A Taste Of Summer

I felt much better today!  Thanks for all the well wishes!  I was still a bit dizzy this morning, so I decided to ditch the gym for some outdoor activity later.

I was starving as soon as I woke up and couldn’t wait to make breakfast.  Eggs sounded good, so I whipped up and open-faced omelette with ham, spinach and Cabot’s 75% reduced fat cheddar…

Most of the morning was spent catching up on all the things I couldn’t do yesterday (blogging, cleaning, grocery shopping).  I finally got around to lunch quite late because breakfast had been such a filling meal.  I decided to use up some leftover fridge items for lunch – chickpeas and butternut squash.  Hmmm…an interesting combo, right?!  I thought it might be good with some whole wheat couscous and grated parmesan cheese.  It was a good call!

When the daughters got home from school, I decided it was too nice a day to stay inside.  It was beautiful and close to 70 degrees!  Unfortunately, big daughter had too much homework to finish, but little daughter and I got to go for a nice 30 minute walk around the neighborhood.  I would have loved to walk longer, but little daughter wasn’t having it!  But, we had a great time soaking up some vitamin D anyway!

For dinner, I took advantage of the beautiful weather to bring back a bit of summer with burgers on the grill.  Regular ones for the family and a Gardenburger Portabella Veggie Burger for me.  I snazzed up my burger with a topping made with my favorite goat cheese…

Chavrie goat cheese is the best!  It is mild and really creamy.  For my topping, I mixed 2 tbsp. of Chavrie with 1 tbsp. of sundried tomatoes (in oil).  I spread it on the veggie burger and put it on and Ezekiel Sesame Hamburger Bun…

I went with shoestring fries and a nice green salad on the side…

Mmmm…I taste summer!!!

I ended the night with the new Cooking Light…

Ah, so many great recipes…so little time :)

Enjoy your day, everyone!

Question of the Day:  What is your favorite magazine?

Get Me Off This Ride

Sorry for being MIA yesterday.  I had a horrible dizzy spell in the morning that left me in bed for most of the morning and early afternoon.  It’s been going on for a while, but yesterday was the worst ever.  I’m not one for spinning amusement park rides, yet I felt like I was on one the whole morning.  It made me pretty sick and I felt washed out from the whole experience.  I did get to a specialist later in the day who diagnosed it as benign positional vertigo.  I have a few more tests to undergo, but in the meantime, have some medicine to take in case it gets the degree it did yesterday.  Today, I’m feeling better and not as ‘tilt a whirl’, so I should be back in action! 

Needless to say, when you’re feeling dizzy, food is not the first priority.  My eats were pretty random yesterday and I just picked here and there when my stomach could handle it, so I didn’t take any pics.  But, I’ll catch you up with the day before and a nice surprise from yesterday…

Tuesday

I was looking forward to getting back to the gym since it had been a few days and I was actually excited to run!  I hit the treadmill for 20 minutes at a decent pace (trying to work on that!), then continued for another 15 minutes walking at a 10% incline.  I moved on to weights – chest, shoulders and abs for another 15 minutes.  It felt like a decent workout, but in record time :)

Once in the car, I was ready for breakfast- a Cherry Pie Larabar and 2 clementines…

Then, it was errand time;  it never ends :)

Lunch was pushed back to later than I liked.  When I come in starved, I want to just grab the easiest thing.  Today it was an Applegate Farms Organic Uncured Beef Hot Dog on a whole wheat bun, Tabatchnick Vegetable Soup and carrots.  All ready, thanks to the microwave, in under 5 minutes!

The daughters had a doctor’s visit in the afternoon, then we did some shoe shopping.  So sad to be leaving the flip flops behind and get into some real shoes :(  While we were out, I did cave into some more coffee (I’m glad my doctor doesn’t read this blog), a tall decaf nonfat latte from Starbucks which held me over nicely until dinner.

I was lacking a dinner plan tonight, but thankfully pasta always goes over well!  My brand of choice is Barilla Plus.  It’s a multigrain blend of oats, spelt, barley along with the addition of  lentil and chickpea flour.  Be not afraid!  It tastes terrific and the husband and daughters are none the wiser.  It really does resemble regular white pasta in both taste and texture.  Now, I do have to make it plain for them with either sauce or butter and cheese, but I decided to jazz mine up with some pesto!  I know I’ve been kinda hooked on that lately:)  Since pesto is pretty caloric, I only used 1 heaping tsp. to dress the pasta, along with some of the pasta water and added it 1/2 cup chickpeas and shredded baby spinach.  I topped it with some grated parmesan and couldn’t wait to dig in…

I puffy heart pasta!  And it was surprisingly filling due to the extra protein punch of the chickpeas.  Yum!

Then, it was off to bed only to be awakened by the dizziness in the early morning.  I felt badly because it was our 14th wedding anniversary and I wanted to make a nice dinner for the husband.  But, that didn’t work out.  We did get a special treat from my parents, though…

A gift basket filled with wonderful Italian-inspired treats.  Even though my stomach wasn’t quite up to it, I couldn’t help trying out one of the treats…

Who could resist that?!  Not me.  Dizzy or not!

So worth it :)  Thanks Mom and Dad!

Have a great day, everyone!!

Question of the Day:  Do you like amusement park rides that spin and twirl? Aaaaaahhhhh!

What Do I Do Now?

I’m feeling a bit of a letdown from the whole race scene.  I’ve been thinking to myself all day… now what?  It’s been a long time leading up to doing this race and I had so many emotions about it all.  But, I made it through and now, I can’t help thinking about what I can challenge myself with next!  Is this weird?  I’ve never been this tough with myself, so it’s a very strange feeling for me.  I embraced slackerdom with arms wide open in the past.  But, now I feel the need for challenge;  the need to spur myself on to see what else I could do.  Maybe it’s not too weird;  seems Carolina Girl was going through the exact same thing!  We both did our first 5K races this Saturday, so maybe it’s a first timer response!  I left her a comment that we are thrill-seeking adrenaline junkies now!  I agree with her that it is time for some new goals.  I think I have pushed one to the wayside while “trying a new way of eating”, but it looms in the back of my mind often…GOAL WEIGHT.  I have lots to tell you all about my experience with intuitive eating.  I know I haven’t mentioned much about it and honestly, I’m kinda saving it up for a big post.  But, along with intuitive eating, I need to find the right way to get myself to reach my goal weight like I initially intended.  So, my focus…my challenge for myself will be to get there.  Hopefully, soon :)

I was excited to get back to the gym today.  My body is a little sore, so I decided to take it easy.  I did a 30 minute stint on The Arc Trainer , but at a slower pace then I normally do.  Still worked up a good sweat though!

This time I remembered to grab breakfast before I left…

I have to say that I have been spoiled by greek yogurt!  I bought this Stonyfield fat free yogurt that was on sale at the supermarket to try out and I did not care for it at all.  The texture was all wrong, but I think it’s because I have become accustomed to the thickness and creaminess of greek yogurt.  It’s much more filling than regular yogurt, too!

After errand running and blogging, I finally got around to lunch.  I went with a Health is Wealth Chicken Free Patty on an Ezekiel Sesame Hamburger Bun (my new fave!) topped with my new go-to condiment – Trader Joe’s Roasted Red Pepper and Artichoke Tapenade.  It tastes good on everything!  I’m thinking of using it as a pizza topping next!  Alongside, I had a beautiful red pear…

I felt a little munchie this afternoon, but not exactly hungry.  The Cheez-Its were calling, so I put a small amount in a bowl along with a string cheese for snacking…

And I kept it at that.  Mainly because I had a reminder staring at me…

I decided to hang my bib number from the race in my pantry (right next to the deadly Cheez-Its) to remind me of what I can do if I put my mind to it…

Gotta take inspiration to conquer munchies wherever you can get it!!!

I had a nice, healthy dinner planned – Apricot Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin, roasted butternut squash and something new… kale chips!

I have been seeing kale chips all over the blogworld for a long time, but was always hesitant to try them.  Something about “crunchy leaves” did not appeal to me.  But, kale was dirt cheap at the produce store (1.50 for 2 huge bunches), so I thought I would give it a try.  They were…interesting.  Crunchy, but melt in your mouth and salty like a chip.  I wasn’t completely sold, though.  I couldn’t get the ‘raked leaves’ thought out of my head!  The daughters weren’t sold either.  Big daughter even tried dipping them in ranch dressing and still ended up spitting it out!  Now, here’s the kicker.  THE HUSBAND came home a bit later due to meeting up with a friend from out of town.  I had saved him dinner and gave him a heaping pile of the kale chips on his plate.  I went about cleaning up and he called out to me to ask what they were.  I started laughing, knowing full well that he was going to hate these, but to my surprise , here’s how it went down…

The husband:  “These are great!  They taste like a potato chip!”

Me:  “Are you serious?”

The husband:  “Yeah, really!  I think they are really good!”

Me:  *moving closer to smell his breath*  “Are you drunk?” I knew this wasn’t a possibility since he doesn’t drink, but I was just checking :)

The husband:  “No, really!  I like them! I don’t like the butternut squash though.”

Me:  “Oh no, girls!!!!  Daddy has swine flu and is hallucinating with a high fever!!!!”

Who knew??!!!

I enjoyed most of my plate…

Maybe, I’ll give kale chips another try… :)

I ended the night with some dark chocolate…

Good stuff!

ONE GOOD THING:  I was able to control the munchies this afternoon.  The box of Cheez-Its is still intact – lol!!!

Question of the Day?  Have you ever tried kale chips?

Just Another Sunday

I have to start off this post saying THANK YOU to all for your encouraging and congratulatory comments!  I am so humbled by it and I appreciate it so much.  It makes me so glad to think that I have inspired some of you to push outside of your comfort zone, set your fears aside and accomplish things you never thought you could.  It’s so cliche, but seriously, if I can do it, you can, too!  Don’t let fears hold you back.  You can lose weight, you can keep it off, you can make healthy choices, you can make time to exercise, you can run, you can bike, you can..you can.. you can!  Don’t doubt it.  It’s all out there waiting for you :) 

Okay, Tony Robbins pep talk over;  let’s get to the food!

After lazing around the rest of Saturday, it was a little hard to get moving on Sunday.  We had to be at church by 9:30 for a special service involving little daughter’s religion class, so I was rushed for time.  I ended up not eating breakfast before we left and forgot to grab a bar or something portable, too!  The race fried my brain!

Thankfully, the husband keeps a nut stash in his car for snacking during his travels, so I grabbed a handful and munched after church…

We ran some errands as a family which is always fun not and headed home for some much needed lunching.  I was in a salty mood (in flavor not attitude!), so I made up a proscuitto, asiago and pesto panini using 2 slices proscuitto, 1 slice asiago cheese, 1 tsp. pesto and a handful of baby spinach on whole wheat pane bread.  I pressed it in the George Forman grill til it got warm and melty.  Sweet goes great with salty, so a Fuji apple was the perfect side…

A little later, I worked on some homework with the daughters.  I made us a study snack of Celestial Seasons Sugar Cookie Tea and some homemade granola bar pieces…

Tofu was on my dinner menu (not the husband or daughters of course!) since I had some Nasoya Firm Lite Tofu in the fridge that needed to get used up.  I decided to dice it up and bake it this time instead of baking in slices like I have done in the past.  I seasoned it with some garlic powder, onion powder, s+p, a few dashes of Frank’s Hot Sauce and a tbsp. of honey bbq sauce.  I baked it, on a foil-lined cookie sheet, with some sweet potato wedges and served it with green beans sauteed in evoo and garlic.  This was the best dinner…

And ketchup on sweet potatoes = fab:)

So, that’s my regular old just another day Sunday!  Quite anti-climatic after Saturday!  But, it’s just the way I like it :)

ONE GOOD THING:  My hip is not as sore as I thought it might be after the race.  I think the pre and post ibuprofen really worked!

Question of the Day:  What is one thing that you would like to do, but have doubts that are holding you back?

What A Race! 5K Recap

I could not have picked a worse day for my first 5K race!  I woke up to teeming rain and 40 degrees.  I pouted around and watched the weather channel for a few minutes.  The reality hit that it was not going to be the glorious sunshiny day I had envisioned, but I wasn’t going to let the rain stop me from doing this today!

I made sure to get up in enough time to eat a “power breakfast” of banana and PB2…

Then, took some pre-race “meds”…

We piled in the car and headed off to the race.  In this glorious weather…

It didn’t take long for us to get to the firehouse where the race was beginning.  This race was to benefit First Responders (police, fire and ambulance) and one of the reasons I chose this race is that the course included the street where my in-laws live!  The husband and daughters planned on camping out on their lawn to watch me run by!  My parents also were planning to be waiting at the finish line, so I had a full house to cheer me on!

When we arrived at the firehouse, I checked in and got my bib number…

There was a flurry of activity in the firehouse.  You could feel the energy of everyone waiting to race.  I ended up seeing cousins of a friend of mine there!  They have done this race before and gave me a few pointers.  It was nice to see familiar faces!

We were called to the starting line which was about a block away and we all lined up…

 

The gun sounded and we were off…

I fiddled with my music for a second to put it on and off I went.  I was so nervous.  My heart was beating so fast;  my legs were wobbly and my breathing was labored from the start.  The rain was coming down, my feet were soaking wet within minutes and made my feet feel like bricks.

As I was trying to calm myself down,  I saw the pack of racers getting further and further away from me.   It was almost like I was in slow motion.   I really was DEAD LAST.  It was my biggest fear, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get a hold of myself.  About a half mile into it, I started to cry.  I felt so weak and I was sure that I would not be able to finish this race.  I beat myself up for even trying this and couldn’t help feeling foolish for thinking I could run this race.  I kept running (okay, jogging!) while all this noise was going on in my head because even though I wasn’t sure I would be able to finish the race, I didn’t want to flat-out quit either!  So, I kept going while I was debating with myself the whole time.  It was a crazy mental game going on in my head!

Then, I realized that I was totally alone.  There was not a runner in site;  they had all far surpassed any possibility for me to catch up.  I would have had to sprout wings at this point!  Finally, at about 1.5 miles in, I was able to regain some composure and get myself into a regular breathing pattern.  That helped with my strength a little and at that point, I told myself that I CAN DO THIS!  I knew if I didn’t get distracted, I could finish running this race.  Walking was not an option for me;  I wanted to run this race and I refused to walk any of it or I knew I would be really disappointed in myself.  So, I tried my best to stay focused and breathe, breathe, breathe.

There were lots of volunteers to cheer me along the way and thankfully, direct me where to go since there was no one ahead of me to follow!  There were Boy Scouts along the side offering water/lemonade and were so excited to hand one off to me.  I made sure to grab one even though I couldn’t drink and run at the same time –LOL!

When I got to the 2.5 mile mark, I saw my family ( Husband, daughters, Mom, Dad, MIL and FIL) waiting on the side to cheer for me!  The funny (and completely lame) part was that the police from the First Responders Run came by to “check on me”!!  I guess they were wondering where the heck I was, so they had to check (so did the bike police) and ending up following me in for the rest of the race…

You can imagine how embarrassed I was to have a police escort for my race!  This may require years of therapy to get over :|

Here’s another one of me, my police escort and my family (my Dad is on the right and actually ran a few blocks next to me!)…

When I rounded the corner for the final stretch, my friend’s cousin came back to meet me.  He started jogging next to me, saying “C’mon Marisa…you can do it…you only have 100 yards left… you can do it… you’re going to finish… you’re almost there…look at the clock…you’re almost there…”

And I finally crossed the finish line!  I friggin’ didn’t quit and I did it! I ran the whole thing without stopping.  Whew!  My time was 41:46 and, although sucky in the race world, it really surprised me.  I felt like I was out there for hours!  Especially with the police escort and all… ;P

The finish line was cool;  random people hugging and congratulating me and my family hugging and cheering.  It made me feel really special and I’m so thankful that they all came out in the bad weather to support me.

We headed back into the firehouse for the awards.  It was fun to cheer for the other runners and congratulate them on their times.  Now, the funniest part of the whole thing (besides the police escort)… I got an award for 2nd place in my age group!  ROTFLMAO!  It “pays” to be old!

All in all, I was so glad that I did the race.  It was a good example for me and to reinforce in myself that I am capable of a lot more than I think I am.  I have never been competitive, never been a sports player, I have never been in shape and up until 10 months ago, have never ran.  It’s a great feeling to push yourself to do something and then do it.  It made me realize that the only thing stopping me from accomplishing something is ME.  Now, I know that I can do anything I set my mind to.  It’s a good feeling and I came out of the race feeling…knowing…that I will get to goal and keep this weight off for a lifetime :)

ONE GOOD THING:  I was able to set a good example for my daughters today.  I pushed myself outside of my comfort zone.  I ventured to do something I never thought I could do.  And no matter how badly I wanted to quit, I stuck with it and made it to the end.

Thanks so much to all of YOU for your wonderful comments and support!  YOU all helped me get through the race, too!

5K Eve

Well, it’s almost time!  I’m starting to feel a little less nervous and more excited!  I drove through the course today to familiarize myself with it, so I feel a little better about where to go and what the run will look like.    I have to say that I’m a tad bit disappointed with the weather.  We are having a Nor’easter – rain, cold, wind.  Major yuckiness.  Not pleasant for running, but what’s a girl to do?  Drop out?  No way!  I’m doing it…no matter how nasty it gets!  How’s that for motivation?!  *okay, that was a total “fake it til you make it” move, but it sure sounded good, didn’t it?*  ;)

My stomach was a bit off this morning and I got a late start on breakfast.  I opted for a Chobani yogurt with lowfat granola and it was perfect…

I had some errands to conquer, then drove my course.  I got a Pumpkin Spice Latte to keep me company (didn’t have my camera on me – bad blogger, so I took my pic when I got home!)…

Lunch was ridiculously late by the time I got home from my gallivanting.  I whipped up a Dr. Praeger’s California Veggie Burger, topped it with some arugula and Roasted Red Pepper and Artichoke Tapenade and put it on an Ezekiel Sesame Hamburger Bun.  I definitely needed some Sea Salt and Pepper Rice Chips for crunch on the side…

The daughters had friends over for the afternoon and I helped them put together a Halloween Gingerbread House, then left the room before the icing licking got out of hand!

It was pizza night for the husband and daughters, but I opted to eat from the freezer.  I heated up some Vegetable Lasagna along with green beans with evoo, garlic and topped with parmesan…

Who needs pizza ;)

Okay, the time is near.  Thank you all for your awesome comments!  One in particular that cracked me up was from Anonymous Paula telling me to enjoy myself and not worry so much cuz it’s not the Olympics!!  LOL!!!  True that!  But, in a way, it is my own personal version of the Olympics.  I have never done anything like this in my life.  I have never been athletic, never been in shape, never ran and heck, until about 2 years ago, never even like walking much!  So, I’ve come a  long way.  I’ve worked hard these past 2 years to lose 70 lbs., start and continue with a regular exercise program and slowly, but surely, work my way into running.  It’s been a struggle, but the results have been rewarding.  Although it’s scary, I’m looking forward to this race tomorrow.  No matter what the outcome may be, I can feel good about pushing myself to do something that I never thought I could.

Better get some rest.  Big day tomorrow.  Deep breath…

In The Soup

Brrrr…such a cold and dreary day!  I was in the mood for a warm and cozy breakfast, but I needed to be fasting for bloodwork , so I had to settle for yogurt in the car afterward.  I did blast the heat in the car to fulfill the “warm” part :)

I had to ditch the gym again this morning.  I had to prepare for my lunch guests and I had no idea what I was serving!  I headed off to Fresh Market and Trader Joe’s and wandered around hoping for some inspiration.  My menu finally came together in my mind and along the way, I found this cool soap in Trader Joe’s that smelled amazing, so I had to get it…

Random, I know! 

I made it home with my loot and got to work preparing lunch for my guests – The Grandparents- all 5 of them!  They had a special morning at little daughter’s school and I invited them to lunch afterward.  The (last minute) menu for The Grandparents Lunch …

Proscuitto, fresh mozzarella and arugula on French Demi bread spread with pesto…

Same sandwich, but on whole wheat pane…

Fruit salad…

These awesome chips…

and some Trader Joe’s Organic Creamy Tomato Soup which was the hit of lunch!

Getting ready…

They all arrived and we got right down to eating.  I enjoyed listening to them talking while I dug into my lunch…

and a few more handfuls of those addictive chips!

I did snack a little more this afternoon.  Nothing major to speak of, mainly bites, licks and tastes.  I knew it wasn’t  hunger.  It was definitely my nervousness about the race getting to me.  I made the mistake of looking at the race results from last year’s race and the last run time was 37 minutes.  Holy guacamole.  I haven’t run 3.1 miles in 37 minutes.  Ever.  My last treadmill run was 46 minutes!  UGH!  I know I shouldn’t care, but how embarassing to have everyone waiting for you at the finish line?!  Crawl under a rock…

Anywho…

Dinner was relaxed.  The husband and daughters had breakfast for dinner and I opted for more soup!  I had some leftover mashed potatoes in the fridge, so I added some chicken broth to it, heated it all together and topped it with 1 oz. Cabot’s 75% Reduced Fat Cheddar, green onions and a slice of center cut bacon.  Viola!  Baked Potato Soup…

I felt the need for green.  A small side salad with light ranch did the trick…

I was about to break into some chocolate, but decided against it.  Instead, I went to my room, turned on the TV and watched the weather, willing it to stop raining for Saturday :(

ONE GOOD THING:  I feel so blessed that my daughters have both sets of grandparents and a great grandmom !

And now, for the winners of the free Silk Heart Health coupon…

Andrea@WellnessNotes

Kristen J

bostonred (Sue)

Joanna Sutter (Fitness & Spice)

Please email me your addresses (trimthefatmarisa@gmail.com) and I’ll get your coupon right out to you!

Have a great day everyone!  I’ll see you later tonight for another post.  Please come back  - I may need some talking down off the ledge :-0