Thursday, January 29, 2009

Free Stuff!!!

Is anyone else here jealous that not enough people come to their site/blog to get free stuff sent to them?

Well I am. And I have been seeing boxes and boxes of these new Quaker Delights bars getting sent to every foodie/fit blogger I know. And it makes my mouth water bitterly while looking at their pictures.

But NO MORE! Foodbuzz has a Quaker ad on their site for a FREE SAMPLE of those tasty treats!

Now go on and get yourself some!!

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Stuffed

I never post pictures of my food but I have a snow day today so I'm home tinkering around in the kitchen. I braved the weather (and a huge nasty slushy puddle) to get to the gym. I did a hard, sweaty 30 minutes on the elliptical (squeaky shoes and all) and called it a day.
While I was on the elliptical, I took a moment from reading my US Weekly to do a mental inventory of our kitchen. I'm been craving couscous lately (not sure what's up with that but..) and was considering if I should just eat it plain or attempt to pretend I'm not a complete carb whore. I cam up with a stuffed pepper! We only had one pepper left, so it worked out well.

For the filling I used about 1/4 cup couscous, 1/2 cup black beans, a diced onion, half a diced tomatoe, a cup of spinach (raw), an ounce of mexican cheese, chili powder, garlic, salt, pepper and some hot sauce. I cut the top off the pepper and cleaned it out. Then I stuffed the filling in, covered it with foil and cooked it at 375 for about 45 minutes. For the last 5 minutes, I put some extra cheese in top and broiled it. Here's the result...



















And the inside....





It was DELISH! And HUGE! And Iate almost all of it!

Maybe I'll post more pictures of my food, its kind of fun (when I'm not eating toast and cereal!)

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Biting the Bullet

Here I am again today-as promised! I even sucked it up and got on the scale this morning. I'm still down 12 pounds from where I started. I did get on the scale after my workout this morning (yes, you heard right, I went to the gym this morning too!) and I heard somewhere that you're not supposed to weight yourself after you workout b/c you're always heavier. As I write this, I'm actually wondering if that's true or if I just made it up. I'm going to go google it. Hang on...

Ok, so thats kind of BS. It really doesn't make that much of a difference and our body weight fluctuates throughout the day (including before and after workouts) so I'll just accept it and say I'm down 12 pounds still (which means I've gained back about 8 pounds). But hey, I've kept it off for months and months so that's something right? RIGHT?

And I logged my food yesterday all day, like I promised I would. I've decided that I'm going to just take this one day at a time.

We haven't been grocery shopping in awhile so we've been eating a lot of non-perishable food (and eating out..but hey, it was restaurant week AND I got a new job) and my body is definitely missing the roughage. I felt like my stomach was waging war against me yesterday, shouting "Give me vegetables! I need a banana!" We didn't have much in the way of veggies at home so I gave it a Trader Joe's chicken burrito and some sauteed portabella mushrooms. It wasn't psyched. I'm making up for it today with lunch.

I made us some tasty healthy turkey spinach wraps for lunch (plus a bag of carrots and peppers for me) and insisted that Andrew not forget his apple. (He'd eat 2 bags of microwave rice for lunch everyday if he could..) I actually really enjoy packing lunches for us. Mostly because it gets me out of doing the breakfast dishes, but also because I feel like I'm contributing to our health in a productive way. Plus, it saves money. And who doesn't like saving money?!?

Two and half weeks till my birthday! I'm going to be 25 (again!)

Monday, January 26, 2009

On Accountability

I started this blog to force myself to be accountable. I knew that I would need more than moral support to be successful at this whole health/fitness/weight loss venture that I've been on. So I decided to blog. Maybe if people were reading and keeping up with me, then I would be less inclined to slack off. But part of people reading requires me to actually WRITE, which I haven't.
In fact, I have completely dropped the ball on this. And it shows. I just put my BodyBugg back on after having it off for over 3 days, I haven't logged food in over a week and I have ditched my cardio kick and am back on the 30 Day Shred.
Now, to be fair, I have had a LOT going on in my personal life and at work. I got the job I have been interviewing for (YAY!) and am now rushing to tie up as many loose ends here as I can before Feb. 13th. In addition, poor Mr. Puss has been super sick, which has put a great deal of stress on us at home. And (perhaps as a result) I've been drinking more. Not a lot more, but more than I was before the New Year.

But it's not excuse. I committed to this and have completely bailed on my commitment. For that, I apologize to the 5 of you who actually read this. These next few weeks are going to be a little crazy, but I'm dragging myself back on the wagon anyway. Which also means dragging myself back on the scale (and no, I did not get a new one, and last I checked, this one still hates me).

I think what bothers me the most about all of this is that I started this blog for me first and foremost. I'm reading everyone else's blogs and being supportive of their goals and acheivements and, at the same time, have completely ignored my own.

So, dear readers, I am dusting myself off and starting again. Tomorrow I will post where I'm at weight-wise, but I'd say that I am probably only down about 10 pounds from my starting weight, even though at one point, I was down 20. I am totally disappointed by this, but won't linger on it after I'm done this post.

"and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time"

Friday, January 16, 2009

the WORST blogger ever

Yea, that's me.

Not only have I been slacking on the blogging, I've been slacking on my gym time and food logging too. But to be fair to me, this has been an AWFUL week! Some bizarre stuff went down at work which has resulted in me taking on the work of 2 people (that's not the bizarre part, just the result of said bizarre things).
In addition to that, I had my FOURTH (yes, fourth!) interview for a new job. It is down to me and one other (older) candidate and the Board making the decision is taking a vote this afternoon! (think good thoughts for me today, we desperately need me to get this job). I am sick to my stomach anxious!

Then, on Thursday, my kitty-Mr. Puss got DEATHLY ill and had to be rushed to the Emergency Room at the UNiversity of PA vet hospital. He had a blocked urinary tract and he hadn't peed in 3 days. The doctors said they were surprised he was alive. He's badass like that. BUt he's still really sick and needs to be there for a few more days. Our other cat, Isabel, cried and cried all day yesterday looking for him. So sad. We love you, buddy!! Get well soon!

And to top it all off, every place we wanted to have our wedding ceremony is booked or blocked (and by blocked I mean the road that this one garden is on is comepletely blocked off the ENTIRE day for a regatta). So we may push the wedding back. We need more time, options and (obviously) money.

Suffice it to say, I have worked out a total of ONE times this week. I know, I suck. But I've been so drained emotionally and mentally that all I've wanted to do is sleep. And maybe have a glass of wine or two :-)
In addition, I haven't logged any food since Monday. And now I can't remember back that far.

Andrew called this "an off week" which I think is a total understatement. I promise next week will be different (and hopefully, a lot less eventful)

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

New Developments (or, the reason for my absence)

I admit it. I took a break from blogging for the holidays. And then I just let the break drag on a little longer, and a little longer. It finally got to the point where I had been away so long, I didn't even know what to write. I would sit there with my computer and Andrew would say "why don't you blog a little?" and I'd say "okay." And then watch an old episode of The Hills or catch up on my gossip rags. I have had negative motivation to recount all of the holiday cookies, quarts of wine, and bricks of cheese I have consumed in the past month. So I just won't. That was last year.

I thought about copping out and doing one of those "end of year" reflection surveys, but I have done so much reflection these past few weeks, that I'm pretty much over it. So I'm only looking forward now. And oh boy, do I have some EXCITING things to look forward to!!

First, I didn't gain an obscene amount of weight (just 2 or 3 pounds) and all my jeans still fit, so I'm off to a great start. I need to make actual weight loss more of a priority and less of a hobby. For real.
That means taking Andrew's advice and incorporating weights into my workouts more than once a week, integrating interval training and not being such a cardio whore. (yes, it burns calories quick, but it doesn't KEEP my body burning them throughout the day).
That also means being meticulous about my food logging. No more uncounted handfuls of crackers, bites of cheese and snippets of cookies (I totally just effed this up already and had 3 bites of a HUGE delicious cookie that I have no intention of logging with my breakfast. What? It's Saturday!)

But, perhaps the most important part is that I actually have something awesome to motivate me to lose more weight---looking SUPER HOT in a wedding dress!!
Andrew and I got engaged after New Years! We're planning to get married this year (I mean we already own a house together, so why drag it out?). That means I have some SERIOUS work to do before October! Don't worry, I promise not to make this into a wedding blog.
We've done a lot of celebrating recently so that's another reason, er excuse, for my lack of blogging.

Anyhow, we've got a busy weekend: a community meeting, a kickball game, another celebratory dinner with friends and (at some point) a workout or 2. But I promise to get back to my regularly scheduled blogging.
Happy New Year, everyone!