Tracking: Week 13, Day 7

Week 13, Day 7

Tomorrow’s Weigh-in!  Ahhh!  I actually don’t have the usual anxiety that I have the night before weigh-in, so hopefully that’s a good thing.  As long as I lose what I gained last week, I’ll be fine with it.  I mean, in an ideal world I would hit 25 tomorrow.  In order to do that, I have to lose 5 pounds.  I’m not really counting on that happening.

Stats for the week:

Activity Points Earned: 134

Activity/Flex points used: 0

Time Spent exercising:  695 minutes (I’m pretty sure I didn’t workout this much in all of 2011)

Amount of ice cream/frozen yogurt consumed: 8.5 servings (if I don’t lose this week, I have a feeling we know what’s to blame.)

Tracking: Week 13, Day 6

Week 13, Day 6

Yesterday, I finally went into the pharmacy to get some drugs.  My pharmacist suggested Allegra-D and it is AMAZING!  It didn’t make me drowsy at all.  It also didn’t make me feel the need to map out a zombie escape plan to my house, which embarrassingly (and–admit it–awesomely), has happened on Benadryl.  Except for a few coughing fits, I was back to my old self yesterday.  There was a moment in Jazzercise when I couldn’t stop coughing and then I couldn’t get my water cup (somehow, I lost the straw) open, so someone had to come and help me.  I FINALLY got it open after, like, half the song.  (What??? I’d like to see YOU try and open something with condensation when your hands are sweaty!)  I have to admit, I’m kind of glad this is my penultimate tracking post.  I think it’s definitely worked to get me back on track with, well, tracking and has also helped to get me posting regularly, but I don’t think I’ll keep up with it.  Unless, of course, I need help again.  ALSO, my extremely awesome and adorable and perfect-in-every-way niece is coming today and staying for the entire week.  I think I would be crazy to spend my time blogging and not hanging out with her.

Today’s plan is to do a double in Jazzercise and possibly run.  I might even discover the joy of running with a stroller.  Riiiiight.

Tracking: Week 13, Day 5

Week 13, Day 5

As I mentioned in my last post, I feel absolutely miserable today.  I took some cough syrup and slept all day.  I didn’t watch trashy bridal reality TV, but I DID happen to catch a few episodes of classic Batman on the Hub network.  This was my favorite show when I was little.  I think my babysitter taped every single episode of me.  Sadly, Batgirl did not make an appearance.  However, there were several times that I just thought, “If only Commissioner Gordon would’ve called Barbara, this mess would have only needed one episode to clean up.”  Tomorrow, I will go into town (I just realized how hilarious it sounds when I say “go into town.”  It makes me sound like I’m Pa Ingalls making the trek into town to get tin cans and peppermint sticks and lard for the winter, but really, it’s maybe a 7 minute drive to get into town.  It takes less time to get from the country to town than it does for me to drive pretty much anywhere in Lincoln.) to get some more hardcore allergy medicine.  Like, the stuff you make meth with.  Okay.  I’m going to stop now.  I really shouldn’t blog when I’m on cold meds.

Tracking: Week 13, Day 4

For some reason it wouldn’t scan the entire journal as one picture, so I kind of gave up.

I had to post yesterday’s tracking today because I got tired of waiting for the computer last night.  SOMEONE in this house is very addicted to online Scrabble.  And no, we haven’t entered the 21st century and have yet to get wireless internet so my laptop pretty much useless.  Yesterday was good.  I feel like it’s pretty obvious that I’m slightly addicted to ice cream.  I know I said a few days ago that I don’t reward myself with food, but after spending a Saturday afternoon in WalMart, I felt like I deserved ice cream.  Especially when I knew that it was well within my points for the day.  That’s one of the nice things about WW.  I feel like it prepares people for living in the “real world” better than any other plan.  They teach you how to properly order at restaurants and allow for splurges every once in awhile.  I don’t think I could be on one of those frozen meal plans.  Eventually, it would get old.  Right?

Also, I think what I called allergies is actually a full on cold.  I’m absolutely miserable today.  It may be a stay in my pajamas and watch all the trashy wedding-related reality shows on Bravo kind of day.  Which is perfect since today is my scheduled rest day.

Tracking: Week 13, Day 2

 

I didn’t get a chance to post last night because I was just sooo tired.  (It might have also had something to do with mom playing computer games. 🙂 )  But, as promised, here’s my Thursday journal.

Week 13, Day 2

I woke up yesterday morning with HORRIBLE allergies.  They were the kind that just made me want to lay on the couch with a box of Kleenex and the sixth season of Gilmore Girls.  Still, I thought I needed to do something.  Netflix has exercise DVD’s for online streaming, so I picked a 10 minute Yoga video.  You would think this would be relatively easy.  However, the lady kept telling me to close my mouth and breathe through my nose.  Hello!  I’m pretty sure if I did that I would pass out.  Later on in the day I decided to try a run.  My plan for the week was to run two miles on Thursday and do a double Jazzercise.  Well, I knew that wouldn’t be happening, but I still thought I should try at least one mile.  I started out running and eventually had to stop and just walk.  Everyday, I do something new that affirms my belief that I’m a genius.  Yesterday it was when I thought that running, while I have allergies, on a gravel road surrounded by bean and cornfields was a good idea.  Then I went into town for my hair appointment with the lovely Emily P.  I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before, but The Emily’s are training to become Jazzercise instructors.  Yeah!  So, last night after my appointment I went to their practice and did the routines along with them.  I can’t wait to actually take their classes!

Today, I’m planning on going into town (we got a bunch of rain last night, and I don’t think it would be very much fun to run on the gravel roads) and seeing if I can run the 5k course for A’Ror’N days.  I can’t believe it’s in a week from tomorrow!  Also, I’ve now been running for 9 weeks.  How crazy is that?  I was planning on Jazzercise this morning, but I woke up too late.  I’ll probably go tonight, instead.

Also, most days they put a quote in my WW journal.  Today it’s, “Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what my never happen.  Keep in the sunlight.” by Benjamin Franklin.  I like it!

Tracking: Week 13, Day 1

Okay, this might be excessive.  Correction, this WILL be excessive.  Sometimes my dad will talk about how he (and I, I suppose) doesn’t need a smart phone.  This leads to us talking about things that we might tweet about.  It usually ends up with very detailed description of our, um, bodily waste and the things we ate.  But it will start with, “What am I going to Tweet about?  It’s not like the world needs to know that I had chicken, AGAIN, for supper.”  So, I’m sorry.  I feel like this will hold me accountable this week.  I promise to my Facebook friends, I will not post links to my tracking posts.  Also, this will not be something I do EVERY week.  I promise that while I may be posting mundane things about what I ate, I will NEVER… PROBABLY never… post anything about my poop.  Plus, we all know women don’t poop.

I use the 3 month tracker, which is kind of amazing.  It’s nice to be able to go back and check how many points something is, if you can’t remember.  It’s also interesting to see the correlation between whether I tracked/what I ate/How much I exercised and how much I lost.  I can tell you right now, the weeks that I tracked for a couple days then stopped once it came time for the weekend are usually the weeks I haven’t done well.

Every week starts out with pages for tracking off points earned and used. It also has a page to plan your exercise for the week.

I need to write in pencil. Everyday I have to scribble out the total at least twice.  Daily Points Remaining: 7, Points earned: 34

As you can tell, I realllly like Schwan’s Lemon Frozen Yogurt.  It’s sooooo good.  Also, when mom was going up to get some was when I calculated that I had 21 points left.  But then I realized the almonds were 5 and not 3 and my burrito was 8, not 4.  So… The more you know, I guess.  I’m a little embarrassed at how few of the Good Health Guidelines I checked off.  We need to get some fruit and veggies in this hizzouse.  Actually, we probably do have some, I just get a little afraid of what might be in our vegetable drawers in the fridge.

Also… Are there any people out there who do WW and Jazzercise?  I usually figure the points for half of the class as regular impact, half the class as high impact.  But I’m not sure if that’s right.

Tag! You’re it!

You guys, last weekend was seriously the Best Weekend Ever.  The past few days, I’ve just kept laughing at random things that people said or did, and it really made me wish I had carried around a tape recorder to catch everything.  Saturday morning was the Havelock Charity Run, so The Emily’s and Kim came to Lincoln on Friday night.  Because, you know, we wanted to get a good night’s sleep before the run.  Well… It should come as no surprise that we stayed up until about 4:00 am, talking about just completely random things.  If we made a drinking game where you had to take a shot every time someone said “Remember that one time…” or just shouted out completely random names of our preschool-high school classmates and teachers followed by a completely random story, we would all probably be dead from alcohol poisoning.  I was a little nervous about the run, so I seriously got maybe 30 minutes of sleep.  I just had all of these horrible flashbacks of running the mile in P.E. class when I’d be, like, a whole lap behind everyone so when the class would finish they’d come and run along me and cheer me on and it was AWFUL.  I just always wanted to be like, “Hey, how ’bout y’all go back inside and climb the effing rope, because we all know how good you are at that and let me finish this alone.”  It should also come as no surprise that Elementary P.E. is where Emily P. and I perfected our swearing skills.  Anyway, sorry about the rant.  My cousin Sarah met us up at the race to be the 4th person in our team.  Since we had a team of at least four people, Pinnacle Bank donated money to the charity of our choice.  I chose Lighthouse, because I think it’s an incredibly awesome and needed place for the young folks of Lincoln.  I didn’t realize just how many people would be running.  I’m not sure the exact number, but there had to be at least a thousand.  I also was not aware how many kids there would be.  Like, LITTLE kids.  When the race started, there was a little boy in front of Emily M. so she tapped him on the head and said, “Tag!  You’re it!”  He didn’t continue the game, but I think it would have eliminated any need for an iPod.  I also understand why they suggest you don’t use an iPod during the race.  They kept making announcements like, “There’s a car on the right side of the street.  Watch out.” or “Don’t run into the giant flag pole.”  I just thought, “Dude, I’m not going to run into a car.” (Those of you who really know anything about me, probably just thought to themselves, “Sally… if anyone’s going to run into a parked car, it’s going to be you.)  And, I DID almost run into pretty much everything they said not to run into.  However, I managed to make it through the race injury-free, which says a lot about someone who has actually managed to sprain her ankle in her sleep.  We ended up placing 390-393 out of 548 with a time of 24:55 AND I didn’t walk.  I didn’t warm up or stretch beforehand (I know, crazy), which I think was a big mistake.  Normally when I go for a run, I run for a song, stretch, then do my actual run.  If I don’t, after about 5 minutes into my run my body’s like, “SALLY!  WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME??  WHY DO YOU HATE ME SO MUCH?!?!?!?”  That’s kind of what happened on Saturday, but after we passed the mile mark, I was just like “Whatever, I’ve got this.”  It helped that the little boy in front of us (not the boy Emily M. challenged to tag, a different one) and his mom was teaching him how to spell/read all the street signs and also to say “thank you” to the traffic cops.  It didn’t help my confidence that this boy was probably, like, 6, and just running along when I’ve been training for 8 weeks to be able to run anything longer than a block.  There were actually an embarrassingly large amount of kids with ages in the single digits who beat us.  Oh well.  I’ll get them next year!  I can’t say enough how thankful I am for my running team.  They probably could have all finished the race in about half the time, but they all stayed with me and that made it so much more fun and special.

After the race, the only thing we really wanted to do was drink a Bloody Mary.  (Wouldn’t you?)  By the time we were done talking to people and taking pictures (Thank you, Emily P., for being such a great photographer and cheerleader!), it was about 8:30 and we really didn’t know any place that would serve alcohol that early.  HOWEVER, we decided to just start walking down Havelock and discovered that Arnold’s opened up early just for the occasion.  So we sat around drinking Bloody Mary’s and, again, telling amusing stories.  I suppose I should also disclose that my friends also got me a 2-week-early birthday shot of tequila as my punishment for making them run in celebration of my birthday.  In case you’re wondering, there were not other customers doing shots of tequila before 10:00 am in Arnold’s.  After that, we headed to The Isles since Emily M. and I had been CRAVING their cream cheese pepperoni pizza.  Then we got pedicures done.  The Emily’s had to go back to Aurora, but Kim and I took a three hour nap and got ready to go out and meet our friend, Savanna.  I won’t bore you with the details of that, but I will just give you the advice that if you’re going out and decide it’s a good idea to “party like it’s 2007,” it’s not… Especially if the last time you partied like it was 2007 was in 2008.

I feel like it goes without saying, that my weigh-in this week was not great.  Running less than two miles on Saturday does not cancel out pizza and drinking.  I gained about a pound, but I’m confident I can take it back off soon.  Since I started WW, I haven’t ever had the mentality of “ohhhh, since I worked out today, I can have pizza tonight.” Or really, ever rewarding myself with food.  Most weeks I earn at least 100 activity points and very very rarely use them or the extra 39 “flex points” we’re given every week.  So when my friends were in town to celebrate my birthday, I decided it was okay to indulge a little.  Sure, it might lead to me needing to kick my butt in working out this week, but that’s okay.  I worked really hard and actually finished my running plan (YAY!  I think this means I’m actually a Runner), so I’m not going to beat myself up over it.  I just have to be careful not to have that mentality all the time.  I also have to be careful not to sink back into old habits.  So, this week I’m going to try super hard to track EVERYTHING.  It’s really embarrassing, but last week I’m pretty sure I only tracked on Wednesday, and the rest of the days in my WW journal were empty.  Maybe I’ll post my journal every day.  That won’t be annoying at all…

Lessons learned this week, or things to keep in mind for the A’Ror’n Days 5K:

– I need new shoes.  BAD.  I got my shoes at least 5 years ago.  Granted, I haven’t done a WHOLE lot of physical activity in those 5 years, but I have had to replace the insoles and the back is wearing down so that it rubs against my Achilles tendon.  And, I may be developing a case of Runner’s Knee in my right knee (according to Google). It doesn’t hurt that bad, but I think I need to fix the situation soon.

– Warm up and stretch!  I can’t be sure, because no one knows what happens behind her vanity/closet, but I bet even Barbara Gordon/Batgirl has to stretch before she runs off to save Gothem.

– Sleep well the night before a run!  It was a special occasion since my friends were in town, but I will be getting a full 8 hours of sleep next Friday before my 5k.

– Dri-fit may be the best invention ever.  Today I wore a regular cotton t-shirt on my run, and it was awful.  I have no problem admitting that it’s probably the main reason I didn’t add an extra mile onto my run.

– I feel like I need to stop being afraid of picking up the speed.  I was just worried I wouldn’t have enough endurance to make it without walking.  However, I had plenty of energy left to “sprint” the last couple blocks, so I need to figure out a pace that pushes me a little more.

I can’t really think of anything else.  I am a sleepy goose today, and I have to head into town to go to Jazzercise.  But I’ll leave you with a few pictures from Saturday…

Kim, Me, and Emily M. before the race

Kim, Em, Me, and Sarah after the race.

Cousins! Me with Kate and Sarah. Kate ran the 10K like a boss.

This is how your friends repay you when you make them wake up early on a Saturday morning to go run. But really… Does it look like I’m complaining?

Also… I just realized it’s been an extremely large amount of time since I posted an actual recipe — and this is supposed to be a food blog! — but I promise I’ll post one soon.  I may just have to pull one out of the archives.

UPDATE: I decided to post my daily tracking, if anyone is interested.  I’m not going to be posting links on Facebook every day.  Don’t worry!

Ready to Run… Part II

I had every intention of coming up with a creative title, but it’s 6:45 am on a Saturday, people.

It seems like I’ve been saying this a lot; but really, I can’t believe how long it’s been since I last posted.  I don’t really have a good excuse.  Since school’s out, I’ve pretty much just been chillin’ at the folks’ house.  My daily routine is unbelievably exciting, you guys.  First, I wake up 6:30-7:00, have the same breakfast (blueberry Greek yogurt + ½ serving of Fiber One + ½ serving of granola, a banana, and coffee) every day and watch Morning Joe on MSNBC.  Then, I either do a double in Jazzercise or one Jazzercise followed by running, depending on what day it is.  After that, I shower and catch up on all the TV I missed the night before.  Finally, about an hour or two before my mom’s going to be home, I kick it into gear and start on the list of chores she gave me.  So as you can see, I don’t really have time for blogging.  (Don’t you feel like this could have been a third graders school journal entry? “First, Then, After That, Finally”)

Y’all, I think I’m kind of actually becoming a runner.  I can say this with confidence because I actually went running yesterday.  In the heat.  And the wind.  Running in Nebraska in the summer is just going to be so much fun.  I’m almost finished with Week 5 of my plan.  Today I have to run 15 minutes followed by a minute of walking, followed by 14 minutes of running.  It’s crazy to think that about 5 weeks ago I was worried about switching up from one minute intervals of running to two minutes.  I think every time I had to add another minute I would text Emily M. and be like, “I can’t do this!  How am I supposed to run THREE WHOLE MINUTES at a time???” She’d respond with something along the lines of, “Of course you can.  You’ll be fine.  Don’t worry about it.”  She was usually right, so I stopped texting her with pre run anxiety.

A couple weeks ago, we were in Omaha because my sister-in-law was inducted into her high school’s Athletic Hall-of-Fame for being an incredibly awesome swimmer.  For real, she’s amazing.  I knew she was a great athlete, but didn’t know just HOW great until they started talking about her at the banquet.  We stayed over Friday night, so Saturday morning I was going to go running in Omaha.  I thought I could sneak in a run without my brother noticing (he is a real, actual runner) since he was trying to buy Springsteen tickets, but he realized what I was up to and wanted to come along.  Up until then, the only running partner I had was my iPod.  Y’all (I apologize if this becomes a thing.  I know I’m not southern, I’ve just been watching a lot of Hart of Dixie and GCB.  It will fade.), I didn’t realize how slow I was until I watched Grant running next to me.  I previously had this vision in my head of being all graceful and gazelle-like, and then I saw him almost jogging in place next to me and thought, “Wow.  I have a LOT of work to do.”

Running in Omaha is a lot different Running in Lincoln.  There’s not as much shade on the trails and it’s a lot more hilly.  However, Grant was a great running partner.  I was kind of nervous, since I usually have my music on, that I would be bored or somehow it would be harder.  Those of you who know my brother know that he is a constant source of entertainment, so I really shouldn’t have been worried.  At one point, I thought he was going to get us attacked by a family of geese.  They didn’t attack, but I had a feeling we were going to find out just how fast I could run.  After we finished my workout, I told Grant he could go on running and I could find my way back to their house (I couldn’t, but that’s a whole different story).  When he took off running, I realized – for the second time, how slow I am.  We are running in the A’ror’n Days Fun Run with my sister in June.  My goal is for Greta and I to finish the 5k without Grant lapping us while running the 10k.  And then, of course, to go home and have a delicious breakfast prepared by my mom.

Also on the fun run front, I’m going to be doing the Havelock 3k with some friends.  I’ve been worried about this one, but I’ve been going AT LEAST 2 miles on my runs, and last week I did a 10-minute mile (it hasn’t happened since), so I think I’ll be okay.

As far as Weight Watchers goes, this past week I reached my 15 pound point, which was pretty exciting.  Now that I’ve been attending meetings for over a month, I can kind of see patterns in the way my body loses/gains weight.  I’ll have two weeks of a multiple pound loss followed by two weeks of really small losses/gains or maintaining.  The weeks that I don’t lose much can be frustrating, but I just keep reminding myself that I need to hang in there.  And also that, if I lose weight too fast, I’ll have all that weird extra skin, and really, who needs that?

Lessons learned during The Process, so far:

1. Having a support group is CRUCIAL.  My family has been amazing.  My sister is doing the Couch-to-5k program, so I’m excited to run with her this weekend when we go to Denver.  My friends have also been awesome.  Emily M. recently banned me from watching old episodes of The Biggest Loser, because we decided that although it’s inspiring, it’s not realistic to lose 15 pounds in a week.  Especially without the help of Bob and Jillian.
2. Just because YOU’RE listening to your iPod and can’t hear anything, doesn’t mean that people passing you (and trust me, I get passed a lot) can’t hear your bodily functions.  I don’t feel the need to go into too much detail on this one, but if anyone has any tips on what to do when you need to “pass gas” while on the trail, I’m all ears.  3-10-year old Sally would just totally own it.  Present-day Sally, not so much.
3. I’ve kind of become a grill master, and can make a grilled chicken breast taste gooooood.  This could also be Stockholm Syndrome kicking it.
4. A good playlist is much more effective when you’re running for longer periods of time.  I was listening to a lot of rap music, then decided that I needed to listen to something more empowering, so I made my Girl Power Running Mix (Yes, that is the real title).  It’s basically music that either inspires me, or pumps me up, by women who I feel are somewhat empowering.  It’s basically the Beyonce show with help from a few others.

Sally’s Girl Power Running Mix

None of Your Business – Salt-n-Pepa

Who Says – Selena Gomez and the Scene

Run the World (Girls) – Beyonce

Countdown – Beyonce

Bug a Boo – Destiny’s Child

Call Me Maybe – Carly Rae Jepsen (This is my guilty pleasure song.  I can’t help it.  The words are SO stupid and really don’t make sense, but I love it.)

Hot As Ice – Britney Spears

Can’t Hold Us Down – Christina Aguilera feat. Lil’ Kim

Fighter – Christina Aguilera

Firework – Katy Perry

Fly – Nicki Minaj & Rihanna

So What – P!nk

What the Hell – Avril Lavigne (I fought with myself over whether or not to put any Avril stuff on here.  I’m all for a woman’s right to choose, but I really didn’t really know if I can consider someone as a role model for female empowerment when they choose to date Brody Jenner.  However, her music makes me run faster, so she stays.)

Girlfriend – Avril Lavigne (This song makes me think of Emily M. having solo dance parties with her iPod in the Fall of 2007.  And then I smile.  A lot.)

Put It In A Love Song (featuring Beyonce) – Alicia Keys

Diva – Beyonce

Independent Women – Destiny’s Child

Survivor – Destiny’s Child

How I Roll – Britney Spears

Beautiful Girls Reply – JoJo  (by this point, I think it’s pretty clear I have no shame.)

Dog Days Are Over – Florence + The Machine

(I Got That) Boom Boom (Feat. Ying Yang Twins) – Britney Spears (any song that starts with “Shout it! We’re gonna go to the club and get crunk with Britney!” gets put on ANY playlist regardless of it’s nature)

I just realized that we’re supposed to leave in a half hour for Denver and I COMPLETELY forgot to put my clothes in the dryer, so I gotta go!  Have a good weekend, y’all!

Also… it was too windy to grill, but I made the BEST vegetables in a foil packet a couple days ago.  Zucchini, squash, mushrooms, peppers, onion, and basil mixed in a big Ziploc bag with olive oil, a bit of salt, and Mrs. Dash.  Soooo good!  Enjoy!

Ready to Run… Kind of (And also, PASTA!)

So, I started my running plan this week.  (For those of you interested in exactly what I’m doing, check out The Runner’s World 8-Week Beginning Runner’s Training Program)  Monday was my first day and it was… interesting.  After school, I synced (this doesn’t seem like it should be a real word, but spell check is okay with it) my iPod and was ready to go.  I’ve never actually run in town before, so the whole trail system is kind of new to me.  Also, I’ve watched too many episodes of Criminal Minds to really embrace the whole idea of running trails.  The plan suggests a 3 minute walk for a warm up, so I started out just walking down K street.  Well, I kept putting the actual running thing off.  I kept saying to myself, “Oh, I’ll just go at the next stop light.” Then the sidewalk ended at Lincoln High (I realize now, it would have been smarter for me to start on the other side of the street) and I had to walk through the parking lot and then just kept putting off the actual running part.  I finally came up on 27th street (by this point, my 3 minute warm up was about 20 minutes) and couldn’t shake images of the entire Bluth family doing their chicken dances from my head, so I just went for it and started running.  That first minute was hell, but with every interval it got easier.  It was so nice out and the trail was so pretty that I kind of kept going not thinking about the fact that at some point I would have to turn around and head back home.  In fact, I didn’t even think about this until I reached Highway 2.  So then I had to walk all the way back home and a workout that should’ve been about 40 minutes turned into about 2 hours.  Wednesday was a lot better, as far as time efficiency goes.  My thighs hurt like hell (I blame this on the J. Lo leg workout in jazzercise) but I’m confident we will return to a place of peace soon.

Oh!  I almost forgot.  This story will be funny especially (and maybe exclusively) to my middle/high school classmates.  When I was in 9th grade, my science teacher found out some of the kids in my class were into bad things… like alcohol and whippets.  Not me, for real… I was at least 5 years behind my coeds when it came to rebellion.  I remember having to Ask Jeeves what a whippet was, and to be honest with you, I’m still not entirely sure.  Anyway, after our teacher found out about what was happening, he started giving us this long lecture about the choices we make and then went into this long thing about how he doesn’t let anyone drive his car unless he really trusts someone and there were very few of us he would let drive his car and that if we became teachers and he found out there was a possibility of us teaching his kids he would specifically request not to have us as a teacher.  I’m sure that he had very good intentions with all of this.  He was probably concerned, because really, 14-15 year old kids should not be drinking.  So I get it.  At that age, you still shouldn’t be able to understand anything happening in Clueless and your idea of fun should be starting a 2Gether tribute band.  After the car and teacher stuff, I think most of the kids had just kind of tuned him out and written the entire thing off as him being an out of touch “old” person (he was maybe in his early 30’s).  But then… he started talking about we just needed to find another kind of high.  And for him, that high was running in the rain.  And he didn’t leave it at that.  He very poetically talked on and on about the high running in the rain gave him.  To my family and friends who are or are going to be teaching middle/high schoolers:  Do not, I repeat, do NOT tell them that running in the rain gets you high.  You could be the John Keating of your school when it comes to teaching, but all your students will take away from your class is that running in the rain gets you high.  At some point in their college and young adult life they will be walking out of a bar when it will start raining.  They will not be thinking about the time you taught them about why/how it rains.  Instead, they will be running down the street proclaiming “I’m running in the rain and it’s making me so high!”  (These, of course, are only presumptions.  I would NEVER do anything like that…)  Oh right, I suppose I should get to the point of this story.  So, I was walking back down Capitol Parkway/K Street when it started sprinkling.  I panicked a little bit, because I am not at the point where running gets me high.  At best, I’m past the point of checking my watch before 30 seconds have passed in my minute of running.  Again, I was by Lincoln High when I spotted a billboard with a kid listening to his headphones that said, “What’s Your High?”  I was convinced it was going to start pouring by this point.  Luckily, it never did more than sprinkle a few drops but I had a good laugh and then had to call Emily M. to tell her all about it and we had a good laugh about it together.  </pointless story>

In related news, I lost 3 pounds this week!  My mom kept telling me it would show up on the scale eventually, and I’m glad it did.  I tried really hard to eat all the points I’m allowed to eat, and then took a break from exercise over the weekend.  I don’t know if my body just needed a chance to catch up, but hopefully I will keep losing.

A few lessons learned this week:

1. Rice cakes are not an acquired taste.  They are still as awful as when my mom used to be them for “snacks” when we were little.
2. Anything (with the exception of Rice cakes, of course) seems like a treat if it’s in a cute little bowl.  For instance, one of my favorite thing is to mix up a package of fat-free, sugar-free pudding then pour it into these adorable green ramekin dishes (see picture below) and put them in the freezer.
3. Pine nuts are really expensive.
4. Bottled roasted peppers are kind of amazing.  For real.  They’re my new obsession.
5. Running trails are not filled with serial killers/sociopaths.  In fact, everyone is pretty nice and politely waves, smiles, or nods as you pass each other.  However, I will trust no one.  Except it would be kind of nice for Emily M. and Emily P. if Dr. Spencer Reid, Derek Morgan and the rest of the BAU had to come to Nebraska to investigate.
6. Cooking healthy is easy.  I’m not so sure baking will be the same way.  I don’t see myself as being one of those people who bakes with applesauce.  I think when it comes to birthdays and stuff, I’m just going to have to make the real deal and work it into my plan.

Now, onto the pasta!

The Meal. Doesn't that cute little bowl make you want to go out and eat a bunch of baby carrots?

I found this recipe in the March 2011 issue of Cooking Light.  It was okay.  Actually, it was really good just not as good as the Vodka Pasta.  It was also just a completely different type of taste.  I would say it tasted healthier.  That’s not a bad thing at all, it just maybe had more of a pasta salad taste than a pasta entree taste.  It’s supposed to take 20-minutes to make, but it calls for pre-chopped onions.  Pre-chopped onions are a lot more expensive than just buying whole onions.  Now, as someone who has to wear safety goggles when I chop onions, I definitely appreciate the idea of someone else chopping my onions.  It’s just not a luxury I can afford.  I also grilled a chicken breast on the Foreman and cut it up to mix with the pasta.

Mini Farfalle with Roasted Peppers, Onions, Feta, and Mint

8 oz. mini farfalle (bow tie) pasta

1/4 cup pine nuts

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup prechopped onion

1/4 cup golden raisins

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 cup sliced bottled roasted red bell peppers, rinsed and drained

1 cup (4 ounces) crumbled feta cheese (I used reduced fat feta.  It only comes in a 3.5 oz container, but I really don’t think that’s a problem.)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1.  Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat.  Drain pasta over a bowl; reserve 1/2 cup cooking liquid.

2. While pasta cooks, heat a small nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Add nuts; cook 4 minutes or until golden brown, stirring frequently.

3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Add oil; swirl to coat.  Add onion, raisins, and garlic; cook 8 minutes or until onion begins to brown, stirring frequently.  Add bell peppers; cook 4 minutes or until heated, stirring occasionally.  Add pasta and 1/2 cup reserved cooking liquid; cook 1 minute, stirring to combine.  REmove from heat; stir in feta, mint, basil, and black pepper.  Sprinkle with nuts.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: about 1 1/2 cups pasta and 1 tablespoon nuts).

CALORIES 453; FAT 17.4 g (sat 5.1g, mono 4.1g, poly 3.3g); PROTEIN 16.6g; CARB 59.7; FIBER 4.2; CHOL 25mg; IRON 3.5 mg; SODIUM 558 mg; CALC 131 mg; Weight Watchers Points Plus 12

Hello Again! – Vodka Pasta

You guys, I can’t believe how long it’s been since I’ve posted anything!  I’ve still been cooking, I just haven’t had a whole lot of time (or, I suppose, desire) to do any writing outside of school.  However, I am back after a nearly two month hiatus so you can expect lots of posts.

About a month ago, I started Weight Watchers so there will probably be more healthy recipes on here.  We’ve been dealing with some pretty stressful health issues in my family, and I decided that I realllly didn’t want to be facing the same stuff in 30 years so I needed to kick it into gear.  I’ve only lost about 5 pounds since I started the program, but I’ve lost over 20 since the last time I tried it a couple years ago. So, I’m pretty proud of that.  I am a little sad that when Jennifer Hudson and I are singing a quartet with our old selves in a WW ad, those first 20 won’t count, but what can you do?  Also, I heard that after Jessica Simpson has her baby, she’s going to be a WW spokesperson.  Maybe then we can do a sextet with our old selves.  It will be epic.  I know that people, including myself, overuse the word “epic.” But truly… it will be epic.  I feel like all my years of singing in the car have been preparing me to sing with Jessica Simpson.

Throughout this whole process, I’ve discovered that I actually really like exercising.  I’ve been going to Jazzercise 5-6 days a week and I’m loving it.  It’s pretty much the only place I can hear Pit Bull in a song and not want to hunt him down and do bad things to him.  And when I say “bad” I don’t mean “dirty,” I’m talking about the kinds of things that will land you on death row.  I guess what Elle Woods says is true, “Exercise gives you endorphins.  Endorphins make you happy.  Happy people don’t shoot their husbands, they just don’t.”  I’ve also decided to start running as soon as I find a place that can sell me a cord for my 2nd Generation iPod Shuffle for less than an actual iPod Shuffle.  I’ve made it my goal to run at least the 5k in the A’Ror’N Days Fun Run, which also happens to be my birthday weekend.  I figure it’s good to have a goal that isn’t directly related to the scale.  I have a feeling this is going to be a very interesting project.  I found a plan that starts out as intervals of 1 minute running followed by 2 minutes of walking (which, to be completely honest, sounds a lot like my approach to running in P.E., so starting out should be easy) then gradually adds more running and takes away the walking.  I’ve never really had an interest in running, but one of my favorite hobbies is making playlists, so… at least I have that going for me.  This whole journey is exciting to me.  After a month, I already feel a lot better and my clothes fit a lot better, so hopefully it will start showing up on the scale more.

Anyway… On to the food!

I found this recipe in the April issue of Cooking Light.  Vodka Pasta is one of my favorite meals, and I’ve been looking for a good recipe for years.  There was a Rachael Ray recipe that I kept trying so hard to make work, but it was just lacking something… like flavor.  One time I made it and didn’t let the vodka reduce enough. I should also note that I accidentally doubled the vodka and used really, really cheap  (we’re talking Bartons) vodka.  Not only did it taste awful, but people got tipsy.  However, I was so pleased with this Cooking Light recipe.  The flavoring was amazing and the consistency of the sauce was perfect.  Also, it’s HEALTHY.  Or, at least, it’s not unhealthy.  I made it with chicken instead of shrimp since I’m kind of a hoarder when it comes to chicken breasts.  I’m not kidding, every time I go home, I end up taking a few Schwans chicken breasts back with me.  My freezer looks like one of those milk commercials, only with chicken.

I think this recipe is pretty straight forward.  It’s one of those crazy recipes where when it says it only takes 18 minutes, it actually takes 18 minutes.  I also had Spinach with raspberries, blueberries, and a light raspberry vinaigrette dressing.

Shrimp Vodka Pasta

From Cooking Light, April 2012 

9 ounces refrigerated fettuccine

1 tablespoon olive oil, divided

12 ounces large shrimp, peeled and deveined

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1/3 cup vodka

1 1/3 cups lower-sodium marinara sauce (I used Trader Joe’s Marinara sauce, no salt added)

1/3 cup chopped fresh basil, divided

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1.  Cook pasta per directions.  Drain.

2. Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add shrimp; saute for 4 minutes or until done.  Remove shrimp from pan.

3. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons oil and garlic to pan; saute 1 minute.  Carefully add vodka (side note: Every time Paula Dean cooks with alcohol she turns off the burner when she pours it into the pan.  I think this is a good idea for people with gas burners.  Especially if you’re as accident prone as I am); cook 1 minute.  Add marinara, 1/4 cup basil, cream, salt, and pepper; bring to a simmer.  Stir in pasta and shrimp.  Sprinkle with remaining basil.

Bon Appetit!

Nutritional info:

Serves 4 (serving size: 1 1/4 cups)

CALORIES 427; FAT 12.6g (sat 4.9g, mono 4.8g, poly 1.4g); PROTEIN 24.6 g; CARB 60.1 g; FIBER 2.4g; CHOL 184mg; IRON 2.2 mg; SODIUM 632mg; CALC 65 mg; Weight Watchers Points Plus 12