Weight Loss...

It has been a little frustrating that I am not making my goals for weight loss. I know, though, that I could be working harder... I had a lot of personal "stuff" going on that I'd rather not blog about, but it's mostly over now and I think I will be in a better place this week to center myself and get a workout routine going.

I feel like I am in a little bit of a slump. What do we do when we're in a slump? We reflect on our accomplishments. I would like to show you a chart of my weight loss over the last year. After seeing this, I feel a little less like a failure and a little more like saying "OH HELL YEAH".

Sunday Weigh-In

Weigh-in = 264.4
DOWN 1.6 pound since last week.
Down 67.6 since I started my weight-loss journey.

This week I seem to have lost an inch from my waist and an inch-plus from my hips. I refuse to celebrate that until I get the same measurements a second week!

For the second week in a row, I am not on track to make my goal of 249lbs by 7/25. I want my goals to be realistic, so I am going to alter my goal just a tiny bit. 255lbs by 7/19. A little less weight to lose, but a slightly closer goal date. That's actually a better date for me, anyway. The date I had chosen is a date I will be traveling on and unable to weigh-in on!


GOALS FROM LAST WEEK:
#1 Continue with the water goal. -- Unachieved
#2 Continue with the new calorie goal. -- Achieved except one day where I went over. I didn't go over by much.
#3 Get at least one good workout in. -- Shamefully unachieved
#4 Eat a fruit and a vegetable every day. -- Unachieved

GOALS FOR THIS WEEK:
#1 Water and vitamins.
#2 Keep up with my calorie goal, allowing for a "spike" day every three days. Try to follow spike days with a lower-calorie day. No spike days if there was a cheat within the day or two before. This is to keep my metabolism guessing.
#3 Use the Wii Fit at least twice.

Vitamins

I have more vitamins and medications than will fit in one container.
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I need a life

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My best friend and her son, along with my very good friend, are all hitting the road on the fourth of July weekend. I just spent a pretty long period of time labeling and decorating a map for the kid so that he can look at the map and feel like he is part of the trip. He probably will just glance at it and crumple it up. I don't know why I get so wrapped up in things!

265

I am 265.0 right now. 15lbs away from goal. This is NOT my official weigh-in, that won't happen until Sunday, but as of right now I am not on track to make my goal of 249 on 7/25. If I am not on track by Sunday, instead of lowering my calorie intake I may change my goal weight/date. I want to be realistic, and feel like I am beating myself up even though I am working very hard. But hopefully I will be on track to make my goal by Sunday. I think I may have learned a thing or two.

Banana Muffins

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Banana Muffins
3 cups oat flour
2 cups gluten-free baking mix like Pamela's or Namaste
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup Splenda

6 mashed bananas
10 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
12 tablespoons of fat free half and half
1 egg

Mix wet ingredients, mix dry ingredients, then mix together. Line two
muffin pans with muffin liners. Makes 24 muffins. 125 calories a
muffin.

I also topped mine with a little mix of cinnamon, Splenda, and Splenda brown sugar mix. These will have very pale tops, so a little topping will make them much more aesthetically pleasing.

Sunday Night Diet Update #3

Weigh-in = 266.0
UP .4 since last week.
Down 66 since I started my weight-loss journey.

I am no longer on track to make my goal of 249lbs by July 25th. I am not too far off, though. I re-calculated my maximum daily calorie intake and have a new goal of 1,814 calories per day. It had been 1890.

My measurements haven't changed yet except going up or down such small amounts that it is most likely due to shifts in where I am taking the measurements.

Those two days I took off from counting calories were a mistake. I have proven to myself that without rules, I cannot trust myself. Lesson learned. Next time I take a day or two off, I am still setting ground rules. It shouldn't happen again for awhile, though.

GOALS FROM LAST WEEK:
#1 Three meals a day. -- Not achieved every single day due to my trip away from home, but I did very, very good at this.
#2 Three bottled waters, or the equivalent - 60 oz - per day. -- Achieved quite a few days, which was a massive improvement. I have been peeing every five minutes.
#3 Eating at work must be limited to my lunch hour and my two breaks. No more mindless eating because call volume is stressing me. -- COMPLETELY ACHIEVED
#4 Stay on track with my calorie goal of 1890 per day. -- PARTIALLY ACHIEVED -- Every day that I counted my calories I made goal.

NEW GOALS FOR NEXT WEEK:
#1 Continue with the water goal.
#2 Continue with the new calorie goal.
#3 Get at least one good workout in.
#4 Eat a fruit and a vegetable every day.

Just in case you haven't heard

My town got all 'effed up with all the rain that we're getting. Flash floods, the Red Cross coming in and rescuing people, at least nineteen families have temporarily or permanently lost their homes, and... oh yeah did I mention the highway caved in?

Hiatus

I am going to be taking a 1-2 day hiatus from counting calories, because I will be away from home, away from tools, and not in a controlled environment. If it was going to be longer than a day or two than I wouldn't make that allowance... but this is going to be a fun weekend staying in someone else's home and I want to be horrible guest and most of all, I will have fun!

I am just saying this now so I don't seem like a horrible failure when I make my Sunday Night Diet Update.

Egg Update

Eggs definitely give me painful gas if I have more than one. The test continues though to see how much I can handle.
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Cookies!

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Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

makes 24 cookies
136 calories per cookie

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter
1 cup Splenda brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup 2% milk
3 cups oats
1 cup oat flour (should also work fine with a gluten-free baking mix, all-purpose flour, etc.)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla **
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 serving (1/8 bag ) Enjoy Life chocolate chips

** I replaced this with sugar free caramel coffee syrup. No calories!

Combine liquids and egg, beat until blended. Combine dry ingredients in another bowl and slowly mix in. Cook in an oven pre-heated to 375 for 10-12 minutes. I use parchment paper so I don't have to waste calories on greasing the pan.

You could also add in raisins or nuts, but remember that they weren't figured into the calorie count.

Pink Silver Dollar Pancakes

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1 1/4 Cup Gluten-Free Trader Joe's Pancake Mix
1 Egg, beaten (could replace with applesauce or 1/2 banana)
1/4 Cup 2 % Milk (could replace with water or alternate milk)
*I used raspberry sugar-free (calorie-free) baking syrup in the mix instead of oil, which shaved about 30 calories off each serving. I eyeballed the amount, until the mixture was the consistency I wanted.

Silver dollar pancakes are about a tablespoon of batter each. The amounts listed above will make 5 equal sized servings.

Figuring that you will use four tablespoons of canola oil to cook the entire batch, like I did, plus 1/2 tablespoon of butter and 1/4 cup of lite syrup to top your serving, these are 277 calories per serving.

Sunday Night Diet Update #2

Weigh-in = 265.6
Down .4 this week.
Down 66.4 since I started my adventure last July.
Down 7.4 since I started counting calories recently.
I am ON GOAL (barely) to meet my goal of 249lbs by July 25th.

I took my measurements today. Not much has changed except my neck somehow grew by an inch. I do not believe this, and think I probably typed my inches in wrong last time.

I had a rough week. My weight went up, and went up again. I was very, very scared that I would have to report to my three readers that my weight went up this week, but my hard work caught up to me at the last moment. I would have liked tot have lost more than that, but I'll take it.

Yes, I made my calorie goal EVERY SINGLE DAY this week.

I have decided that on Sunday nights when I do my "diet update" I am also going to include a list of goals for the week. Note that this is a list for the week only, and not permanent goals. Yet.

GOALS:
#1 Three meals a day.
#2 Three bottled waters, or the equivalent - 60 oz - per day.
#3 Eating at work must be limited to my lunch hour and my two breaks. No more mindless eating because call volume is stressing me.
#4 Stay on track with my calorie goal of 1890 per day.

Reflections

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I wanted to eat another egg for dinner so that I could really tell if it is "situation: pass", which so far it is.

I made one poached egg with three strips of bacon and a cup of hashbrowns cooked in a tablespoon of olive oil with a quarter cup of shredded cheese.

Since I am being very conscientious with regards to what I am eating, I wish that I had skipped the bacon or only had one or two slices rather than three. I also wish that I had skipped the cheese or only used a tablespoon instead of a quarter cup. I think it took away rather than adding to the taste! Then I would have saved enough calories to have a second egg and still have consumed less calories. More protein! I need more protein, it has been decided.

Something to look forward to...

Next Friday, to celebrate that I can drive again and that it is summer, I am going to Charlotte to visit my NC-BFF Meg. We are going to spend the day swimming in the pool at her complex, but we are also going to go get our hair done. Any idea what I should do? It is going to be a reward for being on track with my calories...

Hammy is going to help make dinner.
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The Egg Test

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I really, really hope that the egg thing works out, because that breakfast/lunch was just SO delicious. SO, so, so delicious.

It is 1/2 cup of hash browns (70 calories) with a half a tablespoon of olive oil (60 calories), which I browned up until it was nice and crispy.

I poached an egg (mission: success!) but took it out before the yolk cooked through. The egg is 70 calories and since it is poached there are no extra calories added when cooked. I topped it with a slice of swiss cheese (80 calories) and a slice of honey ham (20 calories).

The total meal, which was so good and something I have missed so badly, was 300 calories.

Yum yum yum yum yum.

Allergies

...Kickin' my butt.
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Goo Balls!

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Ingredients:
1 bag of SmartPop popcorn
3 1/3 cups of mini-marshmallows
3/4 tablespoons of butter
3/4 cup cocoa crispies
1 serving (1/8 bag) Enjoy Life chocolate chips

Melt butter in large pot.
Slowly add and melt in marshmallows.
Turn off heat and slow begin adding in popcorn and cocoa crispies, alternating between the two, folding the goodies in.
Lastly, sprinkle chocolate chips in.

Transfer the mass onto parchment paper and mold into 12 similarly sized balls.

Cool in fridge.

Each "goo ball" will be 85 calories if you use the same measurements I do.

I love how the popcorn is most of the mass but still transfers all the gooey goodness, making it taste like a much more evil snack than it really is. I had two this evening!

This one was all mine. :D

I have a new favorite meal

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Ingredients:

2 Portobello mushrooms, stemmed and gills removed
1 Tablespoon olive oil
3 ounce pack of albacore tuna in water
1/2 celery stalk, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper
2 slices of Swiss cheese
2 slices of tomato
1/4 cup mixed baby greens

Instructions:

First, preheat the broiler. Next, use a small spoon to remove the gills. Basically just scrape around with it. If the mushroom breaks a little, don't worry too much. It will end up just fine. Use half of the olive oil to brush on the mushrooms. Set them under the broiler for about ten minutes, moving them around a bit every couple minutes to make sure that they "collapse" evenly. Cook until they're soft.

While they are cooking, mix the tuna, celery, parsley, lemon juice, and 1/4 teaspoon salt amd 1/8 pepper and the rest of the oil.

***Note that I didn't have parsley available and just used a handful of dried. I also didn't actually measure the lemon, I just squeezed half a lemon in. I also loaded in the salt and pepper, since I love both.

When the mushrooms are done, split the tuna mixture into both of them. Plop a slice of cheese on each and broil again until the cheese is melted.

Top with a slice of tomato and a handful of baby greens. Yes, this is for more than just making it pretty - they went perfect.



For those of you who are soy-allergic, like I am, be VERY careful to make sure you find tuna that is packed in JUST water and has no soy in it. If I don't get sick at all, I will tell you what brand worked for me. It was the only one in the grocery store that didn't say "soy" on the package.

Oh, and best of all this recipe was 539 calories, and tasted bad for you.


EDIT:
The tuna I ate had soy in it, even though it wasn't on the label. If you're soy-allergic, please be careful when you choose your tuna. I know that safe tuna is out there! If you're not soy-allergic, seriously, you need to try that recipie TODAY.

THANKS, COOK YOURSELF THIN!