Weekly weigh-in and wrap up

Weight 5/13/11- 210
Weight 5/20/11- 208.4


A hoot and a holler! That is a total of 4.4 lbs down during my Memorial Day Push. Even more than that though, is that I am now officially not obese.




That clears a big milestone for me. It is one thing to be overweight, but being obese was horrifying.

Starting Weight- 230-2/11/11
Jumpstart-220-3/14/11
Non-obese- 209-5/19/11
Pre-pregnancy- 199
Decent- 185
Not Fat- 174
Goal- 160

The weather did a number on my efforts to get in my 15 miles this week. I only managed to run twice because it rained all the time. So frustrating. I did workout but it just wasn’t the same level of workout. I broke out the Wii Fit for the first time in over a year and while I had fun and did work up a sweat, it just wasn’t the intensity I get with running. It also didn’t earn me many activity points.

So I ran 8.2 miles this week instead of 15. I’m also off a day on my push-ups now because last night I just plum forgot about them. I’ll get them in tonight and get back on track.

My eating was great Sunday through today but Saturday we went to a birthday party and I indulged in the sweets. It’s a weakness. I really love birthday cake. Luckily there are no birthday parties during the next week, though I do have brunch with some girlfriends on Sunday that may present a challenge.

This next week is the last full week of the push and I really want to get my full mileage goal. I’m planning a 5 mile run tomorrow which should start me out on a good note. I just hope the weather will cooperate. I need to finish this thing strong. I don’t know if my results will be noticeable at this point.

Progress report, random ramblings and a recipe

This post is total stream of consciousness. I apologize in advance but it will basically be a week’s worth of posts in one.

First up is my report on my progress. Last week for one sweet day, I was at 210. That marks the 20 pounds lost mark. Since then I have been up but I count that as my weigh-in for last week. My next goal, 209 and being officially overweight instead of obese (based on BMI).  I’m so close I can taste it. It is really driving my motivation right now.

Last week (5/7-5/13) for my Memorial Day Push, I ran 15.9 miles and did 45 push-ups every other day. That running included a 5K race (link to post). It was an awesome week. My eating wasn’t perfect and I have already failed at my 90% in range goal for the push but I will try each week for that 90% goal. It’s hard. I’m such a pick, pick, picker that I frequently end up going over by just a little.

I admit that I am a little frustrated at how slowly the weight is coming off these days. I try not to set deadlines for weight loss but I would think that at my size eating and exercising as I do, it would fall off a little easier. I blame one thing: breastfeeding. I am still nursing my 16 month old 2-3 times a day and I think that is making my body hold on to some fat. I was not one of the lucky ladies for whom breastfeeding was a magic weight drug. All it did was make me that much more ravenous.

It’s time to wean her. Not just because of weight loss but I’ve been ready for a while. I never saw myself as the kind of mother who would nurse past a year but a year came and she just wasn’t ready so we continued. If she had her way it would continue indefinitely but I’m ready and she is between bouts of teething so it is as good a time as any. I just hope I have the strength. It’s hard for me to break her little heart.

Anyway, I rejoined Weight Watchers Online. For some reason I prefer counting points to calories and I prefer their trackers to the Sparkpeople tracker. I’m still an SP girl though. That is where I get all my support and get the social aspect of a weight loss community. I love the teams and the challenges and their activity tracker is much better. I like to be able to track my miles. I see no reason why the two programs can work together, at the end of the day it’s all about eating fewer calories and burning more.

I did WW about a year ago and lost 16 pounds. Then I stopped going and stopped doing what I needed to do and gained some weight back (surprise), Then I had a miscarriage two days before Thanksgiving and the kickoff of the holiday eating season and well you can imagine. When something emotionally devastating happens to an emotional eater right at a time when vast quantities of high calorie foods are always available, bad things happen. So when I finally got back on track in February, I had gained back all but 4 of those WW pounds. I’m a lot more focused and dedicated this year. Last year I wasn’t even exercising at all. My heart really wasn’t in it.

Also, miscarriages really, really suck.

Say (complete topic change), what did you have for lunch today? I have been having the same thing everyday for the last two weeks, because it is simply delicious. Too good not to share.

Chicken and Avocado Wrap

2 oz chicken breast
Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime seasoning
1/4 Avocado cubed
1 tsp lime juice
pinch of salt
serrano pepper to taste (optional)
1tbsp chopped onion (optional)
1/4 chopped tomato (optional)
1 tsp cilantro (optional)
1 wedge Laughing Cow Queso Fresco and Chipotle 
1 Flatout flat bread.

Sorry the pictures are upside down. I'm too lazy to go fix them. You'll get the point. 

Mix the avocado, lime, salt, serrano pepper, onion (if desired), tomato (if desired) and cilantro (if desired together.

Lay out your flatbread.

 Smear the Laughing Cow cheese onto a middle section of the flatbread.

 Add your chicken and sprinkle the Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime seasoning (If your chicken is already flavored you can skip the Mrs. Dash.)

 Top with the avocado mixture.

Roll up burrito style, enjoy and thank me later. 

Calories: 260
Fat: 12
Carbs: 21
Protein: 26
Points: 8



I started a running blog on Tumblr. You can get to it from my side bar. It is nothing more than a running log but if you are interested in my training, that's where it will be.

Frederick Twilight 5K

I don’t have any pictures because my husband is the worst at remembering to take them
We started out the day by going down the road and watching the runners in the Frederick Half-Marathon. We cheered for our friends who were running and Lil LeanGreen was so cute running up and down the sidewalk, clapping and yelling, “yaaaaaaay”.
After coming home, I got ready for my race. When we arrived at the fairgrounds, lots of the half-marathoners were still there and the race atmosphere was strong. Mr. LeanGreen said it was really motivating him to get back into shape and running. He has been lazy as long as I was.
I took my place in the crowd to start and Mr.LG, Lil LG and my stepson all stood on the sidelines to cheer for me. When the race finally started and I crossed the start line, they were there cheering and it was so nice to see my baby right as I got going.
I started out to slow. I always do. I’m always so afraid of going to fast and getting too tired that I do the exact opposite. I start too slow and end up not giving as much as I could. I have to keep that in my mind for the next race.
I felt strong throughout the race. I ran the whole way and never considered walking. When I crossed the finish line, Mr. LG was there with my sleeping baby. I love having them as my cheering section.
My chip time was 34.34. I have to admit being disappointed in that. I thought I could I do 33 minutes. You can see from my breakdown, that I finished a lot faster than I started.
Your time of 34:34.62 gave you a 11:09 min/mile pace.Your 1.7 Mile time was 19:33.41 giving you a pace of 11:30
Your Finish time was 34:34.62 giving you a pace of 10:44
I will start stronger in my next race.
All in all, it was a fun race and it was really great to be a part of the Frederick Running Festival again. And dare I forget to mention, just in time or summer, they gave up black shirts.

Friday Weigh-in and Memorial Day Push Week 1

 

A day late and a dollar short.

Weight 4/29/11- 212.8

Weight 5/6/11- 211.2

So far so good with my Push. I lost more this week than I did the entire month of April. There is no mystery here. I tightened up my eating and ran consistently. Hopefully, next week will continue this trend.

The first week of the Memorial Day Push went well. I did all my push-ups and was happy to discover I could do them all girl style and I didn’t need to go to wall push-ups.

I didn’t get 15 miles of running in, I got 11 in. That was a bit of a disappointment but it gives me something to shoot for this week.

I did great with my eating until Friday. About 2 in the afternoon, I got a gnawing hunger. Real hunger, not emotional hunger, the kind of hunger where it feels like your stomach is digesting itself. I ate an apple and that did nothing. By the time I got home and worked my way through the kitchen nibbling until I finally endulged on 3.5 pieces of pizza when I had planned to only have 2.

It’s OK. I’m ready to move on to week 2, with the same goals.

Crockpot Yogurt

Well, I made crockpot yogurt last night and I completely forgot to take any pictures of the process.

I followed the instructions in this blog and my results looked pretty much like theirs. I even have the same crockpot. I didn’t add any pectin or powdered milk to thicken it up because I was using milk that wasn’t ultra-pasteurized. It is still a bit thinner than store bought and I think I might put it through a cheese cloth to Greek it up a little.

I fed it to Caroline with some mashed up banana and a little honey. She wasn’t a fan but I think that had to do with the texture. I should have blended the banana because she is very picky. I’ll try again. Worst case scenario, I’ll have to do some mixing of YoBaby and homemade and wean her off the store bought stuff.

Making yogurt was so easy and it was so exciting to wake up this morning to really find yogurt waiting for me. I was afraid I would just have a pot of cooked milk. Definitely, try this out if you are interested.

April Review- May Goals

April 1, 2011  214.2 lbs
May 1, 2011   212.8

Well April kinda sucked weight wise. I lost a whopping 1.4 lbs. I had a little plateau and a 2 week lapse in eating. I was never out of the game or off the wagon or whatever though. I was tracking and exercising the whole month.
I did complete the C25K program and ran a virtual 5K with a time of 32:40. I was really pleased with that and I’m able to consistently run 3+ miles at under 11 min/mile. I thought I would be much slower than that until some more weight fell off. Maybe I’ll come out of this whole thing faster than I was before.
I’m really looking forward to May and making some progress.

1. Memorial Day Push
I want to drop pounds and get a little tone in my shoulders. I’m not expecting to don a bikini at the end of this but I think I can achieve noticeable results. That’s my catch-phrase apparently, “noticeable results".

2. Frederick Twilight 5K
This will be my first real race in 2 years. In fact, my last race was this one 2 years ago. I’m hoping to come under 33 minutes but time doesn’t really matter. It’s all about just doing it and getting back in the game.

3. Long runs
As part of my push, I want to start incorporating some long runs on Sundays. I’ll be increasing my Sunday run by 0.5 to 1 mile per week.

4. Get some new clothes. Despite not losing much in April, I have to realize that my current wardrobe isn’t cutting it. It is droopy and the clothes were ugly to begin with. Time for a summer wardrobe update. I won’t spend a lot because I hope to move on to smaller sizes but I’m tired of looking so frumpy in the process.

What do you want to achieve in May?

Local Food

My husband and I really like to support local business and eat food grown or made in our region. To that end, we took a trip out to our local dairy farm and creamery today for their spring festival. It was a great opportunity to sample their products which includes everything from milk to ice cream to meats. It also featured some other local businesses that sell items made from the products of local farm.
We sampled, goat cheeses, and coffees, and granola, and hummus (Old Bay Hummus, anyone?) and ice cream (still managed to keep in my calorie range). It was all delicious and so fresh!
We came home with a couple of gallons of milk, some hummus and some yummy goat cheese spread. I had been wanting some whole milk that wasn’t ultra-pasteurized like that in the supermarket so that I could make some crockpot yogurt. Now that I have some, the milk is pasteurized just no ultra, I’ll be trying out the yogurt instructions. Lil Lean Green eats yogurt likes it’s going out of style and all that YoBaby is getting expensive.  I’ll do on post on my experience when I do it.
The best part of the day was getting Lil LG up close and personal with all the animals that she sees in her books.
She moo’ed at cows, adored a little lamb, chicks, piglets and bunny rabbits and got really excited when she found some ducks.

In the background, you can see their delivery trucks. They deliver milk to your door! So old school and awesome.

The South Mountain Creamery, where we went to day is a sister organization to the one that does out veggie delivery. Which I discussed in a previous post.
This week, one of the delivered items was kale, something with which I don’t have much experience. So I looked up recipes and settled on Kale Chips, which looked simple and had comments stating how delicious they were.
I washed the kale and and cut it into chip size pieces. Then I put it though the salad spinner several times to get it good and dry.

I coated them with 1 tbsp of olive oil and laid them out flat on a cooking sheet and sprinkle them with salt.

I cooked them for 20 minutes at 250.

And the result? They were AWFUL!!! OMG, all those people who said they were awesome are sooooo off my Christmas card list. Ugh. I ate two and just couldn’t do it anymore. Hubby made it through a few more but he didn’t think much of them either. Maybe I did something wrong. Maybe it was bad kale. I don’t know, I won’t be trying them again to find out.
I paired them with a portabella burger, which was delicious. I didn’t document the preparation of this but it basically a portabella cap marinated in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, grilled, put on a bun and topped with some fresh mozzarella and basil. Delicious.

Let’s get this party started

 

OK. Are you ready for the 1 Month to Memorial Day Push? I am. I’m also so happy to have some of my friends joining me, even if my comments seem to be a bit busted.

Remember it’s not about running 20 miles or working out 2 hours a day, it’s just about doing a little more than you have been. Eating a little tighter. Focusing a little more.

My starting stats are:

Weight: 212.8

Waist: 35.5

I don’t do full body measurements, because I find them tedious and I don’t think I ever really measure in the same spot twice. I figure if my pants are getting looser, I’m losing inches.

I am beyond horrified at these pictures but they are what they are. How can I not improve?

 

Today, I will run 3.5 miles and do 3 sets of 15 push ups

Friday Weigh-in

 

Starting Weight Feb 11, 2011- 230

Last Week, Apr 22- 215.2

Today, April 29- 212.8

That loss looks bigger than it is. I was still retaining water from a week of bad eating last Friday. Basically, I have broken even over the last 2 weeks.  Not so great, better than a gain.

I have a renewed motivation after a brief slump. I’m expecting good things over the next week and look forward to starting my Memorial Day Push on Saturday.

It seems that spring has finally come to town with warm weather which makes me want to rush out the door for runs. This year spring has also brought rain after rain after rain and has the ground and my favorite running path flooded. Two of my favorites actually. I haven’t been to the C&O Tow Path lately but I’m sure it is safe to say it is a mess.

Here’s to a drier, thinner week next week.

Another reason for using cloth diapers

The cuteness. Need I say more.

Rumparooz pocket diaper in L’il Monster

The Memorial Day Push!

Well, April looks to be a big fat dud in the weight loss category. I don’t want to spoil the surprise before Friday’s weigh-in, but I assure you I haven’t dropped and additional 5 lbs since last Friday’s weigh-in.
That’s disappointing to be sure but that’s not what I would like to talk to you about today. No, do you know what happens just four weeks from this Friday? It is the beginning of the Memorial Day Weekend, the unofficialstart of summer.Wait. What? Weren’t we just wearing winter coats last week? Yes, if you live in the Mid-Atlantic like me, you were but that’s neither here nor there. Memorial Day is coming ready or not.
Since April was a such a loser for me weight wise, I’m looking to achieve “noticeable changes” in the month of May. I mean it’s tank top season and I would love to be able to wear a tank top this summer. Something, I dared not attempt last year :: shudder::

Therefore, I am embarking on a 1 Month to Memorial Day Push. It’s like a challenge only it’s a push. What’s the difference? Hell, if I know but I like the term push because that is what I need to do. Push myself harder.
It starts Saturday, April 30 and ends at 11:59 pm Sunday, May 29. That way you can still enjoy that Memorial Day Cookout.

The Push consists of three parts, Cardio, Diet and Trouble Spot.
Cardio:
Since this is a “push” the goal is to push harder. Take whatever cardio you’ve been doing and bump it up by at least 10%. You can aim to work out 10% longer, or burn 10% more calories or travel 10% further. You can go higher than 10% but not less.
For me, my cardio of choice is running, so I am bumping up my weekly mileage goal from 12 miles to 15. More than 10% but not undoable (is that a word?)
Diet:
The goal here is to eat in your calorie/point range 90% of the time. That is 27 of 30 days. Not easy but doing this will result in weight loss (or gain or maintenance, whatever your goal is). Yes, there will be special occasions in there, Mother’s Day anyone, but your body doesn’t take a holiday from storing fat at least mine doesn’t anyway.
If you  are on SparkPeople, you know your calorie range. Likewise, Weight Watchers. If you don’t check out Livestrong.com and determine your calorie goal, the range is + or – 150 calories of that number... ish.
For me, my calorie goal is 1450 (to lose 2lbs per week) with a range of 1300-1600.
Trouble spot:
Pick an area where you would like to see improvement by Memorial Day, then pick an exercise that really works it, then do that exercise every other day, 3 sets of 15, for a month.
For me, I want my shoulders and upper arms to look less like sagging coat hangers (see above re: tank tops) so I’ll be doing push-ups. I hate push-ups because my upper body is so weak. I’ll be starting with “girl” push ups, maybe even finishing with wall push-ups if necessary to get through the sets. By the end of the month, hopefully I’ll be able to get through them all girl style and maybe, just maybe, crank out a “real” one.
It’s not going to be easy and it’s not meant to replace any of the other programs/challenges I’m involved in. I think it will work with them quite well.
I’ll be posting on Friday with my standard Friday stats and a photo.
Are you interested in joining me? Leave a comment with your name, email, web address (if you have one), and what your goals are for the three areas.

There will be bad weeks

There will be bad days, there may even be bad months.
This was a bad week for me. I didn't workout enough, I ate poorly on a few days. I wasn't in the zone. But this isn't about that. This is a focus on the positive post. Even in a bad week there are still things I did right.
- I completed Week 8 of the C25K
- I got most of my points on the 100DTS Challenge even if it was fewer than normal
- I was able to eat a bad meal early in the day and not consider the day a loss. The next meal was a healthy choice.
- I logged into SP every single day
- I drank my water.
-I forgave myself for not being perfect.
Because there will be more bad days and bad weeks. I accept that as a part of the process. I didn't get in the position because I have perfect control over my eating and never flagging desire to workout. By looking at the things I did right, a "bad" week doesn't seem so bad. It's all part of the journey.

Why yes, I did say cloth diapers.

When I was pregnant, I read somewhere, something about babies who wear cloth diapers being easier to potty train. I was intrigued as I had (and still have) no desire to change the poopy diapers of a 3 year-old. I learned about modern cloth diapers and thought they were really cool but I didn’t really consider going cloth right away because it wasn’t like my child was anywhere near potty training, being in utero and all.

I thought about them a lot though. They were so cute and man, are disposable bad for the environment. I hate the idea of encasing the most biodegradable thing in the world in plastic and putting it in a landfill (Do you hear me pooperscoopers?) But, I was afraid of the laundry. I thought it would be complicated. Or gross. Or I would have to buy special detergents. Mostly, I thought my husband would never go for it.  But still, they never left my mind. I decided that when my daughter turned 1, I would buy a couple just to use around the house so that she could start making the connection between the feeling of having to pee and wetness. I was still focused on the potty training aspect.

Finally the day came about 3 weeks before her first birthday. I was browsing cloth diapers and just couldn’t wait anymore. I purchased 3 BumGenius 4.0 pocket diapers.

They arrived on a Thursday and I immediately washed them so that they would be ready to go first thing Saturday morning. When my husband saw them, he declared me a hippie and said he wasn’t going to use them. That was fine, it wasn’t like I was going whole hog with this thing right?

Ummm...........

By noon on that first Saturday, I was on my way to a town 40 miles from my own because it had a cloth diaper store and I simply had to have more! Within 3 months, I had spent $400 building my stash. That sounds like a lot but I spent about $800 in 2010 on disposable diapers. We went whole hog.

The laundry does involve pushing a button once or twice more than a normal load. I don’t even break a sweat. The “special” detergent is remarkable unspecial (no additives) and I use it on all my laundry. And it is cheaper than Tide.

My husband, who declared he wasn’t going to use them knows a Fuzzibun from a Rumparoo and does diaper laundry. A few weeks ago when I told him a friend of hours was going to use cloth on her new baby he said, “That’s great. They’ll save lots of money and they are no harder than disposables.”

My only regret is not going cloth sooner! Don’t make the same mistake I did!!! All those blowouts that could have been prevented!!

I did all my cloth diaper research from cloth diaper blogs. The ladies who run these sights have amazing information.
www.allaboutclothdiapers.com
www.dirtydiaperlaundry.com
www.theclothdiaperwhisperer.com

Nature’s bounty and sautéed Brussels sprouts

Last year, after having my baby I made the decision to feed her organic foods. I am concerned about the links between pesticides and neurological issues and I am even more concerned about hormones in milk putting my daughter into puberty when she is 6 years old. Regardless of how remote the chances of these things are, I wanted only the best for her.

To that end,  MrLeanGreen and I signed up for a local service that delivered locally grown, organic produce to us on a weekly basis. It was great and even though my child refused to eat anything that wasn’t pureed to a level of smoothness beyond my Cuisinart’s capabilities, the husband and I really enjoyed the produce.

Sometimes, we got things we had never heard of. Lemon cucumbers, who knew? They’re delicious. Sometimes we got things we didn’t like. I just can’t do beets. But for the most part we ate more fruits and veggies than either of us ever had before.

As the cold weather set in, the veggies started being from further away and not so great. It wasn’t the service’s fault, do you know what kind of great produce grows in the Mid-Atlantic in the winter? None. So we put our orders on hold until …..this week!

We got our first delivery of the spring (and it is spring regardless of what the weather says) yesterday. While most of it is still not from “local” farms yet, FL is at least on the same coast.

Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, romaine lettuce, oranges, sweet potato, plums and carrots.

 

This order is pretty basic. Nothing new or exotic and I know how to utilize it all. It is great though to have someone else determining my produce for the week. It forces me to cook things that probably wouldn’t have made it into my grocery cart and therefore adds some variety to our diets.

Tonight, we had the Brussels sprouts. I know a lot of people think they don’t like them but they are my favorite veggie, hands down.

These are small so I simply wash them and cut off the ends. If they were large I would slice them down the middle.

To speed up cooking, I steamed these for 10 minutes before sauteeing.

To a warm pan, I add ½ Tbsp of butter and ½ Tbsp Olive Oil.

I place the sprouts cut side down in the pan and cook until brown and carmelized, about 5 minutes.

Stir the sprouts around to coat. Add a little salt and pepper.

(My phone/camera died before I could get the finished picture so I had to use MrLG’s phone. It didn’t turn out well. But the sprouts did, they were awesome!!)

Yum, yummy, yum!!!

We also had leftover turkey Manwiches. Yawn.

There is likely a similar program or co-op for fresh, local veggies in your area. Consult Dr. Google. If you are in the DC area, I can turn you on to our service.

Must remember

that I am allergic to ALL Olay body washes and stop buying them

Off to buy some Burt's Bees.

A lean, green machine

Well, that’s what I’d like to be anyway. Right now I am more of a chubby, trying to be green, not so finely tuned appliance. But I’m working on it.
Last year, after having my first child I found myself fat, out of shape, eating junk and living a very wasteful life. Not a wasted life mind you, but a wasteful life.

Slowly, but surely I am making changes for myself and my family. It started with buying organic foods for my baby when she started on solids and that translated into organic for the rest of the family. By the end of the year we were cloth diapering my little one and we have continued to green up every since. Don’t tell my husband though, it’s been so painless he doesn’t even realize it.

In early 2011, a year after my daughter was born, I finally started working on getting rid of my “baby weight”. I joined SparkPeople and love the community atmosphere and the challenges. I’ve lost 16 pounds so far and have no intention of backing off. Not only that, I have started running again for the first time in 2 years and I am loving every minute of it. If your interested in doing the same check out SparkPeople and find me, YARAC211.

It should be no surprise to anyone that taking care of yourself and taking care of the planet go hand in hand. When you only want to put good stuff in your body, you need to ensure that good stuff is going to be available. 

I’m not and expert. I’m not a zealot. Neither Ed Begley not Jillian Michaels is going to hold me up as a stellar example. I shop at Walmart and Target and you'll never hear me extol the virtues of a raw diet. I am all about finding things that are easy and work with my lifestyle. I just want to share what I learn as I go.