MERCI GRACIAS DANKE GRAZIE THANKS!

Thanks for stopping by my blog. You will find something new everyday from my current workout routine, restaurant reviews, random internet findings,vacations, recipes, rants/raves etc. Enjoy :)

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Rain, Rain Go Away...

For you Northeasterners, its been touch and go the past few weeks...so much rain and gloom...so the saying goes, "April Showers, Bring May flowers"...whatever it sucks either way and its not even April yet. I just want it to be summer.Is that too much to ask?? This is my rant. Thanks for listening.
In any case, I found this picture and its pretty amazing. Hope you enjoy!

found google images search for "rain"

Monday, March 29, 2010

My Second Half Marathon!

Get Ready Cape Cod!

I will be running in my hometown area over Memorial Day Weekend in the Johnny Kelley Half Marathon!

I am excited to run somewhere closer to home. There is one in Boston that day but I'd rather have the scenic views and the ocean breeze at my back!

http://www.greathyannisroadraces.com/halfmar/

I will try to PR my one in Disney!

I am excited to get back to training!

When the Sand Runs out...

I was feeling like I needed something to kick start this dreary, rainy day in boston. I am fullly commited to getting where I want to be pysically and mentally. Sometimes when I am feeling down, I listen to this song by Rascal Flatts, called "When the Sand Runs out" to charge me back up.

My favorite lyrics from the song are the following...

'Cause people do it everyday

Promise themselves they're gonna change
I've been there, but I'm changin' from the inside out
That was then and this is now
I'm a new man [Woman], yeah, I'm a brand new man[Woman]

Chorus:
I'm gonna stop lookin' back and start movin' on
Learn how to face my fears
Love with all of my heart, make my mark
I wanna leave something here
Go out on a ledge, with out any net
That's what I'm gonna be about
Yeah I wanna be runnin'
When the sand runs out

Enjoy :)

Thursday, March 25, 2010

I don't know what is wrong, but I don't like it!

I am home sick today. I have had a horrible cough and sore throat since monday. I took the day to rest up. I missed my meeting this morning too and I am sad because I havent seen my leader in weeks! She's pregnant so it be a bad idea to go around her sick. I have still been OP today...if anyone has any ideas on keeping me occupied send me a tweet! anivs18 on twitter :)

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Change Is on my Mind

Change
1.to make the form, nature, content, future course, etc., of something different from what it is or from what it would be if left alone. (http://www.dictionary.com/)

I need to Change. I have changed. I am changing. The various degrees of me at any point in time. I struggle with change sometimes. It can be scary when you don't know the outcome. Change is good too, when you are able to try something new. When dealing with health and weightloss most people must go through change mentally and pysically and adapt over a period of time. I know for myself that I need to change bad habits in order to succced sometimes, but I dont need to change everything. I can keep what I know and the positive behavoirs and attributes that have made me who I am. I know that I have what it takes to get to where I need to be. There is just something that lies in the inbetween stages of change that is the struggle. I am unsure what even brought this on other than looking at dresses in Macy's at lunch. I already bought a dress for a wedding and it doesnt fit (ashamed to admit). I started to look at bigger sizes for a backup. But Why? I dont want to be a bigger size. How about I fight to get to a point where the dress needs to be taken in. I have 3 months to make the necessary changes to fit into that dress and I believe I can. I need to start making changes and keeping them consistent. Change is good. Change is needed Now!

Monday, March 22, 2010

Vegan Day 5 and 6 Recap and moving forward!

I continuted to eat vegan into the weekend and finally gave in and had seafood, cheese and non vegan cake. I knew that I could not maintain this lifestyle with the weekend of friends and Birthday celebrations. I think its great that some people choose veganisim for animal rights and commit to it completely, but I am a foodie. I am NOT a picky eater (sometimes this is bad news when it comes to weight loss haha) and I eat very healthy. I also enjoy foods from every food group and dont think it is for me long term.

Top 5 Things that I have learned from Eating Vegan

1. You do not need meat and dairy to survive. As long as you are eating protein from Tofu,Quinoa etc you are getting what you need along with taking a multi vitamin.
2. When you limit your diet in a new way, it can eliminate "mindless eating". I learned to say NO to foods I really didnt need and couldnt eat because they were not vegan during my trial.
3. Vegan DOES NOT mean its healthier. I discovered the chocolate cake I had from whole foods had just as many calories/fat as regular cake. French Fries are vegan....get my point? You really need to still becareful about the ingredients you are using etc.
4. Vegan eating definitely makes you feel more full, for a longer period of time.
5. Vegaan allowed me to cut out all procssed snack food like granola, luna, fiber one etc and replaced them with something fresh like fruit and grains.

Going forward....as I mentioned...I am going to eat vegan breakfasts and lunches during the week, while I am at work. At night, I will eat mostly vegan but have some meat and cheese. On the weekends I will eat what I want as far as variety but keep within my WW plan.

Over the weekend I made Vegan Cowboy Cookies check out the recipe...it makes a million cookies...make for a party or bring to work!! (NOT ww friendly unless you make over 70 cookies and use a teaspoon of dough per cookie still 2pts)

I also made what I am coining as "Stop Light Pizza" ww friendly 4 pts per slice, 8 servings per pizza ( I made a rectangle)

1 bag of Trader Joes Whole Wheat Pizza dough (120 Cal 2 Fat, 4 Fiber)
1 cup of Reduced Fat Shredded Cheese
1 cup of frozen red,green, yellow pepper strips
1/2 cup of Sauce

Arange and bake at 425 for 10-12 minutues...so good and healthy

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Vegan Day 5 : Tempeh Tacos!

Well its almost the weekend yay...Its supposed to hit 70 here in Boston...that would be amazing!

Today was a great day. Today was the first day I felt any signs of hunger between means since starting the veganism. There are 2 possible explanations for this:
1. I got up an hour earlier than usual so I feel like my eating times were thrown off a bit.
2. I gave a pint of blood...Im not sure but maybe this did something..I had OJ after no snacks (not vegan) but I had one of my vegan cookies when I got back to my desk to feel better.

So after lunch I was craving something sweet...I wanted chocolate....I had the points so I decided to walk to Whole Foods. It was a mile,there and back. I walked briskly in the gorgeous weather.

I bought a banana, 4 clementines and a slice of vegan chocolate cake.

I ended up eating 2 clementines and the cake for dessert. I'm saving the banana and other 2 clementines for tomorrow. The cake was 4 pts...not bad at all and it was delicious! I could not tell the difference honestly. Whole Foods really has some amazing food!

Now every week Melissa and I make turkey meat tacos. She felt bad cooking it but I insisted she make them but just to save me some seasoning (vegan I checked). I had bought  a 5 grain tempeh so I mixed the seasoning in and added some green onion and sauteed them for a few minutes. I put them inside 3 mini flourless tortillas that I got at whole foods. I topped them with my Vegan Creamy Mexican Dip and Lettuce. I got a very filling dinner for 6 pts. I still have 2 pts left over.

Staring at the meat, cheese, and sour cream did make me miss them but honestly my meal was A. healthier and B. probably more satisfying.

So far my plan still stands as eating vegan meals for breakfast and lunch mon-fri then eating meat and dailry at night and on the weekends as needed.

I still have all day tomorrow and saturday until dinner time to enjoy Vegan treats.

At dinner I plan to have Tuna Tar Tar because its amazing at the restaurant were going to. I will also indulge in their french fries and a fruity martini!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Vegan Day 4:Creamy Mexican Dip

So I posted earlier about yesterday so now Ill talk about the rest of the day...

I stayed within my points again yay! 4 days of eating completly vegan

I havent really craved anything yet. I think that changing what I eat has required a lot more planning so Ive had no "mindless eating" where Im just snacking on random things and all my dinners have been planned out. These are key tools for ww working and I think that this has made me realize that to continue to be successful with weight loss I need to plan meals better and not just grab anything thats around. When you limit certain things it makes you think so much more than oh I can just eat anything I want. For example not being able to eat cake and pizza at work this week simply because it wasnt vegan. Normally I wouldnt have thought twice about either. Thats prob 1000 calories I didnt have!

So tonight I made Vegan Creamy Mexican Dip
1 Jar of organic salsa,
1 package of lite silken tofu
1 jalapeƱo diced
1 avacado
Juice of 1 lemon and 1 lime juice
1 can of black beans rinsed,
Salt
Pepper
1 tsp of Cajun
3 Tbs of sun dried tomatos in oil

Add seasoning until it tastes spicy and mexicany and not like tofu :)

Put all ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth....add in beans after you empty into a bowl to add some "chunks"

1 ww pt for 1/4 cup

Enjoy with Vegan Tortilla chips or veggies

Vegan Day 3

I didnt get to blog last night because I was at a friends watching LOST.

I had another successful day. I had to give up free pizza at lunch..1. I had already eaten lunch (but that may not have stopped me, being honest) 2...it was vegan so I did not eat any!

I peeked at the scale this morning...official weigh in is tomorrow but it was the lowest its been in probably 6 months.(down 5 lbs from sunday) If anything eating vegan will cleanse and jump start my metabolism in a new way. I have not eaten any processed snack foods at all which is crazy.

Cheese....3 days without cheese...I honestly cant believe it...I havent really craved it to be honest but 3 days is not a long time by any means....but I usually have some kind of cheese at every meal. Its sad I know.

As far as my ww plan goes I have stayed within my Daily Points...another success of 3 days...that hasnt happend in awhile either!

Yesterday I also ran over 5 miles. It was my first run since the Half Marathon. I sprinted at one point to catch up with some people at run club and I think that killed me. I ran fast but it was not an easy run. Perhaps.

Oh yea...Happy St. Patricks Day!

Monday, March 15, 2010

Day Two:Vegan WW Success

Let me just say that I am loving this already! I have not felt this full during work in a lonnng time. The highlight of my day was saying *NO* to birthday cake at the office because it wasnt vegan. I am definitely an all or nothing person, which has its positives and negatives. When I am on my game I am SO on, when im off...lets not even go there. BUT I AM ON!

Today I stayed within my DPA and also did Spinning for an hour.

My dessert tonight was a smoothie!
2 frozen bananas (i freeze them when they get too brown)
1/2 cup of Trader Joes Very Cherry Blend frozen fruit
1 cup of Whole Soy Plain yogurt
1/3 cup light original silk
1 tbs peanut butter

This makes 2 servings for 5 pts each

SOOO AMAZING! Try it!

So 2 days into my week long of Veganism I am basicially feeling this so far as a comitment to WW and eating as healthy as I can

I feel like I would like to maintain eating vegan for breakfast and lunch Monday-Friday.

Dinners can have dairy and meat

Sat and Sun can be a combination of both vegan and non vegan depending on if I am eating out or at home.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Going Vegan for a week!

After reading *Bitch Cakes* blog and how she follows WW and veganism, and talking with a friend who has been doing it over a year I decided to check it out. Since my diet consists of mostly fruits and veggies, low cal low fat, I am hoping that this will be an easy transistion. My main issues are the dairy. I am a cheese-a-holic. I do luckily like soy milk. I am a bit nervous to try soy yogurt, but I will try it.

At Whole Foods, I bought Nutritional Yeast and Ground Flaxseed which are two specific items to add for protein and fiber benefits.

I started this morning and ate oatmeal, at lunch I had a Middle Eastern platter and Soy Fro-yo and then for dinner I made soy nuggets and Mac and Cheese...but honestly it did not taste like mac and cheese AT ALL, but dont get my wrong, it wasnt bad, jsut not what I expected. I am going to try and make recipes from Fat Free Vegan in order to follow WW as well. So my goal is to do it until dinner time on March 20th, that night I have a birthday party and I love the Tuna Tar Tar so I am probably going to eat that then. So almost a week.

My goal going forward is to integrate veganism into my diet but still eat some dairy and meat. I don't believe that it is for me long term, but I am interested to see the benfits and difference in how I feel after this.

So after day one I feel full and satisfied which is a good sign!

Heres a pic of my lunch today!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Disney Princess Half Marathon LONG Recap!

Wow..as I sit here 4 days later I still cant believe it...Sunday March 7, 2010 I ran 13.1 (13.25 says my garmin)...my first Half Marathon. It was September 15, 2009 when I clicked the submit button on active.com. I spent the next 5 months gradually increasing my mileage, running in 10 degree weather with 4 layers on, for that moment when I crossed the finish. I feel like I have accomplished so much in these past few months. Training for a race is the perfect way to set goals and accomplish them. I am a Half Marathoner! YAY

The Race weekend. I flew from Boston to Orlando Friday morning with my Mom and my good friends, Jenna and Steve.. My Dad, Step Mom and one of my friend Kristyn all Florida locals now met me as well. On friday, my mom and I went to the expo and got my race bag. I checked my d-tag( timing device) and picked up a headband from Sweaty Bands courtesy of my mom! I got one with Martini Glasses on it to signify my 66 days without Alcohol to prepare for the race post New Years Eve! I then hit Hollywood Studios, Epcot and Magic Kingdom over the next few days!

On race day I got up at 3:00am, showered, dressed, drank a bottle of water and ate my classic pre race meal of a Bagel with Peanut Butter and a Banana...my energizer of choice is Jelly Belly Sport Beans so I had a packet of those and I packed a tylonol and another packet in my capri pants for mid race.  At 3:45am a taxi took a bunch of us from my hotel (Regal Sun Resort..loved it) to Epcot. It was now 4am and a freezing 37 degrees out. I did not bring layers. I was only wearing my North Face fleece. After about 20 minutes I checked my coat and shivered my way into the waiting area. I cant describe how cold I was. Next time I will bring disposable layers or some people wore trash bags over them so they could rip them off before the start. Somehow with a 10K race average of 10:04 I got into Corall A which was the first to go! I was able to get up to the start line. For the next hour plus they tried to entertain the FREEZING princesses with the YMCA, Cupid Shuffle, Macarena etc. I participiated to stay warm and keep from beign anxious. Honestly I wasnt as nervous as I thought. Maybe the cold helped in a good way to distract me. At 6:00 the fireworks went off and I started running....not knowing what the outcome would be.

All I know is that I wanted to run the race without stopping and cross the finish without struggle. My goal was 2:20:00

Mile 1:10:21 one small hill, went by fast
Mile 2:10:24 enjoyed local HS bands
Mile 3:10:26 fun characters along the way (did not bring camera, did not stop for pictures)
Mile 4:10:28 Getting closer to Mgic Kingdom...past 5K mark
Mile 5:10:21 Hill going into Magic Kingdom, crowd was great
Mile 6:10:36 heading out back onto the highway, slowed a bit as i was almost half way
Mile 7:10:29 hit the Grand Floridian where there were more spectators..half way mark..I was feeling good and ready to take on the next half
Mile 8:10:38 trying to speed up but my body was definitely feeling a bit tired at this point
Mile 9: 10:31 over the slump and I passed a woman wearing a shirt for a fallen soildier...I started to tear up and said "Keep going, God Bless" as I passed her, what a great honor for whoever that young man was! Made me feel proud too!
Mile 10: 10:36 only a 5k left! Definitely feeling tired but anxious to get to the finish
Mile 11: 10:47 Hit the first major hill/overpass and tried to keep a steady pace going over it...also 11.1 was the farthest distance I had run to date so I didnt know what to expect after this point
Mile 12: 10:47 Hit ANOTHER hill/overpass again trying my best but I was defnitely fatigued and ready to finish...I was so close! I could see the entrace to Epcot!
Mile 13:10:34 trying to speed up as I was inside Epcot rounding the corner trying to find the finish. I was prepared to look for family and friends at this point.
Mile 13.1 10:22 I stated running on the left hand side close to the crowd so that I could look for my cheer squad. Luckily I saw my Dad and Carol and waved, then Jenna and Steve, then Kristyn then my Mom, they had all spread out along the end of the course. At this point my left calf started twitching and I said "not now" but I could see the finish and I headed for it. I gave it all that had left crossing the finish at a 7:38 pace.

I dont remember what my first thought was..all I remember was my quads and sides aching and being glad that I was walking and not running anymore. I think I was smiling but Im not sure. All I knew is that I had just run my first Half Marathon with no picture or bathroom stops and it felt amazing!

My Chip time was 2:19:27....I beat my goal! Not bad for a first timer right?

Whats next you ask? Another HM on 5.30.10 on Cape Cod (my home town area) and then the CHICAGO MARATHON on 10.10.10. I feel that this HM is only a stepping stone to my true goal of running 26.2 miles...sure  a lot of people can run 26.2 miles but right now I cannot. In 7 months I will!

Here are a few pics from the race....

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Full Recap of my first half marathon coming tonight

                                     Heres a few pics...full report coming tonight!

Me at the finish 2:19:27 for 13.25 miles!                              The fabulous medal!