Year end goal

Most people set goals for the new year but I am going to set a year end goal this year...

I want to get enough miles on my running shoes so that I need to replace them. I am 66 miles away from the 300 mile total goal! I have about 5 weeks to complete this, that's not ambitious by any means but getting it done during the holidays will be tough. You can check my progress by looking on the right part of my page. The Nike+ isn't the accurate one, it the one that says keeping me motivated.

I have been cooking up a storm today and all the food is low in points!!

First I started by throwing tons of random items in my slow-cooker.

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I threw in two cans of Rotel (the kind with cilantro and lime)

1 big can diced tomatoes 28 oz I believe

1 can black beans

1 can mushrooms drained

1 cup of frozen green beans

1 cup frozen corn

I also added some extra cilantro because I love it!

I also added four 8 oz frozen chicken breasts

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I cooked it for 8 hours on slow. I have only had a taste but it tasted pretty good!

I divided up the pot into 8 Tupperware dishes and froze most of them. I will take one out of the freezer when one is eaten so one is always ready.

I figured out how many points each ingredient was per new serving size and added up the points. Most were zero points! I believe that is how WW online does it. I figured this was 3-4 points per serving.

Don't have all this stuff? Throw in what you have with some meat. I have yet to do this and have it turn out bad. The key is to let it cook 8 hours on low. Rushing it and it isn't as good.

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I also cooked some squashes, spaghetti and butternut.

Most people don't like squash but I really have come to enjoy it.

I tried something new when I cooked the spaghetti squash and it worked quite well. Instead of struggling to cut both squashes in half I poked a few holes and placed them in the oven whole at 400 for 1 hour. They were so easy to split, scoop the seeds out of and shred! I froze half of what I made since I didn't want it to spoil before I ate it.

I cooked the halved butternut squashed the same time pureed them before I put them in tupperware. They are a quick easy filling snack.

Three days in a row of working out and two of following my points!!

Sometimes you have to celebrate the little accomplishments!

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Yesterday I went to a friends house pre-dinner and ended hanging out till 6 or so. While I was there they pulled out tons of super tempting yummy foods. I sat there and talked to them and enjoyed 2 points of wine. They pulled out the chips and queso (a fav of mine) I was super tempted but I knew that I needed to follow my points though so I avoided it entirely. I am so proud that I did and I gotta say that if I would have had even one chip or one bite I would have not been able to spot.

eating vs working out

Just a little food for thought for you...

My husband and I just had this conversation as I came in the door from my hour long workout.

"I just ate a Chipotle burrito and a glass of milk for lunch!"

"Wow, pretty sure you just ate more calories in the time I was gone than I burned"

"Well the burrito alone was at least 800 calories"

"I just burned 700 calories"

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Poorly written but I hope you get the idea. It's so much easier to eat calories than burn them. You have to count calories because it is so easy to go overboard on them!

Working out after being sick

With sickness comes a lack of working out. As I am starting to feel better I am still in the routine of my sick days. Daily naps and feeling super lazy seem pretty normal now. I use to nap everyday when I was heavier and I had gotten out of that habit, still LOVE naps but everyday won't work.

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I mentioned yesterday that I needed to start running again tomorrow.

My husband has a very annoying habit of remembering these comments and plans his day around them. I wake up and he says to me "when are you going to run?" While I love the encouragement I don't love it first thing in the morning. Give me a good hour with my computer and a cup of coffee then you may ask questions. I do realize this only happens in my perfect world.

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He bugged me for quite a while and I finally gave in. We still have tons of snow so my trail if not snow covered would be at least completely muddy and I don't want to deal with that. My two other options are a gym that is a little over 10 minutes away or to walk to our neighborhood workout room. They equipment is subpar and no one is really ever in there but it is close and I don't have to waste gas to get there. All I really need is a functioning treadmill anyway. I was feeling super crummy but I forced myself to begin my typical 5 minute warmup. My goal for the day was to run 20 minutes after my 5 minute warmup. I made it but my body was begging me to stop there. I didn't have a decent run but I gotta say that I am so glad that I made it as far as I did. Sometime the first step is the very hardest.

New favorite

One of the most important keys to WW is finding low points foods you love to eat.

One of my new favorite foods is taking a spear of romaine lettuce and putting a piece of turkey in the middle. It's almost like a sandwich. It's so yummy without anything else on it. The turkey we have right now is 1 point for 2 pieces because they are big pieces. I cut both pieces in half and put one in each each piece of lettuce, 4 total. They travel great to take them with you, they also are super filling and only 1 point!

Squash Soup

Yesterday's slow cooker meal turned out pretty yummy. I added chili powder and cumin after it was done cooking. Here is a picture of it today, it is cold so it doesn't look as good. It will be dinner tonight for me and my husband, I will eat one serving and give him two. Next time I make it I will add more corn because that was my favorite part. This will make it 4 points per serving most likely but it will be worth it!

Yesterday I went to Sunflower Market (it's a farmer's market grocery store with great prices on produce). I picked up a ton of great produce that will be fun to try in my slow cooker. Today I am planning on making butternut squash.

I cup up a squash into cubes added one clove of garlic and one sweet onion. I have read that slow cookers need liquid so I also added 3 cups of chicken broth. The broth is only 10 calories and .5 of fat for one cup, I am guessing it will be less than 1/2 cup or so per serving so I am not worried about the calories it adds, it will however add flavor!

I plan on dividing it up into 1 cup servings, I am having trouble finding out exactly how many calories one cup is but I would assume this would be 2 points. I really like squash soup so I plan on pureeing it after it is all cooked but you could eat it in cubes if you would like.

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I was looking up receipts for slow cookers and I have decided that I enjoy much more just throwing items that are on sale, look good or are in season in the pot rather than follow the directions. I have had good luck so far!

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Also obviously back on the wagon for two full days now and I could tell such a big difference this morning in my stomach!!

We are however sick :(