Back in the right direction.

After gaining a pound last week, I got things moving in the right direction again this week. I lost 2 pounds this week. I'm at 214.2. Yay!

I really need to keep things moving down. Can't wait to be in the 100's. I haven't been there since like 7 years ago.

So much stuff to write about... my rewards program, an odd smelling pie, the 5K tomorrow morning.
Hopefully tomorrow I'll have much more time. For now, I'm tired and need to rest up for the race. I'm a little nervous since I haven't ran much lately, but oh well.

Tomorrow at 7:15 I'll be starting my 3rd 5K of this year.

It's getting hot in here....

... from all my baking this summer! Tonight was another night of baking. All this baking isn't going to be good for my weight loss venture, but it's good for my sanity. I'm just stressed a little and worried a lot lately. So, I guess the weight loss/exercise thing has taken a back seat for the past 2 weeks or so. I'm exhausted because I didn't sleep well last night. So, instead of going to the gym I stayed home tonight, played a little Wii Fit, watched the first episode of More to Love (which is so far very intriguing), and did some more baking.

Tonight was another first.... my first attempt at making homemade biscotti. It was a much longer process than I thought it would be. I had no idea that biscotti are twice-baked type of cookie. Still, I feel accomplished with all my "fancy" treats lately. And the people at work are loving me right now because I'm bringing in the treats so they can eat them all, instead of me eating them all.


Behold, the chocolate biscotti:

At least now I've got a basic foundation down for the biscotti and scone making. Now, I can start to experiment with flavors and ingredients. Ah, baking (when it's for myself and just for fun, not when I'm being paid to) soothes me.

At least they are good for my soul....

Now, these may not be necessarily good for my body, but they were good for my soul. I was feeling a little down today so I tried to keep myself busy. Keeping myself busy took the form of baking. I totally heart baking. I'd never made scones before and they always seemed like something too "fancy" for me to make. I gave it a shot and made some chocolate chip scones. I ate one and I didn't think they were sweet enough. I guess scones aren't supposed to be super sweet?That's fine with me, but if I'm not going to add anymore sugar, then I think next time I will dial down the baking powder a little bit. I think it tends to make things taste a little bitter to me.

Anyway.... here's my scones. I added a little chocolate on top for a little extra sweetness and some decoration:

Early Bird Special

My eating schedule seems to be off the norm today, so I ate an early dinner/late lunch... but I don't plan on eating a big dinner since I've got lots of things to do today and will be going to the Boyfriend's parents' house later for a little get together.

I may have a green monster sometime around 8:00 to tide me over.

Anyway... I was getting hungry so I made a veggie quesadilla and some baked sweet potato chips.

Veggie Quesadilla:

- 2 whole grain La Tortilla Factory tortillas

- Some low fat shredded cheddar

- Assorted veggies (in mine: mushrooms, spinach, onions, red, yellow, and green peppers.)

- whatever spices you like

- Salsa on the side for dipping

-Spray one side of tortilla with PAM (or whatever version of cooking spray you like). Place sprayed side down on a baking sheet. Put on the veggies and cheese, top with another tortilla sprayed with PAM.

-Bake at 400 degrees until tortilla gets crunchy and cheese is melted.

For the baked sweet potato chips: I just sliced up the sweet potato. sprayed and seasoned the chips, then baked (turning chips over half-way through) for about 30 minutes.

Yum!

Weigh-In and Weekend.

Well, this week was rough. I wasn't feeling well and was SUPER tired. I think it's almost time for that ugly TOM to rear it's head. So, I really haven't exercised much, and most days I ate a little more than I should have, and I slept A LOT! I tried to get things back under control towards the end of the week, but I still ended up with a big fat GAIN this week. Boo!!! I gained 1 pound. Time to put a stop to that business. I'm at 216.2 now and I definitely don't wanna get any higher.

Next week, I'm definitely back on track. My 3rd 5K run is this coming Saturday! I'm a little nervous, but not too bad. I'm getting used to the idea of doing one of these every month. I didn't run as much as I should have since the last race, but I definitely did better than I did between the 1st and 2nd race.

Anyway.... tonight I'm hanging with the boyfriend. We haven't seen each other in 6 days so I'm really looking forward to it.

Last night I saw "The Ugly Truth" with my sister. It was pretty good. I love Katherine Heigl and the movie had some really funny parts. Also... don't forget the cutie, Gerard Butler.

Just made a little lunch. Lately I'm obsessed with making these tuna melt things. Total for both pieces ends up being around 300 calories. Just build them and bake them for a few minutes at 375 degrees. I use:

- a 100 calorie whole grain english muffin

- 1 can of light tuna (in water, not oil) which is about 100 calories.

- 1 tsp of light mayo

- I usually try to add in some sort of veggies to the tuna "salad", like celery or some zucchini.

- 2 slices of fat free American cheese.

Well, I'm off to play some Wii Fit, then hopefully to the gym, then a little shopping and just hanging out waiting for the Boyfriend to get off work. It's completely rainy and stormy here today. Yuck.

Final Birthday Update (I swear!)

Saturday was tons of fun. Too many drinks were had and too much bad food was eaten this weekend. Blah. Now I have to try to make up for it.... despite the fact that I'm totally not in the mood. Hopefully I can get things back in gear this week. It was totally worth it though. I had quality time with my fabulous friends and my awesome boyfriend! Here are 2 of my favorite parts of the weekend.....

Natalie, Me, and Anna (Mrs. B) at the bar after going to the comedy club:


Me and my cutie-patootie boyfriend (who brought me 2 dozen pink roses that evening. What a smart boy!):


I got a Wii Fit for my birthday! Yay! I've been wanting one for a while... and my awesome friends pooled their money together and got me one. Woo hoo! Anybody else have one? Any game recommendations for the balance board?

Have a good week everyone!

Yesterday's Weigh-In and Clean Eating

First, I only lost .4 pounds this week. Boo! That puts me at 215.2, which means I didn't meet that goal of 215 by my birthday. Darn close though. Next week I'm really going to work hard and hopefully have a loss of over 2 pounds (at least that's what I'm hoping for). Though tonight may work against that goal as tonight is my birthday party. Me, the Boyfriend and 7 other friends are going to a comedy club across the river in Kentucky then we are going several bars/debaucherous (is that a word? It is now.) places. I'm sure some debaucherous behavior will ensue (such as me consuming empty calories in the form of birthday drinks, and hopefully no bad food!). Should be a fun time though. I got a new summer dress type thing to wear to the party (going shopping for shoes later today! Fun!). The best part was that I bought the dress from the REGULAR WOMEN'S SIDE OF THE STORE! Yay for me! That hasn't happened in quite some time. So, hopefully I'll feel like a hottie when I put it on, just knowing that it came from the regular side of the store. That fact is enough to put some major pep in my step.

Yesterday, I attempted Amy's challenge of the week... eating clean for one day. Before I show you what I ate, I would just like to say: Man, it's hard to eat clean. It's more expensive, less convenient, and so far I see less variety. I'm not knocking it... if you can do it, more power to you for not having all those chemicals in your body. However, I would like to say that lately I am getting a little fed up with people who are taking a "holier than thou" approach to those of us that do eat processed foods. I know that some of the things I eat are bad for me... too much sodium, or too processed, but it's not like those are the only things I eat. Most days I definitely get in my 3-5 servings of fruits and vegetables and I don't see the shame in eating a Lean Cuisine for lunch at work every now and then. So.... bite me! (yes, I'm a little sassy this morning.) I try to eat healthy and I'm eating much healthier than I ever have. So, why don't other people just stick to minding their own food and stop judging others who may be doing the best they can. I hate people sometimes.

Anyway... it was cool to try eating completely clean for a day. I can say that I won't be doing it everyday. I'm not a Rockefeller and can't afford to pass up on some cheap processed stuff sometimes. I also am a very busy woman most of the time and like to have some convenience food every now and then (Lean Cuisines, sandwiches with processed bread, etc.).

For breakfast I had my very first Green Monster.

Despite that I keep seeing other people in blogland having these, I was still skeptical of the taste. But it was fantastic. Mine looked more brown than green with yesterday's ingredients.

For lunch I had an almost exact repeat of last nights salad (minus the Morning Star veggie cake, added some mushrooms and zucchini) and I forgot to take a picture of it. Bah!

For dinner I decided to make stuffed peppers. They were fabulous! In mind I had ground turkey, mushrooms, zucchini, peppers, onions, and a tiny bit of cheese on top. Served with brown rice.

All in all... I had some pretty tasty food yesterday. I will definitely be making those peppers again.

Today I am going to the gym, going shopping, and clean up the apartment a little bit.... then my birthday extravaganza starts. Yippee!!!

Have a great weekend!

Nervous.

Tomorrow is weigh-in day and I'm scared. I don't really have that much reason to be, but for some reason every time I've peeked at the scale this week, it's been a little higher than last week and not moving a whole lot. I know that based on what I have eaten this week, mathematically I should have a loss tomorrow, but the flippin' scale isn't moving like I want it to. I was really just aiming for like a 1 pound loss this week since it's my birthday week and I knew I'd be splurging a little bit. (Went to the Mongolian Grill last night with my mom, sister, and Mrs. B. Then went and saw the new Harry Potter movie. Yay!)

The only thing I can think of that I did differently this week is that I started eating fiber bars for breakfast again. I hadn't eaten any bars for like 3-4 weeks before this past Monday. I think next week I won't have any and we'll see what happens.

I had an awesome salad for dinner tonight. The picture doesn't do it justice. I had some bagged salad mix (romaine, iceberg, radicchio, etc) with a crumbled Morning Star Farms Southwestern Style Veggie Cake, carrots, a little bit of corn, some salsa, and some homemade guacamole that I made. I'm trying to incorporate a little avocado into my diet since it's loaded with the good fats (despite the fact that it's high calorie/high fat). I swear, it just looks a weird color in the picture... it was delicious!


I may do something along these lines again tomorrow when I attempt Amy's challenge of the week... eating clean for one day.

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

Today I turned 27 years old. I feel old. 30 is just around the corner. But despite that... I still love my birthday. The week of my birthday has always been a big deal to me and I don't feel one bit ashamed for letting everyone know just how excited I get about my birthday! I love it! It's the one time of year that I can guilt all my friends into getting together at one time to do something fun. This year a couple have crapped out on me (but I guess I can let it slide since one just had a baby 2 weeks ago and the other is 8 months pregnant. lol).


So today... I was bought lunch. I had a healthy splurge and got a whole wheat tuna wrap and some pretzels. It was ok... nothing too spectacular, but still at least it was something new and different (and free! Thanks Tonja!)

That's all for now. More about my birthday later.... yes, there will be at least a couple birthday post. It's a week long celebration in my world. :-)

Weigh-In Day

Well, despite the fact that I didn't do as great this week with the eating and exercise... I still had pretty good results. Down another 2.8 pounds this week! Woo hoo! That puts me at 215.6. I had a goal of 215 by my birthday (which is this coming Tuesday!) and now I think it's totally possible.

:-)

I'm really in disbelief!

I just ran my farthest (and longest time) consecutively!!! I really can't even believe it myself! I ran 1.1 miles (14 minutes) straight with no stopping!!! Not a big deal to a lot of people, but a MAJOR milestone for this chubby girl.

I never thought I would be able to do that. Really... even doing the C25K program, running a whole mile straight was still seeming like an impossible goal for me.

I don't think I've ever felt more accomplished or proud of myself. So, yeah... I'm tooting my own horn right now! Yay for me!!!

I'm cheating on my boyfriend with a man named Joe.

You probably know Joe. (a.k.a.- T.J. or Trader Joe). Well, I guess it's not cheating if my boyfriend knows about it, right? haha.

Anyway... a trip to Trader Joe's makes me SO happy (and a little frazzled). I get so excited and want to get so much that my brain gets a little scrambled. Suddenly I can't think of what meals to make, what ingredients to put together, what to buy. Next thing you know, I've crammed my basket full of random goodies and can't even remember what I grabbed. But then I get home and I see all my treasure for the evening.....

... and it's an oddly comforting feeling.

Until the panic sets in again when I think "Now, how do I decide what to eat for dinner?"

Weekly Challenge

This week our weekly challenge for Amy's 15 Week Challenge was to recreate an "unhealthy" meal in a healthier way. I chose to do pizza... because I love pizza. And I don't get to eat it too often anymore

I used:
-Trader Joe's frozen Naan (one piece of naan makes a pretty decent sized slice of pizza).
-Trader Joe's marinara sauce (though I'm sure you could use whatever sauce you like).
-Assorted veggies. (I had mushrooms, green peppers and banana peppers on mine).
-Low-fat shredded mozzarella cheese.


Just build your slice, pop it in the oven at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes and there ya go.

(Please excuse my crappy picture. Took it with my phone.)



They are darn tasty!!! Usually I eat mine with a side salad and one slice of pizza and it totally fills me up. Depending on what sauce, cheese and veggies you use... one large slice is around 200-250 calories. Even the Boyfriend liked it!

I'm celebrating by taking a nap.

Quick Update:
Did my second 5K race this morning with my BFF, Mrs. B! Yay for us!

The last race I finished in 46:48. It looks like (still waiting on the "official" results) I finished this one in 42:42!!! Holy crap, people! I shaved like 4 minutes off my last time! Woo hoo!

And now... I think it's time for a nap.

Weigh-In Day!

Well.... It's weigh-in day! For the first time I was excited for it to get here. I lost 3 pounds this week! I can't believe it! Well, I worked really hard this week, so maybe I can believe it. I don't know if maybe last week I was just carrying around some water weight, or maybe it's all the bananas I've been eating (I've never really liked bananas but been trying to learn to eat them to help with all the sore muscles and stuff from exercising... which I've done 4 times this week so far!), or maybe it's because I've been really good about keeping my calories low and eating often to keep my metabolism up. Or maybe it's just a combination of all 3. No matter what caused it... I'll take it. This is the least I have weighed in 3 years!

I joined Amy's 15 Week Challenge. Unfortunately I signed up and sent her my weight before I had found out that I gained a pound last week. So for the 15 Week Challenge, I really only lost 2 pounds this week based on what I had told her was my starting weight. Still pretty awesome though.

This week was especially tough because of all the obstacles at work. There was a free ice cream social (and I gave my ticket for free ice cream away to a co-worker). There was a 4th of July potluck lunch. I made this cake for the lunch.

It was very well received by everyone. Then I got hounded to get some food. So I went and put some food on a plate (to appease my saboteurs) and then gave it to a co-worker as well. All in all, I think I did pretty great resisting the temptation.

I just really want to get past the "wall" that I always get stuck at. Technically I am past the 219-220 hump that I always start my self-sabotage around, but I won't consider myself truly past it until I reach at least 215 or so. I can hear the 100s calling my name. Only 18.4 pounds away.
Tomorrow is my 2nd 5K race of the year. I'm still a little scared. I know I still won't be able to run the whole thing. But I want to finish in under 45 minutes at least. I finished the last one in 46:48 . I'm still stuck on week 4 of my C25K. It just never seems to get much easier so I'm reluctant to move on to Week 5 but next week I'm hoping to give it a real shot. Tomorrow is also a 4th of July BBQ at the Boyfriends parents' house. Hopefully I can survive it without undoing all the hard work I've done this week... at least I'll get in 5K before all the unhealthy food comes looking for me.

That's all for now, kids. Have a fabulous weekend!