Funnymoods

The marathon was completed. It was not my best race, but it was a great experience. I ended up finishing in 4 hours and 50 minutes. Officially my slowest marathon time ever by 2 minutes. But given the amount of training that went into it, I’m cool with that. Add to that the fact that it got up near 80 degrees and I’m not a good runner in warms temps and the fact that the pancake flat course really put a beating into my legs. I’ll take 4:50.

I have photos. I have my splits. Perhaps at some point I’ll document them here. But for now, that’s the update. I’m glad I did it. James and I had a fantastic weekend in Chicago. We ate like kings and I got to experience a world-class marathon. Life is good to me.

Since then, the holidays happened. Work crazy continued. I still love, love, love my gig and I’m doing my best to find balance and not work round-the-clock. I think that’s one of the challenges being a childless person. I don’t have those familial obligations forcing balance on me and I have a tendency to not hit the off-switch near enough.

I have gained some weight. I have my work cut out for me. But I also have recently started some circuit training classes at the gym. This began with a fitness assessment back in November. I had my resting heart rate measured as well as my anaerobic threshold tested. The diagnosis was that I have no base. All my running has been at Zone 4 or above. So the personal trainer I’ve been seeing suggested more weight training and some focus on base training. Since I also knew I was doing the Walt Disney World half-marathon in early Jan, I held off on the base training until that was completed. I did begin my Team Fitness classes in November and, so far, I love them. It’s three days a week. We do all kinds of crazy workouts with free weights, machines, plyometrics, crazy balance things. Sometimes I feel like I’m in The Biggest Loser during the workouts. And since I’m paying extra for this torture, I’m motivated not to skip. Two+ months in, I have seen a difference in my arms. I’m getting them back after I quit swimming regularly. I haven’t seen any weight loss, but that’s my own fault with diet, holidays, etc., etc., etc.

In other news, the man and I took a lovely trip to NYC in mid-December. I added a long weekend onto a work trip and we had a lovely time staying in Midtown, experiencing the city during the holidays, taking in great shows and loads of good food. It was a little big magical and such a treat.

And since one trip in a month was clearly not enough, we also headed to Florida last weekend for the aforementioned Walt Disney World Half Marathon. We met up with some friends from the South as well as brought along a couple we knew in MN and had a blast. We had a fantastic (gigantic!) condo. We laughed harder than I recall at any time in recent memory. And the race was really, really fun. Again, not a PR by any means, but this isn’t a race to be serious in. We stopped to get our picture taking with Captain Jack Sparrow and in front of the Magic Kingdom. We dodged about a ba-jillion other runners (officially, the most crowded race I’ve ever done). But we had such a blast. I wore a tutu. I ran the entire race with my buddy. We had margaritas waiting for us back in the condo after the finish. This was certainly an experience I would repeat many times over.

We returned from Florida last Monday and I have to admit, I’ve been extremely lucky to not just have generous holiday and vacation time in December, but I got to follow it all with a trip and then again, this weekend, another 3-day weekend for the MLK holiday. With all this free time, I’ve really gotten a chance to dig into my workouts as well as get caught up in other places. One of the big things I’ve been researching is fitness tools and apps. I’ve been using Training Peaks for ages, but I haven’t always used it consistently. Then I became inspired by a girlfriend who ran 1000 miles in 2011. I want to track my mileage for 2012 and I decided I needed an app I’d go to consistently. So after looking at a ton of them (Nike, Run Keeper, Map My Run, etc., etc., etc.), I landed at Daily Mile. I hadn’t used it before and I love it just a few weeks in. So, I’m officially there for my training. I’m on MyFitnessPal.com for my nutrition. And I’m migrating over to the Nike App and Electric Miles apps for my during training logging. Boy, technology is sure amazing.

The only other thing that I’ve been really obsessed with is determining what kinds of races I want to do this year. After finishing the WDW half, everyone keeps asking me what my next race is and I honestly don’t know. I’m considering a few things: Twin Cities Marathon in the fall, maybe the Twin Cities Triathlon in July (with a swim in the Mississippi). I’ve also talked about Warrior Dash again. Maybe Get in Gear 1/2. Maybe another Dairyland Dare. But we also want to make sure we hold summer time for kayaking since we did invest in boats last summer. So, I’m not sure. My only real plan is to continue this base training plan my trainer has me on, keep up with Team Fitness and see where it all takes me in a month or so.

So there you go. All caught up.

It’s that time when I need to start gearing up for my big race on Sunday and focusing on a positive outcome. I need to mentally prepare for a good day and trust that the training I logged over the past 3-4 months is what will get me to the finish no matter how many doubts start to drift into my sub-conscious.

One good exercise is just looking at tonight. It was a short run. 5 miles. 5 miles is pretty short when your long runs are 15 miles and up. Yet after a long day at work, finding the motivation just to put on my shoes is a challenge. That’s what I was thinking about as I started my run tonight. The list of reasons tonight was harder than the big race that is staring me in the face:

(1) A run after work is always harder than any race. I’ve already put in 8 – 11 hours of work into the day. I’m tired. Sometimes exhausted. I’ve been sitting most of the day. I might be a little dehydrated. Exercising under those conditions is always harder. The opposite: race day is about race day. It’s the first thing you do. Sometimes it’s the only thing you do and everything goes into it: nutrition, hydration, rest. Being in that condition — primed and ready to go — makes the race so much easier to tackle.

(2) No audience. Any run after work is pretty much an unrecognized accomplishment. Yet Sunday, the race will be lined with thousands of people cheering me and all the other runners on. That always makes it easier.

(3) Seen that, done that. I’ve run my 5-mile route for 10+ years. I love it. It’s my home. But it gets monotonous. I see the same things, run the same hills over and over and over. Sunday will be all new — the sights, smells and noise of Chicago will engulf me. What a great distraction during a long run.

The truth is: I’ve been crabby about this marathon. I haven’t been able to train as much as I’d have liked. Transitioning to my new gig has been a challenge and a time-suck. And I’ve been super busy this fall with vacation, travel for work and just loads going on in general. I just haven’t dedicated the time I’d hoped to this race. I also didn’t focus on losing weight for the race either. Given all that, it’s pretty likely I won’t PR and that’ll be a first for my fourth marathon.

But I’ve got to be okay with that. I am okay with that. I ran with a run club and coach this training season and the coach made a good point. She said, “If you’d hadn’t of signed up for this marathon, you probably wouldn’t have even run this much.”

Such a good point. Because of the race, I did make time to run — even if it was only 2x per week.

This is who I am for this marathon. And I’m about to experience something amazing no matter what my one mile pace will be.

A friend on Facebook shared this Chicago marathon video and it’s been such a great motivator.

Sunday is going to be awesome. It just is.

In May, I changed it up by switching jobs. It was a bold move. One I wasn’t quite sure about. But everything worth doing is scary, right? So I made the leap and, almost two months later, I know it was a good move. Sure, there are things I miss about the old gig. And I still have so very much to learn in my new role. It’s a new culture. A new market. New processes (or lack there of). But it’s been a lot of fun. The people are amazing. The products a complete luxury. And I can’t help but gush over the little things like the really great noon yoga classes, the organic & vegetarian-friendly cafe and the onsite massage. I truly feel like this is the right place for me.

And I totally remind myself of those things on all the days I feel like I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.

At any rate, with such a big change, a lot of other things have been changed up as well. My commute is shorter, so I feel like I’ve gotten some of my life back. I’ve also had to switch primary health clubs since the plush location I used to attend was so close to my last employer. At first I was pretty bummed that the only club location most convenient between work and home was the women’s only club that doesn’t have a pool, steam room, dedicated cycling studio, heated yoga room or hot tubs. No, my club now is pretty bare bones. It’s close, but it’s the bare minimum.

That said, I’ve totally been enjoying it. It’s not nearly as crowded & hectic. There is no parking situation like the fancy club. I’ve actually discovered some really good cycling & total body conditioning classes. And best of all? There is a really great run club.

As of tonight, I’ve completed three runs with the group. The ladies have been really welcoming & I’ve been enjoying the company. After 10+ years of solo running, this is a real mix up to routine. I’m also training for Chicago Marathon with the group. So, for the first time ever, I’m not going to be going solo on my long runs. This is going to be weird, but in also think it’s going to be fun. I’m also hoping it will push me in a way going solo never did.

So, full post to come with scans of documentation and the entire story. But I want to get a summary out now, if just to publically document in longer form than Twitter, what is currently going on with our Capital One loan consolidation that we’ve been paying on for three years with never a late payment.

Two months ago, end of March, we received notification from Capital One that our account was paid in full and closed. A few days later, we received a check from Capital One for over-payment since loan was paid (over $300). We were surprised, but obviously pleasantly happy. (Luckily we never cashed the check.)

Then, 1.5 weeks ago, Capital One calls James. They made a mistake. They credited wrong account. We weren’t paid in full. We have 25 payments left. That’s fine. Mistakes happen.

Then, this week, not even a full week later, we start being harrassed because our account is two months past due. They want two months worth of payments ASAP to put our account back in good standing. James has been talking to them about this. Then we get a letter in the mail today saying they have reported our delinquincy to a credit bureau!! We didn’t even know there was a mistake made until 9 days ago!

This is so frustrating. But I’m so glad we have all our documentation. I’m also glad we have good enough credit to take our business elsewhere. More to come…

But right now i just have to shake my head. We’re good customers. We’ve always paid our bills. They made a mistake. And now we are being harrassed and threatened to have our credit compromised through no fault of our own.

So, first off: Yay for change.

If you follow me on Twitter or are friends with me on FB, you’d heard the news. In fact, you’re probably ready for me to get over it, already. I can just hear it: “Enough with the I got a new job blah, blah, blah…”

But for those of you *not* in the know (or wanting a more expanded version of what went down beyond the 140 character variety), here’s the deal. I left General Mills. It was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make. Just leaving Betty Crocker, the brand, was a real gut-wringer. As a hippy/co-op foodie turned corporate food marketer, I’m still struck by the affinity I developed for her (and General Mills as a whole) while working on the brand. It was certainly one of the best and most edifying experiences of my career. And don’t even get me started on leaving “one of the best companies to work for” (GMI has been voted that by numerous publications year after year). I really began to wonder if I was seriously crazy for even considering the move.

Yet, the thing is: it’s Aveda. AND I get to manage digital marketing for this awesome brand.

I’ve long been a brand advocate for Aveda. Their position on the environment, sustainability and natural ingredients has always resonated with me deeply. The fact that they are a local company is just plain lucky. They are also owned by Esteé Lauder so I still get to work under the umbrella of a larger organization with a ton of other amazing brands. And I get to do cool work.

It’s really a very exciting new chapter in my career and I feel so blessed to have this opportunity.

With all that said, I did struggle in terms of stress, workouts, nutrition and training during the few months this was happening. During the interview process (and then the decision-making process on whether or not to switch), I didn’t get much sleep and my workouts certainly took a back-seat in priority. Then after making the decision and putting in my notice, there was the whole transitioning of my role at General Mills which had its own level of anxiety (obviously, I wanted to leave everything in as good of shape as I could). Finally, leaving such a great team was bittersweet and tough.

It was a whirlwind, too. My last day at General Mills was Friday, May 13. I then turned around and started at Aveda on Monday, May 16 in order to get settled and then travel to NYC on May 18 for a digital conference with Esteé Lauder. Crazy town!

Actually, it was super cool and such a great opportunity. But it didn’t leave much time for downtime.

At least until now.

I got home from NYC on Friday and Aveda let me take this following week off to transition personally — which explains my writing this post from my couch in my PJs on a Wednesday morning (((love)))). I can already feel the stress melting off.

I don’t have any big plans this week. Just to chill. I treated myself yesterday to an extended facial appointment which was absolutely yummy. I’ve also been scheduling odds & ends like teeth cleaning and an eye appointment. Closet re-org is on the schedule and I really should clean out the refrigerator. I’m also going to work out everyday and start to re-attend Weight Watcher meetings since I haven’t really been back in three weeks. My last weigh-in revealed a gain of 3 lbs. after all the success I saw earlier. Obviously annoying. But I knew what was going on with the whole transition thing. Therefore, I skipped the past few weeks just because I didn’t need to be dealing with that on top of everything else. I think I’m ready to go back.

Originally, I thought this might be the week of epic cycling adventures. But honestly, the weather here in MN has been less than motivating. As I type this, it’s a windy, damp, chilly 54 degrees out. I’m so not motivated to go out and ride 70 miles in this when I can instead attend a yoga class, be productive around the house, shop. I am hoping the 65 degrees and sun forecast for tomorrow actually happens. I’d like to get at least one long, epic ride in during this time off.

So, that’s the dealio. Big, exciting changes and a whole new chapter in my career. The transition from cupcakes to beauty products has officially begun.

I’ve been back at meetings for about 6-7 weeks now and, truth be told, the results have been super slow. I’ve been dealing with the same couple of pounds for a year now. And while I have to be on the total up-and-up and admit what a sucky tracker I am, I’ve also been somewhat frustrated not to see better progress. For as poorly as I’ve been tracking, I have made some major changes to portion sizes, snacking and the amount of alcohol permitted on weeknights.

Then, last week, I lost three pounds. THREE. WHOLE. POUNDS. I don’t have weeks like that and it was kind of a shocker, but I also felt like it was a leveling out of the lack of decent losses in the weeks prior even when I felt like I was doing awesome. The craziest part was that I hadn’t gotten in the amount of workouts that I’d hoped last week and I wasn’t feeling super great going into the meeting and then this huge number.

I should also admit that I had that huge loss and then promptly went home and made myself a martini to keep me company while I logged into the computer for round 2 of the work day. I am my own worst enemy.

This week has been no better on the workout front. It fact, it’s been pretty damn cruddy. Work is really overwhelming right now — there is just so much going on that it’s been really difficult to balance keeping my head above water professionally with getting enough sleep AND training. I guess what’s frustrating about this is, for the first time in a couple of years, I’m a little more motivated athletically. I think I burned myself out a few years ago and the last couple years have been more about fun, less regiment, less focus on getting faster. Which was good and important and something I think I really needed to do. But this year, I have a little more fire in my belly. I’ve signed up for more events. I want to find some of my old running paces. I want to ride stronger than last year. So, I’ve actually got a training plan focused on two of my early spring events: a half marathon on 4/30 and the Brute Ride on 5/14.

But that plan has barely been adhered to – I’ve barely managed to just maintain the bare minimum (meaning squeezing in the weekend long-distance version of both plans). But the weekly speed work, hill intervals, easy runs have been few and far between and the strength training and yoga have been practically non-existent. This week felt like an all-time low. No workout at all on Monday & Tuesday. I squeezed in a measly 30 minute Jillian Michael’s workout (of which I’m still sore — that woman is CRAZY) on Wed. And again nothing on Thurs.

Pathetic.

Which gets me around to the point of this post. So, it’s Thursday. It’s a very, very, very long day. Drama on all fronts and when I finally drag my booty out the door to head home at 6:30pm, I realize that the workout isn’t going happen. I’m just so absolutely drained, tired. But then I also realize that if I’m not going to workout, I should at least squeeze in my Weight Watcher meeting. I’m typically a Wednesday girl, but work got in the way of that one, too. So, driving home, I tell myself to at least go in. Weigh in. It’ll probably been a bad scale week — but that should serve as motivation for the next week to track, to do better at fitting in the workouts, all that stuff.

So, I go. I weigh in. And I have a freaking 1.6 lb. loss on top of last week’s 3.

1.6 lbs.

WTF???

I actually got my 5 lb. award. I was recognized. I was asked what was working (which, good god, nothing feels like it is so that was awkward). And my head is just spinning. Did I just wear light clothing? Did I really lose weight? Am I going to have a 5 lb. gain next week?

Who knows.

What I do know is I’ll take it. It’s a nice head start to have when I know there are so many other changes that need to be made. I need to do a better job at balancing work and training. I need to make sure I’m tracking better. I need to be drinking more water, eating more vegetables — all that stuff that I know, know, know — just need to do, do, do.

But it just felt so crazy to walk in like that and then see those results. I’m can make no sense of it in my head so I’m going to stop trying. It is what it is. My first milestone complete since rejoining officially. The next is the 5% mark. Let’s hope that’s a less schizophrenic journey.

+ + + +

In other news, I am less than two weeks from my half marathon. I haven’t officially entered a half marathon in a couple of years now. My last actual distance run was the Twin Cities marathon in Oct. 2009. The training has been going pretty well considering I’m only squeezing in about 2 runs per week (the weekly distance run and a shorter interval or easy run). Last week I did 11 miles and it was pretty uneventful. I managed a 10:21/mile pace. I felt good minus some arch issues in the first 4 miles. I was sore after the run. But considering I’m eeking by with the bare minimum training, I’m not going to complain. I should be running 5x per week, not 2.

The only tough part about this training is it’s going to be the first half marathon that I’m going into knowing I can’t compete with my own past performances. I had some good gains in past years on this distance. My best half marathon time is 1:54:45 which still floors me — I can’t believe I ran that fast for 13.1 miles. So, this race is going to require some sucking up the pride. I’ll be lucky to break 2 hours (which I don’t actually think is possible either). I’m just hoping for sub-2:10:00 — less than a 10-minute mile pace. We’ll see how it goes.

The important thing is that I’m getting back out there. I’m racing again. And I’m looking forward to that.

Today’s Co-worker, a photo by hlockwoo on Flickr.

Sometimes working from home can be such a terrible challenge.

Ugly, but awesome shoe

After a break-up of about 1.5 years, I’m back to my beloved 993s.

This is probably the ugliest shoe that I’ve ever purchased — and purchased 4 times. I had a pedorthist fit me to these suckers in 2004 before my first marathon (or half marathon — I can’t remember exactly). They were ugly and huge. But they also promised cushion and long miles.

And they delivered.

My various pairs of 993s have taken me through 3 marathons, at least 6 half-marathons, 3 half ironmen and countless other 5ks and shorter triathlons.

And they still go down in history as my ugliest shoe purchase ever.

Then, a year or so ago, I began volunteering for Bolder Options. As part of the program, my mentee got fitted for and was given a pair of shoes from a very generous running store in the area that donates to the program. While going through this experience with my mentee, I was also due for a new pair of shoes myself. I decided to give this nice store my business. One of their experts analyzed my gait. The diagonosis was a pair of New Balance 1024s. The shoes had cushion. They were way more stylish than my old 993s and they were almost $50 cheaper. SOLD.

Unfortunately, in the time since, I’ve learned a bit why there were cheaper. As stylish and cute as they were, they were never as comfortable. They certainly weren’t as durable. And near the end of their life, I started feeling some old aches and pains from running that I haven’t felt in years. Since then, I’ve tried another version or two of NB, but again, never the same comfort.

So, a couple of weeks ago, I went back. I returned to my old store. I asked for my old shoe. I plopped over about $160 (which, ahem, I consider A LOT for a running shoe).

And you know what?

I’m back.

My 5th pair have exactly two long runs on them (8 miles and 10 miles) and they’ve been so awesome and comfy. I’m so happy to be back in these ugly grey shoes. Yeah for the 2011 season! My sneakers are ready.

I’m usually pretty proud of myself when I get to the gym in the morning before work. It means I was disciplined enough the night before to get my stuff together for work and go to bed at a reasonable time. I’ve been doing this for years — some years with more frequency than others.

Because of the younger dogs in the house, my only options for AM gym these days are Mon-Wed-Fri since James teaches spin on Tues-Thurs mornings. But, truth be told, I usually just make it on Wednesdays. Mondays usually come way too fast after the weekend (translation: I lack the discipline on Sunday nights to pack, stop drinking wine and go to bed at a reasonable hour). Fridays are better – but I work from home some Fridays which means it’s much more tempting to roll out of bed and hop on the laptop (just like I did this morning) instead of hitting the gym first. But Wednesdays? They are pretty consistent for me.

This Wednesday was a good one, too. I made it to the 6 am spin class which is a challenge in of itself. For the almost 4 years that I’ve been working at my gig out in the Southwest suburbs, I use the club that is closest to work. The plus side to this means I often skip rush hour driving to the club at the early hours. The negative side is that it requires me to LEAVE THE HOUSE before 5:30 am in order to make a 6 am class. In the old days when I used the gym downtown, I could roll out of bed at 5:30 am (or 5:35) and make a 6 am start. Good for sleep, but bad for the commute and getting in at a reasonable hour when you work 22.5 miles across the metro area through two downtown rushes.

Often, I just sleep a little later (read: 5:15-5:30 am) and then hit the gym for weight training, speedwork on the track, treadmill intervals, that kind of thing. But when I’m really motivated and I want to ensure a seat in spin class and a workout on the bike, I have to get my arse out of bed by 5am in order to get dressed & out the door with all my gear (work and gym) by 5:20 am. Side note: the club I go to now gets wicked busy — 6 am spin classes with at least 75 bikes will FILL. So different from my reality with the downtown St. Paul club when James was happy to get 10 people in class. This means I often can’t even just show up in the nick of time, I need to get to class at least 5 minutes (or 10 minutes) before the start to ensure a bike.

This Wednesday was one of those motivated mornings. I was up in time for spin class. I then followed that 60 minute workout with 30 minutes of pretty intense free weights/strength training. Feeling super strong and happy with my 90 minutes of sweating before the day had barely started, I was finally starting to shake some of the sour that came from my WW weigh-in the night before (not good). I showered up for work. I was motivated to begin the day.

Then I noticed a giant rip in my skirt.

GIANT.

It was a huge gash. I’m not sure if it happened when I was putting it on or if I snagged it on something. But it was at least 5 inches diagonal and on my hip. There was no letting this sneak by — I couldn’t go to work this way.

That’s when my brain started whirling. Did I have time to go home? Going home would mean driving through the morning commute both ways. I had a 9 am meeting. It was 8 am. I couldn’t go to work with my skirt in that condition. Could I go shopping? What would be open at 8 am? Target. Does Target open at 8?

And there I found myself driving to Target at 8:15 in the morning. Texting my manager that I’d be late to our 9 am meeting. Praying there would be something, anything that could substitute for my adorable (and now damaged) brown leather skirt.

My luck would have it (and it’s your call whether I mean good or bad) that there was absolutely only one skirt in all of the women’s department suitable for work. Thank goodness they had my size and that it paired faily well with my black turtleneck sweater and black boots.

I quickly purchased. I ran to the Target bathroom for “the swap” and ran out the door to drive myself to work.

And with that, I began my day.

I was exactly 30 minutes late.

But at least I was clothed.

Thank you, Target. I know Lady Gaga has a beef with you right now, but Wednesday, you saved my day.

I’ve been going back to WW meetings for three weeks now. Tonight would have actually been week 4, but I skipped due to some crazy snow and the desire to not leave the house. In those three weeks, I’ve lost 1.7 lbs. Not sure where I’ll weigh in this week. I’m doing okay, but I haven’t been good about tracking. As I’ve blogged multiple times, it’s my toughest thing to stick to — especially on weekends.

Then today, an unexpected snowstorm kept me home to work and I knew I needed to put forth a concentrated effort to stay on plan as well as track. Working at home can be such a challenge with access to good food and leftovers. It’s not that I eat unhealthy, I just graze all day.

So, today, I was very thoughtful about everything that went into my mouth. I tried some new things. And I actually focused on some of the core principles (like power foods) to make smart decisions and keep full.

BREAKFAST: 7 pts

I sometimes have the problem with going big at breakfast and using up a third of my daily points in that first meal. Again, nothing super crazy. But it’s amazing how two boiled eggs, an english muffin w/jam & spread and fruit nears 10 pts. Sometimes my oatmeal with walnuts, brown sugar and raisins nears 10 as well. Temptation was striking right off the bat, too, because James was home and offering up a smoked salmon egg and hash brown hash (we had leftovers from this dish for dinner last night). And as yummy as it sounded, I knew it would clock me in between 10-12 pts. I turned him down and then, a little later, fixed myself an egg mug. I see these in the Hungry Girl emails and I liked the idea of something protein rich and filling for only 2-3 pts.

Cheesy Salsa Egg Mug: 1/2 cup egg whites, 1 chipotle laughing cow cheese wedge and tomatillo salsa. (3 pts)

Served with a Thomas Bagel Thin with 20 sprays of Parkay Spray (3 pts) and a cup of fresh pineapple.

This filling, 6pt. breakfast even afforded me 1 pt. for some half-n-half in my coffee.

SNACK #1: 1 pt

I always get hungry by 10 am. Today was no exception. And instead of running into the kitchen without a plan and mindless grazing on almonds, cheese and whatever else I could find, I made a plan before I hit the kitchen. I knew we had bananas and at zero pts, this would be a very filling snack. To add a little crunch, I had a snack bag of Carrot Crisps. One of the benefits of working for General Mills is access to new products. Green Giant has these new dried carrot snacks that are 1 pt. per portion. They feel like a chip and kind of remind me of the dehydrated veggie snacks you can find at the co-op.

SNACK #2: 2 pts.

About 15 minutes to noon, I was getting pretty hungry. To put my hunger at bay a little longer, I grabbed just 10 almonds, not my normal handful of 20. I also brewed a cup of tea. The hope was to eat just enough to hold me over until lunch.

LUNCH: 9 pts.

I’m lucky that we’ve been cooking a lot since the new year. So, all I had to do with heat up some leftover Southern Slow Cooker Chicken & Grits from the WW site (7 pts). The recipe is pretty good, but definitely needs more spice. I doused mine in some Frank’s Red Hot Sauce.

I had this with a side salad (spring mix, cucumbers & grape tomatoes) and 1 TBSP of my favorite dressing of the moment: Savory Strawberry from Salad Girl. Her dressings are amazing (I also dig the Fig Curry SOOO much). I so much prefer 1 TBSP of good stuff to 2 TBSP of light or (ick) loads of TBSPs of fat free. Her site also suggests if you’re into light, you can water them down her dressings yourself instead of paying for water in the light stuff. Love that.

This lunch was super satisfying and yummy.

SNACK #3: 2 pts.

About 2pm, I was craving something sweet. I also knew I’d be working out in the afternoon, so I wasn’t too concerned I had only 10 pts. left for the day. Still, I wanted to be strategic with my choices. I knew we had some leftover part-skim ricotta in the fridge and after some searching on the WW site, I came up with this yummy little treat: 1/4 cup ricotta mixed with 1 TSP of sugar-free vanilla pudding mix. I then mixed this with 3/4 cup of blackberries for a very indulgent 2 pt. treat. Good stuff.

SNACK #4: 3 pts.

As I said, I’m a grazer. I was also craving more sweet. It was 4pm. And I knew my workout was coming up and I wanted something solid in my stomach to hold me through an hour+ workout on the spin bike. I remembered a suggestion I heard at a meeting recently about heating up an apple with a little splenda and cinnamon and then crumbling one of the new 3pt. cinnamon bars on top and then heating that. I found instructions on the site here. Sure enough, it tasted a lot like apple crumble. I didn’t expect it, but the bar melted into the apples and it felt like a “big dessert” for just three points.

WORKOUT: 14 pts.

I put 75 minutes on the spin bike. Bingo — 14 pts. Yay!

DINNER: 12 pts.

It was left-overs again. This time Creamed Kale from the Whole Foods site. It’s 4pts but worth the extra points on this rich and nutritious side dish. I ate that along side leftover Broccoli Sausage Casserole 6pts. (again from the WW site) and 2 oz. of Wine (2 pts).

All this food and I’m at 36 pts. for the day. With my activity points, I get 43 so I feel pretty good. I have room for a 2 pt. WW ice cream bar, maybe a little bit more wine.

It’s pretty amazing when you actually use the tools, make a plan and commit to it how full you can actually feel and how many treats you can actually have. I’m pretty shocked today. I almost wish I didn’t have to go to work tomorrow so I could do it all again. Going to work has it’s own unique challenges. Let’s hope I can do as well tomorrow as I did today.