Changing it up. Again

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When I started on the Weight Watchers PointsPlus program I had a daily points target of 49 - which seemed like a lot at the time.  Actually, now that I think about that number it still seems like a lot!  I remember eating and (more likely) drinking whatever I wanted.  As I lost weight I lost daily points and now I'm all the way down to 26 points.  I've bounced around between 26-28 points for a couple of months now trying to figure out how/what to eat to stay satisfied without going over my daily target.  Back when I started I had so many points that eating my weekly and/or activity points seemed excessive so I didn't and I still try not to, but that is just me.  To do that I was really relying on the free fresh fruits/vegetables.  However, I generally still felt hungry.  Hungry between meals, hungry even after a meal.  Seriously, this can't be normal.

So I started adding more protein to practically everything I ate.  Instead of just eating fruit as a mid-morning snack I started eating fruit with some lean protein.  Same for the mid-afternoon snack and even my post-dinner snack/desert.  Everything has to have a protein.  It seems to be working because I don't feel quite so "pull your hair my hair out because I'm so freaking hungry" all the time, which is nice.  For me and those around me.  Some of my current favorite proteins to add to snacks:

• Dried venison (seriously this is DELICIOUS)
• String cheese
• Yogurt - preferably Greek
• Better 'n Peanut Butter
• belVita biscuits

In fact, one of my all time favorite snacks is:

• 2 Tbsp Better 'n Peanut Butter Chocolate
• 2 Tbsp Fat Free Cool Whip
• 10 grams of Honey Maid Li'l Grahams
• Apple
• Banana

I mix the peanut butter and the cool whip in a small bowl and use it as a dip for the graham crackers and fruit.  It is delicious and can be as big/small of a snack/meal as you  need it to be depending on what you pair with it.

What is your favorite snack?

HALF MARATHON TRAINING UPDATE: Week 2

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My eyelashes are frozen together.  No big deal, right?

With the rapidly changing weather this last week it became slightly more difficult to get motivated to lace up the Brooks so I could head out for some miles.  Case in point, on Monday when it was 7 degrees above zero but -11 with the windchill.  However, after a brief text-change (texting exchange -- yes, I'm THAT clever!) with Coach Barbara to discuss proper layering I pulled some clothes out and started to get dressed and before I knew it I was headed out for 3 miles.  I was, for the most part, comfortable during the run.  I mean, let's face it, I was cold but it wasn't really THAT bad.  That is, until the last mile when I had a full on head wind.  I'd worn sunglasses to protect my eyes from the wind (and sun) and they had been fogging up the entire run but as I was heading west the glasses wouldn't unfog (is that a word?) and they literally froze over.  With about a quarter mile to go I took off the glasses to finish running so as to avoid falling on a curb or something.  When I finished I felt pretty badass and perhaps a little more like a "real runner" after that!  Would I do it again?  Who knows?  It would definitely depend on the distance because I'm not sure I could do much more than the 3 miles I did without doing a slight wardrobe change (to swap out the wet items for dry ones).

With that... here's what my training plan called for this week:
Monday:  Run, 3 miles, easy
Tuesday:  Cross train
Wednesday:  Run, 3 miles, easy
Thursday:  Strength
Friday:  Run, 30 minutes, easy
Saturday:  Run, 4 miles, easy
Sunday:  Off

And here's what actually happened:

Monday:  Run, 3 miles @ 10:13/mi
Tuesday:  Bike trainer for 45 minutes
Wednesday:  Run, 3 miles @ 9:48/mi (not exactly easy but when I saw what pace I was running I thought I could run a 5K sub 30:00... I failed.  By thirty-three freaking seconds.  Oops.
Thursday:  Bike, 27:00 (I accidentally cleared my settings when I stopped to help someone else use a bike) so I had to restart.  Total distance was about 6.6 miles and after that I did some strength training.
Friday:  Run, 30 minutes, 3.13 miles @ 10:23/mi
Saturday:  Run, 4 miles @ 11:01/mi.  This was a new route and was REALLY hilly and I ended up walking up a couple of the hills.  I will do this route again but without walking.
Sunday:  After eleven straight days of activity I definitely rested.  Literally, I napped.  It felt glorious.

How do you manage your training when the weather doesn't necessarily cooperate?