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.