Transformation Tuesday #37

Happy Transformation Tuesday! I can't believe it's only Tuesday; I've had a super busy couple of days, and it feels like it should be the weekend already ;)

I only have a couple of transformations to post today (and this first one is mine!) but here goes:

I really loved the bar stools that I'd gotten for out kitchen snack bar, but the metal broke on one of them. My dad tried welding it, but it's still rickety and needed to be replaced. I didn't want to spend much on stools, so I looked on Facebook Marketplace and found a solid pair for $35. I didn't love them, but I think it was just because of the color. I could imagine liking them if I painted them.

When we picked them up, I was happy to see that they are really good quality and we shouldn't have any problems with them breaking. I primed and then painted them with leftover paint from my kitchen cabinets (a very light blue). I love how they turned out! Once they've finished curing, I'm going to move them into the house (they're in the garage now).

It's funny, whenever I look at the legs of the chairs I'm reminded of the rolls on my arms and legs when I was a baby--hahaha!

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This transformation is from Deb, who shared her paintings before--she was making over her den into a mid-century modern/tiki theme. She sent before and after photos to share today.

"The final piece of my den transformation is complete. I know I’ve sent pictures of the paintings I made, but I’ve now “finished” (as much as anything is ever finished to me) the final project in this room: the coffee table/trunk. My husband needed a place to store his instruments so it needed to be functional, fit with the vibe of the room, and be pretty cheap. I picked up this cedar chest because the top was in terrible condition. It didn’t exactly fit with the mid century mod/tiki vibe, so I added a funky design to the top.

This room went from the place to store stuff we don’t know what to do with, to a pretty cool hangout spot! Getting the gas logs replaced (not cheap!) was the motivation I needed to get the room fixed up so we would actually use it!"

- Deb

Deb, you did an AMAZING job on your den! I think I told you already that I love mid-century modern furniture. I really like the light blue chair in the corner. And WOW--the trunk looks so good! Painting the design on there is super creative and it changes the entire look. Love it! Thanks so much for sharing.

I need some more transformations to post, so please go transform something--anything!--and submit them. I love drawing inspiration from other transformations. Just send a before photo and an after photo to me at: katie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com. Make sure to include your name and a description of the transformation. Thanks!

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Return to Running Recap : Week 11

Another week in the books! Eleven weeks ago, I honestly didn't believe I'd ever get back to running three miles--it felt SO HARD to just run for 60 seconds at a time. For the past three weeks, though, I've run three miles, three times per week.

This week, I noticed that it's actually starting to feel easier. And that the speed I've been running on the treadmill (5.0 mph) is starting to feel too slow. I'm going to continue to run this pace until I can keep my heart rate in Zone 2, though--if I increase the speed now, it'll only increase my heart rate.

Anyway, I ran on the days I said I was going to: Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. I have such a hard time with that--I procrastinate and then have to fit them all in toward the end of the week. So my plan is to continue with Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday being my running days.

Just like the last couple of weeks, each workout was three miles at 5.0 mph on the treadmill, with my main goal being to keep my heart rate as low as possible. My MAF zone is 131-141 bpm (Zone 2 on my Garmin).

Wednesday

There is really nothing notable about this run. It didn't feel abnormally hard or easy. My average heart rate for each of the miles was 131, 147, and 149 bpm.

Friday

I almost didn't run on Friday. I knew I said I was going to, but I was really tired and decided to put it off until Saturday. However, at 9:44 PM, I had the urge to do my run. No idea where that came from! But I figured I'd better take advantage of it. I changed out of my pajamas and into running clothes, then hopped on the treadmill.

I didn't think it felt very hard, but my heart rate was pretty high (mile splits were 145, 150, and 152 bpm). I felt like I had a lot of adrenaline, so maybe that's what made it feel easier. Afterward, I felt so good! I laid back on the treadmill (while the cats all walked around, sniffing me curiously) and just enjoyed that good feeling--it was a feeling that I missed a lot since I stopped running. (That's when I took the photo at the beginning of the post)

Sunday

I actually wasn't sure if I was going to fit in my run yesterday. I've been working in the garage a lot the past few days (I painted some chairs and I have been working on the table that Noah and I are making--adding coats of polyurethane and now working on the legs). It's been super humid outside and it makes me sweat like crazy, even if I don't feel hot.

When I came inside last night, it was almost 7:00 PM, and I could tell I was dehydrated. I was breathing heavier than normal and my heart rate was up, so I felt like it would be a bad time to run. But I felt like I had the energy to, and I was already sweaty and in need of a shower, so I went ahead and did it anyways.

I challenged myself not to look at the treadmill display AT ALL during the whole run (my Garmin beeps every 12 minutes so that I know I've run a mile). I knew I had to be getting close to the end and then I got a text message--I tried to glance down at my phone and I unintentionally saw the treadmill display showing 2.64 miles. I swear, the next 0.36 miles felt like it took forever! Once I saw the number, that's all I could think about. I'm going to start covering the display from now on.

I actually expected my heart rate to be much higher, considering I already felt like I'd been working out before I even started. My heart rate for each split was 144, 149, and 149 bpm.

Overall, the week went well! I quit drinking coffee, like I mentioned last week. I switched over to tea, but the tea has less caffeine than the half-caffeinated coffee I was drinking before. Since the time of day that I ran varied greatly this week, it's hard to tell whether or not the caffeine had any effect on my heart rate. (I ran at 10:00 AM, 9:45 PM, and 7:00 PM).

I'd like to run at a consistent time of day, but I really just wait until I feel good enough to do it--if I have anxiety or I'm in pain or something else that might have a negative effect on my run, then I wait. I do find that I feel much better running in the evenings than I do in the mornings, though.

This coming week, I just hope to have another run that makes me feel as good as I did on Friday night--that's what I miss most about running!

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Reader Emails

Posting "Reader Mail" recently was pretty fun, and I'd like to do that now and again. I'd had the idea to do posts about news from readers (things people may want to share--like an engagement, a new baby, buying a house, paying off debt, adopting a pet, etc), as well as bargain finds from readers (cool things you may have picked up at a garage sale or thrift store), or other topics that I write about on my blog. (Over the last decade, my blog has gone from mainly weight loss and running to a smorgasbord of DIY, thrifty finds, recipes, mental health, pets, and other stuff.) So rather than making several separate posts like that, I may just post emails from readers now and then if it relates to something I generally write about. (And don't worry, I will always ask permission before sharing something.)

Anyway, here are a few reader emails to share!

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This first one is a recipe from a woman named Lynette. She had seen my posts about all the peaches I bought and wanted to send me her favorite peach recipe. It sounded so good to me that I made it the very next day! It turned out to be delicious (my family ate it all within 24 hours) and I asked her if I could share it here. Here is what she wrote about it, and the recipe itself:

"It is a simple recipe but oh so good. And it is almost impossible to ruin. I accidentally scorched the marshmallow mixture once and I really did not want to throw it away. I carefully avoided the scorched areas and to my surprise, the recipe was still perfect. If you do not try it this year, I encourage you try it sometime. I love that it uses fresh peaches because you can really taste the peaches."

Peaches and Cream

44 large or approximately 4-1/2 cups mini marshmallows

2T lemon juice

2T orange juice

1-1/2 cups fresh peaches, peeled and sliced peaches (I usually slice the peaches into wedges and then slice into small bite-size pieces)

1 cup whipping cream, whipped

Melt marshmallows and juices over low heat. Refrigerate until partially thickened. Add peaches and whipped cream. Pour into 9-inch pan with graham cracker crust. Refrigerate.

For the graham cracker crust, I just use 1 pkg + 2 crackers of graham crackers (made into crumbs), 1/4 cup melted butter and 1/4 cup sugar. I apologize as I am not sure of the exact measurement of graham cracker crumbs.

If you try this recipe, I hope you like it as much as I do.

Best wishes,

Lynette

Well, I tried it and loved it! I did a terrible job on the crust (it did not stay together--from what I read online, I don't think my butter was melted enough) but that didn't change the taste at all. I imagined this in a pie plate, but I chose to use a square baking pan instead (just easier to portion out). I hope that it looks how it was supposed to, haha--but it was easy to make and it was definitely the perfect summertime dessert! Thank you for sharing. (I bet this would be good with pretty much any summer fruit--strawberries would be delicious)

Here is a printer-friendly version of Lynette's recipe!

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This next email is from Elaine in Nebraska. She actually sent this for a Transformation Tuesday post, but she didn't have a "before" photo. I only post transformations with before and after photos, but the organizer in me loved this "after" photo of her spices--so I wanted to share this regardless. Despite the fact that I love to organize, my spices are a total mess right now--this inspired me and I hope to get mine organized like this soon. Thank you for sending this, Elaine! It looks so nice and neat.

"Hi Katie-

I'm heeding the call for transformation pictures. Alas, no "before" pictures, but it's not too difficult to visualize a jumble of spice jars of varying sizes and ages. I wasted so much time trying to find what I needed when cooking a meal, and finally had had enough. I ordered these spice racks, but the labels that came with them really didn't match everything that I had, so I went with 1-inch labels from an office supply store and made my own labels with my label maker. Under each label, I wrote the "best by" date in pencil, so I have a clue as to how old my spices are, and can update as needed. Lastly, I alphabetized them! Such a small but rewarding project to finally tame those spices! 

--Elaine from Nebraska"

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This email is from Karen, who wanted to share a thrifty find that she and her husband bought. I love finding used items that are perfect for what I've been looking for; I've furnished pretty much my entire house from Facebook Marketplace!

"We got this single floor lamp from Craigslist for $75.00, and put it in our living room. We got this pair of buttercream yellow floor lamps from Craigslist and put one on either side of the bed, and we only paid $75.00 for the pair. We didn't talk anybody down--we paid the asking price. We love all of them!

- Karen"

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HERITAGE RECIPE: Barbecued Beef (a.k.a. Sloppy Joes)

When I chose this recipe from the heritage book, I had no idea what a surprise I was in for (not about the recipe, but about the person who submitted it).

Hopefully it's not too hard to follow...

This recipe for Barbecued Beef (a.k.a. Sloppy Joe's) was submitted to the Rockwood, Michigan Area Historical Society by Jeanette Laura.

I've heard the name before, but there are a lot of Lauras in Rockwood (which is where I lived until I was 15 years old) so I wasn't sure. I asked my mom and she explained that it was my "Aunt" Vickie's mom. (Vickie was my mom's best friend when they were growing up, and I always called her "Aunt Vickie" because they were very close.)

Anyway, Vickie's mom is Jeanette (who just turned 97 years old!) and Jeanette was married to Emerson. This is where it gets interesting... Emerson actually built their home in Rockwood (where they had nine children!) Annnnd, years later, when my parents were ready to buy their first home, that was the house they bought!

So, the house that I lived in from the time I was born until I was 15 was built by Emerson, who was the husband of the woman whose recipe this is. Hopefully that's not too confusing--but isn't that a cool coincidence?!

Jeanette's recipe included a note that said: "Sloppy Joes get served around here often, especially at Dad's poker parties. I just put it in a crock-pot after it's done and let the men help themselves."

I'd never heard of sloppy joes being referred to as barbecued beef, but she listed both names in her recipe. I've always loved sloppy joes but I preferred the Manwich version rather than the few homemade recipes I'd tried. Still, I wanted to give this one a go.

I'm so glad I did! I won't be using Manwich again--this recipe was too good (and super easy). I made homemade hamburger buns to use with it (another heritage recipe--I'll post that another time). If you like sloppy joes, definitely give this recipe a try!

As always, I am typing out the recipe exactly as written in the heritage book and I made it without substituting ingredients or modifying the recipe. The printer-friendly version is rewritten with any clarifications by me.

Here is a printer-friendly version!

Barbecued Beef (Sloppy Joes)

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 c. chopped onions
1/2 c. chopped celery
1/4 c. minced green pepper
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 c. catsup
1/4 c. water
1 tsp. vinegar
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

Brown meat and drain excess fat. Add onion, celery, green pepper, salt, pepper and brown sugar. Cover and simmer slowly about 20 minutes. Combine catsup, water, vinegar and Worcestershire sauce, then add to meat mixture. Cook for an additional 20 minutes. Serve on hamburger buns.

My Notes:

This recipe was super straight-forward and I didn't question anything. It seemed like it would make such a small amount, though, so I wondered if it would be enough to feed five people (Eli had a friend over). Sloppy Joes are a great way to stretch a small amount of meat--with the homemade buns, they were super hearty. I think we even had enough meat left over for another sandwich.

To get specific, I used 80/20 ground beef; I doubt it matters, though. Also, 'catsup' is the same as ketchup--no difference in the product, just in the name.

When I've made homemade sloppy joes before, they were always watery for some reason. This recipe was the perfect texture.

I'm not a fan of celery and I usually leave it out of recipes that call for it (I don't like the texture). Since I don't modify the heritage recipes, I included it. I can honestly say that I didn't even notice it there--I chopped it small, but it mixed in with everything really well. And I'm assuming that it contributed to the overall flavor, so I would include it again.

I can see why Jeanette liked to serve this at the poker parties; it would be so easy to cook ahead of time and then throw it in a crock pot.

The whole family really loved these! We all agreed that we would like to have it again. (And it was fun learning that this recipe was served frequently in the house I grew up in, long before I was born!)

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Friday Night Photos

It's my favorite time of week... Friday night! I'm pretty sure the most exciting thing I'm doing tonight is laundry, but there is still something about Friday night that feels good. I don't have very many photos from this week (that I haven't already shared) but here goes...

Being stiff and in pain when I wake up every morning is really taking a toll on me. Mornings are the worst--my joints are extremely stiff and I walk like I'm 100 years old. It usually takes 90 minutes or so before I can actually function and it's really frustrating. (My third appointment with the rheumatologist is next week--but I don't know that she'll have any answers.)

Anyway, even though it's the last thing I feel like I can do when I wake up, I wondered if I go for a short walk (just around the block--half a mile), will it make me feel less stiff and painful? So I tested that out today. I was in a lot of pain but I managed to get Joey leashed and out the door. We walked slowly, but Joey loves that because he wants to smell everything anyway. By the time we got back home, I can't really say that the pain was much better, but I definitely felt less stiff and I was walking faster.

I'm going to try and do that every morning before I do anything else. Even if it's not helping, it at least makes me feel better mentally. And Joey loves the idea ;)

My next door neighbor is very into gardening and she's so good at it! I wish I could grow something, but even my attempt at starting seedlings in my kitchen failed because my cats ate them. Anyway, my neighbor generously shares her bounty with me sometimes and yesterday, she gave me this basil. Isn't it amazing?! That was a full grocery bag full of fresh basil (my kitchen smelled heavenly). I made pesto with it--I'd never made pesto before, but I love it!

This is a new project I'm working on. We needed a couple of stools for the snack bar in the kitchen (one of the ones we had in there broke) but I didn't want to spend much on them. I found these on Facebook Marketplace for $35. They're not really my style, but they are very well-made and sturdy, and I figured if I paint them, they'll look much better. Yesterday I primed them and today I put the first coat of paint on. Tomorrow, I'm going to paint a second coat. I'll share the "after" photo when I'm done.

A year ago, Eli was addicted to pop. We never have pop in our house (I don't really like it and Jerry could take it or leave it, but somehow Eli got hooked on walking to the store and buying a pop every day. We were sitting around a campfire up north last summer and somehow it was brought up. I proposed that if he gives up pop for a year, I'll pay him $1 per day--but only if he makes it for the whole year (so, it would be a total of $365 if he could do it).

He said he would do it (I totally didn't believe him) but he stuck with it--for a whole year! I really hoped he would decide not to drink it again after the year was up, but he was excited to try his favorite (Pepsi) and see if he still liked it as much as before. He walked to the store and bought one, and I told him I wanted to get a picture of him trying pop for the first time in a year.

I asked what he thought, and he replied, "It tastes just as good as I remember!" Haha. Well, I'm proud that he managed to complete such a difficult challenge. That's tough for a 15-year old boy!

When I pulled up to my parents' house last weekend to pick up Luke and bring him to my house, my heart melted when I saw this in the driveway. My dad had turned a kids' basketball hoop into a gas pump for Luke and Riley's bikes. It's so cute! I love the pictures he drew of them, hahaha.

When I went grocery shopping, I wanted to buy some Nutella (which I hadn't bought in a long time). I was a little taken aback when I reached for one; I had to choose between these three! They were all the same, just with different labels--obviously for a marketing thing. I just now looked it up out of curiosity and found, "Start the Nu school year with a smile" and there are labels for all the school grades. 

This is one of the peach muffins I made for the heritage recipes, spread with the peach preserves I made--it was so good! 

I saw this on Instagram (@90smovieclips) and I thought it was a fun decision to make...

From those, I would choose a Drumstick, Cherry Coke, and Friends. 

And here is another...

From these, I'd choose Cool Ranch Doritos, Peanut M&M's, and Jurassic Park. Feel free to chime in with your own responses!

And that's all I've got for this week. Have a great weekend :)

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Some FAQ's About How I'm Losing Weight

This post feels premature to me because I've only been back to calorie counting for 10 weeks and I'm still 30 pounds above my target weight. (I don't really want to say "goal weight" because I'm not sure what that is, exactly. I know I feel best at 130-135, but if I am only able to get to 145, I'm cool with that. I start feeling uncomfortable in my own skin when I'm above 145, so I am loosely aiming for something under that.)

Anyway, the last time I was under 145 was actually in early 2018--so it's been quite a long time! I am just hoping that I don't write this post and then stop seeing progress in taking the weight off.

I was about 130-135 pounds here, which is where I feel best.
Clearly, though, I was stronger back then. That tree was heavy AF ;)

I've gotten a lot of questions about how I've been losing weight and the details of how I count calories, so I wanted to write an updated post to 'How I Calorie Counted My Way Back to My Goal Weight').

Before I get into it, I REALLY want to stress that what works for me may not work for others. Everybody is different, and bodies respond differently. What works for others may not work for me, and what works for me may not work for them. I think it's super important to experiment and find out what works for you (especially if there are dietary restrictions for medical reasons to consider).

This post is actually going to be quite boring, because my biggest "secret" is that I keep it SUPER SIMPLE. Over the decades of dealing with my weight, I've learned that the simpler I keep it, the more likely I am to stick to it. So here are some frequently asked questions (and my answers):

Q. Do you track just calories, or do you track macros too?

A. In the spirit of keeping it simple, I only track calories. I would feel way too overwhelmed trying to track anything else in addition. And each time I've counted calories, I've been successful at taking off extra weight. I've tried all sorts of diets but nothing ever worked for me except for eating less food in the form of counting calories.

Q. Do you limit carbs?

A. Like I said with the previous question, I don't count anything but calories. So no, I don't limit carbs. I just eat whatever sounds good to me and I weigh or measure my food to log the calories.

Q. How many calories do you aim for each day?

A. I don't have an exact number. I roughly shoot for 1600, but I don't feel like it's mandatory to hit that number. If I'm feeling less hungry that day, I eat less; if I'm ravenous, I eat more. But when I average out the numbers, it's about 1600 per day.

Q. Do you add calories for exercise?

A. No, I don't--since I don't have a target calorie count, it doesn't really make sense to add in calories. If I'm hungrier on the days I run, then I just eat a little more. I usually find that I'm less hungry on running days, though!

Q. What exercise do you do?

A. I started the Couch to 5K plan the same day that I started counting calories. It's only three days a week and I followed the plan exactly as written--it starts out at about 20 minutes per workout and at the end, it took me about 36 minutes per workout. After completing the plan, I'm now running 3 miles, 3 days a week.

Q. What kinds of foods do you eat?

A. I eat anything that sounds good to me--I try to eat what I want most because that is what will most satisfy my appetite. I eat a lot of grapes (because I LOVE grapes!) and this week I've eat so many peaches that I feel like I'm going to turn into one. I usually eat a really light breakfast and/or lunch because I like to save most of my calories for my main meal (dinner).

For dinner, I usually just cook something that I've already posted the recipe for (you can find the recipes page here). Something that I make a point to avoid is changing the ingredients in recipes to be lower in calories. I know that sounds counterintuitive, but I like to use whole milk, real butter, full-fat cheese, real pasta versus subbing in cauliflower or something, and I don't cut back on those ingredients.

The reason for this is that I prefer to choose quality over quantity. I'd rather eat a smaller portion of rich, cheesy lasagna than a huge portion of zucchini "noodles" with plain tomato sauce and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. (This is just my personal preference; if I liked zucchini more than pasta, I would choose the zucchini!)

I've also noticed that I lose weight much more easily when I eat a smaller volume of food. Even if I eat the same number of calories, my body prefers smaller portions of higher calorie food than large portions of low-calorie food. I don't feel hungry when eating smaller portions as long as I get enough calories.

Here is a variety of what I've eaten over the past couple of months:

Also, I love dessert--I usually have something sweet every day. This is something I did throughout my entire 125-pound weight loss.

Q. What do you do when you don't know how many calories are in something?

A. Another lesson I've learned over the years is not to take calorie counting to the extreme. If I don't know the calories in something but I want to eat it, then I just search on my app to find something similar and I count the calories that way. For example, my mom made a "hummingbird pie" and brought some over. It looks like an apple pie with a streusel topping, but it's made with peaches (she got a box of peaches from The Peach Truck, too!). I didn't have her recipe and I didn't worry about that--I just ended up counting it as an apple pie with streusel topping.

When Luke stayed the night last weekend, we made homemade lemonade. We also had a movie night and made popcorn (and Luke asked if we could add a handful of Skittles to it, and as his fun aunt, of course I said yes). It was all about spending time doing something fun with my nephew, and I didn't want to worry about measuring out exact portions so that I could count it correctly. I just guesstimated it later by looking up similar things on my app.

We watched the movie Cars (which is why I used this filter) and sent this
"Jerry face" selfie to Jerry (he was in Wisconsin at the time).

So basically, I don't take it super seriously. If I'm going to have to count calories forever to lose/maintain my weight, then I want it to be something that I can fit into my lifestyle.

Q. What app do you use to count calories?

A. Currently, I use Cronometer, at the suggestion of a reader. It's very detailed and numbers-oriented, and as a "numbers person", I love that (even though I only actually count calories). I pay for a subscription for it, though.

The first app I always recommend to people is actually Fat Secret. I used that for a long time before I switched to Cronometer and it's the best free app I've tried (and I've tried a lot of them!). It's very user-friendly, there aren't ads, the database isn't overwhelming with hundreds of entries for the same item, and it's easy to create and save recipes (for easy tracking later). I highly recommend it.

Okay, I think that about covers the questions I've been getting lately... if I didn't answer something and you're curious, feel free to ask! Remember, these are things that work best for ME and MY preferences; it's important to figure out what works best for you. This post explains that in more detail--how to make changes that work for YOU.

Now, I just hope that I continue to see progress! I feel very confident that I have the determination to see this through--and beyond. I've learned just how easy it is to put weight back on, and I definitely don't want to have to lose the weight yet again ;)

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Wednesday Weigh-In : Week 10

I'm not sure when it became "a thing" to use a mirror selfie on my Wednesday Weigh-In posts, but that's what I've been doing. (My blog automatically uses the first photo in each post as a thumbnail on my main page, and the last thing I want is a huge picture of the scale on my home page!)

Anyway, trying to take a mirror selfie when you have cats is next to impossible sometimes. Estelle used to be in almost all of my photos, but now that Duck follows me around everywhere, he is the one that winds up in them. And Chick, for some odd reason, loves to get on my scale! So it's hard to weigh myself in the mornings because Chick sits down on the scale; then I take him off and then hurry to try to get my weight before he steps on again. It usually takes a few tries. They love bathroom time in the mornings, apparently!

Here are some outtakes of the photo I was trying to get for this post...

Which reminds me of a very funny photo I have of Duck when I was trying to do a mirror selfie for 75 Hard...

Anyways! Last week, I weighed in at 173.4. This weeks weight:

I was at 172.6, which is a loss of 0.8 pounds this week. Not a huge loss, but I'll take whatever I can get! That brings my 10-week total to 24.4 pounds. If you'd have told me 10 weeks ago that I would lose this much, I never would have believed it. I thought I was too far gone--it seemed impossible to take the weight back off.

However, I came to realize that when I *thought* I was trying to lose weight over the past couple of years, I wasn't really doing all that I could. It wasn't until I saw the scale on Day 1 in May that I got the determination to do it--no matter what. Seeing how close I was to the 200's again scared the bejesus out of me.

Sometimes the days feel like they go by so slowly--I have times where I just want to eat everything in sight, almost always due to stress--and it's very hard to be rational. However, I am super determined to see this through. (Here is my post on motivation versus determination--it explains the difference.)

I am finally, FINALLY, starting to feel a difference in my clothes. The shirts that used to be really baggy, then got tight and uncomfortable, are feeling somewhat loose again. Also, I can only wear my size 10 jeans once before washing because throughout the day they get looser and looser as they get worn-in. For a while, I couldn't squeeze into them at all--quarantine meant yoga pants! And then if I did manage to get them on, I was afraid to wash them for fear of not being able to get them back on, hahaha. 

Last year, I cleaned out my closet and got rid of a LOT of clothes that didn't fit anymore. However, I didn't want to part with all of my favorite things just yet. So I put them in bags and brought them out to the garage. I said that if I can't wear them within the next two years, then they're gone--I'll get rid of them. (My closet was pretty bare after that--I only kept things in there that were wearable at the moment.)

Before we went up north a couple of weeks ago, I was looking for a pair of pants that I knew I had kept. I brought in the bags of clothes from the garage to look for them, and I decided to try on the clothes that I thought might fit me again. And I found a lot! Mostly the sweatshirts/hoodies (like the one in the mirror selfie today). I'm not even going to attempt trying on the jeans for a while. I also found a few pairs of capris that I can wear now (although I still prefer to wear pants year-round).

I'm so relieved that I'm actually seeing (and feeling) the progress now. I was really worried that I was going to continue gaining weight until I was back up to where I started, at 253 pounds. I still have a good 30 pounds to go, but I'm almost halfway there!

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Transformation Tuesday #36

Happy Transformation Tuesday! On yesterday's post, I meant to write a plea for more transformation submissions and I completely forgot to do that. The past week has been so out of the norm for me--I really hope that this week feels a little more familiar.

Today, I'm going to start with one of my own transformations--something I've been working on since I picked up my peaches from The Peach Truck on Friday. In my head, when I imagined buying three dozens pounds of peaches, I thought we'd have no problem going through them. Noah and I love peaches, so I figured we'd eat a ton of them.

Well, I thought wrong. There is no way to eat that many peaches before they go bad, no matter how much I love them! So, I decided to make peach preserves (which, I learned, is different from jam--jam is made from mashed fruit, while preserves have large pieces of fruit). I tried the preserves on one of the peach muffins I made on Sunday, and it was delicious!

Today, I still had a LOT of peaches left, so I decided to make (and can) peach salsa. I think the salsa looked better before cooking it, but it still tasted really good just before canning.

I got 12 jars of preserves and 7 jars of salsa from the recipes I used. Here is the recipe I used for the preserves, and here is the recipe I used for the salsa. So here are the transformation photos...

And I have to share what the salsa looked like before cooking, because it's so pretty!

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I don’t have good before pictures but our front porch was very small. Our 3-foot wide sidewalk had buckled from tree roots. My husband had cut the buckled section out and inserted a flagstone but it didn’t look great.

We hired some men to add to the porch and to replace and widen our sidewalk to 4 feet.   They also skim coated the old porch so the colors would match. It’s one of our favorite spots to sit outside now.

- Pam, Texas

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My husband and I just bought our first home (we've been married for 14 years). Part of the front staircase looked pretty bad; the paint had long since chipped away and was an eyesore. The previous owners left behind masonry paint so I figured I'd take a stab at it. I did my best and tried to be as precise as possible but I ain't Bob Vila LOL (if anyone can remember him!). I'm glad with the end result. The new coat of paint made a big difference visually. I hope to become more "handy" as we adjust to our new home and tackle projects. Thanks!

- Katie

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Pam, I can completely empathize with having a narrow walking path. I really wish we'd made ours wider when we poured it. Your new porch area looks amazing! I love the little sitting area--that's something I've been wanting for years. Glad you're enjoying it :)

Katie, I think Bob Vila would be impressed! It never fails to amaze me when something as simple as fresh paint completely transforms something, and your staircase looks fantastic. You did a great job, I love that you weren't too intimidated to try doing it yourself. A huge congrats on buying your first home! That's super exciting :)

Okay, I am fresh out of Transformation Tuesday posts, so here is my weekly plea... please transform something (and don't forget to take "before" photos, even if you don't think you'll actually send them!). No transformation is too boring or too little or too (whatever), so please share! Just send a before photo and an after photo to me at: katie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com and don't forget to include your name and a description of the transformation.

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Return to Running Recap: Week 10

I'm not sure what to title these Monday posts anymore now that I'm done with Couch to 5K! Like I said last week after completing Couch to 5K, I still plan to run three miles, three times per week; my main goal is to run three miles at an easy effort (to me, that means in my MAF heart rate zone--131-141 beats per minute). My plan to do that, at least as of right now, is to run at the same pace for the same distance each time and look for a downward trend in my heart rate.

Eventually, I'm hoping that it will take less effort (shown by lower heart rate) to run the same distance in the same amount of time. Less effort = more fit. I couldn't care less about being slow! I just want to be fit again--and running three miles at an easy effort will make me feel great.

Just a forewarning--these weekly recaps will likely get even nerdier than they already are. As you know, I love numbers and data, so this heart rate stuff is interesting to me ;)

Right now, I'm doing most of my running on the treadmill (always at 5.0 mph) and I'll probably continue to do that until running feels easier. Running outside at this point is still intimidating (which is odd, because I used to run outside almost exclusively). I'm hoping that when the weather cools down in the fall I'll feel ready to run outside.

This past week, I started a running journal to look for patterns in my heart rate--if my sleep or hydration affects it, whether I've eaten or not, taken my medication, etc. It's kind of a pain to log everything, but once I get some insight into what makes me have good or bad runs, I won't have to write out all these details. I like writing out numbers, but the other stuff is boring to me ;)

Here is a recap of this past week:

Run #1 (3 miles) :

The week went by so quickly--I didn't even realize until FRIDAY that I'd gone three days between runs (I like to keep it to no more than two). So I did my first run for the week on Friday. I ran on the treadmill, 5.0 mph.

I actually felt pretty good, and somewhat energetic to start. I really wanted to run with a low heart rate, avoiding Zone 5 altogether (the ultimate goal is to stay in Zone 2, which is my MAF zone). For the previous run, I'd spent 41% in Zone 5 and 41% in Zone 4... which was the worst run I'd had out of the entire Couch to 5K plan!

Thankfully, I managed to avoid getting into Zone 5, but my heart rate was still higher than I would have liked. The average overall was 151 bpm (with mile splits of 144, 153, and 155 bpm). Much better than the previous run, but definitely needs improvement.

Run #2 (3 miles)

I did this one yesterday a couple of hours after Luke left. I was feeling pretty good and I hadn't planned to run until the evening, but because I was feeling good, I decided I'd better take advantage of that. I got on the treadmill (5.0 mph again) and tried very hard not to think about my heart rate.

I read my book and told myself I can look at the timer on the treadmill only after I'd read X number of pages. That helped the time go by so quickly! The first mile flew by.

I didn't feel much different than the previous run, but when I saw my heart rate afterwards, I was sure there had to be a mistake. I couldn't believe that my average was 147 bpm and the maximum it had reached was 151. (Mile splits of 143, 148, and 149 bpm.) I spent zero time in Zones 4 and 5.

The entire run was in Zone 3--and not even at the high end. I was right in the middle. I looked over my journal to see what was different from the previous run and the only thing I could think of was coffee.

As I've mentioned several times, my body is extremely sensitive to caffeine. It gives me horrible anxiety for hours (sometimes all day long) from a single cup of coffee (or even black tea). However, sometimes I stupidly think I can handle it and I'll get in the habit of having a cup in the mornings--then I only drink it to avoid the inevitable five-day-long headache that happens when I don't have it.

Anyway, several months ago, I got in the habit of drinking half-caff (I mix half decaf and half regular). I only drink one cup of it, but it's enough to where I feel jittery. I want to quit (because of the anxiety issue) but I get "the headache" and I end up giving in. (Like I said, it's stupid.)

For this particular run, I'd only drunk about half of the cup (I was playing with Luke and simply neglected it). When I got on the treadmill, I actually felt calm; usually, I feel nervous. (I know there is no reason to be nervous--but I still feel that way every time I run!)

The coffee was the only thing I could think of that may have had an effect on my heart rate.

Run #3 (3 miles)

This time (today), I decided to test out the coffee issue again, and I only drank half of it before starting on the treadmill. Again, I ran at 5.0 mph. The only real difference from yesterday is that I started at 10:30 AM instead of 12:50 PM like I had the day before.

I actually felt pretty jittery after only half a cup of the half-caff, so I debated waiting until later to run. I wanted to get it done, though, so I drank 16 oz. of ice water (not sure why I thought that would help, but the least I could do was hydrate). Then I talked to Noah and Eli for about 10 minutes, which distracted me from thinking about running. And afterward, I felt much better about getting started.

I really had no hope that my heart rate was going to be as low as yesterday, but I didn't want to think about that. Again, I focused on my book and only looked at the treadmill timer sparingly. I felt like I put in about the same effort as yesterday. I wanted to look at my heart rate while I was running, but I didn't want to be disappointed if I saw it was in the 150's. (It's funny--I used to do the same thing with my pace. I wanted my pace to be lower, so I played games with myself not to look. Now, I don't care at all about my pace, but I want my heart rate to be lower!)

When I finished the run, I wasn't gasping for breath, which was a good sign. I always sit in front of the fan behind the treadmill while I upload my run to Garmin Connect, and while I did this I was shocked when I saw my heart rate! And then I thought, "Dang it! I bet the battery died in my heart rate monitor during the run, which is making the average lower than it should be."

But when I looked at the graph, it was all there--nothing abnormal--and my heart rate really was the lowest it's been since I started Couch to 5K.

My average heart rate was actually 141--which is my MAF rate! The first mile averaged 137 bpm, the second mile was 143 and the third was 144. (The goal with MAF training is to keep your heart rate in the MAF zone for the entire run--not just the average overall.)

I really hope that the coffee situation will continue to have an impact. I'm going to switch entirely to decaf tomorrow. If cutting out caffeine affects my heart rate this much, I'll be glad to put up with the headache in order to stop drinking it again. (Even when I try to cut back gradually, I get a headache--that's why it's so hard for me to quit. The logical answer is DON'T START, I know.) The thought of coffee in the mornings is romanticized and I get caught up in those thoughts. But no more!

I'm going to start doing my first run of the week on Wednesdays so that I don't feel like I have to squeeze in three runs so close together. I'll plan for Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. I'm excited to see if my heart rate continues to stay on the lower side next week--I'm definitely ready for three-mile runs to start feeling easier ;)

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HERITAGE RECIPE: Peach Muffins

I'm sure it's no surprise that I chose a peach recipe this weekend from the heritage recipe cookbook. As you know, I bought 38 pounds of Georgia peaches from The Peach Truck a few days ago. I've been letting them ripen on the counter, and today they were perfect! So, I've spent all day up to my eyeballs in peaches--the biggest project is making preserves. The recipe I'm using takes a couple of days--which is a good thing, because I need a break from working in the kitchen!

While I was working on prepping the peaches, I decided that I'd try to find a peach recipe from the heritage cookbook--that way I could use up some peaches and make my weekly heritage recipe at the same time. Unfortunately, there were only three peach recipes to choose from--and one of them called for canned peaches, so that was out. I was left with Peach Muffins or Peach Crisp. The Peach Crisp sounded amazing, but I wanted to do something a little different; peach muffins aren't something you see very often, so I chose that recipe instead.

This recipe was submitted to the Rockwood, Michigan Area Historical Society by Stephanie Metzger.

As always with the heritage recipes, I am typing it out exactly as written in the book; I made this with no substitutions or changes. See my notes after the recipe for anything that may be unclear. The printer-friendly version below is written with any clarifications.

Here is a printer-friendly version!

Peach Muffins

1 egg
1/2 c. sour cream
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1-1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. fresh or frozen peaches, chopped/thawed

In mixing bowl, beat the egg, then add sour cream and oil. In another bowl, combine all dry ingredients, then fold into egg mixture; stir until moistened. Add the peaches and stir lightly. Spoon mix into greased muffin tins, each section 3/4 full. Bake at 375 F for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan.

My Notes:

This recipe is really straight-forward. As far as ingredients, I used full-fat sour cream and (obviously) fresh peaches. (I peeled and chopped 1-1/2 peaches to yield 1 cup)

I didn't even get out my stand mixer for this one--it was super easy and fast to throw together. (Exactly what I needed after blanching, peeling, and pitting peaches for what felt like days!)

The texture of the batter was very thick--I thought I had to have missed something, because it seemed TOO thick. But the recipe is so simple that I just went with it and hoped it would turn out. I figured maybe the juice in the peaches would keep it from being too dry. This is how thick the batter was:

I spooned the batter into a greased muffin tin--the recipe didn't say how many muffins it would make, but I got seven (and they were the perfect size).

I baked mine for 25 minutes; I kept expecting to see the tops turn brown, like I am used to seeing with muffins, but they stayed very white. After 25 minutes, they were just starting to brown, but I was afraid to let them go any longer because I didn't want the bottoms to burn.

I was excited to try one; they looked very different from the texture of muffins I'd seen before. The best way I can describe the texture is like a very thick pancake or a fluffy biscuit. (I'm guessing this is due to the sour cream; I don't normally bake with sour cream, even though I know it's commonly used in baked goods.)

The peach flavor was very mild. I love peaches, so I would have liked to taste it more, but Jerry doesn't like peaches and he still really liked the muffins. You really only get a taste of peach when you bite into the little chunks of peaches. The muffin itself doesn't have much flavor--but it's really good somehow! I just kept thinking of how it reminded me of thick pancakes (pancakes don't have a lot of flavor themselves, but somehow they are so good!).

Overall, I really like this recipe, but I wouldn't say that it's super special in any way. Maybe once I'm done making my peach preserves, I can spread it on the muffins for more peach flavor. Regardless, I think I'll circle back to this recipe at some point--I really like the texture of these!

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