My First 5k!

Yesterday I accomplished a milestone I had set for myself several months ago when I decided to lose weight: I ran a 5k! Well, I jogged/walked a 5k, but still!

I registered for the Color Me Rad 5k as soon as I heard it was coming to this area. During the race, colored powder is thrown on all the participants, turning the race into a colorful mess. My friend Larissa created a team to run the 5k to celebrate her 8th year of surviving cancer. What a great way to celebrate!!

I'll admit, before the race started, I was nervous. I kept thinking, "I haven't trained hard enough for this... I'll end up walking most of it..." After a few minutes of psyching myself out (and almost walking away from the whole thing), I told myself, WHO CARES?! I didn't register for this 5k with the intention of being the fastest runner. The whole point was not to run the entire 3.1 miles or be the first across the finish line. I registered for this race to HAVE FUN and to do something I never would have thought myself capable of.

Once I let myself relax, I had a blast! It was so fun to see groups of friends high five-ing each other, parents running with their kids, and to see my friend celebrate living eight years after doctors gave her a diagnosis of terminal colon cancer.

Here's the crazy part... I think I've caught the running bug. I can't wait to register for another race, and I can't believe I actually had FUN while running! I think I might have to look online later today for a new 5k to register for!

My only regret about yesterday is that I didn't take enough pictures. I wasn't sure how to wrangle a camera through all the powdered mess, so I didn't really take any pictures. Thankfully, one of my fellow Team Miracle friends did take pictures. Here are some pictures of the most colorful 5k!

Team Miracle at the start line! We were throwing up the number 8, not gang signs. ;)

Here we go!!

Here's Team Miracle after all the color bombing!

Miss Larissa!

My running buddy Hilary!

My first 5k! Definitely not my last!

So much fun!

Tips for Eating Out

Eating out is great way to spend time with loved ones, celebrate special occasions, and just have a good time on a Friday night. But if you’re trying to lose weight, sometimes eating out can be a challenge. Most dishes are loaded with hidden calories and even things that sound healthy aren’t always what they seem to be. And then, of course, there’s all of those extremely delicious, but extremely bad for you dishes that are oh so tempting to order.

I’ve figured out a few tricks since I started Weight Watchers that have helped me enjoy eating out without completely ruining all of my weight loss efforts. Here are my top three tips:

1.  Plan Ahead

If you already know that you’re going to be eating out, and you happen to know which restaurant you’ll be going to, look up the menu before you go! Chain restaurants now have their menus online, and a lot of them also offer nutritional information with their online menus. Look up the menu and find a few healthy options. For me, choosing a meal before I even leave the house eliminates the temptation to order something unhealthy. Also, if you know you’re going out later, you can plan your previous meals accordingly. If I know I’m going to Chili’s later, I’m not going to have pizza for lunch. I’ll eat low-point meals for breakfast and lunch so that I have plenty of WW points leftover for dinner.

2. Cut it in half!

If you have a favorite dish at a particular restaurant, but you know it’s a high-point/high-calorie meal, you can still enjoy that favorite meal without the I-just-ruined-my-diet guilt. Just cut the meal in half! When your plate is served to you, take your knife and fork and cut the food in half. Eat until you get to that cut line, then save the rest of your meal for later. You just got two meals for the price of one! (Most restaurants now serve outrageous portions anyway, so you won’t be starved by only eating half of what is served to you.)

If you think you lack the self-control to stop eating at the half way mark, ask your server for a box when your meal arrives. Cut your food in half and place one half of your meal in the box. Tuck the box away and now that food is no longer staring you in the face, tempting you to devour it. Out of sight, out of mind!

3. When All Else Fails, Order Off the Kids’ Menu

The kids’ menu at most restaurants features similar entrées as the regular menu, but with much smaller portions (not to mention cheaper prices). And nowadays a lot of kids’ menus offer healthy side options like apple slices or mandarin oranges. If you didn’t get a chance to research the restaurant’s menu before going out, first look at the kids’ menu. If the kids’ menu only has chicken strips and French fries, though, you might as well order a regular entrée.

Banana Oatmeal Muffins

I’ve always been a sucker for banana bread, but since I started losing weight, I knew I couldn’t eat it anymore unless I found a healthy version.

My mom and I searched through the Weight Watchers website and found a recipe for a healthier banana bread… It was nasty! It was really dry and not sweet at all. I was so disappointed! I kind of gave up on looking for a healthy recipe because I figured every recipe would be similar to the WW one.

This morning I was browsing through Pinterest (good ol’ Pinterest!!) and saw a recipe for banana muffins. Interestingly, the recipe didn’t use flour, but oats instead. It seemed like a simple recipe, so I decided to give it a shot.

Holy Moley. They are DELICIOUS! The only change I would make would be to use overripe bananas next time. I used some that just had a few brown spots on them. Next time, I think I’ll wait till they’re overripe so that the flavor will be a little stronger.

For the original recipe that I found on Pinterest, click here. Below is the same recipe, but with my own tips.

Enjoy!!

Banana Oatmeal Muffins

Ingredients:

2 ½ cup oats (old-fashioned kind, not instant)

6 oz low-fat plain Greek yogurt (1 single serving container)

2 eggs

¾ cup sweetener of choice (we used xylitol)

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

2 bananas

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray.

(Do not use paper liners with these muffins. Since there is no flour in the batter, the paper liners will stick to the muffins after baking. I just used a non-stick spray on the pan and the muffins came out beautifully.)

2. Place all of the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until oats are smooth. 

Tip: Put yogurt, eggs, and bananas in the blender first, then add the dry ingredients. Our blender had a hard time because I dumped the oats in first, so it couldn’t really blend everything. The blade just kept spinning. I had to dump all the ingredients out, mix it up, then put it back in the blender. Lesson learned!

3. Pour batter into muffin pan and bake for about 16-18 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. I baked them for 18 minutes and they seemed almost a little too done. Every oven is different, so try starting with 16 minutes or so and then work your way up. Better to add more time than burn them!

Color Me Rad!!

I am incredibly excited because I just registered for my first 5k!!

I've been wanting to do a 5k ever since I started losing weight. I saw a pin on Pinterest for The Color Run, and I immediately wanted to do it. During the race, colored powder is thrown on all the participants. It is called "The Happiest 5k On The Planet."

Unfortunately, I couldn't register for The Color Run. The nearest race was set for August 4th, and I couldn't find anyone who wanted to go with me. (Who wants to run "The Happiest 5k" by themselves?) The clock was ticking and I still hadn't found a running buddy, so I decided I wouldn't register. I wanted to have enough time to train for the race, even though the times don't matter. I still wanted to set a goal and accomplish it.

And then...

My friend Larissa posted on Facebook that she had started a team to run in the Color Me Rad 5k. I went to the website and realized that the Color Me Rad 5k has the same concept as The Color Run: bright colored powder, no time restraints, and lots of fun! After some encouragement from another friend, I decided to register. I registered with Larissa's team to celebrate her 8th year being cancer free! What a great way to celebrate!

The race is set for September 29th. I have plenty of time to start training and trick more friends into running with me. ;)

After meeting my half-way weight loss goal, my weight loss has been rather slow and even stagnant. I realized that I had met my goal of reaching the half-way mark and needed a new goal to focus on. Now I have this 5k! I'm extremely excited to be working towards a new goal, and I can't wait to accomplish it!

My Secret Weapon: Smoothies!

If you’re anything like me, sometimes it can be hard to get five full servings of fruits and veggies each day. I have a problem with the texture of certain foods, so I don’t always eat enough produce. But I did find one way to sneak in some extra servings: smoothies!!

I’ve always loved smoothies, and my love for them grew exponentially when I worked for Jamba Juice. When my mom and I started Weight Watchers, we decided to try making smoothies at home so we could save a few bucks. Since then, I’ve found dozens of yummy smoothie recipes online and I continue to experiment with different fruit combinations.

Here are my tips for smoothie making:

1. Frozen fruit usually works better than fresh fruit.

If you want your smoothies to have a thin, runny texture, use fresh fruit. If you want your smoothies to be thicker (similar to Jamba Juice), then use frozen fruit. Sometimes I’ll use fresh fruit or a combination of fresh and frozen, but most of the time I stick to frozen fruit. If you’re going to freeze bananas, make sure to peel them first! I learned that the hard way.

2. Don’t be afraid to experiment!

If you don’t like a particular fruit, don’t be afraid to add it to a smoothie. Unless you’re using bananas or cantaloupe, individual flavors don’t always stand out in a smoothie. Most of the time everything mixes together to create a whole new flavor. So just because you don’t like mangos doesn’t mean you shouldn’t add them to a smoothie. Don’t be afraid to try new things. Worst-case scenario, you won’t like the smoothie. Oh well, try again the next day!

3.  If your smoothies won’t blend, you need more liquid.

Even top-of-the-line blenders won’t blend a bunch of frozen fruit. Liquid is key! I love adding juice to my smoothies (especially fruit punch!) because it makes the flavor even stronger. You can also use milk or water, or whatever liquid you prefer. If you’re using only fresh fruit, you may not need much liquid at all.

4. Add spinach!

I know it sounds gross, but you won’t even taste it! I have always hated leafy green veggies, but I don’t even notice the spinach in my smoothies. Just add one cup (aka one handful) of baby spinach per smoothie. Be warned: it will make the color of the smoothie kinda funky.

I wanted to share with you some of my favorite smoothie recipes. Give one of these a try and let me know what you think! And feel free to share with me some of your own favorite recipes.

Cherry Bomb

½ cup frozen blueberries

1 cup fresh strawberries

½ cup frozen, pitted cherries

½ cup milk

(I really want to try this one with juice instead of milk!)

Tropical Sunrise

½ cup fresh strawberries

½ cup fresh pineapple

½ cup fresh cantaloupe

½ cup frozen mangos

1 fresh peach

½ cup milk

Berry Good

½ cup fruit punch**

1 cup frozen berry mix (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries)

(This one has been my favorite for a very long time. Easy to make and very yummy!)

Popeye’s Favorite

½ frozen banana

1 fresh peach

2/3 cup frozen berry mix (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries)

1 cup spinach

2/3 cup milk

2 or 3 tsp honey

**By “fruit punch” I mean the Langers brand fruit punch found at WinCo. Not Hawaiian Punch. Feel free to substitute a different juice or different liquid altogether. Let me know how it tastes!

Weekly Weigh-In: July 1, 2012

Before my weigh-in, I was nervous. I thought I had done well this past week, until it came time for my brother’s birthday party. I couldn’t resist the ice cream cake my mom made. I had done such a good job earlier in the week, but on Wednesday and Thursday, I had several pieces of ice cream cake and I drank a lot of juice. (I love juice. Seriously, it’s one of my favorite things to drink.)

I did go to the gym five days out of the week, and I did eat healthfully most of the time. I hoped my efforts at the gym were enough to see some change on the scale, but after all that cake and sugary juice, I wasn’t sure.

I weighed myself yesterday morning… I lost 4.4 lbs this week!! I don’t even know how that was possible, especially with all that cake! I weighed myself at least five times on two different scales, just to be sure. I only need to lose one more pound to be back at the weight I was at the beginning of June. What a relief!!

I’m going to continue to do what I did last week, but this time without the cake and juice. ;) I was looking at my gym’s class schedule and realized that there are usually two classes per day that I like to do. So my plan this week is to try and do two classes at the gym each day, instead of just one. I like the classes because I can just show up and do what the instructors tell me to do. If I work out on my own, I noticed that I try to get away with not doing as much. But in the class setting, I push myself and get a better workout.

I know that seeing another huge loss like that this next week is unlikely, but I still want to work hard and lose as much as I can this summer. And honestly, I’m enjoying working out. I never, ever thought I’d say that. But it’s true. :)

Weekly Weigh-In: June 24, 2012

This month has been crazy! I can’t believe it’s been so long since I last did a weigh-in post. I haven’t been able to weigh myself in a long time. It seems like every Saturday has been incredibly busy! I finally did weigh myself yesterday morning before all of the wedding festivities began.

Unfortunately, since the last time I weighed myself, I have gained 5.2 lbs. I know the reason behind the weight gain is my eating habits. I’ve been going to the gym pretty regularly, sometimes twice a day, so I know the weight gain is due to how I’ve been eating. I didn’t eat very well while at my grandparents’ house and since our kitchen was being remodeled, my family ate out quite a bit the past couple of weeks. This past week was especially challenging what with the bachelorette party, rehearsal dinner, and wedding reception. So combine vacation, kitchen remodel, and wedding plans, and it’s no wonder I gained weight.

It’s interesting though… In the past, a gain like this would cause me to lose faith in the diet plan and I’d throw in the towel. Sometimes it didn’t even take a gain for me to quit; making a few mistakes here and there would be enough sometimes for me to give up completely. But now, this gain has given me a boost of motivation. I know what I need to change and I have every intention of making those changes. I know that if I continue to eat the way I have been the past few weeks, I’ll slowly gain all of the weight I’ve worked so hard to lose. I refuse to let that happen. I don’t want to be overweight anymore. I don’t want to put my health at risk because I can’t make healthy choices. I’m determined to take control of my choices and turn bad habits into good ones.

Here are my plans for this week: I will make healthy eating choices, which means not going over my daily WW point allotment, no fast food, no junk food, lots of fruits and veggies, and no diet soda! I will also workout daily, and if possible, twice a day. With these plans, I can’t wait to see what the scale will say next weekend!