Sunday, January 18, 2015

Saving idea on new running apparel

Many of my running friends have lamented the desire for new running gear but not the prices for new running gear. If I can find a way to save money on something I use as much as running gear, it's a double win as far as I am concerned.

I had a coupon for a big box sports store and went in to see what deals could be found. I liked a pair of running pants but they did not have my size in women's and the woman said for me to check the girls department because they might have been put away on the wrong rack.

LIGHTBULB!


Zipped over to the girls section and it was like the heavenly hosts of angels sang as I found the pants not only on sale for HALF of the women's price, but in great bounty! I bought three pair of the XL girls instead of women's medium and they fit great. In a way, they actually fit BETTER because I have no tushie to speak of and neither do many young girls.

If you wear any size up to a women's medium....check out the kids wear! Even a friend who normally wears a large can do the pants, but not the tops, in girls sizes!

Another option is to buy off season. If you know you are going to run next year and presumably it will be hot that summer or cold that winter, you can buy the summer gear on uber discount in October and the winter duds in April that are practically free! 

One of my favorites is to find items at consignment. My two favorite running jackets both came from consignment and at a fraction of the price they were new and I got them in season!  Things like bras, socks and shoes....gotta get them new as far as I am concerned, but anything else I am up to try from a selective consignment store.

And don't forget referral systems!  I do not ever want to be that person that chases people down to sign up for various clubs or Facebook pages or you name it...however if someone says they really like my outfit or would like to find affordable clothing, I am going to offer to send them a link to Fabletics. They get their first outfit for very little, I get a 10$ thank you and they get one for their next order! I always make sure people know I'm getting a little something for the referral, but so are they. :)

What great ideas do you have on saving for your running apparel?

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Some ideas for mixing things up and cutting calories in the kitchen!



I’m always intrigued by the different thoughts people have on lower calorie cooking. Some people feel that they need to deprive themselves and pick ingredients and they don’t really care for because of the calorie count, other people feel that they should be able to buy things package that are both healthy for them and tasty. I find both of these to be a wrong way to approach eating.



I believe you should be eating the foods that you love! You should be eating the foods that you enjoy! Certainly moderation plays a factor, but so does what you combine them with. For example I love scrambled eggs! I love omelettes! I love poached eggs! Pretty much if it is an egg, I’m going to love it! Eggs however are 70 cal each. So I started using Eggbeaters. And yet I hear from people so often that they hate Eggbeaters and when I asked them why, they generally tell me they are rubbery little discs, which in turn tells me they’re not making them right because I make them for people and they generally ask where I get my wonderfully farm fresh eggs. 

Which is not to say that I don’t buy farm fresh eggs, I certainly do, but I don’t use them just for basic scrambled egg. I'll make use of my farm fresh eggs when I’m poaching or frying and probably in some baking as well. But generally I’m using Eggbeaters and I’ve even migrated from using 50% Eggbeater whites and the other 50% in the regular Eggbeaters I can cut my calories, 75% with that one little change alone!



Eggbeaters to me are a top choice food to take on the road! I can make so much with them, they are so warm and satisfying and it doesn’t feel like ‘made in a hotel room’ food. Stopping off at the local salad bar and picking up some mushrooms, peppers, olives...whatever else I am in the mood for...to mix in with my eggs as a great way to amp up the Eggbeaters.  I pour a third of a cup into a microwavable container, add the vegetables, sometime some cheese, stir with a fork and cook it for 45 seconds. Then I stir again and I cook it in eight second increments. I find that just up one or two second overcooking will result in an overcooked and yucky Eggbeater experience. By staying a little bit on the wet side and allowing the heat that’s already present to continue cooking the mixture once I removed from the microwave makes a huge difference.



Eggbeaters another great way to cut calories in a baked dish as well! Now sure, there are some where an actual egg makes a difference, but mostly, Eggbeaters rock! 

I’ve learned to take a sugar-free brownie or cake recipe use Eggbeaters instead of a regular egg use additional water or applesauce instead of oil and can cut the calories dramatically from what stated on the package I can add some calories but really amp up the protein by putting two scoops of protein powder in the batter. Sometimes I choose a protein powder that will enhance it such as a peanut butter or cookies and cream and other times I use unflavored because I just want the pure taste of the item to be enjoyed. For whatever reason I find that when I had a protein powder I really have to overcompensate for the liquid so sometimes I’ll even have cookies that seem a little goopy when I put them in and thus I moved to a bar shape cookie instead of a scoop or drop cookie. 

One interesting thing that has come from this practice, is a very consistent serving size. When I put them into a pan, I cut them into 36 same size cookies and I don’t have to worry that one cookie was a little larger than or a little smaller than its counterpart. It gives me an extremely consistent calorie count it also makes me very mindful that I can’t mentally compensate for the easy thought of “Oh gosh that was a smaller cookie, I can have another”.   

Another nice thing about bar cookies is I can make them all at once, rather have to put them in the oven and take them out another dozen in the oven and take them out I can civilly pour them all into one pan wait for them to cook let them cool just slightly mark them off and then let them come to a full cool at that time it’s very easy to separate them without having them pull or tear against each other. I have not found a single cookie that I could not do this to which was formerly a drop or scoop cookie. Certainly something like a Mexican wedding cookie or Spritz would need to be handled differently but frankly I can get by without eating those types of cookies, I’m talking chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, butterscotch or gingerbread. 

Even a plain “sugar cookie” can be adjusted made a little bit healthier lower calorie and still 100% enjoyable. But all of this requires some adventure in the kitchen. And I’m always interested when I talk to people how unadventurous they are in the kitchen how afraid they are of the basic ingredients that are in their own cupboards. I find so many people are so tied down to recipes that they can’t re-imagine or think differently of how that might have come to be in a smarter way. And I figure the worst thing is going to happen is you’re going to throw away a batch of cookies (or feed them to your local teen boy) as I guarantee you are NOT going to have your kitchen access revoked. You are not  going to be made fun of and mocked openly in the streets. So you made a bad batch of cookies. So what? Who cares?



You’re out there experimenting and trying and that’s more quite frankly the most people seem to do. Go for it...all you have to lose is calories!

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Watershed moments

NOTE: Some writings I had done in earlier years, and shared on a smaller scale, have been requested to be posted on my blog. So I am going to do a bit of older posting, the time scale will seem off of some, so I want to be clear this is from many years ago. 



Last weekend, for 5 days really, I played single mom while Carter was 800 miles away at a funeral. During said time away, the following took place:

Thursday Nick fell and impaled his leg with the gears from his bike. A most horrific wound if I've ever seen one.

Friday after school and work I walked the dogs, took Jackson to chess, delivered something to a woman 30 minutes away, picked Jackson up from chess, took Nick to the mall, made dinner for Jackson, chatted with my mom, learned how to make a Bazzill gift box, picked Nick up from the mall, procrastinated in doing both laundry and dishes (gee I hate housework and missed Carter!), finalized my inventory, filled all my Wishblade title orders and got everything ready to take Jackson to the chess tournament on Sat.

Saturday morning I got up at the crack of dawn, walked the dogs in the cold morning air, showered (this will be key, later on!) took Jackson to a chess tournament 25 miles north of us, came home, thought about doing the dishes, took the dogs on a long walk, filled the truck to overflowing with all manner of things that needed to be taken to the dump, raked leaves, trimmed a holly topiary, gathered lots of recycling materials and headed out to the dump, knowing that my sweaty, stinky, nasty self would need a shower as soon as I returned home.

Pulled out of my driveway and admired the lovely, expansive and exceptionally natural fountain gracing the front lawn of my home.  We live in a country club neighborhood where some people have quite lovely landscaping, extensive man made ponds and other such desirable water features.  Right in the middle of my front lawn, a fabulous, remarkable fountain that caused me to draw my breath in utter fascination.

Mostly because we do not normally have a fountain.

Our water main had broken and was putting up brilliant water sculptures at an amazing and expensive rate.  I stopped the truck, loaded down like I was a movin' to Beverly...and ran, FILTHY ALREADY, to my water main at the street.  After much effort on my part and the benevolence of a neighbor, we were able to shut the water off completely to my house.
And that, my dear friends, is where this story really begins.

So there I stood, awash with mud, sweat, filth and thinking there isn't a clean place upon my body with the exception of the two tear-cleansed paths down my dirty face and realize that when I come home from the dump (surely I can't NOT go now), there will not be a cleansing shower for me.

I return home, disrobe in the garage and set about realizing all the places in which water is needed, and so sorely taken for granted.
Toilet? Out of order.
Sink? Not gonna happen.
Dishwasher? Oy--why didn't I just run it last night?
Laundry? Ha ha ha...ugh!
The list felt as though it went on and on and on.

A bright moment, when I realize that I can go to the church (bless my master key!) and bathe myself back to normalcy.  

Except I forgot a towel. 

And did not realize this minor little fact until well lathered and unable to turn back time.  And while my two Labs can shake themselves into a bone-dry farethewell after a long bath---I was unable to do so.  Pulling dry clothing onto a predominately wet body, especially one that is the before photo in a Bally's ad, should be the next reality show on UPN.  It is truly hysterical to see, if it is not seen in a mirror.  Then it is just sad, and only mildly humorous.
I must now return to retrieve Jackson from the tournament, prepare a meal without water (telephones are allowed! Bless you Domino's!) and figure out how to do those luxurious little things--like brush your teeth, when the tap runneth not.  I used bottled water to brush my teeth.  I swear I saw a flash of Paris Hilton in my mirror as I spit and rinsed at 8.00 a gallon.

Sunday morning Nick is passing Lord's Supper at church. Do I have the shirt he asked me to wash, clean? Nope, and all the bottled water in Charlotte couldn't help me with that.

I could go on, but then I'd have to tell you that we're now in the grip of strep at my house and I feel like someone dropped a house on me and I have to go to work because I am running the staff meeting in my manager's absence tomorrow.  

I'd have to tell you I am staying at my in-laws house until Saturday when the plumber is 'pretty sure' he'll have the whole system put back together with gleaming copper piping to replace that forsaken plastic that is there now.  

I'd have to tell you all that, and it just seems too depressing, so I won't go on.

Feel like praying and being thankful? Go run the tap for me and say a prayer that your plumbing is designed to outlast you and your loved ones.  

And know that I'll be back in full-force once water runs freely once again at our home.  Until then, I'll likely only post in a trickle.


Saturday, January 3, 2015

Listening to our bodies, not always easy, but always right!

A friend wanted to get together for breakfast recently. I asked her if she knew of a good place that had tomato soup in the morning. 

It was easy to see that she was trying to think through what I had asked, had she missed something and was she going to respond in a way that would make me think she'd not been paying attention. And finally, a nano-second before I was to repeat myself she asked me "What?" and I laughed a little and said I was really in the mood for tomato soup and would like to have that for breakfast. 

The ensuing conversation basically boiled down to this:
She: Let's get breakfast food for breakfast
.

Me: I'm in the mood for tomato soup for breakfast.
She: That doesn't seem like breakfast to me.
Me: You can get whatever you like.
She: I guess...

And I really and truly enjoyed that tomato soup. It was exactly what my body was craving and wanting and filled me up and warmed me up in a delightful way.  Pea soup is another breakfast food for me and I figure I can't be the only one if it's available during breakfast!

One thing I do find difficult and non-natural, is listening to my body and doing the basic things it wants me to do. NEEDS me to do!
  • Sleep when I am tired...not if I am in the middle of the work day or have committed to something, but if 7p is when I need to hit the hay, then so be it!
  • Eat the foods I am craving when I am craving them when I am TRULY craving them, not just wanting because of smell or advertised suggestion.
  • Having 5 or 6 small meals instead of 2 or 3 big meals throughout the day
  • Delaying my first meal for up to 5 hours after waking
  • Running further than planned when the run is just going so well
That is just a quick, short list. There are more, to be sure.

Society, whatever that really means, wants to dictate how we do things from such an early age. The way we learn in school, the foods we eat and when, the amount of time sleeping that is 'standard', the bevy of day to day actions that we often conform to instead of listening to ourselves. Allowing our bodies to know what is best for us.  It's great to be an individual right until society wants you to be part of the larger, agreeable community that does things like everyone else.

Add to that the pressure we often put on ourselves as women and then layer on that the pressure we tend to add with each role and we sometimes become reactive robots instead of intentional individuals:
Wife
Mother
Employee
Congregant
Volunteer
Child of aging parents
Neighbor
Friend
Homeowner
Pet parent

The list goes on from there, but you get the idea. It is easy to say "Oh, I can't do X because I need to take care of Y" but the truth of the matter is, that when you do what is best for YOU that the trickle down effect is that you are able to be the best version of each layer/role in your life, too. 

I remember when my son had his third or fourth surgery, I was simply exhausted and asked if I could have a place to quietly sleep or could I go out to my car and sleep there. The woman was clearly surprised a parent would go to sleep while her child was having major surgery, but my being awake wasn't helping anyone and having an exhausted version of me to meet with the surgeon and be on top of the care of my child when he did come out hours later wasn't going to do anyone any favors. Once she put her eyes back in her head she offered me a convertible chair, like dads get in the L&D suites and I fell into a deep, restorative sleep with lights on, people talking and all manner of things going on around me because I knew sleep was what I needed and what my son was going to need me to have had. 

When someone says they have a motto in life they tend to say it singular. I have many mottos and one is from the airlines....PUT YOUR OWN MASK ON FIRST BEFORE ASSISTING OTHERS!
And yes, it is so important that it is in all caps. No matter how much we want to do for others, and I am a huge fan of being there in a very real and present way for others, losing the oxygen to my body, my soul, my very being is not going to benefit anyone but the mortician. I cannot continue to breathe in deeply if I am flying around without oxygen.  Which is not to say it is a natural thing, either. I have to remind myself of that and I've been preaching the 'Your own mask first' approach for coming on close to two decades and still it is not second nature. 

But it is worthy of deliberate, intentional thought and action. 

Take a few moments and think about those times you've taken yourself out of the first place in your priority list and now think about those times you did make yourself a priority. Once people let go of the guilt of prioritizing themselves in their own lives, they tend to share that they are so glad they did it. And I have yet to have someone tell me they regret making themselves a priority. 

So go on, put your mask on and prioritize yourself in your life...I'd love to hear how you felt after doing that!

 



Thursday, January 1, 2015

A tasty treat for 2015!

Last night I took a new creation to a party and they were a hit, so I am sharing the ridiculously easy recipe with you. It's a quick one and you can frost or not, your choice!

Brownies:
1 box of SF Pillsbury Brownie Mix
1/3 cup Eggbeaters
3/4 cup water
2 scoops protein powder (I used Syntrax Peanut Butter Cookie)
2 oz cream cheese (full fat)

I heated the cream cheese so it would be easy to mix and added the Eggbeaters and water and when that was at the slightly chunky slurry phase, I added the protein powder. After that was well incorporated I added the brownie mix. 

Do not over beat, but you don't want any large chunks of unmixed brownie mix, either. 


Put this in an 8x8 baking dish. I used the Pampered Chef unglazed pan and so I spritzed it with PAM. Because I do not add oil to the brownies, they need a little help to lift out after baking. 

Bake as directed on package and cool completely (I put mine in the refrigerator) before attempting to put icing on or it will be more of a glaze.

Icing:
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
2 tablespoons PB2
3/4 cup powdered Swerve
4 oz cream cheese (full fat)
1 tablespoon of butter at room temp
1/4 cup water OR SF Torani Syrup

In my food processor I put the first five ingredients and started pulsing until it was fairly well mixed and then added, a tsp at a time, water. I have found the humidity, temperature and even being just a tad off with measuring can really impact the amount of water needed in icing. I have never used the entire 1/4 cup, but that is what I dip my teaspoon into for the water. Better to go slow and really watch the creaminess develop in the icing than to overwater and end up with a runny mess. Which you can correct by either making it a glaze OR adding more of the first five ingredients to even it out and storing the icing for future use. 

You can use any flavor protein powder that would 'go' with chocolate. Some choices I've made in the past are:
Caramel Pretzel
Cookies and Cream
Mint Chocolate Chip
Columbian Coffee
Chocolate Truffle
Vanilla Latte

ENJOY!