Weigh-in Thursday

Starting weight: 255.2 lbs
Last week: 246.2 lbs
Current weight: 242.4 lbs
Weight lost this week: 3.8 lbs (again)
Total weight lost: 12.8 lbs

I took a vacation day on Monday, so my whole week has been thrown off and I thought today was Wednesday. Apparently, I’m going senile at the ripe old age of 27.

I’m excited to see the number on the scale consistently dropping. I know that it will slow down eventually, that the first few weeks are always the easiest–but it’s encouraging nonetheless. Although I weigh myself, I try to stay in tune with my body in other ways to mark my progress.

No longer feeling like a stuffed sausage in my largest pants? Check. Buddha belly a tiny bit smaller? Check. Not huffing and puffing as I walk up the stairs to my apartment? Double check.

I’ll be posting some oh-so-yummy recipes later this week, and, if you feel so inclined, follow me on My Fitness Pal (username is andread123).

Until next time, folks.

Weigh-in Wednesday

Starting weight (again): 255.2 lbs
Last week: 250.0 lbs
Current weight: 246.2 lbs
Weight lost this week: 3.8 lbs

Though I’ve touched on this in previous posts, I haven’t really tackled something that plagues so many people trying to lose weight: emotional eating.

When I’m sad/mad/(insert emotion here), I head straight for the fridge. I think much of my emotional eating stems from my childhood habits. If I fell and skinned my knee, I’d eat a popsicle. If I was sad that my crush didn’t like me (jerk), I’d eat a piece of cake to mend my prepubescent broken heart. Those habits have sadly carried into my adult life and resulted in a highly attractive triple chin.

(Also working against me growing up was the fact that I’m Ukrainian, which means that a) I was always surrounded by amazing food like perogies, cabbage rolls and sausage (drool) and b) I was always well-fed. Our family motto is “If it moves, feed it.” Yep.)

I’ve been fairly open about my struggles with depression and an anxiety disorder. Unlike some people who lose weight when they’re going through a bout of depression, I tend to swing the opposite way — thanks, emotional eating. It’s a habit that I haven’t quite broken yet, but I’m workin’ on it.

Slowin’ it down

I tend to inhale my food (seriously, ask my fiancé) and, as a long-time member of Fatties ‘R Us, I know that inhaling one’s food leads to overeating. On that note, I’ve realized, through my many weight-loss attempts, that finger foods and tapas-style meals are good for my waistline. They force me to slow down and focus on the food’s flavour and texture, allowing me to feel full faster. (Basically, in totally scientific terms, it makes the receptors in my brain scream out, “BITCH, STOP EATING!”)

The other day, my dinner consisted of Greek yogurt, multi-grain crackers, grape tomatoes and sliced bell pepper. You better believe I enjoyed that shiz, not only because it tasted yummy, but also because it took me twice as long to eat it as, say, a burger. I lingered over my food and — guess what — actually felt full before I finished eating. For the first time in a long time, I didn’t inhale everything on the plate and then lick the plate clean. WIN.

I’ll be posting some recipes for y’all soon. Oh, and if any of you want to see what I eat on a regular basis, follow me on My Fitness Pal (screen name: andread123).

Guess who’s back?

Guys, I feel like a (literally) big-ass failure.

At this time last year, I was so full of hope, determination, sunshine and rainbows. I was well on my way to losing the extra pounds that I’ve been carrying for far too long. And then, WHAM, I had some medical issues that prevented me from exercising. Instead of eating healthily to keep losing weight, I stupidly let loose. Like, eat-an-entire-plate-of-nachos-in-one-sitting loose. For months…and months.

Last night, I stepped on the scale for the first time in a long time and actually gasped when I saw the number, after straining to see past my Buddha belly. Two hundred and fifty-five pounds — my all-time high, by a long shot. Cue the Kim Kardashian-inspired ugly cry.

The worst part is, I have no one to blame but myself. I just got lazy and unmotivated, and now I’m back at square one (and then some).

This blog was a great way for me to stay accountable, and I’m going to weigh in once a week to mark my progress. My ultimate goal? To lose 100 pounds by the time my wedding rolls around in September 2015.

Let’s see if I can do it this time.

Queen of the casseroles

“They taste like slop.”

“Only people who can’t cook make them.”

“BLECH.”

People hate casseroles. I get it. I, on the other hand, really like them. Maybe it’s because I’ve never had a bad casserole in my life. When I was growing up, my mom’s casserole dishes were always hearty and full of yummy (and usually fatty) goodness.

Last night, I had about 170000 tomatoes sitting around, collecting fruit flies. So I worked the magic of the Google and found a super easy tomato-onion casserole recipe, courtesy of Martha Stewart. And hey, Martha wouldn’t lie. (Recipe can be found here.)

Basically, you slice four tomatoes and two onions (I used three) and layer them in a baking dish while the oven pre-heats to 450. Drizzle some olive oil on top, add a dash of sea salt and pep, pop it in the oven for about 40 minutes, and voila — instant (clean!) casserole.

Only downside?

Our apartment REEKED like onions all night. But it’s a price I’m willing to pay, because that casserole was effing awesome. So screw you, casserole haters. You don’t know what you’re missing.

Back on track

I feel like I’m having a summer-long fat day.

It’s been a week and a half since I last posted, and I actually really missed blogging. It’s nice to have something/one to hold me accountable when I fall off the wagon, food-wise. And fall I did. For weeks. (In other words, bitch got lazy.)

After almost a month of eating shit (and feeling like shit as a result), I’m back on my clean-eating plan. Lemme tell y’all, I felt like total and absolute crap this month. It was actually kind of helpful in a weird, twisted way, because I could see the effects that poor eating habits have on my body (weight gain not included). I was back to taking naps several times a week. I was bloated and lethargic. I was constipated. It wasn’t pretty.

This whole blogging experiment is a success so far. Despite my having re-gained several pounds and going through several weeks-long binges, I don’t mind the ups and downs because let’s face it, that’s reality for a lot of people tryin’ to lose the chub. I know my weight will be a life-long struggle, so it’s great to have my successes (and failures) documented.

Oh, on another note, I’ve decided to change the weekly weigh-in to a monthly weigh-in instead. I’m going to start taking monthly measurements now that I’m exercising again, so I’ll include those with the weigh-in numbers. I’ve got this, guys. I know I can do this.

 

I suck.

I totally forgot to post my weigh-in numbers last week — come to think of it, I think I forgot to weigh myself (there’s a first). I promise I’ll post it soon! (P.S. Only four more days until I can exercise! Hallelujah!)

In the meantime, I’ve discovered my new favourite dish, courtesy of Clean Eating magazine’s summer issue. Super tasty and ridiculously easy to make — and it received the boyfriend’s stamp of approval. I’ve adapted the recipe slightly, so it’s not exactly the same as it appears in the mag, but it is still awesome.

Spicy shrimp and bell pepper toss (courtesy of Clean Eating)

Ingredients:
1 lb uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 red onion
2 1/2 cups bell peppers, chopped (I used red, yellow and orange so it looked pretty)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp lime juice
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp cumin
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Olive oil cooking spray
(The recipe didn’t call for it, but I added 1 cup of zucchini because I’ve been on a huge zucchini kick lately.)

Steps:
1. Pre-heat oven to 425. (You can use a grill, too, but I was lazy and didn’t want to set up the BBQ.)
2. In a large bowl, combine shrimp, veggies and garlic.
3. Add lime juice and spices, then toss to coat. Set cilantro aside.
4. Here’s where the fun part comes in. Cut four 12″X16″ pieces of aluminum foil. Mist each piece with cooking spray, then divide mixture evenly into the centre of each one, forming a mound. Bring the short edges of the foil together. Fold inward a few times along each long edge to seal.
5. Place packets on a large baking sheet in the oven. Bake for about 15 minutes.
6. Allow packets to rest five minutes before serving. Transfer contents of packets to serving plates and top with cilantro.
7. Nom nom nom!

We made basmati rice as a base for the dish, and it was delish. True story.

A day in the life of a gluten-free noob

The day before I embark on my g-free journey:

9:30 a.m.
Eat toast. Lots and lots of toast.

2:15 p.m.
Stuff face with glorious (clean!) pasta salad (and not-so-clean cheesecake) at a friend’s BBQ.

7:30 p.m.
Examine contents of fridge. Pour myself glass of wine to prepare for weeks to come.

10:42 p.m.
Sneak heaping bowl of said pasta salad as “last supper” of sorts.

G-Day:

7:25 a.m.
Stare longingly at bowl of remaining pasta salad while preparing lunch.

12 p.m.
Eat sandwich with g-free bread. Have flashback to eating baba’s homemade g-free bread. Verdict: Homemade FTW.

2:07 p.m.
Wish I could have that pasta salad. Choke down strawberries and almond butter.

5:32 p.m.
Make omelette with free-range eggs, zucchini, onions, peppers and cayenne pepper. OK, maybe this isn’t too bad.

9 p.m.
Munchies hit. Stave them off with water/apple cider vinegar combo. Disgusting, but it works.

11:15 p.m.
Hit the hay and dream about bread.

I kid, I kid. This really isn’t so bad. I’m used to g-free bread because of my baba, who had celiac disease and would make her “special” bread all the time. Other than bread, I don’t eat a lot of products with gluten. The hardest part is checking food labels for hidden sources of gluten or Googling things like “Does smoked gouda have gluten in it?”

I’m not sure if it’s the lack of gluten or my renewed motivation, but I’m feeling great this week — less sluggish, less tired and less bloated in the tummy. Hey, if I feel better and lose the belly pooch, I’ll be one happy camper this summer!

The dreaded weekly weigh-in: week 19

Starting weight – 229.6 lbs
Last week – 215.8 lbs
This week – 215.8 lbs

Total weight lost – 13.8 lbs

Sorry for the late post — I’m still catching up from last week.

No change on the scale, and I’m OK with that. Usually, when I’m sick, any semblance of healthy eating goes out the window, but I wasn’t too bad this time around. I had a minor heart attack when I weighed myself at work for the Weigh To Go challenge, because it said 224 on the scale (+6 pounds from last week, which doesn’t even seem possible). I guess I was just super bloated at work? I weighed myself at the doctor’s and at home and it said 215 lbs, so apparently I just ate too much salt at work that day. 😉

I am itching to exercise like you wouldn’t believe. My toe is healing nicely, but the doctor said I can’t exercise until June 21. I’m going crazy! I don’t know how I went several years without exercising. I guess when you’re used to being a bump on a log, you don’t really miss physical activity.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned it before, but in addition to enrolling in boot camp, Zumba and the gym, I’ve organized a softball team for this summer. Team name? I’d Hit That. Not my preferred choice (“Balls Deep” was already taken) but it’ll do. I can’t wait to get out there and crush some balls!

Happy weekend, everyone!

Sammiches, FTW

We all know them: people who update their Facebook statuses 10 times a day (or more, in some particularly annoying cases). I used to be guilty of Facebooking too much (and I’m still a hellava creeper), but I never updated my status on an hourly basis. Ain’t nobody got time for that.

One of my favourite offending statuses: “(NAME) just ate a really good sandwich.”

Normally, I could give two shits that someone ate a really good sandwich. It’s up there with finding out my friends’ kids pooed in their potties. But because I maintain a blog about weight loss efforts and food, I had to bite the bullet and share this with you: I just ate a really good sandwich. (I swear this is going somewhere.)

I’m not normally a tuna sandwich type of gal. Sure, I’ll eat them once in a while, but I still associate tuna sandwiches with disappointment, stemming from my elementary school days when I’d open my lunch bag, hoping for a glorious bologna sandwich or Lunchables make-your-own-pizza kit. Instead, I’d get tuna. ON WHOLE WHEAT.

I don’t hate tuna sandwiches with the burning fire of a thousand suns anymore, but I still wouldn’t say I like them. Today, however, I had a super big craving and ultimately created the best tuna sandwich I’ve ever eaten.

I mixed together tuna, Greek yogurt, a chopped up dill pickle, some Dijon mustard, a dash of hot sauce and a pinch of sea salt, then slapped it between two pieces of multi-grain bread with some leafy greens. Best. Sandwich. EVER.

So why did I feel the need to post about a tuna sandwich? Well, I know a lot of people trying to lose weight have a difficult time giving up fat-laden ‘wiches. You know — slathered in mayo, few (or no) veggies, tons of cheese, white Wonder bread.

Bottom line: Try experimenting with healthier ingredients, and you could come up with a Facebook-status-worthy healthy sandwich. Although I promise you, I won’t ever put that shit on Facebook.