Random Grocery Store Encounter

So I’m at the grocery store minding my own business just scooting in to pick up a few things and I decide that I haven’t bought any greens in a while for my side dish “sauté's” that I love. So I pick up a bag of pre-cut and triple washed Euro Greens and decide to also pick up a bag of kale to try in a Green Monster this week:

So on I go and out of no where this couple approaches me and says, “Excuse me, but I just had to ask. We are from California and we make those Cut ‘n Clean bags and wondered how much you like them?” To a normal person, this would be no big deal, but to a health and food blogger like moi, I was so excited! (Normal?!) I started gushing about the greens saying how much I loved them and started eating them about 6 months ago having never even tried greens like that before in my life, how much I loved the convenience factor etc. She started asking me which ones I liked the best etc. and I was like, “Well I’m not as big of a fan of the kale as I am the other mixed ones, but that I couldn’t really tell the difference. I told her I just sauté them with peppers and onions and garlic etc. She then went on about how the Country Greens had a more “robust” flavour bla bla and I started thinking to myself, “Jeez now not only do I have to catch up on wines and coffee, but now I’ve got the whole ‘collard green’ world of connoisseurs to conquer too?!” I was laughing to myself at this point. She directed me to the back of the bag where there’s a website for 150 recipes using the greens.

It’s too bad she didn’t hand over some coupons or something, but I’m happy to explore 150 ways to incorporate collards into my life just the same :oD

Spoiled All The Way

Okay so some of you have already guessed (or knew) that my exciting news is that we sold our house! Yayyy!  I was keeping my mouth shut because there were conditions to be met before we could breathe easy (not to mention a less than pleasant experience with the whole thing) and we’re still waiting on the water test results, but I think we are okay to say it now :-)

And what’s even more exciting is that we bought another one!  We close on June 26th so it’s going to be a busy month to come with packing up the house, making a million phone calls and all the fun stuff we have to do on our end and oh yeah the trip to Toronto with the other fabulous blogger ladies for a long weekend, but it will all be worth it because our new home is everything we were looking for or could have dreamed to have :-)

I can’t tell you all how excited I am for June!  I don’t know which I’m excited more for – new house or Blog GTG in Toronto!!!

P.S.  In more fun news: this is my first post on my new HP Mini!  I am a spoiled girl these days aren’t I??  I can’t tell you how excited I am to be able to blog from just about anywhere!  How much fun am I going to have during my lunch hours at a coffee shop surfing and blogging??  OH and no more wasting paper printing out recipes all the time, I’ll just bookmark them and set this little puppy on the counter in the kitchen and follow it from the screen!  It fits right in my purse!

Green’s the new Pink

‘member when we all used to make smoothies and they’d be pink or yellow or chocolate?  Well lately it seems the cool thing to do is get your veggies into them and great Green Monsters!  I have to admit to yas that every time I saw them show up on a blog I kind of cringed to myself “ewwwwww.”  But then I stepped up to the plate and gave myself the same talk about accepting oatmeal into my life.   Any time I don’t think I will like something or ever like something I remember that I had to try oatmeal at least 15 times in my life before now being head over heals in love with it and now I could eat it three meals a day!

Plus it’s always fun to put a KitchenAid appliance to work!  So I followed Jenna’s combo and blended up for breakfast:

 

• 1 frozen banana
• 1c almond milk (unsweetened vanilla almond breeze)
• 1 scoop of protein powder (i use Ultimate Protein – tropical vanilla which is AWESOME btw, as is the chocolate)
• 1 tbsp of natural almond butter
• about 3c of baby spinach

and a little whirl in my “harley davison” KitchenAid blender(empire red of course):

and voila my very first Green Monster!

I have to say, it was delicious!  Although I tend to not look directly at it when I’m drinking it because I still can’t really get past the colour for a smoothie! lol  You cannot notice any spinach flavour or otherwise in this smoothie at all other than the colour.  This is an awesome blender and that definitely makes a difference.

So folks I’m happy to say that my first Green Monster experience was a complete success!  I didn’t know how it was going to at all and I’m never crazy about “drinking” my calories for fear that I don’t feel like I’ve actually “eaten” anything, but this puppy held me over until about 11:00 and I had it at 7:30 which is about average for any “staying power” breakfast for me.  So methinks I will be experimenting more with these and including them more into the summer menu!

Try one!  How many people can say they got 3c of spinach into their diets by 8:00a.m.??

I'm UP

like on the scale up. My clothes are tight and I hate it. It's really time for me to buck up and start putting my weight loss back up to #1 in my life again. I'm happy when it's #1 and I'm on track. 182 = not cool. Here I am coming clean and ready to get back with the planning, counting, tracking, maybe even some more photo journalling (if my news I'll spill hopefully tomorrow doesn't cause too much havoc on the time issue for photo journalling) and being diligent and more importantly consistent with it and then bing bang boom there will be weight loss!

Just like that folks! Bing Bang Boom! Right? Just do the work, follow the rules and voila weight loss! Okay great. Done.

I've Totally Got Runner's Toe!

Ewwwwww! I've been hoping it would go away, but I've had a black big toe nail since our hike back in April! It hasn't gone away yet! I just googled it and now I'm afraid I didn't do anything about it soon enough and now it'll eventually fall off!

Does this now make me a hardcore runner er what?! :-P

Fun & Exciting News Teaser

Okay I've been dying to spew my good news on here since last week but I'm trying not to jinx anything any more than it already has, so for now I'll just tell you that I have a busy busy busy month of June ahead of me! I almost hate myself for even mentioning it since I'm only teasing you with the so-called "news." It has nothing to do with weight loss or the general topic of this blog and I generally don't talk about other "off topic" aspects of my life too much, but since it's going to keep me a busy bee and consuming my thoughts for the next month, I have to tell yas. And before you jump the gun and presume there will be a new addition to our family, I'll at least tell yas that it's not that. Some of you know already since I talk to yas off the blog as well.

*Here's to fingers being crossed thinking good thoughts of it all going smoothly*

Wiped

What a fun (and exhausting) weekend! Friday night was spent with Bionic and Lynn old school sleepover style only with healthier snacks and lots-o-wine :-D It was such a fun night I don't think we stopped to breathe we gabbed on and on and on! I can only imagine what it's going to be like when we all hit up Toronto in a few short weeks for our GTG where there's going to be more of us!

Last night was one of my friend's wedding and it was back in my home town. It was beautiful, she was beautiful and it was a blast. Of course there was free bottles of wine on the tables and it was so much fun because I got to see a few old buddies that I hadn't talked to YEARS! Today I'm utterly exhausted because I can't keep up with late nights anymore and I'm starting to feel a little "older" in that respect with how much of a toll it takes on me. *sigh* I hate admitting that! Consequently I feel bloated and blown up like a balloon = not.fun.at.all. But good times were had and that's the main thing!

All in all it was a great weekend and I'm heading in to work today so hopefully my fatigue will allow me to concentrate on the task at hand!

Zesty Blog Makeover

You guys have no idea how long I've been putting my blog makeover on the back burner! So I'm trying my luck at Zesty's contest to DO a blog makeover as a giveaway! Yayy!!! Pick me random number generator!!! Meeeeeee!!!

Dear Jerkface:

You suck. Plain and simple.

What lessons have your parents taught you to make you think it is okay to be yelling insults at ladies as you pass by in your car with your friends?! Honestly! I suppose the originality of your insult speaks for itself: "800 CALL JENNY!!" Oh yeah studster you got it goin' on. It's a damn good thing that I friggin' rock and you suck because otherwise I might be offended and crushed by your random act of sucky jerkiness. I do however feel bad for the other ladies you've also no doubt screamed at who were innocently going about their business and who might otherwise take your juvenile act to heart.

Anyway, the bottom line is YOU SUCK and I don't. It's unfortunate that you're parading your sucky self all around town spewing the product of your imbecile brain onto poor women who may not have the self-esteem to brush it off. You have no idea what kind of impact that kind of comment actually makes.

Karma Jerkface, Karma.

B'bye WW Online

I finally cancelled my WW Online membership this weekend after not having used it in many many months. I think I am now comfortable approaching my weight loss and maintenance by watching calories through free sites. I have to say, it was hard to actually cancel the membership and that's why it took me sooo long to do it. I had been a member since February 2006 and have logged many a weigh-ins there and acheived a huge milestone of losing 100lbs on the program.

I think I found it so difficult to actually "cut the cord" because cancelling the membership sort of felt like I was saying farewell to the days that got me to where I am today. I was afraid that I would be eliminating my "fall back" plan that I knew worked for me if things didn't work out counting calories on a free site. I also felt kind of "attached" to all of those weekly stats that I had logged. They were like written proof of what I had accomplished.

I thought about going through to print off my stats in some sort of way to have to look back on, but then I realized that I don't need any written proof of what I have acheived. I am living it and breathing it every single day. Even if I were to fluctuate up and down the same 5 lbs for the rest of my life, I still made it here and will never ever leave this lifestyle in the dust the way I have the old one. I don't need to pay someone or something for me to feel that for sure.

Hanging on to a membership that I no longer use is only preventing me from moving forward onto a new stepping stone. This is not referred to as a "journey" for nothing. It's the only real way to describe it. My new stepping stone is one of finding a balance with healthy eating and acheiving better fitness with the cards I have been dealt, in particular with the injuries I'm left with following my car accident which is now 3 years ago. They certainly could have been worse, but they were still bad and they plague me nonetheless. I mention these injuries off and on because they have truly impacted me like no other thing has. It was traumatic and I still live with the physical and emotional affects. They hinder me and they empower me. It is a constant battle trying to satisfy my need to continue my journey of weight loss and fitness while listening to my body when it tells me I've done too much.

It occurred to me after running the 5k in the Bluenose on Saturday that I was proud of my time no matter what results anyone else had acheived for themselves. I may not be considered a "runner" by some people's standards, but I ran, so that does make me a runner even if I'm not challenging any race records or running a longer race.

What if I was at my goal of 155 lbs and ran the race? That's 20-25lbs I would not have been taking with me on the run and maybe it wouldn't have affected me as much as training for it did and maybe my time would have been even better. It's the same reason why I need to lose it for the long term to alleviate stress on my hip. It's all the same stuff. The last 25lbs just has to go.

So all that said, my point is that I'm at a pivotal point where something's got to give and I need to just plow through and do what it takes to move me past this stall in my weight loss. I truly have been sitting here for ages and I hope that by cancelling my WW Online subscription, it is at least mentally symbolic of what I am now ready to move onto.

*takes deep breath and is going for it*

31:11

and super pumped because I shaved 3 minutes off of my time from last year in the Bluenose Marathon 5k! Wooot! I didn’t even stop once! Yay me! Results are already up online and I placed:

• Time = 31:11 - last year was 34:12.7
• Category place = 60/164 - last year was 117/246
• Gender place = 189/722 - last year it was 230/523
• Pace = 6:23 - last year was 7:09

I just realized that I'll be in a new age category next year...don't know if that's a good thing or not!

We had to leave our cameras in the car, so we don’t have any actual race pics, so hopefully someone got a good shot of us along the way and I’ll be able to get one. I didn’t end up getting one from last year, but I still might. It meant a lot for me to be able to do the race at all last year, so a few bucks for a pic of me on the route would be worth it.

It’s funny because I couldn’t get to sleep last night and I said to hubby, “I still remember when I first started I was just trying to make it from one telephone pole to the next without stopping and that was where I started. At that point, the concept of hypothetically running in a real race, 5k or not, was so far out of my reach, it just wasn’t something I even imagined I’d be doing.” And he says, “Yeah and now you’re running these things called ‘K’s’!” haha I laughed so hard and it was not a good way to try to settle me down to sleep! It’s so funny coming from him and especially if you knew him.

It was a grey and misty day here in Halifax today and it was “iffy” as to how long the rain was going to hold off. We didn’t know if we were going to be running in the rain or not. Lucky for us, it remained my idea of perfect running weather. It wasn’t raining, but misting just enough to keep you somewhat cool. But because it was a bit chilly, it was hard to know how to dress for the run knowing that you’d likely be standing around before and after. So I ended up covering up and wore a long sleeved running jacket type thing and while I ended up being a bit warm after a kilometer or two, I was okay and was glad I wasn’t freezing after!

Jen and I ran the 5k and Brooke ran the 10. Jen and I waited along the sidelines after our race and it was so fun to cheer on the other runners who were getting through their first lap for the full and the half marathon. I am always so impressed by anyone who does that and we both cheered for them loudly! There were 8000 runners in the Bluenose this year and it felt great to be a part of it.

I am sooooo happy that I did it. There was so much energy down there of happy people. I pushed it pretty hard. My HRM said that my max HR was 189 - average was 179! That's high for me. I felt it too - kinda felt like I might die at a few points! :-D As always, the adrenaline from the whole thing starts making its way out of my mouth and I start talking about running another one in June, maybe even a 10k, for the Johnny Miles, which is the same thing I talked about last year, but I am a still hesitant. I have been quite sore these past few weeks and I’m afraid that I am flaring up and aggravating my MVA injuries and I’m not really supposed to be running anyway. We shall see. My knee has been giving me trouble too, so it was nice that they had a massage tent and being in the first group to cross the finish line because there were tons of massage therapists there to stretch you out and we were ahead of the pack. Why not, right?! The dude stretch out my knee and hamstring and I think it helped a lot. Lots of ice tonight pretty much everywhere, but soooo worth it. This is exactly why I really should be sticking to the 5k’s and not push myself too much beyond that. Too many injury issues. But I’m okay with that and completely stoked to be running at all.

Afterwards, the three of us headed on over to Cora’s for a well earned breakfast and while we waited for our table we goofed around a bit and chatted and we all ended up ordering the same breakfast which was delicious! It was the 1990’s Harvest which was sooooo good and filling! It was cinnamon raisin brioche dipped in french toast batter and topped with some bacon and egg and a side of fresh fruit. I was so into our conversation and tired from all of the excitement that I didn’t even think to snap a pic! Well it’s probably best because that was not a breakfast to be bragging about on a weight loss blog :-D

I saw Lynn before the race and got to chat for just a minute and didn’t get to catch up with her afterward, but I was sooo happy and proud of her for getting out there and participating and walking the 5k even though she was disappointed that her arm surgery was holding her back from doing the 10k like she had

been training for. Super proud of ya Lynnilynn-lynn/Lynni-poo/Lynnalicious :-D

All in all it was a fantastic morning and I’m going to rest for the day and get some ice on the go!

Recipe Review: Zucchini Lasagna (Clean Eating Magazine)

Who doesn’t like lasagna?!  Everyone’s got a favourite recipe and it can be tweaked and changed up in umpteen variations, but ladies and gents (yes I know you gents are reading too :0D), this variation of lasagna takes the cake as a reduced calorie alternative!  I loved it so much that we made this recipe TWICE within one week and there’s 6 servings per recipe.

I’m a HUGE fan of the Clean Eating Magazine and Brooke and I have tried quite a few recipes from the March/April issue and so far their have been a few winners – this one being the top gun!

So basically, it’s a very basic chicken lasagna only the noodles are replaced with zucchini sliced into 1/4 inch slices lengthwise.

 

The Recipe:

We found that instead of making them into one large casserole dish, the length of the zucchinis fit perfectly into these half size dishes, and it helps for storage in the fridge because if your fridge is anything like mine, you have to be creative for space!  Here’s  they are before going into the oven:   I modified the recipe this time around and I added a package of frozen spinach into the cottage cheese-egg-mozza cheese mixture for an added nutritional punch:  After coming out of the oven: 

And VOILA!

And like every other lasagna, it gets better and better as leftovers.  Only NOT like other lasagna, it has some pretty impressive nutritional specs:

Per 1 2/3c	(1/6 of the recipe)
Calories	240
Total Fat	3.5g
Sat. Fat	1.5g
Carbs	19g
Fiber	3g
Protein	32g
Sodium	530mg
Cholesterol	45mg

It’s the easiest lasagna I’ve ever made because there’s no fussing with noodles!  I’ll admit that the 1/4c of shredded mozza on top looked awfully lonely, so I did add about another 1/4c, so the NI would have been affected slightly, but well worth it still.  It’s absolutely delicious and I’ll definitely be making it again!

I have a couple of recipe reviews coming I swear!

In other news: I had a small chocolate chip cookie dough DQ Blizzard last night. Can't remember the last time I had one of those, must have been 4 years? It was good, but wow incredibly sweet! My taste buds have changed BIG TIME. It ended up making me feel ill at the end of it.

I'm having a hard time of late sticking to my menu plans. It mainly falls apart in the evenings. I still have at least 20 lbs still to lose and I can't really figure out exactly why my motivations wanes so quickly when I get back on track. Is it because I've just simply been at this too long and am burnt out? Probably. But that doesn't solve the problem does it? My body just isn't going to take pity on me and give me a freebie and not make me work for it.

I want to become a healthy mother who's not going to be bogged down and feeling like I let myself down (and my hypothetical future children) with a "2" at the front of her weight. Nope. Never.Again.Period.

Suddenly I'm feeling waxed again.

Race Day: T-6 Days

Well here it is Monday and we're nearing the straight stretch to race day and the upcoming long weekend. I'm pretty darn sore from my "super duper" run on Friday (read: my longest ever run of just short of 10 kms :-D) and another 7km run on Saturday. Saturday's run was hilly. My quads are super sore and I'm feeling some hip and foot pain. BOOOOO!

I rested yesterday and only went for a 30 minute walk with the Lu-ster. I'm not going to push it too much this week because I want to feel like I can give it a good run on race day. It may not seem like much to many of your rockstar runners, but it's all relative.

I'm feeling great about the upcoming week. I've got some great meals planned out and a few recipe reviews to come too. It's been a while since I've had my mojo to try new recipes, but I'm back at it and my fridge is STOCKED with lots of fresh produce and the works.

Let me just say that there's a zucchini lasagne recipe I can't wait to share with you that will forever replace the need for noodles! I swear!

Recipe: Portobello Mushroom Pizzas!

I meant to post this a long time ago!  This is a great way to keep your Supper calories a bit lower while still feeling like you’ve had a “splurgey” meal!

Ingredients:

• 2 Portobello mushroom caps
• EVOO
• small zucchini
• red onion
• spinach
• feta stuff jalapeno, sliced
• kiri goat cheese square
• few tbsp of part skim ricotta
• fresh basil or a few thawed frozen cubes
• a few tbsp salsa
• S&P

1. Remove stems from bella caps and bake in the oven on a cookies sheet until tender (or grill on a grill pan)
2. Meanwhile, saute the onions, zucchini and spinach in the EVOO until tender
3. Mix the basil in with the ricotta and season with S&P
4. Layer ricotta mixture on top of the tender bella caps, then salsa, then zucchini/onion/spinach mixture, jalapeno and broken pieces of the kiri goat cheese square
5. Return to the oven and bake until the cheese starts to melt

VOILA:    

 

You could up the protein content easily by adding some cottage cheese or hummus, chicken, bacon, prosciutto  etc.  Just like any kind of pizza, the possibilities are endless only there’s no carby crust to weigh you down!

I personally love mushrooms and the “beefy”ness of the mushroom really made this a satisfying meal.  Try it!

The Bike & Bean Train Trail: Loook what I did! -------->

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!  Farthest run ever.  :-D

It was a bit shy of 10k and I’m soooo proud of myself!  I fixed the V02 Max on my HRM back to 30 (where it was jacked up to 96 causing my calorie burn to be waaaaay out of whack) and I burned 731 cals in the 1:21:55.  My max HR was 182 and average was 155.  It was a very nice and slowish pace 7.42/km.

It was a nice test for the Nike+ because Brooke wore her Garmin.  The Nike+ was still off by about 0.36kms.  We ran non-stop the entire first 5k and when we reached 5k on the Garmin the Nike+ said 5.02, but then afterward Brooke realized that there was still 0.1 miles left which works out to another 0.16 kms.  It was a lot of math to figure out because she thinks in miles and I think in kms!  But all in all I think it will be a good bet to set my Nike+ for at least 0.4kms over what I actually want to run to be more accurate.  There was about 5 minutes of walking on the way back because I was getting a hip/groin pulling issue, but we ran most of the way back without stopping too.

We went to the “Bike and Bean” which is an organic coffee shop/bistro/bike shop which is right on the trail.  There’s an old train sitting right outside:

“Cafe & Bike Shop with outside deck and scrumptious food on the St. Margaret's Bay Trail. Cappuccino, Espresso and other specialty coffees & teas. Homemade soups, grilled Panini sandwiches and wraps. And don't miss our lucious, decadent desserts.  Bike Rentals, repairs, sales, accessories & sport clothing. Stop by to have a nice nibble and enjoy a bike ride on the scenic, traffic-free trail.  Free Wireless Internet.”

This cute little cafe is such a perfect place to go for a run.  It’s on one of the old Trans Canada train tracks that is now a multi-purpose trail.  And……it’s FLAT! :-D  It’s a great place to go for a nice steady pace run.  Along the trail there’s a few bridges and it runs right along side a lake and lots of trees.  Sooo nice!

It was perfect running weather too!  It was misting and that’s my favourite weather to run in because it keeps you cool without completely soaking you.

All in all it was my farthest run ever and it was great to run with a buddy because that’s the only way I’d ever push myself to step outside of my comfort zone.  We chatted the entire way and it made the time go by really quickly! 

I’m really glad now in retrospect that it was pouring rain yesterday at lunch time and I decided not to go out and run.  I am pretty sore from this run (in a good way), but I think more in one day would have been too much.

Yay me!

I bought an avocado...

and I won't let it go bad this time damn it!


I swear I let the last 3 get over ripe! I need a plan for this avocado all ready for the precise moment it's ready....lay it on me peeps, what should I do with it?

What Gives?

Last night I did nothing except make a delicious and nutritious batch of Planet Organic Cosmic Cookies with their actual recipe and they turned out great!

I've figured out that what appears to be laziness is actually a "stage fright" thing. This happened whenever there's a date for something I "need" to be prepared for when it comes to my weight loss and fitness:

1. last year's race I slacked on training leading up to the date;
2. I ended up gaining 10 lbs rather than losing 10lbs leading up to my wedding which came off pretty much imediately following it
3. I got all off course in the BLBE2 challenge and ended up getting nowhere being concerned with everyone else; and
4. now again leading up to Bluenose 5k next weekend I feel like I'm not giving it my all to be prepared.

Last week's lack of running was legitimate because I genuinely was sick - stomach flu kind. So I ran last Monday a few hours before coming down with it I (personal best) and I didn't feel well enough to run again until Sunday - which I haven't updated yet so my mini thinks I'm slacking more than I am --->

Monday I had no excuse not to work out

Tuesday I did hot yoga (and btw has made me feel sore ever since so it was a good one)

Wednesday - nada, nothing and no excuse for it. There wasn't even anything fun on TV.

What am I afraid of??? Any time it's time to exercise I get this anxious feeling like I'm afraid Jillian Michaels is going to jump out of the bushes and kick my ass like she does on TV! lol Isn't that rediculous??! And the fact is that even if I end up hurting (yes the old MVA injury issue), I always always always feel better mentally for having done it and it always trumps the pain. I think I almost need Jillian to lay it to me and push me past that wall.

I want to do well next weekend at the race and I want to beat, no cream my time from last year, but I can't very well do that unless I am prepared for it, can I?

Today's plan (rain or shine) I'm running 5k at lunch time again. Then it's done and when I get home I can do whatever I want and not feel like I've let myself down. I'm more motivated at that time of the day than after work. Once I get home I have the hardest time motivating myself to get moving. So that's that. Today I will run. I might be a sopping looking drowned rat for the rest of the afternoon, but big friggin deal!

Update: Brooke & just made plans to go for a run after work on the trail in St. Margaret's Bay (an old multi-use train track trail) and a stop into the Bike and Bean after. I'll post more on the Bike and Bean in my next post. I still plan on my lunch time run, so it looks like I'll be getting one heck of a workout today :-D

2nd Update: It began to pour rain at lunch time so I wimped out. But Brooke and I both decided that even if it's pouring after work we're going anyway :-D

Back to my Yoginess

I finally got in a hot yoga session last night at Breathing Spaces after work and it was great! Bionic and I both went and it was a fairly small class so the instructor/owner of the studio was able to spend a lot more time with instruction and correction on the group, so it was great. I sweat more than I have ever sweat at their hot yoga classes. I don't know if it was just that I was out of practice, or that the heaters were pulled in closer to us being a smaller class, but I sweat and it was great. Overall I didn't feel like I was working that hard, but my heart rate felt pretty elevated. The only not so great part was that I think I hurt my lower back in a back bend. She offered a modification to use a bolster to reach back to touch (and I should have followed Bionic's lead on that one) and I think I put too much pressure on my low back in stead of "bending at the 12th rib". I iced it when I got home and today it's just a little stiff, so hopefully it will clear up in a day or so. Honestly, it's one thing after another with me isn't it? Pffft!

Speaking of heart rate. Lori is a genius and I think I know why my HRM wasn't working right! The user settings are correct because I double and triple checked them, but I was playing around with the V02 Max setting a few weeks ago and tried to change it based on information I got somewhere else that wasn't right! I was trying to turn it up way past 100 and the thing maxes out at 90 or something and I couldn't figure out why it wouldn't let me put in the number I wanted to put in (which was like 120 I think) but it's because the number I was going by was completely wrong! I think it should be set at around 30, but I'm not sure now because I don't know where it was set to begin with. I used some online calculators to figure out what it would have been based on my last run for time and distance, age etc. and it put it at 29ish, so I think I'm going to set it back to that for now.

Thanks Lori!! You guys are so great and helpful!! Thank you!

Hubby has some friends in town and we might be going out for dinner with them tonight, but plans have not been confirmed, so if not, I think tonight might be a good night to get a Nubody's punch pass strength training workout in, especially since it's dreary and rainy here today. I'm loving the variety of my activity of late :-)

Oh and a few of you have been asking me about my meals etc lately. Now that the BLBE is over, I feel I have more time to focus again and I am going to try to get back into being more descriptive for the blog. I'm still on the yogurt kick for the Planet Organic Yogurt Diet Club thing which I am insanely loving btw. I may not be getting in three 6 oz servings every single day, but I usually get in at least 2. The problem is that I'm loving the full fat Liberte Mediterranean flavours wayyyyy too much and it's taking a hit on trying to acheive a calorie deficit, so I'm trying to stay away from those, but it's hard because they taste like cheesecake!

OH and Planet Organic has posted their Cosmic Cookie recipe on their website! The mystery is over and I'm making a batch tonight :-) All the ingredients are the same as the recipe I found, but the ratios are a bit different, so I'm anxious to try it!

Dear Mr. Woodpecker:

Greeeeat you're backWelcome back little buddy, it's Spring! It's been so long since you've woken me up before my alarm clock come to say hello with your hammering sweet little knocks on the house to say hello. I just wanted to let you know that I heard you and I got the message from you that now officially Spring, so you can piss off now go and fly off now to your little friends. Thanks for the Memo :-D

Sincerely yours,
Angie
xo

FDA Recalls Popular Diet Pill - Why are we still taking these pills!?!

I am still shocked at the fact that with all of our knowledge and research that we now know today which proves, through research and otherwise, that the only constant to acheive healthy and permanent weight loss isn't through anything magical in a bottle. A healthy balanced diet with exercise creating a healthy calorie deficit is IT! I don't get it. People are still willing to put themselves at risk by popping pills that promise them results. And the ironic part about most of these kinds of products is that they will usually qualify it by saying "to be taken with a combination of reduced calorie diet and regular exercise" or something like that, don't they??!

This morning I read this article on The Weekly Bite about Hydroxycut, "FDA Recalls Popular Diet Pill - Why are we still taking these pills!?!"

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Does this scare you? Anger you? Remind you of how you have to be your own health researcher and advocate? Don't trust these companies who promise you results with a pill! WHY risk it???

New Body, New Swing

It looks like I'm free and clear of the icky stomach and flu from last week so I'm totally back on track on the exercise front! Less than two weeks to the race! I took advantage of the beautiful morning yesterday and did a 7k run, pretty moderate-slowish pace, but still sweat ALOT in the 50+ minutes as there are many hills in my subdivision. And my heart rate monitor HAS to have something up with it because it said that I burned 1452 calories during the run and that just can't be the case. My max HR was 184 and my average was 164 which is exactly where it should be, but for some reason calculated I burned over 2 times more than I should have. My calorie burn should have been in the range of about 600. I can't seem to find my receipt for it either. Pffffffffffffft!!! I did buy it at the Running Room, but I have no receipt. I wonder if they are any good at helping a sister out anyway?

Later on in the day hubs and I and my Dad who was in for the weekend went to the driving range where I swung my clubs for the first time in 4 years. The last time I played golf was when I was 270lbs and no shoulder or hip issues. Basically I had a completely different body! I had to learn to swing all over again! Not just the passage of time, but I'm smaller now and I can hold the clubs more comfortably too. I hit a few good ones, but all in all I still pretty much suck :-D

None of that matters though because I always enjoyed playing golf (even if I sucked) and as long as we play with people who are there to enjoy a day outside playing golf and don't take it too seriously, then we have had a good round. It sure did fire up my trapezius pain last night though. BRUTAL. I'm some glad I have my massage therapy appointment tonight! Even still, I'm done waiting for it to get better because it's been 3 years since our car accident and I think it's pretty much safe to say that I'm not going to get any better. I miss golf! I'm probably always going to have soft tissue pain in that area. And that's just how it is. At least I'm not having those issues AND still 270 lbs. Now that would be something else.

Congratulations Brooke!

I HAD to put a major shout out to the A-Team's Biggest Loser Brooke now that our Biggest Loser Blog Edition 2 Challenge has come to an end. This beautiful girl has lost 41.2 lbs in the 16 weeks of our challenge!!! Go check her our and congratulate her!

Punch Pass

I'm a punch pass kind of girl these days methinks. I like the freedom of not being a "member" of any particular gym or facility and having the freedom to change it up and go here or there etc. Routine is key, but so is variety and freedom. I have a punch pass at Breathing Spaces Yoga Studio where I love weekend yoga sessions (which I haven't been to in a few weeks and MUST go this Sunday - hint hint ladies) and I was a member of the DalPlex, but that membership has lapsed and I think rather than committing to an expensive monthly membership at Nubody's, I'm going to get a punch pass of 10 visits to go and do whatever whenever. I have an elliptical at home, a bicycle, DVD's and two feet which I want to be my main form of cardio for the summer, so getting out there to yoga and to the gym for fun classes and some strength training is my plan. Why spend $50-$60 a month for a committed amount of time when I can go 10 times for $70 which would never likely be more than once per week anyway when it's mixed up with everything else, right? Right!

So that's my summer plan! And I better get boogie-ing because I'm getting antsy. This stomach bug hasn't gone away yet and I NEEED to get running!

P.S. You were so sweet to think of me, but fortunately I have not been affected by the fires going on here in the Halifax are that has affected many many people. It is a scarry situation for many. Thank you for your kind concern my anonymous commenter ;-)