Food Friday

So a few people have asked about my nutrition.

I am a distance runner, (as if you did not know by now) hehe.
I have celiac disease and do not tolerate dairy products well
I like to eat close to paleo
I do not carbo load
I do follow the Weight Watchers program and have lost over 100 pounds while doing so

I get a lot of questions like, so what do you eat everyday? How do you follow the program? How do you like it?

So I am thinking I will *try* to post once a week, some food for the week that I ate, that I liked, and recount some of my days and how I spent my points or caloric allowance. Maybe this will give you some ideas, and in turn maybe I can get some ideas too! I like learning new foods to try etc so I thought this might help open the doors to comments etc :)

I eat this way as a choice and as a feeling. Simply, I feel better, run faster, and perform better when I eat the way I do, clean and mostly unprocessed food. I cook everyday. I just prefer it to eating out, etc. Again, all this is, is me sharing what works for me. ;)

So this week in pictures:
*forgot to take pictures of breakfast sorry lol, I will get better next week but everyday I eat egg beaters and vegetables for breakfast.

 Lunch is usually always a salad with some chicken or turkey and a fat free vingerette of some style. I love the line of dressings by Maple Farms of Vermont, they make lots of healthy options and its just easier than making my own dressing. You have to pick your battles hehe

 This was dinner one night, 6 ounces of chicken breast cooked with Mrs. Dash citrus seasoning and then I sauted some broccoli in a garlic gluten free light soy sauce. Again its simple and quick but still pretty healthy and it satisfies me. I weight my meat and track it still on Weight Watchers.

 This was a lunch on the go one day, some chicken and then I had left over sauted veggies. This was zuccini and red peppers in a hint of olive oil. Pretty tasty and simple.

 Dinner one night, I made pork centerloins with seasoning and then I took zuccini, summer squash, and spinach and cooked them together. When they were almost done I added some tomato puree and thats it. It was good.

 Dessert :) I always have to have some fruit throughout the day. This is what I snack on. This is where my main carbs come from. I will have a banana after a run, a pear or apple in the morning, and one more serving of fruit at night after dinner. Sometimes I will dress it up, like this night when I had some chopped pineapple and I added a little defatted coconut into it. Its a good snack.

All the picture taking made someone a little envious this week, I realized when I heard, 'mommy cheese my grapes' hahaha Peanut wanted me to take a picture of her food too ;) I thought it was cute.

So to wrap it all up, a typical day 90% of my points are spent on protein, and 10% on other snacks. Usually the break down is:
6 points for breakfast, 3 points plus for 1 cup of egg beaters and 3 points plus for the ground turkey mixed into the eggs mixture.
5-6 points plus for lunch, the salad is free, dressing is 1 point, and protein 5 points
5 points for late afternoon protein snack, usually I will do a vegan protein shake or a luna protein bar. I have been working out in the afternoon or early evening so I need this to hold me over until dinner.
7 points for dinner usually like the ones pictures above about 6 points for protein and 1-2 points for oil and things to cook my vegetables in.
I snack on fruit throughout the day and carrot sticks, raw veggies and sometimes I will have some hummus, that costs 2 points for a few tablespoons
If I am long running I have sweet potato wedges, I like those baked with cinnamon.
I also love winter squash cooked. I can snack on a cup of that mashed up plain anytime of day.

What do you like to snack on?

Boston Area 10K and 5K Run and Meet Up for Fight Forever Virtual Race

It has been decided! We have a live meeting for the Boston area Fight Forever Virtual Race!

Thank you to my wonderful friends who have all helped me organize this event and decide on a great location!!!! And a special thank you to Miss Stephanie for getting us a meeting place after with free fro yo!

So on April 1st, Sunday the plan is to meet at the Lexington bike path at 11:30. We will all get together and walk, run, jog!!! I will have it marked out for a 1 mile fun run/walk, a 5K and a 10K. I want everyone to have a chance to get together no matter what their current fitness level and be able to have fun! Also kids and pets are welcome!! I hear the Wubster may make his debut ;)

I will be making up some goody bags for everyone who comes out thanks to our wonderful sponsors who are listed here. Everyone will have a race bib number thanks to Road Id! I will also have medals for all finishers!!! Because after all, who does not love some new race bling?

After the fun run/walk we will head over to Yeh! Yogurt where the owner is going to serve us some wonderful Fro Yo!!! They have generously opened their doors to us to help us support the American Cancer Society and we are very excited! 

Meeting address is  120 South Rd, Bedford, MA  01730 at 11:30 on April 1st.

If you want to just come to the after party then we will be there at 1pm and that address is: 106 Mall Rd. Burlington, MA 01803

It will be fun! We will have a raffle of some great gift cards, and items so even if you do not want to race/walk you can come to the after party and help us raise some money for the American Cancer Society. 

Feel free to bring a buddy! And help us spread the word!

You can go here to register at active.com or donate directly on my main fundraising event website. Every tiny bit helps me reach my goal! Thank you so much!

Learning From Mistakes

I like to move, I like to run.

In life it is important to continue moving forward and I would love to say I move forward without looking back, but I cannot do this. I fantasize about forgetting everything in my past and waking up one morning with total and complete amnesia. Just being able to get a fresh start would be a dream.

But then I wonder would it really?

 Photo Credit

My grandmother always told me that it was ok to make mistakes and that is why there were erasers on pencils. She was a wise woman. I used to laugh when she said it because she always said it in her upbeat tone with a smile. Usually it calmed me down and made me realize it was ok to fall down as long as I got back up.

So in life if we forgot our past would we really learn from it? I know we cannot literally erase our mistakes but we can take an eraser and clean them up by learning from them and moving on. I think this is more of what she was trying to tell me. It is ok to make a mistake but do not hold onto that. Do not hold onto the regret and the shame and hurt from it. Take it and erase it from that part of you brain. Take it and learn why it happened and make sure it does not happen again.

When you get into a depression it is hard to feel like your entire life is not one big mistake. It is hard to see that there will be something good to come from all of your pain and hurt. I allowed myself to be in a place where hurt and pain felt normal and  I thought I was living a semi normal life. Honestly I had just learned to accept it as my fate and take it as, this is as good as it gets.

Being obese, being depressed, being sick all the time, I just took it as my fate and learned how to live with it. I would plaster a smile on if I found the strength that day and if I did not then I would hide out in a mental cave and stay home. If I needed comfort I would turn to food because it was there and it always seemed to help me cope. It was a dark time, it was a dark place. I let myself live in a world in a relationship that was no the best choice for me. I let myself pretend that I did not deserve something more, something normal.

Truly I had really just given up. Given up on being truly happy, given up on going after somethings that I really wanted. I assumed that because of my past mistakes I had to pay a penance and live the way I was living for the rest of my life.

I would love to stand here today and say I am free. I am free from the dark place, I have cleared my mind of all the demons and am ready to live my life to the fullest every single day. I would love to say I erased all those things from my brain and have moved on. But we all know that it is not possible. We cannot live in that way.

I am learning rather, to embrace my past for what it was, a life lesson. I am learning that everything that may have happened may have happened for a reason, a very good one. But mainly I am learning and focusing on myself. Doing things that make me happy and whole. I am trying to accept the fact that, I deserve more. I need more.

There are erasers on pencils, they work well for erasing mistakes when trying to write things down, but pencil marks stay engrained on paper even with faint indentations. That is how our life mistakes remain, engrained very faintly in our hearts, not to cause more pain or sorrow, but to remind us that moving forward is the only way to live.

Fight Forever 5K and 10K Sign Up

The Fight Forever Virtual 5K and 10K Race

I am amazed at how many people are gearing up and getting excited!!

I am really looking forward to the race weekend and getting everyone all together whether here in Boston somewhere or virtually to run and have fun! Because we all know there is nothing more fun than a nice spring run!

If you have not signed up yet, what are you waiting for? :)

You can go here to my main page and donate, or head over to active.com and register there. We have race bibs in!!! The medals will be next! I want everyone to have a chance to have their stuff by race day so the sooner you register the sooner I can get it shipped out to you!!!!

I have to thank our great sponsors so far the support has been great!

 2 Lucky winners will receive a gift certificate to order their very own Road ID!!! And everyone will get a race bib from them and a coupon for $2 off!

I do not run without mine it keeps me safe but it so small I forget its even there and often walk around with it all the time ;)

You all know by now how much I love these ;) I will send wraps to 2 lucky winners!!!

 

Who can resist their goodness? Popchips!!!! 2 lucky winners will receive pop chips and we will have some at our race meetup that weekend too!!!!

Now a give away would not be complete without my trusty race day companion!!!! Yes I have 2 hydration belts from iFitness for 2 lucky winners!!!!

There will be nuun at our race for sure too!!!


AND a Polar Heart Rate Monitor!!! Yes an FT4 will be going to one lucky winner!!!

So I ask what are you waiting for ;)

Sign up and let's all run together in 3 weeks and celebrate SPRING coming and commit to keep fighting forever against cancer! Together we WILL make a difference!

And yes I will ship to my international people as well!!! :) I see no reason why you cannot have fun with us too!

Hyannis Marathon Pictures 2 Years of Weight Loss Progress

My Hyannis Marathon pictures were amazing. I have to thank Capstone Photography because this was only my second marathon but it was so special to me because it was my first time qualifying for Boston. I will be able to relive this day forever thanks to them. They captured me 42 times out there! What I love though is how sequential they got me crossing the finish line. You can see the sheer joy and determination on my face. It was one of the proudest moments in my life and thank you to Capstone I can relive it over and over again.

I will let you see for yourself:

I made 2 special collages for my scrap book :)

 It is amazing. 2 years make the world of a difference when you put your mind to something and work hard to achieve it. The day I decided I would work on getting healthy and losing weight I never imagined it would begin such a life changing journey for me. It has been hard, it has been amazing, it has been truly and simply eye opening, but I am so very grateful that it has happened.