Healthy Eating, Bargain Shopping and RUNNING!

Ummmm, ya.  I’ve been totally MIA lately.

We were out of town for a funeral last week and then Kev was out of town running a Relay Race over the weekend, so I was holdin’ down the fort by myself.  Crazy life.  I don’t know about the rest of you mothers out there, but now that summer’s in full force, I’m having a hard time finding any quiet time to put two thoughts together, let alone blog about it!  It’s nuts.

But, I’m happy to say I’ve been eating so well and my “Healthy Brain Shift” has stayed for the most part.  Seriously Yay!

I’ve had a few moments of weakness when the cravings creep up and I want to eat every bad thing on the planet, but I’ve stayed strong.  I’ve found that those “moments of weakness” usually happen when I’m hungry.  So when a craving strikes, I try to eat something healthy and then my body calms down and the cravings subside.

I did have ONE really weird moment a couple days ago.  I bought some Nilla Wafers at the request of my 7 year old.  I knew they weren’t healthy, but they looked pretty benign.  After all, they’re a “wafer,” not a “cookie.”  Ha ha.  That’s what I told myself anyway.  Soooo, I ended up eating one and I thought, “Man, that was really good!”  So, I had a couple more and then a couple more.  I essentially pigged out on Nilla Wafers.

Totally weird.

I don’t even really like Nilla Wafers.  It was just a moment of weakness and justification.  I then looked at the ingredients list, and folks, Nilla Wafers are FULL of all sorts of CRAP!  I was floored.  Those innocent looking “wafers” are not so innocent.  Blah.

When I came back to my senses, I told myself “that was IT” and I got right back on the “healthy eating wagon” after that.  Thankfully, that’s been my only issue.

I can’t believe I wasted it on NILLA WAFERS!?  Really??!

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Other than that ONE issue, I’ve been proud of myself for sticking with my healthy eating plan!  It really doesn’t even seem like a “diet.”  It’s become more like a way of life.  I’m eating this way because I want to; I’m not really thinking about an “end date” or anything like that.  I don’t feel deprived, in fact, most of the time I don’t even miss all the junk food.  Healthy eating is so fulfilling, satisfying and rewarding.  I love it!  It’s so much more rewarding than the quick, temporary joy of junk food.

I do plan to take a “cheat day” eventually, but I’m trying to make this “healthy brain shift” a more permanent part of my life before I do.  I know junk food is so yummy and powerful and can quickly derail all of my healthy plans, so I want to be mentally prepared for it.  Make sense?

Anyway, here are some of the things I’ve been eating lately.  I’ve been on a HUGE “oatmeal for breakfast” kick lately.  It is SO yummy, filling and satisfying.  I was happy to have an empty jar of peanut butter to enjoy it in the other day…

I’ve been making my Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal, but I add 1/2 of a chopped apple and a dollop of peanut butter (or in this case, I just put the hot oatmeal into a mostly empty jar of peanut butter.)

It’s SO good!

I’ve been having it with one or two eggs over hard, topped with cheese.  Holy yum!

I made a really easy dinner last night that everyone loved.  I bought some higher quality Chicken Meatballs at Costco the other day.  They’re really good and the ingredient list was decent.

I cooked them up and served them with brown rice, vegetables (zucchini, carrots, summer squash and onions) and fruit (strawberries, peaches, blueberries and bananas.)

It felt like such a summery meal and everyone ate it!  The kids complained about the veggies a little bit, but they DID eat them.  Score.

I had a CRAZY day a few days ago.  I was runnin’ around all day long and was exhausted.  I was thinking about coming home and making a healthy dinner, but then my 11 year old called me on my cell phone and asked if I could just bring home pizza.

I was like, “Hmmmm, now that sounds perfect on this crazy night!”  So that’s just what I did.

BUT, I was proud of myself because I didn’t have any.  I instead made myself a couple of Roasted Pear and Feta Flatbreads and they were yummy!

I was starving, so I thought I could eat two, but after eating one, I was STUFFED!  I had the second one for lunch the next day.  Oh, and I top them with arugula before I eat them.  I love this meal!

Since Kev was out of town over the weekend, I decided to have a “Girls Night Out” with my daughter and her friend.  We went shopping and out to dinner at Cubby’s.

I’d never been to Cubby’s before, but I liked that their menu was full of high quality ingredients and real food!  I got the Buffalo Chicken Salad and it was fabulous!

It was healthy too!  I know that in order to have long-term success with healthy living, I need to make healthy eating choices time and time again!  I know that sounds like a no-brainer, but I think a lot of people who want to lose weight/be healthier/eat better don’t accept the fact that you need to make healthy food choices and keep making healthy food choices all the time; even when you don’t want to and even when you’re out to eat!

I would have loved to have ordered a burger and fries, but I didn’t give it a second thought and just ordered the salad.  I loved my salad too!

I also enjoyed spending time with this cutie…

And these two cute girls as well!

We also had a fun time shopping!  It’s nice because I’m starting to fit into my normal sizes once again.  They don’t fit quite like I want them to yet, but I’m happy to at least technically fit into them again.  There were several times I grabbed a size 29 (size 8) in pants and a medium top and I had to go back and get a 28 (size 6) or a small!  Yay.

Like I said, I still don’t love the way they fit on me, but the bigger sizes were too big!

I love shopping, but it really puts the whole “weight loss” or lack thereof into perspective.  When I’m fit and in shape, it’s FUN to shop.  Things fit right and I like how they look on me.  But, when I’m bigger than I want to be, it’s a giant reality check.

Shopping can be depressing.

But, I don’t let it get me depressed; I use it to motivate myself to get my butt in gear!

I’ve also told you guys that I’m a BIG bargain shopper.  I love to buy nice, high quality things, but they HAVE to be a good deal!  I’m happy to say I found a great deal!  I bought myself a new wallet because I’d had my old wallet for over 10 YEARS!

Ya.

I got this cute one at the Coach outlet for a great deal!

I didn’t know if I liked the bright yellow dots at first, but then I decided I loved them and they made me happy!

Mmmm kay, this wallet retails for $250!  This particular wallet was on clearance and marked down to $220.  The store was also having a big sale and had marked everything down 50%!  The sale also said to take an additional 30% off of clearance items.  I also noticed that one of the yellow dots was coming off a bit (in an inconspicuous place), so when I showed it to the saleslady, she said she could give me an additional 25% off!!!

Sooo, I got this nice $250 wallet for $57!  Wooo flippin’ hooo!

Here’s a look on the inside…

It made me very happy!  I’m obviously someone who keeps my wallets for a very long time, so I’m happy to have such a nice quality one.

It was a fun shopping trip.

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I really struggled with exercise last week because we had so much going on; I think I exercised once!  But, I’m doing well this week.  I went running with the baby on Monday and was glad I got ‘er done.  I only ran 3 1/2 miles and it kinda kicked my butt, but I was glad I did it!

I really don’t love summer running though because if I don’t get out first thing in the morning, it quickly becomes too HOT!  It was right around 80 degrees on my run and I was melting.

I took this beautiful sweaty picture when I got home.  I’d also taken off my baby’s shirt because he felt hot too (even though he was in the jogger with a shaded canopy.)

I’m planning to run a local 10k on the 4th of July and I’m so excited!  It’s one of my favorite races and I didn’t run it last year because I was so pregnant.  I’m happy I can run this year!

I’m also amazed that I ran a 1/2 marathon a month ago and 3.5 miles felt so hard the other day!  Crazy.  However, I think the first 1-3 miles of every run are hard!

Well, it’s late and I need to go to bed.  I stayed up late so I could actually have some quiet time to blog.  I hope I even made sense.  I love you all and hope you are healthy and happy!

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