Sweaty Sunday, Overnight Oats, and August Goals

1. It seemed like such a great day for my long run, but by the time I got out there it was over 100 degrees, again. I was supposed to do 6 miles.  I barely made it 4.5 before I just couldn't go any further :(  Why did I not realize that signing up for a Half-Marathon in September meant that I would be training through the hottest part of the summer?! Why?! I am not feeling confident AT ALL about the HM. Ugh.

2. I have my overnight oats all ready for tomorrow's breakfast. I swear this is the greatest breakfast ever! I'm pretty sure I got the original recipe from Chocolate-Covered Katie, but here's how I make mine:

     - 1 mashed banana
     - 1/3 cup old fashioned oats
     - 2/3 cup almond milk
     - 1 tbsp ground flax
     - 1 tsp vanilla extract
     - 1 tbsp vegan choc chips
     - 1 tbsp PB2 (chocolate)

Mix everything together and put (in an airtight container) in fridge overnight. In the morning uncover, stir and eat :)

3. August Goals.

- I really need to amp up my HM training, no matter the temperature outside. I really have no excuses seeing as how I DO belong to a gym.  My energy gels are all replenished and I got a few new pairs of magic socks, so I'm ready to go! I'm going to start using my training log again too.

- Less experimenting with vegan desserts. More experimenting with vegan healthy meals :)  And speaking of food, back to tracking EVERY bite.  I tend to eat much better when I'm tracking 100%.  So this also means cutting back on eating out. It's way too difficult to dissect nutritional information from restaurant food.

- I have no weight-related goals for the month other than to continue maintaining between 112 - 117. For July I did not go below 112 and did not go over 115. At least there's one thing I'm consistent with ;)

Wishing you all an Awesome August!

FMM: Defining Moments

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

FMM: Defining Moments

Was there a defining moment in which you realized that you needed to lose weight?  If so, will you elaborate? (If you experienced this moment in some other area of your life, please feel free to share that too!) 

What's really strange to me is that, even when I saw the scale read 240 pounds, I did NOT have one of those 'Aha!' moments.  Sure, I knew I was fat, but I must have been in denial because of the other stuff that was going on in my life at the time - I was in a really stressful relationship with an alcoholic, but that's a whole other story that I really don't wanna go into. 

240 :(

 

 

 

Anyways, after I got out of the relationship, I dropped 100 pounds in about 3 months. Definitely not in any kind of healthy way and I don't recommend losing that much weight that fast. I have stretch marks and loose skin that I don't think will ever go back to "normal."

I did manage to keep the weight off for about 7 years (thanks to Richard Simmons- LOVE Sweatin' to the Oldies 2!) before it started creeping back up again. By this time I had moved from Missouri back East (NJ) and had (among other things) met my (now) husband. When we first started dating I'm not sure how much I weighed but I was wearing a size 9 in juniors. I'm guessing I was around 140ish?  

   This was July 2005.  

When DH and I got engaged December of 2007, that was when I noticed the pounds packing on. My clothes didn't fit and I had to revamp my wardrobe. It didn't really dawn on me just how much weight I had gained until I started trying on wedding gowns.... UGH!

Somewhere around 190

And just like before, I still didn't have an 'Aha!' moment. Yes, I was fat again but I didn't do anything about it...  yet!  About 6 months after this pic was taken, I was sitting at work and some of the girls were talking about joining Weight Watchers.  They asked if I wanted to go. When I said yes, I didn't realize my life was about to completely change :)

I have information about Weight Watchers and SparkPeople.com (2/3 of what I contribute to my success, the other 1/3 is definitely Richard Simmons) in my Q&A section so feel free to read more there :)

Anyways, after 8 months with WW and SP, I reached my goal weight. It was May of 2009 and I've been maintaining ever since.  My biggest defining moments have actually come between then and now.  

First, I got married - Halloween 2009, in costume, at a drive-through wedding chapel in Las Vegas  ;)

114 pounds :)

 Second, I became a runner.  I started with the Couch to 5k running program at CoolRunning.com.  While I prefer running by myself (I am introverted and socially awkward), I have ran an official 5k, 10k, 10-miler, and am currently training for a Half-Marathon in September.  However, I run not to race, but because of how it makes me feel - like a winner :)

Halloween 2010 - got more use out of my bride costume :)

 Third (and most defining), happened only a couple months ago. In May of this year, after watching Food Inc., I immediately quit eating meat and began researching more about farm animal treatment.  Since then, I've also given up dairy and eggs.  I joined the PeTA Pack for my upcoming half-marathon training (though I wish I would have done a little more research into PeTA first - I'm not quite on board with some of their philosophies).  

So there you have it.  I am an introverted yet spontaneous, socially awkward yet competitive, formerly fat fiance who transformed herself into WonderWife and now thrives on plants and dark chocolate peanut butter  :)

If I could only eat one food for the rest of my life, this would be it!

 

Now it's your turn :)

 

FMM: Ten Random Questions

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

FMM: Ten Random Questions

1) What do you like most about yourself? I persevere!
2) List three characteristics that you like to have in your friends. Loyalty, honesty, compassion 
3) How often do you brush your teeth? At least once a day, usually twice :)
4) If you could travel anywhere today, where would you go? After this past weekend with absolutely no rest, I'm gonna have to say a Day Spa. I could go for some serious de-stressing with a massage and and facial and all that good stuff!  And then maybe go for a run.
5) Have you ever met anyone from the blog world in person? Nope
6) What is the last show you watched on TV? I watched the movie Hannibal last night. As for a regular tv show I think the last one I watched was The Voice, and that was about 2 months ago.
7) What kind of perfume/cologne do you wear? I'm allergic to most perfume, but occasionally I will wear Poison or Opium.
8) How long ago did you complete your last workout? Yesterday late afternoon - 5.45 mile run.
9) What will you eat for dinner tonight? Most likely a salad and then some PB cookies :)
10) Share something fun that you did over the weekend. Wow. My MIL was here for the weekend and we were running around non-stop!  The most fun was definitely Saturday - We went to the Rockvale Outlets in Lancaster, PA and that was a lot of fun, especially when I saw an Under Armour outlet! Woohoo! After about 6 solid hours of shopping we ate dinner at one of those Amish Smorgasboard places - Millers.  That was fantastic and I had no problem finding veg'n stuff to eat there!

Now it’s your turn, and you know what to do…Don’t forget to come back and link up!  

Happy Monday! 

Kitchen Experiments and a WW Spot Check

Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

 I'm so happy to find a cookbook that I really like! I've made 4 or 5 recipes out of here already (just got the book last week) and all have been good!  I believe it would be against copyright infringement for me to share, but if I find out differently I will post some of them.

I had to work 2 Weight Watcher meetings today so in between the 2, I thought I'd try out a different recipe that I saw online, for Vegan Crockpot Rice Pudding. The recipe said that once you put all the ingredients in the crockpot, and stir them up, to just cover it, turn it on low for 4 hours and it would be done. Umm. No.  It's now been almost 5 hours and the rice isn't cooked at all.  I'm thinking that whoever posted the recipe forgot to mention to cook the rice first?  I don't know but it looks like a fail.  I am going to leave it on overnight and see what it looks like before I have to go to work in the morning. 

Speaking of WW, at the meeting tonight, we had a "spot check." That's where someone from the office shows up unannounced and sits in on the meeting to observe how everyone is doing. They also make you weigh, to make sure you are not more than 2 pounds over your goal weight.  I am one of those scale junkies who weighs myself EVERY morning, and I also have my WW goal weight set 5 pounds higher than my "personal" goal weight, so I knew I'd be fine.  I was 114 this morning, and 117 when she weighed me.  My WW goal weight is 119, so all was good :)   But anyways, this is the first I'd heard of anything like this.  Have any of you (that work for WW) ever been spot checked?

Slow and sweaty Sunday run

Way too hot but I got over 4 miles in!  So far my training is right on schedule :)

HM training, Day 1 - I joined the PeTAPack!

So it begins! My first half marathon is 12 weeks away, and I figured I would join one of those "team in training" groups for a little added motivation, hehe. After perusing several worthy causes, my heart kept leading me back to something involving animal rights. Which of course, lead me to PeTA. While I admit that I think some of their activists are a little extreme, I do fully support what PeTA stands for! And they also just happened to have a 12-week training program ;)

For anyone interested, here is my support page (Please don't feel obligated to donate anything, I just wanted to share).

Day 1: 2-mile easy run.

Unfortunately, the golf course was (as usual) way too crowded, and it was too late to go out gallivanting anywhere else, so I headed into the garage to the treadmill. It wasn't a very easy run in the 100-degrees, but I did it :)

P.S. I'm at over a month now as a vegetarian. I've had no desire for any kind of meat or eggs, but I'm not quite dairy-free (yet).

Hope you all have a Happy and healthy holiday weekend!