An Active End of the Month

The past two days were spent sitting in a training for work.  Lots of "snacks" were provided, some were better than others.  Cookies, trail mix, string cheese, candy (salt water taffy, tootsie rolls, tootsie pops, etc.).  Yesterday I did pretty good limiting my snacks, and the lunch provided was a taco salad.  Today I felt I didn't do as well.  I really didn't need that second cookie and I didn't need to keep eating the salt water taffy just because a coworker kept putting it in front of me.

Tuesday night I bought new running shoes.  Aren't they pretty?

Wednesday after sitting through a day of training, I headed to the gym to try them out.  Now I know that new shoes need to be broken in so I only ran for half the time I usually do.  I wasn't counting on the back of my foot getting raw.  This has never happened to me before. 

Today is the last day of the month and again I found myself in the predicament of needing to go to the gym to get my 12 monthly visits in.  After another day of training (and too many snacks), I headed to the gym.  I did about 20 minutes of weights since Thursday is Zumba night and I didn't want to miss Zumba.  Well then I got the "smart" idea to walk to Zumba.  I should have left home about 5 minutes sooner than I did because I had to run the last few blocks.  I got there during the first song.  After Zumba, it was a leisurely walk back home.  Here is the GPS info I got on the way home.  1.81 miles one way--a little farther than I thought it was, but that's ok. 

So today's activity included: weights at the gym, walk/run to Zumba, Zumba, and walk home from Zumba.  It made me feel better about all the treats I had. :)

Fargo Marathon 5K

Last night I ran in the 5K portion of the Fargo Marathon.  Despite 90+ degree heat, it was awesome!  I went with two coworkers.  It was their first  5K and my fifth.  This was by far the funnest race I have ran.  There were over 9,500 registered runners.  The whole atmosphere was so inspiring.  Along the race course, there were people cheering the runners on.  With the heat, people along the race route had their sprinklers on and sprayed you with water guns!  There was even a spot where the fire hydrant was turned on to spray a mist!  I wish I had pictures, but I can't take pictures and run at the same time--I'm not that talented!  I forgot to bring my mp3 player, but there were places along the route with DJ's, radio stations, and even people playing music!  It was such a fun experience!  My time was 36 minutes and 24 seconds.

This is me taken shortly after the race.  Very proud of myself.

This is the medal that everyone received for finishing the race.  The back side says "Finisher."

The Smoothie Experiment

I made a smoothie tonight--without following a recipe.  I love the website greenlitebites.com.  I have tried and enjoyed several of the recipes.  One thing that Roni makes often is smoothies, but I never seem to have the ingrediants that she uses on hand.  Last year she posted an "elastic" approach to making smoothies.  Basically it is a way to make a smoothie using what you have on hand.  I have wanted to try this for awhile and finally did it tonight.  This is what I did:

• 1 banana--starting to ripen--put in freezer for a few hours
• 4 whole frozen strawberries
• 1 packet of Splenda

Put ingrediants into fake Magic Bullet.  Add skim milk about 2/3 full and blend.

That was it!  It could have been a bit sweeter, but it was pretty good.  I will definitely try my own smoothies again!

Zumba & Ratatouille

Monday is Zumba night!  I love Zumba, it is always a great workout!  Before leaving I got everything ready to make the Ratatouille Pack so all I had to do was put it in the oven when I got home.  The recipe says it makes one serving, but it is huge!  I wish I had taken a picture to share.  I have made this before and I usually divide it into 2 or 3 servings.  Tonight I decided to combine it with this:

One serving is 9 pieces and only 3 points!  Pasta and veggies with a touch of sauce!  One serving of ravioli and about half of the ratatouille.  Delicious!  I keep impressing myself with my ability to make healthy, delicious dishes!



Busy Weekend

I have been busy this past week trying to get my 12 visits to the gym in for this month.  I have had to go every day for the past 10 days.  Don't get me wrong, I've still been working out, just doing things other than the gym.  Yesterday I worked my parttime job from 8-5.  When I got done, I was tired from standing on my feet all day and my back hurt, but I made myself go to the gym.  I did the 30 minutes workout express.  This morning I did 4.13 miles in 50 minutes.  I now have my 12 visits done!  I need to be better about spreading them out more next month.

I had a nice healthy supper tonight.  I bought this Creamy Portobello Soup last week and decided to try it tonight.  I then took a portobello mushroom cap, chopped it up, sauteed it in a little olive oil, and then added it to the soup.  Very good.  It kind of reminded me of cream of mushroom soup we would have growing up.

The soup was followed up by this:

It was a small piece of fish, but very good.  Only 80 calories and the garlic butter flavor was not overwhelming.  I also had green beans with it.  I think I may have a Skinny Cow ice cream cup before I get ready for bed.

Tomorrow starts a new week.  Weekends always go by too fast!

Good Friday

Personal best on the treadmill at the gym this morning.  3.27 miles in 40 minutes.  Three miles of which I ran without slowing down.  Usually I will slow down to a fast walk a few times, but not today.  I maintained a speed of 5.0-5.4.  Today I pushed through and I did it!

A Few of My Favorite Things

I have been really trying to eat healthy.  I very rarely eat fast food.  I enjoy trying new healthy recipes that I find on the Internet.  Unfortunately, since I live alone I end up eating the same thing for several days.  When I make something, I portion it out into servings right away.  That way I can keep track of just how much I am eating. 

I have a few things in my kitchen that I absolutely love.

**Digital Food Scale--I have had spring loaded scales, but I absolutely love this digital scale.  It is so accurate.  It also has a tare feature that allows you to put a container on the scale and then zero the scale out.

**Vegetable Peeler--This Pampered Chef vegetable peeler is the best I have ever had. 

**Mandolin Slicer--This is just a cheap slicer from Target, but it gets the job done for me.  I've used it to slice zucchini, onion, sweet potatoes.



**George Foreman Grill--great for cooking chicken, fish, quesedillas, etc.

**Crockpot--great for putting supper in before leaving for work!