LET'S DO THIS!!!

Have a few things going on this week. Going to try to briefly discuss them all in this post.

First of all, a big THANK YOU to my friend Jeanne who was visiting over Thanksgiving who told me about www.sparkpeople.com. It's a COMPLETELY FREE diet website, with diets, exercise plans, groups, message boards, everything. Similar to EDiets, but again, it's free. Don't spend any money on an online plan, go to this one.

The site tells you before you change anything about your diet to post three small goals for the next two weeks. One fitness, one eating, and one motivation. Mine were to exercise 10 minutes a day, eat at least one fruit and veggie a day and to write down my goals. One of my goals is to measure out what I eat all week, even if I don't stay in my calorie limit, at least to be more aware of what I'm eating, especially at this time of year.

With it being the holidays and all, I'm trying to eat healthy at least some of the time instead of just giving up entirely between Thanksgiving and New Years Eve. There's a site called "Skinny Crock Pot" that has a lot of lower calorie holiday recipes. One of them I tried was called sweet potato mash with pecans. I'll be honest, it was okay, but still didn't give my sweet tooth all it wanted. I think I overcooked the sweet potatoes a bit which didn't help. I tried to do the recipe exactly how it is written, but next time I think I'll add vanilla and see if that helps. It does suggest adding some maple syrup or honey for those who like a sweeter version; I may try that when I heat them up. Here's a link for those who want to try it, or check out their other "skinny" recipes:

http://www.skinnycrockpot.com/skinny-sweet-potato-mash-with-pecans/

My first 10-day workout was climbing up and down our stairs for 10 minutes carrying an 8-lb medicine ball. Oh my goodness. I was depressed at how out of shape I am. I was totally winded and my lungs were burning after about three minutes. I finished and am glad 10 minutes was all I committed to for now. For those who don't have stairs, you can easily do a 10-minute circuit at home with no equipment. One minute jumping jacks, one minute push-ups, one minute butt kickers, one minute crunches, one minute mountain climbers, one minute tricep dips (need a chair for that one), one minute high-knees, one minute flutter kicks, one minute squat jumps, one minute wall sits. I think I just planned out my workout for tomorrow. =) And if some of those moves are too hard you can always just pick five you think you can do and then go through each one twice.

One last thing, I have another goal. The red dress I bought last year. I need to fit into it by Feb 11th. I will try it on tomorrow and see if it's even feasible. LET'S DO THIS! =D

Now It Can Be Said...

I've been quiet about my weight (in actual numbers) since the huge gain and setback I had this summer. To the point where I didn't even weigh myself when I first got back from vacation. If you noticed (if you didn't, you can look now), I still haven't changed the ticker on the top of my page since now that is a goal I HAVE to get back to. If I change it to my current weight it's like admitting defeat (in my mind). So now it can be said, that I am officially almost back to the point I originally started. =) Not 151 lbs, but I'm at 157.5 lbs. Considering I haven't worked out in over a week, I'm fairly happy about it, mostly its due to a lack of appetite since I've been sick, but considering Halloween was on Monday (and there's a TON of candy at our house), I'll take it.

My new short-term goal is to get back down to 151 lbs by the holidays. Its only 20 days until Thanksgiving, so to do it before then would be trying to lose a little bit over 2 lbs a week. Worst-case scenario is to be down at least to that by Christmas. Even if there are some days I splurge, as long as I still work out, losing an average of a pound a week over the next 6 1/2 weeks doesn't seem that unrealistic, even over the holidays. My next blog weigh-in will be either Dec 19th or 20th, and we'll see how I do.

Five Weeks to a 5K My Patootie

My body hates me right now. I ran today. If you could call what I did "running". It was more like this:



I got a free subscription to "Shape" magazine and I found a 5 Weeks to a 5K program. Here is a link to the program:

http://www.shape.com/fitness/training-plans/5-weeks-5k

Granted the plan does stipulate that you'll need to repeat Week 1 until you can run two miles without stopping. I cannot run two miles without stopping. My foot only bothered me about the first 30 - 45 seconds (yes, I will ice it tonight), but it was my muscles that rebelled against me. There were "you neglect us for how many months and now you expect us to work for you?!?!".

I used http://www.mappedometer.com/ to figure out my distance ahead of time (and where the half-mile breaks were). The total distance I went was 2.35 miles in my neighborhood, but it took me over a half-hour to do that.

Tomorrow is supposed to be my cross training day, I got the Bob Harper "Ultimate Cardio Body" from the library, I'll let you know how it goes.

Did I Miss Something?!?!

The secondary title of this post could be "Holy Crap I'm Not Eating Nearly Enough Fruits and Vegetables!"

I was vaguely aware that the USDA changed the food pyramid to a food plate. But I did not get the memo that the serving sizes of fruits and vegetables had changed. A cup of leafy vegetables used to equal a serving size of veggies, now it equals half a serving. A half a banana used to count as a serving of fruit, now a small banana only counts as half a serving. WHAT?!?!

I think its one thing to be aware of something, like most of us realize we're probably not eating enough fruits and vegetables, or I should probably eat less fried foods or drink less soda... but its a bit different when you plug the numbers and find out how far off the mark you really are. Like budgeting. When you know you went over budget for the month and you figure it was about $100 - $150, nothing you can't make up for next month, but then you run the numbers and realize you went $1500 over your budget that month.

I decided to see how many fruits and vegetables I should be eating a day. I went to www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov, when I plug in my age, activity and sex, it came up with 1.5 servings of fruits and 2.5 servings of vegetables a day. Now, I used to be lucky if I ate that many in a week, so I know I'm doing better, but I'm still not there yet. Despite my attempts to eat more fruits and vegetables at breakfast and lunch, I think I'm STILL at least half a cup short of each by dinner time.

You may be thinking, okay Tiff, only half a cup of each at dinner (or an afternoon snack) isn't that bad. No, its not. But I feel like I'm eating a lot of fruits and vegetables already. To me, this just emphasizes how short I've fallen for so long. Right now I usually eat veggie sticks (carrots, broccoli, peppers, etc) and hummus, a spinach salad, a smoothie (yes I make it at home so I know what goes into it), and a piece of fruit, and I'm still half a serving short of each for the day.

That doesn't even consider how I'm letting my family fall short every day as well. Granted the kids have less to eat each day, and I think they do okay most days on fruit, but I definitely need to make more kid-friendly vegetable servings a priority.

As a result of what I recently discovered, my current goal is eat my 1.5 servings of fruit and 2.5 servings of vegetables at least five days a week. The other two days need to at least come out to that total between the two days. I know that on days I'm not at home all day are going to be more of a challenge so I need to prepare for times when I'm not going to be home and bring something along with me. For my family I'm going to make sure to have more fruit and vegetable options as snacks and at dinner, and if we're out-and-about to bring enough for all of us.

"Better. Not Good, But Better."

Kudos to whoever can guess what movie I quoted the title of this post from. =)

So, I have not worked out in about a week, I know, bad me. I was able to renew my workout DVDs from the library, so I can still try them (and post a review) before I have to turn them back in. So how without working out can I say I've been doing better? Because I have been eating better. A lot more fruits and veggies, going for healthier snacks and meals. Typically my dinner hasn't been as good as the rest of my meals, and I still crack and eat some Cheetos or Reese's Pieces as snacks, but I do count them so I have an idea how many calories I'm eating. =)

The good news is I'm now a pound and a half down from when I weighed myself three weeks ago. The weight loss has been just this week b/c earlier this week I weighed the same. So, what is my unorthodox plan for weight loss? Weighing myself and tracking my weight every day. I know this doesn't work for a lot of people, but for me, it seems to be the only way to keep myself accountable. I post a piece of paper on my bathroom mirror with the days written out for the next month (or two or three) and each day I write my weight down. It helps me track if I'm making any real progress or not.

That's it for now, this post is a bit boring I know. I hope to post a workout review in the next couple of days. I think I'll try a Bob Harper DVD; either "Totally Ripped Core" or "Inside Out Method". I'll let you know how I do. =)

I'm An Idiot

No, this is not a self-deprecating post, but I did do a really moronic thing this weekend I will share with y'all. The thing is, I'm still not exactly sure how I did it, but I'll explain.

Decided to work out on Saturday since I didn't the entire week my parents were visiting, okay good for me. Was going to go to the gym, but due to child care only being from 0800 - 1200, opted not to. Still okay as long as I work out at home. Finally decided to do a walking/jogging interval workout on the treadmill. Sounds reasonable, haven't been running for a while so good to take things slow. Goal was to hit 300 calories on the treadmill, I know its not an exact count, but figured it would get me in the ballpark and that's how much I'd like to lose in each workout, even if I have to work slower for 45 minutes rather than jog/run for 30. Still nothing wrong with that. I start my workout and get more motivated, jog some spurts, walk some spurts, have the treadmill on an incline to make it a little more difficult. I lower the incline when I start feeling worn out. My stomach starts cramping, nothing unusual in that, figure it'll be fine after I'm done with my workout. Its uncomfortable, but nothing too bad. Until I stop. And I realize (once the endorphins from working out wear off) that I'm in pain. I will rank it somewhere between my first and second caesareans. I'm in a lot of pain, need to take pain medicine, and can barely walk, much less drive myself and the kids to where we were supposed to go for dinner that night. The thing is, I've never hurt myself like that from running, ever. I ended up in bed for several hours, thankfully I slept after taking a pain killer, and was still a bit sore the next day. So somehow I hurt my lower abdomen from a walking/jogging workout on the treadmill on Saturday and I'm not sure exactly why/how that happened. I'm better now, but it freaked me out and I felt really stupid that I kept working out after the pain initially started.

Today I tried walking on the treadmill, that only lasted about two minutes until I started feeling the pain again so I stopped. So, instead, I did Level 1 of Jillian Michaels's "Yoga Meltdown" DVD which I really liked. I had to stop at several points to do a pain check to make sure I wasn't hurting myself again, but overall I definitely liked the workout. Good for beginners, mostly strength training moves, very light cardio, and you don't need anything but a mat or a carpet to work out on. I have to do Yoga in my tennis shoes because of my foot, but I was still able to do most of the moves without too much difficulty. The workouts (Level 1 and Level 2) are only 30 minutes each and you have the option of listening to the instructions in English or Spanish. I have to return the DVD to the library tomorrow so hopefully I can check it out again in a couple of weeks and try Level 2.

In other news I did get up the nerve to weigh myself last week, but I'll save that story (and my plan of action) for my next post. =)

Getting Up After the Fall

Good news is I'm making progress. How do I know without weighing myself? Three ways:

1) I can get my class ring on again without a struggle. I couldn't do that on Monday.
2) I can get into my big jeans and zip them up without a problem. Granted, they're still too tight on me, but at least I can get them on again.
3) I can get into Patrick's old jeans again. Those were also my back-up plan whenever I couldn't get into my own clothes, now that I'm writing this, I'm not sure if he knows that. =)

So I don't frustrate anyone on how much weight I'm seemingly losing in one week, please remember, I'm a "concentrated" (short) person. Two-three pounds (or one kilo) does make that much a difference on me with how my clothes fit. This should also show you how much I was eating the last couple of weeks on vacation compared to now if only a few days makes that much of a difference.

Now on to my first review of the Biggest Loser DVD "Weight Loss Yoga".

The set-up of the DVD is pretty standard for the "Biggest Loser" DVDs: 5-minute warm-up, a 20-minute Level 1 circuit, a 15-minute Level 2 circuit, a 10-minute Level 3 circuit, and then a 5-minute cool down. You can do all five of these or customize it however you want. You also have the choice of music and instruction or just music. I choose music and instruction since this is my first time doing the workout. I also just choose the warm-up, Level 1, and the cool down since its been months since I worked out.

I'm considering myself a beginner right now, and as a beginner this was a decent workout by itself. I also liked that it wasn't anything that I thought could make my injury worse like running or standard cardio aerobics could do. It focuses mostly on yoga and pilates moves so it's mostly stretching and strength-training, but that's what I need at this point. I probably could have done Level 2 as well today, but I'm glad I didn't, and know its something I can add tomorrow.

I found a new favorite snack at Wal-Mart this week. "Cranberry Nut Antioxidant", all it is is almonds, sunflower seeds, and dried cranberries but I love it. I have to be careful since it's 190 calories a serving (each serving is 1/4 cup), but its totally worth it.

That's it for now, I'll let y'all know how Level 2 and 3 are of "Weight Loss Yoga". Right now its on my "maybe" list of workout DVDs to buy.

Apparently Having Bronchitis is Not Conducive to Working Out

Yup, I have bronchitis. So does our oldest son, and we've probably had it (at least) several weeks now. So, per our doctor, he shouldn't go back to school until Thursday (at the earliest) and the two of us are trying to hack up a bunch of disgusting stuff while I'm simultaneously trying to keep him (more or less) still. I haven't worked out since last Thursday since I had a mild case of the flu on Friday, and I was still recovering Saturday, then Sunday I figured it was better not to push it and I could start working out again on Monday... well best laid plans. :P On the plus side, I have not gained weight since my last "official" weigh in last week.

I tried the "Get Ripped! Ripped 1000" DVD last week and all I can say is don't bother. They claim that you'll burn more calories by doing cardio intervals in between each weight segment, which may be true if they didn't also bring your heart rate back down after each cardio segment. So far the only one I think I would do of the Get Ripped is the "Slim and Lean" one which I would use for a strictly weight lifting workout. Granted I could probably figure out how to modify the Ripped 1000 DVD to get a better workout, but why would I spend money on a DVD that I felt I had to change to get a better workout in. If I spend money on a workout DVD I don't want to feel like I have to modify it to make it effective.

That's it for now. Trying a new recipe tonight out of the "South Beach Diet Super Quick Cookbook" called "Tilapia Margarita". I'll let y'all know how it turns out. =)

6 lbs Down and Lemon-Caper Chicken

Weighed myself today and I am now officially 151 lbs. Being sick may have had something to do with it, but hey, I'll take what I can get. =)

We tried the Lemon-Caper Chicken on Monday and it was pretty good. I had to make some modifications to it, so I'm not sure if it turned out exactly right, but it was fine. Of course I'm not sure I'm going to make it again anytime soon simply because there are many other recipes we'd like to try before we start repeating any.

As to our challenge of not buying anything new at the grocery store until we eat what we already have; it's going well, but it's actually starting to bug me not buying anything new. I know we need to stick with it though, our pantry and freezer still have plenty of food and I think we'll be fine until June at this rate. But, I am going to break the rule for Easter Sunday. Along with all the diet cookbooks I checked out from the library, I also checked out "Mastering The Art of French Cooking". I'm going to attempt to make the "Boeuf Bourguignon" and the "Chocolate and Almond Cake". Of course I warned everyone ahead of time that if it turns out horrible we'll order pizza instead. =)

I did well with working out last week (for the most part). I worked out Mon - Fri, didn't on Sat/Sun, and was planning on working out Mon - Fri this week as well. So far I've only worked out on Monday. I'm going to attempt to make up for that (somewhat) today by doing a Get Ripped DVD as well as run on the treadmill. I'm also supposed to go out to dinner tonight (at a local Italian restaurant), and looking at the menu online there are no low calorie options so I'm going to make sure I only eat a small portion of my dinner.

That's the latest and greatest. With leftovers and everything else we have I don't think I'll be attempting any new recipes until Sunday. I will try out the "Get Ripped 1000" DVD today so I'll do a review of that next time around.

Three New Workouts and a New Favorite

Since the last time I posted a DVD review I have tried three new workout DVDs: "The Trainer's Edge: Integrated Strength Training" with Jeffrey Scott, "Get Ripped! Slim and Lean", and "Get Ripped! To the Core", both with Jari Love. Jeffrey Scott's I did not think was worth doing. It said use lower weights because it was high rep so I was expecting something like Jillian Michaels's "No More Trouble Zones", but I could have easily used 5 and 8-lb weights throughout the entire workout. Granted, if I had done that I may have had a more positive review of it, but I was more interested in trying different workouts than trying his again with heavier weights. Also, with the "Get Ripped!" series, I was expecting to use 2 and 3-lb weights, but the "low intensity" person in the video was using a minimum of 5-lb weights and I found that I could alternate between 5 and 8-lb weights and get a decent strength training workout in.

Common things I have read about the "Get Ripped!" series is that it moves too slow in between sets, people don't like stretching after every move, the music and video production is lame, etc. Yes, all those things are true, but if you're working out and only lifting in a gym, you're very likely going to have breaks in between either setting up for a new exercise or waiting for equipment, and I actually liked the extra stretching after each set. If you're used to Jillian Michaels's constant movement I can see why you might not like this, but I thought it was good just to do something different. Also, the two "Get Ripped!" workouts were very similar, so if anyone was to buy one of these you might just buy one of them and then get the others from a library or OnDemand for a slight variation once in a while. I also have the "Get Ripped 1000" to try out, so I'm going to see if that one is much different from the two I've tried so far. After doing these workouts I think I would like to incorporate a "Get Ripped!" DVD into my routine at least once a week.

On a side note I decided to do a cardio-only workout at the gym yesterday. It was 20 minutes on the bike, 20 minutes on the treadmill, and 20 minutes on the elliptical. Elliptical was definitely my weakest area, so something I need to work on, and I won't do it last next time. But, on the positive side of things, I ran at a faster pace on the treadmill than I had run in the past few months so I was happy about that.

Recipe plan for Sunday, this time out of the "South Beach Diet Super Quick Cookbook": "Lemon-Caper Chicken" with "Roasted Green and Wax Beans with Walnuts". I'll let y'all know how it goes. =)

New Recipe, Different Cookbook

Last night we tried "Flounder with Tomatoes and Peppers" from the "Better Homes and Gardens New Dieter's Cookbook" and it turned out surprisingly well. I was nervous it would be too fishy or bland; but it was one of the better dishes we've tried recently. The mix of ingredients (most that I don't normally use when cooking =) gave it a great flavor, plus once the prep work of chopping was done, it was really easy to make.

Flounder with Tomatoes and Peppers

1 lb fresh or frozen flounder fillets or other then, mild-flavor fillets (this comes out to about four 4-oz pieces of fish =)

1 cup finely chopped onions

1 medium fresh mild green chile pepper (e.g. Anaheim), seeded and cut into bite-size pieces (1/2 cup)

1 Tblsp olive oil

4 medium roma tomatoes, chopped (about 2 cups)

1/4 cup sliced, pitted imported black olives, such as kalamata or nicoise

2 Tblsps capers, drained

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Parsley sprigs

1) In a large skillet cook onions and chile pepper in hot oil over medium heat about 4 minutes or until tender.

2) Stir in the tomatoes, olives, capers, and 1/8 tsp of the salt. Arrange the flounder fillets on top of the vegetables. Sprinkle fish with the remaining 1/8 tsp salt and the black pepper. Cover and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Transfer fish and vegetables to dinner plates. Garnish with parsley.

Another New Recipe

Last night I tried making another new recipe out of the Jillian Michaels cookbook "Mastering Your Metabolism". It was called "Broiled Tilapia with Fresh Herbs, Mushrooms, and Tomatoes". The positives were, this recipe, like the chicken one I did last week, was easy to make. You make the herb mixture in a food processor and you use the same mixture for the fillets that you use to stuff the mushrooms. You put the fish (coated in the mixture), the stuffed mushrooms, and a bunch of cherry or grape tomatoes on a baking sheet and broil for about 10 minutes. The verdict? The mushrooms and tomatoes were fine, the mixture to coat the fish smelled really good, but it tasted only "okay".

If anyone wants a copy of this recipe I'll send it to you, but I'm not going to post it here. =) Next new recipe will be on Wednesday night, going to try a different cookbook this time, the "Better Homes and Gardens New Dieter's Cookbook", the recipe will be "Flounder with Tomatoes and Peppers". I'll let y'all know how it goes. =)

Review of The Belly Off! Workout -Strength Training

To change things up a bit, I tried a workout DVD tailored for men: Men's Health: The Belly Off! Workout - The Strength Training Routine (2008).

The DVD consists of a warm-up followed by a cardio segment, then 2 supersets, which are 2-3 combination strength exercises which you repeat 3 times. This is followed by a "strength circuit," which is a quicker series of moves, and of course there's a cooldown and stretch. At the end, there's a separate abs section.

David Jack is leading the workout with another man and woman behind him showing the modifications for the workout. He was fine, I didn't find him annoying at all. =) During the workout a message would pop up on the screening telling the viewer what exercise we were doing and for how many reps at the start of each one.

Warm-up is good and a long enough (9 minutes). I liked that since sometimes I don't really feel "warmed up" after only 5 minutes which is typical in workout DVDs.

The cardio segment was good, but it was only 2 minutes long (granted, this is a weight training DVD, but still). The supersets and strength circuits were good, but I should have used heavier weights for them. I started with 5 lb weights and eventually switched to 8 lb weights. I think I prefer the high rep/low weight routines I've done so far over this.

Two things that were really good about this DVD were the cool down and the ab blast. The cool down was 10 minutes long (again, instead of the traditional 5), so it didn't feel rushed at all and there was sufficient time to stretch after the workout. The ab blast was only 5 minutes, but it was very good. My only complaint is that it's after the cool down for some reason. I would have preferred it before.

Would I use this DVD again? Yes, but I would definitely use heavier weights, and I don't think it's one I'd use on a regular basis so I won't be buying it anytime soon.

Recipe Review

I mentioned previously that I checked out a bunch of books at the library. The first one I tried was Jillian Michaels's "Master Your Metabolism Cookbook". So I made the Almond-Crusted Chicken Breasts and the No-Cream Creamed Spinach. As we're not big fans of cooked spinach, that is one we're not going to try again. That, and the entire time I was cooking it I had no idea if I was doing it right. It didn't taste bad or anything, we think the main reason we didn't like it was because we don't like cooked spinach that much. However, I liked the Almond-Crusted Chicken Breasts and it was really easy to make.

Almond-Crusted Chicken Breasts
(Serves 4)

1/2 cup unsalted almonds, toasted
2 T. extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 tsp grated lemon zest
1 T. fresh lemon juice
3/4 dried rosemary
1 garlic clove
1/4 tsp salt
4 (4-5 ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

Preheat the oven to 425.

First you have to toast the almonds. To toast them put them in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Cook, continuously stirring the nuts for 2-4 minutes (2 minutes if they're already chopped, 4 if they're whole). Transfer to a plate to cool.

In the work bowl of a food processor, place the almonds, olive oil, lemon zest and juice, rosemary, garlic, and salt. Process until coarsely chopped; the mixture will be a thick paste.

Arrange the chicken breast halves in a baking dish. Divide the almond paste and spread on the breasts; pat down to cover each breast completely.

Roast in the oven until cooked through and an instant-read thermometer reads 165-170 degrees, about 10 minutes. ** Note: I had to cook it longer than 10 minutes, so that's something to figure out based on your oven. Loosely tent with foil and let stand for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Nutrition Facts
Calories 293.3 kcal
Fat 17.4 g
Protein 30 g
Carbs 4.3 g
Sodium 194.2 mg

Another Biggest Loser DVD Review

Yesterday I tried the "Biggest Loser Last Chance Workout" DVD. I was surprised that Jillian Michaels was leading it instead of Bob Harper. The format is a 5-minute warm-up, 25 minutes of circuit training, 10 minutes of upper body, 10 minutes of lower body, and a 5-minute cool down. It had former contestants on it, and an interesting thing, I think it had two contestants who were currently on the show (when the DVD was made) on it too. It was amusing to see them all interact with Jillian so that was a nice diversion during the workout (some people may find it distracting though).

I think this workout was more difficult than the "Boot Camp" workout I did, but still a little easier than one of Jillian Michaels 40 minute circuit workouts on her DVDs. Most of the moves weren't too complicated, but there's still the issue that the former contestants are not professionals and sometimes they're not doing the workout exactly how it's supposed to be done. The nice thing was they had men and women of various fitness levels and you could tell this was difficult for some of them too.

This workout was very push-up intensive and it also had a lot of tricep work (which is my weak point). I was glad I started doing knee push-ups during this workout because there was no way I could have done full push-ups for the entire workout. One of my knees has been bothering me, so I had to be very conscious of how I was doing lunges and squats so I wouldn't hurt myself.

The 25 minutes of circuit training was definitely more difficult than Level 1 in the "Boot Camp" workout. The Boot Camp workout did get more difficult with Level 2, where in this workout the upper and lower body exercises weren't much more difficult than what I was already doing in circuit training.

Overall I thought the workout was good, but I can't see buying this for myself; it would probably just be a workout I would do once in a while.

Almond Milk Review

One of the recipes I plan on trying tonight calls for almond milk. I figured since I don't need that much for the recipe I would get enough so we could try it. I tried it and didn't like it. The funny thing is, the reason why I don't like it may be a reason why many people will like it. To me it tasted like leftover milk after you finish your cereal. I hate post-cereal milk and never drink it; but I know many people like (love?) that, so if you do, you may love almond milk. I did use it in my smoothie and that was fine, so I can use it for recipes. I will try unsweetened and the flavored versions eventually and see if I like those any better.

Review of "Biggest Loser" DVD

Yesterday I tried the "Biggest Loser Boot Camp" DVD (another one checked out from the library). I liked it, but I don't think I would use it enough to justify buying it. It think it'll be a DVD I'll check out from the library occasionally when I feel like doing the workout for a while.

The workout is run by Bob Harper from the Biggest Loser and the people working out with him on the DVD are previous contestants (two of them are past winners). The contestants are all in different kinds of shape so it was nice not seeing a bunch of perfectly fit people doing this workout. Some of the people were struggling so it made me not feel so bad for having a hard time too. =) It's also good because it has people doing modifications throughout the entire workout which is helpful.

This workout requires hand weights, a medicine ball, and a workout band. I don't have a workout band so I did the modifications (using weights instead) and it was fine. I'm not sure about doing the modifications for the medicine ball, but that was used for only about 5 minutes of the workout, so I think someone would be fine doing this DVD without it.

The workout has a 5 minute warm-up, then 20 minutes of Level 1, 15 minutes of Level 2, 10 minutes of Level 3, and a 5-minute cool down. If you're a beginner you're supposed to just do the warm-up, Level 1, then the cool down. I would say a true beginner could finish that workout. I did not have a problem completing Level 1, compared to doing the first 20 minutes of a Jillian Michaels workout. So I went on to Level 2 which is 15 minutes long. Level 2 was a lot harder, I was definitely struggling with Level 2. Though I was tired I decided to suck it up and do Level 3 since it was only 10 minutes. If you can finish Level 2, go ahead and do the last 10 minutes of Level 3, it wasn't that much harder and didn't kill me like Level 2 did.

One interesting thing, Bob did most of the workout during Level 2, but during Levels 1 and 3 he spent most of the time instructing. Also, you can tell Bob has a lot of experience working with classes, he was very good with giving counts so the people at home can tell when the next change is. Another interesting thing, since these aren't professionals doing the video with him, sometimes they weren't in sync and weren't right on count. It was a little distracting since sometimes I was watching them and then realized I was off-count, but I'm sure if you did this DVD a few times you would figure it out.

My recommendation, if you're a beginner, you should feel comfortable getting this DVD, it will definitely be an asset to your workout. If you're more advanced, I'd recommend a Jillian Michaels DVD for more of a challenge.

A Different Kind of Challenge

I have a lot to post this week so I'm going to break it up into one post a day. Today will be the pantry/freezer challenge. My better half and I realized that due to our large pantry and extra freezer we tend to stock up on a lot of food and never go through it all. Our current goal is to try and eat everything we have before we buy more food for the pantry or freezer. Obviously we'll still have to buy certain things like bread and milk, but no more replacing things we run out of in the freezer or pantry. We have to try and eat everything else that we have before we start buying more of our favorite things. We'll see how we do. =) This is our first week doing this and when I went to the grocery store today I spent about half the amount that we normally spend.

Review of Another Jillian Michaels DVD

So, in a fit of motivation earlier this week I decided to check out a bunch of workout DVDs and "healthy" cookbooks from the library to try them out and let y'all know what I think (for those who are interested). So I hope to post every couple days to either review a workout DVD, or a recipe in one of these new cookbooks. The past few days I have not been doing well on the eating side of things, but I have worked out the last three days in a row. I ran on the treadmill the first day, rode my bike with the kids the second day, and tried Jillian Michaels "No More Trouble Zones" DVD that I checked out at the library yesterday. Today will be my review of that DVD.

The only thing you need to do this workout is a set of hand weights and a towel or mat. The kicker is, you need to use light hand weights. I started with 5 lb weights, didn't last 5 minutes into the workout before I switched to 3 lb weights. During the 3rd circuit, Jillian Michaels mentions that she's only using 3 lb weights because this is a high repetition, low weight workout. Now she tells me. :P

This workout follows the same format as her "Banish Fat Boost Metabolism" (BFBM) DVD. It starts with a 5 minute warm-up, then 42 minutes of strength training broken up into 7 circuits of 6 minutes each, and then a 5 minute stretch/cool down. You can also go into the menu and pick and select which circuits you want to do if you don't have time to do all of them, the same feature is in her "BFBM" workout DVD as well.

Like her BFBM DVD, this is not an easy workout to do the entire way through. There are some exercises that can be modified, but I would not recommend the entire thing the first time around for a true beginner. I would recommend either just doing two or three circuits to start and then add them on as you get better, or even doing two circuits one time, two another time, etc. It's also good to do it that way if you're short on time.

Something I really liked about this DVD, which is different from some of her other ones, is Jillian actually does most of the workout with you. In a lot of her other DVDs she's instructing how to do the moves properly while one of the other girls is demonstrating the workout. In this workout I think she did 4 or 5 out of 7 of the circuits in their entirety, and only stopped to instruct in 2 or 3 of them. Another bonus with a Jillian Michaels workout, while difficult, the moves aren't complicated like so many workout DVDs. The music isn't anything special, but that's not really important for me in a workout DVD; once I get the workout down, I prefer to listen to my own music anyways.

I have to try out a lot more DVDs before I make my decision, but right now I would definitely consider buying this DVD. If I didn't think I would get bored, I could easily see doing this DVD three times a week, and doing her BFBM DVD the other three days a week, and I would be surprised if that didn't produce really good results.

That's my review for today. I'm only going to post the link on Facebook on Sundays, but I hope to have a new post with another review by next Wednesday or Thursday. If anyone else has done this workout DVD and has any other comments that I forgot, please let me know! =)

Being Sick is Good for Losing Weight

Well life got in the way again of working out and eating better. It was *supposed* to start slowing down this week, and I was hoping to get into a routine by Thursday, when, of course, I got sick.

For me, the tell-tale sign that I'm sick is I'm not hungry. Even when I have a cold or allergies, there isn't much change in my appetite. So far today all I've had is coffee and tea... the thought of eating makes me sick to my stomach. Even the Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies in our pantry aren't a temptation; hence the title of this post. It's easy to eat less when you're not hungry. I'm not moving much, but I'm eating so little I don't think it matters.

So, this gives me time for reflection since I don't feel up to doing much else.

I've been thinking about things I want out of life. There's the usual stuff, to grow old with my husband, for my children to be happy and successful, for my friends and family to live long and happy lives, but I realize those are things I don't have control over. I believe there is a God, and I know there's only so much I can do, so my goal is to do my part, and have faith that the rest is between Him and those individuals.

So what are my goals? My goals are to do the things that God has already given me the tools necessary to achieve; it's just up to me to do them. I do want to train for a Summer Tri, but I also don't want to let other things go to accomplish this training. So, the only way to do that is to be more organized with my time. As much as I loathe doing this; I think I'll have to write myself out a daily schedule so I can make sure I get my training done, but don't let other things fall to the wayside to do this.

Instead of feeling guilty that I’m not doing much this week and the house is a disaster, I’m going to take this time to organize my time better, so next week, I can start my new program without the guilt. I’ll let y’all know how I do. =)

The Red Dress Challenge

I don't normally do this but I needed a motivator. I bought a dress that I don't fit into with the goal of trying to fit into it in three weeks. It was on sale for $20 and I figured even if I don't fit into it in three weeks it still would be a goal for later on down the line. I have no idea how much weight I have to lose to fit into it, so losing inches is definitely going to take priority over losing pounds the next couple of weeks. We'll see how I do. =)

Low-cal chili recipe (made with ground turkey)

A note here, I'll try to post recipes as we try them out and let y'all know what we think. I'm posting two today that I've used in the past that not only I liked, but both my husband and older son liked as well (our younger son doesn't get a say yet =) If anyone has any recipes they've tried and liked please share them. I'm looking for recipes that still taste good but are also lower in calories and have less meat in them.

I originally got this one from a "Family Circle" magazine several years ago. It's also online, but you have to register to access it (it doesn't cost anything to register). This is a non-spicy chili recipe, though I personally love spicy food, this one is a better recipe for the whole family. The baked beans and corn make it a bit sweeter than your typical chili.

Ginny's All-American Chili Chowder
Makes: 12 servings
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 20 minutes; Slow-Cook 4 hours on HIGH or 7 hours on LOW

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
3 medium-size onions, diced
2 pounds lean ground turkey
2 cans (28 ounces each) diced tomatoes
2 cans (15-1/2 ounces each) red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (28 ounces) baked beans
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
4 cups frozen corn, thawed
1/4 cup chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Tortilla chips, optional

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook onions for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until nicely browned. Crumble in turkey; cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until turkey cooks through.

2. Place turkey mixture in a 6-quart slow cooker. Stir in diced tomatoes, kidney beans, baked beans, tomato sauce, corn, chili powder, salt and pepper. Cook for 4 hours on high or 7 hours on low. Serve with tortilla chips, if desired.

Nutrition Facts
Servings Per Recipe: 12 servings
Calories: 394
Total Fat: 10g
Saturated Fat: 2g
Cholesterol: 61mg
Sodium: 825mg
Carbohydrate: 53g
Fiber: 12g
Protein: 26g
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Best Laid Plans...

It's been a brutal two days. It's been a long week with family obligations and the hubby being out of town, but the last two days have been the hardest since I don't feel well and can't do much for very long. Also, revaluating my schedule, I'm going to try for a triathlon in April. It's called The Cave Man Tri (as in, it's so easy a Cave Man can do it =) It's a sprint distance and has a pool swim which is what I'm looking for.

Good things for the week, first, I decreased the amount of beef and pork I ate. I had it twice last week. Not down to once a week yet, but I think I can do it this week. I've been eating more veggies, but I still need to eat more fruits and less processed foods (especially sugar). We had fish last night for dinner, and our 6-year-old asked if we could have it again tonight. =)

That's it for now; I hope this week will be better.

Correction =)

A friend just pointed out to me that I used an expression in my last post that isn't as clear as it could be. Of course five pounds of muscle equals the same weight as five pounds of fat. =) What I'm referring to is the fact that five pounds of fat is much larger than five pounds of muscle. So, if I have a grapefruit size of muscle in one hand, and an equal grapefruit size of fat in the other, the muscle will weigh more. The same amount of muscle weighs more than the same size of fat. Based on that, my assumption is that over the break, my poor eating habits combined with a lack of working out lowered the amount of muscle I had and added to the amount of fat I had. This would explain why I currently weigh the same as I did before but, since I can tell I'm bigger, I'm assuming I've replaced some muscle that I had with fat. I can’t prove this since I haven’t been measuring my body fat, but it’s my best educated guess. =)

Falling off the Wagon

It's been 4 weeks to the day since my last post. Let’s just say since then I fell off the wagon. Big time. For three weeks. So I decided I would give myself a week after New Year’s weekend to start eating right so I wouldn't have as bad a case of sticker shock when I finally got around to weighing.

I knew by how my clothes fit that I gained weight, I figured I gained five lbs, best case scenario maybe only three or four lbs (remember I am short), and worst-case seven or eight lbs. I weighed this morning, and I weighed (drum roll please)... 156 lbs. Yup, exactly the same as the last time I weighed in. I was so shocked that I re-weighed myself several times to make sure that was right and I wasn't just standing on the scale wrong. It was definitely 156 lbs. How is the possible? Most of you have probably heard that muscle weighs more than fat; I just had that reiterated to me this morning. It's always one thing to know something in your head, and another to have it reaffirmed on the scale.

Which is both good and bad. It shows me again that I can't just use my weight as a barometer for how fit/healthy I am, but as I don't have an accurate body fat measuring tool at my disposal, it's the best thing I have (for now).

As of this Sunday I will have exactly 8 weeks until the sprint triathlon I want to do. Still possible to train and complete it, but that doesn't give me any extra time in case life gets in the way. =) I will start training today since I know I'll be out of town two weekends, one for two days and the other for almost 4 days so I need a few extra days to make up for those if I can't work out then.

I also have another change in my diet I want to make. After talking to one of my friends who is a raw vegan, one who is a vegetarian, and another who doesn't eat beef or pork I'm going to start limiting the amount of beef and pork I eat. Beef is my weakness in this area since I love beef and we live in Texas where it's easy to get awesome steaks and burgers. =) I'm not sure how easy it will be to make this change; I still have to discuss it with my family as well since I'm usually the one that cooks. I think I'll start with having beef/pork only once a week with my eventual goal to get myself down to once a month.

That's it for now. Next "official" weigh-in will be next Wednesday. I hope that working out for the first time in almost a month will help me have a good week.