My keys to weight loss

I’ve really been thinking lately that I need to carve out more of an identity for myself in this blog world. I keep asking myself “Who am I?”

Anyone who reads my About Me or Weight Loss pages can find out what my “story” is.

But some people just click on a certain post and then leave thinking “oh this girl really likes peanut butter” and not realize the journey that got me to this point.

It’s been about so much more than weight loss for me. But that’s a good place to start.

This was Josh and me during the Christmas season in 2005, the year we got married! This was also the time of my highest weight.

Then in March of this year, when we visited New York City (taken at Madison Square Garden).

In January 2007, I started a major lifestyle overhaul that would eventually lead me to a vastly improved, healthier life. Part of this was losing 70 lbs, which took me about a year to achieve.

One of my keys to the weight loss I experienced was Journaling.

• I logged everything I ate (or drank) in a journal (like this one) and tallied up (as best I could) the totals for calories, fat, carbohydrates, protein and fiber.
• I also tracked how many glasses of water I drank every day.
• The times of meals were recorded.
• It also had space for exercise.
• In the section labeled “notes” I tried to write something like “good day” or “wow, I ate too much” to gauge my mood or how I thought the day went.

Doing this made me aware of my habits. Previously, I had just sort of flown by the seat of my pants. I had no idea how many calories I was eating, I was hardly aware of what I was really eating at all.

Here’s what I do remember. Before, my day would consist of this:

• No breakfast at home; if I did eat, it was either Pop Tarts or chocolate donuts from the vending machine when I got to work.
• Lunch was usually from Wendy’s or McDonald’s, hamburger or chicken sandwich with fries. Sometimes I skipped lunch altogether or ate a frozen dinner (usually when I was attempting Weight Watchers).
• Three Musketeer bar and diet soda for that 2 o’clock slump. Speaking of diet soda, it’s pretty much all I drank.
• I honestly can’t remember what I ate for dinner. Sometimes I would just go through the drive thru at McDonald’s when I got off work (usually when I skipped lunch) and crash on the couch when I got home. When we went out to “real” restaurants, I always stuffed myself to the point of sickness. I took lots of Mylanta and Tums back then.
• Sometimes a 3 Musketeer for dessert. Or a Frosty, Blizzard, etc.

Even when I did Weight Watchers, I’d do my best to tally up “points” but I still ate those same foods, perhaps a bit less. I always lost 20 lbs, then stalled and gave up only to put on more weight.

I know the program has changed a lot since my time, but when you have the books with the points listed for every fast food restaurant menu, that does little to help the root of the problem.

When I started educating myself and realized the reality of the stuff I was putting into my body and what would happen if I continued down this road, I knew I wanted better.

In fact, I realized that I didn’t even really like that food, I had just gotten into the habit. I was eating food that was terrible for me and I didn’t like because it was convenient and because I didn’t care enough about myself or my body to take proper care of it.

But thankfully, I finally woke up and realized I am worth it. I also started associating what I ate with how I felt, which was a real eye opener.

Journaling worked well for me but I know it is not for everyone. I continued to journal more informally once I reached a comfortable weight.

This blog, in some ways, is like a food journal only I’m not trying to lose weight anymore. I am however, staying aware and still learning!

To this day, I plan my meals and snacks (apart from the blog) to help me stay on track (and try new recipes!) but I’m much more relaxed now. If I start to feel crappy or my pants start fitting too tight, I will keep a more detailed log until I feel back in control again.

Have you ever used a food journal? Do you find it helpful or not?

I’ll post another key soon, this barely scratches the surface. Thanks for reading!

Sleeping, shopping and curry

After getting home around 2 a.m. this morning, I was planning on sleeping until about 9 or so, but Suzie had another plans (meaning it was 7:30).

“You WILL wake up and take me outside now, Mama!”

After I couldn’t say no to Evil Eyes, I was up and went ahead and made breakfast since I was practically starving.

Nothing like banana PB oats to quiet a growling tummy stomach. I scratched that out because the word tummy actually bothers me and I don’t use it normally, ha ha.

I also had some coffee with light vanilla soymilk in a Christmas mug, which is another one of my favorite things about this time of year

Once everything settled, I organized my grocery list and coupons for a while before going to my mom’s house for a bit and having lunch at Subway (veggie delight-no pic).

Then I hit the grocery stores and did some major damage…for $54!!

That big can of oats is actually hiding a lot of stuff, ha ha. Today, I shopped at Target, Walmart and Kroger which is convenient for me because they are all right in a row on the same street (two in the same shopping center).

I found some great deals and used lots of coupons…I love trips like this!

I got hungry after all of that excitement and had a spoonful of peanut butter to hold me over. I didn’t want to eat too much of a snack because I needed my appetite good and ready for a special recipe!

I decided that tonight, I would make Mama Pea’s Vegetarian Curry. I followed her recipe pretty closely, making only a few adjustments for what I had on hand.

I decided to use spinach, mushrooms, potato, onion and carrots for my veggies.

And my favorite tofu!

Plus the rest

This was my first time using canned coconut milk, so I was excited (it doesn’t take much).

I followed her directions to the T and everything came together nicely. I started by sautéing the veggies.

Then I made the curry sauce, which smelled delicious.

All together, on top of some brown rice.

This dish was pretty good! I think I would like to make it spicier next time (even though my nose was still running) but it was definitely the best curry I’ve made yet.

Big thanks to Mama Pea for providing this easy recipe which I plan to make again in the near future (plus I have leftovers from tonight, yippee)!

Since Josh is currently yelling at the Texas game, let’s hear it…What is your favorite college football team?

First of many

One of the hilarious things about this time of year is all the Christmas parties we end up going to!

One of my favorite parties to attend every year is the party held annually by my friends Carrie and Kristin (they alternate their homes each year) which gets all us girls together for some food, drinks and FUN!

Isn’t Carrie’s tree beautiful?

The theme was “A Tacky, Wacky, Crazy, Kitschy Christmas” so it was our duty to wear something to fit the mood.

Since I don’t own an ugly sweater, behold, Josh’s silly football Santa hat with green ball ornament earrings

Court rocked her antlers!

Before we headed to the party, which is an hour away in Lexington, I snacked on a piece of bread with peanut butter.

This held me over really well but eventually I got hungry and checked out the spread.

I started with some pita chips and hummus.

Carrie steamed some edamame, which was really good and lots of people snacked on it throughout the night

Over the course of the night, I had several more bites of pita and hummus plus a few drinks!

Some vino blanc…

I can’t remember the name of this next one but it had champagne in it and tasted a little bit like a cosmopolitan! It started with a P, what was it?

Ah yes, Poinsettia.

I’m so glad we used the smaller champagne flutes, that definitely helped me keep things in check.

This was some sort of pomegranate drink that Kristin made. I definitely don’t recall the name of this one. But the Poinsettia was my favorite.

We also did a good deed at the party, which ended up being a very fun activity for me. I wrote out two cards to soldiers at Walter Reed hospital.

I think all the girls really enjoyed it too!

Then there was some wastebasket-ball (which I ended up winning).

Some karaoke

And a gag gift exchange, where Court and Amy scored their very own Snuggies!

Beth’s was pretty classic too.

We stayed way past my bedtime but honestly, it was so much fun I didn’t want it to end. But I proceeded to sleep most of the way back to the Ville and crashed as soon as I got home.

Thanks Carrie for hosting such an amazing party. I really enjoyed myself and I can’t wait to do it again next year!

Do you attend Christmas parties? What do you enjoy the most about them?

For me, it was a combo of the belly laughs I shared with friends and writing the cards for the soldiers. I hope it blesses whoever gets them

Fireproof

Our Wednesday night potluck went off without a hitch. Or a fire, thank goodness. But let’s back up.

Since I had oatmeal for dinner on Tuesday night, I went with a different breakfast.

I stole one of Josh’s Lenders bagels and topped it with peanut butter and a sliced banana. The bagel was really plain and left me wanting more. I need to get some of my own – any good recommendations for vegan-friendly bagels?

Snacked on some almonds a few hours later…

For lunch I tried another Dr. McDougall’s selections. No broken bowl this time!

The lentil soup was really good! I’d put it in my Top 3 of this brand. Only one more to go (will be lunch on Friday).

Before my workout, I munched on half a Clif bar and had the other half afterward.

Unfortunately, it was raining like a mug, so we were forced to take our workout to the dread-mill. But we did a good 3 miles and then some abs afterwards.

When I got home, I was a little hungry and knew dinner would be an hour later than normal, so I had a spoon of PB.

Like the Christmas tree background?

Suzie models it better.

Our potluck this week was Mexican themed. We had some bean dip (with lime tortilla chips not pictured, but eaten heavily).

Before it came out of the microwave, Court said it looked like dog food, so we kept talking all night about “how good the dog food tasted” ha ha.

For our entree, Beth made delicious black bean tacos, which I think turned out great.

She went the extra mile and purchased the taco shells that stand up on their own. These are so much easier to eat and don’t fall apart nearly as much, I highly recommend them!

Mexican style veggies on the side. I topped my tacos with lettuce, tomato and taco sauce (not pictured).

In lieu of dessert, we enjoyed this (not Mexican) bottle of wine

I hadn’t had Riesling in a while…it was yummy! Tastes more like champagne than wine to me. Not as strong as Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio. I’m still a red girl, but this was pretty good.

While sipping wine, we watched “Trekkies” which I had never seen. Made me feel sort of okay about being a fan of the things I am because I am not that bad. Right?

What are you an obsessively, totally geeked out fan of? Confess!

Need a yoga mat? Check out the Aurorae giveaway over at Hangry Pants

Ode to the best snack

My camera batteries decided to die on me last night so I missed out a whole day’s worth of eats.

But tonight, I made a trip to Target and got some batteries, among other things…

I bought the Dark Chocolate Dreams last week because I hadn’t had it in a while and while it was good, it just wasn’t the best thing ever like I used to think.

White Chocolate Wonderful…the first time I had it, I liked it, but not as much as the others. Now, I think it is my favorite!

Funny how things change

What caused me to realize this was today’s version of the best snack ever!

This plus this…

Equals <3

I have Tina to thank for turning me on to this evening snack ages ago.

It’s fun because it’s healthy, tastes great, and assuming you only eat one, it’s calorie content is not too shabby.

Plus you can try different breads (or Ezekiel English muffins, ahh, need to get more of those) and nut butters. The thing I like most about the chocolate chips is that they are sweet but still low in sugar.

What is your favorite evening snack?

December 2008

I was inspired by Caitlin, Jenna and a few other bloggers who got in the way back machine and found out what they were up to this time last year. Sounded like fun to me, so here it goes!

In December 2008…the highlights from my 68 posts that month.

Oh Lord…I declared my undying love for John Rzeznik on his birthday. Yeah, I’ve still got it, even if you don’t see it on the blog much. Ha ha

Tofu Chocolate Pudding ’nuff said.

Suzie got her first sweater

I let you inside my head for a discussion (with myself) about Oreos

I was building my running back up after a long hiatus, yay!

I started having doubts about the Biggest Loser. One year later, I don’t watch it at all

Behold, the Reindeer Crack Chow. It’s so not vegan, so I’m safe from it’s grips this year!

Went to an awesome Christmas party with my friends that I will be attending again THIS FRIDAY

Probably my favorite post of this blog, EVER…posting on my progress from January 2007-December 2008

I made a pre-Christmas workout plan and stuck to it for the most part. That same post also revealed that gas was $1.59 at the time!!

I tried my first Spin class at the Y and was instantly hooked (praying for a temporary membership over the holidays again!)

I forgot about Alley Cat Cafe! I need to go back there. Wonder if they have vegan options? My meal was apparently veggie.

I had my one and only visit to Karma Cafe, where I had french fries for the first time in years! The restaurant has since closed for business. Sad

I finally got to try that dang Pumpkin Spice oatmeal! Do they have it again this year?

Photo credit: Megansmunchies.com

Forrest Griffin lost the light heavyweight UFC title (boo! But he just won his last fight so I’m hopeful)

To get my hopes up for this year, the high on December 21st was 26, BUT it was 57 degrees on December 30th! Come on heat wave!!

In summary…

• I was still using my cell phone camera for pics, eek!
• It was neat to see how a lot of my meals were meatless (not all of course, but quite a few).
• I was still using Equal in my coffee, ewwww! Plus countless other fake “sugar free” foods.
• I noticed in a lot of posts, that I was feeling good about myself and my body.
• However, I was still posting a lot of calories and my weight. I don’t care to do that anymore!
• I was taking Suzie on a lot of walks…need to get back into that again!
• I really need to find Mighty Maple PB again, yum.
• Ditto for that Cranberry Fig Hummus!
• I was completely, totally, utterly, addicted to sugar. Wow.

That was a fun trip down memory lane. A lot changes in a year! It makes me wonder what December 2010 will be like…

Happy Hump Day! Girl’s night potluck tonight, woo hoo…hopefully no more fires!

Two months

Happy December everyone! I can’t believe it’s here already. Thanks everyone for your sweet comments, I had a much better day today

I have been vegan for 2 whole months now. It sure seems like it’s been a lot longer than that and slight mishaps aside, I think it is going really well.

For breakfast this morning, I had pumpkin oat bran with raisins, chocolate chips and peanut butter.

This breakfast almost held me until lunch but around 10:30, I got a little hungry so I snacked on some almonds.

Lunch was totally awesome today! I didn’t blog about it before but I made this awesome tofu on Sunday night:

And then today, I had the leftovers, plus some broccoli topped with salsa!

I had just the broccoli but wanted to put something on it badly. This was a great choice, I highly recommend it. I think next time, I’ll try hummus. But sometimes I do like broccoli plain, just not today.

Lately, I have been buying the Kroger brand tofu and I have to say, it is really good. I might actually prefer it. The texture is great and it bakes really well (425* for 20 minutes).

Later in the afternoon, I had half of this Clif bar:

Then I hit the gym for some weights!

I warmed up with 15 minutes of running on the treadmill (about 1.3 miles) and then got to pumpkin pumping iron

• Chest presses
• Military shoulder presses
• Bicep curls
• Tricep extensions
• Lateral raises
• Front raises
• Squats
• Lunges
• Calf raises
• Core: Back extensions, crunches, side crunches, reverse crunches, leg lifts, etc.

After the workout, I ate the other half of my Clif bar. I’ve noticed it makes a big difference to eat before and after a workout to keep me from being ravenous when I get home from work.

On the way home, I started thinking about what I wanted to have for dinner. Brown rice and vegetables just sounded so boring, plus I’d already had a few vegetables today.

Hmm…what to have for dinner?

PB&J oatmeal, of course!

Sometimes you just have to go with what you are craving. This was delicious and really hit the spot, especially on a cold night.

After my dinner settled, I went for a walk with my friend Candy again. She is due to have a baby any day now so we’re trying to move things along, ha ha. But it was a good walk and I was hungry again when I got home!

Times two! Tortilla chips are a food I love a little too much but I finished off the bag and won’t replace it any time soon

Hope Tuesday and the first day of a new month has treated you well. I love the beginning of a new month, it makes me so motivated to try something new or start implementing a new healthy habit.

What new goals are you setting for this month?

Good night friends!

Case of the Mondays

Sorry for the lack of posting lately! It’s definitely been one of those days.

But hey, I’m feeling good and healthy, my Christmas tree is beautiful, my house is clean…it’s all good.

This morning, I had banana oats with PB for breakfast. Surprised?

All I keep hearing about from people today after this Thanksgiving holiday is that they are going to “go on a diet” or “not eat” for a while. What the heck?

Don’t do it people, it won’t work! Love yourself more than that. Please.

I skipped my usual Monday Starbucks run this morning because I was so full from breakfast (perhaps that’s where I went wrong, ha).

Eventually my appetite caught up and I snacked on an apple and Dark Chocolate Dreams.

I had soup planned for lunch but the bowl I brought to eat it out of fell onto the floor of my cubicle and shattered

I searched high and low at work and there were no spare bowls to be found. So I had to buy lunch today, which totally sucked (I hate spending money unexpectedly).

I decided to go to Einstein Brothers Bagels because I’d never been there before and it was one of the closest places to go (since it was cold outside and I was trying to avoid it).

I was frustrated and hungry when I got over there, always a deadly combination.

I ordered the “Veg Out” sandwich, which cost me $6.35! I could’ve got a bag of bagels, an onion, tomato, cucumber and head of lettuce for that much probably.

I don’t know what the sauce was (reminded me of a chipotle ranch) but I’m pretty sure it contained dairy and it even messed with my stomach a bit. I hate that because I didn’t know sauce came on it. Silly me.

This tasted alright and was filling but the high price tag (and the red onions) left a bad taste in my mouth. The bagel also did not work well as “bread” because everything fell out with every bite I took…very messy.

For $6.35, I could’ve at least gotten a whole meal at Subway. Will remember that next time (hopefully there won’t be one).

I snacked on some more Dark Chocolate crack Dreams and then called it a day. Since I was seriously craving soup, I decided to take it home and make it for dinner!

Dr. McDougall’s soups rule! I still have two more to try after this.

This Roasted Pepper Tomato really hit the spot and made my nose run a little

The tortilla chips were a nice touch!

After dinner settled, I went for a really freakin’ cold walk with my friend Candy and then hit up Target to see if they had any good deals. I got a fleece and some more warm pajama pants for $20.

My in-laws early Christmas present came at the best time!

When I got home, I felt hungry again and even though I’d had my fair share of chocolate peanut butter, I’m apparently not tired of chocolate or peanut butter, individually.

I’m so glad Monday is over and I can’t wait to try again tomorrow. Really though, today wasn’t too bad. Could always be worse, right?

I should’ve expected a rough transition coming off a five day weekend, ha ha!

How do you deal with a case of the Mondays?

First three are the hardest

I woke up a little bit earlier this morning to do some shopping!

Strangely, it’s like no one knows about the new Target out where I live. Because from 9-11 this morning, I had plenty of room to roam

Before I left, I had oats with banana, wheat germ and peanut butter.

After doing some shopping (mostly for myself, I had a gift card) I came home and had my leftover falafel and sweet potato fries from last night.

I had to work really hard to get up the motivation to run today. After sitting on the couch for a while I finally made myself get up, put on my gear and head out the door.

It was a beautiful day for a run, I think the high today was 62! The first mile or so, I was breathing kind of heavy but I just kept at it and eventually everything leveled off.

For me, the first few miles are always the hardest. Once I get past three, I am on cruise control. It is the strangest thing. So when I got to that mark today, I kept going.

I did 5.75 miles in an hour. I felt really good toward the end and knew that once training starts, it won’t be too difficult to gradually increase my mileage. I’m so excited!

I downed a few glasses of water and then busted this open to put together a snack.

Some out of the jar, some on toast!

Oh, it had been too long. Thank goodness for that Target gift card

Hope you are having a great Saturday!

Unproductive

Here I sit on Friday night and I feel like I got absolutely NOTHING accomplished today. But you know what? Sometimes we just need days like that.

I woke up this morning at the late hour of 8:40 a.m. (seriously that is late for me) and made some breakfast:

Pumpkin oat bran with raisins, chocolate chips and PB. Seriously, you think I would be tired of chocolate chips by now. Nope!

I met my mom for coffee and read some really cool vegetarian magazines at the bookstore where I got some ideas of things to buy and places to shop for some vegan goodies. Plus it was nice catching up with my mom since we didn’t see each other at Thanksgiving.

For lunch, I ate some vegetarian baked beans and brown rice but didn’t take a pic since it’s the exact same thing I had for lunch yesterday!

Suzie got a bath and did this most of the afternoon:

 

Before I went grocery shopping, I started having a mad craving for some falafel and made a stop at Shiraz Mediterranean Grill which has my absolute favorite falafel (so far).

I nixed their sauce and added my own hummus. I also fell for their sweet potato fries and finally decided to try some!

But I gauged my hunger and knew I couldn’t possibly finish all of this food in one sitting, so I put one of the falafel balls with the veggies and pita plus half of the fries in the fridge for another meal.

Here’s my actual plate:

It was delicious!

After dinner, we watched the movie “Year One” which wasn’t as funny as we’d hoped it would be. Thankfully we only got it because we had a free rental from the Redbox.

Dessert/Evening snack was my favorite, you guessed it.

At first I was kind of bummed that I didn’t exercise today (other than grocery shopping) but I think I needed today since I ran a 5 mile trail run on Wednesday and did a very challenging yoga program yesterday. My arms and shoulders are totally sore today!

So I’m thinking a run is in order for tomorrow. Probably going to wait until later in the day when it warms up a bit. It’s freaking cold out there tonight, I think we’re getting down to 32, boo!

I’m not a fan of cold weather. But I can appreciate the need for seasons. Sadly, I held out as long as I could…we turned on the heat tonight. We’re only going to use it when absolutely necessary but tonight I was freezing.

Hope wherever you are, you are warm and comfy!

Good night