Cut me down to size...

Happy Early Halloween, Y’all!  Halloween is BY FAR my favorite holiday.  I love dressing up and eating candy and decorating my house.  I’m a little stressed this year because I still don’t have a costume.  This is very unlike me but I’m sure I’ll figure out something.  I usually dress up at work and then a couple more times during the holiday season so I’ll have pictures next week.  I guess I’m really in the holiday spirit because it’s scary how much I ate this weekend.  I was a bit stressed and emotional so I just went for it.  I was actually down two pounds when I weighed Saturday morning so I reached my first Weight Watchers goal.  I have about 12 pounds to go from my personal goal.  I am hoping the damage won’t be too bad and that I don’t get out of control this weekend with the fun sized candy bars.  I’m back on today and I’m not going to beat myself up.  I can’t go back. 

I wanted to share another running victory since it was the only redeeming moment of my fat-tacular weekend.  I jogged on Sunday using my Nike app and told it I wanted to run a 5K.  I broke my time record again so that was good.  I can only imagine how fast I could run it if my belly wasn’t full of pizza, nachos and beer.  Oh well.  There is no football game this weekend so hopefully it won’t be as bad.

I wanted to alert you all of yet another dining place that has added a nutrition calculator to their menu.  Zoe’s now has everything available online.  This is a good and a bad thing because Zoe’s has extremely limited options when it comes to healthy food.  Y’all, I hate to rain on anybody’s parade but if you are getting chicken salad, Greek salad, hummus with pita bread, roll ups or anything with olive oil, you are PILING on fat and calories.  Stay away.  This should be the equivalent of a decadent cheat meal.  Stick with the lean turkey and club pita…oh…and get fruit, not pasta salad as a side.  I also don’t completely trust this nutrition calculator.  Some of the facts update when you manipulate the ingredients and some don’t.  Either way though, it’s a step in the right direction.

Alabama played Tennessee at home this weekend and it was a nice little beat down.  We play LSU next so I’m a little nervous but Alabama is looking GREAT. Have a good week, y’all! Bye!

“Take what you want

Steal my pride

Build me up

Or cut me down to size

Shut me out

But I’ll just scream

I’m only one voice in a million

But you ain’t taking that from me…” Strip Me-Natasha Bedingfield

6.21

Hi everyone! Somehow I managed to lose two pounds last week! I am less than half a pound away from Weight Watchers first goal for me and less than 15 from my first goal.  I was a bit surprised that I lost weight, especially two pounds but I’m not complaining.  I’m just hoping the last two football weekends don’t catch up with me when I weigh on Saturday.  Over the past 14 weeks, I’ve been training for a 10K using the 10K for Pink App.  Well, yesterday, I completed the program.  I managed to run 6.21 straight miles without stopping.  It was a slow process but I did it and I am so proud of myself.  I don’t think I’d want to do runs like that all the time because it took every ounce of remaining energy from my body and I’m all achy.  It just seems crazy to me because a few years ago, I probably couldn’t have run more than 10 feet without passing out.  It’s amazing what dedication can do.  I just wish I could get the calorie intake that strict.  I’d be in business.

So, on the new Weight Watchers program, it’s much more difficult to fit potatoes into your diet.  They aren’t too keen on them because of all the carbohydrates.  Well, I found these imitation potatoes from Betty Crocker.  I know this is a processed food and it’s certainly not in fashion to eat something like this but you get a big pile of mashed potatoes for four points.  I’ve also been adding this Greek Yogurt based French Onion Dip that I found which makes a great substitute for sour cream.  I served those potatoes last week with chicken sausage.  I know it’s not the prettiest plate ever but I was full for seven points and I think that’s pretty valuable. 

Alabama rolled over Arkansas like crazy on Saturday.  I will be missing these less exciting games in the next few weeks as Bama prepares to play Tennessee, Auburn and LSU.  I always love the Alabama-Tennessee game.  It’s a heated rivalry and those are the best.  It’s coming up this weekend.  Roll Tide.

That’s all for today.

Bye!

“This life is sweeter than fiction.” Sweeter Than Fiction-Taylor Swift

Don't Work Yourself Up

Hello everyone.  The good news is that when I weighed this weekend I was down a pound bringing me less than 3 pounds away from the first goal Weight Watchers gave me.  The bad news is that when I drove to Kentucky and back this weekend, I had a few weak moments.  In all honesty, I’ve done way worse when I have travelled in the past but there were a multitude of temptations and I gave into a few of them.  The item pictured above is one of the many things that got in the way of a perfect weekend.  My mom and I ran into an Amish store on the way to Lexington in a town called Berea, KY.  My mom wanted to stop to get some Amish butter, so we did.  In the store, there was a plethora of goodies to explore.  None of these goodies are what I would consider healthy.  In the picture above, you’ll see marshmallows like the kind you find in Lucky Charms.  These are special because we found a whole bag of them without cereal…only marshmallows.  Those were awesome.  There were cheese curds, fried okra chips, suckers and lots of other things.  We also had a Diet Root Beer Float from the A&W.  There were a couple other instances over the weekend.  The point is, it wasn’t great.  I’m not proud of my performance but like I said, I’ve done worse and I was coming off of a perfect 2 week stretch.  I  also didn’t stuff myself until I thought I’d throw up.  Believe it or not, that’s a major achievement.  I know I have work to do but I’m back on today.  I am not going to beat myself up.  There’s a football game at home this week so my goal is to have a perfect weekend.  I know I can do it.

Last week, I offered up some suggestions on restaurants that have awesome nutrition calculators and this week I have a couple more.  A friend of mine told me about Chipotle.  I never go there because I’m a big fan of Moe’s.  Moe’s has been good to me and I don’t want to cheat on them.  More importantly, Chipotle puts cilantro in their rice and I hate that.  Having said all of that though, I checked out their site and their nutrition calculator is pretty awesome.  It gives you the liberty of picking and choosing certain ingredients.  The other nutrition calculator I found last week was for Newk’s.  I LOVE Newk’s but I rarely go because there are very few healthy options but I was able to go last week because I found decent options using the calculator they provide.  I wish every restaurant did this.  It makes life SO MUCH EASIER.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m32zfjj19JM&feature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRlr0iUz75Q&feature=youtu.be

I saw The Lumineers, The Band Perry and Rascal Flatts last week at the Amp.  All the music has been amazing but I think those were my last concerts until December.  I love the Amp.  It has provided a lot of entertainment this summer.  I included a couple videos I uploaded. 

As mentioned above, my mom was gracious enough to travel to Kentucky with me to see Alabama beat the Wildcats in football.  It was a LONG two days because of all the driving but we had a blast.  We won, we ate good food, we saw family and we made it back safely.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Roll Tide!

Bye!

“Seems like you always want you can’t have

Well that’s just life, baby, and you can’t get mad

Don’t work yourself up too much, oh love

Don’t work yourself up too much, oh love

So much out there I have yet to see

But sometimes I just want to settle down and start a family
And mostly I just feel like I am stuck in between…” Don’t Work Yourself Up – Tristan Prettyman

Ho Hey

Howdy everyone!  Good news! After being on Weight Watchers again for less than 2 weeks, I’ve already lost 7 pounds.  I’m close to meeting the first goal Weight Watchers gave me and I’m one step closer to my end-of-the-year goal.  Apparently this was the jumpstart I needed.  I have been totally perfect since I started Weight Watchers again and I’m following the rules that I laid out for myself to a tee.  I’m proud of myself and I want to keep going.  I’m going to two concerts this week and I’m traveling to Kentucky this weekend with my mom for the Bama game so I know it’s going to be challenging but I’ve got momentum and I plan to keep up the good work.

Since we are on the subject of doing our best, I wanted to give you a hint on how to survive out there in your lunch hour.  More and more restaurants are putting their nutritional information online.  Some of them are going above and beyond to make sure that we have all the info we need to make healthy decisions and I provided a list of some of the winners below.

The best places are the ones that allow you to choose what you are getting and then edit the food to meet your needs.  For instance, with McCalister’s you can choose what sandwich you want and if you want it without tomato and mayonnaise, you can eliminate those ingredients and the nutrition facts will update.  I think this is AMAZING.  You can also do this at the rest of them.  The reason McCalister’s got first place is because at McCalister’s, you are almost certain to get the serving size that their nutrition facts suggest.  At Jason’s and Moe’s, it doesn’t take into account that your server or you at the salad bar may get more food than the nutrition facts account for and I know I'm not strong enough to leave the extra on my plate. Really though, they are all great and all deserve first place credit.  I will try to update you on more places that provided such awesome information as I see them and if you know of any others, please let me know. 

As always, I have a lot going on.  I was lucky enough to go to Alabama’s homecoming game on Saturday and I’m also (as I said before) traveling to Kentucky with my mom this weekend for the game in Lexington. I have two concerts this week, midterm grades are due Wednesday, I’m working, tutoring and teaching and I’m also part of a fiction writing group (which is good because I need to stay on my toes when it comes to writing).  Basically, I’m so busy it’s hard to keep it all together but I feel so lucky to have the opportunities that I have.  I’m always worried about money and the next thing I have to do but at the end of the day, I travel, see concerts and football games and just have the best time so if that means I’m constantly scraping the bottom of the barrel then I guess it’s worth it.  I’m sure I’ll have plenty to report next week.

Have a great week and Roll Tide! Bye!

“(Ho!) I’ve been trying to do it right

(Hey!) I’ve been living a lonely life

(Ho!) I’ve been sleeping here instead

(Hey!) I’ve been sleeping in my bed,

(Ho!) Sleeping in my bed

(Hey!)” Ho Hey-The Lumineers