Egg Mc5K

Welcome to the last Monday in April.  The month of May is fast approaching which means it’s almost time for birthday month! I know more people who have birthdays in May including the one and only Jordan Pittman.

His birthday is Friday and my parents wedding anniversary is Wednesday…

So happy birthday/anniversary to everyone (including Nish, Nichole, my cousin Alex, my Grandpa and others) this month…I will also celebrate my birthday on the 13^th.  It should be a fun month.  It will probably be too fun. I don’t anticipate losing much weight this month.  My goal is to maintain for the most part.  I was really well-behaved last week but had only a slight encounter with half a calzone at Mellow Mushroom on Friday which led to a two pound gain and a downward spiral of junk food the rest of the weekend.  I have since picked up the pieces and started the week off right.  You win some, you lose some.  I knew it would level out a bit after my major loss last week so it’s no big deal, really.

I don’t have a recipe this week because my weekend was filled to the brim with activity.  I do however have a fast food development.  If you count calories and you are frequent flyer of McDonald’s you know that until recently, the Egg McMuffin, at 300 calories, was the most figure friendly breakfast sandwich at McDonald’s.  It’s not a great calorie amount.  Subway has better options but sometimes, as Americans, we are too lazy even to get out of the car.  We want drive-thru.  So, the Egg McMuffin is a decent option.  It is certainly better than a buttery biscuit made with white flour.  Well, now they have something called the Egg White Delight which shaves 40 calories off of the regular Egg McMuffin using egg whites, Canadian Bacon, white cheddar and a whole grain muffin.  This sandwich is 260 calories making it an even better option.  I had one this weekend and it’s pretty good.  I think if you like the Egg McMuffin, you’ll definitely like this and who doesn’t want to save 40 calories. Kudos to McDonald’s for continuing to try to do better.

I also ran a 5K on Saturday.  Tuscaloosa remembered the April 27^th, 2011 tornadoes on Saturday with a lot of outdoor events.  One of those was the Mayor’s Cup 5K and I participated.  I’m in no way a fast runner but I used to be no kind of runner at all so I was proud when I ran my fastest mile and finished with my fastest 5K time ever.  I had fun.  I was really sore the rest of the weekend but I ran the whole way, made a decent time and felt great about myself.  I have another 5K in June so I will train for that closer to time.  I’m gonna give my legs a break from running for a few weeks now.

I also went to support my company in something called the Dragon Boat Races.  Essentially, many companies in town get together and race each other in the boats.  It was a fun time.

My mom, Oma and I went to see Jurassic Park in 3D on Saturday and it was just as good, if not better than I remembered.  I jumped in places even when I knew what was going to happen.  Before that, I made time to pose with the Leo poster at the theatres.  I am so excited for Gatsby to come out.  I’m re-reading the book and the previews look amazing.  It’s been a long time since I have anticipated a movie this much.

Sunday, my Oma, Dad and I went to Chattanooga for the day to eat lunch at my Grandma’s (told you I had a busy weekend)and I got to see my cousins Drew & Alex.  I included a picture of Alex from almost a year ago.  I can’t believe how big he’s gotten. They are so cute!

It was a great, busy weekend and I’m still recovering.  I’m pretty tired today but I had fun so it was worth it.

Have a great week/weekend/Cinco de Mayo!

Bye!

“All my life

I’ve tried

To make everybody happy while I

Just hurt

And hide

Waitin’ for someone to tell me it’s my turn

To decide.” King of Anything-Sara Bareilles

I'm A Loser!

Hi Everyone! I hope you are enjoying your Monday so far.  I got on the scale this weekend and was in for a pleasant surprise.  I lost several pounds last week.  In fact, I’m only between 6-7 of my lowest weight!  I think I mentioned last week that I wanted to try something different.  Weight Watchers is amazing but I think my body was craving a change.  I do think that Weight Watchers is one of the most effective diet programs out there because it encourages you to eat and not give up a particular food group.  Diets that make you completely forgo a major food category usually don’t last.  Your body needs carbs for energy and you never want to give up anything you love completely because you will most certainly binge on it later.  After doing some research, I decided to blend together my knowledge from Weight Watchers with the ideals of the Biggest Loser.  I’m sure you’ve at least heard of this show.  I don’t agree with the methods they use on the show because I think they lose weight too fast but the diet plan that they provide to the masses makes a lot of sense.  Back during the holidays, I was trying to go by the food pyramid which was good in theory but I was still eating too much.  The Biggest Loser plan encourages you to follow the food pyramid but also limits your calorie intake.  Essentially, eat more veggies!  Basically, you take your current weight and multiply that by 7.  That is your caloric goal for the day.  If you combine that limitation with the thought that you need to make sure to get the protein, carbs and nutrients for the day, you will more than likely be successful! I knew my body needed the change because that switch up made a big difference last week.  I know I can’t expect that kind of success every week but it was nice to have a great week for a change.  I’m definitely going to stick with it for a while!

This week’s recipe is more of a quick snack.  I use low calorie bread to make mini pizzas.  Tomato sauce isn’t usually too high in calories but go easy on it because it can be high in sugar.  This is the first time I have tried Giada’s brand of sauce and I got the kind with olives.  It was delicious! I added a serving of mini-pepperonis (you can use pork or turkey to cut even more calories) and a serving of 2% mozzarella cheese (it was a heaping serving because it was the weekend).  This was a quick and yummy alternative to eating four piece of Domino’s Pizza like I really wanted to.

This weekend was also A-Day! It’s so nice to be able to experience a little tailgating in the middle of the spring.  The taste of football was in the air.  The weather was perfect and it was fun to put on a Bama shirt and see all my friends.  The game itself isn’t usually that exciting but overall, it was a good time!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

I have a 5K to run this Saturday so I’m sure I’ll have pictures to share next week.

Wish me luck!

Bye!

“Why do we fall in love so easy? Even when it’s not right.” Try - Pink

Fritters!

Salutations, y’all.  It’s Monday again.  I am torn between constantly wishing for the weekend and then wanting time to slow down.  I’m going to be 29 years old in less than a month and while I am not too off target from where I thought I would be, it’s crazy to think that in a little over a year, I’ll be 30.  I felt an actual sting typing that last sentence.  I never thought I would really care about age and maybe after the slow-moving torture of approaching 30 is over, I’ll feel totally normal, but until then, it seems like an impending doom.  I suddenly feel in a hurry to accomplish major goals.  I weighed the same again this weekend and while I’m proud of maintaining, I want to do more than that.  I think the need to re-amp and get things finished doesn’t just apply to my weight.  It’s spilling over into the career areas of my life.  I am stuck in a place where I don’t take care of myself like I should, I don’t write as much as I can, I don’t care about things like I could.  I don’t remember the exact moment that I decided to take charge of my life a few years ago when I was so determined to lose weight but I wish I did so I could somehow recreate that moment and begin again.  I need to clear my head and really search for that spark so I can ignite it again and start kicking major butt. 

My recipe this week can be called “Zucchini Fritters” I guess.  It was a Pinterest inspired recipe.  Basically, you grate a zucchini then mix it with egg, bread crumbs, parmesan cheese and spices.  You make the mixture into little patties and then pan fry them in a bit of olive oil.  As long as you don’t overdo the olive oil, the recipe is healthy.  You could lighten it up even further if you wanted by using egg substitute rather than egg as the binder and cut the olive oil completely and just use non-stick spray.  It was the weekend though so I was indulging a bit with the oil.  These were quite tasty but I will say the thinner and crispier they are, the better they taste so keep that in mind when making the patties.  They are pretty simple too so I’d recommend them.

I have been told I’m mean, grouchy, and grumpy in multiple variations many times over the past several weeks.  Let’s be honest, people have been using adjectives like this to describe me for years.  I am honest, yes, and I suppose I can be brash but I do really enjoy it when the people around me are happy so when I hear terms like this, it upsets me.  Most of the time I joke about it but I genuinely don’t like that people think I’m mean.  The people that know me best know that I’m not a hateful person but I don’t want to give the impression that I’m not nice in general.  I honestly don’t know how to change it because I can’t identify it.  I know I get in bad moods so I can certainly work on trying to be more pleasant during those times but I tend to display my emotions in my facial expressions.  I’ve been doing this my whole life so it’s tough to make changes on habits that I’ve spent almost three decades developing.  The truth is, sometimes I’m not happy.  Over the past several months, I’ve let the happiness of others dictate my mood.  I think that this has something to do with the plateau in my weight loss.  In that area, I know I need to be more selfish.  Happiness comes from within and not from any one person in particular.  This is something I know to be a fact but living my life like that is a little easier said than done.  I want to work on shutting out the negativity that surrounds everyone’s daily life and focus on what is good in my life…which happens to be a lot.  Also, I don’t want to be fake but there is something to be said for ignoring the urge to punch someone in the face and sucking it up.  Granted, I don’t run around hitting people but I know for a fact I look like I want to punch people sometimes.  I realize this does me no good so why not just smile and move on?  I think I’ll make that my mid-year resolution.  I am rambling now so I’ll quit.  I am not perfect…not about weight loss…not about anything.  It’s important to me that people know that.  I know it’s not inspiring but the battle lasts forever. 

A-Day is this weekend.  It’s Alabama’s spring scrimmage and it’s fun because it puts just a taste of football season in the air. 

Please keep the runners of the Boston Marathon in your thoughts and prayers.  We all have violent tendencies that we tuck away but acting on violence and hurting innocent people is something I don’t think I’ll ever understand.

Please have a safe and wonderful week! Bye!

“I bet this time of night you’re still up.

I bet you’re tired from a long hard week.

I bet you’re sitting in your chair by the window looking out at the city.

And I bet sometimes you wonder about me.

And I just wanna tell you

It takes everything in me not to call you.

And I wish I could run to you.

And I hope you know that every time I don’t

I almost do,

I almost do.

I bet you think I either moved on or hate you

‘Cause each time you reach out there’s no reply.

I bet it never occurred to you that I can’t say “Hello” to you

And risk another goodbye.

And I just wanna tell you

It takes everything in me not to call you.

And I wish I could run to you.

And I hope you know that every time I don’t

I almost do,
I almost do.” I Almost Do-Taylor Swift

Get off your butt, y'all...

Well we are officially into spring which means I have a layer of pollen on my car and apparently on my eyeballs because my eyes have been itching and watering all day.  I hate to complain because I am so sick of cold weather but my allergies have been taking a pretty hard hit so far this spring.  I know I am not the only one experiencing these symptoms so I’ll stop now.  I am staying pretty static on my weight right now so there isn’t much to report.  I need to change something up and get more serious because this plateau is annoying me.  Part of it is me and my inability to say no to a cocktail or Japanese food (thanks Cassandra) but part of it is just my metabolism needing a jump start.  I am running a 5K on April 27^th so I jogged yesterday in preparation but I think I need even more change ups.  As always, I’ll keep you updated.

This week’s recipe has two ingredients and was inspired once again by Pinterest.  All you do is take frozen sweet potato waffle fries and your favorite pre-made BBQ.  I guess you could make your own BBQ but that would defeat the purpose of it being a simple recipe.  All you do is bake the sweet potato fries according to the instructions on the package (I tried to the biggest ones), heat up the pork and then use the fries to make mini-BBQ sandwiches.  They are cute little sliders.  The combination of the crispy fries and the BBQ was great.  I would say it’s one my favorite recipes I’ve ever made just because it was so easy and tasted delicious. 

Like I mentioned earlier, it’s spring which means for a brief time, it’s not cold and rainy in Alabama and it’s not blistering hot.  There are two short periods in the Spring and Fall in Alabama when it’s acceptable to be outside and we are in the middle of one of those times now.  It’s almost worth the rolling pollen sweeping over everything.  I was outside a lot this weekend and was happy the whole time.  The above is a picture from the Riverwalk with my mom on Saturday.  Now would be a good time to start that exercising regimen you’ve been planning on beginning since the New Year if you haven’t already.  I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I hate exercising.  I thought when I first started almost 4 years ago that I would eventually enjoy running or working out but I want to be clear, I hate it…and I think I always will.  Now, there are certain forms of activity that I hate less than others like playing with my parent’s puppy outside or a dance class.  At this point in my life, I need a bit more in terms of exercise.  If you are inactive though, you can certainly start small.  The point is that you may not like to work out, play, exercise or move in general but you should be doing something.  I am not always perfect so I am not judging but I know how hard it is to make yourself exercise but I do it.  If you go out and have too much fun on a Saturday night, a hangover is not a good enough excuse to lay in bed all day.  I know this to be a fact.  I am the master of workouts full of reflux and fatigue but I figure I made the choice to do the things I do and my body shouldn’t be further punished by not giving my body a cleansing workout.  I hear people say all the time that they don’t have the time to exercise.  I don’t have kids so I know that puts me in a category of “you don’t understand” to a lot of people but I am of the opinion that kids or not, you owe it to yourself to keep your body healthy.  You aren’t doing your children or family any good by not taking care of yourself.  Take 45 minutes to an hour of your day 5 or 6 days a week and do something to burn calories and keep your heart healthy.  This isn’t a lecture.  I have plenty of vices but being lazy physically isn’t one of them.  Even though I despise exercise, there is no doubt in my mind that I am obsessive compulsive about it.  C’mon, you can do it.  Start slow and never stop!

That’s all I have today.  Have a good week.

Bye!

“I’m a brown eyed loner

I march to my own drummer…” I’m a Keeper-The Band Perry

Hoppin' Down The Bunny Trail...

So, this past week, I was better but there were multiple incidents that occurred with chips, Double Stuf Oreos and Easter candy.  My weight held pretty steady since I was better during the week but I didn’t help my 10 pound goal at all.  I’m hoping to make some progress this week now that the chocolate is gone.  Apparently, Lays is holding a contest that features three new flavors of chips.  You can vote for your favorite and whichever one wins will remain a permanent option.  Well, my brother had been wanting the Chicken and Waffles flavor for a while but none of us had been able to find it.  Unfortunately, I ran across these chips (and a pack of Double Stuf Oreos) late last week and it was kind of downhill from there.  The chips taste odd at first but once you continue to eat them, they become an addictive force that takes over your body and makes you forget that you care about anything in life other than those chips.  I’m almost certain they are sprinkled with cocaine.  Luckily, my family, friends, coworkers and I know how to run through junk food like no tomorrow so all threatening snacks are out of the way. 

The Easter Bunny came to visit this weekend and though I did get a few naughty, high-caloric treats, they are gone and I can enjoy the 100 calorie packs that the Easter Bunny leaves me because he is smart enough to know what things I can and cannot have.  As usual, we decorated eggs and my mom made a delicious Easter Bunny cake.  It’s always nice to spend the time with family!

I am pretty sure that I told everyone about the puppy my parents got.  Her name is Grayson and she’s a Great Dane.  She has grown a crazy amount in just a few weeks.  She’s kind of a crazy puppy but she can be sweet.  I wanted to show the crazy difference in size in just a little bit of time.

Jordan, my brother, Lisa and I were all able to go to dinner and enjoy the Maroon 5 concert last week.  I was trying to get over being deathly ill (poorly dealing with allergies) but it was a great show. 

I will have a recipe to share with you next week.  I also hope to have good weight loss news.  It’s hard out there, y’all.  Do your best!

Have a good week!

“You’re so vain, you probably think this song is about you

You’re so vain, I’ll bet you think this song is about you.” You’re So Vain- Carly Simon