These are a few of my fav-oh-rite things!

Oh Sound of Music, how I love thee.

I have been planning to do a Favorite Things post for a while, just never had the time. Since my last few posts were short and light on pictures, I figured now was as good a time as any. Unfortunately for ya'll, this ain't the kind of Favorite Things edition that gives everyone a new car. I'm just a little less fortunate than Ms. Winfrey. Just a little. I hope some of my blogging friends will do a post like this soon too, I always love hearing about and trying new things.

Here's what I'm loving these days:

 

Kenra dry shampoo

I picked up this mini bottle at Ulta last weekend to try. It was about $9, but I have a feeling it'll last a while. The larger bottle was $22, but I wanted to try it first. I love using it after a workout because this girl ain't washing her hair every day. I do not have the time, nor do I care about my hair THAT much lol. All in all, it works great. Worth the $9.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lettuce Wrapped Anything

Leigh Ann gave me the idea with her yummy-looking turkey and hummus lettuce wraps, and I had seen tons of lettuce wraps on Pinterest. My favorites so far are taco's on lettuce leaves (pictured above) and Chinese Cashew Chicken Wraps, which I just realized I didn't post the recipe for. Will get on that soon because it was amaaaaazeballs. This weekend I want to try Buffalo Chicken wraps. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

 

 

 

MAC Lingering Eye Brows pencil

I believe everyone should use an eye brow pencil or powder. Even blondes. Well. Everyone except caterpillar brows should. I didn't learn this fun fact till I worked at a makeup counter. I have extremely dark and thick hair, so I would've never filled in my brows. But of course, I wax, so there are some less than full spots. It happens. I'm not saying go buy a Crayola marker and fill them suckers in, but you'd be amazed at how well a filled in brow frames the face. I like this pencil because it's not super harsh. I've had it since April and it'll probably last me till next April. Aside from their amazing eye shadows, this is the only product I use from MAC.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BBQ Pop Chips

I think these might be better than regular potato chips. And they're only 100 calories per bag. I rest my case.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OPI Nail Polish

Disclaimer: These are not my nails. My nails are far more chewed up and kid-like, but I love this color, Dim Sum Plum. All my nail polishes are OPI because they have the best colors and last the longest. I do have a couple Essie colors but that bottle is too small for $8!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quinoa

I bought a bag of Bob's Red Mill Organic Quinoa to try because I was hearing so much about this "superfood". I will say it's an acquired taste. My husband, who eats just about any part of any animal living, doesn't care for it. I love it though, and it's a great alternative to brown rice. I cook mine in water then season with garlic and the Mrs. Dash Mediterranean blend, but I plan to make fried "rice" with it soon. The bag costs about $7 but literally lasts forever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Xersion Athletic Capris

These are hands down my favorite pair of short/capris/workout pants I've ever owned. You can find them at JC Penney for $20 a pair. They don't ride up or annoy you during your workout like I've experienced with other brands. Don't be afraid of the tightness-they are very forgiving! I have a black pair and a gray pair but I'll soon be buying more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Luna Bars

On days where I have an intense workout, these are my go-to afternoon snacks. They're filling without being ridiculous in calories, and they're made especially for women! My favorite flavors are Chocolate Dipped Coconut and Chocolate Peppermint Stick.

 

 

I know I'm way behind in this topic, but some of you may not have done it in a while. So tell me, what are some of your favorite things?

Dead Last but Losing Fast...a little cheeseball humor for you

Ya'll, I am so busy floating on cloud nine right now, it's only 8:15am and I've spilled coffee on myself twice.

I lost three pounds this week. Three. whole. pounds. That's a BIG loss for me. The girl who has been playing lose a pound, gain a pound for months lost three pounds in one week.

I owe it all to running. Well, not all. Counting calories is a big factor too, but I've been doing that for months. It's running that gives me the boost. I told ya'll that shit is a fat murderer!

I will be honest and say, I went into yesterdays 3.5 mile group run scared to death. Three was hard enough last week, so I knew that extra point five mile would be the death of me.

I started off really well though. Ran the first full mile before having to jog/look like a speedwalking granny in the mall. The last mile threw me completely off because I got SO nauseous and contemplated stopping on the side of the road for a nap. I kept going though, whether it was jogging or walking because I was going to finish. For a while, there was a group of runners very far behind me. I am not going to be last, is what I kept thinking. I ended up being last because when I had pushed too far, I had to slow down, and I guess they kept a steadier pace. I didn't care though. I was going to finish.

The coach ended up meeting up with me on that last half mile and talking me through it. She is such a motivation! At one point she said, "See that road down there, you're going to run till we get there." It seemed so far away but with the running coach next to me, how could I not run? I ran my heart out and felt like crying (again) but it felt SO good to finish that 3.5 miles.

I felt more nauseous after we were done so I walked around a while and drank some water. Leigh Ann came to check on me because I went MIA to sit next to the water fountain (LOL). We of course, forgot to take a picture for our blogs but we will definitely get one tomorrow morning. We're meeting up for our weekly Saturday run and I have to say, I'm excited about it. You read that right. I'm excited to run. Now that I know I can run that first mile like a champ, what's another mile and a half? No, I'm not being cocky, because it'll be a turtle's pace 2.5 miles, but I'll finish and that's all that matters to me now.

Well, that and murdering some more fat!

Stay tuned for yet another post this afternoon about a few of my favorite things at the moment. I promise it'll be more interesting that my speed walking granny updates!

Useless Post with a little Boo Boo

Good morning readers! I am in a great mood this morning for the sole reason that it's almost Friday. Last weekend was crazy busy for us, so I am looking forward to a very laid back weekend. My only plans are for a 2.5 mile run with Leigh Ann Saturday morning, grocery shopping, and another workout on Sunday. That is all, and I cannot wait. I do have alot to do around the house, but I'll do that in between all the nothing that I'm really looking forward to.

This week has been a total shit storm so I'm ready to recharge and get some me time in. Being an only child, I truly love being alone sometimes. The fact that my husband works out of town every other week really really works for me. I love him to death but I do love my quiet time.

Speaking of shit storms, who watched Honey Boo Boo last night?

I just can't get enough of this horrifyingly inappropriate family. I wish I could adopt Honey Boo Boo and make her entertain me for hours. I do wonder, though, who looked at this kid and thought, "She belongs in pageants!" Oh that's right, her mom with the neck crust...GAG.

I really have nothing of any importance to talk about today, but I am planning on a huge post tomorrow. Of course it will feature fun facts from today's THREE POINT FIVE MILE run (hopefully better than last Friday's post), but I am working on a "favorite things" post because I realized how many items I use on a day to day basis that I love and would love to share with ya'll. So, I promise, tomorrow's will be better!

Before I go, I do have some good news. I finally lost a freakin pound! After weeks of frustration, working out, eating right, doing everything I thought I should be, I still played the gain a pound, lose a pound game. Finally though, I lost another pound. Not even the one I keep gaining back! I did a holla for a dolla dance and happily ate my chocolate rice cake while my husband ate ice cream. I am hoping this running will pay off and I can drop a good 10 pounds in the 9 weeks of this running clinic. I read that Mama Laughlin lost 30 pounds training for a 5k in 9 weeks so I'll be realistic and hope for 10. Of course I still count my calories in My Fitness Pal and do other work outs, but I know running is a fat murderer, so come on fat, get the hell out!

More weekend, less Mondays

Well here we are at Monday again. I don’t know about you, but my weekends fly by WAY too fast, as it usually does. We had a lot going on this weekend, so I feel like I still haven’t had a chance to relax. That’s what next weekend is for though!
Friday was a rest day for me, gym-wise.  I was still worn out from my 3-mile “run” on Thursday with the running group I just joined. My husband and I went to dinner because we knew that would be the only time we’d have to spend together alone all weekend.

 

Saturday morning, Leigh Ann and I decided to meet up at 7:30 to go for our 2.5 mile run that was next up on our 10k training plan. I have to say, this run was SO MUCH BETTER than Thursday’s. I know Friday’s post about that run was super negative, but that’s how I felt at the time. It is what it is, people!

Saturday’s run wasn’t nearly as bad, though. We did our stretching exercises then took up at the same time. We knew our pace would be very different because Leigh Ann runs like a gazelle and I run more like a wooly mammoth, but we followed the same path. I think running alone with my music made it so much easier for me to focus on my breathing and not worry about what the other runners were doing. That’s what messed me up Thursday. I wasn’t mentally prepared. When other people stop to walk, that doesn’t mean I have to stop to walk. I ran for a long while without stopping this time, and only walked when I absolutely had to. My pace was about 3 minutes faster than Thursday’s run!  Towards the end, I decided to run till I was done, no stopping. Well bless Leigh Ann’s heart, she came back for me. If not, I probably would’ve stopped again. But I saw her smiling face running towards me to bring me a towel. We ran back together so I finished strong. A much better feeling than Thursday’s finish. After our run, we stretched again then did this ab workout from Pinterest:

Burning Core Pyramid

50 crunches

50 crunches

40 mountain climbers
30 side crunches

20 in and outs

10 scissors

20 in and outs

30 side crunches

40 mountain climbers

50 crunches

Yall. This is my new ab routine. I am still sore two days later. Amaaaazing. I will be a Victoria’s Secret model in no time.

 

After our workout, I headed home to shower and eat something then ran around the rest of the day like a chicken with my head cut off. We planned to have friends over and cook at home so I needed groceries. I also waxed my eye brows, got a new batch of protein bars and made a trip to Hobby Lobby for Halloween décor. After that was all done, I did three loads of laundry, washed some dishes and cleaned like the President was coming over.

My husband was in a class for work most of the day, so he didn’t start cooking till around 4:30.

I wanted to have something out for everyone to snack on while the food was being cooked so instead of my usual chips and dips, I put out this tray:

 

I was kind of afraid no one would eat it so I planned to take the leftovers as snacks to work all week. WRONG! It was a hit and I had to refill it twice.  *pats myself of the back*

Sunday morning I woke up with my husband at 6 because he had another class to go to and he is the loudest person I’ve ever met. Once he’s up, there’s no sleeping in.  Love him anyway though, loud and all! After his class we met up at his neice’s third birthday party.  She’s going to be a big sister in October, so this was a big birthday for her-last one as an only child! Speaking of October, check out my new October/fall decor. I made those apothocary jars myself!( thanks Pinterest) I'll switch out the contents for Christmas and Mardi Gras so I can leave them out.

 

The rest of Sunday was spent cleaning up from the night before and reading The LolaPapers. I was SO tired from the whole weekend that we went to bed before 10.

 

This morning was my two mile run.  Not my best but it’s done and out of the way.  I didn’t have a route picked out, I just ran in my neighborhood. Womp womp. It was so foggy this morning, I didn’t want to venture out too far and get my a** run over! This was my view when I got started. It was so thick!

 

 Another two miles under my belt!

 

Now that I've babbled on and on, I'll end this post with a picture of my breakfast on the run, grapes, wheat & flax pita, ff cheese, turkey bacon and egg whites:

 

 

Am I invited to your BBQ after I scrape myself off the pavement? 10k Training, Day One

First of all, can we just address the irony of running outdoors while the sweet sweet smell of delicious Barbeque floats in the air? Damn you and your delicious barbeque.

In all honesty though, “running” those three miles and smelling people cooking did not make me hungry. No, it made me want to puke. But when I am uncomfortable, I always turn to humor. There's my joke of the day people. *bows*

Yesterday was an eye opener to say the least. I am up to about a mile and a half on the treadmill running, at a slow pace, but running none the less. Leigh Ann and I signed up for this running clinic through her gym that would train for a 10k over 9 weeks. I figured if I could run atleast a mile and a half to start, the adrenaline and motivation from the group would push me harder than running alone. That was until I ran outdoors (for the first time, a week before the clinic). What a slap in the face. Running outside is 94.236% harder than running on a treadmill. My neighbor put it in perspective for me when he said “Running on a treadmill is easy because you’re just picking up your feet. Running on pavement forces you to pull your weight along AND pick up your feet”. Oh, never thought about like that. Glad I realized the week before I have to run 3 miles to start.

I ran outside three times before the running clinic, and was never able to run more than 0.25 miles at a time. Still, I felt fine about the clinic, and was actually excited about it. I will confess to yall what a judgemental evil person I am and say when I arrived at the gym,  saw all the others I thought, “Well atleast I won’t be last”. I ONLY felt this way because I feel like after all the gym time I’ve put in, I’m in decent shape and some of these people claimed to have never run before. There were two older women in the group and I stupidly thought, well, I’m younger and in better shape, I just don’t want to be last. We got our training plan and did some warm up stretching.

 

I stayed excited about it till about 3 minutes in. I mistakenly started out running faster than my usual slow and consistant speed. I wanted to keep up with the pack. I was about the 4^th or 5^th runner till I had to stop and walk. I should’ve pounded it out till the very last second before I thought I might die.  I didn’t though. I stopped. I saw others walking and figured it was okay. Another mistake. Comparing myself to others again. Two of the girls who said they’d never run before were now several houses ahead of me. I kept going though. I alternated walking and running for the first mile and a half before it turned into mostly walking. My lungs ached, my legs throbbed and I was mad. I was so mad that I was in such worse shape than I thought. Everyone was running circles around me and I couldn’t even see the few that were ahead of the pack.

There were about 4 of us toward the end, and the two older ladies were a little bit behind our group. I ended up literally turning my music down to barely above a whisper because it was distracting me. One of the running coaches stayed behind with us, trying to push us to keep running, not to stop, to focus and breathe. Breathing was so hard for me. I couldn’t for the life of me focus on just breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth. It made me so light headed but I couldn’t keep it under control. The running coach ended up holding my phone for me because it was just in my way. I only had it for my music and I wasn’t even using that.

I was still trucking along though, running and walking. Then about 2 miles in, a woman running my same pace the whole way tells me this is her first day running. And she was wearing new shoes. And was new to working out. She passed me up and I never saw her again. A big enough blow in itself, till the two older women left my ass in the dust too.

I am so, so ashamed to admit this but I was literally in tears at the last mile. I wasn’t sobbing uncontrollably, but I remember trying as hard as I could to keep it together. I was so mad though. So mad at myself for thinking I was in shape. So mad at myself for letting myself get this OUT of shape. So mad that literally everyone had passed me up. Yes, it wasn’t about finishing fast or finishing first. I just didn’t want to be dead last. And here I was, dead ass last. And not just by a little bit. By a lot. I was embarrassed, I was frustrated, I was in pain, and I just wanted to quit. I thought to myself, “If I hadn’t paid this much money to do this, I would never come back.” But honestly, I’m glad I paid. If that’s the only thing that’ll keep me going back, so be it. I don’t want to be miserable trying to just finish a run. But I don’t want to be miserable and obese even more. It sucked. Simple as that. The whole time I was running I thought, so negatively, and I hate that.

I felt so foolish thinking “I am a runner” and pinning all these cheesy motivational running quotes, reading a book about a marathoner, researching all this cool running gear I wanted. When in reality, I can’t even come out second to last in a pack.

I managed to snap one picture while running, just to show how far behind Negative Nancy I was. At one point I actually thought, “I bet everyone is thinking ‘atleast I’m not dead last’!” It was a sh*tty feeling.

 

Now, even though this post is super negative (although it is the complete ugly truth), I want you all to know that I’m not stopping. Our next run scheduled on the training is a 2.5 mile run on Saturday. I am still going to do it. I know I can’t run 2.5 miles nonstop, but I will try to run as far as I can without stopping. When I need to walk, I’ll walk. I know I will improve. I know by the end of this, I will be able to do the run I did yesterday much faster and run for way longer. After all, I used to only be able to run a minute before I had to stop. I know I will improve. I know it will take time.  I will continue.

 

I know I will make progress.  I know I will improve. I know I can do this. I think I can, I think I can. Quitting will hurt no one but me. I committed to this and I will finish. It will take time and patience but I can do this. I have to do this.

Running is a journey.

I figured this deserved its own post because..well, it's the biggest thing I've committed to in a long time (well, besides that whole marriage thing..) I also want to write about it because my poor friend Leigh Ann at Elle Noel is probably way tired of giving me "don't be afraid" pep talks. Sorry girl!

She told me about this running clinic that her gym is starting this Thursday. I learned that I didn't have to be a member, but could still sign up to train to run a 5k-or so I thought. All this time I was on board 100%, super excited because I've started and quit the Couch to 5k program more times than I can count. My runs have never surpassed a mile, but I figured 9 weeks to work my way up to a 5k would be a piece of cake. Well, a few days after pumping myself up and not giving this clinic a second thought, Leigh Ann says, "Oh, it's a 10k, not a 5k!" I had been confused the whole time. Whoa. I can't run a 10k. This is my first problem. If I don't think I can, then I can't. Simple as that. But I know now that my body is capable of so much more than I ever thought. I am already going farther and faster than I ever imagined, so who's to say I can't run 6 measly miles? I can do this. And I will.

For me, running is 94% mental. I have to psych myself out or I won't finish. It's funny how sometimes I can bust out a mile like it's nothing, and sometimes, three minutes in, I feel like I'm going to pass out and die. I just have to remind myself that my legs won't stop if my mind stays focused. I recently created a board on Pinterest called just keep running because I realized most of my workout pins were centered around running.  I felt like I needed somewhere to go for inspiration before a long run that I don't feel like doing. Here are a few of my favorite pins:

 This one struck a nerve with me because I am a SLOW runner. That's okay though, because I'm a runner none the less!

 

 

This is something I need to copy and post to every surface I see all day.

And just for fun:

YES, SIR.

I know alot of you aren't runners but I want to document this journey because I think you will be able to relate. Losing weight is not only a challenge physically, but mentally. I know that I can do this. I have to do this. Sometimes I might need support because it will be hard. It will, in fact, suck really bad. I know you girls got my back though! The clinic is once a week on Thursdays, with "homework" in between. This Thursday is our first group run. I'll keep you posted!

Have a great week and I'll be back tomorrow:)

Well lookie here...

A few housekeeping items first. Are you following me on Facebook?  What about Pinterest? Oh, and I am "evangelineevents" on Instagram  and @evangevents on Twitter. I know it can get confusing because some of my user names go with my business name, so I'm figuring out that alot of you were wondering who the heck keeps commenting on their pictures. No, it's not a super stalker who happens to know a little too many details of your life. It's meeee. (Not sure which is creepier.)

Anyway, now I can get to this. Since the scale hasn't been moving, I've been super disappointed and frustrated. I've been doing the whole "lose two pounds, gain two pounds, lose two pounds, gain two" dance for far too long. Since we all know I love a good selfportrait, I decided to compare one from today with one from about a month and a half ago. Ya'll, this made me so happy. While I'm not nearly where I want to be, I definitely see some differences. I think seeing myself every single day didn't allow me to see any changes. This can be so discouraging, amiright? The picture on the right is what I saw in the mirror today.

Like I said. Long way to go but it's sooo nice to finally see a change. Those tanks underneath are the same brand in a different color and the same goes for the tank on top. Here is another painstakingly embarrassing photo I took, for myself really, as a "before" for my next goal. Shrink down those monster arms!

Arm progress pic coming in the next few weeks! I can't wait to have more progress that I can document through pictures. Thank you to all my readers for your amazing support!

Now, onto weirder things. I go through strange phases where I become obsessed with a food and crave it all the time. I've had a pb2 phase, a clementine orange phase, a crockpot phase. All weird, non make sense. My current phase is a real doosie: imitation crabmeat. Gross, huh? Uhhh, hell no! I am obsessed. I think it's because of this ball of delicious, get in my mouth now, that's what she said, goodness.

This would be a snow crab salad (salad being used very loosely here) at my faaaavorite sushi restaurant. It's basically fake crab meat, avocados, some special delicious sauce and crunchy flakes. Super unhealthy but super yummorific. I could literally eat this every day. I'd be as big as a house, but happy and full. So, to feed my inner freak of nature, I started looking for ways to fill my craving without filling my clothes with tubs of lard. I found this at Walmart:

You get four huge pieces of crab meat for only 80 calories, 6g of proteins and zero fat. While I know it's not as good as real crab meat, it does the trick for me. Today I ate two dipped in a tiny bit of low sodium soy sauce and the other two cut up in a salad. So good.  I also bought shredded-style crab meat to make a recipe a found on Pinterest, California Roll in a Bowl. Sounds amazing right? I plan on making it for lunch tomorrow.

I also found a ton more recipes to tweak on Pinterest that I'll be sharing next week.

Speaking of amazing finds, I just ordered this sassy workout tank from Abundant Heart Apparel on Etsy. Even cooler, if you like them on Facebook, you get 10% off your purchase. The owner of the shop, Jenna is super nice and very fast.

I hope you're all having a fabulous Saturday and I promise to post tomorrow to make up for my lack of postage in the last couple days;-)