Weight loss Saturday-a day late!

Hey! Thanks for all of the birthday wishes yesterday! I'm officially 27 years old now!

I have a ton of photos and fun to share with you but I felt the need to weigh in via the blog.

I weigh the EXACT same as last Saturday. Even after indulging on my birthday (can you say creme brulee and wine?) I'm honestly shocked that I didn't gain!

Andy and I tried to run today but my body wasn't in the mood. We ended up walking 3 miles. We ran a little bit but not much (less than a mile.) I really need to sign up for a race so I can motivate myself.

We didn't make it to this round of Project Foodbuzz. I am bummed but also relieved! I got to enjoy my birthday and not stress over what to cook!

Hopefully I'll see a loss next week!

Weigh-in Saturday

I wasn't able to weigh-in at my weight watchers meeting today because we are about to leave for San Diego to celebrate Andy's grandpa's birthday! Both of my grandfathers passed away when I was young so Andy's grandpa is definitely my honorary grandpa.

I weighed myself on my home scale and was down 5 lbs. Honestly I know that my scale and the WW scale differ (about a 3 lb difference) so lets just say I'm down another 2 making for a total weight loss of 7.8 lbs. Next Saturday is my birthday so I probably won't make it to Weight Watchers then either. But soon enough I'll weigh in on their scale and see exactly what it is.

I'm happy that the number on the scale isn't defining me. I only weigh in once a week and try not to obsess over it.

I ran a few times this week and can feel myself getting stronger and faster. My goal is to run a 13 min/mile at my next 5k race. Eventually I want to build back up and run a 10 min/mile pace but that will take time. Hopefully losing some weight will speed me up.

I've been drinking detox-green smoothies lately and I swear it gives me tons of energy. And for once I'm getting an appropriate amount of leafy greens in.

I'll update about San Diego soon! And BEER MONDAY.

How are you guys doing on your goals (weight loss related or not!)?

Weigh-in #1

Hey everyone!

So I weighed in yesterday and was down another 2.6 pounds. I'm pretty excited but also nervous since I tend to struggle after the first couple weeks. Wish me luck this week!

We'll be back with more updates soon. We saw Anthony Bourdain last night!

Crockpots are magic.

Alright I've clearly lost my mind. I don't care who knows it. Our crockpot has saved my life. I have night classes three nights week so I've been using our crockpot on those nights so I don't wind up eating junk. It's been great so far.



Last night I made salsa chicken using Biz's salsa. It was so easy.

1 1/2 jars of salsa
2 tbsp reduced sodium chicken broth
1/2 of a large red onion (Sorry Biz!)
2 diced hot peppers
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tsp cumin

Add it all to the crockpot and pour salsa over the top of the chicken. Cook on low for 8 hours (or high for 4 hours)



The salsa made this! It's got this incredible smoky flavor that coated the chicken. Every bite had flavor. Plus you've gotta love how salsa has barely any calories.



I served a cup of shredded chicken on a salad plate with a dollop of reduced fat sour cream, guacamole and 1/2 a diced tomato. So good! The chicken would make a great enchilada filling. Thanks so much for sending us salsa Biz it's seriously delicious. I am rationing out the last 2 jars.



MMM.



Another crockpot favorite? Crockpot italian pork.

Get a 1 lb pork loin
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
a dash of dried rosemary, black pepper, sea salt, red pepper flakes and dried basil. Stir.

On high for 4 hours or low for 8. It shreds really easily and tastes fantastic. Sometimes I throw it more seasonings depending on my mood.

In other news, I found my student teaching placement. I will be teaching 7th grade English. I'm really excited but nervous. And my knee is still killing me so more PT is necessary. I've been icing 3x a day for 15 minutes each time, stretching and resting but it's not healing fast enough. I'm so ready to do this again.



Minus the creepy face of course. I also rejoined Weight Watchers last night with a friend. I've maintained my weight since February (the last time I weighed in there) but I'm really hoping to lose some more. If you're interested in being accountability buddies just email me! I could use the motivation.

The question I have for you is... do you have any fabulous crockpot recipes? Please share!

Meat and Potatoes.

Last night, I made dinner FOR A MAN. Please click the link read Kalin's blog. She is hilarious!



I took 1/2 onion and 2 cloves of garlic and caramelized them. It was a slow process. I put the burner on low, added a tbsp of olive oil and stirred.



While the on-yons and GAAAAAHHLIC (a nod to Andy's grandma's southern boyfriend) did their thing, I put a pot roast in the oven with more onions. I was paranoid about cooking a pot roast. I kept checking the thermometer to see if the internal temp had reached 145*.



Of course, a pot roast cannot be complete without potatoes. I took these mini yellow potatoes and cut off the ugly bits. (I leave the skin on!)

For my mashed potatoes;

use 1 bag mini-yellow potatoes
1/2 cup caramelized onions and garlic
1/2 cup fat-free milk
a dash of half and half
salt to taste
pepper to taste
and 1 tbsp real butter.

The addition of the onions adds so much flavor. (Please feel free to substitute almond milk and earth balance if you are participating in Vegan Week (Or if you are a vegan!) And make some meatless meatloaf ala See Sarah Eat

I definitely could use more vegan meals in my life. But alas, I made pot roast. And it was SO GOOD!!!!



I was so happy with how this turned out. The pot roast had tons of flavor and the potatoes were spot on. I'm almost 100% irish so I know my potatoes. I loved these! I just wish I would have had some veggies on hand. I think some carrots, parsnips or green beans would have complimented this nicely.



But I digress, sometimes meat and potatoes is satisfying. Today I will focus on more veggies. I plan on doing something magical with a butternut squash and an eggplant.

3 things before I go.

1. My weigh-in last night wasn't as good as I expected. I lost 0.6. Which means I need to lose 0.4 to be at 10 lbs lost. Andy's birthday is on Saturday and I plan on sharing some sort of dessert with him...but I'm nervous. I plan on amping up the workouts!

2. Check out Lindsey's Give and Feel Good Challenge. I have been trying to do the dishes everyday. It's a way for me to give to Andy. I loathe doing dishes but it makes me feel good to do them for a change. Andy works so hard and deserves some sort of a break when he gets home!

3. Do you crave veggies? I always do after a few days of carbs, meat and starch. I'm on my way to drinking a big GREEN Amazing Grass Smoothie right now.

P.S. I am seeing New Moon friday! YAY!!!!!!!

ugh!

Sorry for the lack of posting. I don't have any good food pictures for you because;

1. Due to the Challenge I have been eating a lot of leftovers. Yesterday's eats included an apple, white chocolate wonderful, some hummus, some crackers, pom arils and later dinner out with friends.

2. The dinner out is one of the dinners that I'm not counting towards the $100 total.

3. Andy and I aren't going to grocery shop until after we return from The Foodbuzz Festival

4. I hurt my knee running again. It's not so bad where I can't run but it does need to be iced often. I have been icing 3x a day.

5. I am taking the day off running today.

6. I lost 1.8 lbs at my weigh in last night!!!!!!!! I have 1.4 lbs to go until I reach my first goal of 10 lbs. Woohoo!!!

I will update later. For now I am icing my dang knee. I have a test in an hour, wish me luck!

Tuesday's weigh in and running

Hello everyone!

I lost 0.8 at my weigh in last night. I was a little disappointed after losing 1.5 last week. I realize why I didn't lose more, but I still feel like things should be moving quicker! It's been about 12 weeks and I've only lost 5.6 lbs. (I blame the 4 weeks I took off Weight Watchers for my wedding and honeymoon.) I feel back on track and I feel pretty good about it. At our weight watchers meeting, my friend who goes every week with me reached one of her goals of 30 lbs! She is incredibly dedicated to the program and really works her you-know-what off to get where she needs to be. I am so proud of her. I cried at our meeting talking about what an inspiration she is to me.

After the meeting, I went home and watched a teeny bit of "The Biggest Loser." It's hard for me to enjoy that show because I constantly compare myself to the contestants and envy them for their high weight losses. UGH that show makes me mad. Once again, I started to feel bad about myself wishing I could have lost more than just 0.8lbs. (My goal is to lose 30 lbs total.) I had to stop myself from feeling negative and remind myself of three important things.

1. Comparing yourself to others is never a good idea.
2. I haven't been eating as healthy as I'd like.
3. I haven't been working out!

So this week, I aim to start working out with a group. I'm hoping it will make next week's weigh in just a little bit higher!

Talk to you all later,

Amanda

PS. Just for fun here's a picture of Andy and I at our wedding. I can't believe it's almost been three months! Where does the time go?

Pomx Iced Coffee Review & Breakfast

This morning I took a chance to actually make myself breakfast. I pulled my two favorite cereals
out of the pantry and one of my beloved Trader Joe's Organic non fat vanilla greek yogurts. These yogurts are out of this world good.


I tried another without flash. Can you see a difference?



The most exciting part of breakfast was this iced coffee from the folks at PomWonderful!

Here are my thoughts on the chocolate flavor....
1. it has 30 grams of sugar! Not entirely a fan of sugar as you know.
2. it has 10 grams of protein, which is awesome. I need protein in the mornings to stave of insane hunger!
3. the chocolate flavor itself is phenomenal. It's rich and tasty! I would definitely drink these again. Maybe make it a friday thing?

From the folks at PomX
"POMx Iced Coffee is a delicious blend of antioxidants, caffeine and rich coffee. Have a taste and enjoy your Healthy Buzz!"

I can definitely appreciate a healthy buzz. Thanks for sending me this sample Molly! I'll have my husband review as well!


my precious yogurt. I wish you were not 1.99 a pop. You are so decadent and only 3 measly points. BOO!



Mixed together now. YUM! Today's breakfast was 6.5 points. Not too shabby! I hate having to measure out of 1/4 cup of cereal but it's worth it!

Weigh-in Day!

Weigh-in Day today was a success! I lost 1.5 lbs! YAY!!


Last night, I had the best dessert! A mini pb frozen yogurt with homemade cookies as a topping. I brought my cookies in a tupperware and carried it in my purse. I got a pumpkin spice misto with the yogurt!



After my weigh-in, I made dinner. I used a bagged salad from Costco and mixed it together. I know, I know...I really try very hard.



With the salad, we had more bell peppers, onions and pollo asado from Trader Joe's. And a glass of homemade sangria!




The chicken with the peppers and onions tasted splendid! I served this on a "salad" plate to help me keep my portion size down.

yum! I am currently obsessed with bell peppers!

How was your tuesday night?

Weigh-in Day! AAHHH

So happy September everyone!!!

Today is my weigh-in day. (I weigh in at Weight Watchers every Tuesday night.) I am blogging right before the weigh-in simply because I want to write about how I'm feeling right now.

Totally freaked. I have not been eating as well as I could. I could blame it on moving and not having my kitchen in order but the real problem is my laziness! I need to get back on track. I'm hoping that I'm just being negative. We'll see in another 30 minutes how it goes.

Today was a repeat day. I had a pluot & a nonfat latte from Starbucks for breakfast, eggplant parm and blueberries for lunch and hummus with flax seed chips for snack. I'm not hungry and I'm not feeling guilty...I just feel FAT today. Blah.

On a sad note, my doctor just told me that I am insulin-resistant. I'm having a blast with that news really. It only took me 3 endocrinologists to find that out. Boo.

Enough whining from me, talk to you later!

Food blogging makes me happy

Today's been interesting. I didn't go to my weigh in because of how crappy I feel. I am going to go on Thursday. Blah. I am tired and exhausted! I figured I should blog because it always manages to perk my mood up.




I was craving eggplant today but didn't bring a lunch so I grabbed a frozen meal from the grocery store. Cedarlane's Eggplant Parmesan. I also grabbed an unsweetened black ice tea from Starbucks, I'm crazy about un-sweet tea! It quenches my thrist, gives me a caffeine boost and cools me down on hot days. What's not to love?




The nutritional stats weren't too bad either. 7 ww pts for the entire box. I love how low it is in sugar.




I also ate a banana. It was huge. 2 ww points. It towers over my tea!!!!




The eggplant. It isn't pretty out of the box but I swear it was delicious! I'm thinking about buying it again tomorrow, no joke!

It frustrates me that this meal was 9 ww pts. I get about 24 pts per day and I feel like I use them up so quickly. For example, my breakfast of a small nf cappucino, a whole wheat english muffin and 1 tbsp of peanut butter was 5 pts. So I have ten points left for dinner....it just makes me feel like I'm always hungry. I guess I have to get used to it! Luckily veggies are usually 0 points.

Do you have any suggestions for low-calorie, low-fat foods that will also fill me up?

p.s. crossing fingers that the Foodbuzz Food Blogger Festival works out! Check out the Festival website

so the weigh-in

Wasn't good. I gained!!!!

I had a sad moment but remembered all of the cosmos, wine and beers I consumed while in Las Vegas. Of course I gained after drinking that. I've got to remember that drink calories are empty calories.

Here's to a better week!

Weigh-in Day

I weigh in at Weight Watchers every Tuesday night. (Yes, at night. It's my only option unfortunately.) Every Tuesday morning I stress out about "weigh-in" day. I eat light and drink an incredible amount of water. I literally do everything in my power to make sure I lose weight. But why on just tuesdays? I've noticed lately that I do not try as hard on the other days of the week.

Why am I sabotaging myself? This week was tough. Last Tuesday after my ww meeting, I drove out to Redondo beach to be with Andy. He went to a conference/seminar and I decided to go along. I spent Wednesday and Thursday in the car. I tried to eat healthy but it was a challenge. Friday-Sunday we went to Las Vegas. That was also a challenge. We managed to avoid buffets but I still enjoyed my favorite alcoholic beverage---the Cosmo! According to several websites the average cosmo has 150 cals. I drank 3! Bah!

So excuses aside, I am determined to get back on track. I'm hoping the blog and the dreaded weigh in will help motivate me.

Do any of you do weight watchers? What are your thoughts?

Honeymoon in Italy!

I weighed in today and was delighted to see that the scale has gone down another 3 lbs. I've been really focusing on eating more fruits, veggies, whole grains and legumes. I think it's been helping!

What I am worried about is...our honeymoon in Italy. I will want to eat EVERYTHING.



Pizza



Pastries!



Pasta!

oh man, I am sooo going to gain weight in Italy. Any advice on avoiding this while still enjoying myself?

oh and I forgot!!!!

GELATO!!!



(The gelato pictured comes from Mozzicato Bakery in Ct but it looks amazing!)

anyone else doing weight watchers? I'm not new to the program but it has been a few years...their new program seems so much healthier than any other diet program I've tried.