Run.Chew.Sparkle

AHHHHHHH can you believe it is the last day of October. Holy Macaroni and Cheese balls where has this year gone!!! Just darn right crazy! I have say my highlights for October are quite small, nothing really fantastic went on in my life in October. The beginning of the month I was super sick with a crazy bad stomach flu, that knocked me right on my butt for days. I did indulge in a whole lot of pumpkin items. LIKE A LOT! And I am totally okay with it because for the month of November I will be doing EVEN more. I really increased up my mileage this month. And really felt strong with my running and actually was able to stick to a plan and increased like I was suppose too. I got to cooking a lot more this month and trying out lots of recipes, check out my Fab Finds and Daily Eats pages. I actually finished and started a book and the TV series that went with it, Orange Is The New Black, I can not wait for Season 2. At work I finally feel like I am making progress with my goals ...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!! Every time Halloween comes around, I feel the need to sing the song that I learned in grade school, I am sure you know it, H-A-Double L-o-W-double E-N, Spells Halloween. Or something to that nature. I enjoy Halloween, its fun to be out of character for the day, watch Scary movies, eat lots of candy, and play tricks or treats with friends and family. I dressed up every year, except probably the last 6 years. I don't have kids and since I live far away from my family and cousins, I don't have anyone to take trick or treating, which I LOVE to do. The mall I work at does a trick or treating and I love it, I usually never work it because it is darn zoo but it is cute to see all the little kiddies dressed up. Growing up I went trick or treating in two different areas. I lived in a small town but very fortunate enough to be by both my grandparents, so I would start the night where one lived and then end the night where my other set lived. I made out better th...

I made a big mistake in running today, a big, hot, cursed filled mistake. I had a holiday meeting at work today at 8:30 so normally that is when I am finishing my run but because of the meeting I had to start at 10:00. I thought after my 13.1 run on Saturday that I was done with long runs, but I looked at my new Women's Running Magazine and inside was a half marathon training plan and for week 9, they had a long run of 11 miles, which came after the 13.1 mile time frame. I was doomed and not ready for this run today. I am off tomorrow also but I really wanted a day where I sleep in, wake up late and lounge on the coach for the morning and doing a run at 5:00 am was not going to let that happen. So I figured oh what the heck, how bad could 10:00 in the morning be. Well, it was hell. Pure HELL! I dressed all in black, why, I have no freaking clue or how I thought that was a good idea. I also tried a new water enhancement, which dried out my mouth and tasted horrible. And I wore a b...

Even though I am on vacation, I am still weighing in and not getting off plan this week. Actually I am doing more baking and cooking this week to keep me on plan. This morning I got a good work out in with Jacke early at the gym, it was so nice to change it up a bit. Then for the majority of the day I did little things around the apartment I have been wanting to do, especially the laundry. I watched a whole lot of SVU, god I love when there is a marathon on and I also have a new obsession of The Big Bang Theory, so I have been dvring old episodes when I see they pop up on the guide. At 5:00, I went to my Weight Watchers meeting, I also brought my WW members some of the Almond Butter Balls as a nice little treat. Everyone seemed to really enjoy them. I weighed in and lost .8 again. Woohoo! Another loss, 2nd week in a row. It is such a great feeling, even if it is a small loss, it is a loss. I just want to keep on keeping on with this losing. I know I can get there. I haven't don...

First off this dish was beyond delicious!! I will be making this often, and being that today normal is my Taco Tuesday day, I opted out of getting my typical Taco meal and made this instead. I am so glad that I did. I found this recipe from Undressed Skeleton Here is her link  Undressed Skeleton She is an awesome blogger, as I had posted earlier. I swear every day she posts new things and they are easy to make and so low in calories, which results in low plus points. Here is her recipe for this truly amazing dish Baked Mexican Black Bean Spaghetti Squash Serving Size 1 cup 1pp or for 2 cups 3pp 1 extra large Spaghetti Squash 1 can of diced chili tomatoes 1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed and low in sodium 4 Tbsp of Green Chilis 1 tsp of garlic powder 1 cup of shredded Mexican Reduced Fat Cheese 1/4 tsp of black pepper 1 tsp of cumin I microwaved my spaghetti squash because I wanted to speed up the process a bit. I knew if I roasted it, it would take m...

I really enjoy trying new foods, before my healthy eating days, weird food or things out of the ordinary,were well out of my ordinary too, I would never venture out and try new foods. Then the craziest thing happened, I started losing weight and my pallet changed. I really enjoy trying new items and new foods, especially veggies. I came across these products originally from Hungry Girl, she mentioned them in one of her emails and I take her advice pretty highly, so I knew these were going to be good. Garden Lites are a line of frozen souffle and veggie muffins. I have only tried the souffles, but I saw in a recent magazine they now have a line of veggie muffins, which look really tasty. I love these line of products because they are made to be quick and easy. They are packed with protein and vegetables. The souffles come in microwavable bowls and take only about 4 minutes to make, something I can bring to work and eat quickly. I have had success finding these products at Target and P...

I am really enjoying this staycation, the main thing I am really enjoying is the fact I have no plans for each day, except for the fact I will be working out each day and just relaxing. I am also taking on baking and cooking items I have been meaning to do, but because of work and life I am too tired to do so. This is what vacations are all about. Would I have loved to be home in New York with my family for the week, of course, but finances just aren't in the plan this time around. And when I am home, I cant really just unwind, I am contently going and going, so this is a nice change of pace. Today, James left super early to go on his golf trip for the next 3 days. I hate to see him go and leave but I think it is a nice vacation for our relationship too, its always nice for us to have some time apart and do our own thing too. I got up a couple of hours later and might Jacke for our run. It was a bit of a struggle this morning, I really felt like I was lagging behind, but I made i...

James and I try to have at least one date night a week, sometimes it consists of just going to dinner and pigging out or dinner and a movie, either way, we try to have one night we go somewhere together besides our traditional Taco Tuesdays. It is hard for us to have time now because we both work retail and well with the holiday fast approaching, I mean really fast approaching, our schedules are becoming total opposites. Considering we both have time off this week, we wanted to do a dinner and a movie last night, but James got home late from work, we knew a movie was not going to be in our plans. So we decided to go out to dinner downtown and then grab a couple of drinks afterwards. James and I have been together for probably 7 years, on and off. Officially as a "couple" per say for the 4 years, either way or for how long, it has been the best. We sure do have our ups and downs, sometimes the downs seem to out weigh the ups, but one thing is for sure, I love him with all my...

I am a big fan of breakfast, especially quick and easy types of breakfast. I usually never have time for a sit down one because I am on the go to work, or coming back from a run or just do not have the time, so I like food that I can grab and go or use to make something really quick. On Pinterest I have seen a lot of Egg Cupcakes or Egg Muffins and I have really wanted to try them. My friend Jacke had mentioned she had made them in the past also, so I reached out to her for suggestions on how she makes them and then used what I had in my kitchen, here ya go.. Turkey Egg White Muffins I took 6 pieces of Turkey bacon and sliced in half. I put one half lined in the muffin pan. Then poured 3 tablespoon of All Whites Liquid Egg Whites into each muffin cup. I put 1 teaspoon of a pepper, onion and tomato mixture I got from the grocery store. It comes already diced and ready to go (see I really am that lazy). Then I sprinkled 1 tsp of Low Fat Shredded Cheese on top of each one. I had...

I think the biggest thing to my success with losing weight and sticking to it has been my desire to try new products and find new products. I am not one to make the same thing every day or stick to the same items and meals, I need variety and that is what I look for at the grocery store. Here are 5 items I am glad I found and really loving lately: This brand of ice cream is truly fantastic and award winning in my book. They have a huge variety of different flavors, I have tried the Chocolate Peanut Butter and this one Vanilla Maple. If you check them out online they have some many different kinds, they also have a store locator's, so you can try to find which retailers sell it. I found this one at Publix, a grocery store around here. A serving is 1/2 cup which is only 1pp, BUT the whole pint is 4 pp!! Yeah the whole thing is only 4pp!! Not that I suggest eating the whole thing, but I mean if you had a night where you may want too, this should be the first thing you grab....

So I am on vacation for the next 6 days. I took time off this week as my last vacation and time off before the holiday season begins, seriously once November hits my life is dunzo! Every year I say I am going to and something always comes up, but this year I did it and I am thrilled. I am off today until next Friday! Woohoo. I don't have much planned, some house cleaning and rearranging and relaxing and of course getting my runs. I love that I really have no plans and can just do whatever. My boyfriend is also off this week but he is going to Orlando for a golf trip with the guys, so it is me to myself and I am very okay with that. After my run today I planned since it was a Saturday to go back downtown to the Saturday morning market. Like I mentioned with have finally hit 70 degrees so I can wear my cardi I bought at Target awhile ago. I loved the color and it is a medium and still big! I really wanted to pair it with my teal tank and it just felt like fall to me. I wore ...

With all training programs I have looked up and read, I have noticed that they have you run the 13.1 mileage before the race, weeks before, to give you a feel and adjustment, primarily you will run this training run at a slower pace because come race day, your adrenaline is pumping and your speed does pick up a bit, being surrounded by 1000's of other runners. The Women's Running Half in November will be my 4th Half Marathon, but the more exciting part is it will be my 4th half this year alone. Yup, in this one year alone I will have completed 4 of them. I know to a lot of running enthusiasts that might not seem like a lot, but to someone like me, new to this whole experience and almost self taught, that is a pretty amazing thing! I know in some training programs, they have you run more than the 13.1, actually going up to 14 miles, since I am fine with just 13.1, I stick with that mileage. Like I have said in the past, I really don't follow a strict running schedule becau...

Quick post I just realized that in 30 days I will be running my 4th Half Marathon! HOLY HECK!! 30 days and 4th..wow I cant believe it. I absolutely love this journey I am on and when I run one, I cant wait to run another one. The weather in Florida right now has been fantastic and has finally become fall like. The weather is around the 70's, little breezy and no humidity. I mean when I run and sweat, I no longer have puddles in my shoes, which is awesome. I love a good sweat session, but I love the cool weather so much more. I ran last night with my running bff and it was such a perfect run, we went a little slower, walked a bit more and then I finished strong, I got in a nice 4.60 miles. Today is my rest day because I am working a longer shift and then tomorrow I am planning a 13 mile run. It will be my last big run before the half. I have been having some ankle, lower leg issue. I think I pulled a muscle, because the pain hurts, not so much when I run, usually it hurts a bi...

So we have all heard the saying.."Breakfast is the most important meal of the day" and I never really understood how important that was until I started my healthy lifestyle journey 2 years ago. Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day, it kicks my whole day off into high gear. It fuels and gets my gears in motion, before I am in moving motion. I used to really just enjoy lunch and working in the mall you can find some really get places to have lunch. You know the places, Chinese samples, pizza, Chick Fil A, Hooters wings, Red Robin, Cheese steaks and of course Auntie Annies, with their warm pretzels. Oh I could go on and on. But I can confidently tell you I never eat in the food court anymore, not that I cant, I really just choose not too. So lunch is usually something quick for me, that I brought from home. When I am off of work, I really put together a nice lunch, but work wise, I am gobbling it down before the next customer walks in. But breakfast, oh break...

Tuesday's are sometimes one of my favorite day of the week and it happens to be my weigh in day, which can be also my least favorite day of the week, depending on the week I had, plus today was my day off, which makes for an amazing day anyway. I slept in a bit, because I mean isn't that what days off are made of! I took my conference call from home and then went to the gym. Yup, that's right I actually made it to the gym this morning. I got on the elliptical and found SVU on a channel and worked it out for 45 minutes, I really got a sweat in and my legs were feeling great, plus it was a great SVU, so I had to finish the show, lol. After the elliptical I did some weights, working on everything, abs, legs and arms. I finally was doing weights and it felt like an awakening. I really need to incorporate that back in my life more often, at least once a week, for sure. After my great hour work out, I did our grocery shopping, we were out of EVERYTHING! I love grocery shoppin...

I love Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough!! I seriously love it, for example my post on the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Smoothie. Last night I did a 4 mile run and it was super sweaty and hot and I was dripping with sweat and I was hungry after my dinner, so for dessert instead of something super sweet, I wanted something that would keep me full all night. It turned out to be delicious and perfect for my craving, this would also make a great overnight oats, which I think I might try soon! Here is the yogurt... 1/2 cup of Plain Non-Fat Greek Yogurt (1pp) 2 tlbs of PB2 (1pp) 1 tsp of mini chocolate chips (1pp) 1/2 of a Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Quest Bar (2pp) Drop of Vanilla Extract 1 Sweetener of choice Total: 5pp Break up the Quest Bar into pieces and mix everything together! Enjoy!!

This morning I actually got up and went for a run before work, usually if I have to work at 930, I like to sleep in and then I will come home and run after work. In a perfect world that is what I would like to happen, but I usually have a crappy Monday and want nothing more than to fall asleep and just relax when I get home, so I make it a rest day, but not this Monday!! My friend Jacke asked me if I would like to do a run with her this morning and because we haven't ran together in well over a month, I happily accepted and I am so glad that I did. The run was nice, it was a easy pace for me, we ended up getting in 3 miles. It felt awesome to run with someone else, especially someone who is one of your very best friends. We were able to catch up and work out and burn calories, all the best combinations for a Monday morning. During the run and after, my right inside part of my ankle was super sore. I was limping and it was a pain every time I put my foot down. I don't have a...

A pretty decent Saturday today, full moon is still shining bright which is making some of my customers super crazy, but all and all a decent day. I got up this morning and went out for a run. I got a good 4 miles in but it was a TOUGH 4 miles, I probably could have done 4.5 but once my Runtastic app said 4 miles, I stopped it and walked the rest of the time to cool down. Fall has NOT come to Florida yet, it is still so hot out! I mean like Hell heat, scorching hot. I felt like the sun was literally sitting on my shoulders while I ran. I usually don't complain about the heat, I mean I live in Florida, I should be able to deal with it, but today I was just beat, it was way to hot for even me. I even walked more seconds on my 1:00 minute intervals. But I survived and got a mileage run in, not the best pace and time but the miles got in. After my run, I did some housework, you know the simple stuff, dishes, laundry, cleaned up a bit and a nice big cup of coffee to drag me along. Mo...

Good Friday Evening Everyone. A pretty uneventful Friday it has been over here in these parts, but I blame everything on the Full Moon. Seriously why is it crazy town when the moon is full!! So I have a bunch of random things going on today, so I figured I would just list them just for the fun of it. I am new to the whole blogging thing and each post is a little different, trying to find a rhythm. Thanks for joining the party. Some random things about today: I slept past my alarm just for the fun of it today because I love to rush, BUT I did take time to enjoy coffee of a coffee mug, rather than a travel one today. I had a water globe drop on my head at work today, luckily the water didn't explode but now I have a bump on my head. I branched out an ate a different QuestBar today, I tried the Strawberry Cheesecake, because it is only 4 points, still not my favorite. I am trying to drink a lot of water but still love love my Diet Coke, I just cant seem to order that when I ...

Yesterday was kind of a busy day off for me, but I figured I could recap as much as I could. Started my morning off with a 11 mile run downtown. Usually when I do my long runs, I wake up at 5:00 and head downtown to be there by 6:00. I like to start my morning early so I have the whole rest of the day and considering I am doing my longer runs, it usually means more time, usually the length of time is 2 hours. It is a long time to be running and exercising. I choose to sleep in a little bit longer because I just couldn't get out of bed. My bed was literally calling my name and had a grip on me. Plus the weather has been so nice, I thought a later run would be okay. So I slept in for a hour more and started my run downtown about 730. The run was beautiful, the weather was great, there was a small breeze and be still my heart, my fuel belt was perfect. I was running slower than last time because I just did the 11 miles 4 days before, but it felt great, my legs and butt weren't...

I had seen these on Instagram and went on a search for this delicious item. I love cookie dough, in my fat days or shall we say extremely unhealthy days, I would make cookie dough just to eat the raw cookie dough. Or even worse, buy those pre done kind and just eat it out of the tub and never make the cookies, I know so sad. I can't believe I used to do that. But even though I am out of my fat days and extremely unhealthy days, I still love Cookie Dough for sure. I especially love Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Quest Bars, holy yum! When I saw the smoothie mix I knew I had to get it. I ended up finding them at Publix. The smoothie mix makes 2 smoothies, you just blend the contents with 1 cup of skim milk and that's it. Quick and easy for me. I blended the contents with 1 cup of Almond milk. It blended nice and smoothie but had more of milkshake texture. And who am I to complain about that. It definitely tasted like cookie dough. It was creamy and had lots of chocolat...

At my Weight Watchers meeting yesterday, my leader told me about a low point apple crisp and I couldn't resist making it today. I love apple crisp, I don't have it often or really at all, because it can be high in points and frankly I like low maintenance  baking, so when I can find something easy and quick and low in points, well I am all game!! This apple crisp is again so easy and quick, perfect for a craving, a family gathering, party or just to have around the house. Requires only 3 or 4 ingredients to prepare this and you might even have all of it in your house right now. Apple Crisp Serving Size 4 4pp for a serving 4-5 medium apples 2 packets of Cinnamon or Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal (preferably one that are 100-120 calories or 3pp) 8 oz of Diet Sprite or Diet 7up 5 sprays of Can't Believe It's Not Butter 1tsp of light brown sugar 8x8 baking pan Here is what I used: I actually used 5 apples because I ...