Sick Days

So I didn't make it to my weigh in this week. I came back from Florida with an infection and had to stay home on antibiotics for a few days. Today is my first day back at work, and the good news is everyone seems to be telling me I've lost weight.

I know I lose it first in my stomach so it makes a  huge difference visually - I'm really hopeful for the October wedding. Only 4 weeks until San Antonio Wedding and 7 weeks until the Destin wedding!

Ways to make it through the sickness:

• Lots and lots of water/tea - especially anything hot with lemon and a touch of honey does wonders for a sore throat and keeps you hydrated
• Don't strain to do activity - I went ahead and rested for two days (slept for most of it) anything that causes extreme fatigue can hinder your recovery. 
• REST - Sleep, sleep, sleep. Your body needs it (plus side is you don't eat while you sleep)
• Eat right - while you may not feel like your usual hearty fare, get some protein and complex carbs in (right along with your feel good foods like chocolate pudding). I mixed up some peanut butter oatmeal and made my own chocolate pudding with cocoa powder, honey, and greek yogurt.

Don't allow a bout of strep, a cold, flu, or sinus infection ruin your efforts. Being sick is the best time to stop and take care of you!

Birthdays and BarBQ

Time to celebrate a dear friend's 30th birthday. Alcohol, cheesecake, food, food, food. Good thing I've got all my weekly points to utilize. Weigh in on Tuesday right after getting back in town!

Week 4 Begins at 5!

Another successful weigh in this week - I am down 6.2 lbs total!

Which means I have lost a little over this amount....

GROSS!

This week will be a challenge for sure. All my weekly points are off limits until I get to the weekend, where a good friend's 30th birthday will ensue with drinking, food, beach, and general debauchery.

5 weeks until Wedding #1
8 weeks  until Wedding #2

8/21/2012

Weight: 299.8 (-2.6 this week & -6.2 total)

5% Goal: 291 (8.8 pounds to go!)

10% Goal: 276 (23.8 pounds to go!)

Daily Points   48

Working Out With Friends

Who like to work out alone? They always say working out with a friend is more likely to keep you motivated. So I have decided to workout with 6 of my favorite Friends. 

 

 
In 64 days I will be at a beach wedding wearing a teal SLEEVELESS cocktail dress. I know I will be down some decent poundage by then, but my arms are so big I want to try and help them firm up some. So this week I added some strength training to the mix.

Every night when I get home I turn on an episode of my favorite show (I own all 10 seasons and have most of them memorized as my boyfriend can attest to). During the 20-23 minute episode I lift 5lb weights. One night I do my arms, the next my legs. I've found this is a great relaxer as I can watch something I enjoy and relax mentally while giving my body a firming kick in the rear. I do simple exercises but will be looking for workout routines designed to be done at home while watching TV (I know Self Magazine did an all over toning routine a while back).

Arm Night: 
Bicep Curls
Overhead Tricep Press
Shoulder Press
Back Press/Flys
Side Lateral Raise

Leg Night
Squats with Kick Backs (Great for your butt)
Heel Raises
Hula Hooping (both directions, rotate your waist without a hula hoop and you still get the Ab workout without getting on the floor for a crunch)

Any suggestions on other minimal equipment firmers to do during a stint of TV would be much appreciated.


Starting picture of my in the dress will be posted below once I get home from work.

Week 3

Had my second weigh in today. Was NOT looking forward to it because it's that lovely time where women retain way too much water weight than is good for our sanity. Still had a lost though!

8/14/2012

Weight: 302.4 (-0.2 this week & -3.6 total)

5% Goal: 291 (11.4 pounds to go!)

10% Goal: 276 (26.4 pounds to go!)

Daily Points   48

 

 

Cannot wait for next week's weigh in where I should see and even bigger drop. :)

Working Out at Work

We all know that to be healthy we must be active. Sounds a lot easier than it actually is when you take into account my 10-12 hour a day desk job where I must maintain phone coverage for my clients. I think Amazon.com has helped me find a solution. 

 

For around $30 with shipping I got this little gem to act as my desk gym. Incredibly simple in design, lightweight for taking home on weekends, and sturdy (I've been using it for about a month now and I see no wear as of yet). 

Even though the resistance can be set higher (using the knob on the top), I try to keep it low so I'm not out of breath or sweating at my desk. My goal is not to bike the Tour De France at my desk every day, but simply to get as much movement in as possible. I feel it in my calves after 30 minutes and in my thighs after a good day of pedaling where I rack up an hour or more. 

I don't set myself time limits, but I pedal as much and as often as I can while writing down the time I start and stop (you can also keep a stopwatch at your desk as long as it doesn't reset after it's been inactive for a while). It's easy to rack up 2 hours of pedal-time in anything from 5-15 minutes intervals throughout the day. If you pedal only 5 minutes per hour during an 8 hour shift you have 40 minutes of movement for the day that you would otherwise not have had.

It doesn't replace a good strength training or cardio intensive session, but it definitely helps me continuously work on getting healthier.

 

Hibachi Tonight!

Every Thursday my boyfriend, Stephen, and I go out to dinner. It's our way to get out of the house (he works from home) and spend some time treating ourselves. I was very nervous to see what he wanted to go do and when he said Hibachi, I felt my heart skip a beat.

How am I supposed to face the soup, salad, friend rice, noodles, meat, and veggies they all fry up and put in front of me??????

With eTools!


Hibachi Chicken (1 cup) - 8 points
Hibachi Shrimp (1 cup) - 6 points
Hibachi Steak (1 cup) - 10 points
Hibachi Veggies (1 cup) - 5 points (wow they must put a ton of oil in there to make vegetables 5 points when they are usually 0!!!)
Fried rice (1 cup) - 10 points
Veggie Lo-Mein (1 cup) - 8 points

All together that can be a 33 point dinner for what I normally eat. Now I would pull in my weekly points, but I have a work retreat this weekend with lots of good food and alcohol so I'm going to pull in my 18 points I saved for dinner and my 2 activity points I earned at work today.


My dinner for tonight with my 20 points:
1 cup hibachi steak, 1 cup hibachi veggies, & 1/2 cup fried rice = 20 points!


Gotta run, time for dinner! :)

First Weigh In, Drumroll Please.........

First weigh in was this morning before work.....drumroll please

8/7/2012

Weight: 302.6 (-3.4 this week & -3.4 total)

5% Goal: 291 (11.6 pounds to go!)

10% Goal: 276 (26.6 pounds to go!)

Daily Points   48

 

 

Not bad! I lost 3.4 pounds and took my daily points allowance down one point. My goal this week is to bike 30 minutes at work everyday to try and maintain progress.

Successful Weekends

Game night was a success! Even with my cupcake indulgence I stayed within my weekly/daily points I had budgeted. Did not have time to do the stuffed jalapenos (thinking those for dinner tonight with a lean protein). Plus I budgeted 2 fried oreos into my daily points on Sunday for pub quiz at Quarry House in Silver Spring.

First weigh in is tomorrow morning followed by meeting after work. Very excited and nervous!

Recipe Review

Bread Bowl Dip was good, just a slight after taste of the fat free mayo. I liked it with veggies, but I think chips or toasted bread would add something as an accompaniment. I have read some reviews saying that letting it sit overnight lets the flavors blend a little more effectively.

Ingredients

	1 packet(s) vegetable soup mix, (1 2/3 oz)
	16 oz fat-free sour cream
	1/2 cup(s) fat-free mayonnaise
	1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
	10 oz chopped frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
	1/4 cup(s) uncooked carrot(s), finely grated
	8 oz canned water chestnut(s), drained and chopped
	1 loaf/loaves pumpernickel bread, round

Instructions

• In a medium bowl, combine soup mix, sour cream, mayonnaise and lemon juice.
• Stir in spinach, carrots and water chestnuts; chill.
• To serve, hallow out a the loaf of bread, by cutting a circle in the center of it. Cut up remaining bread into 1-inch cubes. Fill with dip. Yields about 1/4 cup of dip and 2 bread cubes per serving.

For dinner on Saturday I tried WW Orange Beef Stir Fry. Did this without the Orange extract, which I would not do again. The amount of orange peel made it a tad too bitter for my taste. Would likely grate both ginger and peel next time to infuse the flavor without getting a big bite of bitter or spice. My boyfriend and I also prefer a few more veggies than just sugar snap peas (water chestnuts and bokchoy are our favs).

*Tip* Whole Foods actually had pre cut Sirloin Stir Fry Beef in 1 lb packages.

Ingredients

	1 1/4 cup(s) fat-free chicken broth, reduced-sodium
	3 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
	1 tsp SPLENDA® SPLENDA No Calorie Sweetener
	1/2 tsp orange extract, optional
	1 spray(s) cooking spray
	2 Tbsp orange zest, freshly grated, or 1/4 cup fresh julienned orange peel*
	1/4 cup(s) ginger root, fresh, peeled, julienned*
	2 clove(s) (medium) garlic clove(s), slivered
	1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
	1 pound(s) uncooked lean trimmed sirloin beef, boneless, sliced against grain into 1/8-inch-thick strips
	4 cup(s) uncooked sugar snap peas
	1 Tbsp arrowroot powder, dissolved in 1 Tbsp of water

Instructions

• Whisk broth, soy sauce, Splenda and orange extract together in a small bowl; set aside.
• Coat a large nonstick wok (or skillet) with cooking spray and set over medium-high heat. Add orange peel or zest, ginger and garlic; stir-fry until softened and aromatic, about 2 minutes. Add red pepper flakes and stir-fry 20 seconds.
• Add beef; stir-fry until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Add sugar snap peas and continue stir-frying until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes.
• Pour in broth mixture and bring to a simmer; cover wok (or skillet) and cook 1 minute more.
• Stir in arrowroot mixture. Cook just until sauce thickens, about 5 to 10 seconds; immediately remove from heat and serve. Yields about 1 1/2 cups per serving.

Notes: To 'julienne' means to cut into thin matchsticks. To julienne orange peel, press the peeled rind sections as flat as you can on a cutting board and slice them into long matchsticks. To julienne fresh ginger, cut the peeled stalk into thin, even slices and then cut each of these into matchsticks.

If you like your food spicy, add 1 teaspoon of Chinese red chili paste to the recipe before serving.
 

Party Snacks

 

Game night is tonight! That means good friends, silly games, and food temptations galore. Luckily I have a game plan thanks to some of the recipes found on WeightWatchers.com.






Instead of straight wine (4 points per 5 oz) I'm bringing Diet Sprite and making spritzers (now the same 5 oz is only 2 points). More to drink with the same amount of points! :)
 







 
 


Bread Bowl Dip - Looks amazing and I'm bringing veggie crudites to dip. 4 points for 1/4 cup of dip and 2 bread cubes cut from the middle part. If it works out well I will post the recipe in a new section for my fav WW recipes.








 


 Grilled Stuffed Jalapenos - I love some jalapeno poppers, here is a healthier (and more visually appealing, if you ask me) option. Only 1 point per pepper! (Say that 5 times fast) Again recipe to follow if they turn out well.





 

I've got my recipes and I pre-tracked my points this morning. Let the games BEGIN!

Office Snacks

Was at work until 9:30pm last night and was sooo hungry. Cannot begin to explain how hungry I was and how much I wanted to run next door to BGR and get a big burger. I stayed strong and snacked on string cheese, I've learned while working in an office that having healthy snacks always in the office  fridge is a must!

Someone at WW meeting Tuesday had mentioned he didn't cook and didn't have time to pack healthy snacks...so here are some of my favs. Please feel free to share yours!

Chicken Breast Tenderloins - They are a little more expensive but so much less work. Grab a big pack from Sams/Costco/BJs and divvy them up into quart size freezer bags. 5 -6 per bag gives you a solid week of healthy protein. Pull it out of freezer on Friday and bake it in toaster oven Sunday afternoon with assorted Mrs. Dash flavorings to have some variety!

Light String Cheese - About 1 point per stick and its absolutely wonderful with a piece of fruit or some whole grain crackers

Fruit - Always being able to grab a handful of grapes, apple, or orange keeps me from hitting the vending machine.

Veggies and Hummus - Individual pack of Saba Hummus cups (more expensive, but worth it for me. Make your own decision on if dividing it yourself is worth it or if you would bypass that step and end up eating the whole thing) celery, zucchini, radishes, baby carrots - basically whatever looks good when I hit the store. Look for bright colors!


Day 2 on the journey to a healthier me!

Scariest moment of my life

First Weight Watchers Meeting last night. This is about the thousandth time I've tried to lose the weight, but I know this is the time I will succeed.

I am at my heaviest ever and with a 10-12 hour a day desk job I don't see the weight going, but still steadily creeping.

No one knows my actual weight, not my mother, my best friend, or even my boyfriend. I think its time to let it be known because by hiding that number I am trying to hide the fact that I....am...obese. The thought of that number being out there for people to see terrifies me to the core, which is why I need it out there. That fear is starting to translate to fear for my health.

So *deep breath* here it goes.....

8/1/2012 -The Beginning
Weight: 306
5% Goal: 291
10% Goal: 276
Daily Points: 49