Sinless Margarita Review & Giveaway!

Oh, boy, I can't even describe how excited I was to do this review! When a company called Sinless Cocktails contacted me to ask if I'd like to try their Sinless Margarita mix, I think I replied in no longer than five seconds. Heck yes, I will try your margarita mix! (Just FYI, this post is not sponsored, and Sinless Cocktails didn't even require me to write a review).

Before I lost the weight, my very favorite drink to order at a restaurant was a margarita on the rocks (with a salted rim, of course). I was hugely disappointed when I discovered that the typical margarita has 360 calories for 8 ounces, and I always ordered the huge "fishbowl" size ;) I don't think I drank a single margarita the whole time I was losing weight, because I just couldn't justify that many calories on a single drink.

I've heard of lower calorie mixed drinks (Skinnygirl Margarita is one), but they use sweeteners I am not a fan of. I am very picky when it comes to sugar substitutes--I don't like the taste of any artificial sweeteners, and I don't like agave syrup (which is what the Skinnygirl Margarita uses). I was excited to see that the Sinless Margarita mix uses all natural ingredients, and is sweetened with Stevia.

The mixes are liquid, and because they are natural ingredients, must be refrigerated. I am the first to admit that I know NOTHING about mixing cocktails--which is why I stick with wine and beer at home. So the fact that you only have to mix this with tequila (no triple sec!) was a huge bonus for me. I don't like to buy a ton of ingredients for a drink.

The directions say to mix 1 part tequila with 2-3 parts margarita mix (depending how strong you like it). I rimmed a glass with salt (just dip the edges of the glass in water, then dip into margarita salt). Then I filled the glass with ice and poured 1.5 ounces of tequila with 4 ounces of margarita mix. I like my margaritas on the rocks, rather than frozen, but I imagine they would work just fine if you blended it with ice).

I have to admit, I was skeptical that I was going to love it. But all it took was one little sip to make my eyes grow wide and announce to Jerry, "This is AWESOME!" He took a sip of mine and liked it so much that he wanted me to make one for him too, right away.

Yes, I like a lot of salt... don't judge! ;)

We both just kept sipping and saying, "Wow, this is good!" The total calories were only 111 per drink. They didn't taste watered down at all (which I can't stand!) and I didn't taste a single hint of bitterness that Stevia sometimes has. In fact, I never would have guessed that it was made with Stevia.

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The next morning, I was still thinking about the tart sweetness of the margarita, so I decided to make a shake with the same kind of taste I was looking for: Key Lime Pie Protein Shake! I used some of the Sinless Margarita mix in it, and it was heavenly.

Key Lime Pie Protein Shake

1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/4 cup Sinless Margarita mix
1 serving vanilla protein powder mix
1 Tbsp. lime jello mix
1 Tbsp. cheesecake pudding mix
1 tsp. lime juice (not necessary, but I wanted mine extra limey)
8-10 ice cubes
1/4 tsp each xanthan gum and guar gum (optional, for a thicker, creamier texture)

Put everything in a blender and blend until smooth. (With my protein powder, the shake's totals came out to--223 calories, 2.6 grams of fat, 24.3 grams of carbs, 25.8 grams of protein)

This tasted exactly like key lime pie--so good!

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After absolutely loving the original margarita mix, I wasn't quite as excited to try the Strawberry Margarita Mix. I've never been a fan of strawberry margaritas. I made the strawberry margaritas the same as the original. I took a sip and wasn't too thrilled with it. I thought it was decent, but like I said, I'm just not a big strawberry margarita fan.

Notice the tequila bottle is now half-empty... ;)

Jerry, however, LOVED the strawberry one. He said he liked that one better than the original. So it's just a matter of personal preference!

Overall, I absolutely loved the original Sinless Margarita mix, and would definitely buy it to have on hand (it keeps for 6 months unopened in the fridge). The ONLY drawback for me is that it's a little pricey--$8.49 per bottle plus shipping.

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Sinless Cocktails has very generously offered to give away a bottle of mix to one Runs for Cookies reader! To enter the random drawing, check out the Sinless mixes on their website and leave a comment here letting me know which one sounds the best to you. I will leave this contest open until Saturday (7/14) at 10:00 a.m. EST.  CONTEST HAS NOW ENDED.

(In full disclosure, I was given two bottles of Sinless Margarita Mix to try; I wasn't required to do a review, and all opinions are truthful).

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More cookies!

My kids actually slept in today! I was up at 6:00 this morning, ready to get my run over and done with, but I didn't want the treadmill to wake them up--so I had to kill some time. Finally, at 7:30, they woke up.

My schedule called for a 15 minutes easy, followed by two repeats of (10 minutes tempo pace + 3 minutes easy), finishing with 10 minutes easy. I planned on doing the easy pace at 6.0 mph (10:00/mi pace) and the tempo pace at 7.0 mph (8:34/mi pace). Those are the speeds I've been doing, although the Garmin foot pod is telling me I'm going a little faster than that.

Today, I decided to fudge the calibration of the Garmin foot pod to be a little closer to the pace of the treadmill. The calibration factor was set at 974 (no idea what that number means, but the factor setting was 1000, and after calibrating on a track, it came up with 974). So before I ran this morning, I changed it to 995--a number I just pulled out of nowhere to see how it would work.

Turns out I went the wrong direction with the number, because with the 995 factor, it showed I was going even faster than before! I wish I was running an 8:30/mi pace for 6 miles, but it's very unlikely ;) I should have brought the number down from 974 instead of up. 

I turned The Biggest Loser on Netflix, and started watching Season 9. What a tear jerker! I forgot just how heartbreaking that first episode is, especially the first hour of it. I hate that The Biggest Loser sends people home on the first day, before they even get a chance to lose weight. In fact, I would love it if they never sent anyone home and made the show more about weight loss and changing lives than "game-playing" and drama. I know they do the drama to make it interesting, but I would enjoy the show if it was all feel-good emotions of watching everyone change their lives!

8:29/mi? I wish! ;)

Anyway, the 6.0 and 7.0 speeds were right on for what I was doing. The 7.0 was "comfortably hard", where I wanted to slow down, but I knew that I could keep going and finish strong. The 3-minute break between the two 10-minute intervals was not very long! Just long enough to catch my breath and take a drink of water. My knee is absolutely getting better, because I haven't even felt a tiny twinge of pain the last few runs. That gives me so much hope for my marathon!

Toward the end of the run, I decided to bump up the incline and see if it would affect my pace. And after some playing around with the incline, I noticed that it DID make my pace faster/slower on my Garmin. Gah! Since I always run with at least a 1% incline, I would have to recalibrate my Garmin to reflect that. After my run, I decided to recalibrate using the treadmill.

And of course, recalibrating involves running a half-mile, which I really didn't want to do after I just ran for 51 minutes, but I did it anyway. So after calibrating on the treadmill, the factor was 885 (rather than the 995 I'd just used). That sounds like a big difference to me! But at least now, my Garmin pace will reflect the same as the treadmill--so I will probably be going a little faster than it shows, but that will be better than vice versa. I wish there was a way to calibrate the treadmill--I'd be very curious as to how accurate (inaccurate?) it is.

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Check out the shirt that Jerry bought me!

I wanted to post that about a week ago, when he actually bought it, but I had to exchange it--twice. He originally bought a size 3/5 from the junior's section. I've never had a problem with that size before (it's just from Wal-Mart), but when I tried it on, you could see all of my "lumps and bumps" that I hate. So I decided to exchange it for a size 7/9, to be more comfortable. I should have tried it on, but I thought for SURE the 7/9 would fit, since I normally would have worn the 3/5.

Came home, tried it on, and it fit pretty much the same as the 3/5. I could have worn it, but I didn't want to be tugging at it and worried about every little lump being visible, so I went back (again) and exchanged it (again). This time, I skipped right over the 11/13 and bought a 15/17. So the shirt you see above is a size 15/17! Hahaha. The width of all the shirts was pretty much the same; it was just the length that got bigger with each size. But I really loved the shirt, and that Jerry thought of me when he saw it, so I wanted to keep it. I just find it funny that in that photo, I'm wearing size 4 jeans and a 15/17 shirt!

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Weight Loss Success: The Biggest Loser's Ada Wong Shares Her Story!

I would like to introduce you to the final member of my Florida Keys Ragnar Relay team--Ada. Many of you probably feel like you already know Ada from watching her on Season 10 of The Biggest Loser. Out of all of the seasons of The Biggest Loser, I can honestly say that Ada was my favorite contestant. Not only was her whole story really touching, but I remember one episode in particular that spoke volumes of her character...

The members of TBL had to do a challenge where they went up and down these flights of stairs over and over again to reach a certain number of points. The winner of the challenge would win a brand new car! Ada was killing it, and only had one flight left--she was in the lead and easily could have won it. She stopped at the top and stood there, waiting... in order to let Patrick, another contestant who had two kids and was really in need of a car, finish first and WIN. I don't think I've ever seen someone as genuine as Ada on that show. So I was thrilled when she agreed to join our Ragnar team.

Ada didn't write about The Biggest Loser here, because many of you have seen the show and already know that part of her story. However, I know a lot of you may be curious about what life was like on the show, so Ada said she'd be happy to do a Q&A post with your questions. If you have a question for her, just leave it in the comments on this post, and I'll post the Q&A in the future.

But for now, please enjoy Ada's story...

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No surprise! I’ve struggled with my weight my entire life. In fact, I can’t remember I time I wasn’t on some unsuccessful fad diet or another…Atkins, Lemonade Diet, acupuncture, weird herbs my mom found on a recent trip to her motherland. I grew up surrounded by thin people and stuck out like a sore thumb- which made it THAT much worse.

It was clear I wasn’t blessed with a tiny Asian frame or a fast metabolism.  Ever notice who wins on those hot dog eating contests? It’s always some rail thin Asian person…not really sure how that works…But needless to say, I was always unsuccessful at losing weight and every time I did lose 20-30 pounds, I would end up gaining 60 back! When I lost weight, I thought I was done and went back to old habits. Here’s the cycle: Lose the weight, gain the weight, depression, numb depression with food, gain more weight, find the newest quick fix fad diet, AND repeat! I’ve since learned that it is in fact, a lifestyle change.

I often get asked, “What made you decide to apply for the show? Did you have an a-ha moment?” Not really. I was just unhappy; and in my 20s when I should be having the time of my life, I wasn’t. My weight held me back in every way and my lack of confidence was directly tied to my weight. I wanted desperately to finally be successful at what I felt was my biggest struggle and challenge in life. I knew that being on the Biggest Loser was my best chance at success.

But even then, I thought it was a long shot and put off applying. I think I was mostly ashamed of myself and what I had become. I was also unwilling (at the time) to put myself out there for my friends and family to see my big, fat tire hang out between my sports bra and spandex shorts! For those who have seen the show, you know what I’m talking about; it’s a Biggest Loser wardrobe staple.

A couple years went by and I was still in the same place and I thought, why not give it a shot and apply- not thinking anything would come of it. I figured if the trade off for being thin was to let America see every unflattering angle of me- tears and all, then that’s what I’m going to do. Obviously, what I was doing wasn’t working so maybe it was time to be honest with myself.

And for the first time, I let my guard down because I had to enlist the help of my friends to film an audition video. In the video I admitted to being embarrassed and unhappy. The hardest part was watching and re-watching clips of myself- over and over again as I was piecing together the video. That forced me to face the root of the issue.

At that moment, I made a promise to myself that no matter what happens, I’m going to take the necessary steps to create a better life. And fortunately, those steps included the Biggest Loser.

Losing the weight was awesome but finally finding that inner confidence was incredible. I found this determination in myself that I didn’t know existed, and I now it make it a point to always push myself beyond what I think my limits are. I go for things that scare me because when I do, I find that great things can come of it. And I believe the best is yet to come!

But for now, my love for marathons has expanded to triathlons. These days my workout schedule is filled with high intensity interval classes and Ironman trainings!

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You can read more about Ada on her website, which she says will soon be more of a blog-type format. You can also check her out on Facebook and Twitter.

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A run comparison

After a (too) restful weekend, I woke up back to reality in that I had a 50-minute run to do today. Jerry was off work, so we laid in bed for a few minutes while I procrastinated running. I looked at the weather on my phone and it said it was only 68 degrees (this was 7:00 a.m.), so I decided to run outside instead of on the treadmill.

I was scheduled to do a 50 minute run with 8 pick-ups (30-sec sprints). I set my Garmin for intervals--5 minutes easy, then 30 seconds fast. I've only done this particular workout on the treadmill, so I was curious to see how my pace would compare--because I know that I run slower outside than I do on the treadmill.

It wasn't TOO hot (much cooler than Friday's run!) and the time was going by faster than it does on the treadmill, which is a bonus. It was actually pretty uneventful. I have to say, I love the 30-second sprints. It's so short that you can go all-out and not have to worry about holding anything back for later.

As expected my pace outside was slower than the treadmill. But my heart rate shows that I was working just as hard (actually even harder!) outside.

Today's splits

Now, this is about to get really nerdy, so skip ahead if you don't like nerdy math stuff.

Since I wanted to compare the treadmill vs. outdoor running, I set them up side by side:

The one on the left is today's outdoor run, on the right is the treadmill run from last week. Same amount of time. So I was slower by 40 seconds per mile, but it certainly didn't feel like it. I'm actually pretty happy with this. I think I might actually calibrate my Garmin foot pod to the treadmill, instead of how I had it calibrated with a track. Then I will see slower paces, but it will be more likely to match up with the outdoor runs.

Anyway, none of this really means anything! It's just fun for me to analyze ;)

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After I ran, showered, and had breakfast (a Key Lime Pie Protein Shake--Yum! I will post the recipe on Thursday), Jerry and I (and the kids) went to the running store so that Jerry could get fitted for some shoes. I really didn't think he'd stick with running this long, but he's been doing it three times a week. Since the store was having a sale on ALL of their shoes today, it was the perfect time to go get some good ones.

I was kind of jealous! I wanted to get new shoes, too. But my Mizuno's only have about 100 miles on them, so I'm good for a while. Jerry tried on a bunch and ended up picking Asics GT-2170. I told him he should get some running shorts and a shirt, while we were at it. I told him that he should wear what the elite runners wear:

I think he decided that he didn't want to be an "elite" runner after all. ;)

Oh, and speaking of shoes, I decided to wear my Brooks Adrenaline's on my long run last Friday--just for the hell of it to see how they felt after wearing the Mizuno's for a while. I actually think I am liking the Mizuno's more now! The Adrenaline's felt kind of heavy and stiff, something I was so used to. I think I'll probably get the Mizuno's again when it's my turn to get new shoes.

Because I had such a lazy relaxing weekend, my house is pretty trashed right now. I better get cleaning.

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Reader Questions & Answers #20

On Sundays, I will answer some readers' questions in a post. If you have a question that you would like me to answer here on the blog, just send me an e-mail with the subject "Q&A", and I may include them in a future Q&A post. They don't have to be about weight loss or running--anything is game!  (Remember, I'm not a doctor or dietician, or any sort of medical professional--I can only answer questions from my own experience).

Q. I'm looking into getting a treadmill.  Can you recommend a specific make/model or just features that it should have?

A. I am certainly no treadmill expert, but I can tell you from my experience what features I like, as well as features I don't find to be necessary. When I was looking for a treadmill, a huge factor for me was the cost. I couldn't afford to spend a small fortune on a machine that I was hoping I wouldn't have to use all that much (I much prefer running outside to the treadmill). I also knew that I didn't need all the bells and whistles--I just wanted a reliable machine I could run on.

The features that I really like (or features I wish I had) are:

• The one-touch speed and incline control buttons. See the gray numbered strips on each side? You just have to push the button and it will change your speed or incline. You don't have to hold down an up or down arrow button to change the speed/incline. This makes it easy to go from a walk to a run almost instantly, and makes my running intervals much more efficient.

Front face of my treadmill

•  The speed goes up to 12 mph and the incline up to 12%. A lot of lower-cost treadmills only go up to 10 on each. Now, I'm certainly not going to be running at 12 mph ;) But, I hope to use that for sprints one day. The highest button I've pushed is 10 so far. On the incline, however, I have used the 12%--it makes a GREAT workout. Some treadmills go up to 15%, which would be nice, but those treadmills usually cost a lot more.
• This treadmill has iFit technology, which is something I've never used and probably never will. This wasn't a selling point for me at all.
• I like that the console is very simple. There aren't a million different buttons to try and press while I'm running.
• I don't remember the length or width of the stepping part of the belt, but when choosing a treadmill, it's important to get one that isn't so small that you're practically falling off the back of it with each step. Also, you want it to be wide enough for comfort.
• My treadmill folds in half, but that doesn't make it take up much less space. From what I've read, the treadmills that fold up smaller tend to have more problems with the hardware, so I didn't care about finding a treadmill that folded up.

• I wish that mine had a spot to put a magazine for reading. You can see from the first picture that there isn't a spot to put a magazine. I can't read while I run, but while walking, it would be nice. 
• I have found (with all treadmills I've tried, even at gyms) that the heart rate grip monitors are extremely inaccurate; so that wasn't a selling point for me either.
• My treadmill has built-in running/walking programs. I've used them and liked them, but I mostly just use the manual setting.
• Options that you can get on certain treadmills, but will most certainly pay extra for: a built in TV, a color touch-screen panel, downhill incline, etc. But keep in mind that the more features you have, the higher the risk of something breaking.

Overall, I would just suggest thinking about what YOU plan on using it for, and then find the simplest version you can find that meets your needs. 

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Q. I was just wondering if you ever had a hard time sleeping when you were losing weight?  I'm a good sleeper till I start to count my WW points again.  If you did, do you have any tricks for a better nights sleep?

A. It is definitely harder to sleep on an empty stomach (for me, at least)! But from the very beginning of my weight loss, I would always have a bedtime snack. I usually saved that time for dessert--a brownie, a cookie and tea, wine and a piece of chocolate, etc. I know a lot of people think that you shouldn't eat right before bed, and maybe that's true, but I always have (and probably always will). Maybe give it a try and see if it helps :)

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Q. Did your bra sizes drop quickly during weight loss, and did you have to keep buying new ones? I'm wondering how much mine will shrink as I lose weight. 

A. I've actually never been very large-busted... at my heaviest, I was a C cup. I can't remember exactly what my band size was, but I want to say it was 42 or 44? Anyway, my band size went down, but I resisted buying new bras until I couldn't stand it anymore--because bras are expensive, and I knew I would have to get another new one soon anyway. So I think my bras went from 44C, to 40C, then 38B, then 36B (which is what I wear now--although I'm probably closer to an A cup!).

I didn't really notice the decrease in breast SIZE as much as the perkiness--they are not at all perky anymore :(  But it surprisingly doesn't bother me--I'm fine with having small boobs ;)

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And now a question for all of you...
How have you been staying cool in this heat wave? Has it changed your summer plans at all?

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Bullets

What a waste of a perfect Saturday! I didn't do anything today. ;)

• When I woke up, I finished reading my book, The Wrong Mother. It was good, and held my interest enough to actually finish it--which is a rarity lately! It's a murder mystery, and despite the fact that I had hard time keeping track of all the characters toward the end, I was engrossed enough to finish the book within a week (very fast for me).
• Today was a rest day, which is good because it was 100 degrees today! I avoided going outside all day.
• For the past week (or maybe even longer) I've had this feeling that there is a hair or something stuck in my throat. I know that sounds strange, but my doctor a Google search made me think this is caused from stress. I know that I don't actually have a hair stuck in my throat, but that's the only way I can describe the weird feeling. It's been driving me CRAZY.
• I've also had a twitchy eyelid for a few weeks, which I've also read can be caused by stress. Coincidence?
• I gargled with some mouthwash today, and because I was trying to get it back in my throat as far as I could (to hopefully fix the "hair" problem), I ended up swallowing some. It was only about a tablespoon, but I was coughing and just totally grossed out. It left a horrible taste in my mouth, and then I was extremely nauseous for the next three hours or so. And unfortunately, it didn't get rid of that hair-feeling.
• The kids and I watched a movie called Dolphin Tale this morning. It's a family movie, and those usually bore me, but this movie was great! I cried at least 10,000 times during the movie--not out of sadness, but just because it was such a feel-good movie. My kids really liked it, too, and I was impressed that they made it through an entire movie (they usually get bored with movies after just 20 minutes).
• Estelle keeps taking her nail scratcher out of the box... so that she can lie down in the box and sleep. She just barely fits in it.

• I got a FedEx delivery today, which I will share with you soon (hint: it involves a giveaway!)
• I've still been eating vegetarian. It's been...about three weeks now? So far it's been a piece of cake and I haven't missed anything.
• It's supposed to dip back into the 80's this week, which will actually feel good compared to the 95-105 temps we've had lately.
• Noah is going to be 8 years old on Friday--I cannot BELIEVE how fast my kids are growing!

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A super hot 10-miler

Boy, did I pick a bad day to run 10 miles outside.

The kids spent the night at my parents' house, so I woke up bright and early at 5:30 to drive to the Metropark and start running by 6:00. The idea was to finish before it got TOO hot outside. When I stepped outside, the air was so thick it was hard to breathe. I couldn't believe how humid it was at 5:45 in the morning! As I drove to the Metropark, I started having second thoughts. But the sun was just coming up, and it was gorgeous next to the water:

I wanted to try and run at a pace that felt similar to running on the treadmill, just to compare my pace to running outside vs. the treadmill. I didn't want to push myself too hard, for fear of not being able to finish the run; but I didn't want it to feel too easy, either.

I wasn't focusing too much on my pace, just running by feel. I brought along my iPod, and I was listening to Jillian Michaels' podcast. I saw at least 10,000 bunnies all over the path, and one baby deer. I had mapped out an out-and-back route, and as I approached the turn-around, I ran into a family friend, so I chatted with her for a minute or so. I even saw a hang glider (parachuter? Not sure what to call that!) above me, which I never see around here:

Can you see it?!

I was getting really hot at that point, and as soon as I turned around, I was bummed to discover that the sun had come up over the trees and was right in my face. There wasn't any shade coming up for a few miles, and I started to get a little worried about how much I was sweating. I only brought water with me, instead of a sports drink, which was stupid on my part (no sodium).

Thankfully, my knee was holding up well--I was able to keep running without any walk breaks. At mile 7, I was back into the Metropark, and I felt my whole body get covered in goosebumps despite the heat (a sign of heat exhaustion). I took that as a cue to take a walk break. I walked a little to bring my heart rate back down and drink some water. Thankfully, I got about a mile of shade.

At mile 8, I got nauseous. That has only happened a couple of times while running, and I knew it was a bad sign. I decided to be safe and call it quits, so I stopped to call my dad (the first time I've ever called for a pick-up!). He works at the Metropark I was running in, so I was going to ask him to drive me to my car. Unfortunately, his cell phone was turned off--he never has it on when it's important that I get a hold of him!

I put my iPod in my pocket to be more aware of how I was feeling (and breathing). I walked for a little bit, then jogged a little, and kept repeating that. I stopped for more water about a mile from the car, and I doused myself with water from the fountain to cool off. That cooled me off enough to walk/jog the rest of the way back to the car.

The first 7 miles went pretty well!

I was so relieved to be done! I definitely should have planned better. In retrospect, I should have 1) warned my dad to leave his phone on, just in case; 2) brought Gatorade instead of water; 3) planned my route backwards, so that the sun wasn't in my face for the worst part of the run; 4) when I saw how hot it was going to be, completely forget about trying to set a good pace and just run much more slowly than I wanted.

My splits:

The first half of the run was actually going pretty well, and I felt good. It wasn't until I turned around and the sun was in my face that I started to really feel the heat. I definitely learned some lessons for next time, though!

I burned 971 calories, and I had already planned what I was going to spend them on--you guessed it, pecan pancakes at Cracker Barrel. Rather than go right after my run, however, I decided to wait and go for dinner when Jerry and the kids could go with me.

That was actually a wise choice, because it helped me to stay on track with my calories all day. If I had gone right after running, I'm afraid I would have had the "eff it" mentality and overate all day (which is what happened last week!). The pancakes were delicious, per usual, a great way to spend the calories I burned.

If you're running in this heat, please be careful and listen to your body!

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My first blog post as a Fitterati is now posted on the Fitness website! It was so much fun to write--it reminded me of when I used to write columns for my high school newspaper ;)

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A lesson in sugar

It's a good thing my blog doesn't rely
on my stellar photography skills ;)

I'm so glad I didn't end up bringing any cake pops home "for the kids" last night, because by 7:00, I was feeling really binge-y. If I had the cake pops here, I would have eaten them--all of them. Thankfully Jerry was here last night, because he kept me from sabotaging myself by giving me a massage.

At around 10:00 pm, the kids were still wide awake (Eli fell asleep in the afternoon, and napped for an hour... which meant he wouldn't go right to sleep at bedtime). We decided to take them outside and let them do sparklers. I've always been scared of those things, because I can remember my little brother Nathan having to go to the emergency room when we were kids from a spark going into his eye.

Not to mention how short the stick that you hold is! It's easy to get burned. So I was super excited when I saw this idea on Pinterest--poke a hole in the bottom of a Solo cup, and stick the sparkler through. It will protect the kids' hands. My kids had a blast, and blew through two boxes of sparklers in no time at all.

This morning, I woke up to more thunderstorms. I actually love thunderstorms, so it was kind of nice. Last night in bed, while it was storming (and later when people we setting off fireworks), Jerry and I talked about how cool it would be to have a glass ceiling so we could watch the storms and fireworks. Then I realized it would probably feel super hot like a greenhouse, so we nixed that idea ;)

I went to get a few groceries today, and I saw something at the store that I was tempted to buy:

I kind of think the Bud Select 55 and MGD 64 taste like carbonated water, so I can't imagine this will taste much different... but I may give it a try next time I go to the store. Have any of you tried it? My favorite low calorie beer is Beck's Light (64 calories), but it's very expensive and kind of hard to find, so I rarely buy it.

My kids each bought a can of Arnold Palmer, and when we got home, Eli asked me if it was healthy. I told him no, and he asked why. I took that as an opportunity to SHOW him the amount of sugar in his drink. I saw that there were 39 grams of sugar in the whole can, so that meant there were about 10 teaspoons of sugar (4 grams of sugar =1 tsp).

I started measuring out sugar by the teaspoonful into a glass, and asked Noah and Eli to tell me when to stop (when they thought I got to the right amount). Noah told me to stop after three teaspoons. Eli guessed eight. When I showed them the amount, I was hoping they'd be shocked and decide "Oh yes, it IS bad for you!" but they both said simultaneously, "Can we eat the sugar?"

LOL, total sugar lesson fail.

I guess I can't expect that to work on them if it won't even work on ME ;) Show me the amount of sugar in cookies or ice cream, and it doesn't make me want it any less!

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Fourth of July party

Jerry and I don't usually do much of anything on the fourth of July, but my parents decided to have a party this year. I was really happy that Jerry was off work today. He's been working so much lately!

Since he was off, I actually had the option of running outside instead of on the dreadmill. However, I chose the latter--shocking, right?! I've discovered that my knee doesn't give me any problems when I run on the treadmill, so I'm actually growing to like it for that reason. And as I mentioned before, I have been watching shows on Netflix while I run. The Biggest Loser is the perfect show to watch when I run--I pretend Jillian is yelling at me instead of the contestants ;)

Today on the schedule was the same as last week: 15 minutes easy, then four repeats of (5 minutes tempo + 2 minutes easy), and ending with a 10 minute cool down--a grand total of 53 minutes. I turned on the Season 10 finale show of TBL and started running.

I've noticed that my "easy" pace is feeling easier each time I run... which is awesome, because it means I'm probably getting faster. I'm curious to see what my pace would be outside in ideal conditions (today it reached over 100 degrees, so I am perfectly content running in the air conditioning). I know that my outdoor pace is not going to be this fast, but I feel like I'm getting back to where I was before I started marathon training.

Jerry is working Friday, so unless my mom can watch my boys in the morning, I'll have to do 10 miles on the treadmill. I'm learning to like the treadmill, but 10 miles on it will be tough. Anyway, I felt awesome after running, and I was dripping with sweat. I took a shower and got ready for the party.

I ate lunch before I left, so that I could hopefully avoid the food at the party until dinner time. For lunch, I wanted something cold, so I had a cup of fruit salad (that I made for the party) topped with Kashi GoLean Crunch and almond butter. It was a really good, light lunch.

There is fruit under there, I promise!

I asked my mom what she planned on doing for food at the party, so I could plan out in advance what I was going to eat. Everyone was going to bring a dish, and my mom had brats to cook on the grill. I brought the fruit salad I made and a vegetarian hot dog to throw on the grill.

I was really surprised at how good the veggie dog was--I wasn't expecting it to taste very good. With the ketchup, mustard, and onions on it, I wouldn't have really known the difference. I ate two cups of the fruit salad, and avoided all other food.

Until dessert.

My aunt made cake pops, and they were tempting me the whole afternoon. I finally decided to eat one, and just estimate the calories in it. I guessed about 200 calories. It was delicious, and worth every calorie! Then it was very tempting to go back for another, but I restrained myself.

It was extremely hot all afternoon. I wore my favorite green sundress (the one that many of you complimented on my Michelob cider review). I actually got that dress for $2 a Goodwill. I love it! But I felt so sticky and gross (there was 100% humidity today). I sat outside under an umbrella and chatted with people.

It's kind of interesting--when I was obese, I despised the heat. I would have stayed indoors in the air conditioning the entire time and complained about the heat along with everyone else. But ever since losing the weight, the heat doesn't bother me that much. I felt so "normal" sitting outside on the fourth of July at a picnic, wearing a sundress ;)  Sounds cheesy, I know.

My aunt kept asking me if I wanted to bring home some cake pops "for the kids", but I just couldn't do it. I knew my kids wouldn't get a single one of them if they were in my house (I would eat them all), so I declined.

I still have about 300 calories left today, so I'll probably have a couple of glasses of wine tonight. I'm glad that I stuck to my guns at the party, even with the cake pop!

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Talking about blogging

It was thunder storming today, so we didn't get to go to the creek. Which was good, because I needed a break! I can't believe the boys aren't sick of it yet.

I didn't mention this yesterday, because I didn't know much about it at the time.. my friend Tammy's husband, Stan, is writing a book about blogging. He already signed his book contract and it's all in the works now, but he wanted to interview me for his book. (Rather than having just the big-name celebrity bloggers, he wanted to show that "normal" people blog as well, and it impacts their lives--which I am a good example of).

So yesterday evening, I met with Stan and Tammy at a coffee shop for the interview. It was actually really fun to talk about blogging with someone! I don't know many bloggers (in real life, anyway), so I don't get to talk about it much.

Blogging has become such a huge part of my life, and I absolutely love it, so naturally I would like to talk about it with someone that knows what I'm talking about ;) Stan has a great blog called Pushing Social which is actually about blogging. I so wish I had known about his expertise when I thought I wanted to switch to Wordpress and was completely overwhelmed!

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Yesterday, I made an old favorite for lunch--Indian Lentil Soup. I forgot just how good it is! I've always said that the hardest part about eating vegetarian would be to give up broth. I cook a LOT of soup in the fall and winter. Despite the fact that I love to cook, I hate making homemade broth, so I just buy the base (like a paste) that you mix with water. I've seen vegetable stock at the store, but it's super expensive.

Anyway, the last time I was at Gordon's, I was super excited to find this:

It's the same stuff that I normally use, only it's a vegetable base instead of chicken or beef. I used it yesterday in the lentil soup, and it was delicious--I wouldn't have any idea it was made with vegetable broth instead of chicken broth, which is what I used in the past.

Yesterday, I had the soup with a spinach salad for lunch (which I didn't like, so I chose not to have salad again today). Today I had the soup and an apple with granola for lunch. Both yesterday and today, I felt full until dinnertime--that never happens!

Lunch is always a hard meal for me, because I never know what to have. Then I'm always hungry again an hour later, and that is prime binge-time for me. Making a batch of the soup didn't take long, and now I can have leftovers all week.

I've been doing pretty good this week as far as eating goes, so I hope to see a loss on the scale tomorrow. I had a couple of bad days at the beginning of the week, so it could be a wash. Tomorrow we're going to a party at my mom's house, so it will be hard to stay on track, but I'm going to do what I used to do while I was losing weight--eat before I go.

The party is at 1:00, so I will just eat lunch before I go, and then have something ready to eat when I get home. I'm going to make fruit salad to bring with me, so if I'm hungry, I'll have a cup of that. Jerry is watching what he eats right now too--he hasn't gained more than a couple of pounds, but he said he really likes where his weight is right now and he is worried about gaining because of the habits we seem to have picked up lately.

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The other day, after reading all the book suggestions, I was really in the mood to read. The library was closed, so I just looked at my shelf (which contains very few books--just some my sister gave me that I've been meaning to read for a while).

I picked one called The Wrong Mother, by Sophie Hannah, and I really like it so far. It's suspenseful, which keeps me interested enough to keep reading. But I've requested (at the library) quite a few of your suggestions. I'm sure they're all going to become available at once, and I'll have 10 books to read in three weeks, lol. That always happens to me--I can never decide what one to pick, so I pick too many, and can't possibly read them all. But some of them are pretty popular, because there was a long waiting list.

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Baseball again tonight if it doesn't get called off because of a thunder storm!

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