Gah!

I have been woefully negligent in posting to this blog. Mostly because I'm finding it harder than I thought to be healthy in 2010. I have good weeks, but then a couple weekend days of Sonic cheeseburgers and greasy dive breakfasts throw me off. But enough of the b*tching; this is a new week with new resolutions!

First, I went to Trader Joe's yesterday and practically bought the whole store. My favorite acquisition? Their "Fiberful" bars. Just like a Fruit Roll-Up, but with 60 calories, no fat and 6 (yes, 6!) grams of fiber. Not really a lot of protein but for a sweet snack after a meal, they are perfect!


This week's meals include:

- slow cooker butternut squash soup (that promises to be creamy without cream or butter) with salads as my lunches;
- risotto with low fat jalapeno cheese and roasted red peppers (dinner);
- cilantro-lime chicken with brown rice (dinner);
- and a couple of other items TBD.

I will also be registering this week for the BAA's 2010 5K. I ran it last year and it's a great race - all downtown (read: easy terrain) and it's the day before the Boston Marathon, so they have you finish at the same finish line as all the hardcore runners. Way cool!

And finally, a huge shout out to Amy! She has total perseverance - she has made it through two months of WW, keeping to the healthy food and exercising, and she's still updating the blog! And not only updating, but channeling Tina (of Carrots n Cake!) to make the posts even better by adding pictures of her food. Plus, who am I kidding - I am envious of her Fiestaware!

Some photos of random things in my kitchen.

So I am digging the adding of photos to the blog, but I am still a little awkward about it. For example, I took a photo last night of my fish preparation, but then forgot to take one when I served it. So, for now, just bear with me and my slightly weird illustrations.

Yesterday I made some cookies from a health.com recipe. Susan Sarandon supposedly eats them. Ok sure, but I had all the ingredients so I gave it a try.

Banana Chocolate Chip cookies
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 25 minutes
Makes 16 cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup oat flour
3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup raw sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup plain soy milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 ripe banana cut into small pieces
1/4 cup chopped walnuts or other favorite nut
1/3 cup semisweet vegan chocolate chips

1. Preheat over to 350. Combine first 6 ingredients (through sugar) in a bowl. Wish together oil, soy milk and vanilla in separate bowl. Add wet mixture to dry ingredients, stir to combine. Fold in banana, walnuts and chocolate chips.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop dough onto pan with small ice-cream scoop. Bake 25 minutes or until golden brown, turning baking sheet halfway through. Let cool on wire rack.

My substitutions: I didn't have oat flour (who does?) so I used whole wheat flour because I thought it might have a similar density. Instead of raw sugar I used 1/4 c. regular white and 1/4 c. brown. I used regular skim milk in place of soy milk. I used walnuts and added raisins, as the K-man has sacrificed chocolate for Jesus, so I wanted to make something he could eat. They turned out well, and tasted a little like banana bread. And it made 18 cookies instead of 16.


Last night I made fish for dinner. I bought some haddock fillets at Whole Foods, and added a scoop of pesto, shredded carrots and shredded zucchini. Then I steamed it in a parchment packet. It looked like this



I used a "parchment heart." Fold a piece of parchment, and cut a heart shape out of it, big enough for all your fish and veggies. Coat with cooking spray, then load everything in. Fold around the edges, starting with the "cleavage" of the heart. When you get to the bottom point, twist, and it should stay sealed. I baked for 15 minutes at 450. I liked this preparation because I only used a little oil, so it was very healthy. I wish I had taken a pic of it after it was cooked!

Now, I am having coffee, and

going to make some oatmeal with banana and peanut butter. I'm volunteering at our booth at the Auto Show today, then bopping over to Target to buy a new yoga mat. Mine is getting all crumbly, and it's embarrassing because it sheds little orange pieces all over the room.

Have a great Sunday! Go USA hockey!

Hooray for Saturday!

Good morning! Well, almost afternoon. I got up early today to make it to BodyPump at 8, and I even added a little more weight to some of the tracks so I can keep getting results and not let it get too easy. I don't know if BodyPump could ever really be easy, though.


When I came home I had my post workout snack: chocolate milk. I love these little bottles. It has 100 calories and 8 grams of protein. I also read an article (would health.com steer me wrong?) that it can help keep you from getting sore the next day. It tastes like a treat, but is only 2 WW points.





Not too long after that I had lunch. I had a turkey sandwich with cheese and mustard on a toasted Arnold's sandwich thin, with 2 clementines and a few sweet potato tortilla chips. The chips and citrus were part of my Whole Foods trip on Thursday. The brand of chips is "Food Should Taste Good." I really like them. The tea is Tazo Cucumber White. I wanted coffee, but didn't see any reason to be caffeinated on a lazy Saturday afternoon!

I also ate 2 small York peppermint patties, but the shiny wrapper made them hard to photograph!

I am making haddock for dinner tonight, steamed in parchment paper with zucchini and carrots. Couscous on the side, and possibly a fudgesicle for dessert. Or a beer. That's kind of like dessert, right?

Have a great Saturday! I'm going to read and take a nap. :-)

PS A couple notes from the last few days: On Thursday I went to a new kickboxing class. I hadn't been to that one because it doesn't start till 7:30, which is kind of late. But I really enjoyed it, it went SUPER fast, and was not nearly as torturous as the class Becca and I used to go to. On Friday I gave in to a craving and had a cheeseburger and fries before our work event. It was pretty tasty, and now I think I am good for a while!

Good morning!

Happy Thursday! Thought I'd see if I had time for a morning post today... Here's my breakfast, 2 whole wheat waffles. I am also having coffee.

I spend a lot of time thinking about my lunch. Planning ahead helps keep me away from the vending machine. So, here's what I have.

Homemade vegetable soup. I make it in my crockpot, then freeze individual servings.


Here's the rest of the contents of my lunchbox: a banana, Chobani peach yogurt, 2 York peppermint patties, crackers and a Fiber One bar. I add freezer packs to my lunchbox because I don't like using the communal refrigerator.

Last night we got a bunch of snow just in time for the evening commute, so I did not make it to bodypump. I am working late tonight, then planning to go to kickboxing for the first time. I haven't tried it before because it's at 7:30, which is kind of late, but should work out for me tonight.

I am still experimenting with adding the photos, maybe next time I'll put them all in the center or stagger them or something.

Have a great day!

And we're back.

Hi team! I had a wonderful vacation to New Orleans, where I ate beignets, red beans and rice, a muffaletta and lots of cookies. I didn't count a single point! Now it's back to regular stuff.

In an attempt to make an extremely boring topic more interesting, I'm going to try to add some photos as I brazenly emulate Tina of Carrots N Cake.

For dinner tonight, I am making egg salad sandwiches with roasted potatoes and salads.



I have Fiestaware dishes in a variety of colors. You should be jealous, cause they're awesome! I made 2 salads, mine has onions and olives, his does not.

So, hopefully some more interesting posts to come as I experiment a little more with the photos. Hope you're having a good week so far!

Quick note

Just wanted to say hi and give a fast update on how things have been going this week. After having some leftover weekend pizza hanging around for my Monday shot at the scale, I changed my weigh-in day to Friday. That's the day Susan does hers, so it must be ok! I did well with eating, I had some salads, oatmeal with peanut butter (pretty good, actually, I'm not a huge oatmeal fan), apples, yogurt and some homemade cookies. I made it to Bodypump twice, step once and zumba once, so I feel on a good track with the workouts too.

It's all in preparation for my upcoming (in like 8 hours!) trip down South to visit Toni and Scott! I can't wait, I haven't seen them in sooooooooo long, almost 3 years! They were living in Virginia Beach at the time, so I am stoked to see their house and meet their puppy and catch up. I will be eating a lot of amazing things and not caring. I've already decided. :-) Next week, I will be back to my regular routine, so I'm going to enjoy the special occasion to the fullest.

Shout out to Anne, if she is reading this: Congratulations on your engagement! I'm so happy for you! Love you and wish you all the best!

Oy.

Work has been mad busy, yo, so I haven't really gone to the gym much in the past week or so. I did go to yoga on Saturday, though, which was great. I've gotten my coworker Heather into as well (Hi, Heather!) so she's been going with me. A motivation buddy is never a bad thing.

Shameless plug for my yoga studio, which offers amazing $5 community classes:
www.backbayyoga.com

I've been trying to balance the lack of gym with super healthy eating. Sandwich thins, lots of veggies and fruit, egg whites, low fat cheese. Also, do LOST marathons count? It's like all the island fish and fruit eating makes me healthier by osmosis.

Oh, Monday.

It was a busy weekend over here! A wedding, a birthday party, a baptism and the Superbowl. All of which included food, all of which I ate. I tried to enjoy the food, keep it under control, and not worry too much about it. Well, guess what? I didn't work as hard this week, and it showed right away. My legs were too sore to work out on Thursday, I had skipped Zumba on Monday, and didn't exercise for the entire weekend. Yuck! This is no good, and I am going to try not to do it again. This week I should be able to make it to all my exercise classes, and I don't have any food-related events. I need some veggies, stat, so I'm going to stop after work for some salad ingredients. Back on the wagon twice as hard this week! However, next week I will be on vacation (hi, Toni!) so I'm not totally sure what to do about that. We will probably be walking a lot, but the food will be irresistible. So, I guess I will find a few things to indulge in, and maybe moderation will be my key. I will eat a few bites of something delicious and then pass along the rest (hi, Scott!).

Hope your week is starting out well and fiberous!

Ouch!

My legs are so sore today. So... I would NOT recommend going to bodypump and aerobics right in a row. Ugh. I didn't sleep well, and now I'm tired, sore, and slightly grumpy. I'm also feeling a little bored with food, so I'm changing things up with a Samosa wrap for breakfast and oatmeal for dinner.

I have been wondering about some points-related things. I know the people at WW are smart, and good at what they do, and I trust that if I can come out ahead (or even) every week I will continue to lose weight. But Bodypump seems to only count for 3 points, when I put it in as weight training. Step aerobics counts as 8. Is that because it's cardio? And then the other day, I walked for 30 minutes (hill intervals at 3.5, not super fast but I was sweaty) and did the elliptical for 30 minutes (varied incline and resistance) and only got 2 points! That's the same as 45 minutes of yoga, and I was *definitely* working harder on the elliptical. Gah.

So here's my question for you: Is there anything that you count on your own, if there's either no option on the list, or if you feel that the list doesn't really reflect the value of that food/exercise?

A bold choice.

Today, at the suggestion of the instructor (now would be a great time to do some cardio!) and my workout buddy Sarah (I did it last week, you'll be fine!) I went to both Bodypump and step aerobics tonight. It was not a wise choice. I was already tired when step started, but since I know the routine I was able to make it through. As shaky as my legs already feel, I better wake up with an ass half the size of the one I fell asleep with. Just sayin'.

Whew, I'm going to finish my pasta and mushrooms and read my book and go to sleep! Both yoga and zumba tomorrow, I want to be rested!

Ugh.

Well, after my excitement this morning about meeting my first goal, I fell off the wagon a little bit... I was hungry all day, for no reason, other than maybe I was bored and wanted to distract myself a little from this hard task I am working on. So I had some peanut M&Ms. It doesn't sound like much, but it's 6 points. And then Bec and I went out for dinner, where I ate 11.5 points' worth of sushi. The sushi was definitely worth it, but I don't think the M&Ms were. Not that I feel guilty about it, but I am now down to 20 points per day and will have to be extra careful, especially since this coming weekend I will be out of town and encountering mounds of bacon everywhere I go.

So, I am still excited about my first goal, but it's just a reminder that I have to continue to keep track of everything, because it is working!

Bikini season, here I come!

I lost half a pound this week, to get me to my first goal weight! Woot! Now I've reset my goal, and recalculated my daily points to help me keep going down! Some things I've learned.

If I'm going to buy an avocado, just buy one, not 2. They are good, but so high in fat.

Arnold's sandwich thins are awesome. Add some egg white and low fat cheese, and I don't even miss Einstein's. Well, maybe a little.

Think of creative ways to get vegetables. I'll throw shredded carrot and zucchini into anything, sometimes you can't even taste it.

Ok, have to get ready for work. Have a good Monday!