Day 32 - Trick or Treat, Give me Candy!

Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs on an english muffin
Snack: 3 Peanut Butter Bites
Lunch: a can of chicken noodle soup, grapes
Snack: the rest of the chocolate froyo (YAY its gone!)
Dinner: 1 slice of Papa Murpheys pizza
Snack: 2 Reeses, 1 mini Hershey bar
Calories Consumed: 1712

Exercise: Trick or treating....? That counts right!? :D

Today was such a fun day!!! Let's start by saying I can hardly keep my eyes open right now... I hope I can stay awake to watch Nashville!!

I wore my costume to work today, so did a few of my coworkers!! Check us out!!! Once again... I forgot my camera, so you'll have to bear with me & my (dumb/non-smart) phone pics.

Don't they look great!!!? Halloween is so much fun! So... I usually never pack a "hot" lunch... but today I decided to bring some chicken noodle soup!! So I heated it up and enjoyed every bite while reading a little bit of Shape!!

After work, I went & picked up Matthew & he was SOOO excited to get home & put on his Batman costume!! --YEP!!! Batman & Wonder Woman.. LOOK OUT!! ;)

BIIIIIG SMILE! 

 Soon as he got his costume on, we went out to Auntie Jen's for some yummy jack-o-lantern pizza from Papa Murpheys!

They got some creative cats workin' there!! ;) It was scrum-didly-umptious!! Then we took a few cute photos in the front yard since it was all decked out with fun Halloween decorations!

And I HAD to get some pics with my gorgeous nieces as well!! Purrrdy ladies!

Before we knew it...it was time to get our trick-or-treat on!! WOOP WOOP!!

Batman LOVES his candy...and he would knock on the doors and say "Trick or Treat, Give me Candy!" lol I can giggle at it now...but I was trying SO hard to get him to be a little more polite. He's usually extremely good about saying Please. It's still cute though. He loved every minute. He would get his candy and say "thank you" and we'd be walking away the house & he'd say "one more trick or treat" He referred to houses as trick or treats. lol TOO CUTE!!

So there ya have it, people....the cutest Batman & "Batmobile" you'll ever see!!
Hope you all had a great time trick-or-treating, or should I say getting candy!? lol  I'm WORE OUT & ready for bed!! It's calling my name...Tiffany....Tiffany....

Happy Halloween!

Day 31 - Baked Parmesan Tomatoes & A Last Minute Run

Breakfast: mixed fruit protein smoothie
Snack: greek yogurt
Lunch: turkey & cheese sandwich on light whole wheat bread with guacamole, string cheese & grapes
Snack: Nature Valley protein bar
Dinner: 2 slices of a baked parmesan tomato -- recipe below , leftover Italian style Tomato & Meatball Soup
Snack: chocolate froyo... I need to layoff the yummy froyo!!
Calories Consumed: 1606

Exercise: Insanity Plyometric Cardio Circuit, 1 mile run

Today was such a great day!!! I got off work & went to the mall to return a sweater that I had bought at the Limited and of course, I had to go to JCPenney & check out their workout gear!! UGH...I never should have done that. I always find something I like!! and want... haha I found this super cute running jacket that i LOVED! and of course a couple of long sleeved tops and another jacket. haha Go figure! Isn't it cute!? And its warm! I'd use it to run the in the winter with a nice long sleeve under it. --like the one that I'm trying on under it lol

Anyhow... I was a good girl and didn't buy anything...today. ;) --maybe tomorrow. lol jk. It was only $35!!! I can't believe I passed it up. I should go back now! Ok... I wont.

Once I got home after passing up some amazing finds at JCPenney...I made sure to do my Insanity workout right away! Which is so unlike me...I usually tend to procrastinate til later in evening. But I did it! and then I made my tomatoes & leftover soup. YUM YUM!! and watched my favorite show (at the moment) ever!! --Dancing with the Stars! I'm not gonna lie, I was upset when Sabrina went home. I think Kirstie NEEDS to go home...she's not even that good! Oh well.. I'm not going to get all worked up (breathe Tiffany...breathe)

After the show was over I had all intentions of taking a shower and getting to bed early since I'm going to have to get up a little earlier to wear my lovely costume to work tomorrow!! FAIL!!! --I got out of the shower and had this grand old craving to go for a run. So what did I do??? I WENT FOR A RUN!! At 9 o' clock!! I'm not sure what I was thinking. But I did it...it was a nice quick 1 mile sprint and it felt great!! OODFA... but now I have a second wind...CRAP!! Hope it fades...FAST! I need to get my sleep. So... now that I've blogged my day to you...I'm going to get my lunch all packed for tomorrow so I can get some beauty sleep...much needed beauty sleep. HAHA 

Make sure to check out my recipe!! Let me just say... I've never really liked tomatoes! But this recipe tastes like pizza without the crust to me!! I LOVED it!! Pure yumminess right there...

Later Gaters!

{ Baked Parmesan Tomatoes }

Ingredients:

• 4 tomatoes, halved horizontally
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 
  
• Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450° F.
2. Place tomatoes cut-side up on a baking sheet. Top with Parmesan, oregano, salt and pepper. Drizzle with oil and bake until the tomatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.


• Nutritional Info:
• Per serving (4 servings total): 91 calories; 6 g fat ( 2 g sat , 4 g mono ); 4 mg cholesterol; 6 g carbohydrates; 3 g protein; 2 gfiber; 375 mg sodium; 363 mg potassium.
• 
  
• recipe from http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/baked_parmesan_tomatoes.html

Day 30 - A Run At Sunset

Breakfast: Kashi go Lean Crunch
Snack: Luna protein bar, chocolate froyo (frozen yogurt)
Dinner: ham, turkey & thin colby jack cheese on light whole wheat bread with guacamole, cottage cheese & grapes
Snack: PB bite, natural fruit popsicle
Calories Consumed: 1611

Exercise: AMAZING 3 mile run with Josie at sunset

Ok... So I seriously need to be eating more fruits & veggies!! I'm a little low on those in the fridge so I think Im gonna need to pick some up to snack on!!

It was a short day at work today. I was able to go home around 9:30 so I stopped at Scheels quick on my way home to see if they had some running hats. You know...the ones with the pony tail hole in the back!! I WANT ONE! Anyhow...they did. But I didn't want to pay the price for them so I'll have to check elsewhere.

Soon as I got home I was exhausted because I didn't sleep well last night. --Probably from the food coma! HAHA woops! So I ended up taking a nap. I set my alarm for 12:30 so I'd only sleep for like an hour & a half...but of course, as always, I hit snooze and eventually shut off my alarm and slept until 4!!! yes... 4!!!! CRAP!!!! That's why I didn't eat lunch. So then I started some laundry and got ready to go for a run because it was GORGEOUS outside. The sun was shining and the temperature was actually decent (40ish degrees)

My run was great!!! I dressed perfect for the temperature, which is odd because I'm usually over or underdressed! I wore my under armour long sleeved turtle neck with one of my BOB t-shirts over it, some knit gloves & a headband! --Perfection! It was gorgeous outside and Josie was just loving the weather. I just had to snap a couple of pics around the pond!

Today was one of those days where I felt like I could run forever! It just felt SO GOOD! But I knew that I needed to get back because, since I slept all afternoon I had alot I needed to accomplish.

I got home and had a nice sandwich for dinner because I was feeling lazy in the cooking department! Then I got to cleaning!! I washed all of our bedding! Since Justin was sick I figured I probably should... and I cleaned the entire apartment and finally put my clothes that are being donated into bags instead of on my floor in heaping piles!! I'll have to drop those off tomorrow. 

Time for me to get some sleep so I don't need another super long nap tomorrow!!! 

Goodnight Everybody!!

Day 29 - Binge Eating

Breakfast: oatmeal pumpkin muffin & greek yogurt
Lunch: turkey & cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread with spicy guacamole
Snacks: 2 pumpkin carrot bars with cream cheese frosting, half a carton of buttered movie theatre popcorn, 2 more pumpkin carrot bars with cream cheese frosting, multigrain cheddar cheese pringles, shockers, some halloween candy (chocolate bars), a natural fruit popsicle.
Calories Consumed: WAY TOO MANY

Exercise: Rest day...Unfortunately

Binge Eating:  is a pattern of disordered eating which consists of episodes of uncontrollable eating. It is sometimes as a symptom of binge eating disorder or compulsive overeating disorder. During such binges, a person rapidly consumes an excessive amount of food. Most people who have eating binges try to hide this behavior from others, and often feel ashamed about being overweight or depressed about their overeating. Although people who do not have any eating disorder may occasionally experience episodes of overeating, frequent binge eating is often a symptom of an eating disorder.

About one in five young women report that they have had binge-eating symptoms, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Men account for about 40% of binge-eating disorder symptoms.

Binge-eating disorder, as the name implies, is characterized by uncontrollable, excessive eating, followed by feelings of shame and guilt. Unlike those with bulimia, those with binge-eating disorder symptoms typically do not purge their food. However, many who have bulimia also have binge-eating disorder.

Binge-eaters may use food to fill an emotional void by overeating to cope with life's challenges and with their emotional insecurities. In reality, their overeating causes guilt, shame and disgust. Frequently, they are overweight and typically suffer from low self-esteem. Binge eating is very common mostly with teenagers.

--This is according to Wikipedia.

This was me today... a binge eater. I am not perfect. I am not proud. I have slip-ups and I make mistakes. I can be an emotional eater at times. Today was one of those days when I was in a mood & just wasn't feeling quite right, so I took it out on my kitchen (& my body)... :/ NOT GOOD!! lol This candy bowl was full! and there were many more baked goods on the counter.  

Do you ever have days when you just eat & eat & eat, even after your full & your stomach hurts??! I'm not sure why I do it. (DONT JUDGE lol :D) I guess I feel like if I have one more candy bar or one more pumpkin bar, I'll feel better. Obviously, that's not the case and it just makes me feel worse for eating so crappy, but what can you do? It's over & done with and now I just have to be extra good the rest of the week. :D

Anyhow...enough with my ranting about my bad binge eating day...

I went and seen Pitch Perfect tonight with my friend, Raina. It was soo good!! (That's where the delicious movie theatre popcorn came into play!) If you haven't seen it, I'd highly recommend it for a good laugh!! Fat Amy seriously cracks me up!  It put a pretty big, much needed smile on my face! Thanks for coming with me Raina! :D

My poor hubby was sick with the flu today. Fever & everything. He spent the day in bed. :( I spent the day being lazy as well doing nothing but watch tv & movies and pigging out. EEEK! I guess I did do some laundry but i should have also done some much needed cleaning & went for a run. It was a nice sunny morning. I guess that will be tomorrows chore.

Buuuttt.....I'm thinking that a nice bath with Shape Magazine, some bubbles & stress-reliever salts sounds pretty darn good right about now!! So I'm gonna go hit that up & relax & hopefully not eat anymore tonight!! Hope you all had an enjoyable Sunday!!! 

Tootles Poodles!! ;)

Day 28 - Rambo & Wonder Woman

Breakfast: 2 eggs on a whole wheat english muffin with grapes
Lunch:  White chicken Chili & some bread, a pumpkin carrot bar, and a pumpkin crunch bar! --they were so good Sarah!
Snack: a few chips with some dip that was like taco dip but without the taco seasoning (whatever that's called)
Dinner: strawberries, grapes, chips & hamburger cheese dip, homemade pizza roll, homemade twix bar, bagels & dip --recipe below
Calories Consumed: 1875 --oops

Exercise: 1.5 mile run with Josie

I planned on waking up at 8 this morning and Justin tried his best. It's kind of lost cause. I'm NOT a morning person. So I ended up getting up at 9 and was pretty rushed. I had to cut my run short when I woke up & got ready as fast as I could but I was still late to our first Halloween festivity out at Greenbrook Farm.

That's me with my lovely niece at the party trying to stay warm. It was somwhere between 30 & 40 degrees and we were very thankful for the sun!! :D

We had a great time being part of a chili cookoff that my SIL (sister in law) Jen won! It was delicious!! She made a white chicken chili. I've never had that kind of chili before but I must say, I'm in love!! :D --Definitely going to have to get the recipe from her.

Then we did a pumpkin carving contest and I was trying to carve a spider web with a spider and it was an epic fail!! AWFUL I tell you!! AWFUL!  I didn't even take a picture because I gave up in the middle of it. lol Here's some of the others.

Instead... I thought I'd share a pic of the best pumpkin I've ever carved which was 2 years ago at Greenbrook Farm. It's a cat on a fence!

We also took some family photos which I don't have since I was sooo smart & forgot my camera at home. --My bad! I'll post them later when I get them from my other SIL Sarah. (now added) 

And some people played some touch football while the rest of us watched. It was chilly & wasn't feeling the football today. --Otherwise, I'd be all over a fun game of 2 touch!

It was a fun day at Greenbrook farm but we also had another party to attend that evening so we had to head home & get our costumes on and whatnot!!

Off to the next Halloween Party at the Walter house!!  This is where there were just too many goodies to pass up! Not my best dinner choices but it was all DELICIOUS!!! Here are the goodies I brought to share. -- My pumpkin carrot bars with cream cheese frosting leftover from the party at Greenbrook Farm & my bagels & dip.

I also had 2 of my current most favorite adult beverages!! NOT a healthy choice btw... but oh so yummy & satisfying! I probably should have went with the skinnygirl cosmo to save on calories, but it was one of those days where I felt the need to go big or go home! HA

So... I know you have all been anxiously waiting to see my Wonder Woman Costume.....
 Don't wet your pants or anything!!! But here it is....

That is me with my wonderful hubby, Rambo!! Don't giggle at me!! I put many hard hours and a decent amount of money into that costume!! LOVE IT!!! :D --That's right, you have no choice. ;)

It ended up being an early night home, which was ok because we were both pretty wiped out from the long day of fun(ness). --I don't care if that's not a word, I'm using it! It was FUN! I was pretty excited about my new BOB 95 shirts that I got from my friend Michelle that I had to put one on right away!! 

Then I got a little chilly so I put an old high school sweatshirt from my little bro on. Here I am... In my sweats & blogging away!!

As promised... MY bagels & dip recipe... not a very healthy recipe. BUT GOOD! This recipe I didn't find online!! :D It's been in the fam for a while. My mom always made it for New Years and that was (for the most part) the only time she made it & I LOVED it. It's probably a good thing she didn't make it more often because I can never stop after having a little bit. It's one of those snacks that I just constantly sit & nibble on. EEEK. :/ Don't say I didn't warn you!

{ Bagels & Dill Dip }

Ingredients:

2 bags of whole wheat bagels

2 packages of corned beef (I use Buddig brand)

1 1/3 c light sour cream

1 1/3 c light mayo

2 tsp dillweed

2 tbs parsley

1/2 chopped onion

Directions:

Chop up the corned beef and mix with the rest of the ingredients! If too salty, add more sour cream & mayo. 

NOTE: This is a large batch!! If using for a small amount of people (5 or less) I would recommend going halfsies on the batch!

Alrighty peeps... It's gettin' late and its been a super long day & my hubby is fast asleep!! Time for this girl to hit the hay!!! ADIOS FOLKS!

Day 27 - Poor Poor Pumpkin... & A Couple Recipes!

Breakfast: mixed fruit protein smoothie
Snack: banana, Nature Valley Protein bar
Lunch: PB2 & jelly sandwich on whole wheat bread, string cheese, & granny smith apple
Snack: Popped caramel corn rice cakes
Dinner: Italian-style tomato soup with meatballs --see recipe below
Snack: pumpkin-carrot bar with cream cheese frosting --see recipe below, natural fruit popsicle
Calories consumed: 1353

Exercise: Insanity Plyometric Cardio Circuit!! --yep! I'M BACK!!! :D

After work today I went to Walmart and got some groceries!! I had a list and it contained mostly ingredients for bagel dip & pumpkin bars for the Halloween parties that I'm going to tomorrow. The list also had a couple things like razor blades & shampoo & conditioner, but who cares about that right!??  Anyhow... I was hungry when I went shopping. BAD IDEA!!! --NEVER EVER, I repeat... NEVER go grocery shopping when you're hungry!! lol You end up with a heaping cart that looks something like this....

CRAP!!!!  --That is way more than what was on that little list of mine. BUT...I didn't get a bunch of junk. It was all pretty healthy!! of course I did get some froyo...and fruit popsicles...MMM!

I also bought a couple of pumpkins for the pumpkin carving contest tomorrow!! I was worried about them rolling in my car so I thought that I'd put mine in the carseat! :D --I'm so thoughtful & motherly. HAHA

I thought about buckling it in case it were to roll out, but when I attempted, I realized that I'd have to adjust the straps which seemed like way to much work!! So there it sat! The other pumpkin wasn't so fortunate to have a nice, comfy & safe seat to sit in. I'm sooo glad I put my pumpkin in the carseat!! Otherwise it could have easily ended up like this one...

Sorry hunny....you're pumpkin lost its stem!! :/

Well after the not so safe travel home... I started making dinner & was STARVING by then so munched on some mini rice cakes & had some super yummy mango orange juice while I made dinner--a new favorite!!

I made some homemade Italian-Style Tomato & Meatball Soup. Thanks to Courtney at Sweet Tooth, Sweet Life. Here is her recipe!

{ Italian-Style Tomato & Meatball Soup }

Meatball Ingredients:

• 1 pound extra lean group beef (I used 93% lean)
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• 2 egg whites, slightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons minced onion
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Soup Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 3-4 cloves roasted garlic (I had some leftover – you could also do 2 tsp minced garlic)
• 2 cans (14.5 ounces each) fat-free and lower sodium beef broth
• 1 can (28 ounces) Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 cup whole wheat shells (or other small pasta), uncooked
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Prepare meatballs: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Combine all ingredients together in a large bowl and mix well (use your hands to really get in there!). Shape into 28-30 meatballs, about 1-1/4 inches each. Place on a rack in a baking dish (or just directly in the dish). Bake for 13-16 minutes, or until no longer pink in the center. Set aside.

Prepare soup: Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 3-4 minutes, until soft. Add garlic and cook an additional minute. Stir in broth and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Add in pasta and reduce heat; cover and simmer at least 10-15 minutes, or until pasta is tender. Stir in meatballs and continue to cook until heated through. 

YUM YUM YUM!!!! Here's another delicious recipe that I baked tonight for a Halloween party tomorrow!!

{ Pumpkin Carrot Bars with 

Cream Cheese Frosting }

Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup Earth Balance (or other butter substitute)
2 eggs
2 large egg whites
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin pie filling
2/3 cup finely shredded carrot

Cream cheese topping:
4 ounces light cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon skim milk

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350° F. Spray a 15 x 10 jellyroll pan with cooking spray.
2. In small bowl, whisk flour, pumpkin spice, baking powder, and baking soda.
3. In larger bowl, use electric mixer to beat sugar, Earth Balance, and brown sugar until crumbly. Add eggs, egg whites, pumpkin pie filling, and carrots. Beat until well blended.
4. Add flour mixture and mix until well blended. Spread onto greased pan.
5. To prepare cream cheese topping: mix together cream cheese, sugar, and milk until thoroughly blended.
6. Drop teaspoon-fulls of topping over pumpkin batter and swirl and cut mixture into batter with a butter knife.
7. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
8. Cool in pan completely on wire rack before cutting into squares.

Makes 48 squares.

Click Here for Nutrtitional Info

Recipe from http://www.fitsugar.com/Healthy-T-Day-Dessert-Pumpkin-Carrot-Bars-Cream-Cheese-Frosting-6325643

So there you have it!! Some more super delicious recipes to try!!! Trust me... You're gonna want to!! 

Well... now that I finished my workout, Josie is completely craving my attention and she's wining at my feet! Did I mention that she officially knows how to play dead!??? YEP!! I'm such a proud Mama! BANG!!! --She's good!! haha Hope you all had a fantastic Friday!!! Tomorrow I'll be posting my bagel dip recipe & some pics of me in my Wonder Woman costume!! Don't get too excited!!! :D 

TATA for now!