I wake up and need something to get me through the workout I either have 1/2 a serving of the Trader Joes Very Green Juice or lowfat chocolate milk. Its enough to give me a few calories but not upset my stomach.

Dinner
For dinner tonight I modified a chicken noodle soup recipe from the January/February 2010 issue of Cooking Light. I made it in the crock pot and plugged it in on low this morning. I am eating it as I write this and it is yummy! Here is what I did...

Add the following ingredients to the crock pot the night before.

4 chicken breasts (mine were frozen)
2 cups of water
32 ounce carton of chicken broth
1/2 cup of onion (I just cut 1/2 of an onion)
salt and pepper as desired
One large bag of mixed vegetables. I used the Traders Joes Organic Foursome mix and 1/2 a bag of lima beans. In my mind you can never add too many veggies!
2 tablespoons of flat leaf parsley

In the morning plug the crockpot in. 45 minutes prior to eating, shred the chicken if it does not already fall apart and add 6 ounces of whole wheat pasta.

The meal according to Cooking Light has the following nutrional information for approximately 1 cup.

Calories: 237
Fat: 4.8g
Protein: 22g
Carb: 239g
Fiber: 1.7g
Chol: 50mg
Iron: 1.8mg
Calc: 28mg

More to Come...
Megan is training for an upcoming 1/2 marathon in February. It has gotten me thinking about my next race goal and how important nutrition and meal planning is while training. Stay tuned for more details about my new challenge!

How to you prepare your meals ahead of time? What goals do you have this race season?

Half Marathon Training Update

2010-01-13T16:07:00.002-05:00

My half marathon training is going well this week. My workout schedule for the week is:

Monday: Run 4 miles (done), and play volleyball since my league started again (done)

Tuesday: 30 minutes of cardio (I did the elliptical)

Wednesday: Run 4 miles (done)

Thursday: Strength Training

Friday: Rest

Saturday: Run 6 miles

Sunday: not sure yet, depends on how I feel

I have decided to run 3 days a week instead of 4, and to incorporate at least one day of strength training into my workout. Ideally, I will get up to two days of strength training, but no guarantees on that one.

The best news of the day is that I was able to keep a pace of 11:30 min/mile on the treadmill this morning, and I was feeling so good I did the last mile even faster.

The weather is finally going to improve this weekend, so I can finally run outside again. I am anxious to get outside for my 6 mile run on Saturday, after many boring miles on the treadmill the past few weeks!

I have done really well with my morning workouts the past two weeks. I have discovered one key item that is helping me to wake up each morning and go to the gym before work:

I changed my work schedule so that I no longer get to work at 7:30am, but instead I arrive at 8:30am or 9:00am. This means that I can sleep until 6am and have time for my workout before work. This is huge for me because I used to wake up at 5am to go to the gym, and I was always so tired. Most nights I am asleep by 10:30pm, so I am getting 7.5 hours of sleep a night and I feel great.

How much sleep do you get each night? Do you feel it's enough, or do you wish you got more? I am one of those people that needs their sleep. I don't know how other people function on 5 or 6 hours a night!

Nightly Zen

2010-01-12T12:08:00.002-05:00

For the past two nights I have tried two Exercise TV Yoga Workouts. The first one I did was the "PM Zen in Your Den" and the second one was "AM Yoga".

PM Zen in Your Den
The "PM Zen in Your Den " program I did on Sunday night after a long day of scrapbooking. This was my off day but I decided to do some stretching since I have been super sore lately. I really enjoyed this quick workout. It was 22 minutes. I figure you can do anything for 22 minutes, even if you are tired. The program did not have a lot of vinyasas or leg/shoulder stretches which I would have liked to do because those are the areas that hurt me the most from running. It was relaxing however. It was a great way to take my mind off of the upcoming work week and get some extra stretching in. The instructor moves pretty fast so you need to be familiar with the poses. The only downside was you didn't end in relaxation. In my opinion this is the best part of yoga!

AM Yoga
The "AM Yoga" was a non-planned activity last night. I figured even though it said "AM" it would still be worth trying. The progam was only 11 minutes long. This one actually was my favorite out of the two. It really stretched your shoulders and arms which I needed. I ran on the treadmill in the morning and then worked almost 10 hours. I need the stretch! That was almost all you did with the exception of a few vinyasas and some warrior poses. (I like the vinyasa flow if you can't tell!) I added the penguin (my favorite) and of course the relaxtion pose at the end which was a nice end to the day. If you didn't do the relaxtion pose I could see how this workout could wake you up!

A few weeks ago I made a goal to practice more yoga. My runs are so much smoother when my muscles are stretched. With the gyms being crazy busy right now this has been very easy to incorporate into my workout schedule. I am a big believer in stretching and the benefits! I am going to try for 2-3 times a week.

Tomorrow I plan to try a Jillian Michaels workout. I can't take not getting into a class at the gym at 5 am. That is too early to be stressed. What do you incorporate into your workout to relax?

I Finally Bought the Wii Fit Plus

2010-01-11T17:31:00.001-05:00

I purchased the Wii Fit when it first came out, and I never ended up using it very often for two main reasons:

1. You had to return to the main menu for each yoga and strength exercise. This meant you had to hold the wii remote during the exercises, and it was hard to get into the "flow" of a workout, when every two minutes you had to go back to the prior menu and choose your next exercise. It moved very slowly and I would always get frustrated and give up.

2. When playing the games on the Wii Fit, there was no multi-player mode. Again, you had to go back to the main menu to switch players, and then navigate all the way back to the game.

The good news, is that both of these have been fixed with the new Wii Fit Plus! For only $20, I could buy the disk to upgrade to the new features. It also converted all my prior Wii Fit data into the new version, which was nice. Here is my Mii, Meg. It just happen to be my 600th day since I got I started the original Wii Fit.

Some features of the new Wii Fit Plus are:

1. You can now make a customized routine of exercises and they will play continually. Last night I tried 22 minutes of yoga exercises, and it was great. I didn't even have to hold the wii remote for anything, it just kept taking me through the exercises. It also tells you how many calories you burned, but I will continue to rely on my Heart Rate monitor to tell me that.

2. There is multi player mode for the games, and it's easy to switch between players.

3. You can now weigh in your pets too! One of our cats recently lost a lot of weight, and I promised the vet that I would weigh him monthly. I haven't been doing it, so maybe this will be enough motivation for me to keep up with it. Here is Ross' weigh in. There are a few patterns and colors when creating the cats, but not many.

Here is our Wii Fit Family now, and yes, we really do have four cats:

Isn't that cool that it shows me doing Yoga because I had just finished the yoga exercises? I love the details like that! My husband is in the green...are you wondering who is in blue? That's Barack Obama. We used him in the original Wii Fit for when guests were at our house and they wanted to try the games. My husband and I are too competitive to let them use our characters.  He was yawning and falling asleep in this picture since he hasn't done any exercise in a long time.

Aren't the cats so cute!?   They are appearing in the games too. I was cycling and one of the cats was running along side of me.

I still have a lot to explore, with the new games and exercises, but I definitely feel that I will use the Wii Fit again with the upgrades that have been made.   Plus I got some extra motivation because the Wii Fit told me I gained 10 pounds since my last weigh in - oops!!

Do you think the Wii Fit is good exercise? Have you lost any weight or seen any other benefits?

The Weekend Scrapbook Challenge - Part 3

2010-01-10T20:25:00.001-05:00

The scrapbooking goal of the day was for Holly and I to scraplift from the same layout, as described in The Weekend Scrapbook Challenge.

Here is my layout, left side:

and right side:

This was a hard layout and took a long time! I cut the shapes using the Cricut Expressions and the George cartridge. It's definitely not my favorite layout, but it was nice to do something different. I did a second layout after this one, and it made for a nice morning of scrapbooking.

Check back tomorrow for my review of Wii Fit Plus, which I bought this afternoon and plan to check out this evening.