See You Next Week

You may have noticed, I'm taking the week off from LGS to focus on other things I've been meaning to get done.  See you after Memorial Day!

A Little Inspiration

My friend Kori, who has also been pulling some great weight-loss numbers this year, sent this to me this morning.  So, so true. :)

Weekly Update

In two weeks I've lost less than half a pound.  I'm 99.37% sure this has something to do with the massive quantities of cheese and margaritas I have consumed since the last time I checked in.  I know, I know.  I'm terrible.  I feel, though, that I've turned a corner and am on my way out of my diet/exercise regressions into a renewed sense of determination.  Maybe it's my milestone birthday looming, or maybe it's my quickly-approaching wedding date, but I feel a sense of urgency once again to make progress... and fast!

Yesterday I ran six and a half miles, and today I forced myself to tackle another four miles during my lunch break.  I was sore the entire way and TW was unaffected by my whining and begging to run more slowly - that was decidedly out of the question.  I love me my T-dub, but oh, the pain!  It's all in my glutes and hamstrings. Oy.  Tomorrow is definitely NOT a running day.  I'll find a different way to make myself sore.

Running 'Round the Lake and Other Adventures

I went for a run around Lake Union today and snapped this photo at my halfway point.  The sun on my face felt as amazing as this photo looks.  It's days like these that almost make me forget how much I hate the winters here.  Truth be told, though, I felt like hell the whole way around the lake, trying not to puke because I was running so hard.  Being nauseated while running is not awesome, but it was totally worth it.

When I got home I decided to take a go at crock pot marinara - cooking from scratch for the lazy girl.  My kinda cooking.  My aunt gave me a mini slow cooker recently and I'm making it my mission to use the heck out of it.  I've tackled cheese fondue, but something about marinara seems more practical for daily life.  So my plan for this marinara is to layer chopped raw ingredients into the crock pot and keep it on low all night.  Here's what's in it before I tweak it tomorrow morning:

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 chopped onion
5 cloves chopped garlic
2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil leaves
2 Tbsp chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1-1/2 tsp sea salt
8-10 chopped roma tomatoes
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp honey

I needed a little something to get me out of my slump, and refocusing on the two things that helped me drop 30 lbs in the first place, running and nutrition, seemed like a good bet.  I'll check back and let you know how it came out.

Update on May 18: I woke up in the morning to the extremely powerful smell of onions.  I mean whoa.  It looked good when I gave it a stir, and I decided to take the immersion blender to it for a few seconds to lightly puree the ingredients.  The taste was meh, so I added another tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and a quarter tsp of ground black pepper.  It's still bubbling in the crockpot today while I'm at work.  Hopefully when the liquid cooks down a bit it will have a nicer richer flavor.

Monday Night Dinner: Thai Chicken Soup

I've got to be honest:  all I want tonight is cheese fondue.  However, I'm less than three months away from my wedding for which I've chosen an extremely form-fitting dress.  So instead, we're going with Thai Chicken Soup.  Ugh.

Thai Chicken Soup

Ingredients

• 1/2 medium yellow onion
• 3/4 cup chopped carrots
• 1 1/2 cups chopped yellow potatoes
• 2 cups chicken breast cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2 cups low sodium chicken stock
• 1 3/4 cups light coconut milk
• lime juice, yields of 2 lime
• 1/4 cup asian fish sauce
• 2 Tbsp honey
• 1 Tbsp red pepper flakes
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Directions

In a soup pot, heat olive oil
Add chopped onion, chopped carrots, and chopped potatoes.
Saute until slightly browned.
Add chicken and cook halfway (I use whatever leftover chicken I have in my fridge, in which case you don't have to cook it before adding the liquids).
Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 min.

Serve immediately.

Currently On My Workout Mix - Phil Collins

Oh, hi.

I know.  I skipped the weekly update.  I didn't feel like it.  It's not that I didn't want to report bad news - I just didn't check my stats.  For all I know, maybe I could have reported great news, but I just didn't get around to weighing myself.  I haven't really been feeling up to working out lately, though I've been faithful about running or getting at least something in each day.  I need to tap into that fire I've been carrying since January, because it seems like it hasn't really been burning bright lately.

Come to think of it, chalk many aspects of my life up to that.  I need to get fired up.

Any suggestions?