Jingle Bell Run & Weekend Recap

Hello Monday! I did not want to get out of bed this morning but only because I've been taking Benadryl at bedtime because my allergies are really bad. Therefore, when I wake up in the morning I feel like I'm heavily drugged. It takes awhile to get going so the first thing I do is take Walter out because the cold morning air really wakes you up! 

Time for my weekend recap. 

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Jingle Bell Run for Arthritis - 5K 

It was really fun! The temperature was great! The wind was a little strong but luckily it was at our backs after the turn around!

That still seems SUPER slow to me since I used to run a 9-10 minute mile, however, that right there is the fastest 3 miles I have done in a very long time. I am super proud of that. I ran the last part of the race without stopping. Also a big accomplishment since I have been so lax about running lately! 

Lots of fun outfits, hats and bells! Dogs are also welcome during this race. I wish Hyatt could have run it with me. He was with us in spirit! 

In the spirit of the race I wore red leggings under my shorts and a bell in my hair!

Afterwards, Andrew and I, plus the delicious salad and cheese snacks that we had after the race. Andrew didn't have the cheese snacks...being lactose-intolerant and all. I enjoyed them though! 

The race was really fun and I'm so glad we did it. The shirts we got were pretty awesome too. I love long sleeved T-Shirts. They are the best to bum around in during fall/winter. They are also great to run in! 

After the race we went home to shower and pack up for a weekend in Taylorville. I ran to PetsMart to grab some cat food and picked up a few cheap sqeaker toys for my mom's dogs. It was also Malcom and Inara's 8th birthday so I picked up a Peanut Butter Pup-Pie for them to share. (they loved it) Once in Taylorville we spent the day relaxing and I ended my night with this:

Dirty Gin Martini. Mmmmmmm...... I like to have martinis because I can only drink 1 and I sip it slowly to enjoy it. I do not over indulge when I drink these and then I don't use up as many of my points! 

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WeightWatchers & Food:

My food choices weren't amazing this weekend but they were better than they have been recently. Going to mom and dad's is always hard because they always have "no-no" foods (the foods that trigger me or I cannot say no to) and it is hard to stay away. I did really well though and only ended up -2 points as of last night. I have also earned 12 APs so far and it is only Monday! I plan on earning those 2 P+ that I am negative and them some. I want to keep on running this week. Going for at least 1 mile a night. 

We are getting to that "I need to go to the grocery store" point at our apartment. I have enough pasta, rice, and vegetables for sides but my only meat is Chicken Thighs. Hopefully I can be creative enough to make everything last one more week. *fingers crossed*

Menu for today:

B: Smart Ones Oatmeal, 2 HB eggs, coffee

S: String Cheese, Apple
L: Leftover 3 Bean Turkey Chili, Tuscan Herb Bagel, WW candies

S: Celery sticks and Roasted Pine Nut Hummus

D: Chicken Thigh, brown rice and spinach

Activity: At least a 1 mile run, if not more

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I leave for Iowa on Friday and I'm so excited! I get to see my bestie and then I'm bringing Grandma back to town for Thanksgiving! I love this time of year. It is full of friends and family! 

Weigh In Day

*grumble*
Stupid weigh in day.
*grumble*
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Friday Weigh In:
Weigh In:  +4.5
Total Lost: 3.5
Pounds to Lose: 102.6

Meh. My fault. Not much to say about it. I had a binge episode last night after coming clean about having a problem with BED. Ironic huh? Last night I took the time to make a "List of 21". A therapist I used to see told me to make a list of 21 things with #21 being Binge. The other 20 needed to be things I could do instead of binge eating. If I got through ALL 20 things and still felt the urge to binge... then I'd binge. This strategy being that those 20 things would keep my mind and body occupied and out of the kitchen. I had made a list a long time ago but don't know what I did with it so I made another last night. I'm glad I did. I'm hoping it will really help me with this problem. I know it isn't something that will be fixed over night and I know that I will deal with it the rest of my life. I just need to know there are people, tools and help when I need it.

Inches Lost:
Waist: -2"
Bust: -2"
Arms: -1.5"
Hips: -1"
Thigh: -2"

I started taking measurements on 10/31/13 and since then have lost 8.5" total. It is the positive after a negative weigh in. Even though the scale is irritating me at least my exercise is doing some good. I don't FEEL like I have lost 8.5" off my body, but the tape measure doesn't lie.
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New Recipe:
Last night after exercising I made Chicken Pot Pie Soup.

I used Gina's picture again because I didn't snap one of my own. I did not put mushrooms in my soup because Andrew doesn't like them. I figured if I wanted to add more vegetables to my own after I made the big batch I could. This makes quite a bit. I used the serving size of 1 c so that it would only be 4P+ for each serving. I have not had it yet because last night I wasn't hungry for it. Today I am pairing it with a Tuscan Herb bagel. I am excited to try it. It smells wonderful! 

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Last Night's "Run":

I was reading an article in Runner's World Magazine about this guy who made a pact with another runner to go out and run at least 1 mile a day from Thanksgiving to New Year's. I thought "What a fun idea. A mile isn't bad at all." So after reading the magazine and thinking about running most of the day, I had to go out last night and find a nice 1 mile path to run. Obviously going around the block of my neighborhood is going to work out nicely. I can make that loop a little over a mile and a half if I want to so if I did it twice it would be about a 5K distance if not a little more.

I invited Anna to do this challenge with me and we are going to start on Thanksgiving. I've made us a fun little spreadsheet to keep track of our progress and we will keep each other accountable. Then, starting in January I will start training for the Lincoln Presidential Half Marathon for April 2014. I want to set a Half Marathon PR.

Tomorrow is the Jingle Bell Run 5K. Andrew is doing that one with me. We will go tonight to pick up packets and our shirts. I love the Jingle Bell Run. It is the perfect run to get ready for the Holidays. Plus, it is for Arthritis! Since I have Arthritis I fully support this cause! I haven't run a race since the Fat Ass 5K in May. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow. I miss the atmosphere of races. I love everything about it.

Thursday Stuff

Weight Watchers & Food:
Here was yesterday's food intake:

B: 2 Hard Boiled Eggs & 1 c. FF Milk
S: 2 pieces of light string cheese, green tea
L: Frozen Dinner, salad with Walden Farms Dressing, WW Key Lime Bar
S: Cookie Crisps, Carrots and some cherry tomatoes
D: 1 Slice Pizza, 1 c. leftover penne noodles, graham crackers with peanut butter, 11 pita chips with lite ranch dressing

As you can see, my dinner consisted of "What is readily available that is still within my points?" Amazingly I still have 4P+ leftover after all of that!!

My Activity was 30 minutes on the treadmill at the gym followed by 10 minutes in the wonderful massage chairs that they have at the gym. Love it!

Becoming Debt Free:

Well, got my debt snowball figured out with Dave Ramsey's Software and according to it and the numbers I plugged in, it says Andrew and I will be debt free in 8 years. *hurk* Who loves school loans?!?! NOT ME!

I think 8 years is a lot better than what it could be though. Considering the amount of the loans.... which makes me die a little inside every single day.....

Other Stuff:
Andrew and I are running a 5K on Saturday. It is a Color Blaze, so... like a color run.

Sunday is my Birthday! I will be 28 and I don't know how I feel about that. I keep creeping closer and closer to 30 and I'm not exactly where I thought I would be at this age... but there's still time to work on that right?!
Andrew and I will be going to Taylorville for my Birthday to swim in my parent's pool if it is warm enough. That's the one thing that sucks about having an in ground pool with a broken heater... takes FOREVER to warm up after you open it up and clean it out. We will see though!

I have to go to the dentist today for a cleaning.
Joy.*

*please note sarcasmn