What's for Lunch?

I've been needing a change for my lunches.

So, for the first time in months, I purchased a frozen entree. It's been in my freezer over a week, so I decided to go ahead and eat it for lunch today.  GAG.

When I first began my weight loss attempts, frozen entrees were a staple in my house.  I would buy 10 at a time....perfect for 2 weeks of work lunches.  Smart Ones were my favorite, but there were a couple of  Lean Cuisines I enjoyed as well.   I probably ate them for about a year.  At some point, many months ago, I decided to quit eating them. 

1. I was sick of them.  You eat something daily for a year....you get pretty sick of it.
2. I wanted to eliminate the sodium...most of them have crazy amounts of sodium...and I retain water better than anyone on the planet.
3. I wanted to begin eating fewer processed foods (never mind my daily chip intake....but every bit helps, right?!)

For a while, I traded the frozen entrees for salads.  I would make the salads at night.  I let juices from tomatoes and banana peppers serve as my dressing (I'm not a HUGE salad dressing person anyway).

I also would prep food on Sunday afternoon.  I would cook several chicken breasts and use them for salads during the week.  I would also cook pasta & veggies, add in chicken and have fresh meals for my lunches.

I did all of this for a while.

Then at some point, I traded those things for peanut butter & jelly sandwiches.  EVERY DAY.  Then I decided to share some days with tuna sandwiches.....but again, the sodium in canned tuna is crazy high and I found I was retaining enormous amounts of water.  So I went back to PB&J daily.

Since I'm now working from home, you would think that it would be easy to change up my lunches, but I'm basically still eating sandwiches every day....just almond butter instead of peanut butter!

FYI - LOVE almond butter....and as a bonus, it's got a lot less saturated fat than peanut butter. We all know almonds are a healthier option than peanuts, so it makes sense that almond butter would be better for you.  My 3 year old loves it as well.  Ingredients:  Almonds. Period.  Can't beat that, right?!

I'm thinking about going back to salads. I want to eat "cleaner".  I think I felt better when I ate less processed, although I know I'll never completely eliminate processed foods.  I wish I was that committed!

All of this to say....I'm thankful for the frozen entree.  It served its purpose in my life at one time, and I know it has helped a lot of people lose weight; however, after choking down my lunch today and throwing away the "meat" that was in it,  I realized why I quit eating them and have committed to saying good-bye to them again.  :)

If anyone has any great lunch ideas, feel free to share! 

If you eat salads, what protein do you use?  Do you cook it once for the entire week for ease?

Another Weekend "Off"

It's looking like it's going to be another weekend free from hard workouts.

My husband is out of town, and the gym has very limited daycare on Saturday and none on Sunday.  I'm thinking maybe a long walk later with the stroller; however, I'm due for some strength training.  Maybe I'll work my upper body with pushups, weights and some abs.  Either way, I'm determined to do SOMETHING today.

Since I won't be running, I am going to try to be pretty mindful of what I put in my body.  They say it's 80% food, 20% working out.....sure do wish it was the other way around!!!!

Oh, I DO plan to get new running shoes today, so that's exciting.  I've been getting shin splits the last couple of weeks....and rumor has it, the reason is because I need new shoes.  Hope they work!

Hope you all have a heatlhy and fun weekend!

It's going to be pretty uneventful here!



Rain Rain Go Away!

I woke up at 4:30am to a thunderstorm.  Ugh...not again!

When my alarm went off at 5:30, it didn't sound like it was raining anymore.  Yay!

And when I actually got my hiney out of bed at 6:00am, it was almost clearing.  Even better!

So I put my running shoes on and hit the pavement.

I hoped to run 6+ miles.

Until I rounded a corner and saw this:

At this point, I look at my GPS and I was only at 3.4 miles.

So, my not-so-normal brain thought

"Hmmmm....well, I've never ran in the rain before.  It could be fun"

Then it began lightening.  Big lightening.  Lots of big lightening.

I decided I'd go ahead and head home.

I ended at 4.06 miles and about 5 minutes before the rain.

Guess I'll have to run in the rain another day!



No More Excuses

Mother Nature ruined my planned outdoor run this morning.

When my alarm went off, I could see the lightening thru my windows and knew my plans were shot.  So I was immediately like "well, there's that idea.  Guess I get to sleep". 

Then I remembered that I pay for a gym membership.  A gym that has plenty of indoor equipment that works come rain or shine... and I knew I had to get my rear out of the bed and go to Plan B.

People will always be able to come up with excuses for not working out, when in reality, they just don't want it bad enough.  Even if you don't have a gym membership, you have legs....legs capable of jumping jacks, squats and lunges.  Arms capable of pushups and tricep dips.  There are plenty of things we can do inside the privacy of our own home....for free!

I want it.  I'm determined to get it.  So I sucked it up and did it.

And you know what?  I am SO GLAD I DID.  I had a great workout.  Probably a better one that I would have had if I'd gotten to do my original plan.  I killed the incline on the treadmill.  I must have climbed Mt. Everest. 60 minutes, 5.4 miles of hills....hills that I tend to avoid when I run outside!

So it just all goes back to that saying.....I've never once regretted a workout I've completed, but I sure regret the ones I haven't done.

Before you decide to skip your workout, is your excuse really a valid one?  Search deep....cause usually, you'll find it's not.

Long Weekend = Little Exercise

Hope everyone was more dedicated to working out than I was this weekend!

I skipped Saturday (spent 8 hours in the car instead, so a semi-valid excuse, right?!).

I ran a little over 5 miles Sunday morning before church (yay).

I skipped Monday.  This was an unplanned skip.  I thought I might make it to the gym at some point, but between trying to score $4 tank tops at Old Navy and napping....I just didn't make it!

The good part is I wasn't absolutely terrible in the food category.  I wasn't great either.  I'm sure the scale will stay exactly the same this week.....as it has for the past 2 months. 

I can't complain.

I am the only one to blame!

13 in 2013

Yes, that's right.

I'm putting it in writing now.

I'm going to run a half marathon (13.1 miles) on February 24, 2013.

I'm SO excited.

And nervous already!

13 miles is just really far!

I have 3 others lined up to run with me.  We're hoping to form a team (which requires at least 5 people), so we need to recruit at least one more.  Any takers???

I've been toying with the idea, and yesterday I just decided to suck it up and commit. We can do anything we set our minds to.  Well, almost anything.  I never could grasp Chemistry.

There's something special about running 13 miles in 2013.

The race will be 2 days before my 33rd birthday (ok, not 13th, but still a lot of 3's)

The race will also be on the 13th anniversary of my first date with Jason.

I mean, basically, the universe it telling begging me to do it!

Ice Ice Baby....

I bet the title of this post definitely got my mom to read! Thanks by the way...for all those years of picking me up from school and trying to humiliate me while you jammed to something like Vanilla Ice.  Appreciate it.  :)

I used to get shin splints nearly every time I ran, whether it was a treadmill run or an outside run. I haven't had them in a long time.  Either they became less and less as I lost weight or just because I got used to running.  I assume it's probably a combination of the two.

I ran 6 miles this morning and stretched pretty good afterwards, but within minutes of being home, my shins were already crying.

So I decided to ice.

I'm pretty certain most people don't ice for a mere 6 miles and would call me an amateur.

So be it!

I sat at my desk, feet propped on a dining room chair, with my wireless keyboard in my lap and worked with ice on my legs.  It felt SO good!  I'm really really hopeful it will mean they won't be as sore tomorrow!

And if you haven't noticed, I have a 3 year old; therefore, I have age-appropriate ice packs.  Once these were no longer doing the job, I did get baggies of actual ice.

Good thing I didn't plan on running tomorrow.  It's BodyAttack day!  I've only been once, but it was really good.  It's a sports-influenced cardio class.  It was really high impact...move, move move...which is right up my ally.  Hopefully by Friday, when I plan to run again, my shins will be healed.

If anyone has any tried and true tips for either preventing shin splints or curing them, feel free to share!  I'd love to hear!