My Early Birthday Present

My birthday isn't for a little over 3 weeks, but I was in desperate need of a new iPod. I actually have two iPod Classics, but they have really been acting up lately. The first one randomly dies and says it has no battery power left when it has been charged in for hours. The second one started giving me a strange error message that I can't get rid of. I probably could have sent them back to Apple to have them fixed, but I figured this is a good excuse for me to get a new model.

I give you my new iPod Nano ...

My favorite colors are pink and purple, but I see those colors around all the time. I wanted something different so I chose green. I had read that the new 5th generation iPods had FM radio and video cameras built in, but I forgot about that until I bought mine. Super cool features I must say.

Caitlin over at Healthy Tipping Point wrote a blog earlier today about people who listen to podcasts while running instead of music. Several of her readers said they prefer podcasts for various reasons to music while running, so I thought I would give it a try today. I downloaded several different podcasts. One I was really interested in trying was called 4 Feet Running. I also downloaded The Biggest Loser Fan Podcast as well as a couple others. I started off my 5 mile run trying to listen to the 4 Feet Running, but I found the sound quality so bad that I couldn't deal with it. I don't know if it was just that specific episode, or if that is the way that all of them are but I had to turn it off. I ended up listening to the Biggest Loser podcast. It was pretty interesting commentary, the actual recap of the episode was boring because they are discussing the show from 2 episodes ago. I might start listening to podcasts more often if I can find some really good ones. I get bored with my music so quickly it would make for a nice change.

We planned to grill out BBQ chicken breasts tonight for dinner, but I'm still really confused with the time change and before we could get out to cook it was completely dark. Instead we made homemade pizzas. I've made these several times before, but they are always delicious. Tonight we didn't have any goat cheese since we ate it all last night, so we used regular ol' mozzarella instead. We had spinach salads with mushrooms, onions, tomatoes and apple slices on the side.

I've thoroughly enjoyed my 9 days off, but its almost time to go back to work. I have to work Thursday, Friday and Saturday this week. So I'll see you guys on Sunday! In the meantime ... what are some of your favorite podcasts to listen to? I need some ideas.

Goals for The Week

First of all, there is something that has been on my mind that I want to discuss. For all you Biggest Loser fans, last night on the episode when they had to order all of their food out, did you notice that they said to make sure their fruit didn't contain any: bananas, melons, or grapes? I keep thinking that maybe I misunderstood what they were saying. Surely they don't have them on such a strict diet that they can't eat certain fruits! Or do they?

My personal philosophy on fruits and vegetables is that, I didn't get fat eating them and they aren't going to make me fat now. Unless of course, you fry them or saute them in butter. I don't normally count points for fruits and vegetables that I eat raw or cooked without additives.

Every week I like to set a couple goals for myself. My weeks start on Monday (as far as weigh-in goes), so I'm a little late blogging these but thats ok. My goals for this week are:

• To only weigh on weigh-in day.
• To track everything I eat on Weight Watchers and Spark People.

I signed up for Spark People several months ago, but I stopped using it because I felt like it was too time consuming and redundant to track my food on both Weight Watchers and Spark People. One thing I did like about Spark People though that Weight Watchers doesn't have is that you can track all of your nutrients. You can actually see a breakdown of your calorie, carb, fat, and protein intake and measure it against the recommended daily amounts. You can track any other nutrients you are interested in as well.

Lately I've been really interested in not only losing weight, but also healthy living. By this I mean that I'm more interested in the nutritional value of what I'm eating than the Points value. So that is why I wanted to start using my Spark People account again. So far I'm doing really good at staying in the correct ranges for calories, carbs, fat and protein.

My other goal for this week is to only weigh on Monday. When I was younger I was completely scale obsessed; I would weigh when I first woke up, after I went to the bathroom, after I ate, after I exercised, anytime I went into the bathroom. You get the idea. I think this stems from growing up in a househould with someone that had eating disorders. My mother struggled with anorexia and bulemia when I was a child. For that reason its really important to me not to be scale obsessed anymore. I usually want to weigh myself every morning when I wake up, but I realize that there will be normal fluctuations from day to day and that weighing on a weekly basis is much more reliable.

My eats for today included:

Kashi GoLean Crunch with Vanilla Oikos Greek Yogurt


A Gala apple, my fave!


Leftover spaghetti squash with meat sauce, and a side salad.


1/2 of a Green Monster (Yep, thats yesterday's pic again)


Steak with mushrooms, green beans, roasted cauliflower, and
a twice baked potato.

I also had a handful of Quaker Quakes Mini Rice cakes, a Crab Delight snack, and a piece of garlic toast. It really seemed like I ate alot today, but I came in at 1450 calories.

I ran 6 miles this afternoon, and it was extremely hard for me today. I don't know if it was because I ran in the afternoon and I normally run in the morning, or if I was just having an off day. I literally felt like I couldn't have taken one more step though, and I felt all weird and dizzy afterwards. I think my body needed the extra calories tonight because I felt much better after dinner.

Just a Quick Hello

We had a great night last night in Labor and Delivery. For some reason I didn't sleep very well today though. I woke up several times during the day and finally decided to get up at 2:45. I usually get up at 4:00. I packed a healthy dinner for work tonight: hummus and sprout sammy, edamame succotash and more cucumber dill salad. I did the Jillian Michaels No More Trouble Zones DVD and now I'm snacking on a pretzel with yellow mustard and honeydew.

I wish I could be home tonight to watch The Biggest Loser. I guess it will have to wait til Thursday night when I'm off work though. That is .. unless someone decides to post the results on Facebook. I hate it when people do that.

Have a great night everyone!

A New Toy and The Biggest Loser

This is the new toy that I broke down and bought tonight. Its a Schwinn Joyrider jog stroller. I've been feeling guilty lately about the time that I've been spending away from my son when Tim and I are out exercising. We bought a bike trailer a few weeks ago so that we can take Lincoln with us when we go bike riding in the park. Now that we've both really gotten into running lately I thought it might be a good idea to have a good jog stroller as well.

Part of me feels really bad about spending all this money on the gadgets I've bought to workout with. But then I try to remind myself that although these things probably are technically necessary, they are all investments in my future, in our future, and in my son's future. Not to mention the fact that my husband encourages me. If I even have an inkling of an idea of buying something he's right behind me saying, "get it, get it!". Who can say no to that?!

I'm really looking forward to being able to go for runs in the park with my son. I think it will be a great family time, and it will give my mother in law a break from watching him every day not only while we work but also while we workout.

I did make a couple rules to follow regarding the stroller. I decided for safety's sake that we will only use it when we are in a park, on a track. I'm too afraid to use it out on the road, not only because of traffic but also because of the freaks that are out there in the world. I really don't want anyone messing with me while I have my baby with me. Its sad that the world has come to a point that you have to worry about things like that.

On another note I was super stoked about The Biggest Loser premiere tonight. That show has seriously helped change my life. Its so incredibly motivating! Every year up until now when The Biggest Loser would start I would wish that I could be on the show, that I could make those changes in my life, and be like those people. The ironic thing is that I'd usually watch the show while chowing down on a very unhealthy dinner.

It feels completely different to sit down and watch the show and know that I used to be where those contestants are starting out at, and that I have changed my life, instead of just wishing I could do it. Its hard to explain but my whole life, my way of thinking and everything I'm about has totally changed, and its amazing!