It's a big deal to me!

Well, I took a HUGE break from running... like a month, seriously! I was highly disappointed in myself. Since I am on vacation from work this week I decided that I had to make myself go to the gym almost everyday. Well... that didn't happen. My first trip to the gym was Wednesday (yesterday) and I tried to restart my C25K on week 3. Week 3 is 90 seconds of running, 90 seconds of walking, 3 minutes of running, 3 minutes of walking... then repeat.

Man, oh, man... it was HARD! I couldn't believe it. I left the gym feeling defeated and down, thinking to myself "I'll never be able to jog a whole mile straight. I suck." Despite all that, I got up today and was still determined to go. (Our 5K is in like a week and a half!!!). So I went, and completed week 3 with no problem! I guess my body just needed a little jump start and then it was ready to go again?

So, I completed week 3 and then decided just to run until I felt pretty winded. I made it 2/3 of a mile (8 minutes) without stopping!!! Yay for me! That's probably not a big deal to people who are in great shape... but that's a huge deal for me!!! I feel accomplished!

This weekend I am going camping with my friends and the Boyfriend. Should be fun. I hope to at least get in a little jog during the weekend. Then, when I come back I am going to try to go to the gym almost every day since the 5K is next weekend. I really want to be able to jog a whole mile before we do the 5K. I won't be able to run the whole 3.1 miles straight, but I want to finish in 45 minutes or less.

Again... Yay me! :-)

Spring Cleaning

I always feel so much happier and better when things are clean, as I'm sure a lot of people do. The ironic thing is that for as much as I hate mess, I hate cleaning just as much. My life and apartment have felt so cluttered lately... and I hate it.

So, I'm on vacation from work all week this week and have decided to accomplish all the cleaning and organizing that I had planned during my last vacation from work (during which I accomplished absolutely nothing). Yesterday was a loss. I ate WAY too much, probably gained like 3 pounds in 1 day and didn't do a whole lot besides make some rockin' healthy enchiladas for dinner.

Today I woke up early to say goodbye to the Boyfriend when he left for work, but then I couldn't fall back asleep. So I stayed up and cleaned. I washed EVERY dish I own (because most of them were dirty) and then cleaned out my fridge. Blech! I don't think I've done that since I moved in this apartment. Gross! But I did it and then washed all the resulting dirty tupperware/dishes from cleaning out the fridge. This is now what my poor, sad, empty fridge looks like.

Ah, yes.... the essentials of life: cans of Diet Mt. Dew, coffee, beer, eggs, strawberries and fat free Cool-whip. Seriously?!?! It looks like my fridge in college! Who knew I actually had so little real food in there?

I HAVE to go to the gym today. Our 5K is in less than 2 weeks. I definitely won't be able to run the whole thing. I've given up on that dream. However, I would at least like to run half of it. I gotta get a serious move on!

Biggest Loser Finale

Tara was robbed of her victory! I'm sad she didn't win. She was so close! She had won more challenges than anyone and never fell below the yellow line. I wish she had won, but she's still my favorite... and totally amazes me.

I blame the tumor....

I haven't blogged in a while... things are just busy and blah lately.

I haven't been keeping up with my C25K. I haven't been eating great. Somehow I have managed not to gain any weight... even lost like .4 pounds. That can probably be attributed to all the stomach problems I've had lately though. Couldn't actually keep much food in my body. I just haven't been feeling well lately (as usual).

I blame the tumor. I blame the tumor for everything these days though.The doctor has recommended that I have an abdominal myomectomy to remove it. Having major surgery scares me, but at the same time... I am so frustrated and angry about never feeling good and having this thing, that I think I'm going to just do the surgery. I'm just scared to have it because it could mean no children for me, but at this point the thing is taking up so much space that leaving it in isn't going to help me much either. (and it's making my life miserable).

That's all for now.... I'm tired and feel gross. So I'm going to eat dinner and go to bed. Just wanted to let you guys know that I'm still here. Hopefully soon I'll be back to my old self.

I Heart Trader Joe's....

I had a girls' day out today with my BFF, Anna. (I even got to take a half-day of vacation from work). I've just been feeling down the past few weeks and thus my diet and exercise has suffered the past few days. After our little road trip today I feel renewed and much happier. She's the best! I had fun! We went to the outlet malls and had a grand ol' time without spending much money.

Then we took an impromptu trip to Trader Joe's. I had never been there, but had been dying to go. The closest one to me is about 15-20 minutes away though. We went and I was SUPER surprised! The prices are pretty reasonable. They have TONS of healthy/organic options that are also flavorful.... and they have a lot of unique things. I'm SO excited. I only spent like 20 bucks while we were there.... but got quite a bit of stuff. Lots of new meals and snacks to try.

Definitely more on this topic later!

New Foods

I've never had polenta before, but since nothing lately sounds good, I've been wanting to try new things. I found this at my new favorite produce/natural foods store down the street... sundried tomato and garlic polenta.

I've never cooked polenta before so I was trying out some things and made this (sorry for the blurry pic)...

It's slices of polenta topped with chicken, black beans, various peppers, and fat free mozzerella. Overall, it wasn't too bad. Next time I think I'll cook the topping and polenta separately so that the polenta will get a little more firm.

Just trying to broaden my food horizons.....

This week's results...

Well, I only lost .8 pounds this week. Not as much as I had hoped, but at least the numbers are still going down. Considering that I couldn't work out much last week, I guess a .8 is pretty good.

It's getting a little harder this week to eat healthy for some reason. I've been feeling much closer to giving in to bad things most days. But I'm trying to resist and find healthier versions of things I love. I think that maybe I'm just in a food rut as it's hard to eat healthy and quick, and I haven't felt like cooking much lately.

I found these at the grocery store....



I know they have had them in other brands for a while, but even the small portion in those brands wasn't healthy. Since this is the slow churned it's much lower in fat and calories. And the small size helps me, as I've always been a girl who could eat a whole pint of ice cream in one sitting.

I went shopping today at this awesome produce store near me that I never realized existed. They have lots of fresh and organic things. They also have a ton of products that I suppose could be deemed "unusual" or "ethnic foods"... or at least things I have a hard time finding in my regular store. I'll let you know how the new foods/recipes turn out.

Have a great rest of the weekend!