Fall favorites

I did a post like this earlier this year, and it was a lot of fun to post pictures of things I've been enjoying lately. So here are some things that I've been loving over the past few months...

Peanut Butter Ginger Chews

Holy Hell, these things are good! They are individually wrapped candies (kind of like piece of taffy) that taste like peanut butter with a little kick. I eat one every day after lunch, as a kind of signal that lunch is over and I need to stop eating now. They are usually about $1.29 per box (I think there are 9 per box), but Kroger had them on Manager's Special for $0.69!

Sandwich made with: English muffin, egg whites, bacon, and cheese.

I've eaten one of these almost every single day for two months--breakfast, lunch, or dinner. I've never been a huge egg fan, but I can't get enough lately.

Free Panty coupons from Victoria's Secret.

I have no idea how I wound up on the mailing list for Victoria's Secret (I don't have a VS credit card), but I'm sure glad I did! I get one of these coupons about every two months, and there is no catch to the free panties. You just go to the VS store, pick out the color and size you want, and you don't even have to pay sales tax! (Of course, I usually end up buying something else that catches my eye...)

Cabernet and a Dove Promise (dark chocolate)

This has become a nighttime ritual of mine--a glass of red wine and a Dove Promise. I eat the promise very slowly--taking just a nibble at a time and sucking on it until it's gone.

Grapes, grapes, lovely GRAPES!

 My newest obsession. And I'm not even exaggerating when I say I'm obsessed with grapes. I've eaten 2-3 cups of grapes a day for the past 8 weeks or so (since I started WW). I like green ones and red ones equally, and I usually buy some of each. Grapes are 0 PointsPlus, and these have helped me to stay on plan when I'm feeling snacky.

Shorter, faster runs

I've said this about a thousand times since the marathon was over, but I am SO HAPPY to see 3-4 mile runs on my schedule again :)

These mugs I got from Sam's Club

These are the perfect mugs. They hold 16 oz., they are tall and skinny rather than short and fat (making them easier to hold), AND the handle fits all four of my fingers. I bought them in a set of six--two of each color pattern (green, red, and tan). They are also good quality ceramic, not that cheap hollow kind.

Vanilla ice cream cone from McDonald's

 My favorite way to spend 5 PointsPlus! When I feel like indulging and I don't have a lot of spare PP left, I always go for the McD's cone. Very satisfying!

My Teavana PerfecTea Maker

Using this little contraption actually makes it fun to brew tea! I usually brew some in the morning and then again in the evening. I wrote more about this on yesterday's post.

My Simply Vera pajamas from Kohl's

The most comfy pajamas I've ever owned. They are expensive, but totally worth it. I really need to get another pair, so that I have one to wear while I wash the other ;)

My entire Ragnar Relay team

This is a strange addition to my list, but I love every single one of these people! I feel like they are all very good friends of mine, and I've yet to meet nine of them.
Meredith and her husband have lost a TON of weight together, and are super inspiring.
Lealah is incredibly sweet, and helped me get through a miserable 20-mile run.
Ada gave me some encouragement and helpful advice when I was really struggling with my weight this summer.
Andrea and I have a lot in common--the weight loss, the body lift surgery, television appearances, and even the struggle with the last 10 pounds.
Rik doesn't even need an explanation. He came all the way here to run a frickin' marathon with me! And he didn't even leave me behind when I bitched and moaned at mile 19 (and 20, and 21, and...)
Jennifer is hilarious. I could listen to her talk all day and never get bored! It could be the NJ accent.
Linda really is "frickin' fabulous at 40". She's also been reading my blog from the beginning, and she's always been very encouraging.
Jen is a machine. I can't even describe her better than that. She wakes up at ungodly hours to workout!
Allison is my numbers-buddy. She likes data and charts and graphs and all that stuff as much as I do, and she's a champ at organizing stuff for our team. She has also come a VERY long way in her running this year.
Carly, as the newbie to our team, has fit in very well. She is incredibly sweet and enthusiastic about being on our team. I love her determination.
John is so much fun! He's always making jokes that lighten any mood, and I can't wait to sit down over umbrella drinks with him in Key West.
And finally... Mary. As I've mentioned before, Mary is pregnant, so she's no longer an "active" member of our team. But she is my go-to person when I'm feeling an urge to binge. She has helped to keep me in check quite a few times, because she truly understands binge eating disorder.
In less than two months, we will all be running from Miami to Key West together!

Peppermint Stick CLIF Bar

Today was actually the first time I tried this flavor, but it was SO DELICIOUS that I just had to include it. It's seasonal (boo!) so I'm going to go to Kroger and stock up on these. I love the texture of CLIF Bars--kind of like raw oatmeal cookie dough--but the flavors can be hit or miss. These were a hit for sure!

The Walking Dead television show (photo source)

 I never, in a million years, would have guessed that I would like this show. I despise anything having to do with zombies, but this show had me hooked. I had promised Jerry that I would watch one episode while he was at work (and I didn't even think I would make it through one). By the time he got home, I had watched the entire first season. Bahaha! It's THAT good.

Tea/coffee time with Jessica and Renee

 I don't have any pictures of us at the coffee shop, so this one from Winers will have to do. But we've been getting together every couple of weeks for tea/coffee and chit chat for an hour or so. It's been nice to have adult conversation!

Half Size Me podcast

I know I've mentioned this podcast a couple of times, but I've been listening to it during my runs. I'm almost caught up on all the episodes now, and I've really enjoyed it. Heather interviewed me for the podcast a couple of months ago, and she said it was going to air on Monday. I'll share the link when it does. But if you like podcasts and/or weight loss success stories, this is a great one to listen to! She does a lot of interviews with people that have lost weight, and I love to hear about their stories.

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So tell me... what are some things you've been loving lately?

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Indulgence

Like I said yesterday, I've really been looking forward to my runs each morning--but today was an exception. Today is Friday, my long run day. I like running when I have 3-4 miles to do, but I really wasn't looking forward to the 7 miles I had on my schedule today. Seven miles at a 10:24/mi (ish) pace.

I decided I wanted a change of scenery to get me through, so I went to run on the same street that I did my 20-milers on. The last time I ran on it, I remember thinking how much it hurt my knee, because the sidewalk is so uneven.

Before I left, I ate a very indulgent breakfast:

Oatmeal with caramel dip, coconut, and chocolate chips--this was SO good! This combo came from the Hungry Girl cookbook. It was 8 PointsPlus, which is more than I usually spend on breakfast, but lately I've been trying to spread my PointsPlus out during the day a little better.

After the kids got on the bus, I headed out. After I parked, I was even kind of procrastinating in my car, flipping through Runner's World. Finally, I decided I just need to do it. The first mile, I felt great. I covered up my Garmin with my sleeve, so that I could just run by feel instead of looking at my pace, trying to hit 10:24 mile after mile.

Then about a mile and a half in, I was just so tired. I think I need to re-order my runs each week, so that I'm not running a race-pace run on Thursday followed by a long run on Friday. Because by Friday, my body is tired! During mile three, I really tried to slow down to hopefully feel better. I kept imagining that I was running with a beginner runner friend, and I had to run at her pace. That worked for a mile or two, and then I actually did start to feel better.

If I went straight back to my car, it would be exactly six miles, so I had to run a little detour. I am so glad that I did! I ran on streets I never ran on before, and I actually had a couple of hills to run--actually they were bridges, but they inclined like hills :)

I was relieved to get back to the car and be done. I was pretty surprised when I saw my pace--I felt like I was going much slower than I actually was, which is probably why I felt so tired!

On the way home, I had to stop at the post office and then stop at Kroger for bread. While I was in Kroger, I decided to spend some of my weekly PointsPlus on ice cream. I got a pint of Butterfinger ice cream, which conveniently had 640 calories total--and I burned 660 on my run. It was meant to be, I think. So I ate ice cream for lunch :)

Then I spent all afternoon working on the sparkle skirt tutorial, not realizing how long that was going to take.

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Q. I know you are no longer a coffee drinker. How did you switch over to tea? Was it gradual? Also, what are some good teas to try? Do you add anything to your tea?

A. I only became a "tea person" over the past year, after giving up coffee. I gave up the coffee cold turkey, and it was rough, but I felt a million times better after a couple of weeks of being coffee-free. However, I really missed the routine of having a hot cup of coffee in the morning to start my day. So I decided to have tea.

I had a ton of different flavors of tea in my cupboard from the occasional cup I would drink. My favorite coffee replacement became Lipton black tea with 1 Tbsp. half & half and 1/2 tsp. sugar. Ellen, from Fat Girl Wearing Thin, wrote about tea on her blog one day, and it got me very curious about loose leaf tea (tea without a tea bag). I e-mailed her to ask about it, and I was interested enough to give it a try. I bought the Teavana PerfecTea Tea Maker and I absolutely loved it!

I was totally intimidated to use it at first, because it looked so complicated. But it's very simple. Here's how it works:

This is the tea maker--it holds 16 fl. ounces

First, you just scoop the loose tea into the
tea maker (I usually use 1.5 tsp per cup of
water, so 3 tsp. to fill the tea maker)

Then you pour boiling water into it and close
the lid (some teas are supposed to use different
temps of water, but I don't get technical like
that--I just boil it). Let it steep for the
recommended amount of time.

After it steeps, just set the tea maker on top of
your mug or tea cup. This releases a stopper
on the bottom, and the tea pours out of the
bottom and into your cup! The leaves stay
inside, and then you can rinse them out later.

I don't know why it looks so white here,
I know I didn't use THAT much half & half!

See how easy it is? I've been trying different types of tea--and I was in sticker shock at first, because tea is expensive! I've ordered different kinds from Teavana and Tea Guys, but in the mornings, I usually stick to plain old Lipton loose black tea. At nighttime, I usually have a fruity tea--I absolutely love the Teavana Youthberry Wild Orange Blossom and the Blueberry Kona Pop. It's expensive, like I said, but it lasts a long time. If you go to a Teavana store, they have samples for you to try (that's how I got sucked into buy it--one taste, and I was sold!)

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TUTORIAL: How to Sew a Sparkle Running Skirt (super cute, easy, and cheap!)

As promised, here is the running skirt tutorial. I explained it the best I could, so I hope it's clear enough!

This tutorial is written for a skirt to fit my size--my hips (where I wear the skirt) are 35", which equates to 29" unstretched elastic. To make it bigger, add approximately two inches of fabric for every one inch of elastic. (It doesn't have to be exact). The waist band will be very stretchy, so the measurement doesn't have to be perfect.

The finished skirt will be 11 inches long. If you want it longer, just measure down farther from the sparkle line (I measured 12 inches down, but just add however many inches you want to add to the length of the skirt).

Each skirt will only cost roughly $5-10 to make.

Materials:

• 1.5 yards of fabric (you CAN buy 3/4 of a yard and cut it in half, then sew the pieces together--you will have two seams instead of one); 1.5 yards will yield 2 skirts. I will explain this better at the very end of the tutorial.
• 3/4" elastic, 30 inches long
• Thread
• Scissors, straight pins, a safety pin, and a tape measure

This is 1.5 yards of fabric folded in half lengthwise. Just ignore the bottom piece for now. If you want, you can make a second skirt out of it.

The edge of the fabric looks like this (the sparkles start a couple of inches from the raw edge). This will become the waistband of the skirt.

Starting at the sparkle line, measure 12 inches down (vertically). Do that across the entire length of the fabric, and mark it with pins or a fabric marker. (If you want your skirt longer or shorter, you can adjust the length by adding or subtracting from the 12 inches)

I didn't explain that very well on the photo, so here is a drawing. You'll cut along that dotted line where you've measured 12 inches.

Cut across the length of fabric at that line (the first dotted line in the sketch above). Be careful to cut through just one layer of the fabric, so that you can use the bottom layer for another skirt. After cutting, the fabric will be 1.5 yards long and about 14 inches tall (the 12 inches of sparkles plus the raw edge).

Fold the raw edge down toward the inside of the skirt, so that the top of the skirt is where the sparkle line starts. Pin down the raw edge inside of the skirt.

OR--if you want the inside to look nicer, instead of leaving the edge raw, you can tuck the raw edge under by 1/4 to 1/2 inch and pin it that way (see photo below). It'll look neater on the inside, but it's kind of a pain to do it that way and nobody is going to see it anyway! (I was making this skirt for someone else, so I folded it under, but on my own skirts, I just leave it raw)

Now it's time to sew. Sew along the edge you pinned, leaving 3/4 inch from the sparkle line fold. Make sure you leave a couple of inches open at the end, so you can insert the elastic. You will sew it closed later.

Cut your piece of elastic so it's 30 inches long. (If you are making a larger or smaller skirt, add an extra inch or so to the measurement because you will overlap it a little when you sew it together.)

Attach a safety pin to one edge of the elastic. This will help you guide the elastic through the tunnel you just made.

If the elastic fits well, then line up the edges of the elastic like this. Make sure it's not twisted!

Sew the elastic together--I like to sew it in a square, like the photo below, to really reinforce it.

Then tuck it into the skirt and give it a stretch so that it falls into place inside of the tunnel.  When it's inside of the tunnel, sew the gap shut.

Now, the elastic is loose inside of the skirt. Stretch the elastic as far as the fabric will allow (gently, though!) to even out the fabric along the skirt. When you let go of the stretch, the gather of fabric should be nice and even.

This next part is the most difficult to do. Just take your time. You're going to sew through the fabric and the elastic, while stretching the elastic, around the entire skirt.

Line up the edge of the fabric under the needle of the machine to sew it along the top of the skirt. Before you start sewing, use both hands to stretch the elastic while you sew. If you don't hold the stretch while you sew, the elastic won't stretch without breaking the thread when you're done.

The fabric will be pulled taut, because you're stretching the elastic out while you sew. If you don't stretch it out while sewing, the elastic will be sewn in a way that it won't stretch any more without breaking the thread holding it together. You may need to ask someone to give you an extra hand for this part.

The next part is optional. You can leave the bottom edge of the skirt as it is (raw along the cut line)--I actually prefer it this way. Or, for a neater edge, you can sew a hem.

To do that, fold the raw bottom edge up 1/2 inch, and then another 1/2 inch, so it looks like the photo below. Pin it like that around the entire skirt, and then sew.

And there you have it! A cute sparkle skirt :)  (You'll definitely want to wear something under it, haha)

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Now, about buying half the amount of fabric...

I've always bought 1.5 yards of fabric for my skirts (which makes two), but you can also buy half the amount you need. Here is what it looks like when you lay it out, unfolded:

So if you buy less (we'll say 3/4 in this example), here is what it looks like:

Cut along the center fold line, and you will have two identical pieces of fabric. Then you will line up the short edges and sew them with right sides together, like this:

Then just follow the tutorial as if this were one piece of fabric.

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2 month comparison

Believe it or not, I have actually been looking forward to my runs in the mornings! That is VERY unlike me. Usually I have to talk myself into just doing it, and I'm always glad that I do--but it still felt like a chore. But with these 3-4 mile runs on my schedule, I actually look forward to getting some fresh air and starting my day off with a run :)

This morning, it was still a little dark when I left the house, so I threw on my Ragnar reflective vest. Jerry took this picture when I got back so I could show you just how many colors I could possibly wear on one run...

Let's count: bright blue, red, neon yellow, white, pink, black, navy, and burgundy (on the shoes). I'm nothing, if not fashionable.

On the schedule today was three miles at "race pace", which, for the Ragnar, is 9:00/mi. Last week, I did this on the treadmill, so it was easy to just set the pace and run. But today was going to be difficult. I have two speeds--fast and slow (relative to me, of course). Hard and easy. Today was supposed to be somewhere in between, and that's hard for me to do!

I kept looking at my Garmin every quarter mile or so, and adjusting my pace as necessary. I ended up doing the first mile too fast, the second too slow, and the third too fast... but over all, my pace ended up being 8:56/mi, so it was close. But I'd like to get to the point where I can just run a 9:00/mi pace by feel, rather than the fast-slow-fast-slow thing I was doing today.

When I got home, I had Jerry take some pictures--I wanted to show a comparison of now versus August at the Wood Duck Dash race. When Stephanie e-mailed me the pictures from the race, I was horrified. I had no idea that my weight gain was so obvious! I didn't post the photos because I hated them. (Well, I still hate them, but at least my weight is back down now).

So anyway, here is a picture from August (I think I was about 153 ish in that pic) and then today:

Not nearly as big a difference as my before and after photos, but I can certainly see that the weight loss is noticeable. The scary thing is that I didn't see the gain when I looked in the mirror--I could feel it in my clothes, but was in total denial about it, apparently.

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This afternoon, while the kids were at school, Jerry took me on a tour of his work. I toured it once before when we were just married, but I didn't remember anything about it. I don't talk about Jerry's job on the blog (in order to maintain some sort of privacy), so I won't get specific--but he works in a production factory. I had to put on safety glasses while we walked around.

It was SO HOT in there! There were parts of the plant that were 150+ degrees. It felt like walking inside of an oven because of all the furnaces in there. You could actually see the heat in the air (just like when you look at asphalt on a hot day, and  you can see the heat radiating off the surface).

Anyway, it was really interesting to see what he does at work. I asked if I could take pictures, but they don't allow anyone to take pictures inside. I have a whole new respect for Jerry going to work in that heat, though! I could barely stand to be in there for 30 minutes--I don't know how he does it for a whole shift.

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I wrote a post for Fitness.com about running or walking your first race, and what to expect. If you're interested, you can check it out here.

I'll leave you with this 'outtake' photo from this morning--I only wanted to post it because look how skinny it makes my legs look ;)

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Maintenance and Wed. Weigh-in

I will start by saying that I was SO happy with my weigh-in this morning!

At 137, I am officially back in my weight maintenance range. This doesn't mean that I'm going to try and maintain this weight, however. I need a little cushion ;)  I'm going to do my best to get back to 133, which is my goal weight.

This is from the Weight Watchers app

The funny thing is, I've never actually reached my goal weight... in my life. When I first started losing weight, my "happy weight" goal was 185. Well, that came and went, so then I chose 153 (100 lbs lost). Then I kept losing, and decided on 126--half of my starting weight. I eventually reached my lowest weight (December 2010, after my jaw surgery), which was 127.5. Once my jaw healed, I went up to 137 ish and stayed there for a while. My weight has been going up and down between 135 and 155 for a couple of years now.

A while ago, I changed my "official" goal weight to 133 (I felt really good there, and all my clothes fit nicely). About a year ago, after my skin removal surgery, I got as low as 134--just a pound from reaching goal!--and then the battle continued. I reached a very scary high weight a couple of months ago, at which point I started Weight Watchers (out of desperation to get back to goal).

And as of today, I've gotten back to my "happy range", but I still want to know how it feels to reach my goal weight! I know it's stupid to get hung up with numbers, but I've struggled with my weight my entire life, and I always dreamed of the day I'd reach my goal weight. Then I would feel like I was officially in maintenance mode, and no longer trying to lose.

I would like to get down to 133, just to have that feeling of reaching goal. And this time, I am going to have a maintenance plan. Since I never actually reached goal, I never had a maintenance plan. I expect my weight to fluctuate, but the goal is to fluctuate between 133 and 137 rather than 135 and 155. I've found that it's the last five pounds that actually make the biggest difference in how I feel and how I look. I was going through pictures today from just a couple of months ago, and I can see a huge difference from the beginning of September to now. I'll try and get a good comparison picture tomorrow.

So anyway, today was very exciting to actually get back in my maintenance range, and still feel strong going into the last four pounds.

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This afternoon, I worked on making a sparkle skirt. I took a ton of pictures, so I will turn it into a tutorial in case anyone else wants to make one. They're easy to make, and very fun to wear in a race. At the marathon, I got a LOT of compliments on it while I was running. Anyway, I made this for someone else, but I liked the color so much that I had to make one for myself as well:

Now I feel like I've got to find a Christmas-y race so I can wear it :)

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By the way, if you missed it a few days ago, I'm inviting any of my readers/followers who have a home-based crafting business (maybe an Etsy shop, or a website from which you sell your handmade crafts of any type) to advertise yourself on a blog post (for free). Just write up a paragraph or two about you and your craft (whatever you'd like) and include a picture or two, as well as a link to your site/Etsy shop, and I will compile all of them into a single post in a couple of weeks. I (obviously) love handmade items, and would love to help any readers who may want some exposure :)  Just send me an e-mail at SlimKatie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com.

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