Finally, a New Year! 1/9/12

Hello there! Sorry about the lack of post Friday.. it was a crazy day then I ended up going home early and didn’t have a chance to post once I got home.

This weekend was great! Relaxing and nice… Friday after work I went shopping and bought 2 pairs of pants and a shirt.. the pants are both size 18! I haven’t worn this size in quite a while J I bought a pair of skinny jeans and a pair of dress pants… I’m wearing the jeans today and a girl at work said they make my butt look good so I guess they’re good lol.. they’re tighter on my legs than anything I would normally wear but it feels pretty nice to have clothes that fit me! That evening, I took down all of the Christmas decorations in my house and got things back in normal order a bit. I must say, my living room feels a lot bigger without my giant tree! It’s nice to be back to our regular.. although now my house also looks bare and I want to go buy art for my walls! And I want new curtains and toss pillows and… some other things lol. Oh well, these things can wait.

Saturday was nice, I started the day off with some cleaning then walked Nora up to the park and we played for 3 hours! It was fun to let her run around and play… with my schedule, I rarely ever get to spend that much time with her just playing and it was really great. J We got home and I made dinner (Enchilada Casserole, as posted before but I added sautéed peppers and onions and a minced chipotle pepper – yum!) then my friend Andi came over and we just hung out and watched a movie.

Sunday was a lot of cleaning and laundry.. I did a little bit of sewing as well. Nora was REALLY tired all day b/c I made the mistake of letting her stay up late with us Saturday night so she was testing my patience a bit, resulting in me not accomplishing quite as much as I would have liked. I made yummy spaghetti for dinner last night (recipe below) then just gave Nora a bath and hit the hay!

Aaaand today! I started new workouts today! I finally feel like my 'new year' is starting! I actually found the workouts in the latest edition of ‘Muscle & Fitness Hers’. I really like this magazine because it’s fitness-focused and doesn’t have much of the filler crap that the magazines like ‘Shape’ and ‘Health’ have. It’s a 4-week circuit workout program and it’s listed with a nutrition program as well, but I’m not going to be doing that. It’s not a vegan nutrition plan so I’m just going to stick with my foods.

Here’s what I did today:

	CIRCUIT 1		CIRCUIT 2		CIRCUIT 3		CIRCUIT 4
EXERCISE	REPS	WEIGHT	REPS	WEIGHT	REPS	WEIGHT	REPS	WEIGHT
BARBELL BENT OVER ROW	12	30	10	40	8	50	8	60
SEATED CABLE ROW	12	70	10	80	8	90	8	100
BENCH PRESS	12	65	10	75	8	85	8	95
SEATED OVERHEAD BARBELL PRESS	12	30	10	40	8	50	8	60
DUMBBELL LATERAL RAISE	12	7.5	10	10	8	12.5	8	15
CABLE TRICEP PRESS DOWN	12	30	10	40	8	50	8	60
BARBELL CURL	12	30	10	40	8	50	8	60
CRUNCHES	20	N/A	20	N/A	20	N/A	20	N/A
BICYCLES	20 EA SIDE	N/A	20 EA SIDE	N/A	20 EA SIDE	N/A	20 EA SIDE	N/A
SHOT GUNS	10	N/A	10	N/A	10	N/A	10	N/A
6" KILLERS	10	N/A	10	N/A	10	N/A	10	N/A
BIKE	-	-	5 MIN	-	-	-	5 MIN	-
ELLIPTICAL	5 MIN	-	-	-	5 MIN	-	-	-

I wasn’t sure on all of this weights so this week will kind of be my trial week so I can adjust as needed… for instance, I’m going to increase the weight on the Barbell Bent Over Row, Bench Press and Tricep Press Down, but decrease on the Barbell Curl. It was a great workout and I really enjoyed it! At the end of each circuit I did 5 minutes of cardio at a fast pace.. so it was nice to get 20m of elevated heart rate in there too!

Tomorrow is the Lower Body circuit… we’ll see how that goes. J

Food Today

Breakfast:

Protein Shake immediately following workout (chocolate vegan protein powder + organic soy milk)

½ g homemade granola w/ ¼ c skim milk and fresh blueberries

Fresh juice of spinach, carrots, apples (green & red), orange, cranberries and raspberries

Snack:

Oatmeal w/ cinnamon, raisins and blueberries

Lunch:

Leftover enchilada casserole from the weekend

Snack:

Flat bread w/ hummus

Small green apple

Dinner:

TBD... tacos, maybe?

I have developed a slight obsession with blackberries… they’re just so delicious!! I snack on them all the time! I’ve started eating a lot more berries actually… I love the blueberries in my granola too. J

I’ve been thinking a lot about the upcoming traveling I’m going to be doing and I think, if planned well, I’ll be okay! The girl I’ll be traveling with likes to workout and eats healthy as well so we’re planning on doing a fitness class in each of the cities and I made sure to book hotels with complimentary fitness centers. Also, I’m thinking that I’m going to make some granola to pack for breakfasts and I’ll take my protein powder w/ a blender bottle and I’m sure I can find a little market to get some soy milk and berries for my hotel room to keep in the mini fridge. There is always some pretty good catered food at the shows when we’re working so lunches should be okay…

I just really want to stay on track! I’m re-motivated and want to keep it that way!! J

Mushroom Spaghetti

1 lg portobella mushroom cap, stem and gills removed, sliced thin

½ red onion, halved and sliced thin

1tsp EVOO

Pinch sea salt

Pinch Red Pepper Flake

1 jar Emeril’s ‘Roasted Gaaahlic’ Spaghetti Sauce (normally I don’t support canned foods but this stuff is my favorite!)

½ box whole wheat thin spaghetti noodles

¼ to 1/3 c dry white wine

-          Bring water to boil and add noodles, cook until al dente

-          Sautee onion in EVOO for about 3 minutes, add mushrooms and a pinch of salt and red pepper flake and continue to sautee until veggies are tender

-          Add spaghetti sauce to veggies, pour wine into sauce jar and shake it up to get remaining sauce and pour into pan w/ sauce; simmer on med heat

-          Drain noodles and add to veggies and sauce. Toss to combine then continue to cook noodles in sauce for about 7-10 minutes

Serve! YUM! It was garlicy with a little kick and delicious!

Well, I suppose that’s about all I have for the day!

Until tomorrow… J

1/5/12

Happy Thursday! This week seems to have gone by pretty quickly and in no way is that disappointing! It’s also getting warmer! Which is also NOT disappointing! J

So yesterday after work I went to Dick’s and bought a balaclava… which is pretty much just a fancy word for a ski mask.(first time I read the word I said 'baklava' in my head... chubby moment) I went for a run wearing it this morning and…well.. it was a little less than comfortable. I think I should have just gotten a gaitor and wore my headband to cover my ears. The part around the face was a little tight and just uncomfortable and I found myself fidgeting with it a lot. I may still go back and just get the gaitor and give the balaclava to Branden or my brother or something. The run was on the difficult side this morning.. I think it was a combination of gear-fidgeting, cold air and lingering chest congestion, all fighting against me. Not to mention the fact that I haven’t ran my regular routes in like 2 weeks. Regardless, I ran my short run this morning, 2.07 miles. My time was a tad slower than normal but I’m not that worried about it, I’m just glad I finished. Before and after the run I did 50 crunches and 10 pushups and after I also stretched. I feel pretty good today! I’m definitely glad that I worked out, it felt great to sweat. J Branden’s supposed to be working on new gym workouts for me today, I told him that I wanted a fierce arm workout! I knew that as I lost weight that I would have to keep up with weight training to try to prevent saggy skin as much as possible, but my arms are just kind of pathetic looking… a little flabby and saggy. (your welcome for that visual) So I’m hoping that with some serious training, they will improve greatly!

For dinner last night I made WW spaghetti pasta with steamed zucchini, onion, bell pepper and broccoli. After cooking the pasta I drained it and cooked it a little more in a little EVOO, white wine, garlic and hot pepper garlic relish then tossed the veggies in and voila! Pretty tasty. J

I’m finally going to the grocery store after work today! I’m really excited lol… I made some granola last night and it was nice to have it this morning.

Food Today

Breakfast

Protein shake immediately following workout

½ c granola w/ ¼ c soy milk

Snack

Oatmeal w/ raisins, cinnamon and blackberries

Lunch

Leftover pasta from last night

Snack

Protein tofu

Dinner

Black Bean burgers, sweet potato fries (baked) and roasted brussel sprouts. Don’t hate on the sprouts ‘til you’ve tried them!

Tomorrow is a ‘food day’ at work… normally that would be really bad for business but these days I can pretty much only eat whatever I bring so it’s not that big of a deal lol. I’m going to bring the Pad Thai salad as it was requested by a co-worker… although I’m a little burnt-out on it right now lol. Oh well, gotta please the crowd!

I’m on a serious Mexican food kick right now! I was writing out the menu for the next week to plan my grocery list and all I could think of was tacos, enchilada casserole, fajitas.. anything Mexican! Oh and chips and salsa of course lol. I’m just craving the summer and all of the bright colors and flavors! I can’t wait for it to get warm again!!

Anyway, I guess that’s about all I have for today…

Until tomorrow!

1/4/12

Aaaand Wednesday it is!

I woke up this morning again feeling crappy and not quite like myself. I don’t know what the deal is but I’m determined to kick it. I asked for winter running gear advice on Facebook today and got some good suggestions.. so I think I’m going to head over to Dick’s after work to pick up a couple of things and I AM GOING TO RUN TOMORROW! I’m determined, dammit. It’s supposed to be about 25 degrees… sounds cold but I’ll deal with it. I want to run the 5k in February but if I don’t keep up with my training, it will be a pathetic showing on my part! I’m thinking about running to the gym, getting in a good arm workout, then running home… it’s about 1.75 miles each way so it would be a nice little run! I’m sure I’ll regret that decision after I do my arm workout and it’s time to go home but oh well lol….

As I mentioned yesterday, I went out to dinner with my cousin and my sister last night. Welll… I didn’t do as well as I had hoped. I filled-up on chips and salsa/guacamole and literally only took 2 bites of my veggie tacos. I also had 2 cocktails. Needless to say, it was a heavy night. Karma was obviously upset with me over it, I was in so much pain I almost got sick. I think the pain was partially due to the fact that I simply ate too much but also due to the greasiness of the chips and the fact that I ate so little yesterday before I went to dinner. It was absolutely delicious… but a little too painful for my liking.

I’ve been reflecting back on my less than stellar decisions lately and keep asking myself what the heck is going on? You would think that after I’ve come this far and worked this hard that I would be SO motivated to keep going and keep busting ass on my journey.. but it’s just not there. It’s really disheartening but I’m hoping that after I get some new running gear tonight that will help. I always get really amped when I have new workouts and/or new gear! I’m also going to have Branden put together some new workouts for me… the Crossfit cycles that I had going were getting boring, which is likely part of the problem. I need to switch things up every 4 weeks just to keep it fun! Another thing is just that my schedule/life has been so incredibly out of whack! I haven’t even been to the grocery store this week – it drives me crazy when I don’t have my regular foods available. Tonight I plan on taking down my Christmas decorations and getting my house back to normal.. so that should help a bit in itself. I love the holidays SO much but I just need some normalcy back in my life! Of course I’m saying this knowing that starting next week I’ll be going out of town for 3 different work trips before the end of the month lol. I’ll be in Atlanta 1/12 – 1/14, Dallas 1/20 – 1/22 and New York 1/27 – 1/29. I’m totally excited about these trips but concerned at the same time. I know that it’s up to me to be ‘good’ and wise about my choices so I just need to man-up and do the right thing!

Food Today

Breakfast

Fresh Juice

Snack

Oatmeal w/ raisins and cinnamon

Lunch

2 small soft tacos w/ black beans, guac, rice, various salsa/veggies

Chips and salsa

Snack

Protein Tofu

Dinner

Spaghetti w/ steamed veggies and Whole grain bread

My mom got me a steaming basket for Christmas – I’m excited to break it in!

I suppose that’s about all I have for today.. I have been weighing myself every other day or so and it’s not changing much, so that’s one good thing.. always within a pound or 2 which isn’t enough of a fluctuation for me to be too terribly concerned. J

Well, here’s to a cold but refreshing run in the morning!

Until tomorrow…

Brr. 1/3/12

Hello there! Well, I had every intention (again) of working out this morning but alas, didn’t. My stomach has been hurting a bit and I just didn’t feel great when I woke up this morning. And I woke up late, which didn’t help. It’s turning into REAL winter now with the temperatures in the teens, ice on the roads, misery in the air… this is the time of year that I have the hardest time getting my ass to the gym. It’s always really difficult for me to force myself out into the freezing cold air and into my freezing cold car to go workout in the morning when all I want to do is stay in my warm bed and cuddle with my little angel! Not only that, but I am totally craving warm cheesy deliciousness right now! Have no fear – I have no intention of eating cheese at all, I can only imagine how sick I would be! I’m just saying that it sounds good lol…

Food Today

Breakfast

½ c Raisin bran crunch w/ soy milk (I was desperate)

Snack

Oatmeal w/ raisins and cinnamon

Lunch

Small granny smith apple

… and that’s all I’ve eaten today. I’ve been busy and didn’t get a chance to run out to grab anything to eat and completely forgot that I have my protein tofu in the fridge so I’ll just save that for tomorrow. I’m going out to dinner tonight with my cousin (YAY!) and we’re going to Nada downtown… I imagine I’ll be having some sort of guacamole and probably veggie tacos or something? I believe they do ‘small plates’ sort of serving so it shouldn’t be too bad. J

Beyond that, not much to report today! I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned about the upcoming month(s) and how the cold weather is going to effect my progress. I think I have decided that I definitely need to live in a warmer climate – the cold weather does absolutely nothing for me. I used to love it when I was a kid! Now that I have a kid and an adult life I absolute dread it! It just takes THAT much more time to get Nora dressed and makes it THAT much more difficult to carry all of my mom stuff and just ‘running out’ somewhere means uncomfortably cold temperatures and wah wah wah… I know, I’m whining.. but I just don’t like it.

Oh well, totes looking forward to dinner tonight and hopefully going to get a good workout in sometime in the near future! Wish me luck J

Until tomorrow…

Here's to a New Year :) 1/2/12

Welcome to the New Year!

I must say, I am so excited to be entering into 2012! I have made big changes in my life in 2011 and I can’t be more excited to see where these changes will take me in the new year. I feel as if I have grown leaps and bounds as a person over the last 365 days and feel more and more confident in my abilities to achieve any goal I set for myself! A few personal highlights of 2k11:

-          Made one of the best decisions of my life – starting The Losing Path!

-          Successfully lost (and kept off) over 60 pounds with nothing more than (mostly) wise food choices and a lot of sweat

-          Exceeded my goal of running 3 ½ miles by Christmas and ran 5!

-          Wore shorts to my alumni cheerleading game – shorts in public? It’s a big deal! J

-          Transitioned into veganism

-          My proudest – inspired a few other ‘Losers’ to hop on the healthy train and make some positive changes to improve their health/life!

Now – we’ve gotten through 2011 and it’s On to the Next One… so how about some goals? Here are a few of my goals for 2k12:

-          Lose at least 60 more pounds

-          Run a 9 minute mile

-          At least START writing a book based on my Path – I want to spread the motivation and help as many people as possible!

-          Wear even SHORTER shorts to the alumni cheerleading game! (watch out!!)

-          Submit photos to a modeling agency J (always been a dream, never had the courage!)

-          Do a mud run/obstacle course

-          Work on and develop new delicious recipes to share!

-          Grow as many vegetables as possible!

Just for comparison’s sake, here’s a picture of what I looked like last New Year’s Eve:

2011

And here’s a picture from this year:



2012



2012 is already looking better J

Well, things were a bit out of whack this weekend in Virginia (as I anticipated) BUT I was still able to make some good food choices and workout a little! I thought ahead and prepared for the travels and I’m so happy that I did! I had a big bowl of granola and berries with soy milk before we left and I snacked on veggie sushi and an orange in the car and drank water (and 1 5-hour energy drink). We arrived in VA at about 7am and I cleaned my brother’s house for about 4 hours then took his dog for a 20 minute run around their neighborhood. Man, I didn’t think about how much more difficult it would be to have a strong animal pulling you every direction other than where you’re heading ha! Before and after the run I did 50 crunches and 10 pushups and I stretched. I cleaned some more in the afternoon then cooked dinner for everyone!

Food Friday: Granola w/ berries and soy milk for breakfast, carrots and hummus snack, Amy’s Vegan Meal for lunch, chips and salsa snack, enchilada casserole for dinner (recipe below). I had a glass of wine after dinner then called it a night…

Saturday I woke up and cooked breakfast then my sister-in-law and I went grocery/party supply shopping for the celebration!

Food Saturday: Granola w/ berries and soy milk for breakfast, carrots and hummus snack, salad of rice/lettuce/avocado/tomato/salsa/lime juice for lunch, chips and salsa snack and party food for dinner! I made Fruit Pizza (recipe below) and Med Wrap-Ups (recipe below) – yummy! My dishes were loved even by a man that is so picky he won’t eat anything the color white! J

Sunday I woke up and cooked breakfast, straightened the house a bit then we had to hit the road..

Food Sunday: Last little bit of granola w/ berries and soy milk and a banana w/ crunchy peanut butter for breakfast, veggie sub from Subway for lunch, snacked on a peanut/almond/pistachio mix, ½ of an order of small French fries (yikes!) from McDonald’s and an apple for dinner (choices were VERY limited – obviously) and a whole grain flat bread w/ hummus for late night snack. Obviously, I wasn’t as prepared for the trip home food-wise as the trip down and I totally regretted that!

We got home at around 10pm last night and by the time we unpacked some things, my parents visited Nora and we got settled down a bit, it was 11:30 before we even went to bed. I had every intention of getting up and going to do a killer arm workout this morning but I just couldn’t do it – I was so exhausted when I woke up! So, no gym today but food is still looking pretty good…

Food Today

Breakfast

None – bad, I know! Running REALLY late

Snack

Oatmeal w/ raisins and granola

Lunch

Whole grain flatbread w/ hummus, carrots, red bell pepper, red onion and garlic pepper relish

Snack

Salad of spinach, carrot, red bell pepper, red onion served over warm brown rice w/ a little garlic pepper relish and light balsamic vinaigrette

Snack

Protein tofu

Dinner

TBD I’m not sure what I even have in my house!

Recipes!

Enchilada Casserole

Mild Enchilada Sauce

Corn, thawed

Black Beans, drained and rinsed

Zucchini, diced

Squash, diced

Chipotle salsa (any brand)

Diced green chiles (canned)

Corn tortillas

- Preheat oven to 350

- Mix the corn, black beans, zucchini, squash and green chiles in a bowl.

- In a casserole dish, pour a bit of the enchilada sauce, then cover w/ a layer of tortillas (try to cover the surface of the dish as best as possible)

- Pour a bit of enchilada sauce then spoon ½ of the veggie mix

- A little more enchilada sauce then some of the salsa

- Repeat this layer and then cover the top layer w/ another layer of tortillas and more enchilada sauce

- Cover w/ foil and Bake for about 30  minutes – uncover then bake for another 10

- Garnish w/ diced tomato, avocado, lettuce and a squeeze of lime juice! I served it w/ brown rice

*If not going for vegan, add cheese atop of each layer!

Vegan Fruit Pizza

2 Rolls Crescent Dough (try to not get butter-flavored)

Strawberries

3 Kiwis

Blueberries

Raspberries

Blackberries

1tsp Lemon Juice

3tbs Apple Juice

¾ c powdered sugar

½ c white sugar

1 8oz tub Toffuti Cream Cheese

-          Bake crescent dough as directed, let cool to room temp

-          Meanwhile, cream together cream cheese, sugars, apple juice and lemon juice

-          Dice strawberries, kiwis, raspberries and blackberries and mix together in large bowl w/ blueberries

-          Once dough has cooled, spread cream cheese mix over dough then sprinkle fruit over cream cheese

-          Put in fridge and let set for about an hour, cut and serve!

*Please note that I normally would not recommend white/powdered sugar! This is a special occasion dish and to be eaten in moderation J

Med Wrap-Ups

Whole Grain Flat bread wraps

Cucumber, peeled, halved and sliced thin

Red onion, halved and sliced thin

Red bell pepper, sliced thin

Marinated artichoke hearts, sliced

Sun dried tomatoes, diced

Roasted pine nut hummus

Garlic and hot pepper relish (Italian aisle – I think it’s labeled as a pasta sauce?)

-          Spread a generous shmattering of hummus over flatbread (covering entire surface)

-          About 1/3 of the way down, layer the bell pepper, cucumber, onion, artichoke and sundried tomatoes then sprinkle hot pepper relish over this

-          Fold the flatbread over the veggies and pull tight then continue to wrap. Slice cross-wise and serve!

Well, I suppose that’s all I have for the time-being. Overall, I’m happy with the outcome of 2011.. there were certainly some bumps in the road but we made it through. J

Cheers to 2012!

Until tomorrow…