Weigh In Wednesday.

I am slipping again.  I hate that I have to be SO careful all the time.  I have not lost anything in two weeks, in fact, I have gained.

Ok, not totally true.  The Tape Measure of Truth reports that another 1/2 inch is gone from my waistline.  I will have to be happy with that.

This new mini challenge is really helping me.  I always do so much better when I journal my food.

Last Week's Weight:  158.0
This Week's Weight:   158.6

Loss:                            +0.6

Tomorrow is Canada Day.  I will not use it as an excuse to eat.  Girl Guide's Honour.  I will use it as an excuse to go to our local celebrations and walk, walk, walk.  I will use it as an excuse to go for an early run since Hubs will have the day off so he can make sure the kids don't burn the house down while I am gone.

Food Journal, Day 2

Food Item	Servings	Cals	Fat	Cholest	Sodium	Carbs	Sugars	Fiber	Protein
Quaker Raw (uncooked) Oatmeal	1.00	150	3g	0mg	0mg	27g	1g	4g	5g
Dole Frozen Blueberries	0.50	35	1g	0mg	0mg	9g	6g	2g	0g
President's Choice PC Soy Protein Shake Mix - Vanilla	0.50	69	1g	0mg	96mg	9g	7g	0g	0g
Publix Brown Sugar	1.00	35	0g	0mg	5mg	9g	0g	0g	0g
Milk 2%	1.00	130	3g	20mg	120mg	12g	12g	0g	9g
Black Coffee	2.00	10	0g	0mg	8mg	2g	0g	0g	0g
Hungry Girl Hg's Too-ez Mac 'n Cheese	1.00	202	5g	0mg	825mg	36g	6g	5g	9g
Cadbury Triple Chocolate Snack Cakes	1.00	140	7g	5mg	45mg	17g	13g	1g	1g
Culinary Circle Soft & Chewy Chocolate Brownie Cookies	2.00	260	12g	10mg	240mg	36g	22g	2g	2g
Schlotzky's Pizzas (8-inch) - Barbeque Chicken	1.00	683	15g	73mg	2,533mg	93g	19g	2g	37g
Fitness	Minutes	Calories Burned
Walking, pushing a stroller	10.0	-54.0
Cleaning - vacuuming, around home	30.0	-129.0
Totals:		1,531	46g	108mg	3,872mg	249g	86g	16g	63g

Food Journal, day 1

Here is a glimpse of my food journal from The Daily Plate.  Fuzzy Peach is a delicious and filling protein shake from one of my favourite cookbooks. Stay tuned for the recipe for Frittata Italiano.  I just made it up tonight and plugged it into The Daily Plate's recipe calculator.

I am just keepin' it real!

ood Item	Servings	Cals	Fat	Cholest	Sodium	Carbs	Sugars	Fiber	Protein
Eat, Shrink & Be Merry Fuzzy Peach	1.00	219	1g	6mg	106mg	34g	0g	3g	19g
Pork Baby Back Ribs	2.00	468	36g	160mg	660mg	0g	0g	0g	36g
Simple Tossed Salad	2.00	48	0g	0mg	61mg	10g	3g	4g	3g
President's Choice Sun-dried Tomato & Bacon Dressing	3.00	120	11g	0mg	420mg	6g	3g	0g	1g
Fuji Apple, Small	1.00	80	0g	0mg	0mg	22g	17g	5g	0g
Laughing Cow Light Cheese Wedges	1.00	35	2g	10mg	260mg	1g	1g	0g	3g
Frittata Italiano	1.50	531	36g	487mg	1,296mg	24g	4g	3g	25g
No Name Frozen Peas And Carrots	1.00	50	0g	0mg	65mg	10g	4g	4g	3g
Old Dutch Popcorn Twists	0.25	75	5g	0mg	80mg	6g	0g	0g	1g
Fitness	Minutes	Calories Burned
Running: 5.2 mph (11.5 min/mile)	45.0	-658.0
Totals:		968	91g	663mg	2,948mg	114g	32g	19g	90g

Confession Time

Ok...so, I don't usually post under Confessions, but I need a kick in the pants. 

Here goes.....

•  Emmett had another birthday party this week.
• I ran on the day of the party, but I sure didn't run enough to burn these off:
•  

• No cupcake is complete without Sprinkle Party Cake Ice Cream
• Just Sayin'
• You also can't let the leftovers of said ice cream go to waste.
• Evening snacking is creeping back up on me.

The scale shows a bit of an increase this week, so I am going to put on my big girl panties and stop the snacking.  Soccer is done, and hubs bought me a shiny new treadmill last week so I have no excuse to skip workouts now. (Credit also has to go to our friend, the runner and Department Store Manager who scored us the deal of the century on a machine we probably couldn't afford otherwise)

Oh, and since we have evening respite care once a week and he has a gym pass we might start having gym dates when there is nothing good at the movie theatre.    This will be much better for me than our usual Buffalo Wing binges on non-movie date nights.   How supportive is this guy?????

See you at weigh-in tomorrow!

Weigh In Wednesday

This past week had lots of challenges thrown at me.  Two birthday parties.  Biweekly soccer practice that happens at the same time I like to run. 

I still lost (a bit)!

I am getting it!  Yes, I was faced with many treats at the birthday parties, but I drank my water and watched my portions.  I ate a little less the rest of the day.  I am working SO hard on night time snacking.

This week I have one birthday party, one soccer windup party, one school picnic and one block party.  I am going to bring a healthy broccoli slaw to the block party so I have a "safe" food to chow down on.  I am bringing my own lunch to the school picnic so that will be easy.  Soccer windup and the birthday party are going to be tough, but this is life, right?  You can't make excuses. 

Here are my numbers:

Starting Weight:                 161.0
Last Week's Weight:          158.6
This Week's Weight:          158.0
Loss:                                    -0.6
Total Loss:                             3.0

Not too shabby.  

Can I have a Beer and Clam at the block party??  (Do my American readers know what that is???)

Weigh In Wednesday

It's Wednesday again.

I didn't have high hopes for this week.  I packed up the kids and visited my parents for a few days.  I find it really hard to eat well at my mom's--she doesn't keep a lot of healthy food around.  The four-hour drive to get there is also a big danger zone for me as well.

I planned ahead for the drive and only packed healthy snacks for the kids and me.  Sun chips, water, apple slices, fruit bars and emergency lollipops for the final leg of the journey kept us from stopping at drive-throughs on the way up.
On the way back home I needed a coffee very badly so we stopped at a donut shop.  I did NOT buy a donut for myself and just stuck to my coffee with milk only.  Victory!

Since it was so hard for me to eat my usual food at Mom's house I paid much more attention to portion control instead.

I went on a 7K run with a friend early one morning.

How did this translate in the numbers?  Let's see!

Last Week's Weight:  158.8
This Week's Weight:  158.6
Net Loss:                      - 0.2
Overall Loss:                  2.4

Not great, but given my road trip and disruption in my routine, I am really glad I didn't gain.

Weigh In Wednesday

Today is the first Weigh In of the Shrinking Days of Summer.

I worked really hard this week.  Drank my water, ate 2 and a half heads of lettuce over the course of the week for lunch, and stayed away from evening snacking (that was a hard one!)  Last night Hubs and I went out for dinner and I ordered off of the "Healthy Choices" menu and only ate half of my serving.  Another night we took the kids for ice cream and I ate half of my small sundae.

Oh yeah.  I ran  a bit too.

It paid off:

Last Week's Weight:  161
This Week's Weight:   158.8
Loss:                             2.2

Percent lost:                 1.37%

I am not going to celebrate yet.  I have yet to maintain any sort of loss for more than a week or two.  I won't feel like I have broken my plateau until I hit 155, but I will happily take this loss and run with it!

I did it!!!

I did it!  I ran my first race today.  What a rush!  I didn't even come close to winning any medals (actually, my coach and her family swept the podium very nicely of them) but I met the goals I set out for myself:

• I ran the whole way without stopping.
• I didn't come in last.
• I ran the race in under 40 minutes.

Crossing the finish line with friends, family, and strangers cheering is SUCH a rush.  I also felt very badass running in the middle of busy intersections with police stopping traffic for me.  I just had so much fun and I am so glad I decided to do this.

I posted a time of 37:16, which I am going to be proud of considering I only started training 10 weeks ago.

Hopefully next year hubs won't be too busy keeping three kids under control to take a picture of me crossing the finish line for the 10K.

All right!  All right!  I'll come back!

I sat out the last Sisterhood challenge.  My brain just wasn't in the game.

I am back.

I have run a clothing size off of my bum and an inch of my waist, yet my scale is not moving.  I know I am eating up all of the calories I am running off.

I am back in the program.  I am going to strive to lose 10 lbs during this challenge.

My starting weight is:

161 lbs.

I have made regular exercise a habit, but now my eating is not on track.  When I have my eating on track, my exercise goals go away.

I need to get this to come together!

I am a runner.

I have two weeks until I run my first 5K.  I have been running 3-4 days a week using sort of couch-to-5K plan a friend has shown me.  I am up to 14 minutes of running with a 1 minute walk times two reps.  I can run 14 minutes without stopping!  And then do it again!   This is amazing to me.  I have dropped a couple of pounds, and an entire clothing size on my bottom half.  I actually look forward to my runs.  I am thinking of training for a 10K next year.

I never thought I would think of myself as a runner.  I am neither fast nor graceful, but I am doing it.

That counts for something, right?

I'm still here!

I'm still here!

I am trying really hard to care about what I am eating.  My weight is stuck at 161 right now.

The upside?  I have been training for a 5K these past few weeks.  I am running!  Yesterday I hit the point in my training schedule that I am running more than I am walking and it feels good!  It feels so good!

I am exercising almost every day and I feel like I am tightening up.  I feel like my energy is increasing.  I look forward to my runs.

I am at the point in my training where my body wants healthy things now.  My appetite is shrinking and I can stop eating when I am full, instead of stuffing myself because something tastes good.

Those running endorphins are powerful things!!

Weigh In Wednesday

Is it Wednesday already??

Not much to report. I slacked off on exercise this week because my knees were absolutely killing me. My winter boots have very poor traction, so bracing myself on icy sidewalks whenever I stepped out really hurt. I finally smartened up and bought new boots so now I can walk without slipping now. I can pick up with the workouts again.

so, long story short, I didn't lose this week. BUT, that means I didn't gain either.

Last Week's Weight: 160.2
This Week's Weight: 160.2
Net Loss: 0

Hopefully next week I can break into the 150s.

My Favourite Pizza Dough

I lost the page to the cookbook this recipe came from, I used it so much. A kind friend recited the recipe over the phone to me. Since I KNOW I will lose that scrap of paper, I thought I should put it in a place it won't get lost.

1 cup warm water
1 tbs honey
1-1/2 tbs olive oil
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1 pkg yeast
italian herb mix, if desired

2 tbs cornmeal for sprinkling on pans

Place ingredients in bread maker. Set to DOUGH, medium-large loaf.

Makes two 12-inch pizzas, one sheet pan, or a bunch of breadsticks.

Multigrain bread

I got this recipe from a friend. I am going to try it out this morning!

MULTIGRAIN BREAD (LARGE 1.5 lb LOAF (I have an old breadmaker)
1 cup + 2 tbsp (300 ml) water
1 and 1/2 tbsp (25 ml) butter
3 tbsp (45 ml) liquid honey
1 and 1/2 cups (375 ml) All purpose flour
1 and 1/2 cups (375 ml) Whole Wheat flour
3/4 cup (175 ml) Red River cereal
1 and 1/2 tsp (7 ml) salt
2 tsp (10 ml) quick rise yeast
I really like the crunchy texture of the Red river in it & love this bread buttered right out of the bread maker!

Weigh in Thursday?

Ok. I tried to run. I tried to hide. My conscience got the better of me.

I yoyoed this week

I am up two again.

I also know I am PMSy (my BC has stopped my periods, so it is unclear when it really happens, but I have been such a carb-craving GRUMP this week it can only mean one thing)

The kids and I are sick so my workouts have slacked off.

Next week is a new week, right??

I Rock!

Monday's homework at The Sisterhood was to come up with five reasons we rock.

I love this homework. If you are anything like me, you could list off what you think are personal shortcomings all day long without a second thought. This was really challenging to me, but important to help me keep going.

Can you come up with five truly awesome things about yourself?

1. I gave birth to a 9 lb 2 oz baby boy. At home. No drugs. Just me and my midwives.
2. In my previous profession as a nurse I saved lives. For real. Like, I helped keep people from actually dying. Conversely, if it was their time, I helped them do it in the most dignified and painless way possible.
3. I am a fantastic cook, and now I am learning how to be a fantastic cook without a lot of butter and sugar to help things along.
4. I am a stay at home mom to three kids age six and under. I think I deserve a superhero cape for that one.
5. I am here. Working to become healthy and fit. Again. I thought I was ok with how I was, but I know I was just trying to kid myself. So, I came back.

Weigh In Wednesday

It's Wednesday. That can only mean one thing.

I got out of bed, looked that scale in the eye, and then they fell out of my head.

Here are my stats:
Weight Last Week: 162.8
Today's weight: 160.4
Net Loss: 2.4


Dudes!!! Over two pounds lost this week!!!!! All of your kind words and encouragement really helped me stay on track this week!

Yay!!! It's working!!!

Menu Plan Monday

Yes, I realize it's Sunday. I am out of eggs and milk. I need to go to the store. So, I made my menu plan today.

I get emails every week from Kraft Canada. I decided to try a couple of new recipes they sent me, and before I knew it, I was poking around their site and the rest of my menu ended up being from that site as well.

Sunday: Barbeque Beef Biscuits

Monday: Cheesy Manicotti (I plan on adding the extra 1/2 pound ground beef left over from Sunday's dinner to Monday's sauce so my carnivore husband's tummy will feel full)

Thursday: Slow-cooked chicken curry with rice

Wild cards:

Tuscan roasted Vegetables with Pork Tenderloin

Chicken Taco foil packets

Crispy herb fish with parmesan potatoes

Pancake Makeover

Pancakes are usually wasted calories. Yes, they are light and fluffy, but they are definitely not filling and I sure don't feel satisfied after eating them.

These pancakes WILL leave you feeling satisfied. They are hearty and filling and have a hefty 8 grams of protein per serving. That is twice as much as a pancake made from a regular mix. These pancakes also have all of the goodness of whole grains in them to give you lots of energy.

Just make sure to read ALL of the directions as the batter needs to sit around 40 minutes before you make the pancakes. Step 1 can even be done the night before so you are ready to roll in the morning.

I am not sure if there is an American equivalent to the main ingredient, Red River Cereal (man, you Americans have crummy Smarties, Kinder Eggs are banned and there is no Red River Cereal...how do you live??) Here is a place you can order it. Amazon has it too.

Anyhoo, without further ado, here is a really yummy recipe for pancakes in a way you probably haven't had them before

Hearty Red River and Oats Pancakes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Original Red River Cereal
• 1 1/4 cup Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
• 2 cups 1 % milk
• 1 cup All-purpose flour
  
• 2 tbsp sugar
  
• 2 tbsp baking powder
  
• 3/4 tsp salt
  
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup Vegetable oil
  

Directions

1. Combine Red River cereal with 3/4 cup BOILING WATER and let stand 30 minutes
2. Add oats and milk, let stand 10 minutes, until milk is absorbed
3. Combine dry ingredients in a separate mixing bowl
4. Add eggs and oil to cereal mixture. Mix well, and add to flour mixture, beating until smooth.
5. Spoon batter by 1/4cupfuls onto preheated lightly greased griddle or frying pan. Cook until bubbles break on surface and underside is golden. Turn and cook other side until golden. Serve hot with butter and syrup or honey.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 2 pancakes

Calories 229

Calories from Fat 85

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 9.3g 14%

Saturated Fat 1.9g 9%

Cholesterol 74.8mg 24%

Sodium 25%

Total Carbohydrate 27.1g 9%

Dietary Fiber 2.2g 8%

Sugars 3.6g

Protein 8.5g 17%

Fat: 37%
Carbs: 47%
Protein: 14%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs.

Weigh In Wednesday

Weigh in Wednesday....WTF edition.

Last week's weight: 162.8
This week's weight: 162.8
Loss: ZERO

I exercised every day, I drank so much water I had to get up twice each night to pee. I started journalling my food again.

So, I was hoping for at least a half pound loss.

I got nothing.

??????

Ok. Time to focus on the positives. Exercise is making me feel good. I am losing my appetite for sweets (again)

I am just very disappointed in myself right now.