Gone for a week

I will be gone for a little more than a week. I'll be back on 3/12. Will post updates then. Take care... whoever is reading...

Sore Today

Zumba last night was fun. I was very awkward, didn't move the way I was supposed to, and felt ridiculous! But, the class went by so much quicker than any other workout classes I had been to, so that's wonderful. I think I will be back again. I didn't feel like the workout was a big strain on me, but I was tired, slept well and this morning was sore - so I think I was using muscles that I don't usually use. Good job, me!!!

I started work about an hour and a half later than most days - it makes such a difference to have an extra hour and a half to not have to focus on work! I wish I worked shorter hours. I wish everyone worked shorter hours! We all would be much happier that way, I think.

Goal for this week, use up as much of the stuff in the fridge as we can before we leave for a week long trip to Boston. This means getting creative with foodstuff and trying new recipes. Nice! I am going to make roasted ricotta tomatoes today - basically, scoop out tomatoes, stuff them with a mixture of ricotta, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper, top with some breadcrumbs, bake at 400F for half an hour. I'll add a pic tomorrow.

Kale and Zumba

I had a good day yesterday. I made three things I have never made before -

• Kale Chips
• Kale/Potato Gratin
• Ricotta-Garlic baked spread w. sourdough

Kale chips are wonderful. I just tossed them with tahini, lemon juice, chilli powder, salt, olive oil and nutritional yeast and baked on low heat until they were crispy. They were FANTASTIC and so easy to make. It's unbelievable that they cost so much at the supermarkets - usually $4.99 for a 5 oz box. I'm never buying them again - I will continue to make them. This is definitely a recipe to keep!

I am going to my very first Zumba class today. I have seen zumba and once did a 5 minute zumba thing - it looks difficult and silly. Anyhow, today is my first class. I am going with my friend L. I know some of my co-workers go to this particular class at my gym. I am not looking forward to that. But, maybe when I get there, I won't care.

Goals for today:

• Eat 3/3
• Drink 8 glasses of water
• Take multivitamin
• Go to zumba class
• Make stir-fry for dinner

Weekly Weigh-in #3

Weigh-ed in today. The scale said 234.4lbs. That means I have had my first weekly weight-gain. It's only 0.2 lbs, so I am thankful.

I went on a rather strenuous hike yesterday. Strenuous for me, that is. It was a moderate hike of 1.1 miles. The last third of the hike was rocky and I did a lot of climbing. At one point, I felt nauseous. My friend L with whom I was hiking was wonderful - we stopped for breaks a lot - which made her late for a lunch date. However, we both encourage each other a lot - which is truly wonderful. It's nice to have a hiking buddy. It felt like an accomplishment. Endomondo said that we used about 1200 calories. I estimate that it was actually a bit higher than that - for my weight. Imagine what it will be like to take the same hike with about 50lbs less weight on me!!! I'll get there eventually...

I spent the rest of Sunday lazing. I watched Julie and Julia. Nice movie - lots of food and very drool-worthy. I wish I could cook and eat like that!!! How did they manage left-overs? To cook 524 recipes a year, they must have chucked out all their leftovers or they would never be able to finish on time. Anyway, it was a good movie. I liked it.

Goal for today - 3 meals, 3 snacks. Cooking something with kale this evening. Don't know what yet.

Self-Love

My goal for today is to engage in lots of self-love. I am going to try and curb negative self-talk about myself and my body. I love myself!!

Breakfast. 8.30am
Tea, Scone, Home-baked doughnut

Snack. 11:00am
Apple

Lunch. 12.30pm
Indian fried rice my sister made for me, yogurt

Snack. 4:30pm
Scone

Dinner. 7:45pm
Not sure

Exercise
1 hr walk w. friend, 1.5 hr square dance class

3/3 again

My eating has been completely off whack these past few days. I have not been feeling motivated for weight-loss and moderate eating, and have had a couple of binges in the past couple of days. I think everytime I feel somewhat depressed, I do emotional eating. This is not good. I am going to go back and do the goal I had set for myself - limiting myself to eating three meals and three snacks each day. Here's the plan for today -

Breakfast. 8.30am
Black tea, apple

Snack. 11:00am
Piece of cheese

Lunch. 12.30pm
West African Yam and Peanut Stew, slice of pizza

Snack. 4:30pm
Sugar overload: 2 brownies, 1 cookie, 1/2 bagel w. cream cheese

Dinner. 7:45pm

Quinoa salad w. tomatoes, olives, chickpeas, feta, cilantro, lemon juice
Home-made hard apple cider (D loves brewing things)

Facebook depresses me

After a very long time not enrolling on facebook, I finally gave in and created an account a couple of weeks ago. While this has been really wonderful in terms of keeping up with people I know and love, it is also starting to depress me enormously.

People post so many pictures on there - and everyone looks so thin!! I know that many people have a distorted view of how much heavier than others they are, but in my case it is not a distortion, but a reality. Everyone posts pictures of themselves as thin beings while I shy away from the camera and hate taking pictures of myself! What a sad state of affairs this is.

I called my sister and  told her this. She said that I should use the feeling I get seeing these pictures as motivation to workout and lose weight. How do I do that? I don't seem to know how! I don't want to workout. I want to go on a binge!

Weekly Weigh-in #2

The scale read 234.2lbs this morning. A very small weight-loss over the past 2 weeks. But I'll take that over a weight-gain.

I have been flagging in motivation and don't want to post on here. I wish this was not the case. It also does not help that I have been very busy, sleep deprived, and have been doing occasional binges these past few days. I really want to stop blogging, but I hope that posting something is better than quitting altogether.

I'm back and flagging motivation

I am back from my vacation. It went well, I had a good time. However, eating was completely off whack when I was on my trip - I ate a lot, and snacked a lot more. Did not do much exercise either. Not a good combination altogether. I am waiting for my weigh-in on Monday to see how I recuperate from the week-long trip.

Happy Valentine's day, everyone! I am going to achieve two of my goals for the month today. I plan on cooking two new things today, and also am going to have a romantic Valentine's meal with D as planned. I'll post updates tomorrow.

On another note, I feel my motivation flagging. I have to push through and try and be healthy. However, I don't know that my motivation is keeping up with my goals. 

Gone for a while

If anyone is reading... I will be gone for a week. I am travelling to the mid-west. I'll try to stay on track with eating. I'll be back next Wednesday and check in then about how things have been. Stay warm, everyone!

Recipes for the Month

One of my goals for February is to make 3 new recipes that I have not made before. I keep cooking the same things over and over, and it is time to expand my repertoire. Here are the three things I plan on making when I get back from vacation next week:

1. African Groundnut Stew
2. Tofu Piri Piri
3. Pumpkin-Walnut cake 

The first two recipes are from Vegan Fire and Spice, and the last one is from a recipe a co-worker gave me.

Here's the nosh planned for today -

Breakfast. 7:30am
Tea w. milk & splenda
Pilot bread x1
2 oz cheese

Snack #1. 10:30am
Banana

Lunch. 1:00pm
Rice, Thai Tofu Green Curry

Snack #2. 4:00pm
Hummus & Carrots

Exercise. 5:15pm
Walk with friend - 1 hr

Dinner. 8:00pm
Tofu tacos w. salsa
Fat free-vanilla ice-cream

Weekly Weigh-in #1

I stepped on the scale this morning - 234.8lbs. That is a 1.6lb weight loss this week. I should be happy, but I have been stepping on the scale each morning, and I know at one point it was down to 232.4, so I feel slightly bad.

To avoid this, I won't step on the scale between weigh-ins. I will be gone next Monday on vacation and may not have access to a scale. However, I will be back and weighing-in the Monday after that.

Breakast. 8:15am
Plain Greek yogurt  mixed with a banana, nuts and craisins

Lunch. 12:15pm
1 slice rustic onion-herb bread
Pav bhaji
Roasted Broccoli
2 Lindor truffles

Mid-afternoon Snack. 2:00pm
1/2 cup trail mix

Mid-afternoon Snack #2. 5:45pm
Hummus & carrots

Dinner. 8:50pm
Rice, Thai Tofu Green Curry
Pilot bread
Fat-free vanilla ice-cream
(We found out that D's mother had fallen and broken an arm and a hip. She is very old and frail. We went to visit her, and dinner was delayed)

FiberOne meal bar review

 

I received two complimentary boxes of the FiberOne meal bars and am going to review them here. I received the meal bars from BzzAgent - a social marketing company that gets reviews and consumer opinions about a range of products. This review is my honest opinion and not influenced by anyone else. Please do your own research before you use these products.

The flavors I received were Strawberry Greek Yogurt and Chocolate Peanut Butter. These are meal replacement bars and each contain 10g of protein and 9g of fiber. Both the bars are delicious. They are sweet, but both contain 40-60% less sugar than Special-K bars. They are definitely convenient, and a quick and healthy replacement  I am going to leave them at work so I can use them for breakfast when I don't have the time to make breakfast at home.

They can be found in the nutrition or pharmacy aisle near other wellness bars and weight management products.They retail at $5.49 per box, and contain 5 bars in each box. Allergen information - they contain soy, nut and milk products.

Feb 2nd, 2014

Nothing much to report today. I am working on a Sunday. :-( I am going to a conference and then on a 2 day vacation, so I need to get caught up on a number of things before that.

Usually on Sundays, D and I will go to a nearby town for dinner or to do something as a "mini break". I am working today and we are going on vacation soon, so we decided that we were going to get a cheap dinner in town and go watch a cheap movie. Captain Phillips is playing at the $2 theater in town.

Breakfast 8.30am
2ox cheddar cheese, 10 rice crackers

Lunch. 12:30pm
Rice, chickpea curry
1 cup Mixed nuts & craisins

Mid-afternoon snack binge. 5:00pm
4 lindor truffles
1/4 cup mixed nuts and craisins
Hummus and carrots

Dinner. 6:30pm
Enchilada Bowl (rice, refried beans, enchilada sauce, cheese)
Tortilla chips, salsa

I'll post my first weekly weigh-in tomorrow.

February Goals

I wish I had started this blog on January 1st. I could have added yearly goals and tracked progress. Never mind, I will start in February. I am big on goal setting. I set goals each year, on each birthday, at the start of each month, at the start of each week, each morning, on Christmas, for Lent - in other words, I am big on setting goals and on new beginnings. Would that I were as keen on persisting on completing said goals. Anyhow, if I keep posting, I suppose I will be accountable.

GOALS FOR FEBRUARY

1. Walk or hike 3x/week
2. Do 10 pushups each day working up to 25 by the end of the month
3. On days I don't go walking or hiking, do a 7 minute workout
4. Stick to eating 3 meals and 3 snacks each day
5. Cook three new recipes this month
6. I am going out of town for a week this month - stay on track with eating
7. Do a romantic dinner for Valentine's Day
8. Read one book this month
9. Call my parents once a week at least

Jan 31st, 2014

I thought I'd mention that I am vegetarian - that's why you don't see any meat in my meals. I do like and eat dairy products. I am not a big fan of eggs, so I don't eat them very often. Also, I much prefer savory and spicy stuff compared to sweet things. This is especially true for breakfast. When I can't have something savory/salty/spicy for breakfast, I usually skip breakfast altogether rather than eat something sweet. That's why you see so many Indian breakfast foods in my meals - a good spicy start to the day. :-) 

The scale this morning was 232.8lbs. I added a "Progress" page that I will update each week.

Nothing much else to report for today. I have a busy day at work today and here is the planned food -

Breakfast. 6:00am
Tea w. Milk & Splenda
1 Pilot bread
Puttu, Black Chickpeas

Mid-morning snack. 11:00am
Fruit,Orange Juice

Lunch. 1:00pm
Rice, chickpea curry
Broccoli
Pear

Mid-Afternoon Snack. 3:15pm
Banana

Dinner.
1/2 medium veggie pizza (4 small slices)

Thoughts after 3 days

I stepped on the scale this morning. 233.4lbs. I know this can be very misleading. But, I also know that I have not been 233.x in more than a week. Maybe this has something to do with my 3meals+3snacks resolution?

I am really trying to keep up the resolution of only eating three meals and three snacks each day. Yesterday, I ate 4 snacks, but one of them was quite small. Anyhow, what I have noticed is that I do get cravings, and when I feel a craving come on, I try to rationalize eating something quick. I think -

"Oh. Just a small something..."
"I can eat less later in the day."
"I hate not being able to eat when I want to."
"It won't really matter. How long do I think I can go on doing this anyway?"
"I could eat it and then not blog about it..."
"This is horrible! I am going to get depressed if I go on restricting myself like this."

But I also find that when I stick to the resolution and just wait until my next meal or snack, it does not affect the quality of my life negatively. And, I also realize that I am not really restricting myself. I am eating 6 times a day. I am eating whatever I want to. It's just that when I do eat something that should not be consumed in great quantities, I don't consume a great quantity of it. (Pat myself of the back!)

Breakfast. 6:30am
Tea w. milk & splenda
1 semolina rusk
Puttu, Black chickpeas

Mid-morning snack 9:45am
Baked homemade key-lime coconut doughnut at meeting
(Not what I had planned. But this was yummy and wonderful, and home-made and baked, so less junk-y than Krispy Kreme?)

Lunch. 11.55am
2oz cheddar cheese, 10 rice crackers

Mid-afternnon Snack. 2:00pm
Carrots
1/2 bag cinnamon-sugar Chex chips

Exercise. 5:15pm
1hr moderate walk with a friend

Dinner. 6:45pm
1.5 slice veggie pizza
1/4 cup pasta salad
1/2 cup green salad
2 pilot bread
Olives
Tortilla Chips x8
1/4 cup black beans
(Dinner was at a potluck. I ate quite a bit because I had had no time to eat a proper lunch during the day. However, I only took one serving and did not go back for seconds. I also skipped dessert.)

Exercise-II. 7:30pm
1.5 hrs mild square dancing. It's not really vigorous. But I will be on my feet and moving. 
Did not happen - class got cancelled.

Free Chex Chips

I picked up a free bag of Chex Chips at 7-11 today. If you have a smartphone, you can download their mobile app and make an account to get this special offer. There is a "Redeem" button. Don't click on this until you get to the store and have the bag in hand because the offer is only valid for 15 minutes after you click the "Redeem " button. Valid till 1/31 or until supplies last. Free stuff - who can resist?

Anyway, I got the "Cinnamon and Sugar" flavor. I think there is a cheesy flavor as well, but my local 7-11 were out of it. I will be reviewing this today. I have never done a review for a food item before. Very exciting! Here goes -

These are giant, puffy chips that are shaped like the Chex rice squares, except these are about 10 times as large. I'd say they are more a "puff" than a "chip". They are multigrain, and sugar is the 8th ingredient. It's not very sweet, but is sweet enough - which I like because I find most sweet snacks to be really sweet. It is also slightly salty, so it's a good mix of a sweet-salty taste. They taste distinctively of cinnamon, but not overpoweringly so. I like that the nutritional information at the back is for the entire pouch. This makes it easy for me since I am not naturally the kind of person who does not eat an entire pouch of snacks. (Who ARE these people?!?!?!?!) And talking about size, this is not a super large bag - it's 1.5ozs. That's a good size snack, I think. I ate half of this as a mid-morning snack (see - I can portion out snacks. It's just that it does not come naturally to me) The downside may be the price. While I got this for free at the 7-11, I saw that it costs $1.79. That's a bit much for 1.5ozs of a snack in my opinion. So, overall, I would say it's definitely worth a try. And there is also another cheesy version if you prefer savory instead of sweet.

Here is the non-free nosh:

Wake-Up Snack. 5:15am
Tea w. Milk and Splenda
2 semolina rusks

Breakfast. 6:30am
Puttu, Black Chickpeas

Mid-morning Snack. 9:45am
10 rice crackers, 2oz cheddar cheese

Mid-morning Snack. 11:15am
1/2 bag of Cinnamon Sugar Chex Chips

Lunch. 12:50pm
Rice, chickpea curry
Water Crackers x4

Snack @ Meeting. 4:20pm
1/2 Bagel w. cream cheese

Dinner. 7:50pm
Rice w. Vegetable stir-fry
1 piece nougat 
1 piece almond chocolate
1/2 cup fat-free vanilla icecream

Jan 28th, 2014

Nothing much to report today. I got a good night's sleep last night, so am feeling better today.

Weight this morning: 234.8 lbs. Here is the plan for today -

Breakfast. 7:30am
Puttu, Black Chickpeas
Green Tea

Lunch. 12:10pm
Quinoa-Feta Salad w. Tomatoes, Pears, Chickpeas
Roasted Broccoli w. Lemon

Snack. 2:45pm
Pear

Pre-Exercise Snack. 4:30pm
Rice crackers x10
1/2 Banana

Exercise. 5:15pm
1 hour moderate walking on mild incline with a friend

Dinner. 7:00pm
Potluck at a student organization meeting
** I ate a cookie that was not worth it. I thought halfway through that I should probably skip it since it wasn't even that tasty, but I finished it anyway. Why???

Restart

D and I had another fight this morning. It is very odd - I did not think we fought that much, but I seem to be blogging about it a lot. Today, I had no doubt in my mind that I was right and he was wrong. I also did not fly off the handle; I was calm and level-headed as I talked about my side. He looked a bit sheepish.

In body-related news, I did not get much sleep last night, and woke up feeling completely exhausted. I stepped on the scale. 236.4 lbs. YIKES! However, I have been thinking, and I think I know more about myself and my eating now...

I have discovered my weak points:

• I don't eat enough during the day and then have a larger than necessary dinner and dessert
• I snack way too much between meals.

So, keeping that in mind, I have decided that this week, I am going to try to restrict myself to 3 meals and 3 snacks each day. In theory, if I only can have 3 snacks, then I will be thoughtful about what these choices are. I'll try to translate this theory into practice. 

Breakfast. 7:30am
Puttu, Black Chickpeas

Snack. 10:45am
1 cup Cajun sesame sticks

Lunch. 12:27pm
0.5 cups Cajun sesame sticks
Fajita vegetables (leftovers from noche muy romantico with D last night)
1 slice rustic onion-herb bread

Dinner. 8:00pm
Quinoa-Feta Salad w. Tomatoes, Pears, Chickpeas
Roasted Broccoli w. Lemon 
Fat-Free Vanilla Icecream