80 Degrees!

It is far too nice outside to be sitting at this computer.

Lightning and Hail.

At about 4:15 this morning, I was awakened by a pretty nasty thunderstorm.  The ironic thing is, I'd been having a dream about a tornado that ripped part of the roof off of my house.  Needless to say, I did not sleep well after that.

Due to my lack of sleep and an early morning headache, I decided to skip my workout and sit in the sauna for a while.

I made a bean soup recipe from, "The Biggest Loser 30-Day Jump Start."  I bought the book about a year ago.  There are a few good recipes in it, but the work out routines are definitely for beginners.  I may not be a star athlete, but I work out regularly enough that I wouldn't call myself a "beginner."

The bean soup is good and healthy, but always leaves you wanted just a little something more.  Chris and I ended up having a sandwiches after the soup.  I still consider today a good day.

100 Posts!

I was a little slow getting here, but I'm at 100 posts!  Woohoo!

I ran 20 minutes this morning!  I keep thinking to myself, "How far could I run continuously if someone were chasing me?"  Maybe I should hire someone to chase me.

I ate pretty well today.  I made "flash fried" chicken again tonight.  I think the recipe is definitely a keeper.

Off to watch 'Chuck'.

Where Did My Saturday Go?

Today was so busy!  Yet, I don't feel that accomplished...  I spent the day doing little errands.

We caught an early showing of "Thor".  I thought it was really good.  I'm always a sucker for action and special effects.  No to mention, the movie had eye candy for both me and Chris.

I'm going to be out all day tomorrow for Mother's Day.  We are going to go and see my grandmother in the morning.  Then, we are going to go visit my brother and my other grandmother at the cemetery.  It is going to be a hard day for my mom.  It also happens to be my brother's birthday.  All I can do is be there to give her a thousand hugs.

Pesto... Mmm.

Diner tonight: Rigatoni with Chicken and Pesto.  It was relatively healthy and delicious.  I ate carbs after 2pm, but I ate them in moderation.  All in all, I was a very good girl today.

I ran for 18 minutes straight on the treadmill this morning.  I'm glad to see that I still have some endurance, even if I'm not quite where I once was.  I was dragging when I got to the gym and really didn't want to run, but once I got started it was easy to keep going.

Double Chocolate Stout.

I was pretty good today... Until happy hour arrived.

Chris and I met some of his college buddies after work for some drinks.  We had some time to kill before they arrived, so we stopped at a local bar called Casey's for burgers and drinks.  I had pretty much the best bacon cheeseburger of my life, accompanied by some fries and a pint of Guinness.

Later, we went to another local bar called Ashley's.  This bar boasts over 100 varieties of beer.  I had two Young's Double Chocolate Stouts.  I really think this may be my all time favorite beer.  If you like chocolate malts, you will like this beer.  Do not be deterred by the fact that it is black as night!  I finished the evening with a wheat beer from the Flying Dog Brewery.  I can't recall the name (imagine that?), but it was also very good.

A great evening overall, but not such a great evening for my diet.  It was worth it.

Back At It.

Another post, as promised...

I was VERY good today.  I had toast with Nutella and peanut butter for breakfast.  For lunch, I had fresh vegetables with hummus and some fruit.  For dinner, I made chicken salads with spinach, bacon bits, mushrooms, red onion, chick peas, and homemade dressing.

There is one problem.  I am still hungry and I know that Chris is still hungry.  We will probably have a snack later.

This morning I ran almost two miles at the gym.  It's been a while since I've done that.  By the way, I recently decided that I was not getting enough cardio.  I enjoyed the routine of lifting every day, but I'm thinking that the reason I liked it so much is because it was easy.  No more taking it easy!  Going forward, I plan to run on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings and lift on Tuesday and Thursday.  Also, Chris and I may start running in the evenings on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.  Of course, Jet will be running with us.  My puppy needs to get back into summer shape!

I Need Motivation.

171.2 pounds this month.  I'm not proud.

I know exactly what happened.  I've basically gone off of any diet to speak off.  I'm good at lunch during the week.  That is only because I take fruits and veggies to work and they are my only options.

There are a few things that I can work on during this month of May:

1) Stop snacking!  I work in an office.  Anyone that works in an office knows that there are always "treats" available.  I think that my office may be a particularly bad place to work for someone that can't keep their hands out of the "candy bowl."

2) Stop eating carbs after 2pm.  This is difficult for me because I grew up in a household where dinner was always the heaviest meal.  I need to teach myself to eat my carbs for the day at breakfast and lunch, rather than at dinner.  I saw during my brief stint on the 17 Day Diet that this really works.

3) Lay off the sweets.  This is a tough one for me for a couple of reasons.  First, I have a super sweet tooth.  Second, I absolutely LOVE to bake and make candy.  I've found that the easiest way to keep sweets out of my mouth is to avoid contact with them.  No more buying them at the store, and no more evening runs for ice cream.

4) Drink more water.  Lately, I am drinking less and less water.  I'm replacing it with coffee.  Not good... at all.  Starting today, I am only allowed one cup of coffee in the morning.

5) Start making daily blog posts again.  This really seemed to keep me on track in the beginning.  I can't promise that every post will be enthralling, but they will keep me honest.  I apologize in advance for some of the boring posts you are going to see in the days to come.

Anyway...

We got our Equinox on Saturday.  It is great!

I walked in the March for Babies on Sunday in honor of my nephew, Noah Michael Corwin.  He was born with anencephaly and in February of 2010 and passed away shortly after.  I hope that everyone who is able supports the March of Dimes so that one day people won't have to go through what my sister and brother-in-law went through.

I'll be back tomorrow.  I promise!

New Car!!!

That's right!  Chris and I are going to pick up our 2011 Chevy Equinox this morning.  This will be my first brand new car and I am super excited!

After we get the car, we're going to wedding.  I'm glad we're going to have nice weather for it, because lately the weather has been pretty unpredictable.

I haven't been particularly good over the last week.  I did get to the gym like I should, but I ate a little more pizza than I should have.

On Friday, I sat in the sauna for 20 minutes before work.  I've used the sauna at my gym before, but it's much quieter early in the morning.  It was so relaxing that I told Chris we should build one in our house when we renovate our second bathroom.  Of course, that isn't likely to happen, but a girl can dream.

Off to start a busy Saturday!

Easter.

I had a very nice Easter Sunday with my family.  We ate indulgent foods and had good conversation.  These were my contribution to the menu:

I am pretty dang proud of those cupcakes.  They are lemon cupcakes with lemon cream cheese frosting and candied lemon peels on top.  The oatmeal raisin cookies were good, too.  In fact, I at the last one about thirty seconds ago.

After dinner, my dad took my sister and I out to the pasture to see the calves that have been born this spring on the farm.  There are few things in this world that are more adorable than a baby cow.  Although, the kittens that he showed me before dinner were pretty cute, too.

I've been pretty good this week aside from the Easter feast.  Chris and I are making a concerted effort to eat at home more often and that helps a lot.  It is much easier to cheat when you are sitting in a restaurant looking at a menu of items full of delicious fat, carbs, sugar, and salt.

We are supposed to get some severe weather tonight.  I hope the power doesn't go out!

"Flash Fried Chicken"

I made a Rocco Dispirito recipe today called "Flash Fried Chicken."  I never thought that a healthy version of fried chicken could taste so good.  Thanks, Rocco!  I will definitely be making it again.

I have not been particularly good this week.  As usual, I went to the gym like I should.  That has not been a problem for me.  Food is definitely my downfall lately.  Unless there is some drastic change in the next week, I will not be making weight on May 1st.  In fact, this month's results may be the worst yet.  Where has my motivation gone?

A Birthday and A Shower.

I've been good for the most part lately... Although there have been a few exceptions.

Last night I indulged in four, yes four, Oberons.  If you are not a Michigander, then you may not know that I am referring to Bell's Oberon, a delightful summer beer.  I have no excuse, other than it had been a very long time since I'd spent a night out on the town with friends.  I had a wonderful time at Club Bart in Ferndale and I hope to go there again some time.

I did not drink so much that I could not enjoy the lovely baby shower that we threw for my sister today.  My niece is never going to wear the same outfit twice.  I hope that she wears out the pink Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars that I bought her.  Lord knows that she has enough pink outfits to wear them with!

The truffles that we made for favors seemed to be a hit!

Flowers.

I saw a little yellow flower in one of my beds today.  It's small, but it's a start.  I have lots of daffodils and tulips that are just about ready to bloom as well.

I really want to get a garden in this year, and I need to get moving on it.  I've been so busy with other things lately that I haven't had a second to consider it, but I'm hoping that I can at least get the grass dug up next weekend.  It would be wonderful to be able to walk out to the backyard and get fresh vegetables this summer.  I will definitely have to put some fencing around it to keep the dog out (and those pesky rabbits).

I have been eating very healthy lately, but I have not been sticking to the 17-Day Diet rules.  If it is such a struggle to stay on the program, then the program probably isn't for me.  I won't deny for a second that it produces great results, but it took no time at all for those results to reverse themselves when I started eating carbs again.  I am going to do my best to eat healthy foods and drink plenty of water.  If the scale isn't showing it then maybe I am just meant to be at this weight.

I'm not throwing up my hands in defeat.  I am just coming to the realization that my weight is just a number.  If I eat right and exercise, then I'll leave the rest up to nature.  Perhaps this is just who I am.  Honestly, which is less healthy: 1) being 15-20 pounds overweight, or 2) constantly obsessing and stressing out over being 15-20 pounds over weight?  I think the stress will give me a heart attack before the weight does.  Life is too short.  If it's a couple of years shorter because I'm a little overweight, then at least I'll die happy.

Long Weekend.

I have spent a long weekend in my kitchen and I am one tired lady.  I did not eat well.  That is mainly because I was making candy all weekend, and I didn't feel like making dinner due to all of the candy making.  We ended up eating out more than I would have liked.

You have probably noticed that I am not posting every day lately.  I just don't feel that I have anything new to say on a daily basis.  I am going to continue posting, but not every day.  I am still going to weigh in on the first of every month.

We hit 80 degrees today.  Yay!  Spring is finally here!

Fail.

Pizza for dinner.  End of story.

Cheesecake and Blue Jeans.

Will my arms be sore tomorrow?  When I lifted today, I increased from 10 pound dumbbells to 12 pound dumbbells.  I definitely felt more fatigued, but I'm not feeling sore yet.  It seems to take 36 hours to set in, so I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

Apparently, tomorrow is World Health Day.  My employer is on a big health kick right now, so they made sure to make us all aware of tomorrow's significance.  They are letting us wear jeans at the office to mark the occasion (among other things).  If wearing jeans is good for me, why can't I wear them every day?

I didn't eat anything "bad" today... until I finished dinner.  Last night after posting, I made two cheesecakes that will be converted to truffles this weekend.  I wanted to test my theory that a chocolate-coated, bite-size cheesecake would work as a truffle.  The theory has now been confirmed.  Go figure, chocolate-coated cheesecake is good.

More Vegetables, Please!

I hope you can sense my sarcasm.  I had a heaping plate of raw veggies for lunch and a heaping plate of stir fried veggies for dinner.  If I eat another carrot, I might turn orange.  I've decided not to eat anymore... until lunch time tomorrow.

I better than most days today.  Hopefully I can keep it up.

On Monday, I wore eight pound ankle weights during my entire leg workout for the first time.  Normally there is no one on the basketball court at the gym in the morning, so I've been using it when I work my legs.  So, picture me with ankle weights on and ten pound dumbbells on my shoulders pacing around the court doing various exercises.  (We're at 36 pounds of extra weight if you weren't counting.)  Lunges, squats, leg lifts, back kicks, front kicks... Now you understand why my glutes are sore today.

I worked my abs today.  50 crunches on a Bosu, 50 crunches with leg lifts on a Bosu, 50 "regular" crunches, 50 reverse crunches, a 30 second plank, and a 30 second plank on each side.  Are you starting to understand why this plateau is so frustrating?  I don't take a 2 minute break between exercises... I do these nearly continuously because I want to keep my heart rate up.  Of course, my muscles do need a little break sometimes.

Tomorrow is arm day.  I plan to step up from ten to twelve pound dumbbells.  We'll see how that goes...

Busy Day.

Chris and I normally do our grocery shopping on Sunday evening.  The grocery store is particularly busy at that time, so we decided to shake things up and go this evening instead.  By the time we ate dinner, did the shopping, got home, unloaded the groceries, and finished a few chores it was 8:30.  I go to bed at 10:00, so that leaves me with an hour and a half to relax.  Well, less than that because I've obligated myself to write in this blog every day and I don't consider this relaxation.

I don't know about you, but I can't just go, go, go and then immediately get in bed and fall asleep.  I need to wind down.  I'm not so sure that this Monday night shopping thing is going to work for me.

I realized yesterday that I never posted the payout amount for the weight loss challenge.  I probably forgot because it was a stinking $35.  I was hoping to at least double my money.  Oh well.  Now, I'm just hoping that I won't need to lose ten pounds when next January rolls around.

I wonder if other bloggers hear the "Doogie Howser, M.D." theme music when they write in their blogs at the end of the day.  Maybe it's just me because I'm a big "How I Met Your Mother" fan.

So Ashamed.

I worked so hard for about 75% of this month.  I was seeing major results on the scale at the gym.  Why then, am I only at 168 pounds on the scale in my house?

That's right, I'm officially five pounds behind schedule.  I've decided that killing myself for the whole month of April to catch up is probably not the answer.  I have 18 pounds left to lose by the end of June, so I have increased my monthly goal to 6 pounds.  Please remember my quest when you pray, meditate, cross your fingers, or whatever it is that you do.  If any of you have the power to melt fat with your mind, I could use some help.

I do have a concern.  I am trying really hard right now.  I'm eating great during the day, even if my dinners have been less than figure friendly.  What happens when I finally arrive at that magical number of 150 pounds?  I don't want to be on a diet forever.

I know, I am supposed to change my ways and create a new lifestyle.  "This isn't a diet, this is the way I am now.  I love non-starch vegetables and lean protein so much that I want to eat it for every meal for the rest of my life."  Please.  How boring is that?  I would be lying to myself.  I love pasta and bread.  I love fried food.  I love sausages and red meat.  I especially love sugar.  If I'm not eating these things, I'm on a f-ing diet.

I love making food and I love when I've made something so good that the person eating it can't help but smile.  I don't know anyone that smiles when they eat a plate of raw vegetables.  Who says, "Oh my God, these carrots are sooo good!"?

I guess the bright side is that eventually I'll get so sick of eating like a rabbit that I'll lose my appetite altogether.  That should result in some weight loss.  I've already had a few instances where I made dinner, usually when we have salads, and I look at the finished product and have no desire to eat it.  I guess I have to eat for sustenance, not enjoyment.

FML

Tomorrow, I Promise.

I know, I didn't weigh in yesterday.  It wasn't because I was avoiding anything.  Trust me, it isn't going to be good regardless of a few days.  I promise I'll do it tomorrow, I don't have time today... I'm running out the door now.

Losing Faith.

I am losing faith in this blog.  The whole point of keeping it was to "keep me honest" and deter me from being lazy and eating unhealthy foods.  I'm doing pretty well about not being lazy, but I am very touch-and-go on the dieting piece.

My will to eat delicious food lately is over powering my desire to lose weight.  I want to eat Doritos.  I want to eat delicious homemade truffles.  I ate both of those things today.  The funny thing is, today I was also ridiculed for eating raw veggies at lunch once again.  "Ridiculed" is quite an exaggeration, but I am still going to use the word for dramatic effect.

Tomorrow's weigh in will not be good.  While I did very well on the weight loss challenge, the weight loss did not translate as well on my home scale.  Also, I'm pretty sure a couple of those pounds have weaseled their way back into my life.

Vegetables Are My Friends.

Why is it that I get so many questions and comments about my raw vegetable lunch?  For the last few weeks, I've been having a heaping plate of raw veggies along side some sort of lean protein for lunch.  "Wow, that's a lot of veggies." "Now that's a healthy lunch." "Do you have some ranch to dip those in?" "The weight loss challenge is over.  You're still doing that?"

Yes, that's a lot of veggies and there are probably fewer calories in this entire plate of veggies than there are in the bread in your sandwich.  Yes, it is a healthy lunch and that is the point.  No, I don't dip them in ranch because that would defeat the whole purpose of eating them.  Yes, I am still doing this because my weight loss challenge is not over.

Trust me, I would rather be eating a ham and cheese sandwich and a cup of soup.  Unfortunately, that is not going to take me where I want to go.

My cheat week is over and I need to buckle down.  Making truffles yesterday was not a good idea, but it needed to be done.

Sugar.

I had a check-up at the doctor today, which also resulted in a half day of work.  I used my half day to experiment with the truffles that I am going to make for my sister's baby shower.  I tried two recipes: chocolate peanut butter and white chocolate raspberry.  Both tasted great, but the consistency of the raspberry filling made it really difficult to work with.  There must be a secret to working with gooey filling.

As I've mentioned on multiple occasions, I love baking and cooking.  That made this afternoon a lot of fun.  I wish I could spend every afternoon like that.  However, my stomach is not having so much fun tonight after sampling the candy that I was making.

In the last week I really have noticed how much worse you feel when you eat crap all of the time.  When I eat healthier I feel more energetic and even happier.  Not everyone has the guilt gene, but I do and eating unhealthy makes me feel guilty.  That is why I need to get back on this diet.  Actually, I did very well today aside from the truffle sampling.

My check-up went well.  I had been wondering if my hearing was impaired due to spending my teenage years listening to heavy metal and punk music until my ears rang, but it turns out that there is only one low frequency that I can't hear.  I have decided that half of all men speak at this frequency, including my boss and my husband.  I apologize guys, and so do the Suicide Machines.

I have a new doctor, and she thinks that I may need to step up my dose of Synthroid.  Synthroid is the medicine that I take for hypothyroidism.  I'll find out in the next week or so.  That could be another step toward figuring out why my weight is such a pain in the ass to control.

It's Sunny and Cold. Boo.

Sunny and warm would be great.  Regardless, I am talking Jet out for a nice long walk today.  I'll just have to bundle up.

I've spent the morning shopping.  I bought a banana yellow, high waisted pencil skirt that looks great on me.  I very much have an hourglass figure, so anything that sits high on the waist looks pretty good on me.  Hip-huggers are another story.

I won't be around this evening to post, so I thought that I would just post now.  I'm going to go ahead and consider today a pretty good day in light of how the past week has been.  I just now ate lunch and I had some tuna salad with a Cheez-It 100 Calorie Pack.  That doesn't really follow the 17 Day Diet rules, but it's not a bad lunch.  I'm having Indian food for dinner, which is in general not terrible for you.  In fact, most Americans could probably benefit from eating more Indian inspired food.

Off spend some quality time with my dog.

Too. Much. Food.

I was so bad today.  I'm feeling it.  In fact, this morning I was thinking to myself about how much better I felt before starting this binge week.  Apparently my body was enjoying the break from carbs and excessive amounts of fat.

I could have done worse at lunch.  The peanut sauce on my stir fry and the flat bread served with it were probably the only unhealthy ingredients.  By the way, loved the Flat Top Grill.

For dinner, Chris wanted Olive Garden.  I was not about to skip out on an opportunity to avoid cooking dinner, so we went.  It tasted great, but my stomach is revolting a bit right now.  We each had two drinks, salad, bread sticks, and an entree.  We split a dessert.  I only ate half of my entree.  Does that count as a win?

On a positive note, I discovered this morning that I have not totally lost my endurance.  It's been a while since a ran for more than 5 minutes.  You may recall that I've been doing 2, 2 minute sprints at 7 mph after lifting each morning.  Well, this morning I had already finished my lifting for the week so I decided to spend 20 minutes on the treadmill.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that I could run at 5.5mph for all but one minute of it.  If I had pushed a little harder I probably could have ran the entire time.

I'm thinking about running the Dexter-Ann Arbor 5k.  My employer will match my registration fee in a donation to C.S. Mott Children's Hospital.  That's a $60 donation.  My brother spent a lot of time there as a kid, so Mott is a special cause for me.  Also, I was just two days out from running my first 5k when my brother passed last fall.  I did not end up doing it and he's probably complaining to Jesus right now about how I broke my plans because of him.

Where Are You, Spring?

I've had about enough of this 30 degree weather.  My tulips and daffodils have, too.

My cheat week continues.  Leftover pizza for dinner.  Tomorrow I will be trying Flat Top Grill for lunch.  I've never been, but I hear it is very similar to Mongolian BBQ and is delicious.  I will be sure to report my findings tomorrow.

On Saturday, I'll be eating dinner at Shalimar with Chris, my sister, and her husband.  Shalimar is a great Indian restaurant in down town Ann Arbor, and I'm really looking forward to it.

How can someone that loves food as much as I do ever be able to stop being on a diet?  I can't.  I am going to have to go through life constantly denying myself the food that I really want to eat.  There is a positive side to that though.  After weeks of eating "healthy" foods, the indulgent foods feel so much more indulgent.  Everything in moderation... I guess.

"Late Night Snack."

I just discovered a new Ben & Jerry's flavor called "Late Night Snack."  It has a vanilla ice cream base with a salty caramel swirl and fudge covered potato chip clusters.  Doesn't it sound awesome!?!?  I was thinking about getting Coldstone for my Friday night treat, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to get this instead.

They also have a new "Red Velvet Cake" flavor that I will be trying another time.

By the way, there wasn't any thunder or ice last night.  The Weather Channel is a tease.

I had pizza for dinner tonight, just like I planned.  It was good, but there is a lot left.  There is probably enough left for dinner tomorrow.  That does not bode well for my diet.

Still no word on the payout for the weight loss challenge.  I hope I hear something tomorrow.

Thunder Ice.

We've had "Snowpocalypse" and "Snowpocalypse 2".  Coming tonight: "Thunder Ice 2011."  I hope we really do get some thunder and lightning, because that might almost make the quarter inch to one inch of ice covering worth it.  I've already decided that I am going to work, no matter the road conditions.  It just might take me a while to get there.

My daffodils and tulips have started to come up already.  I hope the ice doesn't kill them.

There is nothing very exciting to report today.  I got back on the diet for most of the day, but finished off my tostada for dinner.

Waiting for Mid-Week.

Why am I so anxious for mid-week to get here?  Well... because that is when I get my winnings for the weight-loss challenge!  I went into the gym like always this morning, only this time I was down 11.2 pounds.  Hooray for me!

Remember, that is 11.2 pounds since January 17th, not January 1st.  Also, that is on the gym scale, not my home scale.  I believe I still have some catching up to do on my overall weight loss goals.

That did not stop me from eating an Asiago cheese bagel for breakfast.  It also did not stop me from having the "Super Tostada" at Mexican Fiesta for dinner tonight.  Well, half of it anyway.  That thing was huge.  Anyway, I had my binge day and I need to get back on the program...

... Except for Wednesday when we will be having pizza for dinner, and Friday when I am going to have some real ice cream.  Aside from those two splurges, I am going to try my hardest to stick with the diet.

Thursday is the 17th day of the diet.  I think I may keep going on phase one for an extra week though.  Next Thursday is the 31st, and the day before my next weight confession.  I'm hopeful that if I stick with the diet until then, I may catch up to the 163 pound mark that I am supposed to be at by the end of March.

A Quiet Sunday.

I spent the day by myself.  It's been a long time since I've done that, and it was nice.  I'm just one of those people that likes a little alone time every now and then.

I did not diet well today in that I ate sporadically throughout the day.  However, the things that I ate were good.  I made turkey chili for dinner, in full accordance with the 17 Day Diet Phase 1 rules.  It was really good, but not as good as old fashioned beef chili.

Tomorrow is the weigh in for the weight loss challenge that I'm doing!  I'm forcing myself to think optimistically, but I really have no idea if I've lost the 10 pounds or not.  It could go either way at this point.  However, I do have all day tomorrow to work it off.  That works if you only have a pound or so left.

My partner weighed out on Friday and was down 12 pounds, so it's all on me!  I think I'll pay her the $20 she loses if I don't make it.

The Baker's Nook!? Yes!

Yes, I know.  I missed a day.  Anyway...

I went shopping with my Mom today for some supplies for my sister's baby shower.  I plan to make some truffles for favors.  I have never made them before, so I spent a little time online researching about chocolate.  I learned that baker supply shops generally have the best chocolate for candy making.  Go figure.

I have a new favorite store.  It's called The Baker's Nook in Saline, Michigan.  I thought that I'd died and gone to heaven.  I love baking and this store has everything that anyone could ever need to bake anything.  I could have spent hours in there.  Luckily, I had my Mom with me to keep me focused on the mission at hand.  I picked out 15 pounds of chocolate (Yes, I said, "15 pounds of chocolate.") and got out of there.

Fortunately, I will not be making these truffles until long after my weigh in on Monday.  You know that I will have to sample them when I do.  Every good chef samples thier food.

We did baby shower related shopping for most of the day.  I did eat at Red Robin for lunch, and I did not do a great job of sticking to the diet.  I had a BBQ chicken wrap and a bowl of chili.  I could have done worse, I guess.  I will be working out hard tomorrow to make up for it.  I'll do some Tae Bo or running, but I haven't decided which.

I got back home around 3:30 and Chris and I turned around and headed out to the movie theater to meet some friends.  We saw "Paul."  It was very funny, and well worth the ticket price.  Not for kids though, if you didn't get that from the trailer.

We grabbed some dinner at IHOP afterwords, and I did very well.  I had crepes with fruit, yogurt, and granola on them.  Yes, I know there were a lot of carbs in that.  It's okay though, it was low calorie.  I also had two sausage links for some protein.  I'm still having some trouble wrapping my brain around the fact that eating a crepe is more of a sin on this diet than eating a sausage link.

We had a great time.  It's been a while since we went out with friends.  We need to do it more often.

Down to the Wire.

2.5 to go and 4 days to do it in.  I got this!

Italian Sausage and Peppers... Sort of.

I make a very good Italian sausage and peppers recipe with green peppers, onion, fennel, tomatoes, pasta and of course, sausage.  There are three things wrong with this when you are on phase one of the 17 Day Diet: fennel, pasta, and sausage.

Last weekend at the grocery store I discovered that you could buy Italian Sausage made with turkey.  I just had to try and make sausage and peppers with it.  I decided from the get-go that I should just leave out the fennel and the pasta.  (By the way, I'm not sure why fennel is not an "approved" vegetable for phase one, but it isn't.)  Also, I substituted orange peppers for green peppers because the price of green peppers is outrageous right now.

It was edible, but only left me wishing that I could have had the real thing.  You can find turkey versions of a lot of items that are typically made with red meat.  I've tried a few and I have not liked any.  I'm okay with letting turkey be turkey.

On a positive note, I was driving along a stretch of road today that I don't normally travel down and found a fresh meat market and country store.  I have been wondering for a long time where I could get fresh meat around here.  I plan to go check it out sometime soon.  Hopefully they have some chicken breasts there that don't look like they were hacked apart with a machete.

I've lost another pound!  I have just under three to go by next Monday.  If I keep at my current pace, I should get there!  Yippee!

I Want Bread!

This diet is killing me.  I want to sit down to a giant bowl of spaghetti with meat sauce and a slice or two of garlic bread.  Badly.  Macaroni and cheese would also be wonderful.

I am at the halfway mark of the first 17 day cycle.  I've been contemplating making it a 34 day cycle though.  We'll see.  That will depend on my own will power and whether Chris can stand anymore carb-less dinners.  Tonight I made him a baked potato so that he didn't have to suffer with me.

I need to lose 3.8 pounds by Monday!  Wish me luck!

Uh Oh.

This is not good guys.  My life has gotten so lame that I have nothing to write about.  Having nothing to write about gives me very little motivation to write at all.  I completely forgot to write yesterday.

I don't lead a thrilling life and I'm okay with that.  In fact, that is one of the things that I like most about my life.  However, this is a blog about dieting and fitness... and my diet and exercise routine is BORING.  It's so much more interesting when I cheat on my diet.  Who wants to read, "I ate another plate of raw vegetables today."?  Not me.

I could probably spice things up by writing more about work, family, or friends.  I'm pretty sure I would get in trouble on multiple levels if I did that.  I have a bad habit of saying things that mean nothing to me, but somehow cause drama for months on end.  I think that people assume that there are layers of meaning in the words that I say, when really I'm a pretty straight-forward person.

I didn't make it to the gym this morning because we overslept.  The alarm was set.  The time was adjusted for daylight savings.  We just didn't hear it.  Our secondary alarm, Jet, did not wake us up for his breakfast because he is still adjusting for Spring Forward.  Tomorrow will be better.

Clean House, Tasty Turkey.

The title of today's post pretty well sums up my day.  I spent four hours or so cleaning today, and the house looks good.  When I was finished, I put the turkey breast in the oven and somehow managed to burn the next three hours fluttering around the house.  I don't recall sitting down for very long, but I'm not sure where the time went.

I did make some more of that great basil marinade that I tried earlier this week; and started marinading four chicken breasts.  I'm going to cook them off tomorrow for my lunch and for some salads one night this week.  I also cleaned up a dog mess with our Little Green Machine (stinker!) and made a menu for next week's dinners.  Then, I made some accompaniments for the turkey (tossed salad and steamed broccoli and cauliflower).  That does not sound like three hours!

Not to brag, but I make the juiciest, most delicious turkey ever.  In the past I have used butter and wine to baste the turkey.  Today I used some homemade turkey broth that I had in the freezer and it was to die for.  I will never again make the mistake of thinking that turkey needs to be jazzed up.  It is wonderful with nothing but a pinch of salt.  If you couldn't tell, I'm still thinking about it.

Part of the 17 Day Diet is drinking 64 ounces of water each day.  That is really easy to do when I am sitting at my desk with a 32 ounce water bottle.  I found today that it is not so easy when you are up and moving around.  I've only had 12 ounces today.  I need to try and be better about this on the weekends.  I also made the mistake of working through lunch.  All of a sudden it was 3:00pm and I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast.  I wonder how thin I would be if I worked in a job that was more physically demanding?

I Love Fridays.

Well, I love Fridays from 4:30pm on.

I got out of cooking this evening.  Chris and I went to a going away gathering for one of his co-workers at a local bar.  I did cheat a little.  I had a beer and had ranch dressing on my grilled chicken salad.  Other than that I was super good though!  I could have done so much worse in a setting like that.

I had all but lost hope on the losing the ten pounds that I needed to lose by March 21st.  This new diet is working wonders though, and I have renewed determination to make it happen.  I've lost three pounds since Monday!  Four more to go and a little over a week to do it in.  I just have to stick to the plan.

My heart hurts for the people of Japan today.  Although I am grateful for the technology that we have these days, I am not sure how I feel about the relentless and intrusive news coverage.  This is certainly not the first occasion that I've felt this way, but today's events just bring it to the forefront of my mind.  There are a couple of things that bother me.  First, someone is profiting off of another person's grief and misery.  Second, many people in this world get some sort of high off of witnessing tragedies.  I am guilty of it.  I visited CNN.com multiple times today.  I guess I just feel that if you want to see this stuff first hand, get on a plane and go help them.  Don't sit on your couch and say, "Oh, that's too bad, but that tsunami video was amazing so I'm going to watch it forty times."  I won't be watching the news this weekend.

Blackened Mixed Grill Salads.

Tonight's tester recipe was "Blackened Mixed Grill Salads."  The attached recipe for blackening spice is a winner.  Just in case you were wondering, no it is not spicy.  I thought that it would be and was pleasantly surprised to learn otherwise.  As for the rest of the recipe, eh.

This did affirm for me that I am not a seafood eater.  I loved the seasoning on the chicken.  The first bite of salmon made me lose my appetite.  I am a firm believer that people should try things that they didn't like as children when they are adults.  I've found out on many occasions that I was really missing out.  That is not the case with our finned friends.  I told Chris that going forward he should eat fish when we go out for dinner if he wants to eat it.

Again, I do like crab, tuna, and most deep fried seafood.  Although, I think you could deep fry just about anything and it would be good.  Mmm... fat.

I didn't end up having much of a dinner after that disgusting bite of salmon.  I am sure it will come back to haunt me later.  It was haunting me a little bit during the Spartans basketball game tonight.  I'm pretty sure ESPN's ad sales department hates me.  Snickers PB Squares, pizza, McDonald's... Bullies.

Loser of a Recipe.

For the third night in a row, I tried a new recipe for dinner.  I made "Sauteed Chicken with Artichokes and Peppers." It was not very good.  I did make one substitution.  I did not get the "marinated artichokes," and opted for the plain canned artichokes that were one third the price.  Perhaps that was the issue, but regardless I do not plan on making this again.

The expense of eating healthy foods infuriates me.  I feel like the world is telling me that if I care about myself, I have to spend more than half of my paycheck at the grocery store.  Not to mention the judgement that I'll receive when I have children and I have to feed them "toxins" because I can't afford the good stuff.  I'm sure I am not in the minority here.  Ranting finished.

I've done well at the gym this week.  Legs Monday.  Abs Tuesday.  Arms today.  I am supposed to work my back tomorrow, but it is pretty sore today.  I'll see how it feels in the morning.  If it's sore, then I'll just do some cardio.

Basil Marinaded Chicken.

Day two on the diet has been a success.  The weight does seem to be coming off, which makes me a happy camper.

I made "Grilled Basil-Marinaded Chicken" for dinner tonight.  It was excellent.  I will most definitely be making it again.  I'm looking forward to making it this summer when I can use the outdoor grill.

I made some steamed asparagus to have on the side.  I learned that asparagus is not good when it is out of season.  Half of the pieces were mush and have of them were tough.  It might have been okay for a cream of asparagus soup, but that is certainly not allowed on this diet.  I won't be eating anything with the word "cream" in the title for quite some time.

Problems on the home front abound. The garage door opener has gone kaput.  The water softener, which is less than two years old, was repaired for the second time today.  We've been told that we need an expensive filtration system.  The muffler on Chris' car is barely hanging on.  The dog has been digging in the yard again, and broke the collar that is connected to his invisible fence.  We have ants living near the kitchen sink, in spite of the traps that we've put out.  We're not dirty people, I swear.  Why does everything break at the same time?

I just heard the toaster pop. My husband is making toast with Nutella (the only thing in this house that he could be making in the toaster).  Let the torment begin.  Mmm... carbs.

Saucy Salmon.

I am not a seafood fan.  I never have been.  There are a few things that I like, but I've never been one to sit down to a giant hunk of fish (unless it has been battered and deep fried).

In order to keep some variety in my life during phase one of the 17 Day Diet, I have decided to try some new fish recipes.  Tonight I made 'Saucy Salmon'.  It wasn't bad.  I would rather have been eating a giant bowl of spaghetti, but this was a fish recipe that I could tolerate.  I ate half of the piece of salmon that I served myself (about 2 ounces, I believe).  Trust me, that is a victory.  Later this week I will be making blackened salmon to top a salad.  Stay tuned to find out if I can down 3 ounces of that.

Day one of the diet went very well.  I may have eaten my weight in fresh veggies.  The only carbs that I ate were some Activia this morning and an orange at lunch.  By the way, I did not mention yesterday that this diet requires me to eat two servings of probiotics each day.  I've decided to have an Activia at breakfast and an acidophilus tablet with dinner.  There's something very odd to me about intentionally putting live bacteria in my body, but I haven't heard of anyone dying from it.

So far this isn't so bad.  We'll see how I feel in 17 days.

I'm back.

Chris and I arrived back in Michigan yesterday after four sunny, warm days in Arizona.  Of course, it was snowing when we touched down at Metro Airport.  I wish we could have spent the rest of winter in Arizona.

My diet was non-existent while I was on vacation, aside from the morning when I had a mild case of food poisoning from the previous night's Mexican dinner.  Anyway, I did do a lot of walking and even went for a run.  I was exhausted at the end of each day.

I'm sure that I've done a fantastic job of driving home the fact that I do not like fad diets.  We need carbs, fat, and calories to live.  However, desperate times call for desperate measures.  I have 14 days to lose 7 pounds.  If I don't lose the weight, then I lose the $20 that I wagered on the weight loss challenge, along with my partner's $20 and our winnings.

Tomorrow, I will be starting "The 17 Day Diet."  I received an email forward with the 'rules' in it, which is how I am able to start it before the book even comes out.  I believe the diet has been featured on Dr. Phil Show and on The Doctors, which is probably how the rules got out there.

This is essentially a low carb diet, but it changes every 17 days.  In the first 17 days you get no carbs.  The next three sets of 17 days, you gradually step up your carb intake and learn portion control.  I like this a little more than the diets that these money grubbers usually shove down our throats, because it teaches me new eating habits.  Ideally, by the end of the diet I will have a completely new way of feeding myself that doesn't leave out any major nutrients.

There is also a "17 Minute Workout" that goes along with the diet, but I like my own gym routine and plan to stick with it.

The only down side: a $200 grocery bill.  Granted, I bought some stock up items for the freezer and a few things that we don't buy every week.  Also, we were out of town for the week and had nothing in the house. Regardless, I don't expect this to be cheap.

Humbug,

169.2.  I took a picture, but then packed the camera.  Now, I have 2.2 pounds to make up.

My brother-in-law's girlfriend is trying some 17-day diet with awesome results.  I may have to find out more about that, if only so that I can get my money back out of the weight loss challenge that ends on March 21st.

Off to Arizona! Yay!

Farewell, Clouds and Gloom.

At this time tomorrow I will be sitting down to dinner in warm, sunny Arizona.  All Michiganders love a little snow, but by this time of year we're all sick of it.  It will be nice to get away from the grey skies and all around gloomy atmosphere and soak up some rays.

I have decided that I'll also be taking a break from blogging.  My weight loss goals still are what they are, and I don't plan to slack.  With any luck I'll get a run in each morning while I'm there.  It will be nice to be able to run outside in the sunshine.

I got a good leg workout in this morning.  Our fight is late tomorrow, so I am going to work my arms at home in the morning before we fly out.  I have just enough gym equipment at home for a decent weight training session.  I also know that there are some good, short cardio workouts on On Demand that I can do afterwords.  I give you my word, I will be working out tomorrow morning.  I may have to in order to make weight.  If you've forgotten, tomorrow is March first and I am supposed to be at 167 pounds.

I will make a quick post tomorrow before leaving, even if it only means posting my weight.  I am a woman of my word, if nothing else.

Oops!

Yesterday was the first day that I haven't posted since starting this blog.  Yes, I know.  I said that I would do it every day.  Well, the day got away from me.

It wouldn't have called yesterday a great day for my diet.  I did fine during the day, but had three bottles of Guinness and a lot of naughty snacks at the card party that I went to last night.  I'm all for eating healthy, but I'm not going to be a "Debby Downer" and refuse to eat delicious food at a party.  No one likes a party pooper... or the bitch (excuse my language) that makes them feel guilty for what they're eating while they're trying to have a good time.

We had steak and eggs for dinner.  A very Atkins friendly meal, but not so low calorie.  I think it was a good day when considered as a whole.

I plan to get a good workout in tomorrow morning.  We're flying to Arizona on Tuesday to visit Chris' grandmother and I won't have access to the same exercise equipment.  I'm hoping to get a run in each morning that we are there.  I am really looking forward to four days of warm, sunny weather!

The Cupcake Station.

I'm sure that you're all aware that cupcakes are huge right now.  I've been to a multitude of events in the last year where the traditional layer or sheet cake had been replaced by cute little cupcakes.

The trend is so popular, that there are now bakeries solely devoted to making cupcakes.  There is one such bakery in Ann Arbor, Michigan called the Cupcake Station.  I've had their cupcakes several times now, and was presented with the opportunity again today at work.  They looked so delicious that I couldn't help myself.  I should learn at some point.  The flavors are very inventive and their appearance is very appealing.  In fact, the taste is pretty good too.  However, I've found that almost every time the cake is very dry.  If I want to indulge, do I want to spend those calories on a dry cupcake?

I've never actually gone to their shop and had a cupcake.  It's possible that the dryness is a result of sitting in some one's refrigerator all day.  Or, it's possible that I am just picky about my cake.

I finally got a chance to try weight lifting before cardio this morning. I think I like it.  I wasn't too worn out from my running or stair climbing to get a good lift in.

I'm so happy it's the weekend!  I'm off to play cards with some family and friends tomorrow night.  There will be treats and drinks.  Wish me luck!

The Kidney Walk.

I spent my alloted blogging time today writing the following memorial to my brother.  I am walking in the National Kidney Foundation's "Kidney Walk" later this year and was asked to share my story by the Kidney Walk's Facebook app...

Last October I lost my brother, Billy, to a 23 year battle with chronic kidney disease. He was 30-years-old. Our family first found out that his kidneys were failing when he was 7 years old. He was immediately put on dialysis.

It wasn't long and a transplant became available. Unfortunately, it didn't take. Later, my mother donated one of hers with the same result.

I remember the day that we got word that Billy would be getting another transplant. It was years later, when I was 8 and Billy was 11. My second grade teacher came out to the playground to get me. My parents picked Billy, Beth (my sister), and me up from school to give us the news. That is one of my happiest childhood memories.

The transplant was successful. That 60-year-old kidney served Billy well. Don't get me wrong, his life was not like yours or mine. What teenager wants to take a handful of pills every day and go to the doctor every few months? He couldn't be on any athletic teams and his body had been left pretty beat up from years of transplants, biopsies, and dialysis. You never would have known it from his attitude. He knew that life was a gift and was glad to have it.

Thirteen years later the kidney failed. Billy was 24 and suddenly found himself in need of 4 hours of dialysis every other day. It was a hard reality, but he refused to let it get him down. He was convinced that he was going to get another transplant if he was patient. I don't think the thought of death ever crossed his mind. He worked full time and would go to dialysis after work on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. A few years later he even managed to start in an electrical apprentiship. He lived life like he had fifty more years ahead of him.

In spite of his already hectic schedule, Billy had a very active social life. He had more friends than I could ever hope for, which isn't surprising because he would have bent over backwards to help anyone that needed it. I will be forever amazed at the way that he lived his life, never knowing what day would be his last.

Typically death is somewhat predictable for someone that is under close medical observation like Billy. There are signs. In kidney patients, usually their heart starts to fail as well. In Billy's case, he died in his bed at home after spending an evening with his friends. According to the medical examiner, he suffered from cardiac sarcoidosis. There was no pain or struggling, his heart just stopped beating. He went from goofing around with his buddies to meeting Jesus in a matter of hours.

It was a shock to us all, because he was alive and well the last time any of us had seen him. I'm glad that he didn't spend his last hours in a hospital bed and in pain, but the shock of that news will probably never wear off. In fact, sometimes I feel like he's not gone at all.

Kidney disease finally claimed Billy. I wish I had done more with the NKF when he was alive. It's never too late to start though.

The Week is Flying, But the Days are So Slow.

Do you ever feel like the days just creep by, but the week itself is over in the blink of an eye?  I am feeling like that this week.  It's a pretty slow week at work, which makes for long days.  However, I just realized that tomorrow is Thursday already.

I finally made it to the gym this morning.  I have finally made it to the top of the waiting list for a locker rental, so I had to take some time to fill out the "lease" form.  By the time I was on the stair climber, I only had 15 minutes.  I made it a good 15 minutes though!

I am pretty stoked that starting on Monday, I'll be able to shed some weight from my gym bag.  I work in a very long building and it takes about five minutes to walk from the gym to my office.  That's a long walk when you're lugging forty pounds or so on one shoulder.  It's even longer when you're wearing heels.

I am pretty concerned about next Tuesday's weigh in.  I've gotten better about my eating habbits (aside from the 4-day cheesecake binge).  I'm working out harder and smarter.  Why is it that some of us have to starve ourselves just to reach a "healthy" weight?  Is it really healthy if I have to be miserable to get there and stay there?  I don't want to use some fad diet with results that don't last.  I don't want to spend ten hours a week in the gym.  I just want to be healthy and happy.

Glee.

I did not get to work out today.  It wasn't that I didn't want to, I just could not fit it in.  The drive in to the office took a while due to the snow.  When I got home we quickly ate leftovers for dinner and turned around to go run some errands.  I'm just now really sitting down for the first time, and my DVR has been nice enough to record 'Glee' for me.  I'm off to go watch it and relax.

Snow Day 2!?!

That's right, Chris and I both had to burn another personal day today.  Ten inches of snow fell in our town, and not much less at my office.  Just as we went out to shovel the driveway our neighbor got her car stuck backing out of hers.  We took that as evidence that we made the right choice to stay home.  Needless to say, shoveling was my workout for the day.

We had to shovel the driveway in two sections.  This snow was much heavier than the last dumping that we got.  By the time we were half done our backs needed a break.  After we'd been back at it for a half hour or so, a good Samaritan came by with a plow and finished the last tenth of it for us.  He said that he had seen us "busting ass" while he was working on the neighbor's driveway and felt bad for us.

Jet did not have a good night after his cat food binge.  He acted like he felt sick for most of the evening.  At about 2am, he started to whine and pace around the house.  That pretty much continued until 6am this morning.  That's the short version anyway.  At that point I got up, fed him, and let him out again.  After a day of dealing with terrible dog farts, he seems to be feeling better.  I'm crossing my fingers that he sleeps tonight like usual.

There are no confessions to make today.  I did a good job of keeping busy so that I didn't graze while I was at home.  We had homemade thin crust pizza topped with ham, mushrooms, and banana peppers for dinner.  It was quite tasty and filling.  I was surprised that is was so filling.

Snopacalypse 2?

Just when I thought that the hard part of winter might be over, we are experiencing another mass dumping of snow.  It's been snowing since about 2:30 this afternoon, and my best estimate is that we have 5-6 inches at this point.  It is still snowing, and the forecast says that there is some ice on the way too.  As much as I'd love another snow day, I really hope that I don't have to burn another personal day because of the snow.  We really need to get an all-wheel-drive vehicle.  The worst part is, my office is about a half-hour drive south of my house... and they aren't getting as much snow.  I'm going to look like a total pansy if I have to call in.

On the bright side, Chris and I were able to get out in the backyard and do some work before the snow arrived.  Jet's mess has been cleaned up, which should make spring yard clean up much easier.  That is, if spring ever gets here.

I did alright on the diet today, but I can't say the same for Jet.  He ripped open a bag of cat food and helped himself.  We aren't sure just how much he ate before Chris caught him, but it was enough that he didn't want his dinner.  I am not looking forward to the smells that will be coming from him later.

A Day with the Girls.

I spent the day with my Mom and my sister.  We went to visit my Grandma.  She has not been doing very well lately, but was in very good spirits today.  It's been a long time since I've seen her laugh so much.  I'm not sure that she knew what she was laughing about, but she was laughing.  She also told us that she was glad we came, and even hugged me back when we left.  I can't remember the last time she did that.  She's never really been one for hugs, but we always hug her anyway and I think that she secretly loves it.

After our visit, we drove to downtown Chelsea.  If you've never been there, it's a very cute little town.  There are quite a few little shops with crafty, artsy things in them that you might not find elsewhere.  I bought Chris a big, concrete Spartan "S" to put in the flower bed in front of our house this spring.  He'd been eyeing one for a long time in another store, and today I decided that he should have it.  I personally am not Michigan State alumni, but he is and he loves his Spartans.

I love spending the day with my Mom and my sister doing girly things.  Today was a sunny day and was perfect for it.

My lunch was less than stellar today.  I had a mesquite chicken wrap, which was probably not so bad.  However, it came with a side of nachos.  Aside from that, I did pretty well.  I definitely did a lot more walking than I do on a typical Saturday.  I also carried a thirty to forty pound concrete lawn ornament about two blocks to the car with no trouble.  It looks like the weight lifting is paying off.

Friday, Hooray!

I'm so very glad that it is the weekend.  This has been a long week.  I hit the stair climber 5 days this week, and did at least one (usually more) strength training exercise on 4 of those days.  Not to mention a slightly hectic work week.

A friend with a personal trainer let me in on a few "secret" weight loss tips today.  There was one tip of particular interest to me.  I've been using the stair climber before my strength training exercises.  According to the professional advice that she was given, I should be doing this in reverse.  I will be piloting that next week.  I am probably doing the right things in the right amounts, I just need to rethink the order.

I also was glad to hear that doing 30-60 minutes of cardio every day is not necessarily the way to go.  I am not a huge fan of cardio, because I find it boring.  It was said that strength training and interval training tend to yield the best results as far as weight loss and toning muscle.  One statement in particular drove it home for me, "Would you rather look like a marathon runner or a sprinter?  I would rather look like a sprinter."

I Win, Cheesecake!

I can proudly say that there is still almost half of a cheesecake in our refrigerator and I did not touch it today.  Hooray for me!

I've been very good today.  We had baked pork chops and pan-friend potatoes for dinner.  I fried the potatoes in a little olive oil.  I recently decided that this was no different than roasting them in olive oil; therefore, not so bad for me.  Please feel free to correct my logic if you know of some strange chemical reaction that happens in olive oil when you fry it as opposed to roasting it.

I has a Smart One for lunch today.  I've been eating them for lunch a lot because they are low calorie, they usually taste good, and they are so very convenient.  However, I was quite alarmed today when I happened to notice that the ingredient list in my Chicken Enchiladas Suiza meal took up one entire side panel of the box that it came in.  The type wasn't exactly large either.  I am having a really difficult time finding lunch options that are low calorie, not full of chemicals, tasty, and convenient.  I have had some luck in the past, but can't seem to stick with anything because I get sick of it after three or four days.  You may remember the tuna salad in a tomato idea... Well, the thought of eating tuna salad is actually nauseating at this point.  I'd rather eat nothing.

I'm working out 5 days a week and staying away from bad foods (for the most part), but I seem to be on a plateau. Does anyone have any suggestions that might help aside from the predictable, "Stop eating cheesecake every day"?

Quickie.

I was good today.  Stair climber.  Ab workout.  Good food.

Exception: more cheesecake.  It's almost gone, I swear.

This Tuesday Feels Like Monday.

Today was one of those days where I would have screamed out in frustration if it wouldn't make my co-workers think that I'm even more weird than they were already thinking.  I'm a very honest and open person and I find it extremely frustrating that other people see that as naivete.  I'm young compared to many of the people in my office.  I hope that I still feel like I can be open and honest with everyone 15 years from now.  Life is too short to be constantly looking for ulterior motives.

Do you ever feel like a row of cubicles in an office is just like a row of lockers in a high school?  Today I felt like a nerd that was stuffed into her cubicle by a bully.  I just come home and vent to Chris.  He understands me, even if I can be neurotic at times.

My workout was good this morning.  I did 10 minutes on the stair climber and then worked my arms.  I've decided to get on the stair climber for at least 10 minutes a day, and more if I have the time.  Rather than lifting on Tuesday and Thursday, I am going to move my ab workout to Wednesday and my back workout to Friday.  That way I'm getting some cardio and some weights every day of the week (aside from Monday, which will be all cardio).  The extra cardio should help with weight loss, but I know that strength training is necessary as well.

I ate well, but fell victim to the cheesecake.  That was my only cheat today.  I actually only ate about 750 calories before dinner today.  I think I did okay, even with the little slice of cheesecake.

Quick Update.

I have to make this quick because 'Chuck' is starting...

I was very good on this Valentine's Day, aside from the tiny slice of cheesecake.  There is still a lot of it left, but I plan on leaving it for Chris.  If he is having some and I feel tempted, I'll have a Skinny Cow treat.  They are surprisingly good for low fat ice cream.

The scale is not budging.  I hit the stair climber again today and plan to continue using it at least three days a week, if not more.  It kicks my butt and I need it!

Delicious.

Daddy's Birthday Dinner.

After an eventful and very productive morning, Chris and I headed out to my parents' house for the afternoon.  As I mentioned yesterday, I was supposed to make my Dad his birthday dinner at our house and he found out that he had to work today.  We decided to move the party, and all worked out great.

I stayed true to my mission until dinner.  I made "Upside-Down Shepherd's Pie."  It's become a favorite in our household, and I had not made it for my Dad yet.  He said that he enjoyed it, although I think that I could make him fried earthworms and he would still say that he enjoyed it.

Shepherd's Pie in general is not a figure-friendly dish.  This version is no different.  I did well the rest of the day though, so I don't feel terrible about it.

My Dad really enjoyed the assortment of sundae toppings that a bought and made him for his birthday.  He loves his ice cream, and has some pretty much every day.  I love it almost as much.  Like father like daughter.

Early Valentine's Day.

As planned, I spent most of the day cleaning and cooking.  My house is spotless, aside from a few rooms that need vacuumed.  Chris has promised to do that tomorrow.  I love a clean house.

Chris and I went to dinner for Valentine's Day tonight.  We went to an Italian restaurant nearby.  I wouldn't say that the food I ate there was healthy, but I did not overeat.  In fact, I think I have enough of the "Wild Mushroom Penne" that I ordered leftover to have it two more times.  That's not necessarily a good thing, but it does mean that I had a small win tonight.

I was supposed to make dinner for my Dad's birthday tomorrow, but he called today and said that something came up and he has to work.  We live about an hour away from one another, so it isn't as easy as just moving the start time.  I suggested that maybe Chris and I would drive out to his house and I'll make dinner there so that it is ready when he gets home.  My Mom will be home and we'll have a chance to chat.  I have to call her tomorrow and see if that is feasible.  I hope so.  I haven't seen them in a few weeks and it would be nice to catch up.  Also, I love cooking for my family.

A Friday with My Sweetheart.

Chris and I took the day off today.  We'll call it a mental health day.  We did get some errands done, but for the most part we just went out and about and enjoyed each other's company.  We slept in, went to the Secretary of State (so much fun), did some light shopping, went out to lunch, and went to see 'True Grit'.  It was a delightful day.

We might have considered taking Monday, Valentine's Day, off instead.  There are a couple of issues with that.  First, I'm not supposed to take Mondays off if at all possible.  Also, there's some reason that a Friday off is just so much more refreshing.  It's like you're shortening the work week, not delaying it.

I did skip the gym today, but made up for it by being very good on the diet front.  By my best mental calculation, I've consumed about 1200 calories total today and I've already eaten dinner.  The best part is, at no point was I overly hungry.

There isn't a lot of the agenda tomorrow other than some cooking and cleaning around the house.  There is definitely enough to keep me going all day, but it isn't grueling work.  In fact, I kind of enjoy it once I get my butt off of the couch and get moving.

Stuffed.

We had nachos for dinner.  I used chicken and black beans instead of the beef and refried beans that I would normally use.  I made a cheese sauce with some skim milk and 2% milk Mexican cheese.  The consistency wasn't great, but it tasted good.  Also, I used pico de gallo instead of salsa and Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.  The only cheat would be the chips, and even those were whole grain.  It was no Nachos Bell Grande, but it was pretty tasty.  (I also know that the chicken was really chicken and that there was not 770 calories and 42 grams of fat in my version.  That's a comfort.)

I just ate more than I should have.  I am stuffed.  However, aside from overeating at dinner I had a very good day.  I've been trying to keep track of my food intake in my planner each day.  On most days I know within twenty calories what my intake was for the day.  I usually stop keeping track at dinner time, but I'm not looking for an exact number.  I just want to know whether I am being realistic or not when I say that I was "good" on a particular day.  If I've done well up until dinner, I know what I need to do to keep from falling off the deep end.

Chris and I both took the day off of work tomorrow.  Why?  No reason.  We just wanted to spend the day together.  I'm sure we'll get a few errands done, but maybe not.

So Many Stairs.

The treadmills were all occupied this morning, so I got on the stair climber instead.  I wanted to make sure that I got a good workout, so I set it to the "Aerobic Training" course on level 7.  Oh my Lord.  It kicked my butt, but I may need to do it more often.  I struggled, but I lasted the whole 25 minutes. 100 floors!

I did very well food-wise today.  I had a tiny piece of a king cake that arrived in our office from the company's Louisiana location.  It was only a couple of bites.  For dinner, we had some light salads and some plain chicken wings with BBQ dipping sauce (takeout of course).  They were very tasty and since they weren't fried, they weren't too unhealthy.

I realized this evening that I could go the rest of my life without eating another salad and be perfectly happy.  That may not be the case if every salad was a chef or Cobb salad, but if that were true then salads would be on the list of things that I should avoid anyway.  As I forced down the salad that I'd made for dinner, I wished that I could just push it aside and have ten more wings instead.  I didn't do that, because it would be a waste and it would not be very healthy.

I Never Learn...

I should be banned from using crushed red pepper, because I always overdo it.  Chris couldn't even finish his dinner tonight because the spices gave him a stomach ache.  I finished mine, but it was a smaller bowl and I gave in and had some bread with it.

What is it that was so spicy, you ask?  Pepper steak.  It isn't like the pepper steak that you eat in a Chinese restaurant.  It is a ground beef, mushroom soup, and green pepper concoction that my brother-in-law introduced me to.  It is "Asian influenced" because it is served over rice and usually has some soy sauce in it or on it.  I load it up with black pepper and red pepper flakes because I like a little kick, but usually my kick ends up being more like a fiery explosion.  You would think that I would learn to have some restraint.

Yes, I know that 80/20 ground beef and canned mushroom soup are not the healthiest choices.  While I may have no restraint when it comes to seasoning my cooking, I did exercise some restraint in my portioning.  You can eat anything you want if you eat it in the right portions.  That is something that I still struggle with.

I don't really have anything more to report.  Lets be honest, I'm doing pretty well with the exercising.  It's the food that is my downfall.  Fortunately, today I did not fall down.

When Do Puppies Turn Into Dogs?

My dog, who is about one year old I believe, has started an ever-deepening hole in the backyard.  You turn your back for one second and mayhem ensues.  He does so well for such a long time and then you find a mess.  When will he stop getting in trouble and start acting like a grown up dog?

That has nothing to do with healthy eating or fitness, I know.  I can't say that there is really anything worth reporting today.  I ate good food and had a good workout this morning.

Super Bowl BBQ.

I slow cooked BBQ short ribs all afternoon for our Super Bowl feast.  If you've ever tried to cook them, then you know that they might be the fattiest cut of beef that you can get.  There might be more fat than meat on them.

I cooked them for four and a half hours at 250 degrees, wrapped and tented in aluminum foil so that they would stay moist.  When we finally ate them, the meat was falling off of the bone and was super moist and delicious.  Never mind the entire cereal bowl of fat and bones that we had on the table when we were finished.  Hey, at least that didn't end up in my body.

I also made some corn, cornbread, and mashed potatoes.  I made the potatoes with two tablespoons of light butter and some skim milk, so they were not nearly as unhealthy as they could have been.  If you want to know a completely sinful way to make your mashed potatoes, tune in next Sunday.

All in all, I think I did very well today.  We have some light hors devours to have later around half-time, but it's nothing that is going to ruin me.

I have to be really good this week so that I can enjoy some upside-down shepherd's pie and a Guinness next Sunday for my Dad's birthday.  Oh, and of course some cake and ice cream too.  Not to mention the fact that Valentine's Day is next week and I promised Chris one of those Chocolate Explosion Cheesecakes that I mentioned yesterday.  My goodness, so far I'm not doing any better in February, am I?

Well, the Baking Cupboard is Decluttered...

I was very good today... until about twenty minutes ago.

Both Chris and I were craving chocolate cake.  There weren't really any sweets in the house, so we were faced with a choice.  Do we get in the car and go to the store, or do we just go without dessert this evening?  I looked in our cupboards and decided that we could compromise.  I had one square of Baker's chocolate and two cups of confectioner's sugar.  I knew I could do something with that.

I got out my double boiler and started melting a stick of butter.  Yes, a whole stick of butter.  Once it was melted down I put in the Baker's chocolate and two heaping teaspoons each of dark chocolate cocoa powder and hot chocolate mix.  I stirred constantly until everything was melted down and combined, then added some milk in and gave it a whisk.  At this point, it resembled the most delicious hot chocolate I'd ever seen or smelled.  However, I decided that drinking chocolate butter was completely over the edge.

I took it off of the heat and started stirring in confectioner's sugar.  It wasn't until I emptied the bag that I realized there might be a problem.  It had not thickened to the frosting-like consistency that I was hoping for.  I added a little flour to thicken it and that helped, but not much.

We had some Keebler cookie 100-calorie packs, so I emptied one each into two bowls and then poured some of the ganache (as I am now referring to it) onto the cookies.  I sprinkled some unsalted almonds on the top of each, you know, to make it more healthy.

Chris finished his bowl, but I had to stop halfway through due to sugar overload.  There was still a lot of chocolate left, so I poured in almonds and dried cherries that I had in the cupboard and mixed it all together.  I poured it out onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment and put it in our chest freezer to harden.  At least my little experiment will yield some candy, right?

Sometime tomorrow I'll get it out and cut it into bite-sized pieces, bag it, and refreeze it.  I can save it for next Sunday when my family comes over for my father's birthday dinner.  If I'm lucky, I'll be able to send some home with them too.

What started this intense need for chocolate?  A re-run episode of Paula Deen's Best Dishes at 10:30 this morning.  She made Chocolate Explosion Cheesecake, and Chris and I both thought about it all day.  By the way, this all could have been avoided if Mother Nature didn't decide that we needed more snow today.  We were supposed to go to a birthday party, and we probably would have been there all evening and had a modest cupcake if the road conditions had cooperated.

Oh yes... I forgot to mention one of my downfalls.  I love to cook and I especially love to bake.  If I could go back and do it all over again, I probably would have gone to culinary school.

I Can Run!?!

I ran at 6.0 mph for 20 minutes out of my 25 minute workout this morning!  I kept an eye on the odometer and I hit the 2 mile mark at about 21 minutes.  I'm totally geeked!

You have to understand that I've never been an athlete.  I didn't play any recreational sports growing up.  I grew up on a farm.  We had a roadside produce stand and someone had to be there to man it.  My parents paid my brother, sister, and I a very good allowance to help plant, weed, and harvest the produce.  Obviously, this taught us all a thing or two about hard work and its payoffs... but it did not groom me to be an athlete.

Aside from one year of sitting on the bench at our JV volleyball games, I didn't play any sports in school.  I spent most of high school getting basically no exercise.  I think the only time I exercised was when I had to help put hay in the barn at home.  Trust me, that's heavy cardio for someone that never does anything else.

A friend convinced me to join Curves right after graduation.  Within a year I'd lost about forty pounds and was feeling great.  I've never gone back. It's been sporadic at times, but fitness has been a part of my life ever since.  I've only been running on and off for the last six months, so you can understand my excitement over today's awesome run.

I've put back on 25 of those 40 pounds.  Make that 21.6.  If I work really hard that number will be 17 by the end of this month.

The Jumbo Jet Deal.

Not only did I have pizza for dinner, I had deep dish pizza for dinner.  We had a coupon for pizza, wings, and bread from Jet's and Chris had been craving pizza for quite some time.  I indulged him... and myself.  Who am I kidding, right?

Although deep dish pizza is definitely cheating, I do feel pretty proud of the fact that I could only manage to pack two pieces of bread, two slices of pizza, and four boneless wings into my belly.  That is probably somewhere around what a normal person eats, and only twice as much as I should eat.  As I've mentioned before, I've been known to put away a lot of pizza.  I'll take this as proof that my stomach is shrinking, which is a very good thing.

Aside from the pizza it was an all around good day.  There were no other cheats and I had a very good leg workout at the gym this morning.  Also, I weighed myself and I am down just shy of four pounds for the weight-loss challenge.  That's just about where I should be at this point, since there are six weeks left.

Snow Day.

Both of our offices were open today, but Chris and I decided that we should stay home.  There was only about six inches of snow when we woke up, but that is still too much for a Cavalier.  Our street didn't get plowed until about 4:30 this afternoon, and it was done by a private citizen with a pick-up truck who only made one pass.  By that point I think there was about eleven inches of snow on the ground.

Since the gym and the office are in the same building, I obviously didn't make it there either.  However, Chris and I spent about an hour shoveling snow off of the driveway.  We didn't take any breaks and were working at a decent pace.  There was just so much of it and the further we went the heavier it felt.

When we finished shoveling, I brought Jet outside and we played in the snow for a while.  I could tell that he was having more fun than he's had in a long time.  Maybe this weekend I'll get out there with him again.

I did pretty well on the diet today.  However, I am fortunate that there weren't really any sweets in the house because I was having some big chocolate cravings.  I also had to battle the urge to eat out of boredom, but was successful at finding other things to occupy my mind.

Drumroll Please...

I missed my goal by six-tenths of a pound.  So close!  That just means that I have to lose 4.6 pounds in February.

I think it's possible.  While I think I am doing the right thing in the gym, I could definitely improve my eating habits.  For instance, we had boxed scalloped potatoes and ham for dinner tonight.  The first few bites tasted good, but after that I felt like I was eating salt by the spoonful.

I don't feel like I'm eating too much, but the scale is saying otherwise.  Eating healthy alone may not get me there... I may also have to cut back a little bit.  With a weight loss challenge deadline just 7 weeks away, and a partner that I don't want to disappoint, that may be the only solution.  However, I'm aware that eating a super low-calorie diet is not healthy in the long run.

I am pretty sure that going to the gym will be out of the question tomorrow.  I'll have to get my exercise helping Chris shovel the driveway.  If the weather man is right, there will be plenty of shoveling to do.

24 Hours....

... is how long until my first weigh in.  Yikes!

I'm really not sure if I'll make it.  I feel like I've worked really hard.  I could have avoided some diet mistakes along the way, but if you only knew what I was eating just last month.  I've come a long way.

2010 was so insanely busy for me that I can't fathom how 2011 could be any busier.  Of course I am knocking on wood and throwing salt over my left shoulder as we speak.  This year, I will have plenty of time to focus on becoming some "optimized" version of me.  Even if I don't make my January goal, I know that I've improved.  I ran a ten minute mile and ate my first grapefruit in twenty years today.

Coldstone.

I think today's title says it all.  Chris and I split a Love It size Peanut Butter Cup Perfection at Coldstone today.  However, that was the only "bad" thing that I ate.

I made some chili for dinner.  It was very good, but I had to have some Tums for dessert.  My taste buds like the heat, but my stomach doesn't agree.

One of the things that I like most about chili is that it seems like an indulgent food, but is really not bad for you at all.  The only thing in my chili that might be considered unhealthy is the not-so-lean ground beef that I use.  Considering that the entire pot only has one pound of meat and makes 7-8 servings, even that doesn't seem so bad.

Of course, I always have to add some naughty garnishes.  Chili just isn't the same without sour cream, cheddar cheese, and a couple of saltine crackers.  Lately, I've been subbing low-fat plain Greek yogurt for sour cream in just about everything.  Personally, I can barely tell the difference and I think I may even like the yogurt a little more.  I've also cut way back on the number of crackers that I use (4-5 instead of 10-15).  A couple of years ago, my bowl of chili would resemble some sort of cracker-cheese-tomato paste.

Back to the grind tomorrow morning.  If you didn't notice, tomorrow is the last day of January... Eek, deadlines approaching!

A Saturday at Home.

It's been a long time since I stayed at home for an entire day.  Chris and I got a lot done around the house.  It always feels good to have a squeaky clean home, even if it doesn't last long.  Aside from the salt and slush that gets dragged in because it's a Michigan winter, having three animals in the house makes it hard to keep the place clean.  I love those little faces too much to part with them, though...

I did not do any Tae-Bo today.  However, that is because I spent about six hours cleaning, shoveling snow, and bathing the sixty-five pound dog pictured above. (He was a pup when that photo was taken.)  Trust me, I burned plenty of calories.

I rebounded from yesterday's junk food bender.  I woke up too late to have breakfast, so settled for a cup of coffee before I started my housework.  For lunch, I made some light tuna salad and stuffed it into hollowed out tomatoes.  I had seen it on the menu at a diner and decided to try it.  It turned out to be really tasty.  Chris and I each ate two tomatoes, but I think next time I'll just have one and find something to accompany it.  For dinner, we had leftovers... nothing to write home about.

Now, I'm looking forward to a Saturday night in.  We're watching Mad Men, Season 1 Disc 2.  So far, it's an excellent show.

Mixed Emotions.

I did decide to skip the gym this morning.  It just didn't make sense to drive that far out of my way to use a treadmill.  I had planned on doing some Tae-Bo this morning to compensate, but that didn't happen either.  That was just sheer laziness.  I will do some Tae-Bo at some point tomorrow.

After our meeting this morning, we all headed to an undisclosed location to celebrate getting our bonuses and being masters of our domain (not in the Seinfeld sense).  As promised, I did my best to eat healthy.  However, that is a problem when there are no healthy things to eat.  That is, unless you want to eat cold chicken skewers and nothing else.

Upon seeing that eating healthy was going to be an impossibility, I decided to dive in head first.  If you're going to have a bad day, then you might as well have a really bad day, right?  I ate potato chips with sour cream, bacon, chives, and nacho cheese on them.  I'm aware of how weird that is, but that is what was offered and it tasted really good.  I also had a couple of scoops of ice cream, a cookie, some fried mac and cheese, and many other sinful delights.  I had my margarita.

To cap off the great day that I was having, we went out to dinner.  For $12.99 at T.G.I. Fridays, I got full-size bowl of French onion soup, a half pound burger with cheese and a side of fries, and a full-size slice of peanut butter cup pie.  That is a hell of a deal and a hell of a lot of food.  I only ate about half of what I was given, and I am stuffed.

I am happy that I got to have a surprise day off and ate all kinds of the things that I'd been craving.  I also feel pretty guilty about it.  To be completely honest, I also don't feel the best physically tonight.  There's nothing in particular wrong, I just feel weighted down.  It would be nice to remember this feeling the next time that I want to spend an entire day being indulgent.  I haven't remembered it the last 200 times, but maybe writing it down will help it sink in.

Carb Feast.

Ragu bolognese with whole wheat penne pasta and bread n' butter... best dinner since I started this thing.  It may also be the least "diet friendly" dinner I've had since I started this thing.  It was oh-so-good though.

I had a good leg workout at the gym this morning.  I'm thinking that next week I need to take the weight up a notch.  I already did that for lunges and squats (12 pounds to 16 pounds), so we'll see how I feel tomorrow.  By the way, I'll be skipping the gym tomorrow morning because it's about a half hour out of the way of the meeting I have to go to... I may get up and do some Tae-Bo before I leave though.

Another off-site meeting for work tomorrow morning, followed by a party in the afternoon.  It will be a junk-food and adult beverage haven.  I'm sure the healthy options will be limited, but I'll do my best.  It's also going to be really hard to say "no" to free drinks. (Margaritas?)

February first is fast approaching and I am not so sure it's going to be a good day for me.  Would anyone argue that I've given it at least 95% of my effort?  Trust me, I've got more to give... I'd rather not have to result to being a exercise-addict that only eats a thousand calories a day.  That's how I did it in the past, but I really hope it doesn't come to that.

Squash Fries and Motivation Issues.

I had a really hard time getting going this morning.  I got to the gym and started running.  Within ten minutes I'd had enough of that.  I didn't want to stop, but just didn't have the oomph to keep going.  I stopped and got on a recombinant bike for another ten minutes, alternating high resistance with low.  Then, I finished the workout off with five minutes on a stair climber.  There's something about cross training that keeps you going when you really want to stop.

The office food got me again, but I balanced it out by only eating part of the food that I took to work with me for the day.  I didn't have my protein shake today either... I'm just not seeing the results that I was hoping for and I don't know if choking the shakes down is really worth it.  I know that I said they were better with milk and they are.  They're still not great though.  I'm probably better off to save the 200 calories (including the milk) for something that I actually enjoy.

I made grilled chicken and butternut squash fries for dinner.  I learned to make the fries on an episode of Hungry Girl.  In spite of what she says, they do not taste like sweet potato fries.  They taste like baked butternut squash.  That's fine by me because I like squash, but Chris was not the biggest fan.  I also found that the more of them I ate, the less appealing they were.  I wish real french fries had diminishing returns.

Rude Awakening.

I woke up at 1:30 this morning because I heard our dog, Jet, pacing up and down our hallway.  Then, I heard another all too familiar sound:  the sound of our cat, Max, having an epileptic seizure.

I got up as quickly as I could get my body to function and went to find him.  He had stopped seizing by the time I got there, but was laying in a puddle of his own urine and looked terrified.  He's on medicine for seizures and hasn't had one for five months.  He seems okay tonight, but I feel terrible for the little guy.  My pets are the closest thing that I have to children.

Aside from the early morning drama, today was a decent day.  I didn't eat anything that I'm ashamed of, and I got a good arm workout in at the gym this morning.

Random fact of the day...
Did you know that a serving size of pan spray is a "1/4 second spray"?  I'd like to know who makes a pan small enough that you can coat it with a 1/4 second spray.  I would also guess that there are some people out there that can't move their trigger finger that fast.