Just between you and me

ME:  I promised a Wednesday Weigh-In, so here I am.  158.8 lbs

YOU:  You're down, good for you!  What did you do the past week? 

ME:  I tracked all my Weight Watchers points and stayed WITHIN my points by eating lots of veggies, fruit, and lean protein.

YOU:  So, let me get this straight...  Eat well, lose weight.  Eat poorly, gain weight. *your eyebrow slightly raises*

ME:  *blush* Huh. Who knew?

Plateau

I know... I have been a bad, bad blogger.

Life has kicked into high gear, and my weight certainly reflects it.

I haven't reported my weigh-ins on here in over a month, but I have faithfully stepped on the scale every Wednesday.  I have hit a bit of a plateau.  Although it isn't a typical plateau where I'm doing everything right and the scale isn't budging.  It's a plateau of not doing all the things I know I'm supposed to do.

Here are the numbers from over the past month:

May 15 - 162.2
May 22 - 158.6
May 29 - 160.2
June 5 - 162.6

Here are some of the excuses events that contributed to the rollercoaster:
- house hunting in our new city = dinner out every night for 5 nights
- preparing the sale of one of our current houses (painting, cleaning, etc.) = quick, not-always-healthy dinners on the go
- surprise birthday party for my father-in-law at our house = leftovers from party for days afterward
- evening seminars twice a week with snack food tables to pick at
- a general lack of exercise

This week I have re-committed myself to following Weight Watchers and tracking everything.  I have also started half-marathon training because, damn it, why not?

See you again on Wednesday - I promise!

general ramblings :)

I've managed to undo the damage from last week and weighed in today at 160.8.  My goodness, I can't wait to break through into the 150s!

I have to admit I've been feeling kind of "blah" over the past week.  Although I am finding ways to stay active, I haven't had a solid exercise routine since finishing Body Revolution a few weeks ago.  Perhaps that is throwing me off.  I continue to run 2-3 times a week, but I'm having a hard time with that as well.  I make sure my blood sugar is on the higher side before I begin (I usually need to start in the 10.0 to 12.0 mmol/L range), and even drink a 1/2 glass of juice before starting as well, but I always seem to return home with a low blood sugar which means even more juice and calories (not to mention having that drunken-like feeling as I stumble up my road to get home).

I do know that my stress level has been gradually elevating with thinking about all the things we need to do to prepare for our big move.  Mr. McMuffintop still hasn't received the official "green light" from his physical (although he is overweight and his cholesterol was elevated, the person who did the physical said it shouldn't prevent him from getting hired; the hold up is simply that the company's doctor hasn't had a chance to review and approve the physical yet).

So until he gets that green light, everything we need to do to prepare is on hold.  We have been searching MLS for house listings, but we really need to get out there and look for ourselves.  We can't decide whether to buy a house or a condo.  We want to adopt a child/children so a house would be better, but if for some reason it doesn't happen then a smaller condo would suit us just fine.  Gah, I wish I could see the future!

Ok, back to positive thoughts. :)

This weekend I am hosting a Mother's-Day-slash-birthday dinner for my family, so I plan to prepare as much of the food in advance as possible so that I can enjoy the day rather than be running around in a frenzy.  I already made some cupcakes last weekend and immediately put them in the freezer so that they would be out-of-sight, out-of-mind.  McMuffintop 1, delicious food 0!

Mr. McMuffintop joins the party?

Although Mr. McMuffintop has essentially been offered a new position with a new company, in order to officially be hired he has to pass a background check and physical.

For the most part, Mr. M is healthy and in decent shape.  Even at my heaviest weight of 208 lbs. he could easily pick me up (now he can pick me up and flip me upside down).  However he has a little belly and has known for a while that he should lose a few pounds.  He was pretty upset a couple of years ago when his pant size went from 34 to 36, but as time passed he became used to the new size and hasn't thought much more of it.

Well after having his physical yesterday, he now realizes that he needs to jump onto the weight-loss train with me.  At 5'9" his weight is just under 230 lbs.  That puts him at a BMI of almost 34.  He was pretty shocked to learn that it means he is obese. 

I've known that he was considered obese, and gently mentioned it when I first started my weight loss journey in January because I thought he should try to lose some weight too, but at the time I don't think he really wanted to do the necessary work (a mindset I've been in many times myself).  I didn't pester him about it because, as I know by experience, it's something that one has to decide to want to do for one's self.

But I am hoping that hearing the words from a doctor he is serious about wanting to lose weight with me now.  Mostly for his own health and well being, but also selfishly because it has been a real struggle every time he comes home from work to manage my own attempt at weight loss.  I know that the food I put in my mouth is my choice, but it's really difficult to choose not to eat bad things when they are constantly in front of me for two weeks at a time.

We have tried to lose weight together before and at the time it made me miserable.  You know, the whole "guys-tend-to-lose-weight-faster-than-women" thing.  But this time I have a good head start, so I feel positive about doing it together again.  In fact, I welcome it because it will help keep me on the right path.

Anyone else trying to lose weight with their significant other?  I'd love to hear tips on how you manage to do it together or issues that cause conflict.

Binge Eating

I missed reporting last week on Weigh-In Wednesday.  The scale read 161.8 lbs. (a loss of one pound from the previous week)

Today: 164.6 lbs.  *insert big sad face here*

It's totally all my own fault, and I'm sure at least one pound can be attributed to sodium intake and lack of water.  But I have been on a self-sabotaging binge streak for the past 5 days.  The following contributed to this gain:

- french fries & hamburgers
- fried fish
- beer, lots of beer
- ice cream
- pancakes & maple syrup
- potato chips
- left-over Easter chocolate

As I look back on these foods, I feel gross just seeing it written out. 

It started on Friday when I caved in to Mr. McMuffintop's suggestion of having burgers (and beer) for dinner.  We had spent the entire day cleaning our house from top to bottom to eliminate all the accumulated drywall dust from renovations.  I felt I "deserved" a treat knowing how many calories I'd burned throughout the day and didn't feel the least bit guilty indulging that evening.

But after our dinner and 3 beers later, I remembered that we were going to a pancake breakfast the next morning, something that had been planned for weeks.  "That's ok," I thought.  "This evening's dinner was a little bump in the road, and I already knew about the pancakes so I don't need to feel guilty about that either.  Once tomorrow morning is over I can get back on track."

So I ate pancakes.  A big stack.  With delicious, fresh maple syrup.  And breakfast sausages.  Oh my.

And then we went fishing and caught so much fish we had to give some away.  Saturday night we had the fish for dinner.  Fish is healthy, right?  Not so much when you batter and fry it.  And drink more beer with it.

The maple syrup on Saturday morning triggered my sweet tooth and on Sunday I found myself searching the house for anything to satisfy it, which led me to polishing off some Easter chocolate that had been stashed in the freezer.  Apparently it wasn't enough because when I was at the grocery store later that day to pick up vegetables to make a healthy salad, I found myself leaving the store with a tub of vanilla ice cream.

After eating vanilla ice cream for dessert that night, I felt like I needed to balance the sweetness with something salty, which is when potato chips entered the picture.

But all this binge-eating didn't stop on Sunday night.  I figured I'd blown the week already, and Wednesdays are the first day of my weigh-in weeks, so I continued the madness on Monday and Tuesday.

I feel bloated and actually have a bit of a headache this morning (first headache I've had in months).  I didn't sleep well last night.  All proof of how toxic sugary and fatty foods are.

So today I'm picking myself up, dusting myself off, and getting back on plan. 

Next goal: kick the 160s to the curb. 

So close!

My height is 5' 1¾" (I knew I was a little under 5'2", but I measured a few days ago to know for sure).

The BMI formula is: BMI = [weight in lbs./(height in inches)²] x 703

This means that for me to move out of "obese" status and into "overweight", my weight needs to be 162.7 lbs. or under.

My weigh-in this morning?  162.8 lbs.

So close! (Fingers crossed for next week!)

p.s. The LilySlim tracker on the right only considers height to the nearest whole inch (62 inches) which is why the slider shows a BMI of 29.8, but my actual BMI at 61¾" is 30.0.

A few recipe reviews from JM "Fat Burning Meal Plan"

Over the past few days I've been making good use of Jillian Michaels' Fat Burning Meal Plan recipe book that came with the Body Revolution workout (I know, I talk about her plan a lot.  I'm beginning to feel like I'm advertising for her, but I swear - I am receiving NO MONEY to talk about it!).  I originally didn't bother with these recipes when I was doing Body Revolution because on first glance, like, whoa.  Each recipe seems to have so many ingredients, and ingredients I'd either never heard of or thought there was no way my local grocery store in my teeny town of less than 1,000 people would even carry those things.

Did you know:

• scallions = green onion?  (apparently it is simply U.S. vs. Canada lingo)
• capers are not found in the produce section but in the pickles/olives section?
• tamari ≠ tahini (oops)

Small lessons, but all in the goal of becoming a better, healthier cook.

Anyway, it turns out that all the recipes I've tried so far were actually fairly simple to put together.  They did take time (lots of prep and chopping), but the results so far have been, for the most part, very tasty and satisfying.  I have followed the meal plan for the past 5 days and have had no urge to eat anything other than what is on the plan.

The meal plan includes breakfast, lunch, an afternoon snack, and dinner.  The calorie and rough Weight Watchers points breakdown looks something like this:

• Breakfast:  250 calories (6 to 7 WW points)
• Lunch:  400 calories (10 to 12 WW points)
• Snack: 150 calories (4 WW points)
• Dinner:  400 calories (10 to 12 WW points)

For a total of 1,200 calories per day and an average of 28-30 WW points.

In regard to the WW points (for those who are familiar with WW), it should be noted that I have entered all the recipes into the Recipe Builder, so all the fruit and vegetables in the recipes are counted points-wise.

Here are my thoughts on the recipes I've tried so far, especially for anyone who has the meal plan book and hasn't tried them out yet.  And because I'm too lazy to type them all out myself, throughout I will provide links to the recipes other people have already typed out for anyone else who wants to try them (thanks random people who already did the work!).

BREAKFAST

First of all, I already mentioned that I baked all 3 of the different breakfast muffins from the book the other day (Banana Blueberry, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip, and Pumpkin Cranberry).  The pumpkin-cranberry muffin is my favourite one BY FAR!  It is perfectly moist and has a great flavour.  I love, love, love this muffin.  The other two were simply "meh".  I found them both quite dry, so if I make them again I will maybe add some apple sauce or something to the recipes to try to moisten them up a bit.

I also tried the Steel-Cut Oats with Apples and Pecans.  So, so good!  I've made similar steel-cut oats & apples recipes before, but I've never had them combined with a touch of maple syrup.  It's a nice flavour.  I will definitely be making this one often.

And finally I made up a batch of Quinoa Crunch to combine with greek yogurt and berries.  I'm not sure about this one.  I like the flavour of the Crunch, but I found it impossible to actually chew and just ended up with lots of quinoa and flaxseed stuck in my teeth.  I have enough left over for 7 more servings so I will use it up, but I'm not sure whether I will make it again.

LUNCH

What felt like the biggest undertaking of all the recipes was the Roasted or Grilled Vegetables with Romesco Sauce (I roasted mine).  Soooooo many vegetables to roast!  But the preparation was fairly easy as the vegetables are to be cooked in very large pieces.  I have to say though, with all the work of this recipe the result was FANTASTIC!  I really, really loved the flavour of the romesco sauce, which was basically roasted tomato and roasted red pepper pureed with toasted almonds, garlic, and oil.  It is VERY garlic-ky, so I would probably cut back a bit on that next time, but otherwise it is delicious.  The vegetables are to be served with poached chicken, but I had mine with fish because I'd eaten so much chicken in other meals - I just made sure that the calories of the fish worked out to about the same as the chicken would have.

The Mediterranean Tuna Salad Rolls and Chicken Salad with Red Grapes and Toasted Pecans are both pretty simple to make and quite delicious as well!  I'm a girl with a sweet tooth, so the red grapes in the chicken salad are a nice way to satisfy that.

SNACK

I'm a bit of a dummy when it comes to making smoothies.  I know it's such a simple thing to make, but I always make it too thin or too thick, or I make way, WAY too much of it.  The Banana-Almond Smoothie is tasty and makes the perfect amount for a snack.

The Trail Mix is pretty straight forward and is like any other trail mix.  But it is sodium-free and the dark chocolate chips satisfy my aforementioned sweet tooth.  I can't find a recipe for it already typed so, quite simply, combine:

• 1/4 cup raw almonds (I used dry roasted, unsalted almonds)
• 1/4 cup raw pumpkin or sunflower seed (I used sunflower)
• 1/4 cup 70% dark chocolate chips

The above makes 4 servings.

DINNER

Oh.Em.Gee.  I can't wait for Mr. McMuffintop to get home to make the Almond-Crusted Chicken recipe for him because I know he will love it too.  The fresh lemony-almond flavour dances on the tongue - seriously, yum!  It is paired with a Red Cabbage and Apple Slaw which, honestly, I could do without.  I love a creamy coleslaw, and this one severely lacks in the dressing department.

I also made the Beef Stir-Fry with Broccoli and Shiitake Mushrooms recipe.  This is where I screwed up and used tahini instead of tamari, so the flavour might not have been what it was supposed to be, but it was still quite delicious!  (p.s. - tamari is essentially soy sauce, whereas tahini is toasted sesame seed butter - the stuff used in hummus.  The recipe also uses toasted sesame seed oil, so it wasn't an odd ball flavour to have screwed up with).

I know all of this cooking sounds like I've made a ton of food for one person since each recipe usually makes 4 to 6 servings, but as I cook I portion the leftovers and freeze them for easy, future grab-n-go meals.  I highly recommend doing this while trying to lose weight because, come mealtime, you don't have to think about what to make, especially if you're feeling lazy.  I find it's at those times when I make poor decisions (hmmm, I don't feel like making dinner.  Let's order pizza!).