Monday, January 31, 2011

Monday 1/31/11

I'm sick of titles.  It's easy on my food blog, I just put the title of the recipe.  Here, not so easy.  So on depressing days like this that I have nothing to say, the date will suffice.  Well, it wasn't too depressing, I made a super good, healthy, filling soup.  There is a ton so I'll be eating it alll week.  It was especially good with a touch of hot sauce on it.  Yum.

Today's Eats:


Leftover breakfast casserole = 300
Banana = 100
Salad w/ dressing & turkey = 250
Vitatop = 100
Blueberries - 50
Everything Lentil Soup = 230
Carrots = 50

Total = 1080 calories
Tons of water

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Sunday Blues

As I said earlier, I broke even on my weight this week.  I KNOW there is a valid reason (period), but it's still annoying. Very depressing too. 

Exercise has been going very well. I am enjoying my stair exercises.  Yes, I said it, I'm actually enjoying the exercise. Granted, I'm not sweating profusely or exercising to the point of exhaustion but it gets my heart pumping and just doing it a few times this week, I can already see improvement.  Plus it's simple. It doesn't take any equipment or traveling to a gym. I just have to go downstairs.  Very nice.  I'm looking forward to seeing my endurance build over the next several weeks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Eats: (Sunday)

Bagel thin, egg beaters, laughing cow cheese - 175
Costco Samples = 350
Banana = 100
1 1/2 servings of breakfast bake + sour cream = 485
Granola bar = 100

Total = 1210

Lunch was Costco samples again.  Boy, did they have a ton of samples.  I estimated at 350 calories but that is probably an over estimate.  There were some pretty healthy samples.  As well as many not-so-healthy samples. They had Snicker Peanut Butter bar mini's on sample.  They were giving 1/2 a bar which would be 65 calories (130 in a whole one). I wasn't going to eat 65 calories on a snickers bar so I ate probably less than 1/3 and gave the rest to my son. 

He was so funny, he said "Didn't you like it?".

"Yes, I liked it."

"Can we buy them?"

I'm thinking, "I could eat 10 of those with barely a breath in between if I wanted to.".

"Uh, no.  We're not buying them." 

Dinner was a crockpot recipe from More Make It Fast, Cook It Slow. It's a cookbook that I am reviewing. I made this breakfast bake in the crock pot and it was really good.  I've never made breakfast foods in the crockpot. I had some shredded hash browns I needed to get rid of so this worked perfectly.  Plus I have plenty for breakfast and lunch tomorrow!

Saturday Food

Just realized I never posted yesterday's eats.  I'm sure many of you don't care about what I eat but I LIKE posting it, it gives me a place to record down what I eat.  It's now a habit and I'm sticking with it.  One of the most important things I've learned is that writing down what you eat is essential.  When I started estimating and just doing it in my head, I stopped losing.  So while many of these posts may be boring, they are helping ME with my weight loss.

That being said, I broke even this week. I pretty much expected it. It's "puffy week" this month and the scale is not kind.  A couple of days ago I was 4 lbs. up! Isn't that insane?  I can totally tell when it's happening as I drink the same amount of water but I'm just not peeing all day.  I FEEL like I've lost weight though so hopefully we're in for a banner week this week! 

Today's Eats: (Saturday)


Yogurt = 100
2 Turkey Broccoli Wraps = 450
Vitatop = 100
Granola Bar = 150
Popcorn = 100
Bagel thin, egg beaters & laughing cow cheese = 175
Banana - 100
Total = 1175

Friday, January 28, 2011

Evil Caramel Corn





Does peeing every 1/2 hour count as squats??  :-)

I forgot to post yesterday's food.  It gets hectic at night and I've been just focused on going to bed early so I don't always remember to post. 

2 days of going over 1200 calories. I try to estimate high so hopefully it wasn't that bad. 

I was done eating for the day and was paging through a cookbook that I need to review on my other blog.  The son convinced me to make caramel corn from the cookbook.  It's not my favorite and it seemed simple, so I did it.  What I didn't expect, was to eat so much of it. I didn't eat a ton but certainly a couple more handfuls than I wanted.

It's strange, when you go without sugar for so long, it does strange things when you have it again.  It was like this light bulb went off in me and it was like "Oh yea! That's GOOD!".  I drank some water, got the taste out of my mouth and was done but now I am craving it.  Grr.  What did I just do??   

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yesterday's Eats:

Tortilla, egg beaters, salsa = 175
Yogurt = 100
BBQ Enchilada = 350
Banana = 100
1 1/2 cups southwest chicken soup = 400
Craisins = 130

Total = 1255 calories

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's eats:

Bagel, egg beaters, cheese = 175
Craisins = 65
Cheese & crackers = 250
Vitatop = 100
1 1/2 cups southwest chicken soup = 400
Pea pods = 50
Caramel corn = 300

Total calories = 1340 calories
Lots of water



Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Stupid Chips

I had a good plan for eating today. Basic stuff, leftovers, no problem.  Then my son came home with a prize he won. 

Chips. My arch enemy. 

They went on a spanish field trip and there was a raffle and he won a bag of tortilla chips with taco seasoning (think taco seasoned Doritos but rolled up rather than in triangles).  It was a hispanic brand so the kids were skeptical.  So I tried them.  They were good, not great. But I ate way too many.  About a portion and 1/2 for 200 calories.  So I ended up eating my dinner WITHOUT the tortillas since I had stupid, fatty, greasy chips instead of my healthy, filling, whole wheat tortillas.  Stupid.  Luckily my lunch was super filling so I wasn't really hungry or anything. Still stupid though. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Eats:

Bagel, egg beaters & Cheese - 175
Vitatop = 100
Chicken fajita = 250
Beef stew = 250
Stupid chips = 200
Turkey Broccoli slaw filling = 250

Total = 1225
Lots of water

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Stairs

Ate pretty much the same thing as usual today, normal egg bagel and yogurt and then leftovers for lunch.  The BBQ chicken enchiladas were nummy, I'll add more veggies next time though.  I doubled it and put a pan in the freezer so we'll enjoy them again soon. 

Got my exercises and walking done for the day.  Anyone in Allan's challenge having trouble with the stairs?  I'm still not sure I get it right.  Seems like by the time you get to stair 10 you're going up and down A LOT and to have to do that 10 times? I just can't imagine.  I think I figured it out that if you go all the way to 10 stairs, after doing the previous 9 (10 times mind you), with all the up and down, it equals going up 2200 stairs.  That's not including the effort to go down 2200 times too, which isn't as difficult mind you, but still. My legs will be thankful in several months hopefully. I look forward to seeing improvement. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Eats:


Bagel thin, cheese & egg beaters = 175
Yogurt = 100
Chicken fajita = 250
Beef Stew = 225
Pretzels = 100
BBQ Chicken Enchiladas = 350


Total = 1200
Lots of water

Monday, January 24, 2011

Consistent Exercise


3 weeks with a regular exercise program for me.  For many that might sound insignificant or hardly worth celebrating but for me - it's something.

I've certainly exercised before.  But very intermittently.  Never regular. I'd spend a whole week on the treadmill - then ignore it for a month whining about how much I "should" get on it. I've done my pilates video - then woken up with sore muscles and ignored it for a month just to repeat what happened he last time.  

Well, I've been on the treadmill for 3 weeks solid and while I am still going pretty slow, it's getting easier and I'm upping the MPH.  Slowly.  Still have to be careful of the ankle but so far it hasn't been yelling at me. 

Now I'm in a regular routine of waking up early and I am finding myself planning my exercise. I am a planner, big time. But I have NEVER planned exercise. I'm actually thinking ahead for when is the best time to get on the treadmill and when to do other exercises.  I DO feel better and I am enjoying that it is becoming part of my routine. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Eats:

Bagel thin, cheese & egg beaters = 175
Yogurt = 100
Another chicken bean wrap = 225
2 1 cup Beef stew = 444 222
Total = 1155 933

I had planned for 2 cups of beef stew but never got to the second one and was never hungry for it. It was a slightly heaping cup of stew that came in at 222 calories and it filled me up.  I went on the treadmill after and then finished up school with the kids, did some bible reading with them and never thought about food again.  Until I came to post this. 

I am finding myself slightly hungry at the moment but I will be in my bed in less than 5 minutes so I will deal with it.  I am way more sleepy than hungry.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Tasty Eats!

Today's Eats:

Eggs, ham & cheese = 250
Chicken bean wrap = 225
2 Tangy Chicken Fajitas = 500
1/2 banana = 50

Total calories = 1025
Lots of water

Not a lot of say tonight.  Spent the day with the family, it was fun.  Came home to make a slightly new way for making chicken fajitas.  The sauce was good, it was sweet with the orange juice and spicy with the chipotle powder. Very nice mixture.  I doubled it and made many changes, it won't post on my blog for several weeks probably.  I'm still backlogged!  I do add the links for the recipes that I make in case you are interested but I often omit oil and add veggies and make changes. 

    

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Gym in a Bag



So I entered Steve's Hot 100 Challenge which helped a lot. I enjoyed supporting other bloggers and gaining support from them. One of the prizes offered was for Best Supporting Blogger.  Karen, from Waisting Time was a wonderful support to many and by vote, was chosen the winner! She did great and deserved this prize.  However, she was unable to use the exercise Gym in a Bag and DVD so she graciously offered it to me. I am so sorry she wasn't able to use the prizes but was pleased that I COULD use them!

 

We LOVE the Gym in a Bag. My 11 year old first adopted it and carried it around calling it "Jim".  I had never used resistance bands before so I was eager to see how they worked.  We watched the video and now all of us are using this. 



We like to watch a movie a couple times a week in the evening and this is the perfect time to get some training in. I often will walk on the treadmill while watching, my brother has been doing light exercises and stretches for years while watching.  Now the kids are doing stuff too by using the bands or lifting some light weights.  Nothing strenuous but it keeps us from just SITTING on the couch doing nothing. 

Enter my $75 CSN giveaway on my other blog!



Today's Eats:

Chicken & Bean Wrap = 225
Granola bar = 150
Meatballs = 450
Salad w/dressing = 120
1 banana = 100
Yogurt w/blueberries= 130
Total calories = 1175

Weird day for eating.  Woke up late and had a leftover chicken wrap for breakfast/lunch.  Took the kids to the science museum for the day, ate a granola bar.  Then we went to go see Tangled at this theater that serves food.  I had decided not to eat anything even though I was starving!  My sons spaghetti came with meatballs that he didn't order so I ate them. Very spicy and delicious and probably way more calories than I want to know.

 
Now I'm home and still hungry.  The meatballs just didn't do it even though I'm sure it was massive calories. I was PLANNING to come home to a couple of chicken wraps  rather than the stupid meatballs.  That would have filled me up more and not been so full of fat and God only knows what else.  So I'll put the kids to bed, have a yogurt and call it a night with eating.  Drinking will continue as I have not had enough to drink.  I'm sure I'll be up all night peeing.  :-)


Friday, January 21, 2011

Stuffed!

Today's Eats:

Bagel thin, cheese & egg beaters = 175
Yogurt = 100
Broccoli turkey wrap filling = 250
Salad w/ dressing = 120
Banana = 100
2 chicken & bean wraps = 445
Total = 1190 calories
Plenty of water


Ok, those chicken & white bean wraps were awesome! Super healthy, packed with protein and so delicious! The link will take you to the original recipe, I used chicken instead of tuna and subbed cucumbers for parsley. Added salt and pepper and they were awesome. I doubled the recipe too so I have plenty in the frig for the weekend. Even if you aren't a bean fan, you'll like these. It sounds weird but the beans and the yogurt together really make it seem like it's mayo. Hubs was convinced there was mayo in there. Not a drop. We ate this with 100 calories whole wheat tortillas for a total of 222 calories a piece. Nice. I probably would have been fine after one but I ate 2. I am stuffed.


1200 calories for the day, not a bit of hunger and I am stuffed to the gills. I love it! If anyone out there doubts that this is possible to consume only 1200 calories a day or if they for one second think that I am "starving" myself, get a grip. It is so possible and I am HARDLY starving! I've had fruit, veggies, meat, dairy and fat. 1200 calories is so doable!


Enter my $75 CSN giveaway on my other blog! 

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Cheesecake


My skinny, fit, athletic brother went to Sam's Club last week and brought this home. He eats like 2 pieces a day.  It's almost gone.



He went to Sam's Club again today and brought home these 3 cheesecakes.  Yes, 3 cheesecakes people.   He came home today and said he was at like negative calories for the day as he had a super big workout at the gym.


Oh, he also bought me some chicken. How nice of him.  Sorry, but the cheesecakes sorta overshadowed the chicken gesture.

He came home, had a piece of cheesecake, then 4 turkey broccoli wraps, then another piece of cheesecake.  He keeps Kashi bars downstairs, I wouldn't be surprised if he was eating those too.


He actually is quite supportive of me and if this was a trigger food for me, he wouldn't do it. I do love cheesecake but it doesn't bother me having it in the refrigerator. A bag of doritos would be much worse! 

 He brought home a loaf of bread one day that had the dried onions on it and smells just HEAVENLY.  THAT was more of a trigger so he brought it downstairs and probably consumed the whole thing.  Isn't he sweet. 



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Eats:

Bagel thin, cheese & egg beaters = 175
Yogurt = 100
Salad w/chipotle bean burger on it and salsa and sour cream = 350
Craisins = 75
2 Turkey broccoli wraps = 450
Banana = 100
Total = 1250
Plenty of water
Exercise = walking and weight training

Sorry for the whiny post yesterday. Everyone has stress.  Yesterday just almost brought me over the edge.  It's not an edge I want to be on again. 

Breakfast: So I bought some Everything Bagel Thins and they are decent.  The plain ones taste yucky but the everything ones are palatable.  I ordered some Kim's Light Everything Bagels and I'm still waiting for those to come.  The bagel thins are nothing like a REAL bagel but I can handle them.  I would recommend the Kim's Light ones over the bagel thins though.  I also bought some sun dried tomato basil Laughing Cow wedges that are 35 calories a wedge.  So for breakfast this week, I've been having a bagel thin for 110 calories, cheese wedge for 35 calories and 1 portion of egg beaters for 30 calories. It makes a nice, simple 175 calorie breakfast!  Then I eat my yogurt around 10:30.  Keeps me full until lunch!



Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Stress, stress, STRESS!

Highly stressful day.  Woke up with a huge headache, all the kids were super crabby, my kids were buttheads about doing school (homeschool), it just didn't stop.  Plus I'm potty training 2 year old twins. My entire house smells like pee.

What was unusual was that when I am usually THIS stressed, I want to eat. Today was just the opposite.  I wasn't hungry. I was for breakfast and then not at all. I just sorta munched and ate because it was there.

I was planning to make a creamy nummy soup for dinner. I cooked the chicken and that's how far I got.  I literally had a baby in my hands the whole day. It was insane.  So the kids ate cereal for dinner (no joke) and I just had a salad with a small bit of chicken.  I put 300 calorie for it but I doubt it was even that much.  Left for the evening, just came home and I'm freezing beyond believe. I think it's supposed to be -10 tonight. It's 2 degrees now.  I so need my bed!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Eats:


Bagel thin w/cheese & egg beaters = 175
Yogurt = 100
Cheese & crackers = 250
Banana - 100
Salad w/ chicken = 300

Total = 925
Tons of water
Exercise - none as I had a splitting headache this morning. I'll get it in tomorrow morning.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Cookbook Giveaway

Skinny Emmie is giving away 2 Rocco DiSpirito cookbooks, Now Eat This!  This chick knows how to lose weight!  She's been doing awesome!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Eats:
Vitatop = 100
Bagel thin w/cheese & egg beaters = 175
2 Vitatops = 100
Salad = 120
2 mini turkey w/mayo sandwiches = 300
Yogurt w/blueberries = 125
Carrots = 50
Chicken salad w/dressing = 200

Total = 970

For some reason, I woke up like 3 hours earlier than usual and just couldn't fall back asleep. I also woke up super hungry!  So I ate more for breakfast than I usually do.  I need to work on how much bread I'm eating.  I've been eating way too much of it lately, I've noticed.  Much of it is whole wheat but not all of it.

My menu that I created for the week (on my other blog) went right out the window this week. I have not had time to cook at all.  I wasn't super hungry for dinner as I munched a lot throughout the day so I just had a salad with a bit of chicken on it. 

Monday, January 17, 2011

Wise Words

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.  He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves who live inside us all.
One wolf is Evil – it is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other wolf is Good – it is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather:


"Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."


 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Eats:
 
Bagel thin, cheese & egg beaters = 175
Yogurt = 100
2 small Turkey, mayo sandwiches = 300
Salad w/veggies = 150
Banana = 100
Chicken salad w/dressing = 200
Apple w/PB2 = 150
 
Total = 1175 calories
Tons of water
Exercise done

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Ham Day

I don't know why but every meal today consisted of ham. It wasn't planned today.  Breakfast, there was ham and egg beaters in the burrito filling.  I ate part of a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch.  And I had a ham in the crockpot for dinner.  Ham day.  Probably lots of salt.  Maybe tomorrow I'll nix meat all together.  I ate way to much meat today.

Today's Eats:

Breakfast Burrito = 200
Chicken Caesar Salad = 500
      1/2 the dressing or less, no croutons,
1/2 ham & cheese sandwich = 250
Ham 6 oz = 300
1/2 cup Mashed Potatoes = 120
Green beans = 30
1/2 chocolate mint bar = 50

Total: 1450 calories
Water: barely enough

Went over on calories.  I didn't do this to "jump start" my metabolism. I believe that every few WEEKS or like once a month, to have a 1600 calorie day is fairly good.  Your body gets used to processing 1200 calories, then you throw in a higher amount and it says "Hey, I wasn't expecting that!" So it kicks it up a bit.  I don't think that doing that weekly is going to make any difference.  So I don't plan to. I committed to the 1200 calories and I am going to stick with it. I plan to make up my overage in calories this week. 

I had the caesar salad at Sams Club which claims to be between 700 - 800 calories.  I nixed the croutons, that must have saved 100 calories. I ate less than 1/2 the dressing, I also took off some cheese.  Can't really tasted it anyways. I figure about 500 calories. I don't really know.  Good chance it was less. I could have done without the 1/2 ham sandwich.

Came home to a delicious ham in the crock pot.  Just had a small scoop of mashed potatoes. I could have done without that too.  Then I topped it off with 1/2 of a new granola bar I bought.  They are chocolate mint and 100 calories, I wanted to try them, so I split it with the daughter.  They are okay but won't be tempting me to eat them.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Metabolism Boosters

I just read a bunch of "ideas" of what could be possible metabolism boosters. These seem to be of interest to those of us wanting instant gratification on the scale. (not going to happen, I get that). Some of the ideas seem plausible, but I just read of one that I thought was hilarious.


Coconut oil. Granted it does more than just boost the metabolism. This is part of what I read.


Coconut oil also helps to balance hormones, stabilize blood sugar levels and boost the cellular healing process. It is also known to stimulate the thyroid and reduce stress on the liver and pancreas. This increases metabolism which helps us burn fat far more effectively while stimulating clean sources of energy that make us feel terrific.


Okay, coconut oil is 120 calories a tablespoon. I went on to read this:


Based on body size, an average adult of 150 lbs should consume about 3 1/2 tablespoons of coconut oil daily.


Wow. So in order for me to get the healthy benefits and boost my metabolism, I need to consume at least 5 tablespoons of the stuff? That's 600 calories, half my allotted calories. I suppose if I just at coconut oil salads all day it would work, huh?


That's okay, I think I'll pass.


The best thing I read was this:


Note that foods can increase your metabolism only marginally. Only the lifestyle changes can make a dramatic effect on metabolism.


Exercise and building muscle. That's the way to do it. One push up and squat at a time! Eventually it will pay off.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Eats:
Granola Bar = 200
Culvers Chili = 340
Salad = 120
2 Broccoli turkey wraps = 450
Apple with PB2 = 150
Total = 1260 calories
Water = Got a late start but got it all in!

We ate out for lunch. One of my favorite hamburger places. Culvers. Home of the Butterburger. Even the lowest calorie sandwiches are like 1/2 of my allotted calories for the day and I had already eaten a 200 calorie granola bar while flying out of the house.  So here it is, only 11 am but everyone else was eating lunch. So I ordered the chili. It was okay and it filled me up but I was annoyed to be at 540 calories before noon. 

Saturday is the night that I usually stay up late too.  I was hoping to make up for the calorie overage yesterday but I got hungry and ate an evening snack around 7:30 of an apple and PB2.  So I went over on calories. Again. 

 Now, here it is 10:30 and I'm hungry again!  Grr.  Here I am looking at recipes and planning next weeks meals and making grocery lists. And I'm hungry.  The scale better be nice tomorrow.  :-)

Friday, January 14, 2011

Stupid Sugar Choices

I ate way too much sugar today.

It was so stupid. I made zucchini muffins and MEANT to just have 1/2 of one but ended up eating the whole thing.

THEN, the chocolate chips were RIGHT there so I took a small handful. Then another. I don't think I had as much as 100 calories but we'll go with it.

So because of the stupid muffin, I didn't have a main course for lunch and the salad just didn't do it for me. I was hungry. Which is why I probably indulged in the chocolate chips. Like a yogurt wouldn't have been a better choice? Really?

Also, because of the extra calories, I ate my dinner wrap filling without my 2 - 100 calorie whole wheat tortillas. Still delicious but not as filling. So I had an apple.

To top the whole stupid sugary day off, I had 2 bites of ice cream while scooping some for the kids. It wasn't even GOOD ice cream. I think mentally, I felt that I had already ate a ton of sugar so why not eat some more. What kind of sense does THAT make? I still did decent calorie wise but ate stupid calories. I'm hungry now too. Grr.

This wasn't about craving or emotional eating.  It was just stupidity.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Eats:

Oatmeal = 120
Yogurt = 100
1 zucchini muffin = 300
Salad w/ veggies  = 200
Chocolate chips = 100
Broccoli slaw w/ turkey & teriyaki = 250
Apple w/ PB2 = 150
2 bites of ice cream = 50
Total = 1270

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Patience

I wrote this long, depressing post yesterday and then came home late and forgot to post it.  I re-read it this morning and deleted it. It was pretty whiny.  I've been impatient. Wanting instant results.  Logically, I know this isn't going to happen. Still, when the scale doesn't move a bit - it's frustrating.  So I'll stop the whining, stay on track and be patient.

Yesterday's Eats were on track as well.  Mostly consisted of leftovers. 


Today's Eats:

Breakfast Burrito = 180
   Whole wheat tortilla, egg beaters & salsa
Yogurt - 100
Turkey Sandwich = 250
Baby Carrots = 60
Vitatop = 100
Pulled Pork Sandwich = 300
Fuji Apple w/ PB2 = 150

Total 1140 calories
Plenty of water
Exercise = check

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Push Ups

I do weenie pushups everyday in the bathroom in the morning. Sometimes at night too.  Weenie pushups are me just leaning over the sink with my feet against the bathtub (tiny bathroom) and doing pushups against the sink.  Not incredibly strenuous but they work for me. Makes me feel like I am doing something. 

So Allan gives us our exercise plan for the week and it involves pushups.  I'm thinking, no problem.  These shouldn't be difficult.  I do occasionally do them on the floor as well so I didn't think that my arm muscles would hurt or anything.

Well, first are fairly regular pushups. But the second kind asked to put our hands in front of us rather than spread apart.  That was supposed to work the triceps.  "Where the heck is my tricep?", I'm thinking.  Well, I did them yesterday morning and I NOW know where my triceps are.  Yup, they are those things that are hurting like the dickens today!  Actually, it's not that bad but I can certainly feel them! 

Today's Eats:

Raisin Bran & Milk = 250
Salad with dressing = 120
Squash/Chickpea pot pie = 335
Lime Yogurt = 100
Banana = 100
Egg Salad Wrap = 315

Total = 1220

I had raisin bran for breakfast. Very odd for me.  Hubs eats raisin bran and one of the daycare kids asked for it this morning but then decided she didn't like it after one bite.  I was just about to make my eggs and ham and decided to eat the raisin bran instead.  It filled me up for the morning so I guess it worked.  More carbs than anticipated though. 

Leftovers for lunch were awesome.  Then a mexican egg salad wrap for dinner.  If I hadn't been tracking calories I totally would have eaten 2 of those babies. They were GOOD.  I also realized that I haven't eaten meat for 2 whole days.  I like to make 1 or 2 vegetarian meals a week if possible, it just turned out that I made 2 in a row and then didn't have ham for breakfast.  I think I would eat MORE vegetarian meals if it wasn't for the family.  Hubs and the brother like meat.  Oh well. 

Monday, January 10, 2011

I Had To Learn To Cook...

Yesterday I posted some background about me.  I grew up eating crap.  Chips and dip were my favorite and they were around weekly.  Frozen meals were bought in bulk and stored in the downstairs freezer. Vegetables consisted of the occasional lettuce that we would put on our salami sandwiches.  We'd go to the buffet and get a salad with our meal.  That is healthy right? 

I never learned to cook. Or even cared to cook.



I got married when I was 25 and had my first baby at 26. I tried to learn how to be domestic. I had a few recipes under my belt that I was quite proud of. We also had a deep fryer. We used that baby a lot for "homemade" meals. 

My brother, who we live with, started getting into fitness more.  He'd always been able to maintain his weight but now he was getting into running and really paying attention to what he ate. He started using my postal scale for weighing his portions.  I had never seen this or even thought of this.  He tracked calories. I was impressed. 

Slowly I started learning that Mac & cheese and frozen pizza was NOT a good evening meal for my family.  4:30 would come around and hubs would automatically ask "Where do you want me to go for dinner?".  We'd bring home fast food 3 nights a week, easily.  Not to mention the weekends that we'd frequent the buffet.  I can seriously remember going to the buffet twice in the same weekend, several times.  The amount of money we were spending eating out was insane. 

Then, my aha moment.  Diabetes.  I finally DID something about it. I did a ton of research and LEARNED how to eat. That and with the tips from my brother about weighing and measuring everything, I was finally able to take control. 

Once I started reading labels and really THINKING about what I was eating, I realized I had to do something about it.  1/2 cup of mac and cheese and 1 piece of frozen pizza wasn't going to do it for me.  I had to find something filling.

I remember once, after I had started tracking my calories, planning to make sloppy joes for dinner. I pulled out the can of manwich out of the cupboard and started calculating the calories. I thought, I can SO do better than this!  So I did some research and found some sloppy joe recipes online. That was the start of me trying to convert, high calorie meals, into lower calorie fulfilling meals.

I became engulfed in the food blogging world. I'd see recipes and be eager to try them.  My family was a bit scared at first. 

"What!? This is the 5th night this week that she is cooking?!" 

It took them awhile to get used to it. My kids missed their chicken nuggets and fries at McD's.  My husband didn't always (and still doesn't) like my new concoctions.  Even though he is only slightly overweight, he had grown accustomed to eating out and he enjoyed it as much as the rest of us.  So it took awhile for him to change. He'd often go to taco bell after dinner and bring home "real food".  It killed me as I WANTED those tacos.  I got through it though and succeeded. 

I was learning to cook. I was taking control.

Then I decided to create my own food blog.  I held off for a long time as I am not computer savvy.  At. All.  I figured I was making new recipes and calculating the calories for all of them so I might as well just take a picture and share with the rest of the world.  I loved to share my successes with friends anyways so it seemed to be a good idea. 

The point here is that I learned to cook.  I was now cooking healthy, satisfying meals that I could enjoy and not feel like I was depriving myself of anything.  Don't get me wrong, if you look at my food blog, EVERYTHING isn't the healthiest but for the most part, I try to keep it healthy, filling and tasty.

I still use prepackaged foods and everything I make is not completely made from scratch. Nor am I saying that you should never go out to eat and you should make all of your meals at home.  It will be different for everyone. But what is the same, is the learning process that we need to go through.  If we are not in control of our eating, we need to relearn to eat. In my case, it required me to learn to cook.  I'm so glad I did. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Eats:

Breakfast Burrito = 175
    Whole wheat tortilla, egg beaters, salsa
Yogurt = 100

Salad with veggies & dressing = 150
Banana = 105
1 1/2 portions Squash Pot Pie =  500

Total calories = 1030

I used chickpeas instead of tempeh in the squash pot pie. It really rocked. Tasty, healthy and very filling. Considering I woke up super, duper hungry, I am ending the day quite full and satisfied. 

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Background

A little background about me...

My mom died early so my dad was left with 3 young kids. Our meals consisted of TV dinners, frozen pot pies, frozen pizza and hamburger helper.  A "homemade" meal would be sloppy joes; hamburger and a can of tomato soup.  Like many pre-teens in the 80's, I was completely self absorbed and didn't take on the challenge of cooking.  At all.  My weight increased.  Once I had my drivers license and discovered the beauty of drive thru's, my weight skyrocketed. 

I can't entirely blame my dad, he didn't know any better.  He still doesn't.  He's not overly overweight but he's diabetic and eats cupcakes and poptarts all the time.   

My weight was hovering in the upper 200's. throughout my 20's. I really didn't pay attention. I just ate.  I first hit 300 when I was pregnant with my 3rd child. I was horrified to see that number!  I swore as soon as I delivered, I would never see that number again.  Well, that wasn't so.  I never regularly weighed myself but I know that I hit 325 at one point even though I think I stayed in the lower 300's for several years. 

Then I was diagnosed with diabetes.  That was my aha moment. I just looked back at the dates, that was March of 2008.  I finally did something about it.  That scared me out of my denial and I finally took control.

I just updated my side panel with the correct dates according to my records. I had just guessed before.

I started journalling everything I ate and recording my weight daily. I did this for about a year.  Then I got sloppy, stopped tracking everything. I started tracking everything in my head. I thought that was good enough and I thought I was still in control. I wasn't. It didn't work.  I maintained my weight for awhile and then started gaining.  I started my weight loss blog in May with the hopes to gain control of my weight again.

It didn't happen. Not until December. Phase 3 started.  I finally got it together. Now I finally feel more in control of my future.  My lowest recorded weight was 217.4.  I am just 14 lbs. from seeing that number again.  I feel confident that I will see it and go beyond it very soon.   

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Eats:
Yogurt - 100
Salad with cucumbers, tomato and dressing = 150
Chicken wrap = 360
     Whole wheat tortilla, chicken, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, cheese & ranch dressing
Banana = 105
Black bean burger with sour cream, tomato and lettuce = 350

Total = 1065 calories
Water = Just shy of what I needed,
Exercise = some, not a lot

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Lazy Day

Is there such thing as negative exercise?  Boy, was today a lazy day!  We did NOTHING.  Both of my boys spent the day at friends houses and the daughter and I just spent the day watching TV, some art projects and doing nothing.  The nothing-ness continued on, into the evening after hubs got off of work.  It was kinda nice. So glad I got my exercise in for the week! 


Today's Eats:
Ham & Egg Beaters burrito = 220
Yogurt = 100
Pistachios = 100
Salad with dressing = 120
2 Turkey wraps = 450
Banana = 120

Total = 1110 calories
Water = Plenty
Exercise = none

Friday, January 7, 2011

Conversation With A Treadmill

Treadmill:  "Three days this week?  Really?"

Me:  "Yea, so what?"

Treadmill:  "Well, it's just been so long, I thought you'd forgotten about me!"

Me:  "Well, you'd better get used to it, I'm planning on spending much more time with you"

Treadmill:  "Yeah, you've said that before.  We'll see."

Me:  "I mean it! I'm really here to stay!"

Treadmill: "Really?"

Me:  "Well, at least until spring and summer.  Then I'll walk outside."

Treadmill:  "Figures."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today's Eats:
Mexican breakfast nachos = 200
Squash pasta = 350
Salad = 120
Squash pasta = 560
Total = 1230 calories
Tons of water
Exercise = check

No cooking again today.  I told you that squash pasta was good and it made a LOT.   I have one more portion that I intend on eating for tomorrows lunch!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Just Food

I seriously got nothing today.  Here's the eats for day. Made a new squash pasta dish on the spur of the moment based on what ingredients I had. It was awesome and there are plenty of leftovers.

Today's Eats
Ham & Egg Beaters = 120
Yogurt = 100
Salad = 120
Apple Stew = 250
Homemade tortilla chips = 100
Squash pasta = 560


Total = 1250 calories
Water = Plenty
Exercise = check

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

I Blame Allan...

The highlight of the day was when I got done peeing for the umteenth time, I came out of the bathroom to see that a 2 year old had grabbed my baggie with frozen raw chicken off the counter, opened it and threw it in the toy bin.  Yes, I sorta had to blame Allan a bit.  :-)

Here is an awesome post that I found today.  http://skinnyemmie.com/2011/01/the-anytime-reset/


Todays Eats:
Ham & Egg beaters = 120
Yogurt = 100
Salad with turkey = 150
Apple Stew = 250
Yogurt = 100
Naked Chicken Burrito = 450

Total = 1170 calories
Water = More than enough
Exercise = done

I actually don't know for certain how much the naked chicken burrito came to in calories. I know it was less than 450 and I ate a lot. It was awesome, let me tell you.  Recipe will post in a few weeks on the other blog.  :-)

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

A Necessary Evil

Exercise.

I exercise. Some. I have never, every been regular at it though.  I'll do the pilates video for a couple of weeks - and then ignore it.  I'll get on the treadmill for a week or so - then let the dust collect.  Same with weights, same with Wii Fit.  Same with it all.  I'll wake up with good intentions but eventually it poops out. 

Well, I've been looking forward to Allans Phase 4 challenge.  It required a 1200 calories diet, more water than you can imagine and exercise.  I've got the 1200 calories and the mega water down.  No problem.  Both have now become a habit.  I like that habit.  Exercise has never been a habit. I am SO looking forward to the end of several weeks of regular exercise so I can feel that exercise is a habit. 

The amount required will differ and increase from week to week.  Which is nice.  I am going to do what is asked as well as I have some increased goals as I know I can do more. 

One of the main "excuses" that I have always made is that there is no time and I hate to exercise in front of people.  Well, my first change is going to be bedtime and what time I wake up. I am going to wake up early to do the Wii Fit daily.  Yesterday I did the exercised that were asked plus some other strength training on the Wii.  This morning I just did some fun games on the Wii Fit.  10 minutes of Hula Hoop is fun but it also it a workout!  Tomorrow I plan to do that same as Monday. 

It's also time to dust off the treadmill.  This cannot be done in the morning as it is in the living room and we have a small house and I would wake every one.  Not going to happen.  So - my plan is to use it in the evening.  So today I got on for 30 minutes of walking.  I'm never going to be a runner or even a super fast walker with my ankle but just walking is good for me. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today's Eats:
Ham & Egg beaters = 120
Lime Yogurt = 100
Salad = 120
Apple Stew = 350
Buffalo Chicken Pie = 465
Pea Pods = 35
Total = 1190 calories

Yes, I know I ate the same things as yesterday but as least I didn't have to cook.  Actually, I did bake. I made banana amish cupcakes with chocolate frosting.  Gave them to the kids and the daycare kid.  They told me they tasted great!  :-)

Monday, January 3, 2011

Back To School!

So my kids had last week off.  It was crazy busy around here as we had a couple more daycare kids but it was nice not doing homeschool during the day.  Well, apparently, we got a little too relaxed as today was just a disaster.  I don't know why it just seemed insanely busy.  Potty training 2 year old twins didn't help the day either. 

Funny, I was hungrier than usual today as well. Crabby hungry. I haven't been that way in a long time. I don't usually like to get that hungry or I end up eating the refrigerator.  That's why planning is essential for me.  By the time dinner came around, I was crazy hungry but I knew that just one portion of food was allowed. If I hadn't pre figured out the calories and planned, I totally would have eaten 2 portions without even thinking. 

Todays Eats:
Oatmeal = 120
Orange Yogurt = 100
Apple Stew = 350
Salad = 120
Fruit Crisps = 40
Buffalo Chicken Shepherds Pie = 465
Total = 1195 calories
Lots of water
Exercise done

Yikes!  The Buffalo Chicken Shepherds Pie came in more calories than I expected. It was super good and very filling though.  Next time, I won't add so many mashed potatoes on top. I thought there was too much. 

Sunday, January 2, 2011

No M&M's!!

We have 3 congregations at our hall for our religious meetings. So every year we rotate times.  10, 1 or 4.  We're now at the 4:00 slot for meeting. Boy was that hard to get used to.   Every year we go through the adjustment of the meeting change.  We'll get used to it.

Hubs bought leftover holiday candy that was on sale today. 2 bags of mini milky ways, 2 bags of chocolate kisses and some chocolate covered pretzels.  I was cool with this as none of it is that much of a temptation for me.  I don't mind giving the kids a couple of mini candies in the evenings.  However, I did draw the line at the M&M's he wanted to buy. Doesn't matter how cheap M&M's are, they are NOT coming in the house!  If they were individually wrapped, it would be okay, but not the ones that you just dump in a bowl.  No way.  I know better than that. :-)

Today's Eats:
Egg, veggie & ham bake = 250
2 Turkey Broccoli Wraps = 450
1 cup Apple Cider Beef Stew = 250
Breadstick = 100
Total = 1050 calories
Plenty of water

The beef stew that I made was really good!  It made a ton so I know I'll be eating it all week for lunches.  It came in just under 250 calories per cup which is pretty good.  I had a cup and a breadstick and was plenty full. I thought about having a banana for evening snack but I'm just not hungry so I'm done. 

Saturday, January 1, 2011

What To Wear!

So what do you wear when you are weighing yourself?  I suppose to be 100% accurate, we wouldn't wear anything.  Right? 


I weigh myself wearing my clothes.  I figure I'm wearing clothes when the Dr. weighs me and I'm not walking around naked all day. So for me, it makes sense to weigh with clothes.

The weight of my clothes doesn't differ much.  I do daycare so the normal day attire is t-shirt and pants or capri's. 


Granted, there might be a SLIGHT difference in certain things but for the most part, I don't wear a tank top and short shorts one day and a pair of jeans and a parka the next. 


Nope, they are always pretty much the same.


That being said...


Before my shower last night, I picked my new clothes for the following day.  Tomorrow is weigh in day.  Hmmmmmm...


"The pink shirt IS lighter than the blue one."  "Oh, the capri's are lighter than pants", "Oh, wait, these capri's are really THIN". 


Seriously?  This is what went through my head tonight.  Pretty pathetic right?  I think the outfit I am wearing is like 1/2 lb. lighter than another typical outfit I wear, that's it.


I did lose weight though. 14 lbs. for the month of December.  I'll take it  :-)

Today's Eats:
Caramel Sticky Rolls - 250
Peanut Butter Cheesecake - 100
Salad = 120
2 Broccoli turkey wraps = 450
Hash browns - 100
Total = 1020 calories
Lots and lots of water

Ok, so I had more of the Caramel Sticky Rolls than I intended. Gosh those puppies were good.  Highly caloric, super bad for you and not very filling.  At all. I just had a little bit too.

Then I had to taste the cheesecake that I made for my brother.  Remember, the skinny, runner brother of mine who eats a cheesecake every weekend just because he can?  Freak.  Well, each piece was 318 calories, I just took a sliver, I know it wasn't even 1/3 but I still counted it at 100 calories.  Boy it was good! 

So moral of the story, breakfast wasn't smart. Then I started chugging water, had a salad and was good. We made our usual easy go-to dinner, and I had some of the kids' hashbrowns.  Another not so healthy choice.  I am finishing off the day at less than 1200 calories but I am hungry.  I just started feeling it. I know I could go have a yogurt or something but I'm going to bed soon so it will be okay. I've gone too many years of not being hungry, a little hunger won't kill me.  :-)