Protein Power Balls

I found a recipe on pinterest for protein balls and I just happened to have all of the ingredients. They are delicious and taste like a yummy, candy treat. Now you still have to be careful and only eat one, they have about 85 calories per ball.

Protein Power Balls

1/3 C Natural creamy PB

1/4 C honey

3 TBSP ground flax seed

2 TBSP chopped dark chocolate

1 scoop chocolate whey protein

Mix all the ingredients together and then form 12-14 small balls and refrigerate for several hours till fully chilled. These were way better than expected. Give them a try. They are a fun, quick treat that still offers some protein and fiber.

Run Keeper

Wow! Run Keeper is awesome. I am really loving it. I have used it for a while now but didn't know that it was capable of much more. RunKeeper is an app on my iphone. It uses the GPS technology found in the iPhone to track your fitness activity, giving you comparable results to an expensive GPS watch. You can also enter your activities manually, including your treadmill runs, indoor cycling, etc.! This app really makes it easy to track how far you went, how long it took, what your pace/speed was, how many calories you burned, and the path you traveled on a map.

You can also share your progress with friends by posting your activities to Facebook and Twitter, and creating a profile page that allows people to view all of your public activities. It can tell you whether you are ahead/behind your target pace, or get coached through an interval workout. It has a coaching mechanism that is awesome. I wanted to do 1 minute walk run intervals. It gives you cues in your ear when you need to start walking or running . It also allows you to listen to Pandora at the same time or to play your itunes playlists.

It has 3 main screens. The first screen shows you the map via GPS as to everywhere you went during your run, the second screen gives you an overview of your workout (how long it was, your avg pace, calories burned, time, etc) and the 3rd screen gives you the details of every minute of your run. Since I was doing intervals I could see that minute 1 I was walking at 4.2mph, minute two I was running at 6.4mph and so on.

It is great!The best part about it is that it keeps all of your workouts in your history so you can see all of your progress. It will also help with my treadmill workouts because I actually run faster outside. Now that I know that, I can increase the pace on the treadmill.

Back to the BodyBugg

I renewed my subscription with my bodybugg so that I can know exactly how many calories I am burning. I have been wearing it religiously, even sometimes when I sleep. Today in Zumba I burned 625 calories. I love knowing the numbers. It truly is a science; how to lose weight.

Today after Zumba they were shooting a quick video for the website that a group of girls said "Group Fitness is Fun!"..I knew the camera crew so a little pressure to be in the video. Another reason to wear your make-up to the gym. Once the video is posted, I'll put a link on my blog.

I really do love to dance. As soon as I am done training for the half I plan to do Zumba a lot more often. I just can't right now because I need to focus on running. It is fun to have one cross training day of zumba though and one of spin. Zumba is still high impact though so I will have to be careful of my knees. I can't wait to try out my tape...it should be here today! Tonight I have CPR class at Hudson's preschool and Hudson has karate. Travis is going to take the kids to the gym tonight but I am glad that I got my workout done and out of the way. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain so I am back to the treadmill.

Bare Necessities

A couple must haves while running

1) I-pod (Pandora...Lady Gaga station)

2) Skull candy ear buds

3) Good shoes (just got some new Brooks Glycerin)

4) Water

5) Towel (if on treadmill...I sweat really bad)

6) Deodorant (remember the sweating)

7) Hair band and a bobby pin (hair must be pulled back and bangs too)

8) Workout clothes (I love my one pair of pants that has a small pocket that my ipod can fit into while I am outside)

9) ICE!!! (Yep, you are reading it right....after workout)

So here are the things that I have to have to complete a successful run. Without them I am lost! I have never had knee problems but the running and spinning are making them ache. I bought some new stabilizing tape called KT Tape from amazon (it will be here tomorrow). I am excited to try it. I can't do a brace, I hate how they bunch up in the back. I have some soft flexible ice packs that I have been putting on my knees every night. They don't feel injured, just tired. I figure that people on the biggest loser practically take ice baths so I can ice my knees. I am hoping that this whole running thing can only get easier.

I am not good at it! Also this race is something for my bucket list, it is to honor my friend Win Apel who recently died from battle with a brain tumor. However, I guarantee you that I will not get hooked. This is a one time deal. I love to ride the bike and dance but I am only running to prove to myself that I can do this. I am excited to see the results too. My hips and legs are my biggest problem areas; I can only assume that running and spinning will be good for them.

What are you're running essentials? Do you love to run or do you do it cause it works?

Happy Birthday Tammye

(Tammye and I at the Sugarland concert)

Yesterday was Tammye's birthday; so a quick tribute. I like to tell people that Tammye is like my mama bird. A little more than a year ago I entered her nest and she taught me how to fly. She gave me all of the tools to learn to work out and gave me the passion and motivation to work on my goals. She has got to be one of the most knowledgable trainers I have ever met.

When I first met her I knew how to work out. I knew all the basic moves (i.e., bench press, squat, curls, etc) but she taught me much more about compound movements and how to burn the most calories in the shortest amount of time. Sometimes I felt like I was hopping on one foot, patting my head and rubbing my belly at the same time....but it worked. I got more balance, more strength and more endurance.

As many of you know I have left the Tammye nest. I have joined a gym and now that I know how to fly I am trying to take my fitness to another level; and while I am at it show some of my friends how to fly too. I still visit the nest and go back for more. I am loving Weekend Warrior and all of the motivational texts and talks Tammye and I have. I know that she is one of my biggest fans and believes in me.

Truth be told, I am one of her biggest fans too. She has invested lots of time into me and I love her for that. I have shared things with her that I wouldn't share with very many people. You should see my before pictures. Can you imagine me in a sports bra and bikini bottom? Yuck. Yep...she has seen it. Probably didn't want to but she did.

She has became one of my closest friends and I can't wait to finish the journey and to make her proud. Happy Birthday Tammye! You have changed my life more than you will ever know. Words do not express how grateful I am to have found you and to have you be a part of my life. Thanks for being such a great support! I promise that I am going to finish this thing!

A half marathon...really??

Well today was day 1.

2 miles down, I only have to be able to do 11 more. Lol. I am following the galloway walk-run program for 14 weeks. Today I did 1 minute intervals between walking and running on the treadmill. I just put in my head phones and went. I pretended in my head that I was dancing as I just bounced along to the beat. It actually felt really good. I sweat a ton. The sweat was actually dripping onto the treadmill. The treadmill was awesome because it had a setting called speed interval. It allowed you to put in a walking speed and a running speed and then you just had to push the interval button once to switch back and forth. I am slow! Today I did two, 13 minute miles. Not bad though, figuring I was walking half the time. I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew...but here it goes. The goal is to finish.

My Training Schedule looks like this:

Monday: Weight training-Walk/Run intervals

Tuesday: Spin

Wednesday: Weight training-Walk/Run intervals

Thursday: Zumba

Friday:Weight training-Walk/Run intervals

Saturday: Long run

Sunday: Rest

This will be pretty intense for the next 14 weeks. The walk run intervals become harder over time....more running, less walking. I have no excuses though, I can always use my treadmill at home if needed and I have weights at home as well. If I skip anything it will be my cross training days on Tues and Thursday; however these are the nights that Hudson goes to Karate so I will be there anyway.

Another 1.5 down

Not what I want but at least I am losing! I start my run-walk 14 week training today. I'll give more details soon.