24 Day Challenge - Day 18.5

Seriously, this is getting old.  I took my before breakfast pills and walked out of the house without the breakfast ones.  So I'm just going to not take the before breakfast pills tomorrow and take the rest of them.

Zumba tonight and then walked/jogged 2 miles.  More walking than jogging - I bought a knee brace, and it helped a bit; but it was so hot and humid, it was not a lot of fun.

I did have a Spark during Zumba and took Catalyst before I worked out.  It will be interesting to see if I see a difference in inches at the end of the week.  The challenge was supposed to end on Friday, June 22; but with all the times I've forgotten to take the MNS, I think I'll wrap up on Sunday instead.

24 Day Challenge - Day 18

Today was a big fail.

I did do 2 things right, though.

I took all my MNS pills and had my meal replacement shake for breakfast.

I ran 2.5 miles tonight.  Actually 2.62.  It was slow (an average 12:20 pace), but I ran the whole thing which I haven't done in awhile (usually I'm walking at about 3/4 mile and run/walk).

Everything else was bad.  Okay, not everything; but I had way too much sugar. 

Zumba and another run in store for tomorrow.

Day 17.5

Thanks to a horrendous nightmare that never seemed to end, I woke up late.  I argued with myself about whether I would go running since I got up so late, but I knew I wouldn't go if I didn't make myself do it right away.  So 10:40 (I told you I got up late), I hit the trail.  It was so hot...and turns out the trail isn't shaded when the sun is right in the middle of the sky.  So it was pretty bad. 

I think I did a mile.  Which I needed to do to get my muscles stretched out.  The run itself was good...but I think I'll save them for either really early or later in the day.

Anyway, since I got up so late, everything was kind of thrown off so I didn't take my MNS packets again today.

So Day 18 will be tomorrow.  Stay tuned. 

24 Day Challenge - Day 17

I missed Day 17.  So here it is:

30 Minutes Before Breakfast: 1st color MNS Packet (no Spark today)

Breakfast: Chocolate meal replacement shake (blended with PB2, sugar free caramel syrup and ice cubes) and both white MNS packets. 

 Morning snack - the most amazing Apple Crisp cupcake I've ever tasted

30 Minutes Before Lunch: 2nd color MNS packet

Lunch: Salad (romaine lettuce, walnuts, craisins, chicken, lite honey mustard dressing)

Snack: Oreo cupcake - today was not a good eating day.  I mean it was a wonderful eating day.  But not so much a healthy day.

Dinner: Pepperoni pizza, grape salad, brownie and a half piece of Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza. 

I was quite sore today from my track workout!

Fartlek

I learned a new word tonight.  Fartlek. 

fart·lek [fahrt-lek] 

noun

a training technique, used especially among runners, consisting of bursts of intense effort loosely alternating with less strenuous activity.

Well, actually, I knew the word - just never experienced what it truly means.  Until tonight.  I've discovered that ignorance really is bliss.

The same friend who introduced me to Advocare put me through the worst workout ever tonight!  Track workout, she said.  That didn't sound so bad.  I run around the track often.  Speed workout, she said.  Okay, that sounds a little intimidating; but surely it can't be that awful.

Famous last words.

A slow mile warmup (4 times around the track).  11:15 pace or so.  Easy peasy.

Then came half miles.  Run half mile at your target 5K pace.  For me, that's a 9:30 mile (so as to break 30 minutes).  First quarter mile wasn't bad - second quarter mile was.  Did half mile in 4:30 or so and then a quarter mile cool down (by far my favorite parts of the night were the cool downs!).  Then we did it again.  Ugh.

Then came quarter miles - once around the track.  I believe my exact words were "once around is going to be a piece of cake!".  Someday I'll learn to just not speak.  4 times we did those.  All at the target pace of 9:30 - for me anyway.  The two of them were faster.

Then 6 100's.  I managed to knock out 4 of those before feeling like I was going to lose my dinner.  And then I did another 50 (meters, I think).  REALLY felt like I was going to lose it at that point.

And then we got to run for a half mile cool down.

By far the worst workout ever.  And I'm thinking that it was probably by far the most effective workout ever.  2 weeks, I get to do it again.  Can't wait!

So a summary of tonight's workout:

5 - number of miles ran/walked
10 - number of times I wanted to quit
10 - number of times I changed my mind after I heard my running mates cheer me on
2 - number of times I wanted to vomit
0 - number of times I actually vomited
100 - percent glad I am that I went tonight

24 Day Challenge - Day 16

30 Minutes Before Breakfast: Strawberry Mango Spark, 1st color MNS Packet




Breakfast: Chocolate meal replacement shake (blended with PB2, sugar free caramel syrup and ice cubes) and both white MNS packets. 
I'm calling this a Snickers Shake!  It really did taste like a Snickers!  You know...like if snickers made a protein shake.




30 Minutes Before Lunch: 2nd color MNS packet

Lunch: Salad (romaine lettuce, walnuts, craisins, chicken, lite honey mustard dressing), grapes, carrots and hummus
I was hungry today



Snack: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Protein Bar
These are yummy

Dinner: Peanut Butter Pretzel Clif Mojo bar (I probably should nip this protein bar habit in the bud...)

Before workout: (running) 3 Catalyst and a Spark

Workout: 5 of the worst (and best) miles ever.  More on that in a separate post.


Post workout snack: Grapes

24 Day Challenge - Day 15

30 Minutes Before Breakfast: Mandarin Orange Spark, 1st color MNS Packet

Breakfast: Chocolate meal replacement shake (blended with PB2 and ice cubes) and both white MNS packets
Sooooooo much better than yesterday

30 Minutes Before Lunch: 2nd color MNS packet

Early Lunch: Meal Replacement Bar
Today was a weird day

Late Lunch: Salad (romaine lettuce, walnuts, craisins, chicken, lite honey mustard dressing), grapes


Before workout (Zumba - 1 hour minus a  minute bathroom break): 3 Catalyst

Dinner: Taco salad (lettuce, salsa, taco meat - turkey)(SO good), tortilla chips

Snack: Cherries

Proud to say no nuts today.  Yay me!

I did go a little protein bar crazy at the store tonight, though...

24 Day Challenge - Day 14

30 Minutes Before Breakfast: Cherry Spark, 1st color MNS Packet

Breakfast: Vanilla meal replacement shake (I blended it with coconut oil and ice cubes) and both white MNS packets
Vanilla is the flavor I had started out with.  After today, I'm really, really glad I decided to order a box of chocolate, too.  I did not care for the plain vanilla.  Next time I'm going to add some extras and probably some sweetener - and the coconut oil was a bad idea.  I'm not sure if it was all the pills, the coconut oil or something else; but I ended up feeling a little sick.  I probably only drank 1/5 of the shake (which was about 48 oz total - blending it really ups the volume!!).  This was not a winner today.  Back to chocolate tomorrow :)

30 Minutes Before Lunch: 2nd color MNS packet

Lunch: Salad (romaine lettuce, walnuts, craisins, chicken, lite honey mustard dressing), grapes

Dinner: Black bean burger on a sandwich thin with mayo, baby carrots and hummus, nuts
Stupid nuts...

24 Day Challenge - Day 13

Did Zumba tonight.  I had to be in the front row.  It's really different when you're in the front row! You can't look at the people in front of you.  Sure, you can look at the instructor; but that feels like staring.  So instead I look at her out of the corner of my eye and go by memory.  Bad idea.  At one point, I was doing a completely different part of the song.  Embarrassing. 

30 Minutes Before Breakfast: Mandarin Orange Spark, 1st color MNS Packet

Breakfast: Chocolate meal replacement shake (I blended it with PB2 and oatmeal to try to mimic the No Bake Cookie smoothie the other night.  It fell a little short, but it was still good) and both white MNS packets

30 Minutes Before Lunch: 2nd color MNS packet

Lunch: Salad (romaine lettuce, walnuts, craisins, chicken, lite honey mustard dressing), 1 strawberry until I realized that they tasted like flowers and I didn't really feel like eating flowers...

Before workout (Zumba - 1 hour): 3 Catalyst


Dinner: Black bean burger on a sandwich thin with mayo, grapes
(I'm a very boring eater)

Snack: Honey roasted nuts
These were my downfall today.  I really wasn't hungry, but I wanted something crunchy and these were close.  Bad idea.  I probably had 3 servings which probably wouldn't be so bad if they weren't 220 calories a pop.

24 Day Challenge - Day 12.5

Today was a weird day.  Well, not really - at least I didn't sleep half the morning away like yesterday!  But I went for an early morning run with my cousin.  When I say early morning run, it was actually 7:45; but that's pretty early for a weekend!  Especially for me.  Especially to be awake, alert and excited about running.  In 70 degrees.  In the sun.

Anyway, we ran/walked 3.5 miles - ran a good 2.25 miles of that which, given the heat, I'm happy with.

All that to say that I drank my Spark and took my Catalyst but completely forgot about the MNS packets.  So I'm sort of scrapping today as far as the supplements go and will consider tomorrow Day 13.

30 Minutes Before Exercise: Cherry Spark, 3 Catalyst

Breakfast: The most wonderful homemade waffle (half of a whole waffle) with maple syrup, strawberries and whipped cream
 
Snack: Blue Bunny Cadbury ice cream bar.  These are amazing.  They're snack size - 150 calories and worth every one.  

Lunch: 2 Rice cakes with hummus, honeydew melon, nuts

Dinner: 2 hot dogs, a few chips, watermelon, cupcake, ice cream and 3 pieces of the best fudge ever - Maple Walnut

Today was weigh in day.  I stayed the same (actually I was up .2, but that was after I thought I was up a pound so I'm calling it the same).

24 Day Challenge - Day 12

So the family party was good.  I knew there would be healthy choices there!  Along with some not-so-healthy choices, but I didn't do too badly.

30 Minutes Before Breakfast: Strawberry Mango Spark (I actually liked this better than I thought I would.  Honestly, I expected to hate it.  In my experience, strawberry/whatever is usually flavored with more of the whatever flavor than strawberry.  The strawberry was really strong with a good amount of mango.  Not my favorite, but I'll drink it again.  Very tropical.), 1st color MNS Packet, 3 Catalyst

Breakfast: Chocolate meal replacement shake (I blended it with PB2 and strawberries...mmm) and both white MNS packets

30 Minutes Before Lunch: 2nd color MNS packet

Lunch: Black bean burger on a sandwich thin with mayo, grapes

Dinner: Chicken, cheesy potatoes, baked beans, watermelon and strawberries, salad, this super yummy strawberry/lemon tart (half a slice) and a piece of cake.  3 layer vanilla wedding cake.  It was really dense and really, really good. 

That's all. :)

24 Day Challenge - Day 11

So Day 11 was interesting.  It was not only a party day at work, but also a campfire night. 

Phase 2

There are several components to Phase 2. 

• Meal Replacement Shakes
• These are actually really good.  You can choose your flavor (vanilla, chocolate or berry), and I originally chose vanilla.  After reading some reviews, though, I also ordered the chocolate which came the day before I started Phase 2.  Today I just mixed it with some water (put in a water bottle and shook it very well).  The flavor was really good with no weird aftertaste.  
• OmegaPlex®
• AdvoCare Spark®
• You automatically get Fruit Punch and Mandarin Orange with the bundle.
• MNS Max C
•  You can choose between MNS Max 3 (Wellness), MNS Max E (Energy) and MNS Max C.  I chose Max C which is appetite control.  All 3 offer control for appetite, energy and wellness; but I thought that I might need a little more help. 

So anyway, here's how today went:

 30 Minutes Before Breakfast: Pink Lemonade Spark (this was pretty good but very sweet - next time I'm going to dilute it more), 1st color MNS Packet (there are 4 packets total) and 3 Catalyst


Breakfast: Chocolate meal replacement shake, both white MNS packets (you can take 1 now and the other with lunch...I'm just going to take both with breakfast since it's just a difference of 1 pill)

Snack: Strawberries and honeydew, cocoa roast almonds

30 Minutes Before Lunch: 2nd color MNS packet (this is the 4th packet)

Lunch: Salad (romaine lettuce, walnuts, craisins, chicken, lite honey mustard dressing), carrots, nut thins (almond), Warm brownie sundae (um...yeah)

Snack: Grapes

2nd Snack: Nut thins, the rest of my grapes

Dinner: 2 hot dogs, Doritos and a S'more.  Just 1 S'more...I kind of consider that a small victory

So today wasn't so great eating wise, but it's a lot better than it could have been.  Tomorrow I have a family party, but there are usually healthy options so I just need to not snack before dinner and make sure I pick the healthy options and not only the yummy goodness that I'm sure will be there :)

24 Day Challenge - Day 10

So today is the last day of Phase 1 - the cleanse phase.  I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was pretty uneventful.  Which, in the case of a cleanse, I suppose is a good thing!

Tomorrow starts Phase 2 - the toning phase.  The purpose of the cleanse phase is to prepare your body to maximize the supplements and nutrients in Phase 2.  From what I've ready, most people lose the bulk of their weight loss in Phase 1 (which hasn't been spectacular) and the bulk of their inches in Phase 2.  We shall see.


30 Minutes before breakfast: Fruit Punch Spark, ProBiotic Restore Ultra
(side note - I got some more flavors of Spark today which I'm excited to try!  Pink Lemonade, Strawberry Mango, Cherry)

Breakfast: Fiber Drink, Egg sandwich (whole grain english muffin, baked egg, coconut manna)

Snack: Banana

Lunch: Salad (romaine lettuce, walnuts, craisins, chicken, lite honey mustard dressing, hard boiled egg), carrots, nut thins (almond)

Snack: grapes

Dinner: Black Bean Burger on a Sandwich Thin, 2 Omegaplex, cherries

Snack: Apple and maybe some peanut butter

One thing I should have mentioned every time I complained about the awful Fiber Drink is that it comes in a Peaches and Cream variety that I hear is not as bad. I am definitely trying that next time!

24 Day Challenge - Day 9

Day 9.  Tonight was another Zumba night.  Yay!

30 Minutes before breakfast: Fruit Punch Spark, ProBiotic Restore Ultra

Breakfast: Egg sandwich (whole grain english muffin, baked egg, coconut manna)

Snack: Cocoa Roast almonds, Strawberries and Honeydew melon

Lunch: Salad (romaine lettuce, walnuts, craisins, chicken, lite honey mustard dressing, hard boiled egg), carrots

Snack: Apple and peanut butter

Before Exercise - Catalyst

Dinner: Protein Shake after Zumba (No Bake Cookie - it was really good!  Next time I'm getting Nutter Butter...mmm), 2 Omegaplex

Snack: Well, not the oranges that I paid $.68 each for and only 1 out of the 5 I bought was good!  Maybe a banana.

24 Day Challenge - Day 8

Day 8 - No catchy intro today, but I have pictures!

30 Minutes before breakfast: Fruit Punch Spark, ProBiotic Restore Ultra

Breakfast: Egg sandwich (whole grain english muffin, baked egg, coconut manna)

(Coconut Manna is "a delicious whole food, made of pure, dried coconut flesh. This tropical "melts in your mouth" treat contains 12% fiber and 9% protein and nourishing fats."  I like it on my breakfast sandwiches because it gives it a tropical flavor, but it doesn't melt very well if you put it on a toasted bun.  So this time I melted it first and then spread it on - worked much better!)

Snack: Banana

Lunch: Salad (romaine lettuce, walnuts, craisins, chicken, lite honey mustard dressing, hard boiled egg), carrots

Before Exercise - Catalyst and Fruit Punch Spark

Dinner: Orange, MorningStar Farms Spicy Black Bean burger (I forget how good these are!) on a whole wheat sandwich thin with advocado, 2 Omegaplex (which, as I pointed out yesterday, is 1 serving)



Snack: not sure I'll need a snack tonight.  If so, probably the strawberries and honeydew melon I didn't eat at work today

Bedtime: Nothing!  No more horse pills!  (But 2 more days of Fiber Drink...)



Today was such a nice day.  I went for a run...went a little further than I originally intended


Definitely not my best time, but not too shabby.  Something's going on with my knee so hopefully that works itself out soon.

I love the view on the rail trail that I run.  There were lots of butterflies today...and these (my favorite)

In other news, I went a little cracker crazy tonight after my run.  I don't know why I can't seem to get it through my head that I should not go to the store when I'm hungry!  I also bought grapes.  Mmm.

I told you I had pictures :)

24 Day Challenge - Day 7

Day 7!  Tomorrow starts the last 3 days of Fiber Drink.  Yippee.

I started Zumba again tonight!  My first Zumba class was this January, but I haven't been able to go back since.  Last week I found out that there's another 4 week class that was starting tonight - it starts later than the other class and is closer so it finally worked out!  For as much running as I do, though, I was kinda surprised when my legs started getting really tired during the first song.

30 Minutes before breakfast: Fruit Punch Spark, ProBiotic Restore Ultra

Breakfast: Egg sandwich (whole grain english muffin, baked egg, coconut manna)


Snack: Strawberries and Honeydew Melon

Lunch: Salad (romaine lettuce, walnuts, craisins, chicken, lite honey mustard dressing), carrots and hummus

Snack: Apple and natural peanut butter


Before Exercise - Catalyst

Dinner: Banana, Chicken stir fry, Cocoa Roast almonds 2 Omegaplex (so as it turns out, had I read the directions I would have realized that 2 Omegaplex is a serving)

Snack: Probably more cherries - they were really good

Bedtime: Herbal Cleanse Tablets (last night of these - I think that's the trade off for having to take the fiber drink again starting tomorrow!)

I'm pretty excited about starting Phase 2, and I'm pretty excited to see how Zumba two times a week kicks up the weight loss and toning!

24 Day Challenge - Day 6

Day 6 already.  Even though the average weight loss is between 8-14 pounds (I keep seeing different numbers), you are highly encouraged to not weigh yourself until the end of the challenge.  But I always weigh myself on Sundays.  I will admit that I have been weighing myself daily to this point; but after seeing another blogger (who weighed herself daily) recommend to not do that, I will stop.

Today's plan to get SO much done was a big flop.  I woke up late and knew that I needed to run before I did anything else - otherwise it wouldn't get done!  So I ran/walked on the treadmill for 45 minutes (3 miles) and then just kind of did nothing the rest of the day.

Before workout - Catalyst, Fruit Punch Spark

30 Minutes Before Lunch: ProBiotic Restore Ultra

Breakfast: No breakfast - went straight to lunch!

Lunch: Stir fry, brown rice, Apple and natural peanut butter

Snack: Strawberries and Honeydew Melon

Dinner: Tortilla Soup minus the tortilla (pinto beans, black beans, tomatoes, corn, chicken broth I think...I made this awhile back and froze it), Cocoa Roast almonds 1 Omegaplex

Snack: Probably cherries - I found cherries yesterday!  Never mind that 3 pounds set me back $10...I sure hope they're good!

Bedtime: Herbal Cleanse Tablet

24 Day Challenge - Day 5

I wanted to record each day in case all of a sudden something changed dramatically.  I realize that to this point, it's like reading the same thing day after day.  Thanks for sticking with it so far :)

30 Minutes Before Breakfast: Mandarin Orange Spark and ProBiotic Restore Ultra

Breakfast: Banana and hard-boiled egg

Lunch: Salad (romaine, walnuts, light honey mustard dressing), rotisserie chicken

Snack: Baby carrots, hummus

Dinner: Stir fry, brown rice 1 Omegaplex

Snack: Cocoa Roast almonds

Bedtime: Herbal Cleanse Tablet

Went grocery shopping tonight so I can vary my menu next week.  Between that and Pinterest, I should be able to figure out something more creative than salads, chicken and hard boiled eggs!

24 Day Challenge - Day 4

My favorite part about today?  No Fiber Drink!! Yay!!  It's the little things...

30 Minutes Before Breakfast: Mandarin Orange Spark  (I need to remember that it tastes a lot better when I mix it with cold water)

Breakfast: Went a little wild today.  Oatmeal with protein powder, peanut butter, honey and sliced bananas.  I was hoping it would hold me until lunch.  I lasted until about 11:30 (about an hour longer than usual).

Snack: 1/2 cup grapes, hard-boiled egg

Lunch: Salad (romaine, walnuts, light honey mustard dressing), rotisserie chicken, baby carrots, hummus

Snack: Cocoa Roast almonds

My hip is quite a lot better, but I didn't work out today. 

Dinner: Stir fry (chicken breast, broccoli and Stir Fry sauce which I'm pretty sure is not encouraged), brown rice 1 Omegaplex

Snack: Not sure yet - probably the apple I didn't eat earlier because I ate almonds instead

Bedtime: Herbal Cleanse Tablet

Although I'm not bouncing off the walls, I think maybe I have a little more energy today.  I've also noticed that I'm waking up earlier.  Don't get me wrong - I stay in bed right until I need to get up; but I'm waking up earlier.  That's got to be something, right?

24 Day Challenge - Day 3

30 Minutes Before Breakfast: Fruit Punch Spark

Breakfast: Fiber Drink (Ick!), banana, hard boiled egg

Snack: 1 cup grapes, hard-boiled egg

Lunch: Salad (romaine, walnuts, light honey mustard dressing), rotisserie chicken, baby carrots, hummus

Snack: Apple slices, natural peanut butter (no sugar added)

No workout today.  I was supposed to run at the track at night, but my hip was really hurting.

Dinner: Rotisserie chicken, brown rice, carrots, cucumber, avocado, orange, 1 Omegaplex

Snack: Cocoa roast almonds.

Bedtime: Herbal Cleanse Tablet

Really tired today - went to bed early.

24 Day Challenge - Day 2

Day 2

I'm really hungry today.  Probably because I keep thinking about tacos and Diet Pepsi and cookies and caramels...

30 Minutes Before Breakfast: Mandarin Orange Spark

Breakfast: Fiber Drink (Ick!), banana, hard boiled egg

Snack: 1 cup strawberries, hard-boiled egg
I actually had another snack of cocoa roast almonds because everybody at work was talking about food!!

Lunch: Salad (romaine, walnuts, light honey mustard dressing), rotisserie chicken, baby carrots, hummus

Snack: Apple slices, natural peanut butter (no sugar added)

Before workout: 3 Catalyst
Workout: Ran 2 miles

Dinner: Rotisserie chicken, brown rice, carrots, cucumber, avocado, orange, 1 Omegaplex




Snack: More cocoa roast almonds.  And probably another apple.

Bedtime: Herbal Cleanse Tablet

I drank at least 64 oz water today - probably closer to 75 when you consider the 8 oz I had to drink immediately after the Fiber Drink.

My joints are sore today.  My right hip has been sore for the past few weeks, but today my left knee joined in the party.  I'm thinking that it probably has something to do with toxins and will probably go away.  It's not very conducive to running, though!

24 Day Challenge - Day 1

A friend recently introduced me to Advocare which is a company "specializing in health and wellness, weight management, vibrant energy and sports performance".  I started reading about the 24 Day Challenge and decided to "take the challenge". 

A lot of people have said that they have increased energy after the 24 days, in addition to losing weight and inches.  I'm hoping for all 3 :)

Day 1

30 Minutes Before Breakfast: Mandarin Orange Spark

Breakfast: Fiber Drink (I am NOT looking forward to this tomorrow!), banana

Snack: 1 cup strawberries, hard-boiled egg

Lunch: Salad (romaine, baby bell peppers, cucumbers, Bragg's Raspberry vinaigrette), grilled chicken, baby carrots, hummus
The dressing is supposed to be sugar-free, but I just can't eat that again.  So...I'm going to cheat and use Newman's Own Honey Mustard from now on because I think the salads will go down a LOT easier!

Snack: Apple slices, natural peanut butter (no sugar added)

Before workout: 3 Catalyst
Workout: Ran 2 miles

Dinner: Rotisserie chicken, brown rice, salad (with Newman's Own Dressing!), 1 Omegaplex

Bedtime: Herbal Cleanse Tablet

Nothing earth-shattering today except that all the water I drank went right through me.  I've been drinking at least 64 oz of water most days for the past 3 months, but today it was like I just started drinking tons of water.  That and the fiber drink - YUCK!  Although, I guess if the cleanse does its job in ridding my body of toxins, then it's a price I can afford to pay. 

Another thing I noticed was that running was a little easier.  I'm not getting my hopes up in case it's a placebo effect, and it was only 2 miles because I had things I had to do.  But I'm really excited about running getting easier as I lose more weight, and today was a little taste of that.

Soft-Serve Ice Cream

The first time I heard about banana ice cream, I had absolutely no desire to ever try it.  It's not that I don't like bananas.  They're ok; but I usually buy a bunch, eat 1 or 2, put them in the fridge when they start to get mushy and throw them out a week later.

But then I saw some pictures that looked really good.  And I saw a couple people post somewhere that it didn't really taste too banana.  So I cut up a banana that was getting freckled and put it in the freezer.

Fast forward two weeks to today when I was telling someone at work about banana ice cream and powdered peanut butter (PB2) which I bought awhile back but haven't really used.

So I decided to jump on the banana ice cream bandwagon.


But first, I had to unpack a new toy.
















I took my previously frozen bananas (please note the freezer burn.  Apparently I don't just burn food with heat...)












And put them in my new toy.













Pulse a couple times (which, incidentally, I think should earn me at least 1 Activity Point)












Throw in some PB2 (maybe 2 teaspoons?)












Pulse some more and viola!

It wasn't ice cream, but it was pretty good!  Nice peanut butter and banana flavor.  I can see myself eating a lot of this in the summer.  This was maybe 2/3 of a banana (whatever didn't fit into the first container I used), and it made about 1/2-3/4 cup.  Next time I think I'm going to add just a touch of milk to make it more creamy and some cocoa powder to make chocolate.

One "recipe" (I laugh when I call it that since it's just 1 ingredient) recommended slicing the banana and freezing it for about an hour.  Maybe I'll do that, too, to eliminate the freezer ice crystals.

Chopped Salad and Upside Down World

Is it weird that I hate salad but loved chopped salad?  Apparently if something is in small enough pieces, it's more fun to eat and tastes better.  Hmm...

I found some Chopped Salad Kits at Sam's Club last week.  Tonight I had the Chopped Asian Salad with some (chopped) chicken.  It was good.  A little too much green onion for me, but I'll eat it again.  Tomorrow.

I also took some before pics tonight.  I wasn't going to post these anywhere for a very long time, but I remembered when you take your picture in a mirror that is slanted it doesn't look so bad.  So here's my before.  Actually my during since this is 29 pounds down from when I started.  And unfortunately 11 pounds up from where I was.

Yes, my ceiling has a gaping hole in it.  Yes, my mirror is dirty.  It's been waiting to go to the garage for trash day.  Now that that's out of the way...

Seeing these pictures in the mirror reminds me of something I used to love when I was little.  I would take a hand-held mirror and hold it facing the ceiling.  Then I would look into it and walk.  It's like a whole new world!  You need to step over door jambs, watch out for light fixtures all while trying not to bump into anything back in the "real world". 

Yes, I realize that makes me a little different.  Enough to think maybe I shouldn't mention that another favorite thing to do would be to spin in circles and lay in the grass while watching the sky spin.  Actually, I still do that.  And I may or may not have taught my niece and nephew how to spin...

Toasted Apple Marshmallows

Ok, so this post doesn't really have anything to do with marshmallows; but I'll get to my reason for the title a little later.

I was told I need to update my blog.  I guess it's about time. 

Today I spent some of the day compiling healthy recipes from my Pinterest Healthy Recipes board.  Basically I've pinned every other recipe I see from Dashing Dish and Chocolate Covered Katie and quite a few from Emily Bites and Skinnytaste.  These are some terrific blogs, and I highly recommend that my 2 followers check them out!!  ;)

Other than that, I celebrated a milestone today in that I actually made something that I found on Pinterest.  Finally!  It was this Slow Cooker Orange Chicken. 

Mine didn't look quite look the picture (ok, I thought it looked pretty disappointing), but it was really good!  I added a bunch of fresh broccoli about an hour before it was done.  I actually messed up because my slow cooker only has 2 settings for high (4 or 6 hours) and 2 for low (8 or 10 hours).  I'm not quite sure what I was thinking, but I knew it had to cook for 5-6 hours on low.  So I chose 6 hours on high.  Duh. 

It was only a little burnt, but it was still really good with plenty of sauce for my rice.  I got 5.5 servings out of it which I figure should be a little less than 7 Weight Watcher Plus points plus 3 for my rice.

I recently bought this amazing invention from a Pampered Chef party. (Amazon actually sells the same thing for less.) 

I'm still trying to get the hang of cooking without burning (and not just on this!!), but I have some apples I need to use up so I decided to try my hand at apple chips. 

This plate is probably 1/2 - 3/4 of an apple (some were still cooking and quite a few didn't make it to the plate...like the whole first tray!).  I sprinkled the apples with cinnamon before cooking.  The best part?  0 points!!  And so much more fun than eating an apple...  Oh, and the burnt ones taste like toasted marshmallows.