Gorgeous day

When I woke up yesterday and stepped outside for a minute, I was shocked at how perfect the weather was! I put on jeans and a sweatshirt and sat outside on the porch for a long time while the kids rode their bikes on our street all morning, and then I took them for a longer bike ride. That's why I didn't write a blog yesterday. I really didn't have much to say anyway.

The kids both had doctor's appointments for physicals in the afternoon. They were SO HYPER. I was kind of embarrassed that I had "those" kind of kids, running all over the place and making all kinds of noise. But they're 5 & 7 years old--and BOYS, at that--so that's what boys do, right?  They each needed a vaccination, and they took it like little champs. So after their appointment, I took them to a frozen custard place to redeem coupons for free cones.

When I got home, I had to do my scheduled 4-miler. Since it was so gorgeous outside, I kept thinking how perfect it would be for a run. However, I had no one to watch my kids, so I had to settle for the dreadmill :(  Since it was an "easy" run on the schedule, I decided to set the speed on 5.6 mph (a 10:43/mi pace) and NOT TOUCH IT the entire time. See, normally when I do the dreadmill, I want to get it over with as fast as possible, so I start at about 6.5 mph and then keep increasing it until by the end, I'm at about 7.5 or 8.0. I'll finish 3 miles in about 25-26 minutes. Needless to say, it's exhausting! And of course I'm miserable the whole time.

So by setting the speed at 5.6 (and leaving it there), I truly felt like it was an "easy" run and I actually didn't *hate* the 4-mile run! I wore my Garmin just to keep track of my heart rate, and it stayed in the right zone for an easy run. When my kids asked me questions, I wasn't barking out answers--I was able to speak in sentences. If I go slow and easy like I'm supposed to on the easy runs, I honestly don't mind the dreadmill all that much!

After my run, I quickly showered and got ready to go to Jerry's softball game. I dropped the kids off at Vacation Bible School and then went to the game. His games are always fun, but yesterday the guys were really going at it with their making fun of each other, and I was cracking up the whole time. At one point, I was talking to the girlfriend of one of the players, and the guys all started yelling "Heads up!" which scares the shit out of me when I hear it. I noticed that they were looking my way, and when I looked up, I saw the softball way up in the air coming straight down to where I was sitting. I covered my head and cringed (yes, I should have moved, but I was frozen). The ball came right down on the arm of my chair, but didn't hit me.

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I've been meaning to post this Baked Ziti recipe for a while, so I'm finally getting around to it. Don't be fooled by the lack of ingredients in this--it's SO GOOD. I was trying to imitate the baked ziti at Sbarro's. When I was a teenager, I loved Sbarro's baked ziti at the mall. So this is what I came up with. Trust me, I tried adding all kinds of Italian herbs and spices and different cheeses and all that... but I always come back to this recipe. My kids even clean their plates when I make this.

Baked Ziti

8 oz. (dry) ziti or penne pasta (I wouldn't recommend whole wheat pasta here)
1 cup low-fat ricotta cheese
1 (15 oz) can plain tomato sauce
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Cook the pasta according to directions. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350. In a 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish, combine the ricotta, 3/4 of the tomato sauce, and all of the parmesan cheese. When the pasta is done cooking, add it to the dish and stir well to combine everything. Top with the rest of the tomato sauce and spread it around. Bake at 350 for about 20-30 minutes, until hot.
Makes 4 servings. Nutrition info per serving (using Smart Taste pasta):

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What is your "perfect weather" day?  I love love love sweatshirt-and-jeans-type weather. Fall in Michigan is the perfect time of year for me--the colors are gorgeous, the temperature is in the 50-60's, and it just SMELLS like fall.

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My happy pace

So yesterday I tried out the new heart rate zone by the Karvonen formula, and I was MUCH happier with it. I didn't have to struggle to go slower. Running at about a 10:30/mi pace kept my heart rate in the middle of the "easy run" zone (average of 151 bpm). I'm actually kind of excited to try a tempo run or interval run just to see how hard it is to get my heart rate up to par.

By the way, I really hope that I didn't offend anyone by talking about how SLOW my pace was on my last couple of runs. I meant "slow" in comparison to ME. When I wasn't really watching my heart rate, my pace was usually about a 9:00/mi--sometimes faster, sometimes a little slower. So deliberately trying to run a 13:00/mi felt really really slow. But if I compare myself to an elite runner, a 9:00/mi pace is excruciatingly slow. So when I talk about being "fast" or "slow" on my runs, I'm only talking fast or slow in comparison to ME. So please don't be offended if I say that 11:00/mi (or whatever pace) is slow. That might be really fast for someone that is used to running a 13:00/mi pace!

Today starts Week 2 of counting calories again. I made it through the whole week without bingeing or anything. When I REALLY set my mind to something, I just DO IT. I don't make excuses, I don't bargain, I don't justify, I don't let anyone or anything stop me. I focus 100% on my goal and I don't look any direction but forward. (That's what I'm talking about when I say I "put my blinders on").

Food log for yesterday:
Breakfast- cold chocolate peanut butter oats and coffee (271)
Lunch- waffle with Barney Butter + coconut butter and a plum (278)
Dinner- homemade pizza with feta (yum!) (362)
Snacks- carrots with peanut butter, Larabar, fudgesicle (533)
TOTAL CALORIES: 1444

I was hungry all day yesterday. I did a 4-mile run in the morning, then I went to Lowe's to buy some stuff for our yard. When I got home, I worked on the yard and landscaping for a while. Last night, the kids were at Vacation Bible School, and Jerry and I decided to go for a bike ride by ourselves. We just circled the 4 neighborhoods on the peninsula at a leisurely pace, and it was SO nice. I didn't wear my heart rate monitor because I wasn't expecting a "real" workout, but I wore the Garmin just to see how far we'd gone. Lots of exercise :)

Recap of the week:

I've been eating a lot of nut butter lately, and you can certainly tell by the amount of fat I've eaten this week. I never worry about eating too much fat though, because (most of) the fat I eat comes from healthy sources. This week, I've been trying to feed my cravings so that I don't want to binge. I've been wanting peanut butter like crazy, so that's what I've been eating.

Exercise this week:

Today is a rest day, so I'm hoping to get my house cleaned and then catch up on e-mail. Jerry has a softball game tonight that I'm going to go to--without the kids! It's so much easier to go when I don't have them with me. Of course, there is going to be Pizza Hut again--but I won't have any.

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What is your favorite leisure activity?  I had so much fun riding bikes with my husband last night, and we both would like to do it more often. It's so much more fun when you do it for fun rather than exercise, and not focus on speed, calories burned, etc. Now if only I could truly enjoy RUNNING like that... ;)

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TUTORIAL: How to Make Homemade Coconut Butter

I adore coconut butter! I tried buying this at the store, and it's not nearly as good as homemade--the jars in the store have coconut oil added to them, so it gets hard as a rock and you have to melt it to spread it. Making it this way, it stays much softer and spreadable. It also has much more flavor!

This tastes delicious on banana bread or zucchini bread, drizzled on oatmeal or granola bars, or even spread on warm toast.

The only ingredient for the regular coconut butter is two bags (5 oz each) of unsweetened coconut. To make chocolate coconut butter, then you'll need a little unsweetened cocoa powder.

Put it in the food processor

Let it rip on high for a few minutes, then scrape down the sides

Let it go on high again, and this is what it will look like after about 10 minutes total

Another 5-10 minutes, and it will be smooth like this. Done! 

You can leave it as-is, or add some cocoa powder (I added about 3 Tbsp.)

Blend it just long enough for the chocolate to get thoroughly mixed in

The nutritional info on this is the same as the package of coconut you use. Since there are no added ingredients, just use the info from the package. Keep in mind that the measurement may change (one tablespoon of shredded coconut does not equal one tablespoon of coconut butter); but the GRAMS will stay the same (15 grams of shredded coconut=15 grams of coconut butter).

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What a workout!

So as I mentioned yesterday, I decided to mow the lawn while Jerry was at work. I picked up the kids' toys in the yard and then wrestled the lawn mower out of the shed. I filled it with gasoline and primed it, and then had a hard time starting it. Finally, I realized that I had to hold the lever down WHILE pulling the starter, and it started right up.

I was sweating within seconds. It doesn't seem like it would be a tough workout, but it is! Everyone else that lives around here uses a riding mower, but we don't have one, so we have to use the push mower. Anyway, I was determined to do a good job, so I spent a long time maneuvering the stupid thing around the kids swing set, eyesore trampoline, etc. I must say, it looked pretty good when I was done! And according to Sparkpeople, I burned 388 calories. I believe it.

I think I was sweatier after mowing the lawn than I was from the super humid run the day before.

Anyway, I was super proud of my accomplishment (haha) and so I took a picture to send to Jerry's phone. I don't know if I expected applause, or fireworks and music, or a trophy, or what... but all he said was, "Oh good, it's supposed to storm later." 

Well then. That'll be the last time I tackle one of YOUR chores, Grateful.

I went inside and made a delicious lunch of pasta with oil, garlic, peas, and parmesan cheese:

If you saute garlic in oil, you could pretty much put it on ANYTHING and it would taste good. I like this combo much better than a tomato sauce.

I went grocery shopping last night, and spent $93 for the week (budget was $100). My kids are obsessed with ramen noodles for lunch, so I grabbed a pretty full box of them off the shelf and put it in the cart. A full box has 24, and this box had 20. So when I went to check out, the cashier scanned the box (charging me for 24). The bagger told her that it wasn't full, so she would have to cancel it and scan them all by hand. Are you freaking kidding me?! I had grabbed the box because it was convenient, didn't take up as much space as throwing a bunch of bags of ramen noodles in the cart, AND because I figured I could tell her I had 20, so she could just scan one and type in the quantity. But she manually scanned each one and passed it to the bagger, who put them in BAGS instead of in the original box.  If I had known she was going to do that, I would have just grabbed a full box. They're like 18 cents each or something.

So anyways, my food log for yesterday:
Breakfast-chocolate peanut butter oats, coffee (271)
Lunch- pasta with peas (367)
Dinner- kielbasa & corn hash (423)
Snacks- carrots and peanut butter; Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia!!! (453)
TOTAL CALORIES: 1514
Exercise: 75 minutes with the lawn mower (and yes, I'm counting that as cross-training--I'm SO SORE today!)

Oh yes, I did. I bought Ben & Jerry's when I went grocery shopping. I just bought a single-serve cup for each me and Jerry. I got Cherry Garcia and he got the fudge brownie one. I forgot just how good Cherry Garcia is--it seriously tasted like HEAVEN last night. Totally worth 220 calories.

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Favorite Ben & Jerry's flavor?  Mine is definitely the Cherry Garcia. Normally I go for anything with chocolate and peanut butter (that's my favorite Haagen Dazs flavor) but the Cherry Garcia is seriously orgasmic! The Chubby Hubby is really good too--that has chocolate-covered peanut butter-filled pretzels in peanut butter ice cream. Sorry, I probably shouldn't be talking about this. Drool.

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Snail's pace

Yesterday was my "long run", and I once again, decided to follow the guidelines for heart rate training--trying to keep my heart rate between 65-75% of the maximum. For me, that meant 124-143 beats per minute. I sat on my porch for a few minutes prior to the run to see what my resting heart rate was. Per usual, it was <60 bpm.

Resting heart rate

I began running, if you can even call it running, as slowly as possible. Within about 1/4 mile, my heart rate was up to 143 bpm. I was basically shuffling along, feeling ridiculous. Normally, I inhale for 2 steps, and then exhale for 2 steps. During this run, I was inhaling every 5-6 steps! I know the point of it is that it's supposed to be an "EASY run" but I didn't feel like I was working out at all. 

However, when I was done, I certainly LOOKED like I had worked out! It was a sunny 80 degrees and extremely humid, so I looked like this when I was done:

You can barely see the dry spots on the bottom of my shirt

I tried to get a picture where you could see just how sweat-drenched my shirt was. I was completely soaked. When I got home, I read some more about heart rate training and learned about a different formula for calculating your target, called the Karvonen formula. This takes your resting heart rate into consideration, and is supposed to me more accurate. The 65-75% range for me went to 145-158 bpm. Yay! I'm going to switch it up and use that as a guide tomorrow and see how it goes. My heart rate is usually about 158-162 on my runs, so I'll just have to go a little slower, rather than sloth-like. 

These are MY numbers... yours will probably be different

 I laughed when I put my workout into Sparkpeople, because you have to click on an approximate pace... the highest it goes up to is 12:00/mi. Well, my pace was way more than that! 13:06 to be exact! 

When I saw that total time, I thought, "Seriously?! I could have been done with this run 15 minutes ago!" Oh well, at least it helped me to realize how far I've come since I started running at 190ish pounds.

And yes, I realize that this is the most boring topic I could possibly blog about, so from now on, I will definitely keep the heart rate talk to a minimum.

I think the hardest part about running so slowly was coming across other people. I kept wanting to explain why I was going so slow. Lame, right? Whenever I'm running and I come across someone, I automatically tend to run faster, to feel "cooler" or something. Does anyone else do that?

The boys were at my parents house ALL DAY yesterday, and they spent the night last night. I had the house to myself all day, because Jerry was at work. I wish I could say I totally took advantage of it, but all I did was my run and then read a bunch of crap about heart rate training online, and watch a couple of shows on TV. 

Today I'm ready to be productive. I think I'll work on the landscaping some more and then maybe mow the lawn. I've only mowed the lawn twice in my entire life. I think it's a "man's job", so it's Jerry's chore :)  Jerry generally gets the shaft when it comes to chores--he does the things I really don't want to do because they're gross. Cleaning out the litter box, cleaning the toilets, taking out the garbage, etc. I guess you could say I'm a little spoiled. A housewife that doesn't clean toilets? Really, Katie? 

Okay, so my food log for yesterday:

Breakfast- cold chocolate peanut butter oats and coffee (271)

Lunch- waffle with Barney Butter and coconut butter; grapes (336)

Dinner- 2 eggs, toast, cereal with milk (530)

Snacks- pretzels; carrots with peanut butter (341)

TOTAL CALORIES:  1478

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Are there any chores you pass off to your partner because you don't want to do them? The two I hate the most are the litter box and toilets.

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My near heart attack

Shortly after we started dating in 1999

I'm so glad that you all enjoyed Jerry's post! I think the comments boosted his ego a little, however ;)  Jarmaine asked how Jerry and I met. I was a junior in high school, and I was writing a story for the school newspaper about stereotypes of other schools in our county. I drove to some of the other schools to interview students. I told the secretary in the office "I just need a random selection of students--maybe an athlete, a class clown, top of the class, etc."  Well, apparently, she took that literally, because Jerry was the class clown at his school (it was his senior year). She selected him as one of the students for me to interview, and I really liked him :)  But we didn't get together then.

It wasn't until about 8 months later, when I was kind of seeing a guy from Jerry's school, that I saw Jerry again. I was at this other guy's house for a get-together, and Jerry was there (apparently the two of them were friends and I didn't know it). We exchanged phone numbers and went out the next day. And we've been together ever since--over 12 years now.

So, on to my near heart-attack...

I was pulling weeds from our landscaping yesterday, because we need to put down some new mulch. I hate doing this, because I'm terrified of spiders, so I was a little on-edge and jumpy. See this plant? (no fucking clue what it's called, I don't "do" gardening or plants or flowers or any of that!)

Take a close look. See anything unusual?  Yeah, I didn't either. So I'm pulling out random weeds around it, and as my hand was right next to it, suddenly a raccoon LEAPED out from the depths of Hell underneath the plant and attacked my hand! Okay, I lied. It wasn't a raccoon, but it was MY CAT who LOOKS like a raccoon. I had no idea that she was even outside, and there was no movement from the stupid plant until she made her move. Here, I'll zoom for you...

Now do you see?  So when she jumped on my hand, I seriously screamed loud enough that the people in Africa must have heard me. Then it took a second to register that it was Estelle, and not some wild animal. She dove back into the plant and did it again (now that I was expecting it, it was kind of funny). I even told Eli to pull out a weed and Estelle attacked him, too. He thought it was hilarious.

She does kind of look like a scary wild animal, though, right?

Calorie counting is still going good. I've not gotten on the scale yet--I'm going to wait until August 19th, and then hopefully weigh just once a month on the 19th after that. I kind of like being scale-free, because I don't worry so much about sodium, or eating heavier foods (which affect the next day's weigh in). As long as I keep my blinders on, I should see good progress after a month.

Food log...

Breakfast- Cinnamon Raisin Granola with milk and coffee (275)
Lunch- waffle with Barney Butter and coconut butter; grapes (298)
Dinner- homemade breakfast pizza; grapes (419)
Snacks- carrots w/ peanut butter; Cinnamon Raisin Granola with milk (483)
TOTAL CALORIES: 1475

The Barney Butter + coconut butter combo on my waffle for lunch was INCREDIBLE. And the breakfast pizza was amazing!

I'll post how I made it, but you could obviously change up the veggies and meat to your liking.

Breakfast Pizza
1/2 recipe of whole wheat pizza crust (see that recipe below)
1 pkg frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and squeezed dry
3/4 cup of 2% cheddar cheese
3 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup milk
2 Tbsp. chopped green bell pepper
6 strips of cooked bacon, crumbled (I used the Hormel Black Label bacon that is 70 cals for 4 slices)
onion powder, salt, and black pepper to taste (I used about 1/4 tsp of each)

Spray a pie plate with cooking spray and sprinkle a little flour around the bottom. Spread the dough out along the bottom and slightly up the sides of the pie plate (adding flour if necessary to keep it from sticking). Spread the broccoli out on the crust, and top that with 1/2 cup of the cheese. Sprinkle the bacon and peppers on top of that. In a small bowl, beat the eggs, milk, onion powder, salt, and black pepper. Pour the egg mixture over the whole thing, and then top with the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes, until eggs are just set (it took 35 minutes for me). Let it sit for 5-10 minutes before cutting.

Makes 4 servings. Per serving for Breakfast Pizza:

Breakfast Pizza nutrition

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup hot water
1 Tbsp. olive oil
3/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. yeast (one packet)

Combine in a bowl until a ball forms and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for 15-20 minutes. [To make pizza (not the breakfast pizza shown above), spread out dough on a pizza pan and bake at 475 for about 5-8 minutes. Then top with your toppings, and bake again until cheese is bubbly and toppings are done.]

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Have you ever been scared half to death like I was with Estelle? I've had lots of moments like those, but the moment with Estelle yesterday was definitely the loudest I've ever screamed.

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Guest post by my husband

I'm pretty sure that I'm going to lose half my followers after this post. One thing I learned quickly about Jerry is that you should never take him seriously!  My apologies...  ;)

Well... here by popular demand, it's me- Mr. Slim Katie.You all know how awesome my wife is (as evidenced by people on the internet telling her that EVERY DAY). It's undeniable. You know how a typical day in her life goes. Do you know mine? How about my struggles? I have them too. Here is my typical day:

I get up at 4:00 AM. You read correctly--AM. I get ready for work. Give the wife a kiss goodbye, even though she's still in bed. Usually she says she loves me (groggily) and my response is always, 'I love you more'. (Corny, I know). I make a cup of coffee and try my best to stay awake. This is where it gets super hard for me. I sit on the couch for the next hour playing video games or watching TV, trying to wake up a little more, but really just staring off into space. I like to get up early so I can make sure I get all my crap together before work so I'm not rushing at the last minute to gather it all up before I leave.

So naturally, 5:20 rolls around (the time I have to leave) and I realize, "Shit, my lunch isn't packed." Never fails. The rest of the day is pretty boring. I get off work at 6:00 PM and hurry to get home. Katie always has dinner ready (and portioned out into a single serving, so I can't be heavy handed) and I can't wait to eat. I know dinner is going to be good, because the kids' bowls are half-empty, which means they actually ate some of it. Eat, take a shower, grab a beer, and then I catch up with The Lovely Wife. That's the day. Everyday.

Just like Katie, people ask me questions when they find out about her weight loss (and mine as well, although I definitely play second-fiddle to Katie). Here are a few FAQ's, plus the questions you asked...

1. Do you have a lisp?
Yeth, I have a lithp. How did you know? Jerry insisted on putting this question in here, but I said it was stupid... none of my readers know that he actually DOES, in fact, have a lisp. Our friends like to tease him about it, and I guess he considers it part of his personality.

2. Is it hard being 'Mr. Slim Katie'?
It can be--she's very intimidating. Don't be fooled by her kindness in blogging. She beats me when I don't clean out the litter box before work or give her foot massages before bed. Just kidding. No, silly, it's not hard. Not at all. I have a sexy wife, what else could I ask for? Life is good.

3. Do you ever wonder if she's going to leave you after losing the weight?
Every husband's nightmare. No, I don't worry. I think the key is, we were happy before and I never gave her a reason to leave. So, what's changed? We're just happier I think.

4. Is the sex better?
Yes. We've got a couple videos online if you want to check them out. Here's the link

5. How did you lose the weight?
Truthfully? I'm lazy. Really lazy. She does all the cooking and I do all the eating. I eat what she puts in front of me. I think that's typical of a husband, isn't it? It's a struggle every day though. When I go to work, people always bring in all kinds of food like donuts and cake. Pies and cookies. Fast food. So, everyday I go to work saying I'm not going to eat all kinds of crap. I usually don't, but sometimes I forget to pack my willpower in the morning (along with my lunch) and my day is screwed. I don't really exercise. I didn't do the 48-Hour Miracle Diet (but there IS a bottle of it in our pantry... ask Katie about that!). No gastric bypass. Just Katie. She's how I lost the weight. She was, and is, really motivating.

6. Are you a keeper?
Yes, michellechristine and Poison, I am a keeper.

7. Can we see some before and after pics of you?
Absolutely. One thing you should know about me is that I'm not shy. So, these are for you, ladies.

I even had the stereotypical stain on my shirt

Yes, that would be my sister-in-law's bikini bottom

8. How were you motivated to lose weight? (a.k.a. How can I get my husband to lose weight with me?)
In all honesty, I don't know. I saw a couple pics of me that made me look like a thumb. I had no chin. Sagging man-boobs. Helluva gut. I felt really sluggish. I want to be here for my kids. I want to be able to run around with them and play. I know a couple of guys at work that have horrible obesity related health issues, such as diabetes and sleep apnea. I didn't want to be one of those people. I also realized that I CAN'T AFFORD TO BE FAT. Our food spending was astronomical (one binge could cost $25 or more).

On top of that, my employer has rolled out new health care requirements. Smokers and obese employees/spouses will be required to pay an extra $20 a week for insurance.That mean that if you or your spouse have a BMI over 30, you would be required to pay $20 extra a week. If BOTH of you have an issue, then it's $40 a week. Great motivation, huh? I am so happy that I lost the weight. I feel better, I look better, and I saved a TON of money on my car health insurance.

9. What was the biggest change in your lifestyle?
Before, we used to go on diets for a couple days and then fail miserably. The downfall would come from something like cookies or chips that we thought we could keep in the house. WRONG! Katie decided enough was enough and cleaned out the pantry of all the bad stuff and filled it with healthy stuff. No more bad stuff to sabotage us. Since she does the grocery shopping and the cooking, I didn't really have a choice.

Did I miss anything? Oh, yeah. I did.

10. How is life, REALLY, with pretty and slim Katie?
PERFECT. I know that life isn't a fairytale. It's not a Lifetime movie (unless there is a movie where the husband gets murdered by the wife because he forgot to clean out the litter box before work!). It is what you make it. We definitely have our ups and downs. We have fun. We're Simpletons. We like to play cards or board games. We laugh and cry at the stupidest crap sometimes but that's what makes us 'us'. We truly enjoy each others company. We finish each others sentences. So, I can't think of anyone else I would rather spend my life with than her. She's special.


So, how was it for my first blog? Any more questions?

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Oh, and as Katie usually does, I'll post a question for you: How many of you clicked on the link in FAQ #4?

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So there you go, friends. Some random guy who hacked into my blogger account My husband. In all his glory. Let's leave the blogging to his better half, shall we? ;)

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Slow run

Yesterday, I tried something I've never done before. I went for a scheduled 2-mile "easy" run and I tried to keep my heart rate in the recommended zone of 65-75% of the max. For me, that means 124-143 beats per minute. It was so much harder than I thought it would be! I was seriously running as slowly as I possibly could, and I was struggling to keep my heart rate under 150. I've been reading about how important it is to take the easy runs EASY, as they are meant to be.

I also think that this will make me enjoy running more. If I know I can go out for a slow, lazy run, I won't dread it so much. However, if I do this, it means I really have to do planned speedwork every week--Tempo runs and interval training. I'm training for a 10k that is on October 9th, so I think I'll try training this way and see how it goes.

Easy runs- 65-75% of max heart rate
Tempo runs- 87-92%
Intervals- 95-100%

So anyways, my stats for yesterday's run:

From the way it felt, I could have sworn I was doing a 13:00+ minute/mile pace. It's hard to imagine that when I first started running, the fastest I could go was about 13:30ish? And now I found it extremely difficult to run as slow as 11:00. It's fun to feel that progress!

Yesterday was another food temptation I had to pass up. Whenever this one guy on the Detroit Tigers hits a home run, all the A&W's (around here anyway) sell coney dogs for 25 cents the next day. My kids wanted to go for lunch, so I took them to A&W. They each ate 2 whole coney dogs by themselves! I sat and watched.

Noah

Eli

I went home and made a tuna sandwich, which held me over until dinnertime. I made lentil chili for dinner, which was really stupid of me, considering I planned on doing my run AFTER dinner. I ate 2 cups of it, which totaled 34 grams of fiber... so my stomach was cramping badly during my run.

But I stayed on track all day and counted my calories. I didn't want to eat much after my super filling dinner, so my calories were a little low.

Breakfast- Cinnamon Raisin Granola with milk and coffee (275)
Lunch- tuna sandwich and grapes (363)
Dinner- lentil chili with cheese (401)
Snack- Ezekiel cinnamon raisin toast with peanut butter (290)

TOTAL:  1328 calories
Exercise- Ran 2 miles.

Jerry was hard at work all last night typing a guest post for you. I think he was having way too much fun doing it. I'll probably post it tomorrow.

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If you are a runner, do you run your easy runs and long runs much slower than normal?

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Speaking of...

Day 2 of counting calories went well! Blinders stayed on.
Food intake looked like this:
Breakfast- Cinnamon Raisin Granola with milk and coffee (275)
Lunch- cucumber sandwich, sweet potato wheels, grapes (303)
Dinner- Southwest chicken & beans over rice (438)
Snacks- carrots with peanut butter; toast with peanut butter; Fiber One brownie (513)
TOTAL:  1538 calories
Exercise- 35 minute bike ride

Jerry was off work yesterday, so mid-morning, we decided to try and pack all four of our family's bikes into our two vehicles and head to the State Park to ride on the trail. We have a Jeep Patriot and a Ford Windstar (minivan). I put the seats down in the Jeep and was able to fit my bike in just fine. Jerry put both back seats down in the van and we managed to fit his bike and the kids' bikes in there. We each had a kid sit in front with us, and we drove to the park.

I wanted to ride for exercise (I had 35 minutes of cross-training on the schedule), so Jerry took the boys on a leisurely ride and I went off by myself. Doing the trail was so much more relaxing than riding on the street! I didn't have to worry about getting hit by a car, and looking both ways to cross, etc. There were a few bumps under the concrete from tree roots, which were annoying, but most of the ride was pretty smooth. It began to drizzle while I was riding, and I could barely keep my eyes open. I guess when you're going that fast (compared to running), the rain feels much harder on your skin.

Speaking of comparing running and biking... I noticed something recently that I found kind of funny. After I became a runner, I found walking really annoying. While on a walk, I thought, "This is so SLOW. I'd be done by now if I was just running!"  And now that I've been cycling, when I go for a run I think, "If I was biking, I'd be DONE by now! This is so slow!"  ;)  Oh, and speaking of cycling... I always want to say "biking" but Jerry teases me when I say that because he said that sounds like I'm talking about a motorcycle. So if I say I went "biking", I assure you--it was on a BICYCLE. I don't do motorcycles.

And speaking of JERRY, I discovered something kind of cute and clever that he did. He just recently started reading my blog (that's not the cute and clever thing--I'll get to that in a minute!) I've kept a blog since 2000 (minus a couple of years in there) and he's NEVER read it. Until now. I even explained to him how it works when I post things and all that. So now, the cute and clever thing... remember how I said I like to look at the strange/funny/unusual things that people type into Google and discover my blog? So yesterday, I discovered this:

All the usual type searches, but I'm talking about the fourth one down. Ever since we were dating, he's called me "Punkin Pot Pie" (stupid nickname, right?!)  So when I explained how the searches worked, he went to Google and typed in that whole phrase and then clicked on my blog over and over again so that it would be one of the top searches and I would see it. ;)

And finally, speaking of Jerry + blogging, I was thinking of having him write a guest post on my blog. He doesn't have his own blog. I think you'd like him. Most people like him better than they like me, because he's super funny and crazy and laid-back... basically the total opposite of his wife!  I think that's why we work well together as a married couple. We balance each other out.

I make him be serious for some pictures

And he makes me be goofy for some pictures

My poor husband has lost about 75 pounds (going from 253 to a svelte 178!), but he is still known for being "the guy whose wife lost 100+ pounds", haha. I asked him what he would guest blog about, and he said that if he did a FAQ blog, it would go something like this:  1) How much weight did your wife lose?  2) How did she lose the weight?  3) Are you worried she's going to leave you now?

HAHAHA. So my question for you is, would you even be interested in a guest post from my better half significant other? Any questions for him? Not necessarily weight loss questions, but I mean questions about anything--like how does it feel to be married to someone as beautiful and cute and sexy as SlimKatie? ;)

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Most liked on Facebook?? Really?

Once again, I woke up to check my e-mail and found dozens hundreds of comments, Sparkfriend adds, etc. I saw that Sparkpeople sent out an e-mail about "The Best of July" and apparently, the post they did about me on Facebook was the "most liked on Facebook".

It's completely overwhelming to read all the e-mails and comments, and I always feel guilty when I don't answer every question that people ask me. But I can tell that a lot of people don't actually read my Sparkpage before e-mailing me, because they ask me a lot of questions that I answer in my FAQ page. Is it wrong of me not to answer them directly?  FYI, If you ever e-mail me a question and you don't get an answer, chances are, I read it and forgot to write back. Feel free to try again! And Poison, I know I owe you a recipe for baked ziti, so I'll try and post it this week! ;)

I still have such a hard time believing that people are interested enough to read my blog. My intention has never been to get as many followers as I can or gain recognition (which is why I don't have a Twitter or Facebook page for my blog). I just really enjoy writing, and I LOVE to read blogs.

But anyways! Yesterday was my first day back to counting calories, which, we all know, SUCKS. But I did it. I am super determined to reach my goal weight. I'm putting my blinders on and won't take them off until I get there.

Of course, temptation was present the first day of calorie counting. I went to Jerry's softball game last night with the kids, and Jerry's plant had ordered Pizza Hut for all the players and families. They ordered 18 large pizzas for 2 softball teams. Pretty much everyone took pizza home with them too. My kids had some, and it looked so good!

Noah's pizza :(

My food log
Breakfast: Cinnamon Raisin Granola with milk; coffee (275)
Lunch:  Sweet Potato Wheels; grapes; toast with almond butter (346)
Dinner: salmon with A1; potato with ketchup; grapes (381)
Snacks: Neopolitan ice cream; banana with almond butter (482)
TOTAL:  1484 calories
Exercise:  Ran 3 miles in 29:23.

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How do you eat Neopolitan ice cream? Do you scoop all three flavors or are you choosy? I like all 3 mixed together, but when I was a kid, I would choose the vanilla first, then chocolate, and the strawberry was usually thrown out ;)  And now, of course, MY kids do the same thing!

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