Bubble Up Pizza Casserole

As requested, I will be blogging about one of our favorite meals, Bubble Up Pizza Casserole!!! And in an effort to keep myself cooking, I will be making an effort to try a new recipe each week and post it here with my review!!! The recipes will be easy, as I am not much of a cook :)

Bubble Up Pizza Casserole:

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef or sausage
1 jar of pizza sauce
1/2 pack of pepperoni (I use turkey)
2 cups of cheese




1 tube of refrigerated biscuits


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brown ground beef. Mix in jar of of sauce and mushrooms. I quarter about half of the pepperonis and mix in as well.

Quarter the biscuits (I prefer to cut each biscuit into 8ths because it makes for smaller bites for my little guy) then mix in with meat and sauce.

Spoon into casserole dish and bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove and top with cheese, then bake another 10 minutes.

Serve and enjoy :)

1st Runiversary!

The last race I ran was in June, it was the Mud Dog. I was on a running hiatus this summer. I can give you all of the excuses in the world, but at the end of the day I hate the heat and I hate running in the humidity. It is really that simple. It slows me down and I am miserable. So I set out with some goals and failed miserable because I was not running. Shit happens.

I went back to Weight Watchers in August. My Fitness Pal is great for some. What I witnessed is people eating for too little while working far to hard and not properly fueling their body. That does not motivate me. Neither does calorie counting, as all calories are not created equal. I wasn't getting the results I wanted and at the end of the day, I knew what I had to do.

So, I went back to the program that I knew would get me back to where I wanted to be, which is ON TRACK. I get asked all of the time, "Why Weight Watchers?" For me it is a simple area...I am and will always have a 200 pound girl inside of me. A girl that needs reminded on a weekly basis that she has to stay on track. I know I can have cheese fries, but I have to remain on track. I have to have the support of a weekly meeting that gives me fresh ideas on how to stay on track. I need the weekly accountability of stepping on the scale. I thrive on these meetings, I need to track my points every week, I need the support. THAT is why I go to Weight Watchers. And will continue to endorse a program that I truly believe in :)

Another thing that has helped with my journey has been running, but like I said, I have gotten lazy in the past couple of months. My weight loss has slowed. My doctor told me several weeks ago that her "ideal" weight range for me would be 158-163 pounds. As of Friday, I weighed in at 172.4. I am less than 10 pounds from my doctor's goal. My personal goal is to say I have lost 100 pounds, so that would put me at 155. 17.4 pounds to goal!!! Had I not gone back to WW and started lacing up my running shoes again, it is safe to say that I wouldn't be *this* close!

I have been somewhat back in the running game for about 6 weeks now, not running 3 times a week like I should, but I have been active. So last week, on a 4 mile run with a friend, she told me about a VERY local 5k that was scheduled for today. So on Monday I signed up and figured at the very least I would know how much damage I had done from taking several months off.

So this morning, as everyone else was asleep, I got dressed, and laces up my Brooks. As I did this, I realized that it has been exactly 1 year since my very 1st 5k!! I didn't go into today's race, expecting anything spectacular, but more so to see how much work I had ahead of me.

So as I line up and get my music and gps ready, I take a deep breath and remind myself to just enjoy the run. I have ran my fair share of races, let me tell you that the run today was by far the worst hills that I have ran in a race. I had a 36 minute goal, but that goal was squashed as soon as I started tackling rolling hills...or so I thought. Thanks to my running partner, I remained strong on the hills and completed the race with a 35:43 completion. I got my 2nd wind in the last half a mile and managed to finish strong.

As I finished, I had a lot on my mind . Primarily the fact that a few short months ago I was completing 5ks in under 33 minutes. I was so close to my sub 30 goal. But when I finished, it occurred to me, that I may not be as fast as I was, but I am still strong. This 5k made me realize that if I work hard for a couple of weeks, I can conceivably get back to where I was just a few months ago. Time to get back on track with my running! :)

If I can do it, anyone can!!!

Meanwhile, here are some pictures of my journey!

Here I am 1 year ago at my 5k, weighing in at 194 pounds

And here I am this morning for what was my 10th 5k in a year, I have also completed 2 10ks, a 10 miler, a mud run and a half marathon. That is a lot of running over the course of a year!

Until next time <3

A New Day!

Well, today started like any other day, I hit the snooze and overslept LOL! Jumped up and got cleaned up, got my little guy ready, and then grabbed my pre-packed breakfast and headed out to my Weight Watchers meeting. I was a little behind and was looking at being about 2-3 minutes late...I got to my meeting location and thought I lucked out because there was a place up front. Yep, there was...because that location was CLOSED! Ugh, so I had to recheck the location, well needless to say I arrived at the new location about 15 minutes late. Story of my life. I could have let this deter me, but I didn't. I went in and didn't even sit down, I just immediately bought my monthly pass, then stepped up onto that stupid scale.

Here it is...the number read a number that I swore I would never see again. 180.4. I swore I would never see the 180's again. Though I will be honest, if they had let me weigh in the way I want to weigh in, I wouldn't have been in the 180's. One day, they will give in and let me weigh in naked. Until that time, I will accept the number that was on the scale.

With the hard part over, Jayce and I headed into the meeting and caught the tail end. I met my leader, who I like which is always a plus. I feel like I can relate to her, which is important to me. Though, if I am honest, I will tell you that with every leader I meet, I realize that I want to be a a leader, I have the personality for it and I LOVE helping people. That being said, I will put it out there. I have a HUGE goal. I want to become a lifetime member by Jayce's 2nd Birthday! (January 18, 2013). That gives me 17 weeks of weigh ins to hit my goal of 158 which is 22.4 pounds to lose (as set by my doctor) and 6 weeks to maintain to achieve lifetime status.

Now that sounds like a great goal, right? Totally realistic. But, THAT is not my HUGE goal! My ultimate goal is to hit lifetime then pursue becoming a WW leader. This has been an ambition of mine from my first success with Weight Watchers in 2009. And now, I am determined to make that happen.

First step towards this goal is to continue on program and work with the program that I know AND believe in. Looking forward to what the future holds :)

Until Next Week!
Amber

WW...What Works!

Well, for anyone wondering how my break-up with the scale went...well it was hard dammit. But I survived. BUT I will be honest, I gained 2 pounds in the month. Turns out, when I am not getting on the scale every day, it is easier to let my diet lax a little. When I am this close to goal, being lax isnt going to do me any good.

So I will be utilizing my scale again. I read the people who get on the scale daily, lose more and maitain longer than those who don't. I wasn't sure if that was true until I complete one month of NOT stepping on my scale.

After speaking with my doctor last week, we determined that she would be happy with me weighing between 158-163 pounds. A mere 16 pounds to be where my doctor wants me. But being so close makes me afraid that I will soon become overly obsessed with my scale all over again. So over the past couple of days, I have been pondering about when I actually had a "healthy" relationship with the scale. Pondering when I had a healthy grasp on food and what I needed to fuel my body.

And that time was when I was with Weight Watchers. It has taken me time to get back to this place. I have enjoyed My Fitness Pal, and thought I could do it by simply tracking myself. And I did ok. But what I lost track of was fueling my body properly. In theory I could do a better job with MFP. But I will be honest, having someone else see my numbers each week keeps me focused.

Your body needs so much more than just X number of calories. As Chalene Johnson says "If you are going to train like an athlete, you need to eat like an athlete." Now is that time.

I hope you decide to stick with me on this journey. I know many of you joined MFP because I thought it rocked, and it DOES! But, Weight Watchers has ALWAYS gotten the job done for me, and I am looking forward to embarking back on my WW journey. This also means that starting next week, I will be starting Foodie Friday back up again with some of my favorite recipes :)

Until Next Time!
Amber :)

A Story of Goodbye.

I am in what I like to consider several monogamous relationships. The most important one I am in is my marriage. Being monogamous isn't hard for me, I have been with my husband since I was 19, monogamy comes naturally to me and always has. But, when it came time to lose the weight and get healthy, I entered into a relationship out side of my marriage. A relationship with myself. It is so easy for us to get so tied up in a relationship that we lose sight of ourselves, GUILTY! Then add motherhood into the mix and you can easily fall into the trap that you lose yourself completely. You are on autopilot, obviously breathing, but going through the motions day in and day out trying to make everyone else happy, trying to keep peace within you home, if for no other reason, but your sanity.

I lived that way for years. I lived for my sisters when they needed me to. When we lost our brothers, I went through the motions of being their rock, the person to hold them when they cried. To tell them it will be ok. To protect them when the world wasn't so kind. I live for my husband when he needs me, because let's face it they would be lost without their wives ;) I live and breathe for Jayce, putting his needs above my own.

One day you have to realize that if you don't take care of YOU, there will be no one around to take care of them, to be their rock, to be their shelter. As a mother, this is the hardest lesson of all. So, I took the leap and entered into a relationship with me. Deciding that, even if for just a few moments a day, I would take some time and focus it on me. This inevitably let to a daily ritual of waking up, empyting my bladder, stripping down and stepping on the scale. The scale and I have had our ups and downs just like any other relationship. But I still would see him at least on a weekly basis, but more often then not, I would meet up with him on a near daily basis. And the relationship was a healthy one. I loved seeing the numbers go down with all of my hard work.

But the inevitable occurred. The scale stopped moving. And to be honest with all of my readers, it has moved up and down the same f-ing pound for over 8 weeks!!!!!! So my healthy relationship has now reached a very volatile stage. One that involves me stepping on the scale several times a DAY in hope od figuring out what in the hell is going on.

What I have decided is this: MY BODY HATES ME! Ok, well that may be a tad dramatic, but it does seem that my body is comfortable at this weigh (175 if you are wondering). After losing 82 pounds my body has decided that it will not allow me to reach the 100 pounds mark.

So here is my plan! It is time to listen to my body. I purchased a FitBit (fitbit.com) to help me see when I need to be more active, to tell me EXACTLY how many calories I have burned so I know EXACTLY how many I can eat to create an exact deficit. I have also decided to start cleaning up my diet again. And the biggest and by far the hardest decision so far...

BREAK UP WITH THE SCALE!

I am removing the batteries and putting it away. I stepped on it for the last time this morning. I will not be stepping on that scale again until August 1. One entire month with no weighing in. One entire month of me focusing on my eating, but most importantly, focusing on Turbo Fire and on getting down to a 30 min 5k. One month of focusing on toning and tightening to get in to my goal SIZE. That is right, I have a goal weight in mind, but in this stage of the game, I need to focus on my body and what it is telling me.

I hope you continue to follow me as I go bat shit crazy over the next month without my scale!

PS-if you are on My Fitness Pal, add me! amberd0626 :)

Until next time!  

Here you go!!! Updated photos!! I was REALLY worried about posting these because #1 I was worried about the fact that there may not be a difference and #2, they are in my undies, my husband is really the only person to see that LOL!!! BUT I get so many messages about how I have inspired other women to take control of their health and maybe even take up running. So I feel like I owe it to my friends and to myself to be honest and share my progress. 

I may not be at goal, but in just a few short months, I am noticing a big change in these pics. Especially on my backside:) YAY!!

I have also embarked on an new fitness journey which is the Insanity workout. So I will post my starting measurements as well as my beginning Fit Test results. Currently I am on a break when it comes to the scale as I am getting close to my goal (will be working hard to tone) but I will now be focusing on my measurements and not on that evil bitch, AKA: my scale! :)

12/2011

5/2012

12/2011

5/2012 

12/2011

5/2012

RR, PR and 13.1? OH MY!

Well yesterday was D-Day! I went to bed Saturday night a runner, and now I am a HALF MARATHONER!!! I went to bad a bundle of nerves, I barely slept! Woke up at 345am and got dressed in my running skirt and "Thirteen Point Freaking One Bitches" shirt and laced up my Brooks and away I went. I had a feeling of dread the ENTIRE ride to the race. I don't know if I was more nervous about running 13.1 miles or wearing a running skirt without leggings. But either way I made it to the start line!

Most people don't encourage you to have a time goal on your first half marathon...but "most" people would also say going from a 5k in October to a half marathon in May is crazy...Guess I don't really care what "most" people think ;) That being said, I had a time goal and it was 2:45. That equates to about a 12 min mile. Which is a pace I knew I could maintain for 13.1 miles if I paced myself properly. I set myself up to know that I needed to aim to maintain a pace of 11:45. And I needed to remember to not let the excitement of the race get to me. That is much easier said than done.

We waited amongst a group of 3900 other runners, hanging towards the back as to not get caught up in the excitement or even to slow other runners down. It was gorgeous out!! In the 60's and cloudy. For the first mile we had a nice light drizzle. Unfortunately, for the rest of the run, it was 90% humidity. ICK!

There was not a moment on this race where there weren't spectators cheering on the runners in the streets of Frederick. It was AMAZING!!!! It also caused me to run the first 4 miles at an 11:16 minute mile pace. NO GOOD!!! I was wearing out and backed off. But I fear the damage was already done. Between the pace being a little too fast AND the humidity I was getting tired and very concerned about being able to finish at a pace that I had wanted.

Taryn and I kept plugging along, chatting on and off. We goofed off and were singing and laughing. Thank God I had her with me to help keep my mind off of what my body was telling me...which was to just STOP!!! There is no shame in walking! Well that is true, but I didn't want to walk! LOL! Taryn and I walked each water stop to hydrate every 1.5 miles. We made 2 other stops for 30 seconds. We decided to run through the final water stop which occurred directly before Highland hill. Highland hill is a big hill, know what makes it bigger? Having to tackle that damn hill at mile #13.

I told Taryn that I would run the last water stop with her, but I couldn't promise that I would be able to run up Highland hill without stopping to walk. We are halfway up the hill and I am exhasted, and just when I am ready to cry, I see a fellow runner and mommy who is in our running group come running towards me. She tells me it is just a hill and I CAN do it, NO crying! I pick up the pace and I make that hill my bitch ;) When we crest the hill, we finish on a horse track which had to be the LONGEST quarter mile EVER!!!! I crossed the finish line with pride and covered in goosebumps because I DID IT!!! I grabbed my sister in a bear hug, and I cried. Everything I have worked up to, everything I had trained for all came together in that one moment.

In that one moment, I was not the "heavy set" wife/mommy/daughter/sister...I was a HALF MARATHONER!!! That moment I learned that I can leave that sad, heavy set girl behind. It is time to know that I am strong woman!!! One who sets goals and ACHIEVES them! I work hard and it is worth every moment of pain, tears and doubt. In that moment, I realized that I cannot doubt myself anymore. It is time to believe in ME and be proud of everything I have accomplished!

Hard to think back to that first day in August when I did the first Couch to 5k workout and I nearly DIED running for a full minute straight!! I still can't believe I ran for an entire 13 point FREAKING 1 miles!

And did I reach my goal??? Well as a matter of fact I did!!! 2:44:57!!!!!!!!! I could NOT be happier with my time:)

Now, how about a little reminiscing to my very first race ever??

Here I am on October 1st, 2011 where I completed the Freedoms Run 5k, with my favorite running partner:)

And here I am just over 7 months later, completing the Frederick Half Marathon on May 6, 2012, again with my favorite running partner:)

My what a difference 7 months has made!!! I have a waist!!! WHO KNEW??? :) Running is the ONLY thing I have done in months, no strength training as of now. But I am getting ready to switch up my routine. As well as add some hill and speed training to help me get faster!!

I have tackled a half marathon, there is not marathon in my near future. I have come to realize I am not a distance runner....I don't enjoy the long distance runs as much as I do the 5k and 10k's. So I am set to focus on my speed so that I can continue to get faster on the distances I enjoy. I am NOT saying that I don't ever want to complete a marathon. I mean how cool would it be to say I ran 26.2 miles?!?!?! But right now it is not in my plans! Maybe as I mature as a runner that will change. Or maybe it won't! In the mean time you will see me get FASTER, slimmer and more toned!!! You will seee me working HARDER to improve my times and my endurance. And you will see me complete more half marathons!!! Including one that is coming up in September of this year:):) I say BRING IT!!

Until next time!