Marinated Cucumbers and Tomatoes

Last night I whipped up a little cucumber salad to have as a snack today. Considering I wasn’t following a pre-determined recipe, it came out really good! LOL!

2 tablespoons Seasoned Rice Wine Vinegar
1 Packet Splenda
Salt and pepper to taste
Handful of Cherry Tomatoes (quartered)
About a cup of sliced Cucumber

Stir the vinegar, splenda and salt and pepper together in a small bowl, then pour over the tomatoes and cucumbers. Refrigerate for a few hours of overnight. (Or not, if you’re starving. LOL! It tasted pretty good last night too)

Add a little bit of diced red onion too – if you like onions (I don’t. I can’t eat onions unless they’re cooked.)

Longest 3 weeks ever…

So, tonight I FINALLY was able to complete “Week 3: Session 1” – Run 3 minutes, walk 2 minutes (10 times). I’ve been working on that rotation for about 2 weeks now. LOL! Week 3: Session 2 will be a breeze then – Run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes (9 times). And after that the next few sessions seem easily within reach.

I’ve finally managed to get myself running on the treadmill, which I think has been the critical thing for my being able to complete this session. I think before, when I was running outside, I was getting too hot (it hasn’t been cooling down enough at twilight recently), and I was also probably getting dehydrated. Even tonight, running in an air conditioned gym, and basically drinking a huge bottle of water – when I stopped running, I felt dizzy. I don’t know if that’s really normal or not. I do have a doctor’s appointment in about a month and I guess if that keeps up, I’ll ask her. Either way, I still prefer running outside, so I need to figure out a way to keep a water bottle handy.

These are the types of simple questions that always make me feel like an idiot. I mean, what do “real” runners do? I never see the joggers I pass on the road lugging a big jug of water with them. How do these people not get dehydrated?!

In any case, I did see someone bicycling with something like this: Amphipod Full Tilt Velocity Waistpack – basically the water bottle goes on your back. I’m not sure how well it works for running, but I’m really tempted to try it. REI I think is one of those stores that has a really good return policy if I recall…? Don’t like it – bring it back, even if you’ve used it kind of thing. So even though $32 seems like more than I’d want to spend on a water bottle – I’m willing to try it if I know I can return it if it doesn’t work out.

In any case, I’m feeling really good about tonight’s victory. 50 minutes or running/walking. Go me! 😀

Pizza that won’t break the (calorie) bank

While I’m on the subject of reviewing cool yummy low-calorie stuff… I’ve been having a crazy pizza craving that just won’t let up. When that kind of thing happens, first I try to fight the craving, then I try to find some kind of replacement or alternative so that I’m not sabotaging all my hard work exercising and watching what I eat. If all else fails, and I really can’t take it anymore – then, yeah, sometimes you just have to accept the fact that this is life – get ONE slice of pizza, watch your calories the rest of the day, and then try to move on and beyond the pizza craving.

In any case, I’m still at the “find a replacement or alternative” phase of my craving. So I found a frozen, single serving pizza made by Amy’s:

One problem I usually have with  frozen pizzas is that they’ll do a large pie but the serving is only 1/3 of the pizza. I can never slice it just right. And then after I finish my piece, there’s the other two slices staring back at me. So I love the single serving size. Frozen pizza also has a tendency to taste kind of… I don’t know… blah? like cardboard? Not this one!! I’ve had other frozen dinners by Amy’s, and they’ve all been really yummy and low cal. The Margherita Pizza was awesome, filling, and only 360 calories (which is REALLY low for pizza – seriously)

Craving satisfied. (I think… well, if not, I can always just pick up another one of these and have it for dinner)

Greatest Tomato Sauce EVER!

So I discovered a great find the other day. I was poking around Whole Foods looking for yummy low calorie stuff and found this tomato sauce:

It has the lowest number of calories I’ve seen in an off-the-shelf sauce (only 35 calories for 1/2 a cup), probably because it has no added sugar! Of course I had to buy it and try it and it tasted fantastic!! You’ve seriously got to try it if it’s sold near you. (I had it with some polenta – which turns out is much lower calorie than I realized, and it made a great dinner!)

Here’s a link to the company’s website so you can find it near you: Cucina Antica (I got their Garlic Marinara flavor)

The Slippery Slope

I got a big pile of work dumped on me last week. I worked over the weekend, including the evenings. I’m kinda freaking out because it’s just a LOT to get done. I don’t have any doubt I’ll be able to do it – just not sure what it’s going to cost me in terms of time and sanity.

Some people say they don’t know how they’d get anything done working from home – that there’s too many distractions. For me it’s the opposite. I have a hard time focusing on anything else when there’s a big to do list on my desk. So instead of taking the night off, I’ll just keep working. Or even if my brain is fried and I really can’t focus any more, I’m still at my computer, attempting to get some of the work done. (Of course, the problem is that there is always more work (a good thing and a bad thing) – so there is always a to-do list. It never really goes away. So I never really just stop stressing about it)

I was supposed to go to the gym last night and do the weights (which is hard to get motivated to do in the first place) but I didn’t go. I did run on Sunday, but the whole time I was running, I was stressing out about the work I could have been doing. This is the slippery slope that got me into trouble the last year – almost right around this same time. I stopped working out, and I stopped my diet – and BAM! 10lbs later… Some people go to workout to help them relax and “let go” of work – and if my to-do list isn’t too long, sure, I can do that too, somewhat. But right now? Working out is incredibly stressful.

Still, every day I don’t workout brings its own stress. Especially given the fact that this past weekend I wasn’t as on target as I could have been. (Yeah, there was that whole bottle of wine incident). So, there’s an Aqua aerobics class tomorrow – no better time to try something new than when I’m super stressed out and feeling very unmotivated to exercise!!