We were bracing for another snowstorm here.  It was supposed to be a big, messy one, but so far it’s looking kinda wimpy.  Fine by me!

I was able to hit the gym for a workout before the daughters got dismissed from school early.  I set up to run on the treadmill.  I can’t believe it’s been almost 3 weeks since I’ve ran!  I ran on Tuesday at the gym and I was surprised that my endurance hadn’t really waned from ditching the running for 3 weeks. 

Today, I decided to do a little something different.  I’ve been reading up on the Galloway Method for running and I’m intrigued by it.  I like the injury-free part!  It’s a little hard to wrap my brain around because it involves alternating running with walking.  When I started running, I didn’t follow any particular program.  I know a lot of people used the C25K program, but it was too ADD for me.  Run, walk, run, walk.  Watching the time for small second intervals would make me crazy!  So, I just ran.  And I would try to go a little further every time until I got to 3.1 miles.

What interested me about the Galloway Method is that it is supposed to help with endurance levels and distance.  I feel like I have struggled with my endurance while I run.  I have tried eating different things, not eating, drinking and not drinking.  Nothing seemed to make much of a difference.  So, I figured what the hay?  I might as well give this whirl.  I had to change my mindset about it because at first, I felt like I was going backward in training by walking through a run.

I decided to do a 1:1 ratio for the run.  It’s easier for me to keep track of and I knew that I could manage running for longer periods of time than 30 0r 60 seconds.  I started off with a 5 minute warm-up walk, then proceeded to alternate running and walking for 3 minutes at a time.  Wow, I was impressed!  By the end of the run, I was upping my speed and going faster than I had ever run before on the treadmill without feeling winded.  And I was sweatier than when I normally run steadily.  It was a great workout!  I cut it off at 35 minutes and switched over to the Arc Trainer for 25 minutes of hill interval.  A glutton for punishment today!

I came home for a well- deserved breakfast of Chocolate Cranberry Chia Muffin Top …

and a cup of  Henry’s Blend…

Lunch was the last of the Vegetable Barley Stew… in a non-fancy container…

and a whole wheat Bagel Thin smeared with homemade hummus…

As a snack, I had some plain Oikos yogurt with crumbled Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies!

For dinner, I decided to torture everyone by making BBQ Adzuki Bean Burgers and carrot “fries”.  You should have seen the look on their faces.  It was as if I said we are having dog poop on a roll with a side of worms.  Ingrates

Here’s my recipe…if you like dog poop…

BBQ Adzuki Bean Burgers

• 1 3/4 cup cooked adzuki beans
• 1 carrot, coarsely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 1 handful fresh baby spinach
• 1/8 tsp. paprika
• 1/8 tsp. chili powder
• 1/8 tsp. cumin
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 tbsp. barbeque sauce
• 1 egg white, beaten
• 3 tbsp. whole wheat flour

The Method:

Place 1 1/4 cup beans, carrot, garlic, green onion , spinach and spices in a food processor…

Pulse until ingredients are finely chopped…

Transfer to a bowl and add remaining beans, egg white and barbeque sauce…

Stir in flour and combine well…

Using a 1/3 cup measuring cup, place 6 mounds of bean mixture on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper…

Flatten each mound …

Bake for 10-12 minutes in a 400 degree oven.  Let cool for 2 minutes to allow the burgers to release from the paper.

Enjoy on an Arnold Sandwich Thin with 2% cheese…

Roll your eyes while your whole family complains and make faces :/

Serve with a side of equally disgusting carrot “fries” (carrots sliced, coated with olive oil and baked @ 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes)…

Nutritional facts per burger (calculated using www.calorieking.com):  116 calories, .2 grams fat, o mg cholesterol, 273 mg. sodium, 22 grams carbohydrates, 5.8 grams fiber and 5 grams protein. 
POINTS value: 2

I ended up eating half of little daughter’s, too.  I LOVE  dog poop on a roll ;P

Total – 22 POINTS

Have a great day, everyone!

A special shout-out to Tamara and Kelly for sending me the Sunshine Award!  Thank you so much!!!

What foods do you like that other people think are gross?

Thank you all so very much for the outpouring of support on my last post.  I have no words…really…just thank you for all your amazingness

My new “quitting’” attitude gave me a lift this morning.  I felt ready to tackle the gym again, although I have been doing yoga for a few days and really enjoy it!  Mish at Eating Journey referred me to www.yogadownload.com and I took advantage of the free Yoga for Weight Loss video.  It was awesome!  I love how strong I feel when I’m done.  I’ll definitely be incorporating more of this into my workout routine.

Before heading to the gym, I had a quick breakfast – Chocolate Cranberry Chia Muffin Tops with PB2…

At the gym, I hit the Arc Trainer for 40 minutes with a resistance of 20 and my strides were 135 – 150.  A nice, schweaty workout.

I came home to a hot cup of french press in my Meanest Mom in the World cup

I worked on some blog stuff for a while, then ran a bunch of errands including a stop at the supermarket with the crazies.  Everyone was in a mad rush to gather their food items for the impending snow!

Despite the cold, I was craving summer food – seafood and salad.  I heated up some mini crabcakes that my Mom had passed along from her freezer stash and served them over a salad of mixed greens, shredded carrots and a splash of  good balsamic vinegar …

Surprisingly, I didn’t want for too much of a snack later, so I just nibbled on a Chocolate Cranberry Biscotti Bite while watching little daughter and a friend put on a play.  There was “no flash photography” allowed during the show, so here’s my picture from the other day

I’ve had a few requests for this recipe.  It was sent to me along with the Hershey’s chocolate samples.  I couldn’t find it on the website, but I guess it’s okay to pass along to you all…

Chocolate Dried Cranberry Biscotti

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons tofu
1/4 cup plus 3 tbsp. all purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup plus 1 tsp. sugar (reserved)
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. Hershey’s Cocoa, unsweetened
1 ounce Hershey’s Extra Dark Chocolate, roughly chopped
2 tbsp. dried cranberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Process tofu in a food processor until smooth, about 30 seconds.  Add flours, sugar, baking powder, olive oil and cocoa.  Process until smooth, another 30 seconds.  Add chocolate and cranberries and pulse processor on and off about 5 times until they are mixed in.
Romove the dough and roll into a ball.  Then roll into a log with a 1 inch diameter.  Pour reserved tsp. sugar onto a plate and roll log in the sugar until coated.  Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper and cook for 15 minutes.
Remove from oven, let cool for 5 minutes and slice into 1/2 inch thick slices.  (Should make about 15 cookies)
Return the slices to the baking sheet and place in the oven.  Turn the oven off and let biscotti dry about 15 minutes.

Nutrition Info(per cookie):  Calories: 64, total fat: 3 grams, cholesterol: 0mg., sodium: 2 mg., total carbohydrates : 10 gr., fiber: 1 gr., protein: 1 gr., calcium: 24mg.

*just a note:  I only got 10 small cookies, hence my naming them “bites”.  I also think you could sub out the tofu for something else like yogurt, if you didn’t have the tofu on hand.

******

Dinner was a family affair.  Translation:  We all ate the same thing!  Well, kinda.  It was soup and panini night.  I went with our Progresso stash for the soup…

I mixed the two together to make enough for all 4 of us.  I always add some baby spinach to mine for color and freshness…

The paninis were really “grilled cheese” for the husband and daughters.  I got a little more creative with mine:  turkey, baby spinach, red onion and wasabi mustard on Dave’s Killer Bread…

I really like the flavor of the bread, but it is fairly “POINTy”.  Two slices will cost you 5 POINTS or 260 calories and 6 grams of fat.  It’s very seedy, so that probably accounts for a lot of the cost.  Good for you stuff, though

To end the night, I cranked out some moves for the Legs Do It Challenge.  Walking lunges are brutal and I look like I’ve been drinking cuz I am falling over half the time while doing them!  Comedy

Total – 23 POINTS

This is the last chance to enter The BEST Healthy Heart Giveaway!  I’ll be choosing a winner at noon EST!

Have a great day, everyone!

I have a disorder.  It’s called schizoscaleia.  Okay, I made that up, but it can be real!  I have characterized this disorder by some of the following traits:

1. delusions of weightlessness
2. hallucinations of seeing goal number on the scale
3. hallucinations of being a contestant on The Biggest Loser
4. social isolation due to tight jeans
5. extreme paranoia that every passerby is mentally weighing you because you have blasted your weight and weight loss goals all over the blogosphere
6. strong urges to obsessively weigh yourself alternating with anxiety produced at the sight of the scale.

That is just to name a few.

So, because I am schizoscaleic, I have been back and forth all day trying to decide whether I should get on the scale.  It’s been a full week of Hammer Time and I’ve been wondering if I should weigh myself to see if I’ve made progress this week.  If I did it, I would be going against the initial rules that I set up for myself.  Yet, I’ve had a good week and seeing the number on the scale (hopefully) come down might spur me on even more!

But, what if I didn’t like the number I saw?  What if it wasn’t good enough?  What if it wasn’t the loss I was expecting?  What if I didn’t lose at all?  What if…what if…what if???

This is the type of crazy scale trap that I did not want to fall back into.  I’ve had the angel and devil on each shoulder all day.  Each stating their case as to why I should or should not get on the scale.  My decision?

You’ll have to wait to the end of this post!  Muwahahaha!! 

****

Let’s talk food!

I hit the gym, bright and early, for 40 minutes on The Arc Trainer and 10 minutes of  upper body circuit weights.

Breakfast was a Chocolate Cranberry Chia Muffin Top and a Fuji…

I’m really digging these…

and, of course, some java…

After breakfast, I ran an errand and limped around the house for a while trying to clean up.  Man, my hammies are so sore from trampolining!  Who knew it could be such a great workout?!  Either that….or I’m just old   No comment.

I was excited for my lunch today.  I have a folder of recipes to try and I’ve been wanting to make this forever…

Black Bean Dip
(from The Biggest Loser Family Cookbook)

• 1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1 clove fresh garlic, coarsely chopped
• 1 tbsp. lime juice, freshly squeezed
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• 1/2 tsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1/8 tsp. ground red pepper
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1/3 cup diced fresh tomato

In the bowl of a large food processor fitted with a chopping blade, combine the black beans, onion, bell pepper, garlic, lime juice, lemon juice and spices.  Pulse the ingredients until mixture is paste-like and creamy but still slightly chunky, scraping down the sides of the bowl if necessary.  Transfer the dip to a small bowl and top with tomatoes.  Serve immediately or refrigerate in plastic container for up to 3 days.

Makes 7 (1/4 cup) servings
Per serving:  42 calories, 3 grams protein, 10 grams carbohydrates, trace fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 3 grams fiber, 169 mg sodium.

A half cup serving is only 1 POINT!  I’m all over it! 

I used the dip as a spread and made Black Bean Bruschetta….

• 2 slices of Bakers Wheat Bran bread, toasted
• 1/2 cup Black Bean Dip
• 1/4 cup diced fresh tomato
• 1 oz. Cabot’s 75% reduced fat cheddar cheese, grated

So, so good!  The dip had such a great, fresh flavor to it. 

Paired with grapes for a sweet side…

Later in the afternoon, I fixed up a yogurt bowl for a snack.  In the mix…

• 1/2 cup plain nonfat Chobani greek yogurt
• 1/8 tsp. NuStevia (from packet)
• 1/2 cup blueberries
• crumbled Pumpkin Oat Bran Muffin

Then, I got to chopping!  I bought a bunch of fresh vegetables, so I chopped up zucchini, mushrooms, red onion, yellow pepper and japanese eggplant to roast up for dinner.  I baked some tofu as well;  combined them both, and called it dinner!  Topped with diced tomato and grated parmesan, it was a delicious meal…

GTG – Day 8:  Total – 22 POINTS

Okay, ready for the news????

NO WEIGH

I’m not doing it, yet.  I decided that weighing in weekly is not healthy for me at this time. I had a really good week.  I ate well.  I exercised.  I drank my water.  I followed the Healthy Guidelines.  I didn’t binge, overeat, feel deprived or feel as if I was on “a diet”.  No, this is my lifestyle.  This is the way I live.  For good.  So, to me, this week was a success and I don’t want the scale to tell me otherwise.  I don’t want to live or be ruled by the scale.  I have an unhealthy relationship with it and I have allowed the scale to dictate want kind of day I am having for far too long.

I won’t avoid it completely, though.  It was instrumental in getting me back on track and steering me toward goal.  But, it isn’t the end- all, be- all tool for me.  I don’t feel that getting on it weekly will be a good indicator or necessarily reflect all of the positive changes that I have been making throughout the week.  So, no weekly scale for me.  I’m planning on either every 2 weeks or maybe even 3!  I’ll keep you posted!

ONE GOOD THING:  I’m finding help for my Schizoscaleia

Have a great day, everyone!!!

What are your feelings about the scale?  Do you have a love/hate relationship?  Do you weigh daily, weekly…never?