MIA

Sorry I've been MIA. I have really been writing more on http://gettingstrongerburningfat.blogspot.com/

I am not sure if I will continue writing on this one but please follow my new one!

Oh how we've all been there.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB7T3lJ3dZ4

FREE JET BLUE TICKET!

Today Jet Blue was celebrating their 10th Birthday by giving away tickets. They had a scavenger like game via twitter and after waiting for a few hours I finally scored one. Its a round trip ticket, anywhere Jet Blue flies but the catch is it has to be used before June 23, 2010. I have a super busy few months coming up. But I dont want it to go to waste and I dont want to take too many days off work!

Decisions Decisions!

THANK YOU JET BLUE! I heart you and you are my favorite airlines :)

PLEASE FOLLOW MY NEW BLOG

http://gettingstrongerburningfat.blogspot.com/

Letter to the Activities Coordinator at My Gym

Hi ________


I just wanted to write to you to express my concern about a change in the schedules for group exercise classes. I am sad to hear that Total Body Conditioning with Olyver on Wednesdays at 7:30 has been cancelled. I have faithfully come to this class for almost a year. When I stared I could barely do 5 sit-ups. This class has strengthened my core so much. I have lost inches upon inches from my waist from taking this class. This is the only weight training I do because its so intense and produces results. I pay a hefty membership and feel that you shouldn't just take away a class that people go to weekly. I depend on TBC and now I don't know what to do. I think $69 is a lot of money for a gym. I know he teaches it at other gyms but frankly right now I cant afford to pay $7 a week just to go to another gym for one class, nevermind how ever much the passport is. I am very sad and hope that this can be reversed. Please let me know what can be done. I would welcome an upgrade to a passport certainly. I am just very unhappy with this sudden change and just wanted to let you know.

Thanks,
Ashley


Good? :)

My Marathon Fundraising Page

Hi Everyone,

Please take a moment to check out my story and to donate to my marathon charity team.

Any amount can help this wonderful program!!

Thank You!!!

Ashley

http://www.active.com/donate/chicago_run/aniven

CHICAGO MARATHON 10.10.10

It's Official....I am running the Chicago Marathon on 10.10.10 for a charity Chicago Run

It will be my first one!!!

I am super excited because all of my Dad's family lives there!!

AHHH I am so hyped right NOW!!!

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"

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 :)

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 :)

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!

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

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!

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 jalapeño 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