my new favorite snack

This is probably one of my favorite food pins.  That's saying a lot because I have pinned a lot of recipes that are really good but not so healthy.  This one is super simple and healthy too!

Source: letstalkfitness.com via Nichole on Pinterest

So you take this...

Slice up the apples thinly then juice the orange and lemon over top.  Let it soak for awhile.  That's it. 

I have been using half of a lemon because the oranges I bought aren't very sweet.

Enjoy!

five for friday

1. Summer school is over!  We did a 10 week session, which is 4 weeks longer than regular summer school.  I enjoyed it {most of the time} but am so glad to have the next two weeks off before school starts again.

2.  I'm happy to report that I broke the 20 pound weight loss marker this week!  I've lost 21.4 pounds to be exact.  I decided to stop doing the cbdiet posts because I wasn't getting the support from other participants for whatever reason so I feel kind of silly to keep posting about it.  So, I think I'll just update once a month or every two weeks in a regular post.  I haven't had any pop for over 5 months now so that's another another success for me.

3. Tomorrow I'll be heading to Sioux Falls to have a girl's day with my friend, Tasha.  We're planning to do some shopping and meet up with our cousin for lunch.

4.  My mom and I will also be spending some time together next week.  We try to do something together each summer.  We don't have any definite plans set other than to shop and eat. :o)

5.  Fall is coming!!  I'm so excited!  I'm just not a summer person.  I don't enjoy being hot and sweaty.  We're forecasted to have temps in the high 70s the next couple days so it makes me even more excited for fall.  I've been pinning lots of fall pictures and recipes that I'd like to try. Can't wait!

Source: lemonadeandivy.tumblr.com via Nichole on Pinterest

Source: sweetpeaskitchen.com via Nichole on Pinterest

Hope ya all have a great weekend!

cbdiet

• Weigh-in: This week was a little rough.  I only put up a 0.8 pound loss this week.
• Exercise completed: I did The Shred on Monday and Zumba the rest of the week.
• Splurge/guilty pleasure: Oh boy...well, like I said at last week's weigh-in, it was that time of the month...and apparently I have no self-control when I have my period.  This is the crap food I ate Thursday evening through Saturday: McDonald's - chicken nugget kid's meal, Taco John's - 2 tacos, a crispy chicken burrito, potato oles, and mini sopapilla bites {not all for one meal...I hit up TJ's twice last week}, Papa John's - 2 pieces of a large pizza, Zestos - a soft pretzel, Hyvee - an egg roll, and a big serving of yogurt from CherryBerry with crushed candy bars on top.  So yeah, considering all that, I'm lucky that I lost anything this week.
• Success story: I got back to better eating habits and tracking on Sunday.  I was going to exercise that day too but I felt like crap {deservingly so}.  Not sure how much of success that is considering my previous 2 1/2 days but I needed to put a stop to it.
• Recipes/photos: No photos....I'll try to remember to take one for next week!

Time to step it up this week if I'm going to make my goal by August 24!

cardboard box diet

I remembered to weigh in this morning!

• Weigh-in: I was once again down 1.4 pounds.  Didn't make that 2 pound mark that I was hoping for but considering the time of month, I'll take any loss!
• Exercise completed: This is probably the biggest reason why I didn't do better.  I did the Shred on Sunday and Monday and haven't done anything since.  I've been tired and crabby most of the week and exercise was the last thing I wanted to do {though I know I should have anyway}.
• Splurge/guilty pleasure: Other than my "day off", I've had no splurges.
• Success story: I guess that I had a loss this week even though I was a lazy a$$.  Not sure that's necessarily a success though.
• Recipes/photos: No recipes or photos this week so back to Pinterest for inspiration....

Source: someecards.com via Nichole on Pinterest

Hope ya all had a good week....I'll be around later tonight/tomorrow to visit ya!

cardboard box diet

• Weigh-in: I weighed in this morning {was planning to do it yesterday but forgot so guess I'll just stick with Fridays} and saw a 1.4 pound loss.  This is the third week in a row I've been in the 1 pound loss area.... I'd really like to see a 2 next week!
• Exercise completed: Zumba Abs Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.  I started the 30 Day Shred again on Wednesday.  Ugh...sore! 
• Splurge/guilty pleasure: The only time I really "splurged" this last week was Saturday.  Saturday is my "day off" though.  Day off = day that I can eat what I want and not track calories {I use SparkPeople} and not feel bad about it.  It helps me during the week if I am really craving something...I know I can have it on Saturday.  Most of the time though the craving has passed and I don't do all that badly with my eating that day, but it is definitely a higher calorie day.
• Recipes/photos: Ok, this first one isn't really a recipe but a great idea I saw on Pinterest. 

Make a personal sized pizza using frozen dinner roll bread dough.  The ones I've made have ranged from 350-500 calories depending on what I put on it and how many calories I've already consumed that day.  It's a great way to be able to have pizza once in awhile and have portion control.

I also tried these over the past week:

Both were pretty good and had 9g of protein which I usually struggle to get enough of each day.

Ok, that's it for this week.  Let's hope next week I report a 2# loss!!

Cardboard Box Diet

The Cardboard Box Diet... I just learned about it from Emily yesterday and decided I'd like to join in too.  It has nothing to do with a specific type of diet.  It's designed to be a support system of sorts.  If you want more info you can check it out here.



Okay, so each week I'll be answering a set of topics.  This week's review:

• Weigh-in: I weighed in this morning and saw I only lost 1 pound this week.  Not too surprising though considering the crap I ate last weekend.
• Exercise Completed: I started this week of really well.  Monday I did Zumba Abs, Tuesday I did my Couch-2-5K program, and Wednesday I did Zumba Abs again.  I planned on doing my C25K Thursday morning but after staying up late to watch fireworks, I just couldn't pull myself out of bed at 5:40.  I did plan on going on a walk after work but I ended up going to Sioux Falls to go shopping with my friend/lead teacher.  So I did get some walking in while shopping but I could have done better.  Oh, and nothing today either.  So yeah.....started the week out strong then slacked off.
• Splurge/Guilty Pleasure: Well, last weekend was pretty ugly as far as eating went.  I had smores, puppy chow, Combos pretzels with cheese, some M&M snack mix.  Yeah, it was bad.  I felt like crap on Monday.
• Success Story:  I did really well on the 4th with my eating and I exercised that morning.
• Recipes:  I don't have anything for ya since I just learned about this yesterday.  I will have something next week though.
• Photos:  Well, same as above so I'll just use this pic that I found on Pinterest last week.

Source: mythinspiration-2011.tumblr.com via Nichole on Pinterest

So there's my first #cbdiet post.  Next week I'll weigh-in on Thursday so I can link up the same day as everyone else.

back at it

Yesterday I went out for my run/walk after taking all of last week off. I set my C25K program for Week 1 Day 1 since I took last week off and hadn't yet completely ran through Week 1 without taking {unscheduled} walking breaks.

I started out the first running session thinking ...whew, this is a little tougher than last time I ran... but I ran the whole time. The second session was a little tougher and I was thinking ... I really should have run last week. The third session really hurt and I kept thinking ...hurry up lady, tell me to walk!! ...but I ran all but the last 5 seconds of it. I walked through the fourth.  I really struggled but I ran almost all of the last couple. When I got back inside, I looked down at my phone and saw that I had just completed Week 2 Day 1.

Woo hoo! No wonder why it was harder, my running sessions were 30 seconds longer each time around. Thirty seconds might not sound like much, but for me it is.  So, instead of feeling a little frustrated with myself, I was feeling pretty good about what I had just done!

Today was rough though.  My body was pretty sore from yesterday.  I only ran two and a half of the running sessions but I stayed on the track for the full 31 minutes.

Source: Uploaded by user via Nichole on Pinterest

**This post was for my future self to look back on someday when running is easier {hopefully} and I can see how much progress I've made.**

just what i needed

So yesterday I was looking around on Pinterest and I found a pin that said something like "awesome weight loss blogger...if you are trying to lose weight you must read her blog".  Well, I am working at losing weight so I clicked on it and started reading Mama Laughlin.  I read through her blog yesterday and started following her on Facebook.


Well, today, she posted a link on FB to another blogger who wrote this article.  It made me cry and was just what I needed to hear.