Checking in!

ALRIGHTY. So I purchased Just Dance 3 - it's awesome! Super fun. Still trying to convince Jeff to play it with me. That's alright, though... I convinced him to do the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. We both thought we were about to die the other night. I know it'll be rough but I'm looking forward to pushing through and getting the whole 30 days done.

We went home this past weekend. It was really nice to spend some time at home with my mom. I got to go shopping with her and just be there with her and Dixie. I'm not as homesick as I was before so that's good. I still can't wait to go back, but I'm not as upset as I was.

While we were home, we went to a Blackhawks game. That was my Christmas present and it was AWESOME. We expected them to lose since they played the NY Rangers (and they're just good... and the Hawks kinda suck lately) but they won and it was fabulous. The whole day was awesome but that made it more awesome. Before we went to the game, we were super busy. I had an appointment with my cardiologist in the morning as a check-up... I ended up leaving with a 30 day event monitor. Love those. My heart has been racing on and off so he's having me record those moments. Now that I have the monitor it HASN'T been racing. Typical. But anyway... the appointment took a lot longer than I expected. I also had to go vote since we aren't going to be in town during the primary for Illinois. Got that done! After that we headed up to Des Plaines to check out a place that was on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. It was called Paradise Pup... it's a small walk-up burger/hot dog place. It. Was. AMAZING. They use Merkt's spreadable cheese on their burgers. Ah-may-zing. That's all I can say. Awful for you, but incredible. After that, we had some time to kill before the Hawks game so we drove around downtown Chicago. I love that place, but I could never live there. Too much going on. After the driving around we went to the Bill Goat Tavern for drinks before the game. Fun fun fun! Then the game... then we went to our old place for drinks afterward. The bartender saw us walking up and got excited, haha. It was nice to go back there and it's nice to have a place where they know you and know your drinks and all that jazz.

Wow, I talk a lot. Now we're home and the weather is BEAUTIFUL. I ate like crap while we were gone but I'm trying to be good... taking advantage of the nice weather to spend time outside and go for walks and such.

OH OH OH good news... I have two interviews today! Both with Menards. One is for an accountant position and the other is for an auditor position. I'm hoping they both go well. I would love to have a job... and it doesn't hurt that you get to wear jeans there :) haha.

I wrote WAY too much just now so I think I'm good for a few days.

Sloppy Joes

Last night, Jeff and I whipped up some healthy-ish sloppy joes. We didn't really have a recipe for the sauce so we came up with one... nothing fancy, but it was delicious!

Too Legit Sloppy Joes

1 pound 90/10 ground beef
1/2 cup onions and green peppers, chopped
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup Open Pit barbecue sauce, Original style
salt and pepper, to taste

Brown the ground beef in a skillet. Once the beef is almost done, drain the fat. Put the onions and peppers into the skillet with the beef and cook until the beef is done and the vegetables are soft. Mix in the ketchup and barbecue sauce and cook on low for 5 minutes to let the flavors meld.

There you go! Pretty simple and straight forward. The entire recipe is 21 Weight Watcher points, with the 90/10 ground beef being 1 point per ounce and all of the sauce being 5 points total. I used about a quarter of the recipe as a serving and called it 5 points... I rounded. Sue me. We used regular white bread (I know, bad) and that was 3 points for two slices, so I had an 8 point sandwich. For dinner, that's not too bad. If I had gone grocery shopping, I would have purchased some whole wheat buns. There are some that are only 1 point per bun, and that would make it a 6 point sandwich. Not too shabby!

Competition?

I've been thinking and I've realized (alright, accepted) that I am an extremely competitive person. I'm not so much competitive with myself as I am with other people. If I can find some way to compete with other to keep myself in check I might be able to stick with it. That sounds awful, I know. My well-being should be something that I want regardless but I am having the HARDEST time getting motivated and I don't know why.

I was SO GOOD with my eating yesterday and I'm off to an excellent start again today. You can't see it, but I'm giving myself a pat on the back.

What upppp.

Apple Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

I posted something on Facebook about having a healthy new recipe that I came up with. It's delicious, if I do say so myself. It's nothing fancy but is still awesome.



Apple Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

1 3/4 cup coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
2 packets stevia
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 medium apple, peeled/cored/chopped
1 cup quick-cooking oats

Combine all ingredients except for the apple and oats in a sauce pan, bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the apples and the oats and cook on medium for 5 minutes, or until thickened.

SIMPLE!

I have a few notes/suggestions:
-You can use any sort of milk (or even water) that you would like. I used coconut milk because I had it, and I thought it worked well. You can also use more liquid if you'd like. I like my oatmeal a little creamier, so I added almost 2 cups.
-For the stevia, I added 2 packets because I didn't need my oatmeal too sweet. That is all up to you.
-For the apple, use something firm and with a strong flavor, like a Granny Smith. I used a Gala, and since they are soft and mild, it took on the flavor of everything else and wasn't really standing out on it's own.

If you follow the original Weight Watchers plan, the entire recipe comes out to 10 points. That's it! I split it up into 4 servings, because that was more than enough for me, but a serving according to the quick-cooking oats package is 1/2 cup dry. That would be half the recipe. Once made, that's a LOT of oatmeal!

With all of this free time, I am trying to come up with some healthier recipes. I will post the ones that make the cut... aka the ones that don't suck so bad that I have to throw it away.

So here you go... eat away!

A quick note...

I went to the store today and they had pears! In the infinitely wise words of Charlie Sheen... Winning!

I'm back, I swear.

I've been failing at blogging! But I am back, hopefully to keep up now.

Tomorrow, I will start with the Supreme 90 Day workout and diet plan. It's basically a knock off of P90x, but I hear it's a little less intense. I'm looking forward to it. I think with that and my running, I'll be in tip-top shape for the 5k in May.

Speaking of... does anyone want to do the 5k in May with me? It's in Naperville, over at NVHS. I'm really looking forward to that, too.

I really wish it was pear season. I want a juicy pear.

Well then.

It's been awhile since I've had much to say. Haven't really had a chance to exercise... been feeling rotten for about a week. Looks like I have a sinus infection... let me tell you, I feel awesome. I'm hoping that the antibiotics I was given today will help and I'll start to feel better soon.

In better news, Jeff and I went to Milwaukee this weekend. It was a lot of fun! We saw Cheap Trick, went to the casino, and did some touristy stuff. It was a bit of a bummer that I couldn't smell or taste anything but I had fun anyway. I love spending time with him. We ate a lot of bad food and drank quite a bit, so that was pretty bad on my part. I need to get back on track this week, at least with my food. I don't think I'll be working out until next week when I stop coughing.

Not much else to say for now.

On second thought...

I'm thinking a half-marathon is a little excessive for a first race. There is a 5k that happens every year around the same time, so I think I'll do that instead. I'm doing pretty well with my exercising so far... I just need to make some more time for it. I did my hour on the elliptical on Tuesday, and I did a half-hour on the treadmill and a half-hour on the elliptical last night. I did a little over 4 miles total on each day.

I'm super proud of myself!

I think I'll try and head to the gym tomorrow morning so I can fit in a good workout before lunch. I'm supposed to heading to Chipotle... delicious. As long as I don't get sour cream, cheese, or guacamole, I should be legit. Yumyumyum.

Half Marathon

I had decided last night that I would be going to the gym today. I made sure I had my bag packed so I could head over there after work. While I was at work today, one of the ladies in management mentioned that there would be a bank-wide half marathon in early May. I've been looking for some motivation to keep up with the treadmill and running outside once it gets nicer, and I think I found it. I love to run. I love the feeling I get after I run. I'm beyond excited for it, even though I've never done a race before.

I don't think I'll be able to run the whole thing, but it'll be nice to see what I can accomplish. When I got to gym tonight all of the treadmills were taken, so I hopped on an elliptical. Wow... I haven't used one of those in awhile. I forgot how easy they were on your joints. I went an hour and five minutes straight without stopping because I had no pain. I went 4.7 miles and burned 474 calories. I feel extremely accomplished. I know that elliptical machines sorta overestimate the amount of calories you burn, but still. It's nice to see that instead of 100 calories on the treadmill. But yeah... an hour straight and almost 5 miles... let's see how sore I am tomorrow!

Today was also Girl Scout cookie delivery day... so after my workout, I felt like I deserved to eat three Samoas. Don't hate! They were worth it!

Major Fail #2

We had a bake sale at work today to benefit our "Christmas in July" party that we're planning for ourselves. I had too much junk, and then had Jimmy Johns for dinner. My stomach is disliking me right now.

Major fail on my diet today. Then again, I can't really call it a diet. I'm going for a lifestyle change.  I'm strong. I can do this. I know I'm capable of good things and healthy habits.

I should get to the gym tomorrow.

Date Night!

Had a lovely Valentine's Day date night with the love of my life! We went out for a nice dinner and then went for drinks. We always have a good time together. I didn't do too well with my choice of food or beverage, but it was a special occasion... ya know?

We went to Gordon Biersch, so you can't help but drink beer while you're there. I'm not used to drinking it but I had some anyway and it was delicious! When we went for drinks afterward, I decided to keep with the beer theme and had some hard cider. I'm not used to drinking so many carbs so I am still SO full.

Methinks I will have to get back on the wagon either tomorrow or Monday. I'm hoping that after another night of decent sleep and some more meds I'll feel well enough to get to the gym on Tuesday. I don't want to push myself so I'm just going to play it by ear. If I just have to walk on the treadmill, then I'll do it. We'll see!

Typical...

So what happens once I take some initiative and sign up at the gym? I get a cold. Let me tell you, I feel FABULOUS. I'm stuffed up and exhausted and just all around blah. I bought some DayQuil and chicken noodle soup tonight so hopefully those will make me feel better.

In better news... I did alright with my eating the last few days. I've been trying to count my WW points and trying to remember to write them down. My new favorite meal/snack is oatmeal. I found some sugar-free versions that aren't overly sweet and they're delicious, but I'm a little disappointed in the lack of variety. After reading quite a few of Chocolate-Covered Katie's posts, I decided to take matters into my own hands. My concoction isn't nearly as unprocessed and flavorful as her recipes are, but I figured it was a start! So here's my attempt at something delicious:

Banana Bread Oatmeal

1 packet of plain instant oatmeal
1 medium banana, diced
1 oz walnuts, chopped
1 packet Splenda

Prepare the instant oatmeal as directed on the package (or as you like it prepared... I always add a little more water than it asks for) and toss in the diced bananas as the oatmeal is absorbing the water. Once the water is mostly absorbed, toss in your diced walnuts. Ta-da! Just like banana bread. Since walnuts aren't naturally sweet like pecans (which I LOVE) I added a little Splenda for sweetness. That part is entirely optional.

So there you go... my foray into recipe making. I have some other delicious recipes, but none of which are healthyish. Perhaps I'll come up with some more.

It's a start.

I officially joined the gym at the rec center today. It's only for 3 months but I want to see if it's something I can keep up with before I commit to anything longer. I also tried to be good about my eating today. I did pretty well until I got home... I was bored and tired so I snacked. I didn't have anything super bad but still. I need to work on the self control and work on keeping myself busy.

I need a goal.

Overindulgence.

Today, we had a potluck at work. I ate SO. MUCH. FOOD. Ridiculous. We had this planned for awhile so I knew I would probably stuff myself, but that doesn't make me feel any better about feeling like a pig.

I think I'm going to get a 3 month trial membership to the gym near me. I have a treadmill at home, but its hard to get motivated when you work out in your basement. It might just be easier for me to go on my way home instead of getting home and then relaxing and making excuses. It will cost me, but I'm hoping it's worth it.