What's Been Happening Here...

I've been awful about updating (outside of weekly menus). To say that we have been busy would be a gross understatement. But before I get into that, let me tell you the big news...

Drum roll please...

Scott has been promoted to Security Operations Manager. Woo hoo! We had a feeling this was coming, but we didn't want to jinx ourselves. I am extremely proud of him and all of the hard work he has put in to his area. I cannot wait to see him excel in this new position!

Now, back to what we have been up to. I've been training... a lot...

I have on average one race a month (realistically, it's two a month) and a 15k and two half marathons coming up. One of those half marathons is the Disney Princess Half Marathon. I'm doing the glass slipper challenge again and adding the 5k this year. I've been trying to run 3-4 times a week with one of those runs being at minimum 4 miles. I also added some strength training and core work to the mix and I've tweaked my diet a little. I'm really noticing a difference in my time since adding this. 

I also have been going for weekly acupuncture. I like to think that this is helping my running. I know it's helping me overall. I'm not nearly as stressed, and I'm starting to just let things roll off my back a little more. Never in a million years did I think I would enjoy having dozens of needles stuck in me, but I truly do. It's the most relaxing 45 minutes of my week.

Now back to the races. Yesterday, my friend Michelle and I ran the 4 on the Fourth in Oakland. 

It was a nice race through Oakland and Winter Garden. Thank you to all of the people in the neighborhoods that we ran through for allowing us to take over. I finished 17th in my age group and had a pace that was just under 12 minutes. I was pretty pleased with myself. 

The rest of the day we just hung out. Scott had to work, so the kiddos and I played games, made a pie (Aaron's request) and made homemade pizza for dinner. 

It was definitely a relaxing evening. To be perfectly honest, none of us stayed up to watch fireworks. The kiddos went to bed at their normal time and I was in bed not too long after. 

Scott's been pretty busy lately, too. Aside from the promotion he is down almost 60lbs since January. For real. 

He's been doing Couch to 5k to get ready for all of the races we have coming up. I keep telling him he will be passing me on the course soon, but he doesn't believe me. 

Other than that, we are just plugging along. I'll try to update more often. Keep looking for the weekly menus and be sure to check out Scott's blog! 

The Family That Runs Together

Scott and the kiddos ran the Lake Nona Pig Run 5k this weekend (you can read all about it at Southern Fried Fat Guy!) while I sat on the sidelines.

It was strange to not run in the race with everyone, but someone had to sit with the kiddos and there was nothing about eating glazed donuts at the 1.7 mile marker that appealed to me. Plus, Scott wanted to walk this race for a while.

I had a blast cheering everyone on during the race, but I definitely missed participating. Even Leann sent me a message that said it was weird to see race photos with me in jeans.

Then I got to thinking...which can be dangerous...what if we all ran a race together? I don't think it's unreasonable. Do you?

So there it is...my new goal for 2014. Complete a race as a family, because after all, the family that runs together, stays together.

"Who's Winning, UCF or the Knights?"

Yesterday we went to the UCF Spring Game. It's a really family friendly event and it was the kiddos first football game. We all sported UCF gear, even Scott.

Before we get into the game, I have to share these two photos with you. Scott has been busting his butt and I started busting mine as well. Scott has lost 43.5 pounds and is now rocking a size 42, which he hasn't worn in a long time. Scott's journey has re-inspired me to make better food choices and really kick it into high gear. Yesterday was really the first day that I felt like I had accomplished something.

Check us out!

Okay, back to the football game. When we arrived we hit up the food trucks in the tailgating area. The only downside to the food trucks was that they had HUGE lines. We were in one line for almost an hour and I went ahead and stood in another line that seemed to be moving faster. Boy am I glad I did that. We ate at It's All Greek to Me and Aaron had his first chicken gyro (Jill ate some of the chicken, but mainly the fries).  If you are local and have a chance to stop by that truck, do it. It was SO delicious!

We checked out some of the activities and the kiddos scored a poster (which in case you were wondering, doubles as a sword and within 5 minutes is confiscated by the meanest mommy on the planet). We made it into the stadium a little bit after kick off and the kiddos were hooked. Jill turned into my Mom and started growl-yelling and Aaron was yelling "third down" every time he heard the bells. It was pretty amazing.

The funniest thing during the whole game was trying to explain a spring game to the kiddos. They kept asking who was winning and at one point Jill tried to boo the other team. I had to keep reminding them that it is the same team.

After the game we came home and played some front yard football. I think it's safe to say we are all ready for college football season to start again. Let's go Knights! #ChargeOn

Winter Park Road Race

Scott, Michelle and I raced yesterday morning. It was the final Track Shack race of the season and we just had to do it.

There were two separate races, the 2 mile and the 10k, or you could do both as a part of the distance dare challenge. Naturally, we chose the distance dare challenge. Go big or go home, right?

For the distance dare you had to run the 2 miles first and then immediately go down to the start line of the 10k. By the time I crossed (27:12) and made my way down they were sounding the air horn for the 10k.

Michelle and I had split up during the 2 miles, but thankfully, she was only a minute or so behind me and we were able to start the 10k together. Scott was behind us, but booking it. He was averaging a 14 minute per mile walking pace.

The funniest moment of the race? When Scott passed us. Seriously. We were just past mile 1 of the 10k and Scott just zoomed past us. Of course, he made a spectacle and started yelling that everyone should take a photo because this was the only time that he would be passing me.

Since we all caught up to each other, I decided this was the race I would do with Scott. He has never asked me to stay back with him because he always wants me to crush my previous time, but I wanted to be there with him on his longest race to date.

This was my first time walking with him and hot damn was I impressed. Not only was I impressed with how in the zone he was, but I was impressed with how far he has come since January. If anyone has any doubts about how dedicated he is to losing weight and getting in shape, walk with him when he hits his stride.

Michelle met up with us and walked the majority of the 10k with us as well.

I have to say, Winter Park has become one of my favorite courses (minus the brick roads). The trees, the lake views, the insanely gorgeous houses, all make this course my favorite. I think the majority of the race that's all we commented on.

When we began to approach mile 6 I knew I was close to my Enchanted 10k time, so I gave Scott the "please don't hate me, I really want to be close" look and he told me to run. I finished the last .3 or so on my own, literally. No, seriously, at one point I was the only runner. There were people in front of me and people way behind me, but nobody around me. It was kind of a cool experience.

I finished the 10k in 1:32:37 which wasn't too far off from my Enchanted 10k time. Michelle was close behind at 1:33:41 and Scott came in at 1:34:06.  For the distance dare our combined times were:

Me: 1:59:48
Michelle: 2:02:37
Scott: 2:04:26

I am so proud of Scott! This was his longest distance to date and his first medals. You betcha he worse those the majority of the day!

Thank you to all of the volunteers that were on the course. Thank you to the random residents of Winter Park that played the Rocky Theme, Chariots of Fire and other various songs along the route.

Stop by Southern Fried Fat Guy's Facebook page to leave Scott some love!

What My Family Ate for Dinner - Week 3

This was a crazy week for us. I ran over the weekend and have been prepping for a conference all week, so we needed a bunch of simple recipes that were still fairly healthy.

In case you haven't checked in with Southern Fried Fat Guy, Scott is still doing extremely well with his weight loss!

Here's what we ate:

Sunday, February 23: Teppan Eddo

No, it's not the name of a dish, it's the name of a restaurant in EPCOT. It's a hibachi style restaurant that serves super delicious Japanese food. We were there celebrating Cathy's birthday.

Scott and I both had the chicken and shrimp, Aaron had shrimp (yeah) and Jillian had chicken. Everyone even ate with chopsticks. Well, Jill didn't, but Aaron did. He did an amazing job and didn't ask for his fork once!



Monday, February 24: Dirty Rice with Smoked Turkey Sausage

This was a request from Aaron. Sometimes something really simple is the best meal you can have. All I did was make some Zatarains Dirty Rice mix and add some Jennie-O Smoked Turkey Sausage. Add a veggie on the side and your meal is complete!

Tuesday, February 25: Quinoa Chicken Chili

This is a favorite for Scott and I. One serving is only 214 calories and is packed with protein. My favorite part? All you have to do is put it in the crock pot and walk away. So simple!

Wednesday, February 26: Ground Turkey Tacos

This was another Aaron request. I usually make my tacos with ground turkey instead of beef. Sometimes I use meatless crumbles (like Quorn) or I shred chicken. This is another easy weeknight meal that you can pack with veggies (lettuce, tomato, salsa, etc.).


Thursday, February 27: Pepperoni Chicken

O.M.G. This was SO delicious! I found this recipe on one of my favorite sites, SkinnyMom and cannot wait to make it again! Each serving is 211 calories. We paired it with some steamed broccoli and it was perfect!

Friday, February 28: Turkey Burger Casserole

I know, we eat a LOT of this. Aaron gobbled this up, again (think 3 servings).

This is an old photo, not from last night, but we have started taking the tomatoes out. Only Scott eats them. I just add more zucchini to the recipe and then some on the side.





Saturday, March 1: Leftovers

Not exciting, I know.

I hope you enjoy all of these yummy recipes!

What My Family Ate for Dinner This Week

Another week in the books and a few inches shaved off of Scott. Obviously, we are doing something right.

Here's what we ate this week:

Sunday, February 9: Meatball Stroganoff

The recipe for this is really vague and I ended up making entirely too much. We had leftovers for several days. The meal was really yummy though and a serving was about 358 calories. Not too shabby.

Monday, February 10: Chicken, Broccoli & Cheese Skillet

This is another yummy and quick meal that you can make during the week. It also contains all of Aaron's favorite things, chicken, cheese and broccoli. This is about 422 calories per serving.

Tuesday, February 11: Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

I did not snag a picture of this because I was too busy shoveling it in my mouth. Holy yum, was this good! Again, this makes a lot and we were able to have leftovers for a few days. Each serving (which is 2 cups and HUGE) is only 358 calories. It was a struggle for me to eat 2 cups worth of this soup. It is so filling!

Wednesday, February 12: Tuna Sandwiches

We were running behind and the weather was AWFUL on Wednesday, so Scott fed the kiddos dinner and he and I had tuna sandwiches. We had it on Rudi's Gluten-Free bread with one serving of Starkist chunk light tuna, mixed with a half of a tablespoon of Ken's ranch dressing. I added some super delicious whole grain Cheez-It's on the side and my dinner was 470 calories. Not the greatest, but comforting on a stormy night.

Thursday, February 13: Sour Cream Enchiladas

Again, no photo. You will probably never see a photo of these from me because they are just so delicious. One serving (which is two enchiladas) is 374 calories. You will lick your plate with this meal. I'm not even kidding.

Friday, February 14: Chicken Jambalaya 

Okay, we were supposed to have chicken jambalaya for dinner, but neither my stomach nor Scott's stomach could not handle another meal that included Rotel tomatoes. I have the completed meal in the fridge for leftovers. We have made this before and it is really delicious. So what did we have? Um...we may have just ordered a pizza and called it a night. Everyone is allowed one of these nights.

Saturday, February 15: Repeat! Chicken, Broccoli & Cheese Skillet

Aaron helps plan the meals with me each week and this was one of this requests. Of course I obliged and made it again!

I hope you find these meals just as yummy! Enjoy!

"Is she eating again?"

Scott is on a huge weight loss journey and because of this we had to switch up our meals and all around eating habits. Now this doesn't mean that we ate awful before, we just really needed to start being mindful of everything we were putting in our mouths.

Scott has started sharing his "what did the fat guy eat" on his blog, but I thought I would share a few of the meals here, too.

When Scott told me he wanted to start losing weight I started researching meals that were healthy, low in calories and still yummy. Sometimes that can be a tall order to fill, but thankfully there the site, Skinny Mom. Here are some of the yummy things I have made from that site:

Turkey Burger Casserole
Aaron and Scott both gobbled this up and it's even better the next day!

Three-Cheese Penne
O.M.G. That's all I have to say.

Mexican Stuffed Shells
This recipe makes a ton, no, seriously.

Other favorites include sour cream enchiladas, slow cooker chicken pot pie and BBQ chicken flatbread.

So that takes care of dinners and well, let's be honest, lunches because Lord knows there are enough leftovers for lunches. What about snacks/desserts?

Well, our go-to dessert is a concoction that I made up. Take one apple, dice it up, melt one tablespoon of peanut butter, pour over the apple and sprinkle with chocolate chips.

It satisfies every possible craving you could have.

For snacks, I will tell you this, I eat almost all day. No, seriously. Chances are if you step into my office I am either a) eating something b) just finished eating something or c) am about to eat something. What am I always snacking on? Here's the short list:

• Dannon Light and Fit Greek Yogurt (either Caramel Macchiato or Vanilla) with granola
• Baby Bell Light 
• Gala or Fuji apple
• Strawberries and kiwi
• Reduced Fat Fig Newtons
• Angie's Sweet and Salty Kettle Corn (only 140 calories for 2 cups!)
• Luna bars
• Whole grain Cheez Its
• Snap Pea Crisps
• Banana
• Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (I have to be honest here.)

Scott included some of his snacks on his blog, so you can check those out, too. 

All in all I think this was a pretty easy transition. The kids love the meals and so do a few of my coworkers who get to sample the leftovers. 

Be sure to check in with Scott and help encourage him! He's almost down 30 lbs!!!!

Seasons 52 Park Ave 5.2K

Today was the big day...Scott's first official 5k (well, 5.2K). We chose the Seasons 52 Park Ave 5.2k because, well, we love Seasons 52 and were really hoping one of us would be a 52nd finisher so we could win a gift card.

Scott walked the 5.2k and I ran. I debated walking with him, but he insisted that I run and really stretch my legs to see just how fast I could go. I really had no plan on PR'ing today, I just wanted to run my race and feel good at the end, whatever time that was.

You can read all about Scott's race on his blog, Southern Fried Fat Guy. Not to be selfish, but this post is going to be about me. :)

The race went through downtown Winter Park, which is an absolutely gorgeous area with only one minor problem, brick roads. More about that in a minute.

I took off at a pretty comfortable pace and at one point realized my RunKeeper was on silent, so I wasn't receiving any of my time or mileage cues in my ear. When I finally looked at it I was at .64 miles. I hadn't stopped to walk/run or anything and figured, well just keep going. I ran my first ever straight mile in 11:09.

I know, I know. I'm about to do my fourth half marathon and I've never just run a straight mile! I'm a huge fan of Jeff Galloway's run/walk method and that's what I've always stuck with.

The course itself was beautiful, but like I mentioned before, they had these pesky brick roads (red, not yellow, it wasn't that kind of road).  While they look beautiful, they are quite the pain to run on because they're not exactly even. The girl in front of me almost face planted and then I hit a pocket at one point and thanked the good Lord my ankle didn't roll.

I kept a pretty decent pace the next two miles and was really happy to see the finish when I turned the corner. I knew it was my fastest time and I couldn't wait to cross the finish line and have it official. My 5k time was 37:10 and my 5.2k time was 38:21.  I definitely pictured this in my mind when I crossed:

I sent Scott a text to see where he was and he was almost at mile three. Thankfully, the finish line was not swarmed with people so I waited patiently to see him.

When he approached I couldn't do anything else but smile. He worked for this and I am so proud of him.

I'm also glad they called his name as he finished. There is nothing better than hearing your name when you cross, especially on your first race.

I'm beyond proud of Scott for starting this journey and now having the race bug and wanting to continue this. I cannot wait to run/walk more races with him and I look forward to the day we run across the line together.

Thank you to the wonderful people from Track Shack, Seasons 52 and all of the volunteers that made today possible! Another huge shout out to the residents of Winter Park that were basically stuck in their homes until we ran past. Thanks for letting us take over!

Thanksgiving Thursday

For those of you that don't know what Thanksgiving Thursday is, it is the one time during the week where you stop and basically count your blessings. Even if you've had one of those weeks, I promise you can find at least one thing to be thankful for, no matter how big or small.

This week I am thankful for:

• Scott who is amazing me with his determination and dedication. He hit a HUGE milestone this week and I just could not be happier for him!

• Aaron who will sit and do yoga with me and muffle his laughter.

• Jillian who will snuggle up and be the sweetest little girl.

• Family all around us.

• A great 5K this past weekend with a great running buddy. 

• Laughing to the point of tears in the office on an almost daily basis.

• A friend that knows when you need to have a meeting out of the office and that said meeting will require a cider...or two.

• Harpists that have Journey and Pink Floyd in their repertoire. 

• Holiday weekends.

• The following photo and knowing that it will make Michelle laugh when I send it to her, which in turn makes me giggle:
  
  
  
  What are you thankful for this week?

Scott's First Milestone!

I posted a week or so ago about how Scott started a blog to monitor his weight loss. I'm proud to report he is starting to see results and he is really busting his butt. This included working an insane amount of hours during the marathon last weekend.

His first big milestone? He was able to fit into this shirt:

I'm pretty sure we both spent the next hour looking for previous photos of him in this shirt, but alas, could not find any.

I'm super proud of him and cannot wait to support him along this journey! Be sure to check out Southern Fried Fat Guy, like him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter.

Help Encourage Scott!

It's official...my hubby has started a blog! It's so strange having my world collide with his, but I could not be more excited for him! 

Scott's blog is called Southern Fried Fat Guy and will document his journey to become half the man he is today. 

Be sure to check out his blog, Facebook page and Twitter feed, and offer him some words of encouragement!