BetterOats - RAW Oatmeal

hello, hello...I know, I've been totally MIA this week.

I'm seriously chillaxing, trying to clean up all the crumbs, and uhm eating through my refrigerator of all the food still in there, but I gotta get to it here shortly, so lets start out with a product that I discovered in the midst of my kitchen tile reno!

5 packets for a mere $1.99! On top of that it has no artificial ingredients which means for a mere $0.40 a pouch I'd call this baby a score!

Sorry for the haziness!

Seriously peeps you would be paying at least $0.75 for this Quaker Express in a vending machine and I'm guessing it's got it's share of preservatives.


Also, while looking at Quakers web-site I saw that an 8 pack Instant Quaker Oatmeal goes for $6.49, $0.8, almost double than a bag of RAW Oats!

Another cool thing about the RAW Oats is that the package it comes in serves also as a measuring cup!
 

The dotted line is where you fill the water up to, which means you wont need to have a measuring cup with you! You'll just need some hot or cold water and a microwave!

I have to admit I was pretty geeked when I found this! First off, I had been craving oatmeal. Hell, I had been craving anything I needed my stove for but seriously, ya'll know how much I do NOT like oatmeal. I think it tastes like stale feet BUT..... as I have a family history of women with heart disease, and oatmeal has been proven to reduce the risks of heart disease, it's one of the foods I am trying to incorporate more reguarly into my diet.


So tell me...anyone else try this? or any other flavor of the BetterOats?

Back to Reality

WOW... how is it already Monday?!



seriously..this weekend blew by German style!

Christmas Eve was my Mutti's birthday so I spent the afternoon "hosting" at my moms while also preparing the salads for dinner. We made it back to my house late and didn't even eat dinner until 8:30 and didn't have bescherruing until almost 10! but it was lovely and I must have been a pretty good girl because Santa treated me quite well!

Christmas morning was interesting because I realized that although I had made sure to have enough food for Christmas Eve, I had forgotten every other meal we might need to consume. So I whipped up a batch of homemade biscuits and gravy..Amy would have been so proud!

my drop biscuits.. they look un-cooked I know but I swear they were done!

We had to be at Nate's Aunt by 2 but didn't stroll in till nearly 3, and it was a quite lovely spread and aren't these bowls just hilarious?!

from Sur La Table

 His Aunt always gives some of the most interesting presents.

Then yesterday we had to be at Nate's other Aunts by 2 and didn't make it back till almost 11 last night. It was lovely and made me feel less bad since we usually spend the holidays with my family.

Anywhoo.. today the goal is to make it to the gym. I haven't been in over a week and more or less lost an entire week of my half-marathon training so I must get back to it but other then that, I really have no desire to do anything. Besides sleeping in I haven't done a whole lot of lazy-ing around the past few days and thats all that I want to do and maybe get some Thank You cards out, and start my vision board for the next quarter.

I don't ever want to become one of those people that wishes away the holidays because it doesn't fit into my diet or whatever, but I am quite excited for the things I hope to will accomplish next year. 

Chat soon!

To my friends,

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Liebe Mutti

Happy Birthday

 

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and the flowers I never get you! 

kiss, kiss

checking in

whew.. can you believe it's the day before Christmas Eve...hot damn ya'll..and I'm still not quite feeling the spirit...hopefully by tonight but I dunno, it'll be over before I know it!

who else is checking things off their to-do list that just isn't that important for Christmas?

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I've decided washing the tile floor and the master bedroom just aren't that important. A good vacuum and the floor will look like new!

I spent 6 or 7 hours in the car yesterday. I'm technically 2 gifts short but... I might be 2 gifts short! I know I can go without 1 of them since it's for Nate and he won't mind, but I would like to get at least the other one, even if that means running to Kohls at like 11 tonight!

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Bought all my groceries for Christmas Eve dinner, shame I forgot other important stuff like milk!

My kitchen is cleaned, just have to mop over the new floor, pics to come next week. The main and guest bath are cleaned so now I'm left with the guest bedroom and living room, both of which will be happening here shortly.

On the eating front, things have been meh, alright. I'll probably show a gain or maybe pull out a maintain but I've been stressed, still eating out a lot and at times comforting myself with food.

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Besides Zumba on Tuesday, I have yet to get another workout in..today I need to go to the gym as I have yet to do a run for this week. Supposedly my YakTrax will be here tomorrow so that I can go for a run Christmas morning!!! I can't wait to review those bad boys and hopefully are everything I imagine them to be!

I just need to remind myself it's 1 week, next week I can focus on myself, my eating and the gym again.

chat soon!

2 Day till Christmas Eve

Hey peeps... just a quick update as I feel super duper stressed, but I need my coffee or else Ill have a killer headache later on today and truth is I just can't afford that right now.



I'm frantically cleaning my kitchen before we grout tonight because I won't be able to step foot into the kitchen most of tomorrow and by Thursday, I need a fully functional kitchen! I'm prepping the majority of my food that evening.

I know some people still run errands on  Christmas Eve, but for my fam that's definately a no-go  as we start the festivities early afternoon on Christmas Eve.

My mom was unfortunate lucky enough to be born on Christmas Eve so we have kaffee and kuchen in the afternoon around 2, and then we'll be heading back to my house for bescherrung, exchange of presents.



When I was growing up, we always had Toast Hawaii for Christmas Eve dinner, mainly because it didn't require any major get-up and well, Nate's family tradition is Arby's, unacceptable in my book, and since he can't even remember how the tradition came about, I boycott it.

This year I am making schlemmertoast with a trio of salad, potato, green bean and cucumber.


 All of it will be pre-made and the schlemmer part will take part in the oven once we get back from my moms. Stress free baby...whooot whoooot!

 Midnight snack will probably be a cheese fondue unless anyone has a really good bake recipe? I've been frantically searching for one but can't find anything that sounds uh-maz-ing?!

anywhoo.. I gots to get back to it..

Stay safe and stress free!!

Week 2 Training for the Disney Princess Half Marathon

whew... what a crazy weekend!? I can't believe it's already Monday...I have so much I still need to get done...



Including grouting and sealing the kitchen floor, but it looks fabulous! Definitely worth it but poor timing... I'll have my tree up hopefully Wednesday night and I'm letting everyone help decorate on Thursday evening when my dad arrives.

So, last week was much better than the previous week.

Plan:

 vs.

Actual:

I got all my runs in!!! YAY!!!



Thursday I truly had no motivation to leave the house so instead I picked a few dancing workouts from Exercise TV and got it on in my living room. Not the best workout but better than nothing. I still shook my booty for a good hour and come Friday, I had an amazing workout. My run was superb and I really pushed wit with the weights.. Just goes to show you, sometimes you need to listen to your body.

Despite the crazy upcoming week I still plan on getting some daily sweat sessions on.

Have a great, stress-free Monday guys.

Chat tomorrow!

Weight Watchers Points Plus: A More In Depth Review

I can't believe my second week has already gone..seriously...considering i was a day behind all week, how is it Friday already?

This week was another awesome loss, even though I must admit I was quite hungry for most of it. I know we've already discussed in this post that perhaps it has to do with the the amounts of cardio I am doing which could be true as I doubled up on my workouts for most of the week.

so...I lost 3 lbs this week!! for a total of 6.5 lbs in 2 weeks!

so yeah, it's been 2 weeks since I've been on the program and I think I can give some more info about it

1) The Actual Points

Seriously it seems like everyone and their brother is on the minimum of 29 Points daily. I'm not sure how that can be but part of me is also saying shut the hell up what does it matter as long as you, they and whomever is ok with it. All I'm sayng is I wonder how WW came up with the formula because there seems to be a really wide gap with this formula compared to the previous program.

2) Free Fruit and Veggies

The viggies aren't that huge of a deal, most of them were already free in the previous program but free fruit is pretty bad a$$.

I'm still scratching my noggin by comments I've seen that people never used to eat bananas because they could eat a 100 calorie snack-pack. Then again I shouldnt talk because at one point in my life I didnt want carrots for fear they might make me fat...

Anywhoo, my problem with this is this.. I personally do not believe that one should be allowed to have unlimited fruit. Especially since our fruit is ginormous, those apples, oranges and bananas are gonna pack a punch for calories and having 4, 5 servings of them daily will add up. 

I know Points wise we don't count them but think of them calorically and if someone who has 29 points and eats 4 - 5 servings of huge fruit, it could impede weightloss.

My theory is, is their average WW someone who doesn't eat any fruit and therefore the switch to unlimited fruit will be ok weight-loss wise for the first several weeks? 

3) Activity Points

On the last program I used my heart rate monitor and did a straight 1:1 conversion, so for every 100 calories I would earn 1 Point.

All of WW Corporate has been saying, you cant combine the old and the new programs, just give over to the new so I'm basing my Activity Points off of the Pocket Guide, but once again, I question the validity.

I feel like the AP's dont necessarily jive up with what I think they should be. For an hour of running and weight-lifting really, only 3 AP's when my heart rate monitor says I burned 641 cals?!

First off, I dont like the level of exertion, my High Intensity comes much harder for me then say someone whose thinner. Or what if I am workinng out in High Intensity but I don't claim it as such!?

Is the program biased for those more unfit than I am?

 

Anywhoo...those are just a few of my thoughts... 

What are your thoughts?

Elations - Healthier Joints

So you guys know I'm running the Disney Princess Half Marathon in February, and if you havent been paying attening, catch up here and here!

Training might be the #1 component of successfully completing a half marathon, but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say injury prevention is #2.

I have to admit, I'm not the most regular vitamin taker even though I should be but I'm becoming more consistent now that I'm taking supplements specifically to help with running or any other physical actvitity.

Disclaimer: I'm no Dr. or any other sort of medical expert this is just based on my own body and how it's responding to it.


Truth is, I have been running with 10+ lbs on my frame than has been good for me. My PT  guy always cautioned that an increase in my weight will affect my chronic back pain. It was the initial push as to why I started losing weight the Fall of '09 and it's become a reality of my life. Although my back hadn't been acting up too bad lately, my knees started hurting.

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Disclaimer: I received samples of Elations in exchange for my honest review, I was not compensated in any other way. The opinions and thoughts expressed are my own.

So, I started taking glucosamine caplets most daily. Although from my experience this method takes longer to be effective as compared to drinking Elations.

Honestly, at first I was like... what?! don't only old people drink this stuff!? but uhm...yeah... I like it.
 

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I mean taste wise, it does have a somewhat chalky aftertaste and although I am a huge fan of anything Cherry, I think that was my least favorite flavor. I hate everything grape but uh yeah.. their grape stuff rocks!

I love the convenience of the bottles but I think they are somewhat pricey, plus, you can't really change the degree of taste as you can with the packets.

On another note,  I don't think these bad boys are ever on sale.

However, can you really put a price on your health?!

I don't drink these daily.. actually with lower mileage I don't normally use these at all. I do use them:

1. when Im running more than 3 times a week 
2. my weekly mileage is increasing dramatically
3. or I start experiencing some joint painI mean

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Some benefits:

• Elations is a liquid supplement, if you use the powder packets, your contributing to your overall water intake!
• Elations supplements helps maintain healthy joints, promotes healthy joint function aswell as improves joint comfort.
• Elations suplements can help those who have joint discomfort associated with exercise or normal aging.
• Elations supplement has been provedn to work in 6 days (liquid only), with some users seeing results beginning to show in 3 days.
• Elations supplement is more absorbable than pills.

Elations IS NOT:

• Medicine or a replacement for medical care
• Doesnt relieve pain or restore movement or flexibility lost to osteoarthritis or other medical condition.
• Doesn't treat, prevent, or cure a medical contion of any kind r any of the symptons of such a donciton.
• Can not be used to treat arthritis, osteoarthritis or any other arthritis or ailment of any kind.

So tell me,
have you tried these?
drink another sort of supplmenet?
do something completely different?

Jif Natural Chunky Peanut Butter

I feel sort of dirty admitting to this.... ;) but.... I really like....

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Funny thing is I nearly flipped when Nate brought it home because.. it's Jif!

It must be laden with all kinds of chemicals and preservatives, but it was not. Ok, they do add sugar, which I'm not sure why but whatever it's minimal as 3 or 4 gr. per 2 tbsp serving.

It's by far the best CHUNKY peanut butter I've tasted, seriously blows Trader Joe's out of the water. I've never been a huge "i could eat this straight out of the jar" peanut butter eater but with this I could.. I've been having it daily its that delicious.


So tell me... what would I be surprised to find in your pantry?

Zimtsterne - Cinnamon Stars

I haven't gotten to any baking yet and I can't decide if thats a good thing or bad thing except it's definitely helping my attempt at losing weight!

a recipe I promised from last year, as I probably won't be backing these this year since there has been no request for them.

Zimtsterne

Ingredients

3 eggwhites
1 tbsp lemon juice
200 gr. powdered sugar
300 gr. ground almonds
2 tbsp. cinnamon

Whip the eggwhites and lemon juice until stiff.
Slowly add sugar and continue whipping until the egg white mass is shiny.
Remove 4 tbsp for later use.

Fold in almonds and cinnamon to the left over egg-white mixture, be sure to not stir! Once all added, let it sit for 1 hr in the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 300.
Roll out the dough on a flour dusted board or between aluminum foil (to prevent sticking).

Cut out various sizes of stars and put onto cookie sheet.

Coat with egg white mixture.

Bake for 15-20 minutes on the middle rack, they should still be a tad soft when taken out.

Anyone ever try these before? Thoughts?

Other cookie recipes:

Glazed Butter Cookies

Vanilla Crescents

Week 1 Recap of the Disney Princess Half Marathon Training

Last week marked my first OFFICIAL week training for the Disney Princess Half Marathon and it went alright.

Not to plan but heck, it's a lot like dieting...

Its not perfection but persistence.

-author escapes me

Plan

Actual

so that means today I am running the 3 miler I missed yesterday, which should in no means affect the second week of training as my first run isn't until Wednesday.

I definitely had more rest days then planned but between the kitchen renovation and weather, I just have to roll with the punches.

It's still early but I want to make sure I stick to the training plan as much as possible.

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How was everyones weekend?

I swear mine just flew by and the majority of it was spent in the kitchen laying cement board..we finally finished it off and hopefully can start the actual tiling tonight as Nate leaves for business again tomorrow.

Other then that, the Dexter season finale was lame compared to last years and I'm snowed in... grocery shopping should be a blast today!

How you doin!?

Confession Time: Weight Watchers Plus Program

Remember my dirty, little secret from last week? it was a plea for help...mainly to myself.

photo courtesy of

I've been down on myself these last few weeks for a lot of things. They all relate to the weight I've let creep back on (ok not all of it but enough of it!) and I'm letting it hold me back from the things I want most. Each of these could be a blog post in their own so I'll just leave a snippet and expand on them later this week.

1. I've been concerned about running the Half Marathon even though I know I can complete it
2. Speaking of marathon, how about that fabulous vacation I am turning it into?! A week in FL with a heated pool!?
3. I've been wanting to take the ACE group fitness exam and have been putting it off because of the weight/not feeling like I can teach at it
4. And last but not least, I had such a horrible backache earlier this week, I was worried I was going to have another episode that could quite possible put me out of commission for several months... definitely ruining any chances of running my first Half in February!

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So last Thursday with all the hype of the new Points Plus plan, I walked into a local Weight Watchers, who by the way, was on overload from people who like me couldn't wait to get their hands on the new  journal and calculator. Seriously...throngs of excited people..

I'm not a Lifer, this will only be my 3rd time on Weight Watchers, and I'm going at it alone, ya know, with the help of all my other WW bloggers!

For those of yuo around long enough, know I had great success last Fall, I lost 38lbs with it and I am excited now to get the last few pounds off again. I'm mentally ready to tackle these last pounds, so how did I do my first week? I lost...

-3.5 lbs

I'm thrilled with that loss and believe it's one of my highest to date. I really didn't do anything crazy, I mean, I did what I should have been doing from the get go..stopped snacking on chocolate, stopped late night munching..just habits I should have been unbreaking when the weight started initially creeping back on.

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The countdown is on...

11 Weeks till I leave for my Half Marathon and I don't want to regret being heavier than I need to be.