Another quick one, on time this time.

Well after my last post I made a very determined effort with the food, however I NEVER made a workout this week! Things just kept happening that derailed plans and ideas that I had for it. That said there was progress this week!

As a new and added tool to this process I have joined a three week weight loss challenge on facebook. I have joined 12 other women (who I do not know) in completing daily challenges for the next three weeks. Each individual earns poins daily for completing a handful of items. We report the points (honor system) into our team captains who then report to the organizers. There is no prize, just an opportunity to connect with others sharing a healthy goal and a little challenge/competition never hurts. Here are the daily tasks:

* drink at least 4 bottles of water a day = 1 point

* having a food journal ( you eat it, you write it down) = 1 point

* taking a daily vitamin = 1 point

* staying TRUE to YOUR diet plan ( zone, atkins, 6 meals, whatever it will be etc) = 1 point

* doing 1 daily personal goal ( this can be taking the stairs instead of the elevator etc ) = 1 point

* 2 servings of fruits and or veggies = 1 point

* not having any JUNK food = 1 point

* at least 30 min of exercise = 1 point! for every 15min you do over the 30 min you will get half a point .5 ( so if

you do and 1 hour of exercise you would have 2 points!)

I think I can handle those!

Vital stats:
Weight: 181.6 (down again!!)

A Recipe to Share

Well the weight that I recently posted was from Monday, posted late, but I always do the weigh in on Mondays. Since then its been a tough week. I haven't weighed in, but I haven't been following the program very well either. Got sick on Tuesday and have had a hard time with energy for working out and cooking good food. So I have missed the gym and compromised on food choices.

Tonight I am trying to force myself to feel better. No gym, but I did make some dinner (and leftovers for lunch tomorrow). It was so good and so easy; I just want to share it here.


Shrimp and Corn Chowder
from Cooking Light

Yield: Serves 4

Ingredients

• 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 3 cups diced red potatoes
• 1 (16-ounce) package frozen white shoepeg corn, thawed
• 1 bunch chopped scallions
• 1/2 pound thawed shrimp, peeled, deveined, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/4 cup heavy cream or sour cream
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Preparation

In a medium saucepan, boil broth and potatoes 5 minutes. Add corn and white portion of scallion; simmer 8 minutes. Remove 2 cups; puree in a blender. Return to pot; stir in shrimp. Cook until bright pink; stir in cream, lemon juice, and scallion greens. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 259

Fat: 7g (sat 4g,mono 2g,poly 1g)

Cholesterol: 107mg

Protein: 18g

Carbohydrate: 29g

Fiber: 6g

Iron: 2mg

Sodium: 503mg

Calcium: 42mg

So yummy!!

A break in the rain

The weather did cooperate a little for me this weekend. On Sunday the rain stopped long enough that I took my bike out for an 8 mile ride! Ended with this view as I was heading home...

Just a quick post so now onto the weekly info...

Vital Stats:
Weight: 182.8 (no change, but that's just this week)
Smart Allecky stat ideas: ZERO - oh wait was that one?

Comparisons

So just how does the Biggest Loser plan differ from what my real life has to offer? Using this article as my info source this is what I have come up with...

Daily calorie intake:
Biggest Loser ~ Multiply your current weight by 7 (6 if you're on the show): That's 1260 calories for me. (1080 if I were on the show).
My Life ~ My spark people meal plan suggests that I stay in the range of 1350 - 1700 calories and I actually average about 1510.

That's a pretty decent difference! I couldn't imagine cutting out so many more calories!

Calorie burn:
Biggest Loser ~ On the show the contestants are said to burn 2,000 calories a day! The official Biggest Loser diet suggest 30 minutes a day up to 60.
My Life ~ I have the goal in spark people for 30 minutes of cardio 3 times a week. I do that and I do some weights/strength exercises as well. My typical weekly calorie burn is about 1,000.

Again a pretty big difference!!

It's no wonder that my scale has yet to ever proclaim a 6 pounds in a week weight loss.

It seems unreal to me to cut more calories and especially to do that and then workout even more! In Sparkpeople if I log more workouts that have been planned I get a little message that says if I'm going to make a habit of that much working out then I should change my plan so my calories can be increased!

Well enough of that little exercise. My scale trumpeted another 1 pound loss this week!! So excited to see it going down. I actually think that I really like the slower process of losing weight. It makes me feel like it'll stay away since it took longer to leave. Its like every pound has taken its time, said its farewells and moved to Antarctica where it can keep an elephant seal warm.

In other good news for the week, I got my bike all tuned up and road ready! Took it for a little spin this weekend and loved it! Though I use the bikes at the gym it has been a very long time since I actually got on a bike and I was seriously afraid that I had forgotten how to ride (at least in the sense of staying balanced). Though I was a little wobbly at first I have not forgotten!! The bad news for the week is that after being spoiled with bizarrly warm weather (even for California) we are looking at a forecast of actual wintry weather, so outdoor riding may be off the agenda for a while.

Vital Stats:
Weight: 182.8 (literally just 1 pound after another!)
Elephant Seals in need of fat: 700,000!! Lets give it to them!
Birthday weight goal: 173 (that's 9.8 pounds 7 weeks from now, so looking for a little bump in the weekly numbers)

Real quick now...

Sorry I missed my check in last night. I was actually eating too rich food and some chocolate cake at the Olive Garden for my dear friend's farewell party as she and her family move from NorCal to Queens NY!

Anyway, it was a good week despite the rich dinner last night. Didn't hit the gym this weekend but worked really hard at doing manual labor around the house and in the yard to try and compensate. I have also started rotating in some Weight Watchers and Cooking Light recipes into the meal plan for dinner. The downside of SparkPeople meal plans is that they only have about 25 dinner options available and I don't want to get totally bored with things repeating. Plus a handful of those are based on tofu or portobello mushrooms and that's just gross.

So... good workout tonight and now I'm ready to go get in bed and watch some Biggest Loser for inspiration.

Vital Stats:
Weight: 183.8 (-1 again! Feels great but I have to admit I would love to see a little more each week)
Orange's picked off the tree: about 1500!
Fitness minutes for the week: 94 (plus the yard work)