Gluten Free Cranberry Almond Cookies!

I bought some cranberries because they were on sale and I wanted to try something new! Well they sat in the fridge for 5 days until I came up with the idea of trying to make a healthy snack for me and the baby that was yummy and gluten free. Well I thought about some cookies! And viola here they are:

Gluten Free Cranberry Almond Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

	1 cup(s) uncooked old fashioned oats
	1 cup(s) white rice flour
	3 Tbsp packed brown sugar
	1 cup(s) cranberries
	1/2 cup(s) unsweetened applesauce
	4 oz egg white(s)
	1/2 oz almonds

Instructions

Combine oats and rice flour
Add brown sugar and egg whites and mix
add applesauce and cinnamon
Add cup of chopped cranberries
Chop almonds and toss in
Mix all ingredients together
bake on greased cookie sheet at 375 for about 20 minutes
makes 14 cookies Each cookie is 2 points

They came out really good actually I was pleasantly surprised. Next time I make them I will put a little GF vanilla for a little bit more flavor but the baby liked them too! For the almonds I used those 100 calorie packs and just hammered it up before opening the packet. I like using those because they are pre-portioned so it takes the guess work out for me!

*Note make sure you use GF oats if you need GF. Also if you are not gf you can substitute the white rice flour for a whole grain flour of your choice. I think next time I am going to try brown rice flour and reducing the amount a little.

Weigh in Wednesday :)

Well this is my 100th post!!! I cannot believe it number 100 already. Seems like just yesterday I was starting this blog. It has not been that long but it has been great so far! I am thankful for all of my supporters you keep me going!!!!

Today is weigh in Wednesday and always an emotional day for me. I cannot put my finger on why, maybe just still the nerves of it and the pressure of having to do well. It is hard sometimes to admit defeat and I have been defeated a few times on those bad weigh ins so I am usually dreading those. Although I seemed a little less anxious today because I knew I ate well and exercised a lot and was prepared for at least a small loss. I was not expecting huge numbers because I have lost 7 pounds in the last 2 weeks. This is a lot in 2 weeks for me anyways I was averaging 2 a week and since starting shrinkvivor it just has helped me to lose faster. I am sticking to all healthy ways though so it should be ok.

Well I was happy needless to say when I got on that scale today!!! I am down 1.8 pounds!!!! I weigh 189 pounds. I am out of the 190's and into the 180s. I am creeping toward my big big big mini goal of 185, once I hit 185 I will not longer be considered obese by my BMI. Amazing feeling if I do say so myself. 

So since Shrinkvivor has begun I have lost 9.8 pounds!!! Incredible that in 3 weeks it has been that much. I am so grateful I joined the challenge I have an awesome tribe! Each week I have learned something new about my journey and how to make it better and I keep the new habit into the next week.
Week 1 was water I increased my water intake to over 100oz a day and now it has become habit and one I love.
Week 2 was no more fast food. This one was pretty much already in place for me with Celiac I have no gluten free trustworthy options lol but still good to keep in mind!
Week 3 was 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. I always try to stick to this because they are so filling but most days was only 4 servings so the extra serving really helped!

So another good week for me with this challenge I ran a 7 minute and 20 second mile and lost 1.8 pounds :)

I also was able to learn about exercise a bit more.  I learned that I can increase my miles walked, ran or ellipticalled each week and help to further my weight loss. I also learned how much I truly love to run and how starting my workouts each day with a brisk fast 1 mile run keeps my heart rate up for the rest of the workout. This burns more calories and sheds more pounds :)

Once again thank you to my fellow motivating tribe members!!! Check out their blogs!
Real life adventures
Moms crazy cooking





 

Intense workout new mile time!!!

Tonight I decided to head to the gym and try one more time to beat that 1 mile time for shrinkvivor!!!!

Well I began with a 5 minute warm up and then set the treadmill to run at a pace of the 7:30 minute mile I ran Sunday. Well after 2 minutes in I started to have a hard time breathing and got a cramp in my upper left leg. I slowed the treadmill down and went to a brisk walk for 2 minutes. I was ready to give up. I do not know what the problem was. 10 minutes into my workout and I wanted to quit.

I thought about turning it off and going home to rest, I thought about getting on the elliptical instead. Then I thought about my tribe Nero girls and the shrinkvivor contest, I thought about the blog and how I would explain this, and finally I thought of my daughter and knew I had to keep going. I turned up the treadmill, turned up my headphones and set out to beat that damn 7:30 time. I set the treadmill to 7:20 minutes per mile pace and told myself finish strong! I thought I was going to fall. I thought I would not make it. Honestly running at that pace is not something I think I will ever be able to do.

It was hard. And definitely out of my comfort zone, but that's what it is all about right? Pushing your body past limits. So I finished the mile in 7 minutes and 20 seconds. I could not believe it!!!!!! I kept running at my normal pace of 9 minutes a mile and finished 2.5 miles on the treadmill in 25 minutes. I felt amazing and you know what I noticed about running that fast in the beginning of your workout? It keeps your heart rate up higher through the rest of the workout. I kept checking throughout the rest of my workout and yep it definitley works well!

I got on the elliptical after my run and cranked out another 2.5 miles in 35 minutes. I was doing some reading for one of my college courses and just kept going on it and it really did not feel like 35 minutes. I plan to start reading every time I get on it, it makes it less boring! The class is nutrition so how fitting into my journey :)

I came home after 50 tough cardio minutes exhausted and sweating. I could have said OK I did enough today. I have done Shred it With Weights with my kettle bell for the past 3 days strait. I got in good workouts. But I know tomorrow is weigh in day and rest day for my body so I chose to pop in No more Trouble Zones and get some extra muscle toning in! I forgot how different hand weights are already. I kept wanting to jump and get more into the workout LOL the kettle bell training is definitely different and in a good way than the regular hand weight training. Though my abs did burn from her ab routine I think I will add that to my normal routine on a daily basis.

All in all I felt great I worked through my pain in the beginning and got over the I cannot do it today attitude. As usual I felt better after the workout!!! Much more energy to finish my homework and take care of the baby :)

Non Scale Victory!

So today I had another non scale victory and I felt I had to share it with all of you :)

I got into a new pair of jeans I bought, they are a size 10. A freaking size 10, I truly do not think I have been a size 10 in jeans for ohhhh 10 years or so!!!!

I took some crappy pictures with my cell phone camera I cannot find my digital camera at the moment :(

So here ya go!

It was empowering pulling those jeans on. I gotta admit and it was nice to get some compliments too! Never ever did I imagine this day would come. When you have been overweight for a long time, you begin to accept defeat and just accept being obese and cannot picture these kinds of moments. It has taken me 7 long months to get just here, and I am slowly realizing that I can do this. I am learning so much during this journey, I am so grateful for all of my supporters out there you keep me going! I am determined to lose this weight and get to a healthy weight and stay there for the rest of my life.

Pineapple Pork Chops

Well I realized it has been awhile since I have shared any new recipes! I have been cooking up a storm just have not had time to blog and post and etc etc. So tonight I made my pineapple pork chops again and they were so yummy I just had to share with my favorite people!

This recipe, if you even want to call it that. To me it is not because it is so simple but that is the beauty of most of my cooking it is. so. simple. I like simple things because I do not have any time.

OK so the pork chops. I buy the pre packaged small thin ones that are 2 points a piece because I keep them frozen since I am the only one who eats them. You can do it with any pork chop just rmember to weigh it and get the accurate points (if you do WW)
Spray the pan with nonstick spray and place 2 pork chops in.
Put some fresh or canned pineapple over the top. I use a half a cup of the pineapple chunks that come in the jar.
Put 2 teaspoons of brown sugar over the top of the pineapple.
Broil for 20 minutes or until pork chops are cooked (will vary on size)

Serve with the yummy glaze the pineapple and brown sugar forms in the pan :)
Only 5 points (with the small pork chops)!!!!!

You can pair it with any side you want,

I chose a bowl of mixed veggies :

Great meal that you can prep in literally 2 minutes!

I love love how the pineapple cooks on top of the pork and just compliments it so nicely. The little bit of brown sugar goes a long way and it all forms this yummy glaze that is delicious! This is one of my favorite current recipies because it is so simple, gluten free, and totally healthy! You get in a serving of fruit and depending on the side you choose you can get in some veggies too!

Early Morning Weekend Workouts: 8 minute mile!!!

This weekend is over already? It really seemed it went by way too fast for me. It was a crazy non stop going kind of weekend. I knew that it was going to be so I set my alarm each morning and made sure I woke up extra early to get my workouts in! This was hard. I did not want to wake up early especially on my days off from work!!! But I knew I had to do it. Just keep doing it because it is working and because I am determined to shed these pounds!

So Saturday morning was:

Yes 664 calories!!! I ran on the treadmill woot woot. For our shrinkvivor challenge this week our physical challenge is to time our fastest mile! I was excited by this challenge because I have been running a lot lately and come to love it. So I headed to the gym because it was raining and I decided to run on the treadmill and see how fast I could get that mile. Well Saturday morning was 8 minutes and 10 seconds. I was pretty pleased with this time. I kept running on the treadmill and did my 3 miles pretty easily in 28 minutes. I then walked to cool down a bit. I headed home to do Shred It With Weights. This DVD is probably my favorite of all Jillian's right now. The kettle bell just gives a whole new dynamic to weight training, and I know I am always saying this but I love it!


This morning was:

I got up at 6:30 am on a Sunday, why because well that was the only time I had available to do it!
I set out to better my mile time from Saturday, it was not easy especially since I was tired and just not feeling motivated for some reason. So I got on the treadmill after warming up for 5 minutes. I cranked up the speed because I was determined to beat that 8 minute mile. Well I did it!!!!!!!!!!! I ran a mile in 7 minutes and 30 seconds! I was sweating my ass off and really working hard to do it but I made it through. The first quarter of the mile was easy, then it got hard. I felt like turning down the treadmill after half a mile, but I kept reminding myself I was already halfway done. I made it through and kept running at a slightly slower pace. I did 1.8 miles on the treadmill in 15 minutes. I got on the elliptical after that for 20 minutes and did 1.5 miles. I was feeling pretty good and definetly motivated after that kick ass run!
I came home and did Shred It With Weights again. I loved it as usual :)

How was your weekend?