Short and Sweet Update

Not too much to talk about at the moment as far as the weight loss goes, but I am happy to report that I'm still losing!  I think I may finally be over the plateau for real!  When I weighed in yesterday morning I was down 2 pounds!  Yay!!!  The walking challenge at work is definitely helping :)  I am so close to reaching my next weight loss goal I can taste it!  18 more pounds to go!  Let's do it!  Hello motivation, nice to see you again!

Slow Cooker Sunday - Beef Roast and Veggies

This is a staple in our house and it's actually pretty healthy :)  I don't really measure when I cook, so I apologize in advance for that!  I have put approximations on the amounts I MIGHT have used, but I can't swear to it!

Beef Roast (of course) doesn't matter what size, whatever is in your budget that week!
Carrots (as many or as little as you like)
1 medium onion, chunky slices
3-4 small potatoes, cubed (I flip flop between yellow and red)
Mushrooms (as little or as many as you like)
Approx 1/2 cup red wine
1-2 cups beef stock (you can substitute water in place of the beef stock, which I have been doing lately to reduce salt)
Garlic (if using minced, I use a heaping tbsp bc I love garlic....if using cloves, 2-3 cloves chopped will do it)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp cornstarch
1/3 cup tomato paste

Throw it all in the crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours.  Yumminess!  No need to cook anything else, you have all you need right there!  If you have any variations on this, I would love to hear them!

Day 1 of Get Moving Challenge

Today is the start of my Get Moving Challenge at work.  So far I have started off on a good foot.  I've done my stairs for the day and plan to do my 30 minutes of exercise tonight when I get home from school.  I will get my walking in for the day here and there.  I'm going to start phasing out carbs as part of this challenge too.  I feel like I need to do something different with my diet to make my weight start dropping again.  I'm still sticking to 1200 calories, but it's not doing much.  So we will see if this helps any. 

In addition, I'm going to concentrate on eating more veggies and fruit than meats and other things.  Cutting down on my starches too.  Anything white is going to be EXTREMELY limited.  Pasta, bread, potatoes, milk (dairy), mayo, some salad dressings, etc.  Planning to try out some smoothies for breakfast.  Especially excited about spinach smoothies!  I hear they are very good and are really good for you.  I'll let you know how it goes!

Sweet and Sour Chicken

So I told you I have been addicted to Pinterest lately and have been trying tons and tons of recipes from there.  I came across this one and it is now one of our family's favorite dinners!  It's simple to make but tastes like you spent hours in the kitchen cooking it!  It's not something that we can have often because it's not the most healthy recipe that I have tried from that site, but every now and then it is ok.  I allow myself an off day each week anyway, so when we have this meal, that is my night off.  I highly recommend this recipe.  It's better than most chinese restaurant sweet and sour chicken that I have had!  I serve mine with jasmine rice.  Yum!


INGREDIENTS:
Chicken:
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil

Sauce:
¾ cup sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup
½ cup vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt

DIRECTIONS:
For the chicken, cut boneless chicken breasts into chunks. Season with salt and pepper. Dip chicken in cornstarch and then in egg. Fry in a little oil until brown but not cooked through. Place in a single layer in a baking dish. Mix sauce ingredients together and pour over chicken.
Bake for one hour at 325 degrees. Turn chicken every 15 minutes so it is evenly coated with the sauce. Serve over rice.

Here are the nutritional facts for this recipe for your reference!

Nutrition Facts
4 -6 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories		582.9
Total Fat		5.4 g
	Saturated Fat	1.5 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	1.2 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	1.7 g
Cholesterol		229.4 mg
Sodium		524.8 mg
Potassium		645.5 mg
Total Carbohydrate		71.0 g
	Dietary Fiber	0.3 g
	Sugars	41.7 g
Protein		57.8 g

Vitamin A	10.0 %
Vitamin B-12	18.9 %
Vitamin B-6	67.0 %
Vitamin C	4.7 %
Vitamin D	5.0 %
Vitamin E	1.6 %
Calcium	3.8 %
Copper	5.8 %
Folate	5.4 %
Iron	12.6 %
Magnesium	17.1 %
Manganese	3.8 %
Niacin	132.2 %
Pantothenic Acid	19.4 %
Phosphorus	51.9 %
Riboflavin	18.3 %
Selenium	61.6 %
Thiamin	11.0 %
Zinc	14.8 %

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

Challenges, Challenges!

I’m very excited about a challenge that we are doing at work.  It starts next week and I have volunteered to be a team captain!  This way I feel like this way I’m held more accountable and will be more likely to do what I should be doing since I’m leading the team.  The challenge, called the Get Moving Challenge, is about exactly what it says…..getting people moving and being more active.  There are three categories to compete in and we are doing all three.  Category one is a Steps category, so you have to wear a pedometer every day and record the number of steps you take.  The team with the highest number wins.  Our team is planning to meet twice a week for group walks to increase our steps.  We are also going to be walking stairs once a day.  Our building has 9 floors and a basement and there are anywhere from 2-4 flights of stairs between each floor.  So there are plenty of stairs to be walked!  Category 2 is Minutes Exercised.  The team with the highest number wins again.  Our group exercise will be our walks of course, but we are all going to be exercising on our own at home as well.  The last category is Weight Loss.  I’m hoping to kick butt in this category!  The challenge is a 10 week challenge, so I hope that in 10 weeks I have lost some weight!  I have about 22 pounds that I want to lose right now.  That is my short term weight loss goal.  Long term I want to lose about 50 pounds.  So if I make it to the 22 pounds down, then I’m almost halfway there!

In addition to this challenge, the weight loss support forum that I am a member of is holding a challenge as well.  It’s called the Big 10 Challenge.  It is also a 10 week challenge that started this past Monday.  We have accountability partners to talk with to encourage each other and check in with.  That is nice because sometimes you just get frustrated and you need someone cheering you on who is going through the same thing you are!  While it’s not a competition and I won’t actually be physically seeing these people, we are checking in with updates twice a week, so they will still see what I’m doing and that makes me want to actually do what I should be doing so that my updates aren’t lame lol.  I’d hate to be the one who updates every time that she hasn’t been doing anything and hasn’t lost any weight! 

Anyway, so lots going on right now!  Hopefully in 10 weeks I’ll have wonderful updates for you!

Slightly Depressing, Non-Weight Related Post

Today, for whatever reason, I’ve been thinking of my grandma a lot.  It’s around this time that she passed away in 2008, so I guess it makes sense.  It’s hard to believe that it has been 4 years now since she passed away.  I miss her so much.  I wish that she were here to see Caden.  She would have loved him so much.  I wish that I could pick up the phone and call her and just hear her voice.  There were so many things I took for granted while she was here.  I should have taken advantage of her being here and gone to see her more the last year of her life.  I wish that I would have called her more.  I wish I wouldn’t have been too busy for her.  The pain is still as fresh as it was the day she died.  I don’t think I will ever forget a single detail of that day.

There is one thing that I am thankful for though.  The night before she died, I was able to see her and tell her that I loved her.  I had ordered some wedding invitations and had them shipped to her house.  They had come in that day and she called to tell me to come by and pick them up.  I had gone out to eat with my mom and Stephen, so on the way home we stopped by and I ran in to pick them up.  I was only there about 5 minutes, but I remember she looked very frail and tired.  I asked her if she was ok, and she told me she didn’t really feel well but that she was fine.  I told her to call me if she needed to and she said ok.  I hugged her and told her that I loved her before I walked out the door.  Then I left.  And that was the last time I spoke to her.

The next day I was at work and for some reason I decided to call her.  I think the first time I called was around 11am.  No answer.  So I gave her a little while because she could have walked out to pick up the newspaper or something.  I got busy and didn’t call her back for a few hours.  It was probably around 3-4ish before I called her back and still didn’t get an answer.  I called two or three more times back to back in case she was in the bathroom or sleeping.  She didn’t have voicemail so leaving a message wasn’t an option.  When I still didn’t get an answer I knew something was wrong.  I knew in the back of my mind what it was, but didn’t want to believe it.  She had been sick and declining in health for about 2 years now.  I grabbed my things and left work early and drove to her house.

When I got to her house, there was no answer when I knocked on the door.  I didn’t have a key to her front door and the screen door to the back door was locked so I couldn’t get in the house.  There were no lights on and it was completely silent inside the house.  I knew.  I called Stephen, who worked right across the tracks from her house and told him I needed him to come there right away.  I continued banging on the door and ringing the doorbell in hopes that she would appear and fuss at me for making so much noise.  She didn’t come.

Stephen pulled up in the driveway sideways and immediately came to me.  I had already called my mom and dad, who lived about 45 minutes away at the time, and my sister and brother in law.  Charles, my brother in law, and my sister weren’t far behind Stephen.  Charles and Stephen broke through the plexiglass screen door on the back porch and used my key to get into the house.  My sister and I refused to go inside the house because we didn’t want to see her like that.  It was not long before Stephen emerged and shook his head.  He was on the phone with 911.  I collapsed to the ground.  After that it was a whirlwind.  I remember smoking cigarette after cigarette and just crying and crying and crying.

I remember the ambulances and the police cars.  I remember the neighbor coming out and giving his condolences.  I sat inside my father in law’s truck and watched people walking in and out of the house.

I went home before they came to get her body.  I didn’t want to see them take her out of the house in a body bag.   Stephen was really upset as well.  I didn’t ask him anything about what he saw or what he did when he went inside.  The only thing that he told me was where he found her.  And that image has been stuck in my head permanently.  I wish he never would have even told me that.

Even though I know that it wasn’t my fault, I somehow keep blaming myself.  I know it sounds silly because everybody dies and when you get older it’s expected, but still…. I had moved out only a year earlier.  What if I would have still been living there?  Would I have been able to do something?  Would it have changed anything?  She had asked me a few days earlier to take her to get her meds refilled and I had forgotten.  She hadn’t reminded me.  Did she run out of something that she needed that caused her death?  I tried to be the best caregiver for her that I could and help her as much as I could, but I still find myself asking if it was enough or if there was something I could have done to prolong the inevitable.

I guess I’ll always feel this way.  4 years hasn’t changed much in the way of how I feel.  I don’t even know why I’m writing all of this.  This is supposed to be my weight loss journey blog, but yet here I am depressing everybody with this chronicle of the day my grandma passed away.  I guess I just needed to get it out.  I’ve never talked about that day like this.  I have never replayed it out loud.  Maybe that’s why I’m writing it.  Maybe I need to.  I don’t know.  I just know that I miss her and I would give anything to have her back. 

To follow this up, I’m also fearful that I’m going to be going through this same thing with my dad any day now.  My dad is on the heart transplant list and he is on continuous IV meds to help his heart perform well enough to keep him functioning.  He has been on the list since September and seems to be doing ok, but I’m hoping for a heart to hurry up and come.  I am not ready to lose him yet.  I’m not ready for that pain.  I want him to live.  He’s only 62.  He has grandkids.  One granddaughter is about to graduate from high school and go off to college, one granddaughter is only 9, and then he has a brand new grandson that I don’t want him to miss out on.  I want Caden to be able to spend time with him and to make memories with him that he won’t forget about when he is older.  I want Dad to be able to enjoy Caden too.  He loves that little boy and he is so excited about taking him hunting when he gets old enough.  Caden is only about to turn 2, so he has a while before that will happen.  I need Dad to be around a while longer.

They said growing up would be tough and that along with it come more responsibilities.  Nobody really prepares you for the fact that as you grow, so do your parents and grandparents.  And with that comes loss that is inevitable.  I mean, I know that we all know that eventually everyone dies….but when you’re younger you just think, “oh they will be around for a long time.”  Well, “a long time” runs out fast.  Faster than you can ever imagine. 

So with all that said, I’m hoping that 2012 will be a year of healing.  Physical healing for my dad and emotional healing for me. 

Crockpot Bolognese Sauce

I have been spending a lot of time (and when I say a lot, that is an understatement) on Pinterest lately and I have found some AMAZING recipes that are actually pretty healthy!!  So I'll be sure to share some on my blog for everyone who reads so that you can try them out :)  

The first recipe that I want to share with you is a bolognese sauce I made earlier this week.  It has to be the BEST spaghetti sauce I have ever tasted.  It will change your life!!  I will definitely be making it again and after eating it, it's going to be difficult for me to revert back to jar sauce.  

So here it is!  The name says it all.....

BEST SLOW COOKER BOLOGNESE SAUCE EVER

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 14 oz cans chopped tomatoes, drained
• 2 15 oz cans tomato sauce
• 2 6 oz cans tomato paste
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 2 teaspoons dried marjoram
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

1. Cook beef in large skillet until browned.

2. Transfer to 5 quart slow cooker. Stir in all remaining ingredients, mix well.

3. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

4. Serve over your favorite pasta. Happy sigh.


We had whole wheat angel hair pasta with this.  It was DIVINE!  If you try this recipe, comment back here and let me know what you think! 

Getting Back on Track

I haven't posted in a while (I know I said the same thing in the last blog lol), but mainly because I have been busy with the holidays and then I kind of fell off the wagon and gained two pounds over the Christmas holiday :(  So I got a little discouraged and didn't want to post until I had something positive to talk about.

Soooo, here I am.  I'm officially BACK on the wagon and hopefully heading in the right direction again.  This is supposed to be my last month on Phen, but I have a full bottle and then the new prescription from the dr.  Not sure how that happened lol.  I didn't take it at all over Christmas vacation, which was a week.  Then my one month check-ins at the dr were kind of running ahead of the monthly marks, so I guess that's how I ended up with an excess of pills??  Who knows.  I haven't skipped pills much so idk.  I'm not complaining though!  Just means that I have a little bit longer to take them :)

So since this is my weight loss blog, I guess we should talk about some weight loss topics.  First, let me go ahead and update you on my current stats.  So I was up to a total weight loss of about 22 pounds.  Then i gained those two stupid pounds over Christmas and so now I'm at 20.  Sighhhh.  But hopefully they will be gone again by the end of this week.  We shall see.  Otherwise, I'm down a size in my clothes and have lost 2 inches in my waist!  Yay!  I lost about 1-1/2 inches in my arms and thighs as well.  So there is definitely a difference.  I'm hoping to drop at least another clothing size before the Phen is gone.  Fingers crossed!! 

I read a news article about obesity today that was kind of depressing.  To sum the article up, it  basically said that recent medical studies have shown that the majority of those who are overweight will remain overweight for the rest of their lives.  Not by choice, but because of predispositions to obesity (like 65% of us carry a gene or something that predisposes us to be obese) and because our bodies actually work against us when we lose weight.  Apparently, when someone loses weight (especially drastic amounts) their bodies never get used to the new size and the new requirements.  It still thinks you need more caloric intake than you actually do.  You will actually burn less calories doing the same exercises as someone who has never been overweight will burn even if you weight the same amount that they do when you lose weight.  How depressing is that???  It talked about how they followed people for a year or so after losing weight to see how they were doing and most of them had gained back some of the weight that they had lost and those that had managed to maintain their weight loss were still doing all the same things that I am having to do to lose weight right now.  Just to MAINTAIN.  That is very discouraging to me.  I knew losing weight would be difficult and I knew that keeping it off wasn't going to be a walk in the park, but after reading that article it really put things into perspective for me.  I'm facing a lifetime of work.  Is it worth it?  Of course it is!  But it is depressing?  Yes.  The one woman that they talked about in particular was still counting her calories and eating much smaller amounts than what the guidelines say that a woman of her size should have to eat to maintain her weight.  She was walking about 4 miles a day a few days a week.  She was exercising about 100 minutes each day.  She was drinking tons and tons of water.  I mean, I know that diet and exercise should be a part of everyone's daily life and that we should all drink 8 glasses of water.  But this is more than the average person does just to maintain a weight.  Sighhhh.  I don't want to sound like I'm complaining, because I'm not.  I know that I just have to do it and deal with it to be healthy and happy.

Surprisingly, even though that article is depressing and it makes me mad to think that even after I lose weight I'm still going to have to act like I'm losing weight for the rest of my life, I'm still optimistic.  I still have the mindset that I can lose weight and keep it off if I want to.  I may be predisposed to obesity, I don't know if I am or not, but so what?  If you want something bad enough it will happen.  That's how I feel about it.  And this is something that I want.  Not only that, but it's something that I need.  So 2012 is my year for getting healthy and if I have to spend the rest of my life working like hell to stay that way, well then I guess that is what I will do.  Cheers to 2012 and to our goals of a healthier life!  We can do it!


Here is the link to the article if you would like to read it for yourself.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/magazine/tara-parker-pope-fat-trap.html?pagewanted=1&ref=general&src=me