Weigh In #8

So on Thursday I weighed in...and GAINED. Ever have one of those days where you feel bloated and just heavier? That was Thursday. I weighed in at my scale at home, and I was up a POUND. When I weighed in at work, i was up 1.2 pounds. I was frustrated all day, angry because i gained while working out so much and eating right. Friday morning I weighed myself again, and i was 2.6 pounds down from the day before! I guess Thursday was just one of those days. So, for purposes of motivation, and because it makes me feel better, I am using my Friday weight loss for my weigh in this week ;)

Total weight loss: 1.6 pounds

Weight Loss Remaining: 41 pounds

Only 1 pound to go to reach 10 pounds!!!!!


This week some notable meals included Chili Mango Chicken

 Salad

 Pollo Picante from Cubanu ( I split this in half and ate it for 2 meals.

And tons of yogurt, fruit, oatmeal, more salad, and an egg sandwich shortly :)

Superbowl Sunday: the game

My superbowl was pretty laid back this year. I stayed home and watched with Walter and his dad. For eats, we had dinner, and then apps! We started off with a pizza and sausage bread – I had ½ a slice of pizza and 2 small slices of sausage bread. Then, during half time we moved on to the good stuff… the apps!

Walter and I hit up Trader Joe’s earlier in the day, and we picked up 2 dips we thought would be good:

Trader Joe's Taco Seasoned Beef, Bean, & Cheese Dip

I threw this in the microwave for 5 minutes, and was done! It kindof looked like a TV dinner, but tasted awesome! This was everyones favorite.

Trader Joe's Creamy Spinach & Atrichoke Dip

This one I threw into a bowl, and microwaved for 3 minutes. Also delicious, and by the time I was done, I thought the dips were equally good. But I am always a sucker for spinach artichoke dip!

We had both dips with a bag of multigrain tortilla chips, and i had 2 servings! Both dips were demolishesd by the time the 3rd quarter started.

Before the superbowl, i did a little meal prepping for the week by making another batch of my Chili Mango Chicken. It seriously could not wait another day, because my mando was on it's way out and the chicken was sitting in the fridge since thursday, waiting to be cooked! Here is the exact recipe, since I didn't write it our last time:

Chili-Mango Chicken

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut into ½ inch pieces

1 Tbsp cornstarch

1 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

¼ Tbso sesame oil

½ Tbsp peanut or canola oil

1 red onion, chopped

1 Tbsp grated or chopped fresh ginger (I used dried, and it was fine)

2 cups sugar snap peas

1 mango pitted, pealed, and chopped

1 tbsp chili garlic sauce

Black pepper to taste

1.       Combine the chicken, cornstarch, soy sauce, and sesame oil in a mixing bowl and let sit for 10 minutes.

2.       Heat the peanut oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add the onion and ginger and cook for 1-2 minutes until the onion is translucent. Add the sugar snaps and stir fry for 1 minute, using a metal spatula to keep the veggies in near-constant motion. Add the chicken, along with its marinade, and stir fry for about 2 minutes, until the meat begins to brown on the outside. Add the mango, chili sauce, and black pepper, and stir fry for 1 minute longer, until the chicken is cooked through and the mango has softened to a near sauce-like consistency. Serve over brown rice.

Makes 4 servings – 280 calories per serving – 8 g fat – 410 mg sodium

Happy Monday!

Superbowl Sunday

Happy Sunday! I was shocked to wake up to the sun beaming through my window... I almost forgot what it looked like! Since I last posted, I completed week 2 of the Couch to 5K program! I went to the gym Thursday night and Sunday, and I feel great! I think I will start week 3 tomorrow morning before work.


Yesterday I had a cheat day - Walter and I went to the International Great Beer Expo in Secaucus with some friends. Despite the weather, we had a great time! We tried many types of beer, but my eating wasn't the best :(


My eats have been pretty standard since I last posted on Thursday:


THURSDAY
L - Chili over salad
D - Salad topped with a black bean morning star burger, tomato, avocado, hot sauce, and ranch


FRIDAY
B - Yogurt w/granola and pear

L - Grilled chicken sandwich on ww bread with roasted peppers, lettuce, and basil mayo (whoops!) with soy crisps
D - One (!) slice of pizza


SATURDAY
B - A monster orange and breakfast sandwich: ww english muffin, an egg, roasted peppers, lettuce, balsamic, laughing cow cheese wedge. (recipe to follow)
S - Handful of Puffins Cereal, 1/2 granola bar
L - soft pretzel, 2 bites of Walter's cheese steak
D - tons of beer, a chicken finger, some disco fries, spinach artichoke dip


SUNDAY
B - English muffin w/apple butter
L - 1/2 Qudoba burrito bowl with rice, black beans, peppers, onions, pulled pork, mild salsa, guac.

AMAZING BREAKFAST SANDWICHES
I wanted to go through the "step by step" and ingredients in my breakfast sandwiches I have been raving about lately. For this one, I changed it up a bit, which made me realize the ingredients to my favorite sandwich!

For bread, I use these Thomas light multi grain english muffins. I take one and throw it in the toaster...

They only have 100 calories each and are really good!

Then I spray a small pan with Pam, and cook an egg over easy. I actually poke a few holes in the yolk and then flip the egg, because I don't like a runny yolk. If you do (Walter), you don't have to flip the egg.

Here are my toppings for this sandwich. Lettuce, roasted peppers, a laughing cow cheese wedge, and later - balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

 Once everything is done, assemble, and EAT!

 My favorite breakfast sandwich by FAR includes the following:

• English muffin
• Over easy egg
• Laughing cow cheese wedge
• Tomato
• Avocado
• Cilantro
• Hot sauce

These sandwiches are easy to make, and taste great! The sandwich I made above had 300 calories including the orange on the side. I think these are a perfect weekend breakfast, because they break up the oatmeals and yogurts of my life, and i look forward to eating them all week! 

After breakfast, Molly and I played for awhile. She tried hiding from me, but i found her...

 There she is!

 Here she is chewing her favorite red ball:

 And posing with it. Doesn't it look like she has a mustache?!

I actually had to throw that ball away, because she started tearing little pieces of plastic off and eating it. I now owe her a new favorite ball. Happy Super Bowl watching!

Weigh in #7

So I decided to move my weigh ins to Thursdays to match with the Biggest Loser challange at work. It seemed silly to have 2 weigh ins on 2 different days of the week, and no time to bounce back from the weekend since my weigh ins are on Mondays. Sooooo..... I only lost 0.2 pounds. (and when I weighed myself in at work, I lost 0.6 pounds... wierd huh?!)

Total weight loss: 0.2 pounds

Weight Loss Remaining: 42.6 pounds

This week snacking totally got the best of me, while working from home I snacked WAY too much! If chips are there… I will eat them. I need to remember this and have more willpower! Plus, let’s be honest, I pretty much ate like shit all weekend (except for those breakfast sandwiches, those were awesome!) I was talking to V about this, and she told me to limit cheese and carbs. So I am going to try very hard to do that, and limit cheese, carbs, and SODIUM! Sodium is a sneaky one too.

Since I was home yesterday, I prepared a crock pot chili during my lunch break! I will post the recipe and book it came from later, it tasted pretty good! It was a white turkey chili, I think I prefer regular chili with black beans, tomatoes, chili powder, ect. Here is what it looks like:

 And here it is over a salad for dinner, which I also packed for lunch today:

WEDNESDAY

L – Salad w/grilled chicken, artichoke hearts*, roasted red peppers*, feta cheese, balsamic vinaigrette

S – Chips and hummus

D – Turkey chili over mixed greens with salsa, balsamic vinaigrette, and asiago cheese

THURSDAY

B – Balance Bar

S – 2 Clementines, light n fit yogurt, sprinkle of granola

*The artichoke hearts and roasted red peppers are in water (not marinated in oil). The artichokes have 10 calories each, and the peppers have 5 calories per serving.

Alright, back to work! Have a great day!

Running

I am doing it! I am doing the Couch to 5k and not dying! On Friday, despite getting out of work late, it snowing out, and being stuck in traffic, I STILL made it to the gym and did my second workout. And despite running WAY late on Saturday, I went and did my third workout of week 1! It felt so good to complete the workouts, and my body felt so good after doing them!


Monday morning I started Week 2 of the C25K program, and it was HARD. Who thought going from running for 60 seconds to 90 seconds would be such a big change? Here is the week 2 C25K plan: Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes. If you were running on a treadmill, it would look like this:


00:00-5:00: Warmup walk
5:00-6:30: Run
6:30-8:30: Walk
8:30-10:00: Run
10:00-12:00: Walk
12:00-13:30: Run
13:30-15:30: Walk
15:30-17:00: Run
17:00-19:00: Walk
19:00-20:30: Run
20:30-22:30: Walk
22:30-24:00: Run
24:00-26:00: Walk
26:00-30:00: Cooldown Walk


I ended up doing the first 26 minutes, and finishing out on the elliptical for 10 minutes. Take that, c25k! We have been snowed in for the last 2 days so back to the gym tomorrow to do workout #2 of week 2!


In other news, I signed up for my first race! I signed up for the Spring Lake 5 which is over Memorial Day weekend (5/28). Its funny, because I registered for this 5 miler even before I registered for the 5K I am planning on doing!


My eating has been OK at best. I cheated over the weekend, so i haven't seen much (if any) movement on the scale. 


SATURDAY
B- Egg sandwich on a WW english muffin w/tomato, cilantro, 1/2 avocado, a laughing cow cheese wedge, and hot sauce. (SO GOOD!)
L- Chik Fil-a grilled chicken sandwich on a whole wheat bun
D- (Was at a party) appetizers: guac and 5 chips, caprese salad. Dinner: Lasagna, a meatball, salad, a piece of chicken franchese. 2 glasses of wine. Dessert - fruit, a sliver of chocolate cake, and a coffee.
S- a million chips and dip (DANGIT)


SUNDAY

B- Egg sandwich on a WW English muffin w/tomato,  1/2 avocado, a laughing cow cheese wedge, and hot sauce.

L- SUSHI! A side salad w/ginger dressing, 2 rolls sushi (spicy tuna roll, shrimp tempura, Christmas, spicy shrimp shared with Walter)

D- 1/3 cup yellow rice, 1 cup broccoli, 1/3 cup pulled brisket (like pulled pork)

MONDAY

B1- 90 calorie fiber one bar before the gym

B2- oatmeal w/half a banana and 1 tbsp craisins

S- 1/2 banana

L- healthy choice meal

S- Soy crisps (2 servings)

D- Can of Italian wedding soup with grated cheese

TUESDAY

B-fruit and cereal (2 servings of cereal, snacked on it dry)

S- soy crisps

L- huge salad with chicken, roasted peppers, artichoke hearts, feta, balsamic vinaigrette

S- multi grain chips and hummus

D- can of soup, WW English muffin, brie cheese (snacked way too much today!)

WEDNESDAY

B- yogurt w/1/2 banana and cereal (trying to fill myself up so i don't have the urge to snack!

Working from home sometimes hurts me, because I want to snack ALL day. This is what ended up happening to me yesterday, and i felt so gross by the end of the day. I need to figure out how to stop this from happening. Any suggestions? Maybe a bigger breakfast to fill me up more? That's what I tried today. We will see if it works!