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)

By the numbers

I'm really proud of my eating today. Here's my nifty little graph (really I see alot more details in my daily report, but this was an easy bit to share):

I'm really satisfied with getting these graphs to look so similar. Even though I am following the meal plan there is always something different in my diet than what is on the actual plan (like I choose nonfat vanilla yogurt over plain, since that's just gross). When I change from the plan I try my best to substitute with something of equal benefit, its not like I substitute breakfast for a Snickers bar.

My daily diet goal is to eat within the range of 1350 - 1700 calories. Then there are more specific goals like a range for fat, protein, carbs, folate, cholesterol.

It was a great week at the gym too! I have gotten to a point of really pushing myself past the comfort spot on the bike. I'm able to get into that zone and get to that 7th mile (in a 30 minute session). The weather here has been beautiful, making me want to go and be outside alot! On the weekends this is possible, but its still too dark after work to do outdoor activities. I need to do some maintenance on my bike, but once that's done I should be able to ride on weekends on the trail down the road.

Well I need to get going prepping my lunch for tomorrow (I've now realized that if I don't put in the effort the night before I won't be ready in the morning, and I'd be more likely to grab something I shouldn't).

Vital Statistics:
Weight: 184.8 (-1 from last week = right on track!)
Days without smoking: 31!!! ($123 saved!!)
Miles on the bike: 7

TV's at the gym?

For me workout motivation, in the moment, comes from my music on my ipod. I have spent hours updating and modifying my ipod to have a workout mix that is perfect for me. It has all of my favorite artists, an overabundance of sugary pop music but also a lot of high energy house/trance to push me to peddle or run a little faster.

What doesn't motivate me when I'm on a machine is watching tv. I workout in a cardio room with 9 large flat screens on the wall, plus every machine, except the stairmasters, comes with a tv attached. I observe these people who walk slowly while being plugged in to their favorite tv show and I wonder if the tv is benefiting them or not. I suppose that by being distracted with whatever is on the tv someone might be inclined to workout longer than they would otherwise, but what if it doesn't have them pushing themselves? I have the same thoughts about reading a book or playing a Nintendo DS while on the workout equipment. It just seems pointless and counter productive.

Obviously its not for me, I want my pumping music. When I get tired, I say, just keep running/peddling/stepping until the end of this song. Next thing I know the next song is halfway over and I didn't even notice that I just finished another mile.

This week has felt very back on track. I have started using Sparkpeople.com to track food and activities. Its a free website and they have meal plans, articles, tips, tricks, message boards and everything you could look for when trying to reach your weightloss goals. I have started using their meal plans, which even puts together a grocery list for you. I love it! And as a bonus my husband is on board with it too! That is going to make it so much easier to keep the food component of this journey on track.

Now I know I said I didn't like to diet, and here I am following a meal plan, but this feels different. It has me looking at calories consumed in addition to fat, cholesterol, protein, and other things my body needs. Its incredibly flexible. Because I do the grocery shopping (as opposed to say having meals delivered) I can decide to switch out a particular meal for something else that is more appealing or I can make adjustments for special meals, like just date night with my husband. But the other great thing about it is I am now paying incredible attention to my portions. I am weighing everything, and reading the serving sizes on the side of packaging. Finally, it is forcing me to eat those dastardly fruits and veggies, which I so didn't eat before. Its not that I don't like them, I do, but I could never quite bring myself to choose them before.

It was a good week at the gym too. I made 10 minutes on the stair master!!! It felt so amazing! And I didn't die or lose a limb.

Stats:
Weight: 185.8 (downward momentum!)
Stairs: 10 minutes
Green things: more than I can count!

I have not given up but I have quit

My apologies to you for not posting in 6 weeks (or something like that). And my apologies to myself for not following through on the weight loss. Lots of IFs roll through my head about this time... If I had kept at it I might weigh ____... If I hadn't made too much dinner and then eaten it all I might have stayed motivated.

Well the IF game is not fair.

The reality is that I did not follow through on my track and therefore I have not seen my goals attained, yet. These goals are important to me and I am going to attain them!

Today I weigh in at 186.6. Right about back where I started this mission at.

The saddest part is that I was enjoying the workout routine I had created and I let the busy feeling of the Holidays and some sickness derail that routine. I will enjoy it again.

With the new year has come one of the best decisions I have made as an adult; a decision that will hopefully have an impact on my health and my ability to get a good workout: I quite smoking!! Now I realize that you may not all know that smoking had become such a part of my daily routine, but it had. I didn't get in the car without smoking. I was averaging about 13 cigarettes a day and it didn't take much for me to go even more than that. Poor Zeus doesn't know how to go out side and do his business on his own because I have always gone out with him and smoked. At least he didn't when I first quit. Now I am 17 days without smoking, I have not smoked 223 cigarettes and I have saved $70.30!!! I have a nifty app on my phone that keeps track of all of these things. Anytime that I would think about going outside or stopping to buy cigarettes I would look at the statistics as the reminder of where I was heading. Now I just check it once a day out of curiosity, mostly about the savings because that is just amazing. So even though I have not worked out or lost weight I have done something great for myself!

Sorry for the rambling nature of this post. After so long of not posting my brain is just jumbled with things that I have thought of sharing and its hard to get it all organized.

As a reminder of my stats:
Weight: 186.6
Time since a workout: 6 weeks