Saucony - my new running companion!

I got my very first pair of running shoes!  I am so excited and cannot wait to get out and run in them.  The problem...I injured my feet wearing some awful cheap flip flops....so I can't even run in my new shoes.  Oh well, soon I will be able to and I'll have some awesome new shoes waiting for me.
here's a link to the ones I got.
Saucony ProGrid Ride 3

Today's meals

Breakfast: Banana and Coffee
Lunch: Whole wheat flat out wrap, topped with hummus, a tomato-basil veggie burger, fresh spinach
             * this was such a pretty sandwich, but I was famished....and ate it before I could take a picture.
Snack: cherries
Dinner: homemade black bean burger on a whole wheat bun, tomato, onions, and avocado....WOW, this was delicious! 
             
All the veggies in the pan; onions, portabello mushrooms, red, green, and yellow bell peppers.  I sauteed them up with some seasonings before I added the beans, oats, and bread crumbs.

the burgers in the pan, yummy!

Here is what I put in the bun with the black bean burgers...........

All ready to eat!!!

Sorry for the blurry shot, but I had to share.......

These "burgers" are extremely filling, even my meat loving husband enjoys them! 

Couch to 5k: week 2 day 1

Today was day 1 of week 2.  I walk/jogged for 30 minutes and went 1.812 miles.  That actually wears me out pretty good.  I'd like to do twice that distance in near half the time, seems impossible right now but I will keep pushing forward.

July 14, 2010

I have either been having a banana and coffee for breakfast, or oatmeal and coffee.  I am SO not a breakfast eater, and I know I should be.  So I am doing my best and at least forcing myself to eat something along with my coffee.  Today it was a banana.  For lunch today I ate a tomato sandwich on whole what bread with pepper jack cheese, and another banana.  Then I snacked on some cherries...

....and dinner.... sweet potato, mushrooms and onions cooked in a small amount of olive oil and a salad of cucumbers, tomatoes, garbonzo beans, and feta.

Yogurt is not one of my favorite foods, unless made into tzatziki sauce and served with falafels (delicious!).  I know it is good for me, plus I need the calcium and protein - so on my quest for a healthier me...I'm eating it!  These tiny 4 oz servings of Greek yogurt have 10 grams of protein!  I am excited about that, what a great amount of protein in such a small container.  It actually tasted pretty good after the first few bites.  Like I said, I'm not a fan of yogurt....so I had to get past that "flavor".  It wasn't too bad, I actually kind of liked it by the last bite.  I'm happy to report it did not upset my stomach the way Activia does.

I need to decide what day will be my weigh in day, I only do it once a week...otherwise it becomes an obsession....and the scale does NOT define who I am!  So, we'll see...maybe Monday or Tuesday.

July 8, 2010

Breakfast was nothing special, same as yesterday - coffee and banana.  I need to add in some oatmeal and yogurt to make it more of a meal.  Its hard to eat in the morning.  For lunch I made a sandwhich wrap with a Flatout, and it was delicious!!!   So much better than the "snack" I had yesterday.  I filled the flatout with garlic hummus, lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, onion, garlic feta and drizzled with a tiny amount of the Paula Deen salad dressing.  It was delicious, the only thing that could've made it better would've been an avocado. 

I took a short bike ride, approximately .75 miles in 12 minutes.  I went out right in the middle of the day and it was so very hot.  I couldn't make it far, it was just too miserable for me.  I plan to do some time on the treadmill later this evening.
A few hours after lunch I was starving, after all I've only had a banana, coffee, the wrap and a pickle.  I knew at dinner there was no way I could get in the additional 800 or 900 calories (minimum) more that I need today.  So I made a salad, with a deviled egg and pickle on the side.  I topped it with hummus, and the crackers are also topped with a small amount of hummus.

The crackers are Sesame Ry Krisp, and I am in love with these things!  It's my favorite way to eat hummus!

Well something went wrong with our AC and its burning hot in our house.  So I didn't want anything cooked for dinner.  I made a peanut butter and banana sandwich on whole wheat bread. 

It was so hot I had to eat one of these Edy's Fruit Bars.  They are delicious with only 80 calories and no fat.

July 7, 2010

I love visiting blogs that show pictures of what the blogger ate that day, and that's what I envision doing here.  I'm not sure I'll blog every single meal every single day, but I hope to keep up with it a few times each week.

I know breakfast today wasn't the best, but at least I ate something.  I only had a banana, and coffee.  I adore coffee, and am not ready to give up my flavored cream.  I do not add any additional sugar to it though, and that's an improvement. 

I had class and wasn't able to eat anything until I returned home.  I made a yummy salad with a pickle and deviled egg on the side.  I did put mayo in the egg, but it was such a small amount...maybe 1/4 tsp.

I added this yummy Paula Deen salad dressing, 60 calories and 3.5 grams of fat. 

Not in the picture with the salad is the tablespoon of hummus I added to the top.

I'm not sure what's for dinner, but I did stop at the grocery store today for a little shopping.

After lunch snack was NOT impressive.  I decided to try a multigrain w/ flax FlatOut, I topped it with garlic feta and broiled.  I was going to have this along side my salad at lunch but saved it for a snack instead.  It was pretty boring, but had a lot to do with how I prepared it.  I can imagine it as a wrap with avocado, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, a Laughing Cow wedge of cheese...and who knows what else.  Today was the first time I had a FlatOut so I really didn't know what to do with it, I may even make a pizza out of one in the future.  They are just 100 calories, and the light version has even less.

My walk for the day....

Dinner was yummy, I had Quinoa with steamed spring vegetables, and mushrooms & onions that I sauteed in olive oil.  It probably looks like I'm missing the meat to most people, since I'm a vegetarian you won't be seeing that.  The quinoa has protein but I guess I could've added a veggie burger or beans.  I was satisfied with the meal, it was filling.  It can be difficult getting all the nutrition you need in a day.  Plus, I wasn't well prepared to blog about this today.  I didn't plan to do it until next week, but needed the motivation.

Couch to 5k: Week 1, Day 1

I am thinking of running a 5k in October.  I have never ran a race before, and I am not a runner.  I am in need of losing 85 pounds, and although I can walk 2 or so miles I'm not so sure about running 3.1 but hey...why not?!  I think its a great goal to set, and might just give me the motivation I need.  So, today I am starting the Couch to 5k program in preparation for the big day.  This should take me 9 weeks to complete, and there are 14 1/2 weeks until the race.  Of course it might take me a little longer than 9 weeks, but its a great start.  Wish me luck, I'm off to complete day 1.

Post run update:
Day 1 went great.  I'm posting a pic below of my treadmill screen.  The walk/run was a 5 min. walk to start with then I alternated 60 seconds jogging with 90 seconds walking for the next 20 minutes.  The schedule stops at 25 minutes, but I decided to walk an additional 5 minutes to cool down.

Bye, bye yummy pizza!

I have a bit of an obsession with this pizza, but today it must come to an end!
I am taking a break from my beloved white spinach pizza and exchanging it for healthier options.  So, this is the last box I'll be seeing for a while...

Exercise for Monday 7/5

Well today I went on a bike ride, something new for me. I haven't ridden a bike in years. This was my 3rd attempt at riding the bike, the first 2 attempts were very short. I think I made it about 1/4 mile the first day. I was so proud of my distance today, I made it all the way to the park near my home.

The first mile was tough, it was pretty much all uphill. Of course the hills felt like mountains to me, funny how in my car I never thought of the road as hilly. The second mile was all downhill, so it was easy and the wind felt fabulous!

That was it for today, of course my new activity has given me a boost of confidence and I'm considering running the Peachtree Road Race next year. Hmmmm....I think I better slow down...that first mile on the bike today almost killed me. However, I do have a year to prepare plus it might be nice to have a goal like that to work towards. Could there be a 10k in my future?

My First Post

I decided to start this blog to journal my adventure to a new me. After 19 years of marriage and 5 precious children, I have not only let myself go, I have lost who I am in general. Don't get me wrong I love my husband and my children, I have achieved my ultimate goal in life; becoming a wife and mother. The problem is that in all these years I have put ME aside. I don't mean I need "me time" - I need to find myself.

I was thinking ahead to when my kids leave home, what will there be? Obviously I will have my husband, but who am I, what do I want to do? I want hobbies and interests...none of which I have now. At one point I had hobbies, but I put them aside. I also want to be fit, not wait until all the children leave the nest. I want, and need, to be healthy now! Also, how do I want my children to remember me? I want them to remember that I spent lots of quality time with them, loved them dearly, put God and my family first, but I also want them to remember an active healthy mom. A mom that is a little more interesting than I am at this stage in my life. I have spent so long caring for everyone else, and continue to do that but I need to get myself healthy and take care of me for once.

This blog is supposed to journey my path to a healthier life. My ultimate goal and what comes to mind is "taking back me", there is a lot of meaning in those 3 little words. Eventually we will discuss them in more detail. For now, I hope to write about my efforts at exercise, post recipes and meal plans, feel free to follow me along this journey.