Bike ride

Ever have a day when it feels like work is trying to kill you?  Well last night I was at work til after midnight.  I had to call in for a conference call at 7:30 this morning.  I guess its not too bad when you can call in from the comfort of your own bed!  Anyways, while I was laying in bed on my conference call I started thinking about what exercise I was going to tackle today.  I texted Laura (ER nurses are spectacular at multitasking!) to see if she wanted to run or bike.  She did!

So Laura and I went for a bike ride.  I was a bit nervous since I have not been on the bike for a couple of weeks.  Running must strengthen the muscles for bike riding because it was the easiest ride so far!  I felt great!  We rode from my house in walnut creek to San Ramon and back for a total of 30 miles!  We didn't even stop at our traditional  stop at Whole Foods.  Love my bike rides and great conversation with Laura! Even in 90 degree heat!

Murn

Oprah!

I have been a fan of Oprah for as long as I can remember.  My friend Lance makes fun of me because The Oprah Show is the only show I actually keep up on on my DVR.  Last year my friend Jewell and I started trying to get tickets for her show.  Everytime I go to her website it is not open to applications for tickets so I had pretty much given up crossing that off my bucket list.  Yesterday I got a text from Jewell saying the window for tickets was open.  Sadly I was at work and it was very busy so I could not go apply.  Today she called to tell me she got tickets!!!!  She is taking me!  Problem is I was going to be in Alabama.  She asked if my sister would like to go too!!!  (Have I mentioned how much Jewell rocks!????)  Anyways....after some arranging and many phone calls we are all meeting in Chicago for Oprah!

I have no idea what the show is going to be on.  I dont care!  I mean...I would love for it to be her favorite things (wrong time of year for that though!)   I am so thrilled I am going!!!!!!  The night before I will be in Chicago with Sarah (my sister) and the night of I will be there with Jewell.  Jewell and I have reservations to go to Oprah's old chef Art Smith's restaurant.  This is another thing on my list!  I am so happy!
I must say that I am so so so glad I have lost weight before going to Oprah.  I would hate to be on national television at 271lbs!!!   I need to go shopping tomorrow for something stunning to wear!!!

Thank you Ms Winfrey for inviting us to Chicago to spend some time with you!
Murn

Well its about time!

Finally I have a decent weight loss to report.  This week I lost 2.4 lbs for a total of 65.4 lbs gone.  Here is the crazy thing....I only exercised 3 days this week.  All the other weeks I have worked out more like 5 times.  Who knows!  My loss has certainly slowed down a bit.  This week I have been working a lot before I get out of town.  I pack healthy food when I am working and it leaves much less up to my mood and what I am craving.  Who knows!  I am happy to finally have something worth mentioning!

I am going home to Alabama on Sat.  I am not going to go crazy with my food choices although I have a few things I want to get to eat for sure!  Guthries chicken and special sauce are the top of the list!  MMmmm!  I am going to work out as much as I can stand but I am not so sure how I am going to do in the heat and humidity!

I am getting really close to being under 200lbs!  That is a HUGE goal for me!  I am so close I can taste it!  I am really hoping to be there in 2 weeks!
Hope you are having a good week too!
Murn

I grew up in a meat and potato family.  Every night like clockwork my mom would serve up a dinner, a starch (99% of the time it was white rice or instant potatoes) and an iceberg lettuce salad at 6pm on the dot.  We had a next door neighbor that was very much into gardening and quite southern.  The Dyers always had a HUGE garden.  I remember as a kid hearing my brother come home from playing over there and telling all of us that they were having a vegetable dinner.  Thats all they were going to eat....vegetables!  As a kid I could not think of much worse than that!  

Fast forward about 25 years....

Yesterday I went to the farmers market here in Walnut Creek.  I had a hard time restraining myself.  I wanted to buy it all.  My friend Karin also had brought me a sack of zucchini and cucumbers from her mom's garden.  I could hardly restrain myself on all the goodness!!!  Tonight I am going to do a dinner of veggies with a desert of strawberries!  YUMMY!

Murn

Okra

I am quite certain that have mentioned that I am from Alabama before.  I am very proud to be from Alabama.  I want to be very clear though that I am not from the part of Alabama that can not spell Mississippi.  :) (see link if you dont know what I am talking about!)  Now before I go on I need to recognize that I can not spell so normally I should not cast stones.  All of that goes out the window when an Auburn fan has an opportunity to make fun of the other school in the state.  .....I digress.....

Being from Alabama, I have had a lot of Okra in my life.  I can not say I loved it growing up unless it was battered and fried.  What is not delicious battered and fried??  Well this Jan I started adding it to many of the soups I have been making and loved it!  Okra is a great way to thicken a soup without calories.  I went to my friend Hannah's house recently and her Georgia native hubby cooked up some teriyaki Okra that was delicious!  I have made it every week since.  I wanted to let all my blog readers in on the recipe so you too can find that Okra is not always slimy and furry!

California has many fruits and veggies that are a regular occurrence here that are not so other places....namely artichokes (I had the best grilled artichokes today.....mmmmmm!!!), asparagus (and I am not talking about the canned stuff,) and avocados.  I have not been able to get on the Ca band wagon of avocados....dont love the taste or texture but here they put the green slim on everything!

Here is Chuck (now my) way to cook Okra!  Hope you enjoy!

A whole bunch of Okra washed and whole  (I usually buy all they have at Whole Foods cause its the only store I can find it at.)

I put it in a nonstick skillet with about 1-2 T of smart balance light (see picture below)

I cook it on med low (I use 4 on my electric burner) and saute it around for 30-40 min til the okra starts to get soft but is not falling aprt yet.  

Pour in about 1/4 cup of teriyaki sauce (you can see below's picture for brand I use) and turn up the heat to high.  Stirring constantly you want the sauce to heat up and caramelize sortof on the okra.  End product will look like:

It sores well in containers to take to work the next day!  I love this stuff and have had just about everyone at work try it cause I love it so much!  Let me know if you try it and what you think.  

Murn

I didnt know my own strength

My weight loss has certainly slowed down.  This week I was up 0.4lbs at WW on Monday.  This is my week before my period so it is common to be up.  I am trying to not get too obsessed over the number but on living well and healthy.  I would not be sad if that number would just go ahead and slide on down to start with a 1.  I'm just sayin!
I blew off work a bit early tonight to head to the gym.  Means I have to put in a few hours of work this weekend but I guess I thought it was worth it at the time.  I was going to do my regular workout.  3 miles on the treadmill and swim 1/2 mile.  Off I started.  I was really really struggling with my running tonight.  I managed to run 2 miles at only 4.8mph (yes I know thats slow.....I am slow....I dont think I will be a fast runner.)  I was dripping from every part of my body with sweat.  I forgot my hat that I wear to catch all my head sweat so I am sure I was nastier looking than my usual nasty self.  I decided that those 2 miles sucked so bad that it was ok to walk the last mile.  I have read that walking and running the same distances burn pretty much the same calories.  Well then the song "I Didn't Know my Own Strength" by Whitney Houston came on my Ipod.  There are 2 songs on my "workout" playlist that are not fast ut inspirational.  This is one.  This song has been my unofficial theme for this journey of weight loss.  This was all I needed to pull out the strength to run most of that last mile.  I alternated between running at 6.0mph for a minute (0.1 mile) and slow running at 4.5mph.  I want to consistently run under a 12 minute mile so I am trying to do some sprinting work.
The words to this song brings me to tears.  I am not usually a Whitney fan...esp after seeing her in concert in high school (she was terrible live!!)  But this song really does sum up my journey.  When I started this, I had never succeeded at weight loss and being healthy.  I really didnt know if I could do it.  I now know I can do it. I am strong enough to lose weight.  I am strong enough to run.  "I am not built to break."  If you have never heard this song....go download it.  Close your eyes and listen to the words.  I really do think you will find the words honest and touching.  It makes me cry when I listen to it.  I am really doing this!  I didnt know my own strength!

Here are the words for you to read:

Lost touch with my soul

I had no where to turn

I had no where to go

Lost sight of my dream,

Thought it would be the end of me

I thought I’d never make it through

I had no hope to hold on to,

I thought I would break

I didn’t know my own strength

And I crashed down, and I tumbled

But I did not crumble

I got through all the pain

I didn’t know my own strength

Survived my darkest hour

My faith kept me alive

I picked myself back up

Hold my head up high

I was not built to break

I didn’t know my own strength

Found hope in my heart,

I found the light to life

My way out of the dark

Found all that I need

Here inside of me

I thought I’d never find my way

I thought I’d never lift that weight

I thought I would break

I didn’t know my own strength

And I crashed down, and I tumbled

But I did not crumble

I got through all the pain

I didn’t know my own strength

Survived my darkest hour

My faith kept me alive

I picked myself back up

Hold my head up high

I was not built to break

I didn’t know my own strength

There were so many times I

Wondered how I’d get through the night I

Thought took all I could take

I didn’t know my own strength

And I crashed down, and I tumbled

But I did not crumble

I got through all the pain

I didn’t know my own strength

Survived my darkest hour

My faith kept me alive

I picked myself back up

Hold my head up high

I was not built to break

I didn’t know my own strength

You have strength you didnt know you had too!  

Murn

Night walking

Last week I had a night when I was feeling very BLAH!  I felt fat (even though I had not eaten terrible) and was not motivated to do anything.  It was about 11pm and I was complaining to a friend about feeling gross.  He suggested I go for a walk (thank you Ray!)  Hmm....interesting idea!  I texted my night owl friend Meggie, who lives down the street from me.  She was up for a walk so Sophie and I were off to meet her and her pooch, Gennis.  We started out without a plan of where or how far we were going to walk.  We ended up going on a 5 mile loop by our houses and it was great.  We chatted and walked and walked and chatted.  We took home happy puppies and I felt so much better crawling into bed!  So if you are ever driving around Walnut Creek after midnight and you see 2 girls walking 2 dogs....its probably us.  Dont worry about us.  We are probably lost in conversation as happy as we can be!  Feel free to honk and wave though!

Murn