I ran for Skippy

I am determined not to have a gain this week – still can’t wrap my brain around a 4.2 gain last week, and while I am looking foward, it still sneaks up on me and I keep trying to bat it away but the +4.2 keeps rattling in my brain.  Hopefully it will shut up soon. 😀

So after I blogged yesterday morning I went downstairs, put on my workout clothes and decided to find something on exercise on demand.  Level 1 of 30 Day Shred is going to expire tomorrow, so I decided to do it.  And then I was quickly reminded that I hate lunges.

But my atmosphere could not have been better – I had two corner windows open so the cool autumn breeze was blowing in and the smell of fresh brewed coffee was in the back drop.  Perfect way to start the day.

I had a work errand to run so didn’t end up eating breakfast until 10:00 – a super quick egg and cheese bagel sammie – 10 points.  Oh, and don’t mind the pinch taken out of the top of the bagel – it was moldy, but the rest was fine.  I am klassy like that.

And then before I knew it was 12:45 and I hadn’t gone on my run yet!  Happily my blood sugar was 224 before I left – perfect.  I decided to run naked, no music – just the electronic voice of my GPS spitting out every half mile of my run.  The weather was perfect – 72 degrees, partly cloudy.  But I felt so good I started out too fast, which is one of my biggest mistakes.

Instead of stopping to walk, I just slowed down, got my breathing under control and carried on.  And when I felt like stopping, I didn’t, because my friend Skippy can’t run. She’s got congestive heart failure and lupus.  Her days are spent usually in one place – if she makes it down from her 2nd floor bedroom and happens to be chilly and her sweater is upstairs, tough shit. She only goes back upstairs to go to bed.

Where she sometimes coughs so hard I am not really sure when the last time she’s actually had a decent nights sleep.  Her husband “Pooldad” and her kids do most of the chores and cooking – she wants to help and when she tries to help, the glimmer of hope in her families eyes is motivation for her to do too much . . . and she typically pays for it for the next few days.

When the heart muscle weakens and can’t pump hard enough to push blood through the body, a couple of things happen. First, not enough oxygen gets delivered to the body, so muscles that don’t get enough oxygen tire more quickly and it’s harder to walk or climb stairs.

So I ran for you Skippy because you can’t.  I didn’t stop, and you inspired me to keep going when I didn’t want to – simply because I can and you can’t and it breaks my heart.  Thanks for unknowingly pushing me to my imaginary finish line.  😀   I thank you for that.

Since my old PR’s weren’t actually 3.1 miles, I am using yesterday’s run time as my new PR and move on from there . . .34:37!

So I only have to shave off 4:38 minutes to get a sub 30 minute 5k.  Totally doable. 😀

Lunch turned out to be excellent, but it didn’t start out that way.  I found Kayln’s recipe for a crockpot pumpkin chili that I wanted to adapt for the stove top.  Her recipe called for ground Ancho chili pepper and I only had chipotle chile pepper.  After it was all put together and simmered for 30 minutes, I took one taste and it was so fricken spicy – I mean too spicy for me even!

So you know how Rachael Ray calls a cross between a stew and a soup a stoup?  Well, to tone down the heat I had to add chicken broth, more pumpkin and cooked brown rice, so this is chili turned into a choup.  (a chili and soup!)

FYI, don’t let this long list of ingredients turn you off, it comes together pretty quickly – and don’t be afraid to add the pumpkin – you can’t taste it but it gives a unique texture to this choup.

Biz’s Pumpkin, Beef and Bean Choup (inspired by Kalyn’s Kitchen)

This made 20 cups of chili – at only 3 WW Points per cup – perfect if you have a bunch of people over for a football game, just add sour cream and shredded cheese.

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 2 teaspoons Ancho or chipotle pepper
• 3 tablespoons fresh cilantro (added at the very end)
• 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano (or regular dried oregano)
• 1 teaspoon Adobo seasoning
• 4 ounce can of diced green chiles
• 2 cups beef broth
• 4 cup chicken broth (I just ran out of beef broth, you could use 3 cups beef)
• 1 15 oz. can kidney beans, drained
• 1 15 oz. can black beans, drained
• 1 15 oz. can chili beans with sauce, don’t drain
• 1 15 oz. can pinto beans, drained
• 28 ounce can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling) 😀
• 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes
• 3 cups cooked brown rice

In a VERY large stock pot, brown ground beef.  Drain all but about a tablespoon of the fat and add garlic, bell pepper, cumin, chili powders, oregano, Adobo and diced green chiles.  Stir for a couple minutes until you can really start to smell the seasonings.

Now it’s simple – add everything else to the pot except the fresh cilantro, reduce heat to low and simmer for at least an hour, I ended up cooking it for 2 hours.  Just before serving sprinkle with fresh cilantro.

When all was said and done, this turned out super delicious – just a hint of heat so I think this would work for a crowd, and then crazy ass people like me who like hot shit can have a bottle of Tabasco at close hand to sprinkle over each spoonful.

I brought it for some co-workers, and they all gave it a big thumbs up. 😀

I defrosted a steak for dinner, but when I got home, I realized it was a pretty small steak – not enough to split for me and Tony, so I grilled some lemon pepper chicken breasts on the side – I ended up with 3 ounces of steak, 4 ounces of chicken, 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes and a cup of green beans.

The only picture I took to capture this simple meal?  The grilled chicken!

Stats for Tuesday:

• 25 minutes of Level 1 Shred
• 45 minute walk/run included 34:37 5k
• I did have 27 points for the day until I had a cheese and cracker fest with Tony – I was really hungry last night for some reason, so I had 39 points
• 45 miles done of 125 miles in September . . . 80 miles to go 😀
• average blood sugar 131

Make it a great day!