July 2011 Stats

Starting weight : 162.6 lb

Ending weight : 161.6 lb

Change : 1 lb lost (average .25 lb lost per week)

This time last year : 179.6 lb


My goal for the month with all of our trips was to maintain, which I thought at the time was a stretch. I lost the only pound right before we started going on trips, but didn't gain anything throughout the other trips during the month, so I was very pleased to have a loss. That's just one step closer to goal.

BBQ Biscuits

Ingredients:

1lb extra lean ground beef or turkey
1/2 cup barbeque sauce
1/4 cup fresh minced onion
1 tbsp brown sugar
12 oz can Hungry Jack or other brand of flaky biscuits (not Grands)
2 oz shredded cheddar cheese (2%)

Step 1:

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly spray muffin tins. Brown ground beef until thoroughly cooked. Stir in barbeque sauce, onion, and brown sugar, cooking 1 min to blend flavors.

Step 2:

Separate dough into 10 biscuits. Press each to form a 4 inch round. Place each one in muffin tin, making it go up the sides. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the beef mixture into each biscuit.

Step 3:

Bake for 10 to 15 min or until edges of biscuit are golden brown. Let cool for 2-3 min then enjoy!

Weigh-in for 7/23/2011

Last weigh-in (7/2/2011): 161.6 lb

This weigh-in (7/23/2011): 161.6 lb

Change: 0 lb

I couldn't be more thrilled with this outcome on the scale. After two weeks of vacation eating and then only one week to get it back to where it was, I would call this a success. This is a weight where all of my pre-pregnancy clothes fit me, so I have almost unlimited choices, but I'm nowhere done yet.

The Importance of Breakfast

We're always hearing how important it is to eat breakfast, but most of us ignore that advice for many reasons. Some are too rushed to get to work in the morning or they think breakfast foods are bad for you (ex. doughnuts, bagels, etc). I am a creature of sleep, so in high school, when I was only getting 6 hours of sleep each night, eating in the morning made me feel nauseous. I knew that eating breakfast was essential to keeping your metabolism moving, but didn't really think about it too much. Even in meetings, they were telling us that eating a doughnut was better than eating nothing (which most of us would think would be worse).

Recently, something really opened my eyes. I was watching one of my weight loss shows, and the trainer told their client that when people don't eat breakfast, it's called the Sumo Diet, because that's how Sumo wrestlers slow their metabolisms to gain all that weight. That was really scary. Eating every 3 hours is essential to keeping your metabolism going at a good rate all day, even if it's something simple like an apple. I realize this when I skip a snack and then right before dinner, I am suddenly starving and raid my pantry. By the time dinner is ready, I've eaten too much and shouldn't even bother eating dinner. This is why I make a note when I eat so I know that I have to eat in 3 hours.

Steak & Watermelon Salad

Ingredients:

1 small steak per person
cut watermelon
1lb asparagus
bleu cheeses crumbles
mixed green salad
Ken's Light Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette

Step 1:

Cook steak to your liking and steam asparagus

Step 2:

Plate salad, topping with steak cut into cubes, watermelon, asparagus, and bleu cheese. Lightly top with salad dressing. Enjoy!



This is a salad we had a restaurant many years ago in the summer and they never brought it back, so we started making it at home. It's always a big hit.

My Wii Fit Lied to Me this Morning

Weighing in on the Wii Fit is not something I do very often anymore. I used to do it several times a week when I was still using it as my sole means of exercise, but the past two months since joining the YMCA, it's fallen by the wayside. I do weigh myself on it when I want to find out how much Brady weighs, since it weighs him while I hold him, then subtracts my weight. When I first got on to get my weight, before we did Brady's, it said I weight 132lbs (30lbs less than I currently do). This is the first time it's every malfunctioned like that. I started the process all over again and it did give me the correct weight the second time, but I didn't like how it teased me. I would be more than happy to see that weight on the scale if it was true. Not cool Wii Fit.

1st Time on the Scale since the Beach

Yesterday was devoted to getting a good workout in and eating on program. I did both of those things and was ready to step on the scale this morning. I weighed myself the day we left for the beach at 162.4lb, which as still 0.8lb above my last official weigh-in. I stepped on the scale today at 163.4lb. I couldn't be more relieved with this number. I have 5 days left to at least take off the 1.8lb since the last weigh-in, which was almost two and half weeks ago. If I can pull that off, I will be at a loss on the month, when my goal was to maintain. I still have one more obstacle ahead. I leave for Pittsburgh next Wednesday and will remain there for a week and a half.

Hearty Chicken & Egg Noodle Casserole

Ingredients:

1 can (10.75 oz) condensed Cream of Mushroom soup (we use 98% fat free)
1/2 cup skim milk
1 cup mixed frozen vegetables
2 cups cubed cooked chicken
2 cups medium egg noodles, cooked and drained (we use whole wheat egg noodles)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (we use fat free)


Step 1:

Cook noodles and chicken. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Step 2:

Stir soup, milk, vegetables (still frozen), chicken, noodles, Parmesan cheese, and black pepper in a 1 1/2 qt casserole dish.

Step 3:

Bake for 25 minutes or until the chicken mixture is hot and bubbling Stir the chicken mixture. Top with Cheddar cheese. Let stand until the cheese is melted. Enjoy!

Serves 4. Per serving: 388 Calories, 17g Fat, 25g Carbs, 3g Fiber, 32g Protein

Back from the Beach

We are back from our week-long beach vacation. It was a bummer to leave, but it was good to get away from the temptations that come with a vacation mind-set. Although, I have regrets about things that I ate and drank, I take comfort in the knowledge that this type of vacation only happens once a year and next year there will be no beach vacation due to us being in Europe until late July. The next time we head to Virginia Beach, it will be summer 2013 and Brady will be 3! Hard to imagine.

Tomorrow, I will be back in the gym and it's taking all my willpower not to step on the scale. I plan to on Monday morning after a day of good eating and a killer workout. I'm sure my cardio endurance has died in the past week, but the good news is that it comes back quickly. I'll post an update on my current weight on Monday and my official weigh-in will be Saturday. I've seen myself lose 4lbs in 4 days after a bad weekend trip, so I'm hoping I can pull something like that off again and get a net loss, but I doubt it.

Bathing Suits

There is no time when a person is more vulnerable than when they're wearing a bathing suit. Even the most conservative bathing suit shows more skin than most people show on a daily basis. For me, as a child, wearing a bathing suit was second nature and I never thought anything of it. I was a swimmer through middle school and wore my racing suits with pride. With those suits, it was the tighter the better.

When I reached high school, things changed. I was done swimming competitively, and tankinis were the newest thing in bathing suits. I was too self-conscious to wear a two-piece before, but the tankini was the perfect medium, since I could now get different sizes for the top and bottom. Back then the bottom was bigger than the top for me and now it has been reversed.

A whole year after my weight loss journey began, I felt confident enough to bare my stomach. My weight had always been more towards my legs than my stomach, but you have to feel good about yourself to put yourself out there. There are still always times when I look at skinnier people than me and think that I shouldn't be wearing it. The summer right after I had Brady, I was still up 20lbs and still had the baby belly, so when we went to Myrtle Beach, I was back in the tankinis.

I knew we were going to the beach this year and even at the beginning of April, I was up 10lbs from where I am now. I knew that I had to get drastic if I wanted to get back in the bikinis. If I didn't, I'd have to buy new suits, because my post-Brady tankinis were made to fit me when I was breastfeeding. Fortunately, my efforts paid off and I got back into my suits, but I was still self-conscious. I would go to the pool and see skinnier women who were all covered up and I could just hear them thinking that I had nerve. Plus, after a baby, my stomach has never been the same, even if I'm below the weight I was before I got pregnant.

It's not so bad standing . . .

Or from the back . . .

But sitting, it's not so good.

Rip Currents - The New Exercise Fad

Last night it stormed, so today the sea was especially rough. There were such strong rip currents, that we would be pushed at least half a mile down the beach in less than 10 minutes out in the water. We were careful to keep Brady in the shallow water, but I went out twice with my dad. We had to hold hands, and even then, I was struggling to keep my footing against the strong rip currents. My thighs were working hard trying to move against the current and not get pushed down the beach, but it was futile. It was impossible to try to stay in place and waves were hitting us from all directions. I was thinking that this would be amazing exercise if it wasn't so dangerous. I don't think I have to feel bad about what I eat today ;)

The Dreaded Buffet

We are currently in the middle of our week-long vacation in Virginia Beach. While we only go out to eat twice, they are doozies. Monday night, we went to our first dinner out, a buffet at a restaurant called, Captain George's. We've been going to this buffet since I was Brady's age. It's an expensive buffet, so my dad's rule has always been that if he sees us with salad he's going to smack us. My mom can sit there for hours with plate after plate of crab legs. They have an amazing spread, including prime rib, fried shrimp and scallops, mussels, oysters, and so much more. Last year, when we went to Myrtle Beach with my brother-in-law and his girlfriend, he was salivating at the thought, and couldn't wait to get back there this year. Brady was in heaven. He will eat pretty much anything we put in front of him and has already had shell fish, so he ate crab and anything else anyone would give him. There was a little kid at the table next to us around his age and the mom was trying to have him watch Brady and eat like that. We don't know where Brady puts it, since he's the size of the average 10 month old when it comes to his weight. Unlike everyone else at the table, I only ate 3 plates (I know, only three?) while everyone else ate more, but we all walked out of there claiming we'd never eat again. It's a terrible feeling to be that full and to know that initially you enjoyed the food. I know that I didn't make the best choices, but at least I threw some vegetables into the mix.

Pop Cake

To a lot of people this recipe will sound a little crazy, but you have to try it to believe it! I have made this cake for parties and told no one that there was anything different about it and all they could say was how moist and delicious it was.

Ingredients:

1 Box of cake mix
1 Can of diet pop

Step 1:

Make sure that your box of cake mix matches up with your can of diet pop.
Ex: chocolate cake and diet coke, vanilla cake with diet sierra mist

Step 2:

Pour box of cake mix into a large bowl and pour entire can of diet pop into the mix. The diet pop completely replaces the eggs and oil that the box says to add, so only add the can of diet pop.

Step 3:

Use a whisk and stir the batter. Make sure to leave a few bubbles. DO NOT use an electric beater! If you do, it will not be fluffy, you need the bubbles.

Step 4:

Use same baking time and temp on the box. Bake and enjoy!


You can get creative like a vanilla cake with diet orange pop, carrot cake with fresca, and I've even done red velvet cake with diet cherry vanilla dr. pepper. This recipe has 1/3 the calories of a cake made with the oil and eggs and tastes just as great!

You can also make a light frosting by getting a package of sugar-free jello in any flavor you like that will go with your cake flavor and mixing it into a container of Cool Whip. Hope you enjoy!

The Damage that's been Done

I couldn't help myself. I stepped on the scale this morning. I just had to know what the damage was so I knew what I was working with these next 3 days. It was 163.4lb, which is 1.8lb more than I weighed-in at on Saturday. Some people may look at that number and freak out, but I am pleased with that number. Of course, I wouldn't mind if it was less, but it could have been so much more, given all the things that I ate. Today, I get back on track and back in the gym and I am certain it will shock my body enough to get rid of that weight.

Since starting my journey, I got into the mindset that any time I ate something bad, that I would immediately gain weight. It was all in my head, but that same day, I would start to think my clothes didn't fit and picturing my thighs or butt getting bigger. I guess it's a good mindset to have in a way, because it keeps me from being very bad for long. Over the weekend, I got to the point where I felt like I never wanted to eat again. I don't get to that point very often, but this weekend was bad. A good thing about our upcoming week to the beach is that we only eat out two dinners, as opposed to every meal this past trip. The only difference will be alcohol, which I don't drink very often and VA Beach is one of the few times I do.

Weigh-in for 7/2/2011 & Trip #1 Down

Last weigh-in (6/25/2011) : 162.6 lb

This weigh-in (7/2/2011): 161.6 lb

Change: 1 lb lost

I was excited to see that my hard work in the gym this week paid off after a slight gain the week before. It's always great to see the numbers keep going down and it keeps your morale high.

We got back tonight from our first trip of the month, which was a 4-day long weekend to Savannah and Charleston. The eating was pretty much what I expected - bad. Not bad food, but not healthy. I certainly didn't track and know that if I did, I would be horrified. We had some great seafood, pizza, Mexican, and even bought a pound of chocolate pralines (a southern specialty). I know that what I have to do now is get in the gym and eat right for the next 3 days before we head on vacation again. My next weigh-in won't be until July 23, since our next two Saturdays will be spent on the road. I will, however, weigh myself at home on Thursday to gauge the damage of the past weekend and hopefully, I can get back down to where weigh-in was on Saturday before we leave for VA Beach.

A Difficult Month Ahead

This month is going to be one of the hardest I've faced since probably the space between Thanksgiving and New Years. We have a lot going on and I know it's going to mean limited time in the gym and not so healthy eating. Like most people, I like to enjoy a vacation and I don't track what I eat. That doesn't mean I head straight for the fried foods, but that I am not overly concerned about staying in my points.

Here is this month's schedule:

July 2-5: long weekend trip to Savannah, GA and Charleston, SC

July 9-16: week in VA Beach with my family

July 17-26: my mom comes to visit

July 27- Aug 5: trip home to Pittsburgh

That's 5 whole weeks where there will be lots of car travel (I retain water when in the car too long) and several weeks without gym access (not that I would work out when I could be on the beach). My goal for the month of July is simple, but not easily achieved with what I have on my plate: I want to maintain and not gain any weight. If by some miracle, I manage to lose any weight it will be a welcome bonus, but I won't expect it. If I happen to maintain, I know that when I get back on track that it will once again shock my body and I should start losing again with no problem. Wish me luck!