Despite my lack of willpower last weekend, I still managed to lose some weight this week! I'm still disappointed about how much weight I still have to take off to fix my holiday mess, however, I am feeling so much better right now, finally! I had started to lose confidence that I could do this, and it's slowly coming back. It's just going to take longer than I thought, and that's ok.
This wasn't a particularly interesting food week in our house, but I did introduce Sakief to cauliflower pizza and he loved it! Last night's experiment of crock pot beef and broccoli resulted in decent flavor but chewy meat. Meh. I've made beef and broccoli before in a pan, and that was way better. On to the next.
Most importantly, next Friday we get the keys to our new place! It's been very taxing living together in such a small apartment, and I can't wait! This weekend will be lots of packing, though much of the apartment is already boxed up. I'm so excited for everything that this apartment means, mostly that it will be our home for at least the next few years. It's been a long time since I've gotten to stay put for awhile.
Stats this week:
Weight: 222 lbs
Weight lost this year: 2.5 lbs
Total weight lost: 62.5 lbs
To go: 37.5 lbs
Work outs: 2 plus house packing
Friday, January 18, 2013
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Meet Me in St. Louis!
I'm writing this from 10,000 feet and climbing as I head to Dallas and then on to St. Louis/Mt. Vernon for the weekend. I'm taking a long weekend to spend with Corrie, doing some wedding stuff, but mostly just quality time with my best friend.
I got to the airport early today, and hoped to get on the 1:30 flight (instead of 2:20) to Dallas; I only have 50 minutes in between flights, which made me nervous. I was incredibly peeved when the gate agent told me that it would cost $75. Seriously?!?! If you have seats let people have them! Turns out I'm actually better off. I may only have 50 minutes in between, but I'm flying on the same plane! That seriously never happens. I'm going to have to get off in Dallas because the crew is switching (I think), but at least I won't have to run to a new gate. How convenient. Thanks American... For once.
This was a pretty good week weight loss wise. I could have been better on what I ate, and I could have worked out more, but can't you say that every week? I'm definitely pleased, down 3.5 lbs from last week, and finally negative on the year. Considering that I had a complete breakdown last night and was crying to Sakief that I'm a failure, that I will never lose the weight I want to lose, etc, I'm now in much higher spirits (and literally quite high, we've reached our cruising altitude).
As much as I am mentally back in the game for meal time, I'm having trouble with snacking and controlling my sweets (particularly chocolate) cravings. I'm really going to have to go cold turkey if I'm ever going to be fully back on track. Forget I think I can, I know I can :)
Sakief and I are back to meal planning, and as you might be able to tell from my several recipe posts, eating well! Do yourself a favor and try both of the recipes I posted this past week, they are seriously amazing. I want more soup and burgers! Jared and Ashleigh tried the soup earlier this week, and I got a good report from Jared. Always nice to hear that food your recommend goes over well with others.
Sakief and I are also two weeks from moving into our new apartment (yay!) and he starts classes on Monday. It's a very exciting time for us. If only those two weeks would move a little quicker... We are both so over my current place.
To new and wonderful things in 2013! Cheers!
Stats this week:
Weight: 222.5
Weight lost in 2013: 2 lbs
Total weight lost: 62 lbs
To go: 38 lbs
Work outs: 2
I got to the airport early today, and hoped to get on the 1:30 flight (instead of 2:20) to Dallas; I only have 50 minutes in between flights, which made me nervous. I was incredibly peeved when the gate agent told me that it would cost $75. Seriously?!?! If you have seats let people have them! Turns out I'm actually better off. I may only have 50 minutes in between, but I'm flying on the same plane! That seriously never happens. I'm going to have to get off in Dallas because the crew is switching (I think), but at least I won't have to run to a new gate. How convenient. Thanks American... For once.
This was a pretty good week weight loss wise. I could have been better on what I ate, and I could have worked out more, but can't you say that every week? I'm definitely pleased, down 3.5 lbs from last week, and finally negative on the year. Considering that I had a complete breakdown last night and was crying to Sakief that I'm a failure, that I will never lose the weight I want to lose, etc, I'm now in much higher spirits (and literally quite high, we've reached our cruising altitude).
As much as I am mentally back in the game for meal time, I'm having trouble with snacking and controlling my sweets (particularly chocolate) cravings. I'm really going to have to go cold turkey if I'm ever going to be fully back on track. Forget I think I can, I know I can :)
Sakief and I are back to meal planning, and as you might be able to tell from my several recipe posts, eating well! Do yourself a favor and try both of the recipes I posted this past week, they are seriously amazing. I want more soup and burgers! Jared and Ashleigh tried the soup earlier this week, and I got a good report from Jared. Always nice to hear that food your recommend goes over well with others.
Sakief and I are also two weeks from moving into our new apartment (yay!) and he starts classes on Monday. It's a very exciting time for us. If only those two weeks would move a little quicker... We are both so over my current place.
To new and wonderful things in 2013! Cheers!
Stats this week:
Weight: 222.5
Weight lost in 2013: 2 lbs
Total weight lost: 62 lbs
To go: 38 lbs
Work outs: 2
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Hawaiian Burger!
Tonight was finally my night to cook dinner (not that I'm complaining about Sakief cooking most nights...) and I wanted to try something new from Pinterest. I've pinned almost 200 recipes that I want to try (not all main dishes mind you), so I had a lot to choose from. I decided on the Hawaiian burgers that I first came across a couple of months ago but haven't tried yet (I haven't tried most of the recipes, let's be honest). Of course I chose one where the link to the recipe has been flagged as spam, so I couldn't get to it from my iPad, blah. The following recipe I essentially made up based off of the picture, so bear with me.
I used 96/4 ground beef, but obviously you can use your favorite ground meat. I also used a thicker cut bacon, but for those who avoid/don't like pork bacon, I suppose turkey would work as well.
32 oz ground beef
8 slices pineapple
16 slices bacon
Onions (minced, as much as desired)
BBQ sauce (use your fave)
Garlic powder as desired
Wood toothpicks
Combine beef, onion, 8 Tbsp BBQ sauce, and garlic. Make 8 4oz patties. Lay each patty onto 2 crisscrossed slices of bacon. Lay one slice of pineapple on each burger. Wrap the ends of the bacon slices over the burger and pineapple and use a toothpick to hold it in place. Bake in oven at 350 for 30 mins (burgers will be well done). I cooked most of the burgers on a rack over a metal pan so that the fat would drain off a bit, but I did cook 2 in a glass pan with no rack. I definitely recommend the rack. There is so much grease/fat that is rendered off that the burgers cook better when it can fall away. But if you don't have a rack, they will still taste just fine.
Add more BBQ sauce if desired. Sakief likes his smothered! I was fine with the taste as is.
Obviously this made lots of leftovers for us, and I'm glad for it! Super yummy, and healthy. I served it with broccoli, but given some time to think about it, I probably would have done something a little more creative to go with Hawaiian burgers. Next time!
I used 96/4 ground beef, but obviously you can use your favorite ground meat. I also used a thicker cut bacon, but for those who avoid/don't like pork bacon, I suppose turkey would work as well.
32 oz ground beef
8 slices pineapple
16 slices bacon
Onions (minced, as much as desired)
BBQ sauce (use your fave)
Garlic powder as desired
Wood toothpicks
Combine beef, onion, 8 Tbsp BBQ sauce, and garlic. Make 8 4oz patties. Lay each patty onto 2 crisscrossed slices of bacon. Lay one slice of pineapple on each burger. Wrap the ends of the bacon slices over the burger and pineapple and use a toothpick to hold it in place. Bake in oven at 350 for 30 mins (burgers will be well done). I cooked most of the burgers on a rack over a metal pan so that the fat would drain off a bit, but I did cook 2 in a glass pan with no rack. I definitely recommend the rack. There is so much grease/fat that is rendered off that the burgers cook better when it can fall away. But if you don't have a rack, they will still taste just fine.
Add more BBQ sauce if desired. Sakief likes his smothered! I was fine with the taste as is.
Obviously this made lots of leftovers for us, and I'm glad for it! Super yummy, and healthy. I served it with broccoli, but given some time to think about it, I probably would have done something a little more creative to go with Hawaiian burgers. Next time!
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Pumpkin Black Bean Soup
I can't take any credit for this recipe, I didn't find it nor did I cook it, that was all Sakief. However, I did eat it and it is delicious! I've had it for leftovers several times and still like it, which to me is the true test of a recipe.
2 cans pumpkin purée
2 cans black beans
1 can corn (not creamed)
1 can diced tomatoes
2-2.5 cups chicken (or vegetable) broth
Cilantro
Thyme
Cumin
Chili powder
Sour cream
Drain black beans, corn and tomatoes. Combine broth, pumpkin and drained vegetables in large soup pot on medium heat. Stir until pumpkin is evenly distributed. Add spices to taste. Allow to simmer several minutes. Serve hot with a dollop of sour cream.
What I love best about this recipe is that it's great as a whole meal (very filling) or can be eaten as a side dish. I also love that it's easy to make vegetarian or vegan just by making a few easy substitutions.
2 cans pumpkin purée
2 cans black beans
1 can corn (not creamed)
1 can diced tomatoes
2-2.5 cups chicken (or vegetable) broth
Cilantro
Thyme
Cumin
Chili powder
Sour cream
Drain black beans, corn and tomatoes. Combine broth, pumpkin and drained vegetables in large soup pot on medium heat. Stir until pumpkin is evenly distributed. Add spices to taste. Allow to simmer several minutes. Serve hot with a dollop of sour cream.
What I love best about this recipe is that it's great as a whole meal (very filling) or can be eaten as a side dish. I also love that it's easy to make vegetarian or vegan just by making a few easy substitutions.
Friday, January 4, 2013
What the...?
Ok, so I need to keep in mind that I've only been "back on track" for two days, have worked out only once this week, and let's say it again for good measure, two days back on track... I gained more weight! Ugh!
It is so discouraging and also disappointing as I kind of expected the first few pounds to just fall off as I got back on track. And now I'm even heavier.
I won't let this get me down (for long), I've come way too far to give up now, but I'm pretty upset.
It was nice to hear Sakief say "you're beautiful" this morning when I was first upset about it.
If next week doesn't show decent progress I'm pretty sure I will actually cry.
Stats:
Current weight: 226
Weight lost: 58.5 lbs
To go: 41.5 lbs
It is so discouraging and also disappointing as I kind of expected the first few pounds to just fall off as I got back on track. And now I'm even heavier.
I won't let this get me down (for long), I've come way too far to give up now, but I'm pretty upset.
It was nice to hear Sakief say "you're beautiful" this morning when I was first upset about it.
If next week doesn't show decent progress I'm pretty sure I will actually cry.
Stats:
Current weight: 226
Weight lost: 58.5 lbs
To go: 41.5 lbs
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year all!
I realize that it has been almost a month since I posted, and there is probably a lot to catch up on, but I am still going to try to keep this post somewhat brief.
There are many reasons that I haven't posted in so long, but let's just go ahead and chalk it up to pure laziness.
Also something we can chalk up to laziness is the fact that I've gained back a pretty significant amount of weight in the last few weeks. Considering that I don't feel much different, and my clothes are still fitting the same way, I'm going to go ahead and hope that some of it will fall off rapidly. It just goes to show how important food choices are though, as I continued to work out through the holidays, but basically allowed myself to eat whatever I wanted.
That changes today, and it seems an appropriate day to do so as well. Last year on January 2nd was the day I began this journey, so today is perfect to recommit myself. Thankfully I can already tell that my mind is already back in the game, and I have Sakief at home to keep me motivated constantly.
As disappointed as I am in the weight that I've gained back, I am still commited (recommited, whatever) to losing this weight, and I'm going to choose to focus on the positives of the year, instead of the negatives of the past few weeks (which were actually pretty amazing).
So to sum up:
**I lost a total of 60 lbs or approximately 5 lbs/ month. That's pretty awesome if I do say so myself. And a great number to be at after a year.
**I went from a size 22/20 to a size 16.
**I have a lot more confidence.
**I wore shorts for the first time in years.
**I am exercising regularly and *gasp* actually enjoy it!
That's a lot of positive change, and I can't wait to see what 2013 has in store for me :) Hopefully a lot more good!
My goal right now is to reach my goal of 100 lbs lost by my birthday (which I think I mentioned before). I feel really good about getting that done. I am also becoming even more confident that I can actually take off more weight than the 100 that I want to lose. I guess we will see when the time comes, don't want to make any big predictions yet!
I'll be back to my regular Friday weigh ins starting this week, and plan to get back to blogging on a regular basis as well. With Sakief moved in we are back to cooking together (sort of, our current kitchen really only fits one chef at a time). However, we already have plans for new recipes and other fun things (I hope) that I can share with everyone here.
Sakief bought me a hand weight set for Chanukkah, so I'm planning to start a weight lifting program before work, and be doing cardio after work. Gym time has been/will be hard to come by since apparently I don't have guests passes on my account, so I can't always take Sakief with me (bummer) but I know Erin will help get my butt in gear. He also starts school soon and will have access to the UT gym, so I won't feel as bad about leaving him behind when I work out after work. OnceSakief and I move at the end of the month we will have a great apt complex gym, which will be much more accessible (and I may give up my pricey gym membership), and I have big exercise plans. More on that later.
I wish nothing but wonderful things for all of you in 2013. Let's make it a good year!
I realize that it has been almost a month since I posted, and there is probably a lot to catch up on, but I am still going to try to keep this post somewhat brief.
There are many reasons that I haven't posted in so long, but let's just go ahead and chalk it up to pure laziness.
Also something we can chalk up to laziness is the fact that I've gained back a pretty significant amount of weight in the last few weeks. Considering that I don't feel much different, and my clothes are still fitting the same way, I'm going to go ahead and hope that some of it will fall off rapidly. It just goes to show how important food choices are though, as I continued to work out through the holidays, but basically allowed myself to eat whatever I wanted.
That changes today, and it seems an appropriate day to do so as well. Last year on January 2nd was the day I began this journey, so today is perfect to recommit myself. Thankfully I can already tell that my mind is already back in the game, and I have Sakief at home to keep me motivated constantly.
As disappointed as I am in the weight that I've gained back, I am still commited (recommited, whatever) to losing this weight, and I'm going to choose to focus on the positives of the year, instead of the negatives of the past few weeks (which were actually pretty amazing).
So to sum up:
**I lost a total of 60 lbs or approximately 5 lbs/ month. That's pretty awesome if I do say so myself. And a great number to be at after a year.
**I went from a size 22/20 to a size 16.
**I have a lot more confidence.
**I wore shorts for the first time in years.
**I am exercising regularly and *gasp* actually enjoy it!
That's a lot of positive change, and I can't wait to see what 2013 has in store for me :) Hopefully a lot more good!
My goal right now is to reach my goal of 100 lbs lost by my birthday (which I think I mentioned before). I feel really good about getting that done. I am also becoming even more confident that I can actually take off more weight than the 100 that I want to lose. I guess we will see when the time comes, don't want to make any big predictions yet!
I'll be back to my regular Friday weigh ins starting this week, and plan to get back to blogging on a regular basis as well. With Sakief moved in we are back to cooking together (sort of, our current kitchen really only fits one chef at a time). However, we already have plans for new recipes and other fun things (I hope) that I can share with everyone here.
Sakief bought me a hand weight set for Chanukkah, so I'm planning to start a weight lifting program before work, and be doing cardio after work. Gym time has been/will be hard to come by since apparently I don't have guests passes on my account, so I can't always take Sakief with me (bummer) but I know Erin will help get my butt in gear. He also starts school soon and will have access to the UT gym, so I won't feel as bad about leaving him behind when I work out after work. OnceSakief and I move at the end of the month we will have a great apt complex gym, which will be much more accessible (and I may give up my pricey gym membership), and I have big exercise plans. More on that later.
I wish nothing but wonderful things for all of you in 2013. Let's make it a good year!