Mom in the Mtns

Soooo…what happened to fall weather?  In Philly today the heat index was 100 degrees, and I spent part of the day working outside with one of my students.  I hate hot weather so I was not in a good mood.  Luckily, I had to run an errand at Starbucks today which cheered me up!  I’m sending my sister one of the You Are Here mugs from Starbucks for her birthday present.  She’s all the way in Milwaukee so she needs to represent Philly while she’s chugging coffee during her all nighters at UWM.

I have no idea who designed this mug, but the Philly skyline is all incorrect (where is city hall?) and the only notable addition to the mug is a soft pretzel that seems to be floating in the sky above Independence Hall.  Clearly we are a city of fatties.  Anyways, I walked in there to buy the mug and everyone was drinking Pumpkin Spice Lattes.  And even though it was crazy hot out, I caved in and bought my first PSL of the year!  Wooohooo fall!

Then I got to the office and everyone there was drinking a PSL too.  We’re all crazy.  Normally I would have blissfully drank my PSL without worrying about calories, but I’m trying to be good here and follow my September goals.  So after I did a quick search online I discovered that I blew 300 calories on that little drink!  And with this heat and humidity I’m going to have to run to burn those calories off on the treadmill  😦  Lesson learned:  PSLs should only be consumed if you order them with skim milk, no whipped cream, and can run outside in chilly weather to burn off the calories.  I also found a really yummy sounding and MUCH healthier homemade PSL recipe here.  I’ve got almost all of these ingredients right now except for the TJ coffee so I think I might be trying this out soon, minus the whipped cream!

Other than the PSL fiasco, I’ve been doing better with my goal of eating healthier and eating out less.  My big problem this summer was snacks and desserts.  Why do donuts and barbeque potato chips have to taste so good?  Luckily I’ve been able to control my cravings this past week!  Now when I come home from work and I’m hungry, I reach for some carrot chips and natural peanut butter.  It might sound weird if you’ve never had carrots and pb before, but it’s a good combo!  After running, I’ve been eating a banana and a cup of 1% chocolate milk instead of a “celebratory donut” (why did I do that to myself?).  I’ve actually been motivated to run a few times just because I wanted a cup of chocolate milk!  And here is my new go-to dessert:

If you love sea salt caramel you will LOVE these!  I caved in and bought them at Target last week, and they are my new favorite thing to eat after dinner.  One chocolate is only 70 calories, and since they’re dark chocolate I can kind of say they’re healthier than eating normal chocolate  🙂  Clearly I have food issues, but I’m sure someone out there understands my need to have chocolate at least once a day!

I also want to announce that I’m officially joining team Scoot A Doot in their Million Mile Challenge for Alex’s Lemonade Stand!  Teams are asked to run 100 miles by the end of the month to raise awareness of childhood cancer, and they’ve already surpassed that goal!  I’m going to be logging my miles for the month of September, which will definitely inspire me to lace up as much as possible.  I’m really excited to be part of such a great campaign for an awesome organization!  Plus on Wednesdays we’re asked to wear yellow, and yellow just happens to be my favorite color!  The link to their team page can be found here if you’d like to join too!

Have you had your first PSL of the season yet?  Are you a total chocoholic like me?