I ain't never been nothing but a winner...

Well, Alabama is playing Clemson tonight for their 16th national championship.  I am optimistic and excited about the game.  I'm also extremely jealous because my parents are out west, visiting the Grand Canyon and heading to the game tonight. They look like they are having a blast. Here in T-Town, we have the cold weather without fun snow, mountains or canyons. Last week was the first week of the year.  Usually, I take the extreme approach.  An apple for breakfast, lettuce for lunch and dinner and major shifts in exercise.  I am always so eager to ditch the damage I did that it often backfires.  This year, I'm taking it slow.  I am  not shooting for perfection.  I followed the rules extremely well Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and stretched a couple rules the rest of the week.  I mean that in a sincere way.  I maintained a healthy balance on those days, never binging on food or drink.  Today, it may get a bit rusty tonight during the game but I plan on not letting it get crazy.  The goal this week is to achieve even more "good days."  I am not sure if I mentioned it or not but I am training for  a half marathon again which is tough but rewarding and as always, it's helpful to have a goal.  I ran 6 miles on Friday.  It was tough and my goodness I'm slow but I made it through successfully.  This week will hold another long run and several short runs.  I ran into the problem I had last time though and that is that I was STARVING after the run.  I need to plan better for this and I need to make sure I have hearty and healthy food that I can have a lot of.  This week of turnaround led to a 3 pound loss on the scale.  I am happy with this but I know that it means I was going crazy during the holidays and I also know that that type of loss won't happen every week.  I am going to move forward with the plan to be nice to myself and keep working.

I discovered pizza flavored hummus a couple weeks ago.  It's got a nice red pepper kick and hummus is always a filling, healthy option.  For lunch, I decided to build on the pizza flavor and make a wrap. I know I've shared these green wraps before but I will share again.  When you have low carb wraps, they can often break apart.  None of them are outstanding for flavor but at least these wraps, from Fresh Market, hold up really well. The best part is they are only 60 calories.  One of my other favorite foods is turkey pepperoni.  I used the pizza hummus, turkey pepperoni, chicken and smoked gouda cheese to make a wrap and it was delicious.  I used the rest of the hummus and spread it on lavash crackers (which are also a fun snack) to go on the side.  It was a quick, filling, tasty lunch.

I have known about Halo oranges for awhile but I rekindled my love for them.  These tiny mandarins are easy to peel, around 40 calories and are a quick, sweet snack that is great for what I call "boredom eating."  If I'm around the house, I want to eat.  These oranges are great because they are several bites that take a minute to eat because you have to peel the wedges apart and they are guilt-free.

Have a great week y'all and ROLL TIDE!