Banana Bread!

Before heading out to the gym, I ate one of these Powerbar Protein Bites. It says to eat 4-5 before and after exercise, but I was so full from breakfast that I could only eat one. However, I did notice a difference at the gym...or maybe it was all in my head, but either way I felt more energized!

After completing Day One of Couch25K, I took Lucky for a 30 minute walk. I took him in an area he's never been before and he was a little scared! Did a lot of standing around and sniffing than actual walking, but once we got into familiar territory, we were back to our fast paced walk.

Before I left, I ate a Larabar (SO GOOD) to curb my cravings.

 

I headed out on my day off to run some errands, and of course ended up buying too much at Target! I can never walk into Target and buy only what I need to buy. I always buy more! I love Target. :)

Ready to take on my day!

I ended up buying a new sports bra, a new tank top to workout in, and some new running shorts. I have a very limited exercise wardrobe so I'm constantly trying to add to it.

 

After I got home, I decided to bake my very first loaf of banana bread, ever! It actually turned out pretty tasty! My first baking success.

Here is the link to the original recipe: Banana Bread

Ingredients:
-2 cups all purpose flower
-1/4 tsp salt
-1 tsp baking soda
-1/2 cup butter
-3/4 cup brown sugar
-2 eggs, beaten.
-2 1/3 cups of mashed overriped bananas. (I used four bananas.)

Directions:
-Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, grease the 9x5in loaf pan.
-Add the first three ingredients to a large mixing bowl.
-In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar. (I DON'T have an electric mixer, so this is where things got tricky for me. I'm definitely investing in one ASAP.)

 

CREAM!!

Using my laptop for baking support ;)

Mashing the bananas!

-Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended.

This took quite a while to blend by hand.

-Stir in banana mixture into flour mixture, stir to moisten.

Mixing it all together.

-Add mixture into baking pan, put in oven for about 60 minutes.

Going in!

-Let cool in pan for ten minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool.

Ta-da!

For dinner I had left over shredded chicken with leftover Mexican rice, and some veggies. I'll admit that I did have a couple snacks late at night (some whole wheat grilled cheese sandwiches + chips), but I'm working hard to curb my late night snacking. I had my dinner at 5:30 last night which is REALLY early for me, so I might try to eat it at 6:30 instead to lessen my cravings at night.

I spent the rest of the day doing laundry, dishes, reading for school, and watching Grey's with my boo. We popped Fighting in the Blu Ray player right before bed, and it knocked my boyfriend out pretty fast. I watched the whole thing, and it was a terrible, terrible movie. I couldn't stand what Terrence Howard was doing with his character!

Off to do Couch25K Day Two, then spend the day running errands with my love! We both have the day off until about 3:30, when I have to head to work, and he has to head to class :(