Great weekend: 5K and cake!

Well, it's been 3.5 weeks of not having to adhere to any crazy restrictions. Definitely enjoying the freedom, but struggling to eat enough veggies. I've gotten pretty tired of salads for lunch...need to punch up the veggie level at lunch. 

Brian and I did our first 5K in a while on Sunday. It was my first time running more than a mile since my 5K in Killington back in August, so I was just hoping all the cross training I'd been doing since then (and dropping over 20 pounds!) would carry me through! It was a "Spooktacular" at our YMCA, and dressing up was encouraged! There were also events for kids, so we all donned our pirate garb from my son's birthday party in September. Although I was happy that I never had to take any breaks to walk, I was a little disappointed in my time of 35:38. I really thought I'd be averaging closer to 6mph now, but that was much closer to 5mph. But I did overtake Wonder Woman in the final stretch after trailing behind her for 3 laps - that should count for something! Brian did great - he broke 30 minutes for the first time. Proud of him! The kids did great at their events too: my daughter did a 1K and really legged it out at the finish, and then they both did a cute little obstacle course. But if my coach really thinks I will be running 8 minute miles next year, I've got a lot of work to do... I think I need to work on lengthening my stride. I wish the dark, cold mornings of fall weren't here so I could still hit the high school track for some training.

On Sunday, Brian's cousin hosted a big family dinner that featured making your own pasta from scratch. Well, suffice to say, that didn't do much for me! The kids had fun making some though. Brian and I brought spaghetti squash and dug into some sausage and peppers while everyone enjoyed mounds of fresh fettuccine.

Mmmm...cake!!!

However, the dinner did give me the chance to make my first experimental baked good since I had the opportunity to bring a dessert: apple cake with coconut maple whiskey glaze. I have SO been craving some cake ever since my birthday since I never got around to having a delicious piece of frosting-laden cake that day, and have had to pass up cake at several birthday parties since! We used to make a dairy-free version of the apple cake from scratch, but since we haven't found a good nut-free wheat flour replacement, I used the Betty Crocker gluten-free dairy-free (and tapioca-free!) cake mix as directed on the box (it's at most grocery stores in the cake mix aisle). I was so excited to have a little lick of batter off the beaters...but that was disappointing - it was not creamy and fluffy like wheat flour-based batter. :( Then I peeled and sliced 6 Mac apples, and mixed them with a TB of cinnamon and 5 TBs of coconut sugar. Then I greased a bundt pan, and put in a layer of apples, then cake mix, then apples, then cake mix. For the icing, I used this recipe, but also added a TB of whiskey (although this made like twice the icing I needed, which actually worked out since I plan to make another cake for our work Halloween party this week). As soon as the cake came out of the oven, I could not wait to taste a little chunk! And oh, did it taste good!!! It kind of fell apart coming out of the bundt pan, so after piecing it together and drizzling the glaze, I also dusted it with confectioner's sugar to make it look prettier and taste a little sweeter. I did quite a bit of picking that night...and then had a good sized piece at the party. However, part way through, I could have tossed the other half. And I didn't have any urges to pick at the leftover piece we brought home. It was tasty, but I guess I got my fill of the forbidden sweet. 

The next day, I found that I felt really guilty about indulging in all the carbs from the cake and a couple glasses of hard apple cider. Not so sure I was able to stay under 100 grams of carbs that day! So, I decided to try IFing (intermittent fasting) until lunch. I really wasn't hungry when I woke up, and made it through my CrossFit WOD fine. Then I ran all over doing errands, which kept me too busy to think about eating! However, my breaking point was when my son begged to go to McDonald's for lunch after his gymnastics class - I broke my fast with a few of his french fries. For shame. Hopefully all the fat keeps the carbs from spiking my insulin too much! When I got home, I snacked on some of my home made beef jerky when I felt a little hungry. Then we had a tasty meal of crock pot pulled pork (with some bbq sauce WITHOUT tapioca!) and sweet potato fries. And, voila - when I stepped on the scale this morning, I was down another pound. So, that's 5.5 pounds in the last 3 weeks. Still a very respectable pace!