Time to Uncover The Real Me

Prawn Summer Rolls

2011-02-10T23:08:00.000-08:00

I added a couple of prawn recipes to our fishing blog..

http://fishon-fishoff.blogspot.com/

Going Public

2011-01-25T00:52:00.000-08:00

Tonight I inadvertently outed my blog to a friend of mine. I had told her about the blog last year but never gave her the link. Writing this blog, although mostly just a collection of recipes, was a very private thing for me. It has been a place to share whatever I wanted with people who were interested, but not connected to my 'real' life. Once I gave her the secret to finding my little space on the Internet we sat down and did a quick glance through the last three years of posts (although the last year has been pretty inconsistent). It has been a very long time since I went back to all those old posts and rather than feeling self-conscious about them I felt nostalgic and proud of my progress. My friends only judgement on my blog was that I had blotted out her face and not mentioned her even though she is my canning partner and often in the backdrop of my pictures. So..... I would like to introduce you to my buddy Dana. Since we moved here three years ago she has become my closest friend, actually more like family than friends. Her kids call us Auntie and Uncle and her husband is like a brother to me and my husband. She is the most honest and open person I know and, because I am naturally a very private person, she has helped me open up in a way I rarely do. I know she is reading this right now.. probably sniffling a little... so Dana consider this post a virtual hug from me to you!

I have been a terribly absentee blogger lately but I am happy to report that I am still maintaining and eating clean and healthy most of the time. I do have a stash of pictures and recipes that I promise to start sharing again soon. If anyone is at all interested I have started another blog to chronicle the fishing adventures that have been taking up most of my spare time. www.fishon-fishoff.blogspot.com

2010-11-09T09:03:00.000-08:00

Comfort food at its best! Last night we hade spaghetti and ceaser salad. The whole wheat pasta was smothered in sauce made form my home canned tomatos, zucchini, muahrooms, onions and some yummy spicy turkey sausage. The salad dressing was my go-to tofu ceaser dressing from Clean Eating Magazine

300g package of soft tofu
3 cloves finely minced garlic
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 tbsp EVOO
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp sea salt

just whizz this all together in a food processor (or blender). It needs to sit overnight so that the flavours come together.

2010-11-08T08:55:00.000-08:00

Dinner last night was Bison Taco Salad. No recipe to post as I created this on the fly but it was so tasty! To make the shells you take some tinfoil, make a ball, put it on a cookie sheet and lay a tortilla on top (i used the small WW ones) Spray lightly with Pam and then sprinkle on some spices. Bake for 15 minutes at 350 and the shell with form a bowl.. easy and impressive! I use some local ground bison (with chili podwer, cumin, onion, garlic and chipolte) and added lettuce, tomato, plain yogurt and skim mozzarella. This huge filling meal was 7 points!

Smackaroni

2010-11-07T08:46:00.000-08:00

I think I posted this recipe a few years ago but it looked so good as i dished it up the other night I thought it needed to be shared again. It is from the Canadian show on the Food Network, Eat Shrink and be Merry - Smackaroni and Cheese.

The last six weeks have had some ups and downs in the food department but I have been meal planning and bringing my lunch to work so that is a step in the right direction!

Tracking Troubles

2010-09-26T23:05:00.000-07:00

I really think I need to go back to Weight Watchers meetings.. I know the program works but I really don't like the leader of the meeting in my small town. I am having trouble motivating myself to track my food/points/calories. I think that posting on my blog consistently this week has helped me start to get in the right headspace though. Tomorrow I am going to take a picture of everything that I put in my mouth - hopefully that will help me be consious of extra snacks and portion size.

Here was tonights dinner - this is a typical dinner a few nights a week, rice, grilled salmon and veggies. Mmmmm delicious! Plus I caught this sockeye with my own two hands!

Bean Burger

2010-09-24T23:53:00.000-07:00

I took this picture with my phone because my camera batteries were dead... not the best image but Im sure you will get the idea. This recipe comes from a cooking light recipe from a few months ago - Black Bean Burger with Mango Salsa.

My husband ate two of these monster burgers and loved them. The flavour was really good but it was a bit too mushy for me - I think I will tweek this a bit to see if I can add a little texture to the patties. The mango salsa was great (I love anything with mango and avacado).

Risotto Love

2010-09-22T20:26:00.000-07:00

I love risotto!! I love way the rice glistens as each grain is coated with oil, I love the sound o the white wine hitting the hot pan, , I love adding the stock one ladleful at a time and watching the rice plump up, I love standing at the stove stirring until the creamy starch is released from the rice..... I love risotto!

A few months ago I was in the Calgary airport for a 10 hour layover (!!!!!!!) and bought many food magazines to keep me company, one of them being Rachel Ray. She drives me a bit crazy on TV but the magazine had some pretty good recipes in it, including this one for risotto using pearl barley instead of rice... I made it and it was delicious!! Barley has a lot more fibre in it than arbario rice but the flavour and texture were great - this is a new addition to my cache of comfort food recipes.

No Dinner Tonight

2010-09-21T21:52:00.000-07:00

Because this is what I was doing... he was HUGE!

Picklefest!

2010-09-20T19:22:00.000-07:00

This was dinner, a recipe adapted from Cooking Light Magazine (Warm Pasta Salad with Shrimp)

I was planning to add chickpeas instead of the cannellini beans called for in the recipe but decided it didnt really need them. These are prawns that we caught ourselves (love that boat!!!) and the meal had fanastic flavour!

My canning adventures have continued this summer and I am still loving preserving my own food to last through the winter. I love seeing where my food comes from before I eat it. My cucumber crop was pitiful this year (apparently from a catastrophic lack of bees) so I went to a nearby u-pick farm with a girlfriend and her kids and we picked 50lbs of cukes. We made 35 litres of dills and then a dozen pints of bread and butter (yuck!! but DH loves them). It has been four weeks so I opened a jar last night and they were great!! Since we eat fish several times a week I make a great lowfat tartar sauce and my homemade pickles will make it even better!

Here fishy fishy...

2010-09-20T08:32:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of what we have been doing with ALL of our spare time this summer. This boat is my husbands dream come true - all geared up for spending the day on the ocean fishing. We are so lucky to live only a five minute drive to launch into the ocean and explore Canada's stunning west coast. My freezer is bursting with salmon, cod and halibut to last us through the winter. I have also canned enough fish to feed us and our pup until next spring.

Here is last nights dinner as promised.. a piece of sockeye salmon sauteed in spices and orange juice. Tomatoes and cabbage from my garden made for a delicious taco. The sauce was plain yogurt, spices and a dash of sugar... delicious!!

slipping....

2010-09-19T19:10:00.000-07:00

Yikes.. saw a number on the scale this morning that scared me a little... 220... eep that is 15 pounds higher than the same time last year. I have not been tracking for the past few weeks and it shows... time to get myself back on track! I have been slacking in the meal planning as well resulting in some poor eating habits (skipping breakfast, grabbing lunch out, eating dinner way too late etc...) and these are the things that got me into so much trouble before. I NEED to get back to regular planning, tracking and blogging starting right now!!! I love the blogs that post all their meal each day, Im not sure if I can be that committed but I willing to try... so I will be back later with some pictures.

Back from blogger limbo...

2010-06-23T14:41:00.000-07:00

Wow it has been so long since I have written... I am happy to say that I am not coming back because I have regained a bunch of weight and need to recommit, but I am pretty much in the same place (weightwise) as I was during my last post. For some reason blogging about my life has just not been a priority for the past few months.. but I have not given up the fight and have been busy living my life and having some fun adventures. I am still frustrated with the fact that I can not seem to make significant progress in my weight loss goals despite continuing to eat healthy and exercise regularily... one great week can seem me lose a pound, one slightly off week can see me gain 5. I have resigned myself to the fact that years of yo-yo dieting has left my metabolism ridiculously slow and I will be celebrate every loss no matter how tiny and I will continue to treat my body with respect by exercising and giving it healthy fuel.

In January I wrote about going fishing with my husband (in my cute waders) and we have continued to do lots of that. I caught my first Sockeye on the weekend and was so proud!! Fishing for these beauties from shore is not easy and (not to brag too much) I was better than a lot of the guys out there... femae patience is an assest in this situation!

I have been riding my bike to work most days. The trip is 10km each way and I have begun to look forward to this time enjoying nature every day. A lot of my ride follows the ocean and it is a spectacular view!

We have begun a weightloss competition at work. We have a public weigh-in once a week and everyone puts in $2. At the end of 4 weeks the person losing the largest % wins the pot ($76!) I came in third last month. It was hard for all of us during the first weigh-in but now that the number is out there everyone feels comfortable and it is great having the added support.

As far as food goes I am following the clean eating philosophy as much as possible. No processed food and that now includes meat, I eat the fish and seafood we catch and some organic chicken and eggs, and bison from a local farm. Despite still weighing 215lbs I feel fit and healthy so it is hard to be too unhappy with my progress.

I have also recently begun taking melatonin in the evenings and my insomnia is gone!! I have struggled with sleeping problems for years and now I get 8 hours every night - what an amazing change... part of me hopes that this might be the final piece to kick start the weightloss again.

I'm sure all of my readers have forgotten about me but I know I often wonder what happened to the bloggers who disappear so I thought I would check in. Here is a picture of me and my fish!!

Tues Weigh In

2010-01-27T02:32:00.001-08:00

Down 2lbs this week. Woo hoo... I have lost 8 pounds since Jan 1!!!

Spicy Monday!

2010-01-25T23:15:00.000-08:00

I am still OP and going strong! I am going to make Tuesdays my official WI day so I will update tomorrow. Until then here are a couple of recipes I tried this week.

This is a terrible picture of a really delicious mango avocado salsa. It was so good that by the time I realized how bad the picture was I had already eaten all the salsa. I made some home made pita chips and it was a great snack.

This recipe is also from the October 2009 Cooking Light Magazine. Spicy Malaysian Stir Fried Noodles. I had baby bok choy in my organic veggie delivery this week so I thought this looked interesting. It was really really delicious. Even my friend who thinks she hates anything healthy thought this was great. It had fantastic flavour and the tofu absorbed the sauce beautifully. It was even better the next day.

I can't believe I did that...

2010-01-21T22:15:00.000-08:00

There are so many things that I do now that I never did 60 pounds ago. Even at 215 pounds I am not afraid to try anything anymore - I feel that my fitness level is high considering my weight and I have worked up to a pretty good level of endurance. I do many things I always wanted to at 270 pounds but was too afraid to try. I can do a 90 minute yoga class, I can run on a treadmill for 10 minutes straight, I can swim 2 km without stopping, I can bike 80km in one day, I can hike for hours up in the mountains and many more 'fitnessy' things. Yesterday I did something I never thought I would.. my husband is an obsessed fisherman.. he would fish every spare moment of his life if he could. Since he works out of town for 4 days and then is home for 4 days on a regular rotation I know he tries had to curb his fishing to spend time with me when he is home.. but I see the longing in his eyes to be out at the river (or ocean in the summer). So, on Tuesday I took him to the fishing store and pointed out that they had some pink chest waders.. and I told him I wanted to come fishing with him. Now any chubby chicks out there know that any type of overall contraption is probably the least flattering article of clothing out there... and waders mean you wear the thick overalls over layers and layers of warm clothes. I was nervous to try them on but the XL ladies fit me just fine and I think I look pretty darn cute in them!!

We fished on the river near my in-laws place for two days and I actually really enjoyed it. Both days involved several hours of hiking through the bush carrying all our gear (not to mention the actual fishing) so there is definately a leel of fitness involved. I did not catch anything but the look of happiness on my husbands face of having me get excited about his passion was reward enough for me! I am looking forward to getting out there again next week.

Ok.. on to my favourite topic, FOOD! I am still doing great and have lost 6 pounds in the past two weeks. I have fully embraced the clean eating plan that I have been feeling out for the past few months. Here is the basic gist of what I am doing.

- no (or very little) processed food, including sugar, white flour or products containing them

- 6 small meals throughout the day (2-3 hours apart)

- protein and complex carbs at each meal

- plenty of water/green tea

- any meat or eggs are purchased from local organic growers or caught by us (fish, prawns, oysters etc..)

To most people I explain this to it seems a little harsh, but I have been working up to this for almost two years in small baby steps. I have (perhaps irrational) a fear of growth hormones and antibiotics in mass produced meat. My husband (and almost everyone I know) does not share my concerns but he supports me and I eat so little meat that I feel the extra cost is worth it. Of course I am not perfect (or I would be at my goal weight by now!) but this is the eating plan I strive for and when I have two weeks of clean eating, like I am celebrating now, the way I feel tells me I am absolutely doing the right thing for my body. So if anyone is interested I took a couple of pictures of the first four meals I have prepared for tomorrow.

I bought this small slow cooker for $12 and it is perfect for my morning steel cut oats - I can put it on low before bed and I wake up to perfectly cooked oatmeal - I add different fruits and a bit of agave nectar and cinnamon..mmmmm! I will have this at 6:30am before heading to the gym.

Next meal will be at 9:00 right before I start work. I will probably have the 3 egg whites and carrot sticks with some homemade vinaigrette to dip them in as well as an apple. By noon I know I will be starving so I will have my butternut squash spinach soup (made a big pot and froze 12 individual servings) with 3oz chicken breast. 3:00 will be the next meal of salad with half a can of tuna mixed with low fat yogurt and spices as well as some chips I made from a whole grain tortilla. When I get home at 6:00 I will have dinner - here is a picture of the salmon burgers we had tonight.

I mixed a can of salmon (that we canned ourselves in the summer) with 1/2 cup cooked quinoa, an egg, onion and spices. Put it on a whole grain bun with tomato, lettuce and some tzatziki sauce I made and it was delicious. Around 8:00 I have my last meal which is some homemade low fat frozen yogurt with fruit or a smoothie with skim milk. It is amazing that I really don't get hungry again after this last meal. The trick is to not allow yourself to get hungry during the day, when I get hungry any thought of finding a healthy option flies out of my head and I just start grabbing whatever is near and quick. So, to make this work I have been keeping my fridge full of easy to grab meal components. Today was my 'Sunday' so I prepped everything for the next five days - cooked a few of the chicken breasts I bought at the market, boiled a dozen eggs, made some quinoa, made salad dressing, made pita chips, cut up the veggies, made soup and portioned it. All this prep work should make for a successful week of packing my own lunches. I have left room for my kitchen creativity at dinner time - lots of great things to work with and recipes to try out.

I have been counting my calories everyday and even though it feels like I am eating all day long, I am still staying very close to my 1500 calorie goal!

Here is to another successful OP week!!

Quinoa Quickie

2010-01-17T00:30:00.000-08:00

Day six tracking and completely on plan (calories, clean food only, exercise at least 30 minutes) and it is hard to remember why I have been struggling for the past six months. I really wish someone would figure out why my motivation turns off and on so randomly. I will just make the most of this momentum.. it feels like this will last awhile!

Today was a meatless day for me and by dinner time my body was crying out for protein. I decided to cook up some quinoa.

Quinoa (pronounced /ˈkiːnoʊ.ə/ or /kwɨˈnoʊ.ə/, Spanish quinua, from Quechua kinwa), a species of goosefoot (Chenopodium), is a grain-like crop grown primarily for its edible seeds. It is a pseudocereal rather than a true cereal, or grain, as it is not a grass. As a chenopod, quinoa is closely related to species such as beets, spinach and tumbleweeds. Its leaves are also eaten as a leaf vegetable, much like amaranth, but the commercial availability of quinoa greens is currently limited.

Until recently I believed quinoa was a grain, but actually it is a seed from a grain - making it not only a great complx carb but also a fantastic source of protein. I love how versatile it is for taking on flavours and I love that I can cook it in my rice cooker!!! Tonight I made up a new dish - quinoa with roasted butternut squash and wilted spinach. I used cumin and nonya (an Indonesian spice blend) to perk it up. It was delicious and so filling. I ate 3 hours ago and am not feeling the evening munchies that usually hit before bed. Here is a picture of my creation.

Who is this blogger, and what has she done with Blendergirl??

2010-01-14T23:26:00.000-08:00

Where had this girl been for the past six months? I am tracking my food, counting calories, going to the gym, trying new recipes, resisting temptation... Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhh it feels so good to have the healthy me back!! I have been OP for 14 days now - and I feel happy, strong and excited! Two weeks seems to be my sweet spot for getting the junk out of my system, and regaining my motivation and energy.

Here are some food pics from yesterday. I had the day off with DH so I got up and made us waffles. I used this recipe from Mr. Breakfast.com this massive portion with some homemade apple topping was 450calories but full of fibre and good things that kept me going for hours.

Dinner on Tuesday night was fried rice - filled with veggies and some scrambled egg for protein. It was really tasty and filling.

Yesterday was the first dinner I made for my weight loss buddy (from now on I will call her S). She requested yam fries and my cereal coated chicken fingers (organic of course) and I made a new coleslaw recipe. It needs to sit for a few hours and then be drained - much lighter than the mayonaisey version I usually make - if I added some nuts and fruit it would make a great lunch.

Dressing is:

1/4 cup buttermilk

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 tbsp canola oil

1 tsp mustard powder

2 tsp honey

salt and pepper to taste

Page 5 of this link to Clean Eating Magazine has the recipe for the Carrot Ginger Dip recipe from my last post as well as a Cranberry-Honey-Mustard sauce I tried out yesterday. It shows it with Tilapia but I made it for the chicken I was sending to work with DH. I had to double the amount of honey as it was too tangy for his taste but I really liked the flavour. The recipe makes a ton of sauce so I froze it in ice cube trays and put the cubes in a baggy for future uses.

Last picture of the day is this cute pink and silver sparky notebook in which I am recording my daily food intake/calories and exercise. I have not journaled consistently in a very long time, even though I know that is a big key to success. Feels good to be holding myself accountable again!

This post brought to you by the letter C

2010-01-12T01:01:00.000-08:00

Chickpeas and Carrots

A couple of quick food pictures from. I had a very late dinner after yoga class (which was great by the way!!) I made a big chickpea patty (like a giant falafal) and had it on a thin bun with sauteed mushrooms, low fat cheese, lettuce and a quick tzatziki sauce. It was incredibly messy but incredibly tasty.

I have a 'weight loss buddy' for the first time. A friend from work who happens to be exactly the same size as me. We both want to lose about 40 pounds this year and are going to try and hold each other accountable as well as being a support system. Her boyfriend (like my DH) is usually not home for dinner because of hiss work so we have decided to cook each other dinner once a week to help test out new healthy recipes and avoid the problem of eating alone in front of the TV.

I decided to make a snack for the girls at work and tried a new recipe from the oct/nov clean eating magazine. The dip is made of roasted carrots marinated in sherry vinegar, garlic, ginger, honey, cayenne pepper and cumin - all pureed together. I made a bid bunch of raw veggies to enjoy with it - the dip was very flavourful and low cal - a little went a long way to filling us up!

A few other victories to share from this past week: I have recorded 5 straight days of food/calorie intake in my journal and have come in at 1500 each day. I went to the gym three times, yoga class once and to the pool for lengths and aquasize once - that is 5 workouts in 7 days! I really hope I am back for good this time!

New recipes

2010-01-10T22:51:00.000-08:00

I have been reading blogs for the past few weeks but just have not been able to make myself write an entry to explain why I have not written an entry.. then tonight I thought, why am I feeling guilty for not blogging? So I will not make excuses, just write about what I have been doing.

I had a great Christmas and New Years and have been doing great for the past two weeks at completing the steps to fully recommit to my healthy lifestyle. I am continuing with my attempt to strive for an 80%+ clean eating life. Since Christmas I have added another dimension to this lifestyle choice I have made, I will be cutting out all red meat and poultry for the next six months at least. The seafood that I am eating has all been caught by my DH or friends. I'm not going vegetarian but I have been reading more and more about the hormones etc.. that are pumped into the food we eat, and that scares me! So, I may partake in the occasional local grain fed organic chicken or lamb from down the road but mostly I will am content getting my protein from beans, soy, dairy, seafood and eggs from the farm at the end of my road. This way of eating is a huge change from the way I ate two years ago but the change has been so gradual that it just seems like a logical progression for me. I get such happiness out of creating a delicious and nutritious meal with 'clean' ingredients.

So, eating has been good and under control.. time to work on the real battle in my world. My DH bought me some fun new exercise toys for Christmas that I had asked for. Biggest loser game for the Wii, kettle balls, dumbells for the Wii, new yoga mat bag and towel and a cute pink ipod shuffle for running, I also have borrowed my parents treadmill while they are down south for the next four months. So, I have been working out in my makeshift home gym and I made it to the real gym three times this past week. And tomorrow I start a yoga class at a new studio near work. I have really developed a love for yoga, I love the way my body feels after the class and because of the extreme concentration needed for the positions it is 90 minutes of my day where my mind is focused entirely on myself.

One of my favourite blogs is Natasha's at Girl Stuck in a Rut. She takes pictures of everything she eats during the day and I love looking at all the different things she has prepared. I don't think I could remember to take a picture of all my meals but I am going to try and get back in the habit of posting a snap of new recipes I try out. The first one is from a dinner last week - portabello asparagus goat cheese risotto with roasted prawns. No recipe for this as I just made it up.. I love making risotto!

The next two pictures are from tonight's dinner. First was the usual big salad (a la Seinfeld) but I tried a new dressing. Usually I make my own vinaigrette but this one caught my eye in the grocery store. Only 5 cal per tbsp and I can pronounce all of the ingredients! It was pretty tasty.

Dinner was Salmon Corn Chowder - from Sept/Oct 2009 Clean Eating Magazine

2 medium Russet or Idaho potatoes, peeled
2 carrots, peeled
Olive oil cooking spray
1 stalk celery, diced
1 medium yellow or white onion, diced
1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 T whole-wheat flour
1 c skim milk
1 32-oz container low-sodium chicken broth
2 6-oz cans salmon packed in water, without bones or skin
2 c corn, freshly shucked or frozen
1-2 tsp paprika
Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
1 T dill, finely minced
Place potatoes and carrots in a medium saucepan; cover with water. Boil over medium-high heat for 8-10 minutes. Drain potatoes and carrots in a colander and pour cold water over. Let cool for 5 minutes. Remove potatoes and carrots and dice.

Meanwhile, preheat large stockpot over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Mist with cooking spray. Add celery & onion and saute for 2 minutes or until onions become translucent.
Add oil and flour, whisking briskly. Add milk, whisking in a ¼ cup at a time. (This will create a roux, or thickener, for your soup.)

Add broth and cook for at least 5 minutes. If soup seems a little thin, add more flour (no more then 1 T), a ½ tsp at a time, and whisk briskly. Add salmon, diced potatoes and carrots, corn and paprika. Reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer for at least 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add dill just 1 minute before serving.

Nutrients per 1 ½-cup serving: Calories: 210, Total fat: 4.5 g, Sat Fat: 0 g, Carbs: 25 g, Fiber: 3 g, Sugars: 6 g, Protein: 16 g, Sodium: 270 mg, Cholesterol: 0 mg

This was one of the best chowders I have ever made. It was really flavourful but not heavy. I used Salmon that we had canned this summer and carrots that I am still picking from my garden (gotta love West Coast living!). It was the perfect warm, filling dinner on a rainy Sunday night - I would definitely recommend this recipe.

I have lots of leftovers and packed up my lunch for tomorrow. I don't think I have ever posted a picture of the great 'lunch box' I bought a few months ago. Here is the food all laid out for a delicious lunch and the next picture is of the kit all clipped together. I LOVE this little lunch kit.

Here is a shot of my current favourite breakfast. Two whole grain waffles, organic peanut butter, homemade blackberry jam and a banana from my weekly organic delivery. 350 calories and it keeps me going until lunch.

Thanks for reading!

2009-12-09T00:17:00.000-08:00

I really didn't disapear again.. got called away for work at the last minute and have spent the last 5 days at a hotel in Kelowna, BC. Going home tomorrow to assess the room service damage and get back to regular scheduled programming.

Wednesday Menu

2009-12-03T01:45:00.000-08:00

Day Three of counting and tracking again and it was a challenge. DH and I found we had to make a last minute trip out of town and were gone from early morning until 9 pm and had to eat out for all three meals.. here is how the day worked out

cinnamon raisin bagel with light cream cheese - 7
coffee with milk X2 - 1
salad with 1 tbsp vinaigrette -1
open faced veggie sandwich with brie - 8
hot dog at costco -8 (this is definitely not in the clean eating plan)
veggies and dip - 2 (snack before bed)

I stayed within my point allotment but I am going to bed hungry - too many 'big ticket' food items today left me feeling unsatisfied but I am proud of myself for sticking with it. We also when on an hour walk early this morning and I did 30min on my Wii Fit tonight. I have a new weapon in my exercise battle arriving tomorrow. I will post a picture of it when it arrives.

Tuesday Menu

2009-12-01T23:59:00.000-08:00

slow cooker oatmeal - 4
salmon - 7
mashed yams - 2
oatmeal - 3
veggies and dip - 2
apple - 1
turkey sausage - 4
scrambled eggwhite w cheese - 3
toast - 2
apple crisp - 4

I went over my points by four today... the piece of salmon is so high in calories, but so good for me so I dont feel that bad. The apple crisp was homemade using the topping from the ESBM cookbook so not too bad.

Monday Menu

2009-11-30T21:52:00.000-08:00

apple -1
pear - 1
carrot sticks - 0
dip - 2
whole wheat pasta - 4
tomato mushroom sauce - 1
fat free pudding - 2
salmon filet - 9
roast potatos - 3
veggies - 0
dip - 2
banana - 2
peanut butter - 2

Good day today.. I resisted the candy drawer at work and stayed to the meal plan I had set out for the day. I'll be back tomorrow.

For Keeps This Time!!

2009-11-29T20:37:00.000-08:00

For the past few months I have been stopping and starting and stumbling and starting and stopping doing all the things I know how to do to take of this last 40 pounds. I have been doing all the things I promised my self I wouldn't. I haven't tracked my food, I stopped measuring and weighing portions, I stopped a regular exercise routine and somehow I decided that I did not have to say no to all the 'special' treats that appear in my life on a regular basis. For the past week I have been feeling my desire come back. I want to feel the rush after a great workout, I want to see the scale go down, I want to feel like my will power is strong and completely within my control. So here I am, confessing my 'sins' and getting ready to start over with a clean slate and forgiving myself for breaking the promises I made myself.

Ok, enough self-flogging! Actually, the damage could be far far worse than it is. I have not gained any weight in the past month and am only 10 pounds higher than my lowest weight (June) so I am going to stop this madness before it becomes 20-30-50-70 pounds. I am not going to ease myself back into it.. starting tomorrow I will track every bite-lick-taste on WW.ca and stay within my points. I will measure and weigh my food, I will drink 2L of water and I will get at least 30 minutes of exercise 4-7 times a week. This plan guarantees me the success I have seen in the past and I DO NOT want to finish this year weighing more than I did at the end of last year.

I truly believe that the only reason I have not gained more weight back in the past months has been my commitment to clean eating whenever possible. I have not been exercising or watching my portions but I have been cooking at home about 80% all natural 'clean' food. I did continue taking pictures of some of my favourite meals so I will post them over the next while. I have been rereading my blog from the start, trying to recapture the excitement of when I was finding this weightloss/life style change so enjoyable and dare I say easy. I was finding myself inspired my my own success. My mind is now full of all the tips and tricks I learned while losing 65 pounds and I wrote down all the successful recipes I made over the past 22 months from various magazines, websites - so often I make things once, enjoy them but don't ever make them again. I love trying new recipes but I am going to pull some old favourites for a rerun.

Here are a couple of new ones we have tried. The first is Salmon Patties from the latest 'Clean Eating Magazine'. I used the salmon I canned this summer (and DH caught himself) and they were delicious. The fruit sauce is made from blackberry preserves from bushes on my in laws property and the squash is from my organic veggie delivery. This is exactly the type of meal we try to have most of the time. Local, fresh and non-processed. Although my progress has stalled I am so proud of the complete change we have made in the things we put into our bodies.

The next picture is a recipe my fabulous cook of a husband found online and whipped up from some salmon that we candied in our little smoker. This was so so so good, the veggies we fresh, the salmon had come out of the smoker only the day before and served with vermicelli it was a really filling lunch (I had seconds!! - still need to work on the portion control!)

Here is the link to the video in case anyone is interested in the recipe.

I will be back tomorrow!! I hope I still have some readers... I need the support!!

I would like to thank the academy....

2009-10-13T23:19:00.000-07:00

Thanks Natasha for this blog award! Instructions are to copy these 35 questions and fill them in with the answers that suit you then pass it on to 6 favorite bloggers (notify them that you've given them an award!)

35 Questions:

1)Where is your cell phone? - plugged in on the bathroom counter

2)Your hair? -dyed

3)Your mother?- fun

4)Your father?- smart

5)Your favorite food?-spicy

6)Your dream last night?-forgotten

7)Your favorite drink?-milkshake from Peter's in Calgary

8)Your dream/goal?-to be a mom

9)What room are you in?- living room

10)Your hobby? bike riding, cooking

11)Your fear? car accidents

12)Where do you want to be in 6 years? still living here!

13)Where were you last night?-at home canning salsa

14)Something that you aren't?-negative

15)Muffins?-not worth the calories

16)Wish list item?-No debt

17)Where did you grow up? Vancouver Island

18)Last thing you did? put in a load of laundry

19)What are you wearing?-cotton dress

20)Your t.v.?-small

21)Your pets?- adored

22)Friends?- cherished

23)Your life? stabalizing

24)Your mood?content

25)Missing someone? hubby

26)Vehicle? little cute grey

27)Something your not wearing? Socks/shoes

28)Your favorite store? William Sonoma

29)Favorite color? Orange

30)Last time you laughed? today at work

31)Last time you cried? Tonight watching Biggest Loser

32)Best friend? Patrick/Darla

33)One place that I go to over and over? my sister's house

34)One person who emails me regularly? Dana, Hubby

35)Favorite place to eat? my dining room when DH is cooking

Seven people I will pass this on to:

Catching Up

2009-10-12T23:33:00.000-07:00

This post is long overdue, but I will cram in all of the things I have been busy with while neglecting my blog. I am continuing to can all of the deliciousness my garden has produced.. over the past two days I have made salsa with the last of my tomatoes (and all the green ones) as the weather is about to turn cold and wet here in the next few days. I did this with a friend and we put up 44 pints of yummy spicy salsa!

Hubby has been busy fishing and I have really been enjoying accompanying him on these trips.. I love sitting on the shore with a book, jumping up to help him when he reels one in. It it spawning time so he harvested the eggs from the last two catches and cured the roe to make bait (I did not help with this - yuck! but am happy that the eggs were not wasted)

We borrowed my Dad's smoker and smoked a ton of salmon that we will enjoy this holiday season as well as give for gifts. It is a time consuming but relatively easy process.
I felt that the Fall weather meant it was time for a new look... here is the darker and shorter haired me:
In my constant search of ways to keep myself interested in exercise and to spend some quality time with my sister we joined a curling team. I curled as a kid (20 years ago!!!) and we are having a blast playing in a weekly mixed league - suprisingly all that sweeping is a pretty good workout.

I have been LOVING my organic veggie delivery. Here is a glimpse of last weeks bin... fresh delicious local fruits and veggies.. mmmmmmmm

still here

2009-10-11T23:24:00.001-07:00

will hopefully post a long entry soon... just been really busy.. still struggling but never giving up!!

Mixed bag of updates

2009-09-26T23:40:00.000-07:00

Another picture collage from my evening walk.

This has been a pretty good week. I only lost .4 at my WI but thats ok, a loss is a loss. The most important thing is that I am still feeling back in control. I went to the gym three times this week including a great yoga class on Tuesday night. My canning is still going well. A girlfriend and I are doing a bunch more this week so the pantry will be full soon.

I signed up for this great organic produce delivery service www.sunshineorganics.ca They deliver a bin of fresh, organic (mostly local) produce right to your door. I am excited about getting inspiration from these great fruits and veggies and love the idea of less trips to the grocery store (and less temptation). Eating fresh, non-processed, chemically free food has become really important to me over the past year. The effect on my mood, energy level, sleep patterns, skin and hair is amazing - not to mention the obvious weightloss benefits. It is not cheap to eat this way so I am trying to be smarter about my shopping - buying in bulk and then canning/freezing for easy use later. I would like to go to the grocery store only once a week at the most - that will hopefully cut down on the convenience foods and treats that inevitably make their way into the cart. Stay tuned for a picture when my veggies arrive!

DH has been taking advantage of the last few weeks of great salmon fishing in our area. We have tons in the freezer and enough cans to last us through the winter but we went out again today to catch a fresh one for dinner. Here is my big fisherman doing his thing and me and my favourite girl hanging out on the shore.

I can can!!

2009-09-19T23:24:00.000-07:00

I am loving my new canner! Those of you who have been reading my blog for awhile know that my DH works out of town four days a week in a teensy weensy town on the northern tip of Vancouver Island. In an effort to help him maintain our healthy lifestyle while he is working long shifts out of town I pack a car cooler full of healthy meals for him to take. I love cooking and enjoying doing this for him because he works so hard and travels so much. But it does take a good chunk of one of our days off together to get these meals ready. I have been reading a lot about canning and discovered how easy it is to can whole meals like chili, stew and soup. So I thought I would make a giant batch of chili, can it in 500ml jars so he can have them for lunch. He won't have to worry about refrigerating them and we can still control the amount of fat and sodium in the meals. I started with chili and it worked great. I did enough in an afternoon for him to have lunch for a month. I will still make him dinners to take up but my prep time will be a lot less! Here are some pictures of the chili.

I also used my crazy growing cucumbers from my garden and made us enough relish to last until next summer. The relish was unbelievably easy to make and so delicious.

I have plans to can every evening for the next week, salsa, stew, Shepard's pie mix, chutney, more chili, soup and spaghetti sauce. The local farmers markets have such great prices on produce right now - I'm going to take advantage of the fresh veggies and fill my pantry with easy meals. I think this will really help get me through those inevitable slumps when making a healthy meals seems so hard. My grandma would be so proud of me!!!

I went to the gym again last night (yay to the exercise bug biting me again!!) and I had a great workout. I did a vigorous 30 minutes on the elliptical - I was sweating like a maniac. I can't believe that I used to hate sweating, I thought it was gross and nasty - now when I sweat in a workout it makes me feel proud of how I can push myself and I see it as a sign of strength. The scale has fallen a little more in the past few days and I think I will be back under 210 by my next official weigh in woo hoo!

Weigh-in... Down 0.8

2009-09-17T00:04:00.000-07:00

A loss is a loss and I'll take that .8 with a smile on my face! I went to a Cardio-Kickbox class tonight and it kicked my ass. It has been awhile since I have seen sweat drip from my nose onto my mat as I do pushups and leg lifts (sorry if that was TMI). I feel good though.. strong and in control!

I did a little updating to my blog tonight. So many of the bloggers I had originally linked too have disapeared from blogland and I have discovered many new blog buddies over the past months so I thought an revamp of my inspiration list was in order. I read a lot of blogs but the ones featured are of particular inspiration to me these days, if you have not read any of them you are in for a treat.. check them out!

Finding my inner farmer's wife...

2009-09-15T23:54:00.000-07:00

So I have been trying this year to eat 'cleaner'. We have cut down on the amount of processed food we are consuming and are trying to make things fresh and homemade where ever possible. So continuing in that spirit I spent the afternoon turning my great backyard tomato harvest into cans of sauce that I can enjoy this winter. This was my first experience in canning and it was actually kind of fun. Tomorrow I am going to make cucumber relish with the mountain of cucumbers my husband picked from our plants this afternoon.

We had some friends come for dinner on Saturday night. DH caught a beautiful Salmon in the morning so we grilled it simply with lemon and olive oil. I also served roasted potatoes and asparagus. The highlight of the dinner was this Strawberry Cake I made. It is from the Barefoot Contessa's' latest book Back to Basics. The cake was ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS and absolutely not weight watchers friendly, but I feel like it was worth every calorie!Here are the fish DH caught that morning. We grilled up half of one for dinner and he canned the rest (I'll let you know how that worked when we sample one of the jars in a few days). He has been fishing up a storm and out freezer is full. I think I am going to borrow a friends smoker if he catches any more, I love smoked salmon!

On Sunday we went on another all day bike ride. We went along an ocean route heading up Vancouver Island to Miracle Beach/Saratoga Beach near Campbell River. It was a great day of riding, I felt strong! When we finally got home we had ridden 68km and burned almost 2000 calories. Here is a picture of Miracle beach.. beautiful!!

Jazz Hands!!!

2009-09-11T02:16:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken at my friends wedding and posted on facebook for the world to see. It is pretty funny and shows pretty much how I a feeling tonight. I did a class at the gym tonight... it was called No Jump Pump (although there was a lot of bouncing involved) It is the first class I have been to since June. I am happy to say that all the biking I have been doing has not let my cardio slip as bad as I thought. My friend went with me (she joined the gym just recently) and though she is smaller than me she was way more winded and sweaty that I was. It felt good to be sweating and huffing and puffing again. We are planning on swimming tomorrow night - one of my favourite exercises but something I have not done at all this summer (except playing in the lake).

Food has been pretty good too, here is a picture of the Turk De Soleil burgers I made the other night (from ESBM). They were delicious!

Weekly weigh-in

2009-09-09T22:00:00.001-07:00

I am back to doing an honest weekly weigh-in. This morning the scale read 212.6. Not a huge loss but 1.4 pounds from the same time last week. Tomorrow I am headed to the gym after work with a friend and DH and I have another monster bike ride planned for Sunday - the mapped out route is 80km.

Hanging my head... shuffling my feet... can I come back to blogland?

2009-09-03T00:10:00.000-07:00

It has been almost a month since I last posted. That is my longest stretch of non-blogging in 18 months. A lot happened in the past month - some good some bad:

My brother got married!

My best friend got married!

I took 12 days off work to hang out with family and friends

I went on a vigorous 70km mountain bike ride through some really tough trails

I went on two short-notice work trips involving many meals out

I stopped counting points or calories

I did not exercise regularly

I drank way way to many iced lattes

I ate a lot of cake!

I drank a lot of wine, tequila, margaritas, cider, pina coladas

I gained 12 pounds.....

I am really hoping that a good solid week back on plan will take care of at least 5 of those 12. This morning my jeans felt a little tight.... I do not want to fall off the wagon, I am not too far out of control not to be able to reign myself back in.

I made a meal plan for the week, got groceries, made a healthy delicious dinner and plan on a long bike ride or walk after work tomorrow.

Here are a couple of pictures from the weddings, and other vacation goodies... can't wait to catch up on all of your blogs, I hope everyone has not given up on me!

2009-08-09T18:51:00.000-07:00

Another day, another picture collage of my evening walk with my favourite girl. She is always smiling or sniffing so I had to get pictures of her doing both. Does anyone know what the orange plant is close to the bottom of the collage. The blooms were like little paper lanterns.. so pretty, I want this for my garden. My food today has been good, we are leaving on Tuesday for a three day camping trip so I am making a list of healthy meals to make while at the lake.. thanks to my blog I can look back at the trip we made last year and get some inspiration for the grocery list.

Hope you are not too bored with the pictures, whatever makes exercise more fun!!

2009-08-08T21:13:00.000-07:00

I was reading a blog last week (sorry I can't remember which one) and to get motivated the writer took pictures during her daily walk and then posted them. I found it really interesting to have a glimpse into her walk, and since I love to take pictures; I thought I would do the same.

So here is the first installment of the sites of my evening walk (click picture to enlarge). Included are the strange winding path, blackberry bushes, the marsh where the scary Blue Heron hangs out, the storm brewing in the sky, some lovely flowers and my house as I rounded the corner on the way back.

Today was day two of counting points for me and I did good here is the menu du jour:

breakfast: flax cereal with soy milk and agave (4)

snack: baked chips (4)

lunch: shrimp and veggie rice (6) raw veggies (0) apple (1) yogurt (1)

dinner: tuna melt with tomato (8)

snack: smoothie with berries and soymilk (4)

The most exciting news of all is that I went to the gym last night after work!!!!! I barely remembered how to get there it has been so long. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical, 20 minutes of free weights and 15 minutes of situps/pushups with the ball.

I feel my mojo coming back............ fingers crossed!

Heat Wave

2009-08-06T18:46:00.000-07:00

There has been a ridiculous heat wave burning through my edge of the country and we were hit with temperatures between 35-40 degrees for about 6 days. We are not used to that kind of heat and dry weather, and it zapped any energy I had. I did not cook a proper meal or do any active exercise during that time. The weather has cooled a little in the past couple of days and I am trying to get back on track. The week of eating out and laying in front of the fan for hours caused me to gain 4 pounds. I am done with whining about my stalled weight loss efforts.. its time to make myself accountable again.

Yesterday DH and I went on a 40km bike ride through some trails, down to the ocean and then some highway riding. My cardio is starting to slip from lack of strenuous exercise and I really felt those 40km.

Onto something more positive.. my garden is doing fantastic! Here are some pictures of some of the fresh veggies I have been enjoying straight from my backyard.

Fennel

Purple Haze and Rainbow Carrots

Parsnips

Swiss Chard

We picked up a big box of blueberries the other day so for the first time in a few weeks I pulled out my cookbooks and made some healthy goodies. Blueberry Crisp from Eat Shrink and Be Merry and Blueberry Muffins from Hungry Girl 200 under 200.

I am going to start taking this one day at a time (really one meal at a time) for this week. My plan is to use up the protein in my freezer and the veggies in my garden, no going out or grocery store visits until Monday. Hope you are all doing well.. Im off to visit your blogs for some inspiration!

Still here

2009-07-26T08:27:00.000-07:00

Sorry for neglecting my blog. I am still here, still struggling but I am maintaining my weight and not gaining. I just cant seem to make myself be consistent. I am by no means out of control but have just lost focus. I have a friend who just joined my gym, I hope that going with her will kick start me back into regular exercise.

Sigh... wish I could get my mojo back!

2 clean days and counting..

2009-07-15T19:30:00.000-07:00

Why is this so hard right now? I spent 12 months eating healthy food and exercising regularly and lost 60 pounds. I have spent the last 6 months kind of on plan and have lost only 10 pounds. In the last two weeks I have eaten things that I never allowed in my mouth during my year of 'healthy only' and apparently I have decided that a day is not complete without some form of full fat full sugar chocolate involved. On a positive note I really feel that I have conquered the portion control demon that has plagued me my whole life, I understand what a 'portion' looks like and keep my meals in check. My issue is with the extras that keep creeping in, a handful of chocolate chips, extra raisins on my morning cereal, small ice cream at DQ, bag of baked chips in the afternoon (every afternoon??) extra glass of milk before bed. None of these things are leading to binges but they add up enough to keep my weightloss stagnant.

I think I was getting frustrated with my plateau.. I was doing everything right and stopped losing so I figured I might as well have some little treats so the lack of weight loss had some benefit (wow that is a messed up idea.... hmmm I think a lightbulb just went off!!). The exercise has also fallen off track.. I used to love going to the gym, swimming, yoga class etc... now (other than the biking) I have not done any of those things in weeks. Time to suck it up and get back to where I was. This morning I weighed 205.6... why am I sabotaging my trip to onederland..

Sorry for the rambling post, just trying to sort out my mental state. Life really is good right now, having a fun summer, enjoying time with DH I just need to kick my butt into gear on the weightloss front.

I HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL AND WILL BE SUCCESSFUL AGAIN!!!!!

Tough Love

2009-07-13T01:29:00.000-07:00

That is what I need, I wrote that last post committing myself to counting points, staying on track, blah blah blah... and I did none of it. This morning I weighed 206lbs. Not a huge gain but moving in the wrong direction none the less. I have been doing the... 'oh Ive been so good Ill just have a little of this' or 'Ill make cookies for DH and his co-workers and pop a few into my mouth as well'. The most frustrating part is that I really don't feel bad about it. I do what to lose these last 25-30 pounds but I am so much happier with myself physically, emotionally, etc.. than I was a year ago that it is hard to get mad at myself for and splurging on an ice cream cone now and then. But, I know this is a slippery slope and I have to regain some of my focus and get back into a regular routine. It has not been all bad - DH and I got in a 30km bike today on a trail system in a nearby town - here is a picture he took of me deep in the bush (I am trying to avoid tan lines so I can wear a strapless dress to an upcoming wedding - hence the 80's flashback tube top!)

Tomorrows goals:

Menu plan for the week and do 60 minutes of Wii (DDR and/or Active)

Blog in the evening whether I was successful or not!

Camping Chaos

2009-07-06T23:17:00.000-07:00

I am back from my camping trip and I did pretty well as far as what I ate. I mostly stuck to my turkey dogs and the raw veggies and dip that I brought. Friday night was our actual anniversary and even though we had already done a private celebration my sister had planned a little camping party. My parents and DH's parents all drove out to the campground for dinner. Here are some pictures of the party. The first is my sister giving our 10th anniversary toast and then next are us with the cake that my mom brought out.

The trip was a lot of fun as it always is. We swam lots.. my DH discovered that now that I am smaller he can pick me up in the water and toss me, flip me, put me on his shoulders etc... my nieces loved that because it is usually me doing those things to them. We brought our bikes as well and got in some nice trail rides (loving the new bike!!!)

I did eat some of the junk food that my sister brought. Not a lot, but enough to make me feel bloated and tired today. I really need to find the resolve that I had not too long ago and the will power to say no to the unhealthy food that I don't even really like anymore. I am going to get back on track with counting points this week, I have been counting in my head lately but I know I need to get back to writing my intake down. I did some meal planning today and filled my fridge with healthy groceries. I have made a delicious lunch for tomorrow and have prepped veggies for the next few days. I will be posting my menu here for the next week.

Finally is this picture of the first zucchini from my garden, I grilled this little beauty on the BBQ with some balsamic vinegar... mmmmm delicious. I can't wait until all the other veggies I have planted are ready to be eaten!

details

2009-06-30T23:43:00.000-07:00

For those who wanted more details on my pretty new bike here is the link to the website. I am leaving tomorrow for our annual family camping trip. I have prepared lots of healthy fruits and veggies, stocked up on turkey dogs, egg beaters, turkey sausages, baked chips and salsa. I plan to stay on plan while I'm aways so I can post another loss next week.

See you Sunday with good news and some pictures.

This post dedicated to DH

2009-06-25T20:40:00.000-07:00

DH and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary yesterday and today (it is actually next week but we will be camping with family then and wanted to have a day for just us.) My DH surprised me after work yesterday with a lovely meal (salad with chicken, grilled cherry tomatoes, avocado, grilled corn and other lovely veggies).

We exchanged gifts - he is very hard to buy for so I booked us a full day of white water rafting in a couple of weeks. He has always wanted to do that so is excited about his gift. He gave me a new IPod touch, great gift but the best part was that he had preloaded it with all the hit songs from 1999 (the year we got married) and a few movies that we watched that year. What a sweetheart! We then went to the movies and watched The Proposal (great date movie!) and had a really lovely evening. Today we had planned a long bike ride but got caught in a rain storm. Luckily we were close to this cute little diner/bakery out in the country so we had a little lunch and then turned back for home when the rain eased up.

Once we were home DH said he had another surprise for me, we go in the car and headed to a local bike shop. I had done a lot of research on a new bike (my cheap shockless mountain bike is really hard on my back) and he had emailed around to find the one I have been coveting. We picked up my new beauty this afternoon. Unfortunately due to the rain I have only been out on a ten minute ride but it is sooooo comfortable and speedy!

We had a lovely anniversary celebration. All together we have been together for 14 years - I was only 18 (and he was 19) when we began dating so really we have grown up together. Like every relationship we have had good times and bad times. A few years ago we went through a really dark period and last night as we were holding hands at the movie, and stealing kisses on our evening walk I was thinking about how grateful I am that we have never given up on our relationship. Things now are better than ever and I am so very thankful that I have him as my partner through life.

Ok, enough sappiness.. I still owe you all the frozen 'yogurt' recipe I promised.

This comes from the latest Clean Eating Magazine:

2 cups frozen raspberries
1 package soft tofu
1/2 cup sugar free soy milk

1/4 cup agave nectar

1/4 cup orange juice

1 tbsp lemon juice

Whizz all ingredients for a couple minutes in a food processor and then transfer to ice cream maker. It was really good and really low points. A little tart though, I think I will leave out the lemon juice next time.

Stress relief

2009-06-23T23:42:00.000-07:00

My husband shared a theory with me the other day. He thinks that my weight plateau, stubborn headaches, TOM issues, insomnia, chronic back pain etc.. may be caused (to some degree at least) by stress. Generally my life is not extremely stressful but I am one of life's eternally positive people and keeping up a smiling face and fending of negative vibes all day long can be draining. When my sister began having a difficult time a few months ago I took a lot of her pain and stress onto myself, when DH lost his good friend a few weeks ago I was desperate to find some way to console my husband and try to make it better. Last week a co-worker divulged a very serious secret to me and asked me to keep it confidential until she decided how to proceed. DH could see (before I could myself) that the weight of all of these painful situations was beginning to chip away at my emotional stability, it always begins with lack of sleep - which becomes the root cause of many other physical ailments. So my little vacation could not have come at a better time.

By day two in Calgary I had had a great nights sleep and was no longer thinking about anyone but myself and spending time with my best friend and reconnecting with him after not seeing each other for almost a year. Besides DH, my friend P is the one person I can completely let my guard down with and just be me, what a wonderful gift to have someone like that in my life. So, the conclusion to my story is that after 5 days of 'me time' I came home in bright spirits, well rested, eager to get back into my life, and was greeted with this:

Seeing that after being away from home for a week, making good eating choices but indulging a few times, really makes me think that there is more to this weight loss thing than calories in and calories out. So my pledge for the next week is to try and maintain my calm mindset - I will commit to spending time doing the things that relax me (yoga, reading, biking, cooking) and try to get at least 7 hours of sleep a night (I usually average 5).

I will be back tomorrow with a great recipe I tried for frozen 'yogurt'.

Vacation ups and downs

2009-06-20T23:23:00.000-07:00

I am getting ready to fall asleep on my last day of vacation in Calgary. I am at my girlfriends house and have had a really wonderful time visiting with old friends over the past 5 days. I did a ton of shopping (my only form of exercise here) and once again trying on clothes with my new body never seems to get old. I purchased a dress and coat at Banana Republic (a store which fitting their clothes once seemed like an impossibility). I also bought the most adorable red bathing suit that I will post a picture of myself in the next time we go to the lake (it is so cute I actually like the way I look in it). I also bought some summer 'transition' clothes at Old Navy (hopefully will be too big next summer) and found out that I am a Large size there now. It was so much fun being able to try on all sorts of clothes with my friends and not being the chubby one just sitting around giving my opinion.

Food on this trip has been 75% good. I made good choices most of the time when eating out. For the first three days I was staying with my very best friend and he and I cooked some great delicious healthy meals. Before I moved from Calgary getting together and throwing fabulous dinner parties was one of our favourite things to do, it means a lot to me that he 100% supports my new lifestyle and we were still able to have fun cooking together like old times. For the past two days I have been at another friends house and she is a 'clean eater' so delicious and healthy are always on the menu.

I did have two big splurges though. Last night I met some friends for dinner at a funky little restaurant and I had a Lobster Grilled Cheese with fries. It was lobster and brie on grilled sourdough along with shoe string fries. I gave away half my fries and 1/4 of my sandwich - it was delicious!!!!! I also had half of an apple tart and ice cream. I never eat this kind of food anymore.. I savoured every delicious bite, but am still paying for it with a stomach ache and bloating. Tonight after a healthy dinner my friend and her fiance and I went to Dairy Queen for a treat. A small choco cherry blizzard was my last vacation goodie.. I don't feel bad about it and enjoyed it as well.

I don't think I will see too much of a gain when I get home tomorrow and I am really looking forward to getting back into my routine. My flight is and early one so I have the afternoon to meal plan, grocery shop, food prep and set out some activity goals for the upcoming week. The past three weeks have been emotionally and physically rough but I feel recharged and eager to jump back into my life. I feel bad that DH has been working while I have been on this vacation but I know I will be a better wife and friend to him after taking this time for myself.

Hope you are all well, looking forward to catching up on all your blogs.

Feeling better

2009-06-16T13:56:00.000-07:00

I am feeling better.. getting my energy back. I am about to hop on the plane so will post when I get back from Calgary. Hopefully I will stay strong and make good eating decisions.. I really want to hit onederland soon.

Suffering

2009-06-14T17:53:00.000-07:00

I will try not to gross anyone out with too much information (I am not the kind to talk much about bodily functions - even to my closest friends) but I am once again suffering from TOM. I am on day 4 of the heaviest period I have had in years. It has zapped any bit of energy I have, I dont want to cook, eat, exercise or get out of bed. The cramps had me in tears yesterday. I went with DH to our friends funeral and that left me completely exhausted physically and emotionally.

I know I need to see a doctor, I don't have a family doctor here since we moved a year ago, I think I am trying to avoid the process I have been through in the past. Poked, prodded, medicated etc.. but it is really starting to effect my life.

I am on vacation this week, DH is back at work and will be working overtime for the next 10 days so I think I am going to fly to Calgary and visit some friends, clear my head and will deal with my rebelling body when I get back.

Some new recipes

2009-06-11T22:29:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to post some of my recent recipes adventures for awhile now. These are two new family favourites, both from the Hungry Girl 200 under 200 cookbook. The first is Sweet and Chunky Chicken Salad:

1 cup (about 4.5 oz.) cooked & roughly chopped skinless lean chicken breast

1/2 cup chopped Persian or Kirby cucumber**

1/3 cup red seedless grapes, halved

1/3 cup chopped apple

1/4 cup plain fat-free yogurt

2 tbsp. fat-free mayonnaise

1 no-calorie sweetener packet (like Splenda)

1/4 tsp. lemon pepper seasoning

dash salt

Directions: Mix together the yogurt, mayonnaise, sweetener, lemon pepper seasoning, and salt. Coat the chicken in this mixture, and then stir in the chopped cucumber, grape halves, and chopped apple. MAKES 2 SERVINGS

This is so creamy and yummy, I have made it three times in the past week, a cup is only three points - I love it in a 2 point wrap for a delicious and filling lunch. I am lot a huge fan of lemon pepper so I substituted cumin to give it a little kick.

The next recipe is for Chocolate Chip Softies. They are big chewy 2 point cookies that are satisfying and filling. DH really liked these - they are closer to a muffin top than a cookie. The only picture I have is of me chowing down during a bike ride pit stop.

3/4 cup whole-wheat flour

1/2 cup Splenda No Calorie Sweetener (granulated)

6 tbsp. unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup canned pure pumpkin

1/4 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute (like Egg Beaters)

2 1/2 tbsp. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 tbsp. brown sugar, not packed

3/4 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/8 tsp. salt

Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients except for the chocolate chips (flour, Splenda, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt). Mix well. In a separate bowl, mix together all wet ingredients (applesauce, pumpkin, egg substitute, and vanilla extract). Add this mixture to the dry ingredients, and stir until completely blended. Then, fold in the chocolate chips. Spray a large baking pan with nonstick spray, and spoon batter into 8 evenly spaced circles. Place pan in the oven for about 10 minutes (until cookies appear done and feel firm). Remove pan from the oven and allow cookies to cool slightly. For best results, enjoy while the cookies are still warm and the chips are still melty! MAKES 8 SERVINGS

Cycling to solitude

2009-06-10T08:23:00.000-07:00

Thank you for all your kind thoughts after my last post. DH is doing a bit better, still sad and angry of course. We both had the day off yesterday and decided we needed to get away from everything and work off some of the tension surrounding us. So, we hopped on our bikes and cycled 20km to a little ferry terminal, hopped on the boat and cycled our way around Denman Island. The ferry ride is only about 15 minutes but on the other side is a peaceful little island with a scattered population of retired nature lovers, artists and hippies. Being a Tuesday afternoon, we hardly saw a sole the entire time. It is a 30km ride to circle the island - at the southern tip we parked are bikes and did a 5km (round trip) hike to a lookout point and were greeted with this lovely view.

Here is a picture of me checking out the little tourist map we were given on the ferry - not that there was much chance of getting lost.

A well-earned ice cream cone while waiting for the ferry home.

Every thing considered it was a really nice day. The odometer on my bike told me we went 70km total and today my butt is telling me not to do that again for awhile! We have one day left of our 'weekend' so are headed to the lake for some relaxation and a picnic in the sun.

Thanks again for all your kind words, Our friend was a nature lover and an avid cyclist, I know he would be happy with how we chose to remember him yesterday.

Sad and conflicted

2009-06-07T23:21:00.000-07:00

I have debated about writing about this at all, a trivial blog post from me seems ridiculous after all that has happened but I need to let out some of my feelings somewhere and I guess this anonymous forum is as good as any. Sorry, getting ahead of myself..

On Thursday afternoon I was in Victoria shopping with a visiting girlfriend, we were in the car, laughing and reminiscing when my cell phone rang. It was my husband calling from work, he was sobbing, and after some coaxing he told me that friend/co-worker/room mate was killed while driving on the highway in the afternoon. A drunk driver crossed the line and hit him head on, he was killed instantly. I only met this man a handful of times but he and my DH have been sharing an apartment for the past 8 months as they both worked shifts in the little isolated town. They would go hiking together a lot and being 25 years older than DH he was a father figure to him, he had a wife, children, and grand children. He was kind, funny, gentle, energetic and always smiling.

Since then my emotions have gone from concern for my DH's grief, intense relief that it was not my DH on that highway at that moment, guilt for feeling such relief, overwhelming sadness for his wife and family, intense anger at the man who chose to drive drunk (who is still alive in a local hospital), and a crippling desire to never let my DH out of my sight again. Yesterday we went to visit his wife. It was gut-wrenchingly sad to see her struggling to compose her grief and anger while those of us surrounding her had no words that would come close to expressing what we were feeling.

DH had to go back to work today - only one shift. He will be back tomorrow for four days. I have spent every minute since he left trying not to think about how, like our friends wife, I could lose him in a second. I am distracting myself my mindlessly cleaning and eating (sometimes at the same time). My chest, head, and stomach all feel like they are being squeezed by a vice. I have always been a person that believes every thing happens for a reason. It is still too close, I see not reason, purpose or fairness in this senseless tragedy.

So tonight, maybe you argued with someone you love, or were too busy or tired to take the time to tell them how much you love them or how much they mean to you. If they were gone in the next second, would you doubt that their last memory of you represented your true feelings? I know that from now on I will not let DH out of my sight without confirmation of our mutual love and contentment with each other.

Sorry to ramble on, I feel so selfish making this about me, but I have to do something to relieve this pressure.

Finally some new Blog Bling!

2009-06-04T08:33:00.000-07:00

I finally lost the .2lbs I needed to reach 65lbs lost. I have lost and gained this 5 lbs about 10 times since January, I still have not found the magic key to unlocking this plateau for good but really I am not too upset about it. I am getting stronger, and more toned every week. I am eating healthy wholesome food 90% of the time and any treats are planned and accounted for. If I do not break out of the plateau by the end of the summer I think I will have to seek some medical advice - I was checked for thyroid issues and PCOS a few years ago but I am beginning to wonder if there is a medical reason for mt stalling progress.

The past few days have gone well. I did a 40km bike ride on Monday, a 20km ride on Tuesday and have done two thirty minute sessions with my new toy. The EA Active for Wii. This is a really fun workout tool and way more intensive than the Wii fit. I was sweating during my workout and today my quads are aching from all the lunges. It has a great 30 day challenge feature that I am currently working on.

I have a few new recipes to share but DH took our camera when he went away to work for a few days so they will have to wait until next week. Take care all!

Time to regroup

2009-05-30T17:37:00.000-07:00

I have completed my 2 week plan of clean eating. It was easier than I thought but it did not break this plateau I can't seem to shake. I did not count points just ate until I was full. I have been struggling to eat breakfast and my meal planning has been lax this week. This often leads me to eat nothing but fruit and veggies during the day and then a great big dinner when I am starving after work. The hardest part for me has been giving up my Crystal Light. I am struggling to get in enough water. So even though I have been 'eating clean' I am not doing everything I should. Plan for this week is to sit down tonight and make a meal plan for the next 5 days. I will restock my fridge with things to make delicious meals. I am going to track points this week as well.

Exercise this week was good - a cardio kickboxing class (killer!!), yoga class, treadmill time, 10km bike ride, 2 hours of DDR and a few at home yoga sessions. For the upcoming week I have a 50km bike ride planned for Monday, yoga Tuesday, weight training on Thursday. I have also been working hard finishing our backyard. We bought this house brand new so the yard was a blank slate. Here are a couple pictures now that stage one is done.

The deck, grass, planters and beds are all new. We have planted brussel sprouts, radishes, cauliflower, beets, tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce, spinach, squash, zucchini, fennel, leeks, carrots, parsnips, shallots and swiss chard. I am looking forward to a summer full of fresh produce from mr garden. I am already enjoying my spinach on a daily basis.

Quickie

2009-05-28T23:22:00.000-07:00

Still here, still doing pretty good, very busy working on my garden. Will post a more thorough update soon.

Not much to report...

2009-05-22T22:27:00.000-07:00

After my post on Tuesday I managed to dig up the inner strength I needed to get through two terrible days of cravings. I definitely ate more than usual but did keep to my clean eating plan. I was craving carbs... and chocolate... I baked some of the coconut banana mini muffins (recipe posted a few months ago) and ate many many many of them over the past few days - but at 1 point each the damage as minimal. I also overdosed on pineapple (even grilling it with dinner last night) and had a lovely organic ginger-dark chocolate bar from the health food store.

I have stayed away from the scale but I can tell the water retention in fading and the ravenous cravings are gone. I will weigh in tomorrow morning and assess any damage.

I wanted to give an update on my DH's weight loss progress as he fell of the wagon in a big way after Christmas. He had lost 60 pounds from May-Dec last year. He put back on 20 from Dec 24th - March 1 of this year. I continue to pack him healthy delicious food for his meals while he is working away 4 days a week but he slipped back into his old habits of supplementing boredom with donuts, cheezies and the McDonalds stops twice a week on the way in and out of town. Those twenty pounds were very noticeable to him, clothes fitting too tight, feet and back sore at work etc... I am happy to say that he has dropped those twenty pounds in the past 10 weeks and is back to his lowest weight before Christmas. His trouble is lack of will power - he likes the instant gratification of getting what he wants, but he does not regret it afterward, he does not beat himself up over it, he does not go through the mental self-abuse that I do. At a monstrous 6 foot 5 he is also not 'obese' he is just 'overweight' - he is healthy and active, just likes donuts too much.

I was thinking today about how he and I have different struggles with our weight. For me it really is all or nothing, and I know that is a mind frame I need to work on. I do not allow myself to slip up very often. I am terrified that it will trigger some binge button that I have buried. I am proud of my willpower but I wish I could trust myself to enjoy a 'bit' of some old favourite foods.

These are things that I have not put in my mouth in 18 months:

a french fry
non-diet pop
potato chip (non-baked)
donut
store bought cookies
dairy queen anything
pub chicken wings
starbucks frappachino
jelly beans, gummi bears, licorice
pizza from a restaurant (or take out)

Before you say 'yay you' I'm starting to think my fear of these foods is not healthy. The ability to fall completely off track and binge on these things has been weighing heavily on my mind this week as I struggle with cravings. I read others blogs about how they slip up, binge and spiral into a cycle of eat-regret-eat. I don't want that to be me.. but I want to have a healthy relationship with food. As I get closer to my goal weight I have been thinking about why so many people lose 50-100 pounds only to gain it back (often plus more). I know why I gained my weight, I think I have tackled some of those emotional demons but I don't know if I have the coping mechanisms yet if another life crisis comes my way.

Not sure where I am going with this train of thought, but what better place than my blog to put it out into the universe in hopes of an answer.

Chomp chomp chomp...

2009-05-19T20:34:00.001-07:00

I could seriously eat my left arm right now. I am PMSing like crazy and I want CHOCOLATE!!! This is the third month in a row that I have had these crazy cravings. I am usually really in control and strong, but tonight I keep opening the cupboards and fridge hoping that some cookies and ice cream will magically appear.

It does help to know what it is.. it also helps that all signs of junk food are banished from my house. I am about to cut into a fresh pineapple - I might eat the entire thing but at least it is not a tub of Ben and Jerry's.

My plan to get through the next few days:

1. Put away the scale - I am a daily weigher but this time of the month is too hard on my ego
2. Resume counting points - I am still eating clean but fear my portion control will lose some control
3. Bring lots of healthy food for lunch - veggies and hummus I can snack on all day long

Ok, feels better to get that out! Off to conquer the pineapple now!

Too many AP to count..

2009-05-17T22:25:00.000-07:00

DH and I have been biking every weekend since the nice weather started. First ride was 12km, second was 20, third was 26. So today we decided we would do 50km. I mapped out a route using MapMyWalk.com (great site BTW), packed a picnic lunch and we set out around 11am. The weather was beautiful and the route I chose had us going along the ocean, through the navel base, to a ferry terminal, inland to some rain forest trails, and some old country roads.

I printed off the map but we missed a turn out in the country, by the time we were back on track and made our way home we had ridden 65km!!!!!!!!!! I am so freaking proud of myself
(and DH of course). If you had told me 18 months ago that I would ride 65km I never would have believed it. We had such a wonderful time. Lots of tough uphills but a good amount of fun downhills through scenery that has to be some of the best in the world - I live in a gorgeous place. Here are some pictures we took during some pit stops.

As we were having lunch at the beach near the airforce base we saw F18s practicing maneuvers. Last ride the Snowbirds were practicing as well. An amazing site for sure!

Me enjoying and apple at our first pit stop (Km 10) Lunch spot (km 25) Beautiful spot - DH really seems to be enjoying his turkey wrap!

This is at a BC Ferry Terminal that services Powell River (km 35)

This is at a little country store (KM 40) You can see the beginning of the sunburn I am now sporting. We had a couple of real fruit Popsicles and restocked our water bottles.

The final two pictures are shots of the bike odometer I bought a few weeks ago. It has a sensor that attaches to your tires and measures your speed and distance. It also allows you to input your age and weight so I can give you an estimate of calories burned. The first picture is showing the total distance travelled and the second is the estimated calories burned 1593.7 woohoo).

Ok, thanks for looking at my pictures. I am so tired, time for bed!!!!

Snacks

2009-05-14T21:21:00.000-07:00

Today's WI and I was down 1lb!! Since I started my clean eating plan I have been losing a little everyday. It is so reassuring to step on the scale every morning and see a little dip. I am fine with slow and steady as long as it is in the right direction. Exercise was good this week as well. I did a cardio jump class (killer!!!), a yoga class, a few sessions with my Wii Fit and a nice long bike ride with DH.

I was in the mood for some finger food yesterday (love appetizers for dinner) so I made some chicken fingers the clean eating way. I cut up some local organic chicken breasts and soaked them in buttermilk for a couple of hours. The coating was some Nature's Path Flax Plus cereal whizzed in the food processor mixed with some spices. I sprayed them with Pam and baked them at 375 for 30 minutes (flipping once) They were so yummy, better than the chicken fingers you get in most restaurants. This will definitely make it into the regular meal rotation.

A little note about the cereal I used. It is by far the most nutritious, good tasting cereal I have found. 7 grams of fibre, 110 calories and only 1.5g fat in 3/4 of a cup. Has a slightly sweet nutty taste, stays crunchy in milk and it is available at Costco for a reasonable price. Ok, unendorsed commercial over.

To go with the chicken strips I made some hummus to serve with a big platter or raw veggies. The hummus recipe is from the Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook.

1 can chickpeas rinsed and drained

1/2 cup ff plain yogurt

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

3 cloves garlic

2 tsp olive oil

1 tbsp water

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cumin

1/8 tsp pepper

Whizz in food processor and serve. So easy and only 2 points for 1/4 cup.

Kitchen Creativity

2009-05-09T01:01:00.000-07:00

I have a few recipes from today's kitchen experiments that I would like to share with you. First is fish tacos for lunch. I did not follow a specific recipe - just pan fried some snapper in olive oil and spices. I marinated chopped cabbage in apple cider vinegar and agave nectar while the snapper cooked. Two whole grain flax tortillas, cabbage, snapper, tomatoes and some plain yogurt (drained over cheese cloth to make it really thick). These were delicious, next time I will make some kind of citrus salsa to go with them.

For dinner we had a recipe from the Jan/Feb issue of Clean Eating Magazine.

Spicy Turkey & Chickpea Burgers(Adapted from Clean Eating)

Serves 4 (or 2 with leftover patties)

1 (15 oz.) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

3 green onions, white and green parts, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 tsp. ground cumin

1/4 tsp. chili powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

a handful of fresh parsley, chopped

2 TBS. Worcestershire sauce

3/4 lb. ground turkey

2 TBS. olive oil

These burgers were yummy, kind of half felafel half burger. Only 3 points per patty. Add in a whole grain bun, some sweet potato fries and steamed broccoli, the entire dinner was only 8 points!!

The last recipe is from the new Hungry Girl 200 under 200 cookbook. Pina Colada Cupcakes. I made these for a mother's day BBQ at my brothers house. If you like pineapple and coconut you will love these and they will only cost you 2 points. I am still trying to 'eat clean' but I did try a bite of one of these and it was really tasty. This book has lots of fun ideas and unique recipes - I have a few more planned to try this week.

WI result..

2009-05-06T23:19:00.000-07:00

I am down 4lbs from this time last week and only 1.5 up from my lowest weight three weeks ago. I have stuck to my clean eating plan and have not been counting points. I feel pretty good about my portion control and so far it has been a good experiment to see if I will ever be able to live without constantly adding up calories (points). I am committed to at least one more week and I am hoping to be below 204 by the time I post this time next week.

Exercise was great this week as well. I logged 60km on my bike and we even did some highway riding, something that always scared me in the past. It was nice to be on such a long open stretch of road soaking up the sunshine. I also had a couple great workouts at the gym, a hike with DH and I went to an aquafit class with a girlfriend last night. It is now POURING rain outside, and though my newly planted veggie garden is loving the moisture I am sad to see my bike looking longingly at my from the garage.

Onto some fun blogging news, I was tagged by Ugly Girl with a Beautiful Heart (who is anything but an ugly girl!!) for my first blog award. Her blog is always open and honest and I admire her strength!

Now it is my turn to send this off to five others.

Here are the rules for those who are tagged:

Pass it along to 5 fellow super bloggers, and comment on their blog to let them know how lucky they are today!When you present your Super Blogger awards, link back to the super blogger who gave it to you.

1. Janet at The Crumbling Muffin Top. She gives me fantastic recipe ideas and is always there with encouragement when I need it. I am always happy to see a new post from her!

2. Natasha at Girl Stuck in a Rut. She was one of the first to comment on my blog and I love her never give up attitude!

3. Julie at New Start-New Life. Hers was one of the first blogs I read when making the decision to do this. What an inspiration!!!!

4. Weight By the Seashore. Our stats are very similar.. though she is always a step ahead of me, keeping me motivated. Her blog is honest and very real.

5. Debiggering. If you have not read her blog, you definitely should. Always open and entertaining - and her commitment to achieving her goals is inspiring.

These are just a few of my favourite blogs and If you have not read them already I'm sure you will love reading them as much as I do!

Pasta lovers prepare to drool..

2009-05-04T21:47:00.000-07:00

Last week I posted about the fresh fettuccine we made with my Christmas present. DH really wanted to try and make fresh ravioli. I was in charge of the filling and he made the pasta dough (since I made a pretty big mess last time). For the filling I roasted a butternut squash with a little olive oil, and then put it in the food processor with some sauteed shallots, grated pecorino cheese, salt and pepper. Once he had the dough kneaded we rolled it out and I used a piping bad to fill the pasta. Cut with a cookie cutter, boil for a few minutes, used a little lemon and a sprinkling of cheese to garnish and voila! A delicious dinner. I only had four of these little beauties, I have been doing so great on my plan that I did not want to introduce too much of the white flour into my newly cleaned out system. I ate my small portion slowly and enjoyed every single bite! It was actually much easier than I though it would be, here are a few pictures of the process.

We made up for these extra carbs with another long bike ride in the country. 20km this time before it began to drizzle and we headed back. I got a new toy to help with the biking.. I'll blog about it tomorrow.

A ride, a hike, and bison

2009-05-03T07:10:00.000-07:00

This post will be all kinds of random (to quote my 14 year old niece). We did go on the bike ride on Thursday but I forgot to pack the camera. The ride was great - took about two hours and we went 26km. Could have gone longer if not for my aching butt cheeks :) We are hoping to get out for another ride today. After the ride I felt guilty for having my pup locked up in the house on such a beautiful day so we took her to a neat by nature park for an hour of easy hiking.

My new outlook on eating is going really well. My general theory is that if it didn't grow in the ground or have a mother I'm going to try my best not to eat it. Here is yesterdays menu so you can have an Idea:

Nature's Path Flax Pus Cereal

Skim Milk

Fresh Pineapple

Clementines

Apple

Raw Veggies

Local Organic Dark Chocolate Raspberry bar (all natural ingredients)

Mango-Tofu smoothie (more on that later)

Grilled Salmon

Roasted Asparagus

Last night after dinner, DH and I were watching TV and his sweet tooth was calling too him. Usually I would whip up some ff pudding or dish out the frozen yogurt. Since none of those things are in the house right now I made us some smoothies - frozen mango, soft tofu and skim milk. I made it extra thick so we ate it with a spoon like ice cream.. yum yum yum!!

Finally I have a picture to share of a recent dinner. We picked up bison sausage from a local farm - gluten and additive free, extremely low in fat and only 100 cal each. They were so tasty with asparagus and 'smashed' new red potatoes.

A Clean Day

2009-04-30T05:50:00.000-07:00

My third day of clean eating passed perfectly. I am awake bright and early this morning - I am listening to DH sleep and hoping he will wake soon so we can enjoy the beautiful sunny day that we both have off.

I did not count points yesterday but feel great about my food. I packed my lunch for work and was not craving anything all day. Here was the menu

1 cup Flax Plus cereal
3/4 cup skim milk
Praventia Bar (these are a delicious bar made of almost all natural ingredients)
clementine
apple
homemade turkey chili (lunch)
carrot sticks
raw cauliflower
homemade turkey chili (dinner)
piece of 100% whole grain flax bread
smoothie (blueberries, soft tofu, skim milk)
fresh strawberries

I can't resist checking the points... 29 - that's only one over my daily target and it felt like I was consuming a lot of food. DH and I also went for an hour bike ride and then 1/2 hour walk with the pup. Today we are doing a 20k bike ride out in the country. It is one of our favourite routes and will be a perfect day for it. We are going out for dinner with my in laws tonight. It is a Bavarian restaurant - schnitzel and spaetzle anyone?? I already checked out the menu and they have a grilled chicken and veggie option that has my name all over it.

Ill try to take some pictures on my bike ride so you can all enjoy some of the gorgeous scenery around where I am lucky enough to call home!

Can you see the lightbulb that just went off above my head?

2009-04-28T18:23:00.001-07:00

I have been avoiding blogging for a few days, first because of the insane headaches I wrote about earlier that have been plauging me and then because I have been researching and working on a new plan for myself. I have basically stayed the same weight since Christmas even though I am eating my WW point target and working out regularly. I will lose a couple and then one high sodium meal out (even with healthy options) will cause me to instantly gain a couple pounds that take a week to get rid of. For the first year of this weight loss roller coaster I did not have this problem at all. I still have 50 pounds to lose, I should not be plateauing, it should not be this hard!

In trying to come up with a reason for my sudden PMS symptoms (including the crippling headache) I have been reading up on how hormones affect metabolism and how chemicals in the food we eat can affect our hormones. For the past year I have been filling my body with all kinds of fat free, sugar free, non-foods that have helped me transition from my old eating habits slowly without feeling deprived. But, I honestly feel like I am filling my body with processed chemicals that are making me sick and stalling my weightloss. I drink 2 litres of Crystal Light every day, I eat fat-free mayo, baked potato chips, fat-free pudding, sugar free frozen yogurt. I have looked at every nutritional information label for everything that has gone in my mouth for the past year - counting the calories, fat and fibre and figuring out the points. I never look at the ingredients though. There is some scary stuff in these foods.

These foods have definitely helped me get as far as I am and I don't think I could have lost 60 pounds without them but now I am going to start on 'Phase 2' of this journey. I don't just want to be thin, I want to be healthy. I am going to cut out as much processed food as possible and whenever possible eat organic meat and keep my pesticide consumption to a minimum. I live in a part of the country where organic meat and veggies are easily available to me - I feed my precious doggie organic dog food, don't I deserve as much? I have planted a beautiful veggie garden and will soon have wonderful produce growing right in my own backyard.

I am going to continue with weight watchers, the meetings are a great motivator and keep my momentum up. I am not going to count points for the next two weeks though. I am going to follow the plan outlined in the book 'Master Your Metabolism' (written by Jillian Michaels). Weight Watchers has taught me so much about portion control that I think I will be able to utilize my eat until satisfied skills.

So, I am committing to two weeks of clean eating. I am hoping to regain some of the lost energy of the past few months, clear my throbbing head, and hopefully see some permanent movement on the scales.

some relief

2009-04-23T22:30:00.000-07:00

I worked the afternoon shift and just got home. I packed a healthy dinner and just had then most delicious smoothie frozen mango, skim milk, 2 tbsp ff white chocolate pudding mix (powder). I have shed 3 of the water retention pms pounds I have been carrying around. My headache is clearing up and I am feeling much better today. I really hope this does not become a regular monthly occurrence for me.

I did not make it to the gym but will be going for a nice long bike ride tomorrow with DH and I WILL GO TO THE GYM ON SATURDAY (will capitol letters ensure it happens???)

This sucks..

2009-04-22T21:43:00.000-07:00

As I wrote previously I have never suffered from the usual PMS and TOM related issues.. until now!! Besides ridiculous bloating I have been suffering from an deep throbbing headache, cramping and insane cravings for chips and chocolate. It is as if an alien being has overtaken my body... and I WANT IT BACK! This is such a foreign thing to me, I feel cranky and tired and exhausted. I have not gone to the gym all week.

Seriously, anyone have any suggestions to make this gross feeling go away??

Bloating.. a revelation

2009-04-20T20:41:00.000-07:00

Last Wed I weighed 204, yesterday I was 206, today 209. I know I have been OP, this happened to me during my week of vacation and crazy exercise last month. I went back to look at the dates in my blog and it was 28 days ago.... hmmm and guess what arrived this evening??? TOM.

Bloating during TOM is probably not new to most of you but I have never had regular periods. In fact I can go many months between periods. The fact that I seem to be getting on some type of schedule, with real PMS symptoms is kind of exciting to me. I am planning on trying fertility treatments again later this year and this can only help the process.

So I will accept this temporary weight gain with a smile! But, it is amazing how much more obvious bloating is to me at 204 pounds than it was at 270 pounds.

Off to drink some water!!

Mambo Italiano..

2009-04-18T21:21:00.000-07:00

DH bought me a pasta roller for Christmas. I love to cook and have been attempting over the past year to make as much home made, preservative free, fresh and healthy food as I can. I have used the roller to make pirogi dough so far but (after finally finding the authentic pasta flour) I decided to make some basic fettuccine. DH and I braved the process together, we had fun and it was much easier than we thought. Here are some pictures of the process and finished product. Delicious!!

I also made the Sour Cream Chocolate Cupcakes from the cover of the latest Clean Eating Magazine. I think mine look just like the magazine picture. They are really good, but stuck badly to the liners. Next time I will either spray the tins and forget about the liners, or spray the liners.

A picture says it all!!!!!!

2009-04-16T09:00:00.001-07:00

Recovery

2009-04-15T21:02:00.000-07:00

After my hotel snacking induced stomach ache I regrouped and have been back OP for the past two days. I did not make it to the hotel gym but I was run off my feet working all day long and pretty much passed out at the hotel last night. I just got back home after a 3 hour drive and I am exhausted but was so excited to step on the scale and see my lowest weight to date. I weigh in tomorrow night and am hoping to see that same number on the scale at WW.

My will power was strong today - I had a full day of meetings which involved donuts, muffins, white bread sandwiches slathered in mayo, creamy pasta salad, bowls of chocolates on the tables and no diet pop (WTF!!!). I skipped the high calorie breakfast foods (had lots of coffee instead) and I had a small turkey sandwich (scraped off most of the mayo) some raw veggies and only two small chocolates. (est 8pts) for lunch. I avoided the sugary pop and juices and had bottled water. Of course I was starving after the meetings and had to grab some fast food on the drive home. I stopped and Wendy's and had the grilled chicken sandwich (7.5 pts) and a small frosty (7.5). So, I have 5 points left for this evening.

Not the best use of my points, but I stayed in the range and I am proud of myself for not giving into temptation. I'm looking forward to posting my WI results tomorrow!

Stomach ache....

2009-04-13T22:36:00.000-07:00

I am in a hotel in Victoria, I'm here for work for the next three days. To avoid eating out tonight I went to the grocery store and bought a veggie tray, some baked chips and some layer dip (bean, guacamole etc...) I have eaten way more than I should have. I should have eaten these healthy option in moderation, instead I have been laying on the hotel bed snacking away... now my stomach is so full and achy and I just want to roll over and go to sleep. I am slightly calmed by the fact that alot of what is making me feel sick is the pile of raw veggies I consumed, but I still feel disgusting.

A year ago I could have eaten all of that and more junk on top and would not have felt like this..

I am going to sleep now.. tomorrow I will have some yogurt and fruit for breakfast, subway for lunch and a deli salad for dinner - no snacks in the hotel room tomorrow night! I will also hit the hotel treadmill tomorrow night for at least 30 minutes.

I feel better after the confession... will check in tomorrow night to confirm I made good on my plan!

opinions please and a NSV

2009-04-07T19:06:00.000-07:00

My brother is getting married this summer, it is going to be a pretty casual beach wedding. I bought two dresses on sale when I was in Arizona this winter, they were both a little tight but now are fitting pretty good. I think by the time the wedding is here they will be fitting great. I just want to know which one you like better and/or which you think flatters me more?? I would wear a cardigan over them both but if it is really warm I want to be able to take it off and feel comfortable. As a special treat my darling pup makes a guest appearance in the second picture. **i am adding a second picture of the second dress - I think the first one doesnt show it off the best**

On to my NSV.. I went to Victoria today to meet a friend who was flying in for the day for a wedding dress fitting. After the dress fitting we hit the malls for an afternoon of shopping. I tried clothes on in stores I have not shopped in since high school and all had clothes that fit me!! I am smaller on top than the bottom so XLs in stores like The Gap, Eddie Bauer, Banana Republic, RW&Co fit me great! I even fit bottoms in most of those stores as well. I work in a clothing store so I have a pretty good wardrobe but it was an amazing feeling to be able to try on clothes with my girlfriend and to be able to reject items because of colour or fabric - 60 lbs ago I would buy whatever fit just because it was hard to find things that fit. We had such a great time! I am definitely smaller than Christmas - especially in the bottom half of my body. I tried on size 16s in the Gap in December and they were too small - today they all fit. Made me feel so much better about my lack of success on the scale.

I had another NSV this weekend. I was standing on on of the small planters DH built in the back yard and he ran over, picked me up around my thighs and twirled me around the yard, and held me up there for awhile! His back didn't break, he didn't fall down in pain, in fact he was not even winded.. he has not done that since we were teenagers (used to toss me over his shoulder!).

These little things remind me everyday of how far I have come and how I WILL NEVER go back to the way things were!

Weekend Update

2009-04-05T20:17:00.000-07:00

This was my favourite kind of weekend. DH and I were both off with no pressing obligations to take care of. We spend the weekend at home and at the garden center. One of the best things about living on Vancouver Island is that spring comes early! It was a gorgeous 15 degrees today so we began prepping our new veggie gardens DH has been building. We bought this house brand new last year so of course the backyard is a very very blank canvas. My kind DH built beautiful raised beds (to ease the stress on my temperamental back). We were able to but in some of the early veggies today - spinach, lettuce, beets, cauliflower, zucchini and
squash. The deck is going in next weekend, then sod and voila I will have a backyard!

I tried a new recipe last night from the Looneyspoons Cookbook. It is called 'A Curried Affair' and has the strangest mix of ingredients - my husband loves this kind of food, mushed together and saucy, I think anything with mushroom soup reminds him of his mom's cooking. It was actually better than I thought it would be but I had to add more curry powder to get it spicy enough for my taste and I added peas to ramp up the veggies.

***From "Looneyspoons" Cookbook
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 cup each chopped onions and chopped celery
1 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
2 cans reduced fat (or regular) cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
3 cups chopped cooked chicken breast (about 1 1/4 pounds)
1 1/2 cups canned pineapple tidbits in their juice
1 tablespoon chicken bouillon powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon each crushed red pepper flakes and black pepper

.
3 cups cooked white or brown rice Preheat oven to 350 Melt butter in a large non-stick saucepan over medium heat. Add onions, celery, and curry powder. Cook and stir for 2-3 minutes, until onions begin to soften. Stir in undiluted soup, chicken, pineapple (with juice), bouillon powder, cumin, black pepper, & red pepper flakes. Mix well. Pour into a medium casserole dish. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Serve over hot rice!

I didn't have any rice so we had it over whole wheat pasta and this whole dish was 8 points. Pretty good for a really filling dinner.

I have volunteered to cook Easter dinner for DH's side of the family. We are going to my sister's for another Easter dinner so I needed at least one of them to fit into my healthy eating plan. I am still working out the menu but I think it will include glazed ham, Darth Tater (as a sub for scalloped potatoes) roasted brussel sprouts and a big salad. I will definitely post some pictures next weekend.

A new low!!

2009-04-02T19:43:00.000-07:00

I just got back from my ww meeting and wi. The scale said 208.4 - so fully clothed I am pretty happy with that. It is the lowest weight I have officially recorded since starting weight watchers. The sad part it that when I weighed in at a meeting on Dec 10 I was 210.4 so I have only lost 2 lbs in the last three months. Of course there have been a lot of little gains and losses in that three months. I can safely say I have plateaued, I have been faithfully counting my points and exercising but the scale will not co-operate. I hope that I have turned a corner this week on the Wendi plan and I will be eating my 35 flex this week on the days that I burn at least 500 cal at the gym.

My clothes are fitting better and my body is toning up - the weight has to drop eventually right???

I Love Wendie!

2009-03-31T15:41:00.000-07:00

I am 5 days in to the Wendie plan and it is working great. This morning the scale said 208.8 - so much better than the 213 this time last week, and only 1.2 more than my lowest weight a few weeks ago. The interesting part is that I incorporated my flex points in to the wendi plan so even on my low days I was eating pretty much what I have been doing everyday for the past months. On my high days I supplemented with dairy and extra fiber and resisted the temptation to use up those points on junk food.

So, I have learned that I have not been eating enough. Wendie is a bit difficult to plan for so next week I am just going to add 5-10 flex points every second day and see how that works for me.

I have a couple recipe pictures to share. The first is ESBM Maui Wowie Meatballs. I used the meatball recipe from Glad Thai Dings, and skewed them with some fresh pineapple, mushrooms and zucchini. The sauce you baste them with is tany and delicious!

On Saturday night we used the Raclette we got for Christmas and did some table top korean BBQ. Grilled steak and turkey as well as a bunch of veggies. Wrap with rice in some lettuce leaves, add hoisin sauce and sciracha and you have my favourite meal of all time. Here is DH enjoying the dinner!

Wendie Day1

2009-03-26T19:50:00.000-07:00

As of this morning I have shed 3 of the 5 pounds that I mysteriously gained. I have been thinking about what I have been doing differently during the past three monhs I have been stuck on this plateau. I went back and looked at my WW journals from when I first started and I came to a few conclusions.

#1 - I am not eating as much for breakfast (sometimes no breakfast at all). I am slipping into my old habits of waiting until later in the day to start eating - causing me to eat too much at once. Even though I stay within my points, I know this is not the correct way to fuel my body. So I am committing to eating a healthy breakfast each day - with some fiber and protein to kickstart my metabolism in the morning. So tonight I made 'A Bran New World' muffins from ESBM. These are delicious and full of good things including mashed sweet potato (I used yams) and tons of bran flakes. Each big muffin is only 3 points. I will have one tomorrow for breakfast with a fruit smoothie for another 3 points.

#2 - I am not eating enough throughout the day. I used to pack snacks for work and for before the gym - lately I have been sticking to my three meals - again not giving my body sufficient fuel during the day. So I will have some fruit and veggies to snack on during the day. Today I made the most delicious 1 point snack. A portabello mushroom grilled, the drizzled with balsamic vinegar, topped with a slice of tomato and 20g of light feta crumbles on top. Sooo good!

My lunch today was also from ESBM. Star-Kissed Tuna Melt. For four servings here are the ingredients:

2 cans tuna (drained)

1/4 cup light ranch dressing

2 tbsp fat-free mayo

1 cup broccoli slaw

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp sugar (I used agave nectar)

1/4 cup minced red onion

1/4 tsp salt and pepper

Toast four slices of whole grain bread. Top with tuna mixture, slice of tomato and 20g light cheese. Place under the broiler. This was delicious and so nutricious, hitting all of the food groups for 5 points.

Today is the first day of my Wendie Plan week. My super high day will be on Saturday. We are doing homemade korean bbq lettuce wraps, so I will be able to have a little more rice and steak than usual. I took the day off from the gym today - just a little walking with the pup. Last night I did a cardio/ab class and I got really tired near the end, I think my body wanted a rest day. If the sun stays shining for another day or so I think I will dust of the bike, pump up the tires and get it back on the road!

Grrrrrrrrr

2009-03-23T22:51:00.000-07:00

So I had a really great week of vacation. In total I earned 42 activity points. I did lots of classes at the gym, plus cario and weight training. I did some yoga, swimming and a 5 hour mountain hike on Friday with my DH and SIL. My eating was totally OP. I made healthy meals and did not eat out at all. So are you ready for the great WI results??? I GAINED 5 POUNDS!!! WTF!!!

.
I must be retaining some serious water, because there is no way I could have realy gained five pounds. So weird. Anyway, I know the hard work will catch up in the next week or so and I am going to stay on track. My body does this sometimes, and then one morning I will wake up 7 pounds lighter than when I went to sleep. Sigh, at this rate I will never get to onederland! I think after my WI on Wednesday I will do the Wendie Plan for a week. I think the triple activity this past week may have freaked my body out - I need to shake up my eating plan.

.
Ok, I have one recipe to share and this is one that I made up so we will call it Zucchini ala Blendergirl. It was so delicious that I made it two nights in a row, and my weekend dinner guests loved it.

Take 2 zucchinis and slice down the middle. I scooped out the insides with a melon baller. Put the hollowed out zucs in a pan and roast in a 350 oven for about 10 minutes (while you prepare the filling).

Filling:

1/2 cup finely diced red onion

1 cup finely diced crimini mushrooms

zucchini flesh finely chopped

1 clove minced garlic

sautee all of this in a pan with a little olive oil until cooked and most of the liquid is gone. Remove from heat and mix in 1/2 cup grated light cheese, one beaten egg, salt and pepper. Fill the zucchinis with the mixture (will be very gooey - but firms up when cooked).

Topping:

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/4 cup grated parmesan (powder)

1-2 tbsp melted butter

Mix together and spread evenly on stuffed zucchini. I covered in foil and continued cooking for 15 minutes. Remove foil and cook 5 min (until topping is brown). Enjoy!!!

Quickie

2009-03-20T00:01:00.000-07:00

Still here... week is still going good. In 5 days I have earned 30 AP. I have some recipes to post but need to find some more time. Maybe tomorrow.......

SWEAT!!!

2009-03-16T22:33:00.000-07:00

I used to be the kind of girl who would not want to work out too hard because I did not like to sweat. Over the past year I have learned to love my sweat (mmm that does not sound exactly like I meant it to). Today during an aerobics/strength training class we were doing leg lifts with barbells tucked behind our knees. She made us keep our legs up and still for a 12 count at the end of the set. My leg was burning and I could feel sweat trickling down my back. Instead of thinking about the pain, or the heat, all I could think of is how much stronger my body has become. I am still one of the biggest participants in the class, but I am not the weakest. I have learned that I am not weak - my body can take a lot. What is the point of spending an hour at these classes if I am not going to give it 110%? I was exhausted afterwards, and can honestly say I gave 110% for the whole class. As soon as I left the gym I called my DH and told him how strong I felt. Sweaty and Strong!!!

Oh, did I mention that the class was my second trip to the gym today?? As I promised yesterday I got up and hit the gym this morning. I did 30 minutes of interval training on the elliptical. I played around with my heart rate. I pushed until it was at the high end of the safe range, and then eased off a bit to lower it - and repeat. I am proud of how quick my recovery time is now - I can lover my heart rate in just a couple of minutes. This is a huge change from when I began running a few months ago - It would take me 30 minutes on the couch to recover from a 5 minute run.

After the elliptical I did 15 minutes of free weights and then 30 minutes of crunches and sit ups on the ball. After lunch I went for a walk with a girlfriend, my pup and her kids for about 30 minutes. And then the evening class I already told you about. So a grand total of 12 ap for today!

Food was good for today as well. I did eat 4 of the AP that I earned.

Breakfast: fresh pineapple and yogurt (4)

Snack: cranberries and chocolate (3)

Lunch: meatloaf and salad (6)

Snack: poppy love loaf (4)

Dinner: meatloaf in pita with veggies (7)

Snack: frozen yogurt with sf caramel (4)

I made a new ESBM recipe today with my friends little girl. 'Poppy Love' is a nice light lemony loaf that was so easy to make (perfect when teaching a 6 year old some cooking skills). Afterward we had a dish washing lesson as well :)

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup oat bran

1 tbsp poppy seeds

2 tsp baking powder1/2 tsp salt

1 cup 2% milk

1/4 cup melted butter or veg. oil

1 egg

2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tsp grated lemon zest

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray an 8x4 inch loaf pan with cooking spray, set aside.In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar oat bran, poppy seeds, baking powder and salt.

In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, butter, egg, lemon juice, and zest. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Spread batter in prepared pan. Bake for 40-50 mins, or until loaf is light golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.Cool loaf on a wire rack for 10 mins. REmove from pan and cool completely. Cover with plastic wrap and store at room temperature or in the refrigerator.

Makes 1 loaf, 12 slices3 points per slice.

So - the plan for tomorrow: step aerobics class in the morning, cleaning out the closets, menu planning for rest of the week and grocery shopping, water aerobics class in the PM.

I am loving this staycation!!

BLBS Day 2!

2009-03-15T23:12:00.000-07:00

Day two of my biggest loser week was great. I had a fantastic workout at the gym. Did 30 minutes on the treadmill - instead of my usual interval runs I did incline intervals. It was a great workout and I really pushed myself on the steepest inclines. It took me 35 minutes to burn 300 calories (usually I do about 250 in the same time). I then did 30 minutes of free weights. I find this to be so much more effective than the weight machines and I was really working on my control and body positioning. Finally I did 15 minutes of crunches on the pilates ball and 15 minutes of stretching. I also managed a few walks with the puppy (despite the gross slushy rain/snow and wind). The plan was to do some DDR tonight but I am a little sore from the workout and I want to be able to get to the gym in the morning.

Food intake was good today as well.

Breakfast: smoothie (4)

Snack: peanut butter and ww bread (3)

Lunch: not humdrumsticks and snap peas (4)

Snack: baked bbq and honey chips (4)

Dinner: One Loaf to Love and Britney Spears (8)

Snack: milkshake (frozen yogurt, strawberries, milk) (4)

Sorry I forgot to post the recipe for the Not Humdrumsticks from yesterday. I have not been able to find it online so here is the quick version:

12 skinless drumsticks

1/4 cup liquid honey

2 tbsp cider vinegar

2 tbsp grainy dijon mustard

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp dried herbes de provence

salt and pepper.

Coat baking dish with cooking spray. Arrange drumsticks in pan. Mix all other ingredients and pour over drumsticks. Bake for 30 minutes at 400. Baste frequently.

The squash from yesterday was an acorn squash. I cut it in half and place the halves cut side down in a dish with 1/2 inch of water. Microwave for 5 minutes. Then turn over the squash halves - rub with 1 tsp butter and 1 tsp brown sugar, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Rast in 400 degree oven for 15 minutes.

Todays recipes were also from ESBM (I think I will have to try another cookbook soon). One Loaf to Love was a new twist on a favourite comfort food. The meat mixture is:

1 1/2 lbs extra lean ground beef

1 cup fresh bread crumbs (I put weight wathers bread in the food processor)

1/4 cup bbq sauce

1 pkge hamburger seasoning (I used Club House Superburger)

1 egg

1/4 cup fresh parsley

salt and pepper

Mix this all together. Line a sheet pan with wax paper (or a silpat) and spread meat into a 10x12 rectangle.

For the veggie layer sautee 1 cup finely diced mushrooms, 1/2 cup zucchini, 1/2 cup onions, 1/2 cup red pepper (I left this out - I hate peppers) and 1 tsp garlic. Sautee until soft and add 1 tsp chopped basil.

Spread the veggies onto the meat mixture and sprinkle with 1/2 cup light cheese.

Roll up the meatloaf and bake on a broil pan (375 degrees) for 40 minutes. Remove and spread top with 2 tbsp of BBQ sauce - return to oven for 10 minutes or until done. Let it rest for 5 miniutes before cutting. YUMMY!!!

The side dish was also from ESBM - Britney's Spears. Just toss aperagus with EVOO, salt, pepper and garlic and roast for 12-15 minutes at 400. Put on serving platter - sprinkle with a couple tsp of balsamic vinegar and crumble 1/4 cup feta on top. YUMMY!!!!

The plan for tomorrow is to hit the gym when I wake up. Come home and do some housework (laundry, bathroom, floors etc..). I am going to try a new low fat lemon poppyseed loaf. I am going to go back to the gym for a 5pm cardio crunch class. If the weather co-operates I also have a walk planned with a girlfriend. I earned another 4 AP today but tomorrows goal is 8.

Thanks for reading!

Biggest Loser Blendergrl Style - Day 1

2009-03-14T23:32:00.001-07:00

DH went back to work a day early so I started my biggest loser week today. The plan is to take advantage of this week I have off of work and devote myself completely to this healthy lifestyle I have adopted. I vow to earn a minimum of 4 ap each day (hopefully more most days) and eat healthy home made food within my daily allowed points. I will also drink 3L of water each day.

So how did today go? Great! I went to the gym and did 30 min on the elliptical - I pushed it really hard doing intervals to raise and lower my heart rate. The machine said I burned 300 calories (usually it is about 230 for 30 minutes). Then I did 20 minutes of weights and 20 minutes of abs and stretching. Later I took the dog for a brisk half hour walk in the wind and rain. I estimate I got 5 AP today.

I am also going to track my food here this week..

breakfast:

smoothie (carrot juice, apple juice, strawberries, froz yogurt) - 4points

snack:

cranberries and chocolate - 2points

lunch:

ESBM Melancauli soup - 4points

snap peas and dip - 2points

snack:

peanut butter on toast - 3points

dinner:

ESBM Not Humdrumsticks - 3points

peas and squash -4 points

(the chicken recipe was really good - I had DH take the skin off the big package of drumsticks I bought before he left yesterday. Not a fun job - but worth it in the end)

snacks:

smoothie - 3points

frozen yogurt - 3points

Total 28 points for the day

Yesterday my little niece was over and I decided to test drive a dessert I am planning on making for a dinner party I am throwing next weekend. My helper and I made La Vida Mocha from ESBM. It is a flourless chocolate mousse cake that will only cost you four points (with some cool whip and strawberries). The cake was delicious but the picture is definately lacking in flare - but the one of my little buddy after licking the bowl is priceless. I will post a picture of the dolled up version of the cake after next Friday's dinner party.

The scale said 207.8 this morning... inching my way to Onederland...

Update

2009-03-10T19:03:00.000-07:00

Not much new to report around here. I have had a cold this week and had to go out of town for work. I did good staying within my points (I am a WW travelling pro now!) but the exercise this week was limited to a few walks with the dog and some dance dance revolution. I think I will have a small loss at WI tomorrow and Im fine with that.

I have one week of vacation left that I have to take by the end of the month, too little cash and a husband busy out of town with work means I am having a 'staycation' at home. My plan is to do my own little 'Biggest Loser' adventure next week. I am going to go to the gym twice a day - one class and one cardi/weights session each day. I am also going to try out a bunch of new recipes as well. I am looking forward to a week all about me and my health - I wonder I can drop a biggest loser style amount of weight as well???

The fun starts Sunday and I will try to post an update everyday.

Look what I found....

2009-03-05T20:54:00.000-08:00

My Clavicles!!!! I was flitting around the kitchen tonight in a tank top and caught a glimpse of my reflection in the window and there they were... my old friend collar bone. I haven't seen them in about 10 years. I think they are cute!

I was flitting around the kitchen because I was preparing DH's meals for the week as he is headed back to work out of town tonight. I tried another new ESBM recipe 'Jellystone Pork'

1 tbs butter

1/3 C minced shallots

2 Tbs grated ginger root

1 tsp garlic1/3 C apple jelly

3 Tbs dijon mustard

2 Tbs cider vinegar

1/4 tsp each salt and pepper

1/4 C light sour cream

Sprinkle pork with s&p. Brush grill rack lightly with oil. Grill pork for about 16 minutes, turning occasionally. (Or roast in oven - brush pork lightly with olive oil, sprinkle with s&p, then roast at 350F for about 40 minutes).

To make sauce, melt butter in small skillet over medium heat. Add shallots, ginger root, and garlic. Cook and stir until shallots begin to soften, about 2 minutes. Add jelly, mustard, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Mix well. Cook and stir for 3 minutes, until jelly completely melts and sauce begins to thicken. Reduce heat to low if it's bubbling too much. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream.

Slice pork thinly and drizzle sauce over top.

It was delicious!

Last night I made some oatmeal raisin cookies (DHs favourite cookie) I tried a new lower fat recipe that works out to 2 points per cookie. When they were warm from the over they were kind of fluffy and had a weird texture. After sitting overnight though they were chewy and yummy this morning. So if you try this recipe definitely let them sit overnight. DH said they were not as good as my old recipe but he ate a bunch of them so I think they grew on him. If anyone has any ideas to make this recipe more moist and chewy tips would be welcome.

1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup applesauce

1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 cups rolled oats
1 cup raisins

Thanks for reading, my clavicles and I are headed to bed now!

WI -2.4lbs!!!!!!

2009-03-04T23:25:00.001-08:00

-2.4 today!! I even weighed in in jeans today - I usually wear my light Lulu pants. I am still .2 away from officially regaining my 60lb bling but I know it is all in the pants :)

I have the next two day off of work. Planning some pre-spring yard prep with DH, aerobics class tomorrow night, and a bike ride if the weather holds.

Hopefully I can try a couple of new recipes oer the next few days as well. Hope you are all doing great!

My body is so strange...

2009-03-03T09:27:00.000-08:00

Sunday morning the scale said 209.6, yesterday morning the scale said 208.6 (woohoo) and this morning the scale said:

If only I knew what magic thing I had done to cause my self to lose four pounds this week. I guess the last month of hard work has caught up to me, but I would still like to know what happened. My official WI is tomorrow morning - with clothes on I hope I can be at 208.8 so that my 60lb lost bling is deserved again and I will be back to the lowest weight I was in December.

Thanks for all the sweet comments on my last post, if I ever need a shot of self-esteem I know where to come and get it.. you ladies are all so lovely!

New look and a new weight!

2009-03-02T01:00:00.000-08:00

I got a haircut today - very similar to one I got about a year ago, so I thought what a perfect time for a little side by side comparison. My husband always comments on how much slimmer my face looks but I just don't see it when I look in the mirror. Even my skewed self image can't deny the difference when I look at these.

On to other good news... the past couple of days have finally seen a dip in the scale and I am finally back below 210. I thought I should take a picture to prove it!

Juicy

2009-02-27T10:53:00.000-08:00

A couple of years ago when I was trying all sorts of crazy diets I did a juice fast. For 14 days I ate no solid food and only drank fruit and vegetable juice/ soup that I made at home. The idea is that when your body does not have to work to digest your food it help clear all the toxins out of your system. This website gives a lot of information on Juice Fasting. I will not go into the details but the fasting definitely worked for me as a detox. Two weeks was a long time, I have never done that again but have done two or three day fasts a few times, but not since I have started WW a year ago.

I was cleaning out my cupboards yesterday and found my juicer. It is a really heavy duty one that you can just shove whole fruits and veggies in with no peeling or chopping required (except citrus). I had forgotten how much I love fresh carrot apple juice. I am not sure how to count points for it though, 6 smallish carrots and two apples (cut with 1/3 h20) makes about a litre of juice. I think 4 points should cover it???? For the next week I am going to take this drink to work to keep me going through the day.

Any other juicers out there?? Any one have a favourite juice recipe??

Plateau...

2009-02-26T00:25:00.000-08:00

I STS this week. I am pretty much the same weight as I was the beginning of December. I gained a few over the holidays and have lost it but basically I have been playing with the same 4 pounds for three months. I have been OP for the last four weeks but it is just not showing on the scale. Oh well, I shall persevere!

Today was my day off so I tried a few new recipes. For lunch we had Falafel Pitas. Janet from the Crumbling Muffin Top had made these awhile ago and they looked delicious. I was thumbing through the latest Cooking Light magazine and there they were again so I thought I would give

them a try. I also made the tzatziki sauce and this whole plate is only 8 points and really filling.

My DH is a huge Gordon Ramsay fan. We have all his cookbooks and last week acquired his latest called Healthy Appetite. To innagurate the new cookbook I decided to make the Spinach Goat Cheese Souffle. My ramekins are bigger than the ones he recommends so my souffles did not rise over the top - but they were really tasty. Only 5 points for each souffle.

Finally, I was preparing my DH's meals to take out of ton for work and decided to try another ESBM recipe. Glad Thai Dings are flavourful little meatballs with thai coconut peanut sauce. DH does not like ground beef so I made it with ground turkey and they are so so so good! I will defiantly be making these again soon.

I went to a great class at the gym tonight and aquasize last night - My body might not want to give up any weight right now but I will not surrender!

Anniversary musings

2009-02-23T01:02:00.000-08:00

I am feeling a bit better since the time of my last post. Not 100% myself but I am functioning. Lack of sleep, food, exercise and relaxation have set my whole system into a tailspin, but I am regrouping and will be back to full self soon.

I really wanted to post about my one year WW anniversary. So much has happened in the past year. As I have stated before, I decided last February that I would take a year to focus on myself - to stop being the one who always put everyone else first (husband, job, family, friends etc..) I told my husband that I would be making some selfish decisions. Financially I spent $$ on WW meetings, gym membership, fresh fruit in the middle of winter etc.. Except for rare occasions I have not let any 'bad' food into the house and have banned my trigger foods completely. I don't stop him from eating whatever he wants but I have made the selfish request for him to keep it out of the house. I have been selfish with my time as well. I have spent mornings at the gym, instead of lounging in bed with DH. I have gone to my WW meeting instead of coffee with girlfriends. I have spent evenings meal planning instead of curling up on the couch with my dog.

I think you get the picture. The crazy thing (to me at least) is that none of the people in my life have begrudged me for one minute. No one has felt slighted - instead they are proud of me and in some cases have joined me in this new selfish lifestyle. I have always heard the Dr. Phil/Oprah/Self-help book ideas that you have to be good to your self so that you can be good to others. I finally get it! I have had this major epiphany that seems so completely simple to me now that I have had it. I now treat myself how I have always treated other people. Wow, what a bomb shell!

In an ideal world I had hoped to be a little further to my goal by now. But considering how many times in the past 15 years I have said 'by this time next year I will be 50, 70, 100 pounds lighter and actually gained weight, I am ok with my progress. I have averaged just over 1lb a week. I have lost pretty consistently. It has not really been that hard, once I layed a few basic ground rules for myself, I just continually remind myself that I am worth it. These are the few things that are non-negotiables to me:

1. I never put anything in my mouth unless I have figured out (or approximated) the calories and fat grams. This does not always stop me from eating what I should not - but it usually makes me stop at one serving.

2. I plan out my menus for the week , including snacks, and I shop with a grocery list. I NEVER buy processed junk food at the grocery store. In the past year I have NEVER bought chips (unless they are baked) donuts, white bread, chocolate bars, candy, ice cream etc... I'm not saying that I have not eaten any of these things, they just do not come home with me from the grocery store. I stick to my list 100%

3. I weigh myself every day (I know this does not work for everyone). I find that If I hide from the scale it is too easy to pretend that everything is fine. Weighing everyday forces me to quickly recover from any slips.

4. When we eat out I have salad instead of fries. Seems simple? Well this is non-negotiable to me - I have not eaten a french fry in a year - and after this long I don't miss them at all! The fist few times were really hard, I felt sorry for myself - seemed so unfair! Now ordering a salad with my burger or sandwich is a little victory for me every time.

5. I never eat with out thinking. This one is hard to explain. I no longer grab something when I fill up with gas, or at the grocery checkout, or from the convenience store next to my work. This was a big downfall for me in the past - If I ate it quickly and on the run I never really had to consider that it was not good for me. By making it a non-negotiable promise to myself I have save thousands and thousands of un-needed calories.

6. I plan for mindless snacking. I know that I like to eat while watching tv in the evenings. I like to snack away on something crunchy. I have food on hand that takes a while to eat and is healthy. Home made pita chips and salsa, roasted chick peas, frozen home made applesauce are a few favourites. My absolute favourite is grapes - I can easily eat 4 cups of grapes (or more) in an evening so I plan for it. If I ever get the urge to really fill myself up (the comfort eating demon we all battle) now I turn to a huge bag of grapes - they fill me up fast and I never feel guilty afterwards.

So, those are a few of the things that have helped me be successful to this point, and these are the thing I will do to lose the next 35 pounds and maintain forever. This year I have discovered that I am much stronger than I gave myself credit for. Food is no longer my friend or enemy - it is fuel for my body and my body deserves the best!

Thanks for reading.

Emotional non-eating

2009-02-21T08:22:00.001-08:00

I have had a bad couple of days. Stress in many areas of my life has my emotions all over the map. I missed my WW meeting but weighed in at home on Thursday at 210.4 so .8 of a loss for the week. I have not come close to eating my points since then. Stress takes away all my desire to eat or go to the gym, or even a walk. I got a pretty decent sleep last night and I am off to work this morning. I am going to stop for a delicious healthy smoothie on the way so that my body has something to keep it going.

Yesterday was my one year weight watchers anniversary and I had been planning a blog about all the change of the past year. I will put that together tonight or tomorrow. Thanks for listening!

20 Activity points in one day!!!!

2009-02-18T00:04:00.000-08:00

I was just on the WW.ca site tracking my food and activity for the day and I earned 20 AP today! DH and I decided to do some hiking today since the weather on Vancouver Island has been so lovely. We decided to tackle a hike that I have not done in about 12 years - It is straight up the mountain behind my in laws house. There is a beautiful lake up there that can not be accessed by roads. We set out with our dog, some trail mix and bottles of water. About half an hour in there began to be a lot of snow on the ground - the higher we got the more snow there was (I know, I should have been a geographer!). It made for an extra tough hike - but some stunning scenery. This picture doesn't do it justice but this is taken at the top - it took about two hours to climb up from the bottom. The next picture is of me at the frozen lake - I think my new LuLu Lemon pants make my legs look almost slim!

So after we hiked back down, we had lunch with my in laws and then headed home. I promised one of the girls from work I would go to water aerobics with her tonight. I went a half hour early so I could get in some lengths since I have not been to the pool in awhile. So, between the hike, the swimming and the water aerobics I earned 20ap! I ate four of them in trail mix... well worth it!

In other news, I made a great dinner last night. Doesn't this look like a plate of mashed potatos, fries and steak?

It is a lean pork chop - grilled, baked sweet potato fries and mashed fauxtatoes (ESBM recipe). It was so delicious and about half the points of its inspiration meal. For dessert I made an angel food cake ices with a combo of fat free pudding and 95% fat free cool whip. This big slice only 3 points.

This has been a pretty good week. Some good work outs and I stayed within my points. I hope my hard work shows at WI tomorrow.

Mixed Bag

2009-02-12T23:50:00.000-08:00

Not as in the mixed bag gym class I went to yesterday, but just a mixed bag of blogging topics today. First off, the all important weigh in. I had a pretty good week, it was DH birthday so we had some friends and family over for dinner. I made Oh la la lasagna from my trusty ESBM cookbook. They ate it all before I could take a close-up but here it is moments before it was devoured. I also made Ceaser Salad with the most amazing dressing. I got the recipe from Clean Eating Magazine (my new favourite magazine) and everyone raved about it. I waited until the salad bowl had been picked clean before I told them that the main ingredient was tofu!

300g package of soft tofu

3 cloves finely minced garlic

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

3 tbsp EVOO

1 tbsp dijon mustard

1/2 tsp sea salt

just whizz this all together in a food processor (or blender). I needs to sit overnight so that the flavours come together. It will last for 3-4 days in the fridge. I am not a big tofu fan but this recipe will be a regular dressing in my house!!! Yum yum yum!

I made garlic bread from a whole wheat baguette (which also supplied the croutons). So all in all it was a pretty low point meal (lasagna 6, salad 2, bread 2). I also made a birthday cake for DH - I consider my self a pretty good cook, but a lousy baker. DH usually handles all cake related events in our house, but I decided to give it a try for his special day. Before you look at the picture let me explain, I accidentally bought neon food colouring and my DH's hobby is these giant gas powered remote controlled monster trucks (can you see me rolling my eyes) so kind of explains the cake.

This party was on Monday. On Tuesday both DH and I had the day off so I told him that his present was 24 hours of doing whatever he wanted. Naturally there was a lot of food involved in his day. I made blueberry pancakes (but used sugar-free syrup). We drove and hour to a nearby town to watch a movie and he wanted Tim Horton's coffee and donuts for the road. I had 2 timbits and a coffee with milk and sweetener. I did indulge a little that day though, a hot dog for lunch, half of a small movie popcorn, and 1/3 of the cheesecake he had for dessert after dinner. The salt intake was enough to keep me away from the scale on Wed (and into the gym) so I went to WI tonight and was down 1.2lbs this week.

So, tomorrow is the start of a new WW week and I am menu planning tonight and will get groceries after work (and the gym) tomorrow so that my fridge and pantry are full of healthy options.

Finally another great find from this week was this scrumptious Carrot Cashew Ginger soup I picked up at the grocery store. I love the Pacific Natural Foods soups - the ingredient list is always short and stuff I would cook with myself. This soup was so creamy and tasty (don't try it if you don't like ginger though) and only 2 points for 1 cup.

Skipped WI today...

2009-02-11T21:44:00.000-08:00

To go to the gym!! I will weigh in at a meeting tomorrow night. I really wanted to try a class at the gym tonight that I heard was really tough. It was called 'mixed bag' so I had no idea what to expect. It was step aerobics combined with weight training and then 20 minutes of core work (crunches, crunches, sit-ups, and various forms of crunches). It was a really tough class and by the time the cool-down began sweat was running down my face (pretty picture huh?). I felt like one of the contestants on The Biggest Loser and it was my last chance workout.

I have the most amazing low fat Caesar salad dressing recipe to share with you.. but will have to wait until tomorrow because my camera is MIA right now. I will post after my WI.

Happy blogging.

Sisterly love

2009-02-07T23:03:00.000-08:00

I'm a day late - but here is the recipe as promised for my Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal. Actually it is pretty easy. For one serving:

Boil one cup of water

add 1/2 cup oats

lower heat to simmer

after 2.5 min add one tbsp of dried cranberries and 1 tbsp of cocoa powder

cook for an additional 2.5 minutes (until most of the water is absorbed)

before serving stir in 2 tsp of splenda brown sugar

This steaming bowl of chocolate berry deliciousness is only 5 points and keeps me going until lunch!

This evening my sister came to stay with me, it is a very rare occasion that she leaves her husband and kids behind for sister time so we made the most of it. We recreated her favourite meal from Moxie's - the steak salad with goat cheese and tomato vinaigrette. Their website says that the vinaigrette is made with Clamato juice so we tested for awhile and I think we perfected the dressing:

Reduce 1/2 cup of Clamato until you have 1/4 cup
1/4 cup of red wine vinegar

1 Tsp chopped basil
1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground pepper

1 clove chopped garlic

1 tbsp chopped shallot

2 tsp Dijon mustard

we mixed all this together and then slowly whisked in about 1/4 cup of olive oil

It was delicious on the salad of greens, cherry tomatoes, goat cheese and grilled steak!! I also made mini banana muffins (Moxie's always gives you banana bread with your salad). We had white wine spritzer and enjoyed a relaxing dinner!

She bought us new PJs to celebrate out special sleepover. Cute aren't we??

Later we finished our evening with cinnamon toast and hot chocolate.... tomorrow morning we are headed to the spa for some pampering.. I love my sister!

WI - 1.2lb

2009-02-04T22:31:00.001-08:00

At least it was a loss... I have seen smaller numbers on the scale this week so I am pretty happy with my progress. I stayed on plan with points today but a lack of groceries and pre-planning made for some poor choices using those points.

Plan for tomorrow is:

1. 6:30 am spin class (as I promised you all last week)
2. Chocolate cranberry oatmeal for breakfast (my new favourite!)
3. Pack my lunch for work
4. Subway sandwich for dinner as I am driving an hour to my sisters after work
5. Grande non-fat sugar free caramel latte from Starbucks for a gossip session with the girls

I will take a picture of my oatmeal creation and give you the recipe tomorrow.

HYC - check in

2009-02-03T22:27:00.000-08:00

Sorry I have been MIA for a few days. I had a really busy weekend. I hosted a going away party for a co-worker. It was cocktail party at my house - appetizers and martinis. I prepared some healthy choices and some not so healthy choices. I did not count my points but I am confident that I stayed pretty close to my target as I stayed away from the desserts and only had one martini.

Then a girlfriend flew in for the rest of the weekend and we swayed from eating really healthy meals to some not so good choices. On Sunday I had a burger and onion rings at a great little drive in, but we went on a 2 hours hike as well to help balance it out. Today my DH and I were stuck waiting for our car to get fixed and decided to eat at a little diner. I had eggs Benedict (yikes) - but I did opt for the spinach and tomato instead of ham. I estimate the whole plate was 15 points - I ate really light the rest of the day and have been guzzling water all evening.

My WI is tomorrow night and so far this week I have been weighing between 209-212 so I am pretty sure I will see a loss tomorrow. I will go grocery shopping right after WI so I am motivated from the meeting to make great choices. Menu is planned for tomorrow, gym time planned for tomorrow... getting right back on that horse!

Adventures in Exercising...

2009-01-29T21:32:00.000-08:00

So as promised to myself (and all my blog buddies) I went to a step class at the gym after work tonight. Woohoo what a great workout! 40 minutes of all out cardio and then 20 minutes of work with hand weights and ab strength training. It was a lot of fun and trying to keep up with the sequences made the time go by really quickly. I think this will become another regular class for me. I still want to try a spin class but they don't have any evening ones. I will try to drag myself out of bed one morning next week to do the 6:30 am one (I hope writing it here will make me follow through).

I want to thank everyone who has commented on my entries over the past week. I appreciate the good wishes and am amazed that a couple of you actually said that I inspire them. I remember when I started this blog last February. I was looking for motivation and hope that I could do this. I found a lot of inspiration from different blogs, and that is what prompted me to start my own.

This forum to talk about all the tedius details of my new lifestyle has been a huge part in my success. A place you can be completely honest about the good an bad is an valuable tool in this struggle. From listing out my daily menus to chatting about my new food experiments - I can't imagine doing this without my blog. So thank you for reading, commenting, and comiserating with me.

Today's exciting menu:

flax plus (2)
yogurt (1)
fiber one bar (2)
snap peas (1)
mini turkey burger (4)
yogurt (1)
cashews (2)
one bar (2)
tuna sandwich (6)
mashed fauxtatoes (4)
chocolate pudding (3)

Day 13 OP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I get knocked down... but I get up again!

2009-01-28T23:26:00.000-08:00

So I went to my first WW meeting tonight since Christmas (yikes!!) and I had a 2lb (completely undeserved) gain. Seriously, I have been perfectly on plan for the last 12 days and I earned 19 ap last week. I did nothing to warrent a 2lb gain... sigh.

My internal dialouge started immediately. My irrational side was telling me that I have lost as much weight as my body will allow and I should be happy where I am. It was telling me that working out so hard and tracking my food was a waste of time. Then my irrational side convinced me to eat an entire bag of baked chips (12 points!!!!). As I was finising the crumbs at the bottom of the bag my rational side finally chimed in!

I know that my hard work will show up on the scale eventually. I know that the number on the scale can be affected by all sorts of things. I know that exercise and eating well benefits me in more ways that just weight loss. I know that I will not be 212lbs forever.. I will reach my goal this year!

So I counted the chips as flex points, dragged myself off the couch and popped in my Jillian Michaels 30 day shred DVD. Yowwwzzaaa what a workout. It is only 20 minutes (not including the warmup) but I was sweating like crazy and 3 hours later I am beginning to feel it in my quads and that familiar tightening of the ribs from all the ab work. I think I will be in pain tomorrow. She promises some amazing results if you follow this program for 30 days - I think I will give it my best shot.

I have been all over the place with my exercise this week. For me it is all about variety - I get bored easily (which is why commiting to the gym was a big step). This week I earned my AP in the form of Dancing, Wii Fit, an aerobics class, treadmill program, stationary bike, univeral weights, yoga class and the crazy Jillian DVD. Tomorrow, after work, I am going to try a step class at the gym. I love love love the step program on my Wii fit so I hope I will like the class as much (of course I will let you all know!)

Technically I was still OP today as I used some of the flex points and AP that I had not touched all week to have my mini-binge on the baked chips. Here was my menu:

Mango smoothie (7)
yogurt (1)
fibre one bar (2)
orange (1)
snap peas and cauliflower (1)
baked old dutch dill picke chips (12)
turkey burgers (4)
buns and condiments (5)
yogurt (1)

So 12 days OP and a promise that better choices will be made tomorrow!

Namaste

2009-01-27T22:52:00.000-08:00

I am about to turn in for the night, after a great day 12 op! I went to the gym for the third day in a row and after 20 min on the treadmill I did a 60 minute flow yoga class. I loved it!! It was much easier than the hellish Bikram Yoga I tired last month (sorry to the Bikram lovers out there). This class was tough but I felt really relaxed afterwards and it was a great way to unwind after work. I think this will be a regular Tuesday night workout for me.

The scale is not being very kind to me this week, but I know how hard I have been working and how well I have been eating. I am sure that one of these days I will wake up to a great weight loss - after 11 months of this I have finally accepted that my body loses at its own pace, if I treat it well eventually it will do what I want!

Here is today's menu:

1 cup flax plus (2)
yogurt (2)
banana (2)
fibre one bar (2)
orange (1)
spaghetti and sauce (8)
cauliflower (0)
yogurt (1)
melancauli soup (4)
salad with lf dressing (2)
banana muffin (4)

HYC - check in

2009-01-26T22:05:00.000-08:00

I have now completed 11 days in a row on plan and I am feeling good. I have not eaten out at all during those 11 days and I earned lots of activity points with my dance dance revolution last week. I finally crawled my way back into the gym yesterday and had a pretty good workout. Tonight, after work I went to one of the classes the gym offers called 'New Body'. It was a mix of aerobics, weights, and strength training. The class was 60 minutes and I really enjoyed it. I was sweating like crazy (but not like Hot Yoga!!) but was not completely exhausted afterwards. I am going to try and hit up a spin class this week as well and see how I like that.

I only took pictures of one new recipe from the weekend and it was 'More than Meatza Pie' - from ESBM again. This was a really weird recipe - kind of like pizza but the crust is made from lean ground beef and sausage. It was pretty good, but I am just not that much of a meat eater. A quarter of the pie was 8 points. I think that kids would really like this one as you can add whatever toppings you like.