Day 2:

Breakfast: none
Lunch: leftovers from last night's meal (perfect recipe for this purpose! leftovers rocked!!!)
Dinner:

• Oreida country steak fries
• leftover glazed carrots
• Honey-Garlic thin cut pork chops

Another new recipe today! This time I chose a recipe for honey garlic pork chops from Sparkpeople.com. I read many favorable reviews, even from people who modified it by pan frying it. Reviews are how I usually decide if a recipe is worth my time and ingredients. At the same time, they can raise my expectations too high for a recipe. That was the case this time, unfortunately. I think the soy sauce thew off the flavor just enough that it was not quite what my palate was hoping for. Also, pan frying it with that soy sauce and honey resulted in a smell that was not appealing either to me.

I will probably not be adding this recipe to the book. I give it 2/5 spoons.

New Project

Haven't blogged in a while. So I will attempt another recipe/eat at home challenge.

Monday (today) = Day 1, Week 1


Exceptions: Breakfast at the coffee shop. I work at 5am on many days. The idea of breakfast before I go is just out of the question.Christmas eve and Christmas day are also exceptions due to family get togethers, although both involve meals at someone's house so it's not really "eating out".

This project will end in 30 days.

Todays meals:

Breakfast: none
Lunch: Mac n Cheese; almonds
Dinner: Creamy Broccoli Chicken with Herbs (see below)

I tried a new recipe tonight from the back of my soup can and it was not an epic failure as I was worried it would be.

Here is the recipe

My alterations:
1) I only cooked the pasta to 3 minutes from being done and added it to the mix and brought to a low boil for 3-4 minutes.
2) I chopped up the chicken into cubes so it would cook faster and be more of a casserole than a piece of chicken on a bed of pasta.

This was a wonderful 1 dish meal and only took me about 1/2 an hour including thawing out the frozen broccoli and chicken, cooking the pasta and putting it all together.

I give it 4 spoons out of a possible 5!

Moping over. moving on

I have been up and down.  Yesterday was a down/low point. Today is a rally.

negative energy and counteracting it....

I've really been nostalgic this last week. It's not helpful because I've been nostalgic for how things were. I've, dare I say it, actually been missing the lab specifically that big one.

For as far as I've come healthly life-wise, I've stagnated otherwise. I feel like I'm running in place while everyone around me is moving forward. Its frustrating and hard to keep the jealousy in check. Its a toxic force and only serves to hold me further in my place. knowing that doesn't necessarily make it easy to overcome and move on. "Its not fair" and "why not me" has been in my thoughts a lot. It's causing me to put up a wall because if I don't see anyone, then I don't have to think about it. I don't have to feel like Debbie Downer. I'm fighting not only jealousy but my psyche seeking isolationism in direct competition with my social side which craves seeing friends.

I also begin to feel resentment towards dear husband for not moving forward either. That inner voice that I try to squash down telling me I'm the only one doing anything rears its ugly little head along with that jealousy monster. More negative energy.

In good news, I ran 9.0 miles today. That's the furthest I've ever run and it actually felt quite good during it! It was a bit rough around the mid section of the run, but the beautiful weather, focusing on one foot in front of another, the fact that even after over an hour of running and moving onward to 1 hr 45 minutes of running I was not huffing and puffing/wanting to die, pushed me onward. Running helps counteract the negative energy which is probably why I keep it up.

3 weeks til half marathon. This 9.0 mile run today, on top of counteracting negative energy really helped me feel good about the half marathon and completing it. I won't complete it quickly, but it will be done. Another goal set and realized. If only it worked that simply for other things in life....

When do you give up?

Do you give up? Is that a sign of weakness, or acceptance?
When does persistence become delusion?
When does it be become hanging on to something that will never be again?

Does 6 months = irrelevance? How about 1 year? 2.5 years? Why?

When does one just hit the delete button on that experience?

I have no answers, only questions.

measurements

Last October (2010) measurements: 
Weight: 138
Just under bust: 30"   ------  -3.5"

    Waist: 32"  -----   -2.5"

    Hips: 38.5" ----- -2.0"

    Thighs: 23.5" (R), 23" (left) ---- -1.0"

September 2011 measurements:

Weight: 128-130

    Just under bust: 27" ---- -3" from last year and down 6.5 overall!

   Waist: 30" ------- -2" and 4.5-6 overall

   Hips: 37" ------- -1.5"  and 3.5-4" overall

    Thighs: 22.5" (R) and 22" (L) --- down 2" overall

BMI: 

2008: 28.7 (at my highest)

2009: 28.0

2010: 26.5

2011: 24.2 (I'm finally in the "Normal" range!!!!)

So many changes over the past couple years.....

Ramping it up

At middle to end of summer the average week consisted of a couple 2-3 mile runs. The long runs were still guaranteed to be under an hour long. I was squeezing in cross training like rollerblading and biking. 5:30a.m. and 6am runs were my friend.

Enter September, the average run needs to be 4-5 miles with my long runs requiring over an hour of running. The mornings aren't as bright and the evening time for running is diminishing quickly. Add in that I'm suddenly working 40 hrs at one job and 5-15 at the other and I'm finding the time commitment a bit daunting.

At the same time, I can feel the last 2 months of training kicking in. Those longer runs aren't actually too bad, aside from time needed to fulfill them. I'm fairly steady with my pace and have made gains on speed on those shorter runs. I've done 3 miles in under 30 min and 2.5 in under 24! And don't even get me started on the amazing weather. The crispness in the air is a welcome change from the soup I found myself running in in late July.

Just 1 month til the half marathon.

2.5 months until my honemoon. After the half marathon, I can slow down the running a bit, but use the new time to add in the strength training so I can be in even better shape, possibly bikini shape by the time the boat sails! No matter what, I'll be wearing a bikini because it's the only swimsuits I have. It's just a matter of looking slightly less soft in them!