This afternoon I had planned on having a snack of tuna salad on crackers, but when it came down to it, I realized I wasn’t hungry.  Yay, for intuitive eating!

After work I stopped by the accountant’s office to pick up our taxes.  We ONLY owe $2170! Sarcasm much?  While waiting for my paperwork I snagged a Hershey’s dark chocolate mini out of the candy jar hoping it would curb my sweet tooth.  It did.  For a little while.

I was excited to get home because I had a delicious dinner planned.

Spinach and Artichoke Pesto Pasta

Ingredients:

• Fresh baby spinach
• Two artichoke hearts
• 4 Campari tomatoes
• Pesto
• Mini Farfalle pasta
• olive oil spray

Directions:

1. Cook Farfalle according to package
2. Wash and dry spinach
3. Chop spinach
4. Cut ends off artichoke hearts and then separate the leaves
5. Chop tomatoes
6. Spray skillet with olive oil
7. When pasta is nearly done, combine the spinach, tomato, and artichoke into skillet on medium-low heat.
8. Cook for 3-5 minutes.
9. Add pesto to skillet, cook for another 3-5 minutes.
10. Add pasta to skillet and mix until coated.
11. Salt to taste.
12. Serve hot.

2010 © LovinLosing

This was fantastic!  A little on the bitter side, so I added a pinch of salt.  I think it would be great with a sweet tasting sausage, too!

With dinner I had a small glass of White Merlot.

All it took was this little bit and I was warm and fuzzy!

After dinner I read for a little while (Barbara Taylor Bradford’s Breaking the Rules) and played with Goliath.  Then I decided I wanted some ice cream and Goliath needed food so I went out.  I stopped at PetSmart and picked him up a different type of puppy food (Royal Canin Mini) since he doesn’t seem much interested in his own. 

Next, I stopped at Cold Stone for some ice cream.  I ordered a Gotta Have It size so I could bring some home to Josh and/or have some tomorrow.  I decided to try something different and asked for graham cracker pie crust along with my chocolate ice cream and almonds.  Big mistake.   It was basically just crumbs and didn’t have any taste.  Only made the ice cream gritty.  I just wasn’t feeling it and didn’t eat much.

I could get up and take a picture of what’s in the freezer, but since I’m lying with an ice pack on my back, I don’t feel like getting up.

Now, I’m off to take a hot bath.  Hopefully after a day of alternating hot and cold (tomorrow) and my massage I’ll be able to do the 5K on Saturday.  It’s supposed to rain on Saturday so if it’s REALLY awful out AND my back still doesn’t feel well, I’ll just chalk my registration fee up as a donation to a good cause.  It’s the 8K that’s really important!! That’s what I’ve been training for.

Have a great night!!

Then, this morning I bent down quickly to prevent the cat from running outside and there when my lower back. Again.  Not as bad as last time, though.  I iced it this morning with ice in two ziploc bags.

Breakfast was the same as yesterday except ONLY with cornflakes and granola, no All-Bran.  Here’s the same picture from yesterday since I was distracted and ate today’s before thinking about it.

At lunchtime I went out to get a real ice pack and also picked up lunch.

It’s been a while since I had a frozen lunch.  It did the trick.  Dessert was Annie’s Honey Grahams.

I bought one of those ice packs that can be either hot or cold.  I actually bought two because they were Buy One Get One 50% off.  I bought one for my back and one for my knee.  Tomorrow I’ll probably alternate the gel packs for hot and cold.   I’ve also been stretching about once an hour and/or making sure I get up to walk around so it doesn’t stay too tight.

I also made an appointment for a sports massage at the Advanced Fuller School of Massage Therapy.  My appointment is at 10AM tomorrow with the lady who actually teaches sports massage there at the school.  Hopefully all this works and I feel much better by Saturday morning for the 5K!

I’ll leave you with this…

Poor little guy got beat up on a little bit at the dog park yesterday.  I had to pull a MUCH bigger dog off of him.  Goliath is no pushover, though, and was trying to fight back.  Unfortunately, that didn’t really help the situation.  He’s alright, just wasn’t much interested in being far from his mom’s feet for the rest of the time we were there.

Not much excitement going on today.  Work and trying to book my trip to Vegas, which I finally was able to do.  We’ll be flying out on Friday, August 6th, staying at the Mirage, going to the Garth Brooks show on the 7th, and take a red-eye back on the 8th. Can’t wait!!

Lunch was a Cedarlane burrito and a 12 oz. Coke (What! Where’d that come from!)   I told you I was in a hurry this morning.

Dessert was 2 clementines! These saved me from the vending machine.

My unnecessary snack was a pouch of Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies!

Now, for the moment you’ve all been waiting for…

The winners of the Bolthouse Farms FREE salad dressing giveaway are (using Random.org):

France @ Scorpiowoman

Ed @ Monday 315

Tanya @ Tanyaschincillas

Whew!!  I don’t understand how I could feel SO good running yesterday and then within an hour of being done feel SO worn out. 

Probably because I was bad and didn’t stretch.  I was going to go to a yoga class this morning, but didn’t want to get out of bed (even though I got IN bed at 9PM).  I think I’m probably going to do an Exercise TV session at home later tonight.

BOTH my knees were killing me last night, too, even though I wore my knee sleeve on my left knee.  Usually my right knee doesn’t hurt, but it wasn’t happy yesterday, either.   I took a hot bath and then iced them with a bag of frozen broccoli. LOL

Tomorrow is supposed to be another PDR at 5 miles and then Friday is a rest day before the Law Enforcement United (LEU) 5K on Saturday.

This morning I wanted to get to work by 8 so I could be off by 4 (it’s supposed to be 71 today!).  Therefore I was in a hurry to get out the door and didn’t grab breakfast.  I really wanted some pancakes, but I resisted fast food.  I realized when I got to the office that I had some of those single servings of cereal AND milk.  Yay, for small miracles.

I threw a little of my granola on there, too.    Now I’m stuffed!!  Back to work.

IN THE NEWS

Women Who Drink Gain Less Weight

Weight Watchers: Eat McD’s, lose weight

When we last we met, it was mid-morning…for lunch, my co-workers had decided that we would have our weekly meeting at a restaurant for a “working lunch.”  Because of time constraints it was decided that we would go to the nearby Chinese buffet.    Not my fave.  I was not looking forward to this.

Luckily, though, this place had a large variety.  I don’t have any pictures, but I had:

• A salad
• romaine
• carrots
• cucumbers
• broccoli
• chickpeas
• ham
• egg
• A little lo-mein
• three fried shrimp
• some cellophane noodles
• three pieces sweet and sour chicken
• sushi
• ice cream

It seems like a lot of food, but I didn’t feel too full afterwards.  I didn’t need a mid-afternoon snack and even ran 4.5 miles before having to fuel up again.

Speaking of that run…Here are my stats (click to enlarge):

This was a fantastic run!  The weather was beautiful and I felt great the whole time!!  I finally feel like I can rock this 8K and the 5K coming up this Saturday!

After my run I came home and made a quick dinner with the pot roast I had put in the slow cooker.

This was pot roast, Havarti cheese and a little RF mayo on a piece of French bread.  Definitely hit the spot! 

Now, it’s 7:45 and I’m seriously considering hitting the hay!  Have a good night!!

P.S.  Don’t forget to enter my Bolthouse Farms giveaway!!  There will be THREE winners!

The nice people at Bolthouse Farms have sponsored this giveaway by sending me THREE free coupons for a bottle of one of their dressings.

I actually contacted them myself because of how much I love their yogurt dressings!!!  I really wanted you all to be able to experience them for yourselves. 

I have tried both the Ranch and Thousand Island flavors and loved both of them.  I really like fattening, creamy dressings and was looking to find a healthier one that tastes the same.  Now I have!!  Both of these taste like the real thing!!  Better, in fact!!

The Ranch has 80 calories per serving with 7.5 grams of fat.  The Thousand Island is 70 calories per serving and has only 5.5 grams of fat!!!

Other facts about these dressings:

• All natural
• No trans fat
• No preservatives or MSG
• No artificial colors, flavors, or added sugar
• No high fructose corn syrup
• Gluten-free

As for the company itself, Bolthouse Farms uses Solar Power Farming, participates in the Spray Safe Program and it committed to using recyclable packaging.

Because their dressings are all natural and use less oil and fat, you will find them in the produce section of your grocery store, probably near the bagged salad.  To find their products in a store near you check out the Store Locator on their website.

I will be giving away ONE coupon to THREE lucky winners!! 

The Rules:

• You have until Wednesday at 12 noon EST to enter
• Please make sure (by checking their website) that you would have access to Bolthouse Farm products before you enter.  I don’t want the coupon to go to waste if you were to win. 

To Enter:

• Visit the Bolthouse Farms website and then leave me a comment telling me which of the dressings (either the Yogurt dressings or Olive Oil vinaigrettes) you would choose if you won.

For an additional entry:

• Tweet the following: @lovinlosing is giving away a coupon for a FREE Bolthouse Farm Salad Dressing!! http://wp.me/pG549-nI 

Good luck!!

First of all, thanks for all your kind words regarding my two PDRs this past weekend.   I plan to set another one today(…and Thursday…and Sunday…).

Yesterday was a beautiful day here!!  It was nearly 60 or maybe a little warmer.  Look what I found when I got home…

The daffodils are blooming!! Yay!!  It’s almost Spring.

Backtracking a little, though…When I got up in the morning I weighed myself (I forgot last week) and I was at 161, so down .6 lbs. from the last time I weighed in. Yay!  Check out the Progress page for more details.

Breakfast yesterday was Chobani 0% Plain Greek yogurt with strawberries and my granola bar mix.  I had the same thing for breakfast today and this is actually a picture of today’s because WordPress didn’t like yesterday’s picture for some reason.

Lunch was a salad with carrots, baby spinach, romaine lettuce, Campari tomatoes, and Bolthouse Farms Ranch Yogurt dressing.  I’m actually having a Bolthouse Farms giveaway later today so make sure to check back later or subscribe to the RSS feed so you don’t miss out.  I’ll also be announcing it on Twitter.

With the salad was leftover pizza from the night before.  I just heated it up in the toaster oven.

Dessert was a bag of M&Ms, which I promptly felt yicky after eating and wished I’d eaten a clementine instead.

My afternoon snack was some Utz Honey Wheat pretzel sticks and a mini Diet Pepsi.

After leaving work I planned on going to a yoga class, but it was such a nice day (and my shoulder was bothering me again) so I decided to race home and take the pups to the dog park instead.  Josh was still asleep so It was just me and them, which let me tell you is no fun when you’re try to handle two dogs AND a jug of water. 

I promptly dropped the glass water bottle in the middle of the roadway splattering it all over myself and making a big mess.  I ended up having to go ahead and put Rusty in the park, grab a poop bag, carry Goliath back out, and pick up all the glass.  Didn’t want anyone driving over it or any puppies hurting their paws.  So much for being prepared for once.

After the dog park I came home and made some dinner.  The only thing that looked interesting was a box of Archer Farms Porcini Mushroom Whole Wheat Macaroni and Cheese from Target.  No pictures unfortunately, but this was pretty good.  The mushroom taste was a little heavy, though.  After this I snack on a pouch of Annie’s chocolate bunnies and a glass of skim milk.  Then, right before bed I had a pouch of cheddar bunnies. Snacky McSnackerson.

This morning I decided to sleep in a little and save my run for this afternoon because it’s supposed to be in the 60’s .  Can’t wait!  I thought I was doing another 4 miler, but I just looked at the calendar and I’m scheduled for 4.5 miles.   I’m excited, though because I’m getting closer and closer to that 8K mileage and feeling MUCH more prepared!

Now, here’s another picture of this morning’s breakfast.

I’ve got to get back to work.  Have a wonderful day and don’t forget to check back for the Bolthouse Farms giveaway this afternoon!!

Friday morning I went for a 3.5 mile run, which was the longest I had ever run at that point!  Here are my stats… (click to enlarge)

  No picture, but I think I had a piece of toast and a glass of water before the run.  Afterwards, I had a Green Monster.

Mid-morning snack was half of a banana.

Lunch was leftover chicken and dumplings!!  Best. Leftovers. Ever.

Dessert was a small pouch of Annie’s Bunny Grahams.  I bought a variety pack of these from Costco.  Great snacks!!

Mid-afternoon snack was Utz honey wheat pretzel sticks.  Yummm!!

With the pretzels I had a FlavH20.

Friday night I didn’t do much of anything.  Saturday morning I woke up around 7:30 and went to a yoga class at 9:30.  My back was feeling sore so I felt this was a better idea than running and pushed my run to Sunday.

Breakfast before yoga was a bowl of Multigrain Cheerios mixed with a little Nature’s Path Pumpkin granola and skim milk. No picture.

After yoga and a trip to Target, I was craving a fresh salad for lunch. 

This salad had romaine lettuce, baby spinach, tomatoes, 1 egg, pepper jack cheese, and carrots.  On the side was a piece of French bread with Brummel and Brown yogurt spread.  For the dressing I used Bolthouse Farms Yogurt Ranch.  Love this stuff!!

At 6 some friends came over and we started looking at packages for Vegas!!!  Four of us ladies are going in August to see Garth Brooks (and to celebrate my 30th birthday which is a couple weeks later!)  We were ready to book a package, but when we clicked “book it” the price doubled!!  Craziness!! I guess we’ll keep looking.

While they were here I had some snacks out that I sampled.  Black bean brownies (fail…need to try different recipe), hummus, spinach dup, pretzels, carrot sticks, tortilla chips, and salsa. 

For dinner we went to a local pizza place called Cogan’s in Norfolk.  I had two slices of the California Dreamin’ which was a white pizza (no tomato sauce) with cheese, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, and spinach.  Pretty tasty!! Sorry, no pictures.  I’m limited right now since the camera is broken.

When I came home I took a hot bath to soothe my sore body.  Heaven!

Today was just as busy a day as yesterday.  Probably more.  I had the same breakfast as yesterday before heading off to church to teach Sunday School.

After church I fueled up on this…

and this…

Source

The yoga teacher from yesterday was giving out these PowerBar ProteinPlus Bites.  She’d gotten them at a workshop, where they had a lot of extras.  I only ate one just before leaving those house.  I was quite surprised at the taste!  Very yummy!!

I also did about 10 minute of yoga stretching before going on my run.

Today was another PDR (personal distance record) with 4.01 miles at an 11 minute/mile pace.  Below are my stats (click to enlarge).

Now that I’ve been working on my breathing, I have to say that my runs are going SO much better!! 

After my run, I did 10 more minutes of yoga stretching, took another hot bath and snacked on some tortilla chips and hummus before making tuna salad.  I had to wait for the bread to thaw first because I really wanted it on French bread. 

I feel like one of my favorite food discoveries ever is that you can freeze French bread and when it thaws it’s like new again!

After lunch, I read for a while and tried to stay awake so I wouldn’t sleep through a beautiful day.  Around 3pm I took the dogs to the dog park.  When we returned I washed the car I was driving, which Josh will now be driving since I have my new car.  It was a pigsty and I didn’t want to give it to him like that.

For dinner, I already had dough ready from earlier in week so I decided to make pizza (yes, again).  This was a Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free crust with pizza sauce, turkey pepperoni, mozzarella, Compari tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and spinach.    So good! (So Good!)

There’s even two leftover pieces so expect to see it again, probably tomorrow.

Now, I’m going to finish watching the Oscars (doubt I’ll make it to the end, I’m pooped!).  Have a wonderful night.

Around 4:00 I wanted a pick-me-up so I made a Chai Tea Latte using the Tazo liquid mix and 2% milk.

After work I called the camera store I had hoped would be able to fix my camera and they said it would be a minimum of $160.   Tomorrow I will get an estimate from Canon to see if it’s any cheaper.  I’d rather get it fixed because a crappy point and shoot costs that much and this is a very high-end point and shoot with a lot of the options that a D-SLR comes with.  We’ll see.

Since I didn’t have to go to the camera store I went to Costco instead.  I got hummus, lettuce, spinach, Havarti cheese, tea for Josh, a variety box of Annie’s bunny snacks…the usual.

They had a Canon Rebel XLS two lens kit that I was drooling over until I saw the price…$799!!

Once at home I started making Chicken and Dumplings.  The recipe is all in my head, but it goes something like this:

Chicken and Dumplings

Ingredients

• 3 chicken breasts
• Chicken stock OR chicken bouillon cubes
• Butter
• skim milk
• Frozen dumplings (pastry strips)
• salt
• pepper

Directions

1. Boil 3 chicken breasts
2. Remove chicken from pot and cut into small pieces
3. Drain 1/4-1/2 of the water
4. Add chicken back to pot
5. Add 1/2 c. chicken stock or 4 chicken bullion cubes
6. Add 1/2 stick butter
7. Add 3/4 c skim milk
8. Add dumplings
9. Bring back to a boil
10. Reduce heat and simmer until desired consistency (I like mine thick!)
11. Salt and pepper to taste

© 2010 LovinLosing

Here are the ingredients laid out.  I apologize for the lighting.  Until the camera gets fixed you’re stuck with this (just like I’m stuck with those countertops right now).

These are the dumplings I use.

It may not look like much, but OMG it’s tasty.  A little too salty this time, but other than that….Mmmmmmm

After dinner I had a little of this fudge that I bought at TJ Maxx.  It’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Marble.  It definitely kicks the sweet-tooth pretty quickly. 

Now, I’m off to bed because I have to get up in the morning and run 3.5 miles, which will be a PDR. 

Have a wonderful night!! 

Lunch today was some leftover Annie’s Shells and Cheese with peas and tuna.  I was looking through my leftover containers in the fridge this morning and I think I may have actually squealed with joy when I open the one that had this in it. I forgot it was in there.

With my lunch I also had some watermelon.  This came from a mini watermelon I got at Costco.  It’s about the size of a large cantaloupe.  Unfortunately there wasn’t much flavor to it.  Disappointing.

I also had a clementine.  LOVE how easy these are to peel!

Despite all this fruit I was still craving sugar so I had the leftover granola from yesterday’s breakfast.  It was MAYBE quarter of a cup.

And…my mid-afternoon snack of pretzels and a Diet Coke.  Voila! Headache gone!  I”m going to have to get some whole wheat pretzels, though next time I go to the store and I’d probably better get the 8oz sodas, too.  They quench the craving just enough!

I did figure out what to make for dinner!  Chicken and dumplings!  I promised the husband I would make it this week.  Yummy!!!  Another one of those meal that make you excited about leftovers the next day.

See ya later!

IN THE NEWS

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