A Victorious Week!

Wondering why I'm cheesing & sweating like the happiest girl in the world in this pic? 

Because last Friday I ran my first consecutive mile EVER. And when I say ever, I actually mean ever! In elementary school I was the kid the P.E. teacher hated because I would rally up a group of students who wouldn't mind walking the whole thing with me and clocking a time of a 21 minute mile. 

Throughout my entire adult life I had just resolved that running a mile was something I would just never be able to do. Proving that lie wrong was an AMAZING feeling. And not only did I prove it wrong but I did one better, I actually ran about 1.5 miles without stopping! Running a mile has been a fitness goal of mine ever since I began this weight loss journey 3 years ago & to finally have achieved it feels amazing. 

That being said, my celebrating time is slightly shorter-lived than I'd like it to be as that 1.5 miles needs to turn into 3.1 miles by Saturday! EEEEEeeeeeeekkkkkk! Yep, this Saturday is the big day- my very first 5K race. 

I'm trying not to sike myself up too much about it but truth be told, I by no means feel like I have this "in the bag" or that I could run it with my eyes closed. Nope, I'm gonna need God's strength for every step of this race & although I'd like a little more time to train (I only have 3 training days left), I've learned that God is pretty reliable. 

I know I should probably say that my only goal for the 5K is to finish but I'd be lying- I believe there's more in me than that. My overall goal is to finish in 37 minutes or less. My I'm-afraid-to-say-this-out-loud-cuz-I'm-not-sure-how-it-will-happen-goal is to run the whole race continuously. 

In the end, my identity or worth is not tied to this race or being a runner or anything outside of who I am in Christ. I know that even if for some reason I'm not able to even finish (which I don't see how that could happen as even if one of my legs fell off I still plan on picking it up and dragging it across that finish line) I still have reason to celebrate because of what has been accomplished even while I've been training (things I never thought possible). 

So, my plan for Saturday: GO, GIVE IT MY ALL & HAVE FUN! 

Weight Loss Progress: 

Last week was not only a huge week with me accomplishing one of my long time fitness goals but also because...

I'm officially in my goal weight range!!! 

After 3+ years of being on this journey, it feels surreal to say that. I weighed in this week at 155lbs and my goal weight range is between 150-155lbs so I've still got 5 more to go but it's just crazy to think that I'm THIS close to my goal. Ahhhhh! Wow. 

I definitely don't think the gravity of all that's happening is really hitting me. More on that another time. 

Recent EATS: 

I'm not sure what has come over me but I have been bitten by the cooking bug. I have been cooking up a storm & not because I feel like I have to now that I'm married or because of pressure from the healthy/eating blog world (which is no bueno) but because I WANT to. 

Huh. Who'da thunk that would ever happen to me!? 

Maybe it's a phase but I have truly been enjoying trying out new recipes and experimenting with new foods- some have turned out great and others not so much...for example: 

Tiff's Skinny Snickers Peanut Butter & Banana Ice Cream! 

Ingredients: 
2 servings (1 cup= 1 Serving) 

1 banana (frozen and chopped into pieces) 
1 mini snickers bar
1 cup ice 
3 tablespoons PB2 (if you haven't tried this stuff it's AMAZZZING) 
1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk 
*you can add a packet of Splenda or some vanilla for extra sweetness if you prefer- I did! 

Mix all ingredients together in a food processor *except for the snickers) until smooth, crumble the mini snickers on top (or any other miniature candy of choice) & put in the freezer so it can harden! We were impatient so we only left ours in for 5 minutes and it had more of a smoothie consistency but if you left it in for 30 minutes it should get much harder. 

This was DELICIOUS!!!! And while there is no mistaking that it's not ice cream it honestly was so creamy & delicious that it totally hit the spot! And the whole desert was only 150 calories! Whoo hoo! 

However, not all of my culinary creations from last week were as successful: 

I'm always trying to find a way to add more veggies in my diet which isn't the easiest thing for me as I didn't grow up eating veggies so I don't really like the taste of many of them & I can be funny about the texture of things so I would say almost all of my veggie cooking attempts have been flops. 

Edemame was no exception. 

I found a recipe for parmesan edamame and thought it looked like a pretty safe bet. Well...first of all, I didn't realize until right before hubby and I were getting ready to take a bite that we weren't supposed to eat the outside of the pod...yea. 

The overall taste was okay but the breadcrumbs really started to gross me out for some reason so I ended up letting D finish the rest of mine. 

I'm still not quite ready to give up on edemame yet though- or cooking veggies in general- anyone have any good veggie recipes to share? This girl needs all the help she can get! 

Alright, I think that's enough for one day- unless you hear from me before Saturday's race- say a little prayer for me! I will be posting a post-race update asap for sure :)