Redbull cupcakes

I had made soda cupcakes a while ago. And of course, I was craving some more. As I was strolling through Target yawning, I needed a pick me up.  I went up and down the aisles yawning and was just throwing things into my cart.  I tossed in some workout pants for the hubs, funfetti cake mix for my cupcakes, some green tea and then a SF redbull.  I figured I'd chug it when I got home and keep going for the day. So wrong.

I came home all ready to make my cupcakes and realized I only had sierra mist for soda, and that's not all that tasty for cupcakes (in my opinion) so I opted to sacrifice my redbull.

So I gathered up the few things I needed and there I went putting it together.

I love how it explodes with the soda or in this case, the red bull

Smells amazing! 

And the finished product:

How are they? Delicious!


PS - the funfetti is 5WW points for a cupcake, so you might want to try something a little less if you want to have more than one! :)  

What flavors would you like to mix and try?

*insert witty title*

I had my appointment on Friday of last week, and am feeling a little less hopeful.  I was praying that I would go in, he'd quickly see an issue, and be like 'here's the plan of attack' and move on.  Not quite the case.  I'm not a patient person, and this is pushing me to the furthest I can possibly go. This is pretty much a summary of everything I haven't blogged about because I've been in the 'blah' mood that keeps me away.

Mr. Fertility Doctor Recap:
Office was running behind. I'm OK with this - they are specialists and frankly emergencies happen. But I expect the same attention when I need it, so I will remember that. Procedure was easy enough, nothing too dramatic, but (tmi warning) that saline does come out quickly! phew. He told me he was looking for abnormalities and then there were a few 'oh ok, this is what we're looking for', 'oh, interesting' comments.  Then he proceeded to explain he believes I have a polyp or two, so once he looks at the pictures further, I suppose those will be addressed as well. All in all - I know nothing other than he found a few abnormalities and polyps.  I have another appointment next Tuesday. Hopefully I'll at least learn something new.  I'm getting frustrated and just need to know what the deal is.  But I know everything takes time.

My legs ache.  I'm doing everything I can to stay on track with the weight watcher's walk it challenge, but it's not happening. I did successfully finish Week 2 though :)  I should be starting week three, and I'm not there.  My shin splints are awful.  I'm working on a goal to be active for 7 days straight.  That starts today. So we'll see when I get home what I do.  Yoga counts, doesn't it? :)

My last weigh in put me down about 1.5lbs. Which was OK because I had gained a little.  So hopefully this is on the positive track back down :)

My spring break starts Friday, and I couldn't possibly be more excited.  Really.  This is the highlight of my week ;)

Failure?

"Failure is only the opportunity to begin again, only this time more wisely."~ Henry Ford

This is the weekly breakdown for my Weight Watchers Walk It Challenge:


Week 2
             Run   Walk  Repeat
Day 1:  3 min 3 min  4 x
Day 2             Rest      
Day 3   3        3         4 x
Day 4             Rest      
Day 5   5        3         3 x
Day 6   5        3         2 x
Day 7             Rest      

So I got my ipod together, got my new shoes on and was all ready to go and begin week 2.  I went outside because it's freaking beautiful out all warm and sunny and was super excited. I started down the street to another neighborhood that I know is pretty flat.

I started out great.  Did my 5 min warm up, then I did my first 3x3.  Geared up for my second 3x3 and was excited, I was halfway done already.  Then the third 3x3 came along.  I had a small hill to go up (nothing obnoxious or anything) and the sun was pounding down.  My head started pounding and I knew it was a bad sign.  I could feel that my BP was starting to go up.

I made it up the hill and done with that 3 min.  I was beat.  I had to walk 3 more, then just one more 3x3 and 5 min cool down. I could do it... I knew I could do it... But could I? No.  When it came time to run again, I started, and instantly my head felt as though it was going to explode.  So I kept walking. I walked back towards my house so now I've walked 6 minutes and I thought I for sure I could get another 3 out... So I tried.. I'm on my street, just going to go up and down it, and it's flat. I start out and my head is pounding (if you've had a blood pressure headache, you know the feeling) and I got a minute in and I knew that's all I could do... So I semi-completed W2D1.  I don't plan on repeating it. I will just go ahead and do w2d3.

So in my head, I failed. I couldn't do it. But, because my husband is wonderful - he reminded me this is the first time I've actually done this outside, I am very much a treadmill-loving girl.  And secondly - I did this one a lot faster than I've done the ones in the past.  The pace was much faster, so if I had been going my normal treadmill, controlled pace - maybe I could have finished...

Weekly Weigh-in

Well since I'm holding myself accountable, even if I wanted to skip this week - I knew I shouldn't.

So here I am, two weeks now without an official weigh in, and I've gained from last week. About 1.5.  I suppose that's 'good' in comparison to what I was weighing last week, but it reminds me that I'm still not working at it as hard as I should be.  And I know that.  Like 20/30 min trips on the treadmill won't get me there.  And the snacking I had in the beginning of the week was killer.

Here's my daily mile activity for this week:

It's not bad, but it's not great.  I would like to see more 2's and 3's, but at least I got the activity in. I will be start week 2 of the WW challenge this evening so I'll have some there.

Week 1 - Complete

I have completed week 1 of the Weight Watchers Walk-It Challenge.  Here was the breakdown:

I set it up so that Saturday would be a rest day (Day 7) and so I could do a long, leisurely stroll if I want, or if I want to be fat and lazy, I could do that too ;) 

Next week picks it up a bit. I think I am running wogging 5 minutes by the end of the week! We shall see... I of course will be reporting back.  

I'd also like to add that I plan on weighing in on Sunday, and despite eating OK (not great, not awful) and being active this week, I think I still gained. Which sucks, mega. 

Related articles

• Weight Watchers Update #6 (howdoyoupronouncethat.wordpress.com)
• Life Lessons From Weight Watchers: How To Make Goals That Work (blisstree.com)
• Weight Watchers' Points Program: Zero Calories for Fruit? (alternativendhealth.wordpress.com)
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No Weigh In, Day 5 Walk it Challenge

I've decided to skip my weigh-in today and aim for Sunday.  Why you ask? Because when AF is here, I'm not letting her ruin my motivation. So I don't want to get on the scale and see the bloat.  I am considering changing my WI day to Sunday as it is.  I feel like that's a more convenient time. But we'll see.

So for today - skipping the weigh in! :)

However, in better news, I am on day 5 of the WW Walk it Challenge.

Yesterday was a 'rest' day, so rather than jog, hubs and I went for a walk in a nearby park.  Two laps around it and then headed off to dinner. I probably could have done two more, and gotten in 3 miles, but he always makes it easy to quit. He doesn't push me, I wish he did. Times like that are exactly why we don't work out together. 

Todays routine is to Run  2min   Walk 3min  for a total of 4 x

I plan on doing this tonight, before Yoga. I will NOT be stretching as hard as I did last time, because I've been suffering all week.  I don't plan on slacking, but there's one pose towards the end that I know I need to lay off a little bit.

 

Goodbye first 10!

Image via Wikipedia
Saying goodbye is usually hard, but not today! I am officially over my first 10lbs lost since starting this journey three weeks ago.  Incorporating WeightWatchers as well as aiming for getting in no less than a mile of walking/jogging at least 5days a week.  I'm pretty proud of myself.  This takes me about 6lbs away from the lowest weight I had been back in August (when I took this).  I gained about 8lbs with pregnancy #2.  Some was during the early pregnancy because I instantly stopped going to boot camp and then about bout of weight crept on due to depression - so it's almost all gone now.  That's something to be pleased with (at least for me). So 10 more pounds and I'll be lower than any weight I've been since living in Akron. Yay!

Related articles

• Weight Watchers Update #4 (howdoyoupronouncethat.wordpress.com)

Snack Time! WW - Style, of course

Whenever someone talks about snacks, I assume the only healthy snack out there is some granola or fruits and veggies. I mean people criticize everything out there at some people consider a healthy snack. So I took my love for Self magazine and went hunting. They recently had a list of the 50 healthiest snacks, and so I went through checking to see what they listed, that I enjoy.  I wanted to check the new Weight Watchers Points Plus values though, because snacks can be the downfall to my daily routine!

Almonds can always help keep me full and are a great snack throughout the day. While there's a huge variation in type of almond you could buy - I generally range my snack at about 10 almonds for 2 points.  I like almonds because they are super crunchy, which gives me that chewing feeling for a while, and because I don't eat a ton at a time, making it easier to spread it out.

Laughing Cow (Garlic and Herb) Light Wedges - yum! Add a handful of special K crackers (like 5).
The cheese wedge is only a point, so your snack can go up or down depending on the crackers you pick.  I personally love the special K crackers.  They're easy for me to portion out and grab to go. So if I take my cheese wedge and my handful of crackers, (a serving size of 24 crackers is 3 points, I usually take about 10-12) I call it a day with a 3 point snack.  Am I over-estimating, maybe.  But that one point I over-estimate won't kill me, and I'd rather go with one over than under-estimate and overeat.

Fruit! I am not sure if I love the fact that these are free on the Points Plus program. I feel like some fruit is really high in sugar and calories, and while I'm going to limit those - they're technically free, so make sure you get your fruits and veggies in throughout the day.  I will say - having the green smoothie the other day though really helped me get some servings in and was delicious!

Another variation of fruit is the Healthy Helpings Fruit and Sauce - these are delicious. You can get them in flavors like Apple Blend, Strawberry Blend and then Berry Blend.  They are super tasty!

Back to Nature Honey Graham Sticks are super tasty.  You can have 7 for four points.  I know it's a little higher than some of the others, but the taste is such a treat in the afternoon. I tried them from a friend, had 3 or 4, and was satisfied with just those, getting my sweet fix in.

And one that wasn't on their list, my favorite when I need that salty, sweet mix to top off a day - a Special K Chocolate Pretzel bar.  Oh those are delicious and only 2 WWPP points! I mean really - how can you go wrong?Publish Post

Soda Cupcakes

I love when I read a good recipe from a twitter friend's blog and then have the time and energy to actually make it.

She has some delicious sounding recipes so I thought I'd check out two of them last night while I had a friend equally interested in experimenting around a bit.

We made the Diet Soda Cupcakes and while they were baking, the first recipe we tried was the Green Smoothie.

We just made one smoothie and split it among the four of us. I choose to use spinach with oranges (2) and it was super tasty.  We didn't use any sugar, which I'm sure had we - it would have been pretty good as well. My friend and her husband - well not sure they're complete fans but they drank it like champs!

As for the cupcakes, those were extra fun.  We ran to the store to pick up Betty Crocker French Vanilla cupcake mix, and I had Black Cherry Diet Rite already on hand.  So we mixed up those two (and the batter was, as expected, yummy!) and baked those.

They smelled delicious and tasted equally delicious. They were 4 WWPP based on the cake mix I choose for a large cupcake, and I was OK with that as a treat.

Ready for my next 12 weeks..

I'm a member of the local YMCA and the location I go to is a brand new location. So things have been a little slow there, but I really like it (and the price is really affordable!).  So I saw a sign yesterday to sign up for a free 12 week wellness program that you can get as a member.  One of my previous students works there and wanted to be my coach, and I was hesitant at first, but he's a good guy.  So I went with it.  I have my first meeting on Thursday and then we will meet about every 3 weeks after that to monitor my progress and make a plan.

My two main goals:

Run (well OK, walk/jog) a 5K in under 45 minutes and to work on incorporating more strength training. I get intimidated when I head over to the weight section in the gym  because I don't really know what I'm doing - so I usually avoid it.

I also started using weight watchers on my cell phone - I'm giving it a shot for a month to decide if I like the new plan. So changes are coming - just hope they're good changes :)