Fit in 40 days: Day 27

I have a lot to share. So grab a beverage, turn up the sound on the USA soccer game (I have it on as I type this. GO USA!!) and see what I have been up to.

Fitness

I don't really consider myself a "runner". Sure I have done a few 5k's and a 1/4 Marathon, but I have never felt like I fit into that elite group of people who run because they love it (maybe because I don't). But I recently joined a Columbus Mom's running group on FB and have been sucked in by what these women accomplish. I have doing well on my 40 day streak (148.3 miles logged, in 213th place out of 38,827 participants. Nothing to sneeze at), lost a few pounds and have cleaned up my eating. I admit, there were a couple times I almost quit the online group as I did not feel worthy of these mom's that get in 5 miles at 5am a couple times a week. They do 5 miles in like 45 minutes!

But then a strange thing happened Friday: I organized a local hill climb run with a few of the mom's for 7am this morning. SUNDAY morning. And 4 of them showed up! I never thought of myself as THAT motivated but I am so glad I did. These mom's, and the ones on the site, are so supportive. There is no bashing anyone's time, there is no shame if you have to walk some of your race, it is a genuinely caring community of women who want nothing but the best for all of us who are trying to be better runners.

I feel like I have found my groove with running and though I doubt you will ever see me running more than 7 or 8 miles at a time, never say never.

Food

Now on to the good stuff!! I have been doing really well with my eating but I admit, I have not been that strict with the kids. I am making sure they eat their fruits and veggies but I did buy them an enormous barrel of cheese balls at Sam's Club the other day. Fail.

Normally I get my meat and poultry from our local butcher but in a desperate move to get away from the kids for a bit, I went to Sam's Club for my chicken and pork. I gotta tell you, I was disappointed with the store in general. It has been a long time since I shopped there and I was surprised at how sparse the items were. There was hardly any poultry or other refrigerated white meat options. I did get my annual bag of Ahi Tuna fillets, and I did get chicken and a pork loin, but for sure going back to Mosley's Meat. They package it the way I want, and though I don't mind taking the time to clean everything up, it is nice to have someone do it for me. 

I spent $100 at Sam's and another hundred at the regular grocery store. It is my goal to eat our way thru everything we have in house, without going to the store for close to two weeks. I will get outside aisle things if needed but darn it, we have enough here to get us thru more than a week.

So I did my hill run this morning, barely made it up the stairs to lay back down, we went to a state park, put loads of laundry away, threw the baseball around a bit and then the best thing of all:

I barricaded myself in the kitchen and COOKED.

We were having breakfast for dinner, so that explains the bacon. 

Then Tom decided he wanted a BLT and pancakes for dinner.

I made a triple batch of pancakes so the kids could eat them the next couple days. I am smart like that.

Then I made my new favorite thing:

Low fat cream cheese with green onions in it. I spread it on my bread when having turkey sandwiches, it is great on egg sandwiches, too. Really, anything you put cream cheese on or in, this is soo fresh tasting. Chives would be great in it as well.

Then, in an effort to make eating a morning meal easier, I came up with this gem:

I precooked sausage patties Sat morning for breakfast and used the leftovers in this. 6 egg whites, some milk and some various colored peppers I had. Baked it in the oven while the bacon was cooking and now all I have to do is cut out a square that has sausage in it, microwave in the morning and I have breakfast. Nutrition wise, it shakes out to about 100 calories, 7 grams fat, 9 grams protein. And I get some veggies in, too. Nice!!

Finally, and I don't have a picture, I made my white bean and avocado dip, too. Though this time I made it more with a Mexican flair. I added cilantro, 3 chipolte's in adobo (this is my new favorite food), some lime and lemon juice, garlic and tahini. It has some nice heat but not too hot. I bought some bib lettuce and plan to use those as wraps for the bean dip.

I feel really good and it has been a long time coming for that feeling. I love that all my friends are finding hobbies they enjoy: golf, tennis, walking. We deserve to do things that make us feel good.

Thanks for reading, sorry so long winded. And how the heck do you tie in soccer??? At least we are still in it.

Stay with me for 13 more days of streaking. If Runner's World doesn't do a 4th of July to Labor day streak, I am doing one myself. It is 58 days between the two. I am aiming for close to 100 miles. I go back to work Aug 13, so I will get a couple miles in a day at work, but I am going to keep up the running and hill climbing. Feels too good to stop.

Cat