Busy Bee

Yay! The weekend has arrived! Wow, this week has flown by and as you know I've been M.I.A. Sorry! I finished up training on Tuesday afternoon and I am back to working a real schedule and as you know I've been doing more cardio, trying to burn off as many calories as possible so I can win the weight loss competition.

I'm just going to do a quick summary of what I have had to eat these past few days along with what I've been doing to burn off those calories!

Breakfast

Tuesday: PlantFusion protein powder, banana, celery, romaine lettuce, water and mint smoothie.
Wednesday: Smoothie of strawberries, orange, spinach, coconut water, mint and protein powder.
Thursday: Pineapple, mango, cucumber, water, and mint with a scoop of PlantFusion protein powder.
Friday: Strawberry, mango, spinach, mint, water, and PlantFusion protein powder smoothie.

Lunch

Cauliflower, broccoli, ground chicken, Fountain of Heath Roasted Garlic Hummus and Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb seasoning. I have also made this with rice in it but left it out for a low-carb option.

Snacks

Tuesday: NutThins, cheese, with roasted garlic hummus.
Wednesday: Apple and cheese.
Thursday: Rice cake covered in Justin's Honey Peanut Butter with a banana.
Friday: Apple with Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter.

Dinner

Tuesday: Veggie burger with a Thousand Island and red onion dressing, topped with mozzarella cheese and pineapple, served on a bed of spinach. Delicious!
Wednesday: Egg white omelet topped with red onions, mushrooms, bell pepper, and cheddar cheese.
Thursday: Cumin rubbed chicken breast served with a cucumber relish (cucumber, tomato, onion, garlic, lemon peel, and lemon juice), topped with a greek honey yogurt dressing served on a bed of spinach. Yum!
Friday: Honey BBQ salmon served with a blueberry-nectarine salsa (blueberries, nectarine, and oven roasted pecans). Holy Yum!! This was soooo good!

Activities
Tuesday: I had intended to go to spin class but on my way home I stopped by a friends house to see if she wanted to join me and we ended up talking right through it. Oh well, time with her is more important.

Wednesday:  I completed my run in the morning with an average pace of 10:41. After work I dashed off to spin class. I was, once again, the only person in the class. But that's ok with me. The instructor is super nice and she actually remembered my name, which really surprised me.

Thursday: Another morning run? Sure, why not?! I've been good about getting up and getting it done. But I have noticed that when I work out in the morning, I feel more hungry throughout the day. My run on Thursday had an average pace of 10:30.

My GPS got funky and all of a sudden decided that I could run like Dash from the Incredibles:

Friday: Rest Day!! I did go for a little walk with the pup to warm up my muscles so I could do some stretching but that was it.

Article
Although I have been doing my runs in the morning, they seem harder and I'm more willing to give in to walking. I was wondering what the difference was and like magic I ran across an article from Runners World. Here are a few of the tips they suggested that I'm going to have to try:

Give your blood sugar levels a little pick-me-up prior to running by eating half a banana, 6-8 ounces of juice or a toast and jam 15-20 minutes prior to your run.  Your body will tell you what it can handle and what it prefers.  It may mean waking up a few minutes earlier, but it will pay off because your mind will wake up and you will have plenty of energy to get you through your run. 

Walk for at least 5 minutes to properly warm your body up before you run.  It takes a little longer to warm up in the morning so start with an easy walking pace and gradually increase it to a brisk walking pace.  Walking for five minutes will make all the difference in allowing your body to more efficiently prepare for the transition to running. 

After the five minute walking warm up, run easy for 5-10 minutes.  Your body will reward you with a strong performance if you gradually bring it up to speed.  Like warming up a car in the winter, your body needs time to wake up, warm up and run!  You won't believe the difference!  If that doesn't help, alternate running for a minute or two and power walking for a minute before you hit your running tempo.  Run-walking works wonders in transitioning to running, especially in the morning.

It may mean waking up earlier (ugh!) but if it will improve my performance I'm game.

Question: Do you run in the morning? What are some things you do before you hit the pavement? Share with me in the comments below!

Weekend Highlights and Tara Ties the Knot

Happy Monday to all of you! I had a pretty busy weekend and didn't have time to post anything so I'm just going to give y'all some highlights.

On my way home from work on Friday, I stopped to get the mail from my mail box and found my Healthy Surprise package in it! Yay!

Check out all the goodies that were in it:

I plan on trying these snacks over the next few weeks, so stay tuned to get my thoughts/opinions.

Saturday was a busy day! A lot to do and very little time. I did a quick 4 mile run in the morning. After my second mile, I really needed some water but I didn't have any so it was a bit of a struggle. I really need to be better at carrying some with me but I hate running with stuff in my hands.

I cleaned up from my run and went to the nail salon to get a mani/pedi. While I was getting my pedicure, I read the January issue of Glamour that featured Anne Hathaway.

This part of the interview with Anne really stuck out to me:

Eve Ensler: This is Glamour’s Self-Expression Issue. When did you feel like you began to express yourself in a way that was authentic to you?
Anne Hathaway: I had that moment after I finished making Rachel Getting Married. I realized that the life I’d been living [was not authentic] and that I had to make a change. Then I found out that my trust had been betrayed quite massively. So for me, that call came at the end of 2007. Who was I going to be? There’s no magic bullet; there’s no pill that you take that makes everything great and makes you happy all the time. I’m letting go of those expectations, and that’s opening me up to moments of transcendent bliss. But I still feel the stress over “Am I thin enough? Am I too thin? Is my body the right shape?”
Eve Ensler: And is that an everyday obsession?
Anne Hathaway: If I’m honest, yes. There’s an obsessive quality to it that I thought I would’ve grown out of by now. It’s an ongoing source of shame for me.

It struck a cord with me because you don't think of stars having body image issues. I mean, to me, she's Anne freakin' Hathaway. She is beautiful! But then you have to turn the table on yourself. How many times does someone say "you're beautiful" yet you pick yourself apart to pieces? It happens more often than not, right? What we need to remember (and I'm speaking we when I should say I) is that each of us are individuals. And although it is ok to aspire to be better, be very careful about comparing yourself to someone. Be the best YOU that you can be.

..moving on..

My nails were finished and I headed home to get ready.



..shortly after I was out the door all ready to celebrate my friend's wedding day! (Seatbelt added for saftey, not for fashion.)

They had a photo booth at the reception so the bride (who I have known since I was basically born) and I stepped in for a few snaps. The first photo we were not ready for, hence the funny look. The center picture is with my old babysitter, Nanci. And then a few more of my old time BFF. I love her like she was my sister. I only wish we had remained a lot closer over the years.

It was a fabulous wedding filled with reminiscing of old times, making new memories, and celebrating the start of a new chapter. Congrats Tara and Craig! May your life be filled with more love than you know what to do with, the pee-your-pants kind of laughter, and the friendship that will grow and last a lifetime.

Sunday started out with spur of the moment trip to Ohio to surprise some old friends, followed by grocery shopping, lunch making, and some house cleaning.

I was craving some buffalo wings but didn't want the added calories of the breading. So I cooked up some chicken tenders and tossed them in some buffalo sauce. I served it with some Alexia Sweet Potato Fries and a little bit of ranch to dip them in. It was a good decision but not sure how many calories were saved.

Averages and Run Summary

I use BodyMedia to track my activities, calories burned, sleep, etc. Here is an average of my past week compared to my goals.

And MapMyRun sent me my workout summary:



Questions: What did you do this weekend?

                  Do you carry water with you when you run? If so, what do you use? A simple water bottle or something like a fuel belt? I need some ideas!

Leave your comments below. :)

Yummy Gluten Free Brownies

I had a few people ask me for the brownie recipie I made a couple of nights ago. I found the recipe on Pinterest and only made minor adjustments. I just used Gluten Free flour instead of regular and didn't add nuts.

Yummy Gluten Free Brownies

• 1/4 cup Unsweetend Applesauce
• 1 medium Banana, mashed (about 4.5 ounces)
• 3/4 cup Sugar
• 1 overflowing tsp. Vanilla Extract
• 1/4 cup Cocoa Powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup Zucchini, grated
• 1 cup All-Pourpose Gluten Free Flour

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Spray pan with non-stick cooking spray. Take a tablespoon of the GF flour and cover the pan. I had to use a brush to get the flour to spread.

3. In a large bowl, combine the banana and sugar. Beat until it is all combine and there are little to no banana chunks left.

4. Add sugar and mix.

5. Add vanilla and cocoa powder to mix. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl to get all the dry ingredients mixed with the wet.

6. Add baking soda, salt, and zucchini and mis well. 

7. Add flour and mix until smooth.

8. Pour batter into pan and bake for 20 minutes. (If they're too moist, leave in for 5 minute incriments until it reaches your desired consistency.)

9. Take out of oven and cut into 10 pieces. Each piece will give you approximately 123 calories, 29g  carbs, less than 1g fat, 2g protein, 2g fiber.

The brownies were delicious while they were still warm! You could serve this with some fro-yo or eat it on its own. Just be sure not to eat the whole pan in one sitting! Enjoy!



Gluten Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Cupcakes

I was going through my e-mails on Thursday and stumbled upon a bunch of recipes for cupcakes. They all looked so delicious and I saved [almost] all of them to my Plan to Eat account. After spending all that time looking at the deliciousness, I decided I really wanted cupcakes. Instead of using one of the recipes I found, I kind of made up my own - all because I wanted to fill them. So, after a discussion with my friend Heather, I decided I would make Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana cupcakes.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Cupcakes

Cupcake

1/2 cup butter

3 eggs

2 1/2 cups gluten free all-purpose flour 

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup peanut butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup milk

Makes 22-26

- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and allow butter and eggs to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. 

- In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

- In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add peanut butter; beat until combined. Gradually add brown sugar and granulated sugar, about 1/4 cup at a time, beating on medium speed until combined. Scrape sides of bowl; beat for 2 minutes more or until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Alternate adding flour mixture and milk to the butter mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined.

- Fill prepared muffin cups about two-thirds full. 

- Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in muffin cups on wire racks for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from muffin cups. Cool completely on wire racks.

- Use an apple corer or a cupcake corer to remove the centers.

Filling

3/4 cup confectioners' sugar 

1/4 cup flour 

1/2 cup milk  

5 tablespoons butter 

2 ripe but firm bananas, mashed 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

2 Tablespoons Lemon juice  

- Combine confectioners' sugar, flour, and milk in a saucepan; cook, stirring, until smooth. Continue cooking until mixture thickens; transfer to mixing bowl, cover, and chill (approx. 5 minutes).

- Beat butter and bananas into the chilled mixture

- Place a plastic bag and fold the seal around a cup to make transferring the filling easier. 

- Cut the corner of the bag and fill the cupcakes.

Frosting

1 8 ounce package cream cheese

4 ounces milk chocolate, melted 

2 teaspoons vanilla 

6 cups powdered sugar  

Milk (if needed)

- Mix cream cheese until smooth. Add vanilla and mix. Add one up of powdered sugar at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add melted milk chocolate and mix well. Add a teaspoon of milk at a time to thin it if needed.

- Place icing in a piping bag or a plastic bag and frost cupcakes.

(I'm still working on my frosting technique.) 

I actually made two batches of these cupcakes. I made a regular batch on Thursday night, ate one and took the rest to work to share! I then made the gluten free cupcakes on Saturday night for my friend Kelly. I ate one of those too.. yeah, they're not healthy but they were delicious! 

Enjoy!!

Flash Floods and Fajitas

Saturday was my first "long" run. Although it wasn't exactly long, it was the first run that wasn't planned as a run/walk. I decided that I was going to see if I could do the full 3 miles without walking any significant amount.

Erika and I met at Kreager Park to do our run. The initial plan was to do it together but as I warmed up I was picking up my pace and she was falling behind. I hate leaving people when we planned to do something together but I needed to see how I could perform over the three miles. I walked a tad bit to see which way I was supposed to go because I hadn't run at that park before.

Additionally, our run didn't go exactly to plan due to the huge storm we had on Friday night. The storm caused a flash flood warning as some places received 5-7 inches of rain in an hour. This caused part of our planned course to go under water. So we had a few spots that we did an out and back so our tennis shoes didn't get soaked.





Overall, I was really pleased with the run. My average pace was literally just under 11minutes/mile. I am hopeful that as I continue to train and put in my time/miles that I will see a faster pace.

After our run, we headed to Bob Evans for some well deserved breakfast. As always, our time was filled with many bizarre conversations and laughs. I headed home soon after to clean up and take a nap.

After my nap, I decided to get my meal planning on. I logged onto my Plan to Eat account and planned out my meals for the week and dinner that night. I had been wanting to try this Fajita-Ranch Chicken Wraps I had found earlier in the week and couldn't stop thinking about!



The recipe was super easy to make. The only change I made was to use a gluten free wrap instead of a flour tortilla... and I poured myself a glass of wine to have with my dinner. I usually don't have wine around but the bottle caught my eye while I was shopping and it paired well with the dinner. Doesn't it look delicious?!