Recovery and a GREAT run!

Well the weekend was pretty laid back as far as workouts.  I didn't get near as much activity in as I would've liked, but that's my own fault and I have no problem owning that.  Anyway, Monday night I started feeling a little off and by 1am Tuesday morning I couldn't keep anything in my stomach.  I spent Tuesday with no food and very little hydration and finally yesterday was back to eating and drinking normally and I knew without food or water the day prior a workout (especially a hard one) was out of the question, so until today I've had FIVE days off....not at ALL what I intended, but taking care of your body also includes knowing when to take it easy and let it heal and I needed the healing.

However, this morning I hit it hard!  I strapped on the iPhone, bumped up the tunes, and rocked the 1st day of the second week of C25K and not only did I do the C25K I did it primarily on hills!  YAY me!  It was hard and I was shaking like a leaf when I got back meaning I didn't have enough fuel prior to my workout, but a container or yogurt calmed the shakes and plenty of water has me rehydrated and now I'm short circuiting like I drank an energy drink....imagine that kind of a high without any consumption of chemicals or caffeine...pretty amazing what your body can do when you decide there is no other option huh?

Anywho....I made an alfredo sauce Tuesday night when I was starting to get a little energy back....the sauce was made from CAULIFLOWER!  Yup....worried about getting your veggies in?  Worry no more!  Cauliflower, a tid bit of butter, some cream, veggie stock (I used water from cooking the cauliflower) and some seasoning and there you have it!!  YUM YUM YUM!  I put mine over shrimp and steamed veggies for dinner last night and will probably top some chicken later this week.

Today doesn't have a menu so far, but my smoothie this morning was blueberries, strawberries (with the tops), Kale, Flax and coconut milk and blended up and beautiful....who am I kidding?  It wasn't beautiful, it looked like swamp sludge, but it was yummy and I'm so glad my kids don't turn up their noses to icky looking stuff, they mooched quite a bit of it off of me actually.  Stinkers!

Yogurt for my second "breakfast" and I'm ready to rock this day.

I've also been enjoying some smoked salmon for snacks...YUM!  So so so good and gotta love the good fats and health benefits that come from it.  A little higher in sodium than I would prefer and the bones are still in there so I have to be careful I don't lodge one of those buggers in my throat, but all in all a good snack pared with a healthy carb (fruit or veggie).

It's Thursday, the weekend's almost here!  YAY!

Weigh In Day

Well here it is!!! 1 month ago (half way through my cleanse) I weighed in at 265. Today first thing in the morning (feeling a little bloated) my number is 255.  So I'm officially back down to the lowest I've been since my divorce.  Next goal....222....the lowest weight I've been in my adult life (just before my divorce).  

I'm happy with 10 lbs in a month, it's a nice healthy rate of loss and will make it easier to keep off.  So today starts the second month of my newest adventure.  That's all life really is anyway right?  A bunch of little adventures that make up one big incredible journey.

So here's to the next run, the next workout, the next healthy meal, the next 5K, the next mud run, the next goal, and the next adventure!  CHEERS!

Scuplting Type of Morning

Pottery?  Oh hell no, I was sculpting the hell of out of my muscles and it was an awesome feeling!  I'm really trying not to run everyday as I REALLY need the weight training as well and running too much seems to deteriorate muscle as well, so I'm attempting to keep it on an every other day type pattern....ANYWAY, so today I couldn't decide between a few different DVDs....Weight Loss Yoga, Boot Camp, or Power Sculpting (All Biggest Loser Brand).  I came home and don't remember ever actually doing the Power Sculpt DVD so I gave it a shot and LOVE it!

There was a nice mix and actually reminded me a lot of the items and flow we did when I did boot camp with my most favorite trainer ever.  The time FLEW by and I was done before I knew it and found myself thinking "There's no way that was a half hour", but sure enough it was!

Anyway, smoothie of the day was not one of my favorites, but lesson learned:

frozen cherries
applesauce
coconut milk
kale
flax
fiber powder

I don't know if it was the coconut cherry combination or if it was that the cherry flavor wasn't very strong.  It was alright, but kinda blah....not too exciting.  The kids liked it because they always have to try the different smoothies mommy comes up with....none the less, it fueled a good workout this morning and after the eggs and strawberries I had after my workout I'm feeling good today.  A yogurt cup for morning snack and currently debating what combination I'm going to whip together for lunch.  Also on my lunch break I have my foam roller out and waiting for me, because I have some sore imbalanced muscles that need a little work, so I'm going to spend some time loosening them up and will hopefully be moving a little better this weekend.  Tomorrow, I may try out my kettle bells, but other than that plan to dance my bum off (literally) at my cousin's wedding!  Sunday and Monday I'm hoping for "fun" workouts....you know, the kind you don't plan but you end up rolling around in the grass playing football or riding bikes with the kids or just running around the yard chasing a frisbee or ball with or like and pup.  Anyway, it's going to be a busy active weekend for me!

OH!!!!  I get to weigh in tomorrow....it's been a month and I can't wait to see what kind of results I'm getting for all my hard work.  So proud of my healthy eating/living partner in crime.  He's rocking the lifestyle and having great results.

Hope you all have a healthy active weekend! (even if it does rain)

The Hills

So I discovered a new challenging route this morning while I was kicking ass on the C25K.  The east side of town has some wonderful ups and downs, so I took a weaving route this morning and rocked a few of them including a jaunt up Hwy 282 (which is the big Jordan hill).  My plan is to make it a little further up that damn hill each time I run!

During my new route I discovered a hill I KNEW was there, but I saw it in a whole new light this morning.  It looked to me like the most perfect "training hill" I've ever seen.  Really steep and grassy and there's bare dirt spots....the possibilities are endless and I can't wait to tackle that bugger!  Hopefully there isn't an angry owner that is going to attack me for trespassing or something....LOL.

So this morning's smoothie was:

1 Banana
2 Tbsp PB
Fiber Packet
1 Tbsp flax
Coconut/Almond Milk
1 stem of Kale with stem removed

SOOOOOOO yummy and great fuel for my run.

I DID notice this morning I had less energy than I've had lately, but I skipped dinner last night due to a lack of time, so that was more than likely the culprit...that and the lesser amount of sleep I got last night.

Anyway, it's Thursday and besides sleepy, I'm feeling great!  Let's rock this!

YOGI!!!!

Well this morning, I was doubtful about the gym and didn't hear back from the gal at the gym until I was already sleeping, so I planned to do yoga after dropping the kids off....and I did.  A full 1/2 hour of yoga and my body feels amazing.  All stretched out and lean feeling.  This morning's smoothie was a little gross looking....really reminded me of swamp sludge, but it was super yummy.  Even the kids enjoyed a couple sips of it.

Today's Smoothie

Approx 4-5 strawberries (with the greens)
Handful of blueberries
1 stem of Kale (stem removed)
Maybe 1/8-1/4 of natural, no sugar added applesauce
Splash of coconut milk
Tbsp of flax
1 leftover fiber packet from my cleanse.

Yup that's a lot of colors mixed together....it almost looked chocolate LOL.  Anyway, it was yummy and fueled my workout perfectly.  I'm finding more and more that I like have two "breakfasts".  I know that sounds strange, but working out without fuel is nearly impossible and SO bad for you, but then you need protein for your muscles to recover immediately following any workout.  So, I've been doing a smoothie in the morning (mostly carbs - fruits and veggies) at about 6am which give you energy and then when I'm finished with my workout (approx 7:30/7:45) I enjoy a good dose of protein.....yesterday was eggs and watermelon (yup another carb) and today was a container of greek yogurt that was half frozen and amazingly delicious.

Tomorrow, another round of C25K after I drop the kids off.  I plan to do it outside unless it's raining too much, in which case I will go to the gym.  Hoping to score a personal training session at some point so I can have an outlined "plan" for when I come to the gym of what I need to do (besides C25K) to get ready for Go Commando.  I could TOTALLY do it in the shape I'm in now and survive, but I don't want to just survive....I want to rock the hell out of it!!!! 

My Old Brain

So I haven't really talked about my struggle getting a membership at the gym here in town, but I've been leaving messages for the last week and no one has been getting back to me.  Finally I messaged a friend of mine via facebook that is a member there and asked for her advice.  She got ahold of the staff for me and I finally was able to get an appointment to sign up for a membership last night with the staff trainer.  I was there early and one of the other members let me in.  We sat around for 15 minutes or so before the trainer came out of the windowed office and was apparently surprised to see us.  I was not given a tour or given any options about memberships, etc.  I don't know about any additional services that are available or how any of that works even after explaining to her that I didn't know anything about the club.  So I signed up for $36/month with no contract (which is great!) and left with a key card to get me in this morning.  She told me the other staff member would activate my card THAT NIGHT and I confirmed with her TWICE that it would work when I came in the morning to utilize the gym.

Fast forward to this morning....All dressed in my workout gear, kids up and off to daycare at their normal time, iPhone prepped and in the sleeve so I could wear it, water bottle, sweat towel, and healthy carb packed smoothie in hand and I get to the door and my key card doesn't work.  Frustrated I text the gal I've been working with to schedule an appointment even though they advertise "staffed" hours until 8pm. and she says she's not sure why it's not working and says "sorry".  I nearly came unglued as I calmly expressed my frustration with my entire experience.  Apparently she wants to "start over" and get me in to the club AGAIN to meet with HER on Wednesday, I agreed, but this is the LAST chance they are going to have to recover from this irritating experience I've had.  ANYWAY....rather than going home and sulking I drove home, dumped all my stuff upstairs and worked the C25K app (Cough to 5K).  It was a good workout and I'm happy I did it.  It's only supposed to be 3 days a week and a half hour workout each day, but I think I"m going to alternate that with some yoga and weight training.

So along my run I go past the schools and lots of traffic dropping kids off etc and I know I am more confident than some people my same size, but these old fears creeped up on me....there was a particular group of boys led by the biggest a-hole of pack leaders and they were down right MEAN.  As I walked past them in the halls of the high school they would make elephant or pig noises and laugh about how they could feel the ground shaking or that there was an earthquake in Minnesota and then "oh it was just Rebecca walking by" and gagging noises, etc. So, as I'm running past the school and past kids walking to school all of those old fears came flooding back to me and I nearly broke down in tears.  I had NO idea that kind of thing would ever affect me again, but apparently I'm a little more sensitive to that stuff than I thought it was.  Every kid I passed clearly was a better person than the boys I went to school with and if they weren't they atleast didn't say it within ear shot of me, so every middle school or older kid I passed and every car that passed that I saw pulling in to the high school I had this huge anxiety about.  Now if I was really still 16 years old I would avoid that route or time of day like the plague, but I'm a grown woman and I refuse to let anyone's opinion about my body change MY life or MY routine or MY workout, so I will continue on with my life and would guess that the anxiety about the route, or the kids, or whatever will subside.

Anywho....proud that I ran and that I'm properly fueling my body for a full month now (again) and I'm starting to feel unstoppable, which is an AWESOME feeling!

I get back on the scaled in 4 days and can't wait to see 30 days of results!

Lots of Good Stuff

So I keep coming across all of these topics throughout my day that I want to blog about and then when my fingers hit the keyboard, I completely forget every single one.  UGH!

Anywho....today I have a few things going on.  I officially bought the tickets and registered our team for the Go Commando Mud Run I do every single year.  We have a team of 4 women and 1 man....lucky guy right?  I ALSO will start training tomorrow....yes I know I've been saying tomorrow for a while, but I've had a VERY hard time coordinating an appointment at the gym I want to get a membership at, so today is the day however I have a slew of things I need to get done tonight and won't be able to fit a tour and a workout in, so first thing tomorrow morning I'll be pulling on my iphone arm band and plugging in my rhinestone headphones and I'll be doing some serious working out.  So for right now I'm just carrying my pedometer and being as active as I can....OH!  THE PEDOMETER!  That was another topic I wanted to tell you about.

My employer has handed out pedometers to anyone who wants to participate....each day we will log our steps and the company will donate 1penny per step to charity....how awesome is THAT?!?!?!  "Moving Makes Cents" is what they are calling it, so of course I signed up!

On my menu today: (since I eat from the fridge/cupboard instead of a lunch box now...this might be challenging)

1/2 of a tropical smoothie (pineapple, banana, yogurt, kale, flax, coconut milk)
2 breakfast stuffed mushrooms
Grilled Salmon and Steamed veggies
some other fruits and veggies in between

Planning to make a chicken dish tonight....chicken cashew salad....mmmmmmmm

Happy Monday all!

Better Late Than Never, Right? (recipe & product review)

Well today was a little crazy.  I was doing a lot of training and running around at work, so my blog was a tad neglected.  Anyway, except being in a ridiculous amount of pain from my back (I slept funny or SOMETHING) I'm doing pretty darn awesome!  The choices at our impromptu BBQ yesterday were not great, but I managed with the worst thing on my plate being steamed sweet corn in butter. I also totally made it through DQ without a single lick!!  VERY proud of myself for that.  Even with the "Is just milk right?" coaxing, I stood strong...but then again I have some pretty amazing support coming from a pretty amazing guy which I can't even BEGIN to explain how THAT has been such an important part of my journey.  You can NOT do this journey alone.  Support is SO SO SO important and I'm so happy I have him on my side!

So I promised a recipe and here it is....Breakfast Stuffed Mushrooms....sounds a little strange right?  Well after having the pizza stuffed mushrooms and stuffing portabello caps with everything under the sun I've had it in my head to do breakfast ones too.  So tonight we swung down to the store and picked up a pound of bacon and I was determined to make them tonight so I had premade breakfast the rest of the week.

Here goes the recipe:
1 lb of bacon
5 portabello mushroom caps with stems removed
5 eggs
sprinkling of cheese of choice (I used Fiesta blend which is what was in the fridge at the time)

Fry bacon until it has reached the desired tenderness (I like mine crispy).

While the bacon is cooking, place mushroom caps in a glass baking dish.

Fill caps with bacon, top with one eggs, and some cheese and pop in a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes. VOILA!  Heaven in a cup little mushroom cap!  ENJOY!

Product Review.....it's been a while since I've done one of these and this one isn't going to be SUPER comprehensive as I didn't jot down all of the ingredients/nutrition information etc, but it's Chobani Greek Yogurt....couldn't be THAT bad for a treat.

We were at Target and they had the Chobani Flip Greek Yogurt on sale and not only do the kids LOVE greek yogurt, they'd been begging for a treat throughout the whole store, so I told them they could pick one of these new "fancy" yogurts for a treat.  They were SO excited.  My daughter picked the Almond Choco Loco flavor and my son the Blueberry Chia flavor.  Yup, that one has chia seeds....it was interesting....cha cha chia!!!

Anyway, so I tried both and while I <3 their blueberry yogurt, I wasn't overly impressed.  On the other hand the Almond Choco Loco (coconut yogurt, tiny little dark chocolate specs, and almonds).....AAAAAAMAZING!  I couldn't really taste the chocolate, so I guess I could've done without it, but my love of coconut totally won me over on this one!  Totally something I would buy for a dessert or treat for myself.

In addition, these little containers are awesome....they are a separated cup....one part has the yogurt and the other section has the "toppings" (nuts, fruit, chocolate, etc) and you literally fold the cup in half so the toppings dump in to the yogurt and it's flawless and great for kids!  Although I had to do the "folding" of the cup or the "FLIP!" as Chobani calls it....it didn't make a mess at all (which is what I was afraid of).  Both kids devoured it and asked if we can get more next time we go, so I call that a healthy little success!

Well I guess that's it for tonight.  Time for me to turn in!  Have a healthy week!

Feeling Green

So I started out my morning by grossing out my coworkers! HAHAHAHA!  Yup, I made an amazingly delicious smoothie for breakfast: bananas, peanut butter, vanilla yogurt, almond milk, aaaaaaaaaaaand SPINACH!  I was told by more than one person it looked like I was drinking the contents of a baby diaper. OH WELL! It was soooooooooo good!

ANYWHO!  Super excited for the weekend, got some fun plans starting with the Jordan City Wide Garage Sale first thing in the morning, loving on a little baby and then having a "girls' day" on Sunday after brunch with my mom and my little man too.

Today's Lunch Box?

Baby Poop Smoothie for breakfast
1 cup of Greek Yogurt
1 fresh Pear
3/4 cup of Egg Salad
1 container of Blueberries
2 Clementines

(I plan to order a salad for lunch for Andy's)

Feeling like a million bucks and tightened my belt a couple more notches tighter than last week.....P.S. It's KILLING me to not get on the scale!  That's just as tempting (if not more) than chocolate!

Happy Friday!

Cravings Type of Afternoon

I've been doing SO good all day and for a long time and now all of a sudden 2pm hits and I'm craving crap food.  UGH!  I'm guessing it may have been from the blood sugar spike caused by the orange juice in my smoothie this morning.  I didn't really pay attention if there was added sugar or not, but the way I'm feeling, I'm guessing there was.  So now the battle begins.....

Today's lunch box had:

2 cups of Cantaloupe Chunks
1 Bayou Borboun Glazed Salmon (GASP!!!! More sugar spike)
Breakfast smoothie (frozen berries, orange juice, banana, vanilla greek yogurt, flax)
1/2 cup of Egg Salad
1 cup of Sliced Strawberries
1 container of Pear Chobani Greek Yogurt
1 Fresh Pear
2 Clementines

The Cantaloupe is currently doing it's best to even out the sugar/insulin issue I'm struggling with at the moment....I swear I'm stronger than the sugar!!

REALLY?!?!?!

Ok, so I've been making awesome choices and can't wait to start working out next week so maybe I shouldn't be surprised, but I put my clothes on this morning and they felt looser than they have in the past.  I didn't think this was possible after only having changed my eating for the last 3 weeks, but I'm sure not complaining!  I feel like a million bucks today!

Lunchbox:

3/4 cup egg salad (mayo made with Olive Oil & Mustard)
2 clementines
1 Smoothis (breakfast - frozen berries, banana, almond milk, flax and yogurt)
1 container of blood orange Chobani Greek Yogurt
Baggie of Carrots
1 container of Raspberries
(and I bought a chicken caeser salad for lunch)

Short and sweet today!

Naughty for Breakfast

So today I'm feeling like I'm being naughty for breakfast, but I know the amazing creamy peanut butter banana concoction I'm enjoying is doing nothing but fueling my day!  What a great feeling!

Sad truth is that when I go down to Andy's to order breakfast in the mornings, they turn on the ice cream machine, because I got in to a horrible habit of having a peanut butter banana milk shake for breakfast with my eggs....their version is ice cream, peanut butter, banana, and milk....my version (much healthier) is banana, peanut butter, vanilla greek yogurt, almond milk, and ground flax and I have to say....mine is MUCH tastier and MUCH cheaper too!  So this is my breakfast.  Whipped up in my single serving blender attachment before I headed out the door.  So now I can feel naughty without actually BEING naughty...hehehe.

I'll be following up my "milk shake" with a double shot of Mango Green Tea and a nice tall cup of water to sip on the rest of the morning.

What's for lunch you ask?  Well considering last night I accomplished pretty much nothing at all, I'll probably order a salad from Andy's with some grilled chicken as I've been told their salads are AMAZING and I'm really just kinda in the mood for a salad.

Other things I brought in my lunch bag today include....
(besides my milk shake breakfast)
2 Clementines
2 cups of cut up cantaloupe
1 Hard Boiled Egg
1 cup of Blood Orange Chobani Greek Yogurt

How about a weekend wrap up since I didn't blog all weekend?

Well Run or Dye was fun!!  REALLY fun!  I wish I would've been physically ready to run for of it, but I just wasn't so I just enjoyed walking and talking with some of my best girlfriends and some new friends as well.  Ran in to an old girlfriend of mine that I've been missing like crazy and got to hug on her a bit.


After that an  Essential Body Wear Party in Isanti where I got to see even more of my amazing girlfriends and get fitted for new bras, some regular ones and order a new sports bra too, because to be honest, the one I have just isn't comfortable anymore.  It does the job, but not with out a fair amount of discomfort, so it was time to get fitted again.  If I haven't told you how amazing their sports bra is....remind me to do that some day!

And then I got to hang out with my honey and let him cook.  He's a great cook and is learning to make new and different things all the time and it's SO awesome for me to get a break from preparing, though I sometimes feel guilty for just sitting back and letting someone do all the work.  That's a hard pill to swallow for a single mama of two, but SO very much appreciated too!  And he made the most amazing pizza filled mushroom caps!  I thought the ones I made a couple weeks ago were good, he blew mine right out of the water!  They were insanely yummy!

Anyway, that's all for today (so far).  Have a great Tuesday!!

Dye Nation type of Weekend!

So I'm fueling up today for an early alarm tomorrow.  I am meeting a bunch of girlfriend in St Paul for Run or Dye!  It is going to be SO much fun!  I can NOT wait!

I also PLANNED to do the Electric Run, but the prerace deals ran out yesterday and I'm a cheap ass and don't want to pay the new $55.00 price tag, so we'll save that one for next year.

In July I plan to do Go Commando again with my good friend, Tiff, and hopefully I can round up a couple more folks too.  Who's in?

My official "start working out" day is May 17th.  I will be "going home" as in transporting my computer and all other work related items home with me to start working from my home.  It's going to be great!

So since I'm stuck in a cube today I brought the following list of items in my lunch box.....

1 Banana

2 Clementines

1 "Chipotle Bowl" - quinoa, ground turkey, peppers, and salsa

1 container of Pineapple Chobani Greek Yogurt

1 sliced cucumber

And because I had nothing in my fridge that was a "grab quick" for breakfast, I treated myself to a "Spicy Jack" Omelette from Andy's Garage downstairs here at the old Sears Tower.  The Omelette consisted of eggs (obviously) stuffed with peppers, onions, jalapeno bacon, jalapenos, and pepper jack cheese....INSTANTLY my favorite breakfast! YUM!

Well that's that.  TGIF!  Have a colorful weekend!

In My Lunchbox

With my whirlwind of emotion this morning I totally forgot to share (for those who give a crap) what I brought in my lunch box today....

1 jalapeno cheddar turkey burger
1 portion of my asparagus onion frittata
2 chobani greek yogurts (one black cherry, 1 pineapple)
2 clemetines (but my daughter ate one in the car on the way to daycare this morning)
1 apple

It doesn't seem like much, which is probably why I ended up making a bag of light popcorn as well, but it help me over with the exception of the popcorn and I wasn't hungry at all throughout the day.  Even this small amount tends to keep me satisfied these days.

On a happy note, I'm feeling a lot better than I was earlier today and hopefully that feeling will continue on through my grocery shopping trip tonight to pick up more fresh produce and some meats for a couple special dishes the next week or so.

Some discoveries I've made this week:

1.Fresh sliced strawberries are SUPER yummy dipped in key lime pie greek yogurt...AMAZING....oh and look a carb and a protein all in one snack....PERFECT! :)
2. I'm stronger than I think I am when I put my mind to it.
3. I CAN get through an emotional couple hours without chocolate or stuffing my face.  All I need is a hug or two and someone to listen to me vent.

<3 Post number 2 for the day.....CHECK!

Emotional Eating Challenge Day

So apparently the beings that are are challenging my emotional eating restraint, because today has been a CRAP day!  Didn't get much sleep last night thanks to grinding my teeth so hard they woke me up, then left the house late thanks to several fire trucks lining my street, then had a patient call me a "smart ass"....who me?!?!, then I got an escalated call transferred to me after I was turned down for a promotion to a position that DOES take those calls, THEN I get told my "working from home" status will be pushed out another week.  Grrrrrrrrrrr.  All I want to do is gorge or anything and everything chocolate.  I'm cranky and tired and emotional and there is NOTHING I can do about it.  In my emotional eating class I learned that we have to deal with the actual emotion and identify the REASON we feel the way we do.  I've tried talking it out via IM with friends and it's just not helping relieve the emotion.  I can't nap at work which would be the cure to the tired.  I feel trapped and when I'm trapped and have little options for "dealing".....I eat chocolate.

I. WILL. NOT!!!!! DO IT TODAY!!!!.....so I turned to my blog and here I am.

My determination is stronger than any emotion I am feeling or having a hard time dealing with.  Chocolate or any other "comfort" food is only going to hurt me in the long run.  There is no long term positive effects from eating my feelings, in fact, in the end the feelings I'm feeling will only be compounded by guilt and will only make me have to work harder to gain control back, because the blood sugar spike I'll experience will send me spiraling out of control.  So, no.....I won't do it and that is that.

Thanks for listening :)  Love you all!