Just a reminder: Check out my guest post tomorrow on Janetha’s blog Meals and Moves. It will be posted at 9:30 am on Saturday. The post covers my favorite move, running! I will give some background on my running journey. One of my fave meals is also going to be posted!! There are also other bloggers doing guest posts throughout the week. I’m excited to discover some new blogs!!
Okay, so I have a freezer full of bananas. Snuffy goes through “banana kicks” . She will ask for a banana at every meal and snack oppurtunity for a few days and then she will unexpectedly swear off bananas for a week! That leaves me with lots of over-ripe bananas. When I discovered Katie’s melted banana trick, I began saving Snuffy’s rejected bananas for my oats.
Then, I began to use some of them to make banana soft-serve.
Banana Soft Serve with this guy
Although I enjoy both the banana oats and the soft serve, I have accumulated a massive amount of frozen bananas!
I made up this recipe as I went along. It was going to be a version of my mom’s sugar cookies. But, I found that the dough was missing something. (One must always taste the dough to be sure the cookies will come out) 
Banana “Sugar Cookies”
2/3 cup Earth Balance
3/4 cup Raw Organic Sugar
1 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract
2 cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
3 Frozen Bananas (microwaved until soft)
4 tsp. Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk or Milk of Choice
1/4 tsp Sea Salt
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray a cookie sheet lightly with olive oil or canola oil.
Mix Earth Balance, Sugar, Milk and Vanilla until light and fluffy. Add Bananas and mix until combined. Sift togother dry ingredients . Add dry ingredients in small amounts to banana mixture. Combine very well. You may find that you need a sprinkle more of flour at this point. Adjust accordingly.
Drop dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto the cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes. The texture will be chewy and slightly cakey. It’s definitly not your typical cookie.
Pink Barbie Sprinkles for Snuffy
I would like to try to adjust the ingredients and lose the sugar in this recipe… more on that soon!
I finally used my food processor to puree some baked Butternut Squash. I know, I know more orange food!
I can’t help myself!
Pureed Squash with a hefty sprinkle of Pumpkin Pie Spice and Vanilla Oikos is like a creamy Pumpkin Cheesecake
Snuffy would rather have her Stonyfield Yo-Baby . She has basically been living on the stuff for the past 3 days. She has another nasty virus. Darn my schedule. I hate having her in childcare with sick kids. She does love it there and our babysitter is great with Snuffy. But, any childcare facility tends to be a virus extravaganza.
I cannot count the number of times I was asked to replace Elmo’s binky today.
She’s taking it well though.
We had to make a Target run to pick up a few things (like my sanity) and I caved at Starbizzle.
That’s right, I bought my mucus-filled child a “Rainbow Cookie”
Of course it’s full of sugar and white flour. But, ‘bizzle promises that all of their baked goods are made with natural ingredients and free of HFCS. Oh yeah, and I tasted it too…dear lord it was good. Definitly had about 2 sticks of butter in it.
Since Snuffy has been sick , she has been attached to my hip which means no running, no lifting, no biking or ellipticalling (new word, just made it up). I tried to go run last night and all the dreadmills were taken so I had to use the elliptical. I am determined to stick with my training schedule and be a good mama. Therefore, I had to get my workout in before Mallard left for work today. I thought , “Hey , this Bloggy does it everyday! I can so do this!” I arrived at the gym super early and I loved it. The gym I belong to is actually a local community center that is undergoing some awesome upgrades. They have an amazing indoor children’s pool for Snuffy. It has a lazy river, a little kids’ slide , a huge twisting slide, a lap area, a waterfall and crazy fountains. There is also a competition pool and an elevated track along with the weights and cardio equipment. They have a coffee shop/bakery where all the baked goods are all natural and almost completely organic (GAHHHH!!) As if all of this is not enough! I can’t wait to see what’s coming with the remodeling. Anyway, when I arrived at the crack of dawn, I expected some groggy ”New Year’s Resolution Runners” and maybe a few sleepy employees. Boy was I wrong! The trainers and desk personnel were just as upbeat as ever. Everyone greeted me with a “Good morning! How are you this morning?” There were about 40 people lined up for an early spin class. Most importantly there were more empty dreadmills treadmills so I was able to do my long run. I felt so energized after!
I’m still looking into the HRM. I recieved some good feedback from a few of you(I love you guys!) If you have a Garmin or Polar, what model? Any issues?
Although weights are not specified, Body Fat Percentage is provided.
If you have ever suffered from an ED and you feel that this mat be triggering to you, please do not read on.
You may remember the last time I had my Body Fat tested. Well, I was coming off of a very stressful time in my life and my weight was much too low as a result. More about that here. When I posted the result of that BF testing I received a lot of concerned comments from my readers and fellow bloggers. The number was normal Body Fat for an athlete but at the time I was not working out as often or as hard as I am now. I had just forgotten to take care of my body when I went back to school.
So, when I got back to the gym, I wanted to know where my body was at so to speak.
Flash forward to this week. I have been working out consistently for months. I run 3 to 4 times each week . I lift weights and do an hour or so on the elliptical or recumbant bike 3 days out of each week. My body feels better than ever! I have gained some weight but it was needed. Once again, I wanted to check my Body Fat % just to get an idea of where I’m at. Well, this time it was 17% . Yes, that is higher than last time. It’s still a very healthy BF% .
My initial reaction was disappointment. But then I thought, “Did I really expect to have gained all lean mass? This is a healthy Body Fat Percentage. I feel better than ever . I can do so much more in the gym.
I could never have run as long as I do now at the previous weight.
Plus , the trainer who tested me looked at me like I was from outer space. “Wow, ” she said, “you’re doing great! Just keep doing what you’re doing. “
I really feel good about where I am.
Of course I looked up some data on female athletes and BF when I returned home. Why do we always feel the need to compare ourselves to others? I am so guilty of this. The other day, I went to a salon to get my nails done. This is something I almost never do! But, I saw a sign for a new place that had a special and the rest is history. The woman who did my nails was one of those people that just had great energy. I thought, “She looks so happy and healthy and beautiful. I would love to have her adorable little body and flowy, shiny hair!” Well, while she was doing my nails, the woman commented on the goosebumps on my arm. I was super cold. She joked that it was because I was “thin”. Normally, I would be taken aback at a comment like this. But, since this woman was thin I took it in stride and smiled back. She said, “ You can’t weigh more than 100 pounds“. Oddly, this comment didn’t bother me either. I said, ” Actually, as of this morning , I weigh 11X.” (Definitely more than 100 pounds ) She said, “Huh? That’s only 2 pounds less than me! But you look so much smaller than me!” I laughed and said, ” That’s funny, I was just thinking that you looked so much smaller than me!” We tend to compare ourselves to other women all day long. Sometimes, we don’t even notice. This experience was so eye-opening for me. Here I was thinking this woman had such a great shape and stature and she and I were basically the same size! Also, she was comparing herself to me just as I was to her.
Not only do we compare our bodies’ appearances, but we also tend to compare our bodies’ athletic performance. I see this a lot at the community center where I work out: Woman A sees Woman B doing the same routine with heavier weights. Woman A wonders, “Should I be lifting heavier?” We look at other people’s posted splits and think our own runs just don’t measure up. A woman working out 3 days each week may find that other ladies work out 6 days each week. Does that mean that the woman is not working out often enough? The point is that while others are a great tool of inspiration, we must realize that we are competing against ourselves. We are competing against our own best times, heaviest weights, longest runs, etc.
As I stated earlier in this post, my workouts have gradually gotten more intense as my body has become stronger. I did set another distance PR. I have “run-walked” that far before but never just run that distance with no walking breaks . If you read WBL on a regular basis, you may notice that I just had a PR. Keep in mind my runs are short and my paces are slow because I am such a new runner. But, I really want to increase my distance…A LOT! Within just a few short weeks (okay two months) , Spring will arrive and the weather will allow for outdoor running almost everyday. I would love to have a long run distance of around 10 miles. I want to be able to take off on 6-10 mile runs 4 times a week . What better way to enjoy the gorgeous Spring weather? To increase my distance, I have been using a “10 mile race” training schedule. That’s why I keep “PR-ing” i distance. The training schedule has me running 3 days each week. I have been doing the Iron Pumping Challenge on my “off days”. My body certainly loves to get moving. I love the balance of running and strength training. Fueling my workouts has become more of a priority. Ensuring that I get enough protein has become increasingly important to me.
I have found some wonderful ways to bring more protein into my diet.
Vanilla Oikos on my Sweet Potato (You must try it!) , BBQ Tofu, roasted Brussel Sprouts
I would love to find a good, all natural BBQ sauce.
I’ve tried a few of Annie’s flavors to no avail
Sorry Annie… Love your bunnies, not your sauce.
I used this instead.
Back to my recent obsession with orange produce…
This is Vanila Oikos and Pumpkin with a lot of Pumpkin Pie Spice! I was inspired by Caitlin.
I had forgotten that I had frozen half of a baked Buttercup Squash a few months ago so it was a nice surprise to find it in th freezer! (I’m a dork like that )
But I needed some protein with my complex carb…. Vanilla Oikos saves the day!
I am definitly stocking up on these next Fall so that I can bake and freeze more!
This is my favorite new way to get protein!!
Brownie Batter with Vanilla Oikos (of course) and Naturally More… Oh. My. Word.
April, this tastes like the real deal. Thanks for introducing me to this lovliness! I can’t wait to try your protein cookie dough!
I’ve also been working to incorporate more anti-oxidents into my diet. We old ladies begin to look for ways to slow our aging 
For some reason, I feel that frozen fruits that have been microwaved until warm taste sweeter than the fresh fruit itself…wierd
Frozen (microwaved ) blueberries with 365 High Fiber Cereal…AMAZING.
I have loved the taste of bran flakes since I was a kid. I must have been an odd kid
My real excitement for the week was the arrival of the book I ordered used from amazon!
(Yes, it really was my excitement for the week)
Please diseregard the open cabinet…
Snuffy’s new favorite snack
Celery with Honey Almond Butter
You better bet my table and chair and child were all covered in Honey AB after that.
