Need to Get Back on Track

Well, my last post was about how well I did over the holidays.  Somehow over the new year, my weight has gone up.  I have been tracking what I eat, even if it isn't always the best.  I have been keeping up with working out.  This morning the scaled said 138.6.  Not sure why it has gone up so much since after Christmas.  My clothes still fit okay so I shouldn't let it bother me, but it does.

I am trying hard to get back on track.  I stocked my fridge with produce: lettuce, spinach, cabbage, celery, carrots, mushrooms, asparagus, butternut squash, bananas, and kiwi.  For supper tonight I made Baked Asparagus and CousCous.  I made this a few years ago, but don't remember it being as dry as it was tonight.  But at least I have leftover servings and it's low in points. 

I also had an open can of crushed tomatoes in the fridge to use up.  I doctored it up with some Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and Mrs. Dash.  Then I sauteed some mushrooms and mixed in the tomatoes.  It was delicious.

I also went to Zumba tonight and had a great workout.  I found a class here that is like the Zumba classes I was used to before.  Now I need to stay back on track.

Spin Class & Yoga

Yesterday I attended my first ever spin class.  I know so many people that told me they love spin, but it kicked my butt.  I started by telling the instructor I had never done spin before.  She was very nice and helped me adjust the seat and handles of my bike.  She said it would be the most comfortable for riding.  Whenever I sat up straight on the seat I felt too high and like I would tip over.  The seat itself was VERY uncomfortable (and I am feeling it today)!  I consider myself an active, strong person, but when she had us stand and spin, I felt weak.  I could never make it the whole time standing - and it was only in minute intervals.  A few times I tried stopping/slowing down while standing and nearly fell off the bike.  It was not my most dignified workout ever.  I know that I should try it again next week, but I am scared.  It was so hard to make it through the class.

After spin I went to a yoga class.  While not a very strenuous workout, I did get a good stretch and relaxation session in.

After work today, I went to the gym.  I did 3.17 miles in 40 minutes.  I have been going to this gym since September, but I still do not like to treadmills there.  I feel like I could run faster on the treadmills at my old gym.

I took some lean hamburger out of the freezer this morning, unsure of what I was going to do with it.  After looking at lots of recipes, I decided to try a new one:  LaBamba Mexican Casserole.  I made a few changes from the recipe.  It called for ground turkey, but used lean ground beef and added green pepper to the beef while browning it.  I used fat free cheese instead of regular.  I didn't top the finished product with chopped tomato and green onions because I don't keep those on hand.  It didn't turn out as good as the picture looks (they never do). I wish fat free cheese would melt all gooey like regular cheese does.  That would have made it much better! :)  It was good and filling.   

Also--I have gotten my water in the past two days.  Water intake has been tough since moving and starting a new job.  Time to stop using that as an excuse.

A Jillian Michaels DVD Weekend

I have felt like I am struggling the past few weeks.  With Halloween and other events going on at work, there have been more treats and it is so hard to pass up a treat.  I have a bad habit of checking the scale everyday and lately the scale has been up, but my clothes still feel ok. 

Friday afternoon I hit the gym and ran 3.3 miles on the treadmill.  My plan was to hit the gym this weekend too, but Mother Nature had some influence on that.  Saturday morning the roads were pure ice due to rain the night before.  I was psyched to go to the gym, but I decided a DVD would be a better option.  I put this baby in the DVD player:

  

I starts with a warm-up, seven 6 minute circuits, and a cool-down.  Usually when I do this, do 3 or 4 of the circuits.  Today I did all 7!  Even though I hate a couple of them!  I didn't feel very winded like I did when I have done this in the past and I only stopped a few times.  I have very sweaty and very proud of myself when I finished.

Today I decided to do another DVD:

  

 I did level 2 today, as I did level 1 a couple days ago.  I have done this DVD before and level 2 is always more of a challenge than level 1.  It has more plank exercises.  The walking push-ups are a killer and one of the ab moves feels like it puts lots of pressure on my back.  Again, very sweaty when I finished.

Saturday morning I made a pot of zero point soup in the crock pot.  Something I like to do when I feel the need to get back on track. 

Holy Moly!

Holy Moly, have I been busy since I got home from work!  First I put in a load of laundry.  Then whipped up a batch of Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread.  It seems like I always have bananas to use up lately.  This recipe was not exactly low-fat, but I made a few slight adjustments.  I used light margarine instead of butter and used Splenda for part of the sugar in the bread batter.

With laundry going and banana bread in the oven, I then made a batch of quinoa to use for supper.  Then I started cleaning/rearranging my linen closet.  It looks pretty good.  Then I biked to my parents' house to drop off the above mentioned banana bread (saving a few slices for myself).  From there I biked to Zumba.  After Zumba I biked back home and made supper.

Supper was inspired by this recipe I found on Pinterest.  I used a can of corn instead of an ear of corn.  I also added some Mrs. Dash to the veggies as they were cooking.  I think my end product had more vegetables than the one in the recipe, but nothing wrong with that!  I made 2 servings with it, so I have another one for tomorrow.

I'm relaxing now, but do need to do some dishes before I attempt to go to bed early since I did not sleep well last night.

Sensational Sunday!

This has been a great weekend full of friends and fun! Today I went for a run outside.  I love running outside, it has been so hot and humid (80-90 degree temps.).  It was only 72 and overcast, so outside I went.  I ran at least 3.41 miles in 39 minutes.  My GPS quit partway through my run, so I know there was some time in between when the GPS stopped and restarting it.

Had a cookout with some friends for lunch.  Hot dogs, pasta salad (with lots of veggies), fruit, and chips.  I was in charge of bringing the chips.  I brought multi-grain tortilla chips and baked potato chips.  Unfortunately, I had to bring the leftovers home.

My freezer is getting full.  My supper involved using things that I had in the freezer.  I sauteed frozen salad shrimp, frozen corn, frozen green pepper, and fresh onion with some seasoning.  I then used it as the filling for a quesadilla, along with some cheese.  It turned out very good.  I think I'm getting pretty good at making meals using ingrediants that I have on hand.

For dessert, I made some Banana Soft Serve with a couple frozen strawberries and chia seeds.  Yum!  Tomorrow is Monday and it is back to work.  I love having a whole weekend off.

Firecracker 5K

Yesterday was the 4th of July!  Always a great holiday!  I ran in the YMCA's Firecracker 5K and finished with my best time ever!  32 minutes and 42 seconds!  I shaved 10 seconds off my fastest time!  I'll take it!  The weather report said that it was 77 degrees before the race started, but it was cloudy.  It ended up sprinkling a few minutes during the race, which felt great!  A friend of mine also ran.  It was her first race and she did awesome.  She finished 2 seconds ahead of me.  Great job, Tianna!  I'm so proud of you!

Unfortunately, the 4th of July also included hot dogs and potato chips with dip.  Ate too much, but I'm trying not to let it get me down and am moving forward.  For supper tonight I had sauteed zucchini ribbons with spaghetti sauce (similar to this) and chicken breast grilled on the George Foreman.  It was amazing, if I do say so myself!

The Smoothie Experiment

I made a smoothie tonight--without following a recipe.  I love the website greenlitebites.com.  I have tried and enjoyed several of the recipes.  One thing that Roni makes often is smoothies, but I never seem to have the ingrediants that she uses on hand.  Last year she posted an "elastic" approach to making smoothies.  Basically it is a way to make a smoothie using what you have on hand.  I have wanted to try this for awhile and finally did it tonight.  This is what I did:

• 1 banana--starting to ripen--put in freezer for a few hours
• 4 whole frozen strawberries
• 1 packet of Splenda

Put ingrediants into fake Magic Bullet.  Add skim milk about 2/3 full and blend.

That was it!  It could have been a bit sweeter, but it was pretty good.  I will definitely try my own smoothies again!

Zumba & Ratatouille

Monday is Zumba night!  I love Zumba, it is always a great workout!  Before leaving I got everything ready to make the Ratatouille Pack so all I had to do was put it in the oven when I got home.  The recipe says it makes one serving, but it is huge!  I wish I had taken a picture to share.  I have made this before and I usually divide it into 2 or 3 servings.  Tonight I decided to combine it with this:

One serving is 9 pieces and only 3 points!  Pasta and veggies with a touch of sauce!  One serving of ravioli and about half of the ratatouille.  Delicious!  I keep impressing myself with my ability to make healthy, delicious dishes!



Busy Weekend

I have been busy this past week trying to get my 12 visits to the gym in for this month.  I have had to go every day for the past 10 days.  Don't get me wrong, I've still been working out, just doing things other than the gym.  Yesterday I worked my parttime job from 8-5.  When I got done, I was tired from standing on my feet all day and my back hurt, but I made myself go to the gym.  I did the 30 minutes workout express.  This morning I did 4.13 miles in 50 minutes.  I now have my 12 visits done!  I need to be better about spreading them out more next month.

I had a nice healthy supper tonight.  I bought this Creamy Portobello Soup last week and decided to try it tonight.  I then took a portobello mushroom cap, chopped it up, sauteed it in a little olive oil, and then added it to the soup.  Very good.  It kind of reminded me of cream of mushroom soup we would have growing up.

The soup was followed up by this:

It was a small piece of fish, but very good.  Only 80 calories and the garlic butter flavor was not overwhelming.  I also had green beans with it.  I think I may have a Skinny Cow ice cream cup before I get ready for bed.

Tomorrow starts a new week.  Weekends always go by too fast!

A Few of My Favorite Things

I have been really trying to eat healthy.  I very rarely eat fast food.  I enjoy trying new healthy recipes that I find on the Internet.  Unfortunately, since I live alone I end up eating the same thing for several days.  When I make something, I portion it out into servings right away.  That way I can keep track of just how much I am eating. 

I have a few things in my kitchen that I absolutely love.

**Digital Food Scale--I have had spring loaded scales, but I absolutely love this digital scale.  It is so accurate.  It also has a tare feature that allows you to put a container on the scale and then zero the scale out.

**Vegetable Peeler--This Pampered Chef vegetable peeler is the best I have ever had. 

**Mandolin Slicer--This is just a cheap slicer from Target, but it gets the job done for me.  I've used it to slice zucchini, onion, sweet potatoes.



**George Foreman Grill--great for cooking chicken, fish, quesedillas, etc.

**Crockpot--great for putting supper in before leaving for work!





Weekend over....

Another week and weekend has come and gone.  Back to work tomorrow.  It has been a pretty laid back weekend, due to the fact I had a headache for most of it.  I hate not feeling good on the weekend.  This past few days I have been trying to give my left foot a break.  After running on the treadmill Wednesday and Thursday, my left foot was hurting around the ankle so I figured I would give it a break.  I still went to the gym, but I stuck with the exercise bikes and arc trainer.  I also did the 30 minute workout express which includes cardio and weights.

Yesterday I made a favorite recipe "Zucchini and Spaghetti Squash Lasagna."  I had a package of sliced white mushrooms in the fridge so I added a layer of mushrooms to the lasagna.  I was worried that it would add excess water, but it turned out delicious.  I had all the ingrediants laid out on the counter of my small kitchen and while I had my back turned assembling the lasagna my cat knocked the mozzarella cheese to the floor.  He was happy!  I didn't have any more mozzarella so I had to use a Mexican blend for part of it.  Still good though!

This past week I found a large package of chopped kale at the local Wal-Mart.  Earlier in the week I experimented with kale chips.  They turned out ok, but I used too much salt.  So I still have a ton of kale in the fridge.  Tonight I cooked a turkey burger on the George Foreman.  While it was cooking I sauteed some onion, green pepper, mushrooms, garlic, and kale with balmasic vinegar.  I put it on top of the turkey burger with some Laughing Cow light swiss cheese on a sandwich thin bun.  It wasn't too bad.  It just needed something to hold it together a little better.

Tomorrow is a new week and hopefully it will be a good week, healthy week. 

Shamrock Shuffle 5K

Today started off by having brunch the family to celebrate my parents 40th wedding anniversary!  Happy Anniversary and I hope you have many more years together.  We went to a brunch buffet where I made some good choices and some bad choices.

Here is a picture of my mom and dad at my cousin's wedding a little over a year ago.

This afternoon I ran my first 5K of the year, the Shamrock Shuffle.  An unseasonably nice day in the 70+ degrees, but windy.  My time was 38 minutes, 1 second.  A little slow, but we were going against the wind for the last half of the race.  And if I think of the fact that I had never done a 5K until last August that's pretty good!  The race fee went toward the Amachi Lunch Buddy program.  It is a mentorship program similar to Big Brother/Big Sister and the fees will help pay for mentor to have school lunch with the mentee.

The rest of my evening included laundry and roasting a Kabocha squash that has been sitting on my counter for awhile.  Now I'm watching a little TV before bed and starting a new week.  Monday always comes too fast!!!

My Week!

Thank God it is Friday!  It has been a very long week.  Not sure what the weekend will bring.  It's been a busy week.  Monday night was Zumba.  Tuesday was Pilates and boy did my abs hurt the next day.  Wednesday I did 4.07 miles on the treadmill in 50 minutes.  Thursday was Zumba.  And today after work I went to the gym.  I did the 30 minutes workout express which involves weight machines and cardio step exercises.  Then I did 10 minutes on the ArcTrainer.

Monday night I made a pot of Mmm-Mmm Minestrone and have been eating it all week.  Tuesday I made Rainbow Turk-A-Roni and finished it up tonight.  Other than chopping up a lot of vegetables it was very good.  I eneded up using 2 cans of tomato sauce and a can of mushrooms.  Lots of veggies and very filling!  Yesterday I bought alot of produce and hope I can use it up before it goes bad.

NSV:  Stopped at the bank yesterday a totally walked right by the free cookies and candy dish!

Super Sunday

Ah Sunday!  The day I get to sleep in.  When I woke up, I laid in bed for awhile with a cuddly kitty (and he is never cuddly)!  Got up and made myself a healthy breakfast--Egg Mug Lorraine.  The only difference in mine was that I didn't have Dijonaise, so I made it without.  I also topped it with salsa.

Then I made a trip to the gym.  I did 4.08 miles on the treadmill in 50 minutes.  I was impressed with myself!

Before goin to the gym, I put some food in the crockpot.  I made Cheeseburger Mac Attack.  The recipe says 3-4 hours on high, but three hours was too long in my crockpot.  The macaroni was kind of mushy.  It also says it makes 8-1cup servings.  I only got 5-1 cup servings.  I also made an order of Simply Roasted Brussels Sprouts.  I had bought the Brussels Sprouts awhile back and had to use them up.  I have made this recipe several times before.  I never ate Brussels Sprouts as a kid and now I love them!

Throw in a trip to Menard's and Target to get some things on my shopping list and that was my Sunday.  Now I just finished a Skinny Cow chocolate brownie ice cream cup and am watching the season premiere of "Army Wives."  It's a tear jerker.   Tomorrow starts a new week.

Hump Day/Leap Day

Today was Hump Day and Leap Day.  I planned ahead and brought a change of clothes so I could go right to the gym after work.  As I day went on, I didn't want to go.  I just wanted to go home and take a nap.  I was so tired, I had a headache and I was just feeling blah.  But I knew I had to go because it was the last day of the month to get my required number of gym visits in for my insurance to pay my gym membership.  I went.  I did it.  I fast walked for 32 minutes on the treadmill.  I did a couple of running bursts.  Like I said, I really wasn't feeling it today, but I did it and I felt better after I did.

I tried a new recipe for supper tonight.  Creamy black beans and tomatoes.  I served it with couscous.  Good recipe.  Quick and easy.  I will definitely make it again.  I also did three loads of laundry tonight.  Now I'm going to finish watching last night's "The Biggest Loser" and go to bed early.