So......

Well again I've proven that I'm terrible and regular posting. I gave up the whole diet thing kind of. Just not motivated right now.

OMG... I laughed so hard I lost weight.

http://westmd.craigslist.org/bks/855850162.html


Silliest "make it bigger, better, faster, now" post I've ever seen.

Okay ladies, what are we up to?  Anything good?  Anything bad?

Personally, I'm hovering around 200, which means 25 lbs lost.  I've officially hit my 10% goal! 

Not much else going on.  Trying to incorporate exercise into my week.  Trying, but not necessarily succeeding.  I've also got a wicked sore throat which isn't inspiring me at the moment.  It was tough to motivate and get to work this morning.  I only did it because Anna would have cried if I hadn't shown up.  And I've got a half day tomorrow.

I'm still here. And still eating too much and exercising too little

Just a note to say I haven't disappeared but I haven't had any success to post of and didn't feel like posting about oreos and french fries. Gah, I've been bad. Can I blame it on my period or should I just man up to being a total weenie about food will power the past 2 weeks or so?

Greetings again, all. I was feeling pretty good about myself b/c of a very active vacation involving lots of hiking, walking, etc. and then for about a week I wasn't hungry at all! Cray-zee. Must say, that's the strangest thing that ever happened to me. If y'all know me, you know that eating is one of my favoritest things. But now back at home and now feeling even worse! I guess everything is relative right? Putting together a schedule involving gym time and walking. looking into Taichi with mom and yoga tapes at home. Too much at once you think? i need some affirmation here.

Mmm peachy goodness.

So after nearly a bushel of peaches has made its way into the freezer.... I still have a couple left over and I can't think what to do with them. And Ian only wants so many peaches in a day.

Cook-out Coolness

I helped host a cook-out yesterday and didn't go over my points on food!! This is quite an accomplishment, and one I was more than a little concerned about. And I still ate everything I wanted to. So there!

Plus it was GREAT seeing so many friends.

Uh oh

I ate breakfast at 6:30AM and lunch at 10AM.  This doesn't bode well for the rest of the day.

I think I'm tired of food

I'm tired of cooking anyway. Definitely tired of cooking apples and tomatoes. But the jelly is going to be soo good. It is crab apple based. Nummers.

Kind of lazy, actually

Alright, so we've all been kind of lazy with the posting lately.  I hope we haven't been lazy with the diet!

So after about 3 big "this is a special meal for you honey, wherever you want to go" I barely stayed within my points allowance.  Thank goodness for flex points!

Haven't really lost anything.  I'm consistently around 205, so I guess it's time to get into the gym. Anna has expressed interest in going after work, which is Great.  However I need to show a little motivation and get this ball rolling.

As of yesterday, I've got a ton of free time with no one to please but myself.  I need to put it to good use!

So on track it hurts

Today my magic scale said that I had hit 20 pounds less than when I had started.  I did the big girl happy dance and reaffirmed the fact that I'm ready to keep going.  

Woohoo!

Just 3 more pounds to my 10% weight loss goal.  And then beyond.

Water water everywhere...

... And all of it do drink.

I'm trying to make myself drink more water. We'll see how it goes. I think all the bottles from Penssic will help since I tend to drink more water from a bottle than a cup. Not sure why.

mostly on track

so the weekend wasn't too bad considering it could have been freaking awful (diet-wise anyway).
Mom was feeling good last night and she asked me to go to Dairy Queen with her. Had a small dip cone, so feeling good I got the smallest, cheapest thing on the menu. I'm usually a Blizzard kind of gal.
The whole family has always valued things that are healthy, and now it's time to put the money where the mouth is for everyone. Wish us luck!

what to do, what to say?

here's hoping that increased stress does not equal increased thigh magnitude.

Post Pennsic

So I didn't do too bad.  I tried to not overeat (while being off of the diet for almost a week).  I did have a bread bowl with Swedish Meatballs, and one with chili.  I couldn't resist, and to be honest, didn't really want to.

Paulette's cooking was delicious and I might have overindulged in that a bit.  I often had more than one serving.  Especially the baked ham and the jambalaya (with ranch dressing, no less).

I didn't walk as much as I should have, although of course there was plenty of walking.

The weather was perfect, Jes and I thoroughly enjoyed our vacation and...

...I only gained 1 pound.  

I can live with that.

Back on the diet full time today.  Of course, the office is having a pizza party tomorrow, but I've politely declined and successfully lobbied to spend my pizza money on sushi.  Go me!

All alone...

So I'm on my own for 3 days. What to do?

* Drink large amounts of alcohol in my underpants?
* Fire 2 guns whilst jumping through the air?
* Fire 1 gun whilst jumping through the air?
* Dismantle pieces of furniture and foist them off onto unsuspecting friends and neighbors? Uh, wait... I already did that one.
* Clean the house? Actually find the bottom of the laundry pile?
* Order oodles of bar-b-que and male strippers on D's credit card?

And with everyone else at Pennsic it would seem Anna is my conscience. Boy am I screwed. BBQ and strippers anyone?

It's like Cream Cheese, only better for you...

Okay, I admit it... I've got Amanda started down the road of yogurt cheese. And, you know what... I'm not ashamed. It's good and it's good for you! In fact, you should use it the next time you make the sushi and see if it works better than the cream cheese.
This is how exciting yogurt cheese can be...

Yogurt Cheese with Pita and Olives

4 cup Whole Milk Yogurt
1 tsp Sesame Seeds
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Dried Summer Savory
1/8 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1/8 tsp Ground Cumin
2 tbl Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Toasted Pita Bread
Triangles
Assorted Olives

Set strainer over large bowl. Line strainer with 4 layers of cheesecloth, allowing 4 inches to extend over sides of strainer (do not let strainer touch bottom of bowl). Hint: If you don't have cheesecloth on hand, use large coffee filter liners, e.g. Mr. Coffee filters. Spoon yogurt into strainer. If you are using cheesecloth, gather cheesecloth together; fold over yogurt. Refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight. Liquid will drain out and yogurt will thicken. Since I use coffee filters most of the time, I just invert a large plate on top of the strainer and refrigerate. Combine sesame seeds, salt, summer savory, cayenne and cumin in small bowl. Open cheesecloth up (or remove plate). Using a rubber spatula, transfer drained yogurt to a bowl. Drizzle olive oil over. Sprinkle with sesame seed mixture. Place bowl in center of platter; surround with pita bread triangles and olives.

Yogurt Cheese Spreads and Dips ideas...
*Stir in chopped dried apricots, raisins and pecans. Serve with warm muffins or toast.
*Stir in orange juice, minced shallots, tarragon and a pinch of grated orange peel. Serve as a sauce for poached fish.
*Stir in minced fresh spinach, fresh snipped dill, minced fresh parsley and toasted pine nuts. Spread on toasted bagels.
*Stir in minced garlic, minced fresh parsley and splash of lemon juice. Serve as a dip for raw vegetables or pita chips.

Use to replace sour cream or cream cheese! MMmmmm

Yogurt Cheese

I experimented today with Yogurt Cheese.

- drained just under a cup of Stonyfield Non-Fat Plain Yogurt all day
- added a splash of balsamic vinegar
- added a dash of cilantro (although parsley would have been better)
- added about a teaspoon of minced garlic.

Ate it with crackers. It was 1.5 points for the whole thing, which was quite alot and ate it with some yummy new crackers that Anna and I found. Garden Harvest Toasted Chips - Tomato Basil flavor. Those were 2 points. So a great low point snack.

Definitely bears some more experimenting.

May I have some more please? More! MOOOORE!

So I made this great porridge that is 4 pts per serving. Recipe to come. Lovely with veggies and/or meat. Also a mexicanoid casserole that in a 9 x9 dish makes 6 servings at 6 pts per. delish - however I was out of sour cream so that will add a bit once topped.

The best thing about the casserole was that I used raw brown rice in it (which is a pain to cook) and it cooked in the dish. I just loaded up the pan, threw it in the oven and 2 hours later - voila - dinner.

Finally, the grocery store!

I finally went to the grocery store, thanks Amanda! It's always much more fun when you can chat with someone while you're there!

Anyway, I made an awesome bento lunch today - probably too many points but I'll make up for it at dinner. The chicken, however, was just awesome.

For 1.5 lbs of chicken I made...

Asian Marinade
1/4 c Tamari (really good soy sauce)
1/4 c rice wine vinegar
1 Tblspn Enova
1/2 Tblspn seasame oil
1/2 Tblspn Sarashi
2 Scallions chopped
Red Pepper flakes (optional)

I only cooked up what I needed for two bentos (one for me, one for Tiste) and the rest is at home waiting for stir-fry for tonight! MMmmmmm

Bar food is hard...

...to diet out on.

But tasty.  So I don't know whether to feel bad that I used, like, half of my flex points for the week last night, or to be glad that I only used half.  Hah.

Here, let me tempt your taste buds:

- Steamed Little Neck Clams in white wine & garlic with a crusty baguette

- Panini Cuban with smoked pork, swiss cheese and pickles.

Sigh.

Gearing up

For a darn healthy weekend.  Please note my positive outlook and general excitement.  

I have no idea what I'm going to do to make this weekend so fabulous, but I'm going to do it.  I've got a weekend of sorting and sewing ahead of me, so I plan to stay in and eat well.  I've got some chicken thawing in the fridge, so things with that.  

Probably stir fry one day, baked one day (with my redskin potatoes!) and grilled one day with a yummy marinade.  I need to get to the grocery store to make this happen, so give me some good ideas!  Please!

All I need...

Is to make it to the freakin' grocery store! I can't cook without food in the house... Erk. And, well, it really hasn't helped that I've had a house guest for over a week. He leaves today though so Tiste and I will be home more starting Sunday. I just can't manage to be home to cook with all we have going on. It does make me the sad. I'm just watching what I order as best as possible.

Bleh.

You know you want it

Chocolate Fig Ice Cream.

That is all.

(I exercised restraint, I promise.)

maybe not

OK, well maybe I only drank 1 glass of water last night. But it was still better than nothing! :P
Trying to do better today. and not failing. completely.

blame

man, am I retaining water like freaking crazy!! Hoping to blame my hippopotamus shape on my monthly courses. Bleh.I vow to drink a gallon of water tonight and eat vegetables the rest of the week. OK, maybe only 1/2 gallon tonight. I do want to sleep tonight instead of spending a few hours peeing in the bathroom.I'll check in to tell you how my cleansing regimine is going.

Fruity cereal craving

Do you have those times when you know when you just have to have something so over the top sweet that you think only children's breakfast cereal will suffice?

Found a great replacement.
1/2 c Almond Special K
1 6oz container of your favorite low fat or fat free fruit yogurt
1 c or 1 item of your fav soft fruit

I used raspberry yogurt and a fresh peach.

Fantabulous! It was all the fresh and sweet and crunchy I could crave without all the corn syrup ickiness that I hate.

Possible future combinations to include.
Fruit Yogurt
Banana Cherry
Pear Lemon
Cherry Chocolate or coffee
Kiwi Peach

Maybe something with steamed pumpkin and vanilla yogurt?

We shall see.

Sushi nummy treat

Tonight, after reorganizing most of the house this past week and mainly this weekend, we treated our selves to home grown sushi. And it only took 3 trips to the store of "Crap we're out of...XX".

I made a build your own sushi tray of the following ingredients.

Salmon fillet seared in a mix of 1tsp plum sauce, 1tsp Chinese hot mustard and 1 tbsp soy.
Chicken bits in 1tbsp soy, 1tbsp sesame oil and 1 tsp cane sugar.
Zucchini in lime and garlic. (spritz of lime and a dash of garlic - like I measure anything)
Steamed carrots and green beans - plain
Smoked salmon
Cream cheese (we used neufchatel instead)
Crab sticks
Avocado

I think that is it aside from wasabi, ginger and soy.

It was loverly!! And we watched Iron Monkey while we ate. Great movie, but stay away from subtitled flicks when you have to look at your plate a lot. Glad I've already seen it a brazillion times.

heeheehee.... brazillion.

So tired

So after another great weekend of fun visitors I'm completely wiped out. Tired and not entirely sure how well I did on my diet.

Great news though, made sushi again last night (I'm getting some sort of reputation) and it was great! Kelly and Laura convinced me to try new things. We had real raw tuna and flying fish roe on the rolls. Wow!

And don't tell the girls who had to miss it, but the Greek chocolate and fig ice cream was really great!! I only had a half of a serving though. Trying to be good.

Surprise!

I hosted a surprise birthday party for my friend Rain last night and did most (almost all) of the food for the party. I know most people - especially her boyfriend and her boyfriend's friends - are just fine and dandy happy with pizza. Can we all say - bleh! Parties are a time to cook fabulous food and there's no reason to get that greasy stuff everywhere.

(Not that I don't like pizza, I do. But, I totally admit I'm a food snob too.)

Anyway, for 12ish people I made...

21 drumsticks in an Asian Marinade, which turned out fabulous
3 zucchini sautted with Enova oil, onions and crushed red pepper
1 lb of green beans with the citrus dressing I posted earlier this week
*Bought 1 lb of potato salad (for people who don't like all green veggies)
2 pkgs strawberries with the yogurt drained & Spenda brown sugar added.
There were also 3 bags of chips, salsa and peanuts.
Oh, and her boyfriend bought a cake...

My veggies were actually 99% gone by the end of the night and the potato salad was only half eaten. The chicken disappeared quickly too and we only had 4 pieces left at the end of the night.
Everyone complimented the food and ask for the citrus recipe for the green beans! :)
And, the yogurt - someone told me that it was so good, he thought it was the "store bought stuff". (hee, hee)

Goes to show you can put good food in front of people and they'll love it! With a bit of help from Amanda, my friend deven and myself in the kitchen... I planned the menu yesterday afternoon, bought the ingredients at 5pm, started prep at 6pm and finished everything right at 7:15pm.

I was sooo pleased!

Sweet Blueberries

While I was at the farm I picked (okay, fine - my mom picked them for me) some blueberries. I had recently seen the post from the Pioneer Woman about the yummy yogurt/brown sugar/blueberry dessert. So, my mother and I lightened it up and made it. It was SOOOooo good.

I have 3 cups of blueberries that I've been eating off and on since I got home. So, today in my bento I did a super quick version of that dessert. :)

===
2 Tblspn Blueberries - 0 points
1 Tblspn Fat Free Vanilla Yogurt - 0 points
1/2 tsp Splenda Brown Sugar - 0 points
===

It's not a lot but fits perfect into a silicone muffin cup and will be a sweet treat at lunchtime. And, best of all - NO POINTS!

Insanity

Can I blame EXTREME mood swings and general craziness on my diet?  Please?  I promise I haven't taken actual leave of my senses.  It's temporary.

Back On Track

Not that I really jumped off track. I just wasn't able to log everything.

I mostly ate veggies while I was home. There's nothing better than heirloom organic tomatoes, home grown green beans, fresh zucchini, fresh blueberries and organic free-range chicken. Mmm.

I made a zesty dressing for the green beans too...

1/4 tsp lime zest
juice of 1 lime
1/4 tsp lemon zest
juice of 1 lemon
1 TableSpoon *really* good Olive Oil
1/4 c. chopped shallot
1/4 tsp oregano
& as much fresh basil as you want (I did 6 leaves julienned)

Blanch your green (or wax) beans to desired crispness, drain and toss with the dressing.
Make enough beans to serve 4.

I served it at room temp and it was very refreshing! Mmm.

Hump day, sans humping.

Okee-doke. I 'm checking out the Hungry Girl site (to the left on the menu bar there).  It's pretty awesome so far and I'm only on the second page!  I'm going to make the smoothie to wow my guests this weekend (I think) and I'm entranced by the Philly Cheese Steak.  

Last night I did a totally low fat low cal soup.  Kind of Japanese I guess.  It's just:

4 Cups Water

2 Tsp Dashi Stock (powder)

1 Tbsp Fish Sauce

1 Tbsp Soy Sauce

Cabbage - sliced into strips

Kamaboku

Fish Balls

- boil and eat.

Yum!

So since dinner was so low point (like 3 points for the whole pot) I treated myself to a DQ cone.  Go me!

I'm thinking hard about hitting the grocery store tonight to find something that excites me.  Hey, Jes is gone, I need all the excitement I can manufacture solo.

Turkey pie

We didn't end up doing this for dinner the night I posted as I went with Jen and Madi to the mall for a while. Not conducive to having the oven on.

I made it last night and well, lesson learned on turnips. They take a lot less liquid to mash. I ended up adding in some instant potatoes to thicken a bit. To make up for this I halved the mushroom soup which was the big pointer in the recipe and I'm considering it a fair exchange. It was lovely. Peppery, garlicky, and a lot lighter in flavor than the beef or lamb versions. Generally an all around hit.

add this site to list

check out this website during your electronic travels in search of healthy indulgences. http://www.hungry-girl.com/ I've just found it and definitely looks like it's worth looking through for interesting ideas.

Bored, bored, bored.

Disinterest has set in, as it usually does soon after the husband ships out.  Can of soup for breakfast and I'm planning on hitting the Subway for lunch.

I know that I can do these things and still be well within my points for the day, but it's so...boring!

Blame retraction

So I earlier heaped blame upon one of the skeevy places I go shopping as the cause of my stomach troubles. Apparently not so. But all is now well and I'm back to not recycling my points.

I was feeling better by mid Saturday so I went out for a bit and Martinsburg was yard sale central. I now have a bike - woot! I'm hoping to soon add bike rides to my exercise routine. eh routine. Who am I kidding? To my vague collection of exercise options that are rarely ever utilized.
That's a bit better.

On a points note I managed to make a Shepherd's Pie recipe that has only 6 points per heaping serving. Delightful.

BTW

by the way, I was WAY impressed with Amanda's focus this past weekend. Sure, we ate a little extra, but she came home and plugged the points right in the computer! I, by the way, did NOT. Maybe we were slightly bad influences on eachother (what's new there?) but I probably would have been much worse if she wasn't thinking in terms of weight watchers. Thanks Amanda for keeping me honest. ;)

greetings for the new week

hello everyone. So I"ve joined the fad and hope the pounds will melt off just by chatting with you gals! We'll see how it goes.
I've been doing OK the past few weeks, but ready to jump in again with renewed energy and added incentive to get the chunk gone from my hips. Egads.
It's been a good day so far!

Blue Monday

OK, not really blue.  But it IS Monday.  I was admonished by the friendly WW website for loosing weight too quickly.  So I mentally told it to fuck off and then I packed my lunch.

I am currently in love with chicken.  Really because I have a 3 breasts to cook, and just little ol' me to cook for.

Sunday I made some kind of Shish Taouk which, for the uninitiated is a Shish Kebab.  This is the recipe I used as a jumping off point.  Except I was almost out of cumin, so I used the dash of it I had and added ground coriander and tumeric.  And also some plain yogurt.  And plain chicken is boring when you have some fresh shrimp, so I threw those in to the marinade mixture and let the whole thing sit for about 2 hours.  Skewered the poor meats and broiled the chicken and then the shrimp.  Served over chopped endive, because that's what was in the fridge.  And other than the greens being a bit bitter, the whole thing was damn good.

Today I've made up and packed some lemon pepper chicken bits for lunch.  Easy and tasty too.

I'm thinking about treating myself to some Mexican for dinner tonight.  Yay Mexican food!  Chicken fajitas are just 8 points for two.  I'm going for it.

Great weekend

Even with all of the great food that Sharon and I ate this weekend, I still did great on my points. And I'm only 10 lbs away from my 10% goal!

We tried a new restaurant at Virginia Beach. It's called Taza. Posh tapas style food.

Too bad today I really want to eat everything in sight! Boo!

Oh god.

This just isn't the week for me. I haven't been doing well on the WW but I'm still doing "better". Last night I had yummy avocado rolls for a snack - the big ones with wrapped with rice paper. Ohmigod, so good! Oh, and seaweed salad to go with... Not to mention my blended mocha frap from Starbucks that the BF bought me. Damn boyfriend. It was sweet and I didn't want to say no!

And, I've been totally out of flex points since Thursday! LOL

Anyway, I thought I'd share. I suspect that next week will be better since I'm going to do the grocery store shopping tomorrow. Plan week meals, etc. This week has been a lot of catch as catch can. While not failing COMPLETELY ... Still having set backs.

Hope everyone is fairing better than I!

Damn Walmart or Rescue Mission or Goodwill

Well so far I've been sticking to the points for the week. Especially after all the cleaning I did yesterday. Haven't made any great foods lately, though. Just haven't been inspired. That may be due to the _cooking only what is in the cabinets_ thing I try to do once a month. It helps prevent the moving out issue of "Hey didn't we pack that sauce when we moved IN here?"

Oh a bright note I may not need my points for the rest of the day. If you um lose your breakfast do you get those points back?

Thanks Pioneer Woman! Maybe...

If you haven't been to the Pioneer Woman website, go now. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200. GO! Specifically, click on the Cooking tab. (Also cruise the rest of the site. This woman's writing cracks me right up.)

There is almost NOTHING healthy about this woman's cooking (at least from the WW perspective), but her recipes all look delicious, and easy. I've tried out one or two with good results.

Tonight, in honor of Roses and Sharon visiting, I'm planning to dive into the Asian Noodle Salad. Hey, it's almost all veggies, how bad could it be?

Try 14 points per serving bad! It's honestly all in the dressing. I mixed it up last night and it smells and tastes so good - I can't wait to start cutting vegetables!

Starbucks

Hey, did you know that a Tall Soy Chai Latte at Starbucks is only 3 points! That's totally exciting. I got one for me and Amanda on Tuesday and today. Yay treats!

However, totally avoid their "low-fat" breads/sweets. Their low-fat strawberries and creme coffee cake is 7 points and their low-fat lemon loaf is 8 points.... Not as bad a the real thing but not great. One must hope they have flex points left. LOL

Here's their nutrition information if you just can't live w/o your 'Bucks... and, yes, there's a pun in there.
http://www.starbucks.com/retail/nutrition_info.asp

Anyway, how goes things for everyone else?

Thanks Ichiban Kan

Okay, you all know that Amanda and I are stuck on the bento lunch thing. Well, I've been looking at them online and bought several cool types. Specifically, I ended up getting the 'Happy Balloon' bentos from one store on eBay but they didn't have a plain orange strap so I bought one with a monkey on it. Since then, I've been interested in owing the bento with the monkey on it.

Amanda found a store that sells bentos for $1.00 +/- so I bought the monkey bento - along with many good things today! :)

http://www.ichibankanusa.com

Oh, so yeah - Thanks Amanda too for feeding my bento addiction. I've got some baran coming with your name on it! ;p

Round 47

Here we go again. Maybe we'll actually manage this for more than a month. I have faith, really.

Weight Watchers Online

So, are we all signed up for the infamous WW online? Amanda and I are having a war of who can make the tastiest lunch with the lowest points -- how fair the rest o' ya'll?

Once again

Once again I'm trying to get back on the wagon. I've made a strong 50/50 effort with exercise over the last three weeks. Yesterday I restarted at Spark People. I'll find accountability there, at least.

Too bad that I pick one of my busiest weeks to try to kick it into gear.

Sigh.

Is a resolution if you're not resolute?

So the husband and I have decided to motivate each other this year, which is a good thing. We both need to loose weight, some more than others. I put some thoughts in the burning wicker man on New Year's Eve - things for the two of us to leave behind in the new year. Those were:

- 50 cumulative pounds
- Our unnatural love of the couch

I'm hopeful.

The plan is to get off of said couch at least 3 times a week and do something kind of sporty. I imagine this will include walking, biking, kayaking (later in the year), and possibly going to the gym.

We're already eating pretty good and pretty healthy, although some of us need to eat less of that healthy food. Now we need to add on to that.

I'm weighing in at 221 this morning. I'm not feeling too bad about that as it means that I weathered vacation without gaining any weight. I plan to weigh in every Sunday morning. There's a doctor's appointment in March, so let's see how I'm doing then. We're aiming for less weight and lower blood pressure. That's a good goal!