More medals for and job news

In my quest for completing 13 running events in 2013, I have so far finished four events with nine more to go! In April, I plan on doing two events, the Hollywood Half Marathon and the 1st ever Peace Love Run in San Diego. May will be two virtual runs, one for Cinco De Mayo and one for Spring Bling. I am so grateful that I have the chance to be active and what can I say, I love getting medals too :-) Below are photos from my last four running events.

BGR Friends and me at (medal 2)

Medal 3 for Coronado VDay 10K

Photo Den took of me during Coronado VDay 10K

Den after Knott's Berry Farm Roller Coaster 5K (his first medal!)

Me wirh Knott's Berry Farm 5K medal (medal 4)

In other news, I was recently hired by the Kern County Library District as their digital librarian! I am super excited to be able to start my career as a librarian but I am sad to be leaving El Camino after two years. Here's photos from my going away party and photos with some of my employees.

Staff going away party for me

I'm really excited about all of the changes that are taking place in my life and will do what I can to make everyone proud of me while staying true to myself.

Goals for 2013 and the first annual Vegan Health & Fitness Expo (day 1)

Happy 2013! For the new year, I've decided to make my main goal for the year to complete 13 running events in 2013. So far I've already completed my first running event on New Year's Day and already have 12 more races lined up of various lengths (5K, 6K,10K and 13.1 races).

Me with my first medal of 2013

This weekend,  me and Dennis went to the first annual Vegan Health & Fitness Expo hosted by Vegan Health & Fitness Magazine at the Radisson at LAX. It was really fun and informative and the food was awesome.

Entering the Vegan Health and Fitness Expo

Program from the Vegan Health and Fitness Expo

Me and vegan stuntwoman Spice Williams-Crosby

Spice's presentation was very informative and fun. Spice talked about her life as well as her journey to veganism and food combining.

John Lewis aka The BadAssVegan and me

Celebrity vegan bodybuilder Robert Cheeke and me

Philly steak wrap with mac and cheeze and jambalya

Inside the vegan philly steak wrap from Southern Fried Vegan

A balanced vegan diet of veggies and vegan junk food

The Happycow from Happycow.net and me

Koya Webb and me at the Expo

Koya Webb and I have become friends after having run into each other at some many different vegan events. At her presentation, she talked about her upbringing as well as having a healthy vegan life and end the presentation with a exercise demonstration that was so easy, anyone can do it. Koya is a real sweetheart and is very down to earth.

We had a great time at the vegan health and fitness expo and Dennis was surprised by how friendly and non-judgmental everyone was. When Dennis has gone to vegan events with me in the past, he's felt like some people have tried to forced veganism on him. At the expo, Dennis felt welcomed and at ease which made me very happy. Although we were initially only planning to only go on Saturday, we heard that John Salley is going to be there tonight so we're going to head back on Sunday.

After a full day at the Vegan Health and Fitness Expo, we stopped by Viva La Vegan and grabbed some dinner from Vegan by Joy. This BBQ Sandwich she made was fabulous and she has buffets at the store at least once or twice a month.

Vegan BBQ Sandwich by Vegan with Joy

Half Marathon #4 is done and vegan Thanksgiving feast!

This past weekend I went to Walt Disney World for the first time and also completed my fourth half marathon. Disney World was really fun, surprisingly accommodating to me with my vegan diet and also a bit overwhelming at times. Here are some photos from our trip as well as the two medals I received for completing the race and completing a race in Disneyland and Disney World.

Here's us at Hollywood Studios

Here's us at the Wine & Dine 1/2 Marathon Expo

Here's me before the Wine & Dine 1/2 Marathon

Here's the two medals I received after the race - 1 for completing the half marathon and a second medal for completing two races at both Walt Disney World & Disneyland in the same year

  Here's a yummy falafel veggie burger I ate at Downtown Disney World

 
 Here are some delish vegan carrot cake cupcakes from Babycakes NYC in Downtown Disney World

 

Below is the vegan Thanksgiving feast me and Den had made by Chef Joy at Viva La Vegan grocery in Rancho Cucamonga. We ended up flying to see my family in Alabama for Thanksgiving and it was fun seeing them after a year and after having lost so much weight.

If you'd like to see more photos, you can visit my flickr page by going to flickr and typing the name bamalibrarylady and go to the Destination Disney World set.

Getting my run on and other changes

It's been forever since I've written on this blog but I have tons of news to write about. Since May, I've done two races, 6.2 miles at the Totally Awesome 80's Run at the Rose Bowl and 3.1 miles at the Girls on the Go run in San Dimas. Here are photos of the medal from both races.

Totally Awesome 80's Run medal

Me wearing Girls on the Go medal

In other news, after going vegan, exercising daily and running in races, I am happy to report that I am now officially 100 pounds lighter!!! The picture below shows me at my highest weight of 298 pounds and me at my current weight of 198 pounds.

Me at my heaviest and me 100 lbs. lighter

I think that the only thing that makes this better is the wider selection of clothing I can wear now. The picture below shows me wearing a small shirt for the first time;how awesome is that! In addition to this, I am excited because I'll be running at the Wine & Dine half marathon at Disney World in Florida next month I'm also going to be starting Insanity in the next complete of weeks. Wish me luck!

Me rocking a small shirt

Half marathon #3 done and getting some love at LBVE

This past Saturday, I completed my third half marathon at Marathon Mania in Long Beach. I was really stoked to participate because it was a smaller race (less than 30 people participating), the race had no time limit and it was my first time doing a running event on the beach. Not only was it a blast to do but I also achieved a personal record of 2:45! Here's photos of me after the race and my medal that was specially made in honor of Mother's Day.

After I finished doing the half marathon in Long Beach, me and Den decided to go try the food at Long Beach Vegan Eatery. Although it's gotten mixed reviews online, I felt I owed it to them to give the place a try. I think my biggest issues with the online reviews is that they complain the you have to bus your own table and that it's not the healthiest vegan food. The irony with this is that the restaurant plainly states on its menu that their goal is to make vegan comfort food that is tasty yet cruelty free.

Long Beach Vegan Eatery-Long Beach, CA

The restaurant was nice and big and the owners were very friendly. After reading the menu, I decided to try their LBV Beefless and Cheese sandwich, Den ordered the Mock Meatball Sub and we got a vegan grilled cheeze with fries to go along with a vegan rice crispy treat for Den's dessert and a whoopie pie for me.

LBV Beefless and Cheese Sandwich

This sandwich was pretty good but I asked for a side of veganaise because it was a little dry to me. I loved that the sandwich was pile high with vegan beef strips, onions, green peppers and mushrooms. Although you can't tell from this photo, there's cheese under the beef  as well. I enjoyed the sandwich and would definitely order it again.

Mock Meatball Sub with Sweet Potato Tots

Den ordered the mock meatball sub (made with TVP) with a side of sweet potato tots. The meatballs were smothered in marinara sauce and although the sauce wasn't bland, it also wan't earth shattering taste wise either. The meatballs were dense and tasty and the sweet potato tots were the perfect accompaniment to the massive sub.  



Vegan grilled cheeze with french fries

 Since we were full after eating the sandwiches yet wanted to try something else on the menu, we decided to order the vegan grilled cheeze off the kids menu. I'm not sure what cheeze they use for this sandwich but it's interesting.....not good or bad but different. The slices don't melt completely like but it does have a good amount of chewiness. I also like the wheat bread that they use for this sandwich-quite delish!

 



Vegan Rice Crispy Treat

For dessert, Den got a gluten free vegan rice crispy treat. It was simple but really good. Here's a photo of Den enjoying his dessert.



Den enjoying vegan rice crispy treat

Vegan whopie pie

Last but certainly not least was the vegan whoopie pie. It was so tasty I may go back there and just order this. It was two slices of chocolaty vegan cakes hugging a mount of thick sweet vanilla creme. When I took my first bite, I thought I died and went to vegan dessert heaven;yes, it's that good. Our trip to the Long Beach Vegan Eatery was tasty, fun, and filling; we're definitely gonna go back whenever we're in town.  



New menu items at Veggie Grill!

Me and Den went to Veggie Grille in El Segundo for my birthday and was pleasantly surprised by some of their new menu items. The first new menu item we tried was the cauli-mashed potatoes; although I liked them just fine, Den wasn't a fan and said they tasted too much like cauliflower and not enough like potatoes.

Den decided to try the new buffalo bomber sandwich which consisted of  a crispy chickin' breast tossed in buffalo sauce, tomato, red onion, lettuce, ranch dressing and after talking to a Veggie Grill employee, he decided to add avocado to his bomber. He said the said was pretty good but not nearly as good as his favorite sandwich, the Santa Fe Crispy Chickin'.

For my new menu item choice, I picked the urban plate which contained a blackened tempeh-carmelized onion-portobello mushroom stack, steamin' kale, a sliced tomato salad and chipotle ranch. I liked that it was gluten free so my sister in law could eat it if she wanted to and I was also really impressed by the way the food was presented on the plate. It looked upscale and tasted good as well.

We love veggie grill and you can best believe that we'll be back to try some more of their new menu items soon.

Second half marathon done!

I completed my second half marathon on the day before my 33rd birthday. It was the Hollywood Half Marathon and I was happy that I finished and I did so in 3:18 which was slightly faster than my finish time for the Tinkerbell Half Marathon that I did in January.
The day before the race, me and Dennis went to the Health & Fitness Expo at the Hilton in Universal Studios. Here's a picture of me and Marilyn Monroe and me posing with my racing bib.

The next morning I was nervous and excited about running this race. How would I do? Would I finish it in a decent time? Could I manage to complete the race without falling? Here's a photo of me at the starting line for the Hollywood Half Marathon.

I was super stoked to meet one of my favorite podcasters, Wendy from the Yell at Your Fat podcast as well as a member from the Black Girls Run L.A. Chapter. Of course I had to take photos:-)

The rest of the race was pretty uneventful although there was a point where my left foot was hurting so badly I had to stop my running/walking plan at mile 8 but even with that happening, I was still able to finish under 3 and a half hours so yay me! Here's photos of the medal and me wearing the Hollywood Half Marathon shirt.

 
 

I plan to run a couple of more half marathons before the end of the year and the next one will by the Wine and Dine at Disney World in Florida followed by one in October and a Holiday Half in December. Wish me luck!