trick or treat

Today:
Breakfast: smoothie
Lunch: blended salad
Dinner: Green Machine Soup, handful of cashews

Exercise: 30 min walk w/Cammie, 30 min Yourself!Fitness, 30 min treadmill AND a bonus 30 min walk around the neighborhood after work to see jack-o-lanterns n stuff

Fuhrmometer Reading: Kale

Feeling much better today... I don't know what yesterday was all about. Hmph!

Tonight I'm hiding out in my bedroom watching the Masque of the Red Death starring Vincent Price on tv and not handing out candy to the neighborhood ruffians. Last year halloween wasn't a fun experience and this year I chose not to deal with it. If you're going to come to my house and not wear a costume and not say thank you when I give you candy or goodies then I don't feel the need to put time and effort into purchasing and handing out said goodies. Maybe someday when we move into a different neighborhood I'll give this whole halloween thing a go again. But for now it's kind of nice to spend an evening holed up in my bedroom and pretending no one's home.

huh?

Today:
Breakfast: smoothie
Lunch: blended salad
Dinner: pasta

Exercise: 30 min walk with Cammie, 30 min Yourself!Fitness, 30 min bike

Fuhrmometer Reading: Lentil

For some reason today I feel like crap. I can't explain it - I've been eating well and doing everything I should. I've been feeling great lately... but today I just felt horrible. I have a headache - it's not dehydration and had a really bad tummy ache by the time I got home. Ick.

The thought of greens for dinner turned my tummy even more so I decided to have some pasta. I should keep some whole wheat pasta or oats around for such times in the future because the white pasta that I had is junk - I know this. But it did help my tummy a little bit. Oh well, tomorrow will be a better day.

Week 20 Results

Today:
Breakfast: (at Wendy's) side salad, baked potato with chives
Lunch: blended salad (romaine, pineapple, flax, 1/2 banana, ice cubes)
Dinner: Green Machine Soup, Banana-Pumpkin smoothie

Exercise: quick walk with Cammie, 30 min Yourself!Fitness, 30 min treadmill

Fuhrmometer Reading: Kale
Hey! I lost 2.6 pounds this week! My overall loss has passed the 65 lb mark - 70 pounds down here I come! I'm very pleased with this loss this week especially because last week I lost so much and was hoping I wouldn't rebound like a rubber band. I also had 2 days where lunch was less than ideal and also my "friend" was here for a visit (sorry if that's TMI but it is a factor sometimes).

Well anyway... today was prep day. I started out thinking I was going to make The Green Machine (original recipe can be found on Dr. F's member center) - kale, bok choy, broccoli rabe, tomatoes, garlic, onion, and mushrooms all sauteed together. Someone let me know that the recipe didn't reheat very well and since I cook once for the entire week I started thinking about how I could adapt the recipe to work for me. I decided to make it into soup and I also added lentils because I wanted to make sure that I get enough calories in to continue losing. Here's my adaptation of the recipe:

Green Machine Soup
4 cups low sodium veggie broth
1 large white onion, quartered
4-6 garlic cloves, crushed and roughly chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped or 1 15 oz can of no-salt added tomatoes
2 cups of mushrooms, chopped (I used baby bellas/cremini's)
8oz kale
8oz bok choy
8oz broccoli rabe
1 lb green lentils
1/2 bag frozen green beans
1/2 bag frozen broccoli or broccoli & cauliflower

1. Combine broth, onions, and garlic and tomatoes in a large pot. Add kale, broccoli rabe, and bok choy on top of the broth mixture. Cover with a lid and simmer until greens are wilted.
2. While broth and greens are simmering, cook lentils and portion out into 1 cup portions.
3. Blend wilted greens and broth until smooth, return to pot and add mushrooms, green beans, and broccoli. Simmer 15 - 20 minutes to cook mushrooms.
4. Ladle soup over lentils, eat or store for later in the week.


K.M. asked me to share my creamy salad dressing recipe. Right now it's more of a method rather than a recipe but I am working on something that is close to Ranch dressing - but it's not there yet, but when I get it I will post it. For creamy dressings that are ETL friendly, start off with equal amounts of raw cashews and plain unsweetened soy milk. From there - add what you like - spices, garlic, etc. Blend everything up in the blender and see what you like. In my experience savory dressings need some sort of acid in them - lemon juice, vinegar, so on - to make them "work".

On Dr. F's member center there is a recipe for Caesar Salad Dressing which was contributed by Casinera. The Caesar recipe is equal parts of raw cashews and soy milk combined with Dijon mustard, garlic, black pepper, nutritional yeast, and lemon juice. It is very good, try it!

like drinking pumpkin pie

Today:
Breakfast: smoothie
Lunch: fresh spring rolls (not fried)
Dinner: Dr. F's Anti-Cancer Soup with broccoli rabe; Pumpkin-Banana smoothie

Exercise: 30 min walk with Cammie, 30 min Yourself!Fitness (Maya), 30 min bike

Fuhrmometer: Kale

Someone on the Yahoo! Eat-2-Live list shared this recipe and it's just so good that I need to share it here. It's like drinking pumpkin pie - and it's ETL friendly!

Pumpkin-Banana Smoothie
Posted by Shareta
frozen banana
sooked pumpkin or Canned pumpkin (make sure canned pumpkin is 100% pumpkin and not pie filling)
soy milk
pure vanilla extract
cinnamon
nutmeg

Blend in blender until smooth and creamy.

This is SO tasty - if you like pumpkin pie you must try it! Thank you so much to Shareta for posting it!

Ooooh... we went over to visit my parents today, and aside from a chaotic minute or two when Cammie and Shelby (my brother's moose of a doggie) met, we had a great time. I tried on the dress that I wore to my Senior Prom while we were there and it was way too big on me. I guess I am thinner now than when I was a senior in high school; that's both cool and kinda sad, although more cool than sad. I told my mom to donate my old classes 'cause I won't being able to wear those sizes ever again!

Edited on 10/29/06

Friday:
Breakfast: smoothie
Lunch: salad, baby carrots
Dinner: Dr. F's Anti-Cancer Soup

Exercise: rest day, 30 min walk with Cammie

Fuhrmometer Reading: Kale

Friday was a good day; no blogging because I was exhausted by 9:00... gotta get used to getting up early in the morning. :-)

Thanks to everyone who weighed in on my dilemma yesterday - I agree, I didn't say "F it" and just eat it anyway!

you be the judge

Today:
Breakfast: Smoothie
Lunch: romaine with creamy ETL dressing
Dinner: Dr. F's anti-cancer soup (with broccoli raab?)

Exercise: short walk with Cammie this AM, 30 min w/Maya, 30 min bike

Fuhrmometer Reading: ?

My definition of a Kale Day:
A day in which I eat 3 meals that are all 100% ETL (in quantities that fit into the 6-week challenge) with no cheating. I also work out at least 45 minutes if it is a planned workout day; if it is a planned rest day it's ok not to work out.

So today there were donut holes and bagels in the kitchen. I usually don't have physical cravings for something but if there is a food available - like sweet baked goods - it is tough for me not to be haunted by them. I'm not feeling so great today and am a little edgy feeling. At one point I did go into the kitchen and put a plain donut hole into my mouth. And then I regretted it. And I spit it out. Then I went shopping and got a new pair of shoes.

So, while I gave in to the donut holes and went to eat one, does that mean I cheated? OR because I spit it out instead of ingesting it does that mean I saved myself? Do I give myself Kale today? I don't know - what do you think? I know that the rest of the day (I'm munching on my salad as I write this) will go as planned, exercise when I get home (cause I just couldn't get out of bed @ 6:45 but now I regret it) and eat Dr. F's anti-cancer soup for dinner.

So, Kale or not?

roller coaster

Wednesday:
Breakfast: smoothie
Lunch: 2 tofu tacos with lettuce and tomatoes in a white soft tortilla with black beans and rice - all vegan but I'm sure there was oil and sodium involved
Dinner: Salad with creamy almost ETL-Ranch... recipe needs some work.
Tootsie rolls after dinner...

Exercise: 30 minute walk the dog, 30 minutes with Maya, 30 minutes treadmill

Fuhrmometer: lentil

Wednesday started off very well and very early. I got up at 6:45 (which is SOOO early for me) and walked Cammie and did the rest of my workout. It was great to get everything done in the morning and really the toughest part about it was getting myself out of bed. By about 8:30pm I was beginning to crash though. I'm going to have to work on going to sleep earlier if I want to keep on doing this.

So that was more or less my high point of the day.

I ended up getting stressed out and upset in the middle of the day and one of my co-workers asked me if I wanted to go to lunch or get out of the office with her for a little while. I knew that if we went out I'd be sacrificing a Kale day and shouldn't go - but I did anyway. Lunch was good but hubby laughed at me because I said in Tuesday's post that I would do 12 Kale days in a row before Boston. Well now it's 11.

I don't write things here and then not do them to be a hypocrite, and I hope people can identify with this. There are things in our lives that we all want to do - like getting up early and working out for instance, that we really and truly want to do but things just happen and we end up not being able to do them. Now that's not really the best analogy or anything but my point is that when I said I was going for 12 Kale days in a row before going to Boston I meant it. I didn't have any intention of going out to lunch the next day and had no idea that things would turn out the way that they did.

I suppose all I can do is try to be better and more consistent. :-)

things i forgot about

Today:
Breakfast: smoothie
Lunch: small piece zucchini bread, wrap from HFS
Dinner: Dr. F's Anti-Cancer Soup with broccoli raab

Exercise: AM walk with Cammie, PM 30 min with Maya, 30 min on bike

Furhmometer Reading: Blueberry/Lentil

So I made it 7 Kale days in a row out of my original goal of 10 before breaking down and having a wrap from the HFS. I'm now going for Kale days every day until I go to Boston - it'll be 12 days in a row. The zucchini bread reminded me that SAD food makes my tummy hurt - I just remembered how my tummy used to hurt all the time before I started ETL, something that I had forgotten about completely until now. It really is amazing how much better ETL food makes me feel. I had the zucchini bread today because my grandma used to make zucchini bread and I used to loooove it... this was no where near as good as my grandma's and that small piece made my tummy hurt. Not worth it at all. Gotta file that experience in the front of the drawer.

Last night unexpectedly ended up being a late night and I had to leave the house earlier than normal this morning so I didn't have enough time to do my whole workout before work. I wish I had - because after a day at work I'd much rather come home and play with Cammie than have to leave her again to go workout (she hates the basement and refuses to go down there with me). Tomorrow I am going to try to get up early enough to get my whole workout in before work.

goin good...

Today:
Breakfast: smoothie
Lunch: romaine with creamy ETL dressing
Dinner: Dr.F's Famous Anti Cancer Soup with broccoli raab

Exercise: AM- walk with Cammie (about 30 min), PM- 30 min with Maya, 30 min treadmill

Fuhrmometer Reading: Kale :-D

Wow... I really don't have too much to say today. Things are going very well for me right now. I'm on my game with food and exercise and there's nothing more that I can ask for! Cammie is helping me get in some extra exercise and also getting up early in the morning, it's really great. It just hit me this afternoon that I can probably get in my entire workout in the morning before work now, which is something that I've wished I could do but before it was just so easy to stay in bed. Now I can get so much more done with my day, Cammie really has been a great addition to our lives.

You'll never believe...

Today:
Breakfast: handful of cashews
Lunch: smoothie
Dinner: Dr. F's Famous Anti Cancer Soup with broccoli raab

Exercise: 40 min walk with the doggie, 15 min with Maya (Yourself Fitness), housework

Fuhrmometer: Kale (although just barely)

9.4 pounds this week, 63 overall! YES! WAHOOO! *Dance of Joy*

I am so happy to have gotten the scale moving again! I would have been happy if I had lost half that much this week; although this is certainly amazing as well. I know that much of it is water weight, but it doesn't matter to me. All of that water was making me heavier just like the fat that I lost. So there water weight! I'm glad that all of it is gone!

This weeks loss put me under 100 pounds left to lose; which is really cool. It really pushes my goals that much closer. It makes me so happy to KNOW that I am going to really do this.

I may be able to meet my Boston goal afterall... I know that I can keep eating at the level that I have been so hopefully I can lose another 10 pounds in the next 2 weeks before I leave. The next goal after that? Lose 25 more pounds by the end of the year to put me at 200 even; I know that this will be especially tough with Thanksgiving and Christmas in there but I think that such a challenge is just what I need to maintain restraint during the season.

Saturday

Breakfast: Smoothie
Lunch: romaine with creamy ETL dressing
Dinner: spicy red lentil soup

Exercise: 60 min walk with Cammie, 30 minutes with Maya

Fuhrmometer Reading: Kale (5!)

Sorry no post for Saturday, Blogger wouldn't let me in! Cammie and I took a big walk and it was great, I also went to a baby shower for an old friend whom I haven't seen since my wedding. Seeing someone that you've known for years and years is definitely weird; but she looked great :-)

Fabuolus Friday

Today:
Breakfast: Smoothie (spinach, blueberries, strawberries, banana, and flax)
Lunch: baby carrots; romaine with raspberry melon vinegar
Dinner: Sinbads Lemony Lentil Soup

Exercise: 20 min walk with Cammie this morning, 30 min walk with Cammie after work, 30 min with Maya

Fuhrmometer Reading: Kale

Today at work they had a little hors d'ouvres lunch with all sorts of food that smelled and looked amazing that I didn't eat! I sat with my co-workers and ate my baby carrots and was fine. It was really great for me; and I don't mind saying that I'm really proud of myself for it.

Four good eating days in a row have really helped me to renew my resolve and commitment to eating for nutritional excellence. I actually said no to ice cream and potato chips with ease, and in the past I'd have had a really hard time saying no to ice cream and chips... especially the chips.

I got up early and took Cammie out for a walk this morning. It was a great way to start off the day and I look forward to making it a practice. I've never been much of a morning person but hope that I can become consistent with morning walks. Cammie is really great to walk with - she's small enough so that she doesn't take me for a walk and she's very well behaved. I am so happy my FIL wanted us to take care of her.

How Cool is THIS!?!

Full of Veggies, Veggielicious, Vegan Cat Lover, Vivacious Vegan, Diary of A Soon to Be Skinny Girl, and I am Curious Vegan were featured on Dr. Fuhrman's Blog DiseaseProof this week!

Congtats to Bree, Mary, Crystal, Casey/Veganmunkee, and TheWriterStuff and thanks to Gerry over at DiseaseProof!

Today:
Breakfast: smoothie
Lunch: baby carrots, romaine with raspberry melon vinegar
Dinner: handful of cashews, spicy red lentil soup with broccoli raab

Exercise: 30 min with Maya, 30 min treadmill

Fuhrmometer Reading: Kale!

Quick post today, everything is good... 3rd Kale Day in a row! I've also been peeking at the scale a little bit this week and it's moving again! It really is all about faithful eating for me. I'm glad to be back on track.

surprise...

Today:
Breakfast: smoothie
Lunch: baby carrots, romaine with blood vinegar
Dinner: spicy lentil soup with broccoli raab

Exercise: 30 min W/Maya, 30 min treadmill

Fuhrmometer Reading: Kale

Well today wasn't a bad day overall; I did well with eating again and had a really great workout. I got an issue of Vegetarian Times in the mail today with a lot of recipes that look good and easy to ETL-ize that I read while I was on the bike.

As I finished my workout and was putting some laundry into the dryer hubby came downstairs to ask me if I wanted to go with him to pick up his dad's doggie... yes, we have a new addition to our household this evening:

This is Cammie, my FIL is moving into an apartment and can't keep her anymore and really wanted hubby and I to take her and give her a good home. She is a sweet doggie but is a little sad and confused to be with us right now. We know that with time she'll come to at least like us.

She is already getting used to being here I think. She has staked out a place in the recliner and has been watching tv contentedly. Hopefully as we all get used to one another things will only get better! I haven't ever had a doggie of my own before and hubby hasn't had one since he was a kid, so it's a new experience for us!

The Pursuit of Perfection

Today:
Breakfast: smoothie
Lunch: baby carrots, romaine with blood orange vinegar
Dinner: handful of cashews, spicy red lentil soup with normandy blend veggies

Exercise: 30 min treadmill, 30 min w/ Maya

Fuhrmometer Reading: Kale

Kale Days really aren’t that hard to achieve; I know I sound like quite the hypocrite saying that but it’s true. It really isn’t that hard to eat what you’re supposed to and to say no to the things you aren’t supposed to. It’s just a matter of being mindful of such things – perfection isn’t always an unattainable goal. I know that I can be perfect with making my scheduled workouts all week – so I’m sure that I can accomplish perfection in my eating habits.

I think that in a lot of instances perfection is all about pushing laziness, procrastination, and fear out of the picture and just doing it. I know that I can avoid the food that I shouldn’t be eating – but in the past few weeks I have become mentally lazy and I know that I can do better.

Many people in situations where weight loss (moreso a considerable amount of weight loss) is an aspiration believe that while they dream about weight loss it’s something that they will never achieve. They condemn themselves to a lifetime of unhappiness because they’ve tried and failed to lose weight in the past or they think that they have an addiction that they just can’t overcome. I just don’t believe that. I have dealt with being overweight since at least middle school (and I can remember times in elementary school when people made comments too), my mother and grandmother dealt with being overweight – and my father’s side of the family can be categorized as “big boned”, I’ve lost weight in the past and put it back on and then some, if I could I'd live on takeout and frozen food. I know that I have an emotional attachment to food and gravitate to it when I’ve had a tough day or want to celebrate or am just bored. I think that if there were a perfect profile of an overweight american who is predisposed to be this way it'd be me.

But really, I think that all of that is crap.

Losing weight is all about mentally committing to following whatever food plan one identifies with and finding a way to exercise – AND DOING THESE THINGS CONSISTENTLY. The reason I gained weight back in the past? I stopped working out; I stopped cooking for myself.. It wasn't genetics or an attachment to food; it was that I stopped trying and I stopped caring. I started caring when I hated my wedding dress and was stuck with it. I started caring when I couldn’t make it up the stairs without being seriously out of breath. I started caring when I had only a few pairs of pants that fit comfortably.

And this little plateau of late? It’s all because I got too far ahead of myself after hitting the -50 mark. I have got another 100+ to lose, so why was I celebrating? I got sloppy, I got lazy, I started procrastinating (I’ll get back to eating right tomorrow) and the only reason I didn’t gain in these past few weeks was that I’ve been working out. I’ve gotten to a place where I don’t have to talk myself into working out, I just do it. I need to get to that place with food. I know a prolonged string of Kale Days is the only way to get there. I am going start out by going for 10 in a row.

As my Grandpa wrote in an anniversary card to hubby and I: “1 down and 99 to go – they say the first 100 years are the hardest.” The same goes for Kale Days – 1 down and 9 to go.

What type of vegetarian are you?

Something fun for a rainy day...

You scored as vegan vixen. You're a vegan vixen! You use your good looks and body to encourage people to go veg. You're probably a little perky and a little adventurous. You may have tofu-wrestled, worn a lettuce bra, or are about to do one of the two! If you're a guy, consider yourself a virile vegan (vixen generally refers to women...). Though you may have feminist beliefs, it's fine to use sexual attraction to get people to stop eating animals. More on www.goveg.com vegan vixen 67% welfarist vegetarian 61% health-conscious vegetarian 45% militant vegan 45% quiet vegetarian 44% new veggie 22% lazy vegetarian 17% What type of vegetarian are you? created with QuizFarm.com

Is it accurate? I do still have dairy or eggs on occasion; so I can't rightly call myself a vegan although I do think that I eat much less of those things than an average Lacto/Ovo Veggie. Some day I hope to be a Vegan Vixen; but in reality I could care less about if other people eat meat or not. It would be nice to be a good example of a healthy, down to earth vegan/veggie. It does upset me when people thing that all vegetarians are militant animal rights activists or they believe all of the false nutritional information about veggies and vegans. BUT ANYWAY... this is just something fun that I thought I'd share.

Working on a KALE day today... more later!

momentum

Today:
Breakfast: smoothie
Lunch: salad, 2 mini-quiches, apple pie
Dinner: whole wheat toast, veggies with spicy sauce

Exercise: rest day

Fuhrmometer Reading: Potato

Well, I'd say that food wise today was better than yesterday; but overall it's not where I want to be. Who wants to be at 50% all of the time? I think that the rest of the week will be MUCH better. I know that I really need to work on my willpower; I just can't say no to some things. I think I am/have been sliding back into the Live to Eat mode rather than Eat to Live. I don't want my life and happiness to revolve around food. I know that there are other ways to feel pleasure and comfort but it's just so easy to get those things from food. I have noticed that I am enjoying ETL foods and there are some things that actually are comforting to me. It's not that I don't like ETL food - I do; I guess I just like other food too. I need to work on really being amused and occupied by other things besides food. I think that it will take time.

The other thing - and I'm not playing the blame game here; what goes into my mouth is all me - is that it's tough eating right when you share your living space with others. Just as I am an adult and get to decide what I eat and why; so is my hubby. It's not fair for me to say what can and can't be in the house just because I have trouble staying out of the stuff I don't want to be eating. It does make it tough sometimes though, but I know I can do better.

In happier news, I did have someone comment to me today that I look good; and that felt really nice. I can't wait until I've dropped another 55 pounds to see what people say! Hopefully I can light the fire again and they will start coming off with the same momentum that I had before.

stuck

Ugh.

No change again.

I know it's all because of my eating. These past few days that I've been MIA I have been working out but haven't been eating so well. I know that where I am and the fact that I've lost only 3.5 pounds in a month is all because of eating. It has got to change.

Yet it seems that every time I set myself a goal or make a pledge on my blog it doesn't seem to end up meaning anything to me. Well self... look at the scale, it's been too long since you've lost any weight and it's unacceptable.

Well; all I can do now is do better than I have in the past. We will see with time. The one thing I am NOT going to do is give up!

Today:
Breakfast: Smoothie
Lunch: Wrap from HFS
Dinner: Spicy Red Lentil Soup with broccoli raab
After Dinner: potato chips, small cup of ice cream

Exercise: Rest Day

Fuhrmometer Reading: Potato

Yeah; I really sucked today. But I'm not really beating myself up over it. I know that tomorrow will be a better day and I will have lots of time to work out in my new and improved workout space -- hubby spent the afternoon re-arranging and cleaning the basement so that I have space to do my Yourself Fitness down there which is much nicer than jumping around up in the living room. I'll also be eating better.

We've all heard people say "It took me a long time to put this weight on and I'm not expecting it to come off overnight" (or something along those lines). So why if we're understanding that it does take time to lose weight and to form new good habits, such as working out, why can't this apply to food? I think I may be rationalizing a little bit here - but it does make sense.

Actually; I know how far I've come in the last 4 months. I was reading some of my older posts today and remembered how I was fixated on the next time I would be able to eat "normal" food or whatever I wanted to eat and that I wasn't really enjoying ETL food. Now, I have to say that I really do enjoy ETL food. I have no problems whatsoever with it being what I eat a vast majority of the time. I think with time it will get even easier to not eat/want "normal" food. I'm planning to Eat to Live for the rest of my life - so I think I have some time to get really good at it.

how i do it

Today:
Breakfast: smoothie
Lunch: romaine with blood orange vinegar; baby carrots
Dinner: Dr. F's Anti-Cancer Soup with broccoli raab; some apple

Exercise: 30 min w/Maya, 30 min treadmill

Fuhrmometer Reading: Kale (again!)

And no temptations today!

Today I was having a conversation with a co-worker about selling and being comfortable with sales. We agreed (and many others have pointed this out) that when you believe in the product you represent you are much more effective when selling it to others. I think that this idea applies to many other things; but especially weight loss.

If you believe in what you're doing... your weight loss program or eating lifestyle you're more likely to be successful with it. It all boils down to what makes sense to you and what you can buy into. I know that for me in the past I have tried Weight Watchers and counting points but it just didn't resonate with me. I had a bit of success a few years ago with losing weight by working out and counting points. But it just didn't resonate with me and I ended up gaining the weight back. Eat to Live makes sense to me. I believe in it. That's why it is the plan for me.

Another factor for success has got to be wanting it. I don't just mean wanting it like a new pair of shoes; I mean really wanting it, wanting it more than anything. I know that before I started on this "journey" I knew I needed to lose weight; I hated my body and knew I could do better and be healthier. I really did (and still do) want it more than anything.

The other two factors that have been crucial for me and will continue to be crucial for me have been planning and consistency. Planning and preparing all of my smoothie kits and dinners for the week ahead of time have been huge factors in helping me stick to the plan, especially after a long day. Consistency with working out - even when I'd really rather not - has been a big help. It also helps me to remember that I enjoy the feeling I get from exercise and that it really is an enjoyable thing.

One final thing that has really helped me - allowing myself rest days and some off plan meals. Knowing one doesn't have to be perfect all the time helps make being perfect the rest of the time really feel like something worthwhile.

Perfect Ten

Today:
Breakfast: smoothie
Lunch: romaine with blood orange vinegar, baby carrots
Dinner: Dr. Fuhrman's Anti-Cancer Soup with broccoli raab

Exercise: 45 min w/Maya, 15 min bike

Fuhrmometer: KALE!

It wasn't easy but I knew I could do it. The pretzels in the kitchen at work tempted me but I said no. An instructor waived some delicious smelling baked goods under my nose (not literally - but she did offer me some); and I graciously declined. My stiff and sore body begged me to take the day off from working out... but I knew that I needed to at least get moving - so I did. It wasn't a great workout but I got through it. It feels good to have a day where everything went as planned AND I didn't give in to urges to cheat or slack off.

Someone asked me today if I've been losing weight... I got all bashful and responded "a bit." I walked into my boss' office today and she just looked at me and made a comment about how much weight I'm losing and how every time she sees me I am smaller. I didn't really say anything. I've read other people's blogs where they have experienced the same thing - people in "real life" comment on their weight loss and they clam up about it or get weirded out. Why is this? We're obviously open to talking about it or else we wouldn't have blogs that anyone can read. It's strange, I just don't understand.

Well I guess that's all I have for today; I'll be back tomorrow with better stuff. G'night!

almost but not quite

Today:
Breakfast: smoothie
Lunch: small handful of cashews
Dinner: spicy red lentil soup with Normandy blend veggies (yellow summer squash, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots)

Exercise: 45 min w/Maya, 30 min treadmill

Fuhrmometer Reading: broccoli

If I had only had a real lunch I would have had a Kale Day! I was actually planning on taking the plunge and making a blended salad too but I just didn’t get hungry until what I thought was too late to have a large meal so I grabbed the cashews to tide me over until dinner time. Tomorrow I’m back to work so maybe I’ll be able to pull off a Kale Day then.

As promised here are pics and recipes for the two things I made last night/ today: Crock Pot Veggie Stock and Spicy Red Lentil Soup. Yum!

Crock Pot Veggie Stock

2 medium onions, quartered
2 large carrots, cut into 1 in chunks (or a bunch of baby carrots)
2 stalks celery, cut into 1 inch pieces
2-3 garlic cloves, unpeeled & crushed
1 small bunch Italian flat leaf parsley
2-3 bay leafs
½ tsp. black peppercorns or more if you like
8 – 10 C. water
Any other dried herbs you feel like adding (I like basil and rosemary)

1. Place all ingredients in your crock pot. Cover and cook on low overnight (8 - 10 hours or more).
2. Allow stock to cool a bit, and strain through a fine-meshed sieve into a pot or bowl, pressing the veggies against the sieve to release all the juices. Store in tightly covered containers for 3-5 days in the refrigerator or 3 months in the freezer. I like to freeze 2 cup portions so I know how much to take out when making a recipe.

I’ll be honest; I really don’t measure anything when I make this. I just toss everything in the crock pot and add water and let it go. I think this time I added 12 cups of water because that’s what looked right to me. I have a fairly big crock pot so I can get a lot of broth out of one batch. I got about 6 portions out of this batch.

I’m planning to use this the next time I make Blended Greens Soup or whenever else I have a recipe that calls for water or stock. It’s nice to have in the freezer for when you need it!


Spicy Red Lentil Soup
ETL-ized Version of Recipe from October 2006 issue of Vegetarian Times
6 (2 cup) servings

I’m posting this recipe the way I made it; I left out the salt and oil that the recipe calls for and didn’t use any Tamarind concentrate/paste. I also doubled the recipe as last time I made a soup from VT I didn’t get as many meal-sized servings out of it as I wanted.

1 lb red lentils
2 15 oz cans no-salt diced tomatoes
4 Tbs. grated fresh ginger
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
2 15 oz cans light & unsweetened coconut milk
2 Tbs. ground coriander
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. tumeric powder
2 small jalapeños, minced (seeded if you want less heat)
chopped cilantro to garnish (optional)

1. Bring lentils and 10 cups of water to a boil in a medium to large pot, simmer partially covered for 20 – 25 minutes; do not drain. If desired; blend lentils with whisk or blend in food processor.
2. While lentils are cooking purée tomatoes and ginger in a food processor or blender until smooth and set aside. Chop garlic and mince jalapeño.
3. Heat a large pot over medium heat. Add garlic and a few tablespoons of water and cook 30 seconds or until just golden; stirring often. Add tomato/ginger mixture, coconut milk, coriander, cumin, tumeric, and jalapeño. Simmer 15 minutes stirring occasionally.
4. Stir lentils into other ingredients and simmer partially uncovered, 20 minutes. Garnish with fresh cilantro when ready to serve.

Nicole’s Notes: At meal time; I add some frozen veggies to the soup and microwave them all together. The soup heats up as the veggies defrost and they don’t get too mushy. Adding the frozen veggies is a great way to get your cooked veggies along with the beans that the soup already supplies.

Although we don’t have to count calories on ETL; VT’s version of the recipe which includes oil and tamarind is 201 calories per 1 cup serving – seeing as how these are left out in this version I estimate that a 2 cup meal – sized serving is in the high 300’s. Add in the frozen veggies and you’ve got a great and filling dinner for 450 to 500 calories.

I realized as I was typing this up that when I made the soup I didn’t double the spices. It tastes ok the way it is; but I think would be even better if I had used the appropriate amount of spices (the correct amounts are above). I’ll make this one again.

week 17

today:
breakfast: smoothie
lunch: small handful of cashews
dinner: vegan burrito

exercise: 45 min w/ Maya, 30 min bike, 4 hours landscaping (it's tough work!)

Fuhrmometer Reading: eggplant


EEW! I didn't lose anything this week! Actually I am relieved; because I really thought I was going to gain this week. I had more than a few days where I had something off plan and a few days where I kind of slacked on my workouts and had 2 days where I didn't work out at all. I deserved this weigh in. I am happy that I didn't gain because it just sucks to have to lose the same pounds over and over again.

I know I have to stop cheating. But saying that is harder than doing it! Hubby came up with a great motivational tool for me that I think will help me get the ball rolling again. He is going to pay me $10 toward new clothes for every pound I lose between now and the end of the year... if I really get rolling again that could be a decent haul! What makes it even more exciting is that for every pound HE loses he gets to subtract that from my total and if he gains then I get an additional $10 for each pound he gains. It really is a brilliant idea because it gives us both great motivation to really work hard and get fit.

So I spent this beautiful fall afternoon slaving away working on the landscaping in the front of my house. WOW that was tough work. I had 3 evergreen shrubs that I dug up from the front and moved to the side of the garage. It was so tough... I even broke a shovel... snapped the handle in half! By the time I was done I was delirious and really really dirty... but talk about a full body workout, I could feel my legs and my abs and my arms all getting a really good workout and I was working fast enough that my heart got some excellent exercise as well. Hmm... I wonder how many calories I burned today.

I have tomorrow off from work and am planning on making Spicy Red Lentil Soup, I'm making some veggie stock in the crock pot right now. I'll post the recipes and pics tomorrow.
:-)

this is not a commercial (i swear)

Today:
breakfast: smoothie
lunch: romaine with blood orange vinegar, a couple sourdough pretzels
dinner: Dr. Fuhrman's Anti-Cancer Soup with broccoli raab; apple

exercise: 30 min with Maya (upper body), 30 min treadmill, 7.5 min bike

Fuhrmometer reading: eggplant


Remember how one of my October goals was to incorporate weight training into my workouts? Well I've got a way to do it that I know I can stick with. It's as simple as playing the Xbox.

When I read about Yourself! Fitness over on Bust My Size I thought it sounded like a great idea; a virtual personal trainer that would work you out based on your personal fitness profile and stats. I told hubby about it and he had an opportunity to buy a used Xbox relatively cheap so we got the "game" (it's also available for PlayStation and on the PC as well... as long as you can work out in front of your computer).

This thing is pretty cool! You create a profile by entering a bunch of your stats: resting heart rate; 65% max heartrate, lower body, core, and upper body strength as well as flexibility and Maya (the virtual personal trainer) suggests your workout goals etc. You set up which days you want to work out and for how long and you're off. Each day you workout Maya will suggest a workout focus (today mine was upper body) and ask you how you're feeling. She then taylors your workout to how you're doing. It's really cool.

Yourself! Fitness also has the option to use menu plans as part of the fitness program. I'm pretty sure that they wouldn't conform to ETL so I skipped this part. For someone who is looking for an all-in-one fitness and weight loss program it is a great feature.

I'm going to use the program 6x per week for 30 min and also use the treadmill or the bike to round out my workouts. I had tried doing weight training on my own but it just wasn't working for me. With this I've got something that I can stick to; don't have to think about which exercises I'm going to do and don't have to count reps!

blue men and my man

Today:
Breakfast: smoothie
Lunch:1/2 my usual romaine with Blood Orange Vinegar, small piece of baklava
Dinner: ?

Exercise: rest day

Fuhrmometer Reading: Cashew/Brown Rice

Hubby won tickets from his work (have I ever said how much I love his work?) to go see Blue Man Group tonight so I'm checking in early. It's been an interesting day food wise - our lunch and meeting in Buffalo were cancelled which was nice because I wouldn't have to navigate a restaurant menu for a lunch selection and was happy to eat my romaine here in my office. Then my co-workers decided that we would go to this little restaurant around the corner that has some amazing desserts to celebrate my boss' birthday. I got so stressed out! I should have just stayed here but I really didn't want to be the party pooper so I went. I ended up getting baklava, which was way too sweet and buttery; it gave me a tummy ache and knocked the Fuhrmometer way down. Well, it's just one day and tomorrow will be better!

In other news, I love my husband. I guess it's not really news because everyone kind of expects that spouses love one another but mine is really awesome. He is so supportive of me and my efforts to become healthy and I really appreciate that. He has the perfect balance of being supportive when I need it and being a hard ass when I need it. I attribute my level of success with ETL to his support; without him I don't think I'd be barreling down the highway of weight loss as smoothly as I am. He really is my perfect compliment, he's outgoing when I am reserved, he's got an amazing talent and intelligence for all things technical and mechanical when I prefer reading and writing and art. We make a great team; he makes me laugh and he makes me think, and most importantly he makes me excited for our future and what we have yet to accomplish. I hope that everyone has someone in their life that does these things for them as well, it certainly makes the highs higher and the lows not as low.

Honey, I love you.

bye bye, tweed pants

Today:
Breakfast: smoothie
Lunch: HFS wrap
Dinner: Dr. F's Anti-Cancer Soup with broccoli raab; apple

Exercise: 30 bike, 15 treadmill

Puhrmometer: lentil

So this morning I decided that I was going to wear this fabulous pair of brown tweed pants that I have. It's October; and although it ended up being beautiful this afternoon (72 degrees!) I think it is now appropo to wear tweed, especially brown tweed.

I grabbed the pants, thinking that they would fit beautifully now since they were a bit too tight the last time I wore them (maybe in March?) not even remembering what size they were. Well they were WAY too big! This made me happy and sad at the same time as I was looking forward to wearing them; but am extatic that I can't wear them because they're too big on me.

Dressing yourself while you're losing weight is an interesting thing. It's great when your clothes first fit you better and you grab stuff out of the skinny closet. But there will come a time when the stuff that was once in the skinny closet is too big and you have to start buying new clothes. What then? Do you buy just a few pieces to get you to work looking decent or what? Do you buy them from the nice stores or do you go to the Old Navy's and other like stores of the world since you know you're not going to be wearing a particular size for long? Oh the dilemmas! ;-)

October Goals

Today:
Breakfast: smoothie
Lunch: romaine with pomegranate balsamic
Snack: apple
Dinner: Dr. F's Anti-Cancer Soup with Broccoli, Cauliflower and Broccoli Rabe; apple

Exercise: 30 min bike, 15 min treadmill

Fuhrmometer Reading: broccoli!

Over at Dr. Fuhrman's website on the member forums there are what is called the monthly challenge. Those who wish to participate post their personal goals for the month and everyone provides support and accountability for everyone else. I tried to participate in July but never kept up with it. So for October I'm going to give it another go. Here are my goals for the month:

1. Keep posting here to stay accountable (same goes for the blog)
2. Work 2 hours of strength training in each week
3. No more than 2 off-plan meals this week and next, 1 per week for the rest of the month

October is a tough month! This week is my boss' birthday and I know we are going to take her out to lunch when we go to another campus for a meeting on Wednesday and we'll also have some sort of celebration here at our campus another day. I have no clue where we're going but hopefully can get a salad or something else very close to ETL. A week from Saturday is hubby & my first anniversary (woo hoo!) and we are planning on dinner at the restaurant where we had our rehearsal dinner. After these "events" I should be able to stick much closer to the plan.

The toughest thing for me right now is incorporating strength training into my exercise routine. I've been doing an hour of cardio 6x a week but haven't been so good about the strength training; which I know is important. I am going to shoot for doing 1 hour on the weekend and 2 30 min sessions during the week.

Something else that I was thinking about today... I've achieved a place where I really like ETL food. I can remember thinking all the time about what I was going to eat when I got to a treat day... like my birthday. These days; I don't obsess over treat days, I enjoy OP food when I eat it; but I enjoy ETL food just as much. There are days when I'd prefer not to eat a salad; and I usually don't on the weekend to give myself a break. But overall, I'm in a great place! I realized this evening that I had a perfect ETL day (except for the snack) without a second thought or temptation. How cool!

Today:
Breakfast: cereal with soy milk
Lunch: wheat toast
Dinner: Dr. Fuhrman's Anti Cancer Soup with added cauliflower and broccoli

Exercise: 30 min bike, 30 min treadmill

Fuhrmometer Reading: potato

So I lost 2.6 pounds this week. I actually feel good about it. I was worried that I would have lost just one pound again or none at all, that my weight loss would stall here etc. This at least lets me know that I am still making decent progress. However, I know that I can do better and post higher numbers.

I was watching The Biggest Loser today and noticed that many of the people on the show were talking about their Goal Outfits (is this something they always do? I'm new to all that is the Biggest Loser!); I started thinking about what my goal outfit would be. I've decided that in will be a cute dress, I love wearing skirts and dresses but haven't because of my weight. Now after losing these first 50 pounds I am more comfortable in skirts and think that I will wear them a lot more as I lose weight and collect a new wardrobe. I don't own any dresses (wedding dress doesn't really count!) so it will be nice to be able to buy and wear all of the cute dresses I can only look at right now. :-)