Easy Bake Binge

It's been a week and a half since our challenge was over. Even though one sister and I have decided to continue on, I have pretty much fallen off the wagon and been run over it a few times. Last night, I hit an all-time low. I was really craving something sweet, but there was nothing in the house, but then I remembered...my daughter has an Easy-Bake Oven. I rummaged through the cupboard where it is kept and found a brownie mix. Score! I didn't bother with easy baking it, because it takes that light bulb like 30 minutes just to heat up, and I needed something FAST. So I just mixed it up with water and ate the batter. It was pretty much like eating a $9 pudding cup. 

Final Weigh-in if the Sister Challenge

Down a total of 13lbs. 7.35%. Hopefully that's a win!  This isn't my final though! Gonna keep at it!

Me

Week 7 Weigh In

Week 7 down a total of 11.4lbs. 6.45%

Yes my toenails still suck!

The Butt Explosion Diet

This week was my first week back to school with students.  The first week I really needed to get back into a regular routine and it was not regular whatsoever.  This past week was complete whirlwind with not only work obligations but also trying to figure out the schedule for my daughter's extra-curricular activities. Needless to say I did not exercise one bit during the work week!  Once my schedule is in place and routine, I definitely need to make more time for this. I did get a two-mile yesterday and it wasn't too much of a struggle, but if I don't keep up with it more, I know it will be.


Despite not having exercised, I still managed to lose weight! How you wonder?  The Butt Explosion Diet! Typically I find myself making really bad choices when I am at work.  I rush to get out the door on time, taking crap food for breakfast or grabbing a package of Oreos from the snack station at work. This week I made better food choices.  For breakfast  I had either fruit, avocado toast, or a smoothie from The Corner Perk (pineapple, mango, spinach, maybe something else that I don't remember. It was yellowish green).  For lunches:  I made my jar salads on Sunday.  By Thursday, my friend said they were "fragrant" but they tasted fine. Snacks: apples, pears, plums, hard-boiled egg white Dinner: some meat and veggies.  One night I drank a few lagers and decided to make myself a dang quesadilla at about 9:30.  I have allowed myself a Diet Coke once, but only finished half the can.  It really doesn't taste good anymore.


My body was not really used to the amount of fruits and veggies I was taking in and let me tell you, this picture was pretty much my life...  Hot stuff right?

Week 6 weigh in

Up .2 lbs

Week 5

So I lost weight this week, but I am a little disappointed.  I feel that I worked pretty hard and was hoping for more than 1.2 lbs.  I ran further distances.  I really watched what I ate, except for one night I went to dinner.  I did do some day drinking on Tuesday and rocked it out on Thursday.  Ok, so maybe I didn't do as well as I thought.  Any ways, I am at 4.64% loss, which is 8.2lbs.  With regards to our contest...I regained the lead!  I just need to keep it!

Week 5 weigh in

Was hoping for more.

Lunches are Made!!

Tomorrow I head back to work.  I really need to focus on making good food choices.  Sometimes I get so busy that I just grab something quick, easy, and shitty for me!  I am going to work hard to not do that.  I am going to work hard to make time to prep foods.  I set aside some time today to make these mason jar salads. They are supposed to last up to a week. I found some tips on pinterest about how to layer them to keep the ingredients from getting soggy.  Here they are:

Layer 1: dressing
Layer 2: hearty veggies like cucumbers, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli...
Layer 3: beans and less hearty veggies
Layer 4: grains ( I didn't use any this week, but I will)
Layer 4: proteins and cheese
Layer 5: lettuce, nuts, seeds

Here is what I made from left to right...fyi...I don't tomatoes, onions, and peppers


1. poppy seed dressing, cucumbers, cauliflower, chicken, cranberries, spinach
2. ranch dressing, corn, tri-bean mix, chicken, shredded cheese, iceberg lettuce
3. oil and peach basalmic dressing, cucumbers,  crab meat, goat cheese, strawberries, spinach
4. ranch dressing, cucumbers, chicken, ham, turkey bacon, eggs, iceberg lettuce
5. poppy seed dressing, carrots, cauliflower, chicken, shredded cheese, spinach

Totally doing this when I get bored running

http://www.brobible.com/life/article/girl-uses-nike-plus-draw-dicks/

I'm about to cut someone!

Today was the halfway point.  I have been leading up until today.  Ugh, my sister passed me and I am pissed!!  A good sort of pissed, you know the motivating sibling rivalry, I am not gonna lose to this bitch kind of pissed!

Halfway Point

Today is the halfway point of the weight loss challenge I have goin on with my sisters. That doesn't mean I am halfway done trying to lose weight, feel better, and look good naked. I am starting to accept that this will need to be a complete lifestyle change and not just a short-term thing. I don't really like that, but it is what it is.

So I am down a total of 7lbs  from the start of our contest. Today we also had to record our neck, waist, and hip measurements. I lost 1in from my neck. I never really considered that I had neck fat, but I guess I do. I lost 2 inches from my waist and 3.5in from my hips.  

I am pretty pleased with this week's progress consider I ate entire ball of mozzarella on Friday and a large calzone on Saturday.

I  would love to say that I will be super disciplined for the remainder of this contest, but I definitely need to do it one day at a time, like most recovery programs.

Faux banana pancakes

A new breakfast fave.

1 mashed banana

2 egg whites

1/4 cup dry oats

Dash of cinnamon

Make two good sized "pancakes" for a total of 230 calories.

So good no butter or syrup needed.

I found an answer

Totally doing this when school starts back!

http://www.organizeyourselfskinny.com/2014/03/17/the-ultimate-mason-jar-salad-tutorial-and-recipe-round-up/

Sending out an APB for my Motivation

I feel like I have been in such a funk a lately.  Yesterday, I didn't do shit all day.  I sat around and watched episode after episode of Dexter, dicked around face book, read a little... All that laziness wore me out so I took about a 1.5 hour nap.  I decided to try to be motivated about 7:00 pm and run.  I only got in about a mile, because my stomach was gurgling something fierce. I needed to get home fast! I figured I would let that pass and get on my mom's really cute beach cruiser that she left at my house and tool around the hood a bit.  While I was pumping the tires, another wave of needing to run to the bathroom came over me.  It passed.  I continued to pump and the damn pump broke.  Despite the encouraging efforts of my friend and neighbor to get me to ride (Katie Barrett shout out), I decided to listen to the signs and call it a night.  Thank God I did or I would have gone all Bridesmaids scene in the middle of my neighborhood. 

Today I started it off right with a good 3.5 mile, but I am not motivated to eat healthy.  blah!  In the beginning of this I was excited to make new recipes and was having fun.  The novelty has worn off.  I am sick of all the prep and clean up it is taking.  I feel like I spend all day in the kitchen.  I need to get some good ideas on how to make this work when I head back to work in 11 days...ugh. 

Week 3 Weigh In

Well I gained this week, but I am actually pleased. I was honestly expecting to gain a lot more than one pound. I pretty much broke all rules this week. I ran but not as much. I ate a bunch of shit. I drank often. It was a fun week, but now it's time to get back on track. 

Get in my Belly

So far I have succumbed to the temptations this week has offered and it's only Wednesday morning. My original plan was to allow myself one day per week to drink and eat some enjoyable, not good for me foods. Well this week Monday was going to be that day since I was playing in a golf tournament which definitely calls for a couple of lagers. Then...my cousin, Alan, who is in town for the week, invited us to come stay at his condo and have a mini vacay. I can't turn down great company and great fun! So I will do my best, but I enjoyed quite a few beers last night and had French Fries with my grilled shrimp. Then it got worse...we has some late night nachos...and after that... Copious amounts of candy- peanut butter cups, cherry sours, orange slices...

Today is a new day and I started it with 2 bowls Lucky Charms!

Week 2 weigh in

Down 2.8 since last Monday! Down a total of 6.8.

Do something every 15 minutes

Last week, my sister's trainer who is overseeing our competition, challenged us to set a timer for 15 minutes when we are sitting watching tv, facebooking, blogging about losing weight... and every 15 minutes get up and do something like jumping jacks. I did that for exactly 15 minutes. I was way too into House of Cards. Today I am having a stay at home day and am going to get this house clean. I am going to try this challenge. Every 15 minutes I will do something burpees, push-ups, sit ups, lunges, jump rope...  

Eating Healthy on Really Tight Budget...How the Hell is this Done?

If you are an expert on this or even have some great ideas PLEASE share! Healthy food is expensive! I am finding it hard to stick to my grocery budget and eat healthy.  I do not buy all organic. I would love to, but it's just not feasible.  There are only three things I always buy organic, milk, eggs, and chicken. This is mainly for my daughter. I don't want her pumped with all the hormones. So this week, I had a lot of canned goods green bean, chick peas, sweet peas, carrots... I made this concoction one day, canned corn, cucumbers, feta, canned artichokes, canned tuna, and red wine vinegar. No matter how good I told myself it was, it really wasn't. It looked like barf and tasted worse. I don't know what I was thinking. So bring on the suggestions please.

Week 1 in the Books

Week one is done and I weighed in 4 pounds less than last week.  I am pretty proud of that.  Was I hoping for me?  Yes a little bit, beause I see these huge losses they show on The Biggest Loser, but then I need to remind myself that all those people do all day is workout and they have their meals planned by dieticians.  Real life does not stand in their way.  Luckily for now, being summer break, I do have more time to exercise and meal plan.  I just need to take better advantage of that. 
So here are my thoughts on this first week...

Drinking - I thought this would be tough.  It wasn't.  It's summer and I am a big fan of Day Drinking.  Please don't confuse this with Day Raging, where one consumes massive amounts of alcohol, typically between the hours of 11am-6pm.  I love the summer when I am not working and it's ok to have a drink or two in the middle of a hot day, while poolside, at the beach, or on the boat.  I was pretty much partaking in daily Day Drinking since school got out, but not anymore.  I didn't completely refrain from drinking, but I did consume much less this week.  I even played golf and didn't have a single beer.  I drank one vodka and soda on Wednesday.  My sister claims skinny people drink clear drinks.  It was ok.  On Saturday, I had some (probably a lot) of beers with some friends.  It wasn't perfect, but this week was a huge improvement! 


Food - I actually had a lot of fun with food this week.  I am not follwing any certain diet, just working to eat more fruits, veggies, lean meats, and less bread and pasta.  I made recipes with a lot of foods I don't usually buy or use like avacado, chickpeas, eggplant, acorn squash, spaghetti squash.  I did have some ravioli one night, but stuck to the 8 piece serving size.  I also had some Chick-Fil-A nuggets.  I couldn't resist and felt like I was doing the right thing.  You see, it was cow appreciation day and anyone dressed up like a cow got a free meal.  I took my daughter and her friends dressed up and they got free meals.  I didn't feel quite right not paying anything, so I ordered some chicken nuggets. no fries or anything though.  I also ate pizza on Saturday.

My sister's trainer, Karen, who is amazing, and also the one we are checking in with, encouraged us to RESIST fried food, sweets, and drinking.  I asked her to clarify what she meant by "resist" like if that meant don't have it at all or just try not to.  She said that she thinks if we completely deprive ourselves we won't succeed.  Even though I drank and ate pizza and pasta, I can look at it differently.  I can look at all I resisted this last week:  Day drinking, sausage, pancakes, cinnamon rolls, cake, pizza (a different day), and soda.


Exercise - running - It sucks and I need new shoes, but it is sucking a little less, just a little.  One day I walked three laps in the lazy river going against the current.  I dabbled in the art of yoga a bit.  Thank God I could close the blinds on that one, my neighbors would not be please to see my fat ass in downward dog. 

Looking forward to another week and hopefully another 4lbs!!

Week 1 weigh in

Disregard toenails. Down four lbs!

Trying new foods

This week I have been trying to eat a lot healthier...lots of fruits and veggies. Thanks Pinterest for the ideas. Here is what I made:

Honey cinnamon roasted chickpeas- super easy and delicious. Helped feed the crunchy and sweet cravings I have.

Avocado, feta, chickpea, cilantro, lime juice...not sure if it could be considered a salad but it's all mixed up. So good. I didn't really realize how much fat is in an avocado, so I will need to eat them sparingly.

Pizza bites- so so so so good. The "dough" is made of cauliflower, cottage cheese, egg white, and seasoning. Then a turkey pepperoni is blacked on top and then they are baked. They fell apart a bit, but tasted great. I am thinking it may be my new pizza alternative. 

Let's try this again, shall we?

It's been 2.5 years since I last blogged and guess what?  I am still a fatty!!  Even more of a fatty in fact.  Quick update on the last two years:  Ran a half-marathon in November of 2013.  Lost a lot of weight in the training.  got down to about 140, which is a good weight for me.  After I finished that race, I hardly ran again, once in a while, but not much.  Why?  I hate running.  I find it boring and I lost 60%, 6/10 of my toenails.  Disgusting.  The big toenail on one foot still hasn't come back to normal.  So in the almost two years since that race, I have not been doing much physical activity, have been eating whatever the hell I want, and drinking way too much beer.  Well all that shit has caught up with me!  I knew things were getting out of control, but just didn't care that much.  Now I am ready to make some serious changes.  Why now?  Because I have finally reached a point where I am completely disgusted with myself and...my sisters and I are in a  two-month long competition which I am determined to win!! There is $100 on the line, and I can't afford to lose.  So I am back...weighing in at 176.8.  What the fuck? 


Monday was the first day of our challenge, which ends on Labor Day (but I promise not to end on Labor Day).  I have been very good so far.  Eating fruits, veggies, lean meats, and drinking a shit ton of water.  Running, a lot slower and not very far than before, but I'll get there.  Yes, I still hate running, but have honestly found it is the only thing that helps me lose weight.  So I need to just do it.

I plan to blog to help keep me on track.  Yes, I have been down this road a few times.  Trying to get on a healthier track, trying to blog about it, and even posting my weight to hold me accountable.  I can't guarantee that I will stick with it this time, but at least I am not quiting starting over. 

Here is the blog plan for the next two months: 
1. Write post sometimes, not daily or anything that is way too much of a commitment.
2. Post my weight each Monday.  That's the day I check in with my sisters.
3. Share recipes or snacks.
4. Lose some damn weight.

Please follow and send words of encouragment, advice, recipe ideas, or even just tell me to get off my ass and go run!