While on vacation these past few days I have taken advantage of the early morning time and done a few longer walks. I try to get out early since it has been in the mid-80’s when I leave the house. It heats up fast in the desert and the morning sun is just as tough on you as later in the day. Saturday I went a longer way to and from the canal and walked north, that added distance made my longest distance since I started clocking in at 4.44 miles.
Saturday afternoon on my way back from the grocery store I drove by the canal south of us to see if it was paved. It looked like it was, so I headed that way on Sunday morning. Resulting in my longest and furthest walk at 5.57 miles.
Along the canal going south there were goats...
And golfers....
I was pretty tired when I got back. It was in the upper 80’s during my walk; it was cloudy, but that also brought more humidity. At least I remembered the water bottle today.
One area I feel like am struggling in is my walking pace. Adding distance hasn’t been that hard to do, but getting myself to move faster has been a little bit of a struggle. I didn’t start using Runkeeper to track my walk time/pace until July 1, so I don’t know exactly what my pace was when I started in June. My guess is probably 21/22 minutes, but I also know I wasn’t really pushing myself.
When I started walking in June all I cared about was getting outside every morning and walking for 30 minutes. Then last Saturday I decided to walk the canal. I saw a lot of other walkers, runners, and bikers out on the trail and it changed something in me. Every day since then, getting up has been easier. I am excited to exercise every morning. When I started tracking my time/distance/pace I wanted to push myself harder.
I’m not quite sure who this “want to exercise” woman is inside my brain, but I plan to keep her around.
I suddenly am looking for a bike on Craigslist and trying to figure out how much weight I need to lose before I can safely attempt running.
Right now making the lifestyle changes I need to by following Weight Watchers and being active is coming naturally. I plan to continue to build on that, as I intend for this to be a permanent change and a new way to live the rest of my life.
While I have been on vacation Mike and I have done a lot of cooking. We tried 2 recipes from the July Cooking Light magazine on Friday night. We made Butcher’s Cut Burgers and Garlic Herb Oven Fries. Both were absolutely divine. We also grilled mango slices brushed with balsamic vinegar but that was a bit of a miss.
The burger was delicious with pickled onions, dressing for the lettuce and the little bit of bleu cheese that packed a lot of flavor.
Butcher’s Cut Sliders – Cooking Light – 5 WW PointsPlus per slider (8 servings)
The serving size per the recipe is 2 sliders, which would be 10 points. We made them as small hamburgers, so I adjusted the points accordingly (small bun and 2 1/2 oz. patty was 9 points).
The garlic fries reminded me of the ones we had at a San Francisco Giants game and the kind they serve at Gordon Biersch, but these are Weight Watcher friendly. They are definitely the best oven fries we have ever had and they were as close to the real thing as I have ever made. I think the trick was the size of the fries. They are about 1/4 inch slices. Also, high heat and turning them half way through the baking time. I do recommend spraying your baking sheet with cooking spray to minimize sticking at this point. We had a few burned fries that I threw out, but most of them came out perfect.
Garlic and Herb Oven Fries – Cooking Light – 4 WW PointsPlus (6 servings)
The meal felt like an indulgence, but for a lot less points than eating the same at a restaurant. It just proves to me that it isn’t hard to eat better, it just takes a little effort at times.
