Weigh-in Saturday

I wasn't able to weigh-in at my weight watchers meeting today because we are about to leave for San Diego to celebrate Andy's grandpa's birthday! Both of my grandfathers passed away when I was young so Andy's grandpa is definitely my honorary grandpa.

I weighed myself on my home scale and was down 5 lbs. Honestly I know that my scale and the WW scale differ (about a 3 lb difference) so lets just say I'm down another 2 making for a total weight loss of 7.8 lbs. Next Saturday is my birthday so I probably won't make it to Weight Watchers then either. But soon enough I'll weigh in on their scale and see exactly what it is.

I'm happy that the number on the scale isn't defining me. I only weigh in once a week and try not to obsess over it.

I ran a few times this week and can feel myself getting stronger and faster. My goal is to run a 13 min/mile at my next 5k race. Eventually I want to build back up and run a 10 min/mile pace but that will take time. Hopefully losing some weight will speed me up.

I've been drinking detox-green smoothies lately and I swear it gives me tons of energy. And for once I'm getting an appropriate amount of leafy greens in.

I'll update about San Diego soon! And BEER MONDAY.

How are you guys doing on your goals (weight loss related or not!)?

Knee taping and recovery smoothie

Most likely, I'll be graduating physical therapy tomorrow. I'm pretty excited about this as physical therapy is incredibly time-consuming and painful. I do feel like my knee is slowly healing and my lower body is getting tons stronger.

Yesterday I ran with my knees taped for the first time.



I plan on posting a how-to video on this soon but please see a professional before you start knee-taping. It looks weird but the tightness of the tape nudges my kneecap into the correct place. My quads are nudging my patella out of place when I run. (Gross!)



Here's the tape that I bought. Not a ton but I don't plan on running with my knees taped forever. Eventually my body will be stronger and I will be able to prevent injury better. I might look into knee sleeves at some point, not sure yet.

I ran 2 miles in 27 minutes which I know it's breaking any records but it's the fastest I've got since my injury. I was STOKED! I would be happier than a fangirl at a Justin Bieber concert if I could finish the 5k in October running a 13 minute/mile pace. No shame in my slower-paced game.

The fastest mile I've ever ran is a 10 min/mile but that was before I injured my knee and developed plantar fasciitis. (The PF has disappeared! Knock on wood.)



Jay Robb's protein powder is amazing. I tried a scoop of pina colada in a green recovery smoothie today and it was magnificant.



And it was GREEN!



(ignore my dirty dishes, gah.) I mixed in one frozen banana, 2 frozen strawberries, 1 scoop protein powder, 1 huge handful spinach, 1/2 cup almond milk and 1/2 cup P.O.G. juice. (Passion, Orange, Guava)

So good!

Have you tried knee taping before? How did you like it?

Good Friday and our summer vacation!

Spring Break has officially begun!



Yesterday I used a packet of Jay Robb pina colada whey protein powder to make a tropical smoothie. I figured a tropical smoothie would get me in the mood for our summer vacation.



Ingredients:

1 packet Jay Robb Whey Protein (Pina colada)
1 can Dole Pineapple Juice (8oz)
1 frozen banana
8 frozen strawberries
1/2 unsweetened almond milk
1/2 cup frozen diced mango

Into the blender until smooth and creamy. This was like soft serve frozen yogurt!



And it tasted like...





Paradise. That's right! We're going to spend our one year wedding anniversary in Hawaii! Specifically Kauai!

We're totally stoked. I'm not excited about buying a bathing suit but what else is new?

I just want to lay on the beach, hike, snorkel, drink tropical drinks and spend some quality time with my husband. Have any of you been to Kauai? And trip advice for us?



I also made a lasagna without using a recipe for the first time! I was impressed with myself.

It's just no-boil lasagna noodles, TJ's vodka sauce, spinach (3 cups worth!), ricotta, seasonings, mozzarella, chicken meatballs, sun-dried tomatoes, broccoli and parmesan all layered in a pan. I love when my kitchen experiments work out!

Do you have any summer plans yet? How about Spring break plans?

You already know our summer plans. We're going to Las Vegas on Monday for Spring Break. Bouchon, here we come!

Nike + & a bad Irishwoman

I didn't do anything special for St. Patrick's Day. I just wasn't in the mood. I'm assuming this is due to having a three hour night class. I wasn't able to party!

I'm pretty much full-blooded Irish too. No joke. I recently did some investigating and only found traces of Italian here and there but mostly Irish. So therefore I am a bad Irishwoman for not celebrating. Sorry to disappoint!



I had some of this Bertolli sauce in the fridge from the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program. (I was sent this sauce for free!) and I decided dinner was going to work around that.



I also creepily decided to purchase these pierogies. What can I say? I'm Irish and we love our potatoes!



Dinner was served in minutes. I had to go to class so I loved having an easy meal. It was okay but I'm not sure I'd buy these pierogies again. The sauce definitely helped give it some flavor.



At school I bought some Sour Patch Watermelons and a Green book. (Blue books are now green who knew?) I had half of the sour patch candies before deciding that sugar is bad. I can't buy candy anymore! It's just empty delicious calories. But it did make the last 2 hours of my class (Computers in Instruction) that much easier.



This morning I tested out my Nike +. I just put the sensor in my shoe wallet. It seemed to work out okay. I ran 3.5 very slow and painful miles. My legs were so tight!



Then I made a huge greenish smoothie the lazy way.

1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond breeze
1/2 cup Naked Green Machine
1/2 Packet Orignal Amazing Grass Meal
1/2 frozen banana
1 cup frozen peaches
1/4 cup mixed berries



I can't drink a smoothie without bananas! I'm so glad I freezed a bunch. This was my last one.



See it turned out pinkish. Blah. I need to get some spinach up in here!

I'm off to study for a midterm and whine about my sore legs. See you all tomorrow!

Two Boos Who Drink Their Greens

I am reviewing several products in this post. As a rule, I never give a product a positive review unless I fully enjoy it!



Monday morning, I had a craving for Chobani. And low and behold we had 1 Chobani left in the fridge. Strawberry! (This was leftover from the time when Chobani sent me some samples.) Chobani Greek Yogurt is thick, creamy and packed with protein. It's great for me in the morning because it actually fills me up.



And I had a sample of Bear Naked Cereal. I signed up for the sample on Facebook actually.



Pom Arils. (Bought these at Costco pre-challenge) Speaking of the Challenge Andy and I haave spent $23.45 so far this month on groceries.



And Super Dark Chocolate. Newman's Own Organics Now this is a brand I can believe in! The chocolate is organic and

"The Rainforest Alliance Certified™ seal guarantees that the cocoa in our Signature Series was grown on farms that meet comprehensive standards for sustainable farming, protecting soil, waterways and wildlife habitat as well as the rights and welfare of workers, their families and communities." *from the Newman's Own Organics website.



I chopped up one square of the super dark chocolate.



Added 2 tbsp of the Bear Naked cereal, 2 tbsp pom arils and the chocolate to my Chobani. It was delicious!

That evening, I decided to make dinner in a crockpot. Something I haven't done in ages.







Set it.



And forget it for 3-4 hours. Love that! I made a Turkey Tamale Pie. It was great! And we have tons of leftovers, which is fantastic.



This morning, I decided to try out one of the Amazing Meal Packets that the folks at Amazing Grass sent over.



They even sent over a cute cup!



I mixed the amazing meal with one banana, half a bottle of POM Wonderful Kiwi, 12 frozen strawberries and a drop of honey. It doesn't taste like grass at all. I was really worried about that!



And it made 2 big smoothies. One for me and one for Andy! Ignore my messy kitchen, we are about to clean. And yes my blender is full of dish soap. I clean it that way. Just add water, a dap of dish soap and blend.



Please know that Amazing Grass, Pom Wonderful,
Newman's Own Organics, and Chobani are amazing companies who stand behind their products. All of these samples were free to me. I loved each and every one. Please feel free to ask me if you have questions about any of these products! I am more than happy to share. :)

I missed my Weight Watchers weigh-in last night because my WW partner is out of town but I'll be back next week! I'm pretty sure I've hit my 1st goal of ten pounds lost! We'll see!!