So much for guns.

 

Friday, leaving work, this happened:

I backed into a huge metal trailer. The kicker? I have 1 car payment left. I made it through Friday night without a drink, probably because I was on-call for work.

Saturday, work was INSANE. I stayed late. I worked hard. I got mad as a hornet.  I came home and had two of these. I didn’t feel bad at all.

So, I didn’t make my goal of no booze until July 3rd. However, I am proud of myself for stopping at two and making it a whole week. The husband and I had a lazy movie night. It was our last Saturday night together until the fall. Sunday, I went grocery shopping for the week and then the husband left for work. I’m not used to him not being around on Sundays. It’s a bummer, I just keep reminding myself, it’s just until the fall. I used my Sunday time to make some homemade gnocchi and watch some chick flicks. That was my weekend.

Today, is Monday. Today, my half marathon training begins. I’m using Jeff Galloway’s training program. I want to build up slow and steady, especially to make sure my knee can handle it. I’m excited to get started!

Meal Plan for the week:

Monday - General Tso Quorn

Tuesday - Skinny Italian Meatballs (may flip flop with Wednesday if I go to the driving range after work)

Wednesday - Gnocchi with Vegetables

Thursday - Some sort of vegetable and polenta casserole type dish

Friday - Leftovers (I’m on-call again, leftovers are easier)

Goals for the week:

1. Track food Monday-Friday at least.
2. Continue the eating only food that I prepare until July 3rd rule.
3. Do the work outs as dictated by my training schedule, don’t skip any.

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
30 min. run	Cross-Train	Rest	3 mile run	Yoga	30 min. run

So, I’m ready to get this party started. I’m going to have a good week, you are too. Let’s just do it together.

How did you do over the weekend?

Super Weekend!

 

My weekend was fantastic! I hope yours was too! Saturday night we hosted game night at our house. 6 of us played games, had some drinks and ate some great food. 

The star of my weekend was Sunday. I spent the whole day with the husband and it was GREAT. I started the day with 45 minutes on the stationary bike at the gym and then we went to a Golf Superstore. I was not thrilled about this at all at first. However, looking around the store I saw so much cute golf stuff and my husband was so excited telling me about all the different clubs and tools, I started to gain a little interest. I thought it would be something active that we could enjoy, outdoors, together. After we did some more running around I asked if he would take me to the driving range. I think he was shocked at first, but he asked our friends Keith and Cyndi to come with us. Cyndi is also new to golf and I was able to hit her golf clubs. I’m not that great, but I did make several good shots and now I can’t wait to go back!

I was coached after that 2nd picture by the husband to not lift my left heel off the ground. Hey, it’s my first time! I was looking at the ball at least.

After the driving range, I had to make dinner and I finally decided it was time to make Ranch Chicken. I’ve been meaning to for weeks! My friend Kim makes an awesome ranch dip for parties. She uses fat free greek yogurt and a ranch dressing packet. That’s it and it’s great for veggies or chips! I love it so much, I decided to try marinating chicken in it.

Ranch Chicken (2 servings, 5 points per serving)

Ingredients

7 oz uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast  
1/4 cup plain fat-free yogurt  
1/2 cup Progresso® Bread crumbs Panko crispy bread crumbs - plain  
1 Tbsp Hidden Valley Original Dip Mix 

Instructions

Mix together yogurt and ranch dressing mix. Place chicken into yogurt mixture and allow to marinate for 15-20 minutes.

Remove chicken from mixture and coat with Panko bread crumbs.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly spray a baking pan with non-stick spray and bake chicken for 20-25 minutes until done.

It gives the chicken amazing flavor and the Panko adds a great crunch! Perfect summer meal when you have some Sunday Sweet Potato Salad on the side.

My Meal Plan for the week is:

Meatless Monday – Spicy Malaysian Noodles (a variation of this recipe)

Tuesday – Beer Can Chicken (the husband is making it on Monday, I’m going to have it leftover on Tuesday)

Wednesday – Roasted Veggie Pizza

Thursday – Taco Night!

This weekend was supposed to be so many things. It was supposed to be a movie date and me learning to use a grill. I’m so glad that I ended up playing Sunday by ear and just enjoying the time. My life is very planned out and I’m a very structured person. It was nice to just wing it and step outside of my comfort zone.

What did you do this weekend? Did you try anything new?

No regrets.

 

I had an amazing weekend. I ended up taking Saturday off and spending the weekend celebrating my friend Kelly’s birthday as well as her father’s birthday. She had family and friends in town from all over the east coast. We ate, we drank and we were very merry. I didn’t make the best food choices, I went terribly overboard at times, and I didn’t make the time for my workouts, but I have no regrets.

This did not derail me. I indulged, relaxed and now I will let it go. A weekend with that much happiness, love and laughter can in no way shape or form be bad for me.

That being said, it’s Monday. Life is back to normal as I know it. So I will start this morning off at the gym for Alternate Cardio & Weights,* followed by work and a Meatless Monday dinner tonight. Here is my meal plan for the week:

Meatless Monday – White Bean & Spinach Soup (with some tweaks)

Tuesday – Greek Quorn Pita Sandwiches

Wednesday – Whole Wheat Couscous & Kidney Bean Salad

Thursday – Grilled Ranch Chicken

Friday – Leftovers

In case you missed it yesterday, I posted a recipe for a Sunday Sweet Potato Salad that I threw together last night. It’s what I have for lunch today and if you like sweet potato you will love this recipe.

Yesterday I also planted a Topsy Turvey Tomato Grower on my porch. I filled the 3 growing pods with Tomato, Zucchini and Bell Pepper. Cross your fingers, I’m not the best green thumb in the world! My little herb garden is growing well this year and I also prettied up the porch with some new begonias and impatience. It looks so nice out there! I also think that gardening (even if in containers) should be considered exercise. I had to carry a very heavy bag of potting soil on my shoulder up a flight of stairs! My arms are actually a little sore this morning!

View Full Album

Sorry the pictures aren’t very good…I took them at 5:40am this morning because I didn’t think to take any yesterday afternoon!

What did you do this weekend?

*Gym update: I made it to my amenity center this morning, noticed all of the flat screen TVs (5 total) were missing, cables dangling. I did 10 minutes on the elliptical and moved to the weight room to find some wall damage, the chair used to hoist the thieves up still in place, gloves on the chair and a generally creepy vibe. Since I had no phone or anything on me and there isn't one in the center, I left, mildly freaked out, came home and reported it. My little corner of the world has always been crime free. :(

*Gym update 2: The HOA called me back and the break in actually happened on Thursday night, the marks on the wall were from a messy finger printing job by the sheriffs department and since they are still investigating, they haven't cleaned up the place much. Supposedly there was a letter to this effect hanging somewhere in the complex, but it wasn't on the main door because I looked. Oh well, serves me right for skipping the gym for 2 days. ;)

Weekend Update with Tonyne

 

Hi everyone! I had  a pretty good weekend. I hope you did too! I ate well, I got a new running headband, from BonidiBand.com…

…that I love and I think sums me up pretty well! I ordered it and 3 days later it arrived! They are super fast! I tested it on my Sunday run and it stayed on my head the whole time, it worked GREAT. They didn’t give me this headband or pay me to say that either. I’m just a girl that has been desperate for years to find a headband that stayed on my head. Thank you BondiBand!

On Saturday, I had to work. After work I went to the grocery store…totally boring! But on Sunday I met my friend Kelly for brunch and I wore another skirt! I think I’m liking this skirt thing.

 

I ate a bit heavy at brunch because I started my day off with a pretty decent 4 mile run, so I was starving by the time we got there. This will be my last long’ish run before the 10k on Saturday.

I did log the points for everything I ate and I started my meal with mixed fruit. After brunch we went to the beach. Sadly, I don’t have any pictures, but it was a beautiful day.

A few days ago, Jen from Slim-Shoppin.com, asked if I would be interested in being part of her weight loss success story blog series. Of course I said Yes! She asked me some really great questions and posted my story on her blog Sunday evening.

Her site if full of good information and inspiration! Be sure to stop by and say hello!

All in all, it was a great weekend. I wish I could have spent more time with the husband but his main goal this weekend was sleep and I think he may have overachieved his goal a bit! We work different schedules so now I won’t see him again until Wednesday.

Here is my meal plan for the week!

Meatless Monday – Vegetarian Burrito Casserole

Tuesday – Spinach & Feta Stuff Chicken breast with Quinoa

Wednesday – Eggplant Cutlets with Tomato Olive relish

Thursday – Cheeseburger Pita Pizza

Friday – Whatever my Mama wants for dinner! She is coming down for my 10k! :)

It’s Monday again. They seem to be coming around fast these days, huh? I plan on doing some Yoga after work. My body just told me to sleep that extra hour this morning…I didn’t feel much like arguing with it.

What book are you reading right now? I need some recommendations for beach/poolside reading!

And we're back!

Monday arrived as quickly as usual and here we are again. I hope you all had fantastic weekends. Mine was very laid back, but very great. Saturday we took our niece to the movies to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D. While waiting, we had some fun with our 3D glasses.

And before you even ask, yes I ate popcorn with butter and yes I shared a regular Coke with the husband. I enjoyed it, I planned appropriately points wise and I moved along. It's all about balance, remember?

After the movie we went grocery shopping and I loaded up on fresh produce! That whole, 2 weeks without a trip to the grocery store left me craving fresh fruit and veggies with a vengeance. I have eaten 3 monster size salads since Saturday night and I have one packed for lunch! When I post my meal plan in a few minutes, you'll see the veggie craving there as well.

On Sunday I had a 6 mile run scheduled. It was really windy here, so I chose to do the run on the treadmill. The dehumidifier in my amenity center is broken (there is an indoor pool in there) and it was like running in a sauna, but I opened the windows and had a nice breeze flowing through. It turned out to be a pretty good run!



So much to say today!! Can ya'll still hang with me for a bit?



I would like to send out a HUGE congratulations to Nicole over at ...Let Them Eat Lettuce... today for competing in her first 5k on Sunday! And she did it on near her birthday! So congratulations and Happy early Birthday!!



Meal Plan for the week!

Meatless Monday - Roasted Vegetable Fajitas with Mexican rice
Tuesday - Chicken Stroganoff type dish using greek yogurt that I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to make yet.
Wednesday - Black Bean Cakes with Avocado Butter
Thursday - Grilled Vegetable Pita Pizzas
Friday - Crunchy Talapia Filet with a salad

See, I told you you would see a lot of veggies. That's 3 meatless meals!

Wow, if you managed to stay with me through all of this, I am IMPRESSED!

Tell me this...is there anything you'd like to see more of here on Unlikely Success Story? I know I write this mostly for me, but I would like to keep you somewhat interested.

What can I do to keep you reading?

Manic Monday!

I'm pretty sure that whenever you take a vacation day from work, those who are left in the office find extra work for you to do upon your return to punish you. At least that's what it feels like this morning. My office is a zoo. So, this will be quick.

My trip to Greensboro was wonderful, as always! I packed healthy road trip snacks. Thank you guys so much for the advice! You had some great ideas!



100 Calorie popcorn, Diet Snapple Peach Tea, a plum and 2 mini Cadbury Eggs. It was perfect! I ate everything but the plum during the drive.

Friday morning I woke up wanting to run. Since I skipped my Thursday run, I figured why not! So I put on my shoes and started out with no real plan. I had a great run and stopped at one of my favorite spots.



Friday night we went out and had a GREAT time. I ate too much and drank too much but if walking from bar to bar and dancing my butt off burns calories, I probably did pretty well. Here's a group shot!



Saturday was my rest day and I rested. I got my hair cut, spend some time with my family. We cooked dinner at home and watched DVDs.

Sunday was my 5 mile training run. I didn't want to get out the door, but I'm really glad I did. The weather (for both of my runs actually) was BEAUTIFUL. Here are the stats:



Like my other long runs, the 2nd time doing the distance is a little easier than the first. Greensboro has a lot of hills and I'm used to running at the beach with no hills. So that presented a nice challenge, although I was cursing the hills most of the time. After my run I hung out with my family for awhile before beginning my drive back. My snacks included a 100 Calorie Oatmeal Pie and a Diet Pepsi.

Now I'm back at work and it's crazy. I haven't even begun to think of a meal plan for the week, I'll probably work on that tonight. Tonight is Meatless Monday dinner and I'm torn as to what to make. I know it will involve some or a combination of the following:

Butternut Squash
Spinach
Pasta
Soy Crumbles
Frozen Mixed Vegetables

That's what I got in the fridge...who has some ideas?

Do you find it hard to remain true to your healthy lifestyle when around your family?

It's so hard for me. I am really proud of myself for running, usually I just go completely off the wagon.

Welcome back to Monday!

Monday with a Bullet

I wish the weeks were only 2 days long and the weekends were 5 days long. I personally think I would be more productive in the 2 days than I am in 5. I'm just saying. :)

Weekend catch-ups!

My "Holy Crap" Saturday continued when the husband agreed to go bowling with me on Saturday night. My husband is a REALLY good bowler and has bowled most of his life. He "retired" last year and is taking the year off from bowling. When we first started dating we bowled together all the time. I've never been good. He usually spends most of our games bowling with his left hand (he's right handed) or throwing trick shots. We truly just play for fun. Well, he gave me a few pointers Saturday night...I ended up breaking 100 for the first time ever! I also beat Jeff...of course, he wasn't really bowling very seriously.



He may kill me for posting that, but oh well. :)

We met some friends out for drinks after bowling. I was very proud of myself. I kept in mind the fact that I had a 5 mile run on Sunday morning and only had a couple beers. I woke up Sunday morning feeling great, but a little tired. I had a bagel thin with some sugar free strawberry preserves, had some coffee and about an hour and a half later headed out the door for my run.



That is the longest I've ever ran outside. I ran around my neighborhood and had to run a 2nd loop. I hate repeating runs, they are so boring. Half of this run was done "against the wind" and every time I say that (or type it) I start singing that damn song. It was a tough run, with some wind gusts up to 15mph, but I'm glad I did it. I'm just praying for no real winds on the day of my 10k.

It's the first day of the March and I have so much going on this month.

March 5-7th - A trip to Greensboro to see the Family
March 13-14 - My last official weekend off for the season, my days off will switch back to Sundays and Thursdays - Boo.
March 26th-28th - My Girls Weekend trip to Savannah to celebrate...
March 31st - My 30th Birthday

There is something else special that is going to happen in March, but I can't tell you what it is right now. You're just going to have to wait and see.

I hope you all had wonderful weekends!

What are you looking forward to this month?

Where did the weekend go?

This weekend just seemed to FLY by. Friday night I made my "leftover whatever" pizza, which turned into a Roasted Veggie Pizza. It was delightful! Then I settled in to watch the movie Food Inc.. I thought it was a very eye opening movie. I will be a little more selective of my food from here on out I think. It's good to be knowledgeable, but my food ignorance bubble was kind of blissful.

Saturday I went grocery shopping and that was it. Literally. I went grocery shopping and I came home, laid around the house all day with the husband who was feeling under the weather. At first I was kind of upset for wasting a beautiful day, but honestly it felt nice to just do absolutely nothing.

Sunday, I had a GREAT run!



I think me and the Asics GT-2110s have officially bonded. The weather was absolutely beautiful and I ran the island of Sunset Beach again. I am really beginning to enjoy my Sunday training runs a lot. Sometimes it's hard to get out the door, but once I do, I love it!

After my run I went to my friend Kelly's house for coffee, which turned into lunch, which turned into beers sitting out in the sun for the afternoon. It was a great, laid back time and perfect for the weather. I even demonstrated some yoga moves since I was feeling so Zen.



Would the pose had been more effective had I put the beer down? Maybe. Would it have been as funny? No.

I was doing GREAT on my points going into Sunday and had not dipped into my flex points once. Then, the beer started. I ended up using quite a few flex points by the time I ate dinner, but it was well worth it and I didn't go completely overboard.

All in all it was a great weekend, the husband is feeling a little bit better and now it's time to tackle another week!

Tonight for my Meatless Monday dinner, I am making Roasted Bell Pepper & Tomato Soup with a grilled cheese sandwich. Yummy! I'll be back tomorrow to share pictures!

How was your weekend?

Catch ups!

I figured this morning I would do a series of "Catch Ups" I feel like I've been behind since I've been sick but I'm turning a leaf and I'm ready to start going forward again, even if it is slowly.

Oak Island 10k Training

This morning was my first (albeit a few days behind) training run for the 10k. I was supposed to run for 20-25 minutes according to my Galloway Training Schedule. I ran for exactly 20 minutes because I didn't want to push it and end up sick again. I ran outside on the road and it was approximately 44 degrees. A little colder than I expected, but I really wanted to be outside.



It felt great. I couldn't believe it. I ran the whole time, kept a steady pace and stayed pain-free. Until I stopped. As soon as I stopped it felt as if an elephant had stood on my chest and proceeded to do the polka. It took a long time for that feeling to pass, probably a good 10 minutes or so. However, since it passed, I feel great!

Operation Freezer

I have been doing great with my quest to clean out the freezer! I haven't bought anything that needs to go in the freezer (with the exception of some ripe bananas for smoothies) and I've been eating the main part of my meals out of the freezer for both dinner and lunch. I think I can make it at least 1-2 more weeks without buying any meats!

This morning I decided to try to have breakfast out of the freezer too. I had lots of frozen fruit in my freezer and I recently watched an episode of Good Eats in which Alton Brown shared his weight loss story. He drinks a fruit smoothie every morning for breakfast. He assembles everything the night before in the blender carafe and places it in the fridge so all he has to do is add ice and blend in the morning. I followed his advice on this, but used a different recipe. This morning I had a tasty Banana, Peach and Vanilla Soy Milk Smoothie in no time. Although I'm sure the husband (who is off of work today) didn't appreciate hearing the blender at 7:55am.



I liked it because I could drink it in the car, which was good this morning because I was running a wee bit late! I just hope it keeps me as full as my Chobani Greek Yogurt and Granola usually does. Recipe I used: 1 frozen banana, 1/2 cup of frozen peach slices (both of which defrosted slightly in the fridge over night) and 1 cup of fat free Vanilla Soy Milk.

Meatless Monday

Yes, I know I missed Meatless Monday, but I already have a recipe planned out for Monday. How does Black Bean Cakes with Avocado Butter sound? It's from the Weight Watchers cookbook my Mom got me many moons ago that I haven't used yet.

Ok, this has been a long entry of "Catch Ups". If you made it through, I'm proud of you! :) I am so happy to be feeling better, I know I'm not 100% yet and I don't plan on pushing it too much, but hopefully I'll start to be around a bit more.

Let's keep the pendulum swinging in a positive direction!