Had to share a picture of my new healthy addiction.  Pumpkin yogurt.  I had seen this on a few of the healthy foodie blogs I read and right away knew I had to try it.  I mean, I love pumpkin. I eat pumpkin oats every morning.  So why not add more to my diet, right? Yummy and SO good for you.  Loads of Vitamin A and beta carotenes.  Plus it is low in calories and high in fibre.

Here is what I’ve been doing:

1/3 c. Balkan style plain yogurt
1/3 c. canned pumpkin
Pumpkin pie spice (to taste)
Liquid stevia (to taste)

Good on its own, or sprinkled with a yummy pumpkin granola.  (Sticking to the pumpkin theme.)  Only takes a few seconds to prepare and so delicious.

I’m off to bed as I’m planning a long run (I’m thinking 12K) tomorrow in prep for my 15K on the 17 of Jan.  I’m getting a bit nervous, but glad to have something to motivate and to get me out there running.  Got a new water belt for Christmas that I need to try out too.

Those 4 days of indulgence and overeating seeming a very distant past. Yay for that reset button! 

Well, I’ll be honest and say the my attempts at moderation this Christmas did not go as well as I had hoped.  I had a post almost totally written titled “Pacing Myself”, but couldn’t post it after I realized I really wasn’t do so well at this.

I did start out good.  I worked out hard and ate well in the days leading up the Christmas.  I ran 10K on Christmas Eve morning and ate super healthy all day, knowing the feasting would begin that evening.

But then the evening arrived and I started to eat the goodies and treats.  And once I started, I had a hard time stopping.  Christmas Day started out again with moderation in mind, but this idea once again got thrown out the window later in the day.  Boxing Day started with a 10K run and some good food, but ended with lots of treats and lots of over eating.  And the twenty-seventh was a disaster, right from when I started my day with some of my mother-in-law’s baking.  Eeek!

But thankfully today I was able to press what I call the “reset button”.  I went for a nice long (9.5K) run in the morning and made it the whole day without any sweets or treats.  And this is just what I need to get back on track.  I’m hoping to get out for some exercise tomorrow morning, and then to commit to “treating” my body to some good, healthy, well-balanced meals.

I also had to share some more motivation to get back on track and recommit myself to healthy living in the new year – photos.  Both of these pictures were taken by my aunt at our annual Boxing Day festivities.  The first was taken last year and the second was just two days ago.  The difference is about 45 lbs and feeling good in my own body.  And I won’t give that up for anything! Certainly not for some Nanaimo Bars or Peanut Butter Confetti Squares!

December 2008

December 2009

Hope you all had a good Christmas and were able to apply moderation better than I. And here’s to a healthy and happy 2010!

Sorry for the lack of posts. I’m posting up a storm during this Christmas season on my other blog, so this little healthy journal has taken a backseat. Still on the journey, but just not documenting it as well. I’ve been mentally processing a blog about weight maintenance (versus weight loss) but just don’t have the brain power to make my thoughts coherent right now. Hopefully that will come one of these days.

As the title says, I’m plugging away on this journey. Braving new and scary territory with the approaching Christmas holidays. I’ve always succumbed to the excess of the season, with the mindset that I’d get “back on track” in the New Year. (Resolution #1 of mine for the past 15+ years? Lose __ lbs, a number which grew as the years passed and the # of kids I’d birthed got higher.) But this year I’m determined to make it different, and approach the occasion(s) with moderation in mind. I’ve been repeating my “Been there, done that” mantra of summer, to remind myself that I’ve had all these treats before.

Not that I’m saying no to all the treats and special foods of the season. I’m just trying to be smart and selective. And really savour and enjoy the ones I decide are “worth it”. (How’s that for alliteration?? Forget CCC – cool, calm and collected. I’m being SMART, SELECTIVE AND SAVOURING!)

Some days this goes well. I had a good night at Kenna’s Preschool Christmas Program, which included a treat potluck afterwards with two full tables full of goodies. (Decided to have one small bite of a cheesecake treat from Kenna’s plate, and was good with that.)

Other days I just want to eat. And keep eating. And not think about what I should eat. Or portion sizes. These days are hard. I either keep my head about me and refrain, or I give in to the desire. And then wish I hadn’t when I wake up the next morning.

All that to say, I’m working at it. Daily. Hourly. My weight is a bit up from my lowest weight, but I still feel good and healthy. I’d like to get it down that few pounds, but refuse to obsess about it. I’m in the best shape of my life and mom to three kids. I gotta learn to love it now or I never will.

Kenna’s Christmas baking

Way back in January of this year, when I was in my third week of this weight-loss journey, I wrote this quote on my food journal blog:

If you want to change, you can’t just be in love with the end result, you have to fall in love with the process too.

So true!  I needed to be reminded of this, as I work on learning how to maintain.  The momentum of the “losing game” is gone, and I sure have been feeling that this whole fall season.  I’m such an all-or-nothing person, that when I am not actively pursuing my weight loss goal, I sometimes begin to abandon ship.  I’m trying to remember that I do actually LIKE the process: getting fit, being more active, going out for a run, eating well with whole foods, and trying yummy new “clean” recipes.  It is not just how great I feel now that I’m at a good weight for me, though I must remember this too.  It is also that I like being healthy as a process.

Thoughts?

“New-to-me” Nine West dress from Value Village – $21.99

Franco Sarto peep toe black suede shoes – $90.99 (Eeek!  Apparently these are going to last forever!)

Secret sandal toe control top panty hose – $5.67

Ruby Red Sally Hansen nail polish – $4.57

Feeling good and happy in my own skin?  PRICELESS!

Feeling this way is worth all the hard work, that is for sure.  Now to remember this and keep on this journey!

Conquered the Bear Creek Classic.    Had a good time doing it too!  Was so nice to be doing my second 10K (instead of my first) as I was so much more relaxed.  I slept great the night before, which is in sharp contrast to last time.  The conditions were a bit mucky (it had rained ALL NIGHT!) but we barely even got wet (apart from the puddles!) during the race.

My friend Leah, who I did my first 10K with, came out to Surrey and kept me company again.  So nice to have a buddy.  (Or two.  Her daughter ran the 5K.) Thanks again, Leah and Michelle.

I was very excited to have a little cheering section when I crossed the finish line, as my dad and Kaleb had come to see me finish.  I had seen them driving to the park while I still had a few KMs to go, and knowing they were waiting for me at the end gave me an extra boost to run my best finish!  Nothing like getting a congratulatory hug and sprig of flowers from a super cute six-year-old!

Dad was having camera malfunctions, so he didn’t get me crossing the finish line, but he did get this cute one of me and my #1 fan!

I was really hoping to beat my last 10K time and set a PR (personal record), but somehow managed to come in at the exact same time!  Exact same second! Yes, my official time at the Abbotsford Police Run was 58′57.  And my time for the Bear Creek Classic?  58′57″  Not sure I could do that again if I tried. 

Now trying to decide what is next.  Seriously contemplating a 15K in January, though the likely January weather is certainly a consideration.  Not sure I could run that far in the ice or snow!  And then I’ve got my eye on a half marathon in March.  Still trying to decide if this would be “fun” (if you can call running for over 2 hours fun!) or just plain crazy.  I’m crazy, but not sure I’m THAT crazy! ;P

Still working on conquering the eating battle.  Can’t say I won it yesterday, but I’m feeling good and on track today, so trying to focus on that.  One month till Christmas and I’m very aware that it only gets harder from here, with all the parties and Christmas festivities.  But I’m committed to doing this the healthy way.  I just may need a few reminders of this when faced with plates and plates of all those Christmas goodies and open boxes of chocolates. 

Any strategies you use for doing Christmas healthy and in moderation would be VERY welcome!  Please share!

Yup, tomorrow is the day.  The Bear Creek Classic.  Doesn’t that sound prestigious?

I’m off to bed, in hope of a good night’s sleep before my second 10K race in the morning.  I’m probably going to get very wet, but I’m still excited. 

I’ll give you all the rundown in the next few days.

Yup, I’m still here.  Sorry this blog has gotten a bit neglected lately.  Life has been pretty busy around this place. Halloween and all the related harvest and fall activities.  Followed closely by Jorja’s 2nd birthday, which we celebrated last night (Sunday) with our “gang” of friends.

Today, we are taking a deep breath as life gets back to normal.  At least for few a days, anyways! ;P

Health-wise, things have been going just okay.  I’m still doing pretty good with the exercise/running.  The rainy fall weather and hours of darkness have put a bit of a damper on my enthusiasm, but I have been managing to get some form of exercise about 4-5 times a week.  I’m happy to report that I’ve worked up to 15K during my Monday morning long run, which feels amazing and quite surreal.  I NEVER imagined I could ever run even close to that distance, back when running a block or two just about killed me! I have a 10K booked for the 22nd of this month, so that helps to get me out there, as I really want to improve my time from my first 10K. I’m quite happy about the time change, despite the earlier dark in the evenings, as I NEED that little bit of light coming through my bedroom blinds in the morning to help me get up and get out there.

Food-wise, it has been more of a struggle.  I think I eat for all the reasons (boredom, stress, reward, celebration, etc) and this is hard to change.  I thought I’d had a long enough period of good eating (starting this past January) to consider the habits changed, but realize that with this “habit” it is especially hard.  Since you can’t just stop eating completely or go “cold turkey”. Eating will always have to be part of my life.  Especially since I am not just in charge of feeding myself, but my job as a mom is to feed four others as well!

So I’m still working at addressing the “real” reasons I eat, but sometimes I just don’t know why it is still such a struggle.  Praying through it a lot, as I know I need more than just my strength to develop a healthy and balanced relationship with food.  I’ll be honest with you all and say that I did scare myself with a few evenings of massive amounts of eating/snacking.  Sometimes, once I start with one treat, I have trouble stopping there and not just making it a whole night of eating.  I decide to “give up” on healthy eating, and just go for it.  It is usually when I am alone, which makes it even worse.  I feel so rotten the next day, when I wake up and remember. And wonder why I chose to do it.

There you have it.  Some brutal honesty.  No idea why I am even sharing.  But really, I’ve got nothing to lose.  I tried keeping my struggles a secret for 15+ years, and it didn’t help or get me anywhere.  This time, I’m going to honest and open route and hoping to come out the other side a different person.  And maybe help a friend or two along the way.

After too much birthday cake on Sunday night, I had a good day yesterday (Monday) and feel like I’ve pushed the reset button.  But I know how easy a switch it is to flip, so just trying to take it one day at a time and pray for self-control.  Not self-control to be perfect, which is often what I want, but self-control to be God honoring with my body.

Any body out there understand me? 

Off to make some yummy Pumpkin Cornbread to go with the chili I am feeding our College age small group gals tonight. 

On the menu tonight?  Swiss Chard.  Thanks to my veggie loving bro, I’ve eaten it before.  But never made it for myself.

This week’s trip to the fresh fruit and veggie market means it is time to start experimenting in the kitchen.  I could not turn down the huge bunch for just $1.29!

I’ve emailed my brother for his recipe, but am not sure I’ll get that in time for supper.  Plus, I love hunting down a good recipe on the internet.  Honestly, finding great healthy recipes on the internet is one of my favorite things.  The resources online for making good food is endless!

Here are a few that I am looking at: a basic one, one with pinto beans and goat cheese, and another with raisins and pine nuts.

Andy just informed me as I was writing this that he doesn’t like chard.    Well, hopefully I pick a good recipe and I like it!  As there is a lot of it!  Or maybe, just maybe, I can win him over!

__________________

It is a few days later now, and I’m finally getting back to the blog to tell you about my supper.  I ended up taking the parts that sounded good from each of the three recipes I had found.  And was very happy with what I ended up with!  Yum!  Andy only had a bite, but said something like “It’s not too bad.”  Not exactly a victory, but I’ll take it.

One large bunch of Swiss Chard, washed but not dried, tough stems removed and leaves coarsely chopped
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon of lime juice
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
pine nuts
goat cheese

Heat EVOO in large skillet over medium heat.  Saute the garlic for 1 minute. Add the chard and toss in oil and garlic.  Cook until the chard is wilted, about 3 minutes.  Add the lemon zest, lime, salt, and red pepper, and toss quickly. Add pine nuts and crumbled goat cheese, stir and serve.

Next time I might toast the pine nuts in the oil before adding the chard.  Or trying it will raisins or another nut.

Wish I’d taken a picture (not that it was anything special to look at!), but we were in a rush out the door for some Harvest Fest action.  So it was eat (yum!) and run.  I will be making it again.  And hopefully Andy will give it another try.

Please share any Swiss chard recipes you’ve used and liked.  Next time I’m going to try bok choy, so share those recipes as well.

I’m finally blogging about my last race, which happened 9 days ago, as I’ve been able to download the picture from my cell phone.  Heaven forbid that I blog about it without some picture to accompany!

Saturday the 17th I ran the Daniel Igali 5K Run for the Kids.  The original plan for this race was for Andy to run it.  He had been working on (or at least thinking about!  ha, ha!) completing the Couch to 5K program and so he had agreed to register for the 5K race in Surrey for motivation.  Long story short (or short story long), he was not ready to run it, so I happily took his place in the race!

I met up with a friend of my sister’s who was also doing the race, so I had someone to wait with while getting rained on at the start line.  Ya, not the most favorable weather conditions, but I still had a blast doing the race. Still weird to me how much I am enjoying this running gig! Who would have guessed?  NOT ME!

My time, according to my Nike+ (as this race was not chip timed), was 28′18″, which I was very happy with.  Almost exactly 3 months since my first 5K, and I’d chopped 5 min and 27 seconds from my time.

The race was at Bear Creek Park, and the same course I will do for my 10K in November (we just do the loop 2x).  It was a nice course of trails and paved paths through the park, and so I am looking forward to it already.  Just hoping it doesn’t pour rain that day, as you can get pretty wet when running for almost an hour!

As the race was hosted by Olympic gold medalist Daniel Igali, the 2010 Vancouver Olympic mascots showed up.  I got my picture take with Miga and Quatchi, as I knew my kids would get a kick out of it.  I did feel like a bit of a dork, but it was worth it!

Hangin’ with the mascots!

And while I am on the topic of running, I should share where I am at with running lately.  I really have gotten to the point where I am enjoying running.  No, certainly not every minute of every run.  But I LOVE the feeling after the run is over!  Once I am home, stretched and in the shower, I feel AMAZING! And it is worth getting out of bed early, getting wet, being cold, huffing and puffing and getting sweaty for that feeling. It just starts my day off GREAT!

Unfortunately, I sometimes forget this when I am snuggled under a warm duvet and the house is still quiet.  It is dark outside, and often I can hear the water pouring out of the drain pipe.  And it is SO HARD TO GET UP.  I regret it later if I don’t, but I have a huge mental battle while laying there when my alarm goes. I’ve never been the one to work out or run with a companion, but I often wish on these mornings that I was meeting someone, as this would give me some incentive to get up and go.

I managed to get up this morning, but the lack of rain (and the knowledge that it will likely be back tomorrow) was helpful.  And now I feel so good, knowing that my work-out is done and I’m ready to get on with my day.

Off to make some coffee and my delicious pumpkin oat bran!

A picture I took with my cell phone the first time I ran a 10K distance!