This Week's a Bust

Blah.  I notice that when starting a new workout program, I tend to gain weight.  I'm still eating healthy, like before, but my exercise has increased by a lot.  And I gained 1.2 lbs this week.  Not cool, scale, not cool.  This is the reason I usually stop working out about 2-3 weeks in; I'm not seeing the numbers go down.  I've hit up a few message boards on LoseIt- and heard from other people that this happens to them as well when they're starting out on fitness- but to keep on doing it because it WILL help.  Eventually?

I don't want to make this journey JUST about weight- I take comfort in the fact that I'm still doing GOOD things for my body, but it's disheartening to put in a lot of work and see those numbers go up.  I will not let this discourage me from staying on my path, if anything, it'll make it easier to hit the gym this week, and maybe try out a new class or two.  BTW, the gym thing is going well.  I like it.  I don't love it, but I'm feeling good after, so that's something in the positive column!

In other good news- fall is officially here!  Huzzah!

This week: +1.2 lbs
Total: -8.4 lbs

Wash Your Lettuce!

Here is an interesting article on NPR today about proper vegetable and fruit washing techniques.  Apparently I've been doing this all wrong, but I've never gotten sick.  However, I will start to implement these technique; especially washing bananas and melons- I guess I thought that just because you don't eat the outer layer you were safe from bacteria.... I guess I overlooked that a little bit.  Here's to clean fruit!

I usually eat an apple or pear on the way home from the grocery because I'm usually starving... maybe I should wait until I get home. 

Pears are, however, the most comfortable fruit to hold in your hand.  Take notice next time you're eating one!

Recipe Round Up

Lemon Basil Grilled Corn Pasta- tastes as good as it looks

Lemon Basil Grilled Corn Pasta- Holy COW!  This was awesome.  Ashley calls it a 'summery pasta' and I totally agree.  It's easy, tastes great, makes wonderful leftovers.  I tossed in some shrimp and red pepper flakes and called it a day.  Also- the dressing you make for this would be tasty on a salad, or pretty much anything.  Photo by Ashley over at The Edible Perspective.

Tex Mex Chicken and Rice Casserole-  This won me points with TallBoy.  It's getting chillier out, and I thought it was casserole time, to which he responded, "ew, casserole?"- because to him, casserole= tuna casserole.  (Which, for the record, I think is delicious.) This however, is NOT tuna casserole.  It tastes like Mexican comfort food and makes a TON... AND 1/8 (believe me, 1/8 is enough) of a serving is only about 394 calories.  Oh, and obviously, he loved it. 

Crispy Potato Roast- I want to go to there.  I'd like to eat this every day, but it might defeat the whole purpose of actually eating healthy.  Although, when it's all said and done, serve this as a side dish and you won't be killing yourself.  It's not only one of the best things I've ever made, but it's also one of the easiest.  Take this as a side dish to a dinner party, and people will be IMPRESSED.

Coconut Butter!-  I've been wanting to make some nut butters for a while- I decided to start with what seemed like the easiest one- Coconut Butter.  There are a lot I want to try though, I'm thinking up next might be an almond or walnut butter.  Used sparingly, this is perfect over oatmeal, fruit, anything you can think of that would taste better with coconut!

Summer Squash Shells with Ricotta -This dish does two things very well- incorporates seasonal veggies and tastes like it should be bad for you.  Why have I never thought of adding zucchini and yellow squash to mac and cheese before?  Or using Ricotta, for God's sake?  So simple! So genius!  Makes a boatload of food, so weather you're serving this as a main dish or as a side, it'll feed you dinner and leave you leftovers for days.

Tummy Rumbles

I know, I know, I'm not on a 'diet'- lifestyle change!  But still.

Toothpaste for Dinner

Keep on Keepin' On

I've been waking up earlier.  It's next to impossible to get out of bed, but once I'm awake, I find my mornings are more productive than they've ever been.  I've started walking Buster in the morning when it's nice out... (I'm not the only one who's gained a few pounds- he's got a bit of a belly now!)  Buster really enjoys it for the first mile; is not too pleased about the additional time spent on the road.

What this is all leading to- is that I've been spending more time being active, and less time on the couch with a glass of wine and a bar of chocolate.  I mean, that still happens occasionally, just not as often.  This all equals me losing another pound this week!  Whee!  And I am feeling it- I could barely walk yesterday from all the squats I did on Monday.  This workout thing isn't exactly easy to get into- but I'd like to keep up being active for the long term, so that means starting now.

I've got the gym, morning walks, a new nutrition tracker, and I'm on my way (again).  Go me!

This week: -1.0 lbs
Total: -9.6 lbs

Weekend Warrior

Nerd Alert!  I went to see the band!

Generally, my thing is to lose during the week and gain on weekends.  That'd be a fine system if I was at the maintenance point, but I am not.  It's especially hard when I go out of town, my goals just go out the window.  However, this post is a little pat on the back for me, because I went out of town for the weekend, and tracked EVERYTHING.  I was able to enjoy myself, and stay on track.  Motivation is creeping back into my life, and I'm psyched about it.  I even watched football the whole weekend.  I even skipped out on wings.  Bring it on, autumn! 

All Aboard!

Me driving the wagon- I guess I grew a huge beard too...

I'm back on the wagon! Train! Whatever mode of transportation meets your fancy, I'm on it.  I had this realization this morning- unlike most things in life, you can always hop back on the weight loss wagon.  Literally, anytime you want.  I've been off it for a while now- I looked back into my Weight Watchers log, and the last time I weighed in was July 7.  At that point, I was down 13 lbs.  I've continued to weigh myself everyday since then, and I have found that the numbers have crept up about 6 lbs.  5.8 to be exact.  So over all, still down 7.2 since January, but not really where I wanted to be considering it's halfway through September.   

Not to be discouraged, last week I decided to take charge again.  I'm not just back on the wagon, I'm driving it.  I started logging my food again with LoseIt- they have a great website and a REALLY great iPhone app. (I actually like it better than the WW app, plus, it's FREE!!!!)  You enter your height/weight/age, and your weight goal, and they tell you how many calories you can eat a day.  Now, I'm not one to JUST calorie count; I know every calorie isn't equal.  I'm doing this with the mindset that I can use this to my advantage if I continue to eat whole, healthy foods, and not low calorie, nutrient-lacking junk.  Low-cal to be low-cal is dumb.

So, a week in- (my new weigh-in day is Thursday), I'm down 1.4 lbs!  I joined a gym, have been watching my food intake, and it's working for me again.  Back on the wagon, baby!

Week... I have no idea what week I'm on at this point: -1.4 lbs
Total: -8.6 lbs

photo via

An Impulsive, Rash Decision Made Over The Course of Several Months

I've been pretty absent on the blog lately- (Buster's posts have noticed a certain uptick though)- I was tired of not following through with my blog promises.  So I stopped blogging.  After months of "I'm going to weigh in this week!" I noticed that I was STILL paying 40 bucks a month for a WW pass that I wasn't using.  I decided last week that I was going to drop the monthly pass, with the plan to still have access to the online e-tools- but when I went to sign up for e-tools, they ended up being much more than expected.

Anyone who's ever done Weight Watchers will tell you two things in reaction to this- 1. it's a bad idea, and 2. I did that too, then went back.  So we'll see.

Now- I should be honest and tell you I've gained a bit this summer- around 5 lbs.  It's by no means everything I've lost this year, but it's a definite set back.  What I really want and need and lack, is motivation.  I'm about to officially join a gym- I joined it last month on a trial basis- and really enjoy it.  Check one in the plus column.  I'm slowly working up my running with the Couch to 5k app- also really enjoying it.  Check another one in the plus column.  However, I've almost completely stopped tracking my food.  I'm still eating well and cooking a lot, but I'm sure that my food intake has increased, because the scale is creeping up a bit.  My new plan- I'm using a free (FREE!) food tracking website- Lose It- to track my food intake.  It's pretty cool so far, but I know nothing works if I don't put in the effort.  Weight doesn't come off just because you spend money on a Weight Watchers monthly pass or a gym membership.  You have to utilize these outlets. 

I'll be blogging more on my progress, but I needed a little kick start, so hopefully this is it.  I'm ready to get off this plateau and ready to see the scale go down again, NOT up.