Well, I haven't run in weeks. Or any exercise for that matter. I intend to. Hasn't happened. Definitely not on course for running a 5K this fall, but hoping to get into the swing of things now that the cool air is back.

In keeping with my "not working out phase" I made some horribly fantastic gluten free cheesecake brownie bites the other day. I made them a few weeks ago, but tweaked the recipe this time and they came out so much better. I really should have taken a photo, I will next time I make them, which will be soon I'm sure.

Recipe: Use the Betty Crocker Gluten Free Brownie Mix, prepare as directed,

In a separate bowl, mix by hand softened cream cheese (I took mine out of the fridge about 30 minutes earlier), one egg and 1/4 cup of sugar. Mix until it is liquidy, the cream cheese may still be a little chunky. The first time I made it I used confectionery sugar and beat it....they came out good but the cream cheese didn't come out as much. Mixing by hand left the cream cheese a little chunky but it melts so it's fine and made the cream cheese standout.

 I use a mini muffin tin, spray with cooking spray. Fill each with brownie about 2/3 then a little dollop of cream cheese mix on top. If I don't have enough brownie I add a little on top of the cream cheese on some. I baked for 17 1/2 minutes. Let cool and they pop right out.

Yum! Might try them with Strawberry cream cheese next time....

Deja Vu All Over Again

I really dislike that phrase. It makes no sense. Are you having deja vu again? No, not that's not what you mean. You mean history repeating itself. Not that you are seeing the future again. Anywhoooo....I'm back :). And in reviewing my posts from 2 years ago, not much has changed. What I am hoping for is different results. I started the Couch to 5K again. In the winter/spring I was very serious about working out. I did Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred, LOVED it. Tabata at the gym, LOVED it. Interval training is such an amazing workout. Makes you feel strong and it makes you lose weight. This summer I have tried doing some Aqua Tabata in the pool. Actually was a good workout, maybe not quite as much as the shred, but great for a hot day. I look forward to getting back into interval training in the fall once the hot is over. I bring up the interval training because it definitely made me stronger, particularly my legs which gave me the confidence to try running again. Since part of the problem I had before was I didn't have the muscles strong enough to hold my knee in place, I think I am in a better position to start. I am also doing the plan very slowly, only running 2-3 time per week as time allows and my body is comfortable with. Tonight I finished Week 3, Day 2. 5 Minute warm up walk 90 second run 90 second walk 3 minute run 3 minute walk repeat. So far so good. I haven't felt too much pulling in my knee when running or after. I am trying to make sure I stretch really well after, and do some of the physical therapy exercises they gave me for it. I probably will run again Tuesday or Wednesday.

Still Gluten Free

I am quite impressed that I have more posts to my blog in 2010 than I did in all of 2009. Not bad :).

I am almost 3 weeks in to the Gluten Free diet. It is going well....it isn't terribly hard, it just requires some preparation. There are a ton of gluten free products now, Betty Crocker makes a great cupcake mix and their frosting is naturally gluten free. So are snicker bars and milky ways, Lays Potato Chips.....:) Needless to say the diet isn't going so well...I've actually thought that if I end up havign to do this forever, I might need to count some points while being gluten free. It's too easy to say well I can't have bread or baked goods, so I deserve to be able to a few treats...well a a few are fine, it's everything in moderation.

I actually lost 4 lbs the first week, but have been the same since. So gluten free is a lot of meat, cheese (as long as it doesn't have gluten...some cheaper varieties might actually have additives, ewww), fruit, veggies, potatoes, rice....oh and salad. Which has also proved to be troublesome. I'm limiting the amount of lettuce and raw veggies.

Overall, I think it is making a difference. So hard to tell. Doctor appointment next week so we'll see what happens.

The New Not-by-Choice Diet

Not sure if it's going to help me lose weight, but it might.

I have been battling stomach issues for a while now....seems like forever, but I've defintely noticed a difference since Jack was born. By that I mean, I eat and I have to use the bathroom very shortly after....I won't go into details. This past week I've been not right and I finally thought I should go to the doctor. Which was a hard decision because as much as I love the doctor, sometimes we avoid them so we can't find out what we might already suspect. But I am sick of feeling sick, so off I went.

And she did what I expected....limit the diet and sent me for blood tests, one of which is for Celiac Disease, which means going gluten free. I also am going to see a GI Specialist in October. Obviously I just had the test done, but for now she suggested I go either gluten or dairy free for two weeks, and then switch if the first didn't make a difference. Since Celiac runs in the family, I'm going with the gluten first. And I'm not giving up cheese yet unless I have to :).

So we'll see what happens.....I'm already craving a cookie. I think because I can't have one. I'm going to need to find some gluten free goodies. My uncle lost a bunch of weight having to follow the diet though...that's a positive, right?

Weekend Disaster

I need to get out of the mindset that a few allowances here and there will be ok...at least not now. It's one thing to splurge when you are at your goal weight, or even on your way there. But I'm barely out of the starting blocks and I sabotage myself. I just don't like having to deprive myself of what I want foodwise, I feel like I should be able to eat whatever I want. But do I want to be able to eat what I want, or lose 20 lbs? What's more important? I wish I knew. This weekend it was eating whatever I wanted. And now the guilt has set in.

There are a few good things that came from this weekend. John and I had a great dinner out, it was nice to be back at the Playwright again. We don't get to spend nearly enough time with just the two of us. And we get a night away this weekend...cousin Dee's wedding woohoo!

The other good thing was I re-joined the gym. I've been thinking about it for a while and finally did it. I have at least 4 friends who go to the same gym I used to go to and they go on a regular basis so I'm hoping we can set dates and I will get there. It feels so good to be back there and working out. I plan to go at least twice, hopefully 3 or 4 times a week. I'm starting sort of slow, I still haven't done a whole lot with the knee since getting out of physical therapy. I was able to walk a little over 1.5 miles yesterday, although going faster than 2.8 on the treadmill makes the knee start to hurt...so I'm not going super fast but at least I'm going. I figure building up slowly and eventually I'll be back up to a regular speed. The elliptical seems to be the best option. Virtually no pain at all and able to go a regular pace.

I also need to figure out how to get rid of this neck pain from sleeping. Ouch! Every morning I wake up with pain in my right neck/shoulder. Getting old.

Happy 5th Anniversary!

Five years ago today John and I got married....I can't believe 5 years have gone by so fast! It's been a great time though and can't wait for some many more.

I've been doing pretty well on SB...yesterday was by far my best day. Today so far so good. It's 3:16 pm right now and we're heading into the the serious witching hours. Hunger/boredom sets in....and staying away from those lovely carbs gets more and more difficult. But I'm trying. I just ate a half of a zucchini with some ranch dressing. Hopefully John will be home soon so we can go out to the pool for a bit, staying busy prevents eating. Then we're off to another anniversary dinner. I think we'll just head to the Playwright. Wednesday we celebrated too but had a fancier dinner so tonight we'll go to our favorite location. Going to do my best to stay on the plan....

SB Day 3

Breakfast: 3 scrambled eggs and two slices of ham
Snack: 2 mozzarella sticks
Lunch: slices of turkey and ham, cucumbers & zuccini dipped in some lite ranch dressing.

So far so good.