Ok…..so I bet you thought I quit right…….yes it’s been a while, but truth be told, we lost our internet for almost a month. Now everything is back up and running good, thanks to a very talented techie friend! And I have so much to share!
I got through week 3 of C25K and then I hurt my knee……not sure what I did but it hurt! I was so upset! I thought just as I was keeping up with exercising, even though it was difficult……and I was loosing weight, feeling better….I couldn’t get over the fact that I was being stopped. I wanted to cry. I wasn’t going to quit, so I iced it, took ibuprofen and kept on! But instead of running I started walking. I kind of felt like I was cheating or something, but one day when I was struggling to get through the first mile and a half, in pain with my knee and shin splints……I was praying, asking the Lord to help me. Quoting 1 Corinthians 6:20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. I looked up and saw this dove sitting on the wire, just watching me. It gave me such peace and strength to keep going. He stayed there the whole time, and left when I started for home.
I figured since a 5K was about 3 miles, that I would walk 3 miles, three times a week. I started with a 20 minute mile and before I knew it I was down to a 16 minute mile……my goal is a 15 min mile and I’m almost there! I’m not sure if I’ll start running again or not. I know it’s not good to run on pavement and that is all I have to run on. I’m enjoying walking and pushing myself. It’s also so wonderful to get outside in the fresh air and have some me time. I love listening to my praise and worship music as I walk and even though I’m exhausted when I’m done, it’s thoroughly relaxing.
Before I started to write this post I decided to read over the last one to see where I left off since it had been so long. I was surprised to see where I said I was down almost 10lbs. This journey seems like it’s going at a snails pace…..but I’m glad to say that as of today I’m down 15.4 lbs. And I’m happy to report that even though there have been mornings that I thought “I’ll just sleep in and not walk to day”……..for some reason I just can’t! And my new shoes………they aren’t looking so new anymore!
I’ve never been a runner, in fact I hate running. I dreaded the two times a year in High School when we had to “run the mile” I knew I would be at the back of the pack and take forever to get done. I don’t like to sweat, and I hate the heat. All reasons why NOT to exercise. I kept hearing about this Couch to 5k thing everyone was doing, I kept watching on Facebook as friends of mine were one by one actually running 5k races. I have been watching what I eat, I’m down almost 10 lbs. so why not try it. I’ve heard so many say that they didn’t like to run, but this program made it easy and now they love it. Wouldn’t it be something to love running?
Well this is called blogging for accountability…..you see I’m famous for starting something, like a diet, being excited about it, thinking it’s finally going to happen, and things slowly fading away until, yes….I’ve quit again. I have decided I need accountability. I have been doing Weight Watchers, which I’ve done before, but this time I’m attending meetings and weighing in at least once a week. I enjoy the support from people that have been there, done that and succeeded. A couple of my friends at WW encouraged me to give c25k a try. I feel like by sharing it with you……the good, the bad and the ugly, maybe I’ll stick with it…….I can do 8 weeks right?
So here it is: Week 1 Day 1 C25K
I actually enjoyed it, I’m not going to lie, I haven’t ran in so long it felt weird and I’m sure I looked weird.
But I’m just so blessed to live next door to our church where I can walk around the parking lot, in a safe place (where nobody can see me), and I’m using the free app on my iPhone. I love that I can play music and it talks to me, telling me when to walk/run. Really it couldn’t be better. Today was a 5 min brisk walk, then alternating running for 60 seconds and walking for 90 seconds (for 20 min.) then a 5 min cool down. I made it all the way through! And I came home feeling good! I can do this 3 days a week! I’m looking forward to seeing my body adapt as the work outs become increasingly more advanced as the weeks pass.
see you next week……………..
yes….I’m blogging food again! Ok….who doesn’t like chocolate cake, right? Every once in a while I just crave a piece of moist, gooey, warm chocolate cake! But cake and Weight Watchers don’t mix, right? Or do they?!! Well one day when I was browsing Pinterest (one of my favorite past times I came upon a recipe for Healthy Chocolate cake, but come on really, who are we kidding? After checking it out on my trusty points plus calculator, wow….it really wasn’t that bad. But me being me and thinking I could do a bit better, I made a few tiny adjustments and came up with a serving that is only 2 points!! Yes, can you imagine? A satisfying piece of chocolate cake for only 2 points? I know what you’re thinking, but it’s true
Yes, it contains apple sauce and zucchini, but even the very discerning palette of my husband couldn’t detect it! So I dare you to try it and let me know what you think!
1/3 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/3 Cup All Purpose Flour
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1 tsp Baking Soda
3/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 Cup Cocoa Powder
2/3 Cup Unsweetened Apple Sauce
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Cup Shredded Zucchini or Carrot
1/4 Cup Egg Substitute
Pre heat oven to 350
Combine the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt. Add the applesauce, egg, vanilla, and zucchini and mix just until combined. Pour in to well greased and floured bunt pan and bake for about 30-35 min. or until a toothpick comes out clean. Dust with powdered sugar or top with light whip cream.
Or pour batter into muffin pan with foil liners, bake for 14-16 min. Makes 12 cupcakes.
So this Friday is marking the end of my third week on Weight Watchers. I have to say it’s going good….I got my 5lb Star last week and actually I’m looking forward to weigh ins tomorrow. I’ve done Weight Watchers in the past, only taking advantage of their online tools (which are incredible). However I have found for me, I need to be accountable and have the weekly encouragement that the actual meetings provide! This time has been different, I leave every Friday recharged and ready for another week of good eating decisions!
While I do enjoy a healthier way of eating, I do get cravings for a few yummy treats every now and then. Part of Weight Watchers and making healthier choices has taught me that some of my favorite recipes can be made over to actually be healthy and not loose a bit of flavor! So this morning I was craving a muffin!!! After a little planning, I came up with this made over recipe and it was so yummy I thought I’d share it here with you all! Bon Appetite!
Healthy Oatmeal Cherry Muffins
1 Cup Old Fashioned Oats
1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
3/4 Cup 1% Milk
1/4 Cup Egg Beaters
1/4 Cup Unsweetened Applesauce
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Cup Chopped Frozen Unsweetened Cherries
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper cups.
With a wire whisk, combine oats, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Combine milk, egg, applesauce and vanilla extract in a small bowl. Make a well in the center of the oat and flour mixture. Add liquid ingredients. Stir until just moist. Fold in chopped cherries.
Spoon muffin mixture into muffin pan. Bake for 18-20 minutes
WW Points Plus Value 3 per muffin
We had a wonderful day yesterday celebrating the twins 8th birthday!! We had decided on a milk and cookie party with all their friends. It was a lot of work and preparation, but oh what fun!
the birthday girls
We decided it would be fun to have a photo booth! Kendra made all kinds of fun props using fun foam and dowel rods from Hobby Lobby. They turned out great! And the girls had a blast and were goofy as expected!! We are going to make them into strips in photoshop, print them out and give them to the girls in their thank you cards!
We had all kinds of yummy cookies! I made the white tiered stands…..I am thrifty after all! In fact I found all of the white dishes at Goodwill, and bought three different sets of wooden pieces from Hobby Lobby and glued them together painted and distressed them, then combined all the pieces to assemble the stands! I love how they turned out and now I have some pretties to serve on in the future! I also made the little card stands…..again wooden pieces from Hobby Lobby, and little clothes pins, all glued together and painted, then I found these fabulous little chalk board tags with the scrapbooking supplies! I just loved them!
We had three kinds of milk and I recycled orange juice bottles to serve, I’m cheap thrifty remember! I also used a plastic planter from Home Depot to put the milk bottles in, then I was able to pour in ice to keep the milk nice and cold during the party.
A view of all the goodies! I have also been wanting a chalk board to write cute quotes and messages on for my living room, so I took this opportunity to make one! It just happened that the open frames were 50% off at Hobby Lobby, I couldn’t find one that I liked so I just looked and size, shape and detail. I brought it home slapped on a quick coat of my favorite paint (American Accents Heirloom White by Rust oleum) Then I distressed over the detail using my trusty foam sanding block, got a piece of masonite from Home Depot and painted it with a few coats of chalk board paint and I finally have my chalk board!!
 I just fell in love with these old fashioned striped paper straws with mustaches from Etsy and everyone got a little milk bottle (starbucks frappuccino bottle) with their name on it to drink their milk out of.
 We made these cookie initials for the girls. We used the paper mache letters you can find at most craft stores and used hot glue to attach cookie cereal to them. My girls loved them! Cara said “these are so cute, but such a terrible waste of cookies” LOL!!
 I used a cute bin I purchased at Resurrect Antiques in Opelika, AL to hold the gifts and cards. And we decided to make all the girls their very own jars of cookie mix to take home and make themselves.
 We played a couple of really fun games, one of them being “match the cookie cutter to the image” We traced cookie cutters on to two poster boards, separated the girls into two teams, then put all the cookie cutters in one pile, (and added in a few more that weren’t on the boards just for a little challenge) and let them race to match up their board! They were so competitive! It was so much fun!
And this is the whole gang! A bunch of beautiful, fun, goofy girls!!
I’m totally wore out, and I’m so thankful I have a creative and helpful daughter to help me!! and we would do it all over again!
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