I just walked 500 miles, and I will walk 500 more...

So I just got this gem in my inbox this afternoon. 500 Miles since I've had my fitbit. heck yeah. I've had this little guy for 115 days, so I'm averaging about 4 1/3 miles per day. Let's step that up a bit.

I am pledging to get to 1,000 miles by February 22, 2012. This is 100 days from now and puts me at a 5 mile a day average. Very doable seeing as how I still have 19 more days before my race, which means at least 5 more days with runs over 5 miles. Then I just have to keep it up...

I also hit the 1,000,000 step mark yesterday. AMAZING.

Also, down 6 lbs since my post on 11/1.

otherwise known as #kickingassandtakingnames

Bad News Bears

Just weighed myself.

IT WAS AWFUL.

I've gained. A lot. In a week. WHAT THE HECK

I'm only four pounds down from January 1st. I want to cry.

There are 60 days before 2012. And a goal without a deadline is nothing but a dream, right?

So here it goes.

I'm going to lose 27 pounds in 60 days. This gets me to a nice round number and a respectable 31 lbs in one year.

My race is about half way. So that's 14 lbs down by December 3rd.

And if this was twitter, I'd end with #letsdothis

What the WHAT?!?

Seriously folks, I've messed up big time. I signed up to run this 15K! That's 9.3 MILES for those non metric folks out there.

The most I've EVER gone (not run, just gone) is 5 miles. How am I going to practically double that?

I blame my sister. I was talking a big game and saying how I was going to run a half marathon next year, blah blah blah. And she sent me a link to this race and said "Why don't you sign up for this 15k?"

I googled "15k training programs" and the first one I saw was 10 weeks. I had 9 1/2 until the race, so kinda fit perfectly. Darn it, looks like I gotta sign up. This is the plan I'll be following: super amazing plan to get me across the finish line.

So I signed up and started running. It starts slow, just two miles at a time. I was already doing 3-4 a couple times a week. So 2? No problem. Now I'm at the end of week 2 of training and have to run three miles tomorrow morning. At race pace, we'll see how this goes. When I think about the race distance, I'm terrified, so I'm sticking to the schedule like it's my job.

We'll see how this goes. I didn't intend for this to become a running (I'm not a runner) or weight loss blog, but that's what's going on in my life right now, so you may be seeing a log about that coming up.

Sorry I've been MIA for so long, hopefully this is my big return!

Feliz Cinco de Mayo (over a week late)

Hello my lovelies!!!! I hope you are having a fabulous weekend. I'm a bit late in posting my mexican favorites, but better late than never, right?

As I said before, I am love love loving Hungry Girl's recipes. Hubs' favorite is by far the taquitos. Don't worry, they are super east and low in WW points too! #winning

So here is the Hungry Girl Recipe for exploding chicken taquitos:

You will need:
One 9.75 can of fat free chunk white chicken, drained and flaked
1/2 cup salsa
1/2 cup shredded fat free shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 teaspoon of dry taco mix
8 6-inch tortillas

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• combine chicken and salsa, cover and refrigerate for 15 mins
• remove chicken from fridge and drain any excess liquid. add cheese and taco seasoning
• spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray
• dampen two paper towels and place tortillas between them, microwave for 1 minute
• take one tortilla from the stack, spray both sides lightly with nonstick spray. Lay flay and spoon about 2 heaping tablespoons of filling onto the tortilla and spread evenly. 
• roll tortilla up tightly and secure with a toothpick
• repeat with all of the remaining tortillas
• bake for 14-16 minutes until crispy
• serve as they are or add red enchilada sauce, additional salsa, or sour cream

Makes 4 2-taquito servings. Only 197 calories per serving, 2.5g fat, 594mg sodium, 22.5 carbs, 3g fiber, 20.5g protein (using Hungry Girl's nutritional info, I calculated this to be 5 pts per serving)

Of course to go with taquitos, you need margaritas. My current fav cocktail is the Skinny Girl Margaritas with an extra shot of tequila. Just pour over rocks and serve!!! YUMMMMMMM and guilt free!!!!! I had three of these and it was a total of 9 points, not too shabby for a cocktail!

He loves my cooking so much he bought me flowers

True story. I came home from work last Friday and there was a bouquet sitting on the counter. Then I started to look around and he had cleaned the whole condo too!!! What a man. The note with the flowers said he's enjoyed my new found love for cooking so much that he wanted to say Thank You. I'll take that any day!!!

So I have been cooking a lot more recently. I borrowed The Hungry Girl 1-2-3 Cookbook from a friend and starting making up every recipe I could. They are all super low in points, SUPER easy to make, and delicious to boot!!!! I loved them so much that I sprung for her 300 under 300 Cookbook as well. Our three favorite recipes so far have been her Yumbo Gumbo, Exploding Chicken Taquitos, and Slow-Cooking BBQ Chicken. Like the bad little blogger I am, I haven't taken any pictures. As soon as it's done cooking, I'm ready to dig in!

One of my favorite parts of her cookbooks is that once you stock up on some basics, you can make almost anything. You get the spices for a couple recipes and then you can mix and match for most of the others. She has a lot of chicken recipes, so as long as I take a quick look at the beginning of the week, I can grab all of the supplemental ingredients in one stop at the grocery store.

Let's start with the first recipe that made us say "Holy cow, this is amazeballs". We had it just with a salad and a vegetable, but this would be amazing as pulled chicken bbq sandwiches and would be a definite crowd pleaser. I made this one night when my mom came over for dinner and was nervous about serving crock pot bbq chicken, but this blew our socks off. (I have made a much simpler version of just pouring bbq sauce over chicken in the crock pot, but this is SO much better and I'll never go back.)



slow-cookin' bbq chicken (From The Hungry Girl 1-2-3 Cookbook)
1 serving (1/2 Cup) = 3 PointsPlus*

Ingredients: 1 cup canned tomato sauce, 1/2 cup ketchup, 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons of both brown sugar and cider vinegar, 2 teaspoons garlic powder, 1 1/2 lbs raw boneless skinless lean chicken breasts, halved, optional: crushed red pepper

Directions: Mix all ingredients except chicken in a crock pot. Stir until well mixed. Add chicken and coat well. Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 7-8 hours. About 10-15 mins before serving, shred chicken with two forks and stir into sauce.

Next up....Taquitos!!!!!!!

*PointsPlus calculated by me based on nutritional information provided by Hungry Girl.
**This is not a sponsored post, Hungry Girl has no idea who I am, just sharing some amazing recipes that I've enjoyed.

Happy 2011!!!!

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I hope everyone had a fun New Year's Eve! We have really taken it easy the past couple of years. This year we did dinner out with friends and then headed home to play Just Dance 2 until Snookie dropped in the ball.

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I'm not usually one to make resolutions, but I really need to get some things done this year! What a better motivator than tell everyone online what I intend to accomplish this year.

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First up, I'd like to get all of my CDs uploaded to my itunes. I can then start selling some at yardsales or just donating. Get that clutter out of my house!

Along the same lines, I'd like to purchase an external hard drive to back up all of those uploaded songs. I have so much music and so many pictures that only exist on one computer that I would hate to lose should a crash occur. Eventually I'd like to purchase a new computer as well, but that may be more than 2011 can handle already.

The next goal is to get rid of our credit card debt. I've gotten down to zero several times, and as soon as we get there, EMERGENCY! and we have to rack up the debt. The slippery slope is then started and once a big purchase is made on the credit cards, a tank of gas, a lunch out, or a new sweater just doesn't seem like a big deal, but that stuff adds up quick. Since we are trying to get approved for a home loan, we have to get that debt to credit ratio down. I've been slowly chipping away at it in 2010, but I think we can knock it out once and for all this year.

Finally, as cliche` as it is, I need to get on the Fit Train this year and get serious about losing some lbs. I'm starting Weight Watchers again and making hubs do it with me for a while. I think with both of us on board, we'll be able to get the momentum rolling quickly. We did the official weigh in this morning (YIKES) and started the year with a sensible breakfast. It'll also be back to the gym and maybe finding some dough to do personal training again. I'll be one of those resolution folks that all of the avid gym goers hate. Too bad for them.

There are a number of other things I'd like to do over the year, but these are the biggies. Hopefully this will give me plenty to blog about and get back online!!!

What are you resolving to do this year?

back to reality

So I'm back from my month of vacations. I'm having a hard time coping with a full month of work and no more trips until Labor Day.

Since the end of June I've spent 12 days in Barbados, 4 days in Indianapolis, and 6 days in the Bahamas. I have literally eaten/drank my way through the month of July. Time to get my butt back in gear and back on the straight and narrow.

Hubs and I had an official weigh in this morning and it was not pretty. Since the wedding we have put on some serious lbs. Time to get back to our wedding shape!!!

We are going to really cut back on the eating out and find healthy options at home. Hopefully we can find some delicious dishes to add to our usual meals. Just eating at home will cut back on the portion sizes and save tons of cash as well! I think we'll also be trying to cut out the booze. Empty calories going in and not enough exercise to even the scales.

In addition to ramping up our healthy eating, I would like to try taking some evening walks with the pups after dinner and ease back into running. I started the Couch 2 5K training this summer but got off course when it was topping 100+ degrees outside. I see a week of 80's coming up next week, so maybe time to strap on the sneaks and hit the pavement. Depending on how good we do with regular exercise, it might be time to bite the bullet and sign up for a gym membership where we can benefit for legit equipment, trainers, and even a pool. Right now we have access to our Condo gym and work gym, both with equipment as old as I am that does more harm than good.

Anyone else trying to get back on track before the end of summer? How do you get back into the healthy habits and kick the bad ones? Any good (easy) recipes I need to be making?

Summer Lovin'

The official start of summer is still 10 days away, but in my mind, Memorial Day kicks off the vacation season! Vacations are planned, pools are open, and it is HOT in the DMV (District, Maryland, Virginia). This summer is actually jam packed with vacations for me. I've saved up time off and I'm heading to the islands!

First up, Barbados for 12 days with my mom and Husband. Mom and I relaxing with my Aunt for the first few days and then trading an Aunt for a husband the last week. My mom has a timeshare for two weeks there, so this is the 6th year I've gone down there. I love the resort and the island. This year we're planning to try out some new adventures like zip lining!

The Crane, photo from their website

We then are taking a long weekend with one of my Besties to go to NASCAR. Brian Vickers may be out for the season, but you can't keep me away from those rednecks!

The surprise addition to all of this was winning the annual Club trip from work. 5 days in the Bahamas with another Bestie (hubs can't go to vacation limits at work, sad)

I was accepting of my less than stellar post wedding bod because the only bathing suit wearing was with mom and hubs. No big deal. Now all of a sudden I have to put on a suit in front of co workers! Luckily the two other girls from my group going are awesome and totally non judgmental, but I should put in some effort, right?

This week I started watching what I'm eating and drinking, logging those WW points, and working out. I'm taking it super slow with the workouts since I have done absolutely nothing for about a year. I downloaded the Couch 2 5k app for my iPhone. Trying to make it out three days a week for a run and the other days basking in the AC of the gym and doing a little elliptical work. I'm not expecting miracles but I have over a month to make progress.

What are your summer plans? Has the thought of a swim suit gotten you to start busting your behind into workout mode???

Brain Dump

We have a lot going on right now, so busy. We have had a couple of weekends free (or only lightly scheduled) and they have been FABULOUS. It looks like our spring/summer calendar is already filling up at a rapid pace, we have more booked weekends through August than open already. This means my lazy Sunday mornings in bed and a weekly deep cleaning of every corner of the house is over. On a brighter note, there is so much coming up in the next couple of weeks to make up for this!!! So here goes my brain dump...

First, Dancing With The Stars starts next week. I'm a recent convert to the show, I just started watching 2 seasons ago. With the line up this season, I know I'm going to be hooked and up well past my bedtime each night to watch. I can't wait to see Chad Ocho Cinco, he is hilarious. I became an 85 lover when we watched the Bengals Training Camp on HBO last summer. I follow him on twitter and he is always good for a laugh each and every day. Kate Gosslin, kinda watching just to see how bad she is going to be. I think she'll be able to get by for 4-5 weeks but when the truly better dancers start rising to the top, she'll get the boot. I'm interested to see Pam Anderson, Niecy Nash, Shannen Doherty and Erin Andrews do. There is usually one who you think will be real good get eliminated weeks 1 or 2 and then one who you had doubts about make it to the end, Kelly Osbourne anyone???? Bachelor Jake? Not enough charisma to last, but Evan Lysacek will be on until the end. I will probably try to Live Blog for this show. So stay tuned if you are a DWTS fan.

Second, we are going to New York for a week at the end of the month. Our one year anniversary is rapidly approaching and we will spend it sightseeing, eating out, and hanging out with our friends in Manhattan. We are taking the train up and then staying with one of my bridesmaids for a couple nights. We'll be staying at The Pierre for our actual anniversary and a dinner at Peter Luger, supposedly the best steak in the world. The rest we're just playing by ear. Where ever Bridesmaid M and her husband want to go by night to show us around and all of the cheesy touristy stuff while they work by day. We will finish the week staying with one of my high school besties and her boyfriend in Hoboken. It's going to be a fun and super relaxing trip. Any suggestions for while we're there?

Third, in preparation for this trip (and to jump start the effort for the 12 days I'll be in Barbados this summer) I'm attempting yet another quick fix diet. Somehow before the wedding I could lose weight with no effort. I stopped working out a month prior and kinda watched what I ate, but the anxiety for the upcoming day took off any additional weight. Apparently AFTER the wedding no such luck. I ate the same as I did before, exercised more, actually putting effort into losing weight and only managed to gain, and I gained a LOT. So now I'm loading up on the fruits and veggies as my main staples to any meal and all of my snacks. Getting my protein and dairy with main meals. This cuts out most of the carbs (I know fruit has some, but oh well) and munching on grapes or apple slices is much better than even granola bars. I was STARVING yesterday, but I'm adjusting already. We'll see if I can keep this up for the 10 more days until we hit the Big Apple.

Fourth, have you heard of Formspring yet? You can ask any question to people on there. Several of the bloggers I follow answer questions every couple of days. You can create an account and label your questions, or just ask anonymously. I'm addicted. Since hubs has been the only one to ask me any questions, I just ask others whatever I can think of and read all of their wacky answers. You can ask me anything here.

I think that about wraps it up for today! I hope everyone is having a good week so far and is looking forward to the SPRING weather that is on it's way!!!