The Pooch

The scale went down this week! I lost a 1/2 lb. Maybe not a huge amount in the weight loss world, but in other worlds its a decent amount. I mean you wouldn't eat a 1/2 lb of nachos, would you? Well, maybe, but that's a whole lotta nachos. A loss is a loss no matter how small.

I got my new indoor grill this week. Love it. I needed a new way to prepare veggies. I get bored easily. The grill helped a lot. I fixed grilled asparagus last night. A little olive oil and a few minutes on the grill, a sprinkle of garlic salt-perfection.

All this watching what I eat is good, but I decided I needed to start moving. I had been going to the gym pretty regularly in 2010, but when my dad got sick and we moved back to Charleston I basically spent my days at the hospital. In six months I have not moved unless absolutely necessary. I decided to check out Curves. All I knew about Curves was that my dear friend Maxine started going about a year ago. Maxine looks good, so I thought maybe I too could get me some curves. Since being somewhat sedentary my curves have become more like rough mountainous terrain. I went today and really enjoyed it. The circuit is great and the workout doesn't take forever. I worked up a bit of a perspiration (you know ladies don't sweat in the South) and was a little out of breath. The music was great and the ladies there very nice. The ladies who were there this morning were older ladies, so it was a real ego boost that I was the fastest one there. That didn't last long though. Once the tape meassure came out and the numbers kept climbing I was quickly put in my place.

I hate getting my meassurements taken. I noticed that they had me face, away from the Curves employee taking my meassurements. I think they do that so you don't see the absolute horror on their faces when they meassure you, especially the waist and hips. Meassurements were taken of my chest, arms, waist, hips, and something that was referred to as a "pooch". This is the area that is directly below the waist, but right above the hips. I told the lady I thought that was considered the hip area and she said no, your hips are lower. My lawd, I can no longer see my hip area due to my "pooch".

Quick veggie recipe:
Saute or grill sliced zucchini in a little olive oil, stir in some stewed tomtoes, and sprinkle a little mozzarella cheese on top.

Take a vidalia onion, peel it, slice it half way down, place a bouillon cube in the center, a bit of water, wrap it in foil, place in oven @ 350 or on the grill for about 20 minutes or so.

Enjoy!!

Hot & Bothered

I weighed this past Tues, scale stayed the same. Ugh! Where is all this water weight you're suppose to lose the first week or 2?! Apparently I'm better at holding water than any dam. Its hard losing weight as many folks can attest to, but when you're a woman of a certain age its almost impossible. They say as women our metabolism starts to slow dramatically in our 30s. It must come to a grinding halt when we hit 40. Men have it made, surprise, surprise. They can cut out a snack and lose 10 lbs. Women, we naturally have more body fat, are held to a MUCH smaller size standard, have to deal with "that time of the month", and when we make it past that time, the old lady hormones kick in. Well, we will see what the scale says next week. You can tell I'm bothered. If you're wondering where the hot part of the title comes from, its 93 degrees, feels like 100 degrees in Charleston, SC. All I want to eat is ice cream. Give a girl a break.

Edy's Slow Churn fat free ice cream is the best. Always go for fat free ice cream. Low or no sugar added ice cream is horrible. :)

Numbers

It was a cross between excitment and fear as I stepped on the scale this morning. Would I see any downward change in the number? After all I had had a few cookies this week and tried a new low cal dessert. I was down 1 lb!!
Only 24 more to go. My goal is to lose at least 1 lb a week until I reach my goal of 160 lbs.

Since I am now a woman of a certain age (love this phrase. Its a nicer way of saying middle aged) I'm more realistic about my numbers, how much I can lose a week, my pant size, my ultimate weight. For many years my goal weight was 125 lbs. Where I got that number I have no idea. I use to strive to be a size 12. Recently a plus size clothing catalog came to the house for me. Right there in HUGE letters it said PLUS SIZES 12 TO 28. When did a size 12 become a PLUS SIZE?!! Last year I was going to the gym 5 days a week for an hour and a half, cardio one day, resistance training the next day. Never saw the numbers change much on the scale, but I lost inches and went down a size in a few months. Still that number on the scale haunted me. I couldn't be happy with the inches lost or my clothes being looser. Then there are those charts. Those charts that tell you if you are this height and this age you should weigh between this and that. At my height and age I should weigh 155 at the max according to the charts. On one diet that I was on a few years ago my goal was 150 lbs. I figured this would give me that all important 5 lb buffer. You know the 5 lbs that you tell yourself you wont go over when you start gaining the weight back. I tried as hard as I had ever tried before to get to that weight, but I never could get past 160 lbs. I felt great at 160, but then the feeling of failure crept in and the weight came back on. We need to pay attention to how we feel rather than what the numbers on the scale tell us.

Short & Sweet

I'm constantly searching for low cal dessert alternatives to satisfy my ginormous sweet tooth. Here's a good one.

Slice of angel food cake topped with Chobani non fat or lo fat Greek yogurt. I use Chobani becasue I like how thick it is. You may prefer another brand. The first time I had this I used the pineapple yogurt. The pineapple is low fat, 2.5 g. This is a great and filling dessert.

For those who like savory try Philadelphia cream cheese, 1/3 less fat, with vegetabls. This is a think spread in a tub located in the grocery store where the regular cream cheese is. Its great for dipping veggies, like carrots and broccoli or to top a baked potato.

Both of these make good mid afternoon snacks. Enjoy!

Soup is Good Food, but only 1 cup

The past 3 days have been pretty good. I'm watching portion sizes, eating veggies, replacing sweets with fruit, and exercising in some way. Its surprising how much unconscious eating throughout the day I do. I'm trying to be more mindful of what I eat and when I eat it. Night time is the right time for havin a snack. At least for me it is. Fruit and fat free Cool Whip have been my best friend the past 3 nights. Now I'm going to be as completely honest on this blog as my pride will allow. I have had 3 VERY small cookies a day. Give me a break, its only been 3 days. I'm a work in progress. Plus, if I have to live a life without chocolate cake, cookies, and pies then shoot me now. I have to learn moderation. Portion control is a big issue for me. First time on Weight Watcher's was about 17 years ago. While walking through the mall one day I discovered the holy grail at the Great American Cookie Company, the FAT FREE CHEESECAKE BROWNIE!! This was it! I had been given the secret to a happy life, key to the city, I knew how to get back to Kansas. Feeling all full of myself and 2 FAT FREE brownies I went to my weekly WW meeting. I had GAINED 2 lbs. Portion control!!! Lesson learned.
Here's a great simple recipe I tried last night. You can certainly substitue ground turkey for the ground beef. I had 1 cup and felt full. Enjoy!!

Taco Soup
1 lb ground beef or turkey
2 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (11 oz) can corn, white or yellow
1 (10 oz) can Rotel tomatoes
1 (14 oz) can kidney beans
1 large onion, diced
1 pack taco seasoning
1 pack ranch dressing mix
1 1/2 cups water
Reduced sour cream (fat free is terrible)
Shredded cheddar cheese, reduced (doesn't melt as well as full on fat cheeese. Is it real cheese?)

Brown meat. Drain beans & corn. Add all ingredients in a pot EXCEPT SOUR CREAM AND CHEESE. Mix well. Simmer for 30 minutes. Serve with baked tortilla chips. Top off a bowl with sour cream and cheese.

Starting Monday....

The best part of any diet is the day before you start it. Its a free for all day when you eat all the foods you wont be able to have EVER!! I love the pre diet day. Its so full of hope, dreams and chocolate. Its a day you spend in a sugar fog or salty haze daydreaming of the day when you wont have to lay down to zip up your jeans and your button down shirt will actually come together in the appropriate places. I have experienced many pre diet days. Some actually followed by a diet. I've been on lots of diets, Weight Watcher's x 2, low fat, low carb, LA Weight Loss, Slim Fast and Nutrisystem. I lost weight on them all. They all work. Since I started dieting as a teenager I have lost 1000 lbs. I eat when I'm bored, happy, sad, stressed, to celebrate, and to console. I love to eat. Being from and living in the South (Charleston SC) most of our activities center around food. My father passed away recently and with the amount of fried chicken that was brought over I could have assembled 20 complete birds.

So here I am 25 lbs away from what I want to be. No this wont garner me a spot on the Biggest Loser, but if I continue how I've been I will be front and center on there having the trainers yelling at me, asking, " how'd you get this way?"

Since I have tried lots of different diets I decided to go it on my own, so to speak. Weight Watcher's is the most sensible of all the diets. I plan on using them as a guideline, along with daily exercise. I'll record my progress here in hopes that sending my info out in cyberspace for strangers to view will keep me on track. I know what I need to do, its the "doing" that is the challenge.

My stats:
Current Weight: 185 lbs
Goal: 160
Height: 5'6

Whew, there they are, THE NUMBERS. I figured I would put the current weight first. Do it quick and move on. Like ripping off a band aide. Before anyone says that for my height the charts say I should be at the max 155 lbs. I weighed 160 once, for a day or so, and I felt great at that weight. I don't care what the chart says, 160 is the goal.

I will update often. Try new products, recipes, exercises, etc. Feel free to leave suggestions on what's worked and not worked for you as we embark on this weight loss journey AGAIN.