My last official appointment with Johnny Angel

Well yesterday was it.  My last appointment with my Johnny Angel...Dr B.  I'm still in pain everyday mostly when I work out but it's nowhere near as bad as it was.  I think ditching the orthotics was a good move for me because at the last appointment he said they could be working against my progress due to all of the good work I was doing in physical therapy.   Most of it in part to this bad boy...

The Reebok Balance Board (affiliate link) has been a God send in helping to build up the muscles in the front of my legs which were so weak when I started going in January.  Now my muscles are so strong that BOTH of my legs have knots in the muscles!  He really worked me over.  A couple of the massage moves brought tears to my eyes and he apologized but said he needed to loosen them up.  He avoided one huge one on my problem leg and just worked the smaller ones because he said I would be sore for many days afterward on that one and I've got places to be, yo!  So my legs were pretty sore right after and into the night but feeling better now.

He said I can come back on an "as needed" basis but basically I'm released as an official patient under his care and the balance board is a "for life" thing to keep up my strength.  It will help rebuild the muscles in my legs that were so screwed up from overuse and repetitive motion injury.

Am I back to the maniac mode I was in before?  Hardly.  I don't think it's necessary and I'm burning about the same calories that I did before my injury so I'm happy with that.  I don't need to do plyometrics, crazy moves that pound my joints and such to burn calories.

I am so grateful to my chiropractor for helping me through this injury and making it as easy as possible.  I've got to say I'm thankful I didn't draw the short straw and get his partner because I encountered him again today and he seems douchey.  I think having the doctor that is right for you makes all the difference not only in your recovery in general but in your attitude to WANT to do what they say.

Have you overcome any injuries?  Do you think a personable doctor makes a difference in recovery?

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Far too long and Life is Good

This was a crazy weekend.  We had a lot of busy work to do Saturday then Sunday we drove out of town to meet a friend of ours we hadn't seen in 4 years.  She moved away and we've kept in touch via Facebook so I know she's seen me / our weight loss.  Like most people who haven't seen us in a while, it's still kind of fun to see their jaws drop in person or say "your pictures don't do you justice at all."  She kept saying how we're "disappearing" and couldn't believe how different we looked.  I have to say, I really kind of needed that.  It topped off the 7 lb loss for the month and was a good reminder that yes, we've come a long way. I wish she lived close to us again.  I really miss her and her positive, outgoing attitude.  It felt so good to be out and about.  I even wore heels!  I might wear them like twice a year but it felt nice to gussy up a bit and I was having a "thin day."  You know, when you look at pics taken that day and go..."yeah...I looked as good as I thought I did."  Those tend to be rare.

She attended a wedding with some of my old co-workers and I guess one of them said he'd heard I lost a lot of weight so it's getting around.  I didn't get to attend the get together of my old co-workers when they gathered a month or two ago so hopefully they'll have another one when I've made more progress.  But back to our time with our friend.

We had lunch at a restaurant we'd been to a few times.  This meal was a little disappointing taste wise but I was so busy flapping my gums I didn't let it ruin our time together.  Afterward we did a little shopping and ended up at the Life is Good store.  We didn't even make it inside before loading up on three shirts, one of which was this one for me...

I'm wearing it right now.  It reminds me of our pup and how much she loved to curl up in the front of the fireplace and sleep.  I got a Christmas shirt the last time we were there too.  They need to stop making cute Christmas shirts or I'm in trouble.  I also assumed I wore an XL but apparently I'm between sizes and the large I bought as a goal shirt fit...

I could live in these shirts.  They're so comfy, positive and just make you feel good.  They feel better when they're on sale.

We got home a little late but still went down and did the scheduled circuit.  I burned 915 calories which isn't too bad!  We had dinner and a snack and settled in for the night.  I was a pooped pup but am ready to get some stuff done today.  

What did you do this weekend?

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April Weigh In

Here's how April broke down for me.

I went into April weighing in at 273.
That day we had our Easter basket which was grotesquely full of goodies with the intent on eating our high cal meal the next day.  That happened but so did my mom's Easter baskets for us which I asked her not to get us but you know how they give you that mom look like you'll disappoint them if you say no.  We could've totally taken the basket and then take it to the Mr's work.  That didn't happen.  The next day from ham and candy, we were both up 9 lbs.  We knew that wasn't permanent but still.

April 6th weigh in- 275 lbs.  I gained two, the Mr stayed the same.  Lil effer.

April 13th weigh in- 271 lbs.  Four pounds lost!

April 20th weigh in-  270.5  Half a pound lost which was to be expected because after a big loss like that, we lose nothing or very little.

April 27th weigh in- 268  Two and a half pounds down.

Total of 5 lbs lost for the month or 7 lbs down from my highest during the month.

So from now on, weigh ins will likely be monthly.  I'm going to try that out here and see how it goes.

What did we change?

I increased my water to double my amount of pure water for 130 oz average per day.  I force it down no matter what it takes and some days it takes more than others.

We cut out all restaurant activity.  No meals out whatsoever.  This sucked.  Most because I had to cook but it also brought out a fire in me to make it feel like we weren't missing anything either.  I mean, does it look like we suffered?

We were able to incorporate sweets we like (though we both admit the 3 small cookies were like torture because they were so wimpy in size.)  I kept our calories at about 2500 calories.

Tomorrow we're meeting a friend and were going to do a new normal high cal day.  This includes a reasonable sweet (2 of something, likely normal sized cupcakes) and we're both dying for a burger so burger and fries and focusing on eating slowly and stopping when we're full and lots of water.  This will be our new normal.  One normal high cal day of reasonable sweet and one meal out then the other meal prepared at home between 500-600 cals.

The Mr lost 7 lbs this month so it's obvious this is what we've needed to kick start our weight loss back up.  Now there's going to be a temporary wrench in the form of an upcoming vacay and you guys know we don't hold back on vacations where regional cuisine rules so our focus is to have chia smoothies, lots of water and get in 3 formal exercise sessions per week.  So I know this little victory into new numbers is going to be a short lived one but we now feel we have the tools to take the weight off even quicker than normal when we return and then get down to bidness yo!

Have you recently made successful tweaks to your plan?  Anything planned for the weekend or just glad to be enjoying a lazy few days?

(Excuse any typos, I had to type fast and my proofreader is 'indisposed!')

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Streaks, exer-lies and eats for the week

How is it Friday already?  I mean don't get me wrong, I'm glad but this week moved at a pretty decent pace.    This is week three of hitting the water wagon.  I'm averaging 130 oz a day even on weekends I'm forcing myself to drink it.  My pipes have never run so smoothly.  Want some more TMI?  Whatever idiots say that exercising helps with menstrual cramps are lying Sasquatches.  I had to forego a few moves because the gut and uteral (yes I made up a word) area were not on board with violent jiggling.  

We're meeting a friend of ours out of town Sunday so we're lifting the restaurant ban for a meal.  We've known all month but I'm proud of us for sticking to the plan.  This will likely be our routine from now on anyway so I guess we should get used to it.  We're both dying for a burger so that'll likely be the poison of choice and I'll try not to mindlessly shove fries into the potato hole.   

Now that we've got all that out of the way...let's eat!

Sunday was BBQ chicken naan pizza with ultra thin pepper jack and a side of brussels.  Calories:  655

Monday was orange roughy over quinoa duo.  Calories:  465

Tuesday we were feelin' like Mexican so I made chicken enchiladas with roasted red peppers and lacy colby jack, chipotle jalapeno refried beans and a side of brussels.  Calories:  645

Wednesday was a mahi burger with spinach and BBQ sauce, cheddar chipotle potato bites and green beans.  Calories:  429

Thursday was lemon pepper light alfredo pasta with langostinos and a side of brussels.  Calories:  730

Tonight will be fish taco and...altogether now...a side of brussels!

Eat anything awesome this week?  Anything good planned for the weekend?

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Wanna go window shopping?

It's time to see what I'm crushin' on.  Let's go window shopping!

West Elm released some cool new stuff, let's take a peek!

I love the cute coastal look of this Outdoor Metal Drink Bucket.  You can decorate it for parties, take it to a family picnic or heck even bathe the dog in style in the yard.  (Um, then wash it out thoroughly before using it for drinks again.  Don't tell people you're doing that though.  Forget I said anything.)

They have some super cute new totes for you to take to farmers markets.  From sayings like "Totes!" to "Carry On" to my favorite "Totes Ma Goats" because it reminds me of my cousin, they have a bag to suit you.  My favorite is "Love Thy Farmer."

I instantly fell in love with these orb lanterns.  I would love these hanging all over my patio.  I want it to look like our wedding day when everyone was blowing bubbles at us.  That might look tacky...I'll try to control myself.

It's time to go down the street to Pottery Barn.  I walked in and what did I see?  These stunning Seaside Pillar Candles.  I want them.  Now.  Be right back...

I have seen this Melamine Rope Outdoor Dinnerware in person and I LOVE it.  You think it's ceramic until you pick it up and then can't believe it isn't.  That material sure has come a long way and yes, it's BPA free.

I love hemstitch linens like place mats and napkins so you can imagine I might've tinkled a little when I saw these Linen Sheet Sets at the PB.  I would love nothing more than to wrap myself in their silkiness but unless I hit the lottery, $200+ is a little out of the budget right now.  Dear Pottery Barn gods,  PLEASE put these on deep discount.  I want them desperately.

That's all I can stand right now because I feel like grabbing the credit card and the Mr is sensing danger.

What are you crushing on?


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A leg up

The other night we were doing this killer leg workout I came up with and I was on the floor doing leg lifts.  As I kicked my leg up into the air, I was surprised at how light it felt.  Now let me say that clothes hide a myriad of sins and my legs are definitely the part of me that has changed the least in this weight loss schtuff. They are the most frustrating part of my body because of how bad they still look.

But I was reveling in that feeling of lightness in comparison to how they used to feel.  I can probably do twice as many as I used to, more even, and not feel like I'm struggling or lifting a load that is exhausting.  I swear a few times it felt like it was going to fly right out of the socket in to the ceiling.  That would be hard to explain to the Mr.

The way my legs look may not be anywhere near where I want them but that lightened load is confirmation that changes have indeed happened.

Have you been surprised when an exercise sneaks up on you and seemingly becomes easier overnight?  What was it?

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Too fat to tan?

I don't know if you guys heard about this story or not but I guess there was a woman in Akron, Ohio who was told after she paid for a tanning package that she was "too fat to tan."  You can see the whole story here.  Then they wouldn't refund her money when they denied her even though she said she was paying for a service she wasn't getting.  Um, hell to the no.  You'd better be refunding my money or better yet don't be selling me a package in the first place if you have a weight policy in effect.  They don't deserve the right to use the name ALOHA tanning...that attitude is the farthest from aloha there is.

I looked up tanning bed weight limits and the cheapies tend to have about a 250 lb limit and then 350 lbs for those big ol' massive ones.  As I was looking for that, I ran across this thread for tanning salon owners discussing how to broach the subject of weight if they are afraid someone may break the acrylic because the lady didn't have a stand up bed yet.  I was appalled at how quickly the name calling began though I guess I shouldn't be.  From "heffer" (it's actually spelled heifer you uneducated twit but good for you for throwing the first name out so that the words like "fattie", "two ton Tessie" etc could be hurled like ninja stars.)  Oh how I wish those jerks had the names of their salons next to them so you could  make sure potential customers knew of the mass discrimination going on.

Anyhoo, back to the original topic, I used to tan back in the day and I was always terrified about cracking the acrylic.  No salon I ever visited before I wised up and started using self tanners told me a weight limit on a bed and therefore I never worried about it.  I went in beds that I now realize I exceeded the weight limit by well over 40 lbs and not a single gum smackin', heavy eyelined teenager told me I would have to either use a stand up bed or the uber, mega Tan-a-Tron 3000 to not risk frying to a crisp when I broke through.  The last time I tanned I was at my highest weight and I used stand ups even though the girl said I could be fine in any of the beds.  I assure you, I now know I wouldn't have been.  The year before that when I was in the bed I was sweating not because I was hot from the bulbs but because I was one spider crack from death.

I would much rather have had a sign up walking into a salon saying something like "due to manufacturer weight limits and for your safety, we reserve the right to have you weigh in prior to tanning."  If someone questionable still came in after that, I would again expect them to explain policy and tell them they require everyone to weigh in prior to selling them a package.  I would rather risk a little embarrassment up front than crash through and have to pay for damages or get seriously injured due to my own ego.

If you were a tanner, would you be against a weigh in policy at a tanning salon for your safety?

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Small victories, weekend eats and shopping buys

It was a good but busy weekend.  We kicked it off Friday night with our annual viewing of Airplane!  I love that Peter Graves was completely unaware of half the jokes he told because he was a serious actor at the time.  His wife fell on the floor laughing at the premiere along with all of the other attendees before he knew what comedy bubblin' crude he helped strike.  

(Took pic whilst watching the movie)

We tend to start laughing before a joke is even told because of the anticipation of it.

Striker: "Surely you can't be serious?
Rumack: I am serious. And don't call me Shirley."

Co-Pilot Roger Murdock(to Capt. Oveur): "We have clearance, Clarence.
Capt. Oveur: Roger, Roger. What's our vector, Victor?"

"I just want to tell you both good luck...we're all counting on you."

I could quote it forever but I'll spare you.

Saturday was full of yummy eats.  I remembered to take pics of breakfast!  Breakfast was a 2 white, 1 whole egg omelet with 1/2 slice lacy swiss cheese, 1 chicken apple sausage and 6 oz of home fries.  The Mr says he doesn't know why I go all out for breakfast when he could just eat oatmeal.  Screw that, I eat oatmeal during the week, I don't want that crap on the weekend!  Lunch was a spicy chicken sandwich with that Sargento Ultra Thin Pepper Jack cheese (skip it...total rip), an ear of corn with 1/2 tbsp light butter and Garden of Eatin's no salt added blue tortilla chips with World Market's queso.

Our sweet for the day were two chocolate long johns.  I planned our whole day around these because we were craving them so badly that a serious binge was going to come on if we didn't get them.  (We usually get three and if that horrifies you...too bad...HA!...in our fatter days we ate six a piece so yeah, 2-3 is a major improvement).  They were worth every calorie.  Dinner was two individual TJ's Bambino Pizza Formaggio's and TJ's cheddar chipotle bites so I didn't really have to cook.  We had to have a more substantial side because the past 2 times we've had it, we were hungry 2 hours later when we had it with a veggie or salad.  Total calories: 2539.  I was over by about 40 calories but I knocked down Sunday by about 200 calories than we've been doing the past 2 Sundays.

Saturday Victory:  On our way to go shopping, we drove past a Krispy Kreme with the hot light on.  This is like having an addict's dealer standing on the corner and any other time we would've gone straight through that drive thru and gotten one hot glazed donut each.  I wanted to cry as we passed by it.  Yes, I have a problem...sue me.  But our calories were planned and there was no wiggle room for it.  Sigh.

Hey at least our cheat meals even before the no restaurant meals lockdown for April don't look like Dwayne Johnson's...

Image sent from a friend via Dwayne Johnson's Twitter...yes he eats ALL of that!

Now that I feel better about myself, let's move on to Sunday's eats.  Breakfast was Crunchy Biscoff French Toast with half a serving of  coconut syrup and maple syrup respectively, two slices of center cut bacon and a a bowl of cantaloupe and pineapple.  Drink was green tea.  Lunch was a quick one for me, we had lasagna leftover in the freezer from last weekend so I heated that up and we finished off our last two Hawaiian rolls with 1/2 tbsp light butter.

That bowl of apple slices is our Sunday Victory.  We were seriously twitching for some ice cream.  He was thinking of asking about going to a gourmet ice cream place close to us and I was thinking of suggesting the fro-yo place.  When we were at a grocery store I said everything looked good and we both confessed what we were thinking and agreed on the fro-yo place.  We went inside and there were a lot of people there.  As I scanned the flavors, the only thing that sounded good to me was the chocolate and for fro-yo to be worth it for me I need to pair it with something like mint.  The Mr saw two flavors he liked and I told him to go ahead.  He said he wasn't getting something if I wasn't and I said I wasn't impressed.  So we left.  We still needed to go to another grocery store so I said we could get something there and I was thinking maybe one of those wee lil' Ben and Jerry's with 1/2 cup of ice cream to scratch that itch.  As we got our produce, I grabbed two extra pink lady apples and when we met up I said "apples will be our snack this afternoon."  The Mr gave me a look like "I hate you but you're right."  He smiled and said that was fine.  When I cut it up and we finished he said "you know what, I didn't feel like I missed out on anything" and I replied "just the guilt" and we high fived.  So it may have only been like 40 calories less than the fro-yo we were going to get but I'd rather get the fruit in right now.  Go us.  Dinner was BBQ chicken naan pizza using two slices of the Sargento Ultra Thin Pepper Jack (did I mention skip it?) and brussels.  Calories for the day:  1900  We also did a kick ass workout of Turbo Fire 45 EZ and I burned 1235 calories.  A great way to start off the exercise week!

We did a little shopping for the upcoming summer travel season.  I tried on one of the swimsuits in my suitcase and it was too big for me so I wanted to see if we could find a tankini top so I could switch out with my other one or pair with some bike shorts I got for water sports.  (These thighs aren't seeing the public if I have any say in it and unless there's a toe tag on me, I've gotta say!)  I'm not totally in love with it but it's the best I saw of fat lady options so I got it.  The Mr really seemed to like it.  I also got this earring and necklace set to dress up a plain Old Navy maxi dress.

I'm not a huge nail polish person but when I do, I like subtle.  I don't like greens, blues, black, browns, etc.  I like feminine colors.  I got the colors "Heartthrob" (left) and "Dream date" (right).  Heartthrob is really neutral and Dream Date is a sheerish pink color with shimmer.  So if you put it on your nails, it would look like nothing was on it until you turned it a certain way and it would pick up the light.

That's about it for us.

What did you guys do this weekend?

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Water woman and this week's eats

I've been kickin' arse on the water again this week.  It sucks to chug it like I do but it's the only way I can get both big ol' vats in.  I'm averaging about 125 oz per day.  Any more than that and you might as well hook up a catheter so I can have a life.  Man, this week of exercise has whipped my bootay.  I am looking forward to doing Walk Away the Pounds later this morning and being done with it for the week.  This week was full of some pretty good eats too.  Let's get to 'em!

Sunday was a slice of whole wheat spinach lasagna and a Hawaiian roll with 1/2 tbsp light butter.  (I don't know why I seem to like re-heated lasagna about as much as fresh.  I think the Mr concurs.  Weirdos)  Calories: 543

Monday was a BBQ salmon burger with spinach, russet wedges with 1 tbsp ketchup and grilled asparagus with caramelized onions.  Calories: 499

Tuesday was a lobster roll with roasted red peppers, steamed red potatoes and a side of brussels.  I was going for a New Englandy kinda theme I guess.  Calories: 560

Wednesday was a BBQ chicken burger with arugula, an ear of roasted corn, light butter and a side of brussels.  Calories:  579

Thursday was crab stuffed flounder over thai lime rice with a side of brussels.  Calories: 680

I think we're going to start going through the suitcases this weekend and getting some cleaning done so we're not stuck doing a bunch of it next weekend since we have plans to meet a friend out of town.  If I'm smart I'll do some of that today.  

Tonight is chicken tacos with roasted red pepper and corn salad.  Calories: 656

What do you guys have on the agenda for the weekend?  What were your favorite eats from your week?

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When I almost couldn't be there for her

My aunt called me last night with the wonderful news that she has been declared 5 years cancer free!  I was ecstatic for her because she went through a lot during that time and she's come out the other end like a champ.

I have always felt close to this aunt.  She let me tromp around in her high-stepper boots and play with her pom poms when she was in high school, I was flower girl at her wedding (and her daughter was flower girl at mine), she taught me how to put on make up and let me play grown up in her high heels.  After our happy conversation, I couldn't help but be reminded of the day I found out.  I was basically almost at my heaviest and was not able to fit most places.  When she asked if I would go to her appointment with her and my uncle, I panicked.  I had to ask if they had chairs with arms because you know how doctors offices are, the ones they get come from some kind of chair factory that caters to waifs.  I had to ask if they would have a stool I could use if they did only have those chairs.  I felt horrible.  I told her I would gladly do any research for her but she really wanted me there.  I must've had an entire week of panic attacks anticipating going there.  I asked her if it was okay for the Mr to go so he could catch anything I might've missed while writing things down and she said it was fine.  I begged him to go with me more for moral support because I didn't trust myself not to have a panic attack in the office.  He agreed.

I had my own set of questions to ask and the doctor had a definite God complex...he was a total tool to us because we were outsiders.  I get that.  I get that he probably didn't like that we asked to record the session so I could take notes after the fact but if he really didn't like it he could've said no.  But he was like gold to my aunt and that's all that mattered.  I can handle arrogance in small doses.  Thankfully I *just* fit in the chairs around the table for the initial consult.  When we moved on to the head nurse and what to expect during treatment, they had to get stools and I diligently took notes which made them happy.  There were a lot of things they missed just from the shock of being in the situation.  It turned out okay for me with fitting where I needed to go but when I think of her diagnosis, I immediately feel shame I even had to ask for those things.  I know it was that important to her that I be there that she didn't care what had to be done to get me there but the social fear and the fear of not fitting was paralyzing.  In the end, I was able to give her some good, comprehensive notes and I bought her a "chemo basket" of things that I'd read you'll need going through it that she might not have thought of.  I was also the one that cut her hair for her before she lost it.  I didn't want her going to a salon.  I wanted her to be able to cry if she needed to.  I had to be strong.  I pretended she was the Mr and I was just giving him his usual haircut.  If I thought more about it, I would've lost it.  There were tears shed when it was over and then we had a wig party.  We always kept party wigs on hand because we're weird like that.  So we all tried on braids, glitter wigs, Marilyn wigs and all kinds of stuff and laughed.  I was glad I could do that for her and I'm so proud that she has come through this.

Has your weight ever affected you socially in a dire situation like that?  If there are any other cancer survivors out there, give a shout out and how many years!

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Temporary exercise amnesia

Last night we did a workout that we do about once a month...Atletica by Ilaria Montagnani .

You've heard me talk about it before and honestly, when I throw it on the schedule, I dread it because I know it's gonna kick my butt.  I mentioned it to the Mr over chat and he's like "I don't remember it being that bad."  I thought maybe I was remembering it wrong and we were actually better at it than I gave us credit for.

Nope, I was right. By not even halfway through, I was exhausted and by the end...a heap.

I'm feeling it today and I'm loving/dreading the next time it pops up on the schedule.

What workout do you do that you forget how hard it is until you're in the throes of it?

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Food Review: Nutella vs. Jif Chocolate Hazelnut

If you've followed me for any length of time, you know I'm a Nutella freak.  I know, I know, not everyone is and that's fine...more for us.  :-)

The Mr wanted to try the Jif Hazelnut Chocolate to see how it stacked up.  Now I've been burned before by trying to get something similar like Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut spread (ugh, NOT a fan) and even my beloved Trader Joe's struck out big time with their chocolate almond spread.  *shudder*  The Mr finished it off but we should've taken it back.

So you can imagine I was less than optimistic to try Jif's version but thought if any company could, it would be them.  Yesterday was the day to bust it out since I was out of my Nutella.  The first thing I noticed was the texture was much different; thinner.  I know Nutella is thin when you first get it and you have to stir it but this was thin in a different way.  The taste was okay.  You definitely couldn't pull one over on me and give me a tablespoon of Jif and say "it's Nutella" because it doesn't taste anything like it to me.  Nutella has a smoother, sweeter taste to me that I prefer.  If I didn't know what Nutella tasted like and tried the Jif, I'd probably like it a lot.  It's a preference thing but I would say of all of the non-Nutella chocolate nut spreads out there, this is the best.

I also wish that I'd looked at the nutritional info before I bought it because it's 230 calories for 2 tbsp compared to 200 calories with Nutella.  I only use 1 tbsp so it's only 15 calories so I know it's not a huge difference but when you're counting calories, every one counts.

Would I recommend it?  Sure.  Just because I don't like something doesn't mean other people wouldn't and who knows for you Nutella haters, this may taste just different enough for you to like it.  Would I buy it again?  Nope.  I'll be refueling my Nutella vat when this jar of Jif is done.

Do you have a favorite chocolate nut spread?  Have you tried a product that has similar ingredients to your favorite food and been pleasantly surprised or disappointed?

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Food fest weekend

This weekend went well.  I will say that our first full week of no restaurants and basically no high cal day garnered good results.  Double edged sword.  I will mull it over more after this coming Saturday's weekend especially if we get more good results because after a big loss, we both usually tank scale wise.  That's about all I'm going to say about that stuff right now.  I'm trying to keep to my word about weighing in here at the end of the month.

Saturday was good but again, it was hard.  We both thought "woo hoo, it's Saturday!" and then remembered no break for me cooking wise or a nice meal out with a sweet...or two...to follow.  Friday night I put a beef roast on low and let it cook overnight.  Since we had to go out of town Sunday, that meant grocery shopping got moved to Saturday morning.  Boo.  So we did what felt like a 3 hour tour of the grocery stores...actually I think it was 3 hours.  If only there was one mega store that carried all the things we get from the different places.  I got sidetracked at Target and tried on some stuff.  There was this really cute skirt but it was lightweight silk (meaning one good gust and I could Marilyn Monroe it) and it was full price so I will keep my eye on it as the season moves on.

I paired it with a cute top and it was flattering and $15 so I snagged it.

It doesn't look as good in the pic as it does on.  I'll try to remember to take one for ya's.

I think my brain doesn't work properly on the weekends because again I forgot to take pics of breakfast but it was cereal with chia seeds and peanut butter and jelly toast.

Lunch was BBQ beef sliders on Hawaiian rolls with caramelized onions and chipotle potato bites.

Our sweet was splitting a box of our favorite Maui Caramacs.  Basically turtles with mac nuts instead of pecans or cashews or whatever.  YUM!  Dinner was Mexican beef nachos.  There's some chipotle jalapeno refried beans under that mess too.

Total for the day was 2500 calories and came in MUCH better sodium wise.  We were actually about 2050mg of sodium so almost 1300mg less than last weekend.

It was good food but man, I hope this gets easier.  I didn't realize how much I needed a day off from cooking and I will look forward to that when we get back from vacay.  I think we've agreed once a month we can have an "old school" high cal meal and sweet and do this the rest of the time.  Sigh.  *kicks pebble*

Saturday night I pre-made stuff for Sunday so our morning could run smoother before we had to travel since we had to fit in a workout.  I pre-made some chocolate chip pancakes then made eggs and 2 slices of bacon to go with before our workout.  I pre-made lasagna so I could cook it while we got ready.

We had a slice before we left, grabbed an apple and orange for the road with the promise of another piece with a Hawaiian roll after the road trip home.

It was a long weekend but good.

What did you do this weekend?  Did you do any prep to make your meals easier for the week?

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Osmosis and Friday Food Journal

Man last night I really didn't want to exercise.  I chose to do Paul Katami's Kettlebell workout and the closer it came time to get to it, the more I didn't want to do it.  I attempted to do it via osmosis...

Um yeah, that didn't work.  Sigh.  So fifty minutes later we were done and I was sweaty and gross with 670 calories burned.

I'll say that the water is definitely uh...keeping things moving.  I'll go straight to TMI land and say that a typical week of #2 is 3x per week.  I've always been that way.  The Mr is much more regular than that.  This week, I'm an everyday kinda gal and I think that's probably better, right?  Did I totally make you not want to read anymore?  Are you unsubscribing?  Hey, whaddaya want, the weight loss road is not always pretty!

After that I'm sure you're more than anxious to see what I ate now.  I know, horrible segue.

Let's eat.  Unless you're going to barf.

Sunday night were the meatloaf cupcakes I spoke of (lean beef, caramelized onions and mashed potatoes) with a side of brussels.  Calories:  707

Monday was BBQ salmon burger with arugula, russet wedges w/ 1 tbsp ketchup and peas.  Calories:  455

Tuesday was coconut shrimp with 1 tbsp cocktail sauce, chipotle potato bites and corn.  Calories:  635

Wednesday was TJ's spinach ricotta ravioli, a Hawaiian dinner roll with roasted garlic and a side of brussels. Calories:  634

Thursday was BBQ Chicken Naan pizza with a side of brussels.  Calories:  710

Tonight is orange chile tilapia over quinoa duo.  Calories:  600

This weekend we're going out of town for a family event.  We were going to go to one of our favorite restaurants but decided against it.  We need to go cold turkey this month and hope to get off as much weight as possible so pre-packed crap for us.

No weigh in's here until the end of the month so you'll get a break from me on the weekend.

What's on your agenda for the weekend?  If you care to talk about your bathroom habits, let 'er rip!

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Non Scale Victories (4/7-4/11)

Time to celebrate some non-scale victories this week.

Yesterday we went dinosaur hunting and saw Jurassic Park 3D.

This is one of our favorite movies and it doesn't hurt that it's mostly filmed on Kauai.  It gets us in vacation mode and I may shed a few tears.  Good thing dorky glasses hide that.  We didn't get any movie snacks...didn't even sneak in our usual TJ's Lite Kettle Corn.  The calories have been planned for the week and kettle corn wasn't scheduled so none was had by either of us and we were fine with that.  In the past it would've been a pack of Twizzlers or Red Vines for me (the whole thing, not the split like we do now so that would've been about 400-500 calories) and a big box of some kind of candy for him which would be about the same amount of calories.

Because we went to the movie, we had to workout alone.  In the past, I would've really had a hard time motivating myself to get down there or even been tempted to skip and make it up when we could workout together.  Nope. I went downstairs and started to do a workout I made up but then the music overtook me and I danced for 35 minutes burning 710 calories.  It felt good.

I've been rocking the water this week which means I've also taken up residence in the bathroom.  If anyone needs me, I'll be in there.

What are your non-scale victories for this week?  If you don't have any yet, make a goal for one to accomplish by tomorrow!

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My teeth are floating

Oh my Lord, I am so not used to drinking this much water!  I got in two big ol' bottles of water in addition to  the decaf tea I drink with every meal for a total of 115 oz of the liquid stuff yesterday.  Clear pee anyone?

This is a huge accomplishment for me because I'm just so NOT cut out to drink anything like a fish.  I'm trying to force myself to drink one of them before noon and then work on the other from then until about 7pm so I'm not up into the wee hours...literally.  So I just have to keep this streak up this week and see if it helps speed along any weight loss since we're on our first totally clean week of no restaurants and such.  We're both anxious for a weigh in but I also swore off weighing in here for the month so I'll have to see how I feel about that come Saturday mornin'.

How much water do you get in each day?


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Spicy Chicken and Pancakes

Sweet and savory.  

It's a classic combo and popular for a reason.  

Chicken and waffles has always been a staple in the South and of course, Roscoe's claim to fame in L.A.  It works because there's nothing like that sweetness of waffles and syrup with the savory crunch of perfectly fried chicken.  If you haven't tried it, you should.  

There's this little restaurant in the froofy section of town that has amazing food but a witch of an owner so we refuse to go anymore.  You can imagine how irritated I was when I saw a local article in the paper raving about their new offering of chicken and pancakes and that they've officially declared chicken and waffles so last decade or whatever.  Not only did this declaration make me want to flick them between their conceited eyes but I said "I can make that better."  So I did.

Spicy Chicken and Pancakes

(Makes 2 servings)

10 ounces Trader Joe's Chicken Breast tenderloins

1/2 cup Ian's Whole Wheat Panko

1 tsp dried rosemary

1 tbsp Sriracha sauce

1 tbsp Mrs Dash Extra Spicy Blend

1 cup Trader Joe's White Whole Wheat Flour

1 tbsp Hain Sodium Free Baking Powder

1 tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp nutmeg (optional)

1/4 tsp ground cloves (optional)

1 egg

1 cup skim milk

1/2 cup Aunt Jemima Butter Light Syrup

Thaw chicken and pat dry.  Add Mrs Dash to both sides of all chicken tenderloins.  Put in a sandwich bag and add Sriracha. Massage into chicken from end to end and let marinate for at least 20 minutes in the fridge.  (Don't be scared off by the bright orange color.  Sriracha mellows considerably as it cooks.)

Put the breadcrumbs in a bowl and add the rosemary, toss and get ready to dip.  Preheat oven to 400.

Because the sauce is wet, no egg is needed so just dip them in the breadcrumbs on each side.

Put them on an indoor grill or skillet sprayed with cooking spray.

Hello crunchy goodness!

When both sides are crispy, add them to a baking dish and put in the oven to finish them off.

In a bowl, add all of the dry ingredients and mix together.

Add the milk and egg and mix together.

In a large skillet, make six 5" pancakes making sure to flip over when they're golden on one side.  (The batter is a little dense so the traditional "bubbles" may not appear until they're overdone.)

Hello gorgeous fluffiness!

Pull the chicken from the oven and plate over pancakes and 1/4 cup of light syrup.  Who needs an uppity restaurant when you can have something just as good if not better (certainly better FOR you) at home.

1 serving is 3 pancakes, 5 ounces of chicken and 1/4 cup of syrup:  Calories 648  Total Fat 5g  Sat Fat 1g Poly Fat 1g  Mono Fat 1g  Cholesterol 177mg  Sodium 802mg  Potassium 715mg  Total Carbs 100g  Fiber 11g  Sugars 38g  Protein 51g  Vitamin A  8%  B12 4%  Vitamin C 5%  Vitamin D 18%  Calcium 19%  Iron 29% 

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First non-high cal day in the can

This weekend was the first weekend of no restaurants allowed high cal days.  Friday night I ate my last sugar free pudding.  :-(

I've been wanting to cut out artificial sweeteners in certain things and since these not only have that and partially hydrogenated such and such, they had to go.  Last week I also cut out my beloved apple dip and have been subbing PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter (affiliate link)  or PB2 With Chocolate (affiliate link)  to dip my apples in.  I'll be honest, I SERIOUSLY miss the caramel but I'm trying to cut back on sugar in some areas (NOT going sugar free, it would be bad for everyone)

I'll be honest, Saturday was hard.  I forgot to take pics of breakfast both days but here's my eats.

Cereal and toast with light butter and apple jelly.  Lunch was the Trader Joe's Bambino Pizza Formaggio's and a spinach salad with 1 1/2 tbsp Catalina French dressing.  If you should get the pizzas, cook them for an extra minute or two, 12-13 minutes, they suffer from lack of crispiness otherwise.  Our sweet for the day was chocolate chip cookies.  We were allowed 3.  We felt gypped because they were really small.  I'm thinking we were actually allowed more than that but I froze the dough so they weren't portioned out.  I used Trader Joe's semi-sweet chocolate chips and they were really good but yeah, we both wanted more and I felt resentful most of the day.

About mid afternoon, I seriously wanted to eat my hand.  I got us some of the leftover cantaloupe and pineapple we had so I didn't try to gnaw the granite counters. Dinner was mexican food.  Three small cheese and onion enchiladas, 6 oz guava BBQ chicken breast and a serving of chipotle jalapeno refried beans.  Nighttime snack was a tropical push pop.  Total calories for the day:  2477.  A "typical" high cal day?  Easily 1000-1500 more than that.

I knew what was in store for the next day and I knew that the Mr would be happy.  Breakfast was cereal with chia seeds and peanut butter and jelly english muffins.  It thankfully held us for a while.  We worked out in the late morning with a free weights session and I burned 655 calories.  I took a quick shower then went to making lunch.  Spicy chicken and pancakes...recipe coming this week!  The Mr was a HAPPY boy!  That chicken was some flavorful stuff, I can't wait to make it again.  I need to tweak the pancake recipe a bit but it shouldn't be too much.  Dinner was meatloaf "cupcakes."  96% lean ground beef made into meatloaf cooked in muffin pans, caramelized onions on top and 3 oz of mashed potatoes as the "frosting" and a dash of pink Hawaiian salt as the "sprinkles" with a side of brussels.

I didn't focus on making them picture perfect obviously but the presentation was good enough for us.  The Mr asked why I don't have my own restaurant.  Then he said no, he didn't want me to open a restaurant because then I'd never be home to cook for him.  HA!  Nighttime snack was a tropical push pop. Total calories for the day:  2100.

We did our produce re-stock for the week and TJ's was out of bread so I decided to make my own with a recipe I found.  How'd it turn out?  Well I'd take a picture in my trash can but it was dark.  I cut the salt in half on it and you could tell.  Hey, sue me, I didn't want that much sodium per slice.  Plus I don't think my water was warm enough because it didn't raise much in the oven.  #breadfail   I shant let it discourage me but the Mr is out buying 'real' bread as I type.  I have to say though, I really wish he'd tell me when something is bad instead of saying "mmm!"  I took one bite and spit it out it was so gross.  I'd rather have truth than nice when it comes to my cooking.  They can't all be home runs and I know it.

So we made it through the weekend without killing each other.  We came to the decision that a side trip to this really amazing restaurant we love a few states over would be a bad idea next weekend.  We're going to a recital and will be within an hour of the Grand Traverse Pie Company.  While I would kill for the Manitou combo with a slice of apple crumb cake, a look at their nutritional info showed it would be about the total of our whole day Saturday for one meal and this close to our vacation, we don't want to risk it.  Of course as soon as this decision was made, some freak Michigan vacation commercial popped on that we've never seen.  Are you serious?  Rub it in why don't you?  We're going to have to be strong.  Now I need to start planning next weekends meals since the whole week is planned...every bite.

What did you do this weekend?  Ever try to make your own bread and tank?

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