Hiking, running and very little cooking

The title pretty much sums up my last week. I couldn't even remember if I cooked at all last week! It really had to think hard. Then I remembered I made a bunch of dinners in a row at the end of last week. Four to be exact. And I had enough leftovers I haven't cooked since last Monday! We made homemade pizzas one night which turned out really well. I'm trying different dough each time I make them to see which is easiest and tastes the best. I loved putting my own toppings on. We each made our own personal pizza so we could put what we wanted on it. Then I made Sloppy Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. They were a hit. We didn't go through as much meat as we usually do so we were able to have leftovers quite a few days. I made a sloppy joe quesadilla one night that was AMAZING! I never realized sloppy joe meat was so versatile. But I'm just started liking it again. When I was pregnant with Leah I got so sick to my stomach making sloppy joes and I haven't been able to eat them since. I think the ones I made when I was pregnant were very tomato-y. Which you'd think I would like since I love tomatoes but I guess I don't like really tomato-y sloppy joes.

I made a couple other things but I can't remember what they were now. Good but nothing great.

So last Friday Kim took me away for our anniversary. He had it all planned and I didn't even know where we were going when we left. All I knew was we were bringing our cameras so I was happy. We ended up going to Antelope Island. It amazing! I loved every minute of it. Even the minutes when I was freezing cold after the sun went down. I loved those too. :-) I took some great pictures that I can't wait to share and had a great time with my wonderful husband. I kept thinking how wonderful he was; putting together all of this, hoping I would like it And I did. We had so much fun. We tried to get up and to the next morning for some sunrise shots but it was cloudy as could be. So we went back to the hotel, ate all the free breakfast we could and then took a 2 hour nap. It was GREAT! Just want we needed.

I loved when I was hiking around that I didn't feel winded or tired when we hiked. I did later that night and the next morning but while I was lugging around my 40 lb camera bag I was OK. I was hiking up the mountain fine...and I loved that! It made me feel so good. Made getting up at 4:40 am 5 days a week worth it.

Today was a good day too. Not as great as taking amazing photos and seeing a bison for the first time in real life up close...but still good.

Today was the day Brenna and I decided to run down Suncrest Mountain. It was a 5 mile run pretty much all downhill. Brenna wanted to try doing some downhill since she doesn't have a ton where she runs. We both start training soon so we figured this would be fun to try. It really was fun. I still like to run alone but it was nice to have someone there-even if we didn't talk to each other. I have to have music on when I run. I HATE the sound of myself breathing! It reminds me how hard running actually is! But it was nice to have her there. Time went really fast. And at the end, that last mile, I really wanted to stop. I wanted to walk. But Brenna seemed to be doing great and was still running so I figured I'd just continue on until she said she wanted to walk. She never said that and we got down to the very bottom of the road and stopped at the crosswalk (we'd parked across the street). We'd run the whole thing. Brenna said later she'd wanted to stop but I seemed to be doing well and seemed to want to continue so she figured she'd continue. Funny huh. If either of us had said something the other would have stopped. But since we weren't talking we just ran. Which I guess was good since we ended up making it all the way down the mountain.

It was a beautiful view some of the way (some of it was right next to mountains so you couldn't see anything).

It was kind of cold but before we were halfway down I was taking off my first layer. My gloves lasted a little while longer but ended up coming off too. Brenna was impressed I could take off my sweatshirt and wrap it around my waist while I was running. :-) I do it pretty much every week I run. I hate to get too hot when I run. Makes things very uncomfortable I don't like being too cold either but this morning was perfect. Perfect weather, perfect run, perfect everything. The pace was good, there was a wide sidewalk most of the way down, not windy, not too many cars...It was a great run.

I'm a little sore in my hips but I haven't done that much of a downhill in awhile. Plus I was just hiking around Friday so that might have helped with the soreness today. All in all it was great. I felt great the whole time and had to map it again with my car mileage tracker because it went by so quick. 5 miles. We did it in just under 50 minutes which I love. My miles are getting faster.

I signed up today for the American Fork Canyon Half Marathon on June 21st. Brenna is signing up tonight too. I'm excited. Now this one only has about 7-8 miles downhill, the rest is most flat with a little uphill. So I need to make sure I train like that. My last one was almost all downhill so this will be different. But I'm excited. I know I can do it which makes it more enjoyable.

Can you believe I'm use the words fun, enjoyable and love combined with running!?

I told Brenna when I was hiking on Antelope Island I slipped. My first thought was "I can't fall and hurt myself. I have a big run Monday."

Her reply: "You know you're a runner when..."

he, he, he
I'm a runner.

Finally

I didn't write last week. I didn't feel like I had anything good to write. I felt like I was in the same spot that I'd been in for a few weeks and didn't really want to put that in writing. Plus I hadn't made my goal for my work weight loss program. I was feeling bluh. Not as tired as I had been (I actually felt like i had a bit more energy) but just felt down. When I realized I hadn't written anything and why I hadn't written I had to laugh. This blog is pretty much for me...so when I don't write because I don't want to put in writing how I"m feeling it makes me laugh. I already know what I"m thinking! But putting it in writing is different I guess. Makes it more real.

So anyway I decided I needed to do something. I ended up buying new running shoes last Monday. I love them!

They're brighter than I'd wanted but after seeing some of the other shoes these aren't that bad. I didn't really get to pick the color...I was going more for price (cheapest I could get is what I told the guy). The salesman was really helpful. Gave me some pointers and really made me feel like I belonged in a running store getting real running shoes. I still feel weird calling myself a runner. I don't have the "runner" body (slim and trim) and I don't run fast. But I run...I guess that's what I need to remember. I run; and I love it.

The salesman said to take it easy, no long runs for a couple weeks. It took a little getting use to when I first started walking in them. The heal doesn't have as much of a...a lift (i can't remember how he put it) so felt different. But when I wore them the next day for Crossfit I loved that my foot was more flat. My other shoes it felt like my heal was higher. So with these shoes my balance was better when doing squats and stuff like that.

Even with buyer's guilt (they're more expensive than any shoes I've ever bought!) I felt really good about my purchase. I was really excited to run on Saturday with them. See if it felt any different. That kind of helped boast my mood. Then the next evening I was ready FaceBook and there was a post from Runner's Corner (the place I bought my shoes). It said they were doing an April fashion show and looking for people to show of their new clothes. They said they were looking for anyone. I started thinking "this would be something different for me. Something to maybe push me back into getting into shape again." So I sent them a message telling them I'd love to be one of their "models" but warned them I wasn't a young, skinny runner. They wrote back and said they'd love to have me. That they love having regular, everyday people; that runners are just skinny people. So I'm doing it. It's April 11th and I may have to wear shorts! I'm not too sure about that part but figure I'll worry about it when the time comes.

It's really changed my whole mood about eating right and exercising though. I'm amazed at what just one little thing will do. Well it's kind of a big thing but not really. I don't think there will be a ton of people, it's a small store and it's mostly runners that go. But that one thing...signing up for that...changed my whole outlook. I felt that "I can do this" attitude come back. I talked with Deb at the gym to get some extra workouts that I can do to help with my problem areas. From loosing so much weight I have extra skin on my legs, arms and stomach. I've toned those areas quite a bit already but need some help to get them a little more toned. I mean if I have to wear shorts...or heaven help me a sleeveless shirt...I want to be more toned. And tan. I need to wear shorts or something and put my legs out in the sun so I'm not completely white!

Another thing was my work weight loss program. I sent them an email on Wednesday telling them I hadn't made my weight loss goal. I told them I was OK with that because I'm happy where I am. I've maintained better than I ever have. I'm pretty happy with where I am and thanked them for all the help they were for me during the process. They wrote me back, said I actually had until the end of the month and they had permission to let me weigh in at 156.8 instead of 154.8. SOOOO even though it means loosing two pounds in the next week. It's amazing though, it's really been one of those things that kicks me into gear around.

Take for instance Sunday's. I usually eat all day long. Today I haven't. I've been pretty good at watching what I eat. And I feel good. I don't feel like I'm missing food. I feel better about myself since I didn't eat everything in sight. I think I might be able to do this. It's worth a try at least! So I'm trying.

It feels good to be back.

Best and Worst

This week I've tried 3 new recipes again and have just loved them all. The first one was Slow Cooked Sweet Barbacoa Pork. My family went crazy over this one. It was really sweet but the chipotle chile with adobe sauce really added a great flavor to the pork. I had it in a salad and a small burrito (it was so good). Everyone else made burritos with theirs. Dallin made nachos today with leftovers and that worked too. I think I put more of the chiles in and I used whole canned green chiles that I cut into small stirps-which I thought added a nice touch of color and taste.

The second was a recipe I liked because it was so easy to throw together. It was one of those 30 minute type meals. Plus I had everything it needed which was great. I'm trying to not spend anymore money than I really need to. Anyway, this recipe was One Pot Mexican Skillet. I used shells instead of elbow macaroni and I used ground turkey. I think this was one recipe where you really couldn't taste the ground turkey. It was liked way more than I thought it would be. I thought of it as just a homemade Hamburger Helper but my family really liked it.

The last one I made tonight because I had almost a full can of chipotle chiles in adobe sauce that needed to be used. I LOVE anything that www.skinnytaste.com has on her website so I just googled her web site to see what else she'd made with those chiles. I found Crock Pot Chicken Enchilada Soup. I ended up doubling the amount of adobe chile I used and used diced tomatoes with green chiles instead of just plain diced tomatoes. It turned out just a little too spicy. I was fine with a little sour cream (light) mixed in but if it sits in the fridge for a few days it's going to be hot!! Everyone liked it and I'd make it again but it didn't get the "This is Great!" like the other two did.

*****

I still haven't been the best about eating. I'm now up to 161 lbs. 5 lbs from where I want to be and 7 lbs up from where my work program wants me to be. I'm not happy at all with where I am. I can feel it in a my clothes; I can see it when I look at myself...but so far I haven't found that push to make me start eating better again. I know I have to get back on track but it's so hard!! I'm trying to at least track what I eat each day and write it all down but I haven't even been that great about doing that! I've been so tired, so out of it, just so...blah. Then the other day I noticed my hair felt weird. Like it felt more course, it wouldn't sit down like it use to, it was being really weird. I talked with a couple people at the gym Thursday and discovered they'd both had the same type of problems. The main thing they both said: I need to be taking daily vitamins. At the least a multivitamin, if not more. They both said with my age (they're a few years older than I am) and with the amount of exercise I do I need to have something more in my diet.

So today I bought a bottle of daily vitamins for women. I hope this helps at least a little bit. I'm really tired of feeling the way I've felt. I have no desire to do anything. I'm tired. I just want to curl up in bed and sleep all the time. I'm short with everyone. I want to eat everything in site. It's like PMS but it's constant. And my hair is just bugging the heck out of me!

Exercise is getting harder too. The reason I started talking to Deb and Casey at the gym was because I made a comment about how I felt like I was getting slower instead of getting faster. And I do feel like that right now. Today was a perfect example. It was sunny and around 50 degrees so I did an afternoon run today. I decided to run all the way into a gas station in Payson and have Kim pick me up (we needed gas in one of the cars anyway). I thought the run would be around 5 miles and it would have some small and med hills in it.

Let's just say it was an awful run. My legs hurt, my feet hurt, I felt exhausted the whole time and I stopped to walk. Twice. The second time was to watch for traffic as I crossed a large street but I really didn't need to (it was totally clear). By the time I finished my run I was defeated. I felt like I'd never run a day in my life...like this was my first long run ever. I was so mad. And to make it all better (not) it only ended up being 4.5 miles not 5 like I thought. Now the one good thing out of all of this was my time believe it or not. Even with the two stops (really the second one was so short but it was a stop) my time was 40 minutes. That means my mile is down under 10 minutes on avg. I'm OK with that. But then I started the "well how fast could I have done it if I hadn't of walked?" talking in my head and putting myself down for that.

Anyway, it's over and done with. It was a bad run. One of the worst I've had in a long time. I need to get myself back together. I've started the vitamins and hope they help. I need new shoes too. My toes were really hurting by the end. I'm sure it would feel better during the run to have shoes that were newer. I also know that even though this was a bad run there have been good ones; and great ones. I know I can have that again because I've had it before. But boy was this a bummer today. Kind of made my whole "down on myself for the last couple weeks" even worse. I just need to figure out what's up with me and get back. Get back to the me I was last summer. I felt the best then. That's my goal. Now to just do it.

Not the best at eating

Lately I'm had kind of a problem with what I eat. The problem is I'm not making the best choices. I'm eating too much and I'm eating stuff that really isn't that good for me.

Today for example:
Breakfast - 2 McDonald's sausage burritos with 1/2 a hash brown and an apple
Lunch - 2 slices of french bread w/butter, a small salad w/Italian dressing and spinach ravioli's with asparagus and Parmesan cheese
Dinner - Chick Fil A grilled chicken sandwich, 1/2 med waffle fries, Lemonade and a small choc/vanilla swirl cone (from Macey's)

That's a lot of food for one day. Plus I ate out all 3 meals. I know that's not good for me. I keep wondering why I haven't gotten any closer to my goal weight. Maybe because I've been eating like this lately. It kills me when I think about it but at the time I'm enjoying the food. I tried to make ok choices (getting the grilled sandwich and having mustard as the only condiment or spinach ravioli's instead of big plate full of pasta) but it was a lot of eating out and a lot of food.

I'm 5lbs from my goal weight. I have 2 weeks to weigh in. I'm not going to make it. It kind of upsets me but I don't have anyone to blame buy myself. I'm the one that's not making good choices. It's been really hard lately and I'm not sure why. I've been really tired this week which could be helping the problem. When I"m tired I tend to not think ahead as well or prepare or think things through when it comes to food. I think I'm trying to get sick but I just can't seem to either get sick or make it go away.

On a side note this was my workout for the day:

1st Round                       2nd Round
Row 600m                     Run 400m
60 sit ups                       30 sit ups
6 burpees                       5 burpees
60 push ups                    30 push ups
6 burpees                       5 burpees
Row 600m                     Run 400m
30 push press (15lbs)     15 push press (15lbs)
6 burpees                       5 burpees
30 air squats                  15 air squats
6 burpees                      5 burpees
Row 600m                    Run 400m

We did the first workout but it was really short so we did the second one to make getting up at 4:30 am worth it. The first workout took me about 16 mins; the second about 14 mins. I was exhausted when I was done. I actually ran another lap when I was done with the 2nd Round to finish up a mile. I'm trying to run at least a mile each time I go to the gym-whether it's part of the workout or not.

Looking at those workouts...if I actually watched what I ate I could loose weight. I'm working my butt off at the gym. I wish I could kick myself back into gear with my eating choices. I really do.

A week of cooking

Tonight was meal #2 for the week. It wasn't anything special or exceptionally healthy but something my family loves. It was ham and funeral potatoes. Well, I do my funeral potatoes a little different. I make them with green chiles and I use fat free or low fat sour cream. That's about as healthy as I get. Green chiles are in probably 75% of all the recipes I make...maybe even more. It's something that's easy to add to so many things and it adds just a slight flavor that's really good.

Anyway, that was tonight. For a veggie I made roasted asparagus (EVOO, salt, pepper, roasted in the oven @ 400 for 20 minutes). It's so easy and liked by most of the family. Plus right now asparagus is pretty cheap. That's kind of how I shop for veggies and fruits...what ever's on sale. When asparagus is $4.99 a pound we don't have it. When apples are $1.40 a pound or more we don't have them. It's too expensive for as many people as I feed to buy stuff when it's that much.

The next 3 nights I have 3 other meals I'm looking forward to. Tomorrow's I already put together and it's in the fridge waiting to go in the oven tomorrow night. I love being able to come home and stick something in the oven-or better yet have one of the boys put it in so it's hot and ready when we get home. But right now Dallin's at rugby practice until 6:30 and Stephan leaves for school at 4:30 or 5:00 so I'm usually the one putting it in the oven. Which is fine. As long as I don't have to come home and cook right after working 9 hours I'm good.

So what are my 3 other recipes you ask? Well let me tell you. I'm pretty excited about them all; they're all pretty much new recipes. Tomorrow's is a recipe I've used before but I'm changing it up. It's Enchilada Pasta Casserole. Last time I made it everyone loved it just how the recipe is written but this time I'm going to use chicken instead of ground beef and green sauce instead of red sauce. Plus I use wheat noodles which isn't called for. Last time I did that and everyone made a face-until they ate it. Then they didn't mind the wheat noodles. There's some recipes that it actually tastes better in.

So that's tomorrow, then Wednesday I'm making Santa Fe Turkey Stuffed Peppers. I've made stuffed peppers a couple times but this is a new recipe. Plus it's with turkey which is always harder. Kim isn't really into ground turkey. He thinks it's bland. So I have to work hard to use the right seasonings (and amounts of seasonings) to give it lots of flavor. I'm hoping the peppers will help that also. We're having that Wednesday night because it will just be us and Leah eating. Stephan will be at school, Dallin will be at a choir program and Nate is usually in Salt Lake (although Nate eats pretty much everything). My boys aren't huge stuffed peppers fans so it's a good night to make them.

Thursday is one we're all looking forward to. It's Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches. Everyone loves French Dip sandwiches but I've never tried to make them. Doing it in the slow cooker sounds great! It'll cook all day so all I have to do is come home, get the onions and peppers ready and strain the juice (for dipping). I really hope this one turns out since they're looking so forward to it.

So that's my list of the week. I should have enough leftovers to not have to cook Friday and Saturday. Sunday should be a family dinner with Kim's family so we'll eat over there. I'm really hoping that some of these recipes give us leftovers too. Last night's only gave us 1 helping of leftovers (which Kim took to work since I worked from home most of the day today) but that might have been because a couple people had 3 helpings! But I love that. That means they liked it. Plus I love having Kim come home from work and tell me how much he loved the leftovers for lunch too. I love it when you get one of those recipes that just knocks it out of the park. :-) That makes me happy.

Like I've said before, food is how I show love. It's how I was raised. It's in me. But now I just try to make what I'm giving my family healthy...for the most part. I mean the box mix brownies I cooked up last night and fed my boys weren't the best things ever, but they loved them and it was quick and easy. It's fine here and there-just not every night! I cringe when I think we use to have dessert every night. Man what a lot of money and calories. Now we have apples or bananas or if they're really hungry a peanut butter and jelly sandwich-on wheat bread. :-)

Stephan told me today he doesn't mind sandwiches on the wheat bread I buy. He said it's good and soft still so he doesn't care that it's wheat. Plus he knows it's good for him and he wants to be healthy. He figures he doesn't make the best picks when it comes to food when he's eating out so he knows at least what he gets at home will be healthy. Dallin's said pretty much the same thing (although with rugby, he's trying to make better choices when he's out too). I like hearing that. It makes me feel better about making this change. It makes me feel like maybe I am making an impact on them in a good way.

Cajun Chicken

This week I'm planning ahead and have recipes for 5 dinners. I figured out what recipes yesterday morning and then went grocery shopping. I spent $65 and still need to buy a ham tomorrow. It seems like a lot but when I think about it even $75 (if the ham costs $10) for a family of 6 to eat for 5 days isn't bad. I had some stuff at home already though so it probably would have been closer to $100 if I had to buy everything single ingredient. Still not bad for a family of 6 for 5 dinners.

Tonight I made Cajun Chicken Pasta. It was SO GOOD! I really liked the slight spice and loved the taste the bell peppers gave the dish. I have to say I was expecting more heat when I took my first bite; I put a lot of Cajun spice in it. I even put in some cayenne to add a little extra kick. I didn't use scallions and I only used red peppers. Yellow would have added some more color but they cost so much more. Red usually does too but they were on sale. Oh and I used white onions instead of red onions. They ended up looking just like the noodles in the end which was nice since my family aren't big onion people.

I loved that it was healthy too. It makes me feel good to cook food that I know is good for my family. And when they like what I make....that's just icing on the cake.
****
I ran yesterday. I really like that the weather has been nice enough to have Saturday runs. I decided to run Goosenest again to the Peteetneet museum in Payson. It was only 3.76 miles I realized last week after I ran it. It kind of upset me all last week that I didn't go a full 4 miles and that I stopped for that one block. So this week I decided to do the same run but to run around the block at the end. I knew that would give me just over the 4 miles I wanted.

When I started out it was beautiful and sunny outside or so I thought. I put on short sleeves and left my light pull over and gloves at home. After about 1/4 mile I was kind of wishing I'd brought one of those two things. While it was sunny and beautiful it was also crisp and a little breezy. The "breeze" ended up being against me most of the run. I really thought about quitting most of the 2nd mile. I figured with the breeze against me I'd have a good reason to quit. I didn't end up walking though. I knew I'd be angry at myself for doing it. But believe me I thought about it a bunch that second mile. Sometimes I have to just make it to the next "thing". Whether it be the next stop sign or intersection or mail box, I just tell myself to make it to that mark and then I'll decide then whether to stop or how much further to go. Usually when I get to that spot I'm OK enough to keep going to the next one and then the next one. I'll continue that for awhile, usually until I realize I've done that for a mile or more and I might as well just finish the run. :-)

Whatever it takes some runs! The last 2 blocks were all uphill which was really hard but I was glad it ended that way. I really want to get better at running uphill. It really is terrible that I've stayed away from hills so much but maybe I needed to get better at running in general before trying the hard stuff-like running uphill. Man man lia.

Veggie

I haven't been as good about cooking ahead of time lately. I got really burnt out on cooking so much all in one day and haven't looked forward to doing it again. I need to do it again though because I'm not as good about what I eat if I don't plan ahead.

I threw some boneless pork ribs in the crock-pot the other night with some BBQ sauce. When it was done there was a little bit of sauce so I made some noodles to go with it. I didn't want to eat a bunch of noodles and pork so I decided to make roasted of veggies. At an Ashby family dinner last year Kim's sister made Roasted Carrots. We fell in love with them and made them for our boys one dinner. All the boys like them and Leah even ate them. Then during the summer I found this recipe. They were amazing!! Kim and I devoured them like candy! After that we realized you could probably do that with an veggie...so we've tried. We use just enough olive oil to cover the veggies and then add whatever herbs sound good with that veggie and then me roast them in the oven. I haven't found one I dislike yet. Last week for my family's family dinner my mom made roasted sweet potatoes. I HATE sweet potatoes-never liked them. But those...roasted...I love them! This is my go to way to make veggies.

Another way I get my family to eat veggies lately...? Veggie straws. They're like chips but they're shaped like straws and are vegetable flavors (spinach, sweet potato, etc). I love them and most of my family does too. Leah will eat them like chips which is what I like about them. Costco had them on sale this last month so I bought a bag. I find myself eating them quite a bit.

I need to find something healthy to eat since I've been eating out a lot lately. It's because I didn't cook meals ahead. Boy that's makes such a huge difference with how healthy I eat! I need to buy some quinoa so I can make some recipes with that. Plus I need to buy some more bagged salad and fat free Italian dressing. Those were staples for me last year. I always had salad around. It's nice to eat when I don't know what I want but need to eat healthy. Oh and apples. I LOVE apples. They're like candy to me. Hard to believe. I mean I've always liked apples but now I love them. Actually love them. A good crisp, juicy apple is the best!

Oh before I forget here was today's workout:
3 Rounds
Row 500 m
30 sec plank
30 sit ups
green mile
10 thrusters (35lbs)
15 front squats (35lbs)
Run 800 m

Took me about 30 minutes (stopped to talk to someone for a minute so I didn't get a real time). When I run now, no matter what, I put my incline at least 1%. I can tell a difference.

Oh and I ran a mile afterwards. I'm trying to run a mile after every crossfit workout no matter what. Tomorrow...Insanity. It was awful last week. I'm looking forward to it.