Nose to the Grindstone

Newly motivated by both the spring weather and some fun events on the horizon, I’ve picked up running again.

“Again,” you say?

Yeeeeeah, I haven’t run since the Color Me Rad event a few weeks ago. 

I had a blast with my group and beat my only “running” 5K time, even though I walked a good bit this event (my only goal was to beat my previous time, so I’m 100% pleased since I was dealing with an injury AND bronchitis).

I’ve been going to physical therapy for quite a few weeks for a low-back issue that sidelined me earlier this year and slowed me down a good bit during that event.  So I picked up today with Week 3 Day 1 of C25K and pushed through pretty well (Jason picked up with Week 5 and made it his bitch…I’m a little bitter that I’ve lost so much endurance!).

Then this evening I took the dog on a 2-mile walk/hike at a local park.  I wanted to do more but don’t want to expend all my motivation at once.  We’ve attended several events lately, weddings and a big equestrian event, that I’ve been looking forward to for awhile.  While I had a fabulous time at each of these with our friends, it has made me realize how uncomfortable I still am with my weight, mostly in a few trouble areas that really give me grief.

I’m almost back to my lowest weight that I reached around the time of Lofton’s wedding, but I’m ready to keep moving down.  It’s great to have an external motivator of an event or a dress, but I’ve been thinking a lot about my future lately and realize how badly I want to feel strong and healthy not only for myself but for the people I love.

So….here’s to hoping I keep on keepin’ on!

Anti-Munchies Trick

Tonight all I want to do is eat.  My solution?

Eating peas…or corn…or beans…with chopsticks.  I get the satisfaction of putting something in my mouth (thatswhatshesaid) but it takes foooorrrreeeevvvverrrrrrrr and staves off the obsession that could potentially lead to a binge.

Crazy?  Yep.  But it works for me!  Do you have a trick for beating the munchies?

Valentine’s Date In

Instead of braving the crowds on Valentine’s Day – a holiday neither of us are crazy about anyway – we decided to stay in and do one of our favorite things – cook!

Jason picked up a couple of giant filets an we made this awesome coffee rub for them:

While they were finishing in the oven, I dumped a bag of frozen brussels sprouts in the pan after I steamed them in the microwave.  here they picked up some of the pan drippings and got a little crispy.

I also was craving some mushrooms and onions, so I sautéed them with some olive oil, some Worcestershire, and some red wine.

One of my gifts to him says it all:

Hopefully you Muggles will get the reference!  What did you do this Valentine’s Day?