New Update!!!

Well July 1^st has come and past, and we decided to continue our challenge as none of us felt satisfied with our progress so far. I had been so good with my updates for the first few weeks, and then after missing a few days it felt like a bigger and bigger chore to write a new post. Unfortunately, for me all the aspects of the challenge started to fall away. After the Love Run at the beginning of June, I was running way less, and haven’t ran at all in several weeks. I stopped recording my daily weight and food intake in my notebook as of 2+ weeks ago. And with that I have no idea how many calories I’ve been eating and have been eating a lot of junk.

Major Events:

Love Run 5k– I beat my goal and set a new PR! 24:53!

Hiking in Zion – the last weekend of June Bach and I went with 3 friends to Vegas and then Zion and did 2 major hikes there. The first was Angel’s Landing, which is a 5 mi trail out and back that goes up a steep rock “fin” where at the end of the hike you are on a narrow path with steep drop-offs on either side and there are chains to help. The uphill and the heat (upper 90s I believe) made it an intense hike but the view was spectacular and our friends got engaged at the top!

The next day 6 of us hiked the Zion Narrows. We woke up at 5am, took a shuttle at 6:30am, and started hiking at 8:15am NE of Zion National Park. We started the hike on dirt roads but followed the Virgin River as it cut deeper through the terrain and soon enough we were walking through the river between the steep sides of Zion Canyon. The hike was 16 miles next to/through the river and we finished at 8:30pm where the canyon opens up to the main road going through the park. The hike was gorgeous and I’m proud to have accomplished a hike that long. I also enjoying hiking through water a lot more than I thought I would (most parts were calf/knee deep but twice I was chest deep). Unfortunately afterwards we were all extremely fragile and sore, and my toes were tender for a good week from my toes jamming into the front of my boots so much.

So lately I have not been exercising at all. Last week I was wary to work out because of my tender toes, and I also don’t have any races in the near future to motivate me, and I’ve just been lazy and not making workouts a priority.

Also I have not been cooking much at all lately, which means that I’ll be eating out or snacking on things around the house that are not the best choice. My sweet tooth is out of control sometimes and if there are sweets sitting in the break room at work or I see candy I like on clearance then I just give into temptation and eat what I like. If I cut out sweets like I do during Lent then I think my diet would be pretty good.

I also got a second job that is currently 2 days a week, which means that I’m almost always going to be working every day of the week. Before I had 2-3 days free in the middle of the week, which were usually my days to get longer runs in and possibly make/prep something during the day if I wanted. Now I’m out of the house for a large chunk of the day almost every day, which is definitely something I can work around but will take some getting used to.

Alicia - I'm graduating!!!

So I haven't made a post yet, and Lizzie and Ally have been bugging me to, so why not? I don't really know what I'm doing, but apparently I'm doing ok, because since I've been recording me weight every morning, I've already lost 3 pounds in 2 weeks! I haven't really been doing anything different, I haven't been recording what I eat, BUT I have stopped drinking soda (I drank it everyday, sometimes more than once a day), and replaced it with lots of water or naked juice, which is actually pretty yummy! I haven't been exercising yet, but since I'm done with school now, I'll have lots of time to go hiking, biking, or playing tennis, etc hopefully atleast 4-5 times a week. I really do hate exercising, especially running, but as long as I can make it a fun activity like tennis, or playing a wii fit type game, that'll be fine with me.

I've always wanted to lose a little weight, I remember participating in another weight loss competition with the family during my senior year of highschool/summer. But since I've been at college, I stayed a steady 135-145 pounds. But recently, in the past year, with all my commuting to internships and school everyday of the week, I have been getting fast food way too often, and now I'm up to the 160s! Oh no! I really wanna get as fit as I can this summer. Ally has really inspired me, since she did so awesome losing weight, maybe I can do just as well!

My day today was great! Finished up my very last finals, and now I am officially done at CSUN! I am graduating next week and am so excited! I plan to work on adding more art to my portfolio and start applying to jobs! I'm also super excited to just have time to relax this summer. Last summer, I started an internship right away at the end of May, and then another one the following weeks! I was way more busy with 2 internships and the movie theater job on the weekend than I was during the schoolyear! I felt like I didn't really get to enjoy summer, but this time around, I wanna take it down a notch and savor it. Haha.

Looking forward to the next couple of weeks, and celebrating with friends! I'm graduating college! I can't believe it! Eeeeee

Alicia

Lizzie - Day 18 Catching Up

Day 16 – Mon May 14:

Weight: 123.0

Exercise: 6.6 mi run (I timed it at 57:02, but I stopped my watch for probably a minute when I had to run around construction at night and wasn’t sure where I was going yet. I ended up running on the wrong side of a fence next to some train tracks for over a mile but finally the fence changed to an easily hoppable one)

Food: 1600 calories. 15.9% protein, 31.5% fat, 54.8% carbs.

Breakfast: oatmeal with milk

Snacking: jalapeño Popchips and sweet potato Popchips (the jalapeño were delicious but the sweet potato had too much fake stuff in it), 2 Ghiradelli chocolate squares, sour belts candy, Thin mint cookies

Mid Afternoon Lunch: cranberry juice, bolillo roll with an egg and ½ small avocado

Post workout: coconut water, cup of milk with Nanogreens supplement

Dinner: salmon fillet with soy sauce and sugar, ½ sweet potato with butter and cinnamon, 2 Ghiradelli squares.

Monday I gave in to junk food in the early afternoon, but the rest of my day was awesome. My egg/avocado sandwich and salmon/sweet potato dinner made me so happy! And my run felt super strong, despite not having done that 6.6 mi loop in months.

Day 17 – Tues May 15:

Weight: 121.5

Exercise: Bob Harper’s Kettlebells: Sculpted Body dvd (45 min), 4 mi run (34:38)

This new kettlebell dvd is the most intense dvd I have! I was wiping my face from sweat multiple times. I barely had any energy for my run but I wanted to take advantage of the time I had, so I still ran at a good pace except I did walk for ~45sec 4 times.

Food: 1609 calories. 14.7% protein, 37.7% fat, 50.2% carbs.

Breakfast: oatmeal with milk

Lunch/Snacks: 1 Ghiradelli chocolate square, Laraball, homemade banana oatmeal cookies, small handful walnuts, ~1 cup fruit (I cut up a ton of cantaloupe, mango, pear, and kiwi)

Post Workout: coconut water, 2 eggs with ½ small avocado and tomato, another banana oatmeal cookie

Dinner: ground pork stir fried with onion, yellow bell pepper and zucchini with golden mountain sauce and sugar, 1 cup jasmine rice

Today was another awesome day for both eating and exercising! I was able to limit myself to only 1 square of chocolate and I actually cooked most of the dinner today! Normally for dinner if we're cooking meat, I cut most of the vegetables and Bach does all the work on the stove, but this time he mainly just supervised. I never know how to season meat!

Day 18 – Wed May 16:

Weight: 121.0

Exercise: none (I had a final today and was either studying or procrastinating in front of the computer all day. I really should have done a dvd during my procrastination!)

Food: 1527 calories. 11.2% protein, 31.1% fat, 64.7% carbs.

Breakfast/Lunch: Dat’s homemade bread with an egg, ½ small avocado, and random greens (chard and something else)

Snacks: banana oatmeal cookies, 1 cup cantaloupe, 2 Ghiradelli squares, Laraball, Kashi Golden Goodness cereal (I was eating this by the handful while freaking out before my final L) chocolate chip cookie dough Larabar (ingredients: cashews, dates, chocolate chips, sea salt)

Dinner…?: 1 cup milk with Nanogreens supplement.

I feel like I’ve improved so much with emotional/mindless snacking, but snacking when I have homework due or a test I’m stressing out about is my one weakness. I shouldn’t stress when this class I’m taking is only for my own experience and to add to my resume – but I can’t not do well! Thankfully because I’ve become more aware of my eating, I didn’t feel the need to still eat the same size dinner as I normally do because I knew I had eaten enough and wasn’t hungry.

 _________________________________________________________________

 

Banana Oatmeal Cookies!

So a month ago I went to the library to look for some recipe inspiration. I stumbled upon “Dr. Gott’s No Flour No Sugar Cookbook.” Dr. Gott has a weekly newspaper column answering all types of health-related questions, and I read his column pretty frequently growing up. One of the things I remembered was his No Flour No Sugar diet that he recommended to anyone trying to lose weight. I definitely think that no flour or no added sugar will help anyone’s weight loss if they’re having too much, though I didn’t know what to expect with a cookbook for it. I don’t really cook with either unless I’m baking, or adding a little bit of sugar to cooking meat. I was mostly disappointed with the book – recipes mostly just substituted “flourless bread” for normal bread and artificial sweeteners instead of sugar. I’m not exactly excited for recipes that call for packets of Splenda! Gross! However, I did find one “dessert” recipe that is completely healthy and guilt-free – banana oatmeal cookies!

The recipe calls for:

3 ripe bananas (I used 2 large)

2 cups quick-cooking oats (I used rolled oats, not sure how it affected it)

1 cup chopped walnuts

½ cup raisins

1 tsp cinnamon

1tsp vanilla extract

¼ tsp salt

That’s it! I was skeptical that it could actually make something I can call a cookie. You just mix all the ingredients and form into ~36 cookies (mine made 32), and bake 10-15 min. Nothing technically needs to cook, so just bake it the way you want it. I calculated that each cookie was ~58 calories, with 1.4g protein, 2.75g fat, 7.6g carbs, 1.1g fiber, and 3g sugar. I was pretty happy with them, though I actually like the taste of the mixture before it was baked better, I think because the bananas are sweeter before they’re baked. Moral of the story – these are good, but you can also just add bananas, walnuts, and raisins to oatmeal for an even faster and sweeter snack/meal.

I would've been happy eating straight out of the bowl!

Ta-da!

Ally- Day 16 An Abundance of Snackage

So... Lizzie said it best the other day "This was your idea and you've only posted twice in two weeks!"

Oops. :P

A combination of laziness, distractions, and guilt can be blamed for my absence of postings. A majority of the past week I just haven't been recording my items for the day. I've found that I need to put pen to notebook in my food journal first thing in the morning and continue throughout the day, because if I just think of it in my head and say that I'll just record it in a little while... I won't. And on both kinds of days I'll be really good with my eating throughout the day, until the end of the night comes and I give in to snacking. My worst downfall right now is late night snacking. I would love any suggestions to help with this, because lately I just can't help myself.

What I have been doing well with lately is being active every day. Even if its just quidditch practice or tap dance rehearsal, I've gotten out there and done something. Tonight I went to Golds for the first time in a bit. What works for me for getting out there and exercising is to tack it onto something I already have planned for the day. During the semester I would pack my gym bag at night and then tell my mom that she would be dropping me off at the gym in the morning or just drive there myself. Then I'd have everything I'd need for school with me and work out before heading to school. Other times I would pack a gym bag and take it with me to work so then as soon as I got off I'd drive the 2 minutes over to the gym to work out. Pencilling in a workout for myself makes me so much more likelier to actually do it. The second situation is what happened today. My original plan was to go to the gym in the morning, then walk to the bus and take that to tap rehearsal, then come back and run. What actually ended up happening was I slept in, drove to tap rehearsal, came back and watched some Glee, showered for the shift I picked up, put packed my gym clothes and brought them with me to work, so I got into the gym after work. And I'm so glad I did. I kept thinking to myself how while it may take me a bit to get out there and start my exercise, once I do I always am glad I did. And I do enjoy exercise now. Not just the result of it, the actual act of it. Feeling my muscles burn and ache, sweating and feeling the endorphin rush, knowing that I'm working hard!


Just remember: You're only one workout away from a good mood!

5/11 Friday This was my best day of the week eating-wise :)
Weight: 132.9 Calories: 1088.5 Carbs: 114.5 Protein:62 Fat: 46
Quaker Instant Oatmeal, 1/2 banana
Broccoli w/creamy peanut butter
Hot dog
Salmon Burger on a sandwich thin w/ cream cheese
Kashi frozen dinner: Lemongrass Coconut Chicken
If I remember correctly this was also the day that my mom brought home a crate of strawberries from a stand near the high school she works at, and they had come straight from Oxnard so they were fresh and sweet and juicy and extremely delicious. I've been eating a bunch of those each day so those would also have to be factored in, but fortunately they wouldn't affect the total too much :P
In the morning I jumped in the pool, but didn't actually swim more than from one end to the other. Which is more than I have been doing. Almost every day I say that I will go swimming, but its only been tiny steps; saying I will then not, one day saying I will and getting my swimsuit on, another day getting my swim suit on and skimming the pool and still not going in, but today I actually got in! Maybe next time I'll actually swim a couple of laps
And after work I went over to Hollie's and didn't snack at all! :D yay

5/12 Saturday
Honey Bunches of Oats, milk
*After walking up and down the Ventura pier with Hollie*,
Clam chowder sourdough bread bowl, oyster crackers
Snacking (can't remember what)
*Ran 6 miles with Dad in 1:01:06*
spoonful of peanut butter
didn't snack while hanging out watching movies with friends, but did snack afterwards

5/13 Sunday
Weight: 132.1
Salmon Burger on a sandwich thin w/cream cheese
My manager brought donuts to work for our department! D: resisting temptation for a majority of the shift, but had just half of one of the smaller ones. It was beyond yummy. Those are one thing that I have not stopped enjoying the taste of
Mother Day brunch at Olive Garden: Pomegranate Limetta drink (50cal), Chicken and Gnocchi Soup (250 cal), 1 breadstick, and samplings from other people's appetizers and entrees
*Quidditch practice! Ran some great drills and made everyone run 3 laps of the baseball field with me (muahahahaha!)*
Strawberry pie a la mode (Its a team tradition now to walk over to Du Pars diner after practice for pie. I've gone and just hung out without ordering anything but tonight I couldn't resist.)
moar snacking :/

5/14 Monday
Weight: 132.6
"Creamsicle" smoothie: carrot juice, orange juice, sliced almonds, frozen fruit blend, greek yogurt, oats, vanilla extract
Trader Joes Trek Mix Granola cereal, milk
Strawberries
snacking
*After work: Golds Gym! warmed up with 5 min treadmill, then worked a little all over body, then chest and abs and more abs, then 20 min on the treadmill doing intervals alternating minutes at 5.4 and 7.6*
moar snacking :/

Take out the snacking and a little bit more working out and I will improve so much. Again, any suggestions on how to keep my hands out of the kitchen cupboards when I don't need them in there are much appreciated :)

Lizzie - Day 15

Day 12 – Thurs May 10:

Weight: 121.5

Exercise: Bob Harper’s Kettlebells: Sculpted Body dvd (45 min), 2.4 mi run (20min)

Food: 1503 calories. 14.9% protein, 24%fat, 58% carbs

I had oatmeal, Pop chips, cranberry juice, protein smoothie (yogurt, banana, frozen berries, orange juice, chia seeds, whey powder, Nanogreens supplement), Bánh bao (steamed bun with ground pork, Chinese sausage, and quail egg inside), Laraball, Pop chips, red lentils, penne pasta with tomato sauce and leftover alfredo sauce.

Thursday was a really good day. I got ridiculously sweaty during this workout, it felt great. And I ate pretty well too. I could’ve had less Pop chips, but I was in the right calorie range.

Day 13 – Fri May 11:

Weight: 120.5

Exercise: Yoga Meltdown dvd (30 min), 6 Week 6 Pack dvd (30min)

Food: 2120 calories. 15.1% protein, 22.6% fat, 54.8% carbs.

I had a Laraball, twizzlers, oatmeal with milk, tuna, banana, 1/3 chocolate Powerbar, 2 Mexican pastries and bolillo roll from Superior Markets, “fajita salad” – carne asada with greens, onion and bell peppers, and avocado, popcorn with some butter, salt, and sugar, and then ¾ Corona, ½ Red-Headed Slut (cranberry juice, peach schnapps, Jager), and 2 shots of Fireball cinnamon whiskey.

Friday was good because I had an hour of exercise, and most of my food choices were good. Unfortunately I ate way more pastry than necessary, and I had 390 empty calories from alcohol, so my calorie count was way higher than it should be!

Day 14 – Sat May 12:

Weight: 122.5

Exercise: none

Food: 1588 calories. 14.9% protein, 19.3% fat, 59.3% carbs.

I had my protein smoothie, ½ of one of yesterday’s pastries, egg sandwich with homemade bread roll, egg, and mayo, 2/3 chocolate Powerbar, tuna, banana, carrots, “aguacata bread” (this cinnamon bread a coworker brought from her hometown in Mexico), mashed cauliflower, ½ slice Domino’s pizza, cranberry juice, 1 shot Fireball cinnamon whiskey, Coors Light.

I only had 5.5 hours of sleep Friday night, which I always notice hurts me on the scale, though I was happy that I was able to not have too high of a calorie intake even with a little booze.

Day 15 – Sun May 13:

Weight: 123.5

Exercise:  none

Food: 2050 calories. 15.1% protein, 37.4% fat, 51.5% carbs.

I had a maple nut Clif bar, dried plums, banana, tuna, banana, greek yogurt with honey, blueberry almond granola, Pop chips, burrito – wheat tortilla, 2 eggs, tomato, cilantro, ½ avocado, sour cream, 4 squares Ghiradelli chocolate, Laraball, Pretzel Crisps, bolillo roll with 1 ½ small avocados.

Today I was also surviving on 5.5 hours of sleep or less, with having friends over and having to get up at 6:30am for work. Today I just felt nonstop hungry, when I really shouldn’t have been. I blame my lack of sleep! I ate mostly healthy, except for starting my day with a Clif bar (I used to do that all the time when I had work early, but I’ve been trying to avoid that with all the added sugar) and snacking in the evening instead of having a real dinner. A roll shmeared with avocado is so good though – nature’s butter!

So I definitely have not been going in the direction I want to be the last few days, though I feel optimistic that a few nights of solid sleep and more time to exercise will help get me back to where I need to be.

Lizzie - Day 11 Junk Days

Day 9 – Mon May 7:

Weight: 122.0

Exercise: 4 mi run (33:55)

Food: 1520 calories. 12.3% protein, 20.1% fat, 57.2% carbs

I had oatmeal with milk, popcorn, cranberry juice, chocolate caramel Powerbar, lots of jellybeans, Pop chips, jasmine rice, coconut water, Morningstar fake meat patty with an egg.

Day 10 – Tues May 8:

Weight: 121.5

Exercise: none (I worked during the day, and when I came home I changed into my workout clothes… and fell asleep on the couch instead. I just felt like a zombie from lack of sleep and didn’t have the energy)

Food: 1875 calories. 9.3% protein, 31.3%fat, 54.6% carbs

I had oatmeal with milk, banana, orange, cheese balls (basically like Cheetos, there was a huge container of them in the breakroom today), jellybeans, Pop chips, Quaker Oatmeal Squares cereal (I got a free sample in the mail – didn’t taste at all like oatmeal!), and for dinner I had asparagus with alfredo sauce – we made it with heavy cream, fresh parmesan, and bacon (it’s sooooo good!) with mashed cauliflower, ½ orange, and a handful of jellybeans.

Super delicious dinner! I definitely went back for more alfredo sauce.

Day 11 – Wed May 9:

Weight: 121.0

Exercise: none (I had work in the morning, home long enough to finish my hw, then class in the evening)

Food: 1825 (pretty big estimate)

I had Kashi Heart2 Heart cereal with milk for breakfast, a banana, 2 bites of cake, handful of jellybeans, sandwich I made from a bread roll, egg, and mayo, orange, 3 cookies, Popchips, another handful of jellybeans, a small plate of jasmine rice with asparagus and chicken, 1/3 bowl of ramen, peanut butter chocolate chip Larabar.

As you can see, the last three days have been very unhealthy for me. You can see why I gave up sweets for Lent! I mean well with my diet, but once I have junk in my possession I annihilate it! It hurts me in so many ways. Staying within my calories goals is a lot harder when you’re eating fake foods! The last few days was a bad combination of munchies while studying/doing homework, poor time management with homework so I snack for longer and don’t give myself time to exercise, not having been to the grocery store in 2 weeks so there’s less healthy things to go to, junk food replacing the healthier food I would’ve had, and letting those snacks be available and tempting to me in the first place. At least that junk is now out of the house, save for some Pop chips and Larabars, which are a little easier for me to eat in moderation.

I need to find a balance between giving up sweets and inhaling them! For the rest of this challenge I’m going to give up candy and I will definitely not be buying any or eating any more junk in the breakroom at work.

If I I’m craving something sweet, my priorities will be:

• first have a piece of fruit

• make something sweet – homemade Laraballs, shake that has cocoa powder, any other dessert that’s homemade so I know what’s in it and no corn syrup, soybean oil, or chemicals

• have a square or two of dark chocolate (no more!)

• only get desserts out if they’re a specialty (i.e. there’s a Taiwanese bakery in Irvine called 85C Bakery and the desserts/breads there are amazing! The chocolate chip bowl tastes like pure heaven!! It takes 45min minimum to get in the door, grab what you want, and wait in line again to pay so I’ve only been a few times.)

Lizzie Day 8 + Mashed Cauliflower, Popcorn

Day 5 – Thurs May 3:

Weight: 119.0

Exercise: Jillian Michaels’ Ripped in 30 Level 1 dvd (30min), 2.4 mi run (20:24)

Food: 1372 calories. 21.5% protein, 17.5%fat, 65.2% carbs.

I ate oatmeal with milk, cranberry juice, dark chocolate toffee bar (1.5 squares), coconut water, protein smoothie (yogurt, banana, frozen berries, orange juice, chia seeds, whey protein, NanoGreens supplement), hard boiled eggs, grapes, Pop chips, mashed cauliflower, and a stir fry of chicken, onion, bell peppers, and carrot with jasmine rice.

A very healthy, satisfying day, though I was very full after the stir fry dinner. :/

Deeeelicious stir fry!

 

Day 6 – Fri May 4:

Weight: 120.0

Exercise: none

Food: ~1700 calories (this is a very rough estimate due to eating out)

I ate oatmeal with ½ banana, hard boiled eggs, orange, green juice from a shop called Earthly Juices, Pretzel Crisps, 2^nd half of yesterday’s protein smoothie, Pop chips, dinner at Sutha Thai Kitchen – chicken tom yum soup, eggplant with pork, and a few bites of pad kee mow and spicy squid with jasmine rice, then jelly beans.

G4 juice - pineapple, lemon, grapefruit, parsley, apple, spinach

Day 7 – Sat May 5:

Today I went to the KROQ Weenie Roast Y Fiesta, which is a 11 hour long concert with 10 bands in Irvine.

Weight: 122.0 (filling up on Thai and jelly beans did me no favors!)

Exercise: none

Food: ~1700 calories (huge guess)

I ate jelly beans, finished my Earthly Juices drink, oatmeal with milk, freshly baked roll that Bach’s dad made, Bun Thit Nuong at Pho Pasteur (one of my fav foods of all time – vermicelli noodles, grilled pork, lettuce, cucumber, carrots, bean sprouts, peanuts, fish sauce), more jelly beans, orange, ½ Larabar, from The Lime Truck at the concert – ½ Yum Yum Lamb Sandwich and ½ crispy bok choy (soooooo good!), a few bites of soft pretzel, Kashi peanut bar, another bread roll, small glass of orange juice

Day 8 – Sun May 6:

Weight: 121.5

Exercise: Wahoo’s 5k race

Food:  ~2000-2200 calories (today was basically a cheat day)

I ate a Gatorade energy bite and a banana before the race, then a fish taco and a few sips of drinks at the expo. We went to a Sunday brunch buffet at Citrus City Grille in Orange that was really good. My first plate I filled up on fruits and veggies, and then I also had ceviche, bread, small carnitas taco, egg Florentine, ½ slice of French toast, and a couple bites each of a chocolate cake bite and crème brulee. Later I had (way too many) jelly beans, a Laraball, tortilla chips with homemade guacamole, lots of homemade popcorn with some oil, butter, and sugar, this Vietnamese taro dessert, and leftover stir fry with jasmine rice.

Unfortunately I ate out the last 3 days, which meant that I ate a lot more and I was not in control of my calorie counting. I had been so good and not eaten out for over 2 weeks. Now I’m back to my starting weight :/ I’m going to not eat out for awhile and plan better when I do!

 -------------------

Mashed Cauliflower!

This week I made mashed cauliflower for the second time, it’s surprisingly delicious! And very simple. All I did was chop up a large head of cauliflower and boil it in a large pot. Once it was very soft I drained the pot and then started smashing the cauliflower with a wooden spoon, and then used a stick blender to puree it to the consistency of mashed potatoes. Then you just add 1 Tbsp of butter plus lots of minced garlic, salt, pepper, and whatever other seasoning you want. I also add rosemary and thyme. The whole dish is only just over 300 calories, and it probably makes 6-8 servings!

Looks like mashed potatoes, doesn't it?

Popcorn!

I bought bulk popcorn kernels months ago and I was excited to use them today for watching a movie at home.  I had the best results popping them with this ratio – 4 Tbsp (1/4cup) oil and ¾ cup kernels. This makes a huge amount! Use the biggest pot you have a cook the oil with several kernels. When the kernels in the pot pop, immediately put the rest of the kernels in and put a lid on top. Shake the pot and cover back and forth over the burner to get the kernels moving, and keep shaking it for a minute or two until it stops popping. My pot was overflowing with popcorn! Then just season however you want. We seasoned our bowls individually, with our choice of melted butter, salt, sugar (for kettle corn!), cinnamon, or cayenne. Even better, the kernels for our huge batch cost around 20 cents.

Wahoo's 5k in Costa Mesa

Today was the OC Marathon/Wahoo’s 5k in Costa Mesa at the Orange County Fairgrounds. The five of us (my mom, dad, Ally, Bach, and I) arrived at the fairgrounds just after 7am, and I had already picked up our race bibs the day before so we just had to find the start. The race started right at 7:30am. There were lots of walkers and small kids to dodge right at the beginning and my dad zoomed ahead with me right behind him, and Ally not too far after. I definitely felt like I hadn’t trained enough, but I felt like I was running strong and was just crossing my fingers that I could maintain the pace. My mile 1 split was 8:11, and I caught up to my dad by the water station just before mile 2, where we were at 16:00. It was the perfect pace to finish at 24:00-24:30, which would be a huge PR (personal record) for me. We turned back onto the fairgrounds through the parking lots and all of a sudden we were approaching the crowds and passed by the mile 3 marker. I looked down at my watch and I knew I hadn’t run 3 miles yet, so I figured the marker was in the wrong spot and kept my pace, but my dad started sprinting ahead. Then before I know it we turned a corner and we’re crossing the finish line. I looked down at my watch to see 21:52 and I couldn’t be happy and relieved that the race was over because I was in shock wondering where the rest of the race was. There was no way that I ran my last mile in just over 5 minutes!! I would love to be able to run that time, but believe me, I did not. Soon enough Ally came up behind us just as pissed as I was. Both of us were on our way to an awesome PR but we weren’t given that opportunity! We looked in vain for someone we might have been able to talk to about it and verify the course distance and then got our freebies from the race expo (fish tacos from Wahoo’s, sports drinks and coconut water, Clif bars).

When I got home I checked the OC Marathon/5k website to see if there was any mention of the exact distance, but it said 3.1mi like it’s supposed to be. I looked at the picture of the course course map, and I noticed that there’s a loop around the Pacific Amphitheatre that we completely missed. Results are posted on the site, and if they are real 5k times then there were some 2012 American records set today (which I doubt) if you compare the times with USA Track and Field. This means that the frontrunners and everyone behind them all went the wrong way, so whoever was leading the first place runner screwed up! On the OC Wahoo’s 5k facebook page there are multiple runners reporting that they clocked around 2.7 miles for the race and they are angry too. Thankfully officials commented on the page and said that they are looking into it and that they will be contacting those they were responding to. Does that mean they’ll contact everyone? There’s really nothing they can do besides email an apology, they would never issue a refund.

So our “2.7mi” official race times are:

Dave Heraper                    21:44

Lizzie Heraper                    21:49

Ally Heraper                       23:16

How I rate the Wahoo's 5K:

Pre-race (packet pick up, registration): C inconvenient because you can't get your race bib the morning of, and you have to pay for parking

Course layout: B+ good, enough turns to keep it interesting

Course maintenance: F horrible! at minimum you have to be able to direct runners along the right path to complete the course!

Post race: B- the finishing chute was organized for handing out medals, water, snacks, and there were a decent amount of vendors and bands. Minus points for having more vendors selling items than normal, rather than giving out free samples or information.

Overall: D-- the fact that we didn't complete a 5k trumps everything. Not planning on running the 5k next year!