weigh in day - week 1

it's official, week one is over. and i lost . . . wait for it . . . 2.6 pounds!!! whoo hoo! now, i'm a number person, so i am figuring out percentages and graphs and spreadsheets. here are the highlights:

1. week 1 loss = 2.60 lbs
2. week 1 loss = 1.00%
3. pounds to go = 97.4 lbs
4. percent of total goal = 2.60%

i have a graph too, but i'll save that until it has at least one more data point :)

pros and cons of living alone - food edition

pros

• i get to pick all the food - this one is worth 10 points all by itself!!!
• no "bad" food comes into my house unless i want it to
• no one eats my food and leaves empty cartons/bags/boxes behind
• i can have cereal for dinner - or nachos or a sandwich or whatever i want :)
• lots of leftovers - i always lunch ready
• i get to be adventurous as i want with recipes or be simple and have pb&j

cons

• i have to eat all the food - this is usually means i have to eat the same thing a few times a week in order to eat something before it goes bad
• i have to do all the cooking (and cleaning)
• lots of leftovers - my freezer and fridge are always full
• i get stuck in a rut because i have no one else's opinions

overall, i love living alone, but there always draw backs - like i am the only doing the cleaning and laundry, but i'm the only one making the messes and the dirty clothes :)

end of the bad day - start of a good week

friday night ended just as poorly as it began. i made a salad like i planned using every veggie in the fridge which was great, and i had a one bun (toasted) with hummus mixed with pesto on the side. so far so good . . . then . . . i had a sweet tooth, so made one of my childhood favorites: two tortillas, spread with butter, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and toasted. so warm and melty and gooey and comforting - and horrible for me, especially late at night!!!

saturday was a better story. i took the girls for an early morning walk and i made one of my favorite vegan recipes - orange scones. i think it was the first vegan thing i ever baked. my friends love them, so every so often they request them. i ended up eating two scones with a couple of cups of coffee - sorry for no pics, i couldn't find my camera anywhere.

then i headed out for a few adventures. i went to block sale with the dogs (didn't buy anything, but had fun chatting with people and looking at old books). next stop was an indoor flea market (again, no purchases, but i'll go back again to see what else people bring). and lastly, i went to asian fest, a cultural event at the community college. i go every year, because its free and fun. however, i go every year . . . so that means, i see the same booths, same food and same performers every year :) i had two sushi rolls - avocado and cucumber - and a strawberry boba. i have no idea if boba is vegan or healthy, but i only have them once a year, so i'm ok with making an exception. i think i did some grading or work after that, but the afternoon is now foggy . . . . . . . . . hmm?

for dinner i made a veggie burger

a toasted one bun with ketchup and dijon mustard, avocado, cucumber, spinach, sprouts, red onion, tomato, veggie burger patty and pesto sauce with a side of annie's mixed bunnies

this morning i woke up nice and early and made a tofu scramble - soy sausage, spinach, soy cheese (i added salsa after i took the pic) and two pieces of 7 grain bread with soy butter

i spent the morning grading and walking dogs and doing dishes. actually i was grading outside and it is so warm that i started to get a sun burn! i came inside and was hungry, but was also having a sweet tooth. so i made a veg pizza and fruit smoothie:

the smoothie was 12 strawberries, a banana, a handful of frozen blueberries and enough apple juice (fresh from my juicer) to give the right consistency


very dangerous - i love taking the lid off the blender and watching it spin :)

the final product in my favorite bettie page glass. the other side says "i was never the girl next door"

and the pizza - pesto sauce, soy cheese, artichoke hearts, spinach, red onion, mushrooms - the plate was my lunch and the half on the cutting board will probably go to work with me tomorrow.

dinner plans include homemade veg chili on top of baked potato with a side of broccoli - but who knows what will really happen :)

i did a bad, bad thing

what the hell! this has been one bad food day. actually it started last night. i mentioned i was hungry, so i decided to have filling snack - i know, not the best option at 9pm. i made a peanut butter and banana sandwich out of two pancakes. the only good thing that came from that is that i wasn't hungry when i woke up.

i took the dogs for a walk at 7am, then my friend invited me over for coffee and offered me a bagel with strawberry cream cheese. how could i resist?! it was toasty and warm and gooey and delicious and oh so wrong :) i went to school at about 11 and was hungry when i got there, but i prepared, so i had a pear. then at about 1, the pear wore off, but i was still prepared so i had blackberry soy yogurt with strawberry hemp granola. it was excellent, it filled me up, fine - i was moving on from my early indiscretions. then, i went downhill. scratch that, i didn't just go down hill, i fell down hill, tumbling, ass over tea kettle (where does that phrase come from?), through thorns, grasping at weeds to slow myself down.

i had not one, not two, but three turkey (thats right, i had meat) rollups - tortilla, lettuce, tomato, cheese, turkey, cream cheese (i think). and (thats right, theres more), again lets count, not one, but two cookies. argh!

so, now im home. drinking a wine spritzer because it has been that kind of day. and im not hungry, but i know i have to plan, so i can head back to the top of the hill. i think i will have a big salad for dinner - eat up all the veggies in my fridge.

again, in full disclosure, the other day (i think yesterday) i had some homemade trail mix (dried cranberries, raw cashews, raw almonds, soy nuts) at about 10.

here is to a better day tomorrow - i cant let this define me or my progress. it was one day, not even one day, it was few hours. i can put it behind me and move up and on. starting now! i see dexter on dvd and a bubble bath in my near future. i see bike rides, flea markets, and yard sales in my saturday future :)

perfect combo

today is one of my early days - took the dogs for a walk at 6am. then headed to work with my tofu scramble burrito (from yesterday) and a big cup of coffee. ate breakfast at about 8am. i was hungry when i got home, but didn't get a chance to eat until 5ish. when tyring to decide what to have, i couldn't make up my mind, so i had a little of everything :)






sandwich - one bun bread, vegan cream cheese, spicy mustard, tomatoes, sprouts, lettuce, cucumbers, tofurky

soup - amy's organic butternut squash with annies mixed bunnies floating in it

salad - lettuce, pine nuts, dried cranberries, cucumbers, tomatoes, beets, raspberry poppy seed vinaigrette, probably something else, but can't remember


and a huge pickle on the side

i think a soup, salad, sandwich combo is the perfect trio - i hate when delis and lunch place make you chose just two - soup and sandwich, salad and soup, etc. i want all three damn it! i guess thats why i eat at home :)

its 9pm and im hungry - not sure what to have. i have a ton of strawberries, maybe i should have a few of those. thats not really going to fill me up though.

on a related side note and in full disclosure, the other night (i think monday) i ate a bowl of strawberries late in the night. i woke up hungry and i had left them on the counter because i had planned on having for them dessert. so, i ate them.

ok, off to find a late night snack. three more days until i weigh myself :) im kind of excited

burritos, snacks and more burritos

my day started with a 7am doggie walk. we walked for about 45 min. i woke up hungry and i was going to grab a banana before the walk, but it slipped my mind as i was thinking about making sure i poop bags and dog treats. as i walked though, i got more and more hungry. so i started planning my meals. then of course, life happened :)

at 8am i made a tofu scramble burrito for breakfast with mushrooms, spinach, soy cheese, soy sausage, avocado and salsa. i had it with a nice big cup of coffee.

after getting ready for work, i was hungry at about 11:30am, so i made a little snack. these "one bun" breads are really good. i toast them and use them for sandwiches or snacks. today i paired it with hummus, tabbouleh, and a small bowl of strawberries.
went to work, came home - i rode my bike and it was pouring down rain. i was freezing when i got home. i immediately made some tea and a snack. i bought some frozen pancakes. so i toasted one of those and topped it with peanut butter and sliced bananas and strawberries. it was a little sweet, but good.
an hour later i was still hungry!!! so i had a few of the annies mixed bunnies

i was still hungry another hour later, so i started making dinner - taco salad night! the purple box is the taco filling. it is vegan taco "meat". it is so good and the texture is decent and a little spicy. i really like it. and the box is too big for one night, so i always have leftovers for the next day.

and the final product :)

overall, today went well. i didn't work out as much as i would like, but i'm happy with my food choices. it is interesting, because i think about the fact that i am going to type up everything i eat as i reach for something. using the blog to keep me accountable is really working. i will see on sunday if the scale is reflecting the same thing.

so this has been a long, tiring, fun day. i woke up bright and early and took the dogs for a good 40 min walk. it rained on us a little, so we were speed walking between awnings. when i got home home and got ready for work, i remembered to pack my tofu scramble burrito from yesterday and a few pieces of fruit and a beautiful pink thermos of coffee. i'll have to take a pic of the thermos next time i use it. i love it! it was a gift from m best friend. i like it because it keeps my coffee nice and hot and allows me to drink to it out of a regular coffee cup and not a travel mug.

off to work i go. before class starts i heat up my burrito in the microwave and pour my cup of coffee. i like to save leftover burritos for work because i don't have a microwave at home. my microwave died in the fall and i decided not to replace it. i like not having one. it makes me eat healthier and eat less. (do i really want to turn on the oven to heat that up?) but, the convenience of one at work is nice.

while at work, i got a lunch invite. i get home from work at about 1, we head to lunch around 2. we had planned to go to the fresno breakfast house, but they close at 2 and were just a little too late. so instead we tried a new place (new to us) - the sandwich works. i had a veggie sandwich. it was really good - nice hoagie roll with lettuce, wax peppers, mushrooms, sprouts, avocado, tomato, probably other stuff i can't remember.

this held me over until about 8. i don't like eating this late, but sometimes you can't help it. i made a really good sandwich - thin bread, vegan cream cheese on each side, cucumbers, sprouts, peppered tofurky slices - annies mixed bunnies and strawberries on the side.

now, im sitting on my couch trying to talk myself into working out. i should do day 2 of my women's health workout, but . . . my thighs hurt so bad!!! i think i might have pulled muscles. i have to walk upstairs at home and work and it is a serious challenge, especially in heels. day 2 involves lots of squats and planks - i might try the planks to see how it goes. i am never sure - should i rest sore muscles or do i need to work them out? granted, i am on my feet all day and i did walk this morning, so is that enough?

off to make the big exercise decision - sorry for the lack of pictures today.

i weighed 259.9 this morning, so up a little from yesterday, but day to day weigh ins aren't that good anyway. i think, since i started this on sunday, maybe i should only weigh in on sundays.

took the dogs for walk this morning at 7 am for 40 min. i realized yesterday that when i was decoding the workout that i am suppose to do it 3 times a week. that leaves 4 days. the women's health website also has a running plan, which i want to do, but before that i need to be able to run for 30 min straight. so, they have another plan that is a run/walk plan to get you up to the 30 min mark. so this is the plan that will allow you to do another plan that will turn you into a runner :) its for the chubby girls :) i did the day one of run/walk schedule while i was with the dogs. i figured that they can become runners with me.

i got home and i was hungry, of course. so i made a tofu scramble breakfast burrito, with soy sausage, soy cheese, salsa and avocado. with a few strawberries on the side. i also made an extra one for breakfast for tomorrow morning.

assembling the burritos

finished off with avocado and salsa!!

the final product :)

in prepping for my work day, i made some juice. i have a power juicer deluxe which i LOVE! today's juice is cabbage, carrots and strawberries with vega protein powder and a liquid vitamin. I plan on drinking this around 3 or so at work.

i ended up drinking my juice at 3 and i didn't eat any of the other snacks i packed. i ate dinner around 6 and had my leftover pizza and another salad, so no pic because it was the exact same as yesterday. but today i ended the evening with a wine spritzer . . . i know, empty calories. but its the perfect way to end a hot muggy day.

tomorrow is my early day. so ill be walking the dogs at 6am.

The day the change began . . .

It’s time to lose the weight. I never really paid attention to my weight in high school. I thought I was chubby, but looking back, I wasn’t at all. When I got to college, I started to gain weight, but at the same time I would lose it. My weight went up and down and back again many times. Then during graduate school, the pattern shifted – it stopped going down, but kept going up. I pretended it didn’t bother me. I said I was happy with my size and my body. But underneath it all, I really wasn’t. I also wasn’t ready to make a change that would get rid of the weight. Well, that time has come. I am 28 years old, I will be 29 in August and I want to get to a healthy, sexy weight by the time I am 30. I just weighed myself and I weigh 259.6 lbs. Because I’ve never obsessed over the numbers (and I still don’t actually), I don’t really know what weight I should/want to be. Based off the height-weight charts, I need to lose 100 lbs. (I’m 6’ tall). So here’s the deal, I am going to post my daily successes, challenges, failures, questions, etc so I can track my progress and hopefully receive and provide motivation. I also think it will be a good way to hold myself accountable. I plan on posting what I eat and how I work out. So let’s start this party!

I am going to be using this plan as a guide for workouts and food. I will of course tweak it as needed, but it is my starting platform.

For breakfast (7am) I had a bowl of flax cereal with dried strawberries and half a banana sliced in it with soy milk. I realized after the fact that I should have mixed protein powder into the milk to make it more filling. We will see how long it holds me over. Calling a cereal organic flax plus with omega-3 makes it sound horrible, like it would taste like cardboard, but this cereal is good. Actually, it has nothing to do with the cereal, it’s the dried strawberries. Maybe I should just buy tons of strawberries while they are in season and dry them myself . . . hmmm. Add that to my to do list for next weekend.
Ok, started to get hungry at 10am – ate the rest of my banana

Took my dogs for a 45 min walk. I try to keep our walks at a moderate pace but sometimes, today included, they have their own idea. It is in the mid 70s today so they were getting a little hot. I got pretty hungry on the walk, so when I got home it was lunch time:
I made a wrap out of a tortilla, with dijon mustard, peppered Tofurky lunch “meat”, lettuce, sprouts, cucumber, and avacado. That lunch meat is one of my favorites, I have to stop myself from eating the whole package everytime I open it. I also had half a dozen strawberrries, a REALLY big pickle and a handful of Annie’s organic snack mix bunnies. All the veggies in the wrap and the strawberries were fresh from the farmers market.
By the way, in case you haven’t made this conclusion already on your own I am a vegan. I am still learning the ins and outs of veganism, so I actually hesitate to use that word. I am still trying to figure out how to decode the ingredients labels.

Worked out at 3pm!!! I followed the day one on the lose 12 pounds in 6 weeks plan on the women’s health website. It took me a while to decode the exercises, but I did it. It might be time for a small snack.

I went to a movie at 4pm and had an iced passion tea from Starbucks and I brought raw almonds with dried cranberries for my movie snack. I got from the movie at made myself some dinner. I had a side salad with cucumbers, pine nuts, dried cranberries and strawberry vinaigrette. I made a pizza with a frozen crust with pesto sauce, soy cheese, sun dried tomato soy sausage, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, and tomato slices. I always put the tomatoes on after it comes out of the oven, because I don’t like them hot. It was all excellent!!!